Transcription downloaded from https://services.pcumc.org/sermons/27646/looking-to-the-future/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Metrology Right In講 music But to love if there's Thru and I'll even see this You need to know I will be for you what you say Good Fucking Thank you temple Thank God Thank you and me I've changed I'm This Amen. [0:56] Amen. Amen. [1:56] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [2:08] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [2:20] Good morning, everyone. Good morning. We have congregational singing. But I also want to talk to you about singing. A lot of times in singing in the Bible, it'll talk like the mountains are singing and the trees are singing and things like that. [2:36] So singing is a condition of our heart. We are praising God. So it doesn't necessarily have to be their voice. But we're going to sing because a couple of the songs talk about us singing. When I say sing with me, no. [2:48] Sing with me. Praise God with me. Okay. But we want to still encourage you to engage in these times of music. So you can meditate upon the words and just rejoice in the lyrics that point to God's glory. [3:05] You can hum along or you can speak the words. And at certain times we're going to be speaking. So right now we want to do the call to worship. This is the day. And we're going to do it like a responsive reading. You ready? [3:16] Here we go. This is the day. This is the day. This is the day. That the Lord has made. That the Lord has made. Let us rejoice. Let us rejoice. And be glad in it. And be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. [3:31] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day. That the Lord has made. [3:44] Amen. Let us pray. Holy God, it is such a blessing to be in your house together. And we pray that in this time, your presence will come and manifest among us, filling us to overflowing by your Holy Spirit. [3:59] Reveal to us your will. Reveal to us your love. Cover us by your grace as we exalt your holy name. For it's in Jesus' name that we pray and praise. Amen. [4:11] And so I'd like to invite you all to stand if you're able. For blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. [4:39] Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, conscience of God. [4:50] Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. [5:01] Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. [5:14] Praising my Savior all the day long. Heaven's submission, all is at rest. [5:26] I am my Savior, I'm happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above. [5:38] Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story. This is my song. [5:50] Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. [6:01] Praising my Savior all the day long. Please be seated. Good morning. [6:27] This certainly is the day that the Lord has made. And so we do rejoice. If I haven't met you yet, I'm Kathy Stengel, one of the pastors here. [6:38] And if we haven't met, I hope that you'll introduce yourself to me. And if we have met, maybe you do it again. Because I found out already this morning that even coming and going, when someone says, well, everybody remembers my name. [6:53] And I was like, maybe not. So it's going to take some time. And with our masks on, it's especially challenging at times. [7:04] But we are here, and it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I hope you slept well with windows open and some cool air going through your house. [7:15] Maybe even a blanket on. How wonderful it is, these late summer nights in upstate New York. So, here we go. [7:26] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us rejoice and lift up our hearts and continue to praise God in this time of worship. [7:36] For those of you who are joining us online, we say good morning and welcome to be with us. We are so grateful. There is so much to give thanks for. [7:47] And as I look across the sanctuary, and I think, if I could stand here and count you, that's how many reasons we have to praise the Lord. [7:57] Not just because you're here. Because that's not what it's about. It's because we are alive. Are you alive? Yes. Then we come before God with thanksgiving. [8:10] And we do invite you in a variety of ways to participate in supporting our church. There are offering boxes on the way in, on the way out. You can give online. [8:21] There's a variety of ways that you can do that. Most of all, we welcome you to give your hearts and come before God in this time of offering with saying, I give myself. [8:37] At the end of the day, that's what I can give. I can give myself. Thanks be to God. I can give myself. [9:03] Bye. Thank you. [9:34] Thank you. [10:04] Thank you. [10:34] Thank you. [11:04] Thank you. [11:34] Thank you. Praise Him above ye heavenly host, His Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. [11:48] Amen. [12:20] Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. Amen. [12:31] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I want to thank you. I also have some concerns to share. [12:42] I was told that there was a very bad accident down on the bridge down here so please pray for all involved with that. I also know there are family members and friends who have had surgery or are heading into surgery, surgery or heading into surgery. And so please pray for those going through surgeries, recovering from surgery and all the families involved in all of that. So I ask that we all take our attention to God who is always with us, always carrying us and always hears our prayers. [13:08] Let us pray. Holy God, we come to you this day with joy in our hearts, praising you and trusting in you for all things. And we offer to you the things that have been on our hearts, the burdens that we've been carrying, the concerns that we have within ourselves, about ourselves and with others. [13:33] Lord, we pray for people who are struggling physically, that your healing hand will be upon them in a powerful way, that they will be healed of pain, they will be healed of any sickness, they will be healed of any brokenness, that their body will be mended and made whole by the power of your Holy Spirit. Anoint them with your holy healing power and make