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First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Tune in each week as Pastor Taylor Geurin leads us into a study of God's Word.
First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Faith, Hope, and Restoration: Exploring the Journey from Creation to Redemption | Revelations 21
This podcast episode delves into the profound and hopeful message of Revelation 21, emphasizing God's promise to restore all things and dwell with humanity. The discussion highlights the significance of living with the anticipation of God's new creation, where pain and separation will be no more.
• Overview of the theme: The Creator and the Created
• Importance of hopeful anticipation in the Christian faith
• Exploration of God’s promise to create a new heaven and earth
• Symbolic meanings behind the absence of the sea in the new creation
• God’s intention to dwell among His people once again
• The ultimate message of restoration and renewal in Revelation
• Addressing common misconceptions about the biblical narrative
• Encouragement to actively participate in God's redemptive story
• Invitation for listeners to embrace hope in their daily lives
• Call to action for those unfamiliar with the hope of salvation
Hello and welcome to the FBC Eldorado Sermon Podcast. My name is Taylor Guerin. I have the privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist and I want to thank you for listening in to our sermon this week. And I want to tell you this if you're in our area and you don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist, el Dorado. Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
Speaker 2:Amen. Good morning church. Oh, come on, you sound like the students over the weekend. Good morning church. What a joy and a pleasure to be with you this morning. I want to go ahead and first up front apologize for all these kids in the green shirts that just took your seat that you normally sit in on Sunday. But thank you so much for joining us in worship this morning.
Speaker 2:It is such a pleasure to be here at First Baptist Church in El Dorado. Just like your pastor said, my name is Luke Dawson. I have the privilege of serving as the campus director of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. I have the longest job title in the country, I am convinced. But whether you realize it or not, your church is a part of my ministry, even on the other side of the state, at Fort Smith. As Southern Baptists, we believe that we can do more together than we can individually and independently, and so, through your giving here to your local church, you are a part of what's called the Cooperative Program, which supports missions, just like Pastor said, all around the globe, but also in our state. There are 10 campus ministers, myself included. Nine others on the major campuses in our state that are missionaries to the campus on the next generation, and I don't know if you've kept up with the news or not, but God is moving in the next generation in a powerful way. We saw it earlier in the school year, in August, at places like Ohio State and Texas A&M and South Carolina University, where these on-campus revivals are happening with thousands of students in attendance. And actually not too long ago there was one right here in our state at the University of Arkansas, where thousands of college students attended and heard the gospel and decided to believe in Jesus. And we've seen this trickle down from the major universities even onto a campus like the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, and you are a part of that. And so let me say thank you, thank you for supporting Next Generation ministry right here this weekend, and what an incredible weekend it has been. But let me also say thank you for supporting our ministry in Fort Smith and other ministry to the next generation all around our state. Thank you, thank you, church.
Speaker 2:I want to very clearly present you with the goal this morning as you turn to Revelation, chapter 21. I want to be very clear about what we're going to do this morning even before we get started, revelation chapter 21,. And I know when the guest preacher says turn to Revelation, everybody gets a little nervous, right? But in Revelation, chapter 21,. Here's my goal for us this morning, my goal for the students, for their families who may be in attendance, for everyone in this room, my goal is that we leave here today with more hope than we came in with, and in a room this size and in a room that's full, I would put every dollar that I had on this fact that somebody in this room needs to have some hope this morning, and so that's our goal. That's where we're headed. And as we begin, as you're turning to Revelation 21, would you pray with me, father in heaven, god above, god above. Would you tune our hearts in to what you would have to say to us this morning? God? Would you remove distractions from within our hearts? Would you remove distractions from within our minds? Would you remove distractions from within our minds? Would you remove distractions from within this room around us and help us to focus on you? And would you please remove the messenger from the equation so that the message could be clearly heard. It's in j' name that we pray, amen.
