"Revelation: A Thousand Years" Pastor Nick Tawa September 6, 2026

Alright, let's turn to the Bible and something.

In the queue is there's a Bible there that we could read along.

Scripture reading up on the screen or your own Bible.

We will be reading Revelation chapter 20, verses 20 through 16.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of gold, who was the devil, and Satan bound him for a thousand years.

And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

And after these things, he must be released for a little while.

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.

And I saw the souls of those who had been headed for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the peace for his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

But the rest of the dead did not live again until a thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection.

Blessed and holy is he who has part of the first resurrection.

Over such, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Praise God for his eternity.

I don't know if it's because of the rain or a scripture passage this morning.

But I woke up with a sense of what is God doing here?

And I want to ask you this morning, is there perhaps a reason why you're here this morning?

Something that God wants you to hear, He wants you to experience or remember or feel, perhaps.

And I don't know, I think that's the mystery of following Jesus or being here in this community, is that as much as it might seem like the focal point of the service is this message, really the focal point is how is God speaking?

How is God moving?

In the pages of Scripture, the image that we see time and time again is that of the Word of God.

Sometimes we reduce that to the written word, which is indeed important.

It's a privilege that we have these ancient scriptures translated into a version of English that we can comprehend.

But the word of God is actually more than that.

It's the word of God that created the world.

It's the word of God that Jesus embodies in his life, in his death, and in his resurrection.

It's the word of God that is represented as a sword in the New Testament.

Something that is bigger, more powerful, more effective than physical violence.

And these are the images that we are continuing to unpack and wrestle with through this pretty intense study of the book of Revelation.

I'll be really honest, I have not loved this study.

There's a lot here that at the end of the day I don't have clear answers for.

And there's a lot here that is troubling.

There's something here that doesn't sit well with my soul.

And I've wrestled with this particular passage, knowing that I'm going to have to stand up here and explain to a certain extent what this means.

And so I want to admit, just up front, there are questions that I often bring to the text that I do not find answers for.

Questions that bother me, that don't sit well with me, that I pour through the commentaries, that I pray through.

What does this mean?

And sometimes God speaks to me.

Or God helps me to understand.

But oftentimes he does not.

And I don't know about you, but that's been sort of my journey of faith as a follower of Jesus.

There are questions that I have that are not answered.

Alright, so the good news is we're almost done with this series.

We're going to take a break next week for Nolan's baptism, and then I'm going to wrap up the week after that.

So this is the last of sort of the harsh judgment sequences that we're going to be unpacking.

Actually, I look back to when we first started about 13, 14 weeks ago, and Pastor Kevin and I were sitting down, and he was kind of the voice of reason in my life, and he's like, Are you sure you want to do this?

I'm like, yeah, I'm just really curious.

And he's like, uh.

And so I think I think back to that conversation.

But as I was kind of praying through this passage this week, I think I was reminded that we're all on a journey, myself included.

And the fact that we're coming to the end of this series and I don't have all my questions answered, that I haven't become this expert on this text, that's okay.

That there has been quite a bit that I have learned, that I've had the privilege of studying and journeying with many of you.

And I think that that has been meaningful to me.

One of my mentors, as I was kind of lamenting sort of some of these questions and enigmas that I wrestled with, he said, you know, when I was in graduate school, there was this idea of epistemological humility that was front and center to our studies.

And he said, What that means is at the end of the day, the way that we know stuff, the way that we understand the world and some of the mysteries of faith and God and judgment and redemption, there's a mystery there.

And so there's a certain level of humility that we carry with us as we hold our convictions, as we trust in what the Bible says.

And at the end of the day, we live out that humility.

And so if you were to ask me over a cup of coffee or over a meal, what does this mean?

What do you believe?

There would be a certain level of uncertainty or questioning.

And to me, I think that is the core of faith.

That faith inevitably requires a certain amount of humility and unknown and trust.

And so that's sort of my caveat as we jump into the text this morning.

Just a little bit of background, if we can go to the next slide.

I had this a few weeks ago just to anchor us sort of in this larger narrative of this really unique genre of literature.

It's a mix of apocalyptic literature, meaning it's revealing something specifically in the first century about what God is doing and how God views what these early churches are experiencing.

