"Seven Bowls of Wrath"

Well, good morning.

Happy St. Patrick's Day parade for those of you who live in New Haven.

We begin this morning.

I want to tell you something.

Prince of Egypt is my favorite animated movie.

If you haven't seen it, it's the story of Moses in the beginning chapters of Exodus,

told in an expanded and fictionalized way.

And it's not a perfect movie.

It doesn't reflect the whole biblical story in appropriate ways.

But it opens with this amazing song called Deliver Us.

And it depicts the people of Israel in slavery.

And musically and visually, it just shows how downtrodden and how beaten

and how oppressed they are and how deeply they suffer at the cruel hands of their Egyptian taskmasters.

It depicts, I think, well, what Exodus 1, 13 says.

So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter and hard service

in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field.

And in all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

And Israel cried out, deliver us.

Lord, deliver us.

And of course, friends, this brings us to the book of Revelation

and our series that we're preaching on this spring, finishing the book of Revelation.

If you remember, the book of Revelation was written to a church at a time when the church was suffering under similar persecution.

Life as a Christian in Rome had become more and more difficult.

The rise of the emperor cult and worship was high, and the cost of abstaining would be significant.

It was not only spiritual persecution, but also economic ostracization.

You would be excluded from the hallways of wealth and power.

And of course, at times, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians mercilessly and terribly.

And so in the first century, as this book was written,

when the people of God were saying, cry, were crying out, deliver us, O Lord.

Of course, friends, we know this as well from Revelation 6, 9 through 11, which we've seen before.

You remember this?

In the midst of the seals, as Jesus is opening the seals,

there's a picture of the saints under the altar crying out, saying,

O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And friends, we know that the people of God have cried out throughout the ages with this same cry,

Lord, deliver us.

Lord, save us.

Lord, will you come and make things right?

Well, today, as we look at Revelation chapters 15 and 16, we see God responding to this cry.

Revelation 15 · chapter mention

And in it, we see a picture of God's rescue and deliverance,

but also a picture of His judgment on evildoers, on oppressors.

And I will just say this morning and acknowledge some of us will struggle with this.

We don't like a God who judges.

We may struggle with revulsion at the idea that God would judge people,

that God would be fair or good if He judged people,

that a loving God would ever judge people.

And I'm just going to punt.

Go back to Nick's sermon last week,

because he did a great job and spent about 10 or 15 minutes really unpacking this idea.

How do we understand God's judgment and respond to it in a way that makes sense to us?

It's not something that our modern sensibilities easily adopt.

But I'm not going to talk just about judgment this morning

in the sense of just explaining it again and saying this is what God is doing.

This morning, as we look at verses, or at chapters 15 and 16,

I want to ask this question.

How does God want us to respond to the truth of God's judgment?

What does He call us to do, or how does He expect us to respond?

Because remember, this whole book of Revelation was written to churches who were suffering

with a pastoral intent.

There was a goal, there was a hope that this book would minister to people

and cause them to respond in certain ways.

And so that's the question I want to ask as we look at this passage this morning.

We're going to look at Revelations chapter 15 and 16.

Revelation 15 · chapter mention

If you're following along in the Pew Bibles, it's page 973.

So if you want to turn there, and just to remind you, if you're visiting

or if you forgot from last week, which sometimes happens to us,

chapters 12 through 14, right before this, we saw this picture

that reminded us that the whole world is in a spiritual war,

that there are those who are God's enemies that seek to destroy God's people

and to resist His kingdom and to build their own kingdoms economically, spiritually, politically,

and these stand up in rebellion against and excluding of God,

and that this battle is fierce,

but that in the end, God will have an ultimate victory.

And then we come to chapters 15 and 16,

and as we'll see, it's a picture of judgment where you have seven things.

And we've seen this before, haven't we?

In 6 through 8, we have had seven seals.

In 8 through 11, we've had seven trumpets.

And now we have seven bowls that depict God's response to this cry,

deliver us, God's work of judgment on the earth.

So, the question, how do we respond to God's judgment?

If you're taking notes, here's our outline this morning.

First, we are to celebrate God's response of judgment.

Second, we are to tremble at God's response of judgment.

And thirdly, we are to choose in response to God's judgment.

So, let's look at these passages.