them well. Be with the medical workers, Lord, and give them your skill and your wisdom. Give them your discernment as they work toward your mission of continuing to keep creation in the way you intended them to be. [14:13] Lord, we pray that you'll continue to bring healing in many, many ways. We pray for healing of people in their minds. Lord, there are people struggling with anxiety, with depression, that have concerns that they're wrestling with, and some even in despair. [14:29] Lord, we pray for healing in the mind, that you will give the mind of Christ and peace in spirit. Cover us, Lord. Cover us all and help us to be filled with your Holy Spirit, so that if there be any darkness within us, it will be shining instead with your light. [14:50] We offer ourselves to you, Lord, in this. Lord, we pray for those who are struggling in the areas of their life with their relationships. We pray for healing in that area as well, that you will infuse relationships with your grace, that your love will abound and people will mend and draw closer to you as they grow closer to one another, that there will be healing in this land, Lord. We pray for your grace. We pray for your grace. We pray for your wisdom. We pray that there will be healing in this land, that there will be justice and love, and that your name will be proclaimed. [15:43] Lord, we pray for families, that you will put a hedge of protection over and around them, that they will be safe, safe from any harm as far as the coronavirus or any other physical ailments, but, Lord, also safe from the world and the darkness that seeks to penetrate and harm. Lord, hedge of protection around each and every one within our church family and within our nation. Lord, we pray for protection from the enemy and fill us instead with your power and by your authority, help us to stand strong. Lord, we pray that you'll continue to give this church your wisdom. [16:26] Help us to see your path. Open our eyes, open our ears, open our hearts to see the mission you've laid upon us. Help us to walk strongly and boldly in the direction you would have for us and help us to do so willingly and with surrender. We offer ourselves to you, Lord, with humility and with praise, with gratitude for who you are and trusting in you for all things. Lord, we offer ourselves to you, trusting in your healing, knowing your grace. For it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. [17:03] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [17:46] Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning. Good morning. The scripture today is from the book of Matthew, chapter 16, verses 24 through 26, and Acts, chapter 1, verses 3 through 11. [18:04] Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. [18:19] What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. [18:36] He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [18:53] For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? [19:07] He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. [19:25] After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. [19:40] Men of Galilee, they said, Why do you stand here looking into the sky? The same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. [19:54] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Amen. I want to start with some descriptions. [20:18] And maybe you'll hear yourself in this as we look in these passages. And some of them are little snippets of other people's stories, but maybe they match something in your life. [20:34] Weeks of basic training, specialized training, special forces, elite work, and then the mission, the assignment, the deployment. [20:45] And you stand at the ready to serve. And then all of a sudden, after all that time, it's time to go. Your first child has been born. [20:58] And you go through all of whatever had to happen for you to have this child. And then there comes that moment when they wheel mom and baby to the curb, and dad gets the car, and there you go. [21:13] They're on your own. And like a night or two later, this was our story. You're wondering why this baby's crying, and you're looking in the baby book and wondering, why don't we know what to do? [21:27] Baby's yours. Three, graduated from high school, four years of college, maybe a master's degree in teaching, and you are finally hired. [21:43] And there comes a time when you step into that classroom, you figure out your stuff, and those fifth graders show up, and it's your job to teach them. [21:58] Appointed to your very first position as the only pastor of a church. And on Sunday morning, you go to the church, you unlock it, and you get ready for people to come, and you know that it is you who will welcome and preach and become the pastor of a new congregation. [22:20] And all of a sudden, you're standing up front, and it's go time. You could add this to your list. Maybe you got a pilot's license, and it's time for your first solo flight. [22:36] You're sitting in the seat, and you're wondering, oh my goodness, may I be safe? Or maybe you got a nursing degree, and you are ready to grow, and you've been through hospital orientation, and all of a sudden, it's your first shift, and you walk down that hall, and you've got patience. [22:57] Maybe you made the team. Could be soccer, softball, baseball, basketball, swimming, whatever it is. And you train, and then comes the first meet, the first game, and you're up. [23:15] We all know about some of these kinds of things. One of my friends is a hairstylist, and she talked about a new client, and she talked about how this new client came in and had really long hair, and she said, the woman said, I want something completely different. [23:36] And as they talked together, it became clear that at least eight inches of that hair was going to be cut off. And she had never met this person before, and she's got the scissors or the shears, and she's ready, and there's that moment. [23:53] Because you know, there's no going back from that first cut when you're cutting off that much hair. We can find our own way into stories like this. [24:06] Maybe it's the first time you step up here to read scripture, and you look at the words, and you're like, wait, do I know how