Speaker 2:Before we jump into Revelation 21,. I'd like to give you a little bit of background about this weekend first, and then this text that we're going to be jumping into. Colby called me several weeks ago asking me if we would come do this. My family has been with me this weekend, which has been a great joy, but several weeks ago he called and asked if I'd be willing and of course, this is one of my favorite things that my job allows me to do and then he presented me with this theme the creator and the created, which I think is not only brilliant, but we can see this theme clearly across the whole of the Bible how there is this divide between the creator and his creation and how we are called as followers of Jesus, as those faithful to Yahweh, to pursue the things of the creator over the things of the creation. We started this weekend looking at that concept in the beginning, in the very book of Genesis, how we saw this divide between the creator and the rest of creation and how man is somewhere caught in the middle, being made in the image of God but yet still a part of God's creation. And we saw how that led to the gospel of Jesus and how Jesus undoes the curse of the fall that happened in the garden Last night. We talked in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, that that we have now become as Christ's new creation. As we have become new creation in Christ, we are now Christ's ambassadors, his representatives, to a lost and dying world. And then here in Revelation, we get to see a much bigger picture than just us and just our role in the salvific act of creation. Quite appropriately, we're finishing at the end and by the time we get to revelation, chapter 21.
Speaker 2:So much has happened in this book and if I can implore you one thing about biblical hermeneutics or biblical interpretation, biblical study, it would be this it is unhelpful and sometimes unhealthy to simply open up the Bible to a random passage of scripture, start reading it and wonder how it applies to me that this part of the Bible, and in fact all of the Bible, was not written to you. In fact, it wasn't even written in a language that many of us in the room could understand or read. And so in order to read and properly interpret and understand a biblical passage, we must understand concepts like who's writing it? Who are they writing to? Well, what's the occasion or the purpose for this writing? Even what kind of genre are we reading? Is it poetry, is it historical narrative? Is it prophecy? Is it biography? And by the time we get to Revelation 21,.
Speaker 2:So much has happened in this book. John not John the Baptist, but the Apostle John, the same guy that wrote the Gospel of John. He is the last remaining disciple. All others have been killed for their faith and John has actually been exiled onto the island of Patmos and he's the last one left. He and just a few of his disciples, a few of the people who are learning to follow Jesus from John, are with him. And John pins this letter, this book of Revelation, to seven different churches that would have been originally there in this area at this time. You can read about these churches in Revelation 2 and 3 and by the time we get here in this passage, so much has gone on.
Speaker 2:And I'll be honest, there's simply so much that we just don't know about this book. And if you ever meet someone that says they've unlocked the keys, they know everything about the book of Revelation, I'd be very cautious about listening to that person. There's simply so much that we just don't know. But I can tell you this that the last four chapters of this book are definitely worth your study, just like all of the Bible. But the last four chapters of this book are worth meditating over, letting the truth of the last four chapters of the Bible sit and rest in your soul. I said this to our students earlier this weekend that the way you interpret the first three chapters of the Bible interpret the determine the way you're going to interpret the rest of the Bible. And I would say the last thing about the last three or four chapters of the Bible as well that the way you see and interpret the end of the Bible also interprets how you're going to determine everything in between, starting in Revelation 19,. Here's what happens. I can sum it up for you and we're not going to get caught up in the weeds but church, let's focus on the main thing this morning Jesus wins, and essentially that's the message of Revelation that Jesus wins.
Speaker 2:And we see so many people, we hear so many stories of people getting caught up in the weeds of the imagery and the prophecy, asking questions like who's the Antichrist? What is the symbol on the foreheads going to look like? Who's Babylon? Who's the dragon? Who's the plane? Which political candidate fits into the book of Revelation? Where does COVID fit into all this? And church? I'm not here to answer any of those questions. Let's just stick to what we know this morning Church, jesus wins. He wins. Death dies, evil is conquered, sin is no more.
Speaker 2:And in Revelation 19, Jesus is described with very vivid imagery. He's riding on a white horse not the donkey that he originally rode into Jerusalem with, but now he's riding on a war horse With justice. He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and not just one crown, but many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe listen dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. Here's my favorite though you ready, the armies of heaven follow him. A sharp sword comes from his mouth as to strike the nations. He's going to rule them with an iron rod. He will trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God the Almighty. He has a name that no one knows except himself.
