Ephesians 6:21-24 - Daily and Eternal Reinforcements

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It's so good to have a God like that, isn't it?

To have someone whose faithfulness you can trust.

All the time.

We're in Ephesians 6 this morning.

In fact, we're in the last four verses of Ephesians 6, the last chapter of Ephesians.

Don't say amen yet.

This is not the last sermon in this series on Ephesians.

We're almost there.

But there's a couple more.

Did you know there's another letter in the Bible to the church in Ephesus?

It's a shorter one.

We're going to look at that very briefly.

But we're almost at the end.

We're close.

And you can be excited then and make me feel bad.

But the last time we were in Ephesians, we wrestled with the reality that we are at war.

That there's spiritual warfare going on day by day in our lives.

That demands of us that we stand firm in Christ.

That we be taking up the armor of God, actively abiding in Christ in order to battle against the forces of evil that rage against us.

We talked about the importance of standing firm in Christ.

And knowing that wartime demands different priorities from peacetime.

Demands sacrifices.

Demands looking at things differently because of where we are.

And this morning, Paul picking up on that is going to give his parting words to the church in Ephesus.

Words that are full of significance and meaning for us.

What would Paul like to leave us with at the end of this letter?

Let's give our attention again to God's holy word.

Ephesians 6 at verse 21.

So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose.

That you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

The grass withers, the flowers fade, but these words of our God will stand forever.

Let's ask for his help as we look at them together.

Pray with me.

Father, we come to you because these are your words.

Because we believe you spoke them not only to the church in Ephesus,

but to the church in Huntsville today.

And that we need them.

And that we need you to speak, Father.

We hear from men and we know of men's good ideas and advice.

We need to hear from you.

Would you speak clearly by your spirit?

Would you speak to our hearts?

And would you change us?

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Apparently, it never really happened this way.

But there's a great scene anyway in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace and his ragtag

bunch of Scottish soldiers, if you can call them that, are fighting against the more numerous,

more highly trained, more confident English army.

And there's a scene where they're so, they've been discouraged.

They've been frustrated.

Things haven't often gone their way.

And they're just outnumbered by the English army.

So much to the point that as they get ready for this one battle,

the leader of the English army says,

we can beat them with just our Irishmen.

We're just going to send the Irish out against them.

They can handle them.

And so he sends the Irish out front and they run towards the Scots and they're charging towards

each other and then they stop.

And they get there and they slow down and they shake hands and they hug and the Irish switch

sides.

And they come over and it's reinforcements for the Scottish army.

A jolt of energy.

A burst of excitement.

They have more than they thought.

These guys will stand with us too.

There are many great battle scenes and movies where reinforcements come just in the nick of time.

I'm sure you have your favorite.

I'm going to mention just one more.

These are two examples of just movies I've seen so that you know that I do watch things

other than Disney princess movies.

So I figure Braveheart and Lord of the Rings, maybe I can get my man card back at the end.

And so Lord of the Rings in the two towers, there's an epic battle between the forces of

good and the forces of evil, the Battle of Helm's Deep.

And if you've seen the movie and if you haven't, you can probably imagine a little of what it

looks like.

You've got Aragorn and Gimli and Legolas and the rest of the good guys fighting hard to

defend a fortress.

But they're battling against these unearthly creatures of Saruman.

And he sent them against them and they've come in the battle.

They're just overwhelming them.

The fortress is collapsing.

They're flooding in.

One black creature after another flooding in and overwhelming the guys which of course

are painted in shining clothes.

And Legolas' hair is brighter than anything else on the screen.

And here they're just being overrun.

And the leaders are backing up and saying, we've got to get out.

We've got to give in.

This is over.

We've been defeated.

We couldn't hold out long enough.

And then what happens?

Gandalf, of course.

Gandalf shows up on the hill, the wizard riding a horse.

And the battle stops.

And everyone turns and looks at Gandalf.

And just a few seconds later, hosts of men on a horseback come rushing over the hill,

right?

Reinforcements that Gandalf has recruited and brought in.

And all of a sudden, the good guys are back on top.

And they chase the Uruk-hai away from the fortress and into the forest for them to get

destroyed.

It's a great, great victory.

They showed up just at the right moment.

