Part 1 - The Gospel according to Mark

Transcript (Auto-generated)

Thanks so much Jason and the team great to uh be able to lift our voice and uh sing God's praise if you got your Bible there open up to uh to Mark's gopel El uh in the New Testament we're going to begin our new series this morning uh working our way through uh this uh gospel that Mark has recorded for us uh We've titled the series who do you say I am and uh we're going to unpack that question as uh as we go through over the coming weeks the uh the central question is that title of the series uh who do you say that I am and this was was a question that Jesus gave of his own disciples in in Mark chapter 8 uh as we'll find out a little bit later on in the series when we get up to Mark chapter 8 um by this time in in Mark's account by chapter 8 they've been traveling around the region of Galilee and Beyond with Jesus and uh he's been calling disciples he's been teaching and healing forgiving sins he's been casting out demons and Performing Miracles attracting great crowds and and attracting enemies along the way and and yet the question in Focus the question that he brings to his disciples in the in the middle of Mark's account here is this question that seems to matter uh greatly in the eyes of Jesus and this was the question of who do you say that I am Mark 8:27 to 29 you can read these words Jesus and his disciples went on to the Villages around cesaria Philippi on the way he asked them who to people say I am they replied some say John the Baptist others say Elijah still others one of the prophets but what about you he asked who do you say I am and I think this is probably the most important question that we may ever have to answer who do we make of this man Jesus what do we make of him we can have all sorts of ideas is about Jesus maybe for some of you if you're fairly new to church maybe you've never really read the Bible much maybe this is the first time you've opened up to Mark's uh gospel maybe you don't have a a real picture of Jesus at all maybe you're not sure what to think of him I'm glad you're here if that's you this morning join us over the coming weeks as we unpack this gospel and I I I pray that you would be able to fill in that picture as we work through this text together maybe for others of you you have some idea of Jesus but for whatever reason the picture's a little bit fuzzy maybe you've heard some things about Jesus maybe you've read some things in the Bible you've got some idea but it's not all that clear you've still got questions you're still not sure if that's you then I'm glad you're here also because it it never hurts to get a little bit of a closer look at Jesus it never hurts to open up his word to see if we can sharpen up that picture more as uh we get stuck in into his word maybe there's a number of you here this morning and you've been journeying with Jesus for a long time you're here this morning and you think you what but my picture is clear I put my faith and trust in Jesus ages ago we can answer with certainty who Jesus is and who he claims to be even if that's you this morning I want to challenge you that regardless of where you find yourself on that Spectrum each of us have this opportunity as we unpack Mark's account of Jesus life is his ministry his death and his resurrection over these coming weeks we all have this opportunity however long we've been walking with Jesus whether it's been for a long time or maybe we're not even walking with him yet the challenge before us is to examine the evidence to consider the testimony of what was the first eyewitnesses and see if we can get a clearer picture of who Jesus is it's our prayer that that we might all be willing to to hold up what we think we know about Jesus and compare it with these earliest accounts of his life with what he claimed about himself and with what his followers claimed that he said and did and the idea in doing all of that is that we would sharpen our Focus that we would clear up our picture to the extent that we could answer that question that Jesus asked of all of us who do we say that he is so that's that's where we're heading uh in our series and we get the uh dig into the first 15 uh verses of Mark's gospel this morning so uh turn back to chapter 1 if you haven't done so already who is Mark and and when did he write this account well according to Christian tradition this account marks The Gospel According to Mark it's attributed to a Christian scribe named Mark or or John Mark who was a close associate of Peter he was Peter was as you know was a disciple of Jesus and Mark was a a close associate of Peter he was also a A co-worker with the Apostle Paul it was Mark's family home that Paul uh went to when he escaped from prison in in Acts chap 12 it was Mark who joined Paul and Barnabas on on a number of their missionary Journeys early Christian history records that Mark collected all of these eyewitness accounts of the disciple Peter and then he shaped them into what we have as this Gospel According to mark As for the date when it was written most Scholars uh suggest that it could have been written somewhere in the mid to late 50s a there's a few Scholars that favor a later date in the mid-60s but even so this is one of the earliest accounts we have of the Life Ministry death and resurrection of Jesus and at its time of circulation when this when this account was was being read when it was being distributed even for if if you dated at that later date around ad8 60 as this letter is is being uh uh distributed it's still well within the lifespan of people who actually knew and spent time with Jesus Mark as he's collected these eye witness accounts as he was an associate of Peter and Paul and Barnabas he had close and consistent access to some of the very first eyewitnesses of Jesus so it's a a significant text to look at as we try and answer this question who do we say that Jesus is Let's uh read uh some of uh Mark chapter 