Reaching the World

Thank you so much, Derek and Lynn, for reading.

Folks, lovely to see you this morning.

Hope you've been enjoying the sunshine over the last week or so.

It doesn't happen often here, does it?

So we've been enjoying it over the last few days.

Let me encourage you to come to Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

and to this thrilling part of God's Word

that I hope is going to be so instructive

and also just inspiring for us today

as we continue to live our lives for the glory of Jesus Christ

in the city which he has called us to live in.

But let me just pray as we get there.

The words of Psalm 119.

Your hands have made and fashioned me.

Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

And so it's to you, Heavenly Father, our creator,

the God who loves us, the God who provides for us.

Father, we pray that you, by your Spirit,

would help us understand something more of the glory of your Son.

And may today what we look at, Father, be inspiring for us

as we just glean an insight into your worldwide purposes

for the glory of your Son.

And we pray these things in his precious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, folks, with Acts chapter 2 open in front of you,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

let me just put a number on the screen to get us going this morning.

If you're like me, you get easily confused by the number of zeros

that appear in figures.

Let me put you out your misery and tell you that that number is 97.2 million.

Now, I wonder if you can think on the spot as to what that number represents.

What does it represent?

Well, let me tell you that according to Christian charity Operation World,

that is the number of people living in China today

who claim to be following Jesus Christ.

So 97.2 million people.

Let's agree that that is an awful lot of people.

If you're trying to put it in some kind of context in your mind,

know that there are just under 70 million people living in the whole of the UK today.

So this is the number of Christians, disciples of Jesus,

who are living in China today.

Now, let me ask you, as you consider that number,

how do you explain it?

How do you explain it?

How do you explain how, despite being an atheist nation

where the government not only discourages faith

but is known to close churches and jail believers,

that the number of Jesus followers, disciples in China

has risen roughly 10 times since 1980?

How do you explain the fact that despite real persecution,

it's why we should be always praying for our brothers and sisters

in other parts of the world

who are counting the cost for following Jesus in such a real way.

How do you explain the fact, despite persecution,

despite limitations on things like social media

where communication is really easy,

how do you explain the fact that China is currently on course

to be home to more Christians in the world

than any other country by the year 2030?

How do you explain it?

How do you explain that despite all the odds,

against all the things that should tell us otherwise,

the church in China is growing exponentially

and nothing seems to be able to stop it?

What we're looking at today in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

is the Bible's number one answer to that question.

And I imagine it's the question that Luke's original audience

are asking themselves as they pick up the book of Acts,

as they read the story of the early church,

they think, how has this happened?

Well, it's a great question to ask.

That's the one that we're going to ask today.

Here is the number one answer that the Bible gives.

I'm going to throw another number on the screen.

This time, I hope, a bit more manageable.

It's the number 120.

Go back one, 120.

Now, if you come with me to the text,

verse 15 of chapter 1,

this is kind of where we'll pick it up today.

120, a lot more manageable number.

That is the number of disciples in Jerusalem

at this point in the Bible story.

Okay.

Not an impressive number.

Again, if you're trying to put that in some sort of context,

can we call there's kind of 40 adults in this room just now,

maybe even less than that?

And that's just three times that number.

So again, just get your heads around 120 people.

All the world, 120 people.

Now, that's not an impressive number.

And more than that,

this is not a very impressive group of people.

Okay.

If you've ever seen the film 500,

okay, this isn't Gerard Butler and 500 trained Spartan soldiers

who are armed with weapons and six packs galore,

ready to take on anyone who comes against them.

This is 120 everyday people.

You have former fishermen.

You have a former tax collector.

In the text, you'll see Jesus, his mum and his brothers.

120 people.

They don't have numbers on their side.

And they don't have, I guess,

what we would call worldly prowess on their side.

But what they do have is a mission from the risen Jesus

to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

They've got a mission and they've got a promise

that he will send from the Father and the Son,

the Holy Spirit to empower them to do the mission.

And more than that, over, above all else,

they possess hearts that have been gripped

by a glorious Christ.

They have been loved by Jesus.

You know, one of the men that God used in the years gone by

to make a gospel impact in our city of Edinburgh

was an American by the name of D.L. Moody, right?

So he used to speak here,

Corroboros Christian Centre in the Royal Mile.

And people used to look down on D.L. Moody

for his ineloquence,

for his humble upbringings,

for his lack of education,

for the fact that he used to sell shoes

for a living back in America.

