Through the Lens of God’s Beauty

Good morning. How are you guys doing? Good, good. Hey, you know, my name is Tobin Miller.

I'm a teaching pastor here at Watermark. If you're here joining us for the first time,

this is our first time actually in this venue. So we're continually being amazed at how God

provides a place for us to come and to plant our tent and to worship Him and to see how amazing and

great He is. And this week we've had a very special privilege on our journey as a church.

We're here three years old. We would say the purpose of our church is to help people wherever

they're at take their next step in their journey towards Christ. That means that some of us haven't

started the journey yet. That means some of us have been on the journey for a long time. But wherever

you are, our prayer and our hope is as a team that we would bring people, God's Word, community in that

would encourage you to take that next step. This week we've had an amazing opportunity to have

Paul Tripp come in and we've been doing marriage and parenting conference meetings at Cyberport along

with many other churches in Hong Kong. Now Paul, I think, is only the second person we've ever had

from the outside come in and speak at Watermark. We try to guard the pulpit pretty closely because we

want you guys to hear God's Word very clearly. And I can think of no other person who can communicate

God's Word clearly than Paul can. Paul has been a professor at seminary. He's been a pastor for 25

years. He's a church planner. He's part ahead of Paul Tripp's ministries. He's a speaker, an author.

He's very hard to get as a conference speaker in the States and sometimes it's two years and we were

amazed that it took us less than two years and we were very fortunate to bring him in here and just

speak into our lives what it means to walk with the Lord. And one of the things I appreciate about Paul

is just his understanding of the gospel and how the gospel impacts and weaves into every moment of our

life. And you can hear that so clearly in his books and in his teaching. Paul was joined by Luella,

his wife. She came and joined them here. They have four grown children and they just got their first

grandchild last Saturday. So that's a huge blessing for them. So with all of that, would you help me

welcome Paul Tripp to come up and share with us?

Well, it's been great to be with you and wonderful to be in Hong Kong. God has been bringing us to

Asia a lot. We were just in Singapore in October. Well, we got the call that no parent wants to get.

I was about six hours away from home. Luella called me on the phone. My dear wife, Luella is back there.

Raise your hand, please. She's trying to hide, but I won't let her. And Luella is a very level person

emotionally. I'm the passionate person. I'm up and down in our relationship. Luella is very level

emotionally. And when I got the call from Luella, I knew that something serious had happened. I could

sense that from her voice. She informed me that our daughter had been in a terrible accident. Nicole

was walking down the street in Philadelphia and a drunk and unlicensed driver driving a huge all-terrain

vehicle careened off onto the sidewalk and crushed Nicole against a wall.

She had massive injuries. She had 11 breaks of her pelvis alone. The doctors told us if it had

happened in the suburbs of Philadelphia where we live, she wouldn't have made it to the hospital.

I'll never forget how long that trip seemed to take to get from where I was to that hospital

intensive care room. I'll never forget walking into the room seeing the broken body of my daughter

hooked up to machines. I didn't know for sure what her condition was, but I couldn't think of anything

else to do as the heart of this father was breaking but to crawl up onto the bed next to her and put my

cheek next to her cheek and whisper into her ear, Nicole, it's dad. I'm here. You're not alone.

Nicole. That kicked in about four years of travail. It was very, very hard. Nicole had remarkable pain.

There was no position she could be in that wasn't painful for her because that center part of her

skeleton was shattered. We had no idea where things were going. She was hurt and angry and confused and

I didn't go into my office for three months. We couldn't leave her alone. We turned the bottom

floor of the back part of our house into a hospital. Now when you go through those kinds of things,

hear what I'm about to say. You preach some kind of gospel to yourself. When you're going through

difficulty. When the unplanned and the unexpected and the unwanted enters your door, you preach

something to yourself. You say incredibly important things about God. You say incredibly important things

to yourself about meaning and purpose. Everyone in this room is a philosopher. Everyone in this room

is a theologian. Everyone in this room is an archaeologist and you will dig through the mound of

your existence to make sense out of your life. I say this all the time and often when I say it,

people laugh, but I'm really quite serious, no one's more influential in your life than you are

because no one talks to you more than you do. Most of us have learned not to move our lips

because they may think we're crazy. But you are in a constant conversation with yourself and the things

you say to you are profoundly important because they're formative of the way you respond to life.

In moments of difficulty, what do you say to you?

Luella tells me that I don't finish this story of Nicole and I leave congregations in utter trauma.