Now, in both of those examples, things turn out well.

It ends well for the good guys.

But can you relate to how those discouraged soldiers would have felt before the reinforcement

showed up?

To feel overwhelmed, to feel at the end of everything you have and you've done everything and you're

going to get defeated.

This is the end of it.

In the fight for the kingdom of God, in the battle that we wage against the forces of darkness,

it's easy to get discouraged, isn't it?

Have you ever felt that way before?

Do you feel that way this morning?

It's easy to think we aren't strong enough, that we should just give in, give up.

Perhaps you feel outnumbered, overmatched, lonely even in your labor for God.

Maybe you can relate to how I've felt wrestling against personal sin in my own heart and life.

Like it just keeps coming up.

Even in the middle of a worship service.

There's my sin.

I thought I had that idol under control that I'd really managed it and then it comes back

up again.

Like I'm never going to just be done with it.

There it is, rearing its ugly head again.

Maybe you've been seeking to live sacrificially.

To seek first God's kingdom and His priorities.

To live with kingdom priorities in a world that tells you to seek first yourself.

To get your own pleasure and fulfillment taken care of.

And you feel alone.

No one else is trying to live this way.

I'm discouraged.

It's discouraging to be alone.

Maybe you've been seeking to honor God in a difficult relationship.

You feel you're the only one who cares.

Nothing seems to get better.

You're alone in the fight and now you're, to be honest, ready to quit too.

Why bother if he or she's not going to be a part of it?

Maybe you've been laboring to see God's kingdom come here in Huntsville and He's given you

a passion for a part of this city or an aspect of your life where you want to see God's kingdom

come and you want to see things change but you feel like you're fighting fire with a water

bottle.

That you're just spitting on the fire.

You're seeking to bring light into darkness to push back the effects of the fall in your

community and you think you're doing what God wants you to do but it seems like there's

no progress.

So you're overwhelmed.

Discouraged.

And Paul understands the Ephesians could easily feel that way.

Called into spiritual warfare against the forces of evil and indwelling sin.

Surrounded by a culture of idolatry and self-serving hedonism.

Struggling with difficult relationships even within the church.

They can't find someone who's easy to get along with.

As he closes this letter, here's Paul's heart.

Here's what he wants to do.

He wants to offer some encouragement to discouraged believers.

That's what he has for us this morning.

Not only is there the armor of God for us as we fight these battles but also there are

reinforcements.

We won't be left alone.

We need not ultimately be discouraged.

There are reinforcements both for today, for daily strength and support and for eternity,

for eternal security and blessing.

Let's look at the great hope and encouragement offered to us in this passage.

Paul begins by speaking of the daily reinforcements that we have here and now.

What I'll call gospel partnership.

You could just say people.

Starts with P too so that works.

You can just people.

All of the words today start with P.

Look at how clear Paul is.

That the Christian life is not one lived on our own.

In isolation from others.

At first he mentions our mutual need for prayer in the verses leading up to our passage.

Look at verse 18.

He's just told them about the armor of God and what's needed in this battle.

Praying at all times in the spirit.

With all prayer and supplication.

To that end keep alert with all perseverance.

Making supplication for all the saints.

And for me.

That words would be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

For which I'm an ambassador in chains.

That I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

Pray for me.

As we put on the armor of God for the battle we fight each day.

Paul says praying all the time.

For all the saints.

Paul shared several times in Ephesians how he's praying for them, hasn't he?

He writes his prayers out for them right there in the letter.

Now he's doing what?

He's asking them to pray for him.

Here's what you can pray for me.

They're together in partnership for the sake of the gospel.

So they share in that together.

Even when he's been sent out from them.

They share in it together by praying for each other.

Bible commentator Matthew Henry once wrote,

The greatest remembrance of our friends is to remember them before the throne of grace.

It shouldn't be just a spiritual platitude when someone says,

Pray for me.

And we think, Oh sure, I'll pray for you.

And don't.

Prayer is the work of the kingdom.

And it's the way we can partner with someone because God works through our prayers.

He's active there.

He works in places we can't.

In times we can't.

For the gospel to advance.

So prayer.

And then secondly, the written word of God.

We're about to be told that Paul is sending Tychicus to Ephesus to encourage them.