1 this is how it begins the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet I'll send my messenger ahead of you who'll prepare your way a voice of one calling in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord make straight paths for him just pause the reading there we'll we'll come back to those later verses in a moment straight away we can see that this is no ordinary story Mark Begins by proclaiming that this is the beginning of the good news about Jesus that that word good news is translated from a a Greek word which means gospel so good news means gospel that's why it's the gospel according to mark this is the the good news according to Mark's account of these first eyewitnesses but it's not good news of Mark it's the good news about Jesus this is the Gospel of Jesus often when we hear the term good news we we tend to think of those kind of um fluffy good news stories that get tacked on to the end of the Nightly News Bulletin maybe we think of good news and we think of well that's the opposite of bad news but this is not what Mark is getting at here for Mark's original audience good news or or gospel it actually had a meaning all of its own it meant much more than that the gospel was like an official Proclamation kind of like from an emperor announcing the a new era of peace or or a king a new king that was being born a gospel Proclamation was sent out far and wide to the ends of the Earth because its implication was this news is extraordinary you need to hear it not only that this news Demands a response Mark's original readers the the ones who would have heard this for the first time would have understood that reference some of you know me I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan uh one of my earliest memories was going to the drive-in to see Star Wars with my dad as a boy and any of you that share My Love of All Things Star Wars will know that anytime you see those words a long time ago in a galaxy far far away whenever that yellow paragraph of text appears at the beginning of the the movie you know immediately which story you're in you know the context you you know what you're in for you know what's going to happen there's going to be lightsaber jewels and Stormtroopers and Jedi and Ewoks and and and spaceships and speeder bikes and if you're like me you get excited if you like my sister that's your C to Leaf because you don't like Star Wars now if you were an ancient Jew one of Mark's original readers of this book hearing those first three verses that we just read you would have known exactly what story you were into because Mark is bringing to mind a whole host of their history their identity as a people this is a story that didn't just begin here in Mark but this is a story that began long ago all the way back in Genesis it continues All the Way Forward into history into the into the Bible and Beyond a story of a God who created the world and everything in it and he looked at all that he' made and he called it good and then God made humankind In His Image and he placed them into this creation and he intended to dwell with them and to be their God and and to spread his glory from one end of the Earth to the other the Bible tells us that humankind received all of that all that was good and yet we decided we knew better we gave in to the temptation of the enemy we doubted God's word we rejected his ways and this plunged the entire creation into sin and death and yet God in his Mercy he he didn't abandon his creation but he he promised to provide a way to fix the mess that we'd made God promised all the way back in Genesis 3 that he would send someone to save us someone to redeem us someone who could defeat the enemy and forgive our sins and restore everything that sin had broken the story of God goes that he chose a particular family he chose a particular Nation through whom he was going to send this coming promised Messiah this deliverer he would be born of Abraham Isaac and Jacob some born in the lon of David and God declared that this this one would come and and bring about his peace upon the whole earth what we see as we follow the story of God throughout the Old Testament is that he protects his people across the ages he brings them out of slavery in Egypt into the promised land he causes them to grow in number and wealth and influence because they were his people and they were meant to show all the other nations of the world what it was to live in right relationship with the God who made them as we read in the rest of the story across that Old Testament record we find out that this people who had received this good news from God this chosen people who had been set apart as the vehicle of God's blessing for the whole world well they needed God's rescue just as much as anybody else we read that their hearts were hard their sin was just as deep their need was just as great they needed God to come and save them once more not from some physical oppressor like like Pharaoh but from their slavery to sin and death and so God through this prophet Isaiah that Mark quotes at the beginning of this story God through the prophet Isaiah announces this good news a future day when he will come to his people once more and when he comes he's going to gather his people together as a Shepherd gathers his sheep God said through the prophet I'll cleanse them of their sin and I'll set the captives free friends straight up front we see Mark telling us that this is no ordinary story but this is also no ordinary man this is an extraordinary claim that Mark makes in these first three chapter uh verses of chapter one he makes this link to the anchoring the story that he's assembled from all of these eyewitnesses accounts about Jesus he links it back to the nation of Israel to their story as God's people to the specific promise that God had given them over the years Mark makes this extraordinary claim because Jesus is no extraordinary man Jesus Mark says is the Fulfillment