SPEAKER_00: Good evening.
SPEAKER_00: Glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: If you're visiting, we're glad you're here with us this evening to worship God and to study a portion of the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: We have been doing a series on the Roman letter from Paul to the Romans.
SPEAKER_00: Tonight we'll be in chapter 3, verses 21 through 30.
SPEAKER_00: When you go to buy a car, you usually compare features that you're looking for.
SPEAKER_00: You'd like to make comparisons.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe compare dealerships, maybe compare prices, maybe you compare models of car, which brand of car you want.
SPEAKER_00: If you buy a vacuum cleaner, you probably compare different models to each other, see which one's going to be the most powerful, the best one, the last longest lasting.
SPEAKER_00: That never works for us.
SPEAKER_00: They always die soon.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, when it comes to a cordless drill set, I like to look into different brands.
SPEAKER_00: I've used several different brands, and I keep hoping the next brand, even though they're professional grade, will last longer than the last one.
SPEAKER_00: They always fall short.
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to our living among humans, we make comparisons.
SPEAKER_00: We examine others according to our own standards of goodness and what we think a person ought to be.
SPEAKER_00: Even in the church, we can look at one another and think, well, I'm more righteous than that person.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm a little more mature than that person.
SPEAKER_00: I'm better than that person.
SPEAKER_00: We can become self-righteous.
SPEAKER_00: We can become self-saturated.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not accusing any of us of being that way, but I believe that it's a possibility because I can do it and I have done it.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is telling people there are people that don't do not know God and they're they're in a mess.
SPEAKER_00: And he says to the Jews, don't get all puffed up because you are under judgment too, because you you say they should do those things, but you do them too.
SPEAKER_00: Basically, he goes on to say so many things about you know it's kind of bad news, really.
SPEAKER_00: None of us are really good, not according to God's standard.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you are righteous on your own?
SPEAKER_00: You know the state of being correct in the sight of God, able to stand before the holy, holy God as one who has just is just in his actions, his thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: There's a scripture I go to often, and maybe too often, but in Isaiah chapter 6, I love this throne scene that Isaiah sees.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to read it again.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah 6, verse 1, in the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, and with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew.
SPEAKER_00: And one called out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: The whole earth is full of his glory, and the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah being a righteous man, probably the most righteous person of his day, at least one of them, when he was in the presence of God, could only say, I'm doomed.
SPEAKER_00: Me and all my goodness and my service to God is not enough to stand before God's holiness.
SPEAKER_00: One of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs, and he touched my mouth with it, and he said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Already this evening we've had several scriptures, different comments about how important it is that we are so thankful for forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Our God is a holy God, and woe is me without Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We tend to compare ourselves with other people.
SPEAKER_00: We compare ourselves with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure I'm a better example of a Christian than somebody else.
SPEAKER_00: I go to church regularly, I give on the first day of the week, and I serve others when I see a need, and we could say blah blah blah blah blah.
SPEAKER_00: We can just go on and say those good things that we about ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we can be impressed with ourselves, how good we feel being in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We must never forget the text of Romans, where Paul lays it out over and over again in different ways that Christians we have good news, but you are only justified because of Jesus, not your own good works, even after you've been baptized into Christ.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 1, he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
SPEAKER_00: For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, that the righteous man shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: This evening I want to talk about specifically the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a big theme in the book of Romans.
SPEAKER_00: It's this this term righteousness is over 30 times.
SPEAKER_00: There's other terms that are related to it that are also in the Bible, in this book.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, we already talked about that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's look at Romans chapter 1 for a second.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not ashamed of the gospel, it's the power of God for salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody who believes.
SPEAKER_00: I usually concentrate on that part of the text.
SPEAKER_00: When I preach it, I think about the gospel of power, it's the dynamite to save us.
SPEAKER_00: But in verse 17 it says, For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.
SPEAKER_00: The lid is taken off of the package.
SPEAKER_00: So when you look at the cross, Jesus has opened up the package and says, This is because I am righteous.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul talks about the righteousness of God rather than the holiness of God, but they're all connected because God is God.
SPEAKER_00: So he reveals, I'm getting ahead of myself on the slide here, but he reveals the righteousness of God in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 18, there's another revealing that's very important.
SPEAKER_00: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And we've had sermons on those things already.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God is impartial.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter if you're in God's family or not God's family.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter your race, doesn't matter if you're black, blue, green, or yellow.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody is the same in God's eyes as far as sin is concerned.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter three, it says, I have some scripture right there, but let's look at the alls.
SPEAKER_00: God is saying through Paul, everybody has a problem.
SPEAKER_00: And we have been hearing this for the last couple weeks about Romans.