It's a mix of prophecy in the vein of Old Testament Hebrew prophecy.

And it's also simply a letter, it's an epistle to these seven churches in ancient Asia Minor.

And so these are things that we have to take into consideration as we explore the text.

So, first off, like I said, these are letters, and we see this in the first few chapters.

John the visionary or John the pastor is writing to real churches.

And he calls each one out specifically about certain things that they're either missing or they're doing well, or what he sees God doing in their midst.

And that's the work of a pastor, to contextualize what God is doing.

And then the center point of this letter, of this vision, is the throne room.

And thrones represent power.

And there's an irony here because this is a people who are under the rule and the oppression of the Roman government.

And so Caesar sits on the throne.

Caesar has the power.

And this is an insignificant, powerless religious minority, these early churches.

They didn't have a voice, they didn't have a military, they didn't have a nation.

And so the way that this text is constructed, it's from the viewpoint of the one who is being oppressed, exploited, who has no voice, who has no power.

And the central image here is this throne room, and sitting on it is not this warrior king, but it's this lamb.

And we know this is symbolic because this lamb has seven eyes and seven horns.

It represents Jesus, who was slain on a Roman cross, who died at the hands of imperial Roman power.

And Jesus was raised from the dead.

And this is so significant because this is the central image of the entire letter.

And the paradox here is that we see all of this language of conquering, of victory, of military conquest, but if you were to pay attention to what is actually being written, all of the conquering, all of the victory comes through the slain lamp.

You think about Jesus' life.

Jesus never trained in the military.

He didn't raise up his disciples to fight with swords and cannons, didn't even teach them basic martial arts.

And as Jesus is getting arrested, Peter draws out a sword and strikes off the ear of the high priest's servant.

And Jesus said, put your sword away.

You have no idea what's going on here.

Those who live by the sword die by the sword.

And Jesus willingly gives up his life.

This is how Jesus conquers.

And so the enigma here in the book of Revelation is that when we read what seems like this violent, militant judgment of God, has God all of a sudden changed course?

Is he now all of a sudden killing his enemies that Jesus told his followers to love and to pray for?

Or is something else going on here?

Is God redeeming, judging, clearing the way for the new creation through another way?

And that's what we grapple with here.

And that's why the central image here is the slain lamb on the throne.

The slain lamb has the power, according to this particular vision.

And then in chapters 6 through 20 are these cycles of judgment.

And this is where it gets really troubling.

I love how Pastor Nick Quinn puts this.

He calls these epicycles of divine judgment on the empires of human history.

So, of course, in the original context, John is talking about Rome.

And it's a version of political satire.

It's a way of critiquing Rome without putting yourself out there, without calling out Rome.

So the word here is Babylon.

And Babylon is equated to a prostitute, someone who is alluring but deceptive.

And there are these cycles of judgment that mirror the Exodus story, which was central to the Hebrews' story and identity of God rescuing them from slavery.

It also mirrors the ministry of Jesus, that Jesus rescues humanity out of the slavery of sin into new life.

And so when we look at these plagues or these judgments, this is what is happening.

God is addressing the oppressive, exploitative powers behind these cyclical human impact.

And we have the luxury as 21st century, I won't say believers, but people, of understanding human history.

That what has happened over the course of the centuries, and it really doesn't matter if there's religion involved, what the cultures are, the languages, even the military technology, is that there's something in the human heart that is tragically wrong.

And according to Revelation, there's something behind that.

There's an evil dragon, an evil beast that fuels this destructive human behavior.

And I think that's a really interesting meditation for us.

Is that when we look at what is happening in the world today, what happened in the past century or two centuries or three centuries, is it just that wrong people were in power?

Or the wrong ideology happened to rule?

Or is there such a thing as evil?

I mean we kind of throw that word around, but does it exist?

Is there such a thing as a Satan or the deceiver or the adversary?

Is there something that can be metaphorically represented as a literal dragon or a beast with multiple heads?

Is it real?

And so the question here that I wrestle with is that there's something in the transition between Revelation 6 through about 18, 19, and talking about the chapters, where these cycles of human oppression and God's judgment cycle over and over again in a way that is not nonlinear, as far as the way that we understand time.