of all of those years of longing he's the f fulfillment of all of God's promises to rescue redeem and save don't we know that this morning friends we've been singing about it in our songs this is why Mark says in in verse one there this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus why is it good news because he's the Messiah the Son of God this is that good news like that gospel Proclamation that that has a a reach that should be far and wide it has Universal scope but it also has personal implication it demands a response we'll Circle back to our response at the end that term Messiah or Christ just means the anointed one those who were anointed had the favor of God normally those who were anointed were the prophets priests or Kings and so in saying that Jesus is the Christ he's the Messiah God's anointed one Mark is not simply saying he's just any Prophet priest or King Mark is actually saying no no he is the prophet priest and King he's the one that God promised that we've been longing for all those centuries ago he's the one who will rescue God's people who rule with Justice and who will establish God's Reign on the earth he's the Messiah but Mark says Jesus is more than just the Messiah he's the very son of God in the Bible you might hear this term Son of God sometimes used of humans sometimes of angels but but in Mark's use here is the title for Jesus and it takes on an even greater significance in verse three as Mark quotes Isaiah uh Isaiah 40:3 where where God says through the prophet prepare the way of the lord we know from from our our Bible knowledge that that word Lord is translated from Yahweh it it's the personal Covenant name of God a name that was so holy that the Jews wouldn't speak it they wouldn't even write it out in full because they wanted to be so careful to honor and Revere God's holy name they didn't want to blashe or take his name in vain but this was his personal Covenant name that he' given to them Mark says in his introduction to this book this is who Jesus is he's the son of God he is the Lord the promised Messiah the one who God said would come long ago and rescue his people John 1:4 tells us that the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us we've seen his glory John says the glory of the one and only son who came from the father full of grace and truth that's the big claim at the beginning of Mark's gospel Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God he's the Fulfillment of all of God's promises to his people EV because he's God himself come into the world that he made so that he would later die on a tree so that we could be saved big claims need big evidence and thankfully Mark doesn't just make claims about who Jesus is he he lays out for us the EV evidence the confirmation of those claims so that we can make up our own minds about Jesus Mark 1 uh verse one is the only time we hear Mark give his own opinion from here on out he's just going to give us the testimony of all of the eyewitnesses the words of Jesus himself and and how people responded to him but along the way as we'll see he lays out strong evidence so that we can make up our own minds about Jesus to back up his big claim in this first section of his text he gives us the evidence of the testimony of John the Baptist look at uh verse 4 to8 Mark continues he says so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins the whole Judean Countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and he ate Locust and wild honey and this was his message after me comes one more powerful than I the straps of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie I baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit Mark introduces us at this point to John the Baptist this eccentric character out in the wilderness he looks like a crazy person he's wearing camel hair he's eating bugs and Wild Honey imagine if you saw him down at the morfield shops you'd probably try and walk on the other side of the aisle to to just stay away from him yet I think we need to be careful not just to see these as wild details about some eccentric character Mark is giving us these details for a reason the these are Clues to help us understand how he he's backing up this claim that Jesus is who he says he is Mark holds out that John John the Baptist is this messenger that God had said would prepare the way for the Lord's arrival we read that earlier in in his quoting the prophet Isaiah Isaiah 40:3 what what we see as the look of a crazy man is just the the regular get up the regular clothing of an Old Testament Prophet they wore non- trendy clothes uh the fact that he's out in the wilderness might seem like an odd place to prepare people for the coming Messiah but in actual fact this was precisely the place that scripture said the messenger would come from and Mark's readers would have known that and so in holding up this testimony of John the Baptist Mark is actually giving us a clue he's saying this is confirmed God said that this messenger would come and he has come and now the Messiah comes after him notice that John doesn't Point people to himself but rather he points them to Jesus we read about that in in verses 7 and 8 he his entire Ministry was to get people ready for the coming of the Messiah and John did this in two ways the first way he was getting people ready was was calling God's people to repentance and then the second way was was pointing them to the one who enables that repentance and who has the power to forgive their sins repentance in the Bible simply means to change direction it's a it's a turning away from someone or or something and a turning to something else John's baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins was all about the people turning away from their sin and turning back to God in Repentance this was a a fairly radical teaching at the time also part of the reason why John was out in the wilderness because he was in the city the religious