Speaker 2:Jesus is described as this mighty warrior on a white horse, leading the armies of heaven into battle. But when we get to the end of Revelation 19, something unexpected happens. You see, when Jesus shows up, when this army of heaven that follows him arrives, there is no battle. The enemy is lined up against Jesus and against his army, but when Jesus shows up, there's not even a battle. After Jesus is described, it says Then I saw the beast. The kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army, but the beast was taken prisoner. There isn't even a fight. When Jesus shows up, he wins. There's not even a battle. The beast was taken prisoner along with the false prophet. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Jesus wins by showing up. The power of this king is unmatched. It's immeasurable. When he arrives, it's over. There isn't even a battle. The enemies don't even stand a chance.
Speaker 2:And then we enter into Revelation, chapter 20. At the end of Revelation, chapter 20, judgment occurs. People from all over time, those before us, everyone we know now and those to come after us, are judged. The Bible would say that the books were opened. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works, by what is written in the books. You see, when every human soul comes before the throne in judgment of Revelation chapter 20, and those books are opened, what is contained within them? And church? Let me tell you that those books do not contain the church membership role. Those books do not contain the giving records.
Speaker 2:Those books do not contain what you would claim to believe or the creed that you would stand by. But those books contain our story, the way that we live our lives, and so have we been found living a life devoted and faithful to Yahweh, and those that have will find their way into true eternal life. And those found living a life for themselves, for another person or for anything else would find their way eternally separated from God. The Bible would call this the lake of fire, the second death, and there's a little bit of debate about what this practically looks like and we discuss this with our students too. Like whatever picture of hell you want to come up with in your mind, whether that be like the silence or the darkness or the flames. Here's what hell is. By definition, hell is eternal separation from God. Eternal, permanent separation from God. Eternal, permanent separation from God. That is the punishment of hell To be completely and eternally separated from the God of the universe. And those found living a life devoted to themselves or to any cause other than Yahweh and his King Jesus will spend their forever separated from God.
Speaker 2:Jesus has come so that through belief in him, through true belief in him, we can be one with God again and the creator and the creation can be one. And I'll tell you church, just like I told the students over the weekend I don't know you, I don't know you, and there's maybe half a dozen people in this room that I could say that I really know. But it would be a mistake for me to not stand before you this morning and tell you that one day you and I will be judged. Not stand before you this morning and tell you that one day you and I will be judged and we will be judged based upon the way that we live our lives, whether we had true belief in Jesus that makes us a new creation, whether we have been born again, as Jesus would describe in John, chapter three. It would be a mistake of me to not implore you this morning to believe in Jesus so that you can stand on the right side of God's judgment, so that you don't have to be eternally separated from God forever. At the end of the service, we're going to have an opportunity for you to respond to this message, to believe in Jesus, to become a new creation, to be born again. I would encourage you to do that, if you need to do that this morning.
Speaker 2:After this judgment, we get to Revelation, chapter 21, our passage of study here today, and here's what I'd like to do. I'd like to read the first five verses of Revelation, chapter 21. And then I'd like to go back over it, piece by piece, a little bit at a time. So, beginning in Revelation 21, we're going to do like we did with the students all weekend. If you're with me, say I'm with you. Perfect revelation 21 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. I'm going to actually pause right here and give us a hint.
Speaker 2:When the bible was originally, originally written hopefully you realize this, it's a really old book and so it wasn't written on Microsoft Word, and especially in the language that it was written in. They had no bold italics or underline. And so one of the things that we are taught in our biblical interpretation hermeneutics is that for certain points of emphasis, authors would repeat their points. That's one of the main ways authors can emphasize their points in the scripture is through repetition, and so in these first five verses, I want you to notice, even as we first read them, the repetition that's happening here. Let's read together again.
Speaker 2:Then I saw the new heaven and the new earth. There's your first example, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband Verse 3,. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne look, god's dwelling is with humanity and he will live with them. They will be his peoples and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, grief and crying and pain will be no more, because the previous things, the former things, have passed away. And then the one seated on the throne said look, behold, pay attention, I am making everything new. Amen, church.
Speaker 2:What an incredible passage, in the first two verses, john is getting a glimpse and he gives us a glimpse of what is to come. He sees a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth, the ones that we know. Now they are passing away and something new is coming and we're told that the sea was no more. And I don't know where you're from. You may be from, like, the East coast, and you say, luke, I love the sea. Well, like I've been to Europe, I've been like I love the sea. Why is the sea no more?