And yet, despite those things,

during his life, God used him to bring the gospel

to an estimated 100 million people across the globe.

And for Moody, the words that captured his heart

were the ones that were spoken to him by a friend

as they sat together somewhere, I think, down south

on a park bench.

His friends simply said,

Dwight, that was his name,

the world has yet to see

what God can do

with one life

that is fully consecrated to Jesus Christ.

And D.L. Moody made a pledge in his heart right then.

He said,

I can be that man.

Now, I hope that's an encouragement

for some of us here today

who are feeling a bit like the 120 disciples.

Really got nothing going for me.

Could God use me?

What about my lack of education?

What about my ineloquence?

What about all the faults and failings that I have?

And I hope we're encouraged by this text today

to say that it's never been about us.

Here is God, through his spirit,

accomplishing his purposes.

And so what Luke is recording for us here

is the beginning of that mission

and the fulfillment of that promise.

And these things kind of come together

in verse 1 of chapter 2.

On the day of Pentecost.

If you've got the text there,

on the day of Pentecost, verse 1.

Now, Pentecost, one of the Jewish festivals,

happens 50 days after Passover.

And I guess it's kind of the equivalent

to what we might call today,

some churches do this, don't they?

They have a harvest festival.

This is what the people are doing.

Celebrating God's faithfulness

and giving them the harvest.

Of course, it's...

The camera angle changes, isn't it?

It's not just about a physical harvest.

Right here in Acts 2,

here is the start of the spiritual harvest.

It's great, isn't it?

What's going on?

And Luke kind of unfolds what goes on.

Remember, the doctor come historian

with an eye for the details

trying to record for people what's happened.

Right? For Theophilus.

But I imagine for the readers

who are behind Theophilus looking at this,

he records the details of what happens

on the day of Pentecost.

We're going to look at it in three quick scenes

to get us through this, right?

He firstly records an undeniable moment

as God pours out His Holy Spirit on His disciples.

Now again, if you've got the text there,

notice Luke's plural emphasis

as he records what happened in this section.

Okay, how often he repeats the word them

or they

or just collective language which he uses

to emphasize that the Spirit fell

not on a certain few individuals.

The Spirit fell.

God poured out His Spirit on all

of His people.

So what happens when we put our faith in Jesus?

The only reason we can say that

we could come to be a Christian

is because the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives.

All of us have

the Spirit.

You see, as you read the Old Testament,

you encounter the Holy Spirit falling on select individuals,

anointing people to fulfill a certain task.

But now the Spirit has fallen on all believers

as God takes up residence

in the lives of His people.

Again, I hope that's encouraging for you this morning.

See what Luke describes verse 2.

There was a sound

like a mighty wind

and there was a sight.

Tongues like fire

rested on

each of the believers gathered here.

Which I guess shouldn't surprise us in a sense

because what this is all about

is this is going to be about proclamation.

Proclamation.

Verse 4.

The disciples start speaking in other languages.

Understandably,

verse 7,

the people are

amazed and bewildered.

What did they say?

I think this is quite funny

if you look at the text.

What did they say?

They say,

are these people not Galileans?

Do you see it?

Are these people not Galileans?

Because apparently,

people from the region of Galilee,

which I guess

to the north of,

way to the north of Jerusalem,

they're known for two distinct things.

They're known for their distinct accent.

It's why,

if you remember where Peter's gathered

around the courtyard

and the servant girl says,

I recognize your accent.

Your accent betrays you.

Apparently,

people from Galilee have a distinct accent.

We should get that in the UK.

Right?

You can immediately tell

within two or three sentences

listening to somebody

where they come from.

Right?

Geordies,

Scousers,

Cockney,

Weegees.

Okay?

I remember the couple of years

I spent living down south.

Within two or three sentences,

people had placed where I came from.

We get that.

These people are known for their accent

and they're known for their,

I guess the word is,

commonness.

Okay?

And so the people look at these people speaking

and they say,

where did they learn how we speak?

Because it's not,

which is a great question.

Cracking question.

Because it's not like they've signed up

for a night class at college

and learnt this.

It's not like they've downloaded an app

on their phone

and they sit in bed every night

listening to somebody speak to them.

Remember when we did that at school?

French is the only language I can speak.

Equity and reputie.

That was it, wasn't it?

Listen and say it back.

These people didn't have that.

Verse four is clear.

The Spirit gave them this ability.

