All the People

Good morning.

Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

It's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.

We're glad you're here.

And we are glad you're here not because we are trying to fill seats,

but because we are following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we are convinced that there's no one so good

that they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.

And so God is going to have something to say to everyone in his word,

and everyone needs to hear what God has to say.

If you've been with us, you know that we are in the book of Nehemiah.

The book of Nehemiah is a book about a man named Nehemiah who lived in the 5th century B.C.

And he lived during a time when the people of Israel, God's people in the Old Testament,

were returning slowly from exile.

They had been freed from exile in 538 B.C.

And what we read about here is in 445 B.C., almost 100 years later.

So the process of returning from exile is still continuing.

And this is the process of Nehemiah, along with God's people,

turning back from their sin,

abandoning God's city and his ways,

and turning back to God in repentance.

This is part of a much larger story that's covered by many books in the Bible.

And this particular part of the story is about the rebuilding of the wall around the city of Jerusalem.

The city of Jerusalem is the city that God had given his people,

the people of Israel, to be a light to the nations.

That everyone in the world could look to this city to see

what it is like when God's people follow after God's ways.

Now we've been through quite a lot together as we've gone through the book of Nehemiah.

We've seen internal problems and external problems.

We've seen oppression of the poor by God's people, not even the people outside.

We've also seen tremendous unity in chapter 3 as God's people worked together,

despite their differences, to build the temple, excuse me, to build the wall.

And then in chapter 6, we saw the fear that they encountered as they were going on God's mission.

And now we come to chapter 7,

which I know that many of you have been looking forward to.

And I say that only half-jokingly.

If you're not aware, if you haven't looked at the end of your worship guide,

you know that this is mostly a long list of names and numbers.

I only say that half-jokingly because this is a wonderful opportunity for some people.

There are some congregants, and you've already told me this,

who love passages like this.

I would love to think that it's out of Christian charity.

Some of it's just because this is a great stump-the-chump situation.

And it's fun to watch a preacher squirm.

So if that's you, you're welcome.

It also raises a question of why it is that we cover passages like this.

It would be easy for me to preach the very beginning of chapter 7

and just skip to chapter 8 and just tell you,

yes, that was a long list of names, and we're going to keep going.

And we read passages like this for two reasons.

First of all, we, and this is of lesser importance,

we read them because we want to stay honest.

It would be incredibly easy for me as your pastor to find passages that were easy to preach,

be tempting to find passages that talked only about topics

that everyone in this world could agree with us about,

about God's goodness and His mercy and His justice.

And so we pick books of the Bible, and we preach through the entire book

because it makes us preach through things that are hard at times.

Sometimes we have to touch on topics that our culture might disagree with us about.

And so we do this, first of all, to keep ourselves honest,

but that's not the most important reason we do it.

The most important reason that we preach through passages like this

is because they are part of God's Word.

And we believe what God tells us when He says that His Word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold,

and that it is sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

God's Word is living and active.

It was His Word in Genesis chapter 1 that brought the very world into existence.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And it is God's Word that we find out in Romans 10

that takes sinners and brings them to faith.

And so we read Nehemiah chapter 7 as an act of faith and trust and hope in God's Word,

Nehemiah 7 · chapter mention

that He has good for us and He has something to teach us.

And so that's how we come and turn to this chapter in this book.

Now as we come to it, I'm going to name the same reality that I named last week,

which is that sometimes as we read long chapters like this, it is hard to pay attention.

So I'm going to give you not one homework assignment, but two homework assignments this time.

This is you, which is all of us.

First of all, I want you to look out for the problem that Nehemiah faces.

Nehemiah actually faces a big problem in this chapter, which is mostly of names,

and that problem is going to show up in verses 1 through 4.

And then if you are tempted to fall asleep during the list of names and numbers,

my challenge to you is to try to track the number of groups.

Not the numbers of sons, because we're going to hear about a lot of sonsets,

but numbers like people of Israel or Levites or priests, anything under that category.

Okay, that's my challenge to you as we go through this.

There's a problem, and then there are groups.

And with that, we are going to read Nehemiah chapter 7.

