A Growing Community

SERMON: 2010-01-06--ac1038--a-growing-community SOURCE DURATION: 00:48:29.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 1.00 APPROVED: false REASON: The sermon begins with segment [0]. The material following the prayer/benediction in segment [422] transitions into sustained acoustic music (starting at [423]), which marks the end of the main recorded sermon content. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:44:44.600-00:48:27.640 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- So, what happens when, like the early church, we devote ourselves to the Apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers? Well, we become, as we have been seeing, a transformed and a transforming community. The Bible says in Acts chapter 2, concerning the early church, they were filled with awe. They experienced signs and wonders, and their lives were so changed, that they freely shared their goods with one another. So now you have a devoted community. You have a community that is transformed, and that is transforming what happens next. Well, you become, says the book of Acts, a growing community. Listen again to verse 47, Acts chapter 2. The Lord added to their number daily, added to their number daily, those who are being saved. As we take a few moments this morning then to reflect on this verse together, allow me to point out, if we have time, three things. First of all, numbers matter to God. Look again at the verse, and the Lord added to their number daily, those who are being saved. There are, in the Christian church, two kinds of growth that we can expect to happen. One is qualitative growth, and the second is quantitative growth. And qualitative growth, of course, is growth in Christian maturity, growth in Christ, whereby we increase in love for God and love for our neighbor, where the gospel actually transforms our lives, and we become more like Jesus. Quantitative growth is growth in numbers, new believers being added to the community of faith. And it's the second kind of growth, numerical or quantitative growth, that is the subject that is being treated here in Acts chapter 2. The Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved. Now here's the reality. We're not always very comfortable in churches talking about numbers, and there's a number of reasons for that, if you'll forgive the pun. One is that numbers are, they're sort of digital instead of analog. It holds us accountable in ways that spiritual growth doesn't do. You know, you can talk to somebody and say, "Well, you know, how's your church growing, or how many new converts have you baptized into your community?" And, you know, you become definitely quiet, because that's a concrete figure. It's much easier to say, "Well, we're not growing much this way, but oh, are we ever growing this way in a spirituality, and in our maturity?" Growing in our spirituality and maturity is important, but a healthy church not only grows deeper this way, it also grows wider this way, and finding the balance is important. Another reason why we're sometimes not very comfortable with numbers is because it easily leads to pride, doesn't it? I mean, I make this much money, or I own these many cars, or I have this many houses, or you know, we've got this many people attending services. And some of us in the back of our minds, we will remember that rather sad story in the Old Testament, recorded in 2nd Samuel 24 in 1 Chronicles chapter 21, when David, a man after God's own heart, got a little carried away with the blessings of God. And you remember, he told Joab to do a census among Israel to see how many people and how many soldiers he had in particular. His heart was proud before God, so much so that even Joab, who was no angel, if you know the Old Testament story, Joab said, "David, don't do it. You're gonna get yourself into trouble." And sure enough, he did, because the Lord was angry, and if you know the story, he gave him a choice of three options, three punishments that he was going to experience. Three years of famine, three months of enemies pursuing him, or three days of a plague. And you may remember David's answer. "Better to fall into the hands of the Lord," he said, "than to fall into the hands of my enemies." And he settled for the three-day plague, and in three days worth of time, 70,000 people died. So yes, numbers can get you into trouble. That having been said, I often say this, we ought not to try to be more spiritual than God, because numbers matter to God. Earlier on in Acts chapter 2, we're told how many people were converted, 3,000. The next chapter, Acts chapter 4, 2,000 more added to the church. Go back to the Gospels, to the ministry of Jesus, how many people did he feed with bread? 5,000 on one occasion, 4,000 on another occasion. And go back all the way to the Old Testament, you discover there's even a book called what? Numbers. Numbers matter to God. And they matter to God for three reasons. Number one, every number represents a person for whom Christ died. Think this through with me. If the gospel is true, and I trust we believe that it is, then what does the Bible say about individuals who are outside of Christ, people who have not come to faith, who have not repented? What happens to them when they die? They are eternally separated from the love of God. They are forever excluded from his presence. To put it crassly, they go to hell. Now think that through with me, because that means most of the people that you and I know, and rub shoulders with, people who don't know Jesus, are going to spend eternity separated from God. You and I think we have a bad day here or there, and sometimes we despair and we say there is no hope. Can you imagine an eternity without hope? And a lot of people say well God wouldn't