So I want to tell you by God's grace, Nicole is doing very well and if you saw her, you probably

wouldn't know she had been in the kind of accident she was in. Now in your bulletins, it says that I'm

speaking from Mark 6 and you have a passage from Mark 6 there and I'm not. That's just because I'm

rebellious. You'll just have to pray for me. God's not done with me yet. Sometimes I step over the

boundaries. So if you're mad about that, it's my fault. You can talk to me later. It's not anyone

else's fault here at Watermark. I want to read for you from Psalm 27. Now Psalm 27 is a psalm of trouble.

I love the psalms. I love, love, love the psalms because I think the psalms are very honest about

the messiness of faith between the already of your conversion and the not yet of your homegoing as you're

living in this broken, fallen world. I love the psalms. I think the psalms are in the Bible to keep us

honest because faith doesn't look so easy and doesn't look so platitudinous in the psalms. It looks messy

and hard. You have psalms where the cry is, how long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

And Psalm 27 is a psalm that the scholars say is written out of one of two moments in David's life.

Either it's written when David was fleeing from his own son Absalom because Absalom, his son, had decided

to take his throne. Now think about this. If it's a monarchy, the only way you can fully take another

person's throne is for that person to die. Think about this. This is a father whose son is not just after his

position, who is after his life. Think how heartbroken you would be. And you know when you begin to read this

story that it's not going to have a happy end. And it doesn't. There's a moment when that rebellious,

murderous son dies and David is a father he can't celebrate. He crumbles to the ground and cries,

Absalom, my son, Absalom, Absalom. It's as poignant of a moment as you have in all of Scripture.

Or this psalm may have been written when David was fleeing from Saul, a king that he served loyally

who hates him and is out to take his life. This psalm is written out of trouble, the kind of trouble

you would read in the newspaper and it would take your breath away. Let me read for you.

The Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is a stronghold of my life. Of whom

shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who

stumble and fall. Though an army acamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rise against me,

yet I will be confident. One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell

in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in

his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the

cover of his tent, and he will lift me up on a high rock. It's very interesting that this psalm of

trouble doesn't begin with trouble. This psalm of trouble begins with theology, and there is immediately

a lesson in that for us here what I'm about to say. Peace in times of trouble begins with sound

biblical theology. It doesn't begin with trying to figure out what in the world God is doing.

God's secret will is called his secret will because it's secret. You'll never ever reach peace by trying

to understand things that God has not yet revealed to you. Peace is found in grabbing a hold of things

that God has already revealed to you in his word. That's where peace is found.

And what David says in this moment of trouble in his life is remarkable. The Lord is light. The Lord

is salvation. The Lord is stronghold. Think about that. What does light point to in Scripture? Light is a

metaphor for what is true and what is right and what is holy and what is just.

In a world where evil things happen. In a world where there's injustice on every side.

In a world where people make evil decisions that alter the lives of others. It's so wonderful to know

that ruling over all of that chaos is a God of perfect holiness, perfect justice. Hear what I'm about to say.

Holiness and justice will win.

Sometimes that's hard to see.

The legal authorities in Philadelphia wanting to get Nicole's case through the court, I would imagine,

pled it down from a drunk driving case to a reckless driving case and she got no justice whatsoever.

Hard to accept. Hard to accept. But there is justice in this world because this world is ruled by a God of remarkable,

untainted justice. The Lord is salvation. In the biggest, grandest term, sense of that term, what does that word mean?

It means deliverance from evil. The evil inside and the evil outside. This is a God who is zealous and intent on delivering us from evil.

And although evil is still around us and evil is inside of us, this God will not rest. He will not relent. He will not stop until evil is no more.

Right now, your Lord is in the process of eradicating evil, although it doesn't seem like that.

There will be a day when all of us are invited to the one funeral that we'll all want to attend.

We will be invited to the funeral of sin and death because sin and death will die.

And we will live on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever in a place where these things are no more.

The Lord is refuge. What's the picture there? The picture is of a fortified city, thick-walled and safe, a place to run in times of trouble.

If you're God's child, you are never alone in trouble. It's impossible for you to be left alone in trouble.

It's impossible for you to be left alone to your own resources and your own ingenuity and your own wisdom

because a God who is refuge has invaded your life by His grace.

There's refuge.

You're not without a place to run.

The Lord is light.

The Lord is salvation.

The Lord is refuge.

Now, I'm about to confuse you.

I'm warning you.

But I must say something that will initially be confusing to you, but I think it's important to say.

