On His Way Rejoicing

SERMON: 2011-12-18--ac1177--on-his-way-rejoicing SOURCE DURATION: 00:51:04.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: Candidate 11 ('Please stand.') is a directive that concludes the spoken sermon content (prayer/benediction). Candidate 12 marks the clear transition into non-sermon material, specifically a hymn or carol ('Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel'). Therefore, candidate 11 is the last token belonging to the sermon. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:47:57.040-00:51:04.140 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 --- Going to carry on this morning with the Book of Acts, the story of the eunuch, and you may wonder what in the world that has to do with the Christmas season. I think that will be complained. In your bulletins is a scripture insert which gives you all of chapter 8 of the Book of Acts. I'd like to ask you to take that out. The passage that we're dealing with this morning runs from verse 26 to the end of the chapter. We'll have to see how far we get into it, but it is, as I said, the story of the eunuch, the Ethiopian eunuch, and his encounter with Philip on the road to Gaza. So keep that passage before you, and we'll talk about it a little bit this morning and see how it ties in, in fact, to the message of Christmas. So before we get into that, let's just join in prayer. Father, we're grateful for your word. We're grateful for the message of salvation, and we're grateful how the Lord Jesus came to restore all nations to himself. And we pray as we look at scripture that you'll help us to understand the big picture and that understanding the big picture, we may also understand what our part in that picture is. And having been saved by the grace of Jesus, may we Lord give ourselves willingly to you so that through us in turn, your blessings might be made known to all the nations of the world. So bless us in this time together, give me the words that I need, all of his hearts and lives to hear you and having heard you, to honor you, and to obey you with our obedience. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I want to begin this morning by asking you a question. The story before us here in Acts chapter 8, as I said a few moments ago, is the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who travels to Jerusalem and now is on his way back to his native country when he meets up with Philip the Evangelist. Philip the Evangelist was one of the deacons who expanded his ministry, you will recall, into the proclamation of the word. So my question for you this morning is this, what two Bible stories does this story remind you of? What two Bible stories does this story remind you of? One is in the Old Testament and one is in the New Testament. Let's begin with the old. Anybody want to wager a guess? The Queen of Sheba. Remember the Queen of Sheba? We read about her in 1 Kings chapter 10. The story is repeated in the book of Chronicles. When the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. The story goes on to tell us that she was so overwhelmed by his wisdom and by his riches that she brought incredible offerings to him. She brought him, if you can believe it, four and a half tons of gold, spices galore, and precious stones, and she came from the area that we now know of as Ethiopia to connect with the Lord. So that's the Old Testament story. What New Testament story does this remind you of? You got to speak up because I can't hear you otherwise. Anybody want to wager a guess? Not well? Could, but she's only from Samaria. She's not from far, far away. Who in the Christmas story comes to see Jesus from far away? Come on, the wise men. Of course it's the wise men. Matthew 2 records that story this way. "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi or wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?' We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." And what do they bring with them when they came to see baby Jesus? Gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So here we have three stories who all have a very basic common theme to them. We have influential and powerful people from foreign lands. They are supernaturally drawn to Israel to share in Israel's spiritual blessing. We have the queen of Sheba, we have the wise men, and we have this dude from Ethiopia who's been to Jerusalem and is now on his way back. Those stories are not coincidental because those stories all have a common theme, and that is that they are the fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham that not only would God bless Abraham, but through Abraham his blessings would pass on to all the nations of the world. So it was never God's purpose simply just to bless his people. It's always been his purpose to bless his people so that through his people, God's blessings would in turn reach to the nations of the world. God originally, in Scripture, dealt with all the peoples of the world because they all belonged to him. Then when the world went apart, he chose Abraham, selected the people of Israel to be his covenant people who would keep his testimony, who would know his revelation, through which the Messiah could one day be born. But God's purpose was always that his message of salvation would eventually encompass all nations. Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 puts it this way, "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." My salvation to the ends of the earth. And that's originally a Messianic promise because the servant, the suffering servant of Isaiah, ultimately refers to Christ, but beyond Christ it refers to the people of God. And God's intention from the very beginning was that God's people would serve as a vehicle of his redemptive purposes for the world. That verse comes to expression in the vision statement that we as a congregation adopted many years ago. That vision statement goes like this, "We're called to be a biblically functioning community through which the redemptive purposes of God for the world can be realized. A biblically functioning community through which the redemptive purposes of God for the world can be realized." In other words, as we relate biblically first of all to God and experience his favor, and as that comes to expression in relating biblically one to another, and God's glory dwells in us and among us, that glory flows through us and is intended to reach people beyond ourselves and outside of us. That's why we support missions, that's why years ago we established an online ministry that reaches over a hundred nations every year. A lot of people out there watch what happens here, listen to what happens here, because it's part of the essence of the gospel, if you will. Christ, in you the hope of glory, the nations of the world will come to the brightness of our rising. That's a tremendous privilege. It's also an awesome responsibility. So that's what the story represents here in Acts chapter 8 when the Ethiopian eunuch comes to Jerusalem and is now on his way back. It's God's way of saying, "I am fulfilling the promise made to Abraham that the good news of the gospel moves forward in concentric circles." Remember you will be my witnesses where? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, now here you have the next concentric circle that is setting the stage for when in Acts chapter 10 the gospel goes to the pagan nations. The Ethiopian eunuch was either a Jew working for the queen of Candace, or he was more likely a proselyte, and so he represents this in-between stage of the gospel spreading now into the continent of Africa. So in as much time as we have available to us this morning, let's see how this story unfolds and what kind of lessons there are in it for us to learn. So notice first of all the story begins with a divine appointment. Let's read together from verse 26 to verse 29. "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Go south to the road, the desert road, that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.' So he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah of the prophet. The spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.'" Two things in those verses that I want us to note. The first of all, the first is that the Lord gives very specific directions to Philip. "An angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Go south to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem.'" And then dropping down to verse 29, "It is now the Holy Spirit who tells Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.'" So first there is the angel, now there is the Holy Spirit. Hold that in mind, we'll come back to it in a few moments. That's the first thing I want us to notice. The second thing I want us to notice that the subject or the object of the Lord's concern here is the Ethiopian eunuch. He met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship. Now just to put this in historical perspective or geographical perspective, take a look at the map and you will see how far this dude had to travel. Ethiopia is way down here, here is Jerusalem up here. If you go by the legend, that is at least 1,500 miles or close to 2,000 kilometers, if not more. Now that's a long way to go to church. You think the Babylonians have a long ways to go before they get here. Amazing. Notice too, this guy is an official of Candace, who is the queen of Ethiopia. Now historically we know that the term Candace doesn't refer to her name but refers to her title. It's very similar to Caesar as in Rome and Pharaoh as in Egypt because there are all kinds of historical indications of Candaces who ruled over this Ethiopian Empire. See the queen of Sheba came from this region and legend has it, and we don't know if this is true or just speculation, legend has it that the queen of Sheba went to bed with Solomon, got pregnant, had a son who became ruler of that area. We do know this, that to this very day historically the emperors of Ethiopia, before they got overthrown in revolutions, always claimed their heritage going back to the queen of Sheba and to her relationship with Solomon. Whatever the case, as I said earlier, this man, this Ethiopian eunuch, was either a Jew who was working for Candace in the field of finance, he was the keeper of her treasury, or he was I think more likely a proselyte, somebody who had adopted the Jewish faith but was a native of Africa. But what's really significant for our story this morning is that he is a eunuch, and without getting too graphic, a eunuch is a castrated male. It's one who has been disempowered sexually, and they were typically employed by powerful kings to manage their harems because