do that, well I beg to differ because scripture is very categorical and there is nobody who talks more about hell than Jesus does. And so the Bible says God doesn't wish that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. And so numbers matter to God because when a person repents of sin, turns in faith to Jesus, and becomes part of God's forever people, that means forever that person's life is changed and salvaged from hell. And the Bible says there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over 99 that have no need of repentance. Sobering words. Numbers matter and they matter because each number represents a person before God for whom Christ died, and numbers matter secondly because each number adds to God's glory. Now we don't think in those terms very often. Typically when we think of the need for salvation, as I just pointed out, we think of what it does for the individual. It keeps you from going to hell, it guarantees an eternal future in the presence of God, that's pretty nifty. But there's a lot more involved in it than that because there's God's perspective, and from God's perspective everybody who is not joined by faith to Jesus is joined whether they know it or not to God's archenemy the devil. They are influenced by the power of evil and they live lies that are in opposition to the purposes of God. They dishonor God, they don't hallow his name, they don't seek his kingdom, they're not merely neutral. Jesus says if you're not for me then you're what? You're against me. And so when a person gets converted, when they repent of their sins and they turn to Jesus and they submit their lives to God's authority, guess what? God is honored. Can you imagine what would happen in this community if instead of maybe a couple thousand people gathering for worship in all the churches in Bellevue when you put them all together, we had two, three, four, ten times as many people worshiping God. How much glory does God receive when people honestly revere him, worship him, and serve him, and repent of their sins, and try to live a life that is pleasing to God? See, numbers matter because the more people that serve God, the more glory God receives. So numbers matter because eternity is at stake, numbers matter because God's glory is at stake, and then numbers matter because numbers, each number contributes to God's purposes for the church in the world. Ever ask yourself the question, "Why when I come to faith in Jesus is God so interested in putting me in the context of community?" I mean, a lot of us are perfectly happy on our own, thank you very much. We don't need to hang around with the likes of others who are just a burr under the saddle and who sometimes give us nothing but grief. I mean, just be honest. I know you're not that kind of a person, but the guy that you're sitting next to might just be. What's the purpose of the church? Well, the purpose of the church beginning all the way back with Abraham is to receive the blessings of God so that collectively the church can shine as a light not only to the world but also to the principalities and the powers. In other words, the church is called upon to demonstrate an alternate reality to the world and to the principalities and the powers that are behind the world. Ephesians chapter 3 is so instructive in that regard. His intent, God's intent, was that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. What he is saying there is that Jesus is the firstborn among any brethren, that's out of Hebrews, and just as Jesus was heaven's reflection on earth to show who God is and what God wants and how God operates the universe, you and I, not just individually but collectively, we are to be a reflection of heaven. And so every time you add numbers to the church and the numbers that are added to the church live for the glory of God, you're adding power to the testimony of God's witness not only to the world but to the principalities and the powers. And so every time you and your family sit in a restaurant and everybody else just digs in as if there is no God who provided that food but you bow your head together and you ask the Lord's blessing, tough as it is for many of us, you are adding to God's purposes in bearing witness to the principalities and the powers let alone to your neighbors. But you belong to God and you know where this food comes from. And every time you get up in Sunday morning when all your neighbors are sleeping in and you clean off your car and you go down slippery roads and you gather together in a place like this, you're bearing witness not only to the neighborhood but you're bearing witness to the principalities and the powers that you believe in God. That God is the source of your life and that you want to get to know Him and you want to serve Him and you want to do His will. And every time when you come to a service and you give of your time and your talent and your treasure, instead of just spending it on your own pleasure, you're showing to the principalities and the powers that you walk to the beat of a different drum because doing the will of God and honoring Him is more important to you than living for what the world values and the kingdom that the world is building. And every time when life is tough and everything inside you says, "I want to walk away from all of this," but like Job, you hold on to God and you refuse to curse Him, you're showing principalities and powers that you are related to God and that you want to honor Him. Many of us, I think, were deeply moved at the candlelight service when Sharon shared her testimony with us a week and one day before she died. None of us could have guessed it would go on that fast. And we played that testimony at her funeral and I think there probably wasn't a dry night in the room. But