Be In Awe of GOD & Obey His Commands - Ecclesiastes 12:13 - Lanny Lewis

Come up with a scripture verse that really stuck

out to you this week as you read. And we'll discuss

it and hash it around and see really what it

means. And in March was my turn. And I was reading

Ezekiel chapter 4. I usually don't get in the

Ezekiel 4 · chapter mention

Old Testament because I get mixed up with this

king and that king and Jeroboam and Fishbrain

and everything else. But I usually can get something

out of it. I get that nugget that God has served

for me. And I read this passage over and over

again. And I thought, there's something here.

There's something here. I don't get involved

in historical settings. Maybe I should. But I

look for something simple. Because I was a kid

teacher. And I always looked for something simple.

Some strong biblical truth. that I could simply

tell the kids and they could take home with them.

And then I looked at my Bible, and sometime in

the 37 years that I had that Bible, I wrote at

the top, what will the Lord require of me? Wow.

As we discussed, as the pastor said, you would

be better to write in there, what would the Lord

command me to do? And we had a discussion, and

he won. And I realized he was right. If it was

just a requirement, it doesn't mean I'd have

to do it. You're required to finish so many classes

in school, and sometimes you get a slide and

they let you by. But if it's a command, you have

to do it. You have no choice. This is what God

asks you to do, and you have to do it, whether

you like it or not. Whether you look foolish

or not, you have to do it. This is what God said

you should do. And if you want to be a child

of his and follow him, you need to do it. And

this is what Ezekiel did. A foolish thing. He

was a man of God. Would he stoop to do something

like this, what God asked him to do? Yes, he

would. And he did. A brief synopsis of what Ezekiel

Ezekiel 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 is. Ezekiel is now one of the captives

of Babylon. And the people looked back to Jerusalem

and said, there's still hope there. We're going

to go back to Jerusalem, no problems. And God

said, I'm going to take Jerusalem away from them.

And the Chaldean army is going to come and take

them. And they're going to be sieging the city.

And the people are going to be having a famine

and all sorts of horrible things. And in the

end, they will know that I am God. They will

know that they forsook me, as the scripture verse

says. What does it say? Consider then and realize

how evil and bitter it is because you forsook

the Lord and have no awe of me and no respect

for me, no reverence for me anymore, declares

the Lord Almighty. And they have lost respect

for God. And he was going to show them just who

he was, what kind of God he was. For the second

service, I had brought my little puppet along.

I'm going to show the kids over there what actually

he was asked to do. Again, this is a man of God

that was asked to do something by God which looked

so ridiculous and so foolish. And yet he did

it. He was asked to portray the siege of Jerusalem.

For 390 days, he was to lay on his side. And

then he was to turn the other direction, north

and then south, for Judah. And 40 days lay on

his side, bearing the sin of Judah. If you want

to know the whole scope of the thing, you can

look up Matthew Henry's commentary. It's about

four pages of print that's that small. Or you

can try to get it online. It's a little bit easier

to read there. He was asked to take a clay tablet,

picture on there Jerusalem. He was supposed to

set that there. He was then supposed to make

batting ramps going around it to show that the

city was going to be under siege. He was supposed

to put an iron pot there to show that God's iron

hand was going to be upon them. He was then supposed

to take so much food, a portion of lentils and

wheat, and he was supposed to ration his food

every day. He was also to take like a quart of

water. and drink that at appointed times. That

was to show the people there would be a famine

coming. God laid out the entire thing to show

the people what was going to happen. But I looked

at that. This is a man of God who speaks for

God and says, thus the sovereign Lord says this.

And now he's supposed to do something like this?

Is this the same man that spoke so powerful for

God? Yes. Because God commanded him to do this.

And there was no questions asked. He did it.

Because that's what God asked him to do. And

that's when I asked myself, what would God ask

me to do? And when I say, that's too foolish.

