Well, thanks, Stuart and Hannah. Folks, let me invite you to have that passage in Romans chapter 6 open in front of you.
We're going to be dipping in and out of it this morning, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time there this week,
and I really hope and I trust that the Lord has something to teach us this morning as we turn to his word.
So with Romans chapter 6 open in front of you, let's just begin this morning.
I've been in theological circles now for over seven years, theological training circles,
and I've spent time in different places. I've discovered that there's a phrase that people continually use wherever I go,
and it's a phrase that I've come to understand is absolutely true, and it goes like this,
and see if you maybe agree with this, it's that everyone's a theologian. Everyone's a theologian.
So if we're describing, defining rather, theology as the study of God,
then any time anybody engages in thoughts about who God is, really grapples with that, wrestles with that,
and from that they think about the world in which we live, why is it the way that it is,
and then they think about human beings, why is it that we are the way that we are,
why is it that I am the way that I am. On some kind of level they're engaging in theology, right?
Thoughts about who God is, and that means that your neighbor has thoughts about God, they're a theologian,
and it means that your classmates and your colleagues, they have thoughts about God, they're theologians,
and it means that your friends and your family have thoughts about God.
The first minister has thoughts about God. Teresa May, as we've been thinking, has thoughts about God.
The Hollywood actor has thoughts about God. The premiership footballer has thoughts about God.
Everyone's a theologian. Everybody has thoughts about God.
God. I've been thinking about that this week. I've been reminded of one of my favourite theologians,
kind of on that theme, and he goes by the name of Bob, and his second name is Dylan.
Anybody like Bob Dylan? What a voice. That is a unique voice, isn't it? Bob Dylan's voice.
But he's one of my favourite theologians. I have no idea whether Bob Dylan was a Christian or not,
is a Christian or not. I have no idea, but I do know that he's a theologian just like the rest of us.
And you see that kind of come through in his songs, as he just observes the world and the things that are going on in the world,
and he comments on it. You see it through his songs.
And let me just show you some of the lyrics from a song that he wrote as he watched the way in which human beings live their lives.
And it goes like this.
You may be a construction worker working on a home.
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome.
You might own guns and you might even own tanks.
You might be someone's landlord. You might even own banks.
But you're going to have to serve somebody.
You're going to have to serve somebody.
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're going to have to serve somebody.
You see, what Dylan was observing is he's watching humanity and he's watching human beings and the way that they live their lives,
the way that they spend their time, the way that they spend their energy, the way that they spend their money.
What he's observing is that everything that we do as human beings is driven by something.
The truth is we all serve somebody.
Now, I wonder what you think about that.
As Bob Dylan chucks it out there this morning, what do you think about that?
It's very thought-provoking, is it not?
We love to think in our world that we're free.
We do what we want.
Bob Dylan is saying we're all serving somebody.
And it might surprise you to hear me say that the God of the Bible, the God who's made everything,
the God who's made us in his image,
the God who in his word he tells us what he's like,
the God who in his word tells us what we are like,
he would heartily agree with Bob Dylan.
And we know that because of this passage this morning.
And that's really its message, if you want to think about it like that,
that everyone's following somebody.
Everyone's following somebody.
That's its message.
The only question is, who is that somebody?
And you see, if you've got the text there, Paul's opening question, verse 15,
is very similar to that of verse 1 of chapter 6.
For this is a continuation of the theme that we thought about last week.
As we thought about the freedom that we have as Christians in Jesus Christ.
That was a big theme of last week.
Jesus Christ, who as it were, if you want to think about it like this,
he's walked into the marketplace where we were there,
chained to our wrists,
responding to the orders being given by sin, our master.
Just picture it like this.
Sin was shouting orders at us,
and our response was,
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full sir.
That was our response to sin as it shouted,
because we were slaves of sin.
And what happened is, Jesus in that marketplace
walked up to our old master.
He walked up to sin,
and he said, see her,
see him,
I'll buy them.
And I won't give you three magic beans,
I won't give you 30 pieces of eight.
What I'll give you for them,
is that I'll give you me.
I'll give you my life.
Because I'll pay with something far greater than money.
I'll pay with my blood,
I'll pay with my life.
And he bought us,
that's what Jesus did.
He bought us.
He bought us as he died for us on the cross.
He paid with his blood to make us his own.