leaders of the day had a bit of a problem with what he was teaching see the religious leaders of the day had all sorts of ideas on what it meant to prepare the way for the Messiah for them it was all about rules keeping and it wasn't just the rules that God had given to them no it was also the the oral Traditions that had been passed down from all of the different rabbis and teachers and there was all sorts of extra rules that God had never given his people in the first place that they added into the mix and so for the religious leaders of the day preparing for the Messiah just meant dudy and rueping and it was a burden John's message was a radical teaching John was preaching that forgiveness was freely and unconditionally offered to All by God you you've got no claim over it simply because you might be a Jew or or because you might have performed some ritual or religious practice neither did you have any claim to it because you belong to a specific faith community no John's message was that that the mercy of God we all need Jews and Gentiles Alik non-jews and that our need is so great our our situation when it comes to sin is so dire because sin is serious it's not something that we can just wash off with a ritual washing we need a heart change we we need to turn away from our sin and turn back to God for forgiveness we need someone to make us clean someone else to wash us to meet us in that place of need and in verses 7 to8 of of Mark chapter 1 John is pointing to Jesus as being that such person we read before that John said after me comes one more powerful than I the straps of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie I baptize you with water but he'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit John says God is coming he has come and he's going to do the thing that he's promised he's going to pour out his Spirit on all people he's going to forgive sin and make things new I don't know where everyone's heart is this morning maybe there's somebody here this morning or watching online and even just the thought of that you feel in your heart that yeah I don't have any claim on God's mercy maybe there's things in your past that you've done or things that you know you shouldn't have done that you didn't do and all of that just leaves you when you're honest and thinking about it burdened under the weight of guilt and shame and you can never wash it clean no matter how hard you might have tried in the past whether it be rule keeping or doing good things for God that's you this morning I want to encourage you to look to Jesus because John confirms for us that he is the one that God Was preparing us for he's the one who can and does forgive our sin he's the Fulfillment of all of those promises of God and He does for us what we could never do for ourselves Jesus stands in our place so that we can be forgiven that's why he came so that we can know peace with God notice the further confirmation Mark gives us in uh the following verses 9 to1 we read about jesus' baptism in the Jordan River surprisingly Jesus comes in a way that people didn't expect him to arrive have a look at verses 9 to1 11 at that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and he was baptized by John in the Jordan just as Jesus was coming up out of the water he saw heaven being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove a voice from he came from Heaven you are my son whom I love with you I am well pleased it's a surprising confirmation really Jesus didn't come as a king on a chariot with Fanfare and Pomp and ceremony he didn't arrive with a mighty Army how does he come wearing sandals as a Man from Nazareth in Galilee now we might read that and and not think too much of it I mean in our Aussie context Nazareth and Galilee doesn't mean a lot to us especially if you've never traveled to to the Middle East you've never been to to Israel but surprisingly this is another clue that Mark gives us to help us get a clearer picture of Jesus to the original recipience of Mark's gospel Nazareth was an insignificant Backwater nothing town it's never mentioned in the Old Testament and the one time somebody responds to Jesus being from Nazareth in the new Testament in john: 146 the response is does anything good come from Nazareth the picture Mark is painting for us by giving this little bit of information for us is Jesus didn't come how people expected and for some of them they missed who he was because they had a picture of Jesus one way and he didn't fit the picture and rather than look to Jesus and see who he was they were looking for their picture and trying to find the Jesus that matched their making the danger is we have the wrong picture of Jesus he didn't come how people expected he didn't burst onto the scene as though he was anyone famous he didn't come in some kind of Glorious Pomp and ceremony he came as someone in inconsequential someone from a nothing Backwater of a town the Jews expected this conquering military King but Jesus comes instead as a suffering servant not only that Mark tells us that Jesus the Messiah the Son of God and it's weird isn't it because then why is Jesus coming to John for baptism because John's baptism was a baptism of repentance that's really strange when you think about it why is the one who John said is greater than him the one who John says is not even Worthy to be his slave or to tie his sandals why is this great one coming to John to be washed by John's hands in the waters of baptism why is the Son of God the one we are told by Mark is actually the Lord the one who is sinless why is he sitting in the waters of the Jordan with those who are going forward for the Forgiveness of sins we got to ask ourselves the question why is he even there mark doesn't tell us the other gospel accounts help us to fill out the blanks a little bit Matthew 3:14 tells us that when Jesus came up uh John questioned him a a and John said no no no no why are you coming to be baptized