But first, before we see what he's going to do,

notice that Tychicus almost certainly was carrying the very letter we've been studying for the last few months with him.

Paul sends Tychicus with God's word for the Ephesian church.

Paul doesn't merely pray for the people he's in partnership with.

He tells them what he prays for them.

And he encourages them with God's word.

Do you share God's word with your brothers and sisters?

Do you tell them how you're praying for them and how they can pray for you?

Isn't it a great encouragement to get a note, a text, an email?

Whatever it is, something that shares God's word with you,

that encourages your heart in the loneliness and busyness of the battle,

that says, I'm in it with you.

You're not in it alone.

And both of those things are encouraging reinforcements in the battle that God uses in our lives.

But there's one more, and I want you to think about it this way.

Suppose you have some longtime friends from way back.

They knew you when, and you haven't lived in the same town with them for a while,

and you love them, and you pray for them, and you care about them,

but you don't get to talk much anymore.

You keep in touch through Christmas cards.

You got anybody like that?

You hear from them once a year, and you know what's going on

because you see that they've gotten one year older than the last time you got to talk with them.

And it's great.

You love them.

You can pray for them.

You can be excited to see their family grow.

But imagine that this year, instead of a Christmas card,

they came through Huntsville over the holidays.

Imagine you got to spend a whole evening with them,

sharing stories, catching each other up,

telling them what was going on in your life,

laughing together, crying together,

after not seeing them for years and years.

Someone who knows you and your story.

That's a different kind of encouragement, isn't it?

To be with them, to have them in your presence.

Wasn't it different last week to have one of our missionary partners here with us?

Someone who'd grown up here and gone out,

and then Justin Houston is here.

You can shake his hand.

You can hear his stories.

Have him open God's Word and encourage us

to be able to put my arm around him and pray for him.

It feels different from praying for him from thousands of miles away.

God often sends reinforcements,

spiritual aid and encouragement for the weary among us,

often through the presence of other Christians.

Look at verses 21 and 22.

Paul says,

Paul says this,

I'm going to live the reality that I've been teaching you about

through this whole letter.

I'm going to start living it in front of you.

The reality that in Christ,

God has connected us to each other.

That y'all aren't just numbers to me.

Your names,

even terrible names like Tychicus,

that you have to say over and over.

It's unnecessarily difficult.

But your names and your faces,

you actually mean something to me.

I remember y'all,

I was with you.

You're partners for the gospel.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

we're connected to each other because of him.

And so God is building us together.

What has Paul been teaching us?

He's making a family out of us

that we would be built up into a temple

where he can dwell by his Spirit.

Paul says,

that's the reality that I'm going to live in front of you.

Enough that I would send Tychicus to you.

Notice he sent him there to tell you how we are.

That may not strike you as strange,

but Paul, you've just written us a letter.

It's a long letter.

Just tell us how you are.

Why does he have to travel thousands of miles over sea

to tell us how you are?

Because it is different in person.

Because we care about and love each other,

because there's an encouragement there.

It's not just writing it down.

Time and time again in Paul's letters,

messengers like Tychicus go

and they give information from Paul

and bring reports back to Paul.

They need to know about him.

And he needs to know about them.

People are valuable to Paul.

They're valuable to us here at Southwood too.

They must be if we understand

the kind of community the gospel creates.

It doesn't create nameless faces

that sit in a sanctuary with you every Sunday.

It doesn't.

It creates a community of people

where you know who they are

and you're able to lock arms.

Vital relationships,

partnerships together for the sake of the gospel.

These aren't just random people

Paul goes to church with

or used to go to church with.

They're partners with whom he must lock arms

for the sake of the gospel.

Because it's hard to fight alone.

And it's hard to sacrifice alone.

Amen?

It's hard.

The discouragement of the struggle

can be overwhelming.

The sense of isolation can be devastating.

And so Paul needs them

and their prayers.

Paul needs them

and their prayers.

They need him and his.

Two brief points of application

here about gospel partnership.

The first is we need it.

You need it.

I need it.

Don't fight alone.

Paul didn't try it

and he doesn't recommend it.

And you say,

oh, but I don't have time

to connect with them.

To be part of a community like that.

To lock arms over there.

It's just,

it takes too much.