And as a side,

let me just deal with this here.

I think that's why

we need to see this as a one-off event.

Unrepeatable.

And I think what we need to see

is that this is what differentiates this

from the tongues that we see later on

in Scripture, 1 Corinthians 12.

It seems there,

Paul is addressing their unintelligibility.

People can't understand what's being said.

Whereas here,

yes, it's supernatural.

And yet this seems to be all about intelligibility.

People can understand

what's being said immediately.

Look what Luke describes.

Who is there from verse 9?

Who is there at verse 9?

Do you see it?

People from 15 different nations.

I love that.

15 different nations.

He takes the time,

again, the historian,

to tell you where all these people have come from.

From the surrounding nations.

They've come to Jerusalem for this festival.

And I guess what's going to happen

is they're going to hear this good news,

these mighty works of God,

understand,

and then go back to their own countries

and proclaim Jesus there.

Do you see how this is happening?

The ripple effect of the gospel.

And do you see God's international heart here?

And I think this is where we maybe need to pause

and reflect on it.

God's international heart

for the peoples of the world.

Have you ever wondered,

stopped to think,

why we are here?

Why are you here?

Why should the gospel have made it to Edinburgh?

Why should somebody have told you

about the good news of Jesus?

Because this God has an international heart

to reach the peoples of the world

throughout the generations.

His desire to see the peoples of nations

come to have life in Jesus.

And you see here,

it's categorical.

There is no gender barrier.

There's no race barrier.

There's no ethnicity barrier.

There's no class barrier.

There are all people coming to know Jesus.

And in the Bible story,

if the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11,

looked at at the beginning of last year,

was about God's response to mankind's rebellion

as he scattered the peoples of the world

and confused their languages.

Do you see how this is kind of like

the reversal of Babel?

What God is doing is through the diversity

of language.

They are united in the one common message.

United in this common understanding

that Jesus is king.

Psalm 67,

we're going to look at it tonight

in the prayer meeting.

Let the peoples praise you, God.

This is what's going on.

The peoples of the world

in their distinct tongues

praising God.

It's a wonderful scene, isn't it?

It's a wonderful scene.

But here's maybe what hit me this week

as I thought about it again.

I love the Bible's realism here.

Again, it's just something

that helps me understand

that this is something that I can trust.

I love the Bible's realism

because maybe you're here

and you're thinking to yourself,

I don't know,

maybe the same thing

that was in your mind this week

when you heard about those plans

for the European Super League.

Okay?

You heard about that stuff?

people saying in the news,

no, the idea behind this is

we just want to see

the best teams in Europe

play together.

We just want to see sports,

entertainment,

and that's what we want to see.

And you're thinking,

yeah, sure it is.

Sure it is.

People speaking in different languages?

Yeah, sure.

Sure it is.

Nonsense.

I don't know,

maybe that's your response.

I'd say that

that's a perfectly plausible response

because this isn't something

that happens every day,

is it?

But I love the Bible's realism here.

Not only is that included,

I think that's included

because Luke realizes

that people will be asking

this question.

What do the people say?

Verse 13.

They're drunk.

That's what people thought

at the time.

They're drunk.

Right?

And Luke's readers

reading this many years later

who might think the same thing

and yet here is people

in the first century

who can smell a rat as well.

They can smell a rat.

That's what they thought

and yet Luke is helping us see

that I'm guessing

that many of those

who mocked are in the crowd

that hears the message

that comes next

and they're in the huge group

of people that respond

at the end.

So if you're thinking that today,

then know you're in good company.

These people thought that as well

and that's why I want you

to hang on in here

and see what happens next.

Okay?

Because we move

from an undeniable moment.

We move to an unmissable point.

Sermon with an unmissable point.

Verse 14.

Upstands Peter.

And the very fact

that Peter is the guy

who speaks here,

I hope that encourages you as well.

He's just been loved by Jesus.

Forgiven.

Restored.

Heart inflamed.

By Jesus.

Again, it's Peter.

Right?

This guy who only a short while ago

collapsed like a house of cards

when somebody asked him

if he were with Jesus.

collapsed when a servant girl

interrogated him

and yet here he is

filled with the Holy Spirit

unashamedly and boldly

exploiting what has happened

to an enormous crowd of people.

I take it there's no explanation

for that other than

the power of the Holy Spirit

and the life of somebody

who was willing to be used.

