Faithfulness That Never Fails

Transcript

God’s Faithfulness And Community Impact

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Aren't you thankful we have a God who's faithful to the very end? I can promise you his faithfulness will not ever end. How many promises and guarantees you can get these days in this world, but I can tell you there is a God in heaven who will never blink from watching over you. That's a promise in the scripture, you can take it to the bank.

Fundraiser Wins And Christmas Outreach

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Very thankful for the evening we had last night. They had the spaghetti dinner fundraiser for our food and toy drive that Daryl and Charlene put on for us and for our community. We bring in hundreds of families. We outfit them completely for Christmas every year. Stockings, uh coats, hats, gloves, scarves, boxes of food, toys around the tree, and you do that, church. Last night we took in 60 some more coats, and we raised more than $5,000 towards next year. I'm very thankful for you. Praise God for that. And that's a start. That's a start. And it was an honor to be there to be part of that. And I'm glad to have our church's name on that. Amen. Are you proud of that? Me too. Me too.

Youth CTS Competition Invitation

SPEAKER_01 1:21

A few announcements this morning. I'm gonna try to get them right. We've got in our state what's known as a children's CTS competition. And it's where kids can compete in ways that they can serve the church. Miss Jessica, where are you? Miss Jessica, she's our youth director. If you don't know her, you need to know her. She is also on our state youth board. And this year they are hosting this competition. And this is everything. Kids can compete in web design, they can do finger paintings, they can sing, they can they can panomime, there's Bible competitions, Bible tic-tac-toe, Bible sword drill, there's dramas and everything in between. Any way that a kid might grow up in the church and some someday serve the church in that capacity, the CTS competition encompasses that. Our competition is going to be held in May statewide and then nationally in July. Jessica has all the information, and if you are interested in that, if your kids are between elementary age all the way up through a senior in high school, they're eligible to compete. It's marvelous. I grew up doing this, and it's really encouraging for the children to hone their skills, whether it's drawing or singing or or running a sound room or or web designing, or all of it. And I think we should be in the business of raising up the next generation. Amen? Well, that's what this is. Right after church today, if you're interested in this, I want to invite you to meet Miss Jessica right down here, and she can give you the lay of the land. I've done a poor job explaining that in a buckshot kind of way here. But I'm telling you, if you have kids, grandkids, it's worth it. It'll be encouraging to them.

Baby Bottle Boomerang For Moms And Babies

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Number two is this is February 1st. Every February, we do what's called the baby bottle boomerang. If you're if you're familiar, raise your hand. Yeah, you've seen these. They are out here in the foyer, and they're out here in the back of the sanctuary. On your way home, I want to encourage you to take an empty baby bottle. On the inside, you'll see the family life services, the hope center. Information's on the inside here. And what this is, this takes pregnant and unhoused women, and it tells them that this is not the end of their life, this is the beginning. And it gives them hope and help. These provide parenting classes, we provide everything from high chairs to formula and diapers and baby bassinets and boppy chairs and all this stuff. We provide free ultrasounds. There are even some ladies that choose abortion. And we provide after abortive care to tell them that was the choice then, but we want to tell you that we still love you. And going forward, we want to do a different choice next time. We're in the business of loving not just the babies, we are in the business of loving the mamas. And that's what the baby bottle boomerang is for. So take it home, fill it up with your change, dollars, checks, whatever you feel like. When you bring it back, there's those huge baby bottle receptacles at each door back here, and you can drop it in there. And we're looking at $5,500 as our goal this year. $5,500. And I think we can reach it all. And this is gonna go to a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Greenville, Tennessee, where we are affiliated as our Free Will Baptist Crisis Pregnancy Center. We are in the business of providing hope. You know, the other side, they say they are the the party of choice. No, when you abort, that's the end of the choices. We're the ones offering the choices. You can we can adopt, we can foster care, we can parent our children, we can help you. We are the ones saying that no, we will help instead of hurt. And I think that's what the church should be about, amen. So when you go out today, if you would take one of those, you can do your part in that.

