The Inexhaustible Mercy of God

Turn there with me.

Our passage today is a summary of the whole Old Testament in one chapter.

So if you're new to the Bible, maybe this will be a helpful chapter for you.

But this text is also a prayer.

It is a prayer to God for mercy.

So let's pray, and then I'll read the text for us.

Amen.

God, what a wonderful thought it is that you are everlasting

and that your glory will outlast and outstrip and exceed

any of the fame that we see in this life.

God, what our hearts are really hungry for is an intimate word from you,

our Creator and our Redeemer.

So as we draw near to you and your word in this moment,

would you speak, God, through your Holy Spirit by your word

and help us to see Jesus in fresh ways, Father, we pray.

In his name, amen.

Nehemiah chapter 9.

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

Now, on the 24th day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting

and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads.

And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins

and their iniquities of their fathers.

And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God

for a quarter of the day.

For another quarter of it, they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bonnie, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Buni,

Sherabiah, Bonnie, and Chanani.

And they cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bonnie, Hashbaniah,

Sherabiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pathahiah said,

stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.

Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

You are the Lord.

You alone.

You have made heaven, heaven of heavens with all their host,

the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them,

and you preserve all of them.

And the host of heaven worships you.

You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans

and gave him the name Abraham.

You found his heart faithful before you and made with him the covenant

to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite,

the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite.

And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt

and heard their cry at the Red Sea

and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants

and all the people of his land,

for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers.

And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.

And you divided the sea before them

so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land,

and you cast their pursuers into the depths as a stone into mighty waters.

By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day,

and by a pillar of fire in the night,

to light for them the way in which they should go.

You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven

and gave them right rules and true laws,

good statutes and commandments.

And you made known to them your holy Sabbath

and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law

by Moses your servant.

You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger

and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst.

And you told them to go in,

to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

But they and our fathers acted presumptuously

and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.

They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders

that you had performed among them.

But they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader

to return to their slavery in Egypt.

But you are a God ready to forgive,

gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,

and did not forsake them.

Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said,

this is your God who brought you up out of Egypt

and had committed great blasphemies,

you and your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness.

The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way

did not depart from them by day,

nor the pillar of fire by night

to light for them the way by which they should go.

You gave your good spirit to instruct them

and did not withhold your manna from their mouth

and gave them water for their thirst.

Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness

and they lacked nothing.

Their clothes did not wear out

and their feet did not swell.

And you gave them kingdoms and peoples

and allotted to them every corner.

So they took possession of the land of Sihon,

king of Heshbon,

and the land of Og, king of Bashan.

You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven

and you brought them into the land

that you had told their fathers to enter and possess.

So the descendants went in and possessed the land.

And you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,

the Canaanites,

and gave them into their hand

with their kings and the peoples of the land

that they might do with them as they would.

And they captured fortified cities and a rich land

and took possession of houses full of all good things,

cisterns already hewn, vineyards,

olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance.

So they ate and were filled

and became fat and delighted themselves

in your great goodness.

Nevertheless, they were disobedient

and rebelled against you

and cast your law behind their back

and killed your prophets who had warned them

in order to turn them back to you.

And they committed great blasphemies.

Therefore, you gave them into the hand of their enemies

who made them suffer.

And in the time of their suffering,

they cried out to you,

and you heard them from heaven.

And according to your great mercies,

you gave them saviors

who saved them from the hand of their enemies.

But after they had rest,

they did evil again before you,

and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies

so that they had dominion over them.

Yet when they turned and cried to you,

you heard from heaven,

and many times you delivered them

according to your mercies.

And you warned them

in order to turn them back to your law.

Yet they acted presumptuously

and did not obey your commandments,

but sinned against your rules,

which if a person does them,

he shall live by them.

And they turned a stubborn shoulder

and stiffened their neck

and would not obey.

Many years you bore with them

and warned them by your spirit

through your prophets,

yet they would not give ear.

Therefore, you gave them into the hand

of the peoples of the lands.

