Commissioned by Jesus - Galatians 1:1-5

I hope you are paying attention to a couple of those songs, which I think may be a little newer to you.

And as we think about the lyrics to that last song, God's Glory and Our Good.

God's glory and our good.

Those two things are encapsulated in the gospel.

And that is what is saturating the heart of Paul as he writes to the various churches throughout Asia Minor, the churches in Galatia.

And we're going to be in the first five verses of chapter one this morning.

And as we turn there, Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 5, I'd like to think forward, if you will, think about, think about your future and think about the different milestones or the different things that you hope to accomplish in your time here on earth.

Galatians 1:1–5

You might be thinking about graduating, and before that, you might be thinking about the first car that you will drive or the first scooter that was yours that maybe had a motor on it that you could zip around or the first bike that was yours that allowed you to go to the store with your friends by yourself.

I remember those days.

Wasn't too long ago.

But in the midst of considering our future, I want you to think about jobs.

Think about jobs.

One day you'll have your very first job.

Believe it or not, it you might have jobs now that your parents assign you, but this job is gonna be different because this job is probably gonna be outside of your home.

This job is gonna be in the community, and when you go to apply, they're gonna ask for your resume.

They're gonna ask for your credentials.

What gives you the thought?

What gives you the heart and the mind to say, I think I'm ready for this job, I'm ready for it.

Let's let's team up.

I'm gonna work for you, you're gonna pay me, and together we're gonna have we're gonna have an agreement here, and work's gonna get done, bills are gonna get paid, you're gonna pay for your insurance, you're gonna pay for your cell phone, you're gonna pay for for uh your groceries one day.

But as you think about what makes you ready to take on this first job, I want you to think about it.

Is it your time and experience doing chores at home?

Is it your time and experience serving or volunteering?

What is it that qualifies you for this first job?

What's going to make you a value, a valuable future member of a team in a workplace?

And this mindset of worth and value, your identity is important because your identity, your worth, your value is under attack.

Even now.

People are struggling to understand who they are.

It's a critical question in the world today.

Who am I?

What am I doing here?

As you prepare for high school, you might be thinking, what is my identity?

What's my role?

What's my footing in this world as I prepare for the workplace, as I prepare and continue to invest in friendships, as I prepare and think forward towards marriage or dating one day, as you establish your place in your family structure, who am I and what's my role?

And Paul in our text today wants his readers to consider his achievements.

He's not gonna appeal to a long list of accolades, he's not gonna appeal to his social status, he's not gonna appeal to his family ties, he's not gonna appeal to his ethnicity or his university ties where he went to school.

He's not gonna appeal to his family worth or wealth.

He's gonna appeal to his listeners with one point.

One point.

I was sent by the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am an apostle.

It's him that gives me my authority, it's him that gives me my worth.

The gospel that accomplishes salvation to those who are dying in their sin.

Wasting away with the world and all that's in it.

From this present evil age, Paul's identity and his authority is in his master and Lord Jesus Christ.

In whatever the Savior declares Paul to be, that is exactly who he is.

And whatever God calls you today, that's exactly who you are.

God determines the terms.

He describes and defines the terminology.

My charge for us tonight and the challenge to us all is to evaluate the validity and power of the one who sends Paul to write to the Galatian churches, and also the one who speaks to you today through his word.

Consider the power and authority of the scriptures of Paul as he's charging and appealing to his listeners.

Now, this passage that we're going to read today is an introduction, and he's calling to their minds who he is, and he's calling to the minds who the Lord is.

Let's read the first five verses together.

Galatians chapter one.

Paul, you might see a greeting title above chapter one, superscript here.

Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

These are his credentials.

I wasn't sent by a prestigious professor.

I wasn't sent from a grand council, a prestigious group of people.

No, I'm an apostle because I know Jesus Christ.

Verse 2, and to all the brothers and all the brothers who are with me, me and God's family are greeting you.

This is what Paul is saying to the churches.

This is his introduction to all the churches in Galatia.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 4.

Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

This is Paul's appeal.

This is Paul saying, Hey, remember me?

Remember the goodness of the Savior?

Remember the gospel that saves.

It's Paul's heart.

He's writing back after visiting these different churches.

He's writing a letter back to them after the gospel has been dispensed, after the gospel has been delivered, and he's checking back in with them.

