At the Center of It All

If you would open up your Bibles to the book of Colossians, we are to page 1168 of your Pew Bible.

We are looking at Colossians 1, 24 through 2, 5 this morning.

Hear God's Word.

Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of His body, that is, the church.

Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the Word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order in the firmness of your faith in Christ.

May God bless the hearing of His Word.

If you're a human being, please raise your hand.

If you're a human being, you will face hardship.

This life is hard.

There's wonderful things about this life, but it's hard.

And if you're a Christian, seeking to live with Christ as the controlling center of your life, the treasured center of your life, you've signed yourself up for more hardship.

Hardship that's unique to being a blood-bought follower of Christ.

We've got Christians in this room right now who are discouraged because they've been trying to help other people live for Christ.

And it hasn't been going the way they wanted.

They've met that with resistance.

Maybe you're trying to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and it's not shaken out like you thought.

You might be asking questions like this.

Is this worth it?

What do you tell a discouraged Christian?

Here's what you tell them.

Christ is worth it.

Or maybe you've come into this building and you are distracted from Christ, and as a result, you're disoriented from Christ.

He's not the controlling center of your life.

You know what?

Our world, this world we live in, makes a persuasive case that Jesus Christ should not be the controlling center of your life, but you should be the controlling center of your life.

You do you.

You be you.

Speak your truth.

What do you say to someone who's distracted, disoriented from Christ?

Here's what you tell them.

Christ is worth it.

To orient your life around him.

In Colossians 1, 24 through 25, the apostle Paul gets very personal.

Did you notice all the eyes?

And he speaks a word that reorients the disoriented and encourages the discouraged.

I'm going to point you to five words in this passage.

Five words.

Suffering, church, mystery, mature, rejoicing.

And in those five words, Paul's making a case.

And it goes something like this.

We suffer together for Christ so that others would treasure Christ.

And if you want to reduce it to just four words, Christ is worth it.

So let's look at this first word, suffering.

Now up until this point, Paul has thanked God for what God is doing among the Colossians.

That's chapter 1, verses 3 through 8.

Paul has prayed that these Colossians would grow in their understanding of God's will.

What's God's will for your life?

To please Christ in everything.

In chapter 1, verses 15 through 20, Paul portrays this magnificent Christ.

The firstborn of all creation and the firstborn from the dead.

He's the king of all.

Verses 21 through 23, he assures these Colossian Christians that they belong to this king.

And here in verses 24 through chapter 2, verse 5, Paul shares about his suffering.

Suffering for Christ is when you experience and endure hardship on account of Christ.

It's like this.

You're like catching some heat and you can draw a direct line to Jesus for it.

I am catching heat because of Jesus.

So in verse 24, he says, I rejoice in my sufferings.

In verse 24, he says, I'm filling up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions.

In verse 29, he says, I toil.

I struggle.

This ministry of proclaiming Christ is contested.

In 2.1, he tells these Colossian church, he wants them to know how great a struggle he has for them.

And then in 2.5, he says this, for though I am absent in body.

What is that all about?

Where's Paul?

Have you seen those Werewoldo books?

Where's Paul?

He's in Rome.

He's writing to a church in Colossae.

They're far apart.

What's he doing in Rome?

He is suffering in Rome.

What is he suffering?

Turn to the end of Colossians, chapter 4, verse 18.

Colossians 4:18

And he says something, and he's not trying to be a drama queen.

He's not trying to be dramatic.

He says, I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.

Remember my chains.

Why is he suffering in Rome?

Why is he under house arrest, chained to Praetorian guard, and waiting to hear whether he's going to live or die?

Well, you could say it's because of Christ.

Christ.

Did you notice that interesting verse, that line, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is church?

Here's what Paul's not saying.

Paul's not saying here that somehow the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was somehow inadequate to accomplish our salvation.

And so he is adding to what Christ has done in order to kind of fully accomplish our salvation.

That is not what he's saying.

As though the finished work of Christ needed anybody's help.

I knew what it is.

I wasn't going to say it.

Where was I?

You're not helping, David.

Yeah.

Okay.

