Good News

What I should say first is take your Bible and open it.

And turn in your Bible this morning to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

I'm going to read from the text beginning in verse 8.

In the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with fear.

And the angel said to them,

And this will be a sign for you.

You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning the child.

And all those who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, this morning it is so easy for us to be distracted.

And we confess that we are dependent upon the word that You've given to us.

And the ministry of the indwelling Spirit in those of us who know Christ.

And the convicting power of the Spirit in the lives of all who are here.

To lift up Jesus that He who is our Savior and our Lord.

The one that someday we will enjoy forever in eternity.

Is the one that is justly worshipped here as He is in heaven.

We pray that our affections will be warmed by the passage that we study together.

That our thoughts and interest in the Lord Jesus Christ will be stirred and strengthened.

And as a result of our attention to the word.

That what we have described in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 might be true.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

That we would grow from glory to glory as we behold as in a mirror.

The truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And enjoy the working of the Spirit of God in us.

This morning.

And we ask this in Jesus' name and for His glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I want you to stop and think just for a moment this morning at a question that has really,

I'd say close to obsessed me for the last several weeks.

And that really is, why did God choose to make the announcement of His Son,

our Savior, the one on whom we rest for all eternity?

Why did He choose to make the announcement of His incarnation in such an unassuming and quiet way?

I didn't do it, but just imagine that this morning when it came time for the preaching of the sermon,

I had had John ask all of you to stand.

And then I had walked in to hail to the chief.

Now, think about that.

It would have been so inappropriate for me.

Isn't that true?

It would have been wrong.

Now, had the president actually arrived here, I mean, there would have been a motorcade,

and there would have been helicopters, and there would have been police officers over every overpass,

and his transfer from Port Columbus over to here would have been,

all the streets would have been blocked off.

Every police officer would have been called in off of duty,

and it would have been just a, and then he walks in, and how, you know,

even though it was church, probably someone would have said,

we ought to play hail to the chief, you know.

It's like, it is the president.

Here I am.

So why did Jesus come in such a humble fashion?

I think it's pretty important for you to think about.

How many of you, by the way, as this little sidebar,

have been eating in a restaurant with your wife or your husband,

and they happen to order something that's really outstanding?

At least they think so.

And they're kind of, how many of you, when you are enjoying food, make good sounds?

You're like, mmm, ah, man.

In fact, I am that way to the point that my wife sometimes, when she is, you know,

just stop.

No, it's like, that adds.

How many of you understand that that kind of amps it up?

Just go ahead and verbalize it.

Mmm, mmm.

And so here we are, we're in the restaurant, and Judas says,

man, this, you know, this salmon is just exceptional.

But, you know, in order to give credit, and I don't mind salmon, I'm just kind of over,

just, but in order to give credit to the value of that taste, how many of you go ahead and stuff a

couple extra fries in your mouth, a little bit of ketchup on top of that, and then you just pop the

salmon in on top behind it, right?

You don't do that.

I mean, if you're serious about the taste, you want to give credit to your wife's appreciation.

I mean, top off, what you do is you rinse your mouth out a little bit with water, you know,

and switch it around, and now you don't spit it out in a restaurant.

I understand that.

You swallow it, but, you know.

And then, when your palate's marginally clean, then you take the taste.

Am I right?

And you say, oh, that's good.

That's good.

I would ask that by the help of the Holy Spirit, you kind of clean your palate away from the

garbage and think carefully about why Jesus chose to come like he did.

Why did God choose to announce the birth of his son the way he did?

Well, as we think about this, and I think there's tremendous value in the thought, I want us to

begin at least by following the text here and recognizing that he announced this to an interesting

group.

As we open the lesson this morning, we look there and we see that Christ's first earthly arrival

was not announced in a dramatic fashion.

Instead, his birth took place in a neglected corner of Israel in a shack that was normally

used to shelter animals.

I want you to pick up, if you would, there in verse 8 and just remind yourself of how the

Christmas story plays out.

And we read there that the angel of the Lord in verse 9 appears to these shepherds that were

marked out in verse 8.