New Members, Giving, And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_01 5:02

The new members meeting, if you're a part of the new members group, we're gonna meet our last meeting today at 4 p.m. And I want to see you there. Uh some of them you've already been introduced to from the water today. And we're thankful to see them follow the Lord in baptism. All right. As far as I know, that's the announcements for this morning. Let's get on with the business. We'll have our ushers to come forward this morning. And as they come, I'm gonna ask you to stand. We're going to pray, we're going to sing. And after we do this, let me say this out loud. After we have the ushers to go back, if you have to give, that's great. If not, that's all right too. I do want to say thank you for your giving this morning. This is a very expensive time of the year. And so I just want to tell you we need your help and we are thankful for how you support the church. Father, we ask that you come among us this morning and that you would have free course. We ask that you would bless your word today to our hearing. Bless your word, Lord God, that it would do its work among us in the room today, and those watching at home are no doubt those who are discouraged, those who are weighing major decisions, those that are afraid. Father, those that are under attack. We ask that today would be a day of encouragement. That we would see Jesus and be encouraged, that he would shine his light into our darkness. We ask it, Lord, in this room, we ask, Lord, that you would change our hearts. I know, Lord, that my heart needs to be changed today. Lord God, would you bless and have your way among us? We

Congregational Hymn: At The Cross

SPEAKER_01 6:38

thank you and we pray these things for the glory of God and for the good of your people. In Jesus' name and the whole church said together, Amen. Amen. Miss Donna, what shall we sing?

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Let's sing at the cross. Alas, and did my Savior bleed? And did my sovereign die? Would he do that? At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all today. Was it what Christ had I have done? He grown up on the tree amazing face on the degree. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight, and I am happy all the day.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

It's at the front, at the front, where I put the line.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

It was my face.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

I receive my side and I am happy all the day There you go.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the line, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there perfectly I received my sight. And I am happy.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Amen. The

Honoring Brother Claude’s 99th Birthday

SPEAKER_01 9:51

cross made all the difference, and I hope you can say that too. You may be seated in a minute. I'm gonna call for kids' corner. But Miss Jessica, we have a very important birthday here that we need to observe. Brother Claude. He is, as it has been told, old as dirt. Affectionately, dear brother, affectionately. Brother Claude's 99th birthday this week, and brother, we honor you. Would you stand? Let everybody get a good look at you here. It's not fair that he should be 99 and have the best-looking hair in the church at the same time. One or the other, brother, one or the other, we're so thankful for. Brother Claude is the longest standing member of our church. He precedes even my grandfather. In fact, it was you that we credit with calling Lloyd to the church way back in E. Corps.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

God has used you, brother, and you've been so faithful.

SPEAKER_04 10:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yes, sir. We're so proud of you. Did you want to say something to the church? No. Okay. Maybe that's some of that wisdom. Maybe maybe we should say less. Would you help me sing to him this morning?

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. God bless you. Happy birthday to you.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

All right.

