Sunday, January 14, 2024 AM

what you have to say and I pray that what you have to say will make your desired changes in our life as you grant to us faith and repentance and holiness and hope as you lead us to love you to love one another and to live in this world as salt and as light and pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 13 Acts chapter 13 we will be reading verses 13 through 26 this morning

Acts chapter 13 verses 13 through 26 Paul Barnabas and John Mark have been sent out by the church in Antioch and they are on their way to Antioch there was a

Roman Emperor by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes who thought a lot of himself and named several cities after himself so things got a little confusing sometimes but the

Antioch they leave from is the third largest city in the Empire so it gets just to be

Antioch and the Antioch they're heading to is a Roman colony called Antioch of Pisidia and they are in the process of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ wherever they go they have preached the gospel through the island of Cyprus from the east coast to the west coast of the island and now they will head across the sea to the province of Galatia God's messengers are trumpeting gospel notes they are being borne along by the four winds to gather

Christ's sheep scattered under heaven into his fold of Zion I encourage you to stand with me as we read

God's Word Acts chapter 13 beginning in verse 13 through verse 26 now when

Paul and his party set sail from Paphos they came to Perga in Pamphylia and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem but when they had departed from Perga they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the

Sabbath day and sat down and after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on then

Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said men of Israel and you who fear

God listen the God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt and with an uplifted arm he brought them out of it now for a time of about 40 years he put up with their ways in the wilderness and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan he distributed their land to them by allotment after that he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet and afterward they asked for a king so God gave them

Saul the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years and when he had removed him he raised up for them

David as king to whom also he gave testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all my will from this man's seed according to the promise

God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus after John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel and as John was finishing his course he said who do you think

I am I am NOT he but behold there there comes one after me the sandals of whose feet

I am not worthy to loose men and brethren sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear

God to you the word of this salvation has been sent this is the word of the

Lord thanks be to God you may be seated back in 2006

I was in seminary and had an internship at a church in Tennessee and it was one of my weekly customs to go out to the

University of Memphis and do street evangelism and in 2006 there was a growing phenomenon in which people as soon as they exited a building or got away from their friends they were on their phone and they were on their phone and fully engaged in something else scrolling along looking at things on their phone that wasn't everybody but it was beginning to be a healthy portion and it's just hard for somebody who's trying to do personal evangelism to interrupt somebody on their phone which is why

I always went to the smokers they were great because you know they hadn't figured out how to scroll on their phone and smoke at the same time so they were unoccupied and in a slightly better mood than the phone scrollers and so I got to talk with them about the gospel of Jesus Christ but now scrolling is well it's everywhere and everyone almost when somebody takes a breather when somebody takes a rest somebody takes five outcomes the phone and they start scrolling and if you're able to see their timeline you would discover what they were scrolling for they're scrolling for a distraction for entertainment for a story for a thrill scrolling for a better job answer to a question solution to a problem validation for their feelings we all do that we scroll through our context in our messages because we want to communicate to relate to somebody we scroll through our pictures recalling good times and some bad we scroll through our apps and wonder what's going to compel us to invest time and money scrolling and scrolling and scrolling for something something other than what we've seen before something new something better something so good it moves us to share it and when it's shared it's undiminished only increasing why because we're made for glory and for glory we seek we're made for glory and for glory we seek and this is not a new human experience brought on by an internet or technology age the same

Sun that causes unwanted glare on our screens has shown upon the restlessness of men for many ages and in Psalm 4 verse 2 the question is asked how long how long will you sons of men will you turn my glory to shame how long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood say law let that rest a little bit think about it but know that the

Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly the Lord will hear when

I call to him be angry and do not sin meditate within your heart on your bed and be still say law meditate and be still offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the

Lord put your trust in the Lord there are many who say who will show us any good

Lord lift up the light of your countenance upon us you have put gladness in my heart who puts gladness in our hearts more than in the season that their grain and wine increased we are made for glory for glory we seek and Paul preaches to the

Jews and Antioch of Pisidia and tells them where and in whom defined their rest defined their glory the