And we are his.
And we have newness of life in him.
And we've been set free,
and this is where,
if you've made the link,
this is why we read from the Exodus passage earlier,
we've been set free,
not to live for ourselves.
God has rescued us.
Why?
To go wandering?
No.
To worship him.
This is why we've been set free.
Set free from something,
set free for something.
Set free to worship God,
and to live for Jesus every day of our lives.
And really, this passage this morning,
Paul continues that thought.
And what we see him say to the Christians in Rome,
and what we see him say to the Christians of every day,
which includes us,
is that make your every day,
make your every day,
your every thought,
your every motive,
your every act,
make it about obeying and glorifying
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has bought you for himself.
And so that's the pulse of this passage.
And what we'll see is we'll see Paul make two statements
as he tries to unpack this for his readers.
Here's the first one,
beginning at verse 15,
and it's this.
It's that everyone's serving someone.
Everyone's serving somebody.
Every human being who's ever existed,
every human being who does exist,
every human being who will exist,
is serving someone.
Now just think about that for a minute.
Think about your life.
What do you dream about?
What's the next goal on your radar?
What's the next thing that's coming up?
How are you thinking about that?
What's going on?
What in your mind,
as you think about your life,
what would need to happen
in order for you to call it a success?
Friends, if you start engaging with those kind of thoughts,
if you start wrestling with those kind of questions,
you'll begin to see who it is that you really serve.
Because as far as God is concerned,
that there's only two choices really.
I mean, hear this text tell you
that when it comes to who you serve,
who you live for,
the choice is not like a dual X color chart, okay?
It's not like that.
You're not looking at this thinking
that I'm going to be duck egg blue today,
I'm going to be magnolia tomorrow,
and I might even be petal pink next week.
This is who I serve.
I've got the choice.
No, no, no.
God says if you want to play the game of thinking about it,
who you serve,
like a dual X color chart,
think of it with a dual X color chart
with only two colors on it.
And it's black or it's white.
That's it.
Either, and this is true for all of us,
we're serving ourselves,
pursuing our own agenda
and our own advancement,
and therefore we're serving sin,
or we're serving Jesus.
And what we need to understand
is that to serve self
and to serve sin
is what we do by default.
Now, if you don't believe me,
let me challenge you
to try and go a week
without sinning.
Okay?
Try and go a week
without making a self-centered decision,
without making a judgmental thought
about somebody,
without using self-defensive words.
Try going a week without doing that
and see how far you get.
Because I think for all of us,
we wouldn't even make it
till lunchtime on day one,
would we?
Because we're slaves to sin.
This is what we do.
This is the way that we go.
And that was true
of the Christian pre-Jesus.
Do you see what Paul says,
verse 17?
Do you see how we get those words?
And look at it with me,
because these are glorious words.
But thanks be to God.
This is what he says.
Do you see it?
But thanks be to God.
Want to shorten it?
But God.
Now, I love it.
I would love to write a series
called But God
and trace all the but gods
throughout the Bible
because there's tons of them.
But this is the Bible's way
of saying,
here is the game changer.
Something is about to change
in regard to what it's telling us,
what God is telling us.
And what the but,
thanks to God,
says here
is that you were running one way
like we were singing
in our last song
and Christ got involved.
Right?
He got involved.
He graciously intervened.
He mercifully got involved.
And he's transformed our fortunes
if our trust is in him.
And what did he do?
Well, he changed us.
And where did that change occur?
Do you see it there?
It changed in their hearts.
This is the testimony
of every Christian.
There's been a heart change.
God has performed heart surgery on us.
Now, do you know why
that is good news?
Because this is where
the problem is.
This is where the problem is.
This is what we find Jesus
saying in the Gospels.
It's not what goes into the body
which makes it sinful
and defiles it.
It's what comes out of the heart.
The problem is inward.
Right?
The problem is inward.
So, Jesus,
he's not just a surface level saviour.
What this passage tells us
is that he's not just into
simplistic behaviour modification.
What he's into
is holistic life transformation.
If you think about it,
this is why it's so important
that we know our Old Testaments,
that Jesus isn't just
this random bloke
who's turned up onto
the public scene in 30 AD
and started doing stuff.
This is a line of promise.
Because this is what God said
he would do.