Speaker 2:Well, you have to think, in this time period and in this culture, the sea was dangerous. You didn't know what was out on the sea. Even Paul himself was shipwrecked multiple times. The sea would have been thought to be seen as unpredictable, as volatile, as dangerous. And when the new creation is ushered in, there is no more sea. There is nothing volatile or dangerous or that separates us. There is no more sea. That's the biblical imagery that's going on here Nothing uncontrollable, nothing untamed, nothing deadly or wild.
Speaker 2:And then, in verse two, we see the holy city, the new Jerusalem. The Jerusalem in original biblical historical times would have been the city of God, the place where God's presence literally dwelt. And here we get the new Jerusalem in the new creation, the places where God's presence will literally and physically be, and this new city of God comes down. And then we're presented with this beautiful picture coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Many of you in the room, I'm sure, are married and maybe in a room like this, just like me, you fellas in the room. You stood at the front of the room when those back doors opened and you saw your bride dressed in white and, if you're like me, there were a million thoughts going through your brain in that moment. But maybe you can resonate that, with all of those million thoughts whirring and buzzing through your brain, one thought stands out this is the moment that we've waited for, when those back doors open and I saw my bride for the first time. When you saw your bride, maybe there's this thought through all the whirring thoughts in your brain, in the back of your.
Speaker 2:This is the moment that we've waited for In church, right here in Revelation 21-2,. This is the moment we've waited for God is coming back to live with his creation once again. There will be no more divide between creator and creation. But God himself, in all of his literal, physical, beautiful presence, will be here among us again in the new city of God. And in fact this is emphasized even in the next verse. Look, god's dwelling is with his people, is with humanity. God's dwelling is the literal word in the original language tabernacled. God is tabernacling with his people again, and if you're familiar with the biblical story, this is how God would live and dwell with the people of Israel in the Old Testament through the tabernacle. God's literal presence was with them in the tabernacle and later the temple. This is the language that's being used. God is tabernacling with his people once again. His presence is there, but notice the repetition in verse 3. Look, god's dwelling is with humanity. He will live with them, they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them and will be their God. There is no denying the author's point of emphasis here that God is going to be with his people once again, that the creator and the creation are no longer separated but they will be together once again.
Speaker 2:The story of the Bible as a whole is just like a good book or a good movie. Think about your favorite movie. Think about your favorite movie, think about your favorite book and we've got, I'm sure, spanning a bunch of different genres and time periods of that. But I can tell you the basic plot line of any good story in any good book it starts out good. It starts out good and then, somewhere around the 10 to 15 minute mark of your book or your movie, something bad happens. And then the rest of the movie, the rest of the book, the rest of your 400 page book, the rest of your two hour movie, is about getting back to the goodness that the movie began with. That's essentially the plot line of any good story, of any good book, of any good movie. We started out good. I'm gonna use my hands as an illustration now. We started out good and then something happens and it breaks. Something messes up, somebody messes up, something bad happens and the rest of the story is about getting back to where we started and the goodness that it began.
Speaker 2:The story of the Bible is that same plot line. It starts off good and in this big old book with hundreds and hundreds of chapters, by the third chapter everything breaks. We call that the fall Sins entrance into the world, disobedience, death, brokenness, decay. All ushers into the world. Disobedience, death, brokenness, decay, all ushers into the world. Even things like birth defects and natural disasters are a result of this moment, the fall where the entire world is broken. And the rest of the story of the Bible is about getting back to where we started. That's the story of the Bible. The story of the Bible is a circle. It starts off good. It breaks. The rest of the story of the Bible is about getting back to where we started. Jesus completes that circle, allowing us full entrance to be back to where we began with God. But this language should take us, it should take our minds back to the Garden of Eden, even, where God is with his people, where he is walking with Adam and Eve in the garden. But unlike that movie or that book that you may be thinking of, that you love that storyline so much, the story of the Bible is a little different in this that when the Bible begins here and breaks, it doesn't just return to the goodness that it starts with, it returns better. You see, when the story of the Bible ends, it ends even better than it began.
