It is again, my privilege to be able to spend some time with you all this evening as we intentionally hover around the word of God. Together, you and I are invited to participate in the greatest story ever told. It is the multi-layered, redemptive narrative of God rescuing his people so that you and I can commune with him as one, and together with His Holy Spirit, we have the ability to bring restoration to a hurting suffering world.
So to help us guide on our way as 21st century believers, there are a few tools that we're given, to help us make sense of how we shape and how we partner with the almighty creator of all things. The first thing that we have is the Bible. The Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. I'll talk more about that in a second. Secondly, we have the community of believers past, present, and future. The church.
With all of its bumps and bruises, scars and sin, and for this season, on a micro level, you and I have this specific community of faith red door, and so it is in this community that we learn together and how to follow the way.
Of Jesus. Now, I say that we are 21st century believers, of course, because that is the time and place that we are physically on this earth, and it's so important that as we look and we hover around the word of God, together, we understand the context of where we fall ourselves today. So we are at the intersection of the beginning of the week as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Monday. The ultimate victory over sin and death.
Then we have the somber sacrifice that is Anzac Day, where the themes of sacrifice, injustice, loving your neighbor, both present and those to come are prevalent Themes. We also find ourselves at a rare moment where the church is under the watchful eye of the world as the Pope passes away teaching us that a lifetime of service does lead to legacy. But ultimately we live through the hearts, minds, and deeds of the people that we leave behind.
So funnily enough this evening, there are some military references for your consumption. There are thoughts about leaving a lasting legacy, but as there should be, for every single time we hover around the word of God, there was always death and resurrection, death and resurrection of dreams, death and resurrection of desires, death and resurrection of plans and promises.
And so this evening, I'm really hoping that this will aid your understanding of the letter that we've been studying over the last couple of months. And if I'm to be criticized for saying the same thing every single time I'm up here, let it be this. As Christians, you and I are called to follow Jesus, Jesus' heart. Jesus's character, Jesus' priorities.
Jesus' Way, while Jesus is and always will be the ultimate example, it is also useful to examine and consider the lives of other minor yet significant characters in the play. And for me, as I've grown to seek to understand the Bible a little better, to observe Jesus in the flesh, this allows you and I a momentary glands into the personification of perfection.
The tactile nature of Jesus's physical presence on earth allows us to observe perfection, unrushed, deliberate, strategic, disarming, kind, compassionate. Gracious and wise, it is a standard. However that is unrelenting and try as we may to follow it. Our fallen human nature will always find us falling short of the glory of God. If you like, I have made the mistake of assuming that there'll be nothing better after Jesus's ascension to heaven in Acts chapter one.
May I remind you this evening, as I remind myself that the great grand tapestry of God's redemption continues to be woven, but there are other characters now that begin to grace the stage. And we are invited to actively participate with those characters as temples of the Holy Spirit carrying the manifest presence of God. So this evening I want to introduce you to a few minor characters, Paul Barnabas, Silas, Lydia.
A prison guard, a slave owner, the slave herself, Peter, the first, Pope James, the mediator, the grumpy juris teachers of the law who lack significant bedside manner and communication skills. These minor characters reflect Jesus as despite being imperfect. They reflect him both as a feeble impersonation, but they also reflect him in the opposite. That is, whatever you observe this evening, reverse it, and that's what you would find Jesus doing.
So this evening, as you sit here, I'm presuming that there are probably two groups of people. The first group is that you are an active and engaged part of the Red Door community, and so you've been following the last few months as we've dived into the letter of Philippians. If that is you tonight, my intention is to put some scaffolding around what we've been studying the last couple of months, noting that in addition to the teaching, that we are also blessed to receive on a Sunday.
There's also the slightly more in depth offering of Word and way on a Wednesday, as well as the house church material that's been provided for you this morning. So there's a scaffolding today. Secondly, you may be new to red door, but not new to Jesus. And if that is you, you're so welcome. But it's my hope that these little theological hooks will allow you to engage more meaningfully with this faith.
And it will allow you to engage with the beauty and the drama every single time you open the living word of God. And so then after that, what I'm hoping will also happen is a moment for each and every one of us to have a private reflection or small group discussion because it's in those contexts that you and I are able to mine and find the gems of Jesus that await us this evening.