I can't do that, God. I can't do that before

the congregation, make a fool of myself. What

did God do for you? He left the glory of heaven.

with angels declaring his glory and praise 24

hours a day, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the

Lord God Almighty. And he came down here to this

forsaken place and died for his enemies, people

that didn't even care about him. That was pretty

foolish, wasn't it? But not in God's eyes. So

if he asked me to do something foolish for him,

is it really foolish? Is it really foolish? I've

done some crazy things at junior church. Some

crazy things. I think Sue thought I was crazy

most of the time. The one time I said, how can

I explain to them about the people breaking through

the roof and lowering that man on the mat? Well,

he came up with an answer. Because in my mind,

I was thinking, I remember when I heard this

story. How can they break through a slate roof

that's like this and lower some guy down? Every

roof and slate in him was slate with a high pitch.

How are these guys getting up in that roof and

breaking through the slate? So I did something

foolish. I made a little cardboard box of a building

with the stairs going up the side like it was

in Jerusalem and a flat roof. And straw on top.

Most adults would have probably thought that

was stupid and foolish. But the kids understand.

They understood what that scripture meant. How

those guys could take their sickened friend on

a mat and go up on the roof and break through

the roof and lower him down. Sometimes we do

foolish things. But if that's what God asks us

to do, do it. I said a year ago about me going

to the nursing home and I was supposed to have

a message for these old people, which I'm old

now. They couldn't hear, they couldn't see. And

I did the walls of Jericho falling down with

tin plates and wooden spoons and we blew a gazoo.

It was foolish because those people laughed.

And they said, I got it. I got it. I think Todd

was the one that came over there in Faith Hall

and straightened me out. I did the same thing

for the kids one day, trying to explain to them

about believing in God when he asked you to do

something. And we had cardboard boxes piled up.

And some of them had a string attached to them.

And we marched around and stomped our feet. And

then the kazoos came. And then they shouted.

And I think the shots would have got him upstairs

in Faith Hall because Todd came down and said,

what is going on down here? And I said, the walls

of Jericho just fell down. It's all over. No

biggie. But see, the kids could see. It was foolish.

Yes, it was foolish. But I'm a fool for Christ.

And the kids could see that this man who is a

military genius believed God's plan was better

than his plan of attack. And the people probably

thought it was foolish as they marched around.

But when they shouted and the walls came down,

it wasn't foolish, was it? What would happen

if he hadn't obeyed God's command? But he did.

Now, why, why, why would Ezekiel obey that what

seemed like a foolish thing to do? That has to

do with our other scripture. The people had no

awe for him anymore. They had forgotten who God

was, his magnitude, his grace, his power. They

had forgotten all that. Ezekiel chapter 1. In

Ezekiel 1 · chapter mention

the thirteenth year and the fourth month of the

fifth day, when I was among the exiles in the

Heber River, the heavens were opened, and I saw

visions of God. And on the fifth month, it was

the fifth year, and there goes all this business

which I got lost in. I looked. And I saw a windstorm

coming out of the north, an immense cloud with

flashing lightning and surrounded by a brilliant

light. The center of the fire looked like glowing

metal, and in the fire was what looked like four

living creatures. The appearance of their form

was that of a man, but each had four faces and

four wings. Their legs were straight, their feet

were, and so on and so on. God gave him an awe

moment where he saw the power of God and who

God was. And that's why when God asked him to

do something that seemed foolish, it wasn't foolish.

This was God asking him to do this. Chapter 2,

Ezekiel's call. He said to me, Son of man, stand

up on your feet and I will speak to you. And

as he spoke, the Spirit came on me and raised

me to my feet and I heard him speaking to me.

He said, Son of man. I am sending you to the

Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled

against me. They and their fathers have been

in revolt against me to this very day. The people

to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.

Say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord

says. And whether they listen or fail to listen,

for they are a rebellious house, they will know

that a prophet has been among them. And you,

son of man, do not be afraid of them or their

words. Do not be afraid, though the briars and

thorns are all around you. and live among you.

Do not be afraid, or what they will do to you,

I will be with you. That's why we can do what

the world thinks is foolish, because God doesn't

think it's foolish. And this is what I command

you to do. And if you do it, you are doing the

commands of God, and he will be with you, and

he will protect you, and he will keep you. We

today have lost the awe of God. I have lost the

awe of God many times. When I run out of the

house in the morning to do something, and I haven't

prayed, and I haven't read my Bible, I've lost

the awe of God. I haven't put him first before

anything else in my life. Yes, I can say I'm

busy, I have to do this, but I've lost that awe

of him, that he is the first thing in the morning

that I should think of. Nothing else. So are

we all guilty of it? Yes, we are. How do we get

that awe back? Just by taking time to just sit.

