Wisdom For The Home | Proverbs 9:10

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Maybe seated. Well, good morning. My name is Jason. I am one of the pastors here at Life. And I have the privilege of continuing in our series Walk in Wisdom. But before I do, I do just want to ask you. Would you be praying for our students? And if last week you didn't grab one of these cool wristbands and grab a student's name, would you do that this morning? They're going to be at camp through Tuesday. Would you grab one of their names and would you just spend time praying for them? We have such an amazing church that has given in so many ways to get our students to camp. Would you continue that in praying for them and asking God to do what only He can do, that He would transform their lives, that He would save students, and that He would call students into a deeper relationship with Him. What a gift it is that we get to send our students off to camp. Well, it is a privilege to be able to continue in our summer series, walk in Wisdom. And this morning I'm going to be talking about wisdom for the home. Wisdom for the home. It doesn't matter if you're married, single, have kids, or don't, we all have homes. I don't know about you, but I love going home. It's fun traveling, it's fun going to other cities, it's fun going to other countries, but there's something about landing back in Las Vegas and driving home and getting into your bed and getting into your pillow and enjoying a good night's sleep in your home. Everyone's home needs wisdom. Everyone's home needs God's wisdom. It's because our homes are being built into something. Our homes are being built on something. So what is your home being built on? Every home has its values, every home has its priorities. And what I hope is that our hope and our foundation for our home and the wisdom that we live in for our home is built on God and God alone. Proverbs 24, 3, 3 and 4 says this by wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a home that I want to be a part of. I want to be a part of a home that is built on wisdom, that knowledge fills its rooms with treasures. So how do we know? How do we know if our home is being built on wisdom? How do we know that we are actually laying the foundation for our children and for our lives and for those who might live in our home? How do we know we're laying the right foundation? Because there's a lot of wisdom in this world, and there's a lot of foolishness in this world. There's a lot of wisdom that people think is wise, but the reality is it contradicts God's word. So how do you know your home is being built on God's word? My prayer is that God's wisdom, not my own, but God's wisdom, would be the foundation in what my home grows into. So as we look through the book of Proverbs, as we continue to study it this summer, I think we find one main theme for wisdom of the home. And as you go throughout it from the first chapter to the end, you find wisdom for the home. But there's one common theme that points in one direction. And that's what our big idea is for this morning. Our big idea that I want to build off of and for us to study and for us to dive into is this a home is built on wisdom when the home is built in God's ways. A home is built on wisdom when the home is built in God's ways. If wisdom comes from God, would we not want his wisdom to be the wisdom that we build our life and our home upon? So how do we know? How do we know that we're building upon God's wisdom and not our best thoughts and our best efforts and maybe the world's wisdom? How do we know if we're building on God's wisdom and not our own? I think as we read through Proverbs and as you look through Scripture, we find, and you can actually find hundreds of ways to build your home in God's ways. But today I want to focus on four, because if we were gonna focus on a hundred, we'd be here for a long time. I want to focus on four, and I think these four kind of give us a foundation and really encapsulate all the other wisdom that you might find to build your home on. So let's say it this way: a home is built in God's ways when. When the home is filled with the knowledge of God. If you have your Bibles, I would love for you to open them up. I would love for you to follow along. We're gonna be jumping around through Proverbs. And the first place that we're gonna start and we're gonna land is Proverbs 9. Proverbs 9, 10. It says this the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Last week Andrew talked about the fear of the Lord, and that it is the beginning of wisdom. But today I want to focus on the second part of this verse. The knowledge of the Holy One is insight. And we've got to be careful. We've got to be careful that we don't come to this and presume that we know what Solomon is talking about when he says knowledge of the Holy One. You see, as Westerners, we often equate knowledge with facts. We often equate, I know a lot about with knowledge. I know a lot about Michael Jordan. I know a lot about him. I think he is the greatest basketball player ever to live. I know he has won six NBA championships. I know that he still gets $250 million from Nike every single year. I know that he is the oldest player to ever be named MVP. I know that he is the oldest player to score more than 50 points in a game, and I know that he used to kick my Sonic's butt all the time back when I was watching it. But he is still the greatest player of all time. So when I found out when I was traveling to Portland that Michael Jordan was throwing an open party in the hotel that I was staying in, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I found out after the party was over. And the story would be way cooler if I told you that I was hanging out with Michael Jordan and I knew him. But nonetheless, the fact still remains that even if I did hang out with Michael Jordan that day, even if I was able to party with Michael Jordan, I don't know Michael Jordan. I know facts about Michael Jordan. I happen to be in a room with Michael Jordan one day. And unfortunately, I think that's oftentimes what we do as followers of Jesus. We know a lot about God, but we don't know God. You see, knowing the type of knowledge that Solomon is talking about, he's talking about the type of knowledge that you're friends with. You spend time with, and you know them. Knowing about does not equal knowing. Knowledge in Proverbs implies personal relationship. Personal relationship where you know them and they know you. This is not just knowing what they like and don't like. No, this is the knowledge of what they are like. Who they are, what brings them joy, what brings them pain, what breaks their heart. The knowledge that Solomon writes about is not factual knowledge, it's personal