I don't have margin.

I know that feeling.

But I've learned actually

you don't have time not to.

We don't have enough time

on this earth

to neglect partnership.

We need each other.

You need gospel partnership

in your life.

Not just formal church membership.

A functional church family.

A small group,

so to speak.

Partnership across miles and miles

that you can share

and labor alongside.

I'm convinced

some of the most vital members

of our church

rarely come through

these doors anymore.

Some of our elderly

shut-in members

pray for this church

and for the advance

of the kingdom here

so faithfully.

people you may not

have even met.

Every time I get to see

Delilah Harris,

some of you know Delilah.

Every time I see her

she tells me

how she's been praying

for me

and for this church.

The last time I was with her

you know what she said?

She said,

well I need to remind you

I need that list.

You know what list she wanted?

The entire membership list

of Southwood.

You only gave me part

last time.

I pray for each one of them

by name.

Most of you don't know Delilah

but she prays for you

by name.

And you need that.

I need that.

I need to know

that she's praying for me

and I need her prayers.

What a great encouragement

that is.

Even if you don't know her

we need prayer.

We need people

who point us to God's word.

We need people

who show up in our lives

to encourage us

for the sake of the gospel.

We're not okay on our own.

We're not just strong enough

to power through.

We need gospel partnership.

And so do others.

Your spouse needs it.

Your kids need it.

Your friends need it.

Your pastor needs it.

Your search committee needs it.

Were you listening to Tripp?

Thank you for your honesty.

Y'all led us in that

through this season.

Grace Crawford wrote

in the issue of branches

that will be in your mailbox

this weekend

or this week.

She's another search committee member.

She says,

why am I grateful

to you all?

Because you've provided

much needed support

with your prayers,

emails,

recommendations

and words of encouragement.

The weight that we feel

is heavy

and yet you continue

to remind us

this is God's sovereign will

not ours.

He knows Southwood

and loves her dearly.

This is his church

and we remain confident

that he will continue

to bless us,

keep us

and forever make his face

shine upon us.

Thank you for reaching out to us

as your words and prayers

have been tremendous

in feeding our spirits

and she finishes this way,

please continue.

While progress continues

to be made,

the heaviness is real

and Satan has attacked

in various ways

attempting to distract

and deter from God's will.

As we move forward

in these final stages,

your prayers,

support and encouragement

are needed more than ever.

To say again

what Tripp just told you

in the announcement.

Pray for them,

partner with them,

you get to be a part of it.

And it's not just

the search committee.

Who needs your gospel

partnership this week?

Who needs you to pray for them

and also needs to know

that you're praying for them?

Who needs you to talk football

or kids with them

and also show them God's word?

Encourage them from his word.

Who needs you to show up?

Just to show up.

How many times in your life

has the most encouraging

and helpful person

in a difficult situation

been the one

who didn't say a single word?

Has that happened in your life?

The most helpful person

of all the people

who wanted to engage with you,

the one who just came

and hugged you,

held you,

cried with you?

How many times is that

how God brought encouragement

into your life?

What a great encouragement that is.

Who needs it from you?

Is there a loved one

hurting and grieving?

Is there a friend battling

through the pain

and loneliness of divorce?

Is there a mission partner here

or around the globe

feeling overwhelmed?

The gospel partnership,

people locking arms

and working together

for the sake of the kingdom

is so much what God

has called the church to.

It's so much who we are

that we want to make it easy for you.

It's so important to us

as a church.

You don't have to go

30 steps outside

the doors of this room

to find out what's going on

and how you can pray

for every single one

of our local

and global mission partners.

Did you know that?

Every one of them.

There's a wall right out there.

It says express grace over it.

It's our mission partner wall.

You can go there

and it's really served up for you.

You can watch a video about them.

There's postcards

and you can write them a note.

Send it around the world

and you don't have to leave

this building.

30 steps, I counted.

You can go over there.

We'll take care of the stamp.

There's pens.

There's notes.

And you can send it to them

and encourage them

and have partnership with them

in what they're doing.

Where would God send you

to be a Tychicus?

To carry His word of encouragement

to someone who needs it.

What a great gift

that God has called us

not into isolation,

not as individual people

who are now on our own

to figure things out,

but into community

with others

serving Him.