He's reminding them of who he is, who God is, and the relationship between sinful man and a holy God.

This is the relationship.

In verse 1, Paul is establishing who he is.

Now, if you remember, Paul had a name before he was radically and drastically transformed by God.

His name was Saul.

In Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 19, I want to read to you Paul interacting with his listeners.

Acts 9:1–19

Are you ready?

Verse 1 in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

You could write this down, this reference.

Acts 9, 1 through 19.

But Paul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found anyone belonging to the way, anyone following Christ, anyone that is following in the way of the Lord, whether it be a man or a woman, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

He's collecting bounties.

This is Saul saying, I want the right to come and do harm to these rebellers, these rebel scum that would turn from the Jewish faith and put their hope and trust in this Jewish man named Jesus.

Now, as he went on the way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

This is personal, this is relational.

This is Paul on his way to do harm to Christians.

He gets struck by God, blinded, and thrown down to the ground.

Why are you persecuting me?

This is Jesus talking to him.

And he said, Who are you, Lord?

And he said, This is the voice that blinded him, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

His first encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is blinded, he is struck, disoriented, he is without eyesight.

Verse 7.

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, jaws on the ground, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

They heard the audible voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, witnesses to this event.

Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing.

So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

This is this is a different man than we see in the first handful of verses of the book of Galatians.

This is a man that is against the Savior.

This is a man who is persecuting Christians, doing harm to them, seeking their destruction.

Verse 10.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.

The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord.

And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called strait.

And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.

For behold, he is praying, and he has seen a vision, in a vision, a man named Ananias.

So you see this connection.

God is speaking to Ananias, go look for a man named Saul.

God is speaking to Saul, say, There's going to be a man named Ananias.

He's going to come to you.

He's going to come and check in with you.

But Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard I've heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

He's doing evil things, wicked things to Christians.

And here, verse 14, he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name.

He has been given the green light to do the worst to those who love Jesus the Savior.

Verse 15.

But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine, hand selected, picked by God, a chosen instrument of mine, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

So Ananias departed to enter the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What a wild ride for this guy named Saul.

He's on a mission to go kill some Christians.

He gets rocked by the Lord Jesus Christ, blinded.

He's told this man named Ananias is going to come check in with you.

The Lord speaks to Ananias, hey, that murderer, Paul, Saul, go check in with him.

He is my chosen instrument.

He's mine.

Mine.

Crazy.

He's going to suffer much for the sake of the Gentile believers.

He's going to endure much so that the name of Christ is carried to the ends of the earth.

And the Gentiles here in this room are a byproduct of the chosen instrument, Saul, who was named Paul later.

It's by a large effort from him and many other disciples that we have the word of God today.

So, empowered by the Spirit, verse 18, and immediately something like scales fell from the eyes of Saul, and he regained his sight.

Then he rose and was baptized, and taking food he was strengthened.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

This is a highlight as we consider the man who's writing this book to the Galatian churches.

An apostle, one who was sent by God, one who is commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ, an apostle, one who has seen or been with or struck by, empowered by Jesus.

He wasn't sent from men, nor through man, but through, verse one, look at the text, through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

This is Paul's stance.

He's not taking credit in anything else.

He's not taking credit in his education.

He's not taking credit in his social status.

He's not looking at his bank account and saying, You should listen to me because.

You should really respect me because.

You should pause what you're doing and hear what I have to say because.

No, he's saying, I am what I am because of the gospel.

Because Christ is alive, and so am I.

This is the Paul that is writing to us.

The once murderer, as seen in Acts 22, he was holding the robes of those who were stoning Stephen.

In verse 20 of Acts 22, he says, And when the blood of Stephen, your witness, was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.

And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

A chosen instrument for God's purpose.

Every job, if you're working on an engine or an automobile, every job has a particular tool that is right or fitting, a chosen instrument that will help accomplish the job in a particular way, whether it's tightening a bolt, slipping an o-ring off, tightening a fastener, removing a hose clamp, whatever the task may be, there's a specific instrument that is designed to accomplish the task.

The design that God in his infinite wisdom chose to spread his gospel, the good news that saves, his chosen instrument are his disciples.

And those disciples that have seen Jesus face to face or had time sitting under his teaching were called apostles.