Nehemiah 7 · chapter mention

And remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that while the grass may fall and the flowers fade,

it is his word that stands forever.

In other words, while each of us in this room will die one day unless the Lord returns,

God's word is going to continue.

And so we're going to read it now, starting at verse 1.

Now when the wall had been built, and I had set up the doors and the gatekeepers,

the singers and the Levites had been appointed,

I gave my brother Hananiah and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem,

for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.

And I said to them,

Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot.

And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors.

Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.

The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few,

and no houses had been rebuilt.

Verse 5.

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials

and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.

And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first,

and I found written in it.

These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles,

whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried into exile.

They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.

They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Ramiah,

Nahomini, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpareth, Bigvi, Nahim, Banna.

The number of the men of the people of Israel,

the sons of Peresh, 2,172.

The sons of Shephetiah, 372.

The sons of Ere, 652.

The sons of Pehath-Moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818.

The sons of Elam, 1,254.

The sons of Zatu, 845.

The sons of Zaka, 760.

The sons of Benue, 648.

The sons of Bebi, 628.

The sons of Asgad, 2,322.

The sons of Edenakam, 667.

The sons of Bigvi, 2,067.

The sons of Aden, 655.

The sons of Atter, namely of Hezekiah, 98.

The sons of Hashem, 328.

The sons of Bezi, 324.

The sons of Heraph, 112.

The sons of Gibeon, 95.

The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188.

The men of Anathoth, 128.

Verse 28.

The men of Beth-Azmaveth, 42.

The men of Kiriath-Jerim, Shethra and Beroth, 743.

The men of Ramah and Geba, 621.

The men of Michmas, 122.

The men of Bethel and Ai, 123.

The men of the other Nebo, 52.

The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.

The sons of Haram, 320.

The sons of Jericho, 345.

The sons of Lot, Hadid and Ono, 721.

The sons of Sinai, 3,930.

The priests.

The sons of Jedi, namely the house of Jeshua, 973.

The sons of Emmer, 1,052.

The sons of Pasher, 1,247.

The sons of Haram, 1,017.

The Levites.

The sons of Jeshua, namely of Cadmiel, of the sons of Hodeva, 74.

The singers.

The sons of Asaph, 148.

The gatekeepers.

The sons of Shalem.

The sons of Eter.

The sons of Talman.

The sons of Akab, the sons of Hatata, the sons of Shobai, 138.

Verse 46.

The temple servants.

The sons of Zihah, the sons of Hassaphah, the sons of Tabiath, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siah, the sons of Paddan, the sons of Lebanon.

The sons of Hagaba, the sons of Sheolmai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Geddel, the sons of Gehar.

The sons of Reiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nakoda, the sons of Ghazm.

Verse 57.

Verse 61.

Verse 61.

Verse 66.

Verse 79.

Verse 72.

Verse 70.

Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work.

The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 derricks of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments, and 500 minas of silver.

And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave unto the treasury of the work 20,000 derricks of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.

And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 derricks of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.

So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their towns.

And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

Please pray.

Very appreciated, but unnecessary.

I apologize, but I'm not sorry.

Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you are a good father to us.

You don't leave us to figure things out on our own.

You don't leave us to stumble around in the dark.

But instead, you shine a light.

You tell us the way that we should go in your word.

And you've given us Jesus to help us, to redeem us, and sustain us as we follow after you.

And so we ask all these things in his name.

Amen.

We have come here to the very end of the rebuilding of the wall.

Now, I've been telling you all along that Nehemiah chapter 7 is about building a wall.

Nehemiah 7 · chapter mention

And yet, if you've been paying attention, you know that we have many chapters to go.

So we're going to talk about many things besides walls.

But we find out here in verse 1 that everything is finished.

In chapter 6, we knew that the wall was finished, but the gates were not there.

And now we find that the gates are here as well.

Everything is finished.

But there's a problem.

While the wall is complete, there are not enough people to fill the city.

We're told in verse 1 that Nehemiah appoints gatekeepers and singers and Levites.

And he doesn't tell us explicitly why, but perhaps the most likely reason is that he did not have enough guards to watch the city.

