As Each Part Does Its Work

Thank you. It is a joy to be with you.

If you've got your Bibles open, it's Ephesians 4,

but we're also going to look a little bit at Ephesians 1.

As an American pastor some years ago wrote a best-selling book,

as it turned out to be, about the local church,

its core conviction was this.

The local church is the apple of God's eye.

It's the focal point of all that he is doing in the world.

Now, look around.

Look at one another.

This was his conviction.

If you're a Christian here this morning, part of this local church,

you are part of being the apple of God's eye,

the focal point of all that he's doing in the world.

That actually well reflects the main theme of Ephesians as a letter.

In fact, there's no other letter in the New Testament

that kind of has such an expansive, such a soaring,

such a cosmic view of the place of the local church,

which looks so ordinary.

Look at that.

Look at one another.

So ordinary.

So weak.

So apparently ineffective and inconsequential.

But in God's economy,

it's these companies of God's people,

small and large,

scattered around the world throughout time,

is the focal point of all that he's doing against the back cloth

of all that is happening in the world,

the rise and fall of nations,

the coming and going of prime ministers,

wars and times of peace.

God is working constantly,

and he's doing that through the local church.

And the point is, in chapter 1, verse 10,

the whole unfolding storyline of the Bible

is encaptured in the fact,

in the story of salvation,

which is a story of God working every single day

through his people in the world,

through the whole course of human history,

with one great aim.

There it is in verse 10,

to bring all things in heaven and earth under Christ.

That's where it's going.

If you're a Christian, that's your destiny.

That's where you and I are going.

And Ephesians shows us,

through Jesus' death and resurrection,

how God will bring into being this new creation,

the new heavens and the new earth,

as it's called elsewhere in the book of Revelation.

It's the kind of world that we long for.

It's the kind of world that we sing about.

Famously, John Lennon sang about it in the 60s and 70s

with that song, Imagine.

Most of you are of an age and time,

well, you'll remember that song.

But what was he singing about?

He said, I hope someday you'll join us,

and the world will be at one.

The world longs for peace.

The world longs for unity.

The world longs for oneness.

But it can't deliver it.

It's not in the power of humankind

to deliver the kind of world that we want.

And yet, the fact that we long for that kind of world

is all part and parcel of the imprint of God's image

in our heart and our soul.

We've lost that world.

We lost it in Genesis.

But it's a world that's going to be regained,

as John Milton put it,

paradise regained,

that's spoken about in the book of Revelation.

That's the journey of the Bible,

from paradise lost to paradise regained.

But that world isn't going to be regained

by human beings.

It's going to be regained by the intervention of God.

And he's begun that through the death

and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what's going on in history,

against the butt cloth of all that's going on

in our own lives,

and in the history of our nation,

and the history of the world right now?

It's this.

God is building his church.

As Ephesians puts it,

one world, one body, one people.

And before we get to the passage in Ephesians 4 this morning,

I just want to remind you,

if you're a Christian,

of something that you're in danger of missing every day

and losing sight of,

and I can see from some of your faces

that you're losing sight of it,

it's the incredible privilege of being a Christian.

It might not feel like that here this morning,

but if you're a Christian,

you are amongst the most privileged people

in all the world.

You really are.

Why?

Well, as Ephesians 1 puts it in verse 4,

you're chosen in him before the foundation of the world.

Or again, adopted as God's sons,

heirs of all that he owns,

to be adopted into the family of God.

The story is told of the little boy who was adopted,

and he was getting a lot of grace from his mates at school.

And in the end,

he turned around and said,

at least my father chose me.

Your fathers had no choice in the matter.

You were just given to them.

Isn't that brilliant?

Adoption is at the heart of the Christian experience.

A father in heaven who so loved you personally

that he purposed, he chose you to adopt you into his family.

Paul is saying to this ragamuffling church in Ephesus,

this is who you are.

Christian here today in Brunsfield,

this is who you are.

You are chosen.

You are adopted.

You are, verse 7,

redeemed through the death of Christ.

As Peter puts it,

not with silver and gold,

but with the precious blood of Christ.

How much does God love you?

That much.

To give his son.

You fathers here,

can you imagine any scenario

where you're willing to give up your child

to rescue another person?

This is the immensity of God's heart and God's love

that he has given his very best,

his only begotten son,

to rescue us.

That's the value that he puts upon having you

in his family.