If you want to distill its contents

because of time,

his sermon's got two big points

and I'm aware of the irony

it's in a three point sermon,

okay, but stay with me.

Here's two big points

of his sermon.

He's talking about,

he's saying to the crowd,

listen, a new page has turned.

A new page has turned, right?

This isn't a random event.

You see how he brings in

the prophet Joel.

This is something that

Joel spoke about.

You look at Joel,

Joel in his day,

he's looking forward

to the two big things

that God is going to do

in the future.

Right?

These two kind of markers.

The first one,

that God is going to do

something incredible

in the eyes of the world.

He's going to do it

and pour out his spirit

on his people

as a result of it

and the word's going to go forth.

And in so doing,

after this moment,

the new page is turned.

This is going to usher in

the period of gospel proclamation.

So that,

verse 21,

everyone and anyone

who hears

and calls on the name

of the Lord

will be saved.

And that's the page

that's turned

because of this event.

You know,

our little girl Chloe,

we've been going

through the Narnia series.

She's just devouring

the Narnia books,

right?

And I absolutely love them.

I think I'm enjoying them

more than her personally,

right?

We're reading these Narnia books.

Lewis is just such

a brilliant way

of weaving biblical truths

into his stories,

but more than that,

helping us understand

why all of our best stories

are caught up

in the bigger Bible one.

That's what I love

about C.S. Lewis,

just his insight

into things.

I love as well

how Lewis first

became a Christian.

I once said to him

by his friend J.R. Tolkien,

who was a Christian,

said to Lewis,

he said,

have you ever wondered

why you love stories

so much?

The reason you love

stories so much

is because you're in one.

You're in one.

Love that.

You're in one.

Friends,

this is the story

we are in,

right?

You need to understand

our lives,

not random.

We're in this story,

God's story,

and this is the part

of the story

that we are in.

participating in what

God is doing

and taking this news

of his risen son

to the peoples

of the world.

This is the part

of the story

that you and I

are in.

And the other thing

that Joel is talking about,

the other event,

verse 20,

is the great and glorious

day of the Lord.

Right?

The return of the king

when Jesus returns

to judge the living

and the dead

according to how

they have responded

to him.

Eternal life,

eternal death.

That is the next thing

that has to happen

in the Bible story.

And so we now find

ourselves,

do you understand this,

living between

these two bookends,

the pouring out

of the Spirit

and the return

of Christ.

This is where we are

in the story.

And God is going

to accomplish

his purposes.

And because of that,

verse 22,

I assume Peter says

because the page

has turned,

because these bookends

are now in place,

you've got to listen

to what I say.

Right?

What's he saying?

Second point,

the two-point sermon,

the king is crowned.

You see verse 25,

you killed him,

says Peter.

You killed him.

Right?

It doesn't beat

around the bush.

It doesn't hold

the punches.

You killed him.

Now if you hang

on a second there

and think about it,

not everyone listening

to that would have

killed Jesus

or played any part

in it.

Right?

So I'm trying

to get into the text

this week thinking

how did,

how would they have

responded to that?

You killed Jesus.

No we didn't.

Well in a greater sense,

maybe in one sense

they didn't.

But in a sense

they did, friends.

And we all did.

It was our sin

that put him there.

You killed him.

You killed him.

You know I remember

as a teenager

going to the cinema

to watch Mel Gibson's

film The Passion

of the Christ.

I know you ever saw

that when you were young.

I'm sure you can get

it on Netflix

or something today.

The Passion of the Christ,

one of the only films

I can ever remember

where at the end of it

nobody moved for 10 minutes.

It was incredible.

Never experienced

anything like that before.

But a little known fact

about that film,

Mel Gibson,

the director,

Mel Gibson's only in it

at one point

in the whole film.

And it's his hand

that's on the hammer

that nails,

the nails into

Jesus' hands.

Right?

His hand.

And it's his way

of saying in the film,

I take some responsibility

for what happened

to Jesus.

You killed

the Son of God.

Friends,

we killed

the Son of God.

Our sin put him there.

But here's what else

Peter wants them to know.

Even that act

of murder

was all part

of God's plan.

All part of God's plan.

His purposes

will not be thwarted.

Would it look like defeat?

No, God got his greatest

victory on the cross.

Death could not hold him.

And I think the idea

is that the fact

that Jesus is sinless,

death had no hold on him.

Right?

Death, because of our sin,

pays us wages.

This is what we deserve.

We deserve death.

But Jesus, sinless,

death had no hold on him.