What I've just given you is bad theology.

It's bad theology.

It may have sounded to you like good theology, but it's bad theology.

Here's why.

Because I've left out a very significant word in this passage.

It's a word that changes everything you think about what David said.

David did not write, the Lord is light.

He didn't write, the Lord is salvation.

He didn't write, the Lord is refuge.

What did he write?

A little two-letter word that changes everything.

The Lord is my light.

The Lord is my salvation.

The Lord is my stronghold.

Listen, here's what David is saying.

By glorious grace, grace that I could have never earned or achieved or deserved,

this God who is light, this God who is salvation, this God who is refuge,

has been connected to me by grace.

He's light for me.

He's light.

He's salvation for me.

He's refuge for me.

I will say this, enough of distant, abstract, informational, impersonal theology.

That's not the theology of Scripture.

The theology of Scripture is deeply relational and deeply personal.

The theology of Scripture is not meant just to define who God is.

It's meant to give you a whole new sense of identity as his children.

And if the theology that you believe hasn't redefined your identity as a child of God,

that's bad, unhelpful theology.

Because David is saying, listen, in this moment of trouble, this is who I am.

I'm a child of the one who is light.

I'm a child of the one who is salvation.

I'm a child of the one who is refuge.

You see, when you're going through trouble, you know one of the things you will do?

You will assign yourself some kind of identity.

You will tell yourself who you are.

You will tell yourself that you're poor and weak and unable

and you don't have the resources to get through.

You will tell yourself that you've been singled out for a particular suffering.

You will tell yourself that you've been forgotten by God.

Or you will tell yourself that you're rich and well-supplied and not alone.

And you have every reason to have confidence, not because life is easy,

not because it's going well, not because you know what's going to happen next,

but because God is and he's connected himself to you by grace.

Grace.

Grace.

That's what should get you up in the morning

and give you a reason to continue.

Now, if that isn't radical enough,

this psalm is about to get more radical.

Let me read the next few verses for you.

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army acamp against me,

my heart shall not fear.

Though war rise against me,

yet I will be confident.

One thing I have asked of the Lord,

that I will seek after,

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and inquire in his temple.

What is radical about this psalm

is the contrast between verses 2 and 3 and verse 4.

Verses 2 and 3 say,

when evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

though an army camp against me,

though war rise against me,

now think with me,

be honest in this moment.

If you're in a situation

where there are an army of people

who are encamped against you

and they want to eat up your flesh,

that is a very graphic word picture.

They want to eat you alive.

They want you dead.

What would be the one thing

that you would desire?

If you were facing unthinkable trouble,

you didn't know where it was going to go,

but it looks like it's leading to your death,

be honest.

What would be the one thing

that you would pray for God,

to God for?

How about weapons?

That makes sense to me.

Just give me bigger weapons than my enemy.

How about just incinerate them?

You're God.

You can destroy this enemy

with a twitch of your finger.

You're the Lord Almighty.

How about sucking me out of the situation

and dropping me somewhere else?

It's an easy thing for you to do.

You're Lord Creator.

But that's not what David prays for.

What he says is,

this one thing I want to do,

I want to run to God's temple

and I want to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

What?

Now either this man

is so super spiritual

that none of us can relate to him

or he's on to something.

Why would that be the response of David?

Why would he say,

in this moment of deep and dark trouble

that I don't think I'm going to get myself out of

that is so crushing

because two people that I love

are out to end my life,

this is what I want to do.

I want to run to the house of the Lord.

I want to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

Why?

Here's why.

Here's what I'm about to say.

I'm going to explain it.

Because David has come to understand

that there exists in the universe

one of greater and more glorious beauty

than any ugly thing

you will ever face in your life.

Let me say it again.

David has come to understand

that there exists in the universe

one of grand and glorious beauty,

more stunningly beautiful

than any dark, ugly thing

that you will ever face in your life.

If you're facing the loss of a job,

you better remind yourself

in that ugly moment

of the gorgeous beauty

of the Savior to whom you have been connected by grace.

If you're facing physical sickness

and you feel weaker than you've ever felt in your life,

you better remind yourself

of the gorgeous beauty

of the one who is connected to you by grace.

If you're facing the disloyalty of a friend

and you wake up every morning

and you remember it again

and you know you should get over it,

but you don't,

your heart is broken,

you better remind yourself

of the glorious beauty

of the one who you've been connected to by grace.

