Better Than Angels

The author of the book of Hebrews puts forth the statement that Jesus is better. This week in Hebrews chapter 1, we will see how Jesus is better than angels. Please remain standing and open your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

In Hebrews chapter 1, we looked at the first four verses last week, but we are going to read those again to gain the context.

Hebrews 1:1 states, "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 heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds; who, 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, He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You"? And again, "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son."

But when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels, He says, "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire."

But to the Son, He says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

And, "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will grow old like a garment; like a cloak, You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same."

Your years will not fail. But to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool"? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him? God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.

Father, we just sang that You are a good Father, and Your goodness is displayed in so many ways. One of the ways that Your goodness is displayed is in that You have given us the revelation of who You are. You want us to know You, not just know about You, but actually know You. And so, God, I pray that as we open the Scriptures today, we would get to know You a little bit more—Your nature, Your character, and Your will for us. I pray that by Your Spirit, You would teach us all things. Holy Spirit, give us insight and wisdom, not just in things that we can know intellectually, but in things that we can apply in our lives. Teach and transform us by the renewing of our minds through Your word. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

A 2016 study by the Gallup organization found that 72% of Americans believe in angels. When you add to that those who say, "Well, there might be angels, but I just don't know," the number goes to 84%. That means only 16 out of every 100 Americans say there are no angels or that they don't believe that they exist. Seventy-two percent make the statement that there are angels, which means there are more Americans that believe in angels than believe in heaven. There are more Americans who believe in angels than believe in aliens. We see this in our pop culture; we see it in stories, shows, books, and movies.

We see it in songs all the time. If you've been around for a while, you may remember the show "Touched by an Angel," and then there's "Angels in the Outfield," "Angels in America," "Angels Among Us," and even "Charlie's Angels." I'm not exactly sure that those are the same thing, but they're there. So, we see this pervading our culture all around.

This isn't new; it's been this way for many, many hundreds of years, many centuries. There has been a strong belief in the reality of angels. You go a step further: in 2005, Baylor University found in a study that more than half of Americans, 55%, believe that they have been personally helped by a guardian angel. Furthermore, one in five Americans, 20%, believe that they have not only been personally helped by a guardian angel but have had an actual physical encounter with someone or something that they would say, "I think that was an angel." It is very clear that there is a strong view or opinion about angels.

Interestingly, that was the case 2,000 years ago among the Jewish people as well. The letter that we're studying was written to Christians who came out of the Jewish tradition, out of the Hebrew faith. They had a very mature understanding or view of angels, a very strongly established angelology, if you will.

One Bible commentator, William Barclay, noted that the Jewish people believed that angels were made of an ethereal, fiery substance, a blazing light. They believed that angels were created on either the second or the fifth day of creation, as described in the book of Genesis. Furthermore, they believed that angels did not eat or drink and that they did not beget children. Sometimes, they were believed to be immortal, although it was thought by the Jews of the time that angels could be annihilated by God.

They believed and taught that God was surrounded by a heavenly host of angels around His presence at all times. Sometimes, these angels were thought to be the army of God. They were certainly the instruments of God who would bring His message to humanity. That's why the very word "angelos" in Greek and the Hebrew word for angel both mean...

A messenger. It was believed by the Jewish people that angels were those who were in the presence of God, sent to bring the message of God to humanity. They were able to move between both the spiritual and the physical realm. The Jews of this time believed that angels had a higher knowledge, a greater knowledge than humanity, especially concerning the future. This was not because they were prophetic or able to predict what was to come, but because they were in the very presence of God. They were privy to information that you and I are not about the things that shall come.

John MacArthur, a Bible teacher and commentator in our day, wrote that the Jews saw angels as the loftiest of all of God's creation. Of all of God's created order, angels were at the top. Even though humanity was created by God in His image and is at the center of this earthly creation that we inhabit, angels were considered above them, as stated in Psalm 8. As we will see in the book of Hebrews, the author quotes Psalm 8, which says we are made a little lower than the angels. Therefore, the Jews of this time believed that angels were the loftiest of all of God's creation. In fact, to be above angels would be to be equal with God in their view, which is precisely why the author of the book of Hebrews makes the point he is going to make in the opening chapter of this book.