We've got to end this right now.

Okay.

So Paul is talking about suffering the afflictions of Christ.

What is this that he's filling up?

Do you all remember what happened in Acts chapter 9?

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Paul's on his way to Damascus to shred some Christians there.

The risen Christ meets him on the way.

Paul is converted on the spot.

And then this guy named Ananias kind of houses Paul.

Jesus, the risen Christ, shows up to Ananias.

And he has some words with Ananias.

And then he says this to Ananias about Paul.

For I will show him.

I, the risen Christ, will show him, Paul, how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

Do you know what that is?

That's a suffering quota put on Paul.

You're going to have to suffer.

Paul, you're going to have to suffer so that my name is exalted among the nations.

It's a quota.

There's only a given amount of suffering Paul would experience.

And by extension, we will experience.

These afflictions of Christ are afflictions, sufferings for Christ.

On account of Christ.

Paul's saying here, it's like, hey, I have to suffer on account of Christ for you so that you, Colossians, would treasure Christ above all else.

Suffering is necessary to the spreading of the gospel to all people everywhere.

If Christ suffered, we will suffer too.

In John 15, Jesus is very explicit about it.

He says this to his disciples.

If the world hates me, the world will also hate you.

Now, that's some encouragement for the church this morning.

What Paul is doing here is he's writing these Colossians and he's saying, we're all in this together.

We suffer together.

If you look at chapter 1, verse 11, do you remember this verse from a couple weeks ago?

Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.

Do you know what that's about?

That's an enduring and being patient with joy in the midst of suffering.

Hardship, discouragement.

Here's what Paul is doing.

He is normalizing suffering for us.

Did you know that 2 Timothy 3.12 is in your Bible, Christian?

Indeed, if anyone would live a godly life in Christ Jesus, he will suffer.

The question is, is Christ worth it?

Church, we suffer together for Christ

so that Christ would be treasured by others.

Let's look at the second word, church.

In verse 24, Paul says,

I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body.

That is the church.

Don't miss the connection.

The apostle Paul is saying,

the body of Christ is the church of Christ.

They're one and the same.

The body of Christ is a metaphor for God's people

and it's one of Paul's favorites.

We've already seen it in verse 18 of chapter 1

and he is the head of the body of the church.

It shows up in chapter 2 in verse 19,

but he's actually speaking about false teachers in this context.

He's saying that they're not a part of the body of Christ.

And here's what he says.

And not these false teachers,

they're not holding fast to the head

from whom the whole body nourished and knit together

through its joints and ligaments

grows with a growth that is from God.

It's a picture of the body.

That little phrase,

knit together,

it's in our passage.

If you look at chapter 2,

verse 2,

that their hearts may be encouraged

being knit together in love.

It's body talk.

If you flip over to chapter 3,

verse 15,

and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts

in which indeed you were called in one body.

We the church,

we the body of Christ.

And what that is a picture of

is interdependence among Christians.

We're not all gifted the same way.

We're a body.

And we need each other.

But we're all dependent on our head,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

And did you notice it's His body?

Do you know what makes us His?

Turn with me to Acts chapter 20,

Acts 20:28

verse 28.

This is Paul.

He's meeting the Ephesian elders

in a place called Miletus.

These are his last words to them.

He says,

Pay careful attention to yourself

and to all the flock,

which is another metaphor for the church,

in which the Holy Spirit

has made you overseers

to care for the church of God,

which He obtained with His own blood.

The His of His body

is a blood-bought His.

The church is obtained

by the blood of God,

by the blood of Christ.

The church is a people.

The people who have been purchased

by the blood of Jesus

were His,

and that's whom Paul is suffering for.

There's a couple other references

to the church in this passage.

At the end of verse 26,

to His saints,

His holy ones.

And then in verse 27,

to them,

the saints,

the church,

God chose to make known

how great among the Gentiles

are the riches of the glory

of this mystery,

which is Christ in you.

Do you know what He's saying?

It's the church,

those people who would come

to believe in Christ,

the elect of God.

It's these people

that God will give eyes

and ears and heart

to believe and treasure Jesus.

