WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.880 Wow. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:05.599 Take that, James. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:07.839 You don't get an applause every time you come up. 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:11.919 Oh, you need to tell me. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:14.080 All right. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.519 I'm going to read the scripture reading today, so thanks for standing. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:22.000 Our reading for today is James 5, 13 through 20. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.920 Is anyone among you suffering? 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:25.679 Let him pray. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:27.519 Is anyone cheerful? 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.280 Let him sing praise. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:31.600 Is anyone among you sick? 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:38.719 Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:45.439 And the prayer of the faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.520 And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:57.119 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:02.000 The prayer of the righteous person has great power, and it is working. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.959 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:11.760 He prayed fervently, that it might not rain for three years and six months, and it did not rain on the earth. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.200 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:31.120 My brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will overcome a multitude of sins. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.560 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:33.920 You may be seated. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:37.200 Well, good morning. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:39.040 Thanks for the introduction, Zach. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:40.799 My name is Ryan Kunish. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.280 I'm a elder here at the church. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:51.280 As Zach mentioned, uh James and Megan are expecting their second Rathman number two on its way. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.640 And uh, if you wouldn't mind, you know, this week praying for them. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:59.760 Um, you know, it's an uh interesting time to have a child with uh with COVID. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.200 Um great to see all of your masks here today, and thanks to those of you joining at home. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:15.360 Um but uh the Rathhmans also have a cold, and so to complicate things, um, if we could pray for that cold to go away in advance of the birth, that would be wonderful. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:23.360 Um, as uh Zach also mentioned, um I'll be preaching today, and uh John Kuchnerff, who's sitting in the front here, is another elder, will be preaching next week. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.840 So we're giving James two weeks off. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:35.840 And then uh as a form of announcement, um, after the service here today, so we've started uh worshiping in this location um, I think since March, right? 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:50.639 And uh with COVID and not being able to use um the facility as much as we wanted to, and also the limited number here, it's been um a long time coming for us to actually go out and meet the community here, the Berkeley neighborhood. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:52.400 And so today we're gonna do that. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:59.120 Um if you've signed up, you know what your your rules and responsibilities are, but we're gonna hang some door flyers. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:01.520 Um this is just an intro to us as a church. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:06.159 Give uh the neighborhood some information about who we are and and uh what we're up to. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:13.520 Um and if you didn't know this was happening and you want to volunteer, just uh see the folks in the back afterwards and we'll get you taken care of. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.919 So we're um ending our uh sermon series here on James today. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:27.039 Um James stole my thunder last week and said that his sermon, which was the second to last, was the capstone. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:30.240 Um I actually think this is the capstone, so sorry, James. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:37.199 Um we'll begin uh after John uh preaches next week, we're gonna begin a new series in Mark called Christ the King. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.919 That'll start the second week in September. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.960 All right, so um let's close out this series in James by uh jumping in. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.919 So we're gonna do a recap of where we've been so far. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.159 So Jesus dies somewhere around AD 30. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.560 And James, the author of this epistle, most likely the brother of Jesus, um, begins his ministry. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:07.599 And so, understandably so, if he's the brother of Jesus, he's just seen his brother recently die, raised from the dead, and then go to heaven, probably worth telling other people about. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:13.360 So James begins his ministry um sometime after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:20.879 So this places it in the AD 44 to AD 62 timeframe where James died. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:30.319 This is a circular letter, so which means that it was sent around to the early congregations of Jewish Christians scattered around the region. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:38.800 And with it being about 11 years after Jesus' ministry, um, the church is young, it's fragile. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:45.360 And so this uh the book of James is often called the Proverbs of the New Testament. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.079 It provides the church with a lot of foundation, a lot of application. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:58.560 And so I'm just gonna briefly go through the major themes that we've seen over the summer that have been developed here in this book of James. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.399 So James says, expect trials in life. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:07.360 He says it's important not only to hear the word, but also to take action. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.560 Don't be selfish or partial. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:23.759 And then maybe the most debated topic amongst theologians or Sunday brunch is when James talks about the importance of works as evidence of faith. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.120 But also as we went into the study, we know that it's not a means of atonement, but it's a it's evidence of faith, not atonement. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:37.360 James says to take responsibility not only for what you do, but also for what you say. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.199 Don't get caught up in passions of our culture. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:47.600 Be humble and give God rightful credit for your material security. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.920 Take the long view and have endurance through your faith. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.439 And then finally, today we're gonna tie this all together. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:04.160 And it's the instruction that James gives us on maintaining a close relationship with God, and that's through prayer. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:09.199 But before we talk about prayer, we want to talk about the audience. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.319 Who's this direction on prayer going to? 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:17.199 And so I'm just gonna quickly go through the references to who James is talking to. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:44.399 Again, these are early Christian church, it's a variety of people from around the region, but specifically it's those who are suffering, those who are cheerful, the sick, the sinful, the righteous, and those with a nature like James, who's he relates himself to these people in the church, but also those who wander from the truth and then also come back. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:50.560 And then also those who are actively seeking those wanderers and bringing them back. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.360 So really, James is covering everybody here. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:04.000 And what's interesting though is that after he kind of covers everyone and says, Look, I'm talking to you all, he then compares the folks in the church to Elijah. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:08.879 So Elijah's one of the most well-known, revered prophets in all of history. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.639 And so, was anybody in that church like Elijah? 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.000 Are we like Elijah? 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.800 Let's take a look quickly at who Elijah was. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.720 I'm gonna do a lightning round version of the story of Elijah. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.160 If you want to look at it later, it's 1 Kings 17 and 18. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:31.439 So Elijah was a uh he's a mountain dude, guy from the uh from the Gilead, from Gilead, um, east of the Jordan River. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.879 I heard he was a skier, not a snowboarder, by the way. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:48.079 Um he was God's chosen messenger to prove to prove that to the Israelites under Ahab and Jezebel that Baal was a mere idol and that God was the one true God. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:08:01.600 And through prayer, Elijah was asked to do the difficult task of rejecting popular culture and waiting patiently for God to show his power and authority. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:08.000 So, rejecting popular culture and waiting patiently should be something that we can really relate to these days. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:26.240 So, in a time when God's prophets were being ridiculed and killed, um, Elijah told King Ahab that Elijah himself was going to be the source of communication between the Israelites and God, and that there was a pending drought, and Elijah had a role in that. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:32.480 So, for obvious reasons, uh God takes Elijah and puts him into hiding. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:36.080 And so he was forced to wait patiently in hiding for three years. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.919 And during this time, God took care of all of Elijah's needs. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:50.720 He did some very cool miracles, uh, raising somebody from the dead, and then created the original idea for unlimited breadsticks that eventually was copied by the Olive Garden. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:56.320 So if that fell flat, go read 1 Kings and you'll see there's like an unending bread bowl miracle. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:57.519 It's that's pretty cool. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.480 So God sends Elijah just at the right time. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.240 So the Israelites are suffering, it's been three years, there's this drought. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.080 And so in a one-on-500 prophet showdown, it's the one true God versus Baal. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.159 God shows his dominance of Baal by literally torching the competition. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.200 He lights the idol on fire, even though it's doused, and Baal is left silent. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:23.039 So after all this, the Israelites finally concede. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:25.440 They're at their wit's end. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.200 And Elijah commits himself to prayer, but not once. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:34.159 He prayed seven times for this relief of rain, and it came. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.559 And so, stepping back to the beginning, we say, well, how are we like Elijah? 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:40.720 He's he's, you know, well known. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:42.320 He's a prophet of God. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.600 But was it Elijah's power or was it God's? 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.519 So James is making this point that Elijah is a flawed man. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:58.159 And it was through his faith in prayer that it's God's power that was shown and God's glory that was given in the story. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:03.360 All right, so let's jump back to James then and see how we can start to pull all this together. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.279 So James lays out four guidelines for us in prayer. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.159 Helps us get a deeper understanding of these passages. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:22.480 Uh, to help us get a deeper understanding of these passages, we're going to cross-reference them to what other uh places in the Bible where God has spoken through his uh authors in the Bible. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:27.279 Let's cross-reference the meaning and the structure of these four guidelines. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:36.240 So let's start here first with James instructs us in verse 13, pray directly to God in need and in praise. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:43.200 And so let's look at Luke 11, 1 to 4, what Jesus tells his disciples. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.679 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:54.879 And when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:01.679 And he said to them, When you pray, pray, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:05.200 Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:10.320 For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:16.159 So you can see, Jesus, the man, said, Go straight to God in need. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:23.679 He instructs them, say, Father, that's a close relationship, straight to God, and sing praise, hallowed be your name. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.000 So then James in verse 14 says, Ask for prayer from others. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:36.000 So Paul does this as well in Colossians 4, 3 to 4. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:46.960 And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.399 Pray that I might proclaim it clearly as I should. 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:57.600 So Paul on his mission asks for help, asks for prayer, intercession to come along with him, right? 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.039 So that God has to attend his ministry. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.559 It's not Paul on his own, and it's not Paul's prayer on his own. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.799 Paul's asking for the support of the church. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.799 So we should do the same. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.159 James then develops this further in verse 16. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.799 He says, confess your sins to others. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:27.120 And so the early church in the book of Acts, Luke writes in Acts 19, 17, and 18, and this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:32.399 The fear fell among upon them, and the name of the Lord was extolled. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:38.399 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:51.279 So you see, the early church, again, this is pray to God directly, pray for, ask for prayer from others, and then engaging with the church, confessing sins. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:54.799 And then he connects it here in verse 17 to Elijah. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:00.960 And Paul instructs us the same way in Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:11.440 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:19.600 So you can see James' instruction for prayer is consistent with Luke, with Paul, with Jesus himself throughout the Bible. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:27.759 So our prayer must then be directly to God, especially given the intercession that Jesus has provided through his death and resurrection. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.440 We need to be part of a body of believers to fulfill the other components here of prayer. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:37.840 So pray for each other and with each other, and then finally at all times. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.279 So I'm always big about the so what. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:46.240 So it's pretty clear that we've got some guidelines here, but but what does God promise? 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.519 What does James say God promises in this prayer? 00:13:49.840 --> 00:14:08.720 So throughout the verses, he talks about healing, providing us humility, being raised up as believers, providing for forgiveness, giving us great power, giving us answers and rescue. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:10.720 We all want these things. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:23.360 It may not be every day, all day, that you feel this kind of pressure in your life, but at some point in your life, you have desire for one of these things, if not all of these things. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:29.519 And again, we can see that this is consistent with what God promises throughout all of Scripture. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:40.960 David writes in Psalm 91, 15, when he calls to me, I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him, and I will honor him. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:53.519 And then Jesus quotes as well in John 15, 7, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:07.039 So it's not God that's stumbling here, it's our impatient, sinful nature that makes the act of patient, diligent prayer the most challenging part of the Christian journey. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.440 So I personally struggled to maintain a quality prayer life, as I'm sure many of you can relate to. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:18.639 But I can easily point to seasons in my life that were profoundly impacted by prayer. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:28.559 I can look back and draw a direct connection between facing prolonged suffering or challenges and a healthy prayer life. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:35.440 I think it's the vulnerability that drives me or drives us as a church to God. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:41.360 A particularly hard season for my wife and I was the eight-year period where we were trying to conceive children. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.519 So ultimately, we were blessed with our daughter Bryn in the middle of all of that. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:51.759 But during that season, we prayed often and intensely, not simply to have a child. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:57.120 As a matter of fact, during that journey, we were faced with the fact that we may never have children. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:03.440 And so there's this wide range of situations and emotions that go along with the struggle. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.000 And so my wife and I would both agree. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.360 You can ask her yourself, but uh we've talked about this. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:13.360 Um, that I don't wish this struggle upon anybody. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:18.879 Um, but God answered so many prayers for us in a very demonstrable way. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:23.279 He showed his love in ways that we could never have imagined. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:30.639 And so we're, it's it's interesting to say, especially to non-believers, but we're actually grateful for that journey. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.840 We grew from that journey. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.240 We grew closer to each other and closer to God. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.480 And we're grateful for the child that we have. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.080 And we're grateful for the community of people that God put around us. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:45.039 Um, it changed the way that we live and the way that uh we walk through life. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:50.960 So, what things in life are getting in your in the way of your healthy prayer life? 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:55.840 Look, it's a massive understatement to say that the world is complicated. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:01.759 More than any other time in history, um we have access to real-time information. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:13.839 Um, on top of our first hand daily experiences with each other, there are opinions abounding, there are facts, there's video, there's audio, there's text, there's conversations that you're having. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.880 And we call this the information age. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:20.640 But note, it's not called the wisdom age. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:33.119 And although the pay-per-click media may make such claims, it's complicated for us to handle that ebb and flow, the joy and the pain and the experiences that we have firsthand. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:39.839 But then we're also required to process information and to do it in a godly way. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:47.200 And so without doing it in a godly way, this can be emotionally taxing, socially destructive. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.279 Look no further than Twitter every day if you want evidence of that. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.440 It's the source of much anxiety for people, it's the source of sinful behavior. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.759 But God calls us to be salt and light. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:08.160 And this means that we have to develop a robust ability to discern right from wrong. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:13.440 From when we should take action and from when we should be silent. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:17.119 How do we apply biblical wisdom to all things? 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:22.960 And look, I have to admit, I thirst for justice and accountability. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.279 It's been clouding my discernment. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.920 And I'm sure you guys can relate to me. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:32.880 But the good news is that God doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves. 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:42.240 God provides us with very tangible resources to support our growth, our maturity, and most of all the endurance that we need in this life. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:49.599 So, as believers, we're not merely suggested to use these resources, but we're commanded by God Himself. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:56.720 The resources are clearly the Bible, the church, the community of believers that he surrounds us with. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.039 And our topic today, prayer. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:15.920 So, as we've discussed, the Bible shows that prayer is for all people, it's for all times, it brings wisdom, it brings peace, it brings healing, power, rescue, and forgiveness. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.599 And as I mentioned before, we desperately want these things. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:25.200 So are you looking in the right place for these things? 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:30.640 Does your prayer life match your information consumption? 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.920 Where is your wisdom coming from? 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.200 Is your striving for wisdom rooted in the love, the fear, and the respect of God? 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:45.359 Or is it motivated by the power and influence you can gain in popular culture? 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:48.720 So let's change that today. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.599 Let's go to God in prayer. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:53.680 Let's go often. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:55.279 Let's go obediently. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.279 Let's go for everything. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:04.079 Let's direct, let's go directly to God and let's ask for prayer from others, which may be the hardest thing to do. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.599 Be vulnerable. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:07.759 Pray for others. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:10.240 Pray for your needs. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.160 Confess your sins. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:16.240 Praise God and do it all with confidence. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:20.480 So I'm going to close in prayer. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:32.880 Dear God, our Father, we glorify your name and confess that our sin is preventing us from honoring our relationship to you through prayer. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:40.880 We're humbled that you call us your children, that we ask you to silence the distractions, distractions in this world. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:43.680 And call us to your word. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:46.319 We ask you to call us to your church. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:49.920 Call us to a direct relationship to you in prayer. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:54.160 Father, we're confident that you will hear us and that you'll answer us. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.359 Thank you for allowing us to share this time together. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:20:59.920 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.880 So I'm going to invite everyone to take communion. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.839 You should have received a small plastic cup. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.200 If you haven't received a cup, raise your hand, we'll get you one. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.359 I don't see any hands, so that's good. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.599 The cup is somewhat complicated. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:23.200 The top skin on the cup, you tear that very top layer off, and there's a wafer. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:24.640 It's a wonderful piece of bread. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:26.079 You'll enjoy it. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.160 The next layer will access the juice in there. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:41.119 So at this time in our service, professing Christians obediently remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, his shed blood, his broken body that are symbolized in the bread and the wine. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:54.400 So I'm just going to ask you now to, as Zach plays a tune here, take some time, silently in prayer, directly to God, reflect on your life and Jesus' atoning sacrifice.