SPEAKER_00: Every time we come, we're hearing, man, we're sinners.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you like hearing that you're a sinner?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody raised their hand.
SPEAKER_00: None of us want to hear that.
SPEAKER_00: But God says you need to hear it.
SPEAKER_00: But tonight he gets to the next step.
SPEAKER_00: Again, it starts about, you know, the gospel's awesome, it's the power of God, but then he talks about sin.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 3, verse 10, there is none righteous, not even one.
SPEAKER_00: None.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11, there is none who understands, none who seeks for God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12, all have turned aside, together they have become useless.
SPEAKER_00: Man, that's a positive statement.
SPEAKER_00: There is none who does good.
SPEAKER_00: There is not even one.
SPEAKER_00: Their throat is an open grave, but their tongue they keep deceiving with the poison of aspets under their lips.
SPEAKER_00: Let's all move down.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: Now we know that whatever this law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed, that all the world may become accountable to God.
SPEAKER_00: There's that word all again.
SPEAKER_00: The word all is mentioned several times, and none is mentioned several times.
SPEAKER_00: What God is saying is, I'm encompassing every human being that has ever lived and ever will live.
SPEAKER_00: None of you are good enough by yourself.
SPEAKER_00: So stop thinking you can't be.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 3, 21.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read verses 21 through 30.
SPEAKER_00: Now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.
SPEAKER_00: There is no distinction.
SPEAKER_00: There's that word all again.
SPEAKER_00: The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.
SPEAKER_00: So there's everybody's a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: All people are sinners, but all people have the opportunity to be righteous in God's sight, to be right before Him.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 23, there's another all.
SPEAKER_00: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Remember Isaiah?
SPEAKER_00: Remember the throne room of God?
SPEAKER_00: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: The whole earth is full of his glory.
SPEAKER_00: When we sin, we fall short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be in the midst of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: We're not allowed within that realm of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: But being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly on the cross, as a propitiation or appeasement or a satisfaction in his blood through faith, that is, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed.
SPEAKER_00: For the demonstration I say of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed the word righteousness in this text?
SPEAKER_00: 21, verse 21, righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: 22, righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, righteousness, his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 26, his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And there's more about the righteousness of God throughout the letter to the Romans.
SPEAKER_00: So the bad news is we're all sinners.
SPEAKER_00: The good news is there is power in the gospel for everyone who believes.
SPEAKER_00: So aren't we aren't we glad for that?
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, this section is just kind of tough.
SPEAKER_00: You just keep, it feels like you're just getting beat down.
SPEAKER_00: We're all sinners.
SPEAKER_00: We're got a problem, but here he turns the page, he's starting to build this up, and he's saying, We have the righteousness of God when we believe in Jesus Christ, we have faith.
SPEAKER_00: And it's for everybody who believes.
SPEAKER_00: No distinction, doesn't matter the color, doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, doesn't matter if you live in the United States or Ethiopia.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody.
SPEAKER_00: God wants everybody.
SPEAKER_00: So the gospel is for all.
SPEAKER_00: I talked about this a little bit already.
SPEAKER_00: So the gospel is the righteous of God revealed.
SPEAKER_00: The cross reveals justice has to take place.
SPEAKER_00: I think that maybe you're kind of like me.
SPEAKER_00: I get uh complacent in my place in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I forget what a cost for my sins to be taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: It's a tendency of mankind, I think Nate mentioned this a little bit earlier today, that we want to try to fix things ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: If we make a mistake, if we do a few more good things, it'll balance out.
SPEAKER_00: We have this math card, this this tally.
SPEAKER_00: And we think that if we if we do enough good things, we can kind of counteract with bad things, and so we're back in the same thing about trying to justify ourselves by our actions.
SPEAKER_00: I think we as Christians can still do that.
SPEAKER_00: God does not have a tally sheet up there saying, you know, he's not comparing us with other people, he's not saying, well, uh Nate is doing better than you, John.
SPEAKER_00: He studies more than you.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he does this more than you.
SPEAKER_00: So you're behind.
SPEAKER_00: You're not as righteous as Nate.
SPEAKER_00: We we can kind of see that among ourselves, we might feel that whether we say it or not.
SPEAKER_00: I I think he's better, I'm better than him, or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about that before.
SPEAKER_00: God says, stop it.
SPEAKER_00: You are only right before God by the blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's always going to be that way.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we're not gonna say that we shouldn't be trying to be righteous in our actions.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the point.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, our good deeds do not earn us righteousness or salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot go to church enough times to make your lies and your hatred and your cheating and your sins go away.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot just claim ignorance for your sins and expect God to overlook them.
SPEAKER_00: Can you keep all the laws of the old covenant and be right with God?
SPEAKER_00: It's impossible to do.