But then if you read chapters 21 and 22, which is where I'm going to end this series, it's this re-merging of heaven where God is, where God dwells, and earth where we dwell.

And it's this beautiful mixing of images of a city which is representative of culture and commerce and trade and all of the arts that are good with the garden.

Think about the Garden of Eden.

So it's this garden city where God dwells, and there's a beauty and a shalom and a perfection here.

But then the question is, how do you get from these cycles of unending oppression and violence to the new creation?

And so there's something in chapters 19 and chapter 20, chapter 20, that speak of what is probably future to us today.

What does this transition look like?

In simple terms, what does the second coming of Jesus look like?

And this is where it gets really burky, at least in my mind.

You can talk to maybe better pastors and they'll give you a crystal clear picture of what they think that this looks like.

But to me, it's every perspective, every theological framework has with it certain questions that I have.

So, again, that's my caveat as we jump into this text.

Pastor Nick Quentin talked about chapter 17 and 18, this imagery around Babylon.

And Babylon is representative of, again, these destructive, cyclical human empires, which we are called as followers of the Lamb or followers of Jesus to have our eyes wide open.

What is happening here?

And how do we not align ourselves with these exploitative economic systems of injustice, these misuses of power?

How do we follow the Lamb?

And then in chapter 19, I find this really fascinating.

There are two images here.

And Eugene Pearson says that it's fascinating that the way that God describes salvation is with two seemingly polar opposite images.

On one hand, there's this beautiful wedding feast.

It's a meal, it's the culmination of all that is joyful and good.

And it's in fact a version of what we're going to celebrate today as we take communion.

It is a meal, bread and wine.

Kind of the most basic of sustenance, at least in the ancient world.

And it represents God's friendship, being reconciled to God.

And in the second half of chapter 19, if you're sort of flipping through the pages, there's this violent, brutal confrontation, where Jesus comes like a warrior on a horse.

But the detail that we need to pay attention to is there's not actually a battle.

It's not this bloodbath where all these forces come together and tons of people die, and Jesus strikes them down as the warrior king.

There are two images that scholars point to.

One is that he shows up to battle with his robe dipped in blood.

And the implication here is that it's his own blood.

Then the same way that Jesus retains scars from his crucifixion, that there is blood that is symbolic of the blood that he shed.

And that is how he conquered.

And then the only weapon here is a sword, not in his hand, but coming out of his mouth.

So this is the imagery that we see throughout the biblical narrative.

This is the word of God.

The same way that God created the world by speaking it into existence, Jesus is recreating the world through the power of his word.

Think about it.

Jesus doesn't need physical bias.

He doesn't need to go to war the same way that the kings and the emperors and the Caesars of this world go to war.

He has more power than that.

That he is able to speak judgment into me.

And to speak new creation into me.

So we have these two images: a meal and a battle.

And in many ways, both of them represent what the Bible calls salvation.

I love how Eugene puts salvation.

He describes the Hebrew concept of salvation as a broadening, an expanding.

If slavery is constricting, then salvation is expanding.

This ability to spread out, to breathe, to have room to live.

Which brings us to chapter 20.

And I'm just curious, how many of you are familiar with this long-standing debate on the millennium, or the millennial rule, or the thousand years?

If you can raise your hand.

Okay, awesome.

You can put your hands up.

That just gives me a sigh of relief because it's a long-standing debate that I'm not going to totally get into today.

So simply put, a thousand years follows John's numeric symbolism that we see throughout this vision.

That 10 oftentimes is a number of completion.

Think about the Ten Commandments.

Same thing with three.

Three is this number of completion.

There's something about it that speaks of entirety and expansiveness.

So if you can remember your middle school math, 10 cubed, that would be a thousand.

Not that that really matters, but I thought that was kind of interesting to think about.

I found this really interesting quote from the Gospel Coalition, an article that I was reading on the number of thousands, specifically the thousand years.

It says thousand represents multiplicity, vastness, entirety, and fullness.

The Bible reveals that thousand was used as hyperbole for quantity, immeasurability, or completeness.

And I want to explore just a couple of biblical passages to illustrate this point, both from the Old Testament and the New Testament.