knowledge. Personal knowledge. J.I. Packer and his book, Knowing God, writes a little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him. If you've never read that book, I would highly encourage you to read that book, to go purchase it, and to just spend time in it. It might be one of the greatest books ever written outside of God's Word. A little knowledge of God is worth way more than a great deal of knowledge about him. So what category is your relationship in? Maybe you've placed faith in Jesus as your Savior, but you just know a lot about him. You memorized a bunch of scripture as you grew up in VBS. You went to all the youth group programs, you've been in church for a really long time, but you just know about him. You don't actually know him because you don't spend time with him. Jeremiah writes this to the people in Judah in chapter 9, verse 23 and 24. He says, This, thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me. That he understands and knows me. The knowledge of the Holy One that leads to insight is personal knowledge, not factual knowledge. Personal knowledge is a relationship knowledge. It's intimate, it's close, it's knowledge that can only be found as you spend time with God. The interesting thing about personal knowledge of God is that it often leads to personal trust and hope in God. It often leads to personal trust and hope in God because it often brings knowledge that leads to how trustworthy God really is. For one to personally know God is to know that his insight and wisdom brings joy, it brings peace, it brings life. Jesus said in John 17, 3, this is eternal life. This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom they have sent. Eternal life is not one day when we get to heaven. Eternal life is to know Jesus now. True life is found in God, in God alone, and knowing Him and having knowledge of Him, not just knowledge about Him. True insight and wisdom for this life is found in a relationship, a personal, deep, intimate relationship with the God of the Bible. The Apostle Paul writes this in Philippians 3, 8 and 10. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ. That's gain more of him. Not to earn his salvation, but to gain more knowledge of him that I may know him. A home filled with knowledge of God is a home that is wise. To truly know God is not to have head knowledge about him, but rather to have intimate personal relationship knowledge with him. So how are you building your home? How's your foundation? Is it being laid on the knowledge of God? Men, fathers, are you bringing your wife and your kids and those that God has entrusted around you into the knowledge of God? Are you leading them in a path that leads to more knowledge of Him? How are you leading yourself? Do you just know about Him? Or do you know Him? Man, what you do in the home matters. What you say matters, what you do matters, how you act matters. And if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, I'm gonna guess that your family is hurting in that area as well. How else is a home built in God's ways? A home is built in God's ways when the home is filled with integrity. When the home is filled with integrity. Proverbs 27 says this. The righteous who walk in his integrity, blessed are his children after him. Blessed are his children after him. I was reading this, um, I was reading about this, and someone said this, and I thought it was so great. Integrity is not just personal, it's generational. Integrity is not just personal, it's generational. The righteous who walks in his integrity, blessed are his children after him. And I think that statement can be true that those who walk in integrity, those who live around that person are blessed as well. How you live when no one is looking matters. How you live when the door is closed matters. How you live does not affect only you, it affects those around you, and it becomes what your children inherit. The path you choose in the hidden, quiet, isolated times of life does not end with you. Your children walk in it after you. I think it's fair to say that what you do and what you say in private reveals more about who you really are than what you do and what you say in public. The Hebrew word for integrity refers to completeness, wholeness, innocence, or uprightness, meaning total consistency. Total consistency. A person of integrity is consistent in the shadows as well as in the public light. They're consistently upright. They're not one person on Sunday morning and then different Monday through Saturday. As pastors, we like to talk about this and we like to say the phrase, don't be sticky. Don't be sticky, meaning if someone wants to make an accusation about you, it would not stick. Don't be sticky. It would not stick because everyone around you knows you're consistent and righteousness in your private life as well as in your public life. Church, do you have people around you? Do you have people who know you? One of the best ways to not be sticky is to be known. To be known is to be transparent, to let others in, to let people know you, to let people know your struggles and your sins and your frustrations. It's to be transparent and let the world know this is who I am in private and in public. To be known is to bring freedom. This is difficult. It's hard because we don't know if the people around us will still accept us if they know who we are. But you want to be known and you want to be transparent. Find a godly, trustworthy follower of Jesus and then let them see your private life just as much as they see your public life. Men, this is why we need other men in our life. This is why we need events like Day on the Mountain to go and get away from regular life, to sit in the quietness of the mountains, and to sit in God's word and to get to know other men so that when you can trust that man, you can be transparent with him. And you can share your faults, you can share your worries, you can share with them and not be sticky. That you are consistently the same person in your private life as you are in your public life. Let them see your search history. Let them see your locations. Give them your 360 and let them know where you are at all times. Let them in on your fears and your worries. Let them see how you talk to your wife in good times and in bad times. I apologize that I'm mostly talking to men right now, but this is what we need. Men, we need other men to live in integrity because we are not good at it. You see, the trans the freedom that comes in transparency comes with intentionality. It comes with intentionality, knowing that we are not going to naturally be integrous people. That sin is real, that pride is real. There's freedom in transparency. There's freedom in not wondering if someone was to find out about that. When