And so just like we saw Levites and all sorts of people building the wall, which is way outside of their area of expertise, their experience,

so we also see them guarding the wall.

He has to set up folks who live in the city, the inhabitants.

Verse 3.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem are appointed as guards.

Some of their guards post, and then this is Nehemiah's brilliant, some in front of their homes.

So Nehemiah puts people to guard things that they personally find valuable.

But even this does not solve the problem that we find in verse 4.

The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

And so in this place where we should expect a celebration,

we would think that at this point in the book, Nehemiah would tell us about the dedication service that they had,

about how everyone rejoiced at the building of the wall,

but instead of celebration, they have a much more important task on their hands, and that is triage.

No one has been living in the city of Jerusalem, at least very few people have, because there have not been walls.

And so while it's exciting on the one hand,

the task before them to hold down the city to guard it is overwhelming on the other.

And so as they follow God in his mission, as we've seen, there are many challenges that come to us.

Many things that we face.

We have fear on the one hand,

discouragement on the other,

God's enemies coming up against us.

But here the problem is that as they look around, it's not God's enemies.

It's just that there's not many people standing with them.

There's not many people that are there following after God's mission with them.

And while we are not rebuilding a literal wall around a literal city,

if we follow after God in his ways, there will be times when we look around,

and we do not see many people standing with us.

There will be times when we are all bought in on following God in his ways,

and we just realize there aren't many other people who are excited about that.

There aren't many other people who are standing with us.

There are times when we want to fight for goodness and justice,

and we realize that the people we wished and hoped would be with us are instead apathetic.

There are times that we are fighting and striving to remain sexually faithful,

following after God's commands and his intentions,

and yet no one else is with us.

And it feels at times like we're fighting the battle all by ourselves.

There will be times when we're trying to raise our children to love God in his way,

and yet it seems like there's no one else there.

There are very few people who share that goal with us.

There will be times where perhaps you're single and you want to be married,

but you also want to be with someone who follows after God.

And when you look around, there's not many other people who are doing that.

Perhaps you want to keep walking with God, but your family wants to walk away from him.

Perhaps you are not following after Jesus, but you want to, you're thinking about it.

But you're afraid that if you do, your friends and your spouse won't come with you.

There are many times when we're going on God's mission.

And the problem is not necessarily fear like we saw in the last chapter,

but discouragement, but loneliness.

Who else is going to stand with us?

If we are going to stand with God, is it going to be a lonely journey?

Is it going to be constantly uphill?

It's with that question in mind that Nehemiah decides he's going to call an assembly.

This list of names is not something accidental or coincidental in the book of Nehemiah,

but it is a response to this problem that they come up against

as they look to guard the city that they are trying to rebuild.

And so we see in verse 5, Nehemiah decides to assemble the nobles and the officials

and the people to be enrolled.

And it doesn't tell us exactly why he's doing this,

but presumably, as he knows that the city needs more inhabitants,

he is going to do an audit of the census,

figure out who there is that's in the surrounding town

so that he can begin to recruit people

and bring them back into the city of Jerusalem that had been abandoned.

And as he provides this list for us,

we're told that it's going to have three categories in it.

It's going to have the nobles, the officials, and the people.

And yet the list does not go quite in that order.

If you've been tracking, if you tried to list the groups,

you may notice that the first group that's listed

is actually not the nobles and the officials.

Instead, in verses 6 and 7, it's simply the people.

We see, first, these were the people of the province.

And then at the end of verse 7,

the number of the men of the people of Israel.

And so while we have a book of the Bible

whose title is a name about one man,

this is a book that has a surprising number of names in it.

While on the one hand, Nehemiah is the leader

and the person whose name is given to the book.

On the other hand, he doesn't look to do it all by himself.

There are other accounts, historical accounts,

of what happened during this time,

and they do not include these long lists of names.

Because to other historians,

historians outside of God's people,

that is unimportant and meaningless.

It's only the leader that matters.

But here the nobles and the officials

are pushed to second place.

Because it's God's people

that Nehemiah looks to for the work.

