Sunday, June 25, 2023 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for gathering us together.

I thank you for the joy of communion that you have given us your

Son, our great High Priest, so that in Him we may know your love for us and we may love you, that we love

Christ and Christ loves us, and you have poured out your love into our hearts by your

Holy Spirit, who is from you, that you have given us to one another in Christ, to love one another as Christ has loved us, and we pray that this morning as we look at your word that you would give us great hope and encouragement to know that we may face what tribulations and difficulties and sufferings that come our way, we may face it with joy, knowing the love that you have for us in your

Son, that we are exhorted and encouraged by our love for one another.

We pray that you would do your work in our hearts today. We ask these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, with whom you are well -pleased.

Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9, we will be reading verses 19 through 30 here in a moment.

Acts chapter 9, verses 19 through 30. The title of the sermon this morning is

Suffering for the Name. Suffering for the

Name. Jesus told

His followers that they should expect something of a rough time ahead of them as they continue to follow

Him and declare His good news of the kingdom not only in Jerusalem but also in Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

He said, you are my witnesses of these things. He told them that they would face tribulation in this world, but to be of good cheer because He had overcome the world, meaning that their comfort, their courage was to be found in Him, not in their circumstances.

They were to engage in this great commission by a gracious communion. He told them to go and then told them to wait.

Wait until the promise from the Father has come upon you. Wait until the Holy Spirit has been given to you.

He promised to not leave them orphans but to send them another comforter.

They were not to engage in the great commission which would assuredly bring trials and troubles and persecutions their way.

They were not to engage in the great commission outside of that gracious communion. They were to do so in communion with Christ by His Spirit.

They were to do so in communion with one another as the new covenant temple filled with the

Holy Spirit. Suffering for the name is something we see in the life of Paul the

Apostle. Early in his preaching of Christ, he was still known as Saul from Tarsus, but he had certainly been changed.

Suffering for the name was not unique to Paul. We see it amongst the other apostles.

We see it certainly amongst the deacons. Stephen has already been martyred for the sake of Christ. But we need to think about suffering for the name and consider the connection that it has with communion, our communion together in Christ.

So I invite you to stand with me as we read. We're going to read Acts chapter 9, verses 19 through 30.

This is the word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by His Spirit through His servant

Luke. So when he had received food, he was strengthened.

Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the

Christ in the synagogues that he was the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, is this not

He who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose so that He might bring them bound to the chief priests?

But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the

Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Now after many days were passed, the

Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him.

Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the

Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

So, he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the

Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists. But they attempted to kill him.

When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. This is the word of the

Lord. Praise be to God. You may be seated. A man once told a story about a fiddler who played so beautifully in the town square that all who passed through there just simply began to dance, just had to dance as they passed through hearing the music of this fiddler.

However, there was a deaf beggar loitering nearby, and he looked at all of them as if they were simply insane.

He couldn't hear, didn't understand. You know,

I think maybe perhaps a hungry or thirsty man would think the same of our communion meal here this morning.

How does that quench any thirst? How does that feed any hungry belly?

It's confusing to some, but our communion explains so much.

You know, it explains how Saul of Tarsus changed. Before, he didn't know who

Christ was. Who are you, Lord? And then he knew

Jesus, and everything changed. It also explains his change of heart, his change of attitude towards the saints.

Before he was trying to root them out and kill them, and now he is striving to be in fellowship with them and union with them.

And truly, it's his communion with the saints only because of Christ, only because of Christ's blood and forgiveness, where Saul deserved to die for what he did, yet Christ died in his place.

And now in communion with the saints, they keep him alive as he's hunted by the enemies of the cross.

A communion makes sense of Saul's change and his survival.

It is truly our communion together in Christ, our life together in Christ that makes all of us different, makes no sense to outsiders looking in, makes no sense to those who do not have ears to hear why we would continue to affirm the beauty and the grandeur and the good of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the truth and the value and the importance of the

Holy Scriptures in the face of, well, where everything is going? Why would we persist?