So far, if you were with us last week, we looked at the first four verses. In the opening words of the book of Hebrews, the author jumps right into some very deep theology about the nature of who Jesus is, what is called a very high Christology. He presents a strong theological statement at the beginning, establishing Jesus's supremacy above all things, which will be the point of the first seven or so chapters of this book. He will constantly emphasize that Jesus is better. That is why our series is called "Jesus is Better."

He starts with the assertion that Jesus is better than angels. Then he will say that Jesus is better than Moses, better than Abraham, and better than the priesthood. He will drill home this truth that Jesus is supreme; He is better. Even in just the first three verses, he establishes that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. Not only is Jesus the ultimate revelation of God, but in those first three verses, he also establishes that Jesus is the owner and the sustainer of all things.

Jesus is the manifestation of all of God's glory, grace, and truth. He fully dealt with the penalty and the power, the persistence and the presence of sin on the cross 2,000 years ago. When Jesus was crucified, his last words were, "It is finished." In that declaration, he paid for the penalty of our sin and dealt completely with its power, persistence, and presence.

In the first three verses of this letter, we are told that Jesus sits on the throne in heaven, in glory above all powers. All of these truths are found in just those first three verses. We could spend weeks going over each one of them, but I promise we won't. There is a lot of theological truth packed into this introduction, which is interesting because this letter, like many of the New Testament books, was written by an individual to a group of people or an individual. However, it does not start like any of the other letters in the New Testament.

Virtually all the other letters begin with a salutation and an introduction. For example, Paul often writes, "An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints at Ephesus, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." They almost all begin in that manner. But this book dives right into the deep theology of who Jesus is. As the author continues, he will prove with Scripture why Jesus is all of these things.

Since the first recipients of this letter were Hebrew Christians—Christians who came to faith from a Jewish background—and since they had a high view of angels, believing that angels were the loftiest of all of God's creation, the author immediately begins by stating that Jesus is greater than angels. Jesus is better.

Look again at verses three and four of Hebrews chapter one. Right in the middle of verse three, it says that when Jesus had by himself purged our sins, 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.

Why is this important? Why does it need to be established that Jesus is much better than angels and that he has a more excellent name than they? In the minds of the Jewish readers of this letter, angels were the highest of God's creation.

All of God's creation and Jesus, who they knew to be an individual contemporary with them, lived and walked upon this earth as a man. They knew that he was a human being and that he had existed. Some of the people who received this letter 2,000 years ago were either themselves or knew eyewitnesses of the actual man, Jesus of Nazareth. There was no question among the readers of this letter that Jesus lived and walked upon the earth. They believed that he was a human being. They had every reason to; they could see him. Many of them heard him teach specifically or directly. Therefore, there was no issue for them to believe in the humanity of Jesus.

However, remember that these Christians, to whom the author of the Book of Hebrews is writing, came out of the Hebrew faith. They left all the services of the temple, walked away from the sacrificial system and the priesthood, and abandoned the feast days and times of fasting in the Jewish religion to follow Jesus and put their trust only in him. You can be certain they had family members and friends who asked them, "Why would you do this? Why on earth would you leave everything of the temple and the priesthood to follow this man, Jesus?"

At the time the author wrote this letter, there were people in the first century discouraging the hearts of these early Christians from following Jesus faithfully, claiming he was just a man. Interestingly, if you fast forward about 40 years after this letter was written, you enter the second century AD. One of the early Christian heresies was that Jesus was not a man but was completely divine. He was God, but not a man. Consequently, many of the early confessions of the faith and the early creeds of the church were established to affirm the full humanity and full deity of Jesus—that he was fully God and fully man.