If you're facing things in your marriage

that you thought you would never face

and you try and you try

to bring it to a different place

and it doesn't ever seem to be in a different place,

you better remind yourself

of the stunning beauty

of the one to whom you've been connected by grace.

You're at the end

of a particularly discouraging parenting day

where it seems like your children

have conspired together

to be particularly rebellious.

You better remind yourself

of the stunning beauty

of the one to whom you've been connected by grace.

If you're facing the difficulties of old age

and your body seems more weak and vulnerable

than it ever has before,

you better remind yourself

of the stunning beauty

of the one who you've been connected to by grace.

God is gorgeous in his wisdom.

He's beautiful in his sovereignty.

He's beautiful in his love.

He's beautiful in his faithfulness.

He's beautiful in his grace.

He's beautiful in his patience.

He's beautiful in his kindness.

He's beautiful in his mercy.

He's beautiful.

He's beautiful.

He's beautiful.

He's beautiful.

He's beautiful.

And here what I'm about to say,

you only will ever understand

and see clearly

the ugliness of life in a fallen world

when you look at it through the lens

of the beauty of your Savior.

You will only ever understand

and see clearly

the ugliness that you will face in your life

when you see that ugliness

through the lens of the stunning beauty

of your Savior.

You see,

because when you look at life

from the vantage point

of the expansive beauty

of God's glory,

life looks different.

There's a moment in the life

of this psalmist.

He's a shepherd,

young man.

His brothers are in the army

and they're assembled

with the army of Israel

in the valley of Elah.

And across from them in the valley

is the army of the Philistine nation,

a marauding pirate nation.

Now the Lord has said,

this promised land belongs to you

and I will deliver those nations

into your hands

because I am the Lord.

And so the army of Israel

is lined up for battle

the very first day

and rather than the whole

Philistine army coming out,

out comes one giant warrior, Goliath.

And he lays out this challenge,

send me your best soldier.

Guess what happens?

The army of Israel goes

back to their tents in fear

and they commiserate.

What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?

Now what they're doing is

they're drawing this false

spiritual equation.

They're comparing their little selves

against this great big giant.

Well, who do you think is going to win?

Because they're not looking

at this ugly moment

from the vantage point

of the stunning beauty

of the God

who has sent them

into that valley.

They do that for 40 days.

They've completely forgotten

who they are.

They've completely forgotten

who God is.

David shows up.

It's sort of a humorous family scene.

He's there to deliver lunch

to his brothers,

bread and cheese.

They sort of make fun of him

and tell him he's trying

to hang around with the real men.

Go home and take care

of your little lambs.

David asks the question

of the moment.

Why aren't we fighting?

It's a good question.

It's the right question.

It's a theological question.

And then he says,

I'll go.

Now he either is saying that

because he's arrogant

or delusional

or he's on to something.

They want to arm him for battle

and he doesn't want armament.

And as he walks into that valley,

now just with the cloak

of a shepherd

and a wimpy little shepherd's sling

and five stones,

he says this,

he, God,

delivered the lion

and he delivered the bear

and he will deliver

this Philistine this day.

David is able to look

at that ugly moment,

not through the lens

of his own ability,

but through the lens

of the stunning beauty

of the God that he represents.

And he says,

it's not little me

against that big giant.

It's this puny little giant

against Almighty God.

Now who do you think

is going to win?

And when he walks

into that valley,

I hear the timpani

begin to roll.

The drums get louder

as he gets closer

to that giant

and Goliath mocks him

and he says,

are you a dog

that you're going

to give me a stick?

That's not a compliment.

And David stands

in front of him

and now the drums

are rolling louder

and he begins to,

he loads the sling

and he begins to do this.

Now you're hearing

the drums roll

and the cymbals crash

and you just know

there's going to be

some kind of carnage.

And he lets loose

of that stone.

It seems ridiculous

against this giant.

But it hits him

in the temple,

knocks him out

and David runs up,

pulls the sword

out of that man's sling

and cuts off his head.

There's an awesome painting

in the Metropolitan Museum

of New York City.

If you're ever

in New York City,

it's worth going

to the Met

to see this.

It's of this shepherd boy

holding this severed head

by the hair.

Glory of God.

You see,

the ugliness

of a fallen world

is not ultimate

in your life.

God is.

The ugliness

of a fallen world

doesn't determine

your identity.

God does.

The ugliness

of a fallen world

doesn't determine

your destiny.

God does.

The ugliness

of a fallen world

doesn't determine

your resources.

God does.