So in the Old Testament, if you remember King David defeats Goliath, becomes king after Saul, and he comes back and there's this kind of really interesting scene where women are dancing and singing his praises, and they're proclaiming this song.

Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.

So we don't read this and think, like, okay, Saul has killed thousands, and David has mathematically conquered this many more than Saul.

It's simply saying that, yeah, Saul killed a lot of people, and David killed a lot more people than Saul.

Which actually wasn't even probably true at that point.

It was just saying that David is more popular in the public eye at that point.

Maybe a little bit different of perspective in Psalm 51.

I love this.

It's kind of this really interesting tape where the Word of God is giving to his people and pulling back the curtain, just like the book of Revelation is saying, but I don't actually care about your sacrifices.

That's not the point.

And I'm going to read from verse 9 of Psalm chapter 50 as well.

Psalms 50 · chapter mention

I have no need of a bull, of a bull from your Or of goats from your pens.

For every animal, the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I love that beautiful poetic imagery.

God is saying, I own it all.

I'm not after your stuff.

We talk about this sometimes when it comes to giving to the church.

It's like God doesn't need your money.

You realize he owns a thousand bank accounts.

And what that doesn't mean is that he literally has the deed to a thousand hills.

It means that it's all God's, it encompasses all of creation.

When it jumped to the New Testament, this comes from the second letter of Peter.

And this is instructive for us today as we understand this 20th chapter of the book of Revelation.

This comes from 2 Peter chapter 3.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends.

With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years.

And a thousand years are like a day.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

And I love how he spells this out.

Because I think this is something that all humans wrestle with on some level.

What is with the injustice?

Where is the truth?

Where is the accountability?

Where is this God who supposedly reigns over this broken world?

And over the long arc of scripture, the consistent theme about God's character is that God is loving, compassionate, and he is patient.

So what feels like a very, very long time to us is merely an expression of God extending his mercy, continuing to whisper his truths, his invitations to his people.

Come, see my goodness.

Come let evil be exposed for what it is.

I'm waiting for you.

This is an extension of God's mercy.

So, all to say, this thousand years, I think, in order to be consistent with biblical literature, this is figurative.

And it's figurative for a very long time, for something that is supposed to express completeness.

So back to Revelation chapter 20.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

I'm going to give you sort of the synopsis here.

So chapter 20, verse 3.

This is God acting through his agents.

He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.

After that time he must be set free for a short time.

So this is the dragon that we saw in Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

And it's really interesting because throughout the biblical narrative we see different versions of this being.

And this is actually more likely who Satan is.

Satan is the deceiver, takes the beauty of God's creation and twists it just ever so slightly.

Satan is probably not like a horror movie.

Because who would follow that?

Wouldn't that just cause you to run toward goodness?

Run toward God?

But the way that Satan works in the world is he whispers these lies.

Did God really say that?

Is God really with you?

Let me show you what can be yours.

So I think there's kind of a meditation here on who is the dragon.

So back to the thousand years.

There is a time when God will bring justice to all that is wrong.

And remember that the original consists here is a small minority of Christians with no power, no voice, no vote.

And they don't see any sort of justice in their lifetime.

They don't see Rome fall or Rome convert to Christianity.

This is merely a promise and an idea and a vision that is given to them by John.

And so when we see this unfold, this drama unfold where the dragon is locked up, imprisoned for a thousand years, it's this hope that whatever it is that is fueling the violence of Rome will eventually come to justice.

One of the commentators that I quoted a few weeks ago when it comes to judgment imagery is that because this is written to and from the perspective of a religious minority, the moment that it is flipped and the text is used or cited or manipulated from a position of power, it loses the intent and the spirit altogether.

Alright, moving on.

Verse 4.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testament about Jesus and because of the Word of God.

So, thrones, as I mentioned earlier, it's a representation of power.

It's where Caesar sits.

It's where Caesar is worshipped.

It's what these early Christians knew nothing about, experienced nothing.

There was no representation.

There's no democracy there.

And so to be given this image of not just one throne where the Lamb sits, but thrones where those that have been martyred because of their testimony and their faith in Jesus would also sit and rule and judge.