So what this may mean is that I'm asking you as you sit there this evening, to temporarily suspend what may be your automatic assumption that a sermon about Philippians has to automatically be within the book of Philippians. Immediately, this sermon as all sermons is about Jesus. And so. Let's be patient as we review and hopefully allow the word to illuminate our path a little bit later. After all, the creator of all things took 30 years before he began his ministry.
I. And the education that we are having this evening together is so important because it's my personal view that following Jesus and understanding the word is a slow, deliberate obedience in the right direction. What that means if you are a slightly younger person here is that it is incongruous to claim that you want to know Jesus and yet completely ignore the living word.
And so while the church has its part to play in educating, and while the church has its part to play in providing a place to unpack and share these thoughts, it is incumbent on you as a follower of Jesus as it is on me, as understand a few of the tools that are necessary to understand and be in awe of the creator of all things. To put it another way. As this community red door, it has been put on record that we wish to be known for how we love.
You'll probably hear that a lot if you've been here for a little while, if that is the case. To know love is to know the personification of love. To know the personification of love is Jesus. To know Jesus is to understand the living word. May God forgive my impetuousness and impulsivity as I skimmed over John one one in my pursuit of trying to speed read the Bible in a year. Now that is not a denigration of Project 73, but that is simply me admitting my desire for something quick and fast.
And sometimes our desire for something quick and fast, some morsel of content actually sets us backwards. So I just wanna be able to set up a few scriptures just to sort of, um, enforce and in inform the point that I'm trying to say and consistent with my style. If you've never, um, sort of heard me before, um, I'm gonna make mention of these scriptures, but I'm gonna leave them available on the slides for your own private study rather than read the whole thing.
So you'll see two Timothy three, 10 to 17. You'll see verse 16 confirms that all scripture is God breathed. Useless for teaching rebuking correcting and training and righteousness so that the servant of God, you and me, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. It's pretty clear there. And then one Peter three 15 says, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but to do so with gentleness and respect.
How sad that people miss out and they reject and they have a disgust of the most beautiful story of all time. Because as a body, we haven't developed spiritually and theologically sound muscles to affirm that all scripture is what's just been mentioned. Let's pray and then we'll get into it. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the prince of peace this evening, give us grace, seriously to lay to heart the great dangers that we are in.
Our unhappy divisions take away all hatred and prejudice and whatever else may hinder us from Godly Union in Concord. That there is one body in one spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all so that together we may all be of one heart and one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and clarity, and may with one mind and one mouth. May we glorify you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. And that's from the Book of Common Prayer. And it's a prayer which is about unity, which again, I will mention later. So after Jesus ascends to heaven, there are a couple of key roads that we must understand as we observe. The map of the New Testament is no longer Jesus, but you and I who are charged with the responsibility of sharing the gospel. Or the good news of Jesus. And so access to the presence of God has been restored to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
But there is a culmination where the royal priesthood, those are able to access the presence of God, are brought into focus at Pentecost. So gonna set the runway up here. Acts chapter two. We see a list of 15 different regions where there is an understanding of the gospel being preached in their native language. You'll see that up there on Acts chapter two, verse five to 12. Now there is no express mention of Gentiles, so how does that happen?
How does the word spread as per the Great Commission? Just a reminder, if you actually plot these different cities that you see in Acts chapter two, what you will find is a compass. And what you will find is every single city is responsible for each different corner, which is a way of saying that the gospel spreads to everywhere across the globe. So how does this happen? Well. There is a man in Acts chapter eight.
Stephen is stoned and the church scatters and there is a man named Saul which says he approves of the killing of one of a key Jesus follower. And he begins Saul, that is to destroy the church, and he drags men and women and places them in prison. As he continues to breathe out, murderous threats. In Acts chapter nine, Saul asks the high priest for access to synagogues in Damascus so he can drag followers of Jesus in a 300 Kilomet journey by foot to throw them in prison.
So on that road, Jesus from Heaven meets and speaks to Saul. And through Anani, Jesus appoints Saul to be his chosen instrument to the Gentiles. So if there's Acts, chapter nine, thank you very much. 15 to 16. If you have a look here, the emphasis is there for you. The Lord says to anani, go. This man, Saul is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings, and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.