If we're tempted to believe

that Nehemiah is some kind of hero leader

who's just leading the charge,

he's the one we should be praising.

The long list of names that we find,

not just in this chapter,

but previously in chapter 3,

and we have a few more lists

coming up in future chapters as well,

cut against the grain of all of that.

This is a book with one man's name

on the one hand.

But it's a book with lots of names

on the other hand.

When we're tempted to believe

that we're alone

and no one else is standing with us,

we're reminded of the truth

that we saw in chapter 3,

that God's people are many

and they move together.

Not only are they many

and they move together,

but that's the only way,

that's the only way

that God's people can work.

That's the only way

we're able to go on mission together,

following after God

and going in his ways.

We've already talked a lot about this

in chapter 3,

about different people,

but one vision.

And so I'm simply going to say this.

We need a lot of guards

for our gates at Cheyenne Mountain.

And if you come to our church,

week after week,

we are glad you're here.

But we are not interested

in filling seats.

We are interested in following

after Jesus together

as one community.

And so if you do not have

a gate to guard,

please come and talk to me.

Talk to one of our elders.

Because if you look

and you think,

wow, this church is running great.

Everything is getting done

that needs to be done.

No one needs me here.

Nothing could be further

from the truth.

We don't just need Nehemiahs.

We don't just need nobles

and officials.

We need the people of Israel.

As we look at this long list

of names,

we're reminded of the number

of people who are available

in Israel to help live

in the city.

and work in the city

and come alongside

everyone who's there with them

to follow God in his ways.

And so the message here

is not one of shame,

but one of invitation.

We need you.

We need every single person

in this church

to come and work with us

as we follow after God.

And so if you don't have a gate,

if no one has asked you

to help guard

or work with something,

then come.

Help us as we are following

after Jesus together

as one community.

Be a part of the work

that God is doing

here at Cheyenne Mountain.

The work of rebuilding the wall

is not something

that Nehemiah can do alone.

It's not something

the nobles and officials

can do alone,

but it's something

that's going to take

all of these numbers

of people to do.

And so what do we do

when we look around

and we're following after God,

but it doesn't seem like

there's enough people

around us?

What we have to do

on the one hand,

what Nehemiah does,

he gathers the people

so that he can list them

and recruit them.

But on the other hand,

we have to do

what the people do,

which is come forward

and be willing

to stand up and serve,

to be part of everything

that God is doing here

through the city of Jerusalem.

If you are reading carefully, though,

there was a little bit

of a plot twist

here with the list of names.

So Nehemiah has a problem, right?

On the one hand,

he thinks that

he needs more people

to come into the city.

And so we would assume

that he's going to count

the people that are alive.

Except in verse 5,

we find something different.

He is going to assemble

the nobles and the officials

and the people

to be enrolled,

but that's not the list

that I just read to you.

I did not just read you

a list of people

who were from 445 B.C.

These, verse 6,

actually verse 5,

I found the book

of the genealogy

of those who came up

at the first.

In other words,

I found the book

of people who came up

in 538 B.C.

I found the book

of the first people

who returned

when they were allowed

to leave exile in Babylon

and come back to Jerusalem.

And so that's what he says

in verse 6.

These were the people

of the province

who came up

out of the captivity

of those exiles

whom Nebuchadnezzar,

the king of Babylon,

had carried into exile.

At the time that Nehemiah

is writing this,

Nebuchadnezzar is dead.

And most likely,

everyone's name

that he just listed

is dead as well.

This would be like me

thinking that we have

a problem guarding

our gates here

at Cheyenne Mountain.

We need more people.

Instead of listing,

instead of going

to our new church directory,

instead I make a phone call

to Ken O'Connell

and I say,

Ken,

I really need the role

of members from 1996.

And as I'm going through

trying to figure out

who's at the church

right now,

instead I just pause

and I pull out

the role of people

who started Cheyenne Mountain

in 1996

and I start reading through it.

And then I list it.

This list of names

that Nehemiah gives

would be like me

coming in front of you

and listing a group

of people who were

working for the church

in the 1930s.