Get off our cell phones. The kids get off their

tablets. And remember, there's more to life than

that. It's God. He's the number one thing. When

I met Sue 53 years ago and a half, Did I have

an awe of her? She's a keeper. Why haven't I

lost that awe of her in 53 years? Because constantly

I remind myself, she is my wife. She is the one

God's given to me. And that's what keeps us all

going. Something special between us. If there's

that something special between you and God, then

you won't lose the awe of God. And when you do

run out of the house and don't read or pray in

the morning, you're going to feel it and say,

I've lost it this morning. I'm sorry, Lord. I've

lost that respect for you. You were waiting for

me to come and talk to you. You were waiting

for me to come and read your word and learn of

you, and I missed it. And we ask for forgiveness,

and he is a gracious God. and forgives us our

sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness

and restores that awe of him that we have. And

that's what it's all about. That's how some people

can go through their entire life and calamity

and problems and trials come their way and they're

still a solid rock because they still remember

who's in control of their life. God is. They're

not. Okay? So that's our first person. I just

picked another person. Well, I'll tell you what,

I'm like teaching kids. I'm going to jump around.

I just decided to jump back to page 7 or 8, whatever

it is. A true story about somebody that did something

totally ridiculous. And the family thought that

she was having a nervous breakdown. Marty was

her name. A seasoned missionary in Africa for

probably 21, 27 years. We knew Marty. One day

in her devotions, God said, I want you to leave

the field and go back home. Now, if you picture

this, she's a missionary in Africa for 21 years.

She is content there. She has a vibrant ministry.

And God one day says, I want you to go home.

Leave the field and go home. And the next time

she prayed, God said, leave the field and go

home. Finally, she called her mission board because

she felt so uneasy being in the field, which

she hadn't felt that way in 28 years. She calls

her mission board to give her temporary furlough.

She comes home not knowing anything, still puzzled.

Lord, what is going on? She goes to some mission

meetings, tries to understand, tries to get to

her supporting churches and lets them know, I

don't know what's going on. And then comes Reverend

Stringfield, a missionary in Africa for 28 years.

He lost his wife in Africa. A simple blood clot.

Took her to the hospital and she died. Four children.

They were one of God's servants. Left in Africa

with four kids. He started four churches, a trade

school. He went through two coup attempts in

Kenya. One time, he was simply hiding. They hid

him in one of the churches in the bush because

any white person was killed on the spot. Why

would a man that goes through all this have to

also lose his wife? Did he understand it? No.

Oh, and then there's the end of cleansing, too,

where they're killing other tribes. My aunt said,

pray for Larry. There's a lot of people in Africa.

They got two miles away from where he was, and

they turned and went a different direction. Larry

comes home. He stayed there for probably six

months after his wife died. You've got to understand,

you can't just leave. You have four churches

you're serving. What do you do? You have to sell

your furniture or give it to somebody else? You

have to raise support to come home. Finally,

the mission board said, come home. You've got

to get out of there. You've got to come home.

He came home. He went to mission meetings, tried

to let his churches know what's going on. And

then guess what? One mission meeting, as Larry

walked through the door, Marty said to her, that's...

I brought you home. That is your husband. You

will marry him, and the both of you will go back

to Africa and complete his work. Is God still

alive today? Is God still an awesome God today?

Larry had no ministry without Michelle, his wife.

She did the prayer letters. She took care of

the kids. She homeschooled. She did everything.

He was the minister. They went out to the churches,

went out in the bush. But he was lost, totally

lost, and his ministry was worthless without

his wife, who was his partner. And God said,

I'm not done with you yet, Larry. You're going

back to Africa. And Marty is going to be your

wife and go with you. She gave up her ministry

of 28 years, a successful ministry on her own.

Why? Was it foolish? Not in her eyes. Because

God said, this is what I want you to do. She

had an awe for God that overseeded all her personal

feelings, all her personal ambitions. That's

recognizing who God is. When we met her, what

a woman. What a godly woman. And they went back.