This was his covenant promise
to his people,
the one that we see him make
through the prophets Jeremiah,
and we see him make through
the prophet Ezekiel.
That he would move
to do what his people
could not do.
And he would move
to change their hearts.
And how he would do that
is that he would write his law
right into their hearts.
He would write it.
It's there.
It becomes his people's pulse.
This is what they do.
And God made this promise
in the Old Testament.
And he brings it to pass
in the new.
As he rescues
his people
through Jesus.
And he empowers them
to live for him
through the work
of his indwelling
Holy Spirit.
This is mind-blowing
that God lives in us.
His followers.
He lives in us.
He hasn't just set us free
to go and do our own thing,
to try and have a go
on our own strength.
He's given us the power
to live for him.
Gone is that heart of stone.
And brought is that heart of flesh
that beats for him.
And you see what God
has done here.
He has written his word.
He has written
his life-giving word
where?
On our hearts.
And that is,
if you've got the text there,
that is the pattern of teaching
that Paul is talking about here.
Do you see it?
And what does that mean?
It means that our lives
as Christians
should look increasingly
word-shaped.
Because this word,
this living word
has got under our skin.
Right?
Think Frank Sinatra.
I love song lyrics.
There's another one, right?
I've got you where?
Under the skin.
This is where this word
has worked.
It's one,
it's power.
It's shown in our lives.
And it's working away,
renewing us
day after day after day.
Renewing our hearts
and our minds.
And what has it done?
God's word has what?
Claimed our allegiance.
Love that phrase.
It has claimed
our allegiance.
Or as Hannah read there,
we have been entrusted
to this pattern of teaching.
I think if you've got
an ESV there
or a KGV,
I'm sure as well,
I think that translation
probably captures it better
because it talks there
about being handed over
to this pattern of teaching.
And that verb there,
handed over,
is a passive verb.
Nothing to do with us.
Everything that's been done
to us,
that's what it means.
In other words,
we've been handed over
to God.
Now if you think about it,
have you ever had the experience
where you've moved
into a new flat?
Maybe a student,
you've had that experience
or you've bought
your first house,
you've moved into a house
or whatever.
You've moved somewhere different
and you've signed the contract
and you've had a word
with the solicitor,
the agent's happy,
he's got his feet.
And that day comes
when you get the keys.
Right?
Think about that day.
What do we call it?
When you're handed the keys,
what's that day called?
Handover day.
Never say that human beings
aren't creative, right?
How on earth
did we come up with that one?
It's handover day.
And what Paul is saying here
is that if you're a Christian,
you picture yourself
in that scenario.
You're not the landlord,
you're not the tenant,
you're the set of keys.
Right?
You have been handed over
to God.
This is what he's saying.
You have been handed over
to God.
He owns you now.
He's in possession.
And he's going to be the one
that's choosing the furniture.
He's going to be the one
that's choosing the colours.
And the blueprint for that
is his word.
As he moves into our lives,
this is what it's going to look like.
And as he transforms us,
as he transforms us
from the inside out,
friends,
there's going to be
a noticeable difference.
We'll come to love his word.
We'll come to love worshipping him
because he's transformed us
from the inside out.
Let me just say
one of the greatest thrills
for me in this job,
and I wonder if you've had
this experience before,
is seeing people come
to be Christians
for the first time.
Right?
And you know what happens?
You walk up to people
and you say,
listen to me,
I love you.
Do you want to read
the Bible together?
And they look at you
like you're out of your mind.
Why would I be interested in that?
But they've got sympathy for you,
so they entertain you
and say,
yeah, I'll do that.
But as you get into
that conversation,
you realise,
spiritually speaking,
that the lights are not on.
Right?
And then something happens.
Something happens.
And sometime later,
you go up to that person
and say,
would you like to read
the Bible together?
Would you like to read
Romans together?
And they say,
do you know what?
I've read it eight times already.
Why have you done that?
Well, I don't know,
because one day
Jesus wasn't all that
big a deal to me
and then all of a sudden
my eyes were opened
and I can't get enough of him.
And you say,
what has gone on there?
What has happened?
And do you know
what's happened, friends?
Is that God's got involved.
And the truths of Romans 5, 6
have become true
for that person.
Romans 5, 5,
if you want to turn it back there,
what does it say
that God has done?