Savior declared in this word has come into this world and we must put our trust in the

Lord he's the one who will show us what is good God has declared to us where to seek the

Savior we so badly need God has declared to us where to seek the

Savior and now in verses 13 through 15 we find something that is very common in the ancient

Near East something that was going on all over the place something very very common something for some would be even mundane but they were reading in the synagogue on the

Sabbath look at verse 13 again now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos they came to Perga and Pamphylia and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem but when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch and Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the

Sabbath day and sat down and after reading and after the reading of the Law and the

Prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on well

Paul and company catch the prevailing southwest winds and they head northwest they put the famous rock of the

Roman to their stern and they curve smoothly around the westward side of the island of Cyprus probably a slow slalom in green blue waters around fishermen and merchantmen till finally they head northwest in open sea and head for Perga and the

Sun is going to set on the western horizon before they make Perga but the stars steady in their courses will guide them this is the first day of their journey and they have possibly five more to go it's quite possible that the day after the

Sabbath on a Sunday after a meeting with some meeting together worshiping together

Paul and company head out and they try to make for Antioch of Pisidia before the next

Sabbath they may be there on the Sabbath day with the

Jews in the synagogue the course has taken them far far from home they are hundreds of miles away from home perhaps they've gone farther than they anticipated and it's too much for John Mark when they make

Perga the port of Port Perga there are some rides that promise a trip home they're gonna go along the southern coast of the province of Galatia they're gonna head for the

Roman province of Syria and they're gonna drop down to the port of Joppa where John Mark will be able to get on the road and get home to Jerusalem it's very attractive to John Mark to do this and so he departs he leaves

Paul and Barnabas and heads home and we're not told what Paul and Barnabas think about that until a later chapter but we are told that this is the point at which he leaves the path from Perga to Antioch in Pisidia is a laborious trek through the mountains you have to go through a mountain pass and you have to hike a trail that rises a thousand meters in elevation if you were to hike for 12 hours a day it would take you five days to get from ancient

Perga to the ancient city of Antioch in Pisidia I wonder how much they thought about John Mark riding home while they hike north into the mountains drawing close to Antioch might have been something of a relief and a concern before them lay the most important Roman colony in that area in Asia Minor it was organized into seven districts it was a

Rome in miniature many prosperous Greek merchants and powerful

Roman politicians had their residence there the imperial cult was very strong they worship the

Roman Emperor as Lord and Savior and the ancients who occupied that city worship the moon god and would trek up to their highest hill on a regular basis to offer their sacrifices and among these pagans and among these

Romans and Gentiles there were a myriad of Jews who have been forcibly resettled there 250 years earlier and there as they were accustomed on every

Sabbath they would gather together in their synagogue and they would read the sacred scrolls what did it look like you don't know what the building may have looked like but there would have probably been two different rooms one for the men one for the women and there would be stone benches around the walls and wooden benches in the center and one of the seats on the wall might be just a little bit higher the chair of Moses and from this chair the scriptures would be read a reading from a reading from Moses from the

Torah a reading from the prophets from the Nevi 'im this would come after they recited the

Shema to get together hero Israel the Lord your God the Lord is one him only shall you serve and after they read the scriptures there would be an exhortation of some kind someone would stand up among them somebody respected somebody who had a word of exhortation and the exhortation tended to be some kind of lesson about prudence or temperance or courage or justice there was an expectation that in any synagogue around the

Roman Empire you could go there and you could receive in wholesome instruction you could get some lessons on how to improve your life living in the wisdom of the one true

God and then the whole service would conclude with the benediction the

Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the

Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace and then they would depart and this was going on in all the synagogues across the

Roman Empire where God in judgment had cast the people of Israel and yet he had done so in hope and there they read the scriptures time and again the sacred scriptures which are sufficient to make us wise for salvation

Paul said to Timothy the scriptures that they read in their synagogues every single Sabbath were the same scriptures that testified that Jesus of Nazareth is the