They're out in the field.

They're taking care of sheep.

And we have kind of idealized shepherds and sheep because, you know, after all, it's part of Christmas.

And by the way, how many of you know that bales of hay were like nine bucks a bale?

Is that over the top or what?

I mean, it's like, I can't believe that.

By the way, I didn't buy these.

Sharma lent them to me.

The pickup truck is where they go back afterwards.

Horses need them.

But, you know, I want you to recognize that this passage gives us a picture of some very

unusual people chosen by God to bring some pretty important information to.

And I do want you to understand that shepherds were not well respected.

In fact, you don't need to turn there, but just kind of turn back.

Think in your mind back to Genesis chapter 46 in verse 24.

Genesis 46 · chapter mention

Remember when Joseph is in the land of Egypt and it comes time to bring Jacob and the whole

clan into Egypt.

And Pharaoh says to Jacob, so what do you do for a living?

How many of you have those questions?

Well, I'm a doctor.

I'm a shepherd.

What?

And it says this, that the Egyptians abhorred.

Shepherds were an abomination to Egyptians.

Now, the Bible picture of shepherds is a little more positive.

I mean, after all, how many of you know the shepherd's psalm?

I mean, every one of us, right?

Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.

And we think about the fact that God in his care for us, he's like a shepherd.

In fact, Old Testament kings like to carry that idea a little bit.

But it was more idealized than in practical reality because the truth of the matter is

is that shepherds were not well regarded in Jewish culture.

So much so that if Jim Bob had seen Bubba murdering Sally.

You got that?

I mean, are we tracking so far?

Jim Bob saw Bubba murder Sally, and Jim Bob was a shepherd.

When they asked publicly, did anybody see Bubba murder Sally?

And Jim Bob raised his hand and said, I did.

They'd say, disqualified.

Shepherds were not allowed to ever give testimony publicly.

God chose a shepherd group.

To be the ones that he announced the coming of his son to.

And I want you to stop and think with me just for a moment.

Why did he do that?

Why would he have the Lord of glory come the first time

in such an unassuming, quiet manner to a corner neglected

and then announce his coming to people that by the community and culture

were not chosen and regarded?

Oh, by the way, so that you understand,

there were some other people that knew about Jesus' birth.

How many of you know the wise men?

Where did they come from?

By the way, they were what?

What's the word for them?

They were pagans.

Pagans.

Remember, they showed up and they said,

all right, where is the king of the Jews?

And Herod was pretty lit up about this, remember?

And he says, when you find him,

you come back and let me know where he is.

And they were advised by angels to go a different way.

And as a result of that,

Herod slaughtered all the children in that area up to two years old.

Shepherds and pagans were the first ones who were given advice

about the coming of Christ, Joseph and Mary.

And so I want you to kind of chew on this.

Why?

Why?

Why?

How many of you understand that one of the more important questions

to answer when you're studying the Scriptures is that why question?

Why did he do it this way?

Why is that here?

What is its value to me?

And I have to confess that as this question just lingered in my mind

over and over again through the last several weeks in particular,

I could not come to one particular passage that said thus,

well, here's the answer.

But on the other hand,

there is much in the Scripture

that indicates the gentleness of our God in meeting our need

and his readiness to condescend on our behalf.

Let me have you think with me just for a moment

and kind of frame this out.

Job.

Remember Job?

The King James says he was an upright man who eschewed evil.

How many of you like that word, eschewed?

Practice it at home and say it three or four times around the dinner table, okay?

He was a good guy.

And God allowed some real difficulties to come into his life.

And in the face of all these difficulties,

you remember that Job finally at one point in frustration says,

man, I wish there was someone who would put his hand on God

and his hand on man and kind of bring them together.

A daisman.

Someone who could be a go-between.

Remember when Moses went up the mount to receive the law

and God revealed himself to the nation of Israel

and he comes back, Moses comes back,

and he lays out the glory of the revelation of God

and the people, they're kind of overwhelmed by the reality

of the glory of God and the word that he has for them.

And they say, Moses, Moses, would you do the talking with him

and then you come down here and communicate with us?