He has poured
his love
into the hearts
of his people
through the Holy Spirit.
He has poured that love
into the hearts
of his people.
That's what's happened.
And also,
this has happened.
Through the Holy Spirit,
you have come to obey
from your heart
the pattern of teaching
that has now claimed
your allegiance.
This is what's gone on.
I didn't see it for years,
but this is what's gone on.
God has been so kind
and gracious.
And he's poured out
his love
into our hearts.
And now we see
the words of George Whitefield.
When you have once
tasted of his love
and felt the power
of his grace
upon your heart,
you will then love
to talk
and walk
with Jesus.
That's it, isn't it?
Friends,
everyone's serving
someone.
Paul says to the Christian,
God's calling your life.
And she changes you
is to live as slaves
to righteousness.
And here's the second thing
that he says
from verse 19
is that everyone's
going somewhere.
From verse 19,
again,
he urges them
to remember the...
And do you see
how he describes this?
He describes it
as the downward spiral
of sin,
if you like.
That was their lives.
That was what
they were all about.
Friends,
that was maybe
the path
that some of you
are on today
without Jesus Christ.
appeal to you
through this verse
to come to him
in no life.
But Paul is saying,
pre-Jesus,
we were on this
downward spiral of sin.
We were held captive
and we were moving
in the direction of,
do you see it?
Greater and greater
lawlessness.
We were drifting away
from the God
who made us.
Let me just,
as a wee sidebar here,
let me just try and
maybe tell you
about something
that was on my heart
and as I cried
as I was thinking
about it this week
and it surrounds
this whole area
of abortion.
And as I've listened
to people voice
their opinions
on social media
and on the news
and as I've read articles,
it struck me
that as a society,
we've massively drifted
from a time
of rejecting it
to questioning it
to accepting it.
and now as you watch
what's going on,
people are celebrating it.
And it moves me
to tears
and let me just say
that as a church,
we don't want to be known
as people who shout
our nose unsympathetically
from the sidelines.
We want to take
our God-given convictions
about the beauty of life,
every life that God
has made in His image
and we want to take
those convictions
as we walk alongside
people in love
and we say,
let me love you,
let me help you,
let me step into
your pain
and your questions
and your fears
and together,
let us help you
find a better way.
You know,
I met up this week
with the counsellor
for Brunsfield
and Morningside,
just picking our brains
on what are some
of the ways
that we can serve
this community better
as a church
and she said
the number one need
that she perceives
in our area
is social isolation.
people just don't
know where to go,
they've nowhere to turn,
they've got no friends.
Friends,
maybe this morning
you want to think
about ways
that we as a people,
God's people here,
can begin to speak
into those situations
and help.
But back on track,
Paul mentions
what was going on
before Christ got involved,
that we were downward
spiralling
away from God
in our sin.
This is what was going on.
Paul reminds them
that this is what
they used to be all about
and the fruit
of that old life
was producing
bad fruit.
It was bad fruit.
Bad fruit
that went to show
that they didn't know God.
This was their previous life
before Jesus got involved.
You know,
I got an email
a few months ago
from a teacher
at my old school
and she asked me to,
because she found out
I was a minister,
she,
I'm probably desperate
as well to get people,
she asked me
if I'd be willing
to come and speak
at my school assembly.
Now,
see if I'd have thought
about that,
at 16 years old,
sitting in that school
I thought would have
terrified me
in front of 900 people.
But sadly,
I wasn't able to make it
as I checked the dates.
But thinking about my school,
my old school,
do you know what it did?
It unlocked a whole host
of memories in my mind
that I think I'd forgotten.
And as well as some
really cherished ones
about my time at school
and my whole life
around that age group,
what it unlocked
was a whole host of memories
I thought,
what on earth was I doing?
And as I thought
about the things
that I used to do
and as I thought
about the way
that I used to treat people
and the things
that I used to say,
do you know,
I was utterly ashamed.
And presumably,
that is what Paul
is talking about here
when he says,
but by the grace of God,
this is where
your lives were heading.
Do you see him
say it there,
verse 21?
He says,
as you think about
your old life
and the fruit
that you were producing,
are you not ashamed of it?
I've never had
those kind of moments
when you think,
goodness,
but by the grace of God,
where would I be?
What would I be about?
Where would I be running?
