Galatians 4:1-7 - Christmas Part 2

four. We were unable to meet last week because

of the snow. It's amazing how much how quickly

the weather changes around here. Sixty what five

on Christmas Day and last week you know single

digits in the snow. So we're going to look what

I had prepared for last week. And what I was

trying to do throughout this Advent season is

to preach according to the themes, and we'll

look at this in just a moment, but last week

would have been the theme of joy. And so we're

going to look at that this morning. So Galatians

chapter four is our text, but really beginning

at verse four, but we'll pick the text up in

verse one. Paul writing to the church said, now

I say that the air As long as he is a child,

does not differ at all from a slave, though he

is master of all. But he is under guardians and

stewards until the time appointed by the Father.

Even so, we, when we were children, we were in

bondage under the elements of the world. And

this is our principle text. But when the fullness

of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born

of a woman, born under the law. to redeem those

who are under the law, that we might receive

the adoption as sons. And because you are sons,

God has sent forth the Spirit of the Son into

your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore,

you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if

a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Let's

pray. Oh, Father, that's astounding, Lord. Your

word, what hope, what sustenance, what life it

gives. If we are a son, then we are an heir,

an heir of God through Christ. Lord, when the

fullness of time had come, you sent Him, our

Savior. Lord, I pray now that you might send

your Spirit, Lord. Illuminate the text, open

our eyes. Lord, let us see. the mysteries and

understand and grow deeper in our relationship

with you, Father. God, we need you this morning.

You tell us to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit,

and so we do, believing that Lord God, you will

help us this morning to worship your right. It's

in the name of Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

There's a verse in Proverbs 13, verse 12. Hope

Proverbs 13:12

deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire

comes, it's a tree of life. And I'm sure most

of you have had this experience, but have you

ever had to wait for something that you deeply

desire? I'm not talking about waiting in a checkout

line or waiting in traffic, but you were put

on hold. There was something that you deeply

desired and it was not coming. I mean, that waiting,

that time of waiting can be torturous. Often

we become discouraged or downcast, even spiritually

weak. Because unfulfilled expectations, they

do take an emotional toll on you. That's what

the Bible said. Hope deferred, hope that is not

coming, makes the heart sick. And there are many

situations this applies to. It could be a medical

situation, you're waiting for some test results,

and that waiting seems like an eternity. But

when the answer finally comes, and the answer

that you were actually hoping for, Ah, what joy.

You're elated. There's relief at the good news.

That answer to prayer brings a vitality, though

it's as though you were eating a fruit from the

tree of life. Proverbs 13 -12. The problem's

not just medical. It could be professionally

related. Some have had to go without work for

so long and the bills kept piling up. You don't

know what you're going to do. You don't know

what's going to happen. you're praying, hope

is being deferred. And then suddenly the prayers

have been answered and you get the call that

you received the job you were hoping for. Again,

what joy, celebration, a feeling of relief. Sandy

and I experienced this firsthand. When we got

married, we were hoping for children right away.

In fact, we had talked and our desire was that

even she would get pregnant on the honeymoon.

Yet the Lord had other plans. He had us to wait.

And really, I can say at the first we were okay

waiting, that we didn't immediately get pregnant,

that was fine. But days turned to weeks. Then

the weeks turned to months. And those months

turned to years. And I remember those years.

It was a hard trial. It was hard because we had

desperately hoped for children and the Lord was

not granting our request. Our hearts were sick,

as Proverbs says, because hope... was deferred.

Countless pregnancy tests taken, countless negative

results given. Sandy called me one day while

I was working here at the office and she had

taken a new medication, wasn't feeling quite

well. And so the doctor said, hey, if this doesn't

sit well with you, call. So I called the nurse

there and just said, hey, this medication is

not sitting well with Sandy. And the nurse said,

well, that's That's not typical side effects

of that medication. She said, that actually sounds

like side effects or not side effects. That sounds

like just, I can't think of the word, pregnancy,

you all get the idea. Whatever that word would

be, that's what it sounds like, okay? Side effects

would be the wrong words. Pregnancy is not a

disease, so I don't know her medicine. But anyway,

so I called Sandy and I remember telling her,

I said, Sandy, don't get too excited. I said,

but the nurse said she, sign, that's it. She

thinks this might be a sign of pregnancy. rather

than the medicine causing this. And so on the

way home, I remember I stopped at Dollar General

and I picked up a bunch of different pregnancy

tests of different brands, because they say they're

99 % accurate, but let's just make sure. And

then I remember, and I remember this very well,

October of 2017, Sandy took that first pregnancy

test and then instantly showed positive. The

desire had come. There were tears, and there

were prayers, and there were praises to God.