Why would we risk ourselves? Why would we be willing to suffer for the name?

Because suffering for his name in his body glorifies

Christ. Not suffering by itself and not suffering for him by ourselves, necessarily, but truly in his body together.

Suffering for his name glorifies Christ. And we see that happening here in our passage concerning Saul.

And we see that Saul really is about the name of Jesus. He really is about the name of Christ.

And everything that...if anything has changed about Saul of Tarsus, it's that he now wants to exalt the name of Jesus of Nazareth, preaching him as the

Christ, the Son of the living God. And we see that in verses 20 and 27, that he just preaches

Christ. Verse 20 says, immediately, he preached the

Christ in the synagogues that he was the Son of God. Barnabas gave witness to this, that Saul preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

He wanted to preach Christ. He wanted to exalt the name of Jesus. He wanted to get that name out there, lift it up high, let everybody know who the

King of Kings is, who the Lord of Lord is. Immediately, it says, he preached the

Christ, and he went to ground zero, the synagogues. He went to the synagogues.

These were the places where he was supposed to drum up support for hunting down the Christians, for imprisoning them for the sake of dragging them to Jerusalem so that they could be put on trial and killed.

And now he's going to these synagogues, and he's preaching Christ in the synagogues, that he is the

Son of God. So Saul of Tarsus, the renowned persecutor of the way, is now entering the synagogues, and he is preaching that Jesus of Nazareth is the

Christ, the Son of the living God, that he is the eternal word become flesh, the light of the world, that he was born of a virgin

God of very God, man of very man, righteous in his life before the face of God, anointed by the

Holy Spirit, who for us and for our salvation died upon the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And he rose the third day for our justification and ascended to the right hand of the Father where he reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And he has sent forth his Holy Spirit and makes all things new by the preaching of the gospel of his kingdom, exalting

Christ. Just read his letters. Read his letters, and you'll know what

Paul preached in the synagogues. Read the book of Hebrews. He either wrote it or somebody who knew him wrote it because that's how he preached in the synagogues.

He exalted Christ. What did he call him? Look what he says, the Messiah, the

Christos, the anointed one, the Messiah, he is the Son of God.

Well, wasn't Israel the Son of God? I mean, that's what

God through no one less than Moses said to no one less than Pharaoh, Israel is my son.

You've treated my son in this way. You better let my son go. If you don't let my son go, then eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, what will

I do to your son? Remember that? That's how the prophet

Hosea put it. God's relationship to his people, out of Egypt I have called my son.

But here is Saul of Tarsus, who used to be the persecutor of Christ, saying, the

Messiah is the Son of God. He's saying to the

Jews, how do you understand why you're special?

It can only be resolved in the Messiah. He is the Son of God. As we read in Isaiah 49, as God through his prophet

Isaiah calls the Messiah, Israel sent out to redeem Israel and the

Gentiles. And here comes Saul preaching that message. Well, didn't

Luke, by the Holy Spirit, say that Adam was the Son of God?

Seth was the son of Adam and Adam was the son of God. Now, Saul of Tarsus is preaching that the

Messiah is the Son of God. He's the second Adam. The question for the people in the days of Acts, the question for the

Jews is, which Israel are you in? You in the old covenant Israel? You got to go up to the gold -covered box up the hill, the one that Jesus said is going to be destroyed?

Is that where your hope is, or is it in the new Israel? Is it in the new covenant Israel, whose name is

Christ, and you have all of your holiness in Him? Is your holiness in the rituals, or is it in the fulfillment of the rituals?

Is your forgiveness with God in the sacrifices or in the Lamb of God who died for your sins upon the cross?

So which Israel are you in? Which Son of God are you in? Question for all nations is, are you in the first Adam or the second

Adam? Which Son of God are you in? And, of course, not only is

Christ the Son of God covenantally, the firstborn of the covenant, the true

Israel, not only is He the Son of God positionally, the firstborn of all creation, but He is the

Son of God, well, He's God the Son, ontologically, the only begotten of the

Father, full of grace and truth from all of eternity. The Word was with God, the Word was God. He's the

Son of God. So when Saul comes out, he says that the Messiah is the Son of God.