moving as that was, and I shared this in the New Year's Day service, but for those of you not here I'll share it again, equally moving was Carter's testimony at that service about his love for his mom and his faith in God. And with his permission this morning, we're gonna show you that clip one more time. Here is Carter at his mom's funeral back on New Year's Eve. Hello, I'm Carter. I'm Sharon's oldest son. I have to say, when it comes to Christians, I think Sharon was one of the biggest Christians I've ever seen. She was very wise, very beautiful, and she had lots of courage and strength. And without her, I couldn't have never made it through public school. And now I'm off to high school now. And the one thing that she wanted the most is to see me pass through college. But still, she still has that dream because she's up there and she's watching me right now. She always will be. And a few months ago, I decided to myself I want to leave the Christian faith. I want to give up. But she gave me the courage to keep on going, and I am. And if I didn't have, if I couldn't have had God in my life, I wouldn't know where I would go. And I would always call myself a loser or a waste of creation or something like that. But now I know that God made me special in my own certain way. And I'm going to use all my knowledge to help me in the future. And I hope to see my mom in heaven in so many years in the future. Numbers matter. They matter because every soul saved makes a difference. They matter because God's glory is at stake. And they matter because we bear witness to principalities and powers that we are God's people and our hope and our faith is in God. And Carter, you need to know, has a form of autism. Learning has been very difficult for him. And for him to say, "I'm gonna see this through" shows not only us but the world that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Amen? Amen. Alright, numbers matter. But in order for individuals to be added to the church, people need to be saved. Notice again verse 47, "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." To be saved is to be rescued. We talk of a person who has fallen through the ice. Somebody comes along and rescues them and we say, "I was saved." Or a person involved in a bad car crash and the medical team comes along and help arrives and we are saved from certain death. Or we have a bad heart attack or some other medical condition and the paramedics come and they plug in all their tubes and their ventilators and our lives are saved. And the reality of Scripture, of course, is that all of us by nature are lost in sin and we need to be saved. And I know you've heard this oodles of times before, but allow me just a couple of moments at the start of a new year to review with you the power of the gospel in that regard. Those two circles, as you know, represent the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God represented by the centrality of God, God having created us, wanting us to trust him, to honor him, and to obey him, God offers to meet all of our needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. You and I, being supplied by God, have more than enough that we need for each other and so peace on earth, goodwill towards men prevails. If you look at the Gospels and what Jesus teaches through that lens, you will see how simple life has been designed to be. God and us in relationship, God sharing his infinite resources and us sharing our resources with each other. The reality is, of course, that Adam and Eve fell into sin. Let's have that back up. Adam and Eve fell into sin. You and I are the products of that relationship and this other circle now represents the reality of where we find ourselves. We're alienated from God because God is removed from us. If he were to step into our sinful world, people often say, "Why doesn't God show up?" I can tell you why God doesn't show up because he'd blow us right out of the water. His holiness could not fathom our sinfulness. And so what happens here is Satan is called the god of this world. He fills us with the philosophy that God either doesn't exist or if he does exist he is not good. He doesn't care for us. So he advises us that we need to look after ourselves. So now I look after myself, you look after yourself, the result is conflict and confusion because everything spirals down. And the more that philosophy of life holds sway, the more society spirals downward. And you see the rumblings of that in the economy of today, in the relationships of today, all the wise men of the world pulling out their hair. How do we solve this kind of thing? And the longing of the human race from the beginning of time has been, "How do I get back to paradise? How do I regain this life of shalom, this life of happiness, joy, and fruitfulness that intuitively I know I have been created for?" And the message of the Bible is that there is but one way and that is by the cross of Jesus. People think there are multiple ways, technology will make me happy, philosophy will make me happy, education will make me happy, getting rich will make me happy. None of those things the Bible says ultimately are ever going to work. The only thing that works is Jesus who came into our world, pay the price so that our relationship can be restored with God, and when by faith we recognize, as the Catechism says, our sin and misery. And we recognize there is nothing we can do ourselves to save ourselves. And we begin to look in faith to Jesus who died for us and who arose to make us right with God and to restore us to God. At that moment we are saved, we are positionally placed in the kingdom of God, we call that justification. Then in union with Christ, the Holy Spirit working in my heart changes me so that I put off the old and put