That moment in our lives, in our marriage, it

was if we had eaten fruit from the tree of life.

Hope was no longer deferred. The desire had come.

See, when hope is fulfilled, our souls are refreshed

and joy, joy is the theme of our lives. This

I had planned to preach last Sunday, but God

in His providence had me to wait till today.

So last Sunday, the theme of Advent is on joy.

So if you look at week one of Advent, that is

on hope. Week two, I looked at a few weeks ago,

peace. Last week should have been joy. And my

plan was today to preach on love. But the joy

that is referred to here comes because the arrival

of Jesus and the salvation that he brought. It

is a joy that light, the light, has invaded our

darkness and the life has overcome death. There

is joy because we are no longer estranged from

God and we no longer are without hope in this

world. But friends, hope had been deferred for

quite a long time because Christ did not immediately

arrive. It is not as though Adam sinned in the

garden and then Jesus immediately shows up to

die for sinners. That's not how it went. Instead,

there were centuries, even millennia, about four

millennia by the way, of waiting after Adam had

sinned. Now we know that a promise was given

immediately there, that there would be, what,

a serpent -crushing deliverer who would come.

Yeah, his heel would be bruised, but he would

stomp on Satan's head. Genesis 3 .15. And I will

put enmity between you and the woman, and between

your seed and her seed. He that deliver shall

bruise your head." And that means crush. And

you will bruise his heel. So God promised a Savior

immediately when Adam sinned. But 4 ,000 years

passed between the time God gave the promise

and the time the promise was actually fulfilled.

Hope was deferred for 4 ,000 years, and the people,

what were they doing? Waiting. Waiting expectantly.

for the arrival of the Messiah. Now we come to

the text in Galatians 4, verse 4. But when the

Galatians 4:4

fullness of time had come, God sent forth His

Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Why?

Verse 5. To redeem those who are under the law,

that we might receive the adoption as sons. The

fullness of time was come at just the right time

in history. See, under ancient law the father,

you can go to the next slide guys, the father

chose the date when his son would receive the

inheritance. He chose the date. That was at the

father's discretion. In like manner, God the

father chose the time when his son would come

and procure the inheritance for his children.

The timing was not rushed, but neither was the

timing delayed. Instead, at the perfect time,

at the perfect moment when the fullness of time

had come, then enters Christ into human history.

Now, why was the time right? It was right for

various reasons. First, you think about the law

itself. The law of Moses had completed its preparatory

role. God's people had been under the law all

the way until the time Christ came. But the law

in that time had done its work. It had prepared

the people. It was like a schoolmaster, a tutor.

It had prepared the people for the preparation

to receive the Messiah. Second, religiously,

it was really the right time. Israel had been

judged for her idolatry. She had endured the

70 years of captivity in Babylon. She had been

judged during that time. So after returning from

exile, Israel was no longer worshipping false

gods. no longer worshipping idols. But it's also

during that time in exile that the Jews developed

synagogues. Those were places, what, to serve

as places of worship, places of education. They

also served as a court. That was all taking place

during the exile. They also completed the canon

of the Old Testament, primarily with Ezra being

the scribe. All that had been done. And that's

going to help proclaim the Messiah when he comes.

Third, culturally, it was the right time because

now there was a common language. You have to

understand, Alexander the Great had spread what

Greek culture, the Hellenization of the ancient

world. Yet Greek culture and Greek language was

now known throughout the world. There's a common

language there. And this would ensure, this common

language of Greek, Koine Greek, would ensure

that the news of the gospel would spread easily.

Fourth, it was correct, because politically,

the right time had come because Rome, that was

the world superpower at that time, had instituted

the Pax Romana, the time of peace. And that gave

what? Political stability. It gave economic stability.

And Rome had developed that great system of roads.

So now, not only was there common language Greek,

there was now a great road system on which they

could travel, spreading the gospel message. And

that's what you see in the Book of Acts. The

apostles and early leaders, they traveled freely

and relatively safely throughout the empire because

Rome had built that impressive system of roads

that was just new at that time in history. So

it's for all these reasons that it was the right

time in history. And Galatians tells us at this

perfect time, when the fullness of time, when

the time was right, God sent forth His Son. Now

friends, that's in itself really worth looking

at. We just look and say, yeah, God sent His

Son. No, no. God sent His Son. The fact that

His Son was sent shows that the Son existed prior

to His birth in Bethlehem. Christ's existence

did not begin with a manger in Bethlehem. Jesus

is the eternal Son. Christ being sent from heaven

reveals to us something about the nature of that

child that was born. It's not just an ordinary

child, we know that from his conception, but

his nature is divine. He is God the Son, fully

equal to the Father in both glory and essence.

