Hebrews 1:1

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed the heir of all things and through whom He also made the worlds. He, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Jesus, we believe that You have that more excellent name, and it is by Your name, by Your nature, that we come before You, Father, this morning. We ask that You would continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds, that this time spent here today, considering Your word, would be in some sense a preparation for the good works that we will walk through this week. You have prepared good works from before the foundation of the world, that each of us should walk in those things. I pray that You would help, by Your word and by the work of Your Spirit, to thoroughly equip us for those good works this week. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

Have any of you ever spoken through a translator before? Anyone? A few people have spoken through a translator before? It can be a challenging thing to speak through a translator. It becomes even more challenging when you're not just speaking through a translator, but when you're teaching through a translator.

I had the privilege and opportunity back in 2004 and 2005 to move to northwest Germany to teach at a small international Bible school there for a year. There were German students and American students, as well as students from other places, but predominantly English speakers and German speakers. Several of the classes that I taught were classes with translation, including teaching through the book of Romans. It's hard enough to read through and comprehend the book of Romans, let alone teach it, but then to teach it in such a way that those who are German speakers can understand the translator.

I can understand what you're saying and translate it. In one sense, I almost felt like I had to relearn how to teach to articulate those things in a way that the translator wouldn't give you the translator's blank stare. That would happen from time to time. You'd say something, and you're kind of watching the students, and the translator would just be standing there looking at you like, "Really? How am I supposed to translate?" They'd just say to me, "That's not going to work; you're going to have to fix that." Speaking through a translator can be difficult.

One time, I had the opportunity, while I was there with several other people from the Bible school and the church I was working with, to travel about four hours away from where we were in Siegen, Germany. We went to another church where a brother from China named Brother Yun was speaking. Maybe some of you have heard of him; he has written a book called The Heavenly Man, which shares an amazing testimony of his life for the Lord while growing up in China and serving Him there. He had relocated to Germany and was going to be speaking at this church, which had about a thousand people in attendance.

Brother Yun stood up in front, very passionately, excited, and loud, speaking in Mandarin Chinese. He had a translator, but he was not giving the translator any time to speak. Brother Yun was just speaking loudly and quickly in Mandarin, while the translator was trying to keep up, translating from Mandarin into German. I kind of understand German, but not enough to fully grasp what he was saying. I was seated in the very back with a friend of mine named Jeremy Kirby, who has since gone to be with the Lord. Jeremy was listening to the translation in German and speaking it to me in English.

So here was this guy speaking in Mandarin as fast and as loud as he could, another guy translating into German, and then Jeremy was trying to keep up, saying this and that. It was a very interesting situation. I can tell you that there are things that are lost in translation or things that don't translate well; there's not always a perfect translation.

I'll never forget one Sunday night when I was attending the church in Siegen, Germany. My good friend, Pastor Nick Long, who has spoken here before, was up in front speaking in English, and it was being translated into German. Nick can be very animated and excited, and he was sharing his testimony about how God redeemed him. At one point, pardon my language, but Nick said, "I'm just thankful that the Lord has forgiven me for all the crap that I did." The translator was in translator mode, which means she was just speaking, saying what she heard, but there just isn't a great translation for that word.

When he said it, everybody in the room—English speakers, German speakers—sat forward, just waiting for Christina, the translator, to translate. There was a laugh that came at the end of that translation, and she turned a little bit red. Some things just don't translate well.

Pepsi learned this the hard way a number of years ago. They had a slogan, "Come alive with Pepsi." When translated into Chinese, it came out as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back to life." McDonald's faced a similar issue when promoting the Big Mac in France. Instead of "Big Mac," it came out as "Big Pimp." I'm serious. KFC's slogan "Finger-lickin' good" translated into Chinese as "Eat your fingers off." And "Got milk?" translated in Mexico to "Are you lactating?" Clearly, things don't always translate well.