Do you see the thing?

You couldn't be of greater value.

You couldn't be of greater worth.

You couldn't be of more significance.

This is your identity.

And that's why,

because we're sealed with the Holy Spirit,

verses 13 and 14,

there's a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

so that we cry in our heart,

Abba, Father,

we are aware of our relationship with God,

that we are called to live,

verse 12,

for the praise of his glory.

I'm sure you've been through Ephesians 1 at some point.

If not, it's a great passage to return to.

But that's who we are as Christians.

And I just want to remind us of that.

Before we come to chapter 4 today,

because getting hold of that is so important

to our everyday life and service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or as it puts it in chapter 1,

in verse 1 of chapter 4,

as a prisoner for the Lord,

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling

you have received.

You see, as a Christian,

you've been chosen,

you've been adopted,

you've been called into God's family,

and he's given you a purpose.

And the purpose is to live a life worthy of who you are.

Remember that film,

Saving Private Ryan?

There's a very poignant scene at the end of it,

where 50 years or so later,

Private Ryan,

now an old man,

returns to visit the grave of Captain John Miller,

who had led that band of people.

It's a true story, isn't it?

He'd led those troops to rescue Private Ryan.

And he's there now,

Private Ryan,

with his wife,

with his children,

with his grandchildren.

They're all gathered around that grave in France,

in that cemetery.

And he turns to his wife,

and he says,

tell me that I've earned it.

Tell me that I've earned it.

You see,

he was aware that the sacrifice,

what was made for him,

had granted him a life that John Miller never knew.

He was aware of the enormity of the cost of it.

And his instinct was,

tell me that I've earned it.

Tell me that I've earned it.

That's so, so related to that deep instinct within us

that thinks we can earn our salvation.

Do you see the point?

We can't earn it.

There's nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

It's a gift of God.

Those words of Private Ryan

are the very antithesis,

the very opposite of the gospel.

Because the gospel says you can't earn it.

It's a gift.

The gift of faith,

the gift of grace given to you.

You can't earn your salvation.

God has done it all.

And knowing that God has done it all,

knowing that we respond to God,

not out of duty,

but out of love.

The Christian life isn't duty,

it's devotion.

It's the response to love.

Knowing that he's done all those things for me,

what can I do but love him in return,

with his help,

day by day?

It's the response of love.

And here in the verse 1 to 16 of chapter 4,

it spells out kind of what it means, therefore,

to live a life of devotion.

What's the implications for us,

as a local church,

to the immensity of God's love

and God's goodness to us?

Well, it is simply this.

First, it's to be a peacemaker.

And secondly, it's to be a bodybuilder.

A peacemaker and a bodybuilder.

Verses 1 to 6.

As we've already seen,

you see, there's an instinctive longing

in the human heart for peace,

for unity.

We have things like the United Nations.

The nations come together,

long for unity.

But if anything so illustrates

the total impotence of a nation

or nations to get together to create unity,

it's the United Nations.

We have a united kingdom.

It's a very dangerous thing

to talk about in Scotland, isn't it?

The united kingdom.

You see, there's this longing in all of us

for unity, for togetherness.

But as we've already seen,

left to ourselves,

we can't create that.

But the gospel creates it.

Christ has won the peace

and he's created unity for his family.

Firstly, Paul talks about it in chapter 2.

It's a peace between God and his people.

In Christ, verse 13,

you who were once far away

have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

He himself is our peace.

But it's not until we have that vertical peace

with God that we can begin to have

peace with one another.

You'll never have horizontal peace

between people.

Without first,

you have that vertical peace

between a person and God.

That's what God is creating

in the gospel.

Verse 14 of chapter 2,

He has made the two groups,

Jew and Gentile,

naturally hostile to one another,

one and destroyed the barrier,

the dividing wall of hostility.

You see, the gospel has the power

to do something

that no other human institution,

philosophy, religion,

whatever you might want to call it,

has the power to do.

It's to create a global community.

And you can illustrate this very easily.

You've had surely the experience

of being somewhere else.

You're away on holiday,

whatever it might be,

and you meet another Christian.

And immediately,

there's a bond between you.

Now, last May, I think it was,

I was very happily walking along

the promenade

in a place called St. Brellard's Bay

in Jersey.

Beautiful.

And the sun was shining,

and like the typical Brit abroad,

I had my T-shirt,

take my T-shirt off,

have my knotted hanky on my head,

no, I didn't really.

