SPEAKER_00: Well, we're continuing our series this morning on thinking, praying, and living a missional life.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this call to follow Christ is a call to mission.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to continue this morning from the great truths that Pastor Tom has been speaking on the last few weeks with another very important truth, and that is the consideration of prayer being the secret mission, the hidden mission of Christ and his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And so we come now to the word in Matthew 9, 35 through 38.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 9, 35 through 38.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction.
SPEAKER_00: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labors into his harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we pray now that your spirit would continue to minister to our hearts as we have been continuing our worship of you this day.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we pray that you would feed us and strengthen us in your presence, we pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So our family, like many of you, uh have often uh ventured out to the apple orchards out uh west around this time of year.
SPEAKER_00: And as you may know, when you arrive at these orchards, you uh see rows and rows of of trees.
SPEAKER_00: And uh these apples are ready to pick.
SPEAKER_00: And uh you pick them and you you get bags and you bring them back, and maybe like us, you you make a pie and you think about how to use them, and you think then, well, how in the world am I going to use the rest of these apples that I have have uh picked?
SPEAKER_00: Um but I want you to imagine with me for a moment uh being the orchard owner uh who, when harvest time comes like this, sees that the growth of these apples has come to fruition, and the time for waiting has come, the ripening has arrived, and they're ready to go.
SPEAKER_00: And yet a problem dawns when the owner looks around and sees that there is no one around to help.
SPEAKER_00: No labor has been lined up, perhaps that's been forgotten, but his livelihood is resting on this small window of time.
SPEAKER_00: You can imagine there's the sense of urgency that begins to develop, even panic and needing to see that these things are picked off the trees, that they're put into containers, that they're shipped, they're sold, and an income is brought in.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, they fall to the ground, they begin to rot, and are given over to insects and whatever else.
SPEAKER_00: And I and I share that because in considering this dilemma, uh, we can begin to gain just a small taste or glimpse of what Jesus was experiencing in this situation that we just read.
SPEAKER_00: The people at that time would have known that the Messiah, when the Messiah came, there would be this great harvest and unleashing of power.
SPEAKER_00: The Messiah would come and and usher in this new era.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see here in the days that lead up to this verse that we've just, these verses that we've just read.
SPEAKER_00: We see this unleashing of power, this great unleashing of messianic kingdom power.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus showing himself to be the one who has authority over nature, over the wind and the waves, over all things, all elements, authority over demons, authority over human suffering and need.
SPEAKER_00: This messianic power is being unleashed.
SPEAKER_00: And here he is, he's going through all of the cities and the towns, and he is going into their synagogues, and he is proclaiming the good news of the gospel and the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one in whom they had to place their hope and their trust and to anchor their very lives upon.
SPEAKER_00: It's a kingdom that people enter by repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a crossing over from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, into the kingdom of God's beloved Son.
SPEAKER_00: And although it isn't a visible kingdom, it does, as a spiritual kingdom, manifest itself in visible ways.
SPEAKER_00: And so now is the time to repent.
SPEAKER_00: That was the message.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus is in a position here where many are flocking to him.
SPEAKER_00: And they want to know and ask for themselves: is this really the Messiah that was prophesied all these years ago that has come?
SPEAKER_00: Is this really a reality as concrete as the ground that I stand on?
SPEAKER_00: And why that's important for us today is because the mission hasn't stopped with Jesus' earthly ministry.
SPEAKER_00: The mission is still continuing.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is still carrying on his mission, no longer from earth by his physical presence, but in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: By his spirit and through his people, Jesus is still absolutely concerned for the mission that he began.
SPEAKER_00: And it hasn't stopped.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, his mission is has only grown greater and more expansive and more plentiful, so that when it's fully revealed at the last day, when he comes again, the number of people, this kingdom uprising that has begun and has been taking place will be as plentiful as the stars are in the sky.
SPEAKER_00: That is a very true, concrete reality that we must believe.
SPEAKER_00: And so you and I are here this morning as a response to the power of that kingdom being unleashed.
SPEAKER_00: We should never forget that.
SPEAKER_00: And it's come to us.