We're going to walk through the passage together.

Hopefully, you will see why I think this is what God is doing

and how He wants us to respond to His Word as we read this chapter.

So, Revelation chapter 15, starting in verse 1.

Revelation 15 · chapter mention

Let's read this together.

And they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God,

and the song of the Lamb, saying,

Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God, the Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

Who will not fear, O God, and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

After this, I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness,

and heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came

the seven angels with the seven plagues,

clothed in pure bright linen,

with gold sashes around their chests.

And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels

seven golden bowls, full of the wrath of God

who lives forever and ever.

And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God

and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary

until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

What I want you to see in this first chapter,

this first section that we're looking at today,

is that we are actually called to celebrate

in response to God's judgment.

Why do I say that?

Well, let me walk through the passage, help you see it.

Verse one is kind of an introductory section,

and then two through four is almost like an interlude,

and then five through eight finishes what we see in verse one.

And we see this picture of, in the heavenly temple,

angels carrying bowls.

And in verse one, it says these bowls are the plagues,

which would remind us immediately of Egypt

and God's judgment on Egypt,

where he brought ten plagues

in order to deliver the people of Israel from them, right?

So these bowls are plagues

that then we will see later are full of God's wrath.

Now, we've seen bowls before in Revelation.

Perhaps you haven't remembered this,

so let me remind you.

In Revelation 5,

as we saw this grand picture of the throne room again,

there were bowls.

Jesus takes the scroll,

and it says this,

and when Jesus had taken the scroll,

the four creatures and the 24 elders

fell down before the lamb,

each holding a harp,

and golden bowls full of incense,

which are the prayers of the saints.

The bowls,

which are now coming out of the temple

with full of wrath,

were the bowls that went into the temple,

full of the prayers of the saints of God.

And I believe that the writer is pulling hard

on the imagery of the Exodus

so that we understand what's going on here.

Just as in Exodus,

the people of God cried out,

and God heard their cries

and responded with plagues of judgment

in order to deliver them,

so also we see this picture of,

in response to the prayers of the saints

being lifted up to God

in these golden bowls.

These golden bowls are now coming back

filled with the wrath of God,

the judgment of God

against his enemies.

Why else do I say this?

Because it makes sense of verses 2 through 4.

Because 2 through 4 is a weird interlude

in the middle of this, isn't it?

Unless, as Nancy Guthrie

so helpfully pointed out,

this is a picture

that's like the people of God.

Because you know the story of Exodus, right?

God had delivered his people from slavery.

They were on their way to the Promised Land.

They were going towards the Red Sea.

Pharaoh changed his mind.

He said,

I don't want to let them go.

He sent his army of chariots after them.

They were trapped between the army of Pharaoh

and the Red Sea.

And God miraculously opened a way

through the Red Sea

for the people of God to be delivered.

And then, just as miraculously,

brought the sea back down

when the army of Pharaoh

tried to follow them

through that path of deliverance.

And they were destroyed.

And imagine,

and this is where the movie

does a beautiful picture of this as well.

Imagine the people of God

standing on the shores of the Red Sea

as the detritus from Pharaoh's army

floated to the surface of the Red Sea.

Maybe a cloth here,

something there.

Do you think they said,

wow, God's wrath is really terrible.

I don't know if I really want to believe

in a God who would deliver people like that.

It seems really mean.

No.

No.

Because in Exodus 15,

what they did

is they sang

and they celebrated

because they had cried out to God

and God had answered their prayers.

And He had done so in righteousness

and in goodness.

And He had freed them

from slavery and oppression.

And Moses sang a song of deliverance.

And this is what chapter 15 is about.

The picture of this cry coming up

and then God responding.

But we're meant to hear this story

so that we can take in

what it was that Israel did

when it responded.

Because this is what we see

the saints doing in verse 15.

With the same harps,

with a song of Moses in their mouth,

they sing praises to God.

Now, when I was a new believer

and went off to college

back in the 80s,

there was a praise song

that we used to sing.

I will sing unto the Lord

for He has triumphed gloriously.

The horse and rider

thrown into the sea.

It was really odd to me.

I was a fairly new believer

and I was like,

okay,

the Lord my God,

my strength,

my song

has now become my victory.

Anyway,

I can keep going,

but I won't.

