WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:02.399 Good morning. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.000 My name is Randall Kay. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:15.039 I, with my family, are regular attenders here at Connect, and they've asked me this week to bring you a message from God's Word. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:20.239 We're in the midst of a sermon series on metaphors of the church. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:30.480 We are the church, and scriptures use a number of different words to talk about what the church is all about. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:36.159 Brenda brought us to understanding that the church is a body. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.560 Last week, Pastor Nate introduced us to church as the family. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.000 In a couple of weeks, we'll be looking at the church as a temple and as the bride of Christ. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:51.200 And today we want to look at the church as the household of God. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:01:00.320 If you got your scriptures with you, or you can look up on the screen, I'm going to be reading from Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 13. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:06.319 This has been our theme passage as we have looked at these metaphors of the church. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:19.840 And reading in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul writes, but now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:37.439 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law and the commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of two. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:46.400 So making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:52.959 And he came and he preached peace to you who were far off and peace to you who are near. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:58.560 For through him we have both access to one spirit, in one spirit to the Father. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:10.560 Since then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens and saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:19.680 Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom we have the whole structure being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:25.840 In him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.080 The church, the household of God. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:36.719 All of us here are part of a household, and they all look a little bit different. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.520 Households can have mom and a dad and siblings. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:45.120 In some cultures, we continue to add to that household. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.319 We can have grandma and grandpa as well as mom and dad. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:03:00.159 We can have children, we can have cousins and grandparents, we can have those who work in the house full-time to maintain the house. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.319 That was true in Jesus' day. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:09.199 You had from slaves and free, from old to young, all packed into this thing we call the household. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:16.080 And I don't know about you, but the household that I belong to now is unique, to say the least. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:20.560 God has put together kind of an amazing group of individuals. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.879 I have three son-in-laws. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:28.319 One I added just about four weeks ago, but I have these three wonderful son-in-laws. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:33.039 One, DDA, hails from Burkina Faso, Africa. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:41.280 Freddie Garcia hails from Bolivia, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, South America. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:54.560 And our newest son-in-law, Nicholas, he's probably gonna get mad at me that I just said Nicholas, but Nick hails from the West Coast of the United States. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:04:02.319 And of all three of those, probably the West Coaster from the United States fits less into the Midwest than anybody else. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:15.759 But a number of years ago, just a couple of weeks before our eldest daughter got married to Freddie, Freddie brought his mom and his brother and a good friend to California to be part of the wedding. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.560 And they were there for Thanksgiving dinner. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:26.720 And so we had Africa, South America, United States, all represented around that table. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:41.040 And it hit us that if Didier wanted to ask Mama Dolly, Freddie's mom, a question, he would have to ask his wife Christa, whose common language was French. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:48.319 Krista would then turn to her eldest sister and ask her the question in English. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:59.040 Trinity would then turn to her husband to be, Freddie, and ask him the question in Italian, because that's their common language. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.240 And Freddie would have to finally turn to his mom and ask her the question. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:09.839 And you know that game of telephone, you hope the right message gets all the way around that circle. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:21.680 And then, of course, um Freddie's mom had to answer the question, and we had to go through not only differences in language, but differences in culture and just what words mean. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:33.759 I was traveling with my two son-in-laws, DDA from Africa and Freddie from Bolivia, and we were going to a men's retreat, and this was a couple weeks. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:42.560 I had just met Freddie, and we realized that as we were driving in the car, none of us could speak to one another. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.120 Made for a nice long, quiet five hours. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:50.399 But finally, what we started to do was to look out the window. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:57.759 We were driving through the foothills of California, and there were some cows on the side of the road. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:01.439 And so I pointed out the window and I said, cow. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.360 And they all looked at me and I said, cow. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.519 And Freddie said, Vaca. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.240 I said, okay, I'm learning something now. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:14.240 Vaca, cow, vodka. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:23.920 And DDA looked at us, kind of understood, wondering what was going on, and if he finally said, wouf, which is in French, is cow. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.319 And so now I have two extra words for cow. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.439 And then we said, well, let's up the ante a little bit here. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.160 What does a vaca sound like? 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.240 And it doesn't sound like a cow, at least for us. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:39.839 And a French cow even sounds more different. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:46.399 So things get lost in translation translation, and that's what makes up our households. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.680 Households are made up of all sorts of people. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:07:05.199 Um have them uh uh been in that household for a long time, some are new little ones that are just uh coming into it, but we have all these people that are involved in the household, sometimes a mix of families involved in this household. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:14.959 But the purpose of a household, of all the people that are involved in that household, the purpose is uh maintaining the family. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:26.639 They're gonna do what they can, whether they're slave or free, whether it's grandma and grandpa or the youngest sibling, whether it's the servant who uh serves in the kitchen. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:32.240 They are all working for one main purpose, and that is to maintain the family. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.360 And that is the same for the church today. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.240 We are the household of God. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.120 And you are all part of it. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:49.279 We are no longer strangers or aliens, the scripture says, but we are the household of God built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:58.000 We have one purpose, and that is to honor God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.600 That's what it is to maintain the family. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:07.199 We are, in many regards, a family of families. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:15.199 We come together, we bring all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of languages, and we know that we celebrate here food as well. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.959 I think that one line for the church is if we're meeting, we're eating. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:20.879 And it's true here at Connect. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:41.600 And we have that wonderful time when everybody brings meals from their home countries, and we uh set out a wonderful spread because we know that uh part of what we do together is to experience the fullness of our cultural differences, languages or food. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:09:14.080 The beauty of the household of God, and one of the goals, or multiple of goals, I guess, for us as the household of God is to be a place of belonging, a place of safety, a place that uh provides for provision and intimacy, a place that provides grace and mercy and service and love to one another. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:19.120 I have a question for you today. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.440 I have a question for all of us. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:34.399 The question is this how do we maintain the household of God? 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:37.840 How do we keep it going? 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.240 How do we move it forward? 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:45.919 How do we allow it to be what God has created it to be? 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:51.279 I think there's three aspects that help us answer that question. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.360 First, is that we need to be built on the right foundation. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:06.240 The scriptures say that we are built on the teachings of the apostles and the prophets, the New Testament and the Old Testament. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:11.120 And we are built upon Jesus, who is our cornerstone. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:30.960 We are the church, not just because we're a group of people who like to get together and who like to sing songs together, which is really kind of weird when you look in history or look at our world today, put it that way, that a group of people we get together on a Sunday morning to stand up and to sing songs. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.919 And I know we do that at rock concerts, but this is anything but a rock concert. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.559 But yet we gather together. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:39.120 Why? 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.120 Because we want to worship the Lord. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.480 Second, because we enjoy being together. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:50.960 We are family, we are friends, we are brothers, sisters in Christ. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.440 But we are who we are because of Jesus. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:05.440 I'd like to read the passage from Ephesians again and just uh point out some uh a focus for us. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:10.159 I want you to look where it says and talks about Jesus. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:13.679 Verse 13, starting. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:25.039 But now in Christ, Jesus, you were once far off, and now you've been brought near, by the blood of Christ. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.559 For he himself is our peace. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.240 It is he who made us both one. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:38.320 It is in his flesh that a dividing wall of hostility was knocked down. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:45.600 It was in him that he created a new person, making one out of two. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.320 It was he that brought peace. 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:55.679 It was he that reconciled us both to God through his body on the cross. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.440 Again, it was he who preached peace. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:05.279 It is through him that we have access by the Spirit to the Father. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:11.840 We are no longer strangers and aliens, but members of his household. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:24.320 We are built upon Jesus, the cornerstone, and in him we are all being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:30.799 If we see anything, brothers and sisters, it's this: that it's about Jesus. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:44.559 We are his kingdom, we are his body, we are his family, we are the dwelling place of the Most High God. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:46.080 It is about him. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:57.440 And sometimes we need to be reminded of that, that it's not about you, it's not about me, but it's about Jesus. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.559 We come here not to hear Randall, Pastor Nate. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:25.840 We come here not just to uh sing songs that we like to sing, we come here not just to have a good cup of coffee, we come here not just to even see friends and family that we love, but we come here today, we come here every day because of Jesus. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.240 It is about him. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:42.720 So if we want to maintain the household of God to be a healthy place of belonging and caring, of grace and mercy, we need to make sure that we are built upon Jesus, the Son of God. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.799 Second of all, we need to have the right head of household. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:57.679 Every home has somebody who's in charge. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.279 Can't be a dad or a mom. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:10.480 Remember when you were growing up and you went to mom to ask if you could do something? 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.919 And what was mom's response? 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:16.559 Go ask your dad. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:29.279 And of course, you waited all day for dad to come home, and you went and met dad at the door, and you asked dad your question, and dad's quick response was, go ask your mom. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:33.039 You want to know we're all just a little crazy? 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:34.080 You know? 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:36.960 Who do we ask? 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:44.000 Who do we talk to when we have a question, when we need wisdom, when we need insight? 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.639 As the church, who do we go to? 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:51.840 Now we may say we go to see one of the pastors, which is a good thing. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:58.720 They are uh individuals of great wisdom and understanding and knowledge. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.720 God has blessed this church with good leadership. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:13.200 We can go to our Sunday school teachers, we can go to our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.440 But most importantly, we need to go to God because He is the Father. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:41.759 In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and the scribes, and he says, But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:50.159 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:57.039 Neither being called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:09.840 The greatest among you shall be your servant, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.480 Jesus says we have one Father, the Heavenly Father. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:19.360 Now, realize that Jesus is not talking about biological family here. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:20.639 We have a dad. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.360 Most of us have had a dad at home. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:30.320 We had somebody that we could go to and ask those questions or ask permission of. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:42.879 But in the church, it's not just our pastors, it's not just our teachers, it's just not our deacons and our elders and those in leadership, but we need to go to the Heavenly Father. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.759 He alone is head of household. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:17:05.759 I'm thankful again for our pastoral staff who knows that and understands that and follows that, that they don't live on their own wisdom and insight, but they go to the Father on your behalf, seeking God's wisdom. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.680 How do we maintain a household for God? 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.559 We do so by having the right foundation, Jesus, the Son of God. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:23.759 We do it by having the right household, excuse me, the head of household, God the Father. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:40.480 And as we look at the household of God, we see that it's made up of many uh individuals, many people with different attributes, many activities that keep the household of God alive and moving forward. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.920 All of those are important. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:55.599 We talked about the body of Christ, where there are different members of the body, the hands, the feet, the eyes, the ears, and that each one of us have an important part in the body of Christ. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.240 And we are not, there's no one here that's more important than anyone else. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:05.599 And that we need one another if we are to move forward. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:22.799 There are various activities that we're involved in of the church, whether it's gathering for worship and study, whether it's going out and having a neighborhood party to introduce the neighbors around us to the person of Jesus and to his love. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:30.000 But in all of those things, we need to have one attitude. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:55.119 And I want to suggest today that as we move forward as the household of God, that the attitude that we are to have is the attitude that we found in Jesus or find in Jesus as the suffering servant, that his life made possible to us through the filling of the Holy Spirit. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:01.440 Take, for example, uh Jesus in John chapter 13. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:17.680 It says that Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from the supper. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:24.799 And he laid aside his outer garment garments, and taking a towel, he tied it around his waist. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:36.000 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, to wipe them with a towel that was wrapped around him. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:45.119 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, would you wash my feet? 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:51.839 Jesus answered him, What I am doing you do not understand now. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.279 But afterward you will understand. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:00.480 Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.000 Jesus answered, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:15.599 Simon said, Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:32.880 John writes a little bit later, when Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.799 You call me teacher and Lord. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:38.880 And you are right. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.119 For so I am. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.640 Truly. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:08.880 Truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.039 If you know these things. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:16.880 Blessed are you if you do them. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.640 The example of Jesus for us is not one who lords it over. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:38.400 He doesn't play the almighty head of the household, giving directions to each person, having himself honored, but rather he takes on the form of a servant. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:48.880 And does one of the most lowly tasks that he could do, and that is to wash the feet, the dirty feet of those disciples. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:56.240 And Jesus says to them, as you have seen me do, do also. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.440 And I believe that that's the call for us. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:16.000 The church, as the household of God, to think not more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, but to think about how Jesus would live, how Jesus would serve. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:26.000 In Matthew chapter twenty, Jesus says this. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.960 But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.839 And who would ever be first among you must be your slave. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:49.920 Even then the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:57.279 The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:02.240 And to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:10.160 Jesus' purpose for coming was to go to the cross, to die for us. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.480 The Bible tells us that he is our atoning sacrifice. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:23.359 That through his death and his resurrection we are reconciled to God. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:37.279 And I want to suggest today that by the filling of the Holy Spirit, we learn a way of leaning, of leaning into servanthood as the household of God. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:50.720 If we want to maintain the health and the vitality of the household of God, of this church, we need to be those people who lean in to service. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:24:02.160 Lean in to wrapping the towel around us and bending down and washing the feet of the people in need. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.200 A church that serves its community well, just like Connect does. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:15.359 A church that does not just sit on the corner and say, look at us. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:30.799 But it sits in the midst of a neighborhood, in the midst of a community, and say, look at Jesus, who loved us, and because he loved us, we can and do love you. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:39.359 This is what Jesus has for us as the foundation of the household of God. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.240 Made up of all sorts of different people. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:52.319 All sorts of different backgrounds, all sorts of different cultures, all sorts of likes and dislikes. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.559 But God has brought us together. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:14.960 In wrapping things up this morning, I just want you to remind, remember those three things. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.359 Things to take home with us. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:37.839 That if we want to be the church that Jesus has created us to be, to be that strong, healthy body, to be that loving family, to be that strong household. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:44.880 Remember that we must build upon the right foundation. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.480 Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:53.839 Remember we need to have the right head of household. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.119 It's God the Father. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:15.839 And remember that we need to have the right attitude as members of the household, and that is to follow Jesus, the suffering servant, who gave his life on the cross for you and for me. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:26.559 I suggested at the first service that we have this cross that's empty to remind us that Jesus died on the cross for us, but he rose triumphant. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.920 That marks us as followers of Jesus. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.720 I'd like to maybe see on this side of the church a basin and a towel. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:44.160 The one we follow, Jesus, the risen Lord, and the task that he has given us to do, and that is to wash the feet of others. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.319 Wouldn't be a bad thing. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:50.480 Not a bad thing at all. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.519 Would you uh join me in prayer? 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.039 Holy God. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:19.680 We come before you this morning. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.200 To confess that we love you. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:31.279 To confess that we need you. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:43.839 To confess that the desires of our heart is to love you and to serve you. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.559 We believe and we hold to the truth that you are God and there is no other. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:03.279 We hold to the truth that we are your body, Lord Jesus. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.559 We are your family. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:16.079 That you are creating us into the household of God. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:18.079 A temple. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:22.000 A dwelling place for the Most High. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.200 Making us into the bride of Christ. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.240 Sometimes we are disobedient. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:57.359 Sometimes we care more about ourselves than we do about those around us. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:04.640 But we are thankful today. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:25.440 That you have told us in your word that if we uh confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:39.279 So we come to you today recommitting ourselves to you as your children as the redeemed. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:44.640 Those who want to build upon you, Lord Jesus, our cornerstone. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.759 Those who want to follow you, Heavenly Father. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.839 Those who love their neighbor as themselves. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:17.759 The meditations of our heart the work of our hands be acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:28.400 Lord Jesus, we pray in your name as you commanded and invited us to do it. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.200 May this be true. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:35.920 Amen.