How is God at Work?

Well, thank you so much, Kate.

Just for your real honesty and just for encouraging us,

thank you so much for doing that.

And I'm thinking there to myself,

she left a beach in Australia to come here.

And thinking, well, I wonder if I could get myself

a wee minister exchange over in Australia.

But it's great to be together.

Thank you so much for coming out tonight.

I hope this is going to be useful.

We're here at the final installment of our little series

that we began six weeks ago,

looking at the subject of work.

And the question we've been thinking through

is how does being a follower of Jesus,

how should it and how does it make a difference

to the things that we do with the waking hours of our days?

And if you remember, we started out

in the early chapters of Genesis

and we were thinking about God at work.

He created the cosmos from nothing.

He spoke and things came into being.

He created out of his all-powerful words.

We saw that he created male and female,

both made in the image of this great loving community

that we meet in Genesis of the three-in-one God.

And he tasked Adam and Eve,

this great complimentary dream team that he had made,

with the job of caring for and cultivating

his good creation for their good and for his glory.

And it was all going so well

until Adam and Eve rebelled against God.

And we thought about how sin is at work.

And we saw sin enter the world.

And we heard God pronounce

that one of the consequences of sin

was that work,

whilst not ceasing to be good,

was going to bring frustration.

And it will be at times hard.

And it will be at times unfruitful.

And if nothing else,

one day you won't be able to work

because death and decay will have set in.

But thankfully for the Christian,

the truth of the gospel

is that Jesus Christ has redeemed us

and he's made us his own.

And yes, we still live in this fallen world.

Yes, we still live with our fallen bodies.

But in Christ,

not only has our future been radically altered,

but our life's purpose here and now

has been radically altered too.

Because we've got a new master.

We've got a new vision.

And we've got a new agenda.

And we serve King Jesus

with our everyday work.

And so this evening,

as we bring it home,

we're going to think about how God

is at work today.

And we're going to see this great invitation

that Jesus makes to us as his followers,

as we serve him in our work that is temporary,

to join in with God's work,

the fruit of which will last for eternity.

So why don't you turn back to John chapter four

and to this quite wonderful chapter of scripture

that is so much to teach us.

But just before we pray,

I'm very aware that we've been sitting

for about half an hour now.

So what I want you to do is just to stand.

And we've been thinking about children.

If you were here this morning,

we were thinking about children,

how God,

how Jesus invited,

don't hinder the little children

from coming to me.

So I thought we'd get our inner child out

this evening,

just as we come to pray, okay?

Now this is what the,

this is what Pete,

this is on you here.

This is what Pete teaches,

if we're all looking at him.

This is how he teaches the children to play

in kids' church.

Is this right?

I've been watching you for almost six years now,

so I hope I get this right.

P-R-A-Y.

Do that together?

I feel I mastered that,

didn't I, Pete?

I nailed that one.

Okay, here we go.

P-R-A-Y.

Let's pray together.

Dearest Father,

we ask that you would help us grasp

something more this evening,

something more of your ways,

which are so much higher than our ways,

something more of your wisdom

that is so much greater than our wisdom,

something more of your plans

that are so much greater than our plans,

and by your spirit,

help us grasp something more

of the greatness of your son,

Jesus Christ.

And it's in his name that we pray confidently.

Amen.

Please have a seat.

And to get us thinking this evening,

I've got three questions for you.

Here's question number one.

Name the building.

St. Paul's.

Okay, question number two,

if you're really on the ball here.

Does anyone know the year of construction?

If you know the century,

that'll probably do.

So it's the late 17th.

Is that what you said?

Spot the architect.

I like it.

Thirdly, name the designer.

Christopher Wren.

So there's a famous story told

of Christopher Wren

and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Christopher Wren had designed

the grand plan of what St. Paul's

was going to look like,

and it's under construction.

And Christopher Wren decides

to go undercover

into St. Paul's Cathedral

to see what the moods

of the men

who were working

to make this thing a reality,

to see what their mood was like.

So he walks in undercover

into St. Paul's Cathedral

and he comes across a man

and he says,

man,

you'd probably call them sir,

sir,

what are you doing?

And the man replies,

sir,

I am cutting a piece of stone.

So he goes,

very good,

keep on working.