He's saying a whole lot all at once, preaching Christ and exalting Christ.

Jesus Himself said, I and the Father are one. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 5 declares that Christ is the

Son through whom God made the world, that the Son is the brightness of His Father's glory, the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power.

And God never, ever said such things to the angels. So you see how

Saul of Tarsus goes forth, and he is going out for the name of Jesus. He's going out for the name of the Messiah.

Saul is not going out to redeem his name, to repair his name, to create a new name for himself.

He's going out and he's preaching Christ. The Messiah is the Son of God. He can't say anything higher, greater, grander than this, that Jesus of Nazareth, who is the

Messiah, is indeed the Son of God. And he exalts

Christ by the way he speaks about Him and the way he lives for Him. We see the personal repentance of Saul in verse 21, when all who heard him were amazed and said, is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?

But look, he's changed. And it wasn't it wasn't exactly that they were amazed that he had come promising to destroy

Christians and then just decided to do something different. That's not what amazed them.

What amazed them was was not a change of behavior, but repentance. There was a massive turnaround.

They saw the fruit of the repentance, the internal turnaround of Saul, where once before he was against Christ, but now he's for Christ.

That exalted the name of Jesus as well. And then not only does

Saul preach Christ, having repented unto Christ, but he proves the gospel.

He proves Christ. He defends the truth of the gospel. Verse 22 says that Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the

Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the

Christ. So he goes from scripture to scripture, proving that Jesus is the

Messiah. And his opponents are confounded, which means they fell over one another trying to refute him.

They got all mixed up and tangled up with one another, trying to find the best way to shut

Saul down. And when he got to Jerusalem, do you see what happens when he gets to Jerusalem?

Verse 29, Saul, he spoke boldly in the name of the

Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists. Do you remember the

Hellenists? They were the same group with whom

Stephen contended. The group of Greek speaking

Jews who were born abroad and yet very zealous for the law and for Moses, and Stephen contended with them.

And they got so angry with Stephen that they had him falsely accused, unjustly arrested, and then murdered because of his claims for Christ.

And do you know who was a part of the synagogues of the Hellenists? Young man named

Saul from Tarsus, at whose feet the accusers of Stephen laid their cloaks so that they could kill

Stephen with stones. And now Saul of Tarsus is standing in the very place of Stephen, contending even as Stephen taught him those years ago.

And so we find Christ's name being exalted by the preaching of Christ through the repentance of Saul unto

Christ by his defense of the gospel. And in all of these things, Saul just kept on creating new enemies.

People who once were his friends are now his enemies. People who once employed him and encouraged him now sought his death.

But it didn't stop him. He just persisted on, and that too exalts Christ.

We think about suffering for the name. Suffering for the name.

Christ has borne our sorrows. He's borne our sicknesses and our griefs and our transgressions.

He's borne it all. The only reason why you might think that you are not suffering in the name of Jesus is if you don't exalt the name of Jesus.

Exalt the name of Jesus. Praise his name. Talk about him. Talk greatly about him.

Talk about him when you go out and when you come in. When you rise up and when you lie down.

Talk about him to your spouse and to your children, to your neighbors and to your friends. Preach him and prove him and show him.

Endure for him. Exalt his name. Boast in him. Don't stop talking about him.

Jesus is king of kings and lord of lords. There's not a single thing that goes on in your life or in this world that doesn't have some sort of reference to him.

Exalt his name. Why don't we? Why don't we bring up the name of Jesus more?

Why don't we talk about his authority more? Why don't we talk about his light more? Why don't we talk about him as much as we could?

Well, somebody at the family get -together is going to get really irritated with us. They'll get mad.

They'll accuse us of ruining a good time that was supposed to be had by all, right?