We're terrified.

God in his awesome glory, knowing our frame and our dust,

chose to come with unbelievable humility

and in that humility to reveal himself as our Savior.

I do want you to understand this issue of God coming down, for one,

reflects this matter of humility in a profound fashion.

Several different things come to mind.

I do want you to understand that what it says in Scripture

is that the ones who are blessed

are those who are humble and broken.

And here is God presenting his son in a humble fashion

and he reminds us of the reality

that the ones who receive the blessings of God

are those who are humbled and contrite.

I think about Isaiah chapter 66 where it says this,

Isaiah 66 · chapter mention

that the prophet recounts and says,

who is it that God reveals himself to?

The one who is humble and broken and trembles at my word.

I couldn't help as I was praying earlier today

to stop and think about the culture we have

that pushes against the idea of humility.

I mean, what kid doesn't go to school

and hear about from the time they walk in

through the doors of the school

to the time they at least come out.

At least in the professional context,

you're special, you're the best, you're the winner.

Everybody gets, you know, we're full of ourselves.

And our community encourages that.

And yet the Scripture tells us

that the one that God reveals himself to

is the one who recognizes his sin

and is humble in the prospect of his soul's condition.

I think also of this business of who God calls.

Turn over in your Bible just for a moment

to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 1,

1 Corinthians 1:26–29

verse 26 through 29.

The church at Corinth was a church that was full of people

that had a fairly inflated view of themselves.

Hello?

Let me give you a couple hints of what were indicators

that they had an inflated view of themselves.

Okay?

Number one,

inflated self-appreciation

is invariably the cause

of a lot of dissension

and bickering among people.

How many of you understand that?

Overly simplifying it,

let me put it this way.

When Judith and I were younger

and our four children were still with us

and we would decide that we were going to go out to dinner,

we would ask early on,

this is before we learned the importance

of the appropriate approach.

We would say,

all right, all right,

where would you like to go to dinner?

And we'd kind of address it as a general view.

And guess what would happen in the back of the car?

We had four professional opinions

of where was best to eat.

And everyone not only proposed

where the best place was to go,

but on top of that,

they would then begin throwing stones.

You want to go to McDonald's?

I can't believe...

They were over the top

with approval of their own

and disapproval of everybody else's vote.

Why do we have arguments and dissent

and irritable attitudes?

Full of ourselves.

Corinth, full of themselves.

And Paul says,

a remedy to your being so full of yourself

is understanding, number one,

why God picked you

and where He drew you from.

That's what we're dealing with there

in 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

And we mark out what it says there in verse 26.

For consider your calling, brothers.

Not many of you were wise

according to the worldly standards.

Not many were powerful.

Not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world

to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world

to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world,

even things that are not,

to bring to nothing things that are,

so that no human being may boast

in the presence of God.

Everywhere the shepherds turned,

they had people telling them consistently,

you ain't nobody.

Nobody.

And God shows up and says,

and by the way,

it's the nobodies that I want to use

to draw attention to the fact

that the Savior of the world has come.

More importantly than that, though,

it is appropriate that our Savior

who came in humiliation

should present His coming

in a humble fashion.

So remind yourself,

Christ humbled Himself

to become our Savior.

Turn in your Bible, if you would,

to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

You're there in Luke.

Keep your finger

because we're coming back to it.

But I want you to turn

to Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

and mark what it says

in verse 5 through 9.

Have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who though He was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but made Himself nothing,

taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of a man.

Hey, guys, listen.

To lay aside His regal splendor

as the second person of the Godhead

and to take upon Himself

the fashion of a man

was the incredible,

unfathomable step of humility.

And so to choose

to come in that profoundly humble way

and then to come in

with any kind of flair and panache

would have come off

actually being inconsistent.

And so I want you to understand

that as the Bible tells us,

Christ came with this humility

for our sakes.

And He did it so that

He would be humbled unto death,

even the death on the cross for us.

I think about another passage

in relationship to this

over in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9.

2 Corinthians 8:9

And in essence what it says is this,

is though He was rich,

He became poor for us.