So I'm hoping you're following the train. Right, so completely consistent with Jesus' upside down kingdom, which we see in Matthew five. He uses the most unlikely of subjects to spread the gospel to Gentiles. A person who has spent most of his life so far persecuting them after Paul's radical conversion. He spends about three years in preparation and then is called to early ministry adventures and does this for about 16 years.
A lot of the towns that are covered in the account of Acts chapter two are visited by Paul, but 16 years after Paul's conversion, which is approximately 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus, there is predictably disunity among believers, and this is no surprise. 'cause as humanity develops, our failed and flawed views on what is right and wrong can corrupt each other.
So there's a pivotal moment in Acts, which I want to talk to you about this evening, and there is a clear inconsistency at this present stage of what being a follower of Jesus requires. So they gather anyone who is anyone, they summon every single significant follower of Jesus to Jerusalem. Peter is there, the disciples are there. Paul is there. Barnabas is there. This pivotal moment is in Acts chapter 15 and is known as the Jerusalem Council.
This is my feeble attempt to summarize the council at Jerusalem, remembering that as 21st century believers, so much of what you and I have experienced in the Old Testament is based on Jewish custom and culture. Okay. Huh Number one, there's a group of people who believed that you can't be saved simply by believing in Jesus. What their view is, is that all Jewish customs should be followed in order to access the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. Peter has an argument which says No.
The Holy Spirit 15 years ago at Pentecost was poured out over all people, and the inference there is that the gospel of Jesus is an inclusive one. Not an exclusive one. Um, one of my favorite authors, the late Great Rachel Held Evans, encapsulate this beautifully by saying the gospel is offensive, not because of who it excludes, but because of who it includes. So Peter then affirms that it doesn't matter whether you're a Jew or a Gentile, it's through the grace of Jesus that you and I are saved.
What happens after that is a period of time where Paul and Barnabas then report about all the incredible conversion stories which they have observed on their missionary journey. A quick word about this, if you are sort of sitting here going, how does this apply to me? Well, sometimes your personal story and sometimes your testimony is stronger than any other well-reasoned argument. James ever.
The mediator comes up with a few practical solutions to allow the two competing schools of thought to be able to live with the solution. And then there is a letter which is sent out. So the council drafts this letter and it is now in the hands of Paul. Implicit with this is this letter because Paul's had a big win. He has just confirmed that the united view is that it is the grace of Jesus, not the laws of the Jewish history, which allows you to access Jesus Christ.
So Paul tucks this letter into his tunic and he sets out again on his travels. And this is the letter, which funnily enough, sets the pathway forward for about a quarter of the New Testament Philippians. Galatians first and second Corinthians. So if you read the NIV version of this letter, which I encourage you to do so, um, even though the translation is available to us, there is a lack of empathy, a lack of bedside manner.
Remember this, all of these gentiles have risked their life to follow Jesus. Most of these people in the various cities have never heard or seen of these wise heads in Jerusalem. So what I did is I actually extracted what I thought would be the best version. So I've got the message paraphrase, which is the letter. Hopefully it's up here for you. Hello. We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. They had no authority from us.
We didn't send them. We have now agreed to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends, Barnabas and Paul. We picked men. We knew you would trust Judas different. Judas and Silas. They've looked death in the face time and time again for the sake of our master, Jesus Christ. We've sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we've written, it seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us clearly. 'cause they're the same thing.
That you should not be saddle with any crushing burden, but be responsible for only these bare necessities. Okay? This is where the mediation comes in. Don't get involved with activities connected with idols. Avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians and guard the morality of sex and marriage. These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us and God be with you. Okay. Um, this is actually my first time I following follow Jesus for about 30 years.
Well, I mean, I could read for 35 of them. Um, and this was the first time I actually realized what this letter represents for our faith. Paul takes this letter ready to spread the gospel to anyone who listens. And so with this letter, he starts beginning making his own plans. He makes his own path. He tries to do it his own way. And you see this again as Act Chapter 16 plays out, but then doors begin to shut. There are roadblocks, which thoughts? Paul's agenda and Paul's way of doing things.
Maybe that's relevant for you tonight where you have held em bridled enthusiasm with something which you know must be shared. But try as you might, it's met with roadblock after roadblock, after roadblock. So Paul has a dream and he dreams of a Macedonian man. So Acts chapter 16, six to 10 confirms that the spirit of Jesus would not allow him to enter certain cities. And so during the night, Paul has a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, please come to Macedonia and help us.