Someone's going to get really irritated at work if we keep on talking about Jesus, aren't they?

But you know, the reason why we sometimes give for not being more bold, more vocal, more obvious about our love for Jesus and exalting his name.

The reason we normally give is that we're trying to make sure that we don't push people away from Christ.

We're trying to find subtle, smooth salesmanship to move the attractiveness of Jesus somehow obliquely in front of the people who are around.

And the stated goal is that we're trying to not turn people against Jesus, but the reality of what we're doing is we're not concerned about his name, we're concerned about our name.

We're concerned about our name. We're concerned about what they're going to say about us and feel about us and think about us, and that's why we don't bring it up.

You know, there's just no way, there's just no way of exalting both my name and Christ's name at the same time, and it's just not how it works.

Jesus said, if any man wants to be my disciple, he must do what? Deny himself.

Take up his cross and follow after me. Denial of the self, denial of my name for the exaltation of Christ's name.

Too often today, so -called gospel testimonies come down to somebody saying, Jesus makes me feel so special, and I wanted to tell you how special I feel.

And Jesus says I'm special, so you should too. And that has become the new so -called

Christian testimony. Many, many delight in their own name, and many delight in suffering for their own name.

Here is my identity, and they're going to go on and on and on and on about it, and then people get annoyed with them.

They say, I'm suffering virtuously for my name. We are called, as Christ's witnesses, to take up our crosses, denying ourselves, and indeed to even suffer for his name.

That's not the goal, by the way, right? That's not the end goal.

My goal is to go out and suffer, right? That's not the goal.

The goal is to go out and exalt Christ, come what may, to exalt Christ. That's what we want to do as those who are created in God's image and redeemed by Christ, who is the image of God.

Now, Saul does make a few enemies, doesn't he? How do these enemies manifest?

What do they do? Well, the pattern is fairly recognizable. Look at verse 23. Now, after many days were passed, the

Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him.

Then the disciples took him by night and led him down through the wall in a large basket.

Isn't that interesting? Interesting. The Jews plotting to kill someone, Saul used to be in on those plots.

And the whole plan of plotting to kill those who are preaching Christ goes back as far as Jesus himself.

They were always plotting to kill Jesus. But notice how they don't go into the city, hunt down Saul, and drag him out.

What do they do? They're watching the gates. They watch the gates day and night to kill him. They figure he's got to leave sometime.

But what's at the gates? At the gates, you have soldiers. At the gates, you have city elders.

At the gates, you have places for legal hearings. The gates are a place for justice, and they have got everybody at the gates ready to arrest the horrible traitorous

Saul of Tarsus so that they may, once again, use the facade of the legal system to execute someone they don't like.

They've done that already with Jesus, didn't they? And now they're planning to do the same thing with Saul of Tarsus.

Now it's interesting when you look at the story in John 11, John 11 verses 49 through 54 about the plot to kill

Jesus. Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "'You know nothing at all.'"

People were arguing about how to deal with Jesus. Verse 50 of John 11, "'Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish.'"

Now he was talking about one thing, but God was having a big laugh in heaven. Remember that those who gather against his anointed to plot against him, how

God responds, he laughs? And here he has Caiaphas preaching hot gospel when actually he's trying to say, let's kill

Jesus. Verse 51 says, "'Now, this over the likes of Jesus of Nazareth and Saul of Tarsus.'"

Remember, Saul of Tarsus actually went on a trip to Damascus with letters from the

Sanhedrin? Who has he shown that to? Probably the

Roman militia at the gates. We're here to arrest all these troublemakers and take them back to Jerusalem, and they say, oh, you're authorized by the

Sanhedrin, it's a Jewish issue, you're good to go. That's how he could carry authority from the chief priest from the

Sanhedrin to another city and go arrest Jews who were out of order and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial.

Now, what does Jesus do? Well, you're a legitimately established civil magistrate, and you say,

I'm supposed to die right here, right now, so I'll go ahead and surrender. No, he engages in civil resistance, and he goes out into the countryside.