Nevertheless, in your great mercies,

you did not make an end of them

or forsake them,

for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now, therefore, our God,

the great, the mighty, and the awesome God

who keeps covenant and steadfast love,

let not all the hardships seem little to you

that has come upon us,

upon our kings, our princes, our priests,

our prophets, our fathers, and all your people

since the time of the kings of Assyria

until this day.

Yet you have been righteous

in all that has come upon us,

for you have dealt faithfully

and we have acted wickedly.

Our kings, our princes, our priests,

and our fathers have not kept your law

or paid attention to your commandments

and your warnings that you gave them,

even in their own kingdom

and amid your great goodness that you gave them

and in the large and rich land

that you set before them,

they did not serve you

or turn from their wicked works.

Behold, we are slaves this day.

In the land that you gave to our fathers

to enjoy its fruits and its good gifts,

behold, we are slaves.

And its rich yield goes to the kings

whom you have set over us

because of our sins.

They rule over our bodies

and over our livestock as they please,

and we are in great distress.

Because of all this,

we make a firm covenant in writing

on the sealed document

are the names of our princes,

our Levites, and our priests.

We are in great distress.

Now, on the one hand,

it's a bit surprising

that the people in Nehemiah chapter 9

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

would describe themselves this way,

great distress.

After all, as we've seen this summer,

God has been at work pretty powerfully

during this period in Israel's history.

After all, aren't these the very people

who can remember how God,

just a generation before,

moved the heart of the Persian king

to bring them home from exile

around 539 B.C.?

Aren't these the very people

who can remember how not so long ago

God empowered them to overcome opposition

and rebuild the temple in 516?

And aren't these the very people

who just a month ago,

in the sixth month of 445 B.C.,

didn't they just see God

bring them together

and complete the massive rebuilding project

of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls?

That sounds like a pretty inspiring

string of events.

You would think that they are

flying high spiritually.

And yet here in Nehemiah 9,

as the people are gathered

on the 24th day of the seventh month,

having just completed celebrating

the Feast of Booths

for the first time

since the days of Joshua,

here they are,

calling out to God,

saying that they are in great distress.

The key is verse 36.

Although the people are indeed

in the land

that God had promised to Abraham,

yet they are still slaves.

A foreign king rules over them,

verse 37 says,

over their bodies

and over their livestock

all as they please.

On the one hand,

the people are free.

They are back home

in the land of promise

and yet at the same time

they are not free.

They are slaves,

servants of a foreign king.

On the one hand,

God's promises

are already fulfilled.

Here we are,

we're back in the land

and yet at the same time

they're not fulfilled.

They're still in bondage.

Now we have to appreciate

how disconcerting

that reality would have been

for the Israelites

in Nehemiah's day,

not just politically

but spiritually.

After all,

what is the basic story

of the Old Testament?

It's this,

God frees his people

from slavery

and then he puts them

in the land of promise.

That's sort of the basic arc.

Out of slavery

and into their true home.

And now,

the people are back

in the land of promise.

God brought them

back from exile.

They're back in the land

but paradoxically,

they are still slaves.

They are free

and yet not free.

They are home

and yet not home.

And perhaps you've begun

to feel that this

spiritual experience

isn't just limited

to the people

in Nehemiah's day.

Isn't that true

of us today as well?

On the one hand,

living this side

of the New Testament,

we see so many

of God's promises fulfilled.

The Messiah has come.

The Spirit has been poured out.

The nations are coming

into the people of God.

The new creation has begun

and yet at the same time,

there's still suffering

and death

and decay

and injustice.

And that can cause

great distress.

We are living

in the tension

between the already

and the not yet.

Already,

God's kingdom

has come in Christ.

Not yet

is God's kingdom

fully complete.

We can feel like

we're free

and yet not free.

Home and yet not home.

And that often puts us

in a place

of great distress.

distress.

But the biggest challenge

of all,

the source of

their greatest distress

and our greatest distress

today,

the source of our

greatest distress,

even living on this side

of the New Testament,

is it not this?

That in Christ,

our sins have been forgiven

and yet

we still sin.