He goes on,

makes another man,

he puts the same question to him,

sir,

what are you doing?

And he replies,

sir,

I am earning five shillings,

two pence a day.

I've got no idea

what that's worth in today's money,

but that's what he was earning

at the time,

five shillings,

two pence a day.

And on he walks

and he comes across

a third man

and he puts the same question

to the third man.

He says,

sir,

what are you doing?

And this man replies,

sir,

I am helping

sir Christopher Wren

make his plan

a reality.

Now,

here's the question for you

as we set out this evening.

If you were Christopher Wren,

which mindset

would have encouraged you

the most?

Surely,

it's the man

who grasped

the bigger plan

and the bigger purpose

for what you were trying

to achieve.

Because this evening

is all about

buying into

and grasping

the bigger plan.

So this is,

if you get one thing

from this evening,

that is what we're all about

this evening,

grasping a bigger plan.

And what we're going to see

is Jesus invite us

to sink our life's work

with God's bigger plan.

So if you've got John 4 there,

I invite you to turn back there now.

This is what we're going to see

in John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

We're going to see Jesus

invite his disciples

to see how God is at work

and he's going to invite them

to join God at work.

And if you've got John chapter 4 there,

John 4 · chapter mention

you'll see that the action

takes place with Jesus

having left Judea

in the south

and he's heading for Galilee

in the north.

And see,

if you notice it there,

what John tells us

at verse 4,

that he had to pass

through Samaria.

He had to pass

through Samaria.

Now as the crow flies,

this was the shortest route

from the south

to the north.

But for Jews,

if you wanted to avoid

defilement,

if you wanted to stay clean,

as it were,

then the travel route

that you took

was the one

that was on the east.

And that meant

that you bypassed

Samaria.

But Jesus,

do you see it there?

John tells us

he had to pass

through Samaria.

Now not because

he's got dry cleaning

to pick up there,

not because he's got

a distant cousin

that he needs to visit,

there's no other reason

for Jesus to go

to Samaria

except

a divine

and a purposeful

impulse.

Do you see what's going on?

It's John's way

of telling us

to sit up

and listen,

sit up and take notice

because something

quite magnificent

and something

quite striking

is just about

to go down

in his gospel.

Verse 5,

do you see it?

Jesus comes to this town

called Sychar.

And as you might expect,

he's tired

and he's weary

from his journey.

He's tired

and he's weary.

Now that's not just

a throwaway line

that John's chucked

in there.

That is actually

a line of very,

very deep theology.

Blink and you might

miss it.

Because what is

John telling us?

That Jesus,

he may be fully God.

This is what we've seen

in John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

He's fully God.

But don't forget

he is also fully human.

It's the truth

that we're remembering,

isn't it,

this time of year?

The truth

that we're working towards

as we look forward

to the 25th,

we remember,

we celebrate,

we sing,

we declare

that veiled in flesh

the Godhead see

hail the incarnate deity.

This is Jesus.

He is God with us.

He is God in flesh.

And here he is

in John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

And Jesus sits

by the well.

Do you see it

in the narrative there?

When does he sit

by the well?

At the sixth hour.

So at the very height

of the day,

he's by the well.

And who does he bump into?

Verse 7.

This woman.

Now immediately,

we should smell

that something's

not quite right here.

Because women in this day,

they would normally

come to collect their water

at the cool of the day.

Now that makes sense,

doesn't it?

Makes sense.

Unless you had

some kind of

factor 200 sunscreen

that you were wearing

and you wanted to look

like Casper the ghost,

this is when you would

go out to collect

your water,

the cool of the day.

But here is this woman.

She's out at the height

of the day.

She clearly doesn't want

anybody,

for one reason or another,

that will come on to see.

She doesn't want anybody

to see her in public.

And the scene develops.

We see this back and forth

dialogue between Jesus

and this woman.

And we soon discover

that Jesus knows this woman.

Jesus knows.

Do you notice it there

that she's had five husbands

who have either divorced her

or who have either died?

And Jesus knows

that the man that she's with now

is not her husband.

And we've got to ask

as the reader,

how does Jesus know that?

Did he read it

in Hello Magazine of the day?

How does he know that?

Well, he may be fully human,

but don't forget

that he is also fully God.

Do you see how the two truths

combine in John chapter 4?

