WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.520 in Christ. Verse 23, he shares some news about a mutual friend, about Timothy, 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:10.820 who was known to them on a first-name basis, who had been released presumably from prison. 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:18.059 He then expresses his desire and his plan to visit them in person. And in verse 24, 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:22.260 he conveys greetings to and from the wider community that they are connected with. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.640 His tone is not official and formulaic, it is personal and earnest. These are the kind 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:35.980 of things that you would write to a close friend or family member. And these verses remind us that 00:00:35.980 --> 00:00:42.439 the letter to the Hebrews is not only a profound theological argument, it's not only an inspiring 00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:48.460 retelling of the stories of faithful men and women of the past. As he says in verse 22, 00:00:48.460 --> 00:00:55.120 it's a word of exhortation. In other words, it's a personal message of assurance and admonition, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:03.359 a word of comfort and a word of warning, a word intended to strengthen his readers and us 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:11.539 to persevere amidst trying and uncertain times. As we've seen over the past year, the book of Hebrews 00:01:11.539 --> 00:01:16.799 was written to a group of Christians who were facing both external pressures and internal doubts. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:24.340 They were socially marginalized. Many of their neighbors considered them rather strange for 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:31.640 worshiping a man who had been crucified, executed. They were economically disadvantaged. Some of them 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:37.780 had had their property taken away. They were facing a looming threat of physical persecution 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:43.939 from the local authorities. They were facing all kinds of stressful situations with no apparent 00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:53.159 coming resolution. They were beset by external pressures, but they were also facing internal doubts. 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:57.380 They were starting to say to themselves and perhaps to one another, 00:01:57.380 --> 00:02:04.820 if as believers in Jesus, we are God's children, destined for glory and honor, 00:02:06.020 --> 00:02:13.300 why is our life now so full of suffering and shame? Does Christianity really make sense 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:21.180 when the surrounding culture seems indifferent at best and hostile at worst? And their internal doubts 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:32.060 had led at least some of them to draw back, to distance themselves from one another and from the Christian community, 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:40.780 to stop identifying publicly as a follower of Jesus. The Christian community, which had once been cohesive 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:48.860 and hopeful, was now discouraged and fragmenting. That's the situation that this book was written into. 00:02:48.860 --> 00:02:59.180 And the book of Hebrews is a grand exhortation not to grow weary and lose heart, but instead to run the race with endurance 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:07.920 by looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith. More than any other theme, the book of Hebrews focuses on the 00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:17.120 surpassing glory and the absolute sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Most of the first ten chapters are focused directly on this theme. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:25.120 And since this is our last sermon, I thought it would be worth doing a bit of a recap. If you're new, consider this a review of our last year, 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:31.700 all in ten minutes. You can flip through the chapters as I summarize them briefly. Chapter one focuses on the superiority 00:03:31.700 --> 00:03:41.819 of the Son of God, who is exalted high above all the angels and the heavenly hosts. Chapter two tells us that this glorious Son of God, 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:51.239 through whom the whole universe was created, humbled himself to become our brother, namely Jesus. 00:03:52.239 --> 00:03:59.379 Jesus shared in our humanity, in our flesh and blood, all the way to the point of dying our death on the cross, 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:07.340 in order to destroy the devil and deliver us from the enslaving fear of death. 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:15.219 In chapter three, we see not only what Jesus saves us from, but what he saves us for. He is the faithful 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:26.199 builder of God's house, even greater than Moses. And it says we are his house if we hold on to our confidence 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:34.340 and our hope in him. And chapter four shows us that Jesus is the one even greater than Joshua, who gives us 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:43.579 access to the true promised land, to the ultimate place of rest and joy. But of course, we're not yet in 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:50.319 the promised land. In the meantime, we walk through the wilderness in our life on earth. And we see in 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:54.319 chapter four and five that as we walk through the wilderness, Jesus is our great high priest, 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:02.980 who goes ahead of us, and yet who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Because he, 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:11.060 like us, was tempted in every way, and yet without sin. And therefore, we can draw near to him to find 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:17.779 mercy and grace in our time of need. Chapter six shows us that Jesus is the sure and steadfast anchor 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:25.919 for our soul, the guarantee of God's unswerving faithfulness to his promise. Chapter seven and 00:05:25.919 --> 00:05:34.239 eight remind us that Jesus' role is not a temporary one. It's not subject to change in the future. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:41.859 There's no one else who's coming after him to supersede him. He is the eternal king of righteousness 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:48.920 and peace. He is the priest who continues forever by the power of his indestructible life. 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:55.300 And because Jesus is the priest who continues forever, chapter eight shows us that he's the 00:05:55.300 --> 00:06:02.699 mediator of a new and better covenant. In other words, through him, we are brought into an unbreakable 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:11.340 bond, a lasting and intimate relationship with God himself. Chapters nine and ten, 00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:17.899 focus on the sufficiency and completeness of Jesus' work. His once for all sacrifice on the cross that 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:26.120 has decisively dealt with sin. And Jesus' perfect obedience to God's will that decisively sets us 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:32.500 apart. Because of his sacrifice, because of his obedience, we see that the way into God's presence 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:40.719 is now open. Our sins are forgiven and our conscience is made clean. More than anything else, the author of 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:48.380 Hebrews throughout his book has been saying, look at this glorious Jesus. Look at his surpassingly 00:06:48.380 --> 00:06:55.900 glorious person. Look at his absolutely sufficient work. See how even the greatest prophets and the 00:06:55.900 --> 00:07:04.140 most faithful priests and the most powerful kings in the past fade into the shadows in the light of Jesus. 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:14.060 So several times Hebrews issues some strong warnings. He says, don't drift away. Don't neglect such a great 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:24.159 salvation. Don't become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Don't become complacent and apathetic. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:33.000 Don't risk losing it all and being consumed in the blazing fire of God's judgment by never fully 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:40.980 entering in to life with Christ. Hebrews gives some of the most severe warnings in the whole New Testament, 00:07:41.820 --> 00:07:50.040 but it also issues some of the most gracious invitations. Chapter 10, verses 19 through 25 says, 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:55.180 therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter into the holy places by the 00:07:55.180 --> 00:08:01.860 blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that he opened for us through his flesh, and since we have a 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:09.240 great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. 00:08:10.520 --> 00:08:17.520 And then he says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:23.379 faithful. And finally, let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:29.680 You see, in light of the greatness and the sufficiency of Jesus, Hebrews calls us to a life of faith, 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:37.240 hope, and love. Chapter 11 calls us to live by faith in God's promises as we follow the examples of 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:44.199 many who have gone before. Chapter 12 calls us to live and persevere in hope, to endure painful 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:49.720 suffering in the present as we look forward to the kingdom of God that cannot be shaken. 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:59.580 And finally, chapter 13 spurs us on toward love. Concrete, costly, Christ-like demonstrations of love 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:07.200 for other people. There's a book of Hebrews in a nutshell. The surpassing glory and absolute 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:17.020 insufficiency of Jesus, calling us into a life of faith, hope, and love. In verse 22, the author urges us. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:24.300 He says, bear with my word of exhortation. In other words, he's saying, I know you might be tempted to 00:09:24.300 --> 00:09:32.000 resist or ignore some of the strong warnings or pass by some of the more complex sections of argument, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:38.740 but he says, I want you to know I've written to you briefly. Now, you might think that's a joke. 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:44.480 If you've been here for the last year, taking us a whole year to preach through this book, and you 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:52.279 think, brief? Hebrews? But actually, I think the author was serious. There was an ancient Roman 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:56.740 professor of rhetoric who was writing right around the same time as Hebrews was written, 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:06.060 quintillion. And he says, to be brief consists not in saying less, but in not saying more than is 00:10:06.060 --> 00:10:11.700 necessary at the time. In other words, he's saying, I may not have answered all your questions. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:19.960 I haven't gone into all the detail that I could have on every matter. There is much more that could 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:25.980 have been said, but I've given you what you need to know for now. So I appeal to you. 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:33.460 Take what I have said to heart. But then we see the author doesn't simply end with an appeal 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:40.940 or an exhortation or even a warning to his readers. He ends his letter with a prayer addressed to God. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:50.419 Verse 20 and 21, he concludes with a prayer of blessing, what we call a benediction, 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:57.479 a good word, entrusting his brothers and sisters in Christ into the faithful hands of God. 00:10:58.819 --> 00:11:04.799 Now, it's interesting that many other aspects of the closing of this letter are commonly found in 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:11.039 other ancient letters. Greetings from friends, news about mutual acquaintances, plans for future 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:19.039 visits. All of those are common parts of ancient and modern letters between friends. But the benediction 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:26.819 is a uniquely biblical genre. It's a uniquely biblical aspect of a closing to a letter. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.240 You can read other letters from the ancient Greco-Roman world. They don't have it. 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:40.120 But you read almost every letter in the New Testament and it ends with a benediction, a good 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:46.100 word, a prayer entrusting the recipients of the letter into the faithful hands of God. 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:52.100 So for the rest of the time, I want to focus in on these verses, verse 20 and 21. 00:11:53.639 --> 00:12:00.159 Now, the prayer in verses 20 and 21 has two parts. The first part looks back. The second part 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:06.620 looks forward. Verse 20 is a declaration of what God has accomplished for and in Jesus. 00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:14.060 Verse 21 is a prayer that God would do for us what he has promised through Jesus. And there's a parallel 00:12:14.059 --> 00:12:19.579 structure to the prayer that makes this very clear. If you look in your bulletin on the fifth page, 00:12:20.079 --> 00:12:28.619 I've printed out the structure of the verse for you. The prayer begins by calling on the God of peace 00:12:28.619 --> 00:12:33.919 and it ends by ascribing glory to this God forever and ever. But in the middle, there are two parallel 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:41.379 sections. Now, for the sake of clarity in reading, most English translations have rearranged the order of 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:46.939 the phrases in verse 20. So the ESV says, may the God of peace who brought again from the dead, 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:53.360 our Lord Jesus. That's a fine translation because it makes clear who God brought again from the dead. 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:59.860 But in the original language, the phrase, our Lord Jesus, actually comes at the end of that verse. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:04.559 So I've printed it here, preserving the original order of the phrases. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:10.079 So may the God of peace who brought again from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep, 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:16.559 by the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you with everything good that you may 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:23.639 do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. The point is, 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:30.699 the two verses are parallel and they both end deliberately and climactically with Jesus. 00:13:30.700 --> 00:13:38.420 Jesus. That's the last word that he wants to say to them. It's been his first word and his last word, 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:44.860 through Jesus. Jesus is the focal point of what God has accomplished in the past, 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.480 and Jesus is the one who gives them confidence for what God will do in the future. 00:13:52.420 --> 00:13:59.460 So verse 20 focuses on what God has accomplished in the past in Jesus. In particular, it focuses on God 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:05.780 bringing Jesus out of death. Now the author of Hebrews could have spoken of many aspects of 00:14:05.780 --> 00:14:12.440 Jesus' earthly life and ministry. He could have spoken about Jesus' birth, or his childhood, 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:20.720 or his baptism, or his teaching of the scriptures, or his healing of the sick, or his casting out demons, 00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:28.360 or feeding the multitudes. And every one of Jesus' acts were signs of the kingdom of God that had 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:33.860 arrived in him. But the greatest sign, the climax of all four of the gospels, 00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:41.940 the climactic sign that the kingdom of God had arrived in Jesus, was that God brought Jesus out 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:48.379 from the dead. God placed his stamp of approval on Jesus, on every one of his words and deeds, 00:14:48.680 --> 00:14:54.360 by bringing Jesus out of death, and by exalting him to the highest place of authority, 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:02.200 at the right hand of God. So that's what Hebrews goes to. He goes right to the heart of the Christian 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:10.419 faith. You know, if you're considering the Christian faith, or if you're questioning the Christian faith, 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:16.800 the heart, the focal point of the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:23.219 It's the linchpin that holds Christianity together, and apart from it, Christianity falls apart. 00:15:24.579 --> 00:15:31.279 When I was in college, I had grown up as a Christian, but I was plagued by doubts during my 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:36.699 sophomore and junior years. There were all kinds of theological and philosophical questions that 00:15:36.699 --> 00:15:42.839 I just couldn't seem to get my head around. Some of them I still can't get my head around, quite. 