When this letter was written to Jewish Christians who had come out of Judaism, they faced skepticism from family members who questioned why they would leave everything to follow just a man. The author of the Book of Hebrews is saying, "Because he is not just a man. He is better than the priesthood. He is better than Moses and the law. He is better than our father, Abraham, and he is better than angels, who they believed to be the highest form of God's creation." The author of the Book of Hebrews will leave no place for such thinking.

That Jesus is not the best, not above all things. He says that Jesus, by Himself, purged our sins. He completely dealt with our sin by Himself. Now, He has sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high, and He has become so much better than the angels. He has, by inheritance, obtained a more excellent name than they.

Point number one on your outline: Jesus Christ has a better name and identity than angels. What exactly does that mean? It does not mean that just the name "Jesus" is better than the names of angels. To the Jews, to whom the author of the Book of Hebrews was writing, a name signified a person's nature. It spoke of who they were, not just the title that they held. For example, I might use your name, Don, or Joe, or Ben, but the name speaks of a person's nature and signifies their identity.

So, what name is it that the author of the Book of Hebrews is speaking of? He has already used it once previously in Hebrews chapter one, verses one and two. It says, "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." The name or identity that the author of the Book of Hebrews is keying in on here about Jesus is that He is the Son of God. We see that very clearly in verse five.

Jesus Christ has a better identity than angels. How so? Look at verse five of Hebrews chapter one. It begins in verse four, where we read that He has, by inheritance, obtained a more excellent name than they, than the angels. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are My Son; today I have begotten You"? And again, "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son."

Just lean over and circle in your neighbor's Bible the word "Son" there in verse five, which is used twice. To which of the angels, the author of the Book of Hebrews writes, has God ever said, "You shall be My Son"? The answer is none of them, none of them. Why? Because Jesus is greater than the angels.

Now again, Jesus lived and walked upon the earth. The first recipients of this letter, the first readers of the Book of Hebrews, knew as an established truth that Jesus was a man. There was no question about that, but there were those who were discouraging them with the question, "Are you sure he's more than that?" The author of the Book of Hebrews is saying, "Yes, he is greater than that. He is above all things."

It is fascinating that today, in the United States of America, based on a study that was done several years ago, a 2015 study by Barna Research found that 92% of Americans—nine out of every ten—believe that Jesus was a real person who actually lived 2,000 years ago. He was a real historic person. Nine out of ten Americans believe that; virtually everybody. However, only 56% of Americans believe that Jesus is God.

It is interesting that if you look at our own culture here today in the United States, there seems to be a split, just like there was in the Jewish community 2,000 years ago. They said, "Yes, Jesus is a man. We know people who knew him," but the question they had was, "Was he really more than just a man?" Here, the author of the Book of Hebrews is answering that question.

Like many of the first readers of this letter, the majority of people in America today believe that Jesus was a man. But the question is, is he God? Is he more than a man? The question that follows from that is, again, why does this matter? Why is it important?

If Jesus is just a man, then he is not the ultimate revelation of God. If he is just a man, then he is not the owner and sustainer of all things. If he is just a man, then he is not the manifestation of all of God's glory, grace, and truth. If he is just a man, then he did not fully deal with the penalty, power, persistence, and presence of sin on the cross. If he is just a man, then he does not occupy a throne in heaven at this moment.

But in verses one through three of Hebrews chapter one, the author of the Book of Hebrews has said, "Yes, Jesus is all of those things." Now, he has to defend that position here in these verses. The author is defending the greatness of Jesus Christ, and he begins by saying, "Jesus is better than angels."

Why does that matter? Because, again, the Jews regarded angels as very high, the highest of all of God's creation. Jesus was here upon the earth as a man, and men are created a little lower than the angels. So the question is, is He lower than the angels? Well, the author of the book of Hebrews says no, He is not. Look at who He is. The Scriptures say, "You are my Son," says God.