We've been liberated

from spiritual slavery

and yet so often

we return to our chains.

We've been given

an internal inheritance.

We've been made

a new creation

and yet we so often

live as if we belong

to the old.

All of our sins

have been forgiven

and yet

we still sin.

does that not cause

great distress

in our hearts?

For some of us

it causes doubt.

For some of us

discouragement.

For some of us

fear.

For some of us

loneliness

and isolation,

confusion.

What are we to do?

Where are we to go?

Well,

Nehemiah chapter 9

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

points the way.

You see,

this prayer in Nehemiah 9

is more than just

a recitation

of Old Testament history.

Although it is

a beautiful retelling

of the whole biblical story

up to this point,

it's more than that.

It's a humble prayer

to the God of mercy.

In our great distress,

we must remember

the inexhaustible

mercy of God.

So for a few moments

this morning,

I want to look

at the mercy of God

displayed in this prayer.

And then once we have

God's mercy fully

in our sights,

we're going to apply it

to ourselves

and to our neighbors

and to our world.

But first,

let's look at the prayer itself.

Now,

there are lots of ways

we could approach

this lengthy prayer

in chapter 9,

but I think the simplest way

is to just take it

in four broad movements.

And that fourth

and last movement

is what we've already

been looking at,

verses 32 through 37.

The people of Nehemiah's day

after the exile

calling out to God

in the land

in their great distress,

confessing their sin.

But the first three movements

walk us through

the reasons why

we can call out to God

in the first place.

Why should we?

Why can we go to God

in our great distress?

And the first movement

of the prayer

in verses 6 through 8

tells us this.

In your great distress,

remember that your Creator

is a merciful God.

Now, in these verses,

we don't see God's mercy

explicitly referenced.

Compared to verses 16 through 21,

where God's mercy

is a major theme,

or compared to verses 26 through 31,

where God's mercy

is referenced

in nearly every verse,

this opening movement

of the prayer

seems a bit quiet

on the theme

of God's mercy.

However, that doesn't mean

that this opening movement

of the prayer

is just an introduction.

After all,

consider everything

that transpires

in the biblical story

between verses 6 and 7

of our prayer here

in chapter 9.

In other words,

consider all that happens

between the creation

of all things

in Genesis 1 and 2

and the covenant

with Abraham

in Genesis 12.

What happens?

The fall of Adam and Eve,

the murder of Abel

by his brother Cain,

the worldwide judgment

of the flood,

the building

of the Tower of Babel.

What does God,

our Creator,

do in the face

of humanity's

constant rebellion

against his goodness?

Well,

he makes a covenant

with Abraham.

Now, a covenant

is a binding promise,

and God binds himself

to Abraham

and Abraham's family,

promising to give them

a place to dwell

and to bless them

in order that the effects

of curse and sin

might be overcome.

That's what God promised

Abraham from the very beginning,

that in Abraham

and in his offspring,

all the world

would one day be blessed.

So this story

of creation and covenant

in verses 6 through 8

is really a story

of God's mercy.

When the world stood

under the curse of sin,

God made a covenant

to bring blessing.

Notice how verse 8 ends.

And you've kept

your promise

for you are righteous.

The people in Nehemiah's day

were indeed living

in the land.

God kept his promise.

And did that not mean

that God would also

keep his promise

to be merciful to them,

to forgive their sin,

to liberate them

once for all?

Indeed, if this is the God

who created heaven

with all their hosts,

the earth and all that is in it,

the seas and all that is in them,

if this is the God

who not just creates

but preserves

every living thing

every second of every day,

if that is who God is,

how could he not

keep his promise?

What would stop such a God

from keeping his promise?

And if this God promises

to be merciful,

then indeed he will show mercy.

So our creator

is a merciful God.

But the prayer goes on.

In verses 9 through 21,

we find the second movement

of the prayer.

And in the second movement,

we find this.

It tells us,

in your distress,

remember that your Redeemer

is a merciful God.

Remember that your Redeemer

is a merciful God.