How many of you ever stop

and realize that the shepherds,

the manger,

is not an idealized

little Christmas decoration,

it is a reminder

of the abject humility

with which Christ came

to meet our broken state?

So how else

to announce the unbelievable grace of God

in sending His Son,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

who willingly humbled Himself

to be my Savior

and die in my place?

How else to make that announcement

but to do it with the same kind

of humility

that we find in the passage of Scripture

that we look at this morning?

But I want you to look at

a second part of the text this morning

because it's not just

the fact that Jesus came

and His coming was something

that was announced by shepherds.

That's a small sidebar

and an issue that,

while it deserves our attention,

is not the center of the story.

I want you to recognize

what we find there

in the passage in verse 10.

It says,

So I want you to think about

this issue of good news for all.

It was for the nation.

It was for the world.

And I want you to stop

and think with me just for a moment

about what that little word

good news means.

Am I right?

Tonight in the program,

Steve, I know you're the one

who rocks it out,

so I got to,

you're the,

aren't we doing this good news number?

John, where are you?

Way back.

It's, by the way,

little solicitation off the page.

The Christmas program

is knockout good.

I went home and I told my wife,

she's in the nursery

so she can't hear,

don't tell her what I said.

Everybody always does.

I came home,

I said,

man,

it was a really good Christmas program.

It was really good.

I mean,

by the way,

clapping is allowed.

I will clap

if nobody else does tonight.

It was,

but one of the numbers

in particular

that I really like,

I did not know

that

white Anglo-Saxons

could be as

into it.

I'm a lot of friends.

I know,

I know,

I grew up with that,

don't you be moving like that,

that could be dancing,

you know.

Okay.

Okay.

Good news.

What's the good news?

I'm not going to bore you

with the details,

but not bore you,

that's not the way

I want to say it.

I'm not going to

overweight you

with the Greek here,

but the word euangelion,

which is the word

from which we get good news,

is a word that was used

in the Roman world

for special things.

You know,

we overuse words

and they kind of

lose their effect.

it's like,

outstanding,

you know.

My favorite one

is when you go

to the restaurant,

I'm picking on

restaurants today,

but,

you know,

and you tell the waitress

that you're going

to order something

and she says,

excellent choice.

Like,

give me a break.

Every time I've been here

you've said the same thing,

you know.

It's like,

really?

I'm going to have

a hamburger again?

Excellent choice.

You know,

sometimes we overdo words.

euangelion was not

a word that was overdone.

It was a word

that when Luke penned it,

had a fairly narrow

use and understanding

in the ancient world.

It was a word

that was used

to kind of announce

exceptional things.

Two primary illustrations

come to mind,

maybe three.

One was that

when an emperor

had a son born,

this was the heir,

a parent,

and he was the one

the kingdom was going

to be handed off to

and everybody could,

okay,

we're not going to go

through a messy,

bloody kind of transition

when the king dies.

Maybe be reasonable.

And when the king

had a son,

it was like,

this is euangelion,

this is good news.

Another thing

that really brought

about good news

is when the army

came back victorious

from a campaign

that had defeated

a mortal enemy,

the news would come

and it would,

good news,

the Roman legion

has won.

Another good news

would be

when a city

that had irritated

the emperor

and all the legion

had kind of circled

around the city

and there they were.

And by the way,

I want you to know

that the Roman legion

was not someone

to mess with.

So there's the foreign legion,

the Roman legion

around the city

and they send out delegates

and say,

we're really sorry,

we're sorry,

we offended the emperor,

we're going to pay

all our taxes back

and you don't have

to kill us,

we'll be good people

and good news,

you're not going

to be slaughtered,

right?

Wow!

That's good news.

And so here,

you get this picture,

here in Luke,

the angels say,

don't you be afraid,

I bring you good news.

What is the good news?

You see,

the good news

that we find here

is one that deserves

great joy

and that's the thing

I want you to recognize.

woven into this passage

is the reality

that there is something

that God is doing for us

that is incredible.