But we're just walking along there,

Val and I,

and then suddenly,

this guy leans over outside of this,

it's kind of like a hotel,

but it was all open.

And he said,

Trevor, it's Trevor,

it's Trevor, isn't it?

I go, who's this guy?

It was your pastor.

And that's why we're here today.

It was a direct result.

But the amazing thing,

isn't it?

You've surely been there.

There's an immediate rapport.

There's an immediate brotherhood,

isn't there?

You're in the family.

You've never met them before,

but they're a brother and sister

in Christ.

It's just one of the reflections

of what God does in the gospel.

It's incredible, isn't it?

God brings us together.

But it's not man-made,

it's God-made.

We don't create this unity,

it's a given.

But you remember what Paul says

here in Ephesians?

Maintain the unity of the gospel

in the bond of peace.

You see, unity is not something

we create, it's given.

You're in Christ,

I'm in Christ,

it's given.

All we can do is destroy it.

Or maintain it,

which is Paul's point here.

He's calling us to be peacemakers.

Not so much peacemakers,

but actually peacekeepers

to maintain the unity

in the bond of peace.

The challenge here

is not to destroy

what God instinctively

and intrinsically creates

in the gospel.

But how do we do that?

Well, Paul is really helpful here

because he tells us

four ways

in which we can

keep the peace.

The first

is there

in

verse 1

or verse 2.

Be completely

humble.

Be completely

humble.

You see,

this is why I wanted to remind us

who we are in Christ.

If you know yourself

to be chosen

and adopted

and the recipient

of God's grace

and totally unworthy of it

but lavished

with his love,

if you know yourself

to be made alive

to God,

to be given

a glorious hope

of the future,

surely there's no room

for pride in that,

is there?

It's all stuff

that God has done

for you.

You haven't achieved it.

You're not better

than the next person.

Very often you're worse

than the next person.

But this is what God has done.

And if he's done it

by himself,

humbling himself

unto death.

So there's no room

in the Christian life

for pride.

Now, that's easy to say

but pride is the first thing

to enter us.

It's the heart of sin,

isn't it, after all?

The big eye.

And it's the last thing

to leave us.

That self-preservation,

that instinct

to want to be first,

to be noticed,

to be applauded.

It's profound.

And yet,

here in the Gospel,

God sets about

making his people

a humble people.

Not a Uriah Heep

kind of humble.

Charles Dickens

wrote about,

you know,

oh, I'm ever so humble.

Not that kind of thing.

But the outlook

upon life

that realizes

that all I am

and all I have been given

is a result

of the grace of God.

And it's astonishing.

It's wonderful.

And I'm valued

by God

beyond my wildest

imagination.

C.S. Lewis

put it like this.

Humility

is not thinking

less

of yourself

but thinking

of yourself

less.

That's brilliant,

isn't it?

It's not thinking

less of yourself.

Don't devalue

the value

that God has given

to you.

You're the most

privileged person

in the universe.

But because of that,

think of yourself

less.

Reflect the Father.

Reflect the image

of the Son.

Reflect the Spirit

that indwells you,

that looks to the needs

of others.

Think of the people

who've made the greatest

impact

on your Christian life.

Have you got them?

Got that person?

Probably several.

But that one person.

I would

venture to say

that the quality

that has impressed you

and left such an impression

upon you

by that person

is that they were humble.

They were humble

because they denied themselves.

They put up with you.

I'm thinking of one guy

particularly,

a guy called Ian Oliver

who when I became

a Christian

for probably two years,

every Thursday lunchtime,

we would meet up,

I'm showing my age now,

at the Wimpy Bar.

I don't know if you still

have Wimpy Bars.

They were the precursor

of McDonald's.

And we would meet up

in the Wimpy Bar

in Leicester Square

for an hour

and he was basically

discipling me.

It cost him a lot.

Every time he paid

for the meal.

But it wasn't simply

the cash it cost him.

He gave his time.

Not only the hour

we were there,

the half hour each way

that it took him

to get there.

All the way through

there was that sacrifice,

there was that humility

in order to bless me.

You've all got people

in your lives like that.

That it costs them.

It costs them

to serve you,

to grow you

in the faith.

They were humble.

They wanted your best.

They wanted your flourishing.

They wanted your improvement

as a Christian.