This is Paul, an apostle, a man who once found pleasure in killing Christians, is now appealing to Christians and calling for their attention because he has been sent by the risen Lord Jesus.

He has authority, and it's not of his own doing.

His authority comes from God.

In the book of First Corinthians, Paul here is appealing to this church that is going through some family struggles, some internal conflict within the body of Christ, and he pleads with them to listen and to remember to consider the unity of Christ as they can consider the repair that needs to be happened.

There's a fracturing, there's a brokenness in their church.

They longed for this glimmering or these more desired giftings from the Spirit and were getting into arguments that only serve themselves.

And this is what Paul is saying.

These are his pleading words to them.

This is an appeal to his authority that is found in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 1 and 2.

1 Corinthians 9:1

He says, Am I not free?

Am I not an apostle?

Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?

If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you.

For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

The Corinthian church are greatly beloved to Paul.

And he is pleading with them.

He says, if there is any group of people on planet earth that would affirm who I am, it's you.

I'm an apostle.

If no one else will affirm me, surely you will.

This is his plea.

He's calling for their hearts, he's calling for their minds to consider some strong words.

And in this particular book, we'll see those right away next week.

Right away next week.

But while we are here in the first five verses, we need to write this down for point number one.

Respect those who speak for the king.

Respect those who speak for the king.

He's not appealing for his own pride, his own pleasure, his own recognition.

Paul is pleading on behalf of God.

He's speaking for the King, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1 Timothy chapter 1, we see Paul's heart in verses 12 through 16.

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

He says this, I thank him who has given me strength, that is, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent opponent, but I received mercy, because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.

And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Do you sniff any whiff of pride, any any self-indulgence here?

He hasn't spoken about himself other than I belong to Jesus.

Look what he did for me.

This is what Jesus has done.

Verse 15.

He says, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

I'm the chief, I'm the top dog of the sinners.

This is his admission.

This is his plea.

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

He does what he does for the gospel.

He doesn't do anything else out of selfish ambition or selfish gain.

He does it so that souls might be saved into heaven.

This is Paul's heart.

This is his cry.

Be reconciled to God.

Be made right with him.

Look to him.

Don't look anywhere else for help.

Reconciliation is something that is hard to come by.

Sometimes you might get in a fight with your sibling or you might get in an argument with your parents, and you need to be reconciled until things are melded back together, until things are solidified, unified, you know, smoothed over, forgiveness is extended, confessions are made.

Will you forgive me?

I forgive you.

I did this and I was wrong.

I'm going to do my best not to do that again.

Reconciliation is making peace, is a balancing or a settling of accounts, bringing two people or two groups back together to be friends again and to be unified again in settling fights or arguments.

Romans chapter 5, verse 1 says this.

Romans 5:1

We have peace.

We're no longer enemies.

Isaiah 53 Verse 5 helps us paint a clearer picture.

Isaiah 53:5

This is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come.

This is a prophetic word.

But he, meaning Jesus, was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his wounds we are healed.

Things are rights because the perfect Lamb died, because he took our shame.

He took our guilt.

He was chastised on our behalf, and through him we have peace.

The debt has been paid.

There's no more outstanding records, no more things that need to be balanced, like your bank account.

One day you'll have a card and you'll have to make sure that you have enough money in there.

If you spend too much money, you go into debt, and now you owe someone.

You owe a bank or a lender some money because you spent more than you had.

Hopefully you don't do that.

But if you do, this is what happens.

You need to make things right.

You need to settle the score, settle the record to make things right again.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 through 15 speaks to our debt.

Colossians 2:13–15

And you who were dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us, listen, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

He this he set aside.

Read this, verse 14.

He set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.

How?

Why?

By triumphing over them in him.

He's alive.

And his payment on the cross has cleared your debt.

A Christian musician named Shai Lin says it this way.

No more enmity.

Enmity meaning a very deep or mixed feeling of hatred, ill will, or hostility between enemies.

We were enemies before God made peace with us and God.

He says this: no more enmity.

Reconciliation means there's no more enmity.

God is now a friend to me.

We're no longer enemies.

We have peace with God because of the cross.

Our debt has been paid.

We owe a debt for our sins, and Christ gladly, willingly paid it all.

This is who Paul is.

This is his identity.

You cut him open and he bleeds gospel.

You cut him open and he's just gushing with the truth of God's word.