Daily reinforcements

in the battle.

But that's not all

that this passage references.

There are daily reinforcements

in gospel partnership.

There are eternal reinforcements

in gospel promises.

Look at verse 23.

Peace be to the brothers

and love with faith

from God the Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all

who love our Lord Jesus Christ

with love incorruptible.

Paul concludes with a benediction,

a good word of blessing

for God's people.

And the whole point

of a benediction

is that these gifts

and promises are lasting,

that they're eternal resources

of encouragement and hope

for God's people.

They're gifts and blessings

now in many ways,

but especially

they're eternal promises.

Maybe if you're writing a hymn,

you'd say strength for today

and bright hope for tomorrow

would be good words to use.

Notice the last word

in this verse, incorruptible.

It's a really significant word,

but it's a little hard

to know where it fits

in this verse.

It means something that lasts,

something that's immortal,

something that never decays.

Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 15

to talk about our resurrection bodies.

They'll be glorious

and that will last

and not break down

like these bodies.

Something that won't decay,

that'll never end.

And it fits in this verse

equally well with grace

and with love.

And translators and commentators

disagree on where to put it

and how to understand it.

Let me tell you,

the net of that

is actually the same thing.

Because Paul is not saying,

when we talk about

love incorruptible,

Paul is not saying this.

Grace will be

and will come

to all those

whose love is strong enough

that it never fails,

that you never let Jesus down,

that your love never wanes,

that it's strong to the end.

Anybody who does that,

those people will get grace.

Grace, that's not what Paul is saying.

That can't be the meaning.

Why?

First of all,

because that's not what grace means.

Grace is not something

I have to perform well enough to earn.

Grace is an unmerited gift.

Secondly, that can't be the right way

to understand it

because the whole book of Ephesians

has been telling us

it's God's love

that is so beyond measure,

so without end,

is so perfect.

It's His love,

not ours that's described that way.

This is not about

the quality of our love,

but about the permanence

of God's blessing.

And so the reason

the word incorruptible

still works right here with love,

the reason it can be

love that doesn't decay,

is that it works with both of them.

It's eternal grace and love.

God's eternal,

never-ending grace

rescues us

and gives us a love

for our Savior

that will indeed last

through eternity,

won't it?

Because of what He's done for us,

we will indeed love Him forever.

It will not fade away.

Not because we never fail,

but because He never fails.

Because the resources of His grace

never run out.

Because the reinforcements for us

are eternal.

That's His promise.

So in addition to love,

Paul offers the blessing of God

in his two favorite words for this

throughout his letters.

He started this letter

with these two things.

Grace and peace.

When they're from God,

they're more than mere well wishes.

Just a nice thing

at the end of the letter.

You know, be happy.

Have a good day.

They're promises of His blessing

because they're coming from God.

Peace from the only one

who can truly offer it.

Peace already with Him

because of Jesus,

we've learned.

And ultimately,

one day,

peace altogether

because of Jesus.

We spoke of the encouragement

of a long-time friend

coming back

and spending an evening with them.

What's better than those videos

of a soldier coming back home

to his family?

Is anything more encouraging

and tear-inducing

than seeing them surprise

their family members?

Bring tears and shouts of joy?

All of those videos are special.

Imagine if instead of just that,

instead of just I'm home,

the soldier after saying,

I'm home,

whispers in his loved one's ear,

for good.

The war is over.

How much more exciting is that?

How much more encouragement

and rejoicing happens there?

And that's exactly what God says.

Peace to you

for good.

The war will be over

and we'll be at peace.

What a great word of blessing

to the one who's struggling

and tiring

in a battle against sin.

Grace be with you.

Jesus has conquered

even your sin.

Your God is at peace with you

and one day you'll battle sin

no more.

To the one who's feeling alone

in the battle against evil,

peace be to you.

Jesus has conquered.

Don't forget what's true.

You battle a defeated foe

and God's still at work

so the broken things

will be fixed.

Justice will come.

All will be made right

because God is working

alongside you.

He stands with you.

You're not alone.

Eternal reinforcements

in the gospel promises

of God's benediction.

I hope that's what you hear

every Sunday

at the end of our service.

I love the benediction.