And you only

will ever

understand

the ugliness

that you face

every day,

the ugliness

that will enter

the door

of everyone

in this room

in some way

when you see it

through the lens

of the stunning

beauty

of the Lord.

David has it right.

That peace

in times

of trouble

begins

with sound theology.

But here I'm about

to say,

but it's rooted

in the worship

of God.

the thing

that will destroy

fear in your life

is the worship

of God.

Because the more

that worship

helps you to see

his stunning

grandeur

and beauty,

the smaller

those troubles

become

in your life.

Now I want

to give you

homework.

I'm serious.

If you've got a pen

and piece of paper,

write this down.

There will be a quiz.

I'm going to give you

four things to do.

Because I want

what we've talked

about this morning

to be practical

to you,

to be life-changing

for you.

I'm going to give you

four words.

Four words that you

need to nail

into your life.

Here's the first word.

Gaze.

Gaze.

Make a commitment

every morning,

first thing in the morning,

to take a few moments

to gaze upon

the beauty of the Lord.

I'm serious.

Go to Isaiah 40,

which is a rift

on God's grandeur.

Go to the last few

chapters of the Proverbs

where God just displays

his splendor

in front of Job.

Go to the first

couple chapters

of Ephesians

where God reveals

his sovereign grace.

Go somewhere

and just focus

on the beauty

of the Lord.

Start every day

by gazing

on the beauty

of the Lord.

Second word

is remember.

Remind yourself

that that beauty

defines your identity.

That God is not

just these things.

He's these things

for you.

Because I think

there are many of us,

I think you can

understand this term,

who are identity

amnesiacs.

We're identity

amnesiacs.

We very quickly

forget who we are.

The troubles of life

cause us to forget

who we are.

Gaze,

remember,

third,

rest.

Let your heart

rest.

Not because you know

what's happening

in your life.

Not because you

figured it out.

Not because you

understand.

Not because

circumstances are easy,

but because God

is,

and he is

what he is

for you.

Your rest

in who he is

and your identity

as his child.

Fourth word,

now act.

Let your

responses to life

be based on

gazing

and remembering

and resting

because the

Psalms say,

do not fear,

it only

leads to evil.

The decisions

you make

out of anxiety

and worry

or fear

are often

the ones

you live

to regret.

Gaze,

remember,

rest,

and act.

one thing

I desire

that I may dwell

in the house

of the Lord

and gaze

upon the beauty

of the Lord.

You will only

ever understand

properly

and see clearly

the ugliness

of life

in a fallen world

when you view it

through the lens

of the stunning

beauty

of your Savior.

Let's pray.

Lord,

how thankful

we are

for this

vignette

in the life

of David.

How thankful

we are

that we are

able to

eavesdrop

on this moment

and for the way

it

confronts us

and encourages us.

May we be people

who gaze

and rest

and remember

and then act

with hope

and courage,

joy,

and commitment

because we've seen life

through the lens

of your stunning beauty.

In Jesus' name,

amen.

one of the things

that always kind of

challenged me,

I think God challenges me

and the church

is how does the worship

that happens,

the music,

the singing,

the sermon,

the receiving

of his scripture,

how does that connect

with the worship

that happens

throughout the week

24-7

in our lives?

God reveals himself

to us,

you know,

week after week

through the scripture,

through the message,

through the music.

How is he revealing

himself to me

in my neighborhood,

in my workplace,

in my home

and how am I responding

to what he's doing

and what he's speaking

to me

throughout the week?

And one thing

that's so clear

in scripture

is that God tells us

the religion that is pure

and faultless

is this,

to look after

widows and orphans

in their distress.

And in those days,

in the days of scripture,

widows and orphans

represented

the most marginalized,

the most broken,

the most poor people

in society.

And the question,

I guess,

is posed to me

is what are we doing

as a church,

as an individual,

as a community group

to embrace that,

to embrace that true religion

and overflow

what God has so richly

lavished upon us.

And one community group

within Watermark,

one community group,

I believe,

really caught that vision

and God really

began using them

to reach out

to the poor

in the Western District,

the elderly,

the homeless.

And from that,

we've really seen,

I would say,

God has begun

a grassroots movement.

You know,

different groups

have gotten involved,

different individuals,

and they've partnered

with a Christian NGO

called St. Barnabas Society.

And they're based

in the Western District

of Hong Kong

in the West Island area.

And they reach out

to these people.

And they're on the brink

of starting something new,

that God's starting

something new

in this society.

And they want to reach out

to children

from low-income families

all around the area,

many public schools

and those things.

And Sam has been

just one of many people

who have really

gotten their hands dirty

and getting involved

with this organization.

So I just want to ask Sam

if you could share

with us a couple things

about what God

has been showing

and revealing

and revealing

about himself

through this new project

with the children.

Yeah,

God's touched our hearts

and opened our eyes.

And it's amazing

what God's doing

for our small community group.

And in the shadows

of IFC,

you know,

where most of the investment

bankers work

in Hong Kong,

is St. Barnabas,

one of the,

you know,

an area,

it's a shelter

and on the ground floor

we know

that they serve

a lot of meals

and they do so much

for the needy.

And it was around

Chinese New Year

when our community group

served at St. Barnabas

and I remember

I was there

with my wife

and our group

and, you know,

we were serving

some soup

and I clearly remember

a lady walked in

and she came late

and they're meant

to register their name

and she walked straight in

and she grabbed two

loaves of bread

and in my name,

a bit naive,

I looked at her

and her eyes

and that type of look

and said,

you're not meant

to really take that.

And she looked back at me,

you know,

with a broken heart

and she said,

it's for my children.

And my heart broke

then and there

and I saw the need

that as I looked around

for that Chinese New Year meal,

it was only the adults

and God opened my eyes

and opened my heart

and the need is

there's 15,000 families

living on a monthly income

of less than 10,000 Hong Kong dollars.

when you look at it,

that doesn't go far

for when you've got children

and these children

require an education.

You think,

how much do you spend

on your child's education?

Yeah,

it really opened our eyes

and the need is there

to do something.

Yeah.

God's really reached out

to them

through St. Barnabas Society

and I guess the next question

that comes from that

is how can you

and I

and the community

and our church

respond to what God's doing

through St. Barnabas?

Yeah,

there was an individual

in our Watermark community

that came to our care group

or came and said,

do you think you can help

raise some funds?

What we'd like to do

is on the second story

of St. Barnabas

is build

and renovate a place,

a safe place

for children to learn,

a place where they can

have a meal

and just generally

a place where

families can unite

and I reached

from my back pocket

and he sort of said,

no, no,

it's going to cost

a bit more than that

and so we thought,

well,

how do we go about

having a response

and he got together

with a couple of others

in the Watermark community

and we went

to the investment banks

and we said,

there's a need,

will you help us?

And the response

was yes

and so there's

one investment bank

that's donating

over a million

Hong Kong dollars.

There's another investment bank

that has said,

every dollar

that Watermark community

raises,

we'll match them,

we'll match them

dollar for dollar

and it's just amazing

and if we add up

how much has already

been raised,

we're almost there.

We're almost there

to make a real difference

to these low-income families

and households

and it's amazing

how God touches our hearts

and opens our eyes

and we're in a position

to almost have this

community

for these low-income families.

amazing.

And so all of this

is in a way

leading up

through the next Sunday,

the next two Sundays,

we'll be hearing

a little more

about the things

that God is doing

in the community

in our church

from a grassroots level

leading up to the Sunday

of December 8th

and that whole week

leaders have made

a decision

that that Sunday

and that week

all the tithes

and offerings

that we receive

will be dedicated

completely to community service

and church planting

and it's just

an amazing opportunity

for us to maximize

the connections

and just the resources

and blessings

that God has poured out on us.

So let me just pray

for St. Barnabas

and this entire initiative.

Just pray with me.

Father, thank you so much

that you are not simply

a God

that is with us here

for a couple hours

on a Sunday

but that you are at work

in people's lives,

in people's homes,

all across the neighborhoods

of Hong Kong.

So Lord, I pray for the city.

I pray about the poverty,

the brokenness.

Lord, we know that

underlining every physical

and material

and emotional need

is a spiritual brokenness.

So Lord, I pray that

that as we go forth,

as we pour out

everything that you've given

to us, Lord,

you would show us

how to reach,

reach these people.

I want to pray

for St. Barnabas Society

for the great work

that they do, Lord.

I pray that you would

keep them fixed on you, Lord.

That they would gaze at you.

They would remember, Lord,

and they would act boldly, Lord,

out of your grace

and your power.

And Lord,

that we can simply

be humble servants

that come alongside them

to encourage them,

to challenge them

and be a light

in this world, Lord.

That all people

who see our good works

will glorify

the God

who created us

to do good works.

We pray these things

in Jesus' name.

Amen.