Now, notice what the author here does. He goes back to prove the greatness of Jesus by using that which was authoritative to the readers of this letter. He is writing to Christians who came out of the Jewish faith, out of the Hebrew tradition. They already believed, as an established fact, that the Hebrew Scriptures were authoritative. To prove that Jesus is greater than angels, the author of the book of Hebrews is going to say, "I'm going to show you from the Scriptures, your own holy Scriptures, that Jesus is better."

In our day, we have to go a little step further. Though there was no question among Jewish Christians in the first century as to whether or not the Scriptures, the holy Scriptures, Genesis through Malachi, were authoritative, there is a question in our day as to whether or not the Scriptures are authoritative. So we Christians, if we're going to use the Scriptures, need to establish the authenticity and the authority of the Bible by going back and looking at the historic evidence and all of those things. However, the author of the book of Hebrews presupposes that every one of his readers is with him when he says the Old Testament Scriptures are authoritative.

He asks, "How do we know that Jesus is better than angels?" He answers this by quoting Psalm chapter two, verse seven: "As to which of the angels did God ever say, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you'?" The author goes back to the Psalm and quotes it. He says Jesus is better than angels because God the Father called Jesus Son.

Now, that idea for us, sitting here today in the 21st century, can be challenging, especially since most of us probably don't have a Jewish background. When we read that God the Father said to Jesus the Son, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you," we see what the Scriptures say: that Jesus is said to be God, equal with God. He is the Creator; He is over all things. Yet, it seems in this passage that He is somehow lower than God because God begot Him.

Him as a son. So how does this work? Well, we need to understand what is being said when Jesus is referred to as the Son of God. To the Jews who were reading this, they would have had no problem with this concept because they understood that a son speaks of a title related to nature. What is the nature of Jesus? The son of someone has the exact nature of the one from whom they came. Therefore, Jesus being the Son of God indicates that he has the nature of God here in human flesh.

Now, how do we know that this is the case? In the Gospel of John, when Jesus proclaimed himself to be the Son of God, the Jewish people who were listening to him took up stones to kill him. They understood that he was making himself equal with God. To be the Son of God is to be God himself in nature before us. The Father says, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you." The main point of what the author is saying is that Jesus is above the angels because he has the nature of God.

Furthermore, his sonship is illustrated in the next portion quoted from Second Samuel, chapter seven, verse fourteen: "I will be a father to him, and he shall be my son." The angels were not individually called the Son of God. Collectively, they may have been referred to as the sons of God, but only Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

Point number two on your outlines: Jesus as the Son of God is greater than the angels. Why is he greater than the angels? Because he has the very nature of God in human flesh. Though he is eternal, he only became the begotten Son of God when he came to the earth, but he existed before that.

This is the amazing thing. You and I did not exist before we were conceived. When we were conceived in our mother's womb, we came into existence, but we did not exist prior to that. Our spirit and soul did not exist until we were conceived. We believe that life begins at conception, and at that moment, you become a new human being that never existed before. But Jesus pre-existed his conception.

He lived in eternity past before He came down to earth as a little child born of the Virgin Mary. Only when He became a human being did God take on the title of the Son of God. Before that, He had a different title. John's Gospel, chapter one, tells us that His title before the incarnation, before God became a man, was the Word of God.

Why the Word of God? Because the Word is the most full and complete revelation of who an individual is. Jesus is the Word of God because He is the most full and complete revelation of who God is. At the moment of conception, when Jesus was born, God became flesh. The Word became flesh to dwell among us. He is then called by the title of the Son of God because He embodies the nature of God here in human flesh. He is greater than angels.

The author continues in verse six of Hebrews, chapter one. When He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Jesus is better than angels. Why? Because when Jesus, the supreme firstborn, the one who is first in rank and above all things, comes into the world, He receives the worship of angels. He is greater than angels because angels worship Him. You only worship that which is greater, better than you.