That's who Paul's suffering for.

The church.

The church.

Paul suffers for the church of Christ

because Christ died

for His church.

Have you ever been around somebody?

Maybe you have a friend.

Maybe you've said this.

You say something like this.

You know what, man?

What's important to you

is important to me.

You're like loyal brothers or sisters,

and you're like,

man,

whatever's your priority

is my priority.

What is the priority of Jesus?

What's important to Christ?

Christ,

His name among the nations

so that all would believe,

but also His body,

His church,

His people.

Because Paul treasured Jesus.

Paul valued what Jesus valued,

the church.

Proclaiming Christ

that all those who would one day believe

would be incorporated into His body.

How important is the church to Christ?

He shed His blood for us.

If you're a discouraged Christian,

are you growing in your love

for the bloodbought of Christ?

Christ is this person

that you're trying to encourage

and build into.

Maybe it's another brother or sister in Christ.

Maybe it's one of your children.

Maybe it's your spouse,

and you just feel like

this isn't going anywhere.

Did you forget that they belong to Jesus?

Or maybe you're a fan of Jesus,

but you're not a fan of His church.

Guess what?

What's important to Christ

must be important to us.

So how do you grow in your love for the church,

for the bloodbought of God?

Even in all of her imperfections,

you remember who shed His blood for her.

Maybe you're disoriented from Christ

because you've been burned by the church.

You were sinned against.

You were disappointed.

And now you've been adrift.

You're going to need,

out of a love and treasuring of your Savior,

to come to forgive

those who've sinned against you.

Forgive those who've disappointed you.

There's no perfect church.

Anybody perfect in this church?

But we're all united by a perfect Christ.

We suffer together, church.

We suffer together

so that others will treasure Christ above all.

The next word is mystery.

Oh, and I love this word.

Three times the word mystery

shows up in this passage.

In verses 25 and 26,

of which I became a minister.

This is Paul speaking.

I became a minister, a servant,

according to the stewardship from God

that was given to me for you

to make the word of God fully known.

The stewardship that was given to him

is a sacred trust.

He was given a trust from God

for the church.

And that is this,

this making God's word fully known.

What is he talking about?

Look at verse 26.

This, the word of God fully known

is the mystery.

Hidden for ages and generations

but now revealed to the saints.

This mystery is not so much of a secret.

It's more like,

more like a treasure map.

You know what a treasure map is, right?

You have like different places you go

and there's this kind of dotted line

going from one clue to the next

and eventually it leads you to

X marks the spot where the treasure is.

Think of the Old Testament

and all of its law

and all of its poetry

and all of its narratives

and all of its prophecies

as one clue after the other.

One hint after another

pointing down the line

to the treasure.

The cross marks the spot.

Hidden.

But hinted at.

Paul's ministry was a making known

from God's word.

The mystery,

the plan of God's,

for the fullness of time.

The scale is remarkable.

Ages and generations.

This is getting at God's plan

for the fullness of time.

God's plan for the fullness of time

had everything to do with treasure.

This mystery revealed

was the revelation of a treasure

for all people everywhere.

Just notice all the treasure.

Verse 27.

To them God chose to make known

how great among the Gentiles

are the riches of the glory

of this mystery.

Look it down to 2.2.

That their hearts may be encouraged

being knit together in love

to reach all the riches

of full assurance of understanding

and the knowledge of God's mystery.

Verse 3.

In whom are hidden

all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge.

God's plan for the fullness of time

is a treasure plan.

Every human heart.

There's 8 billion people

on the planet.

And every human heart

is on a treasure hunt.

Every one of us

searching for treasure.

We want to find

fullness of joy

and be satisfied.

We want to have

fullness of purpose

and be satisfied.

We want to have

fullness of peace

and be satisfied.

But the problem is

with this treasure hunting

is our sinfulness.

And so we hunt for treasure

in all the wrong places.

The places where God

is saying very clearly

there's no treasure there.

There's no treasure there.

The mystery that Paul

ministry made known

reveals the ultimate treasure

from God for all people.

What is it?

It's not Paul.

He's a servant of the treasure.

It's not his church.

We're not the treasure.

It's not sex.

Sex isn't the treasure.

It's not a treasure.

It's not marriage.

It's not success.

It's not a big paycheck.

That's not the hidden treasure

that God has made known.

You want to see it?

Verse 27.

To them God chose to make known

how great among the Gentiles

are the riches of the glory

of this mystery

which is Christ

in you.

The hope of glory.

God's plan

was to unite a people

Jews and Gentiles

all sorts of different people

from everywhere

and unite them

around Christ

and Christ would dwell

in them

as if they are

his new temple.

What a plan!

The hope of glory.

Jesus is our future hope

of the glory to come.

He's the treasure.

In chapter 2,

verse 2.

Being knit together

in love

to reach all the riches

of the full assurance

of understanding

and the knowledge

of God's mystery

which is Christ.

In Christ

are hidden

all the treasures

of wisdom

and knowledge.

The first home

Jenny and I owned

in Kenosha

was a ranch

on the south side.

15th Avenue

was on a cul-de-sac.

It was a great place.

A lot of memories there.

Well, we moved in

and we were

bringing this place

to order

like it needed some work

and so I was in

one of the bedrooms

and I was rolling up

this old rug

and behold,

treasure!

$200 cash money!

We're going to McDonald's!

No, I think we actually

ordered pizza.

That treasure

was lying there

for a while

and then it got revealed

when I pulled up the rug.

The Old Testament

is about hidden treasure

and then when Christ

is proclaimed

in the new

hidden treasure,

Christ is at the center

of it all.

God's plan

for the fullness

of time

is about Christ,

our treasure,

treasure,

the greatest treasure,

the only treasure

that can satisfy

the human heart.

You're discouraged?

Christ is your treasure.

You're disoriented?

Distracted?

Stop settling

settling

for temporary

trinkets

of this world

and set your heart

on the timeless

treasure of Christ.

He's the hope

of glory.

He's the mystery

made known.

in Him,

all of God's promises

are yes

and amen.

Everything

you long for,

Christ

is your treasure.

Brothers and sisters,

we suffer

for Christ

together.

Our treasure

so that others

would treasure Him.

The fourth word

is the word

mature.

We see this

in verses

28 and 29.

Him we proclaim,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone

mature

in Christ.

Paul

is giving us

the goal

of his

contested

work,

his ministry,

the toil,

the struggle,

the suffering

to present everyone

mature in Christ.

And if you're wondering

what is maturity

in Christ,

here's what it is

at a minimum.

At a minimum,

maturity of Christ

is when Jesus Christ

is the controlling

center of your life.

He's the treasured

treasured center

center of your life.

What you treasure

will govern

your life.

You live for what

you worship.

The question is,

how does

Paul present people

mature in Christ?

How do you do that?

Well, we're going to be

talking about this more

at the

disciple-making

workshop

in a couple weeks,

but let's look

at this passage.

Paul,

how do you present

people mature

in Christ?

Verse 28,

him we proclaim.

Him is the treasure.

He proclaims

Christ

to both

Christians

and non-Christians.

Him,

of course,

is the one

we just learned

about in verses

15 through 20.

He's the firstborn

of all creation.

He's the firstborn

from the dead.

He's the king

of the old creation.

He's the king

of the new creation.

He's the king

of kings,

Lord of lords.

He is the greatest

treasure ever,

Jesus.

That's who we

proclaim.

In light of

that,

who's the we?

Him,

we proclaim.

Now,

you could make a case,

well,

that's Paul's

apostolic posse.

Timothy,

Tychicus,

Epaphras.

But I've got a hunch

she's doing something

else here.

If you follow

the flow

of the argument,

I think that we,

he's talking about

the Colossians.

Him,

we proclaim.

Paul's like,

I'm proclaiming

Christ here

in Rome

to this

ching,

ching,

ching,

Praetorian card

next to me.

You're proclaiming

Christ in Colossae.

We're proclaiming

Christ in Kenosha.

Him,

we proclaim.

It's a uniter.

We suffer together

for Christ

in order that

others would

treasure him.

In light of all

this treasure talk,

it really kind of

changes the way

you think about

ministry.

You know,

you know,

we get to

declare treasure.

When we say

him we proclaim,

we're saying

the treasure

of every human

heart is found

in Jesus.

So to non-Christians,

we say things like

this.

Hey,

I know you're

hunting for treasure.

Turn from your

trinkets

and turn to the

timeless treasure

of Christ.

He forgives you.

He welcomes you

with open arms.

He loves you.

To discourage

Christians,

we say this.

Hey,

Christ is the

greatest treasure.

Don't give up.

Press on.

We say to

disoriented Christians,

hey,

you're living for

trinkets.

Treasure Christ

and live for him.

Him we proclaim.

How we go about

proclaiming him

involves warning

people.

Him we proclaim.

Warning

everyone.

There's a warning

in this passage.

It's in verse 4.

I say this in order

that no one may

delude you with

plausible arguments.

He say this as a

reference to what he

just said in verses

2 and 3 that

Jesus is the

greatest treasure.

Don't buy the

lies.

Our world

makes a very

compelling case

in a variety

of different ways

that you

should be

the controlling

center of your

life.

Not Christ.

And here's what

happens when you

become the

controlling center

of your life.

You end up

living for

something.

Maybe it's

U.S.

politics.

It makes a

lousy controlling

center of your

life.

love.

But when we talk

about the kingdom

of Christ,

he's our king.

Oh, that is the

controlling center you

want.

Maybe it's not

politics.

Maybe it's

pleasure.

Some kind of

hedonism.

Whether that's

sexual gratification.

Whether that is

like you just

love to eat

food.

Whether it's

materialism like

purchase buy,

buy, buy.

You know what?

Hedonism makes

for a lousy

controlling center.

Doesn't satisfy.

Pleasing Christ.

that'll satisfy.

Or maybe it's

not politics or

pleasure.

Maybe it's you

want the praise.

You're a people

pleaser.

You just want to

be liked.

Oh, the Bible

talks about that

as a snare.

It's a terrible

taskmaster.

But what

praise in

Christ as

your treasured

center, that

burns clean.

We warn

everyone.

We warn

people, don't

settle for the

trinkets.

Center on the

treasure.

people.

So we warn

everyone as we

proclaim him

and then we

also teach

everyone.

What do we

teach them?

It's what Paul

has already

modeled.

We teach them

the glories of

Christ.

Think about it.

He's the creator

of all.

He's the sustainer

of all.

He's the savior

of all.

He's the lord

of all.

And he's the

judge of all.

Do you know

what greater

than, less

than, or equal

is?

How about you

kind of measure

him next to U.S.

politics, hedonism,

or the praise of

man?

He's always

greater.

Because he's the

greatest treasure.

That's what we

teach people.

How amazing

our king is.

And why we can

then say, so

every day you

deny yourself,

you take up

your cross,

and you

follow him.

Because he's

the greatest

treasure.

He is worth

it.

And then we

start to see

what maturity

looks like.

When Christ

is your

treasure, then

verse 10,

you walk in a

manner worthy

of him,

pleasing him in

all ways,

bearing fruit in

every good work,

increasing in the

knowledge of God,

strengthened with

his power for

endurance and

patience with joy,

giving thanks to

the Father.

verse 23,

you are stable

and steadfast,

not shifting from

the hope of the

gospel.

And chapter 2,

verse 5,

for though I am

absent in body,

yet I am with

you in spirit,

rejoicing to see

your good order

and firmness in

the faith of

Christ.

The good order

is that Jesus

is the controlling

center of your

life.

And you live

for him.

Paul's like,

yes and amen.

Amen.

But Paul doesn't

labor in this

ministry by his

own strength,

but by the

strength that God

himself provides.

Verse 29,

for this I toil,

struggling with

all his energy,

that he powerfully

works within me,

Holy Spirit,

power in the

proclamation of

Christ as the

greatest treasure

to all nations.

worthy of

sea.

Not by power,

not by strength,

but by my

spirit,

says the Lord.

Did you notice

everyone?

Warning everyone,

teaching one in

order to present

everyone who

believes mature in

Christ, rightly

ordered, firm in

the faith, walking

in a manner worthy

of the Lord to

please Christ in

everything.

You see, the scope

of Paul's ministry

is global.

Do you know why?

Because the scope

of the ministry of

our Lord Jesus

Christ is global.

Gospel ministry is

a work of the new

creation.

Every square inch

of this planet,

the gospel bearing

fruit among all

people.

This past week,

I had a brother

send me an email

reminding me of

unreached people

groups.

An unreached

people group is a

definable group of

people by their

culture and

particularly their

language.

And an unreached

people group has

no access to the

gospel of this

treasure.

I learned that

there are 17,300

distinct people

groups on our

planet today.

I learned that

7,300 of those

people groups are

presently unreached.

They do not have a

gospel witness.

that's 3.4 billion

people.

So when

Paul talks about

him we proclaim,

warning everyone,

teaching everyone to

present everyone who

believes mature, he's

not just talking about

this church in this

city, in our

neighbors in the city.

He's talking about the

unreached hard places in

the 1040 window.

So if you want to

find out more about

unreached people

groups, Google the

Joshua Project.

But that is the

scope of what we've

been called to.

To present everyone,

every tribe, tongue,

and nation mature in

Christ.

Christ as the

treasured center of who

they are.

Brothers and

sisters, we suffer

together so that

Christ is treasured by

all.

Christ's worth it.

The last word is

rejoicing, and I'll be

lickety split.

But this passage

begins and ends with

rejoicing.

Verse 24, now I

rejoice in my

sufferings.

Chapter 2, verse 5,

for though I'm absent

in body, I'm with you

in spirit, rejoicing to

see your good order.

Rejoicing.

Time out!

How is it that this

guy in Rome, shackled

to a Praetorian guard,

is able to rejoice?

Here's why.

Christ was his

greatest treasure.

Philippians 1, 21, the

same guy said, for me

to live is Christ and

to die is gain.

Philippians 3, 8, the

same guy says, indeed,

I count everything as a

loss compared to the

surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus, my

Lord.

Treasure.

Why he was rejoicing?

He treasured Jesus.

But also, Paul rejoiced

in others treasuring

Jesus.

Now I rejoice in my

sufferings for your

sake.

124, chapter 2, 1, for I

want you to know how

great a struggle I have

for you.

Christ is worth it.

If you're discouraged,

disappointed by others'

lack of response,

Christ is worth your

toil.

He's worth your

suffering, your labor.

Don't give up.

Your labor's not in vain.

He's worth it.

If you're disoriented or

distracted in this

rejoicing in suffering is

like a foreign language in

your ears, you've been

distracted by plausible

arguments of this world.

You've swapped temporary

trinkets for the timeless

treasures of Christ.

Do you know what you do?

You just repent and

believe.

Say, no, forgive me,

Lord Jesus, for pursuing

this in your place.

And there you will find

joy.

what your heart was

created and redeemed

for.

Christ.

So what would you tell a

discouraged Christian?

What would you tell a

disoriented Christian?

You tell them Christ is

worth it.

I mean, Christ is the

center of our sufferings.

Christ is at the center of

the church.

Christ is at the center of

this mystery.

Christ is at the center of

our maturity.

Christ is at the center of

our rejoicing.

He's at the center of it

all.

So we suffer together for

Christ so that everyone

would treasure Christ.

Christ is worth it, church.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus Christ, we need to

ask you for something now.

We confess that we

regularly prefer trinkets to

you, our treasure.

So we confess that to you.

We acknowledge the idolatry of

that.

We forgive us for the offense

that must be to you.

And thank you for dying on the

cross for that too.

Father, would you pour out your

spirit upon us, your people,

that we would endure, we would

persist, we would persevere in

our treasuring of Jesus and

proclaiming him among all

people.

Would you help us?

Would you strengthen us?

Would you unite us?

And would you protect our union

in you?

And for those

who think Jesus is boring,

God, would you show them your

glory?

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.