Christ the Son of the Living God by which Timothy was saved so Paul and Barnabas put themselves there where the scripture is being read because they will take up the scriptures and they will declare the scriptures in the light of Jesus Christ to their hearers they were invited to do so here's

Barnabas he's a Levite from Cyprus and then there's Paul a trained rabbi who sat at the feet of Gamaliel two notable personages have come into their synagogue they have come a long way we know that an expert of somebody who lives 50 miles away and these guys have traveled hundreds of miles so certainly they've got something to say they've got credentials they have captured the interest of the people there in the synagogue they want to hear and so notice the rulers the leaders of the synagogue invite them to share notice any word of exhortation for the people any word any word will do oh what's on your heart what's been going on with you lately surely they could have shared something they just traveled from from Antioch on the

Orontes River they've sailed across the Mediterranean to Cyprus they've hiked

Cyprus they had a showdown with a Jewish sorcerer in the capital city of the island of Cyprus they've they've sailed into the ancient

Perga perhaps there's news from there they've had this experience where one of their own left them and they've had to trek on their own thinking about an abandonment and they've had to trek for five days to get to Antioch of Pisidia they could have talked about a lot of things they could have shared what was on their hearts they could have talked about the beauty of the hike they could have talked about the personal feelings of abandonment they could have come up with a lesson about determination they could have done a lot of different things said a lot of different things related to personal experiences and say you should listen to us because of what we've experienced

Paul could have traded on his credentials his

Roman credentials perhaps his Jewish credentials he could have traded it traded in on those they could have talked about the people there in the in the synagogue and and the where they lived and they could have said nice things about Antioch of Pisidia and oh this is the nicest synagogue we've ever seen and built rapport with the people there they could have brought any word of exhortation it was wide open to share what's on your heart brother but instead instead of just any word

Paul beginning at Moses and with all the prophets expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Christ they've come a long way surely something that's occurred to them should be shared days and nights of hiking and sailing hundreds and hundreds of miles by river and sea and island and mountain what do they have to say they have something to say about Jesus Christ this is the good word this is the good news this is the salvation story that they have come to say at this far distance we have lived many seasons and years on God's green earth how many days have been expended before his welcoming smile in the

Sun how many miles have we traveled always home with the

Lord and the Holy Spirit what do we have to say to the sons of men who love worthlessness will we exhort them to trust in the

Lord there are many who say who will show us any good let us pray to the

Lord that he would lift up his countenance upon us will we testify that it is the

Lord who has put gladness in our hearts is that the word we bring what will we say to those scrolling and scrolling and scrolling for a

Savior looking for glory what are we going to offer

Donald Trump's economy Ben Franklin's common sense libertarian values patriotic militancy what's the word what's the word we are the called of Jesus Christ we are beloved of God we are called to be saints we are separated to the gospel of God which he promised before through his prophets in the

Holy Scriptures the same Holy Scriptures that were being read in this synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia and this gospel of God was concerning his son this good news of God is concerning his son

Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the

Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the erection of a dead that's the word that's the word we bring that's the word we share to those scrolling scrolling scrolling looking for glory let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ it is the power of God unto salvation for the

Jew first and also for the Greek in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith the

Jews in the synagogue just scrolling scrolling scrolling any word of exhortation will do any word any word how about the word how about the word who became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only begotten full of grace and truth and so the scriptures are read in the synagogue but Paul brings to their attention a story an old old story that is familiar to them and yet not well understood by them we see this in verses 16 through to 23 and of course how he declares to them this word of exhortation the word that needs to be shared when he sums it all up in verse 26 he says to you the word of this salvation has been sent this is a word of salvation and it's been sent to you he tells them salvation's story he tells them about Moses he tells about Israel tells them about Samuel and Saul and David man this is this is kindergarten stuff

I mean these are the topics at BBS come on Paul don't you have anything better and something more intriguing something a little bit more deep or complicated

I mean you have come over 50 miles surely you have something very complicated to talk about he tells him the old story and by God's grace many of them heard it as if it was for the first time why because the missing piece of the puzzle the light that was absent before is now being shown upon the story now all of a sudden everything makes sense for example if I were to relate to you the story of the