In fact, what we would say is he's the second

person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the eternal

and only begotten Son of the Father. And Galatians

tells us, when the time was ripe, God the Son

came down from heaven and entered into human

history. God sent him. But then it says he was

born of a woman. Okay, now he's born. So God,

eternal, is being born. This reveals to us his

humanity. He was born like all other men were

born. Now his conception was different. He was

conceived in the virgin's womb. She had never

known a man. That was miraculous. We call it

the virgin birth, and that's true. It ought to

be called the virgin conception. So, but his

birth was a normal human birth like anyone else

would have experienced. Mary would have experienced

pain in the birth of Jesus. You know, we sing

away in a manger and that line in the church,

no crying he made. It's not true. He was, have

you ever known a baby not to cry? If you know

a baby not to cry, it's not a baby. Because babies

are really good at a few things, dirtying diapers

and crying. They've mastered it really well.

And by the way, Jesus would have done both, and

that's no disrespect. Because when we take away

that, we're taking away his humanity. He is truly

human. So he was sent. He's the divine one. But

he was born. He is human. Isaiah hinted at this

in Isaiah 9 -6, for unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given. Notice, child is born,

humanity. Son was given, deity. Jesus is the

God -man. It's what we call the hypostatic union.

He is both truly God, no less, not a demigod,

not half man, half God. He is truly God and truly

man. One person, two natures. His birth, though,

that's what we celebrate in this Advent season.

What is it? God became man. Kyle and I were talking

before we came up here. We meet together to pray

before the service starts, and we're talking

about this. I'm like, if we would just stop to

pause and think about that statement. God, Almighty

Creator, He becomes man. with all the limitations

of humanity. Why? Well, he had to be fully man

to take on man's penalty, for it was man, it

was Adam who would send. Jesus would serve as

a representative of humanity just as Adam had

done. So as God, he could be our savior. As man,

he could be our substitute. And that's one of

the mysteries of the incarnation. Martin Luther

says this, Christianity does not begin at the

top, as all other religions do. It begins at

the bottom. You must run directly to the manger

and the mother's womb, embrace this infant and

virgin child in your arms, and look at him. Born,

being nursed, growing up, going about in human

society, all normal things, right? Teaching,

dying. Now here's where the normal things end.

Rising again. ascending above all the heavens

and having authority over all things. See friends,

Christmas is the wonder. It's the celebration

at the condescension of God. And if something

is oxymoronic about that statement is that there

should be no condescension of God. God should

never condescend, but he did. And we remember

that and we celebrate this mystery that, yes,

there's God incarnate. God becomes man. And this

is a sublime show of humility. God the Son, the

eternal Son, with all the glory of heaven, took

on human nature, our nature, with all its temptations

and with all its limitations. He now is subject

to hunger and thirst and being cold and being

tired. But the Bible says something else in Galatians

4. Paul says Christ is born under the law. Jesus

is born a Jew. He's subject to the totality of

God's law. See, he was under the obligation,

Jesus was under the obligation to obey the law

or else be judged by the law. See, his birth

into Judaism meant that he was required, as all

other Jews, to perfectly keep the law of Moses.

Yet, unlike every other Jew, Jesus completely

obeyed and fulfilled it. And that's why He was

qualified to be able to redeem us from the curse

of that law. Look in the New Testament. Jesus,

you see, He circumcised on the eighth day. He

obeyed the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, perfectly

obeyed them, kept every one of them. You find

Him at Passover, keeping Passover. All the other

required feast days, Jesus was present. He did

every single thing the law required, every jot,

every tittle. He dotted every I, crossed every

T, if you want to say it that way, but even died

under the law. In Galatians chapter 3, the chapter

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

before, verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from

the curse of the law, having become a curse for

us. For it's written, cursed is everyone who

hangs on a tree. Christ became a man. so that

he could obey the whole law, that he could also

suffer the punishment that was due us for having

broken it. Two things, he had to obey it, and

then he would die as one who had broken it, although

he did not. The Lord Jesus willingly accepted

this sentence of death in himself. Why? Because

that's what his people deserved. He's going to

redeem us. He's going to buy us back. He's going

to serve as our substitute. What did we deserve?