But it's Exodus 15

just put into a 1980s

Maranatha praise chorus

that you could do

in three-part harmony in rounds,

which is really cool.

But it was a celebration

of God being the God

who vindicates.

Look at what they sang

as you see in verses 3 and 4.

Great and amazing are you deeds,

O Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations.

Who will not fear,

O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy

and all nations will come

and worship you

because your righteous acts

have been revealed.

God's judgment

in the eyes of His people

are meant to be seen

as righteous acts

that we celebrate.

Now look,

God does not rejoice

in the death of the wicked.

Right?

We know this in Scripture.

We don't.

So we need to be careful

to not misapply this.

But there is meant to be

in the church

a tone of celebration.

We know that we are aligned

with the God

who will ultimately have

the victory.

And this is a good thing.

And we in the West,

when we sit

in our comfortable churches

without persecution

and without cost

and without suffering,

can wrestle with,

oh, does this seem good?

But I promise you

that if you go to other parts

of the world

where the church

is facing active persecution,

they rejoice

in the judgment of God.

They rejoice

in His suffering.

They know that their suffering

will not last forever

because God will hear

their prayers

and God will respond.

And this

is why we sing, church.

This is why we celebrate.

Because we have a God

who is worth

rejoicing over.

Now look,

there's also time,

there's time in our church

to lament,

to lament about

the brokenness of our world,

to lament about our own sin,

and to confess.

And I don't want to

eradicate that

from the life of our church.

But friends,

maybe we need to sing

a little more loudly

the songs of celebration

and triumph

that God has won the victory.

victory.

But we sing

the song of victory

in the midst of

this age,

not the age to come.

We sing it

when we haven't yet

seen the fullness.

And where we still

need to cry out as well,

God deliver us.

God come in judgment.

Of course,

this is the context

of recognizing

that God

will come in judgment,

is coming in judgment,

has come in judgment

in a fearsome way.

Because this is what

happens in verse 16.

After verse 15,

which is this picture,

right,

of God responding

to the saints,

it is now,

okay,

what happens to those bowls

filled with wrath?

This is what chapter 16

is all about.

So in chapter 16,

we see that we are

to tremble

at God's judgment.

These bowls,

then,

are poured out

sequentially.

The first bowl,

the second bowl,

the third bowl.

Let's read it together,

and then we'll observe.

Then I heard a loud voice

from the temple

telling the seven angels,

go and pour out

on the earth

the seven bowls

of the wrath of God.

So the first angel

went and poured out

his bowl on the earth,

and harmful

and painful sores

came upon the people

who bore the mark

of the beast

and worshipped its image.

The second angel

poured out his bowl

into the sea,

and it became

like the blood

of a corpse,

and every living thing

died that was in the sea.

The third angel

poured out his bowl

into the rivers

and the springs of water,

and they became blood.

And I heard the angel

in charge of the waters

say,

Just are you,

O holy one,

who is and who was,

for you brought

these judgments,

for they have shed

the blood of the saints

and prophets,

and you have given

them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve.

And I heard the altar

saying,

Yes, Lord God,

the Almighty,

true and just

are your judgments.

And the fourth angel

pulled out his bowl

on the sun,

and it was allowed

to scorch the people

with fire.

They were scorched

by the fierce heat,

and they cursed

the name of God

who had power

over these plagues.

They did not repent

and give him glory.

The fifth angel

poured out his bowl

on the throne

of the beast,

and its kingdom

was plunged

into darkness.

People gnawed

their tongues in anguish

and cursed the God

of heaven

for their pain

and sores.

They did not repent

of their deeds.

The sixth angel

poured out his bowl

on the great river Euphrates,

and its waters

were dried up

to prepare the way

for the kings

from the east.

And I saw coming

out of the mouth

of the dragon

and out of the mouth

of the beast

and out of the mouth

of the false prophet

three unclean spirits

like frogs.

They were,

they are demonic

for their demonic spirits

performing signs

who go abroad

to the kings

of the whole world

to assemble them

for battle

on the great day

of God the Almighty.

Behold,

I am coming

like a thief.

Blessed is the one

who stays awake,

keeping his garments on

that he may not

go about naked

and be seen exposed.