SPEAKER_00: And if you and I have ears to hear and eyes to see who Jesus is and what he has done, and you are trusting in his saving blood, then that is all owing to his kingdom power.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus still has this power in his position.
SPEAKER_00: We're reminded of that.
SPEAKER_00: And he is still demonstrating this kingdom power over all things right now, even at this very moment.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason I'm telling you that is because this message is vital to our mission.
SPEAKER_00: This powerful gospel needs to be the fuel that we live by if we're to be used on mission.
SPEAKER_00: In many respects, God is concerned less about the activity and more about the engine.
SPEAKER_00: For some of us, to think and pray and live a missional life may require that we spend less time thinking about activity and more about the engine.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, what I mean is the fuel of mission and gospel is the gospel and prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And it's very important that we know of its power in our own lives, working in our own lives.
SPEAKER_00: When I was living in New Zealand, we had a group of people from a campus ministry come over and and join us and spend the summer with us doing uh evangelism and um encouraging uh the saints there.
SPEAKER_00: And and there was enough on the team that they had to take uh these minivans.
SPEAKER_00: And on one occasion they stopped to get gas in the van.
SPEAKER_00: But what they didn't realize on this particular occasion was that it was a diesel pump.
SPEAKER_00: And so they ended up putting diesel into the van.
SPEAKER_00: And and when it was realized that they had filled up the van with diesel, with this type of fuel, they they immediately stopped on the side of the roller and they they called roadside assistance to to come and to purge it all out, and so that no more damage could be caused and they could continue on their journey.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, though, that the right fuel matters.
SPEAKER_00: The journey can be greatly hindered, our mission can be greatly hindered, if we aren't drinking in the fuel of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we when through the gospel we drink in the love of God, when through the gospel we taste the love of God, and we are having our own thirsts met, we respond out of gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: That is part of the fuel for the mission that we are on, and we commend it as something that has power and that that is at work within us.
SPEAKER_00: Like birds that begin to sing when the morning sun comes down and beats upon their breasts and they start to sing.
SPEAKER_00: The same thing happens with us when the love of God beats upon our breasts and warms our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: We sing, we want to promote the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's the motivation, as it were, to hit the sheer button with others.
SPEAKER_00: And so the harvest is plentiful.
SPEAKER_00: The the age of the harvest is now.
SPEAKER_00: There is fruit being reaped today.
SPEAKER_00: The message is still going forth.
SPEAKER_00: That that is something we must believe today.
SPEAKER_00: The message is still going forth.
SPEAKER_00: Souls are still being saved, they're still being snatched from the grasp of evil and saved into green pastures by the blood of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And you may be here this morning, you may think to yourself, I agree with that truth, but I struggle with a harvest mindset.
SPEAKER_00: And I can understand that.
SPEAKER_00: There are many things that try to rob us of this harvest reality.
SPEAKER_00: And it's always been that way.
SPEAKER_00: The harvest doesn't mean that there's no pushback or war going on, but that's why we need gospel promises.
SPEAKER_00: We need gospel promises to come back to again and again to strengthen us, promises that remind us of Jesus' withness with us, his power to help us, his provision, his favor.
SPEAKER_00: That ultimately it's his harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we're gonna get pushback.
SPEAKER_00: But don't let that color of your view.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let a few dark clouds color your view of the blue sky.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let a prayer that that you're waiting on the Lord for keep you from receiving many other more blessings from his hand.
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes, Jesus says to his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: See that it's white for harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: See, see what's taking place.
SPEAKER_00: The corn is ready to pick, the assets are ready to cash in, the fish are in the net.
SPEAKER_00: The shopping cart is is full and ready to go.
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom power is still being unleashed.
SPEAKER_00: And so don't let your circumstances dictate your view of the true reality of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take great confidence in Jesus being the Lord of the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: This is not the age of winter where rations are given out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus reminds his disciples of that.
SPEAKER_00: It's not winter.
SPEAKER_00: It's true as a culture that we may face further decline, but but the kingdom of God is still growing.
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom is established.
SPEAKER_00: No one can topple it or prevent it from growing and adding plentifully to its ranks.
