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And the scriptures found in Psalm seventy-three. Truly God is good to Israel and to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death, their bodies are fat and sleek, and they are not in trouble as others. And then you can jump with me to verse 16. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places, you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors. Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and after your word you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge so that I may tell of your works.

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Question number one is this, okay? I'm curious, why is it that we drive on parkways, but we park on driveways? I'm sure there's some kind of logical explanation, but at face value, we can all admit that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it? Maybe some of you uh play golf and you hit a stray ball toward a group of people and you want those people to duck, and so you say heads up when really you want them to put their heads down. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I got a couple more for you. Why is it that my nose runs but my feet smell? Shouldn't my nose smell and my feet run? Alright, last one. That last one, I promise. Why is it that when a package is on a ship, it's cargo, but when a package is in a car, it's a shipment? Some of these things just don't make sense. In the English language, there are words and phrases that can be confusing, that can seem at first glance to be contradictory. But far beyond the silly examples in the English language, sometimes life presents us with far more serious examples, doesn't it? Sometimes life presents us with things that are confusing, that don't make sense, that at first seem contradictory. Maybe one time you thought, um, you know, I've worked really hard at my job, I've been honest, I've never cut corners, and yet I got laid off while my colleague who is dishonest and lazy still has their job. That doesn't make sense. Or maybe you've thought to yourself, you know, I take great care of my body, my sleep, and my diet and my exercise, and yet I've been stricken with all these different illnesses while someone else I know who takes very poor care of their body has never had more than the sniffles in their lifetime. That doesn't that doesn't make sense. Or maybe you've thought to yourself, my spouse and I, we did such a great job to raise our kids to know and love Jesus, and they've strayed away from the faith. Yet some other couple we know didn't do such a good job, and their kids are on the straight and narrow. This doesn't make sense. Or last one, maybe you've heard a Christian couple ask this question before. All we want to do is get pregnant and have children, but God won't open the womb for us, and we don't understand why God helps all these other abortion-minded women get pregnant. That doesn't make sense. You see, the English language presents us with words and phrases that might be a bit confusing, or at first they seem contradictory, but life presents us with far more serious examples of things that are confusing and at first seem contradictory. But there's good news this morning, church. The contradictions of life are not impossible to resolve. And here's how at the core of who God is, is the absence of contradiction. Throughout the Word of God is the absence of contradiction. You serve and you worship a God who never contradicts himself. You study and you apply a Bible that never contradicts itself. And so, brothers and sisters, this morning, with God in view and Bible in hand, you can resolve the contradictions of life. You can. And as we turn in God's word to Psalm 73, that's exactly what we're discussing this morning. And so if you haven't already, turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73, and I'll meet you there in just a moment to discuss resolving life's contradictions. Well, this morning we are continuing our Songs of the Summer sermon series, looking at a different psalm each Sunday during the summer months. So far, we've looked at Psalms 9, 15, 27, 37, and now today, Psalm 73. The first four Psalms we looked at had one thing in common. Of course, God is their ultimate author, but they had the same human author, King David. Today we get our first human author that's not King David. As you can see in the superscription of Psalm 73, this psalm was written by Asaph. Now, Asaph and David were deeply connected. King David appointed Asaph as an Israelite worship leader in the tabernacle. Asaph was a Levite musician, and King David appointed Asaph to be an Israelite worship leader in the tabernacle. So they were deeply connected to one another. Asaph wrote 12 Psalms in the Hebrew hymn book. So he wrote Psalm 50, 50. He wrote Psalm 50. And then he wrote 11 consecutive Psalms, beginning here in Psalm 73. Asaph was an Israelite worship leader in the tabernacle. You know, on the topic of worship leaders, thinking of Asaph, I want to make a comment on our worship pastors at our church. Man, I'm so grateful for our worship pastors at our church. Pastor Stephen already left to go lead worship back at our downtown campus, but I'm grateful that he was able to join us today. I'm grateful for Pastor Jackson, who normally leads worship here at the Oxford