And after Paul sees the vision, we got ready. That's Luke and him. Get ready at once to leave for Macedonia. So. This is where we see the letter of Philippians begin to take shape. This is the first time after the Jerusalem Council that Paul arrives in the city of Philippi. Remember, we haven't even got to the letter yet. This is 10 to 12 years before he writes the letter. Acts 1612 confirms that this city is a Roman colony. This is relevant and very, very important for today.
The reason why it's important is because how the law is applied is actually an important study on citizenship, performance and identity. Let me explain what a Roman colony is. Because what this does is it infers that anyone starting a church in a Roman colony is going to face significant pressure, significant persecution, and significant challenge for a Jesus following community. So there is not peace everywhere in this time.
There are battles absolutely everywhere, and the Roman Empire is of course the one which has the best and most sophisticated military. To ensure substantial and longevity rule, the Roman Empire would regularly recycle and retire their soldiers to say thank you for their service. These older soldiers would migrate on mass to places where the climate was nicer and the conditions were better.
If anyone's seen the movie 300, it's similar, where they have 300 of their soldiers and they take their wives and their children. To be able to migrate somewhere else that becomes a Roman colony. So you can be geographically distant from Rome, but the Roman law applies in this tiny town. So here are some of the basic rights that you have as a Roman citizen. Tax is exempt. Right. You have a right to a fair criminal trial, important for later.
There is a moratorium on embarrassing capital punishment, including crucifixion. Interesting. There's better access to trade, and perhaps most importantly, if you are a citizen of Rome, you have the right to appeal your criminal activity to the emperor. Okay. There's no zoom. There's no teams. What that means is that if you have a crime, you are able to travel all the way to Rome to appeal before the emperor. Let's go back to Paul.
Normally, as you arrive in a new Roman colony or a new city, you would go to a Jewish synagogue, but because Philippi is a Roman colony. There is no synagogue. So he goes down to the river because that's where the followers of Jesus are and they are women. There is a woman there, Lydia, who deals in purple cloth. What that means is that she is a business woman. She clothes royalty, she dies clothes purple, the color of royalty, and she is a follower of Jesus. Lydia is wealthy.
Lydia has resources. Lydia is a boss lady, but Lydia doesn't use her wealth for herself. Lydia uses her wealth to be generous. So as an aside, if you think about that, what archeological digs have found is that Philippi actually has buildings and churches, which are dated back to the sixth century. When the city became a Christian hub, what does that mean? What that means is that Lydia's generosity started a 600 year legacy.
This little church started a 600 year legacy that blessed people long after she left the earth. So you can see if you track the Bible, little morsels of Lydia's generosity Acts 16, 15 Acts 1640, and the culture that she has a big part in creating manifests in this gift being delivered to Paul approximately 10 years later when he is in Rome, in prison again, writing this letter.
So this is where if you follow Jesus for a little while, perhaps if you went to sch um, Sunday school, this next story becomes a little bit more apparent. Paul now stays in the house of Lydia and there is another female who is a slave. This slave tells fortunes and this slave makes her owners a lot of money. So Acts 1618 shows us that the slave girl taunts Paul for many, many days, and Paul gets so annoyed he commands the evil spirit to leave in the name of Jesus.
What this means is that the slave girl can no longer tell fortunes and the slave girl is now useless to the owners. So what happens? The owners drag Paul and his friend Silas. Into the marketplace in Philippi and demand that Paul and Silas be thrown into jail because they have thrown this city into uproar. Yes. I think you know what happens next? They are flogged and around midnight there is a violent earthquake that the prison is shaken.
The prison doors are open and everyone's chains are loosened. So the prison officer is about to commit suicide as a result of the shame, but at the last minute, Paul preaches to this prison officer the good news of Jesus, and he and his entire household belief. So if you followed my train of thought here, you'll, you'll see that there is this significant event which happens in the city of Philippi, which you may not have. Well, I didn't realize happened here.
And so after the break out of the prison, Paul actually reveals that he is a Roman citizen, and what happens is that because he's a Roman citizen, he's entitled to certain privileges, including the right to a fair trial and due process. For some unknown reason, Paul decides not to reveal his true citizenship. But endured the suffering that a non Roman citizen would have to endure. This is where Philippians chapter three becomes very important, this whole idea of suffering for Christ's sake.