John 4 · chapter mention

This is Jesus.

This is our Lord.

He knows every little detail

of this woman's life.

He feels her pain.

He sees her tears.

He hears her words.

He knows her sin

and he understands her questions.

And most importantly,

he knows what she doesn't know

at this outset of John 4.

He knows what she needs most of all.

She needs living water.

She needs living water.

She's not going to find it

from the well.

She needs living water

that's going to what?

It's going to quench her thirst.

See, her life up to this point

has been this endless cycle,

this endless merry-go-round

of disappointments

and failed dreams.

There we go again

and again and again.

This woman,

here she is.

You know,

as Christian writer

and apologist,

Ravi Zacharias,

he puts it like this,

the loneliest moment

in your life

is when you have

just experienced

what you thought

would deliver the ultimate

and it's let you down.

That's this woman.

Every bubble of her life,

she's watched it grow.

She's watched it promise

and ultimately

she's watched it burst.

Now we're left here,

aren't we,

John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

thinking,

does this woman need a husband?

To her right,

she needs a husband.

A selfless husband.

A husband who will give his life

selflessly to die,

to save her.

A husband who will complete her.

A husband who will transform her

into a spirit and truth

worshiper of the living God.

Do you see what she needs?

She doesn't need a husband.

She needs the great husband.

She needs Jesus.

Jesus.

Truly,

Jesus

had

to pass

through

Samaria.

He had to meet this

and let's get it in context

who she is at this point.

She is theologically

uneducated.

She is religiously

impure.

She is ritually

unclean.

She is morally

disqualified

and she's a woman.

And it's no surprise then

that when the disciples,

when they come back,

remember they were off

buying bread in town.

When they come back,

return at verse 27,

they are flabbergasted

that Jesus is speaking

with this woman.

And this woman,

after her encounter

with Jesus,

what has she done?

She's gone back where?

Into her own town.

And as we sometimes say

in the West

where I'm formed,

she's clearly got

the gift of the gap,

hasn't she?

She's just telling

everybody she meets.

Verse 29,

inviting everyone

that she meets.

To what?

Come and meet a man

who told me everything

that I ever did.

That's her invitation.

And so are the people

going to come

from this village?

You bet they're going

to come.

Meanwhile,

the camera pans

to the disciples.

What are their minds?

Jesus,

have you had

something to eat?

Jesus responds,

verse 34,

effectively,

boys,

you need to up the game.

You need to get

your priorities right.

You see,

for Jesus,

the accomplishment

of God's mission

is way more urgent

than filling his belly

with food.

God is at work,

says Jesus.

God is at work.

If only you would see it,

and if only you would seize it,

and if only you would buy

into God's bigger plan.

And how is God at work?

Jesus shows them.

Verse 35,

don't you have a saying?

It's still four months

until harvest.

I tell you,

open your eyes

and look at the fields.

Invitation there

to the disciples,

lift their eyes

and look.

Well,

I was trying to picture it

this week,

as they lifted their eyes

and as they looked,

what would they have seen?

Most likely,

just brown,

empty fields.

It's not harvest time yet,

but what does Jesus say?

That these fields

are ripe for harvest.

Really?

Brown fields?

You can understand,

can't you,

the disciples

who were previously

thinking of bread

are looking at Jesus

and thinking,

is he one sandwich

short of a picnic?

Has he lost the plot?

What's he on about?

Brown fields?

So their eyes up,

they're still looking

and thinking,

what's on the horizon?

You flip the question,

they think,

who's on the horizon?

The people from

this Samaritan village,

who they are,

responding to this woman's invitation,

they're making their way

across the fields

to get to Jesus.

Here is the harvest,

says Jesus.

You see,

he's not talking about

a physical harvest,

is he?

He's talking about

a soul harvest.

This is how God

is at work,

says Jesus.

In the coming

of Jesus,

in the coming of his son,

he is breaking

into people's lives.

He is calling people

to repent and believe

in his son,

Jesus.

He is bringing men

and women,

boys and girls

back to God.

See,

when Jesus talks

about God's work here,

what he's talking about

is God's work

being a harvest work.

And what are the disciples

invited to do?

Join in the Father's work.

Verse 34.

Join in the Father's work.

And what would that mean?

Two things.

You see,

firstly,

Jesus invites them

to get sowing.