campus, but he and his family are taking a well-deserved vacation this weekend. But we've said before that we don't have worship performers at our church. The men who stand on this platform, they don't expect us to observe and applaud them. They're leading us to worship God in song. That's why they're called worship pastors. Because the way they live their lives off the platform and the songs they choose on the platform, they're pastoring you and they're pastoring me to grow closer to the Lord. And I'm grateful for the worship pastors at our church. And I was so glad to have Pastor Stephen with us today. Asaph, one of the Israelite worship leaders in the Tabernacle, he wrote Psalm 73 to tell God's people then and God's people now how to resolve the conflicts of life. And so, church, if you're taking notes this morning, number one on your notes is this bring your confusion to God. If you want to resolve life's contradictions, then you must bring your confusion to God. Look with me now in verses one through five of Psalm 73. In verse 1, Asaph says, God is good to Israel. Now, I have zero interest in a political conversation right now, but it is fair to say that when you see the word Israel, many of us in the room are thinking of the nation states in the modern-day Middle East right now. And God has uh he ha he loves those people dearly, he loves that nation dearly, but that's not necessarily what's in view here in Psalm 73, verse 1. In Romans chapter 9, verse 6, Paul says that not all of Israel is Israel. In other words, you don't have to be an ethnic Jew to be counted among God's people. You are counted among God's people if you have faith in Christ. And so what David, excuse me, what Asaph is saying here in verse 1 of Psalm 73 is really this that God is good to his people. He's good to his people then, and he's good to his people now. He's good to you if you are counted among God's people through faith in Christ. And so Asaph begins the entire psalm by declaring this truth, but then he goes on in verse two to admit, I'm kind of confused. In verse 2, Asaph says, My intellectual knowledge seems to contradict my life experiences. In verse 2, Asaph says, I continue to slip and stumble as I walk through this life. Because my life experiences seem at first glance to contradict my intellectual knowledge from verse 1. Has anybody ever felt that way? Is it just me? You know, I'll tell you something this morning, church. It's okay to be confused. If you're confused in life, you're not doing anything wrong. It's just not okay to stay confused. It's okay to be confused sometimes. That's how Asaph was in verse 2 of Psalm 73. It's just not okay to stay confused. Asaph goes on in verses 3 through 5 to give us several specific examples of things that were confusing him at the time. In verse 3, Asaph says, I don't understand why the wicked are wealthy. I don't understand why the wicked are prospering. The wicked at that time, Asaph is likely thinking of some neighboring nations, maybe the Philistines or the Moabites or the Edomites. Goliath was a famous Philistine that the shepherd boy David slayed. Ruth was a famous Moabite. Esau was a famous Edomite. Perhaps Asaph was thinking of some of these neighboring nations, these pagan nations worshiping false gods, and he's seeing them prosper, and he's wondering, why are the wicked wealthy? Asaph goes on in verse 4 to say, also, why are the wicked healthy? In verse 3, why are they wealthy? But in verse 4, why are they healthy? Asaph says, the wicked are fat and sleek in verse 4. Now, men, I don't know about you, but I'd rather be described as handsome and muscular than fat and sleek. But in Asaph's day, that was actually a compliment. What Asaph was saying is that the wicked are healthy. They are fat, they're well fed, they're sleek, they're well groomed. Why is that the case? He's confused by their wealth, he's confused by their health. He finishes in verse 5 by saying, They have no trouble, they have no problems, and they're never stricken, they never suffer. That's a bit dramatic, a bit of an exaggeration, but it does summarize Asaph's confusion. He's a bit confused by his life experiences, but ultimately what we see Asaph doing is bringing his confusion to the right place. He's bringing his confusion to God. You know, I saw a um I saw a video recently of a a young mom talking about preparing dinner for her family. And surprisingly, this is not a video about my household yet, but it did happen in someone else's household recently, okay? So that this young mom was, she was talking about how she was preparing dinner for her family, and she she set the oven to preheat, and then she started working on a baking sheet of some things that she was going to put in the oven once it preheated. The oven beeped because it was preheated. She walked over with the baking sheet in one hand, the oven door in the other hand, opened the oven to find a giant plastic school bus that she had been preheating for the past 10 minutes. She had asked her young toddler son a few minutes before to clean up his toys, which he did, but he put the plastic school bus in the wrong place. He decided that day it was a good idea to put the plastic school bus in the oven. Again, surprise that hasn't happened in my house yet, but it happened in someone's house recently. I tell you that story