by me I should be baptized by you and Jesus said replied no it's proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness what Mark's telling us and and what what John's telling us what what this baptism confirmation tells us about Jesus is that he stands in the place of humanity he's our representative it's why we find him coming from Nazareth in Galilee with sandals on he needed to be human so that he could bear the penalty for our sin but he needed to be fully God because we know that only God can ever truly forgive our sins only Jesus who is both fully human and fully God could ever truly atone for our sins that's why Jesus is there it's why he came it's the good news of the Gospel that Jesus loved us so much that he willingly went to that cross to save us from our sin friends this is the place where my heart starts to tremble a little bit as I consider my own sin as I look back think of all those times often there moments of challenge when life is difficult when when maybe when I'm feeling stressed or in those moments when we haven't got enough sleep or just that that the daily pain of living with a chronic illness leaves us feeling stretched perhaps grumpy or short tempered I know that there are times when I haven't been as gentle or as kind as I might have hoped to be I think back to those moments and I realized just how incredibly blessed I am to have a wife and children who love me enough to point that out when I haven't responded in a way that I should have I recognize that there's been many times when I'm not proud of those moments of pain or stress or difficulty and how I've responded now you would think that because I've been blessed with such a loving and gracious wife helping me in those moments that maybe my reaction to being having that pointed out to me would be thanks so much honey for pointing that out you're totally right I'm so sorry I snapped please forgive me friends H I wish I could say that that was my default response too often that's not what happens at least not most of the time there are times when my response has been the response that many of us make in those moments when our sin has confronted us we get defensive we struggle to accept what we've done why is that why do we find ourselves responding that way I think it's because I'm ashamed to be identified with my sins I'm ashamed to be seen as what I am a sinner in need of Grace and yet we look at Jesus this morning we find him in our passage this morning the one person in all the world who has absolutely no sin and then what do we notice him doing he's identifying with the Fallen with the broken those who are going forward for a baptism of repentance Jesus is not not defensive he's not turning to the crowds and making a scene as he steps into that water you know guys I'm sinless I don't need this he doesn't do that he's not ashamed to identify with those of us who have fallen he's not ashamed to identify with our sins even though he himself was sinless Jesus humbly submits to John's baptism of repentance not because he had anything to repent of but as a model for us to follow because he knows that we need to repent of our sin in order to come to him for forgiveness and be saved Jesus humbled himself to stand in that place of humanity so that he could be our substitute and that we could be forgiven verses 10 and 11 you see further confirmation that Jesus is who Mark claimed him to be uh we read that as he's coming up out of the water Jesus sees heaven open the spirit comes down like a dove and the voice of God the father says you are my son whom I love with you I'm well pleased that's a powerful confirmation isn't it of Mark's earlier claim that Jesus is the son of the Living God we find this confirmed by God as he expresses his holy pleasure at the sight of his son obediently submitting to his will and being willing to substitute himself For All Mankind we're familiar with that passage aren't we John 3:16 we we sing it sometimes as a song God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son his beloved Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life as the claim as the confirmation what do we do in response we mentioned earlier that this is a a gospel this is a a proclamation of universal importance import and personal implication it's news that Demands a response how do we respond to these claims about Jesus Mark outlines I think a couple of ways that we might respond to Jesus in our text this morning firstly we see in verse three as John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus he urges people to make straight paths for him it's like rolling out the red carpet for a VIP or a dignitary or important guest that arrives God's people are to make straight paths for Jesus that to make way for his arrival there's this sense of urgency and directness in that uh command John's urging people not to delay if there's anything in the way anything that would prevent you from meeting with and receiving Jesus John's John's instruction would be put aside make a straight path for him imagine it's a bit like when we call for an ambulance or the after hours doctor to come and help us if we got some medical emergency or something and we we make that phone call Our Hope in that moment is that the doctor or the paramedic will come straight to us that they'll make a straight path to us we don't want them stopping off for a snack or grabbing a coffee we we want them to come as soon as possible right we want to make a straight path to us because it's important this is what John was calling God's people to as he cried out in that Wilderness as he preached this baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins he's urging people to get their hearts ready to make straight paths for Jesus friends that challenge is still there for us today in light of the good news about Jesus that he's the Messiah the Son of God that he's the one who saves us from our sins we have to make straight paths for