Kids’ Corner: Church Beyond The Walls

SPEAKER_00 11:40

For our friends on the other end of the spectrum, our little ones, all the way from kindergarten up to sixth grade. Please come and spend just a minute with me. I noticed a lot of new faces in church with us here today. So what is this? This is Kids Corner where kids, again, kindergarten to sixth grade, anybody in there can come and sit with me just for a minute, and then we'll go off to junior church. We have two separate classes for junior church every Sunday, except when we're here in service that you guys can join and be a part of. We have the teachers who have prepared and prayed for you all week. What a wonderful looking group of kids. Very, very good looking group. Guys, I'm so proud of you for coming to church on Sunday morning. For coming to be a part of God's house, we're looking good. We're getting dressed up, whatever that means for you, right? We're looking good. But if we just come, let me tell you this. If we just come and we spend every Sunday morning in church and we look good, is that what God had for us as the church? No, no, no, no. That's not what God had for us as the church. We dress up as a part of obedience to the Lord, but it's not because we want to come here and be oh so proud of ourselves. The church is meant to be a family and to reach out into the community and say, hey, you're a potential Christian. You're a potential Christian. We love for you. We care for you. That's our job as the church. So Pastor John was telling us a little bit about baby bottle boomerang, and I wanted to chat with you guys about it in a kind of a more kid-friendly way. Take a look at these bottles, guys. These look like toys. These look so fun. But let me tell you, they're not. And they're not even real baby bottles. Babies will never use these bottles, but we use them. We put change in them, we put money in them, and then we bring them back. So some of you littler ones, if it looks like something you might want to put in your mouth, please don't. Because there's so many germs all over them, guys. These are not used for the mamas who need help, but rather we put money in there so that they can pay for our diapers. If you guys have little siblings, you know they use a lot of diapers. You use a lot of diapers at home for your little siblings, Peter. Yeah. Yeah. It costs a lot of money. And so we use that to be able to help them because, guys, we're not just the church on the inside of these walls where we're all like, yay, every Sunday, and then we go home. We're the church on the outside of these walls as well. And we want to care for those people and show them that Jesus loves us and that Jesus loves them too. So let's go ahead and pray, guys. We'll pray over these bottles that are gonna go to these mamas who need help and to these little babies and for all the workers who are helping them.

Special Music And Reflection

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Heavenly Father, as we look forward to this month of February, I pray that you would bless and that you would help, Father, our little effort that we put in here, God. We know that we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting, but you can fill in the rest, God. We know that you're able to make up for our shortcomings. And so, Lord, we pray that you would just take our pitiful offering here and do something great with it, God. We pray that you would bless each one of these kids and their teachers in junior church, and that you would bless the pastor with your Holy Spirit as he preaches today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

unknown 15:10

God bless you guys. We'll see you in all of the day.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

She knows the forgiver all I've served till my dying days. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I need your grace to make it through. Had to mercy forgive me. The heart is full of sorrow. I can't believe how much I've laughed it out. That you fail me. Lord, I thank you for touching me today.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Dear Lord, I think you cause your consolation. Let me tell you.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

Let you fail me. For judging me, Jesus, that you failed me. Lord, I thank you, for judging me to Jesus.

Sermon Setup: Who Is Jesus Now

SPEAKER_01 22:12

If you have your Bibles this morning, let me invite you to the New Testament book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews, chapter number one. Today I want to tell you about Jesus. I want to tell you who he is. Currently, right now. I have some fear that perhaps we coming out of the Christmas season have seen the baby Jesus lying in a wrapped in swaddling clothes, surrounded by shepherds, not wise men. Thank you. That was the Savior coming into the world, but I can tell you he is no longer a baby in a manger. In fact, the Bible says that he's not that little child anymore. In fact, the Bible also on the other end of the spectrum tells us what he will

Jesus In Revelation: Alpha, Omega, Returning King

SPEAKER_01 23:18

be one day. I mean, if you just want to look into the book of Revelation, go to the right. I want to read to you from Revelation 1, verse 7. Listen to what it says about him in verse Revelation 1 and verse 7. He will be, behold, he cometh. He's coming one day in clouds, and every eye shall see him, and every eye shall see him, they also which pierced him. All kindreds of the earth shall shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. He will say, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty. Go all the way to chapter 21. You see him coming in prophetic word. Hey, let me tell you, he's coming, and I will bow before him on that day. And you will bow before him on that day. Can I encourage you to start now? You will bow then, gladly, joyfully, we'll be convinced on that day there will be no skeptics and no doubters. When he comes, chapter 21 and verse 23 says, And the city had no need of the sun. S-U-N, there was no need of the sun in heaven. Why? Because the S O N was there, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb of the light is the light thereof. The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor to it. It just says, You're gonna worship on that day. But I want to ask you, what are you what are you seeing Jesus right