this morning, church, because I wonder, I wonder how many of you have a plastic school bus preheating in the oven of your mind this morning. Here's what I mean by that. I wonder how many of you are confused by your life experiences, and you're taking your confusion to the wrong place. You're asking the wrong person, you're taking it to the wrong substance, you're taking it to the wrong place. When you take your confusion to the wrong person or the wrong place, it only muddies the water, it only makes things worse. We should do like Asaph does, we should take our confusion to God, because only God, who is free of contradiction, and his word, which is free of contradiction, can truly resolve our confusion and can truly resolve the contradictions in our life. So step one in this process, brothers and sisters, is bring your confusion to no one else and nowhere else than the God of the universe. Hey, number two on your notes is this. Number two, trust God's vantage point. If you want to resolve life's contradictions, then the second thing you must do is trust God's vantage point. Look with me now, skip down to verses 16 and 17 of Psalm 73. In verse 16, Asaph says, I'm trying to view things from my perspective, and it's wearing me out, he says in verse 16. I'm trying to see life from my vantage point, and it's turning into a wearisome task. It's wearing him out, it's wearing him down. He's exhausted. Have you ever felt like that? This is exactly why Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Jesus says. Come to Jesus all who are weary and heavy laden, and Jesus will remind you of God's vantage point on your life. Asaph goes on in verse 17 to say, But I go to the sanctuary of God, and I'm reminded of God's vantage point on my life, and then I'm able to discern, he says in verse 17, I'm able to discern what's going on. Asaph sees things from God's vantage point, and the contradictions seem less contradictory. I want us to think about something in verse 17. When you step into the sanctuary of God, when you step into God's sanctuary, what do you find? You find other brothers and sisters in Christ. You see, sometimes you step into the sanctuary of God and you are struggling to see things from God's vantage point. And you need a brother or a sister in Christ to help remind you of God's vantage point on your life. I mean, let's make it personal. Maybe you're here today and you're struggling to see life from God's vantage point. It was all you could do to get out of bed this morning, to walk through those doors this morning, because you're struggling to see life from God's vantage point. And a few people asked you, How are you doing? And you said, I'm great. But on the inside, you're really not all that great. You're struggling to see life from God's vantage point. Hey, can I tell you something? In the sanctuary of God church, here's what we do not do. We do not push people down and push people out. In the sanctuary of God, here's what we do: we pull people in and we lift people up so that they can again see life from God's vantage point. Let me say that again. In the sanctuary of God, here's what we do not do. We do not push people down and push people out. We pull people in and lift people up so that they can again see life from God's vantage point. ASAP was struggling, but he stepped into the sanctuary of God, and that's what he saw. You know, uh, we uh you guys know that um Hanna and I, we have three kids. Uh their ages right now are four, three, and two. Next Sunday, their ages will be five, three, and two. May's about to turn five years old. Can you believe that? So one of our favorite activities is to uh is to take our kids to the zoo. Uh and at this point, our children are pretty familiar with the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, Florida. They kind of know what animals are there and not there. But I remember uh one of our very first visits to the Central Florida Zoo, our kids just kind of had to trust us in terms of uh what exhibits and what animals were in what exhibits. Some of the animals you can kind of see them regardless of how tall you are, like the giraffe, you can see it from a mile away. Or the cheetahs and the jaguars and the hippo, you can you can see them no matter how tall you are. But I remember walking up to the to the porcupines, and there's a fence that's like a little higher than waist high, and uh it could probably could have been a little higher, you know, but it's anyways, it was like a little higher than waist high, and my two-year-old son walks up and he's just staring at a fence. To him, he's just staring at a dead end. And I'm describing to him like I see the porcupine, it's right there, but he's never seen a porcupine in his life. He doesn't know what his dad's talking about. And it wasn't until I picked him up and let him see the porcupine from my vantage point that everything clicked for him. But prior to that, he was just staring at a fence. He was just staring at a dead end. And I wonder this morning, brothers and sisters, how many of you walked in here today feeling like you're staring at a fence, feeling like you're staring at a dead end. You're stuck looking at life from your perspective. And you need someone to pull you in and lift you up so that you can again see life from God's vantage point. If you're going to resolve the