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:49.639 They swirled around in my mind and left me feeling weary, isolated, and unsure. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:58.480 But one thing I realized is that despite all my doubts and questions, I had found no reason to 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:05.420 disbelieve that Jesus Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate and bodily resurrected on the third day. 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:12.320 Now, I was a history major, so this was not for lack of looking into alternative views. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:18.820 I studied the historical background. I read books by scholars who affirmed the bodily resurrection 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:24.340 and those who denied or questioned it. I took a seminar on the historical Jesus with a very confident 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:31.560 professor who rejected the resurrection of Jesus. But the more I looked into it, the more convinced I 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:38.520 became that the resurrection of Jesus had really happened just as the earliest Christians testified 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:49.299 at the cost of their lives that it had. And that became for me the rock that I held onto, the anchor point that I could rely on, 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:58.819 the central reality around which everything else could be seen in its light. And over time, some of the questions 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:07.779 gradually seem to make more sense in light of the resurrection of Jesus. And Hebrews tells us that the one whom God 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:17.580 brought again from the dead is the great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus. He's the one who continues to lead and guide us. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:24.340 Last week, Pastor Matt talked about leaders in the church and how God appoints spiritual leaders to watch over our souls, 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:33.019 verse 17, as a shepherd watches over his flock. And this verse points us to Jesus as the great shepherd, 00:17:33.699 --> 00:17:41.699 the ultimate leader who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's the great shepherd who has all authority 00:17:41.699 --> 00:17:48.759 and all power and all majesty and all dominion forever and ever. But he's also the good shepherd 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:58.819 who feeds and cares for us, who seeks out the lost and brings back the strays and binds up the brokenhearted 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:05.299 and strengthens the weak. This verse reminds us that he's the good shepherd who laid down his life 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:15.500 for us, his sheep. And in his blood, he established an eternal covenant, an unbreakable bond between us 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:27.019 and God for all who turn to Jesus in faith. And Jesus continues to be our great shepherd who leads us 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:33.460 on all the way to glory. Hebrews says this is what God has already accomplished for us in Jesus. 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:40.920 God has raised Jesus from the dead. He is the great shepherd of the sheep who has secured our relationship 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:50.700 with God. And on that basis, verse 21 is a prayer, a confident prayer for us as we look into the future. 00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:57.880 He prays, may this same God equip you with everything good that you may do his well, 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:04.640 working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. Now, this is a prayer that 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:11.880 expresses our complete dependence on God. The only way that you and I can accomplish God's will 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:19.400 is if God equips us with everything good. The only way for us to truly please God 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:26.320 is for God to work in us. This isn't something we can accomplish by ourselves. 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:34.060 You know, if all we needed was instruction to engage our minds and exhortation to challenge our wills, 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:40.240 the last three chapters of Hebrews should have been enough. Chapters 11 through 13 have been full 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:48.379 of practical instruction and exhortation to live by faith, to persevere in hope, to stir up one another 00:19:48.379 --> 00:19:56.079 in love. But you know, we don't just have a mind to understand and a will to make decisions. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:08.439 We have a heart. In other words, we have affections and desires. And only God can truly transform the human heart. 00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:15.899 Brothers and sisters, that's why we need to pray. Every week in staff meeting, we pray for our Sunday 00:20:15.899 --> 00:20:23.299 gatherings, that God would come and send his Holy Spirit among us and take the words that we sing 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:30.139 and read from the Bible and that are spoken and seal them to our hearts and make them to grow 00:20:30.139 --> 00:20:37.240 and bear fruit in our lives. Very often as I'm preparing a sermon during the week, I come to the 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:43.220 point, I come to a point where I nearly despair. It's happened so often that it doesn't bother me 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:48.899 quite as often as it used to. But it feels like this sermon is just not coming together. 00:20:48.900 --> 00:20:56.940 It's going nowhere. It feels like I'm walking through a very sticky swamp. 