Get sowing.

So tell everybody

that you come across

about Jesus.

Make it your life's business

to seek to introduce

everyone that you come across

to Jesus.

And make it your life's business

to invite everyone

that you come across

to put their faith

in Jesus.

So your life's work

is to be about

diligently sowing the seed,

expectantly spreading

the word.

And if you wanted

a case in point example

of what that looks like,

surely it's just

this woman.

What has she done?

She's just gone back

and she's told everyone

that she's met,

come and meet a man,

come and meet a man.

They told me everything

that I've ever done.

Get sowing,

Jesus said.

And secondly,

get reaping.

Work hard.

Make it your life's work

to get those gospel seeds

reaped.

Work to see those gospel seeds

that the others

before you have planted.

Work to see them

come to fruition.

Do you see that

these fields

currently full

of lost people

making their way

to Jesus?

This is the harvest,

says Jesus

to his disciples.

So the question

for them

is,

will they lift their eyes

to what God is doing

or will they be dominated

by the world's work?

As they look out,

will they continue

to have their horizons

dominated by the world's work

or will they take up

the invitation to join

in the Father's work?

Will they look on the world

through the eyes of Jesus?

Will they have a heart

for the harvest?

Will they have a mindset

for mission?

And here we are back

to our big question

this evening.

Will they sink

their life's work

with God's bigger plan?

That's the question

of John 4.

And I think that's

the big challenge

that will come to us

this evening

as we finish this series

and as we think

about how God

is at work.

Will we sink

our lives,

our working lives,

with how God's

is at work?

And just to help us

think through,

we're just going to go

for another 5-10 minutes,

okay, just to help us

think through the implications

of what that might look

like in our lives,

I've just got two things

that we can take away

and apply from

John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

Sound okay?

Here's the first one.

Here's the first thing

we learn from

John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

The places that God

targets.

So Jesus had to

pass through Sumeria.

Why?

Well, presumably

because no Jew

in Jesus' day

would ever venture there.

And we see Jesus,

don't we?

I love this in John 4.

We see him

smashing gospel barriers

and we see him

building gospel bridges.

Jesus smashes

the male-female barrier,

doesn't he?

And he smashes

the Jew-Gentile barrier

because this woman,

she was lost,

she was helpless,

she was spending

her life chasing bubbles

and she needed

to be reconciled

to the God

who created her.

And so I think

that as readers,

the question we're

meant to ask is,

where are the lost

people of our day?

Where are they?

I think the answer

has got to be

everywhere.

And the question

we need to ask ourselves

as we see Jesus'

prerogative

is his mission

our mission.

Ask yourself firstly,

where has God

deployed you?

Where has he put you?

How often we forget,

don't we,

the sovereign purposes

of God for our lives?

How often we forget

his sovereign hand

over our placement,

if you like,

that he's not put us

to places where we are,

doing what we do

simply so we can

fill time between

now and his return.

He's placed us

where we are

with a divine purpose.

The office,

the playground,

the surgery,

the classroom,

the changing room,

the building site,

the hairdressers,

the shop,

the family,

the stairwell,

the coffee shop,

everywhere he has placed us

with this mission.

Now,

we need Christians,

don't we?

We need them witnessing

in all different areas

of society,

all different sectors.

That's what we need.

But do you see

how God

in his almighty wisdom

has done that?

It's been so incredible.

I've loved having

these interviews

up the front

over the past few weeks

because we've seen

how God has been

at work deploying

his people all around

this city

in all different areas

of society.

We've seen Christian parents.

We've heard from

Christian teachers,

Christian scientists,

Christian students,

Christian civil servants.

Do you see,

and we didn't even

interview a doctor.

I don't even know

how we managed to do that.

But do you see

how God has placed

his people,

and we're just a microcosm

of this in our city,

how God has placed

his people all over

the place.

So have a think,

where has God deployed you?

And ask yourself,

secondly,

who has God put

around you?

It's a constant theme,

it's a constant pattern

in scripture

that we see

that God places people,

his people places,

so that he can reach

other people.

If you want to check out

the book of Acts,

we see this all the time.

God wants to reach

the Philippian jailer.

What does he do?

He preaches Paul in prison.

God wants to reach

the Ethiopian eunuch.

What does he do?