These verses retell

the story of the Exodus

when God liberated,

when he redeemed his people

from slavery in Egypt.

And after liberating them,

he led them with a cloud and fire.

He gave them his law at Sinai,

even fed them with bread and water

in the wilderness.

God sees our affliction.

He sympathizes with our slavery

and he rescues us.

Our creator is our Redeemer.

But in verse 16,

we see that the people

acted presumptuously,

stiffened their necks,

and would not obey.

They even had the audacity

when God had just told them

for their own good

not to make idols,

that is carvings of false gods,

and worship them.

When God had just told them

not to do that,

they had the presumption

to make a metal calf statue

and say,

here's the Lord

who brought you out of Egypt.

Behold your God, Israel.

And what does God do?

Does he leave them

to wander in the wilderness alone?

Does he revoke his law?

Does he allow them to starve?

No.

No.

Verse 19,

you in your great mercies

did not forsake them

in the wilderness.

The cloud and the fire remained.

God even imparted his spirit

to instruct them in the law.

The manna continued to appear

morning after morning

because our Redeemer

is a merciful God.

And how could he not be

at this point?

Having redeemed his people,

you see,

God's name, as it were,

was on this people now.

They were the Lord's people.

And how was he going

to forsake them?

How could he allow his name

to be dishonored in that way?

He had bound himself

to this people

to be their God,

to be their Redeemer.

In other words,

his own reputation

was at stake now

with his people.

He didn't just look

at their affliction

and have sympathy on them.

He bound himself to them

and said,

this is my people now.

So all the nations

looking on would not just

see what happened

to that people,

but would see what

this God was like.

God's own reputation

was at stake now

with his people

in the world.

And if that was true,

how could God forsake them?

How would his mercy

not remain on them?

Our Redeemer

is a merciful God.

But the prayer goes on.

In verses 22 through 31,

we find the third movement

of the prayer.

And as it walks through

Israel's history,

it tells us this.

It says,

in your distress,

remember that your glorifier

is a merciful God.

Now these verses tell the story

of how God gave Israel

the land of Canaan

and how he made good

on all of his promises

to fight for them

and give them a home,

to make them a numerous people,

as numerous as the stars of heaven,

and how he filled them

with good things.

You see,

God not only creates us

and redeems us,

but he also glorifies us.

That is,

he brings all of his promises

to completion,

to consummation.

He is our goal

and our end

and our delight.

God saves us

to bring us somewhere

and he brings us there

to glory.

But in verse 26,

we see that although God

had given the people

everything,

they still rebelled.

So throughout what's called

the period of the judges,

a downward spiral takes place

in Israel's history.

The people would begin

serving other gods,

the Lord would give them

over to their enemies,

the people would cry out

to the Lord,

and then the Lord

would send a judge

or a savior,

as verse 27 puts it,

and the people would be

liberated for a while.

But then the same thing

would happen all over again.

They would go back

to other gods

and experience defeat

and cry out for help

and another rescuer would come

and it would keep going

and going on and on.

The downward spiral went.

And when Israel

eventually became a monarchy

under Saul

and then ultimately

under King David,

it seemed like maybe

things would be different

at that point.

It seemed like maybe

God would be able

to get them out

of the downward spiral

and yet as the generations

of kings went on,

the kings proved

just as fickle

as the people.

Until eventually

God ultimately gave them

up to the Assyrians

and then the Babylonians

to be ejected

from the land,

to be sent out

into exile.

And it seemed like

that might be

the end of the story.

Had God simply

had enough,

was God done

once and for all

with his rebellious people?

No.

Look at verse 31.

Nevertheless,

in your great mercies,

you did not make

an end of them

or forsake them,

for you are a gracious

and merciful God.

Our creator

and redeemer

and glorifier

is a merciful God.

A remnant survived

the exile

and eventually

God brought them home.

And that's the story

of Ezra and Nehemiah,

right,

that we've been looking at.

And you see,

it's on the basis

of this history,

this history

of inexhaustible mercy

that the people

in Nehemiah's day,

knowing their own sin

and sensing

their own slavery

and feeling the dislocation

of being in between

the already

and the not yet,

it's on the basis

of that history

that they call out

to God

and ask for mercy.