If you ever have the chance to go to Rome and travel around to some of the cathedrals, you'll see some amazing artworks, many in sculpture form and some in paintings. At the Church of St. Peter in Chains in Rome, there is a sculpture done by Michelangelo of Moses. However, many people viewing this sculpture don't realize that it's Moses because there's something really strange about him in this artwork. Moses has horns on his head. Some people looking at this sculpture might think, "That's not Moses; that's something quite on the other side."

You might wonder, why on earth does Moses have horns on his head? This actually dates back to the fourth century AD when St. Jerome translated the Greek translation of the Bible into Latin, known as the Latin Vulgate. In the book of Exodus, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the law, the scripture says in Hebrew that his face shone with radiance. The word for "radiant" is very close in Hebrew to the word for "horns," and Jerome translated it as "horns." For many centuries after that, there were pictures of Moses, including this great sculpture, depicting him with horns on his head.

There are certainly some things that are lost in translation or sometimes not understood by the translator. In fact, one of the most comical things of our day is to see the pictures that people snap of signs in places like China that have been translated into English. Have you ever seen the transference? Sometimes, if you've gotten a product shipped from China and you look at the instructions that have been almost just used Google Translate to translate into English, you realize that it did not work at all in the translation.

There are things that are lost, misunderstood, or misinterpreted as we translate things. This can be a problem because we read in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, that God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, is revealing Himself. One of the wonderful truths about Scripture is that God, the Creator, has spoken to us. He has revealed Himself to us. We've already talked a little bit about this over the last several weeks, discussing some of the ways, the methods, or the modes by which God speaks to us in various ways and at various times, as the author of Hebrews states.

One of the ways is through general revelation. The heavens declare the glory of God; the earth shows forth His handiwork. Day unto day they speak. Creation is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to us. Not only creation, as mentioned in Psalm 19, but also in the book of Romans, chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul speaks about creation being a way through which God reveals Himself.

But not only creation; God also speaks through the conscience that He has given to every single one of us. God speaks through creation and through the conscience. Additionally, as we see here, God speaks to the fathers by the prophets. We move from general revelation through creation and conscience to special revelation through the law and the prophets. God has spoken through the law and through the prophets.

However, when God speaks through conscience, creation, the law, and the prophets, there are certainly things that are misunderstood by us. This is very clear because I'm sure some of you have had conversations with a neighbor, a coworker, a friend, or a family member that move into the area of things spiritual. When you have that conversation, have you ever interacted with a person who says, "Listen, I don't know about this whole God thing"?

Maybe there's a God. But the problem is, if there is a God, then He is not very good, or He is certainly not very powerful. People come to that conclusion because they see the same revelation that you and I do in general revelation in creation. They look at the world around us and see so much death, suffering, sorrow, sickness, and wickedness. If there is a God, then He is either not very loving or certainly not very powerful.

Has anyone ever had that conversation with someone? I know I have on a number of occasions. When you talk with someone about God and reach the point of saying, "Well, listen, the Scriptures speak about sin and judgment. One day, God is going to judge sin," someone might object and say, "Hold on a second. I thought the Scriptures say God is love. If God is loving, then He would never send anybody to hell."

Through creation, through conscience, and through the law and the prophets, we can misinterpret and misunderstand the things of God. Are these conclusions about God correct? Or has something been lost in translation, misinterpreted, misunderstood, or even misused? Certainly, you've met someone— I know I have— who has misused something from the law or the prophets in a way that certainly doesn't help.

How do we answer these questions? There are many questions like this in our culture today, and there will be more as time goes on. God spoke through creation, through conscience, through the law, and through the prophets. We still have the record of all these things. We can look at the data of creation and consider the conscience that every single one of us has.

Some people object and say, "Listen, I've seen people who don't have a conscience." It's not that they don't have a conscience; it's that their conscience has been seared. It has become calloused. You know how calluses work? If you walk over and over again on hot pavement or hot sand, after a while, you begin to sense a deadness. There is no longer a problem because, for a long period of time, you've been walking on that hot ground and developed a callus. It doesn't mean that the ground is no longer hot; it just means that there is a deadness to it because you've overcome it.