And then the kicker, Larry, had a heart attack

and died. And she's left with four kids that

told her outright, you will never be our mother.

But when Marty got cancer and she was dying,

the kids called us and said, pray for our mom,

our mom, not our stepmom. He said, pray for our

mom because we know she's dying and we miss her

so much already. What God did in that family.

See, this is what people don't see outside there.

They don't see the awe of God, how he orchestrates

things, how he plans things, how he works things

out. We should. I'm just fortunate because my

aunt was a missionary, and we have all the stories

that she used to tell us about missionaries and

how they would see God move and act, and most

people don't see that. They don't see what's

happening out there, where God is moving and

shaping and how he's leading people and directing

people. That's a real -life case of how a woman

said, God said this is what I should do, and

I'm going to do it. Simple faith, just walking

out, not knowing what was going to happen. I

wasn't planning on going there, but that's where

I went. It's just like teaching junior church.

One kid would do something, and I'd just go in

a whole different direction, and that's where

I wound up. We're going to look at the last person

here. This person had an awe for God, knew who

God was. It's Job. He not only prayed for himself,

but he just sacrificed for his kids constantly

to make sure that they weren't going astray.

And then Job has everything taken away from him.

It doesn't say he complained, but he kind of

sat and sulked a little bit, wondered what God

was doing, what was happening in his life. And

then again, we go back to this verse. How evil

and bitter it is when we forsake the Lord, we

turn away from him, we abandon him. And I think

probably Job at this point of breaking had probably

thought of abandoning God too. As his wife said,

why don't you just curse God and die? Get it

over with. Just curse God and die. He's left

you. And then we come to Job chapter 38, 39,

Job 38 · chapter mention

40, and 41. God gives Job another awe moment

to put things back in proper perspective. In

Job 38 .1, it says, Then the Lord answered Job

out of a storm. In verse 2, Who is this that

darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

Verse 3, Brace yourself like a man, and I'm about

to question you. I think if God said that to

me, brace yourself like a man, I'm going to start

questioning you. I think I'd get attention. And

then God has four whole chapters where he tells

Job just who I am. And Job has an awe moment.

Job 38 .11, concerning the sea, I said, this

far will you come, and you shall come no further.

Here it is where your prodness halts. Job 38

.12, have you ever given orders to the morning?

Job 38 .22, have you entered the storehouse of

the snow? Job 38 .14, were you there when I laid

the foundations of the earth? Job 38 .35, do

you send lightning bolts on their way? Job 39

.27, does the eagle soar at your command? Job

49, do you have an arm like God's? And can you

make thunder like him? The awe of God. Hits Job

again. Chapter 42, Job replies to the Lord. Surely

I spoke of things I did not understand, things

too wonderful for me. And in verse 5, my ears

had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.

That's his moment. I really know now who you

are. And whatever you ask me to do, I will do.

Whatever I go through for you, I will go through

for you. Because you are God, and there is none

like you. See, that's the difference. Is he real

to us, or is he just real once in a while? He

wants to be real all the time, not just once

in a while. Fear God and keep his commandments.

One of my most favorite verses, Romans 1, 12,

1 and 2. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in

the view of God's mercy, that you offer your

body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing

to God, which is your reasonable service. That's

our duty. What is the duty of man? To serve God,

to please him, to glorify him. It's not about

us. It's about him. About one day him saying

to us, well done, my good and faithful servant.

Enter into eternal joy. And any foolishness,

and any craziness, and any people, verbal abuse,

or physical abuse, whatever we take, for the

name of Jesus, will be like a snap, a fleeting

moment, when we see Jesus and bask in his presence.

I just want to conclude with five points here.

The pastor always says you need three points.

I got five, so I guess I'm doing good. What does

God expect of me? Number one is devotion. Daniel

Daniel 3:16–18

3, verses 16 to 18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

replied to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar. They addressed

him as king. We do not need to defend ourselves

before you in this matter. If we are thrown in

the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able

to save us from it, and he will rescue us from

your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we

want you to know, O king, We will not serve you

or your gods or the image you have set up. We

worship the God and God alone. He expects devotion

from us. Total devotion, even to the point of

death. And there are many Christians today, which

we don't hear about, that are facing death each

and every day because of their devotion to Jesus

Christ. And they don't care what will happen

to them. They're being martyred. because of their

faith in Jesus, because maybe the underground

church is raided, or because someone finds a

scripture verse hidden somewhere in their house

and they are murdered because of it. Devotion

to Jesus, regardless of the circumstances. The

second thing he wants from us is consistency.