It wasn't paying him anything.

And so that's why, friends,

his victory is our victory in him.

And I think that's why

he brings in Psalm 16

at this point.

To show them

that even David

saw this coming.

Even David was looking forward

to this day.

David, I guess,

the fan's favorite

of the people in the crowd.

Right?

Poster boy.

We love David.

Even David called Jesus Lord.

Psalm 16.

Love it.

Peter knows his scriptures.

And even David knew

that the only way

that he would see life

after death

is because his life

was caught up with

God's anointed king.

And this Jesus,

verse 36,

is now at the right hand

of God.

God raised him.

God vindicated his servant.

And this is the message

that the world

needs to respond to.

Some of you might be old enough,

I don't know,

to remember US TV anchorman

Walter Cronkite.

Right?

The only reason I know of him

is because he was

a US anchorman

that kind of signed off

every night

after he'd read

the evening news

with his catchphrase.

Right?

And his catchphrase was

and that's the way it is.

Right?

And that's the way it is.

I think that's exactly

what Peter is saying here.

Right?

This is no blog piece.

This is no TV debate.

This is no podcast.

This is no opinion piece

in The Guardian.

This is news.

And I think that's why

at this point he says

you can know this for,

or do you see the word?

Certain.

This is news.

And that's the way it is.

And having heard the sermon

with the unmissable point

comes verse 37,

an unbelievable response.

And it's unbelievable,

I guess,

in two directions.

We need to see this.

Firstly,

it's unbelievable

from heaven.

From heaven.

Do you see the response

that the people make?

They are cut to the heart.

Now I love that phrase.

They're cut to the heart.

The Holy Spirit

is impacting people

like a surgeon

with a scalpel

going right into the heart.

These people feel

the conviction.

Conviction that this is true.

What this man is saying,

the man that we thought

was drunk,

is true.

And they ask,

what should we do?

That's the question.

And the answer should be,

there is nothing you can do.

There is nothing.

You had your chance.

You killed the Son of God.

There's nothing you can do.

And yet,

do you see,

that's not the response.

They killed the second person

of the Godhead.

We killed the second person

of the Godhead.

And yet,

God offers them

the third.

The gift of the Holy Spirit.

How good is this God,

friends?

Just take a moment

and think about that.

How merciful is this God?

How patient is this God?

How compassionate is this God?

You know the words

of Charles Wesley

in one of his famous hymns,

My God is reconciled.

His pardoning voice I hear.

He owns me as his child.

I can no longer fear.

With confidence I now draw near.

And Father,

Abba,

Father,

cry.

How good is this God?

It's unbelievable from heaven.

And it's unbelievable on earth

to see verse 41.

3,000 people respond

in repentance and faith.

They publicly nailed him

to the cross.

And yet,

now as they get baptized,

repent,

they publicly nail their colors

to the mast

that they follow this king.

One unbelievable day,

the day of Pentecost.

Friends,

let me just ask you

really quickly an application

and I know our time

has almost gone.

Two questions

as we respond to this.

Trying to think about

how do we respond

to what's going on here.

I think this should call us

to pray.

Call us to pray in action.

Here's two things

I just want to,

questions I want you

to think about

as you go home today.

In terms of your prayer

and witnessing.

Friends,

are we praying for places?

Are we praying for places?

As we see God's

international heart here,

the heart of our Father

for the places

and peoples of the world,

let me ask us,

do we share

that same concern?

That his glory

would go forth.

You know,

we have got

a brilliant opportunity

to do that tonight.

We're going to gather

on Zoom,

okay,

six o'clock.

You'll just find

the link in the newsletter.

We're going to pray

for countries in the world.

We've been kind of focusing

on different continents.

Tonight,

we're going to focus

on Europe.

Different people,

different members

of this church

from different countries

are going to come

and just bring us

ways that we can pray

for the advance

of the gospel

in their country.

So please come in tonight.

Love you to be part of that.

Just a movement of prayer

to pray for the places

in the world.

Maybe something we used

to do with our girls

when they were really young,

when we had family

Bible times,

just bought a really old map

and we laid it

right on the ground

and just went through

different countries

of the world.

They found the countries

on the map.

We, as a family,

worked out how we could pray,

right?

Geography and theology

kind of come in together.

How can you creatively

do this?

Are we concerned

for the places of the world,

the peoples of the world?

But also are we concerned

for the places

of our everyday lives?