conflicts of life, one of the best places to do it is in the sanctuary of God, locking arms with Christian brothers and sisters who have your back, and when you need them to, will lift you up so that you can again see life from the vantage point of God and then discern, as Asaf says right there in verse 17. Hey, church, if you're taking notes this morning, number three on your notes is this. Number three, lean on God's guidance. If you want to resolve the conflicts of life, then the third thing you must do is lean on God's guidance. Skip down once again with me to verse 23. Look in verses 23 and 24 of Psalm 73. In verse 23, Asaph says, God, you are holding my right hand. Now, as Christians, uh, we believe that not just the concepts and the ideas in the Bible are inspired by God. We believe every single word in the Bible is inspired by God. And so it's no mistake that Asaph doesn't say, God is holding my hand. Asaph says, God is holding my right hand. That's very intentional. Your right hand is a symbol of power. In Asaph's time, you think about Isaiah chapter 41, verse 10, where it says that God upholds us with his right hand. It's a symbol of power. Or you think about Psalm 16, verse 11, where it says, In the right hand of God are pleasures for eternity. Your right hand is a symbol of power. And that's even culturally true today. When people take an oath of office, they might raise their right hand or place their right hand on the Bible. When you pledge allegiance to the flag, you might place your right hand over your heart. It's a symbol of power. And so what Asaph is saying when he says that God is holding my right hand, he's saying, God, my right hand is completely open to you. I'm completely surrendered to you, God. I'm not somewhat surrendered, I'm not mostly surrendered, I'm completely surrendered to you, God. My right hand is open to you. And you've heard it said before that you're not holding on to God. God is holding on to you. Asaph goes on in verse 24 that says, You he says, You guide me with your counsel, and then one day you will welcome me into glory. In this lifetime, God is guiding Asaph with his counsel, and then one day God welcomed Asaph into glory, and the same is true of you. In this lifetime, God is guiding you with his counsel, and one day, God will welcome you into glory. And I look forward to that day. God is guiding us with his counsel. I think about Acts chapter 20, verse 27. It was Luke writing, but it was Paul talking. And Paul says, I have proclaimed and obeyed the whole counsel of God. That phrase, the whole counsel of God, is so important because what we can't do, church, is we cannot lean on most of God's guidance. We have to lean on all of God's guidance. We cannot seek and apply some or most of God's counsel. We must seek and apply all of God's counsel. If you're going to resolve the contradictions of life, you have to lean on God's guidance and lean on all of God's guidance, not just the parts of God's guidance that sound good and feel good. You know, in our house, um, we have about seven or eight of these um Amazon Alexa devices throughout our house. And the main reason is because we enjoy the government listening to our conversations, okay? I'm just kidding. A little bit. So we really we like them because you can set timers and alarms, and I can control my thermostat and ask recipes. I like them for all kinds of reasons. But one of the things you can do is you can play music on these Echo Dots, is what they're called. And my kids are old enough now that they they understand how to operate the Echo Dots. And so they'll walk up to one of these things, even my two-year-old, they'll walk up and say, Echo, play the kaboomers. That's a clean kids' band. And it's just Echo just starts playing songs by the kaboomers. And the thing is, when a song by the kaboomers comes on that they don't like, they'll just shout, Echo, next, and the device will skip to the next song. But I wonder how many of us sometimes we we read the scriptures, kind of like one of my kids talks to the Amazon Alexa device. When we hear something we don't like, we just shout next and we move on. Maybe you've encountered the verse in the Bible that says that no one can come to the Father but through Jesus. The only way to be saved is through Jesus. And we think, well, that's not very tolerant, that's not very inclusive. Next. Or maybe you've heard some of the verses about marriage and how the Bible says marriage is between one man and one woman for life. And we think to ourselves, well, that's ancient, that's outdated, that's not a very modern view of love. Next. Or maybe we've heard some of the verses when it comes to the church about how the office and the function of pastor is reserved for qualified men. Our culture doesn't like that very much right now. Our culture is saying next on that verse for sure. Maybe you've read some of the scriptures that talk about finances and how you're supposed to give some of your money to your local church, and you think, I worked hard for that money. I'm not giving any of that away. Next, please. We could go on, but the point being, perhaps we read the scriptures in a similar way to a toddler talking to an Amazon Alexa. We hear something we don't like and we just shout, next. But that's no way to resolve the contradictions of life. If we're going