SPEAKER_00: That, my friends, is taking place right at this time.
SPEAKER_00: We are evidence of that.
SPEAKER_00: And so gospel fuel is essential to thinking, praying, and living a missional life.
SPEAKER_00: We need to believe that.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the rub.
SPEAKER_00: The rub here is not that there is no harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was clear that there is a harvest.
SPEAKER_00: That wasn't the rub.
SPEAKER_00: The rub here, the fact that there was a harvest was not what grieved Jesus, as we read in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: What grieved Jesus was the fact that the harvest is more plentiful than the workers are ready.
SPEAKER_00: The harvest is ripe, but labor is hard to come by.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's a secret and hidden mission that Jesus tells his disciples that they're to be engaged in.
SPEAKER_00: The secret mission is prayer.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the most basic yet important gospel promoting task that you and I can be engaged in is not evangelism.
SPEAKER_00: It's not some service on behalf of others.
SPEAKER_00: The most basic gospel promoting task that you and I can be involved in is prayer to the Lord of the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because prayer reminds us that He alone is just that, the Lord of the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: We can do nothing by ourselves, but we can do everything by the help of God.
SPEAKER_00: The truth is, we're not going to be strengthened for mission if we're not first given to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is where mission begins.
SPEAKER_00: I know that for myself.
SPEAKER_00: I know that in my own heart.
SPEAKER_00: I know that as a pastor, uh, where I've seen too many heads, including my own, drop when prayer is neglected.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_00: That would be a good exercise to do this week.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the book of Acts and see how many prayer meetings there are.
SPEAKER_00: The mission goes forth.
SPEAKER_00: As you read through the book of Acts, the mission is going forth.
SPEAKER_00: But time and time again, prayer is what accompanies the mission.
SPEAKER_00: And so with that harvest mindset, we are exhorted to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus here directs us how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus would have you and I to pray in three ways.
SPEAKER_00: He would have you and I to pray with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He would have you and I to pray in community.
SPEAKER_00: And he would have you and I to pray for laborers.
SPEAKER_00: Pray with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' heart at this very moment is one of compassion.
SPEAKER_00: How do I know that?
SPEAKER_00: Because he doesn't change.
SPEAKER_00: And we get a rear insight into Jesus' emotional stance in this passage where Matthew chooses the most evocative of words that can be translated as compassion to describe Jesus' reaction to what he sees.
SPEAKER_00: The idea here is that he was moved deeply inwardly.
SPEAKER_00: We might say it was heart-wrenching for him to see what was taking place.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's seeing and looking over the harvest, and the people are harassed and they're helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: They're like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: They're wandering in confusion and need and darkness and frustration.
SPEAKER_00: They're wandering in their griefs and in foolishness.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus looks at all that and is heart, it is heart-wrenching for him to see that they're without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's saying, Lift up your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: They're white for harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: You need to see the need before you.
SPEAKER_00: The harvest is here, but look.
SPEAKER_00: They're without someone to feed and to tend to them in my name.
SPEAKER_00: You might remember that same concern that Jesus had after his resurrection when he comes to Peter and he says, Peter, do you love me?
SPEAKER_00: He says, Feed my sheep, Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Tend to my lambs, feed my feed my sheep, Peter.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Peter, these are the people I want you to feed and to see nourished and to see them made whole and walk in my ways and the ways of the kingdom in such a way that they will be presented mature when I return.
SPEAKER_00: That they would have grown, that they would have been graciously tended to.
SPEAKER_00: And when they stray, which they might, that they would be gently restored and brought back into the fold.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus' heart is still deeply concerned for the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, his slowness and returning is owing to that compassion.
SPEAKER_00: We read that to Peter 3:9.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why it's important for us to know that Jesus' heart is compassionate is because it ought to fuel our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: It ought to energize our prayers to know that he is compassionate.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you think about it, since Jesus' heart is one of compassion, when we pray, we know that it's his leaning to answer our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: We know that it's his leaning to actively work.