Death. What did he submit to? Death. He became

a curse for us so that you and I would not die

accursed from God. That's grace. Verse 5, to

redeem, to redeem them that were under the law,

that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now,

to redeem, Paul's speaking here of Christ's atonement.

In fact, if you want to look at the letter, we

don't have time to do so. He opened this particular

book, the letter to the Galatians, speaking of

Christ's atonement. Chapter 1, verse 3, grace

to you, peace from God the Father and our Lord

Jesus Christ. Standard greeting of Paul, verse

4, who gave himself for our sins. Christ gave

himself in order to redeem his sinful people.

What does it mean to redeem? To buy back. It

was used or referred to the buying back of slaves.

So slaves, after they were purchased and after

the redemption price had been paid, they were

emancipated. They were set free. And the Bible

says Jesus redeemed us in order to free us from

what? Our slavery. Our slavery was not a physical

slavery. Our slavery was a moral slavery. We

were enslaved to sin. But there had to be a redemption

price. Slaves had to be redeemed, a price had

to be paid, and death was the price because that

was the penalty that was attached to anyone who

broke God's law. The wages, the payment of sin,

is death. To break the law made you a covenant

breaker. And if you were a covenant breaker,

you were deserving of death. Now God loved us.

He didn't start loving us after Jesus died. He

loved us even while we were yet sinners. Because

that's when Christ died for us. God loved us,

but in order to bring us back in full status

as the Son of God, His justice must be satisfied.

Because God's not going to deny justice, because

He's a just, a morally upright and perfect God.

So what did His justice demand? Well, for anyone

who broke the law, there must be death. The person

who broke had to die, or a sacrifice had to be

given in its place. That's what the whole Levitical

sacrificial system represented, right? And the

Bible says Jesus gave Himself. He gave Himself

as that sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God that

takes away the sin of the world. Now, how could

He offer Himself in our place? Because He's one

of us. He was a man. And as a man, He could serve

as our substitute. In his commentary, Govett

says, Christ by nature, the Son of God became

Son of Man, that we by nature, Sons of Man, might

become Sons of God. But John's thought, he said,

so the divinity of Christ, the humanity of Christ,

and the righteousness of Christ uniquely qualified

him to be man's Redeemer. If he had not been

man, he could not have redeemed unrighteous men.

And if he had not been God's son, he could not

have redeemed men for God or made them sons of

God. So do you see what we're saying is you must

believe in this incarnation and understand the

nature of Christ that he is the God -man. You

can't have one with the other or you lose salvation.

He's the God -man. As God, as his savior. As

man, he's our substitute. But why? And it tells

us so that we might receive the adoption. of

sons. So yes, you're saying Christ came to atone

for our sins. Yes, Christ came for our atonement,

but He also came for our adoption. God sent His

Son to make us sons. Now to understand Paul's

point here in Galatians 4, you have to understand

something about adoption in ancient Rome. It

is not like it is today. In the Roman world,

there might have been a few exceptions. If a

man was going to pass on his wealth, it had to

be to his sons, not daughters here. That's why

the Bible uses the term sons. It's not been sexist.

It's picking up on this point here. All the wealth

and land inheritance all went to men. In Rome,

under Judaism, you could give it to a daughter

occasionally. Now, if a man had no sons, or he

felt that one of his sons was not worthy or noble

enough to take care of the wealth, or he wouldn't

manage it correctly, he then, now look, this

is what happened, he would adopt another man.

and make him a worthy son. Now when we think

of adoption, we often think of children adopting

infants. That's very common today. But that's

not how it happened in ancient Rome. Older boys

or even adult men were the ones normally adopted.

So when the adoption, once it was legally approved,

the adoptee then would have all his debts canceled

and he would actually receive a new name. He

would be the legal son with legal rights of his

adopted father, meaning he was now entitled to

all the rights and all the benefits of being

a son of that father who had now adopted him.

So now in ancient Rome, a father could disown

a natural son, but once adoption took place,

it was irreversible. Now do you see what Paul's

picking up on? Paul's analogies, he's writing

to people that understood the Roman culture.