on the new. That's called sanctification, and then one day when Jesus comes back this whole kingdom is going to be destroyed once and for all, and this will be the kingdom of God that will last forever and ever. That's called glorification. That whole process is the process of salvation. Now, for somebody to be added to the church, they have to go through this process of salvation. There is no other name given among men, whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus. And what that means practically speaking is, first of all, those of us who grow up in the church also need to be saved. I know sometimes that comes to us as a surprise, because after all I've grown up knowing all these stories, I've grown up going to Sunday school and maybe catechism class, and I go to church regularly, and all of that is good and well. But as I sometimes say, it's the difference between living together and getting married. You can go out together, you can live together, you can sleep together, but unless at some point you stand before God and before witnesses and say, "I do," married, you're not. And one of the dangers of growing up in the church is that we know all the stories, but we never actually take that step of faith that says, "I repent of my sin. I repent of trying to build my own kingdom. I know there is no hope but Jesus, and Jesus I want you to live in my heart and to impart to me your life." And I hope you don't think I'm out of line, but what a good opportunity on the first Sunday of a new year to do a little spiritual checking. Have you been to the cross? Have you bowed before Jesus? Have you invited him into your heart, and has your life experienced change since that time when you invited Christ into your life? And I'm not asking have you had big spiritual experiences. I'm not asking do you see signs and wonders and miracles on a regular basis, but has there been a deepening of passion for God, a deeper conviction of sin, a greater desire to honor him and to do his will? And if the answer to that is, "I don't know," or if the answer to that is, "I don't think so," then what an opportunity to bend the knee and to say, "Jesus I don't know if I've ever done this but I want to do it now," because you see outside of Jesus you're gonna miss the boat, and missing the boat eternally is pretty miserable stuff. Not only do we need to be saved who are raised in Christian community, so do our children. And to be a child raised in a Christian home is again an incredible privilege, but you know that also doesn't guarantee that I'm gonna be a man or a woman of faith. In our family Christmas exchange this year, one of our family members gave me this book entitled "Already Gone, Why Your Kids Will Quit Church, and What You Can Do To Stop It." And in preparation for this book, the author Ken Ham and Britt Beamer did a survey of a thousand young adults between the ages 20 and 29, young adults raised in conservative evangelical churches to see how they fared faith-wise in that age bracket. Their discoveries were astonishing. 61% of young adults who had been raised in the church by that age bracket had left the church, many of them never to return. Sobering statistics. Not only that, they initially thought well maybe kids lose their faith when they go to college and university because that's sort of what you expect, isn't it? But here's what they discovered. Their doubts about God and the things of God didn't start at university. In fact, only 10% of them lost their faith at college, 40% had already lost their faith by junior high, and 44% in high school. These are kids raised in a religious conservative evangelical background. That is shocking. Why try to save the world if we can't hold on to our own? And so obviously they're asking themselves the question, what is this? Why is this happening? And I haven't quite finished the book yet but I've read enough to know that their conclusion is that the kids are losing faith because in their growing up years there is no connection between what they hear and what they learn in church and the real world out there. They know all the Bible stories, intellectually they give a sin to it, but it doesn't connect with what they do in real life. And besides that, too many adults in their lives aren't living out their faith either. And their thesis is that the key to holding on to our kids is to prepare them to deal with the world at the level where they are, knowing how to answer the questions that are coming at them at school through science and through all the other philosophies that are coming at them and to be part of homes where Jesus Christ is so real and so alive that they cannot but accept the reality of his faith. Sobering thoughts, I thought, do you think? So we need to be converted or saved, our kids need to be saved, and of course the world needs to be saved. And the challenges in terms of reaching the world then is to avoid a two-fold error that churches make typically, and that is on the one hand to raise the standard too high and on the other hand to lower the bar too low. Typically what happens in a lot of churches is there is so much culture that becomes attached to the gospel that openly or subtly there is the impression created that unless you become like me you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And so you need to dress like me, you need to treat your kids the way that I treat my kids, and you need to behave the way that I do. Not recognizing that the Christian life is a life of growth and if I knew in Christ there's a whole other world that I have lived in people, and for me to start living in a religious world or even in a world where where I have an authentic relationship with God, that is a huge project and we should never confuse justification with