Some people have gone against their conscience so much that now their conscience is dead. It has been seared and calloused. That is a scary thing when you find someone who seems to have no conscience.

But we all have that same data: creation and the conscience. We can all go back and look at the law. We can study the prophets. Yet, those things are often misinterpreted and sometimes misused. So, what do we do?

The author of the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, that God, in these last days, has spoken to us by His Son. Point number one on your outline: Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. That is what the author of the book of Hebrews is proposing, and that is what we need to consider. This is the truth that is set forth here: Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God.

Creation reveals God's existence. The heavens declare the glory of God, so that man is without excuse regarding the existence of God. Creation shows forth God's existence; it reveals His power and intelligence. The conscience that I have, and that you have, reveals God's morality. It challenges and convicts us of wrong thoughts, wrong words, wrong actions, and wrong motives.

We have creation, which demonstrates the power, presence, and intelligence of God, as well as the conscience, which reflects the morality of God. The law and the prophets show God's nature and His will. Yet, people often misuse or misunderstand these things.

In the 19th century, a minister, poet, and novelist by the name of George McDonald wrote that to give revelation or truth to someone who does not love it is to provide them with more plentiful material for misinterpretation. A person who does not have a love for the truth or for revelation will simply have more material for misinterpretation.

Another author in the 20th century, Richard Weaver, a professor at the University of Chicago, stated that nothing good can come when the will is wrong. If your motivation is wrong, then you will perceive the data in a different, incorrect way. This is why we have the discussions we do today about alternative facts. This has been a new topic in the news, and there has been much discussion about fake news and the distinction between truth and lies.

What it comes down to in our culture at this moment is the recognition that different people with different motivations can see things in different ways and can reach different conclusions.

Things from the data show that when you look at the heavens declaring the glory of God, some people say, "Well, God must not be very nice, or He must not be very powerful. He's certainly not loving because look at the world that we're in. It's so fallen and terrible."

But God sent forth His Son. When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son to speak in these last days. God has spoken in times past through the prophets, through the law, through creation, and through conscience. He still speaks. We still have the record of those things, and we can still look back at it. When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son. Jesus was sent to reveal God's character, nature, and will; to reveal Him perfectly. He is the ultimate revelation.

Now, in this passage, Hebrews chapter one, and also in Galatians chapter four, and in other places, Jesus is revealed in the Scriptures as God's Son. This can sometimes cause a problem for people because they look at that and wonder, "What exactly does that mean? How does that work? Was Jesus descended from God? Was He created by God? Is He from Him at another level, or is He God? Is He less than God, or is He the same as God?" This challenges people's thought processes. How do we discuss this?

Well, look at what the author of the book of Hebrews says. He goes on to explain that God has, in these last days, spoken to us by His Son, whom He, God in heaven, has appointed heir of all things, and through whom this Son, He has made the world. Who is this Son? Who is this one that is given the name Jesus and the title Son?

We are told here in Hebrews chapter one, verse two, that He is point number two on your outline: He is the owner and sustainer of all things. Jesus is the owner and sustainer of all things. Through Him, everything was made, as Hebrews one, verse two says. He is the heir of all things, so He is the owner and sustainer of all things.

Where else do we see this? How else do we comprehend this? If you would turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, you're in the book of Hebrews. Turn to the left. You pass a whole bunch of books like Corinthians, Romans, and Acts, and ultimately you get to John, the fourth Gospel.

John chapter one, verse one, is one of the very famous passages of the Bible, which is sometimes, quite honestly, misinterpreted or mistranslated, causing misunderstanding by some of the cults. This is how we read it: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

He, the Word, is not just a thing but a person, an individual. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him, the Word was life, and that life was the light of men. Again, this might be a familiar passage to some. It starts in very much the same way as the Bible starts: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis chapter one says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He, this one that is called the Word, was there, and all things were made through Him.