I was an enemy, I used to hate God, I used to hate these Christians, but now I'm saved, and now I can't stop making Christians.

This is Paul's life.

He's going church to church, village to village, people to people saying, Have you heard the gospel?

Have you repented?

There's a good news for you.

You don't need to be an enemy of God anymore.

You don't need to be enslaved to your sin.

There is freedom in Christ.

Do you know him?

This is this is Paul's mission, his main objective.

Do you know the Savior?

Does he know you?

This is the heart of Paul.

God being rich in mercy because of the great love that God has poured out.

When we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

It's nothing that we can do.

We don't have a list of, I did all these good things, Mom and Dad, you should let me have this thing that I really want.

I did all these good things, and now I am worthy of a treat, worthy of a gift, worthy of grace.

No.

No, it's grace.

Grace is a free gift.

There is no boasting when we look to the cross.

No merit that you can bring, no resume, no accolades that you could bring to say, I'm worthy of being on your team.

You can't show the varsity coach, Connor.

You can't show him your stat sheet.

Look, I have an 80% three-point shot.

I shoot 95% of the free throw line.

I haven't missed a left-handed layup since I was four years old.

You can't go to the varsity coach and say that.

You can't go to God and say, look at all the good things that I did.

Let me into heaven, please.

This is my spot.

I deserve it.

No.

No.

That's rubbish.

You need to find your identity in the gospel.

Write this down for point number two.

Find your identity in the gospel, just like Paul does.

He's not going to take credit.

He's not going to draw attention to his name.

He's not going to try to soak up fame for all the disciples he's made.

No, he's going to point people to the cross every single day.

He is nothing without the cross.

He is nothing without the Savior.

He is dead and ruined and destined for destruction.

And so are we without the cross, without the gospel that saves.

Galatians 2.20 says this.

I have been crucified with Christ.

This is Paul.

It's no longer me.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

In the life I now live.

This new me, this new purpose, this new mission in life that I live here in my human body in the flesh.

I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

That's what we see.

Verse 3.

That's what we three.

We see in verse 3 and 4.

Grace.

It's grace that we're saved.

He's reminding them grace to you, remember the cross, peace to you.

We are no longer enemies with God.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself up for us to deliver us from our sin, from the present evil age.

This was God's will.

This was God's purpose.

And in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, it's just a Paul montage today.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

You know what a montage is, Connor?

Just clip after clip after clip after clip.

It's like a highlight reel.

It's like ESPN top 10 plays.

This is Paul saying, remember the gospel hasn't changed.

It's still the only way that man could be saved.

Here we go, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 17 to 21.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21

2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Sound familiar?

Saul, new creation.

A murderer, not anymore.

A persecutor, not anymore.

The old has passed away.

Behold, look.

So he says, Behold, the new has come.

All this is from who?

Not me.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

My job, my purpose, our main goal as believers, we are in the ministry of reconciliation.

How can man stand before God and not be destroyed?

How can we be reconciled to him?

How can our debt be paid?

Look to the cross.

We continue on in verse 19.

Reconciliation, this ministry, that is, in Christ, God was reconciling to the world, the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

The debt that we owed is no longer held in our face in entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

God making his appeal through us, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

We beg you, we plead with you.

If it's the only thing you do today, or tomorrow, or the rest of your life, if you have one thing left to do in this life, be reconciled to God.

That's all he wants.

Be reconciled.

Verse 21 is powerful.

Write this down.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what it's like to know God, to know that there's no way to repay.

There's no way to say, now we're even.

No, you you accept the free gift of God, this grace that has been extended to you through Jesus.

You believe the Savior has paid your debt.

You believe that only through Christ you can be made clean.

You can be forgiven of your sin.

This is what we do as Christians.

If this is sounding odd or unfamiliar to you, this is what Christianity is about.

It's following Christ.

We're called to promote and magnify God's name, to glorify him, to lift high the name of no, not our favorite sports team, not our favorite show, not our favorite clothing brand, not our favorite place to be, not our favorite place of vacation.

No, none of that.

We're called to promote and magnify the gospel, magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Isaiah chapter 43, verse 7, we read this everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Isaiah 43:7

This is the purpose of those who would believe in God, to glorify him.

That is the purpose of the Christ follower, the purpose of the man or woman, boy, girl, young and old, to know Christ, to love him, and to glorify him.