He brings Philip to him.

God working out

his purposes,

his sovereign purposes

through his people.

You see,

this is God uniquely wiring

and uniquely placing

each of us

where we are

to accomplish

his sovereign purposes.

And that means,

if you work that through,

that means

he has placed

you places

that you can reach

people for Jesus

that I can't reach.

and I can reach

people for Jesus

that you can't reach.

But the question is,

will we see it

and will we seize

the opportunity

and the invitation

to be part

of something bigger?

You see,

the Great Commission

is no young man's game.

The call to make disciples

is not simply

for the seasoned

and mature saints.

We're all in this together.

That Jesus summons us

to join in

God's work.

And so the question

we need to ask ourselves

is,

whatever we are,

whatever we're doing,

will we sink our lives

with God's bigger plan?

So there's the first thing

we learn,

I think,

from John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

We learn the places

that God targets.

Here's the second thing

I think we learn.

The people that God uses.

Because you have to see,

as we read this through,

there is a beautiful simplicity

about John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

Isn't there this woman?

Now just think about her.

She doesn't go to church.

She's got no theology degree.

She hasn't attended

a Christianity Explored course.

She hasn't been taken through

a Two Ways to Live manual

and how to do that.

She hasn't read

a stirring book on evangelism.

She simply has met Jesus,

has been transformed by him,

and has gone back

to her village

and told everyone

that she meets about him.

From the text,

you notice that we didn't,

we don't even see Jesus

tell her to go and do that.

It just kind of happens naturally.

But notice why people came,

verse 39.

Because of this woman's testimony.

Come and meet a man

who told me

all that I ever did,

she says.

Now you can imagine

the townspeople

when she drops that one in,

can you not?

Wait a minute,

he told you everything

that you've ever done?

She responds,

yes,

everything I've ever done.

Everything I've ever done.

Do you see in Jesus

she's clearly found someone

with whom there is no hiding,

with whom there is no pretending,

and with whom she can be herself

worse and all.

And you can imagine her,

can you not,

going back to her townspeople

and saying,

isn't it incredible

that the man that I met,

the Messiah,

hasn't come to judge me

for my sin.

He has come to save me

from my sin.

It's the same thing

that we see

at the rulers,

the elders and the scribes,

that they say

of Peter and John

in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

You can check that out afterwards.

That they perceive

that these men are what?

Uneducated and common.

In other words,

they were just country bumpkins.

But what did they recognize?

What did they say

about these men?

That they had been with Jesus.

They had been with Jesus.

Presumably these men,

remember their intent

on stamping Jesus out,

they look at Peter and John,

they hear how they talk,

they see how they behave,

and it simply reminds them

of Jesus who they tried

to stamp out

in the first place.

And there was a survey

carried out in 2012

by Marie Curie Cancer Care

as part of their

Cancer Awareness Week.

And they asked living celebrities

to write in and tell them

what they would like

to be written

on their tombstone.

If you want to check it out,

you can Google it afterwards.

There's some quite funny

entries in there.

This is my favorite.

Louis Theroux

wants this in his tombstone.

And if you're a man,

you'll click with this, okay?

So now,

do you believe me

that I've got man flu?

This is what he wants to

write on his tombstone, okay?

There's some great entries

in there.

But here's the question

I want to ask you.

What would you like

written about you?

What would you like

written about you?

I was thinking on it this week.

What would people say about me?

Husband?

Father?

Airdrie fan?

Probably.

But here's what I want

people to write.

Graham Shanks,

we saw that he had been

with Jesus.

And if that's it,

praise God,

we saw that he had been

with Jesus.

That's clearly what

these townspeople

saw in this Samaritan woman.

That's evidently what

these chief elders and rulers

saw in Peter and John.

And the question for us

this evening is,

do we live our lives

in such a way

that that is what

people in our circles,

people in our workplaces

would instinctively say

about us?

They had been

with Jesus.

You know,

every Christian has

the same story.

Sorry,

every Christian has

a different story,

but each story

has the same message.

that I was lost

and I met Jesus.

Or rather,

Jesus met me

and he transformed me.

It's the old hymn we used to,

I remember singing it

when we were growing up.

I was lost,

but Jesus found me,

found the sheep

that went astray,

threw his loving arms

around me,

drew me back

into his way.