And friends,
we need to remember
the previous chapter
that's just come here
in Romans,
that we are saved
by grace alone,
through faith alone
and Christ alone.
We need to remember
that Jesus has dealt
with that old us
on the cross.
It doesn't have power
over us anymore
because he's taken it for us
and praise him.
That stuff doesn't
hold us anymore.
That's not what we're about.
We are a new creation
in Christ.
Christ.
And now,
verse 22,
because of the truth
that we are Jesus's
and the truth
that the Spirit of God
is working in us
and he is pointing us
day after day to Christ,
that's his job,
as we abide in Christ,
we'll begin to see
good fruit in our lives.
See the other side
of the coin here
when Jesus got involved.
Good fruit.
And I think that's
what Paul means
at the end of verse 19
and verse 22
when he's talking
about this new life path
that God has his people on,
the path that is marked
holiness.
This is what we're on.
Some of your translations
might say there's
sanctification.
This is the path
that God has put us on.
This is what he wants to see
from the lives of his people.
You know,
we often talk as Christians,
don't we,
about knowing God's will
for our lives.
Ever ask that question?
What is God's will
for my life?
And we normally use it,
don't we,
when we're thinking
about big life decisions
that we need to make.
We've had a crossroads
and we don't know
what to do.
You know,
what job do I take?
Where do I move?
What place do I live?
Who should I marry?
What should I do?
And in those moments
we get frustrated,
don't we?
As we try and do it
our own way
and try and do things
our own strength
and saying,
God,
why are you not answering?
What's going on?
And we get frustrated
and we remember
to ourselves
that we watched
The Wizard of Oz
when we were younger
and we think about Dorothy
and we thought,
do you know what?
I'll give this one a shot.
God,
would you show me
the yellow brick road?
Would you show me
the yellow brick road
and would you put people
in my path
who will be able
to sing over me,
here is the yellow brick road,
here is the yellow brick road.
There's times in life
where we say,
God,
what is your will
for my life?
Well,
friends,
let me just say,
not putting that aside,
there are big things
that we need to do
but God has given
the means by which
we can make those decisions
but God's primary will
for our lives
is caught up
in this word,
sanctification.
Caught up in this word,
sanctification,
this lifelong,
loving,
transformational process
that God has us on
as his people
through which
he makes us
day after day
after day
through every life experience
more into the likeness
of Jesus Christ.
That's why the Spirit
lives in us.
Pointing us to him.
That's God's primary will
for our lives
and it's amazing
I find this in life
when I'm at that crossroads
and God just says,
have you tried praying?
I'm going,
no,
I haven't tried praying.
What does God teach me
all along?
Was it patience?
Yeah.
Friends,
the fruit of the Spirit
in our lives,
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
godliness,
fruitfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
What lovely words
have you ever met
a person in your life
who just oozes
those things?
Oozes those things?
I can think of people
in my life
who I've met
over the years
who've just
modelled that to me.
Do you know what?
I love being around
those people.
Could be around
the people all day.
Keep on talking.
Talk about the football.
Talk about what you...
Just keep talking
because I just love
to be around
people like this.
Friends,
I just say,
if you're younger here
in this church,
can I encourage you
to get to know
an older generation?
Get to know
the older generation.
Just full of life experience.
And do you know
where they've got it from?
They've got it from
years and years and years
of sitting at the feet
of Jesus.
Day after day
after day
sitting at his feet.
I tell you,
there was someone
in this congregation
I visited recently.
I went to visit them,
but do you know what?
I left feeling like
I'd be visited.
Because we see
the fruit of the Spirit.
Friends,
you know what I think
has occurred to me
this morning
that the ultimate example
of these things
is Jesus.
It's Him.
It's Him that we seek.
It's Him that we're being
transformed more
into the likeness of.
Let me ask you
just in some small way
this morning.
Do you see
the fruit of the Spirit
growing in your life?
Do you see that?
Do you want to see
more of that?
I do.
As God uses these
everyday circumstances
to mould us
more into His likeness,
to teach us
about our inadequacy
and to teach us
about His adequacy,
His all-sufficiency.
Friends,
what fruit are you
seeing in your life?
Because Paul would say
here that that fruit,
what you're seeing,
is going to tell you
a lot about the person
that you're serving.
Do you see it?
At the end here
at verse 23,
he talks about
the fact that
we're all serving
one of these two
very different masters.