SPEAKER_00: We know that it's his heart of compassion that desires to see many come to a saving knowledge of himself.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus' heart is not compassionate towards sinners, then we may as well not ask.
SPEAKER_00: But because his heart is one of compassion, then we must give ourselves to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And we have every reason to do so.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd ask you this morning, what is your attitude?
SPEAKER_00: Do you share the same heartfelt attitude and compassion that Jesus exemplifies?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are times when we might feel a sense of righteous anger about the hardness of people's hearts.
SPEAKER_00: We may find at times that there is no faith in people we desire to reach, but even then we need to ensure that we see as Jesus sees and remind ourselves that the over the overarching disposition of Jesus is one of compassion.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have this compassion, then we ought to examine ourselves and we ought to repent and consider our own response to the suffering of others.
SPEAKER_00: The reality is, as John Piper said, well, we ought to have compassion on all human suffering, but particularly eternal suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, we have a defective heart or a flameless hell.
SPEAKER_00: And those are those are hard words, I know.
SPEAKER_00: But we can't skirt around the fact that God is just and must punish sin.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible makes that clear.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the reason why Jesus came.
SPEAKER_00: To save sinners, to hold himself out as the all-sufficient one in the midst of our insufficiency.
SPEAKER_00: To know that his blood cleanses our souls from every single sin.
SPEAKER_00: To make us white as snow.
SPEAKER_00: That is true grace because we don't deserve it.
SPEAKER_00: And it's true peace, because there's nothing more profound or meaningful in all of life than to know that God has favor upon us, that we are in God's favor.
SPEAKER_00: His life in exchange for ours.
SPEAKER_00: You stand before God.
SPEAKER_00: This is the nutshell of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: You stand before God as if you were Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ stood before God as if he were you.
SPEAKER_00: And that news is so wonderful that it never gets old.
SPEAKER_00: The words of Romans 10 come to mind.
SPEAKER_00: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?
SPEAKER_00: And how are they to believe of him in whom they have not heard?
SPEAKER_00: Or how are they to hear without someone preaching?
SPEAKER_00: Or how are they to preach unless they are sent?
SPEAKER_00: As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
SPEAKER_00: The feet on which the good news is carried a beautiful feet.
SPEAKER_00: And so we pray with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: But we also pray with in community.
SPEAKER_00: You'll notice here in this passage that Jesus' words are given to the disciples collectively.
SPEAKER_00: These are personal words to each of them, and yet, and yet don't mistake personal words to mean that he wishes you and I to be isolated on mission.
SPEAKER_00: There is wisdom in praying and living on mission together.
SPEAKER_00: We're reminded of that wisdom in Ecclesiastes.
SPEAKER_00: Two are better than one, because they have good reward for the labor, for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.
SPEAKER_00: But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.
SPEAKER_00: Although a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him.
SPEAKER_00: A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
SPEAKER_00: I think the reason why we experience fits and starts, as it were, when it comes to our zeal for the harvest, is because all too often we attempt to go it alone.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the wisdom that we get from the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: These are, yes, personal words.
SPEAKER_00: But find your team.
SPEAKER_00: Find your team that you can promote the gospel with prayerfully, humbly, collaboratively.
SPEAKER_00: Cultivate a sense of withness as you pray and minister in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Moses had his Aaron and Miriam.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy his elders.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah had Elisha, Mary had Martha, Paul had his companions, and he prized them.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Paul prizes so much that on one occasion he says, he says, and he shares that a door was opened for him to share the gospel, but his spirit wasn't able to rest because his brother Titus wasn't there.
SPEAKER_00: There was this deep desire for withness in Paul's ministry.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're going to have times when our heads drop on mission.
SPEAKER_00: But in community, we have others there to lift us up.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the precious nature of what Christ does when he gives us to each other.
SPEAKER_00: And as one point of invitation, I'll ask you that to join us on our Saturday morning prayer meetings with the elders or praying for this worship service Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: In the time on Saturdays, the elders are writing down prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And they're writing them down and they're watching when they're answered.
SPEAKER_00: And so no one will tell you or debate with me when I say this that kingdom power is being unleashed by the Lord of the harvest in our midst.
SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to see and have a front row seat to that as you come and you pray together.
SPEAKER_00: Spurgeon said it well.
SPEAKER_00: He said, We cannot all argue, but we can't all pray.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot all be leaders, but we can't all be pleaders.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so pray, pray for the gospel to be promoted, and for the kingdom power to be unleashed in your own heart, in the heart of us as a body, and into the city and the world in which Christ would have us to be engaged in.
SPEAKER_00: Pray in community.
SPEAKER_00: But finally, pray for laborers.
SPEAKER_00: If you pay close attention here, you'll see that Jesus doesn't go in for a direct ask when confronted with a lack of workers.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't tell the disciples, go master the technique of influencing people, of arm twisting.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't do that.
SPEAKER_00: He tells them to pray.
SPEAKER_00: To pray to the Lord of the harvest so that he will send out labors into his harvest.
SPEAKER_00: You see whose harvest it is, and he's the one who's sending them.
SPEAKER_00: But we are what what responsibility are we given?
SPEAKER_00: We're given the responsibility to ask.
SPEAKER_00: Simple as that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's something mysterious about asking and receiving.
SPEAKER_00: We don't always know how it's going to come about, but but God is able to work by his spirit to move in people's hearts, to put a burden on them in a way that does the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: How will needy people enter the kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: How will laborers go out?
SPEAKER_00: Only when we ask.
SPEAKER_00: Only when we pray.
SPEAKER_00: How will needy people be shepherded?
SPEAKER_00: How will they be tended to and cared for?
SPEAKER_00: Only as we pray.
SPEAKER_00: At the last congregational meeting, we discussed the sense of the session that the Lord is leading us to plant a church in the Mount Vernon area.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, the timing's up to him, but uh as we talked about it, we have a view to around two years' time.
SPEAKER_00: And as you know, this is no small thing.
SPEAKER_00: And the reality that we're faced with, I think, is the same reality that I can imagine confronted the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: That is, where the labor is going to come from.
SPEAKER_00: What are we to do?
SPEAKER_00: And it would be quite natural for us to rush and try to find conclusions.
SPEAKER_00: All too often we want to try to control what can't be controlled.
SPEAKER_00: There is something mysterious about God's call for us to pray and his response and provision.
SPEAKER_00: We don't always know how it's going to come about.
SPEAKER_00: But God is able to work by his spirit and move in people's hearts and do the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: And so the call for us is to pray.
SPEAKER_00: That the Lord would send out laborers into the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, who is that man that you would have come and appoint as pastor?
SPEAKER_00: Who are those people who will labor alongside?
SPEAKER_00: That's something that we need to be coming to the Lord of the harvest about.
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't believe there was a harvest.
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't be doing it if we even thought that this was something we could do in our own strength.
SPEAKER_00: This requires kingdom power.
SPEAKER_00: And so it requires that we lift up our eyes together.
SPEAKER_00: And to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: We come together and we say, Lord, this is your mission.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, this is your power to unleash.
SPEAKER_00: This is your ability to work within hearts and minds and wills.
SPEAKER_00: Please send.
SPEAKER_00: Please raise up.
SPEAKER_00: And so I invite you to pray for this.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for other laborers to be sent into the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: That the kingdom ranks would be added to and would be matured and nurtured in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That God alone would be glorified.
SPEAKER_00: Pray with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Pray in community and pray for laborers.
SPEAKER_00: We trust that He will send and do what only He can do.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_00: Oh gracious Father, we thank you for the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we praise you and thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ and all that you have accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, we may testify and be used of you to speak to the wonders that you have done.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, not of us, but only of you.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Lord, we desire to be used of you in the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we ask and pray that your Spirit's kingdom power would be unleashed.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, please continue to grant to us rivers of living water.
SPEAKER_00: That we might testify to that water in our own lives, but Lord, that we would also promote the gospel and the talents, the gifts, the abilities that you have given to us.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we pray and we ask this day.
SPEAKER_00: May we see it.
SPEAKER_00: May you demonstrate it.
SPEAKER_00: May you go before us.
SPEAKER_00: Use us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.