00:20:59.040 --> 00:21:05.140 But it always drives me to pray. To pray for clarity, to pray for insight, to pray for the 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:13.620 anointing of the Holy Spirit for which there is no substitute. Maybe you're facing external pressures 00:21:13.619 --> 00:21:19.079 or internal doubts or that seem completely overwhelming. Maybe you feel like as you look 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:23.339 to the week ahead that you're walking through a swamp that is only getting deeper. 00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:31.699 And you're already up to your waist. And you think, how far, how much farther can I go? 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:38.959 Maybe you have so many people asking you for help that you feel like you're going to have a breakdown. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:44.799 Maybe you have family conflict that seems to never be resolved in a healthy way. And you think, 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:50.819 how can I stay in these relationships and participate in them in a healthy way? 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.420 How can I not be totally discouraged and overwhelmed by them? Maybe you're mourning the loss of a loved 00:21:57.420 --> 00:22:04.920 one who can never be replaced. And every day you think of them and you wonder, how will I continue 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:11.860 without them? Maybe you're working hard at your job or in your studies and your supervisor or your 00:22:11.860 --> 00:22:20.460 professor is still saying, not good enough. Brothers and sisters, we need to pray. 00:22:21.740 --> 00:22:26.220 We need to pray in dependence on God, but at the same time, through Jesus Christ, we can pray with 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:33.340 complete confidence in God. The tone of this prayer is not a desperate cry for help. 00:22:33.339 --> 00:22:41.000 It's a confident expression of trust. That the very same God who brought Jesus back from the dead 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:47.500 can and will equip us with everything good so that you and I can accomplish his will. 00:22:48.959 --> 00:22:55.740 I mean, think about it. Which is harder? To raise a dead person to indestructible bodily life 00:22:55.740 --> 00:23:05.140 or to give you what you need today to live and please God. Now you might say both are equally impossible. 00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:11.759 If you're having a bad day or if you have a good spiritual perception of yourself. 00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:18.160 But that is the point. We serve a God who has done the impossible. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:23.080 He has brought again from the dead, Jesus our Lord. 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:28.680 And we belong to Jesus as his brothers and sisters through the eternal covenant in his blood. 00:23:29.560 --> 00:23:37.300 And God has promised never to leave us, never to forsake us, but to equip us with everything good 00:23:37.299 --> 00:23:44.119 that we may do his will. That word equip could also be translated to fashion us, 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:53.480 to shape us as a potter shapes the clay, or to prepare us, to fit us with what we need 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.519 to do God's will. 00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:05.559 So whatever the external pressures that beset you, whatever the internal doubts that plague you, 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:14.319 whatever the uncertainties that you see as you contemplate the future, make this your prayer. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:21.500 That the God who raised Jesus from the dead would equip you with everything good, 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:28.559 that you may do his will, that he would work in and among us that which is pleasing in his sight 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:33.819 through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:35.680 Let us pray. 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.140 God, we thank you for this last word. 00:24:48.140 --> 00:25:00.380 Lord, we thank you that this author has left us with a prayer, a confident prayer, 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:09.160 that you will do, that you will complete what you have begun in Jesus Christ. 00:25:11.100 --> 00:25:13.420 You will complete what you have begun in us. 00:25:14.580 --> 00:25:15.900 You are united to him. 00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:23.660 Lord, we pray that in the midst of whatever we may be facing, 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.500 that you would be the rock of our salvation, that we cling on to, 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:35.580 that in your light we may see the world more clearly. 00:25:39.100 --> 00:25:43.259 Lord, make it our focus to do your will, 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:46.099 to live to please you. 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:49.660 And equip us, we pray, with everything good. 00:25:51.180 --> 00:25:52.039 Work in us. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.019 That it may be accomplished by your grace. 00:25:57.900 --> 00:25:59.640 We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:00.400 Amen. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:00.519 Amen. 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:00.559 Amen. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:00.579 Amen. 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:00.599 Amen. 00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:00.619 Amen. 00:26:00.619 --> 00:26:00.660 Amen. 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:02.660 Amen. 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:02.720 Amen. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:04.660 Amen. 00:26:04.660 --> 00:26:04.720 Amen. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.220 Amen. 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.720 Amen. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.720 Amen. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:09.220 Amen. 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:09.720 Amen. 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:10.220 Amen.