And they assembled them

at the place

that in Hebrew

is called Armageddon.

The seventh angel

poured out his bowl

into the air,

and a loud voice

came out of the temple

from the throne

saying,

It is done.

And there were

flashes of lightning,

rumblings,

peals of thunder,

great earthquakes

such as there had

never been since

man was on the earth

so great was that earthquake.

The great city

was split into three parts

and the cities

of the nations fell,

and God remembered

Babylon the great

to make her drain

the cup

of the wine

of the fury

of his wrath.

And every island

fled away

and no mountains

were to be found.

And great hailstones,

about 100 pounds

each,

fell from heaven

on people.

And they cursed God

for the plague of hell

because the plague

was so severe.

So this is a picture

of God pouring out

his wrath.

I want to make

a series of observations

rather than going through them

one by one

and explaining.

I want to make

a series of observations

about the overall effect

of these things.

things.

First is that the judgment

will come on those

who do not worship God.

So we see in the first bowl

those who have

the mark of the beast,

those who do not worship God

but who worship

some other God

or who have the mark

of the beast,

who have set themselves

in the binary

either for God

or against God.

They are in the

against God category.

Those who have worshipped

another God,

those who have

compromised

in order to fit in

with the spirits

of the world,

the economic systems,

the powers,

and not faithfully

stood apart

for the sake of Christ.

So judgments

have come on those

who do not worship God.

They also will come

on all of creation,

both natural and human.

You see the scope of it.

The first one

comes on the earth,

the second one,

the seas,

this third,

the fresh waters,

the fourth,

and we see finally

in the air as well,

we see that there is

this upheaval

of the natural order.

When you get

to the seventh one,

the world itself

seems to be falling apart.

The judgment of God

will be so great

that it will leave

the earth

in a place

where only

the renewal of God

and the recreation

of the world

in the new heavens

and the new earth

could redeem it.

You heard the end

of verse 21.

The plagues

were so severe,

even the natural world

was turned upside down

in this way.

We see in the third bowl

that there is a justice

that is brought

upon those

who persecuted

the church

and God's people.

When you look

at that song

that the angel

in charge of the waters

sing, right,

the waters

that were the lifeblood

of the people

who lived in a dry

and desert area

were turned to blood.

They had nothing

to drink but blood.

Symbolically picturing,

right,

this isn't real.

It wasn't like

all the water

in the Middle East

suddenly turned to blood.

This is a symbol

pointing to the fact

that what they thought

was life

in their persecution

of God's church

now turns to death.

And those who had been

the purveyors of death

now were receiving

that death

in just response.

We see that the powers

that have set themselves up,

the throne of the beast itself,

will be plunged

into darkness

and overthrown.

We see in the sixth bowl

being poured out

the unholy trinity.

If you go back,

this is what we saw

in chapters 12 through 14.

The dragon

and the two beasts,

the one beast

coming from the sea

and then the other beast

which is also here

called the false prophet

coming from the earth.

This unholy trinity

is gathering people

and people have wrestled

a lot with what this means.

They're gathering the kings.

The Euphrates is dried up.

It's probably an image

that's picking on the fact

that the eastern border

of the Roman Empire

was the Euphrates River.

And if that river dried up,

the Parthians would have

a clear road

to invade the Roman Empire.

And that's not what

they were predicting

would happen.

They're saying,

it is like that.

Like the very barrier

that kept you

from your worst enemy

is now going to be dried up

and there is nothing

to hide you.

There is no barrier.

There is no safety for you

in this place.

And it seems that

what's happening

in the midst of that then,

right,

the enemies of God

are gathering

the kingdoms of the earth

to a final battle

against God,

right,

on the great day of God.

The kings of the earth

will gather

under the leadership

of this unholy trinity

and the three spirits,

the unclean spirits

that are like frogs

that would be a stench

to the world

because of their smell.

this is the picture

that we see

in verse six.

And of course,

it ends in Armageddon,

which of course,

we have bad movies about.

We have all sorts of imagery.

What Armageddon,

this picture

of this final battle.

Lots of people

have argued,

have tried to argue,

well,

this is a real place

and this is going to happen

somewhere near

the ancient city

of Megiddo

and on a plane

that we're,

but I don't think

that's actually

what this is.

