WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.120 Week four, behold. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:32.560 Week one, Ryan defined behold as to gaze, to wonder, to look at someone or something until that something has been grasped of the significance of that person or thing. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.759 That's a lot of essence for me to say without it on the screen, so I'm really sorry. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:38.799 But I think that's what we've been doing. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:39.920 Good job, by the way. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.359 That's what we've been doing. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:49.600 We've been looking at Jesus and trying to behold him, trying to understand him, trying to worship him the way that he deserves to be worshiped. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.799 And with it being a worship series, not just because I'm the guy that does the singing up here. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:00.159 I think you've done a really good job interacting and engaging with these sermons. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:06.319 I don't know if it's because it's family worship, which is top tier in my book, 10 out of 10, to have our kids with us. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:12.640 I don't know if it's what families up here like reading scripture and doing a call and response and you know leading our entire church in something that's really traditional. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.959 I don't know if the songs are really good and the guy that picked them is just really great at his job. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:18.239 I have no idea. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:19.920 That's a yes. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:22.799 Um, I don't know if really humble today. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:31.120 I don't know if it's just that Ryan has listened to the Lord and given us a sermon and a sermon series that we really needed to hear. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:32.640 But you've been really engaging with worship. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:33.760 We talk about it every week. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.959 And staff meeting and after church, oh my gosh, did you hear them sing? 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:38.719 Oh my gosh, did you watch them? 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:39.840 It's crazy to look out. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:50.079 I don't know everybody, but to look out and see the people that we know interacting with the songs that we're singing and be like, oh man, I know your story, I know what that means to you. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.480 That's really cool to watch you worship that way. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:54.400 It's really cool and really encouraging. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:55.840 So good job, number one. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.879 Um but yeah, week one, we talked about preparation. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.040 You know, he's saying, make room five thousand times. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:01.840 That's what Ryan said. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:03.200 Like, how are you gonna prepare for the king? 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.640 How are you gonna make room for him? 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:12.719 Week two was about presence, and it was uh Ryan's bread and butter passage, he calls it about Isaiah when he's when the throne room is revealed to him, right? 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:21.120 And he's like, Well with me, I'm a man of unclean lips, and uh you know, they're having a reverence and an understanding for how great and and majestic and powerful the Lord is. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:22.479 And then last week was posture. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:31.840 We went through the other like typical Advent passage of you know, a son will be given to us, you know, an everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Amen, all those things, all those names. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.479 And we talked about the different postures we can have in worship. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.479 Um, and today, like a good Baptocostal that I am, we're gonna, it's gonna be alliterative, okay? 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.400 And we're gonna talk about practice. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.639 And I was thinking about it, and I was like trying to pray through, like, what do I say? 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:50.879 And I was just standing in front of my whiteboard, you know, with nothing on it because I didn't know what to say, and what we're gonna do. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.520 And I was like, God, what would you have me say about practice? 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:55.199 How do we practice? 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.439 Like, how do I how do I practice worship? 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.439 How do you how do you practice beholding the king? 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:00.639 Like, what do you do? 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.360 And what do I tell our church to do? 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:11.520 And I just felt like a nudge from the Holy Spirit, a little bit of conviction, and I was like, it's kind of like the voice in my head was like, Well, I'm like, Well, what did Jesus do? 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.319 And I was like, Oh, that's good, I'm gonna write that down. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:20.400 So I wrote it down and I was thinking and praying about it, and then the thing we came up with was communion. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:24.159 Look at the Bible here in Matthew 26. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:31.599 The Bible says this in Matthew chapter 26, starting in verse 26, as they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:37.840 Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, Take this and eat it, for this is my body. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:41.280 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:49.280 He gave it to them and said, Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:53.120 It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:59.840 Mark my words, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it, anew with you in my father's kingdom. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.400 And they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:11.439 If you know uh the rest of the story, if you know the rest of the scriptures, that's where Jesus goes into the garden where he's betrayed. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.319 Um he has the longest night that was ever lived, and he's crucified the next day. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.959 I was thinking about it and I was looking at it and trying to figure it out. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:27.759 You know, Advent is not something that's super familiar to me uh before awakening. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:34.399 You know, I we like kind of grew up in church, um, but it was kind of just like Thanksgiving and Christmas. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:43.120 You know, December was just Christmas, it wasn't really Advent, and it wasn't really until I came here that I experienced Advent and learning that Advent just means arrival, right? 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:50.720 There's an anticipation, there's an expectation, all these scriptures in the Old Testament that talk about Jesus being born, about a savior being born. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.000 It's kind of like, oh, we're excited for him to arrive, we're excited for the Advent, we're excited for Him to come here. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:59.759 And to be honest, that never really meant that much to me. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:03.839 Because I was like, oh, like I'm on this side of the cross, right? 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.079 I'm on this side of the covenant, I'm on this side of the promise. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.240 I already have a relationship with Jesus. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.560 I'm not really like waiting for a savior to come and do anything. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:11.920 I get to live in that. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.360 And this year, I'm kind of it's shifted for me. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.959 It's been shifting over the last couple years being here, but it's really shifting. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:23.519 Because we also like, well, yeah, he did come already, right? 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.360 He's coming back. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.519 And that's not something that I really have a reference for it, I think about often. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:32.079 Even alludes to it, like here, 29. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:37.120 Mark my words, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you and my father's kingdom. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:38.800 Like he's gonna come back. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:53.199 And so while I sit in this kind of like second covenant, this like new covenant, like second testament advent of like waiting for Jesus to come back, it's been really hitting me really, really, really hard this year. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:56.000 And I think it started over Thanksgiving. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.120 We were uh, I was in Arizona, I was visiting my parents. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:03.920 Hi, mom. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:05.759 She's here. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.360 I was visiting my parents, and my mom's side of the family came uh from the East Coast, and it was really cool. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:23.600 We haven't been together since my wife and I got married, and so for us to all be together, or most of us to be together, you know, and then to like be there with the babies and stuff like that was really, really, really, really cool. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:24.720 It's really fun. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.480 Um, and I do this thing now. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.759 Uh, whenever we get together with family, I just want to hear about them. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:35.279 I'm getting to an age now where like the older generation is starting to pass away, you know. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:42.240 Uh we've lost like a couple elders in the last couple of years, and there's so many things that I was like, oh, I didn't get to say. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:51.279 You know, there's so many things that I didn't get to do, there's so many questions that I have that I didn't get to ask, there's so many things that I want to know about you that I don't have access to anymore. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:54.879 And that's been really hard and weird to wrestle with. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.399 And so now, anytime we get together, we're all in the same place. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.040 I'm like, somebody tell me a story. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.240 Like, tell me something. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:03.120 Like, I want to hear. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.959 Like, tell me about your siblings. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.800 What do you remember about your grandmother? 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.279 Like, what do you remember about your aunts and uncles? 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:10.959 Like, what do you remember about this stuff? 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:12.560 It's really important to me to know. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:14.959 And I'm also like jotting down like the lineage. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:18.240 So I'm like, we'll use that name, we won't use that name, we won't use that name. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.560 You know, I mean, that's like an old lady name, that's a weird name. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:21.199 Spell it. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:22.319 Definitely not Adolf. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:23.680 Uh, let's work back today. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.160 It's also weird to never mind. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:27.120 I'm gonna stop. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:28.800 You see where I'm going. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:33.920 But, anyways, we do all this stuff, and it's really important to me to hear, you know. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:35.519 And so I think it's Thursday night. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.160 We're sitting down, we're talking. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.040 Uh, and I'm asking, it's my mom and my grandma. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.839 I think my wife is there, and we're just I'm just asking questions. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:45.839 I'm asking mom, I'll sort of call her. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:51.600 I'm asking my mom about her parents and her aunts and uncles, and if she remembers, you know, grandparents. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.839 And so we're listening off people and talking about where they used to live and the things they used to do. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:07.920 And this thing started just kind of to like hit me in the moment that I know so much about the gospel and the love of God because of that side of my family. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:24.560 Like I primarily, I think my some of the things we read in scripture about what we receive as adoptions as sons and daughters and what it means to uh to be a child of God and come into like God's family, though that like fam familial analogy means so much to me. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.240 I understand it in such a different way, I think, because of my family. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:32.720 Because if you if we know each other really well, you would know, but most of you don't. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.519 Plus, I'm good at keeping secrets, so why would you? 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.440 My mom that we're talking about is not actually my birth mom. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.600 She's my stepmom. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:47.600 Best parent out of the three, as far as I'm concerned, but she's she didn't have me. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:49.200 She picked me. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:50.720 You know? 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:56.080 Uh, you know, my dad was married, uh, split up obviously, got remarried, and my mom was there. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.080 And so I'm listening to this, uh to this, and I'm like, oh. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.159 I was like, oh dude, this is so cool. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.039 Then I'm like, oh yeah, you picked me, right? 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.120 And all these people have loved me since the day that they met me. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.639 I came in, you know, came on the scene at like six years old. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.519 And they've like loved me a hundred percent since then. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.000 No distinction between who's her blood and who's not, who's not. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:26.000 So I'm listening to this stuff, and I'm talking, we're talking about my grandpa and my grandma and then being married and stuff like that. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.759 My grandma had um a son before she was married to my grandpa, but you know what? 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.159 All four of those kids call him daddy. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:34.960 He's my uncle's dad. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:36.879 They refer to him as dad. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.919 There's no distinction between the kids that came before their marriage and the kids that came afterward. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.879 And I learned that's also Mama's story. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.440 Her mom, grandma mush, was married, had four kids. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.080 Her husband was not a good man, so he split up. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.960 And so she's you know, a single woman raising four kids. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:02.399 And then my grandpa, Robert, meets Grandma Mush, and then they get married. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:11.039 It was like, oh yeah, they got married, he bought a house, all five, all six of them, four kids, and the two of them lived in a house, and then they had more kids, and he just loved them. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:11.679 You know what I mean? 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.399 My mom and my all right, my aunts, my uncle, that's their grandfather. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.200 This man who just chose to love their mom. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.360 This man who just chose to love their aunts and uncles. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:27.519 And I think it goes back a couple more times in generations, that kind of thing happens. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:34.080 And I was just like, oh man, the legacy of just like the spirit of adoption, you know what I mean? 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:42.639 And the understanding of just loving people and bringing them into your family is so strong, and I'm such a benefactor or beneficiary of that. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.799 It's really, really cool. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.559 And so the next day, I'm talking to my mom, I'm like, when did you love me? 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:58.320 Like, when did you know? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.559 Like, when did you know you love me? 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.039 And she looks at me and she goes, I just did. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:06.720 You're easy to love. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.919 And I was like, Oh my gosh, girl, stop. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.799 You love me, girl, stop. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:15.279 Say it again, you know. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:17.840 No, please stop, say it again. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.200 And so we're talking about it, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I go to bed all happy. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:28.879 We're getting up at four o'clock in the morning because you know, we have to come back so I can see you on December 1st, which I love doing, by the way, love you so much. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:39.840 Um, and so we go to bed, wake up, four o'clock in the morning, we're loading up the car, I come back inside, and my mom goes, I have an answer to your question. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:42.399 Like, I know the answer. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:43.360 And I was like, huh? 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.639 And she's like, your question you asked last night about like when did I know that I loved you? 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:55.440 After we went to bed, and I was like in the shower or whatever, and I was thinking about it, and I was like, Oh, it's like a thing I felt like the Lord reminded me, like I know the answer. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:56.720 And I was like, When? 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:03.200 So the time when I was little and I came in, like we, you know, came into the picture together, I guess, when I was like six. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:12.559 A couple years later, my mom and my dad weren't doing great, and um, she left to go to a funeral, and oh shoot, here it comes. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:17.600 Um, she left to go to a funeral, and she had just decided she wasn't coming back. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.120 And I don't remember the day, I don't remember the time, I don't remember how long. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.080 I just know she came back. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:35.039 And so we're talking about it, and she goes, I know I remember the moment where I knew that I loved you. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.440 She said, I came back for you. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:46.000 And the way that I'm like thinking about it now, right? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.639 The same way that she came back for me, he's coming back for us. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:08.799 She knew the best thing for me was her, and it's true. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:16.879 Psalm 73 talks about it's a psalm of Asaph near the end of the chapter. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:21.519 I think a translation, one of the old ones says, uh, the nearness of God is not good. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:28.639 The best thing for us, right, is the presence of God, is the nearness of God. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.440 And he's always made a way to be near his people. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:37.600 From the garden, right, to the tent, to the tabernacle, to Jesus. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:44.799 Now at this point, having the Holy Spirit alive on the inside of us, and we look forward to the advent when he comes back and we see him face to face. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.720 The best thing for us is the presence of God in the same way. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:49.440 I want you to get it. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.000 Do you get it? 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.799 The same way that she came back for me, he's coming back for us. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:56.559 Ryan will you come up? 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.840 So thinking about this stuff, if you know the rest of the story, looking back at Matthew 26, right? 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.559 They sang a hymn, I think verse 30. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:10.960 And they go up to the Mount of Olives. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:12.720 And what happened? 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:14.960 He's like, Oh, let's pray. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.000 Jesus is praying, hey, let's pray, disciples, let's pray. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:27.519 He just wanted to pray. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:29.679 Pray with me, pray with me, pray with me. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:40.399 I wanted his prayers say, Oh, God, my Father, if there's any way that this cup can pass from me, I do it, please. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:41.360 I don't want to do that. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.600 He's in agony, and I don't want to do this. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.399 Nevertheless, your will be done. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.039 His reverence for God the Father. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.600 To say, like, I really don't want to do this, but you know what? 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:56.960 I see you, I behold you, I know you for who you are, and I'm gonna submit. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:00.399 The presence of God was great there. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.559 He understood something about the presence of God, and then his posture. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:13.120 We know about the rest of the night, how he was betrayed and beaten and mocked and scorned and hung up on a cross, the most gruesome of deaths. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.519 He did everything he physically could, quite literally. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.080 An amazing posture. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:30.960 And so from that point until we see him again, we get to practice. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:39.440 We get to gather together and to pray and to worship, to spend time together as a community, to encourage each other, to correct each other. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:40.559 Some of y'all need that. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.799 Not me though, I'm perfect. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:45.759 They laugh because they know it's true. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:48.320 But we need it. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.000 We need the practice. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.519 Ryan said this, and I wasn't going to, but I will because I think it's funny. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:58.399 And my friends here, especially the ones in the room today, in the service today, love Christmas. 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.919 Jesus never called us to remember his birth. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:03.919 Merry Christmas. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.879 He said, Remember, do this in remembrance of me. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:11.919 Body broken, blood poured out. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:25.840 The establishment of a new covenant, of connection between man and God, looking forward to the day where we'll see him face to face with no tears, no weeping, no mourning, no sickness, no death. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:29.440 That's what we get to practice today. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.519 That's what we get to celebrate today. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.919 The person that did that is a person we're singing our worship to today. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.799 So, in the next couple moments, we're going to give you the opportunity. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.559 Practice preparation, even now, to think. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.559 Meditate on the goodness of God in your life, on his perfect character on his sacrifice. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.159 Acknowledge who it is that you're thinking about and his presence. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.159 Let him bring things to mind and let submit to him. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.319 Whatever posture you need to take, take it. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:06.240 And then we'll practice by taking communion. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:10.160 If I could have reserved, sir, we could come up this service, please, and thank you. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:14.400 Just take your time. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:15.839 Ryan's gonna sing. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.319 And just think, just meditate. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.400 And when you're ready, practice, and then we'll conclude our service with worship. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.000 Let me pray. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:26.799 Jesus, thank you. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.279 We can't think about you too much. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.839 It's too wonderful to think about. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.160 Too wonderful to comprehend. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.759 Too great and too marvelous to understand. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.400 But you've given us a glimpse. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.079 And so we just want to say thank you. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:54.160 We give you our gratitude and our worship and our praise, our thanksgiving. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.319 For who you are and all that you've done. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.559 Holy Spirit, would you fill up my brothers and sisters today? 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.839 Would you allow them to encounter your presence? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:11.599 Would you give them a touch and a taste of heaven in this moment? 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:20.559 And God, would you show them that we're doing something physical that has spiritual implications, God, as they take this bread and juice, God. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.079 Would you do a work in their spirit that can't be undone? 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.880 Conform us to your image. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.839 Jesus' name we pray. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.039 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:41.680 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:43.920 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:19:00.960 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash cards.