to pronounce that word? Did you say Cappadocia? Things like that. [24:18] Maybe it's the first time you stepped up here and played an instrument, or sang a solo, or prayed. [24:30] We each have those stories in our lives. Now, I've distracted you, I suspect, down your own memories, because I can tell you, I remember that night with a new baby. [24:43] I remember stepping up into the pulpit of a church where I had never met the people, because we United Methodists start on July 1st, and of all things, July 2nd was the first Sunday. [24:55] You move in on the 1st, and you start right away on the 2nd, and you've never seen anybody. I remember teaching. [25:08] I've never been a nurse or a hairstylist, but we each have some of these stories that are a part of our lives, and so, like I said, now that I've distracted you, we're going to go back to the Matthew passage. [25:23] I want you to hear Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of this same verse. Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. [25:39] You're not in the driver's seat. I am. Don't run from suffering. Embrace it. Follow me, and I'll show you how. [25:50] Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? [26:03] What would you ever trade your soul for? Hear these lines. Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. [26:15] You have to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat. I am. Don't run from suffering. Embrace it, and I'll show you how. [26:27] Self-sacrifice self-sacrifice is the way to go, not self-help. Did you hear that? [26:38] It's a lesson in discipleship. Two verses. Two verses. And basically, there it is. A lesson in how you live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. [26:52] Yeah, there's some pieces I would add to that to make it a paragraph about how we live as a disciple, but there's a lot that's right there. Who's in charge? [27:04] Who's in charge? God's in charge. This isn't cowboy work. This is teamwork following God's word or Jesus' teaching or what it says in here following this. [27:16] It's not Lone Ranger work where you just do what you want and figure it out. No. There's a guidebook. And this is going to be hard. [27:31] In fact, sometimes it's going to be really uncomfortable. And that hard stuff, that's going to teach you who you are. [27:42] You're going to figure out who it is you are as you go through some of these really challenging places, these demands, these times when you're terrified, these times when you're wondering, wait, are you talking to me? [28:01] So, we're going to go right into Acts. we hear the story. [28:12] We hear the story of Jesus reminding the disciples, this is how you have seen me. We're not going to act like you didn't know that I rose from the dead because you saw me. [28:27] You experienced me. We shared real food. And you saw with your eyes that I am with you. And I want you to stay where you are. [28:42] And I'm going to send you a helper, the Holy Spirit. You know, I talked about how in Matthew, it talks about how hard this is going to be and that we might sacrifice, wait a minute, have to sacrifice something. [28:56] Well, this passage about what's called the ascension, Jesus rising up to heaven in a cloud. We are reminded that Jesus did not just turn and walk away. [29:12] Jesus did not abandon these terrified disciples who were wondering how they were to do, what it was that they were called to do. That the Holy Spirit would come to them and surround them with courage and strength and comfort and reassurance. [29:32] So when Jesus said, sacrifice, it's going to be hard. Take up the cross, follow me. The difference is we don't do it alone. [29:48] We do it with the help of the Holy Spirit. Before he goes, here it is, Jesus once again working on his disciples, training them. [30:03] For what? He was now going to tell them that their mission was to go and be disciples and preach throughout the land and all of Judea, in all of the world, around all the corners of the earth. [30:20] I don't know about you, but if that assignment was handed to me, I might just back up a little. Did you, did you really mean me, the whole world? [30:38] But remember, it's one person to another person to another person to another person. Certainly the expectation wasn't that the disciples would see every single person in the world. [30:53] now, that day, when the ascension happened, and Jesus went up to the sky and there were the disciples standing there. [31:11] I picture them like this, shielding their eyes from the sun, watching and looking, and startled when a voice comes to them and says, people, Galileans, what are you doing? [31:26] What are you looking for up there? There are commentaries that say that, you know what the disciples were doing? Now, this is a commentary because we don't actually know, but that when they were looking up there, they were actually hoping that Jesus would come back. [31:46] that Jesus would come back and walk in front of them everywhere they went. Boy, I sure wish that was the case sometimes. [31:57] But some people also say that what they were doing was sort of hesitating. You all know that. You know what it's like when you're given an assignment, you're given something to do, you have to do something, and you're standing there and you're waiting and wondering, will somebody else do it? [32:18] Will somebody else step up and do this? Some of the simple things and some of the complicated things. Maybe if I act like I'm not here, maybe if I look busy, someone else will greet the stranger. [32:38] Someone else will take on the hard job. Someone else will do the thing that I was told that I was supposed to do. [32:52] That might look different in your world. It might be that you're given a job at your house. You people who are kids and teenagers and young adults, you might be in a place where there's just this weight for somebody to do something. [33:13] And if you act busy, if you're on your phone or you've got a book open, that maybe somebody else will step up and do it. And then you get to be an adult and you realize, you know what, nobody's washing those dishes except for you. [33:27] Because you look around, there isn't anybody else. You realize