Okay, there was a

British missionary once

by the name of

Norman Grubb

and every day

when he used to get up,

he just prayed a simple prayer

as he got out of bed

in the morning.

He prayed,

Good morning, Lord.

What are you up to today?

Can I be part of it?

Thank you.

Amen.

What are you up to today, Lord?

Can I be part of it?

Friends, I love that

sense of expectation.

Love that sense of expectation.

Do we share it?

Do we understand

that our Father

has put people

in our lives today,

that we are not here

by accident?

His purpose is

that he's accomplishing,

so there's no chance

encounter

as we go about

our daily lives.

Who are you meeting

in your lives?

Think about it.

On the school run,

in the office,

on the commute,

at the barber's,

in the supermarket,

who's on your street?

Are we praying

for places expectantly?

Are we going

about our days

expecting that God

by his spirit,

and we have no idea

how he is at work,

yet we know that he is?

Is that even

on our radar?

Are we praying

for places?

And secondly,

are we praying

for faces?

Are we praying

for faces?

You know,

I had a mate

at university,

he used to carry

about in his wallet,

you know,

the little see-through bit

where your driving

license goes?

He had in there

the name

of three friends.

Every time he opened

his wallet,

just reminded,

shoot it up,

shot up rather,

a prayer for three individuals.

I'm going to pray

for these three friends.

Pray for these

three friends again.

Friends,

who are we praying for?

Wouldn't it be

a wonderful thing

that as a church family

we just committed

to praying

for one friend

this week?

Everyone,

if everybody does it

in the church family,

okay,

I don't know what's that,

150 friends

we're praying for.

Imagine that.

Lord,

would you,

and take the language

from the text,

by your spirit,

cut them to the heart.

Cut them to the heart.

Help me witness,

help me speak,

but by your spirit,

would you cut them

to the heart?

Friends,

are we praying

for places?

Are we praying

for faces?

You know,

we started with a number.

Let me just finish

with another number.

98.

98.

Do you know

what that number is?

We're gradually

working our way down,

I know.

Do you know

what that number is?

That is not a number,

well it's a number,

it's a percentage.

Okay?

It's the percentage

of people in Scotland

who do not know Jesus.

Now I hope

that that breaks our heart,

that that is as high as that.

Given the spiritual heritage

of our country,

that 2% of people

in this country

claim Jesus is Lord.

Friends,

are we burdened by that?

Are we praying

for people in our country?

Now let me just encourage us,

the Lord is at work.

Some of the greatest,

the greatest stories

that I've heard

over this period

of lockdown,

in amazing ways

the Lord at work

in people's lives,

people becoming Christians,

in unexpected ways.

Prayer meeting

on Friday night

of 400 different people

in Edinburgh

and Fife

and the Lothians

praying for people

in our city,

in our country

to come to know Jesus.

The Lord is at work,

Aslan is on the move.

But do we,

are we burdened

by that number?

98% of people

in our country

do not know Jesus.

So how do you explain it?

How do you explain it?

How do you explain

those 97.2 million people

in China?

How do you explain

what the Lord is doing?

Answer,

the Father

whose heart beats

for the peoples

of the world.

Answer,

a Son,

Jesus Christ

who has loved us,

who is risen

and is glorious.

Answer,

the Spirit

who is sent

into the hearts

of believers

to enable them

to relationally

revel in the Godhead

and empower them

to declare his praises.

Let's pray together.

And maybe just

in the silence now,

friends,

let's just take

this opportunity,

maybe just

as a way of response,

let's think of

that one friend,

the person

in our lives,

and let's just

maybe 10 seconds,

let's just pray

for that individual

just now

as we respond

to this.

Amen.

2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Therefore,

knowing the fear

of the Lord,

we try

to persuade

others.

Heavenly Father,

thank you so much

for your gospel.

Father,

thank you so much

for the way

that you have loved us

in your Son,

Jesus.

And Father,

we pray that as we

respond to this,

your Spirit

poured out

on your people

for us to revel in you

and declare your praises

to the world.

Father,

help us to do that

this week.

I pray for those

watching this today

who maybe don't know you,

maybe those in this room.

Father,

I pray that you would

bring a sense

of conviction

about who Jesus is.

Father,

thank you so much

for your wonderful

love for us.

Father,

where would we be

if you were not

this kind of God?

And we just commit

ourselves to you,

Father,

in Jesus' precious name

we pray.

Amen.