Daniel 6, 10 -11. Now when Daniel learned that

the decree had been published, he went home to

his upstairs room where the windows opened toward

Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down

on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God,

just as he had always done before. Consistency.

I don't care what laws are going to be made that

I can't pray, I'm going to pray, because that's

what I do. My God's expecting me to come to that

window and pray three times a day, and I will

do it. Consistency of worship, consistency of

praise to God, consistency in our devotions.

That's why I get upset when I run out of the

house and say I'm too busy to read this morning.

I'm not consistently in the Word. And then a

third point. He wants us to be a friend of the

bridegroom. I'm going to jump over to John 3.

I like that one better. It says, To this John

replied, A man can only receive what is given

him from heaven. You yourselves can test for

that. I said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent

ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom.

The friend who attends to the bridegroom waits

and listens for him and is full of glory, or

full of joy, excuse me. When he hears the bridegroom's

voice, that's the intimacy. The joy is mine and

is not complete. He must become greater and I

must become less. Jesus wants us to be a friend

of the bridegroom, a friend that never ever seeks

glory for himself, but points everything to God.

Everything should be pointed to the master and

not to us. Whatever we do for him, it should

not be about us. It should be about him. And

lastly, two more. The greatest commandment, Mark

12, 28. One of the teachers of the law came and

heard them debating, noticing that Jesus had

given them a good answer. He asked him, of all

the commandments, which is the most important?

The most important one, answered Jesus, is, Hear,

O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord

your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no greater commandment than these. It's

a pretty complete list. What God requires of

us is our heart, our soul, our mind, our strength,

our life. It's not for the faint at heart. It's

for those that truly are disciples that want

to be in it for the end game and want to be right

there on the firing line at the end to hear that

word, well done. I'm not my own. I've been bought

with a price. We keep forgetting that. We think

it's all about us. It's not about us. It's about

him, what he's done for us, and what one day

he will reveal to us. And lastly, the fifth thing

that I think is required of us is an intimate

walk with him daily. Micah 6, the Lord's case

against Israel. He showed you, O man, what is

good, and what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly

with your God. An intimate walk with him daily.

Remember, he said, I know my sheep and my sheep

know me. When I talk to them, they know it's

me. And they will answer me. It's not a prideful

that, yeah, God talks to me. It's a humbling

experience when I ask him. What do you want me

to talk about? I don't have anything to say.

And then week by week, he gives me something.

And I wake up in the middle of the night and

there's something else. And then there's something

else. And then I got eight pages. I don't know

where the eight pages came from, except it came

from him talking to me in here somewhere. It's

a humbling, humbling experience when he does

that. It's not a prideful thing. It's not a haughty

thing. It's humbling. I mentioned my aunt was

a missionary in Toledo, Iowa, and she and her

partner, Geneva DeBoard, ran Grace Gospel Mission.

And they had a banquet one time, and they were

trying to raise more support for the mission.

It was a mission for disadvantaged kids. They

had close to 100 kids. And she asked the one

person who was on the board, would you come and

speak that night at the mission? She said this

man was a humble man, not proud. would do anything

for the mission. If they had a problem with the

furnace, he was a businessman. He would come,

take off his suit, and work on the furnace and

everything. And when she asked him this, would

you come and speak at the banquet for us? He

simply looked at her and said. He didn't say,

well, I'm going to pray about it, Ellen, and

see what the Lord would want me to do, and then

I'll get back to you in a week or two, and we'll

work it out. That would have been haughty, proud.

Look at me. I'm a business person. I'm on the

board here, and you're asking me to do this.

He looked at her and said, I will talk to my

father tonight, and I'll have an answer by tomorrow

morning for you. That's the awe of God. That

close. I will talk to my father tonight, and

I'll have an answer for you tomorrow. You see,

that's what we're missing today. It's not whether

it's a contemporary service or a traditional

service, whether it is a guitar or a band. It's

not whether it's a big, beautiful building or

you're meeting in a hut somewhere in Africa.