Think about that, what that does to those communities.

To be given a place of authority, to see justice writing.

And this is unique because it seems to be this unique subset of Christians who were beheaded.

And I know that's violent, but in the ancient Roman Empire, those that were beheaded were often those that there's a dignified aspect to being beheaded versus crucified versus killed in the arena.

And so there's something to John's imagery that suggests that there's something unique about these believers who had lost their lives for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of the gospel.

That they will indeed be vindicated.

And that is the main point here is that there comes a time where God will bring justice.

And those who have lost their lives for the sake of Jesus, that their lives will be vindicated.

This part gets really interesting.

And I'm not quite sure what to do with this.

So at the end of the thousand years, Satan is released to wreak havoc again on the earth before he is finally rounded up with everyone else that he has infected and deceived, and they're thrown into this lake of burning sulfur and fire where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Okay.

I wrestle with this.

What does this mean?

Why does God operate in this way?

Well, one thing that I found really interesting is that in the first century and the second century, there were numerous Jewish apocalypses, meaning similar type of literature.

And it was all written in a time where these Jews are grappling with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

They've lost the core symbol of their identity, where the presence of God dwelt.

They lost the ability to draw near to God, to offer sacrifices.

And so in the aftermath of this destruction and the persecution that many of them experience, they have these visions, these hopes.

And in some of these apocalypses, there's something similar where the Satan is bound but then released.

And it gets really interesting, and these are not considered canonical, but it's similar in that Satan's locked up and then Satan's released.

So there's a pattern here that John is speaking into.

But the question that I ask is: well, why allow Satan to be released at all?

Why does God do this?

And I don't know, but one of the commentators, N.

T.

Wright, who I admire greatly and respect his scholarship.

I like that he's British and not American, so there's a little bit of a different perspective that I think is helpful for me as an American.

He offers this analogy.

He says, say you have a biohazard, and there's all sorts of contaminants all over the place.

You get your hazmat suit on, you take your broom or whatever tool you use, you sweep up, you finally get rid of everything that is contaminated, and then you throw away that broom or that tool as well.

And that is the loose image that uses to describe what's happening here.

That Satan becomes this tool in order to gather up all that continues to pollute and contaminate God's good creation.

All those that continue to refuse the good gift of God's forgiveness and grace and mercy that is offered through Jesus the slain land, a gift that is offered to all people.

Every tribe, every tongue, every nation, throughout every generation.

And so Satan sweeps through the earth, gathers up all that continues to pollute and to corrupt.

And all of it is somehow judged.

In order that the new creation can take shape, that if you're to create a new society, a new humanity, there are certain things, and I hesitate to say, but certain people who cannot come.

And it sounds wrong to me, it sounds exclusive, and that's where this is God's word, not my word.

I'm not the gatekeeper, I'm not the one making these decisions.

But there's something in God's divine judgment, in his mercy, in his ultimate wisdom that makes these decisions and draws this line, this distinction between what's in the new creation and what must be dealt with appropriately.

And that's what doesn't always sit well with me.

I have tons of questions about what that looks like, why that is, how that actually plays out.

And I don't know.

I'll be completely honest with you.

Verse 12.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were open.

Another book is open, which is the book of life.

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

This is imagery that comes right out of Daniel chapter 7, where books are open, where people are judged.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

And I think what's really interesting here is I think in Hollywood and in our imaginations, a lot of times we think about stuff like The Wizard of Oz or The Lord of the Rings, where there's this old wizard who is looking through these old dusty books in some library.

And it's like, oh, you know, you come to God and is your name in here?

And it's like, oh, um, Thomas, um Tasselt, oh, there's no Tala.

I'm so sorry, your name is not in here.

It's like, oh, can you can you look again?

And maybe there's another book that got lost, and it's it's as if God is this sort of like petty bookkeeper.

But this is all symbolism.

And as I sat with this truth, I think the reality of what is happening kind of began to squeeze.

That we live in a world where there is much that is obscure.

I have no idea what's going on in your head or your heart.

When we think about the way that politics unfolds, when we think about how social media plays itself out in our lives.

There's what's presented, there's what's perceived, and somewhere in there there's truth.

What is actually happening in our lives?