him there can be all kinds of things that we allow in our lives to get in the way of Jesus doesn't matter what our background is it doesn't matter what we think we might have done whether things that are right or wrong it doesn't matter what we think about Jesus in the past when he comes into focus when we finally come to this point where we see him as Mark sees him as the Messiah the Son of God the the Lord who saves we have an opportunity to respond and there's only one response that makes sense and Jesus tells us what that is in verses 14 and 15 of Mark chapter 1 we read after John was put in prison Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God the time has come he said the kingdom of God has come near repent and believe the good news that's the response so we make a straight path to Jesus that's the choice that we have to repent to turn from our sin and turn to Jesus and to believe the good news the gospel of Christ if Jesus really is the Christ the son of God then friends it changes everything nothing can ever be the same again if you get to that point and you get that clear picture of him that's the truth it's the most important question will ever be asked to make who do we make of Jesus what do we make of him the Bible says our answer to that question doesn't only impact the kind of life that we can live now but the answer to that question will impact us on into eternity how we choose to respond to Jesus will determine our Eternal Destiny it's why we want to unpack this Gospel According to Mark over the next few weeks it's it's so that we have this opportunity each of us to sharpen our focus on Jesus to find that clear picture of who he is and what he claims to be because we want to make a straight path to him so that we can have that response so that we can repent and believe because that's the only response that truly makes sense who do you say Jesus is I wonder if they there's some here today who you like that fuzzy picture of Jesus you've lost your focus on him as the Son of God maybe you've accepted that at one point and yet for whatever reason the focus has shifted the claim that he has on our lives as the king as the Messiah that Focus has shifted over time the focus of our lives right now if we're Hest would be not the king would be not his word our Focus can shift to any number of things getting through the latest season of our favorite show on Netflix I don't know we spend less time gazing at Jesus word and at Christ we can spend far too much time gazing at our phones or our TV screens or our computer screens that's Focus shifts if we allow that drift it's like we start to fall asleep Dylan mentioned last week when he preached Revelation 3 it's like that danger of getting lukewarm of growing cold of getting lazy in our spiritual disciplines because when we do we can find without realizing it that we actually stop believing that this is good news I mean our head tells us that it is but we've lost that sense of urgency and that joy in our heart that this indeed is good news that Jesus is the son of God and that only he can satisfy maybe you're here today and you need to refocus your picture on Jesus he used to be everything his purposes his will his people they used to hold your attention but not anymore because little by little you've allowed yourself to drift and become indifferent to the things of God Once Upon a Time meeting up with with people at church was like catching up with family now it's gone to meeting up with acquaintances or maybe just becoming interacting with strangers serving at church used to be a delight now it's becoming a burden slowly becoming an inconvenience friends if we allow our Focus to shift that can be where we end up and we don't want to be there we need to have a clear picture of Jesus because he is who Mark claimed him to be and it changes everything I'm going to just give you a few moments of quiet just between you and the Lord before I wrap up with our prayer I just want you to spend some time with the Lord If Today you've had your eyes open for the first time and and you recognize and are ready to believe that Jesus does forgive you of your sin that I would invite you to invite him in receive the Forgiveness that he offers those of us who our Focus has shifted it's time to confess that to the Lord to repent of our sin and turn back to him to ask him pray that he would sharpen our vision that what we might see him in All His glory once more just invite you to spend a few moments with the Lord responding to what it is that he's calling you to do then I'll pray my heavenly father on the basis of the testimony that we've heard and received this morning give us the courage to repent and to believe in the good news of Jesus help us to submit ourselves to you that you might be the very center of our Lives help us Lord where we let go of you where we've shifted our focus and taken our eyes off of Jesus help us to let go of those foolish thoughts that put us at the center that foolish thinking that thinks that we're in control when the is it should be youing and what it means to live as your children as citizens of your Eternal Kingdom may this testimony of good news of Jesus be our testimony as we receive receive again this free gift of Salvation that he offers to all who believe father for those that maybe have come to that realization of faith for the first time this morning Lord I pray that you would just uh give them that real awareness of your indwelling presence by your Holy Spirit may they have the courage to talk to somebody they came with or to me to Dylan to to one of one of the other folk here that they came with to let us know about that decision that they've made this morning so that we can help to encourage them and get them started in their walk with you we thank you Lord for this uh testimony of Jesus our savior and we look forward to unpacking it in the weeks ahead we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.