It's God. It's about him, not about us or our

circumstances. And when we catch a glimpse of

that, that's what keeps us going. It's him, not

me. It's God, not me. What Alan told us that.

The hair just stood up in the back of my neck

that this man was so humble and simply said,

I'll talk to my father tonight. Like we would

talk to my dad or my mom. It was that much of

a relationship. We fall so short. I fall so short.

I was reminded that about 3 in the morning that

I have to tell you that. Because I forgot how

much of an impact that had made on my life when

this man was so humble and yet was so close to

God. The closer we get to God, the more humble

we get. What, I will bring the prod down and

I will elevate the simple? That's what he says.

I will make the foolish things wise and the wise

foolish. We serve a great God. We forget that.

We get so involved with our own lives, our own

problems, and he understands. He understands

we get a bad medical report, and it's going to

weigh on us. We lose our job, it's going to weigh

on us. He understands all that, but he understands

that we're his, and he wants us to be obedient

to him and to love him. That's what he asked

of us. It's not really a big thing. I mess up

a lot. Have I always kept the commandments? No

way. Ask the pastor. He'll be glad to share with

you. It'll be all worthwhile one day when we

stand before him. We have no idea what it will

be like. If he had told us what heaven was like

to be with him, we'd be so homesick. We'd want

to leave tomorrow or this afternoon. And that's

what we forget. Do you imagine heaven? Let's

remember to keep that all alive in us. That every

time we think of Jesus, we smile. Every time

we think of what he's done for us, we praise

him. And even when the bad things come, we thank

him that he's still there with us right by our

side. And that's what helps us get through it.

We need to get the awe of God back in churches

in America. They're too busy just making people

feel good and going home and, oh yeah, I put

my time in. I worship God for an hour. Now it's

my time. We have to really remind ourselves that

every day is God's time. He's waiting for you

to talk to him. He's waiting for you to sup with

him, commune with him, and to show him to a world

that is dying. We might be the only Bible that

people see in our actions and our deeds around

people. When I worked at the one nursery, they'd

say, Oh, sorry, Lanny. Sorry we swore. I said,

you're not offending me, you're offending my

God. And they said, ooh. Yeah, that's more serious

than offending me. Now I put it in a thought,

the fact that they're disgracing or offending

a God, their God, who wants to be their God.

That's all I have. That's all he's given me.

I can't add anything because if I add anything,

it would be my words, not his words. And the

prophets never, ever added anything because they

knew if it wasn't 100 % prophecy, they'd be stoned

to death. So help us as we converse with people,

meet people, present Christ truly as he should

be, guard ourselves. that we don't fly off the

handle, say something we shouldn't say, act in

a way we shouldn't act. That's what he commands

us to do. If you want to really look at the commands,

Romans chapter 12, 13, 14, and 15 is filled with

Romans 12 · chapter mention

hundreds of commands. I've been reading my Bible

for years, and I just read over them. I looked

at one of the commentaries, and it said, look

up the commands of God. the four chapters, wow,

there's a lot there. It's one after another.

Do this, do this, do this, do this. So we have

a long way to go yet to learn about God and what

he wants from us. But he understands, and he'll

help us each and every day doing more and more

like him as we journey with him. Let's pray.

Father, again, we thank you so much for your

word. That is what we have as prophets. You have

spoken, and you have commanded many things. And

forgive us, Father. We do get so busy, so concerned

with things in our everyday lives, and you understand

that. We worry about inflation. We worry about

wars. We worry about sickness. We worry about

catastrophes coming. But help us to remember

who we serve. What shall separate us from the

love of God? Nothing. No principalities, no demons,

no hardships, no sorrows, no trials. Nothing

will separate me from the love of God. We thank

you for that today. We thank you for reminding

me of how I need to rekindle that awe of you,

that respect of you, that honor of you, that

appreciation of you, and all that you did for

me on the cross at Calvary. Thank you and praise

you. I pray and hope, Father, that you were lifted

up and glorified today and that we take something

home with us that we can use and cherish for

the weeks ahead. And I thank you for that in

Christ's name. Amen.