Yes,

I'll sing the wondrous story

of the Christ

who died for me.

Sing it with the

saints in glory,

gathered by

the crystal sea.

Do you see,

these are the ordinary people

that God uses.

And I find that

massively reassuring

when I look at my own life

because I know

I'm an ordinary person,

living an ordinary life,

doing ordinary things,

but simply to tell people

about an extraordinary God.

As my friend's

Twitter profile reads,

I'm simply a nobody

trying to tell everybody

about somebody.

I think that's a great way

of putting that.

I'm a nobody

trying to tell everybody

about somebody.

So I hope you're encouraged

just by a short little time

in John chapter 4

John 4 · chapter mention

that God uses simple people

with simple stories.

Because I know that's hard,

isn't it,

for many of us in the workplace.

We think we don't have

the answers.

Well,

I hope the woman

has encouraged you here

that she simply went

and told

and said,

come,

come and meet a man

who's known

and who knows

everything I've ever done.

You see,

this woman didn't just

testify to Jesus

to see how she invited.

Just on a personal note,

how encouraged I was

to hear how many people

invited friends

to that gingerbread event

yesterday.

Now,

I know they didn't all come,

but so encouraged

this week hearing

how many invitations

had gone out to people

to come.

Come to an event,

yes,

but come and meet Jesus.

Come and meet Jesus.

You know,

Christmas presents us

with just a wonderful opportunity,

does it not,

to invite people

to come.

It's such an easy sell.

Such an easy sell.

Who could we be inviting

to come to

the Christmas events

that go on here?

Who can you invite?

And here's the challenge

I want to leave you with.

Who are you praying for?

Who are you praying for?

Somebody challenged me

this week that if,

and get this,

this is a challenge,

that if God

was to answer

every one of my prayers

for my non-Christian friends

to become Christians,

how many people

would be added

to the kingdom?

Are we praying

for our friends?

Are we praying

for opportunities?

Are we praying

that God would give us

the heart and the gumption

to seize those opportunities?

Who's on your heart

this week?

Who can you be praying for?

That's the second thing

I think we learned

from John chapter four,

the people that God uses.

Will we sync our lives

with God's bigger plan?

So just as we close,

let me take you back

to Christopher Wren.

Remember those three men

that he talked to?

Let me ask you

just as we close

the question,

what do you do?

What are you doing?

Same question

that he asked those men.

What are you doing?

Are you simply

cutting a piece of stone?

Are you just performing a job?

Are you just going

through the routine?

Are you simply earning

five shillings,

two pints a day?

Are you just trying

to fill your face?

Are you just trying

to put food on the table?

Or are you like

that third man?

Have you grasped?

Have you seen?

Have you seized?

Have you bought into

the great designer's

master plan?

See, Jesus is telling us

that is the very reason

that he has come

because God is building

something bigger.

God is building something

more beautiful

than St. Paul's Cathedral

and he's building something

that's going to last

well beyond St. Paul's Cathedral.

He's building his church.

He's building his church.

How is God at work today?

He's working through his son

by his spirit

to seek and to save the lost

and to gather in

the great soul harvest.

Here we see it

in Revelation chapter 7.

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

The great multitude of people

that through Jesus

God has won to himself.

John writes this,

After this I looked

and there before me

was a great multitude

that no one could count

from every nation,

tribe, people and language,

standing before the throne

and before the Lamb.

And you read on down,

They fell on their faces

before the throne

and they worshipped God

saying, Amen,

praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks

and honour and power

and strength

be to our God

forever and ever.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Father,

and so just maybe

in the silence now

as we've maybe come

to the end of this series,

maybe now is a great time

just to pause

and maybe to rededicate

ourselves to God's

master plan.

And so Father,

thank you so much

for this evening.

Thank you for these

last few weeks

as we've studied

your word

and particularly

as we've looked

at applying it

to this particular

area of our lives,

the things that we do

during the waking hours

of our day

that we call work.

And Lord,

we ask that the message

and the challenge

of these last few weeks

would last long

in our minds

and it would profoundly

change the way

that we act

and behave

and live

and view the world.

Help us, Lord,

to sink our lives

with your bigger plan

for this world.

And so this is our prayer.

Dear Father,

hear it because we make it

in Jesus' name.

Amen.