I think instead

that it's a,

it's another symbol

of a place

because Megiddo

was a place

where the enemies

of God came

and would battle

against Israel

and where this would be.

It was taking this up

as a symbol

to say there will be

a final grand battle.

We don't know

where it will be.

We don't know

when it will be.

Let's not look

for Armageddon

somewhere in the Middle East

but let's recognize

that there will be

a final conflict

that will come

and at the end

as we will see

in chapter 20

there will be

a complete victory

and the enemies

of God

will be defeated.

Another thing

I want to point out

in this

is that the judgments

are total.

If you went back

and you looked through

when you had

seven seals

that were broken

they affected

one quarter

of the earth.

When you had

seven trumpets

that were blown

they affected

one third

of the earth.

And when you come here

when the bowls

are poured out

they are poured out

on the whole earth.

There's no limiting

no restraint.

This is

I believe

what it means

in chapter 15

verse 1

when it says

these are the last

plagues

when the wrath

of God

is finished.

Now we've been

telling you

that we believe

that these are

pictures

that are true

that were true

in the first century

that are true

throughout the church age

and that have

a particular truth

an expression

that will still

yet to come

in the future.

And this is where

we see this

maybe most clearly

because these

plagues

these judgments

seem to be

ratcheting up.

The seals

are bad

the trumpets

are worse

and here the bowls

are the most fierce

and the most extreme

and this is the fullness

the picture

of the fullness

of God's wrath

poured out

in judgment

upon the world

and it will affect all

and it is inescapable.

And I believe

the proper response

is to tremble.

Do you remember

when you were in high school

was there a coach

or a teacher

that you never wanted

to run into

in the hallway

because even if you

weren't doing something wrong

you'd be afraid

that you were going

to get in trouble

because they were

the ones who always came

and brought the rules

and made justice happen.

For me it was

my lacrosse coach

Mr. Diven.

He wasn't in the hallways

very much

but man when you

when you got sideways

with him

it was terrible.

You just did not

want to do that.

Friends

we need to recognize

oh so

so when we have

those people

we tremble

when we see them coming

we start to be afraid.

Oh no I'm in trouble.

Friends this is just a taste.

God's judgment

will be

immeasurably worse

than what Mr. Diven

could have done to me.

And his judgment

is fearsome

and he has

and he is

and he will be

judging the world

and we are to tremble

even as we are

to celebrate it

we are also

to tremble

before his righteous

holy

just

power.

But as we see

these things

coming together

then

it is as

trembling people

that we see

the third response

in this text

because I believe

that the third way

that we are meant

to respond to this text

is to choose.

we can either

curse God

or we can repent

and trust in him.

Now

it may not be obvious

in this

because there is no call

to repentance

in this passage.

There is no clear sense

in fact

if anything

there is more of a fear

but one of the things

you see is that

the judgment of God

clearly

reveals our hearts

and our choice

our decision

of how we will respond

to the God

of the universe.

Right?

We see this

in chapter 16

verse 9

and 11

where it says

and they cursed

God for the plagues

and they did not

repent.

So the judgments

revealed the hearts

of those

who were so hardened

that they would not

respond.

And we see this

of course

with the echoes

of the Exodus story.

Right?

Where God would

bring a plague

and Pharaoh

would repent

and then he changed

his mind.

And then he would

repent

and then he would

harden his heart

again and change

his mind.

And so the echoes

of the Exodus story

come that these

judgments are meant

to call us

to repentance

but also it reveals

the hardness

of our hearts

and how easily

we harden ourselves

against God

and reject him

rather than receive him.

How often we

choose to love

our sin

rather than

repenting of it.

how often

we will love

the world

rather than

God himself.

We also see

this repentance

theme coming

out of chapter 14

that Pastor Nick

preached on last week

which was this

grand reaping

this grand

there were two results

coming out

some will be gathered

to God

for this celebration

and victory

in this new life

and others

will be gathered

for the most

fearsome of judgments.

But I think

verse 15

is the reason

why I think

most clearly

there's a call

to repentance

in this passage.

Did you hear it?

It's so out of step.

It feels like

an interlude.

My Bible

has it in

parentheses

and in red

and almost set apart.

Right?

Why is verse 15

in there?

Jesus saying

behold I come

like a thief.