their reduced sex drive made them safe in women's quarters. This way the king didn't have to worry about his women being seduced by, you know, the kitchen help, so to speak. But the term was also employed in a broader way, eventually came to be associated with people who were high officials in king's courts. We don't know if all of them were physically actually eunuchs, disempowered males, and therefore safe for the king to have around, or if the title of eunuch got imposed upon them. I discovered for example, and I never knew this before, remember Potiphar in the Old Testament in the story of Joseph, the keeper of the guard? Well, he's always identified in Scripture as one of Pharaoh's officials, but if you study the Hebrew, and as I said I never knew this before, he's actually described as a eunuch. So now the question is, was he physically a eunuch, or was he only a eunuch in terms of being a servant of the king? If he was physically a eunuch, certainly gives an interesting twist as to why his wife had the hots for Joseph. Don't you think? Talk about a sexually frustrated woman being married to a man who has lost his manhood. A terrible thing. So here's this eunuch, but there's more, because what does the Old Testament tell you about eunuchs? They were not allowed to be part of the Lord's assembled people. Listen to Deuteronomy 23.1. "No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord." Under Old Testament laws, you had to be whole to be allowed to be part of God's assembled people, and if you were castrated male, you had no claim on the assembly of God's people. Get the significance of this, will you please? Because here is this guy traveling 2,000 kilometers to go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord when he knows he doesn't belong. And here is this guy who has traveled 2,000 kilometers knowing that he doesn't belong, and God uses both an angel and a Holy Spirit to get the gospel message across to him, not to mention Philip himself. So here's the question. You're with me, right? This is huge. What do we learn from this? Well, obviously two things immediately. The first is this. Nobody, not even a eunuch, is outside of the pale of God's grace. Peter puts it this way when he is at the house of Cornelius, and we'll deal with that Lord willing more closely when we get to Acts chapter 10, but Peter puts it this way when he sees that God is pouring out his Holy Spirit on the house of Cornelius, Peter says, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." You see, no matter what the law says about being excluded for a whole variety of reasons, God's grace is always bigger. Get this, it's bigger than the law. And so the Bible is filled with stories of people who end up belonging though they have no right to belong. And so you have the story of Rahab in the Old Testament who becomes one of the heroes of faith. You get Ruth the Moabitess who is named in Matthew chapter 1 together with three other women of ill repute as the ancestors of Jesus. You have the story of the Syrophoenician woman later on in the Gospels to whom Jesus says, "You know, you don't give the children's food to the dogs. Remember that story. It sounds like he's terribly rude." And she demonstrates her faith by the exclamation, "But even dogs get to eat from the crumbs of the table." She understood things concerning the heart of God that were beyond the comprehension of most good Jewish people of their day. Why is that important? Because how often do how many of us not find ourselves in a situation where we say we don't belong? We're too dirty, we've been too bad, we're born in the wrong family, we don't have all the right connections, we don't know the Bible, we're not nicely polished and clean Christians, we live in sin half the time, and how can God put up with me? And the whole point of the Gospel is that it's never our sin, it's never our background, it's never our brokenness that keeps us out of the kingdom, hear me well. There's only one thing that keeps us out of the kingdom, and that is arrogant pride that says God should accept me because of who I am, because of what I've done, or what I have been born out of. Scripture says that all who seek Him will find, and when we come in our brokenness and in our sin, God takes us in. There's even room in the kingdom of God for a black eunuch from dark Africa. That's what the story is trying to tell us. God is setting the stage for the influx of Gentile believers into the church, and the church better get used to the fact that people are going to come from all walks of life who are not nice and clean and holy and polished, but for whom Jesus has died and Jesus has been raised so that they can become part of God's forever people. That's what makes the Gospel message good news, and that's why you had wise men coming from afar to worship Jesus when he was born. You got it. But there's a second lesson here, and that is this. We need to pay close attention to the promptings of God's Holy Spirit. I said earlier it took an angelic visitation and a prompting by the Holy Spirit to put Philip on that road to Gaza to meet up with the Ethiopian. I have no idea why it took both an angel and the Holy Spirit. The only thing that I can speculate is that God was bound and determined that this was simply so important nobody was going to miss the cue. And