And he mentions
the fact that
these two different masters
are going to pay out
at the end of the day
in two very different ways.
Do you see it?
I was thinking this week
about my first job
that I had when I was 16,
before when I was still
at school,
working at the local restaurant,
driving around
in my family Ford car
with the green P on the side,
thought it was
the B's knees.
Do you know what I was earning?
I was earning £4.10 an hour.
Right, now remember
this was 2002,
so don't go calling
the authorities
after that one, okay?
But £4.10 an hour,
this is what I was earning.
Loved it.
But as I look back on that,
I think to myself,
what terrible pay
for the amount of effort
that I put into that job.
But do you see
what Paul says here?
If you've served sin,
if you've given yourself
to sin all your life,
see when it comes to payday
at the end of your life,
see when you total up
all those hours
that you spent investing there,
sin your master
won't give you a gold watch
to mark your retirement,
right?
It's going to pay out
in eternal death.
This is what it's saying.
You know,
we hear Jesus,
I was reading it this week,
Jesus in Matthew 25,
talk about the sheep
and the goats.
This is what's going to happen
when he comes back.
Separate the world
into the sheep
and the goats.
One group,
he will take his people
to be with him
in everlasting joy
and the other group
will go to everlasting torment.
The place that he talks about
as the place of weeping
and gnashing of teeth
doesn't sound great to me.
I don't know how it works,
but it doesn't sound like
a place I want me to be
or want any of you to be
or God wants you to be.
Friends,
words coming from
the most loving human being
who has ever walked
this earth.
Whereas God,
the one who made us
originally in his image
and made us his own
in Christ,
his payday,
do you see it?
It won't be a wage,
it will be a gift.
One that we haven't earned
and it will be a gift
called eternal life.
Heaven,
with him,
worshipping fully,
no more pain,
no more sickness,
just all out worship
of our glorious
three in one God
forever.
See,
these two masters
are paying out
in two very different ways.
Friends,
let me just,
as we draw this
to a close this morning,
let me just ask you
to prayerfully consider today
who are you serving?
What's your life all about?
What are you living for?
Because,
do you know what?
You're going to have
to serve somebody.
You're going to have
to serve somebody.
It may be the devil
or it may be the Lord,
but you're going to have
to serve somebody.
You know,
just as we close,
what we've got into the habit
of doing as a family,
every night when we sit
around the table
for dinner together
as we just ask this question,
what was your best bit
about today?
Right?
So I say to the girls,
what is your best bit
about today?
And they normally say,
I met this.
They don't say,
I met this.
They're not supposed to get it.
They say,
my friend Hannah,
that's the only one
that comes up.
Or we say,
go into the park,
that was my best bit
about today.
But you know what?
As I've been thinking
about this passage this week,
it's urged me to ask myself
a different question
every day.
But not at the end of the day,
but at the start of the day.
A similar but different question.
Not what was the best bit
about my day,
but to ask myself,
who will it be about today?
Who will I serve today?
Paul says in the second half
of Romans chapter 6,
to the Christians in Rome
and to us this morning
as God speaks to us
through his word.
Make your every day
about obeying
and glorifying
the saviour Jesus Christ
who's rescued you
and bought him for himself.
So friends,
I realise we've touched
on a lot of areas there,
so I just want to give us
a minute just to be quiet.
And I urge you to just
pour out your soul
before our all-knowing
and all-loving God today
and then I'll close.
But don't waste this opportunity
before the madness
and the noise kicks off.
Just use this moment of silence
just to reflect your own heart
with God this morning.
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.
Just from sin and self to cease.
Just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest and joy and peace.
I'm so glad I learned to trust him.
Precious Jesus, saviour friend.
And I know that he is with me.
He'll be with me to the end.
Father, what an awesome God you are.
And Lord, I just pray
for us this week,
whoever we are,
Lord, you would teach us
wonderful things about who you are.
Lord, help us not to be about
chasing the things of this world,
but help us
by your grace
to be those people
who are
all out
in pursuit
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So Father,
we commit our hearts to you
this morning,
realising that there's
many of us here
from different experiences
and backgrounds.
And I pray, Father,
that you would,
by your spirit,
continue to be at work
in our lives.
Father, thank you
that you love us.
And so we pray all these things
in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.