SPEAKER_00: He's talked about that.
SPEAKER_00: Masses of people live ungodly lives doing the things that we consider horrible, and they are sinners and they reject God's word openly.
SPEAKER_00: They will receive the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_00: He allows them to wallow in their filth, Romans chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: And in 2 Thessalonians 1, 5 through 10, there is going to be a day when the angels come down, the mighty angels, and flame me fire, and the wrath of God will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews thought they were better and more righteous than the Gentiles because they were born into the Jewish race.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, No, you're without excuse because you sinned as well.
SPEAKER_00: God is righteous, He has no partiality about anybody who sins or does not sin.
SPEAKER_00: All of sin.
SPEAKER_00: All of us fall short of glory, the glory that God deserves, and that we cannot be in his presence that way.
SPEAKER_00: So, righteousness of God, I talked about this already, but it's a major theme.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah says, You are always righteous, O Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You are always righteous.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot be righteous on your own doing.
SPEAKER_00: We are justified before the Holy God as a gift by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: A free gift.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you guys like free?
SPEAKER_00: See, some hands come up.
SPEAKER_00: I think recently there might have been a free car wash down the street, like Easter Sunday or something.
SPEAKER_00: See all those cars lined up to Idle Luke?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was just they didn't care if they were blocking the traffic.
SPEAKER_00: Free?
SPEAKER_00: And they just line up.
SPEAKER_00: Free.
SPEAKER_00: I want it, I want it.
SPEAKER_00: Free.
SPEAKER_00: Recently there was a basketball game, of course, the basketball season's over here at Texas Tech, but they had a bobblehead night.
SPEAKER_00: And if you get there, if you get the first 2000 to the game, you get a free bobblehead of Christian Anderson.
SPEAKER_00: And who doesn't want that?
SPEAKER_00: And so man, we wanted to go.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I I didn't go that night, but Eric and his family were there and they got enough bobblehead, so I have a free one.
SPEAKER_00: I have a free bobblehead that's on my dresser.
SPEAKER_00: So every morning I wake up and I see that.
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's a bobblehead, I'm an airhead, we go good together, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, who doesn't want free stuff?
SPEAKER_00: But yet at the same time, isn't it interesting?
SPEAKER_00: If you're at a yard sale and you have stuff, it's pretty cheap.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times people, oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you five cents for that when you got two bucks.
SPEAKER_00: And they try to chew you down, and then you have a box that says free on it, and they just walk right past it.
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes there's stuff that's free, people have no interest in.
SPEAKER_00: Other times things are free.
SPEAKER_00: If it's your free food, you're gonna be there.
SPEAKER_00: If it's a free bobblehead, you want it.
SPEAKER_00: If it's a free car wash, you want it.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing greater than the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: How come people aren't lined up to be baptized into Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Because they don't know, or else they're like in Romans chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: They're just ignoring him, and they maybe think it's too good to be true.
SPEAKER_00: Just too good.
SPEAKER_00: Only God can give us righteousness, that right relationship with God, justification, be being legally free from the bound, the being bound and being in jail.
SPEAKER_00: Redemption, God paid the price, the ransom, he buys it back, it's free.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans 5, 69 it says, While we are still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
SPEAKER_00: But God demonstrated his own love toward us, and that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_00: Later on, it says, We will be saved from the wrath of God through him.
SPEAKER_00: And only through him.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus paid the price on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: We know that the payment to the holy God for our unholy actions through the blameless Lamb of God cost God something.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we don't even think about the cost, we take it for granted.
SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be kind of good if every time we committed sin, even as a Christian, because we're still, even as a Christian, do we sin?
SPEAKER_00: Do this, or else you're lying to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: All of us, even as Christians, will sin.
SPEAKER_00: Even after we've been baptized, right, we've been added to the body, we've had our sins washed away, we are now spotless.
SPEAKER_00: For our name is written in the book of life.
SPEAKER_00: We're Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Woo-hoo! But you are still gonna sin, and when that sin happens, we sometimes take it for granted.
SPEAKER_00: We might ask God for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: We forget that that sin that we committed, somebody's gotta pay for it.
SPEAKER_00: And if God doesn't pay for it, we have to pay for it in judgment.
SPEAKER_00: So, friends, every time we sin, even today, we're responsible for the whiffing that Jesus took.
SPEAKER_01: Every time I sin, I have that fist hit Jesus like.
SPEAKER_01: Every time I sin, I'm responsible for that nail being driven is in his hand.
SPEAKER_01: And I forget about that.
SPEAKER_01: Sin becomes too common.
SPEAKER_00: We are justified by his grace.
SPEAKER_00: We need to act like it.