Catch me if you can. It reminds me of some interesting testimonies about early

Baptists who were illegal in the country of England and always in danger of being arrested, and their meetings getting busted up by the

Anglicans. And it was said that Baptist pastors would only last long if they could run fast.

There's a great story about the Baptist congregants in the house rejoicing and shouting in encouragements to their pastor as the guards have busted in, and they grab the pastor who's wearing a big long coat, and he shirks himself out of the coat and leaps through the window, and all the

Baptists are cheering that he survived to preach another day. Was he being un -Christlike?

What about Saul of Tarsus? The authorized civil magistrates are there to arrest him, they're at every single gate of the city.

He knows it. What does he do? He collaborates with his fellow

Christians to escape. Hey, we have this really large basket.

We'll sneak you down over the wall through this basket, and we're going to spirit you away like Rahab helped the spies, and we'll get you out of town.

Interesting, isn't it? He modeled civil disobedience.

Christ did. He didn't do a revolution, he just said, no, you're not in charge.

I'm going to do what my father tells me to do, and when it's time for me to surrender, he surrendered. Saul of Tarsus, he's going to keep preaching.

The church helps him, he escapes. And so he endures hardship, and then he goes to Jerusalem, and he preaches there in Jerusalem, coming in and going out, speaking boldly in the name of the

Lord Jesus, disputing against the Hellenists, and so now they are plotting to kill him. Where's that basket?

Let's get him out of town again, let's send him on somewhere else. So when we see that there are enemies against the name of Christ, and we're looking at Saul who is exalting the name of Christ, we see that this brings on the enemies, this brings on suffering.

But do you notice that his suffering, as he would say later, is that of a soldier and not of an activist?

His suffering was that of a soldier, not of an activist. He was enduring hardship for the goal, he was going to preach

Christ, he was going to be Christ's witness before kings, and before the synagogues, and before the

Gentiles, and he had to get from city to city, he had to proclaim the name of Jesus, and he had to spread that word, and he was on a mission, and he was willing to endure hardship to see that mission accomplished.

That's the suffering of a soldier. Suffering of an activist is to say, hey, look at me, look how virtuous

I am, scream, throw a fit, get arrested. See, the suffering for Christ, suffering for the name of Jesus in his body glorifies

Christ as we suffer, keeping the goal in mind. Paul endures,

Saul endures for the name. We are to endure for the name. Now, how does he endure for the name?

Jesus confronts Saul of Tarsus, blinds him, reveals to him the error of his ways, tells him to go to Damascus and wait for further instructions, sends him a vision that a man named

Ananias is going to come, lay his hands on him, and heal him of his blindness. Jesus sends Ananias to do that, but very particularly says, you're going to lay your hands on him, and he's going to receive the

Holy Spirit. Again and again, as we find, whether it's

Peter or John, or it's those who are already born -again believers amongst the

Samaritans, those who are born again by the Holy Spirit, here are these emphases of saying, now we're going to lay, the apostles are laying hands on people and the

Holy Spirit is filling these people as a sign, hey, this is the new covenant temple.

God indwelled the old covenant tabernacle and temple by His Spirit, but this is the new covenant, and Christ is the cornerstone, and He's building a new covenant temple with living stones, and so now the

Holy Spirit is indwelling these new covenant members, these new covenant stones, new covenant temple.

It was very important that Saul of Tarsus, who hated Christ and hated Christians and had this horrible reputation, very important that Jesus arranged things so that Ananias welcomes him into the church, welcomes him into the communion, yes, you are a part of Christ's church, verified, baptized, you're a part of the church.

Not only Ananias, but Barnabas, Barnabas brings Saul of Tarsus in, everyone's scared of Saul, but they know

Barnabas, they trust Barnabas, and Barnabas says, oh no, he's the real deal, we need to welcome in Saul of Tarsus as our own brother.

He's a one another, we're going to love him and we're going to welcome him. Do you see how important it is in these acts of the risen

Lord Jesus that he brings Saul of Tarsus, later known as Paul the apostle, he brings him into the church?