And friends,

it's on the basis

of that same history

that you and I

can call out to God

for mercy as well.

It means we can be honest

with our sins

and our failings.

We don't have to try

to hide them

or cover them up.

Don't try to excuse them

or pass them off

or stuff them down.

After all,

God is an almighty.

God is the almighty creator.

There's no use hiding

from a God like that.

He keeps your DNA running.

I'm pretty sure

you can't keep your secrets

from Him.

But God's also

the almighty redeemer

who loves you

and longs to receive you

and enters into your pain

and your suffering.

You don't have to keep secrets

from a God like that.

You can be confident

to go to a God like that

and ask for mercy

because He knows you.

And what's more,

God is your glorifier.

He has a plan for you

and He has a future for you.

A plan and a future

that actually no sin

and no shame

can stand in the way of.

But perhaps this morning

your sins seem too great.

Perhaps you know

what it's like

like the people

at the beginning

of this chapter

to maybe you're not

literally throwing dirt

on your head

and tearing your clothes

because your heart

is so broken

but maybe at a spiritual

or existential level

you can feel that.

Perhaps doubt

and great distress

still haunt you.

Could God still love me?

Could God still receive me?

Have I not sinned

too greatly?

Have I not acted

too presumptuously?

Have I not actually

stiffened my neck?

Have I not refused

to obey even when

I knew better?

How could God

be merciful to me?

You know,

we've been looking back

over the story

of the Old Testament

but for a moment

look ahead.

Look at what

the New Testament holds

and what do you see there?

The almighty creator

takes flesh

and becomes a creature

weak and in a manger.

The compassionate redeemer,

the one who rescues

from slavery

with a strong arm

takes the form

of a servant.

The glorifier,

the one who lives

in perfect beauty

and goodness

is put to shame.

Why?

Why would such a great,

mighty,

and awesome God,

as our chapter says,

why would that God

do such a thing?

Why would Jesus

come and suffer

and die?

It's mercy.

It's mercy for you,

friend.

He was forsaken

so that you

would never have to be.

No matter how great

your sins,

there's mercy for you

in the arms of Christ.

So how should we apply

this great prayer

of Nehemiah 9?

First,

to ourselves.

And the key word here

is peace.

For all who are in Christ,

the mercy of God

covers all your sins,

past,

present,

and future.

So confess your sins

to God.

Go to Him

in sorrow

and repentance.

Cry out to Him

for mercy

and you will find it.

And let the words

of God's mercy

bring your heart peace.

And you know,

this is the sort of peace

that doesn't give you

a license

to sort of do

whatever you want.

This is the sort of peace

that causes you

to sin less and less.

Let me use a somewhat

simple illustration.

When I go to the grocery store

hungry,

what do I usually

come home with?

What do you usually

come home with?

I'll tell you

what I come home with.

Ice cream.

Those New England

barbecue chips

that are so crunchy

and delicious.

Some form of baked good

that probably has

a high fat content.

Oreos.

Do you know they make

mega stuffed Oreos now?

I think when you open up

the package

it's just white stuff.

There's not even

a cracker in there.

That's what happens

when I go

to the grocery store

hungry

and all that food

ends up in my cart

because my stomach

is growling

and it all looks

so good.

But what about

when I go to the grocery store

after I've already

had a satisfying meal?

Well,

I usually come home

with what's on my list.

Do you see

the spiritual truth here?

When your heart

is full

of the peace

and mercy

of Christ,

when you're able

to look back

and recite

the mercy of God

not just through

biblical history

but on into your own history

and to the history

of those around you,

when your heart

is full of that

mercy and peace

and when you have

fellowship with God

your creator

and redeemer

and glorifier

and you know

that he looks upon you

not with condemnation

but with favor,

when your heart

is full

with that satisfying

peace of forgiveness,

then your heart

doesn't need

the junk food anymore.