that when you're that new nurse and you're about to walk into that room and you look around and you think, well, where's the nurse that really knows what they're doing? [33:44] And you realize that you're it. The disciples looked up into the sky and when they were called upon and asked, what are you doing? [34:01] They realized it's go time. All that we've been trained to do, all that we've been gifted to do, all of the learning and praying and experiences we've had with Jesus, he meant it. [34:17] He meant when he said, go and preach the gospel, go and heal, go and baptize, go and share my good news across the world. [34:28] He meant it. And when they looked down from the sky, they realized this is the moment. [34:39] It's now. This is the time. Remember, we know that feeling. You know that feeling where you have agreed to do something. [34:53] You've agreed to take on something, whether it's nursery or Sunday school or youth group or a Bible study or devotions or maybe it's take the lead at a meeting at work or put the pitch in for a big sale. [35:09] It's about something that you agreed to do and your toes are on the line. How many of you ever watch the racing, the cross, what is it, when they do the track, you know, the field and track things and they're at the starting blocks or swimming when they're on the starting blocks or any other kind of race like that. [35:42] They're on the starting blocks and if you picture what they're doing on those starting blocks, they get into whatever position they're supposed to be in and they're looking down and then before the gun goes off their face comes up and they look. [36:00] When people go off the starting blocks in a swim meet, they get themselves on that block, they get themselves into position and then they lift their heads up and they look. [36:13] Because what happens if you don't? I don't know, have you ever tried to get a good start on a run when you're staring at your feet? Probably going to fall. [36:25] If you're not looking where you're going or you're going to run into something. If you're looking behind you, last week we talked about the cloud of witnesses that we are in front of who built the way for us to be where we are. [36:40] But if we are standing with our feet going this way but our heads that way, probably not going to go. We're probably going to trip. We're probably going to run into someone. [36:52] the call upon your life and mine is always and forever. And so the question I ask you is, are your toes on the line? [37:10] Do you know what it is you've been called to? And maybe you don't. We don't always. always. But I'm here to tell you that no matter your age, no matter your background, no matter whether you've read this Bible or never even cracked it open, Jesus names you as his. [37:32] The scriptures tell us, I knew you before you were born. I knit you together in your mother's womb. I knew your name. [37:44] And from Jeremiah 29 11 that we've been looking at this summer, I have a plan for you. Not just the grown ups, not just the retired people, not the people who've been a part of the church forever and a day. [38:01] You. everyone. Everyone. So then the next question, are we going to stare at the sky, wait for somebody else to take on the call for us to serve? [38:23] Sometimes it's going to stretch us a little bit. Sometimes it's going to be uncomfortable. Sometimes, we're going to feel anxious. [38:36] Or we're going to say, nope, not me. I'm just going to wait. Somebody else will do it. And it's not because people are lazy. It's because we stand in this awesome place of having been created and nurtured and taught by God. [38:57] or on the verge of learning and teaching. And it's launch time. It's go time. And so, here we are. [39:09] So, you remember back when I invited you to think about that first job, that first mission, that first business trip, that first haircut, that first preaching, that first prayer, whatever it might be. [39:26] and I asked you to consider that. And I asked you to be reminded that you've been given everything you need. So, my challenge, and I wrote these down so that I wouldn't forget. [39:44] So, here we are. We're standing on that cloud of witnesses. All the people that prepared the way for us to be where we are, we are standing on their goodness, their creativity, their money to build this place, their teaching that brought us to a place where we can affirm our faith, their nurture of our children, and we who might be children and young people, the people that have taken us where we need to go on this faith journey. [40:18] And it's go time. and I can't say for you what that is. But I can challenge you even this week. Here's an assignment for this week. [40:31] Pray for our teachers. Pray for our teachers who are trying so hard to prepare a place for children. [40:43] Pray for the parents who have chosen homeschooling to keep their children safe. Pray for parents of our children who have been put in a terrible place of having to figure out what is best for their family. [41:03] That's something you can do this week. You can start today. I got a Facebook message from a young man who's starting seventh grade this week. [41:15] And he had been there's evidently a new thing on Facebook where children can send messages that are monitored by their parents. And he said, Pastor Kathy, would you pray for me? [41:28] Because I'm starting school this week. And because he struggles with some things, his prayer is, will somebody talk to me? [41:42] Will I find a friend? What will it be like to do two or three days of school at home? Use a gift that you're holding on to, that maybe you haven't even shared, maybe you haven't even signed up for, volunteered to use it. [42:05] And I'm not just talking about church, I'm not just a salesperson for everybody helping and volunteering the church, although if you ask me, I might give you an opportunity. But it's not just here, it's everywhere. [42:18] There might be a gift that you have and you're feeling it and you know it, but you said, not me, not now. Somebody else will do it. [42:31] Maybe your toes on the line, maybe it's time for you to work on a relationship that you've been avoiding. [42:43] Maybe