Sometimes we get the idea that Paul was the outsider. No, he was an insider.

He was an outside man, he was an inside man. He was inside for the church.

Jesus made his inclusion into the church very important. Saul is big stuff, he's making a big splash,

Paul the apostle is a big deal, but look how dependent he is on the church. How did he survive these first few challenges?

He was strengthened by a little bread, strengthened even more by the fellowship of the believers at Damascus, and they kept him alive, getting him over the wall in the basket.

How did things go in Jerusalem? He was brought into the communion of the saints in Jerusalem, and he was going in and coming out, it says.

He was coming in and going out, getting strengthened, getting supported as he went out and he preached boldly the name of Jesus, and they made sure that he survived and helped him to escape to his hometown.

When we think of the apostle Paul, when we think of his travels, his suffering, his preaching, his letters, his companions, his education, all the stories of his life and the letters that he wrote, we find a deep dependence on the church.

He strove to be with the church. He pleaded with them to be at peace with one another. He implored them for their prayers, and he expressed his longing to be with them.

He labored for their cooperation. Do you see that? From the very beginning of his ministry, all throughout, what did he long for?

He longed for that Christian community, part and parcel for his keeping on for Christ.

Endurance, endurance outside of the church, not in the book.

Can't find it. Endurance for Christ outside of the church? Not going to find it in here.

This way God designed it. One of my favorite memes is four zebras and a lion.

Three zebras are up on a little ridge, and they're kind of looking down the slope, and they see another zebra getting taken out by a lion, and the meme says, how's that?

I don't need the church to be a good Christian going for you. Saul was brought in.

He was built up. He was strengthened. He was helped by the church. They bailed him out.

They got him out of trouble and sent him on his way to continue the work. You see, there's a connection.

There is a connection between exalting Christ and suffering for him, and the connection is in our communion together.

Over in Matthew chapter 5, I want us to hear Jesus' instructions in Matthew chapter 5, and beginning in verse 11.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Those you's are all plural, they're not singular, but follow with this.

He is saying how blessed you are when you're standing out for the name of Christ and getting flack for that, getting persecuted for that.

Verse 13, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The you, the you, the you, plural, plural, plural. Singular kingdom, singular salt, singular light, singular the city, singular lamp.

Together, you all together are this, not you by yourself.

In his body, in his body, we suffer for his name, to his glory.

We have need of one another. Christ made it that way. It is our love and our joy together in Christ that sustains us in suffering.

I can say that personally, my own testimony. You can say that we can share testimonies with one another, how it is that God has has provided for us, provided for our to be sustained and helped and encouraged, that God has made it so that we can endure through suffering because of the love that he shows to us through one another in Christ.

This is why it's so important that we not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, as is the manner of some.

What we are to continue in our communion, in our togetherness, the man that told the story about the fiddler who played so beautifully in the marketplace.

Everybody who heard the music, they danced, that deaf man. He looked on them as if they were insane.

Man, he told that story about the fiddler and the deaf man was Richard Wurmbrand. Here's what he said.

There once was a fiddler who played so beautifully that everyone danced. A deaf man who could not hear the music considered them all insane.

Those who are with Jesus in suffering hear this music to which other men are deaf.

They dance and do not care if they are considered insane. With Jesus, with Jesus, our communion with Christ is everything.

And we are strengthened and we are nourished and helped in this communion, most necessarily by the church.

At all costs, at all possible, commune.

At all possible, gather together. At all times, pray for one another. At all costs, love one another as Christ has loved us.

And so we dance to his tune. And I think it's contagious. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the time you've given us in your word. Thank you for the reminder of what we're about.

We're about your name. And even as you said to Ananias of Saul that you were going to show him how much he must suffer for your name.

We know, Lord, that your name and your glory, well worth it. Pray that you would bless our time of communion together here today.

Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Ask the elders to come forward as we serve communion.