Speaker 2:We'll look at verse 4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more Grief, crying and pain will be no more Because the previous things, the former things, the old things have passed away. I recently saw a video of a woman who started a list on her phone of things that would not be around in the new creation and she started off her list just like this. She started off basically quoting this verse there will be no more death, grief, crying, pain. But then she also went on to add other things that very easily could have been included in this list but just weren't. She added things like there will be no more locks on doors, there will be no more thermostats, there will be no more pharmacies or prescriptions. There will be no more cancer. There will be no more band-aids. There will be no more jail cells. There will be no more social media. There will be no more social media. There will be no more hearing aids or microphones. There will be no more aspirin or deodorant even though I can attest some of us really need to figure out what that is. There will be no more trash cans. There will be no more water filters, no more funeral homes, no more cancer, no more bedside goodbyes and if you know very little of the story of Jesus, again I don't know you and I'm not going to assume where you are in your spiritual journey.
Speaker 2:If you don't know the story of Jesus, chances are you probably know two things. You probably know that Jesus died on a cross. It's the emblem of Christianity, it's the symbol of our faith, for good reason. But the second thing that you probably know, even if you know nothing else about the story of Jesus, is that he died on a cross. And the second thing, that Christians would claim that he rose again three days later. Even if you know nothing else about the story of Jesus or the story of what he's done, you probably know those two things. And while you may know the story of Jesus's resurrection, the story that God is telling in the whole of the Bible is much bigger than just this one man. Now don't get me wrong. The entire story of the Bible hinges on the resurrection of Jesus, and Paul would even say that if Christ was not raised, we are fools. But the story that God is telling is much, much bigger than simply the resurrection of one man Jesus.
Speaker 2:Look at verse 5. The one seated on the throne said look, I am making everything new. I'm making everything new. This is resurrection language. God is saying here that everything and you know what that means in Greek Everything, everything will one day be made new. It will be resurrected. And you say well, hang on, luke, time out. First of the half, I've got two remaining. I thought Jesus resurrected and I would say, yes, he did. But the story that the Bible is telling is that it's much bigger than simply Jesus' resurrection. Jesus' resurrection was simply the first fruit of what is to come in all of creation.
Speaker 2:Notice the language. God is saying I am making everything new. He doesn't say I'm making everything better. He says I am making everything new. He doesn't say I'm making everything good. He doesn't say I'm making everything again, but I'm taking what is here and I'm making it new. It's resurrection language. So let's pause right here and stamp out a common misconception about Christianity, from the students to the adults, that this belief is widespread among followers of Jesus. And let's just stamp it out right here, because this is what I believed for a large portion of my life. This is what I believed about the story that the Bible was telling, and so let's just stamp that out right here and now. It's going to be on the screen for you, because I want you to get this.
Speaker 2:The story of the Bible is not about you dying, leaving the earth and going to heaven to be with God forever. The story of the Bible is not about you dying, leaving the earth and going to heaven to be with God forever. And some of you are already like, oh, hang on now, preacher. But there are several things wrong with this line of thinking. First, I love you. Let me start with that. But first, the Bible is not about you. The Bible is not about you, don't get me wrong. The Bible is for you, the Bible is for me. The Bible is for every follower of Jesus who wants to know how God is moving and working in the world. But the Bible is not about you. It was written for you, but it wasn't even written to you. It wasn't even written in a language that you and I could read.
Speaker 2:The Bible is, first and foremost, primarily a book about God and what God is doing in the world. First and foremost, primarily a book about God and what God is doing in the world. The Bible has great application to us and we need it. It's useful for teaching and rebuke and correcting and training in righteousness. But this is a story that's not about us. It's about what he is doing in the world. But even more than that, the Bible is not about me. But it's also not about us dying and leaving the earth and going to heaven, and for a long time.
Speaker 2:This is where I just couldn't wrap my mind around the story of the Bible, because that doesn't make sense. If we just simply leave the earth, if we just simply leave where we are, go, shoot up to be with heaven and be with God forever, what about this place? What about the earth? And even more than that, what about all the pain and the brokenness that we've experienced here? Is it just forgotten about? Is it just left behind? What happens to all the bad and the sticky and the yuck that I go through here on this earth? Bad and the sticky and the yuck that I go through here on this earth? If it's just forgotten about, if it just goes away, let me tell you, god is not just or good, but luckily that is not the story of the Bible.