sanctification. I'm not saved because I'm wearing the right clothes, drive the right kind of car, or hold down the right kind of job. I'm saved because I have repented of my sin, I am miserable, and I know that I need Jesus. After that everything else will go. I remember years ago first church we pastored we had a woman in that congregation she was being accosted by Jehovah's Witnesses and she was being drawn in by their movement but had been told that before she could become part of their Kingdom Hall she first had to learn to keep her house in order. And I remember thinking to myself now isn't that putting the cart in front of the horse? Is it good for her to keep her house in order? Yes it was even better if she dressed her kids instead of letting them run around naked which she did. That's a whole other problem. But you're not saved by dressing your kid and you're not saved by being a good housekeeper or some of us here would be in a lot of trouble. No, no we're saved by coming to Jesus. So don't raise the bar beyond where Jesus raises the bar. He says welcome one another as I have welcomed you. Learn to look beyond the externals and look at the heart because there are some very deeply pagan people who are in some ways closer to the kingdom than people who look like they have it all together. Just listen to Jesus when he talks to religious Pharisees. But there's another danger because you see people that really have a heart for the lost and that really want to break down communication barriers, what do they do? Well they lower the bar. They're so anxious to get people into church, they're so anxious to get people giving their lives to Jesus that before you know it they compromise the gospel, they remove the offense of the cross, and so now you get churches that are filled with bodies of people who are unconverted because they've never given their lives to Christ. So if we mustn't place the bar too high, neither must we ever compromise on the bar of the gospel. You don't get in the kingdom unless you know what your sin and misery is, unless you've come to Jesus, and unless Jesus living in you radically changes and transforms your life over a period of time. So in the church numbers matter. To be added to that number, you must be born again. The church is not just a collection of a variety of people who share a common language, common culture, or a common society. No, we're born again. The final thing just very quickly that I want to point out here is that at the end of the day, growing the church is ultimately God's work. The Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved. Here's the mystery of faith, people. At the end of the day, none of us can reach into somebody else's life, throw the switch, and bring them to life. A lot of us have tried. We can't do it because we can't raise the dead. All we can do is be tools in the hands of God. I often compare it to being midwives. All we can do is facilitate the natural birthing process. We can pray, we can witness, we can invite people to church, we can invite people to give their lives to Christ, we can challenge them, we can exhort them, but at the end of the day, the work is God's work. And it's a curious combination of God working in somebody's life and you and I serving as God's hands and God's feet. The Apostle Paul said, "I planted the seed, Apollo's watered it, but God made it grow." So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. And Jesus in Matthew 16 echoes that same sentiment. He asks his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they say, "Well, some say that you're John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets." And then he says, "But who do you say that I am?" And you remember Peter's answer, don't you? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then what does Jesus say? "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." I want you to know that the older I get, both age-wise and in Christ, the more I am convicted about the reality of a thing called election. Election means that we don't first choose God, but God first chooses us, and he does so before we're even born. It's a doctrine that's much misunderstood, much maligned. If people use it to say, "Well, if I'm elected, doesn't matter what I do, God will save me anyway." And other people say, "Well, if I'm not elect, there isn't anything I can do." It's all distortions, because election is not a little game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe. You're in or you're not. No, no, it is a doctrine of comfort to God's people, that he who began a good work in me will also bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ. And while the early Reformers almost viewed election as making evangelism unnecessary, the opposite is true. You see, I firmly believe that God has his call on people in this community and on people all around the world, many of whom are still outside of the faith. And when you and I shine with the light of Jesus, when you and I devote ourselves to the Apostles' teaching and all the other stuff that we've talked about, when when our lives are filled with awe and transformed by the power of Jesus, you know what happens? All those who are elect, even when they are miles away from the faith, there is something inside them that says, "Yes, there is something there." I will never forget what God used to truly change my life to the core of my being. I was at college, some of you have heard this story. I had some dorm advisors who were working with a student organization called Navigators. They radiated with the life of Jesus. They dragged me to one of their retreats, kicking and screaming. But I remember being so struck by the fact that here were a bunch of my schoolmates who were unashamed in talking about Jesus. And