Christians, you and I are born slaves, we're

enslaved to sin. Jesus paid the redemption price,

redeemed us out of our slavery. But we're not

just freed, we're not just emancipated. Rather,

we have been adopted by God the Father. Well,

how do you know that? He gave us God the Holy

Spirit. As sons of God, then, we become heirs,

heirs to God's inheritance. Now friends, listen,

you can be an heir of Jeff Bezos, you can be

an heir of Bill Gates, you can be an heir of

some of these wealthy men, and you might stand

and inherit a lot, but it pales in comparison

if you're an heir of God. You get that inheritance,

all right? Now Christ is the only begotten Son

of God, meaning Christ is the only Son by nature.

You and I are sons by adoption. Now, it would

have been amazing enough. This would have been

grace had Christ came and freed us from our bondage.

That would have been amazing. But the story doesn't

end there. He didn't redeem us to leave us as

his servants. He redeemed us to make us his sons.

Then he might adopt us. See, our redemption was

not the end. Sonship was always the goal. And

when we placed our faith in Christ, we came into

the family of God. And when you come into the

family of God, you have all the rights and privileges

of being a son. This is why John said, in 1 John,

he said, behold, what manner of love the Father

has bestowed upon us. Listen, behold, take notice

that we, that you and I, should be called the

sons of God. Now, modern translations will use

children, but it's important towards son. because

that's the heir. He says, listen, think about

the love that God the Father bestowed on you

that we might be called the sons of God. In Christ,

we have all the freedom, the privilege, and responsibilities

of being a son of God. Paul said in Romans 8

-17, if children, then heirs. heirs of God, but

notice what he said, joint heirs with Christ.

Friends, that's incredible as well. You and I

stand to inherit all that the Lord Jesus Christ

will inherit. We write in on his coat tails,

we are heirs of God and co -heirs, not sub -heirs,

co -heirs with Christ. He's the true son and

we're made sons, but we get everything he gets.

You know what that's called? Grace. God turned

slaves into sons. And the theme is on joy. Tell

me, what could be more joyous than this? Now,

there's one glaring difference between Roman

adoption and what God did. Christians are not

adopted because God thinks we will make worthy

heirs. That's what the Roman father would look

at. Someone's going to take care of the estate

after he passes away. Rather... This, in a surprising

turn of events, God adopts people who are completely

unworthy, and He adopts us on the basis of His

grace and makes us worthy. What's the result

of our adoption? Verse 6 in Galatians 4, and

because you're sons, God has sent forth the Spirit

of the Son into your hearts, crying out Abba,

Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave.

Friends, you're no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir. An heir of God through

Christ. The father sent the son who died, was

buried, and rose again to redeem us. And then

the father sent his spirit. to make that real

in our lives and to assure us of this. So the

Father adopted us, the Son redeemed us, and the

Spirit assures us, or the Spirit applies redemption,

you could say that. So all of the blessed Trinity

is involved in our salvation. And this is the

thing, guys, listen, at this Christmas, don't

miss this point. God wants you, every single

person in here that knows Christ, to rest in

His fatherly love. He wants you to know and enjoy

the assurance that you have as a child of His

who has been adopted into His eternal family.

He wants all of His children to know and enjoy

the fact that they belong to Him and are beloved

by Him. God loves you. And the gift of the Holy

Spirit is our adoption papers. The Spirit of

God is the seal that we belong to God. He's the

one who helps us to recognize our position as

sons. He comes into our heart and testifies to

that. So God sends a son to make us his children,

and then God sends a spirit to let us know that

we truly are his children. Man, God really wants

us to know this, doesn't he? The spirit who dwells

within us allows us to confidently cry out to

God, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth,

Yahweh. The covenant -keeping God. God the Spirit

allows us to cry out to him with this title,

Abba. Father. Abba is an Aramaic term. It's in

the diminutive. So, you know, like we have dad

and we have daddy. This is the diminutive. It's

more like daddy. It's an Aramaic. So it connotes

or denotes intimacy. It also denotes relationship.

So you could say this, Abba is like, dear father,

dear dad. Are you comfortable calling God that

dear dad? The spirit says he's going to make

you pray like that. FF Bruce in his commentary

said ABBA is the voice of Jesus on the lips of

his people and I love that. The voice of Jesus

on the lips of his people is when we cry out

to God ABBA. Daddy dad. Sometimes we cry out

to dad help. Sometimes we're just praising Him,

sometimes just talking to Him, but we're always

crying out to Him. See, you and I have this incredible

privilege of addressing God in the same way that

Jesus addressed Him. No slave could ever call

their master Abba, but that's what you have with

the Almighty. God, creator of heaven and earth,

is our Abba. See, you know what I would tell

you today? Rejoice! Rejoice, dear Christian!