Paul goes on to say,

be completely humble

and gentle.

How quickly

unity is fractured

by our lack

of gentleness.

You see,

gentleness comes

from a heart

that knows the Saviour.

The one who said,

come unto me,

all you who are weary

and heavy laden,

and I will give you rest

for I am gentle

and lowly of heart.

gentle

is not weak.

We're told Moses

was the meekest man

upon the face of the earth.

He was a strong man.

He once killed

another person.

He was probably

a very big,

powerful guy.

But God said

he was meek.

He was gentle.

Why?

Because he'd experienced

the love and the grace

and the mercy

and the humbling of God.

And that made him

gentle.

This is the point

that's being made here,

isn't it?

This same spirit

of Christ,

the one who is gentle

and lowly,

is a spirit

that indwells you

and me,

Christian.

So let's be gentle

with one another.

It's the secret

of true unity.

The third way

is that of patience.

Verse 2 again,

be completely humble

and gentle.

Be patient,

bearing with one another

in love.

See,

none of us,

this might come as a surprise,

none of us

are the finished product.

We're not in heaven yet.

So we struggle

with sin

every day.

We struggle

with the old nature.

We're all work

in progress.

I had a friend

from Northern Ireland,

one of the elders

at Chessington,

who took 18 months

off of his work

to come and serve

in the church.

And after two months

he came to me

and he was quite troubled

because he thought,

you see,

working in a church

was the ideal job.

He thought,

this is it.

I can leave my business

in the oil business

and all the aggravation

of that.

I'll be working

in a church.

It will be a taste

of heaven.

And he said to me,

Trevor,

I've come to the conclusion

that Christians are great

at loving one another

from a distance.

Isn't that true?

I can love anybody

from a distance.

But you put me

in a team with them.

I want to do it this way.

They want to do it that way.

It's a recipe

for conflict

and disaster,

isn't it?

I need to be patient.

Once I was

in the Philippines

with another

of the elders

from Chessington

visiting a missionary

couple that we'd sent

from Chessington.

And we were walking

along this street

one day

on the island

of Mindoro

and this guy

was coming towards us

and he had a T-shirt on

and it said

on the front,

don't give up on me.

Now,

in the Philippines,

it's a wonderful climate,

just like Edinburgh

on a spring day.

Everybody's walking

about in their T-shirt

and shorts.

That's all you need.

And they've all got

emblazoned

with little messages

on the front.

So we're thinking,

this is probably

a pop group.

Don't give up on me.

Strange name,

but nevertheless,

probably a name

of a pop group.

But the answer came

when he walked past us

and on the back

of the T-shirt

it said,

God's not finished

with me yet.

Don't give up on me.

God's not finished

with me yet.

Christian,

in our dealings

with one another,

remember that.

God's not finished

with that brother

and sister yet,

just as he's not

finished with you.

And the older you get,

this is my experience,

I want to speak

on behalf of my wife

on this occasion as well,

I think it's this.

You realize

how innately

selfish

and self-centered

you are.

And it's a lifetime

experience

of God,

the Holy Spirit,

striving with you

through disappointments,

through failure,

through tragedies,

in order

that we might bear

the resemblance

more of his son.

Don't give up on me.

God's not finished

with me yet.

So be patient.

You see,

patience,

what does patience do?

Patience extends

to other Christians

the thing

that we're very good

at extending

to ourselves.

Patience.

We're always ready

to excuse ourselves,

aren't we?

There's always a reason

why I've acted

in a certain way.

I can be patient

with myself

because, wow,

I'm still a work

in progress.

Yeah, but so

is the other Christian.

They're a work

in progress as well.

We're all a work

in progress.

So be humble,

be gentle,

be patient.

Make every effort,

he says here.

Make every effort

because there was

nothing half-hearted

in the way

that the Lord Jesus

gave his life

to seek

and save

the lost.

So being a peacemaker

has those four elements

to it.

Humility,

gentleness,

patience,

and the desire

to go the extra mile,

to make every effort.

Take the initiative

of sorting out differences.

Is that instinctive to us?

No, it's a remarkable work

of the Holy Spirit,

isn't it?

Well, let them come.

Let them come

and say sorry to me first.

Then we'll get reconciled.

Is that how God

acted towards you,

towards me?

No, exactly the opposite.

He came seeking

and saving the lost.

He took the initiative.