And what happens then is the government realizes that they have made a massive mistake. The government actually come and they say sorry to Paul and Silas. And say, we're so sorry. Can you please leave to save us? Embarrassment. It's all here. And then Lydia's house becomes the church. And so this moment here, if I can just get you to stay with me, and I know that I've talked a lot about history and I'm really grateful for you staying with me. This is a seismic moment. All right.
In the town of Philippi, it is the equivalent of a massive event in our history where you always remember where you were when that happened, right? I'm sure you can infer the various moments that have happened over the last 20 years, or where were you when this happened? Where were you when that was happening? Similarly speaking, for this particular gathering of believers in Philippi.
They are going, where were you 10 years ago when that guy, Paul and his mate Silas, broke free from the prison and basically the government admitted that they had made a colossal mistake. This is why when Paul writes the letter, you understand that people are transported back to that time 'cause Paul is in prison again.
And when you consider the altercation that put Paul and Silas in the prison, if Paul had actually exercised his right as a Roman citizen, he would've had to travel to Rome, which means that none of this would've happened. The foundational event that has actually catapulted the Church of Philippi to be a thriving Christian hub would've never happened. Funny, when you put your own preferences in front of Gods. Or the reverse.
What happens when you get your results or when you get theologically divine results? And so 12 years after Paul's first visit, Lydia, the slave girl and the prison officer have now helped grow the church. You see this in Philippians one verse one, because there are now overseers and deacons in this church community. So what is this teaching us this evening?
It's been a long runway, but what is this contextual analysis doing to illuminate some of the words that may have remained dormant on the pages of your Bible? When we look at the above context, when we look at what happened at the Church of Philippi and all the winding roads and closed doors that brought Paul to this city, the arguments and disunity of the early church, maybe this is impossible. This is a possible invitation for you and I to remember that the theme of Philippians one.
As Paul has experienced is the sovereign providential move of God to take what is meant for evil and turn it for good. So if you sit here this evening, discouraged, unaware of what is happening, may your temporary detours, setbacks, and pain allow us together to be aware that God is moving even when it appears dark. This is why we see the pathogen Philippians one, nine to 11, when he prays that their love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.
That is to say, may you experience the love of Jesus, so to, if you are sitting here this evening, may you truly understand what it means to follow Jesus. May you have life altering. And Earthquakey moments, even if you don't have to, to look back and testify about the faithfulness of Jesus.
Again, as I'm wanting to clarify, perhaps not literal earthquakes, given that we live smack in the center of a tectonic plate, but things which shake the metaphorical foundations of your mind and your heart, your career, your family. Things which give you comfort and security things which you have put your entire life and identity into being. Sometimes what happens to truly follow Jesus is that those things are challenged, those things are shaken, those things are tested.
There is a verse here, which I just wanted to share, um, about Philippians. If you just allow me to turn to it. In chapter three, verse 10 says, I want to know Christ yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participate in his sufferings becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the death.
So when you read that for the first time, perhaps with the context, may you realize that the actual participation in Christ's sufferings is also to engage in suffering that will come upon us from time to time, but it leads to a greater story. It leads to a greater victory, it leads to death and resurrection as it always does.
Maybe this is why after 25 years of ministry, which is where the letter of Philippians lands in Philippians one 19, Paul is able to rejoice and know that what has happened to him will turn out for his deliverance, a simple line. But Paul can sit there and write this with authority because it has happened to him time and time and time again. And so again, may your testimony this evening. Eventually when you get to share it, be one where God has shown himself faithful to you.
Time and time and time again. I'm not convinced that actually God shows himself faithful. If everything is good. I'm actually convinced as I think we've all journeyed with Jesus to a certain degree, that God actually shows himself faithful when there are times of suffering and times of trial and times where you are beyond yourself and you actually have to be God. Like where are you? In this prison, where are you in this moment of loneliness? Where are you when your self-esteem is rocked?
That's the wonderful thing about this faith that we have, is that it is death and resurrection death to your priorities, but resurrection to a new Christ-like priority. And maybe you can look at the second chapter of Philippians where Paul can now humbly and confidently assert that true joy is found in a unified, humble community of people who are following Jesus. That life is actually best lived, marked by obedience, marked by selflessness, marked by service to others, looking yes at Jesus.