We have a job to do.

And if you if you think that being a Christian is kind of a, huh, it's like a downer.

It's like, meh.

No.

No.

We contend, we fight for the glory of the Creator God.

You fight for the honor that is rightly due Jesus' name.

Write this down for point number three.

Contend for God's glory above all things.

Above all.

More than leveling up in your favorite video game.

More than eating your vegetables and getting extra sleep so that way you can be above average in height.

More than earning the biggest paycheck you could ever imagine.

More than living in the most beautiful place on earth.

More than having the perfect friend group and feeling good about yourself because you get attention from other people.

No.

We contend as Christians for God's glory above all things.

And we do that in a wide variety of ways.

You've heard me share this verse and many others on Sunday evenings, 1 Corinthians 10, 31.

Whatever we're doing, whether we're eating or drinking, whatever you do, do all to the glory of self.

No, the glory of God, the way you speak to one another, the way you do your chores, the way you eat your food, the way that you think, the way that you speak, your attitude, what you choose to say, what you choose not to say.

This all glorifies God if you have a heart that seeks his glory above your own.

Colossians 3, verses 12 through 17 is giving us some instructions here, some directions.

Colossians 3:12–17

This is Paul again.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint against another, which that never happens, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you.

So you must also forgive.

There's no grudges, there's no rivalries in the house of God.

We are to forgive one another.

And above all, Paul says, above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body.

There's a unity in Christ.

There's no more competition of who's greater, because Christ is the greatest.

It goes on to say, and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Let it live in your mind, in your hearts, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom.

Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual psalms with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And let's key in on this last verse here.

This is instructions, all these things.

This is how we give God glory.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is what we do.

This is how God is glorified.

We work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

We walk in and pursue the fruits of the Spirit, and we give the glory to where it is due, and that is to God Almighty.

Philippians 2, Paul continues.

He continues here.

Philippians 2, 14 and 15.

We can be a child of God and represent Him with our words, can we not?

With our minds, with our actions.

He says this in verses 14 through 15 in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

That's not an easy thing to do as a middle school or high school student.

I have been there, I have done that, and I have done a whole lot of grumbling and complaining.

This is an easy thing to do.

This is common for people your age.

And believe it or not, as people get older, it still lingers, it's still a challenge.

So as your parents are telling you what is expected, as every adult in the world is your authority, because you're no you're not an adult yet.

There's a lot of people telling you what to do, and it's easy to grumble, it's easy to dispute, it's easy to complain.

But what's going to bring God glory and honor in a twisted and crooked generation is doing everything without grumbling, everything without complaining, without disputing.

This is God's will for you.

So that the light of Christ in the gospel may be seen in you.

Jesus goes on to speak about being the light.

In Matthew chapter 5, he says this, verse 14, You are the light of the world.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

See, it's it's all about God's glory.

The gospel brings glory to God.

Your life as a Christian brings glory to God.

My question for you tonight is is your life bringing glory to yourself or is it bringing glory to God?

Paul's appeal is simple.

Remember the gospel.

Remember the Lord Jesus Christ.

He sent me to accomplish a specific work.

I am his instrument.

I am his instrument.

Do you see your identity in the gospel?

Do you see who you are today as you sit here?

Can you say, I am who I am because what Jesus has done, what he accomplished on the cross?

Can you say that?

Are you contending for God's glory above all things?

These are some heavy questions to be wrestling with.

And I don't take them lightly.

And I know that your small group leaders will help you work through them.

I trust, I trust them to do that.

I know they love the Lord Jesus Christ and they love the gospel that saves.

So I hope your time this evening will be fruitful, and I hope that God will work in a powerful way in your discussion times.

Let's pray.

God, we are so thankful for faithful ministers of the gospel, such faithful men who are your instruments, such faithful women in this world that you have created for your purpose to bring glory to yourself.

That is the role and responsibility of the Christian.

It's no longer us who live, but Christ that lives in us.

It's your glory, it's your mission, it's your story that we live for to see sinners saved and reconciled to God.

That is our desire this evening.

God, will you continue the work that you have here in this group, in the student ministry?

Continue the work that you have begun through your word, and may many come to a saving faith in your Son Jesus Christ through your scriptures and through the time that these students have here.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.