Making every effort

is actually

swallowing our pride,

emulating

the Savior,

making every effort

to be patient

with that person,

to be united

with that person

for whom God

has joined together.

As we say

at the marriage ceremony,

let no man

put asunder.

See, unity to God

is precious to him.

It's the marriage

of his bride

to his son.

Let what God

has put together,

let no man

put asunder.

It's a fearful thing

to cause another

Christian,

especially a younger

Christian,

to fall and stumble

and fall away

because of our lack

of humility,

because of our lack

of gentleness,

because of our lack

of making every effort

to be patient

and even be ready

to be wronged

in order to be

a peacekeeper.

It's a big calling,

isn't it?

This is massive.

But it's also

accompanied by another

thing, isn't it?

Verses 7 to 16.

We're getting towards

the end now.

We must close.

And that's to be

a body builder.

What's it say here?

Verse 16,

as each part

does its work.

What is that work?

It's the work

of building up

the church.

And the point

of building up

the church

is not that we

can have a nice

club where we're

all good mates

with one another.

It's always for the

benefit of the world

outside.

Do you remember

that Psalm?

I think it's Psalm 133

talks about how

blessed it is

with brothers and

sisters dwell together

in unity,

for there the Lord

bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.

Flip that around

for a minute,

would you?

What happens

when a church

becomes disunited?

What's the first

thing to go?

You tell me.

What's the first

thing to go?

Graham?

See,

it's the only name

I know in the room.

Well,

I know his wife's name,

Alex,

but I'm not going

to ask her because

she's going to give

us lunch later.

What's the first

thing to go when

a church is disunited?

A heart for the

world,

isn't it?

There the Lord

bestows his blessing

when a church is

united.

The converse is true.

When a church is

disunited,

it loses a concern

for the world

outside.

And the world

outside looks at

it and says,

don't talk to me

about a message

of peace and

unity,

how God has

reconciled it.

it hasn't.

Look at you.

You're arguing

with one another.

You're disunited.

The message

has no value.

They can

discard the

gospel.

You see,

unity

is just so

core to

the proclamation

of the

gospel.

But how

does the

church grow?

How does it

become strong?

Well,

verse 7 and 8,

to each one,

grace has been

given as Christ

appointed it.

This is why

it says,

when he ascended

on high,

he took many

captives and

gave gifts to

his people.

This is how

the church

grows.

That's a

reference to

actually Psalm

68 that has

a picture of

a conquering

general who's

giving out the

gifts, giving

out the spoils

to his army.

And here's the

conquering king,

here's the Lord

Jesus Christ,

and he's about

building his

kingdom in the

world through

ordinary men and

women like you

and I,

aware of our

frailties,

aware of our

failings,

aware of our

sin, but

redeemed,

made right with

God, and

empowered to

reach out with

this gospel

through the

grace God

gives us.

To each one,

grace has been

given.

And Paul here

isn't talking

about so much

salvation grace

as service grace,

the ability to

use the gift

God has given

us for the

glory of his

name.

A variety of

gifts are given

in chapter 4,

aren't they,

that display our

unity and our

diversity.

But actually,

Paul doesn't list

here, he does

elsewhere what

these gifts are,

but here he talks

rather about the

role.

So, he says in

verse 11,

Christ himself gave

apostles and

prophets.

Now, they're not

the Old Testament

prophets, they're

the early New

Testament prophets

that together with

the apostles gave

us what we call

the New Testament,

a Bible for

every generation.

But then he goes

on in verse 11,

then there are

evangelists,

pastor, teachers,

shepherds, who

all have this one

thing in common,

they share and

teach the word of

God.

In other words,

God gives every

local church,

its leaders,

in order that

the church,

every member of

the church,

might flourish

together.

Church is never

to be a

spectator sport.

You see, if only

they'd listened to

me last night,

Chelsea would be

in the cup final

today.

But they didn't.

And the problem

was they couldn't

hear me.

I mean, I was

shouting at them

from 400 miles

away at a TV

screen.

Living the

Christian life is

not a spectator

sport.

That's the point.

It's not that the

pastor, teachers,

the evangelists,

they're the ones

out there doing

the work, and I'm

just shouting them

on, go for it,

go for it, Graham.

No, no, no.

They're like player

coaches.

They're on the

pitch, and we're

on the pitch.