He's looking to count people now

but instead he reminds

everyone of people

in the past.

It's sort of like

if you watch your license plates

in Colorado carefully,

you know there's

the Pioneer license plate.

And it used to be

until the late 2000s

that you would have to prove

that you had ancestors

in Colorado

going back at least

100 years

so that you could get

a Pioneer license plate.

Apparently that was illegal.

So now I could get

a Pioneer license plate

even though I've only lived here

for a couple years.

And you all would know

I was lying

but no one else

on the roads would.

That is what Nehemiah

is doing here.

He is showing

the people of Israel

that when it comes

to Jerusalem

they have Pioneer

license plates.

They can look back

almost 100 years

to the people

who came at first.

But why does Nehemiah

do that?

Why instead of just

counting the people

who existed

then who could help him?

Does he go back

and look at what

happened 100 years before?

First of all

Nehemiah is giving them

great hope.

As they're looking around

and they don't see

enough people

with them

they know that

they're not alone.

This was not their idea.

The city of Jerusalem

was not their idea.

They're joining

into a work

that God's remnant

has been part of

for over

almost 100 years.

They're joining

into something

that God had started

thousands of years

before with Abraham.

And so they're

continuing

a freight train

that will not stop.

As they're discouraged

in the moment

as they're wondering

in the moment

what's going to happen

all they have to do

is look back

to God's faithfulness

over time

through generations.

God's faithfulness

through real time

and real space.

There are very few

of us here

there's a few of us

but there's very few

of us

who were here

when Cheyenne Mountain started.

And there's none

of us here

who were alive

in the first century

when the church started.

And so if we look around

and we're tempted

to be discouraged

because we don't see

enough people with us

we only have to remember

that God

is still at work.

He's still at work

in the way

he's been at work

for thousands of years.

And he's put us here

in this moment

and this time

to continue

the work he has

for us.

But it doesn't

rest on us

and one day

unless the Lord returns

we will pass it on

to someone else.

And so Nehemiah

gives them

tremendous hope

as they look back

on everything

that's happened

in the past.

The remnant

their parents

and grandparents

and great grandparents

who came back

from exile

in 538.

but Nehemiah

is also giving them

tremendous humility.

There will come a day

when everyone

in this room

will be dead.

Unless Jesus returns

as exciting as it is

as we start

this new chapter

in our church's life

as many times

as I've been

in this pulpit

and it's not many

no one knows

the day or the hour.

And so whether

it's in 3 weeks

or in 30 years

there will come

a time

when I step out

of this pulpit

for the last time.

And unless Jesus returns

our prayer is that

there will come a day

when no one

in this room now

will be worshiping

at this church

because we will have

all gone to be

with the Lord

and there will be

a new congregation

and our hope is that

we will be like

this list in 538.

They can look back

not on our perfection

as we know

Nehemiah is coming

to make up

for what previous

generations have not done

but they can look back

on our faithfulness

and they can rest

on our shoulders

looking back to us

like we look back

to the people

who have come before.

Our hope is that

and prayer is that

Cheyenne Mountain

this church would be here

for generations to come

unless the Lord returns.

And so as we look

and work now

we look back

to people who have

worked in the past

and we also look forward

to people we'll hand it off

to in the present.

We're going to talk more

as our loan renegotiation

comes up

about our building campaign

and I hope that we reach

our goals for our

building campaign.

But no matter

how much money

you give

there will come a day

when the only way

someone will know

your name

is if they read it

in a list.

In fact that's exactly

what we see here

at the end

of chapter 7.

After the list

of people

now I widely advertise

the list of people

and numbers

we also have a list

of people and gifts.

We don't just see

the faithfulness

of these people

in returning back

from Babylon

as the remnant.

We also see

their faithfulness

financially

in building up

the city of Jerusalem.

We see the gifts

and the gifts

that are given

by the nobles

in the fathers' houses

are almost equal

to the same gifts

that are given

by the rest of the people.

And so not only

are they resting

on the shoulders

of these generations

that come before them

they're also resting

on their faithfulness.

Their faithfulness

not just in serving

but in giving.