Speaker 2:The story of the Bible is about God restoring what is broken and resurrecting what is dead, and we get to be a part of that story. The story of the Bible isn't God resurrecting me in any kind of self-centric way, because, again, it's not about me. And, yes, god is resurrecting you. If you have become a new creation in Jesus, you will be resurrected one day. But you are being resurrected spiritually right now. But the story of the Bible is not about me.
Speaker 2:Remember, the story of the Bible is about how God is resurrecting everything. He's making everything new and he invites us to be a part of what he is doing in the world. Church, hear me, the world will be resurrected and made new one day, with us or without us. It's going to happen. But the beauty and the grace of the Bible is that God invites us to be a part of what he is already doing in the world. It's going to happen. But God invites us to be a part through his son Jesus, and that he's making everything new. Well, what's broken here will one day be fixed, just as Christ is doing in my life and as he's doing in yours as a follower of Jesus, how he's fixing the brokenness within us, how he's undoing the curse of the garden. That will happen all around us one day.
Speaker 2:That death and brokenness and decay and sickness and evil, it won't just go away. God won't just destroy it. But this death and this pain and this brokenness, it will one day be reversed, it will one day be undone. And I don't know how that happens. Cs Lewis would say it like this that death itself would work backwards to give life to the people of God once again. And I don't know how that works. But I can tell you it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2:It's a promise from God that everything will be made new, that the resurrection of Jesus is not just something that happens to him, it's not just something that happens to him, it's not just something that happens to me, but the whole world will be one day brought back to new, true life. That all of this pain, all of this brokenness and this experiential stuff that you are facing in your life right now, today, it's not for naught. One day it will be undoneone and the undoing of the badness will be even better than the goodness of the original creation. I don't know how that works, but I trust the promise of God that God is making everything new. God's pursuit of his people and all creation will one day be completed and we will be with him again forever. No more separation between the creator and the creation, nothing to divide us any longer for the rest of eternity. And that, by definition, is what heaven is being in the full presence of God forever.
Speaker 2:So let me again say I don't know you, I don't know what you're facing at work. I don't know what you're facing at work. I don't know what you're facing in your family and in your marriage. I don't know what kind of brokenness and pain and loss that you've experienced, even in the last week. But hopefully today we see a clearer picture. We see a clear reminder that it's not for naught that this pain and this brokenness and this gunk that we experience in everyday life of just being human.
Speaker 2:It will one day be made new. Just as Jesus resurrected, just as we are being resurrected, so one day all of creation will be made new. And that, follower of Jesus, should give you hope. That should give you hope in whatever you're facing, in whatever you would go through, both now, today, and for the rest of your life. Leave this morning with the hope that God is not just making you new, but God is making everything new. Have hope, follower of Jesus.
Speaker 2:If you are seated in front of me today and you are unfamiliar with that hope, you realize maybe for the first time today that you have not been made new, that you are standing with that hope. You realize, maybe for the first time today, that you have not been made new, that you are standing on the wrong side of God's judgment here, in just a moment, your pastor and Pastor Colby will be standing down front. Students, if you need to come talk or have pastor pray over you, or you'd like to talk about joining this church or whatever it would be, these pastors are going to be here. We're going to sing one more song but, follower of Jesus, let me compel you. You have hope this morning. Rest in that hope, live in that hope.
Speaker 2:Father in heaven, we're grateful for your presence.
Speaker 2:We're grateful that we don't have to ask for your presence, that we don't have to beg for you to be with us, because you are.
Speaker 2:You've promised your presence already and over the course of this weekend, father, it is undeniable that you have not only been with us, but you've been with us in power and you've been good to show us your presence and the power of your spirit.
Speaker 2:You have changed lives and hearts this weekend and, father, I pray that that would not stop, that it would not stop with these students, that it would not stop with this church, but, father, that we could live and rest in the hope that you're not just making us new, but you're making everything new, and that we are invited to be a part that El Dorado, that Arkansas, that our country, that the world is invited to be a part of what you are already doing in the entire cosmos. God, would we be faithful to live in that hope, to invite other people into what you are doing in our world, how you are making everything new. Father, as we sing this last song, as we respond to your word in worship, may we rest in the hope that only you can give. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Would you stand with me.