It's not a mere ritual

or formality

that we say

we gotta end somehow

so we do this little thing

at the end.

It's spiritual resources

for God's people.

And it's always about

grace and peace.

All the way back

when God told His people

to receive a benediction

back in number 6,

God told Moses

that when Aaron the priest

was going to speak

blessing to his people

he would say this,

say to them,

the Lord bless you

and keep you.

The Lord make His face

to shine upon you

and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up

His countenance upon you

and give you what?

Peace.

The Lord be gracious

to you

and give you peace.

That's the word

that He speaks

to His people.

God didn't say

tell Aaron to do it

because something

has just happened

and they need this message.

God said this is how

He should always

bless my people.

Grace and peace.

Those are present

and eternal realities.

Whatever words of God

we use in the benediction,

the call is not for us

to go do something.

It's for us to sincerely

receive God's blessing.

It's why I'll say

lift up your heads

and receive the Lord's benediction.

Look up and revel

in that the love of God

is exactly what we sang

about it being today.

That the grace of God

in Jesus is as amazing

as we talk about.

That you're actually

at peace with God.

That that's real and true

with the creator

of the universe

who's your Father.

That's what's being spoken

to you.

A word from your heavenly Father.

A gospel promise

to encourage you

in your difficulty.

To empower you

in your weakness.

To lift your eyes

as it were

to an eternal reality

in the midst of a darkness

that you don't feel

like you can see beyond.

There's a guy in the Bible

I really relate to.

His name is Gehazi.

We're rolling on good names today.

First Tychicus,

now Gehazi.

Gehazi was Elisha's servant,

the prophet Elisha.

And what happens

in their story

is that the king of Syria

gets tired of Elisha

messing up his battle plans

by telling the army of Israel

where he's going.

And so he decides

to send his army

to get that prophet.

And so as they come

to the city therein,

one morning Gehazi walks out

to get the paper,

so to speak.

And he looks up

and this is what he sees.

2 Kings 6 at verse 15.

When the servant

of the man of God

rose early in the morning

and went out,

behold,

an army with horses

and chariots

was all around the city.

And the servant said,

Alas,

my master,

what shall we do?

He comes back in,

wakes Elisha up

and says,

it's over.

Let's give up.

Let's turn in.

There's nothing else

for us to do.

It's only going to get worse

from here.

It's just the two of us

against all of them.

That's all I see.

I know that feeling.

Do you know that feeling?

Here's what happens

to Gehazi and Elisha.

Elisha said to him,

do not be afraid

for those who are with us

are more than those

who are with them.

Gehazi's like,

come outside.

You haven't seen yet.

And so Elisha prays

and says,

O Lord,

please open his eyes

that he may see.

So the Lord opened

the eyes of the young man

and he saw.

And behold,

the mountain was full

of horses

and chariots of fire

all around Elisha.

What happens?

Elisha knows

Gehazi doesn't see

the reality

of the reinforcements

that they have.

The army of God

there with them.

So he prays God

would allow him

to see what is true.

And he does.

And God delivers them.

That's what happens

in gospel partnership

when through others

God sends reinforcements

to encourage us

that he's with us,

that it is true.

It's especially what happens

in gospel promises

when through God's blessing

of grace

and peace

to his people,

he opens our eyes

to the reinforcements

with us now

and always.

He opens our eyes

to and presses

into our hearts

what's really true.

Lest we give up.

Lest we despair

in our discouragement.

We're not alone.

This is true.

There's grace to you.

There's peace

in the midst

of what you're going through.

I'm in control

and I'm with you.

God has reinforcements

for the battle

and the victory

is his.

Amen?

Let's pray.

Oh God,

open our eyes

that we would see

like Gehazi.

We so struggle

with feeling alone,

with feeling discouraged,

with feeling outnumbered

and overwhelmed

and we often don't see

the point.

Why keep struggling?

It's exhausting.

Would you open our eyes

that we would see

you for who you are

as the glorious

king over all,

as the one

who is caring for us

and even,

Father,

holding us

in the palm of your hand.

Give us that vision

of you

that we would know

that you're caring for us

moment by moment

in this life

and that you have

everything taken care of

for the life to come.

Give us great hope

and encouragement

because of that.

May we trust you

more today.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.

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