Hebrews 1: Final Revelation In The Son

SPEAKER_01 25:34

now? Yes, we have Jesus in the manger, and yes, we know that he's coming in clouds of glory, he'll be righteous and victorious, but I want to ask you, because this is the only question needing to be asked, what about Jesus right now? Who is this Jesus? Church, let me tell you, you can get everything else wrong if you get Jesus right. That's all that's gonna matter. We can discuss, and there can be different secondary, but you gotta get Jesus right. Hebrews chapter 1 gives the most glorious, most wonderful description of our Savior. And I want to spend a few minutes of our time to answer the question: who is this Jesus? Let's read the first three verses. God, who at sundry times in diverse manners, spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days, that's these days, spoken unto us by his what Son, that's Jesus, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Father, as we've opened your word, we know it is already blessed. But Father, I ask that you would bless the message, the sermon. Because, Lord, that's the weak part, because I'm involved there. And Lord God, I say the wrong things sometimes. But we gotta get Jesus right. So, Father, would you guard my mouth? Hide me behind the cross, and would you show us your Son? Father, we we would see Jesus today. And it's in his precious name we pray. Amen. Jesus is the ultimate and the final revelation of God. He is the express image of who he

Jesus The Creator Who Upholds All Things

SPEAKER_01 28:20

is. If you want to see the Father, you can. We are so privileged to open our Bibles to the New Testament and you can see Him in there. I could show you to you in the Old Testament. But if you've got a Bible where your words in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are in red, those are his words. Those are his words. People say, I want to hear from Jesus. I'd say, read the Bible. Read the words of red, and they say, No, I want to, I want to hear him audibly. I say, read it out loud. He's the image of God, and he's the final revelation, he is the last thing God's ever gonna say. After Jesus, there's no more. He begins in verse 1. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake. Pause for just a second. Can we just stand in wonderment a little bit that God of heaven and earth would speak to us? Can I ask the question of you and of my myself? Who are we? That God would care. I asked Brother Phil to sing that song today. I woke up yesterday morning with that on my mind. How could God of heaven think to care for one like me? Look, I know you're important, I know you're a big deal. But I just feel like the God of all the universe, it's a sizable portion, has thought to care for my soul. That's something I just can't get over. And God spoke, and he spoke in many different ways, and God spoke through men like Moses, he gave the Ten Commandments, He spoke through his people, the nation of Israel, this little insignificant, rebellious, hard-hearted, wicked group of people, because they were little. And God said, I'll do great things through the little people so that you'll know that what's done has been done through me and not through you. He spoke through prophets and he spoke through beasts and he spoke through kings and he a couple of times he spoke through animals. Check it out. Just ask Balaam and his donkey. He spoke through visions, he spoke through dreams, he spoke through clouds of pillar and a pillar of fire as he led the children of Israel 40 years through the wilderness. He spoke through manna, he spoke through shoes that didn't wear out and clothes that didn't wear things. He spoke and pointed to himself. There is me. One time he spoke even to the wicked king Belshazzar in the book of Daniel, chapter 5. He showed up there in the middle of that raucous party and wrote

Light In The Darkness And Conviction

SPEAKER_01 31:15

with his own finger on the wall. And he spoke, and he's been saying the entire Old Testament, there is one God, and it's not you. And in the last days for the last 2,000 years, he's changed his method of speaking in the finality of who Jesus is. Jesus told a parable one time of a vineyard owner, a vineyard keeper. He says, I'm gonna have a vineyard and I'm gonna hire it out to these men, and when it comes time for the prophet to sell the fruit, I'll come back and I'll get my profit. Profit of money. And he sent his assistant, and the men that were working it said, Who is this assistant? He said, I'm a messenger for the owner of the vineyard, and he says he wants his prophet, and they killed him. And the owner said, They did what? They killed him. He goes, I'll send another one. Prophet, another prophet, another prophet, and they killed him. And then Jesus said, Then the vineyard owner said, I will send my own son. They'll respect my son. Do you know where this is going? And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And what the world has done, they've rejected him, they've spat upon him, they've made him a joke. And the father says, This is the last thing I'm gonna say to you. If you reject my Jesus, I'm not gonna say anything else. Let me speak to you in sort of a prophetic way. You know of Jesus, and in your rebellion, you have refused him. I'm just here to tell you, as a friend, as a loving, he ain't gonna send nothing else. People say, I want a new word, a new, I want a new revelation from God. And it's really those that want new revelation is because they're not interested in obeying the old revelation. This is all we have, church. It's God's word and God's son. It says he spoke through various ways, and now he has spoken to us through his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the worlds. You see, in verse 2, he is God's final and complete message. He was there at the beginning, he'll be there at the end. And I just want to tell you, nothing else matters except we get Jesus right and that we receive him into our hearts. And can we just, I want to just pivot here a little bit. You know, we've been told that we should pray a prayer