Now,

if that peace

seems elusive to you,

find an older,

more mature believer

or come talk

to one of the pastors

or elders

or maybe your small group leader

and open your heart

to them.

That can be a very

vulnerable thing to do

but in that safe place

of a trusted brother

or sister,

open your heart

to them

because sometimes

we need the word

of mercy

to come from the outside

so we can really

get down deep

on the inside.

That's the beauty

of confessing

your sins

to one another

in the spiritual family

of the church.

Open up your heart

to another trusted friend

but that's often

the way

to experience

this mercy

and peace

in a fresh way,

the peace

that satisfies you.

second,

let's apply this mercy

to our neighbors.

If the word

to ourselves

was peace,

the word

toward our neighbors

is patience.

When we know

God has been merciful

to us,

when we've experienced

that over time,

we become much

more patient

towards others.

not perfectly,

but gradually.

Because let's be honest,

people sometimes

annoy us.

People sometimes

disappoint us.

People sometimes

hurt us.

And we wonder,

how long

do we really

have to put up

with them?

But in those moments,

it's good to pause

and consider

how long

God has put up

with us.

How many of your sins

has God overlooked?

How many of your failures

has He patiently endured?

How often

has He taken you back

again and again

with no contempt

and no conditions

but with gentleness

and love?

Now,

this isn't saying

we don't need to have

good boundaries

at times with people,

but those who know mercy

become patient people.

Patient because God

has been so mercifully

patient with us.

But last,

this mercy applies

in our relationship

to the world.

Peace,

patience,

but the word here

when we look out

at the world

is hope.

You know,

it's easy to look out

at the world

and get pretty discouraged.

Things like poverty

and racism

and violence

and corruption,

they never seem to end.

And the longer

you care about

these things

as we should

as followers of Christ,

you know,

the longer you care

about these things,

the harder it can be

because so often

good plans for change

don't often bring

change about.

But a people

in touch with God's mercy

will always have hope.

Why?

Because hope,

you see,

is something much

different than a wish.

You wish for something,

but you hope in someone.

Do you see the difference?

We often wish for something,

but hope,

real hope,

is hoping in someone.

Now, wishes aren't bad.

It's good to have

and good to desire

specific,

concrete changes

that we'd like to see.

It's good to work for them

and long for them.

But the reality is,

friends,

in a fallen world,

often these wishes

will not materialize.

But hope is different.

Even when things

don't go as we planned,

hope in God

grows.

We may not know

how or when

God will come

and make all things new.

We don't know

when His kingdom

will break forth

and give us signs

of the coming day.

But we know

that it will.

How do we know?

Because our Creator

and our Redeemer

and our Glorifier,

the Lord Jesus,

is a God of mercy.

He will bring to completion

the good work He began.

Justice will roll down

like waters

and righteousness

will come

like an ever-flowing stream

and that kind of hope

will sustain us

even when our wishes

don't materialize

the way we want.

The people who know mercy,

in other words,

are a hopeful people.

So peace

and patience

and hope.

It is possible

even in our great distress

to know these things,

to know peace

and patience

and hope.

Why?

Because our God

is a merciful God.

And the more

you know this God,

the more you'll be able

to say with the psalmist,

surely goodness

and mercy

shall follow me

all the days of my life

and I shall dwell

in the house of the Lord

forever.

Let's pray.

Why don't we take

just a moment

and ask the Holy Spirit

to come

and show us

in our hearts

where we need

in particular

to feel

and to experience

God's mercy?

Perhaps it's sins

that you've been wrestling with,

something in your past,

something even

in your present.

Perhaps it's a relationship

that's been bringing out

the worst in you.

Perhaps it's a weariness

because your labors

in the world

seem to be bearing

so little fruit.

Lord Jesus,

we praise you

that you are a God

of mercy.

would you

equip us

and encourage us

this week

to go forth

from this place

to really live

into and press

into that mercy

in a way perhaps

that we've never

done before.

You must do

this work,

God.

You must do it

by your Spirit

so we look to you.

We yield to you,

God,

and ask you to come.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Well, church,

let's stand.