Wizard of Oz you probably know the story of the Wizard of Oz and make it a little fuzzy about when the monkeys come in but you probably have an understanding of the

Wizard of Oz some of your children probably haven't seen that film and if they did they would think it was a horror movie but if I told you the story of the

Wizard of Oz you would probably remember it but if I were to set it against the author

Frank L Baum if I were to set it against his understanding of 20th century monetary policy in America and his assessment of the national debate on the gold versus silver standard then all of a sudden it would be like you were hearing the story for the first time

Wizard of Oz or is it the Wizard of Ounces and what are all the fools chant to travel the yellow brick road which goes to a central city where there's a scam artist a con artist right and there's the empty -headed the empty -headed farmers who go along with it there's the heartless industrialists who go along with it there's the cowardly politicians that go along with it right and the

East Coast and the West Coast are going along with it and poor little innocent

Dorothy she had the answer with her all along to solve all the problems all she had to do the whole time was what click her heels together three times because she was wearing not ruby slippers as the movies were showing off because they had color now but in the book silver slippers click it three times in your home so what was

Baum saying about monetary policies in his day not the gold standard but the silver standards the answer now you're home all of a sudden now you read the story like oh this is hilarious that's funny this is now this makes sense why do we have these characters at all so on and so forth and a much more important level and a far more intriguing fashion when we begin to go through the those

VBS stories the the the place markers of the of the

Bible's track record now it begins to make a little bit more sense when we think about it in the light of Jesus Christ in verse 16

Paul stood up motioning with his hand and said men of Israel and you who fear

God so he's talking to Israelites he's talking to Jews and to God fearers

God fearers in this day and age were Gentiles who believed in the

God declared in Scripture like Cornelius remember Cornelius who was saved when

God sent Peter to preach the gospel to him and so so Paul is saying to the to the

Jews and Gentiles who are there listen listen to this story and he starts way back when

God talked to Abraham the God of this people Israel chose our fathers in other words the

God of this people he wasn't made by this people as how gods are normally introduced gods are made by the people but this

God made them he pre -existed Israel the

God of this people Israel chose our fathers they didn't choose him and make him and create him and describe him he chose them

Abraham he chose not Lot Isaac he chose not

Ishmael Jacob he chose not Esau he chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt by means of the favored son

Joseph betrayed by his brothers cast down God raised him up to the right hand and provided bread and favor to his own people the story continues and with an uplifted arm he brought them out of it an uplifted arm he brought them out of the slavery that they were in in Egypt when a

Pharaoh who did not know Joseph arose God triumphed over this serpent crowned devouring enemy and redeemed the people by the

Passover lamb leading them through the sea to Sinai verse 18 now for a time of about 40 years he put up with their ways in the wilderness for 40 years

Moses oversaw the destruction of a wicked and perverse generation all the while preaching and warning the up -and -coming second generation

God raised up this new people this new generation and all the promise the promises had come to Moses the fulfillment came through Yeshua Joshua who led them into the promised rest the land of milk and honey achieving victory over all of their enemies and all their enemies came to rest in defeat before him verse 19 and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan those are all the it's seven different it's after they were all defeated and destroyed he distributed their land to them by allotment so God delivers them and he saved them and he conquers their enemies and then he provides the promised inheritance then what happened every man did what was right in his own eyes as if there were no king in Israel no

God to serve verse 20 after that he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the

Prophet God does not give up on his people he does not wash them away he does not wash his hands of them he does not break his covenant promises but he simply strengthens them and deepens them and specifies them and it's when

Samuel is the Prophet that it began asking for Kings and afterward they asked for a king verse 21 so God gave them

Saul the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years another 40 -year judgment another 40 -year wilderness because they wanted to be like the other pagan nations very well

I'll give you a very paganized kind of King and when he had removed him he raised up for them another

King a new King a second -generation King David to whom he also gave testimony by Samuel the