But for those who may not have been alive, to see or hear firsthand accounts of Jesus using Timothy and a Paphitis in chapter two 19, they are the best examples of kindness and faithfulness and conscientiousness to the point where they would suffer greatly to be able to bless other people. And finally, perhaps most pertinent to me, as we now launch the next few weeks of Philippians, we look at chapter three.
And we observe that the amazing grace of Jesus liberates us from the burdens of religious performance as we can see in that letter, remember that letter, as we can see highlighted in the new and living way post Jerusalem council, that knowing Jesus is actually a lot different to knowing about Jesus, but knowing Jesus is a prize.
Which has such great value that everything else, including life in and of itself, pales in comparison and in this current society, which we are living and trying to achieve things and trying to get things and buy things and, and study things, may this reframe for us as a community what achievement actually is, what identity is. Paul here is a Jewish rabbi, and so he has the most pure and most impressive resume of a Jewish person.
And in addition to that, he was also fortunate enough to be born into a Roman family, either by his father or by the fact that he was based in Tarsus, which was also a Roman colony. So on paper or papus, whichever one you would like, he has probably the most impressive resume in the world. And to borrow a idealism.
Paul didn't give a flying figure about it, but said that all of these achievements, all of this citizenship, all of these things were excrement compared to the power of knowing Christ. And you read that in isolation perhaps this evening, realizing the journey that Paul has had to go through. To finally say that with conviction. Hopefully that is stir something in your heart this evening. And so how have you and I lived our life?
Have we curated a life and an image which allow, which perhaps allows for dopamine to fill our bodies every time we get temporary fickle assurances from people? What is the better?
And so I just wanted to spend a minute in silent reflection, or alternatively, if there's a group of people that you love and you trust that are sitting around you to have an opportunity of five or so minutes just to respond and vocalize perhaps what you've been experiencing while you've been listening to me this evening. Um, I totally understand that there is. Receiving a, a, a sermon or receiving a a, a lecture or whatever you, you deem this to be.
Um, but there is something more beautiful by participating by vocalizing externally or internally, what you've received this evening. So what I'd like to do is for the next five minutes I have some reflection questions, which I put up. And the first thing, which I find is really useful, if you've got your own house, church, you've got your own small group. I found that this is the best question to sort of sink and anchor yourself into following Jesus.
Um, so understanding a little bit more about the context of what I've shared, what has this taught you about Jesus? One option which you might want to entertain? Second question is, what is something that has come back to life in my understanding of the Bible? Very often we are, um. You know, there used to be this, um, in, in the nineties, um, there still is, there's this book shop called Ong. And Ong would sell these posters. And these posters would be little snippets of little verses, right?
But they would just be like 10 or 11 words. And you would live your life based on these posters, but you wouldn't understand the context of what was actually happening. So. Funnily enough, if you Google famous verses in Philippians, you'll find a whole treasure trove verses which are familiar to you, familiar to your 10-year-old self familiar to your 15-year-old self. May tonight be an opportunity where those fresh verses from the living, breathing word of God come back to life again for you.
As you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Final question. Um, who is someone within today's teaching that I identify with and want to imitate as they imitate Christ? Remembering we've discussed, Lydia, the slave girl, the owners, Paul Silas, Barnabas, Peter, Peter, the Pope, James the mediator. Um, why don't I pray and allow you to reflect on that for a little while. Father, for this small moment of peace where our hearts are inclined and attuned to your presence.
We come in a posture of repentance, as we admit before you, our loving father, that we have fallen short of your glory. But in this beautiful letter, we see how glorious you are that God exalted you to the highest place and gave you the name that is above every name, that at your name, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth and every tongue, acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Even in the next five to 10 minutes, Lord, may you speak to us Holy Spirit, would you illuminate the things and impress upon our heart the things that are upon yours? Ultimately, Jesus, we want to follow you and follow your way. So even as we speak one to another, may you season our conversation with grace. Seizing our conversation with encouragement, seizing our conversation with hope, knowing that ultimately what this is all about is death and resurrection. We thank you for this time.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'll leave you to have, I'll leave you to have a chat for five minutes with someone that you trust, or if you wanna reflect silently, that's also okay.