Where do we see the worship of Jesus by angels? The very first place is when He is announced at His birth. The angels come and proclaim to the shepherds in the field, as recorded in Luke's Gospel, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." They worship the child Jesus. We see it again later on in the future, in Revelation, chapter five, verses 11 through 14. All of the angels in heaven and on earth will bow and worship Jesus because He is greater than angels.

The author continues in verses seven through nine of Hebrews, chapter one. Now, of the angels, God says, "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire." But to the Son, Jesus, He says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

The author of the book of Hebrews exercises his deep command of the Hebrew Scriptures.

He just keeps reaching back to the Old Testament and throwing verses out. Now he quotes from Psalm 104 and Psalm 45. He's already quoted from Psalm 2, verse 7, and Second Samuel, chapter 7, verse 14. As he does, he drives home this important point: point number three on your outline. Angels are messengers; Jesus is King.

To drive it home a little bit more, he goes on in verses 10 through 12 and quotes Psalm 102. He says, "And you, Lord Jesus, in the beginning, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will grow old like a garment, but like a cloak, you will fold them up. They will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail."

The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that angels are created beings. We don't know exactly when they were created. Some Jews held that they were created on the second day of creation, some on the fifth day, and others said it was before all of that. So, we don't know exactly when the angels were created, but they are created beings.

Whereas Jesus is the Creator. He is the one who laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of His hands. All of this creation will someday perish and pass away, but He will endure. This leads us to point number four on your outline: Jesus is the eternal, uncreated Creator and sustainer of all things.

What the author of the book of Hebrews is telling us here is that angels are mighty and awesome, but Jesus is mightier and awesomer. "Awesomer" is not a word, but I created it today. Angels are mighty and awesome; Jesus is mightier and awesomer. He is over and above all things.

So we read in verse 13 of Hebrews chapter one: "But to which of the angels has He, God, ever said, 'Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool?'" The answer is none.

God the Father says to Jesus, the Son, the Word of God, "Sit here in the place of power and authority and rule." As the Psalms foretell in Psalm 110, verse one, He sits enthroned in glory. No angel occupies such a place of power, authority, and rule. Therefore, in Hebrews 1:14, it asks, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" There is a difference: Jesus is the King, while angels are messengers. Jesus is the one who sits on the throne and dispatches these angelic messengers to come and speak on His behalf. However, they are lower than Him. They may be higher than us, as we are created a little lower than the angels, but Jesus sits on a throne in heaven. He is greater.

Now, if I told you last week that we would get to Hebrews chapter two, you would have thought I was a liar, but here we go. Hebrews chapter two gives the application. What does all this mean? Jesus is greater than angels; He is above all these angels. Why does that even matter?

In chapter two, verse one, it states, "We must give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we drift away, lest we fall away." For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, enduring, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, a punishment from God, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?

What is the author saying here as a way of application? He says this: because we know that Jesus is greater than angels and that He is God, we need to make sure that we diligently give heed to the word that He has spoken to us, to His gospel. Why? Because if the word given to us by angels was strong and the very thing that could punish and judge us, what word is He talking about? In the Jewish tradition, it was angels who carried the law of God to Moses. If the law of God delivered to us by angels was enduring and strong and had the authority to judge us if we transgressed and rebelled against the law, the word carried by angels...

More punishment will we be worthy of if we neglect the word of the gospel, the salvation that Jesus preaches. He is greater than angels. If we do not follow His word and neglect it, we are worthy of damnation through the gospel.

What is the word of the gospel that Jesus preaches? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If you rebelled against the law of God delivered by angels, you were judged. Let me be very clear: if you rebel against and turn away from the word spoken by Jesus to turn to Him for salvation, the gospel, which is a gospel of salvation to those who repent, will become a gospel of damnation to those who do not.

The author of the book of Hebrews says, "Here's the application. Give heed to the word of Jesus." Point number five on your outline: we must do well to honor the King more than His messengers.