I wonder this morning

as you stop

and think about it,

whether or not

every time you think

about your salvation,

you do not kind of thrill

at the thought of it.

Stop just for a moment.

Check your pulse.

Mine is about 62.

Sometimes when I'm worked up

it goes a little higher,

but you know.

Hey,

if you're a Christian,

if you know Jesus,

the thought of your salvation

is good news

and it ought to cause

your soul to thrill.

So here we look

at this passage

and we understand

that the great joy

of this blessing

is not freedom from tax

or deliverance

from having your head cut off.

It's more than that.

It's of eternal consequence

and this blessing

as we read in the passage here

is good news

not only for the Jews

but for the entire world.

What is it?

Salvation and forgiveness

for sin

is available to all

because of Christ.

That's what this is saying.

Salvation

and forgiveness

from sin

available to all

because of Christ.

Now Mark,

if you will,

there at the last point

as you look there

in verse 11

it says,

For unto you

is born this day

in the city of David

a Savior.

What does it

say

to us

when you read

that word

Savior?

what does it

say about you

when you admit

that you need

a Savior?

I want you

to think about that

because

when we

come to grips

with the reality

of our own condition

and we are

persuaded

by the Spirit

of God

at just how

miserable

and how broken

we are

it becomes

reasonable for us

to recognize

I need a Savior.

I need someone

who can do

for me

what I cannot

do for myself.

And so I want you

to recognize

this morning

as you look

at this passage

that what the

Scripture makes

clear is that

salvation is

through God's

Son.

That's what

happened at

Christmas.

This little

child

would become

our Savior

Savior.

Saving us

from our

greatest fear

and our

greatest problem

namely from

the holy

wrath of God

against sin

and how did

He do that?

I want you

to recognize

as we look

at the passage

and think

about this

issue of

Christ being

our Savior

that it is

fair for us

to understand

that at the

heart of this

is first of

all a

recognition

that man

cannot save

himself.

Man cannot

save himself.

I cannot

help but think

of a little

review that I

did earlier

this week

doing some

reading about

Islam

and then

making some

comparison with

Hinduism

and I was

doing that

just because

of all things

happening in

the world

today and

we hear a

lot about

Islam,

Islam,

Islam and

I recognize

that it

kind of has

a presence

in a lot

of our

thinking but

it is not

the only

religion out

there and

having grown

up in

India I

saw that

Muslims

and Hindus

hated each

other as

much as

you can

imagine.

In fact

it was not

atypical for

slaughters to

take back

and forth

and both

actually

proposed

that man

ultimately has

responsibility for

the outcome of

his soul in

that his own

effort is what

is at the

heart of his

redemption.

How many of you

would like to

have your salvation

based upon your

own efforts?

Think about that.

God's

The only reason

you shake

your head

is because

by the

spirit of

God you

have become

fully persuaded

of your own

complete

inability.

Were it

not for the

grace of

God which

lovingly revealed

to you your

inability to

save yourself

you would be

like the rest

who when you

asked them

how is it that

you're going to

get to heaven

guess what

their answer

usually is?

Well I'm doing

the best I can.

I hope he grades

on the curve.

I'm at least

better than some

of the people I

know who live in

my neighborhood.

I mean I do go

to church

occasionally and

they never go.

They got a boat.

You know it's

really bugging me

but

no.

The truth of

the matter is

is that man

cannot save

himself and

underlying the

reality of the

need that I have

for a savior is

that I can't do

anything to change

me.

As a sidebar

one of the

things that I so

love about the

gospel is the

reality that

because of

salvation not

only do I have

the certainty

of a home in

heaven but I

also have great

confidence that

because of what

he has done in

me Tim Kenoyer

doesn't have to

stay the way he

has been.

I can change by

grace and you

can too.

I want you to

recognize as we

think about this

matter of salvation

man cannot save

himself we accept

that but there's

another thing that

that stands out in

this verse and

when it says good

news namely you

have a savior we

recognize that only

God can save

fallen man.

That's why God

sent his son

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

That's why Jesus

came and died on

the cross and

rose again.

He did all that

because salvation

is of the Lord.