I'll tell you what my experience is with regard to the work of the Holy Spirit. Much of the time God works behind the scenes, sort of seraptive, whatever the word is, behind the scenes arranging our lives. You call somebody on the phone or somebody calls you. You're out shopping or you're driving around and you meet up with somebody. A relationship happens and perhaps in that context you're able to to answer their questions or their problems and you share Jesus. And it's not until after the fact that you look at what has happened and you said my oh my the Lord has hand in that and I didn't know it at the time. Isn't that true? Most of the time that's how life goes. But I'll tell you every so often there is a situation where the Lord is so direct that you cannot miss his cue. And some of you who know my story in how I came to this congregation will recall how back in 1978 or 79 first church that I was serving the Lord unveiled for me, it's the only time he's ever done this, he unveiled for me what the future would be and that one day I would be called to pastor this congregation. It was one of those absolute cues that I couldn't possibly miss and that determined the unfolding of my future. It's the only time it's ever happened to me and I won't elaborate on the implications of all of that but there are times in the history of God's people when there are certain things God wants happening and he will step into it and he will make sure that it happens and if he calls you in that way he wants you to obey. And if you do not obey in that situation he will have somebody else standing behind you who hears the call and if he doesn't obey he can go back as far as he needs to to get specific things done when he needs to get them done. And it's your job and my job in learning to listen for the revelation of God through his word and by his spirit to learn to step into that situation and to do it in obedience. And what fascinates me about this story is how quickly Philip is prepared to step into what the Lord is calling him to do. Notice again in verse 27 he started out on his way and he met the Ethiopian eunuch. God said go there. He had no idea what would happen like Abraham of old. He started out on his journey because he knew that he had heard from God. And then later on as he meets up with the chariot what does the Bible say in verse 30? He ran up to the chariot. Now maybe he hit the run to keep pace with the chariot. I don't know how fast those things moved in those days. But the point is this. He pursued the challenge that God laid before him and he presented himself as an obedient tool for God's purposes to be accomplished through him. And I wonder this morning as we're talking about this how many of us here the Lord is challenging to step out into those promptings. We said earlier the Christmas season of all seasons of the year is a marvelous time when people's minds are turned to the Christmas story. And what an opportunity to invite family or to invite friends or or co-workers or or neighbors to to a special service like the service tonight or Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Christmas Day is harder because it's you know not part of the mainstream of Canadian society as much as Christmas Eve is. But who of us is willing to take the time to take the effort to say Lord who is there in my circle of acquaintances who are you speaking to me about and and how can I step into that situation and extend the invitation. You've all heard Daryl's story how it took seven years of invitations by John Van Berkel before he ever stepped into the church but when he did he was ready to meet the Lord. Can I ask you to take up the challenge can I ask you to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit who on the road to Gaza who on the road to Gaza have you been praying for or have you been talking to that you need to say to listen join us as we celebrate the story of Christmas. I think we might have some additional invitations in the back check at the information desk otherwise as John said earlier I use the insert in the bulletin but do your part because this is a collective undertaking. This is part of God's calling and I cannot believe that there are in people that God puts in your heart that you would like to see come to Jesus. Isn't that true? How many here would know people that you would love to see come to Christ? Show me your hands. Look at that. If all of you bring somebody with we'll be too full to handle the crowd so let's do the job. So that's the first thing I want us to notice in this story God cares for the lost and he sets heaven and earth to work to make sure that person gets an opportunity to hear the gospel. So that's the second thing I want us to notice in this passage. It takes Philip to explain the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. Notice how the story goes on. Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you were reading?" Philip asked. "How can I?" he said. "Unless someone explains it to me." So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice who can speak of his descendants for his life was taken from the earth. Very quickly three things in that passage that we should note. The first is, or let me read on the second part, the eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me please who is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?" and then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news of Jesus. As I said three things that stand out. The first is he's reading from Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 53 is the clearest Old Testament description about the suffering Messiah. You see the words there? You can read it in more detail when you have a moment. Secondly, he didn't understand it. "Do you understand what you were reading?" Philip asked and the eunuch said, "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" and then the third thing of course is that Philip does the explaining. Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. Now here's what's really interesting. There's already an angel involved in this story. There's already the Holy Spirit involved in this story. So why Philip? Why is it Philip who has to explain the gospel to him? Couldn't the angel do a better job? More dramatic. Why not the Holy Spirit? And the answer of course is that God has chosen to entrust the ministry of reconciliation to God's chosen people. He wants us to be co-workers with him. He wants us to share in the joy of bearing witness to Jesus. Listen to how the Apostle Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. He says, "God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God. We are his agents of reconciliation. Even when angels get involved in the gospel, even when the Holy Spirit gets involved in the gospel, it's you and I who are called to serve as the mouthpieces of God." And what that means very critically is that each one of us needs to in a simple fashion be able to answer the questions of unbelievers or seekers and in a simple fashion bear witness to the name of Jesus. Listen to how Peter puts it in 1 Peter chapter 3, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect." Do this with gentleness and respect. Let me ask you this morning, and I don't want to put anybody on the spot, but how many of you here have ever had opportunity to sit down with a family member, with a friend, or with a neighbor, and at least in some way talk about Jesus, whether by way of personal testimony or by way of trying to encourage them to follow Christ? Let me see your hands. All right, very, very good. You'll know how difficult that can be. You also know how sometimes you're just prompted by the Holy Spirit and you've got no option but to wade into the waters. And there are many, many ways of bearing witness to Christ. The, you know, Philip here does it by explaining the gospel based on Isaiah chapter 53. By the way, let me backtrack for a moment because I skipped a passage earlier. If we can get back to the slide, Isaiah 56, the verses 3, 4, and 5. Remember I said earlier he was reading the book of Isaiah? We don't know why, maybe it was just coincidental, but maybe it was because Isaiah made promises about the gospel that really brought home the good news to this eunuch from Ethiopia. Let's see if we can get that passage up. Listen to this, Isaiah 53, 3, 4, and 5. "Let no foreigner who is bound himself to the Lord say, 'The Lord will surely exclude me from his people,'" now listen to this, "and let not any eunuch complain I am only a dry tree." Fascinating word picture. "For this is what the Lord says, 'To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name," now notice the wording, "that will not be cut off." Isn't that fascinating? Is that maybe why he was reading the book of Isaiah? Is he maybe reading the book of Isaiah because the book of Isaiah says even if you're a eunuch, even if your sexuality has been cut off, God will take you in. That is the good news of Christ that Philip now proclaimed to him on the basis of Isaiah chapter 53. Isn't that something? Mind-blowing! No wonder he traveled 2,000 kilometers to try to find God at Jerusalem. And who knows how despondent he was on his way home? He's reading Isaiah 53, none of this is making any sense until Philip, sovereignly directed by the Lord, comes to him and says, "Let me tell you the bigger story." So how can we be equipped to tell the bigger story? There are many ways of doing it. In your bulletins today is a salmon insert that I want you to take out for a moment that has what is known as one verse evangelism. Let's put that picture up on the screen for a moment if we can get back to it. I won't spend a lot of time in this, but I do ask you to study it if you can, and even better yet, practice it. Because this is based on Romans 6, 23, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And it walks you through the whole process of how actually you can sit down with somebody and share the gospel with them. When I came to know Christ in a real way, my friends taught me this, and I have over the years used it many times as a simple way to try to explain to somebody how you can come to Christ. So take a look at that as time goes on and learn how to verbalize our faith in Jesus. And then I want to wind up this morning with a third observation based on this passage, and that is the fact that the gospel demands a decision. The gospel demands a decision. Notice how the story goes on. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but he went on his way rejoicing. You'll notice if you look carefully, there's no verse 37 there. If you look at your Bible concerning that, you will discover that verse 37 was almost for sure added later. It is a confessional statement on the part of the church if the wording goes this way. Let me read it to you. Verse 37 says, "Philip says, 'If you believe with all your heart you may,' and the eunuch answered, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' Early manuscripts do not include that confession, but it clearly became the confessional formula for the early church. You were baptized upon confession of Christ." And this particular passage has played a fairly significant role in the argument of baptism. Is it by immersion? Is it by sprinkling? Is it by whatever? And that's not where I want to go this morning. I want to point out that baptism is an identification with Christ and a commitment to follow him. And for this eunuch, it represented the end of a long, long journey, didn't it? Not only a physical journey, but also a spiritual journey. And I wonder this morning if in this place there are some of us who have been on a spiritual journey for a long, long time. Maybe you were raised in a Christian home when you were a kid and wandered away, and God has been nudging at your heart. Or maybe you weren't raised in a Christian home at all and and you've had a hunger inside you. That says there's got to be more than what I'm experiencing. I had the privilege of meeting with Sylvia and Doug earlier, or late last week prior to their wedding vow renewals, and Sylvia shared with me a little bit of her story, and I don't think she'll mind if I share it with you, how she was raised as a Buddhist, always knew there was a God but didn't know what he was like, became dissatisfied with Buddhism, and began wondering who is this God, how did we get here, and went on a search. And then on a trip to London, I visited a church for the first time in her life, and then when she back went back to China, there was a church in her neighborhood, and for three years she walked past that church wondering what's it like in there. And then on a trip to Malaysia, took a picture of a church with a cross, and began to wonder what is this cross about, and eventually spoke to one of her co-workers who was a Christian who invited her along to church, and where she learned the good news of Jesus, and gave her life to him to be forever changed by his grace and by his power. That's her journey. That's her journey. And I wonder, are there some of us here on that journey, and if we are, are we ready to cross that line of faith? So here's what I'm gonna do, gonna ask Ari if you'll turn on the lights a little bit, don't want to embarrass anybody, but I'm gonna lead you in a prayer. And if during that prayer you sense the nudging of the Holy Spirit to take that next step of faith, then maybe you can raise your hand, or you can stand up if you want, or even you can just remain seated. But do business with Jesus because it doesn't matter how lost or broken or far away you are, He moves heaven and earth to find to seek and to save the lost. And if this is your moment, you can also go on your way rejoicing. So let's pray together. Father, we stand in awe how you orchestrated the salvation of this Ethiopian eunuch. Lord, a man who had lost his manhood, a man who was of a different race, a man who lived in a far away country, a man who had no claim on the God of Israel, yet a man who read your Word, experienced faith, and started on a journey that led him sovereignly to you. And I believe, Lord, there are those of us right here who are on that journey of faith. And maybe we've been coming to church for a number of weeks or a number of months or maybe it's our first time here today, but we hear the call of the gospel and we want to respond. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that we can come to you just as we are without any pretense, without any sophistication in faith knowing that Jesus died for everything that we are and that he was raised from the dead to make us new people. If you believe that in your heart, and I'm not even going to look out over the audience, but if you believe that in your heart, just raise your hand and say, "That's me. Lord Jesus, take me." And Father, I pray for everyone who does that, that you will meet us in power, that you will show us the face of Jesus, that you will forever change our lives as we travel on that road to the holy city of the New Jerusalem. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your power. Help us to share that story with those who are around us. And Lord, help us in every way just to grow up in Christ and to bear the fruit that you call us to [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:47:57.040; remove through 00:51:04.000] bear. We pray it in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, "Amen." Please [CUT] stand. Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel. Oh, come, thou branch of Jesse, stand unto thine own and rescue them. From depths of hell thy people say, "And give them victory o'er the grave." Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel. Oh, come, thou bright and morning star, and bring us comfort from afar. Dispel the shadows of the night and turn our darkness into light. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel [CUT]. [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:51:04.000; resume after this marked segment]