SPEAKER_00: I get to act like it.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot pay for your sin.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus paid the price.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever had somebody go with you to dinner, take you out to dinner, and they say, Oh, we got this?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And the bill comes and they want to pay for it, and you say, Oh no, no, let me help.
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, I got this.
SPEAKER_00: What do you want to do?
SPEAKER_00: What do you say?
SPEAKER_00: Let me at least get the tip.
SPEAKER_00: Does anybody ever say that?
SPEAKER_00: You don't agree with that?
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't, start doing it.
SPEAKER_00: So but we all want to help out, right?
SPEAKER_00: We want to have a part in paying something off.
SPEAKER_00: I would like to suggest that you have no part in paying off your debt.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot make it right with us.
SPEAKER_00: Except through faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He makes it right.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying we don't do something.
SPEAKER_00: We live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: We obey the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We confess Him as our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We're baptized into Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So every sin is under judgment of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a small thing.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's going to pay for it.
SPEAKER_00: It's either us in judgment or Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Turn your Bible to Ephesians chapter 1, real quick.
SPEAKER_00: I know we're studying Romans, but Paul wrote the same books and he has so many of the same themes.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to add this verse.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 1, verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us.
SPEAKER_00: In all wisdom and insight, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention, which purpose in him.
SPEAKER_00: He goes on and on.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to say, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: And it's by grace that we have been saved.
SPEAKER_00: Rome Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: Flip over there.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: By grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no man or no one will boast.
SPEAKER_00: We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we would walk in them.
SPEAKER_00: Back to Romans.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to close this out here in a second.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 27, it says, Where is the boasting?
SPEAKER_00: It is excluded.
SPEAKER_00: By what kind of law?
SPEAKER_00: Of works, no but but the law of faith.
SPEAKER_00: We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
SPEAKER_00: Or is God the God of the Jews only?
SPEAKER_00: Is he not the God of Gentiles also?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, of Gentiles also.
SPEAKER_00: Since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
SPEAKER_00: So in Christ Jesus, there's no place for us to boast.
SPEAKER_00: For our own righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: We can boast about Jesus, he's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: But about ourselves, let us not boast.
SPEAKER_00: Let us always have a humble attitude.
SPEAKER_00: We sang a song about being humble before God.
SPEAKER_00: We're saved by grace.
SPEAKER_00: What a great thing.
SPEAKER_00: Oops.
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm that's telling me I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure yet.
SPEAKER_00: There's one more verse I wanted to read.
SPEAKER_00: It's back in Isaiah again.
SPEAKER_00: I start with Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: I want to close with Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah chapter 45, it says this, verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior.
SPEAKER_00: There is none except me.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to me and be saved.
SPEAKER_00: All the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: For I am God and there is no other.
SPEAKER_00: And will not turn back.
SPEAKER_00: That to me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance.
SPEAKER_00: They will say of me, only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.
SPEAKER_00: Men will come to me, and all who are angry at him will put will be put to shame.
SPEAKER_00: In the Lord, all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.
SPEAKER_00: That speaks of us as well.
SPEAKER_00: Our God is only God.
SPEAKER_00: He is righteous, he is holy, and he calls us to be his people, a righteous people, to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one, and there's no other who can save us.
SPEAKER_00: Just a couple things I want to mention.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' blood makes us the righteous of God, which calls us to be slaves of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: That's found in Romans chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: Slaves to righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: We are supposed to do good deeds, not to be righteous, but because we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
SPEAKER_00: There is no person here that is more righteous than another based on your actions.
SPEAKER_00: We must never think we are.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, God, for your righteousness, your faithfulness, and your amazing grace.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Father, we thank you for this scripture that we've touched on this evening.
SPEAKER_00: And we know there's so much more we could talk about in even this text tonight.
SPEAKER_00: We just pray you'd help us to continue to be students of your word and to dive into it and to be encouraged by your amazing grace, by your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to not take sin lightly.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to realize that our sins are only paid because you love us so much and you're willing to pay that sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: We need that sacrifice every day.
SPEAKER_00: We need your grace.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to be a people of humble hearts and hearts full of praise and workers in your kingdom that are always busy, so grateful that you've chosen us to be your children, rescued out of the shackles of sin.
SPEAKER_00: We pray your blessing upon this congregation and all of us who work together here.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to reach out to others, to have boldness and courage to share that good gospel and reveal the righteousness of God and the salvation of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God's forgiveness, seek his cleansing, seek peace, joy, be strengthened by his arm.
SPEAKER_00: If there's any here who need to obey the gospel, you're ready to have your sins washed away, to become a child of God, confess Jesus as the Lord and Savior, the King of kings, we're here to assist you in that as well.
SPEAKER_00: You can help me stand up with things together.