I remember saying to myself, "Whatever it is that they have, I want it." Never underestimate the power of your witness in just being you. When you smile at that person, when you mention to that person that you're going to church, when you relate with your spouse or with your kids, even when it is not perfectly, this is the amazing thing. If Christ is in you, he has fascinating ways of leaking out. He leaks out all the time. You got to work at keeping him in. And you know what happens? Is there are people out there whom God has chosen for eternal life, and they will pick up on whatever it is that you're leaking out, and it will stir in them a hunger. And it may take days, months, years, but it will draw them to faith. You've heard the story of how Doug, Sharon, and family came here. They had a hard time. They were going through Sharon's illness. Marty VanderLane met up with Doug on the job site. Marty, sensitive to the Holy Spirit, invited Doug to the men's group. Doug came. They were invited to church. They became part of Alpha. And at the Alpha banquet that year, Sharon, who now was 18 months into her illness with cancer, she gave her life to Jesus, is forever changed, and as Carter said, is up in heaven smiling down at us, knowing that she's been relieved of her pain, all because God was faithful and so were his people. So here's my challenge for you as we wind this up this morning. Who is there in your world that God gives you love for? Who is there in your world where there is a little voice on the inside that says, "Wouldn't it be neat if that person could become a Christian?" Who is there in your world that you feel you need to be praying for? You know, Julie Cookman told me the other day she had Carter as a student back in, I think, grade one at Prince of Wales, and when years later she found out that his mom was so sick, she prayed earnestly for him and for his family. Not an amazing thing. That's long before anybody knows the end from the beginning. So I ask you, who is there in your life, in your circle of influence, whom God has placed there sovereignly, who underneath all the rough and tumble of life, there is something that hungers for the reality of God, and God wants to use you maybe just a little bit to move them closer to that step of faith, into that place ultimately of decision. And you and I, we give up so easily, don't we? But you know something, if God's got his call on somebody's life, it's good reformed doctrine of irresistible grace, if God is after you, he's gonna get you because every knee will bow. So as we look forward to the new year, as we look forward to fulfilling the vision that God has entrusted to us, all we need to do is just do our own part. And you know, and I've said this before, but if every person sitting in this room this day could somehow win one person to Jesus over the course of the next year, we double in size by next year. Do you know that? And even if we took two, three, four, or five years to do that, we'd have the kind of rate of growth that God says ought to be happening in a healthy church. I don't know about you, but let's pray that he gives us faith to do just that. Father, more than anything, I pray for us this morning that you would help us to understand your heart, the heart that so clearly came to expression in the Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 15 when he tells the parable, "First of the lost sheep, then of the lost coin, and then of the lost son." Lord, how heaven grieves at the lostness of the human condition and how heaven holds its breath waiting for all God's people to come to faith because God is not slow in coming back but doesn't wish for any to perish. Lord, we're just not very good at all of this and we need you. So Lord, help us in this coming year just to hear from you and to listen to you and help us to take those little steps of faith where we can just give a word of encouragement, pray a prayer, extend an invitation. And Lord, may this be a year of unparalleled transformation in the lives of multitudes of people. We're not just asking for numerical growth, we want deeper growth in you as well, but Lord, you long for the nations to come and worship you. So thank you for your promise to be with us and thank you for the exciting opportunities that you're going to create and the lives that you're going to change for your glory. We pray it together in Jesus' name and all God's [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:44:44.600; remove through 00:48:29.000] people said amen [CUT]. Take us to the river. Take us there in unity to sing a song of your salvation. To win this generation for our King. A song of your forgiveness. For it is with grace that river flows. Take us to the river in the city of our God. Take us to your throne room. Give us ears to hear the cry of heaven. For the cry is mercy. Mercy to the fallen sons of men. Mercy has triumphed. Drowned over judgment by your blood. Take us to your throne room in the city of our God. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon us. This is the year of the Lord. Take us to the mountain. Lift us in the shadow of your hands since you're a mighty angel. Who stands to strike the ocean and the land in his hand your mercy. Showers are dry and bare in place. Take us to the mountain in the city of our God. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon us. This is the year of the Lord. Take us to the river. Take us there in unity to sing a song of your salvation. To win this generation for our King. A song of your forgiveness. For it is with grace that river flows. Take us to the river in the city of our God. Take us to the river in the city of our God. Take us to the river in the city of our God. 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