As Nehemiah

deals with the people

who do not have

enough around them.

On the one hand

he encourages them

with the list

of everyone

who's come before.

But on the other hand

he reminds them

as they're tempted

to believe

that it's all up to them

God is at work

and there will come

a day when our hope

is that no one

will remember us

unless they read a list.

But that God's mission

will continue.

It will continue

generation

after generation

after generation.

And so the question

is not

will we be remembered

or not

because we won't.

The question is

what will we inherit?

Which city

will we be found in?

As we wonder

if there's enough

people next to us

the question is not

who is with us

but where are we?

God's city of Jerusalem

was the place

that he had given

to his people.

It was the place

where his kingdom

was meant to be

on earth

just as it is

in heaven.

As we move

from the Old Testament

to the New Testament

we expand

God's vision

expands beyond Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was never

meant to be

something that stood

by itself forever

but it was meant

to expand

to the whole earth.

God told Abraham

in Genesis 12

that he was going

to bless him

to be a blessing

and that all

the nations of the earth

all the families

of the earth

would be blessed

through him.

And so what begins

in Jerusalem

spreads throughout

the world.

And so while we

do not live

and work

for the city

of Jerusalem

while we don't

try to find

ourselves

within the physical

boundaries

of the walls

that Nehemiah rebuilt

our hope is

that we would

be found

in Jesus

through faith

in Christ.

And so our hope

is that we would

be found

with God's people

now

just as everyone

in this list

who is forgotten

was found

in the city

of Jerusalem

then.

What will you

inherit?

Where will you

be found

when you die?

will you be

in the city

when Jesus

returns?

Because one day

God's city

will be full

and complete.

While it's

imperfect now

people feeling

at times like

they're standing

alone

there is going

to come a day

when Jesus

is going to

return

for the second

time.

And when

that happens

his kingdom

will be full

and complete

on earth

as it is

in heaven.

And so our

hope

is that Jesus

uses us

as part of

his mission

while we

wait for that

to happen.

Our hope

is not that

we have enough

people around

us

but that we're

following after

Jesus together

as one

community.

Christians are

people who

work in the

present

guarding the

walls

as they look

back to the

past for

encouragement.

of what God

has done.

And then we

look forward

and hope

to the future

for what God

will do.

And our hope

is this that

as the prophets

tell us in the

Old Testament

in the book

of Habakkuk

one day

the earth

will be

covered

with the

knowledge

of God

just like

the seas

are covered

with water.

Jerusalem

is not the

ending point

but the

starting point

of God's

mission.

And one day

will continue.

it continues

now and one

day will

take over

the whole

earth.

One of my

favorite scenes

from The

Lion King

is when

Mufasa and

Simba

are up on

top of the

rock.

And Mufasa

tells his

son

look Simba

everything the

light touches

is our

kingdom.

God's

promise to

his people

is that

now in

part

and one

day in

full

his kingdom

will come

on earth

as it is

in heaven.

And when

it does

everything

the light

touches

will be

God

and his

kingdom.

And so

as we

stand

sometimes

wondering if

there's enough

people around

us or with

us

we take hope

on the one

hand that

God is

with us.

we're

taking part

in a small

slice of

his work.

We have

humility on

the other

hand knowing

that one

day we

will die

but God's

mission will

continue.

And so we

look to the

past taking

hope from

what God's

done.

We work

in the

present towards

what God

is doing

and we

have hope

to the

future knowing

what will

one day be

fully true.

And so we

keep walking

with God

in his ways.

Please pray

with me.

dear Father

in heaven

we thank

you that

you are

not ignorant

you're not

unaware of

the challenges

that we face

in this world

as we follow

you.

That you

don't leave

us there

but that you

meet us

with your

grace.

We ask

that you'd

show us

our need

for your

grace

that you'd

encourage us

as we follow

after you

that you

would give

us the

strength

and the

hope

and the

humility.

To continue

working.

And Father

I ask

that you

would remind

every one

of us

that one

day we

will die

and that

we will

make our

choices about

you and

your kingdom

in light of

that.

We ask

all these

things in

the name

of your

son.

Amen.