to resolve life's contradictions, we have to lean on God's guidance and don't just lean on some of it. Don't just lean on most of it. Lean on all of God's guidance, lean on the whole counsel of God, and then you can resolve the contradiction that you're experiencing in life. Hey, church, number four on your notes is this. Number four, pursue nothing on earth above God. If you want to resolve life's contradictions, then pursue nothing on earth above God. Look with me now in verse 25. No more skipping down. Look with me now in verse 25. Next verse. In this verse, Asaph says, God, there's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. What a great proclamation. There's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. We spoke quite in depth last week about this concept of desires when we looked at the famous verse, Psalm 37, verse 4. If you delight in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart. God designed you and created you to have desires. Some of our desires are evil desires that need to be squashed. Some of our desires are righteous desires that need to be acted upon, but you are a creature that was created to have desires. And here is Asaph in verse 25 saying, God, there's nothing on earth I desire besides you. Now here's what he's not saying. Asaph is not saying, God, you are the only thing I desire. Period. End of story. No, he's just saying, there's nothing I desire more than you. God, I desire you the most. And everything else falls into place when I put you first. There's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Pursue nothing on earth above God. You know, this past week, um Hannah came to me and said that our garbage disposal was not working. And in a house of five people that eat a lot of food and do a lot of dishes, the garbage disposal is a very important mechanism in our household. And you don't realize how important it is until it stops working. And I'm a pretty stubborn guy, and so I try to fix things myself before I ask for help, for better or worse. And so I went to work on the garbage disposal. First thing I did was I confirmed it's definitely not working. And then I went ahead and I manually cleaned it out, okay? I won't give you any more detail than that, other than to say I cleaned it out, and it still wouldn't work, okay? So then I opened the cabinets under the sink and I'm looking at the switch, the switch is fine, looking at the outlet, the outlet's fine, checked all the wiring, checked all the plumbing, everything was fine. And so, of course, the last thing I did is I go in the garage, open the breaker panel, and one breaker switch is flipped. It's the one that controls the power to my kitchen islands. Flip that back on, go back in the kitchen, garbage disposal works like a charm. The good news is I know that there's no problems with my wiring and my plumbing now. I did a full exam on the disposal, but all I had to do was just flip the breaker back on. Your prioritization of the Lord is kind of like that breaker switch. If that switch is off, then everything else in your life is in vain. But if that switch is on, everything else in your life makes sense. Everything else in your life has purpose. You see, what ASAP is not saying is desire God alone, desire God only. He's saying desire God most, desire God above all. And when you put God first, then everything else in life falls into place. Everything else in life has meaning. Everything else in life has purpose. But it starts by putting God first. It starts by pursuing nothing on earth above God. That's really important if you want to resolve the contradictions of life. Hey, number five on your notes this morning, church, number five is this rest on God's constant strength. If you want to resolve life's contradictions, the last thing we must do is rest on God's constant strength. Look with me now in verses 26 through 28. We'll take a look at the last three verses in this psalm together. In verse 26, Asaph says, My heart and my flesh may fail, but God, you are my strength and you are my portion. Now, when you see that word flesh, the Psalms were written in Hebrew, and you might be more familiar with the Greek idea of flesh in the New Testament. The Greek idea of flesh has a very moral connotation to it, but the Hebrew idea of flesh was really strictly physical. Asaph here is talking about his external physical weakness. He's saying, My flesh may fail, my physical body may fail. And because in Hebrew this idea of flesh is really strictly physical, that's why Asaph felt the need to also say, My flesh and my heart, my outer man and my inner man may fail, my whole person may fail, but God is my strength, and God is my portion. God was Asaph's strength for the present, and he was Asaph's portion for the future. And the same is true of you if you're a Christian today. God is your strength for the present, and God is your portion for the future. He is your hope and your inheritance in the future if you believe in Jesus. In verse 27, Asaph talks a bit about the people who are far from God and how they will perish. That phrase far from God is another way of talking about unbelievers or the lost. If you are far from God, then you will perish, and if you perish far from God, then you will experience eternal torment. That's a biblical reality. Paul picks up on this idea