What is actually happening in the world?

And there's something in us that craves truth.

When will this be exposed?

Revealed for what it is.

And I think this is what these books reveal.

What is happening?

And there's something good about that.

There's something beautiful and praying about this infinite, perfect creator God exposing all that is.

That is the imagery of fire, that is the imagery of floods.

It is parsing through, purifying what is.

But the terrifying thing about that is that it leaves us exposed.

That I may not be a terrible dictator, I may not have physically murdered people.

But what happens if the book of my life is open?

What's in my heart, my soul?

What are the things that nobody has seen?

How do I stand with it?

And that brings us to the beauty of the gospel that we see throughout the New Testament.

The way that Paul communicates to the Romans, it is God's kindness that brings us to repentance.

That there's a general recognition that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that there is something that infects the human heart.

That good and evil is not them and those people.

The line between good and evil runs right through the human heart.

And you don't have to be a Christian to see that or believe that.

And the free gift of God is a resurrected life through the slain Lamb.

Through the imagery that we celebrate in baptism, dying with Jesus to the broken parts of who we are and being raised to new life.

It's what we celebrate when we take communion.

We receive the body and the blood shed for us as a covering, as an atonement for our own brokenness, for the fractured parts of our souls and our lives and our relationships.

It's a gift.

That's what it means to have your name written in the book of life.

And I believe that God's grace is spacious.

That God is beyond merciful.

Lastly, I want to sit with this.

There's this imagery of the lake of fire that just bothers me.

I don't preach this often, but because I'm going through the book of Revelation, I feel like I can't not talk about it.

I'm going to keep talking if that's okay.

Can you give me the back?

Okay.

Fire is a symbol that we see throughout scripture that speaks of God's judgment.

And judgment is necessary.

Like I said, because there is evil, because there is oppression, because there is exploitation, and the distorting of truth.

But the scary thing about fire, think about wildfires, think about fires that reveal precious metals.

It's also destructive.

It's hurtful.

It's terrifying.

And so this is the image that we are given up here in a lake of fire.

And I think what's really important for us to recognize, especially when we look at this particular prophecy, is that the first beings, the first ideas or entities or elements or powers to enter the lake of fire, as we see here in Revelation chapter 20, is the Satan and death itself.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

God is reversing the curse that we saw in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Death itself is being judged.

Death itself is being obliterated.

And like I said throughout the course of this sermon, is that this is a text written by this oppressed religious Penny Guardian.

Crying out to God, how long?

How long will we lose our lives?

How long will Caesar stand on this throne and tell his name and his accomplishments and his wealth and his military power?

God, when will you intervene?

And this is God's response.

And so as we bring our own questions to the text of individual salvation, of heaven, hell, judgment, there's a certain epistemological humility that we need to bring.

Especially because this particular text wasn't designed to answer some of those questions.

But in that, with that said, there is a warning here.

That when we think about the imagery of fire, when we think about the imagery of floods and rain, it's a double-edged sword.

It brings destruction on one hand, but it brings refining on the other.

That God's justice is something that different people will probably experience in different ways.

And it all hinges on the slain land.

What will you do with this gift that God has offered to us?

This gift of friendship, of reconciliation, of forgiveness.

Something that sits at the very core of Christian doctrine.

It's not about morality, it's not about believing the right things, it's not about jumping through the boots, it's about being reconciled to God through Jesus the Messiah.

And that's what we celebrate in communion.

That's why we get up every morning and we can say that we know God.

That God's verses are new every morning.

I think we can still take communion.

I think the first century church didn't have electricity.

So I'm going to pray for us.

And when you're ready, it might need a comfortable.

God, we thank you for the rain.

At the same time, we pray for mercy for those that are affected by weather patterns across the globe.

We admit, Lord, that we have questions that remain unanswered, yet at the same time we're given you to the and I ask, Lord, that you, Lord, your spirit would speak to us this morning.

In our vulnerability and the fact that perhaps we don't have electricity.

Well, Lord, if you aren't there, if you see each person here, I ask if you would reveal yourself to them.

So God, if we enter into this time and space of remembering your sacrifice.

We do this out of faith.

We do this with gratitude.

We ask you less faith.