you've been avoiding the work on the relationship, maybe you've been avoiding the relationship, but it eats you up and maybe it's go time to try to sort some of that out, to figure out where is forgiveness and where is the good news and what does God want me to do? [43:04] You might be hoping that relationship will fix itself. Jesus said it was going to be hard and that there would be places where we would have to sacrifice. [43:16] Help people adapt to this new way of life. We've been talking in the church about do we just kind of stay closed and hang around and just have Sunday worship? [43:31] If we can't do this and we can't do that and we can't do that, and I am going to continue to challenge people to say maybe you can't do it like that, but by golly with God's help and the Holy Spirit we can find a new way and maybe you're the person to help. [43:51] Maybe for you it's to begin once again to believe that God has a plan for you and that it is for good. Maybe it's just time for you to stand on the line and look and listen. [44:15] Do any of you remember the book Where the Sidewalk Ends? It's a book where the conversation used to be a great book to give to people graduating from high school because there comes a place where the sidewalk ends and there's the grass. [44:33] And oh, we want a sidewalk and we want it shoveled and we want it dry and we want it safe, but there comes a place for all of us like those disciples who looked down and realized it's go time. [44:50] It's go time. For me, for you, for all of us, not just this one day, but as long as God has a call on your life. [45:03] It's where the sidewalk ends and God will show us the way. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Lord, inspire us. [45:15] Release us from fear. Help us to not look up in the sky or down to our feet, but to look forward, to look up, knowing, knowing that you and your Holy Spirit will guide us each step of the way. [45:36] We do give thanks. We do pray and we do hope. Amen. Amen. Communion is a sacrament, an offering of grace, a means of grace, and it is offered to everyone, grace offered to everyone who seeks to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. [46:15] And so you are all invited to the table. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. [46:36] You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through the prophets. [46:53] And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. [47:05] Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. [47:16] Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. Your spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. [47:29] to set at liberty those who were oppressed and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. [47:42] By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit. [47:56] At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign with you at your right hand. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to God, and he broke the bread, and he gave it to his disciples, and he said, take and eat. [48:13] This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup, and he gave thanks to you, and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant poured out for you, poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. [48:33] Drink of this often, remembering me. And so in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's sacrifice for us. [48:51] And so we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. [49:02] Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us, the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. [49:21] By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet. [49:35] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen. [49:47] Now let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, saying, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [50:02] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [50:16] for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. So we are now going to be singing this song, but we're actually going to be praising through this. [50:35] The words even say, sing with me, but again, how do we sing? Sing in the spirit, sing in your life. You can embodiment of praise, you can meditate on it, hum with it, and at the very end of the song, we're going to all speak it together. [50:50] How great is our God. I invite you all to stand as we worship God together. Amen. Amen. The splendor of the key, clothed in majesty, Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice He wraps himself in light And darkness tries to hide And trembles at his voice, and trembles at his voice How great is our God Sing with me, how great is our God [51:51] And all will see how great How great is our God Reach to age he stands And darkness is in his hands Beginning and the end Beginning and the end And God agree in one Father, Spirit, Son The Lion and the Lamb The Lion and the Lamb How great is our God Sing with me, how great is our God And all will see how great [52:53] How great is our God Name above all names You are worthy of all praise And all will see how great is our God Name above all names You are worthy of all praise And all will see how great is our God So let's speak it all together Are we ready? [53:49] How great is our God Sing with me, how great is our God Hear in verse Shout with me his voice How great is our God August 5th Sunday Tech Rules is our love. [54:47] It doesn't taste great to a lot of people, but it is the body and the blood of Christ. We remember broken for you. And now hear these words. It's a paraphrase from something that Theodore Roosevelt wrote long ago. [55:00] Blessed are you who run the race and sometimes fall down and get dirty. And then with the Holy Spirit, rise up and go on again. [55:12] Because we will fall and we will fail. But God sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper. And so we go. [55:23] And you do not go alone, not today, not ever. May you be blessed by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. [55:50] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. [56:02] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. [56:39] Thank you. [57:09] Thank you. [57:39] Thank you. [58:09] Thank you.