Prophet and said I through Nathan the prophets that I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all my will so before it was dealing with the nation as a whole and now the nation is personified down to the

King who's the King God's dealing with him so from Abraham to Sinai to David Paul preaches salvation story according to the markers of the covenants that God made covenants that God made which assured those who were made in his own image that his word would come to pass a word of salvation now this story

Abraham Moses Israel Joshua David I mean this story is just so well remembered by by Paul's audience and yet it was not clearly understood there's a lacking element to it there's a there's a fitting conclusion that with without it none of the previous chapters really cohere they don't make sense but once the final final element is added now every part is precious to the reader verse 23 from this man's seed according to the promise

God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus from this man's seed from the seed of David it's according to the promise the promised seed of Genesis 315 the promised seed to Abraham concerning Isaac according to the promise

God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus God's assurance to all mankind in all creation

Mount Errat was given more specifically at Mount Moriah yes all of mankind will be preserved

I'm not going to wash away all mankind I'm going to destroy you you're going to survive and now the blessings to all the nations are going to come through the seed of of Abraham and then all of God's covenant dealings with the often rebellious nation of Israel were then concentrated into his dealings with their king and that's why they're waiting and they're on the edge of their seats and they're wondering where is this

King when is the when is the King coming who is going to buy his own righteousness save us from our disaster and they're waiting and they're waiting and they're looking for the

Messiah and some of them thought that John the Baptist was the Messiah because they're doing Daniel's math and they're saying hey where is he and this

King will be a Savior to more than just Israel as Isaiah says this would be too small a thing and so it's people of Israel you who fear

God here is a word of salvation given to you men and brethren verse 26 sons of the family of Abraham those among you who fear

God to you the word of this salvation has been sent now when

Paul begins to tell the story he decides to start with God chose our forefathers he decided to start with Genesis chapter 12 that's where he decided to start it's so often when we think about trying to tell the story of salvation to somebody we tend to lop off most of what

Paul said we start the story with our sinful mess look how messy we are look how bad things are well that's true is it not the

Bible clearly declares that and demonstrates that but we start the story with our sinful mess and and then we change the channel and then we check in on the fourth quarter of God sent his son to die for our sins why not

God called Abram out of Ur or God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth and he was sorry that he made man or maybe we could begin with in the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth I mean we can afford to start remembering the story a little bit earlier and it will be bring much needed context for calling

Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world you might say well you know these were

Jews there's Gentiles there too God has graven engraved the story of salvation for the nations upon the granite of Israel's hard and happy history so it's an essential part to be told we cannot declare the gospel of Jesus Christ without saying things that make utterly no sense unless there's a background of God's dealings with his covenant dealings with his people and I think it's instructive to us when we see the preaching of Jesus and the

Apostles repeatedly move along the arc of redemptive history we're not living in a culture we're not living in a society we're not living around people who just automatically have some sort of investment from Christendom past where they kind of have the ideas in the terminology of the

Bible very often we're going to have to start way back and start telling the story earlier

I'm not saying that the story of Abraham and Isaac is the gospel I'm not saying that God's covenant with Israel at Sinai is the gospel but I'm saying that the gospel makes those things make sense and it is those things which give understanding to phrases about Jesus Christ as our mediator or Jesus Christ as the

Lamb of God we may have to start a little earlier and how we tell the story you know

Paul think about this if if Paul and Peter and Jesus start early in the storytelling and they were talking to first century

Jews it's certainly an idea that we should as well the story of salvation is ultimately about recognizing the superior son recognizing the superior son look at verses 23 to 26 from this man's seed according to the promise

God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus after John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel and as John was finishing his course he said who do you think

I am I am not he but behold there comes one after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to lose men and brethren sons of the family of Abraham those among you who fear

God to you the word of this salvation has been sent Paul caps off his review of the

Old Covenant survey with John the Baptist he brings up John the

Baptist he describes his his water immersion of repentance for all the people of Israel that's an essential point to make for for Paul's current audience as an excellent and as effective as John the