This is a powerful passage of scripture. These four verses tell us a number of things about this individual who is revealed as the Son in Hebrews chapter one and as the Word here in John chapter one. We learn that this individual, called the Son, bears the title of the Word. This individual called the Word existed before creation; in the beginning was the Word. He pre-existed everything that began when God said, "Let there be light."

Not only did He exist before creation, but this individual called the Word is God. However, the Word is distinct and separate from God. This is challenging and can cause our brains to time out, leading to a little blue screen of death in your mind from time to time. How do you fix this? He is God, but He is separate and distinct from God. This gets into what we call the doctrine of the Trinity: that God is one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the one called the Word, who is also called the Son, and the Holy Spirit. People say that this is hard to wrap our brains around, and yet it is revealed this way in the scriptures.

He is God, but He is distinct and separate from the Father, and He is the Creator. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. John states this both in the positive—"all things were made through Him"—and in the negative—"nothing was made that was made." Therefore, there is nothing that does not fall under the category of His creation. He causes all things to exist in Him as life. Anything that is alive comes from Him. He is the source and the sustainer of everything. John tells us this in John chapter one, verses one through four.

But wait, there's more! As the infomercial salesman says, there's so much more. Keep your finger in John's Gospel and flip back to Hebrews chapter one. We read more about this individual there in Hebrews chapter one, who is called the Word and the Son. God has, in these last days, spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds.

Look at verse three: "who being the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power." John and the author of the book of Hebrews, who we discussed last week and I believe is very likely Timothy, are both saying very much the same thing about this individual called the Word, called the Son. His name is Jesus. They are both saying that He existed before creation, that He was active in creation, and that He is the sustainer of all things that we see.

Now, flip back over to John's Gospel, chapter one, and skip down to verse fourteen. John 1:14 states, "and the Word, the one we were introduced to back in verses one through four, became flesh." He dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The author of the book of Hebrews says that this individual called the Son, whom John refers to as the Word, is the brightness of the glory of God, the express image of His person. He upholds all things by the word of His power. John also says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that we could see, perceive, understand, and comprehend the grace and the glory of God.

He's full of grace. He's full of truth. Skip down to verse 16 of John chapter one: "And of his fullness, we have all received, and grace for grace." For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus. Christ is his title.

No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom or presence of the Father. He has declared him or proclaimed him. John tells us further in John chapter one, verses 14 and 16 through 18, that this Word, introduced to us in verses one through four, became flesh. He comes down here; he is the Word, but he's also the Son. Hebrews one says, and his name is Jesus.

Jesus Christ has the name Jesus, which means God has saved or Jehovah brings salvation, but he has many titles. He's called the Son, he's called the Christ, which means the Anointed One, and he's called the Lord, which means Master. He's also called the Word. All these titles are applied to him, and sometimes that can be confusing.

The fact is, every single one of you in this room has different titles that you go by as well. You have a name, but you may also have the title architect, engineer, construction worker, police officer, mom, dad, brother, husband, wife, or sister. There are many different titles that can be applied to you, but you're still the same person.

So, Jesus is his name, but he is also called the Christ, the Anointed One, the Lord. He has been given the title Son and the title Word. He came to reveal the glory of heaven. The Son, the Word, Jesus, the Christ, the Lord, he is the embodiment of the glory, grace, and truth of God.

Point number three on your outline: Jesus is the manifestation of all of God's glory, grace, and truth. This is why he is given the title Son and the title Word.

Some people say, "Well, why would we call him the Word? That doesn't make any sense to me." He is given the title of the Word because a person's word is the fullest, clearest, and most complete revelation of who they are. Let me say that again: a person's word is the fullest, clearest, and most complete revelation of who they are.