How many of you

recognize and kind

of have it stick in

your mind that

actually the name

of Jesus means

what?

How many of you

know what it

means?

Jesus,

Yehoshua,

God saves.

Even in giving

Jesus the name

that he received

what God chose

to do was

communicate to

us that we

cannot save

ourselves that

God has to be

the one that

saves us.

And so I want

you to recognize

that that first

Christmas morn when

the shepherds with

that rejected

attitude in the

community that they

kind of endured

under, they

received the

information.

I want you to

know there's good

news because

today in the

city of Bethlehem

is born your

Savior, God

having done this

for you.

So you look at

the passage here

and bring it

together, it

says, this day

in the city of

David a Savior

who is Christ

the Lord.

So let me ask

you a couple

questions as I

close this morning

and have you think

with me about it.

First of all,

very practically,

have you come

broken and

wounded by your

sin to God and

asked Him to be

your Savior?

Have you confessed

the need you have

for Christ and

recognized that the

absolute darkness

of your soul has

no remedy apart

from the work of

God in saving you?

And I would

encourage you as

you sit here this

morning, don't just

think to yourself,

well, hey, listen,

I grew up in this

church, man, I've

heard this a

thousand times.

Do not think

that sitting in a

pew is a guarantee

of salvation.

Do not think that

going to a

Juana, do not

think that anything

apart from broken,

contrite humility and

dependence upon God

being your Savior is

remedy for the need

of your soul.

And it takes humility

to be able to come to

Him and say, look, I

stand condemned before

God and I realize the

bankruptcy of my soul.

I need Christ to be

my Savior.

Incidentally, let me

tell you this, if

you're sitting here

this morning and you

are one who still is

resisting the grace of

God, let me appeal to

you, practically

speaking, how much

more evidence do you

need of how messy

your life can get?

Make sense?

Apart from God and

His grace, our lives

are a mess.

And I would appeal to

you this morning, say,

I've got enough

information.

I don't need to have

any more experience.

I need Jesus as my

Savior and I recognize

that.

On the other hand, let

me ask you this.

Have you discovered

the joy of complete

forgiveness for all of

your sins?

Has that happened?

Does that thought

resonate and make a

difference in the life

that you live?

Right?

By nature, by nature,

it's fairly easy for

us to become kind of

focused on the

circumstantial issues

around us and take

our eyes off of the

absolute certainty of

our salvation and our

eternal destiny.

Isn't that right?

Huh?

And I want to

encourage you this

morning as you stop

and consider this

wonderful, wonderful

news that we find in

Luke that here is this

kernel of information

about the reality of God

being our Savior.

And when you, who are

children of the living

God, hear that truth,

it ought to make a

difference in your life.

I got to tell you, I look

forward to this evening's

Christmas program.

How many of you are in for

cold chills?

Do you like cold chills?

How many of you, I get

cold chills.

I'm a cold chills specialist.

I'm not talking about the

heating.

It's over the top.

I'm talking, I just, I get

those, it happens.

Hair kind of stands up on the

back of my neck.

Listen to some of the

singing tonight.

But that's not to be

compared to the joy of my

salvation.

What about you?

What about you?

Let's close in prayer.

Our Father God, this morning

as we stop and think about

the absolute wonder of

salvation through the Lord

Jesus Christ, we marvel that

you who abide in heaven, who

have no need for us,

nevertheless, willingly, sent

your Son, the Lord Jesus

Christ, to take upon Himself

the absolute humiliation of

being a man instead of just

the glory of heaven, and He

became a man for our sakes.

We're thankful that He came

to be our Savior, that He

lived here, that He died on

the cross and rose again, that

all who believe in Him might

have everlasting life.

And this morning as we think

about the gospel, we're

thankful for what Jesus has

done for us.

And I ask practically that

those who are here that do

not know Christ will be drawn

to confess their sins and

believe in Jesus alone.

I pray, Lord, also for our

baptism now as we have the

privilege of hearing one

young man share the testimony

of what you did in saving

him, that we would thrill

together at the good work of

God and broken and ruined

sinners.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you.