Baptist proved to be as a prophet even he needed a Savior and he told

Jesus that when Jesus came to him to be baptized John as the forerunner made certain that all of his audience knew how far superior the

Christ was to him in his own ministry how far superior Jesus of Nazareth was to John the

Baptist the rabbis said that all manner of service that a slave must render to his master the pupil must also render to his teacher in other words the disciple must treat his rabbi as the slave does his master in all things except for one thing that of taking off his shoe so the disciple did not have to stoop so low as the slave and yet John the

Baptist the greatest of all the prophets is not so worthy as a common slave that he would be even allowed to loose the strap of Christ's sandal you see how

John puts it what's the point Israel needs a Savior Israel needs a

Savior and if the nation for the nations needs a Savior then all the nations need a

Savior so you see the point that Paul is making as he's preaching and preaching not just to the men of Israel but also to those who fear

God there in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia the nature of the salvation is expressed in the degree of the

Savior's supremacy I mean think about John the Baptist as we'll find later on in the book of Acts the message of John the

Baptist the ministry of John the Baptist the baptism of John was something that was known throughout the ancient

Roman Empire the news of John the Baptist was a horn sounding in the

Jordan Valley deep and it flew across every sea lane and I filled up every mountain trail the water of the forerunner had soaked deep into the wood into the stones and into the trenches of the

Old Covenant but now in Christ and by his spirit has come the fire that proves

God's Word true and exposes all the false prophets and it utterly consumes every last scrap of Old Covenant significance the

Old Covenant is not so much obliterated by the New Covenant as it is fully and satisfyingly consumed in the greater now that's the underlying point of Paul's whole message this is the fundamental metastructure of apostolic gospel preaching notice in the text

Paul preaches from lesser to greater the entire sermon hey there was

Moses but then there was Joshua hey they were in the wilderness but then they were in the land of Canaan hey there there were the judges but then there was

Samuel the prophet hey there was King Saul but then there was King David and there was

John the Baptist but then there was Jesus you see what he's doing from the lesser to the greater from the lesser to the greater from the lesser to the greater this is the resounding hammer blow to the main impediment to the preaching of the gospel to the

Jews what do they keep saying we have Abraham as our father someone greater than Abraham is here they kept saying we observe the laws of Moses well someone greater than Moses is here they kept saying we have the temple

Jesus said something greater than the temple is here Jesus and his apostles kept preaching lesser to the greater over and over again because Jesus Christ is the greater

Son he's the greater servant he's the greater seed he's the greater Shalom it's all all those shadows that were part of that salvation story they're not only surpassed by Christ they are satisfyingly fulfilled in Christ who is the substance as God had forged all these truths in the mold of his image salvation is not just for the

Jew but also for the nation Jesus Christ is not only the greater servant he's also the greater man he is the last and superior

Adam made in God's image we scroll for glory the weight and the light in motion that catches our eyes captures our heart we say show us the good show us the true show us the beautiful stunned stunned my mind leave my soul open wanting more show me something else so many show me something new show me something that will satisfy the heart of man is a factory of idols and our desires produce a marketplace of counterfeit glory so we keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and mammon turns to gravel in our mouths and comes running out of our nose oh for a drink of living water that we will thirst no more oh for the bread of life that satisfies centuries upon centuries

Israel have been scrolling for a Savior until they find the

Son as we do in the scrolls the Father gave by his

Holy Spirit the nature of our salvation is something that cannot be understood without considering the supremacy of Jesus Christ if John the

Baptist wasn't worthy to untie the sandal strap of Jesus where does that leave us nothing nothing that we see outside the

Word of God nothing that we see outside the grace of God is ever going to measure up to be our

Savior never going to answer never going to enlighten never going to be good enough it's just Christ who is the image of the invisible

God and God has graciously faithfully profoundly shown us his

Son in his Word let's pray father we thank you for your grace in our lives today we thank you that you've given us a word about which we may say that should the full counsel of your word be preached we have not moved past preaching nothing but Christ and him crucified we thank you that you are so gracious toward us that you would declare to us the delight that you have in your son by the power of your own