You see, I might know your face, and I might even be able to assume or deduce various things about you. For example, I might think, "Oh, he drives a truck. Maybe he's a construction worker." Or, "Oh, he carries a mug. Maybe he likes coffee." I can deduce all kinds of different things just by observing and watching your pattern of life. That person's a morning person; they rise at four in the morning. I don't know why, but you might. So I can watch you, and I can see various things about you, and I might be able to deduce certain things about who you are and what you're like. However, until you and I communicate and you talk with me, I don't really know you. A person's word is the clearest and most complete revelation of who they are.

So, Jesus is called the Word of God. How do we know what God is like? We can look around and see His creation, and we might be able to deduce certain things about Him. We can even read His revelation, but those things can be misinterpreted, misunderstood, or misused. How will we know what He is like unless He communicates to us? Therefore, Jesus is the clearest and most complete revelation of God. That's why He is called the Word.

He is also called the Son, which again confuses some people because they say, "Well, that must mean that He's lower than or less than the Father in Heaven." No, not necessarily. What does the idea, the concept of Son, put forth to us? It helps us understand this very thing. You see, my sons are after my nature; they have the same nature as their father. Now, my daughters too, but we're speaking in the term of Son here. The Son has the same nature as the Father. The son of a horse has the nature of a horse, of course. The son of a dog has the nature of a dog. It doesn't change natures. I know that we are told by evolutionary biologists that if you give enough time and random chance...

And mutation over billions of years can lead to transpeciation, where one species can evolve from another species. However, we have never observed that, and there is no evidence of it in the fossil record. The Bible speaks otherwise, stating that everything reproduces "after its kind."

Jesus bears the same nature as God in heaven, manifested in human flesh. Therefore, He is given the title of the Son of God, so that we will understand that He possesses the nature of God in heaven. Jesus has these titles, "the Word" and "the Son," to express exactly who He is. He is the perfect manifestation of all of God's glory, grace, and truth.

In John chapter 14, verse 8, one of Jesus's disciples, Philip, said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it will be sufficient." Philip was asking for a direct revelation of God the Father. However, there is a problem: John previously told us that no one has seen God at any time.

In response, Jesus said to Philip in John chapter 14, verse 9, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves."

Jesus emphasizes that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Why? Because He is the clearest and most complete revelation of God, manifested in human bodily form. That is why He is called the Son of God; He bears the exact nature of God in human flesh, allowing us to behold the glory of the one true God.

But is that the only reason He came? Let’s go back to Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. Jesus is described as the brightness of God's glory and the express image of God's person, upholding all things by the word of His power.

When He noted that He had by Himself purged our sins, we recognize the significance of creation, the conscience, the law, and the prophets. General revelation and special revelation make something very clear to every single one of us. Looking at creation, examining our conscience, and studying the Scriptures, we see that we live in a broken and fallen world. We are confronted by this reality every single day. There is not a moment that goes by without experiencing the brokenness of this world.

In creation, we observe numerous problems: suffering, sickness, sadness, pain, death, and sorrow. All these horrible things are happening around us. At any given moment, our conscience convicts us of wrong motives, wrong thoughts, wrong actions, and wrong words. That little voice in your head, that feeling that says, "You shouldn't have said that," is a constant presence. Often, it speaks to us even before we act, warning us not to say or do something we might regret.

We've all been there. Just this last week, my conscience revealed that we are fatally flawed. Creation shows those flaws, while the law expressly identifies and exposes our inconsistencies. It identifies our sin, and the prophets foretell the judgment that will come as a result.

Consider this for a moment: general revelation and special revelation demonstrate that we live in a flawed and broken world. We are flawed and broken people, and one day, judgment will come upon us because of our sin. In all of this, we find our complete inability to fix the situation. We keep trying and hoping that the United Nations will fix it, that a new president will fix it, or that eliminating debt will solve our problems. We look to new medical science for solutions or even dream of escaping to Mars, thinking that might fix everything.

Virtual reality—let's just check out from all of it. That'll fix it, right? We're still trying to fix it, but we find all the time that we are completely impotent to help fix it. Then we read in Galatians chapter 4, "When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son." In Romans chapter 5, it says, "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time." For what? He died for sinners.