Why?

It's there to

remind us

that

this promise

of the coming

judgment of God

will come

when we don't

expect it.

It will come

in a surprising

way

at a surprising

time.

And the

undergirding

thought

in that

throughout

the New Testament

is

therefore

today

while it is

still day

today

while you

still have

a choice

today

while you

can still

respond

because you

know

that

that

hundred

pound

hailstones

haven't yet

rained upon

the earth

and destroyed

everything.

Today

you have a

choice

to turn

again

to him.

And we

know that

this book

was written

to a church

that was

meant to

comfort

them

in the

midst

of the

trials

but also

to call

them

to

holiness

and holy

living

and living

wholehearted

for them.

And just

like there

probably is

today in

those churches

there would

have been

some

who would

have had

to still

think

through

where does

my allegiance

lie?

Do I bear

the mark

of the beast

or do I

bear the name

of Jesus

on my

forehead?

Where do

I stand?

Because at

the end

of the day

the book

of Revelation

reminds us

there are

only two

camps

those who

are in

Christ

and those

who are

not

and those

who are

not in

Christ

will face

this fearsome

judgment

without any

protection.

They will

as it says

in verses

in verse

eight

or nineteen

they will

drink the

cup

of God's

wrath.

But friends

we have

one

who has

drunk

that

cup

of

wrath

for

us.

This is

what

Jesus

has

come

to

do.

Remember

in the

Garden

of

Gethsemane

he asked

to be

spared

this

cup

a cup

that he

did not

deserve

because

he had

no

sin

but he

said

not my

will

but your

will be

done

oh

Lord

and so

he went

to the

cross

and he

suffered

and he

died

bearing

the

penalty

of

our

sins

bearing

the

wrath

of

God

against

unrighteousness

that we

have done

when he

died on

the cross

he did

not shrink

back but

he went

into the

judgment

and bore

it for

us

and when

he did

so the

signs

that we

see at

the end

of the

seventh

bowl

thunder

and lightning

and skies

growing

dark

and the

earth

shaking

this is

what happened

to Jesus

for us

and at

the end

he cried

it is

finished

God

drank

this cup

for us

so that

we won't

have to

on that

day

verse 17

it says

in the

final bowl

it is

done

time

will come

when there

will be

no more

choice

friends

we don't

usually do

this at

Trinity

but

given this

message

I think

it's worth

doing

today

we don't

want to

be

emotional

but we

do want

to say

that the

gospel of

Jesus Christ

calls for

a response

today

is the

day

whom

will you

serve

who

will you

trust

in

will you

confess

that you

are a

sinner

who needs

rescuing

from the

judgment

of God

and that

Jesus has

done all

that you

need

to be

rescued

from that

and if

you confess

those things

today

and put

your trust

for your

spiritual

standing

for God

for forgiveness

of sins

and for new

spiritual life

today can be

the day

that you

will know

and face

the day

of judgment

that's coming

with confidence

and celebration

not in

trembling

and in

fear

I was a little

afraid to do

this because

some people

think the

whole book

of Revelation

is about

you gotta

make a

decision

you gotta

choose

but you

know what

today's

the day

today's

the day

to choose

if you're

here and

you're

wondering

where do

I stand

implore you

today

choose

Christ

so let's

pray together

Lord as we

come together

before you

Lord we

this is a

fearsome

truth

and you

are a

holy God

and Lord we

cry out

deliver us

from our

sin

deliver us

from the

darkness

in our

own

hearts

Lord I

pray for

those now

today who

are here

who have

not trusted

in Jesus

Lord give

them the

grace to

respond to

you

let them

say now

I believe

in Jesus

by his

death on

the cross

he has

saved me

from my

sin

I believe

that

and Lord

for those

who have

wandered

from faith

who have

compromised

and loved

the world

rather than

following

Christ

today Lord

give them

strength

to return

to Christ

in faith

to stand

in the

grace

of Jesus

for all

who have

believed

in him

and Lord

for those

of us

who today

are trusting

in you

Lord fill

our hearts

with a

song

of celebration

that you

are a

just

and holy

God

who has

and will

work your

work of

redemption

for your

glory

and for

our good

today

Lord

let today

be the

day

that we

respond to

you

with clarity

and with

faith

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen