Resolution for New Life: Persist In Praise

2018 is winding down, as I'm guessing everybody knows,

and a new year is rapidly approaching.

It's a good time to take a step back

and sort of take stock of the last year

and reflect on 2018 a little bit.

Many of us in this room would look back

and point to significant life events,

whether it's difficult health things,

whether it's job transitions,

whether it's new life added to our family,

going off to college, etc., and so forth.

Others would look back and say,

we're still kind of waiting to see how this decision is going to pan out.

We had to make some kind of decision here,

but we're still kind of unsettled about the results that we see.

It's also not just a time to look back and reflect,

but a time to look forward, right?

That's why we have these New Year's resolutions

that some of us will be making.

We wonder with anticipation,

what is 2019 going to bring?

There will be upcoming milestones,

just like there are past milestones.

Graduations, retirements,

sending our children off to college, and so on.

One of my favorite things to do in this season of the year

is not just to reflect on kind of what has happened in my life,

but to reflect on what God has done

and to look forward in anticipation

of what He is going to do in the future.

Commend this practice to you, church.

It's so sweet.

And if we're honest, we'd look back on 2018

and we'd be able to point,

all of us in this room could testify

to the ways that God has been faithful.

Maybe He's given you strength

to complete a major work project

that you've been working on for a long time,

and by His grace, you endured,

and you persevered,

and you did something that you could be proud of.

Maybe He's provided a new friend for you

just at the right moment

when you felt desperate for fellowship.

Maybe you've just sensed His ongoing presence

and comfort to you in the midst of hard things.

But even that, you'd say He's faithful.

He hasn't gone anywhere.

He's here.

And we've all sensed His loving correction, right,

that has grown us into greater and greater degrees

of godliness and faithfulness to Jesus.

We should be expecting more of the same in 2019.

Our lives are just chock full of the reality

of the grace of God.

And it's because of this child born to us, isn't it?

The Christ who was born in a manger

in the city of Bethlehem,

who lived this perfect life in obedience to God the Father,

who shed His blood for us on the cross

and then was raised victoriously from the dead.

The past work of Jesus

is why we can point to the faithfulness of God

day in and day out.

But not just that, right?

Now the risen and radiant and reigning King Jesus

is coming back one day

for all of His people

to redeem creation,

to eradicate sin,

to wipe every tear from the eyes

of His long-enduring people.

These realities,

the Jesus Emmanuel, God with us,

and His return at some point in the future,

they bookend our very lives

here in Kenosha, Wisconsin

on December 30th, 2018.

And they do it every single day of our lives.

So we must say that He is worthy of praise.

He is worthy of all of our praise

day after day after day.

His provisions,

His mercy,

His love,

His protection and correction.

We serve and know a God

who is deserving of all of our thanks and praise.

And this is what our text in 1 Peter

is really all about today.

The praiseworthiness of God.

If you haven't,

I invite you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

God's call from this text this morning is

pretty straightforward.

Lord,

in light of the praiseworthiness

of our God,

church,

we are to persist

in praising

the God of our salvation.

To persist

day in and day out

in the good times

and in the bad,

in the highs and lows,

in the big transitions,

in the monotonous daily routines.

We are to have a heart of praise.

We're to be postured

to persist

in praising Him

in all things.

Persist in praising

the God of your salvation,

church.

If you've got one resolution

to make in 2019,

make it this.

Persist in praise.

Well, the context of our passage

this morning,

we can kind of

walk through it

from verses 1 and 2.

We see that it's Peter,

an apostle of Jesus Christ,

who is writing to

this group of people.

Now, this is the Peter

who's walked with Jesus

as one of His 12 disciples.

He saw Him

transfigured

and shiny bright

on the mountain.

He saw the empty tomb

and he saw the nail-pierced hands

of His risen King.

And he writes,

with all of the authority

bestowed from Jesus

on an apostle.

It's the very Word of God.

And we see the readers then

in verse 1 as well

that these folks

who Peter identifies

as elect exiles.

And they're in Asia Minor,

not unlike the churches

that John has been writing to

in the book of Revelation

that we've been in.

Very similar kind of location

in the world.

And in calling them

elect exiles,

Peter essentially says,

chosen nomads.

They're handpicked

for the kingdom of God

and then they're handed

a suitcase saying,

you're just going to be

kind of not home yet.

And yet possessed by God.

Bound for an eternity

in a homeland.

The new Jerusalem.

In verse 2,

we see these amazing

theological claims

surrounding this status

as elect exiles

that we can't really

get into a ton,

but essentially,

here's what Peter's saying

in verse 2

to these folks.

Their status,

their identity,

is foreknown

by the plan of God,

the Father.

And it is by the power

of the Holy Spirit

that they have both

been handpicked

out of their current

situation into this

new reality

and will be sustained

in it until the end.

That's the sanctification

of the Spirit.

We see the aim,

the goal of it

is for obedience

to Jesus Christ

and for sprinkling

with His blood.

This is covenant language.

The obedience

of the people of God

that is sort of

pointed to

and officially

kind of sanctioned

by the sprinkling

of sacrifice.

Peter's pointing back

to Exodus chapter 24.

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

So here's who's writing

and who he's writing to.

Folks not too much

unlike us today.

This sermon,

the way we're going to

walk through this passage

now is a sermon

brought to you

by the letter R.

Billy has inspired me

to try and get

some repeated letters.

So we're going to

give it a shot.

So if you look

in verse 3,

we're going to see

the first R.

It's the recipient

of our praise.

Peter starts out

after kind of

addressing formally

his audience.

Blessed be the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our praise is aimed.

It doesn't meander.

It's focused

on the one

who Peter identifies

as worthy

of all praise.

He's the one

who created

the universe,

sustains it

powerfully

right now

and forever.

He exercises

sovereign control

over all things.

The king's heart

is like water

in the hand

of the Lord

and he makes

armies do his bidding

around the world.

He is present

everywhere

at all times.

He never gets tired.

He never takes naps.

He never changes.

He's all powerful,

all knowing,

all wise.

He is holy,

holy,

holy

and righteousness

and justice

are the foundation

of his throne.

This God

is perfect

and his greatness

is unsearchable.

It's no wonder

that this word

blessed

every time it shows up

in our New Testament

is reserved

for this person,

this being,

God,

who is deserving

of all of our praise.

He's not just

somewhat worthy

or sometimes worthy,

right?

But totally

and forever

worthy.

the God

and Father

of our Lord

Jesus Christ

is now

and forever

the only one

worthy of all

of our praise.

That's who Peter

says is to receive

the praise

of his people.

And if we knew

nothing else

about God

other than this

kind of descriptive

list,

we'd have

infinite reason

to praise him.

But if we keep

reading in verse 3,

we come to the second R,

we see the reason

that Peter

is going to give us

to praise

this God.

Look at verse 3

and we see this

astonishing reason.

He has caused us

to be born again.

There's a bunch of

phrases and terminology

surrounding that,

but before we kind of

get into all of those

details,

let's just kind of

savor this reality.

It's the core

of what Peter's saying,

why God is worthy

of praise.

Because he has

caused us

to be born again.

What does Peter

mean by this?

Essentially,

it means that God

creates new life

where there previously

was none.

It's not unique

to Peter.

The Apostle Paul

in 2 Corinthians 5.17

says it this way,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

The old has passed away,

behold,

the new has come.

In Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:10

verse 10,

he says that

we are God's workmanship

created in Christ

Jesus

for good works.

Jesus.

This is sounding

a lot like

Genesis 1.

In the beginning,

God created the heavens

and the earth.

He said,

let there be light

and there was light.

God saw the light,

saw that it was good.

Except this is now

talking about

the spiritual birth

of Christians.

God says,

let there be a Christian

and there was a Christian

where there formerly

was not.

God.

The Gospel of John

gives us

the same kind

of language.

In John's introductory

remarks of chapter 1

in verses 12

and 13,

he says,

for everyone

who receives Jesus

and who believes

in Him,

God has given the right

to become children

of God.

And then listen

to how he says

it's born not of blood,

not of the will

of the flesh,

nor of the will

of man,

but of God.

You hear the language

born again,

born of God,

created in Christ,

a new creation,

a God-produced

spiritual birth.

When Peter says

that God has caused us

to be born again,

he is speaking

of a moment in time,

an instantaneous occurrence

in which a man

a God-generated

spiritual heartbeat

begins.

If you're a Christian

in this room,

this is true of you.

God has brought

new life

where there was none.

This is why

there's no such thing

as a boring testimony.

If you realize

you realize

exactly

how amazing

salvation is,

you won't be bored

sharing it with people.

Whether you were

saved when you were

just a young kid,

and you grew up

in a Christian home,

and you haven't really

struggled with any kind

of real hard

addictions

or difficulties,

or whether

you've got a life

of just kind of

doing your own thing,

and you came to faith

late,

this is miraculous

and amazing.

And it's the core

of the reason

why Peter says,

this God is praiseworthy

all the time,

forever.

He's caused us

to be born again.

You probably realize

that this is

fine spiritual China

we're holding

in our hands.

This is a precious gem

that we're talking

about this morning.

God is teaching us

about deep realities

of our life

in Christ.

God intends

His truth

to bring praise.

We're to praise Him.

Christian,

you are alive

because God

has made you alive.

You don't need

to turn there,

but over in chapter 2

of Peter

in verse 24,

Peter brings

his reality

right to the cross.

He says that

it is Jesus Himself

who bore our sins

in His body

on the tree

so that we might

die to sin,

the only life

we ever knew,

and might live

to righteousness.

This life

that God puts

in us

because of Jesus.

This gift

of life

is precious.

Jesus,

and now

Peter begins

to kind of

hold this gem

up

and just start

kind of rotating

it so that the

rainbow light

would just be

glittering in front

of our eyes

as it dances

around the room.

So we're going to

take a look at these

sort of rays of light

that are shining here.

Look back at

verses 3 and 4.

The first one

is that it is

according to

God's great mercy.

Does anyone

in the room

ever ask,

why did God

save me?

Maybe out loud

or maybe just

in your heart

you just kind of

wonder,

God,

what did I ever

do to deserve

this?

Peter would say,

absolutely nothing.

Mercy is your

answer.

You can't

manipulate it,

you can't

manufacture it,

it is God's

to freely give

and instead of

deciding to

judge us

and to punish

us for the

guilt of our

sin,

God shows

mercy and he

decides to

save and

rescue instead.

It is God's

mercy,

Peter says,

that governs

his decision

to save

sinners.

He's

praiseworthy.

second ray

of light

off of this

gem we see

in verse

three is that

he's caused

us to be

born again

to a living

hope,

present,

here and

now,

real hope.

It's kind of

a funny word,

isn't it?

When you and

I kind of use

hope,

a lot of times

it's,

well,

I've got a

tea time at

Muni later to

hit some golf

balls and I

sure hope it

doesn't rain.

I've checked

the forecast

and it's

kind of 50-50.

We come out

of an exam

that we'd

studied and

prepared a

long time

for and we

say,

well,

I sure hope

I did well

on that

exam.

I worked

really hard.

The Bible

here is using

it differently

for us.

The hope

that Peter's

talking about

is not a

fingers crossed,

wishful thinking,

rabbit foot

kind of hope.

hope.

It's the

expectation

that God

is faithful

and he will

fulfill all

of his promises

in Christ

Jesus.

Everything

he's promised

will come

to pass.

That's the

hope that

Peter's getting

at.

It's certain

to happen

because God

has said

so.

He never

lies.

And he

wants this

hope to be

contrasted

between

something

that's alive

and vibrant

and fresh

and something

that's rotting

and dead

and decaying.

It's like

the king

salmon on

the end

of your

fishing line

that's peeling

off drag

as it buries

into deep

water versus

the dead

half-eaten

bloated one

that washes

up on the

shore of Lake

Michigan.

Living hope.

Real hope.

Certain hope.

It's a

difference

between that

stick that

lands in your

yard that

you have to

pick up

before you

mow the

lawn and

the giant

oak tree

that gives

shade to

all of your

property.

Living.

It's oak

tree hope

that Peter's

talking about

here.

There's reason

to praise him.

There's another

ray of light.

Peter says

hope isn't

the only thing

alive,

friends.

We are

born again

to a

living hope

through the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ from

the dead.

Jesus,

our Lord,

is alive.

There's a

past resurrection

and a past

new life,

and his

resurrection is

how God

gives new

life to

us.

It's the

resurrection

life of

Jesus pulsing

through your

veins.

Jesus

isn't

alive.

None of

us are

either.

Neither do

we have a

living hope.

But God

has raised

him from

the dead.

He's alive

and so too

are all of

God's

people.

There's one

more ray we

look at in

verse 4.

Future

inheritance.

This

inheritance

word is

family talk.

Right?

You inherit

what is passed

down from your

mother and

father.

Though it's

not obvious,

the God and

Father, the

Lord Jesus

Christ, is

calling us

his children.

Rightful

inheritors of

all that is

God's.

That's

everything by

the way.

This is our

place and our

possession in

the kingdom of

God, the

new Jerusalem,

where nothing

wears out,

where there is

no lack or

any need.

This is

ours in

Christ.

Notice the

descriptors that

Peter gives.

It's imperishable

and undefiled

and unfading.

It means that

time will never

harm it.

That it's never

going to be

defiled or

tarnished by

anything impure.

And it has

unending beauty

and value.

It's kept in a

place that's

more secure than

a bank vault.

It's in

heaven.

It has our

names on it.

blessed be the

God and

Father of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

This mercy

driven, new

life given,

dead raised and

inheritance keeping,

praiseworthy God.

And as if that

wasn't enough,

verse 5 kind of

concludes this

section of the

reason to

praise him.

It's not just

keeping an

inheritance.

He's keeping us

too.

He's keeping

all of the

people of God

for a salvation

ready to be

revealed in the

last time.

See that in

verse 5?

Who by God's

power are being

guarded through

faith for a

salvation ready to

be revealed.

Well the thing

to notice in this

verse is the way

that God's power

and our faith

kind of work in

tandem.

They cooperate

with one another.

Sometimes we can

kind of go

through life sort

of thinking that

it's really our

faith that's going

to get us to the

finish line.

And in part that's

true.

Peter wants us to

see here in verse

5 that God's power

is the greater

reality and our

faith is the

lesser.

If it were

dependent merely

on us, we might

be in trouble with

the waves tossing

our faith around in

life.

But God's power is

constant and

unchanging and

certain.

It's an anchor for

all of us that

will hold.

The one who raises

the dead is

guarding us for

salvation.

And the

salvation is ready.

God has no

finishing touches to

put on it.

He's not

constructing it.

It's ready and

waiting for the

moment Jesus returns

for his people.

people.

So to recap this

reason, God's

already caused us

to be born again.

God has given us a

living oak tree

hope.

And we have a

future inheritance

and salvation of

epic proportions.

This is the

reason Peter gives

to praise the God

and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Now let's look at

verses 6 to 9

to see our

response.

Our response

is to rejoice.

It's to praise him.

It's to delight in

him.

What I love about

what Peter does,

he's been talking

about really deep,

weighty, heavy,

abstract, invisible

things.

Hard to understand

and really kind of

imagine what he's

getting at.

And now Peter

knocks on our

front doors.

And he enters our

living rooms and he

sits down on our

couches and he props

his feet up on our

coffee table.

And he says,

I want you to know

that I'm not aloof,

I'm not ignorant of

any of the real

problems in life.

The ways that our

faith is causing

hardship,

struggles that we're

going through as

Christians.

Peter's saying,

I understand,

I want you to know

that I understand

and I want you to

take heart in the

midst of these things.

Whether you're

battling a temptation

that just,

you can't shake

free of and you're

stumbling more than

you're succeeding.

Whether you have

family tensions

because an unbelieving

sibling or an

unbelieving child is

just kind of running

amok and maybe

they're distancing

themselves from you

because you want

them to know Jesus

and they're just

resistant to the

gospel.

Maybe it's a

godly grief that you

see as you look out

from your home and

you say,

Lord, look at all

these people around

here and they don't

know Jesus.

They're perishing in

their sins.

Some of us in this

room, some of us

dear to this church

have had unrelenting

physical or mental

difficulties that are

threatening to

dismantle our faith

altogether.

And around the world

there's folks suffering

persecution for their

faith and Peter says,

I know it all.

I understand it all.

I'm not making light.

I'm not minimizing any

of this in your

lives.

We can say what I'm

getting at here because

in verse 6 he says,

though you've been

grieved by trials.

These are grievous,

real things.

Life is hard.

Peter understands that.

He's not living in a

vacuum just saying,

rejoice and praise God.

I'll see you when you

get through this mess.

He's in it.

He understands it.

And not only that,

he says, there's another

thing that makes it

really, really hard to

praise God now.

If you look down at

verse 8, he says,

he recognizes that as an

apostle, he was someone

who saw Jesus.

He walked with him.

He saw the miracles.

He saw him on the

cross.

He saw the empty tomb

and then he saw him

alive.

And all of the

recipients of this

letter, they didn't have

that luxury.

He says, though you

have not seen him.

And then he goes on,

though you do not now

see him.

That's the reality too,

right?

People going, Lord, I

see hardship.

I see trials.

They're right in front of

my face.

And Peter says, yeah,

I know.

I know.

I know.

Rejoicing and praise

require faith now.

They require us to walk

not by what we see, but

by what God has declared

in Christ to be true.

That's why four times in

verses 5 to 9, Peter uses

this word faith.

You can look at them.

In verse 5, it's that we're

being guarded through faith.

Verse 7, that the tested

genuineness of your faith.

Verse 8, it's a little

tricky because the word

believe just means you

have faith in him.

You believe in him.

And then verse 9, it's

this inexpressible joy is

because, verse 9, you're

obtaining the outcome of

your faith.

Peter understands, church,

that present circumstances

and what we can see with

our two eyes

always threaten to steal

the praise that's due our

God.

When we focus on our

circumstances,

the trials and sufferings of

our lives, we end up

focusing on ourselves.

ourselves.

Our eyes are off of God

and praise is far from

our lips.

When we live by what we

see, we can easily, right,

become so discouraged

and discontented

and even deceived.

Peter says, if you want to

honor God and respond to

this call to persist in

praise, your focus needs to

be here on your living hope

in a future resurrection that

began when God raised you to

a new life.

You focus on your living

hope, your oak tree hope for

a future salvation because

God has given you life in

Christ.

You rejoice by faith.

Friends, if you're in the

room struggling to rejoice,

I just encourage you, check

your faith.

It's probably on empty.

Ask God by His Holy Spirit to

impart faith into your

hearts.

strengthen your resolve to

believe this truth because

when you believe it,

rejoicing comes.

Just three quick things to

notice in these verses.

Verses 6 and 7, Peter says

that legitimate faith is

tested faith.

Right?

God uses trials to test and

refine and strengthen our

faith.

faith.

It's how God operates.

This isn't something

strange.

God forges faith in the fire

of affliction like a

goldsmith forges and

purifies gold in fire.

That's what Peter's getting

at.

And we see this lived out by

our Lord and Savior Jesus,

who for the joy set before

Him endured the cross,

despising the shame.

Hebrews 12.

This means that grumbling,

anxiety,

despair,

by faith ought to be

replaced with praise.

If faith is precious to us,

church,

we can rejoice in trials,

in the midst of them,

because they strengthen our

faith that is precious to us.

Second thing to notice,

verse 7,

is that this tested faith

will be celebrated by God

in the last day.

God applauds the forged

and purified faith of His

people.

That's the honor and praise

and glory language there.

When Jesus comes back,

God will say,

well done to all of His

people who by faith were

tested in trials and

endured,

continuing to praise His

name regardless.

And the last thing to notice

in these verses is that our

focus just matters so much.

Peter starts verse 6 with

this,

in this you rejoice.

maybe better worded,

because of this.

And he's talking about these

invisible spiritual realities.

This new birth that God

has given to us in Jesus

Christ.

The inheritance and the

salvation that's coming.

Peter says,

in these things you're

rejoicing,

though right now,

life is difficult.

And in verse 9,

he says,

you're rejoicing with an

inexpressible joy because

you're obtaining salvation.

Faith has a finish line,

friends,

when Jesus comes back.

Essentially,

Peter is saying that

rejoicing now requires

a faith gaze.

We must gaze by faith to

remember who God is,

to remember what God has

done,

to remember what God is

doing,

and to remember what God

will do.

We persist in praise by

faith today.

One day,

we will persist in praise by

sight when Jesus returns.

Well, if we had time to

jump into 10 to 12,

the R I would use would

be research.

Research that validates

the praise that Peter is

calling all of the people

of God to.

The prophets of the Old

Testament and the angelic

host are just dying to see

the salvation of the

people of God.

Just give me a glimpse of

this.

Where do I have to go to

figure out who they're

talking about and what

God means?

If you don't think

they're diligent inquiring

and searching validates

praise,

I'll try and build a case

a little bit later,

but it's amazing.

They're just astonished

by this salvation,

and they want to see it.

They want to look into it.

And this is angels.

People are in the,

beings who are in the

presence of God.

Blessed be the God and

Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ.

That's what Peter says.

He's praiseworthy,

so persist in praising

him always.

That's the message of our

text today.

To conclude, I just want to

try and answer for us,

how?

Okay, I see it in the text,

I'm going to persist in

praise, but how do I do

that?

Remember that first and

foremost, praise is a

matter of the heart.

Peter is not here

primarily interested in

arms waving and falling

on our face, kind of

external things.

Right?

Those are important, but

he's addressing our

hearts.

Praise flows from a

heart that is glad in God.

God, we praise who we

adore.

If you're not sure how to

grow in your delight for

God, I just encourage you

to meditate on your

salvation.

Here's some scripture

verses that you might want

to go to.

If you've got a pen, you can

write them down.

This passage in 1 Peter is

great.

There are many others.

Ephesians chapters 1 and 2.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Colossians 1 verse 13 and

Colossians 1:13

14, and then get into some

of chapter 2 as well.

The book of Titus has two

glorious descriptions of

salvation in chapter 2

verses 11 to 14 and

chapter 3 verses 5 to 8.

Of course, Revelation 5 where

we see the Lamb worshipped

because he was slain to

ransom people from every

tribe, nation, language, and

tongue.

Reflect on these passages and

ask God to fill your heart

with praise.

He will.

He's jealous for the praise

of his name.

He'll fill your heart with

praise.

Second, in answering how, we

need to engage in it.

Engage in praise.

large variety of what this

could look like.

Let me give you a couple.

Prayers that tell God of his

great worth.

Singing praises even if you're

tone deaf.

Being present here in this

place week after week after

week for worship.

So that you join your voices

and your hearts with the

body of Christ and praise.

Well, how do I engage in

praise and hardship and hard

things and trials?

You need to see them as God's

means of building your faith.

God intends to use them for

good in your life.

You need to turn your eyes away

from your circumstances and

away from yourself and put them

on to the God of your

salvation.

You'll find that praising is

possible because God is good

all the time.

Even in the hardest things of

life, God is good.

Finally, how do we persist in

praise?

Well, it's really a lifestyle.

It's not like, well, from 11 in

the morning until noon I'm going

to praise God and then I'm

going to go back to baking

biscuits.

It's not what the Bible would

call us to.

It's a lifestyle.

It goes beyond a church service

on Sunday mornings.

It goes beyond being in a life

group.

It goes beyond the singing of

praise music.

It's a life aimed at him.

Living for him and for his glory

alone.

It's a life that prioritizes the

kingdom of God above all things.

Essentially, it's committing to a

lifestyle that obeys God.

We adore and honor God when we

keep his word.

It's praising him.

It's why in verse 2 of 1 Peter 1, it

says that this whole deal is for the

obedience to Jesus Christ.

Peter starts with worship and the

praiseworthiness of God and then the

rest of the letter, he goes into all

these ways that high and low, good and

bad, we praise God by pressing into the

world and into life and obedience and

faith.

And it's a lifestyle in which we are

eager to share Jesus with other people.

We praise God by speaking to others

about the greatness of God.

That Psalm 145, one generation shall

commend your works to another.

We commend the works of God over and

over to our wives and husbands, to our

children, to our friends, to our

families.

families.

And we share him with those who don't

know him.

Telling them how they too can come under

this glorious, precious, saving reign of

God in Christ.

That's how, church.

We do it together by faith.

That's what God wants for us at the end

of this year, as we launch into a new

year, to persist in praising the God of

our salvation.

God, be praised as we do.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word.

You're praiseworthy.

And so we praise you.

Thank you that we have a chance to

immediately respond by opening our

mouths, singing this final song.

But I pray more than that.

God, as we leave this church building,

we would still be poised to praise you

in everything we do.

Holy Spirit, please help us.

We need your help.

God, as we go about our lives praising you,

we pray that Jesus would be glorified and

made much of.

It's in and through him we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.