Point number four in your outline: Jesus fully dealt with the penalty, power, persistence, and presence of sin. His death on the cross, at just the right time, addresses the problems we see in creation, through our conscience, through the law, and the coming problem predicted by the prophets of judgment upon sin. We see all of that in general and special revelation, but we are completely powerless to fix it. Jesus comes just at the right time, and He dies, dealing completely with the penalty of sin. His death addressed the righteous requirements of the law, while His resurrection deals with the power of sin. Sin's power is death, and He raised from the dead, declaring victory over sin and death.

Right now, by His power and grace, He is working in you and me to deal with the persistent problem of sin in our lives through sanctification. One day, He will deal with the very presence of sin. He will glorify you and me and take us out of this world. This corruption will put on incorruption, and this mortality will put on immortality. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be with Him and like Him—no more sin.

How do we know that He fully dealt with it, though? I'll go back to Hebrews again, specifically Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. "He, being the brightness of God's glory, the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, what did He do? He sat down at the right hand of majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

What is this? Point number five: Jesus sits enthroned in glory above all powers.

All earthly powers and all angelic powers are under His authority. He sits on a throne in heaven in a position of rest, no longer working. Why? Because on the cross, His last words were, "It is finished." He is now seated in heaven, no longer working like the priests described in the Old Testament, who worked every single day, every single week, every single month, and every single year for centuries to try and deal with the problem of sin. He did it once for all and is now seated at the right hand of God because the penalty, power, persistence, and presence of sin have been dealt with by Jesus.

As we conclude, in light of all these points—points one through five—if these things are true, which is what we are studying as we go through the book of Hebrews to prove their validity, we must consider the implications. If it is true that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, that He is the owner and sustainer of everything, that He is the perfect manifestation of all of God's glory, grace, and truth, that He completely deals with the penalty, power, persistence, and presence of sin, and that He is seated on a throne in heaven in glory, how does that affect the problems you are facing in your life this week?

What are the problems you are encountering? I'm sure that as I ask this, you can think of several issues that have been weighing on you since you woke up this morning or even yesterday. You might be concerned about what will happen on Monday and Tuesday and how you will deal with these problems. Every single one of us has problems, and probably several of them. In light of the truth of who Jesus is, how does that truth affect those problems? Are you still trying to deal with your flaws on your own? Are you still attempting to address all of those failures by yourself? Let me clue you into something you already know at a deep level: you have no power in and of yourself to fix it.

But Jesus came at just the right time. He came to die for the ungodly. I don't know about you, but I fit in that category—ungodly. There's none righteous, no, not one. Yes, that's me. I need His power in my life, His authority, and His goodness. And so do you. Because there's nothing we can do apart from the grace of Jesus Christ.

So God, fill us with Your grace. Amen? Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Jesus, we need Your grace. I am so grateful that this very book we are going to be studying through says that You sit on a throne of grace, and that the access to that throne of grace is open always. We can come boldly at any time before that throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need.

I am certain that at this moment, as we stand here, there are many in this room who are in need of Your grace and Your mercy. We thank You that we have access through You, Jesus, to come before that throne. We come, we stand right now, and we say, "Jesus, we need Your grace." We need Your grace to face the problems we are dealing with this week, to address the issues of our failures and our sins.

It may be that as we stand here this morning, you realize for the first time your need for the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. If you want to receive the forgiving grace, the salvation that Jesus freely gives because of what He did on the cross, and you want to receive that today, would you just lift up your hand this morning? Anyone here? God bless you up here in the front. Anyone else? If that's you and you realize your need, just lift up your hand; we want to pray with you.

Again, if you're that person today, would you just pray out loud with me? Dear Jesus, I recognize my failures. I know that I am a sinner. Everything I see reminds me of it every day.

Would you come into my life, forgive me of my sin, help me to follow You by faith, and serve You with my life? In Jesus' name, amen.