Personal Testimony: From Darkness To Light

SPEAKER_01 34:07

and ask Jesus into our heart. And I'm not against that. It's that's just not in the Bible. I think it's more in the vein of we should pray and we should beg God for his mercy on our sinful souls. And yes, Jesus does come into our heart, but it's not that we let him in. We should beg him in. God, if you'll have me, Lord, if you'll speak to me one more time, Lord, you you could be the leader of my life, the Lord of my life, not just as savior, because I love him as savior. Raise your hand if you love him as savior. Lord is different. I want him to forgive me. I want him to bless me, to be in charge, call the shots, repent of myself. That's what Jesus is. He's not just savior, he's come to be Lord of all. You see, he's creator of the universe. He made all things. And the Bible says he was holding all things together. Did Tyler read that to you this morning from the book of Colossians? Did he did he do a good job? I gotta do it myself. The Bible says he is the image of the invisible God, Colossians 1.15. The firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and or in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things created by him and for him. It's all about Jesus. It's all for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Think of it like this. You were taught in your science class in high school that we're made up of molecules and atoms, and these things that are bouncing around, and these ones are more dense than these ones, and so that's why you can pass through here, but you can't. I don't understand it. The Bible says every atom and molecule in this world God has a grasp on. And it is by his good pleasure he holds the worlds together. And I want you to know he's holding you together right now. He's the one who literally holds us together, and by him all things consist. He is the image of God, the one that holds all things together, and he's the light of God. He's the one that shines into our dark world. Do we live in a dark world? Is it discouraging to you how dark it is, how disgusting it is. And this is the world that Christ has come into. He should not have, he wasn't obligated to, he willingly, gladly came into our darkness. Look at what it says in our text. Who being the brightness? Verse number three of Hebrews 1. Who being the brightness of his glory? He's the brightness of the glory of God, the express image of his person, and he is also upholding all things