And their role is

to use the word of

God to encourage

us, to equip us,

to strengthen us,

to challenge us,

to inspire us,

so that each

member does

its part.

That's a glorious

picture, isn't it,

of unity, of

body, that God

says here, God

has given to

every Christian

a gift, many

gifts very often,

but at least one

gift.

At least one

gift.

So if you know

Christ this morning,

have you asked

yourself, what is

that gift that God

has given to me?

What are those

gifts that God

has given to me?

And how does he

want me to use

them in his body,

and where can I

serve him?

I'm about the

day and age where

I can remember

choruses from being

sent to Sunday

school as a

child.

Although it

wasn't a Christian

home, I was

sent to a

brethren Sunday

school.

There's one that

always stays with

me.

There's a work

for Jesus.

How does it

continue?

Those of you

that know it,

come on, don't

be shy, you

brethren amongst

us.

There's a work

for Jesus.

None,

dearie me,

none but you

can do.

I really am

aged, aren't

I?

There's a work

for Jesus.

None but you

can do.

It's a great

thing, isn't

it?

See, you live

next door to

those neighbours.

It's only you.

You are in that

office, in that

university, in that

college, in that

school.

You're in that

workplace.

There's a work

for Jesus.

Only you can

do.

God has gifted

every one of

us and set

us in our

different places

and given us

this work to

do.

And we're in

it together and

we're a team

together and we

need one another

together.

And as

Graham mentioned

at the beginning,

we come together

on a Sunday to

encourage one

another, to

remind ourselves

who we are,

to patch up

some wounds,

if needs be,

in order that we

can go back on

the front line on

Monday morning.

Because that's

the picture.

The church is an

army, Ephesians

6.

We're in a

spiritual battle.

It requires

prayer.

It requires

protection.

It requires

that we support

one another.

Because that's

the way an

army wins the

victory.

It's a glorious

picture, isn't

it?

So here we

are, called

to be

peacemakers and

to be body

builders.

leaders.

We build

ourselves up in

all sorts of

ways, not just

here on a

Sunday.

When we meet

with another

Christian, perhaps

read the Bible

with them, or

just over a

cup of coffee.

When we invite

people into our

homes.

When we meet

in our small

groups.

When we serve

together in

teams.

I want to do

it this way, you

want to do it

that way.

What did that

guy say on

Sunday about

unity?

Yeah, let me

start to be a

bit humble.

This is the

way it works.

It's a glorious

thing when you

see God at

work in a

group of

Christians who

are so

diverse in

so many

different ways.

Educationally,

socially,

racially.

It's only God

can do this in

the gospel.

It's a glorious

thing to behold,

isn't it?

It's for his

praise and

glory.

Friends, as

you know, we

live in a

comfortable,

pleasure-seeking,

self-seeking

culture.

And it can be

like a cancer

to the soul.

And we need

to repudiate

that culture

and the

spirit of the

age and

have the

spirit of the

master who

says, I've

not come to

be served,

but to

serve.

So this

gospel is

gloriously

counterculture.

It means that

daily the

Lord calls us

to follow

him, to

follow him.

in a life

that's

characterized

by unity,

humility,

and a

desire to

build up

by fellow

Christians,

that together

we can reach

out to the

glory of God,

to a lost

world around

us.

Well, may the

Lord empower

us daily to

live up to

our calling.

That's our

calling.

Whatever day

job we do,

this is our

calling,

Christian.

Let's

pray.

Heavenly

Father, we

thank you for

this glorious

book of

Ephesians.

We thank

you for the

remarkable,

the astonishing

example of

the Lord

Jesus, who

came not to

be served,

but to

serve.

Lord, help

us to

embrace that

every day

when our

old nature

constantly wants

to be served.

Help us,

Father, indeed,

to be peacemakers.

Help us, even

this day, if we

need to, to

reach out to

another

Christian,

to put

things right

and show the

glory of the

gospel to

reconcile.

Help us,

Lord, to be

those who

want to use

our gift to

build up the

church.

Thank you that

you've gifted

every one of

us, no matter

what our age,

what our

situation.

Thank you,

Father, for

that gift of

prayer that

you so often

have given to

our older

brothers and

sisters who

do this

invaluable work

behind the

scene to

strengthen those

on the

front line.

Lord, in

all these

things, may

Jesus Christ

be glorified,

we pray.

Help us, we

ask, day by

day to live to

your glory and

for our good.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.