Listen, the Jewish people who had turned to Jesus and received this letter 2,000 years ago honored the messengers, the angels who brought the law of God to them. They honored the law. Now the author says we need to honor the King more than just His messengers.

This may seem like a given to some of you today. You may say, "Well, of course we need to honor Jesus more than angels." Absolutely, we should do that. But here's the striking thing: 72% of Americans today believe in angels and revere them as important beings, but only 56% of Americans believe that Jesus is God.

What's that? More people honor the messengers than the one who sends those messengers, the King of Kings on a throne of glory. That's striking. That's challenging.

I think it brings to us a simple question: How can I, how can you, how can we honor the King this week? This week, Monday, Tuesday, this afternoon, how can we honor King Jesus?

As I thought about that this last week, two verses came to mind. First, the words of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter five, verse 16, Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." How can we honor our Father, the King? How can we honor Jesus, seated on a throne in heaven? Let the world see your good works so that He would be honored and glorified.

Well, what good works? This brings us to Micah chapter six, verse eight. It says, "He, God, has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." These are three things that we can do this week to honor the King.

Number one, do justly. What does that mean? It means to do the right thing. You might ask, "What's the right thing?" Read the Scriptures, and you'll know. Do the right thing, the righteous thing, the just thing. I recognize and understand that this gets harder and harder every day in the world in which we live. In fact, for some of you today, you work in a place where doing the right thing might hold you back from a promotion. It might keep you from what you've been working so hard for. A coworker or maybe a manager might say to you, "Listen, we don't have to do that. Let's just fudge the numbers right here." And you say, "I can't do that." Why? Because you've got to honor the King. You've got to do what's right, what's moral, what's ethical. You've got to walk in justice and do justly.

Second, love mercy. I don't think it's such a stretch to say that every single one of you in this room today, all of us, love mercy for ourselves. How do I know that we love mercy for ourselves? Well, you're driving down the 15 freeway, and someone flies by and cuts you off. In your mind, you say, "Oh, I wish there was a cop. Where's Ryan when you need him?" But if you're the one who cuts someone off, you do one of these things: "I'm sorry." You want mercy. We love mercy for ourselves.

But we need to love mercy for ourselves and for other people as well. We can honor the King by doing justly and loving mercy. Thirdly, we must walk humbly with God, embracing humility.

It’s a sad reality, but we don’t live in a place that values humility. We live in a society that tells us that if we want to succeed and get ahead, we have to be assertive, strong, boastful, and proud. While those traits might earn you likes on Facebook, the Scriptures say that God gives grace to the humble. This suggests that it is far better to receive a like from God than from Mark Zuckerberg.

He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. In doing so, we honor the King. May it be that we honor the King this week. However, I think we probably need His help to do so, don’t you?

Let us stand and ask Him for His help. Lord, we confess right now that we need Your assistance. Apart from You, we can do nothing. The Scriptures say that we can do all things through You who gives us strength. So, Jesus, would You strengthen us? Give us Your enabling power to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk in humility.

Let our light shine before our co-workers, neighbors, family members, and friends who don’t know You, so they may see our good works and glorify You. Justice, humility, and mercy are not valued in the world we live in, which often honors retribution and walks in the gray areas. God, I pray that You would help us to walk in this way and bring glory to Your name.

Do work by Your power and by Your Spirit in our lives. It may be that as we stand here this morning, you realize for the first time your need for the saving grace of Jesus. He died on the cross to pay for the penalty of sin and to deal with its power in death.

We deal with the persistent power of sin in our lives, and we hope to one day be completely freed from its presence. If you'd like to be freed from the power and the penalty of sin through the forgiveness of Jesus, I want to give you a chance to do that this morning. Just lift up your hand if anyone here would like to receive His grace. God bless you. Is there anyone else? Right here in the front, is there anyone else?

If that's you this morning, would you just pray with me where you're at?

Dear Jesus, I recognize that I need You. I have failed You time and again, but I pray that You would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith. In Jesus' name, amen.