Invitation: Get Jesus Right Today

SPEAKER_01 37:20

by the word of his power. You see, he's the light of the world. John, John's gospel said it like this. John chapter 1, verse 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not, could not overcome it, could not understand it. John chapter 8. He would just come right out and say it. He would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 60, verses 19 through 20, when Isaiah's great light, he says, My people have seen a great light coming. It's the light of Christ into this world. He says there in John chapter 8, in fulfillment of that. Verse 12, Jesus spake again unto them. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You see, friends, Jesus is the light. He's come to shine his light in our darkness. And when he shines, what do we see? I see my sin. By the way, if you're not aware of your sin, it could be that you're not in the presence of Jesus. Because when you get in the presence of Jesus and you invite God into your life, you'll begin to see your sin. And with God's help, you'll begin to hate your sin. You begin to see the ugliness, not only this world, and we do. We look in around us and we say, This world, and that's not right. This ain't good. This is not correct. Why? Because we have some of the light of God in our lives, and we see it not only out there, but we see it in here as well. And he helps us to see truth versus error, right versus wrong. When we look at Jesus, we spend time with Jesus, we begin to have our lives ordered right. This is why maybe your heart is convicted today, because you know their darkness in your life is not acceptable or appropriate and tenable, and it can't stay that way. By the way, it would be a great thing to come and surrender and say, God, I have lived in darkness, but today I want to live in light. That'd be a good prayer to pray. I want to live not in darkness like I have, but in light. And the Bible says that the analogy is like this. In 1 Corinthians 5, it says that the God of this world, Satan, he has blinded the minds. You see the analogy of darkness here? That we would not see, that we can't see beyond, that we would not see one ourselves and two, our sin, and three, our Savior. His goal is to keep us dark and to keep us dim and to keep us blind. And God says, I have come that you may have life. And the life was the light of men. He said, I am the light of the world, and anyone who comes to me will not walk in darkness. And there's some mystery to it, church. But for me, I was laying in a dark dorm room when I was eight years old at a teenage camp that I wasn't supposed to be at, because, well, I was eight. And I was there because my dad was the evangelist. Maybe my mom just wanted me out of the house. I don't know, but I was there. And in the dark of that room, we began to go around the room, and I heard these boys talking about their conversion experience and when they were saved, and when they prayed and to receive forgiveness of their sins, and I was hearing them talk, and I'm laying in the pitch darkness in my little sleeping bag. And as they went from bed to bed to bed, I knew they were coming to me. And I knew I had not had that experience. I'd not prayed that prayer. I knew the light they were talking about, I had not experienced, knew I was a sinner, knew I did not know Jesus. And so when it came my turn, I acted like I was asleep. The next night at church, my father gave the invitation. I don't know what he preached from, in terms of the book or the Bible. I don't know, remember anything. I just remember sitting there realizing I was not walking in light. To whatever degree an eight-year-old can understand the salvation of the God of the universe, right? Anybody got that pegged real good? Do you see what I mean? There's some mystery to it. But I want to tell you, Brother Claude, as at that moment the light began to turn on. And the thing I needed to see first was I am a sinner. I am a creation of God. God has made me, but I was not a child of God. I wasn't in his family. I was made by him. I was part of his family. Rick Lochler was my dad. Donna Lochler is my mother. Praise the Lord. But I can tell you, none of us are going to heaven on the coattails of any of our relatives. Or on any other merit, for that matter, at all. And so when the invitation was given that night, he said, if you are a sinner in need of a savior, you should come and you should ask God to forgive you of your sins and come into your life. Peyton, I'm trying to preach. Is that good? Amen corner. I went forward and I remember how dirty that corner was. There's things you remember. It was very dirty. I remember it was just a dirty cabin. And me and my father, we prayed, and to whatever degree an eight-year-old can understand. Jesus Christ came into my life, forgave me of my sins, and I don't know exactly, but when we left out of there, I felt like I floated back to the cabin. I could I could just walk it right right back into it. I just something was changed. Not not everything was changed. It's a progressive subject. But I'm telling you, that's the day my name was written out of darkness and into light. And I've been getting Jesus right ever since. Let me just ask you: one day you'll bow, one day we'll all get Jesus right. We'll be clear on all the theology. It'll be so clear on that day. But I want to get him right today. If you've never received Christ as your Savior, today's the day you should do that. Don't leave. It's one degree outside. It's warm in here. Let's stay in here. This is a place we should come. I don't want you to leave without having done business with God. This has been on my heart. I haven't slept well the last three nights because you gotta get Jesus right. And I'm your friend here this morning. And so there's no dumb questions, no silly. I don't want to appear foolish. I, you know, I come from Lutheran Catholic. I didn't understand. You can come. And our God will forgive, and He will translate you from darkness into light. I'm telling you, be the greatest decision you've ever made in your whole life. Would you stand with me for prayer and we'll sing? Lord God, we thank you that you sent us your Son. You've given us this light in our darkness. Lord, if there's someone here this morning who's not received you and is in need of forgiveness, Father, may today be the day. And Lord, we would receive you. We would gladly rejoice. Yes, you were the baby. And yes, one day you'll come in glory, but right now you are the light of this world. Lord Jesus, would you help us? In your name we pray. Amen.