Lift up your voice and rejoice. This is the joy

of Christmas. This is the joy of Advent. Christ

was born a child so that God could make us His

children. Warren Wiersby poignantly points out

some of the differences between slaves and sons.

I'll mention three quickly. The son has a father

while the slave has a master. As I said earlier,

no slave ever got to call the master Abba. You

didn't get to say father to him. So when the

sinner trusts Christ, he receives that Holy Spirit,

and the Spirit tells him, you are a child of

the Father. Secondly, the son obeys out of love,

because he's confident in this relationship.

But the slave obeys out of fear, a slavish fear,

right? But not a son. And the Spirit of God works

in the heart of his people to increase our love

for God, and to awaken in us this understanding

that we are his sons. Third, the son is rich.

The slave will always be poor. We are sons and

we are heirs because we've been adopted. And

you can start drawing on your inheritance right

now. Part of that rich inheritance is to call

God Abba. In Christ, friends, God has given to

us the riches of His grace, the riches of His

glory, the riches of His goodness, and the riches

of His wisdom. You know what that means this

Christmas season? You might not have a gift under

the tree, but if you know Christ, you've been

enriched in all things. You have everything.

What joy, the joy of Advent, is there because

we've been rescued from sin and adopted into

the eternal family of God. And I close with this.

For whom is this joy? For whom is it? Now when

the angels in Luke 2 announce Christ's birth,

they said, I bring you good news of great joy

which will be to all people. For it is born this

day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ

the Lord. It was born for you this day in the

city of David, a Savior. Who first received that

announcement? You'll see it tonight if you come

back to see the children. The shepherds. It was

not first given to kings, nor to priests. nor

to the powerful ruling class, rather it was first

announced to those who are on the margins of

life." The outsiders. We think of shepherds cute.

Shepherds were not an esteemed occupation in

first century Palestine. Salvation was first

announced to those who were overlooked by the

world, yet seen by God. Praise God. And that's

the joy, friends. The joy of the incarnation.

is that Christ was born for all people, especially

for those who assume it's not for me. Christ

was born for you. If you recognize that you are

a sinner, you can't get into God's favor on your

own. If you will repent of your sins, you recognize

that you have fallen and broken God's law. And

if you will come to His sent Son in faith, then

this message of good news and great joy. It's

for you, for all those who are pender their sins

and trust in Christ alone for salvation. This

is the joy of Christmas. What are with four days

from now, friends, you'll gather with family.

Some of you on Christmas Eve, some on Christmas.

Some you may be stressful. Some there may be

some division and strife because families tend

to do that broken relationships. But in the midst

of all this, there can be joy. I want to say

tangible, but joy is etherealism. It's not tangible.

Real, deep, abiding joy. Christ has come. Christ

has died. Christ has risen. Christ is for you.

Celebrate that, friends. Let's do something.

Let's commune with this Christ, the living one,

who says, come to me. Come to me and I'll receive

you. And he says that we get to commune with

him. and the way he prescribed. Let's prepare

our hearts for communion at this time. Let's

pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for your precious,

glorious, almighty work. Lord, it is so good.

It is so rich. It is so deep. It is so satisfying,

and it is so necessary. God, help us, Lord, by

your spirit to comprehend with all the saints

what is the length and breadth and height and

depth to know the love of Christ, which passes

all understanding. Oh God, guard our minds and

our hearts, keep us in this awareness. Father,

there may be some here today who are on the peripheral,

they're on the outside, but not because, Lord,

you're keeping them on the outside, but Lord

God, they have never bowed the knee to Christ.

They're on the outside of the family of God,

and tonight or this morning, Lord, I would ask

God that you might awaken in them a desire for

your salvation, that they would see their sin

and the heinousness of it. Lord, you would draw

them, causing them to repent of their sin. and

trust in your son. God, do that. And Father,

for the saints who have gathered to worship you

this morning, Lord, expand our minds and our

hearts, Lord. Let us grow in our affection for

you and all that you have done. You are a very

good God, extraordinarily good, Lord. You are

our Abba, our dear dad, our dear dad in heaven.

God, thank you for this. And today, as sons,

adopted. We come to the table of the Lord And

we commune with Christ on high in the way that

he prescribed Meet us here. We pray in Jesus

name. Amen Deacons, if you'd come prepare the

table as the children walk in they will be seated

with the children You come in just make your

way back to the parents, please