in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 13. In Ephesians 2, 13, Paul says, Once we were all far from God, but now we are near to God through the blood of Christ. At one time you and I were far from God, but now we are nearer to God for no other reason than the blood of Christ. And we should share about the blood of Christ with those who are still far from God that they may not perish. In verse 28, Asaph continues talking about his nearness to God. And he says, I am near to God for a purpose. He says at the end of verse 28, I am near to God so that I may tell others of God's amazing works. How awesome is that! When God resolves a contradiction in your life, it's not so that you can keep it to yourself, it's so that you can share it with others. When God resolves a contradiction in your life, check this out, it's so that he might, through you, resolve a contradiction in the life of someone else, too. Think about this. Maybe, maybe actually most of us in the room are probably a bunch of walking contradictions. Maybe you're here today and you were abused when you were younger. But today you are not an abuser by the grace of God. You are a walking contradiction. Maybe you're here today, and when you look back for generations and generations in your family, all you see is addiction. But you are here today free from addiction by the grace of God. You are a walking contradiction. I'll be honest with you, I kind of feel like a walking contradiction. I'm a legally blind preacher. I don't make a whole lot of sense, but for the grace of God. Maybe you are a walking contradiction. And just like Asaf says in verse 28, the reason that God resolved a contradiction in your life is not so that you can keep it to yourself. It's so that you can share it with someone else. So that God might, through you, resolve a contradiction in the life of someone you know. Because you might be the only Jesus they ever meet. Hey, when it comes to resolving the contradictions of life, perhaps there aren't really any contradictions at all. There are just life experiences that at first glance seem contradictory. But with God in view and Bible in hand, we can resolve the contradictions of life. But hey, maybe you're here this morning and you'd say, you know what, I'm not a Christian. Can I tell you something? We are really, really glad that you're here today. But what you don't need to do is you don't need to resolve a contradiction in your life. You need to resolve a broken relationship with the God of the universe. I don't have to tell you about brokenness. You feel the brokenness in your life. You feel the brokenness in the world around us, but you haven't yet found the solution to that brokenness. Can I tell you about Jesus today? Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He was buried, and he rose again on the third day, defeating death once and for all, so that anyone who repents of their sins and believes in Jesus might be saved and spend forever with the God of the universe in heaven. And that could be your story today. We want to extend an invitation for you to join the family today. Here's what's about to happen. In just a moment, I'm going to pray to ask God's blessing on our Bible study today, that our Bible study would take root and produce fruit this week. And when I say Amen, all of us in the room will stand to sing one more song of worship. And as we sing, many people will stay in their pews to pray and reflect from their pew. You'll see many people come forward to pray and reflect at the altar. Anyone is welcome to come pray and reflect at the altar today. But myself and some other members of our team will be standing across the front. And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, but you'd like to make today the day of your salvation by placing your faith in Christ. You don't need to resolve a contradiction in your life. You need to resolve a broken relationship with the God of the universe through a relationship with Jesus. And if you'd like to start that relationship today, then we'd like to help you do that. And so as we sing, we'd invite you to walk forward and talk to myself or some other members of our team. Hey, let me pray for you. Father in heaven, God, we love you and we praise you. We're grateful today for your words in the Bible that are clear and understandable and applicable to our lives. And God, just like Asaph in verse 1 of Psalm 73, we declare that you are good to your people. You were good back then and you're good today. But God, we also admit that sometimes we're confused by the experiences of life. Holy Spirit, would you continue to clarify those life experiences for us? Continue to show us your vantage points on life and help us to tell of your wonderful works to those of us in our community. God, I pray for that one person here today who's not a Christian, who does not yet have a restored relationship with you through Christ. Would you make today the day of their salvation? You've started a good work in their life by bringing them here today. Would you complete that work by helping them to walk forward as we sing in just a moment? God, we give this time over to you. We came in this room to worship you. And I pray that all of our thoughts and words and actions have been glorifying and honoring to your name. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.