you live with integrity, when you live in transparency, there's no need to be worried because people know you. Proverbs 10, 9 says this whoever walks in integrity walks securely. But he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. People love to test the truth of the latter part of that verse. They say to themselves, I won't be found out. Not me. It won't happen to me. I won't let that sin go that far. I heard it said, sin will take you farther than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay. I think that's especially true in private sin, in secret sin. Don't live in secret. Live in transparency, live in openness. Unfortunately, as pastors, we see people who do not live in transparency and integrity. And often what we see is it destroys the home. It breaks apart the home. As I said, living with integrity takes intentionality. It takes intentionality because sin is real, pride is real, and selfishness is real. Our sin nature has a bent away from being a person who lives in integrity. If no one knows, it won't hurt, is what we say to ourselves. Don't believe that lie. Live in wisdom. Live with integrity. Believe God's word when it says, How blessed are your children when you walk in integrity. Trust God's word rather than your feelings. Trust God at His word and see how you, living in integrity, will impact your marriage, will impact your family, and will impact your community. Live with integrity. I believe a home that is filled with integrity is a home that is built in God's ways. How else is a home built in God's ways? A home is built in God's ways when the home is filled with discipline. When the home is filled with discipline. I don't like that word. I don't like being disciplined, and I don't like having discipline. Just gonna be straight up honest. But it is so vital. It's so important for the home. Listen to what Solomon writes in Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29, 15 through 17 says this. The rod and reproof give wisdom. But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest. He will give delight to your heart. I don't know about you, but that's exactly what I hope and desire for my kids to give me rest. To give me rest. No, I love my kids. And in fact, if you can pray even harder, because I got three of my kids at summer camp right now. Man, love those kids. But that is what I hope. I hope that my son, I hope that my daughters bring honor to the family name. I hope that they bring rest to not only me, but to the people around them. That they would bring joy to people around them, that they would bring peace to people around them, that they would care more about others than they care about themselves. And that happens through discipline. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have an unrealistic expectation upon my kids. They are sinners just like I am. They need a savior just like I do. They need a God who is with them and for them just like I do. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to heed the wisdom of Proverbs and properly discipline my kids every single time I have the opportunity to. I don't know if you're allowed to, but I'm going to. I'm going to quote my mom this morning. Early on in my marriage when we had kids, my mom said this to me and my wife choose to discipline your children in private so that you can enjoy them in public. Choose to discipline your children in private so that you can enjoy them in public. Don't get me wrong, I got no problem disciplining in public as well. But what I found is when I disciplined in private, it led to less and less discipline in public. My father was a good man and is a good man and disciplined us well. I remember. I don't know if you ever have those childhood memories and why we remember things at six years old and we can't remember other things from two days ago. I don't really know. I'm getting older. But I remember, I remember a moment where my father, we were in his old truck, he rebuilt a 1947 Dodge truck from the ground up. Took him seven years, and we were in his truck, and where the uh stick for shifting gears was, there was a little hole in it, and I was In there with my sister, and my dad had run into the gas station, and I had a piece of candy, and I took my wrapper and I shoved it through that hole to get rid of it. And when my dad came back, my sister told on me. Like she often did. I said, No, I didn't do that. Why would I do that? My dad said, When we get home, go to your room and wait for me. I remember that like it was yesterday. We were living in a single story in Virginia, and I remember contemplating jumping out of the window to escape the punishment that I was going to get. Where was I gonna run? I don't know. But I do remember thinking, oh my goodness, I've got to get out of this room. My dad's gonna spank me. I don't want and my dad wasn't, he spanked like a normal spanking father does. It wasn't, it wasn't overbearing whatsoever. But what I also remember is he came into the room, and before he spanked me, we had a conversation. We sat down and we talked. And he talked to me about why I don't want to be a man who lies. Why I don't want to be a man who uh takes advantage of other things around, and by littering, by picking up after myself. And I remember those discussions. The spanking hurt, yes, I don't really remember that. That goes away. But I remember the discussion about being a man who doesn't want to lie. Discipline is not easy. In fact, proper discipline is more time-consuming and takes more energy than just kind of letting things go. You see, different discipline often interrupts our time. Discipline takes up my convenience. Discipline often hurts. And I think the phrase is absolutely true. This hurts me more than it hurts you. And that usually goes back to the time it takes to discipline your children properly. A loving parent doesn't discipline for fun. A loving parent disciplines because they actually love their children. Where I think many parents go wrong is that they think what they think is discipline is actually just frustration coming out in yelling or in more punishment. Yelling at your child is not something, or yelling at your child not to do something is not discipline. Humiliating your child in submission is not discipline. Behavior modification only is not discipline. Discipline is the loving act of properly correcting a foolish child of their attitude, action, or speech. It's not just punishing it, it's correcting it. Punishing it is easy. Correcting it is hard. I've got a thousand ideas of how to punish my children when they get out of line. But almost each act of foolishness takes a new approach in how I'm going to discipline, or how I'm going to correct, or how I'm going to train them up for doing what they did. Discipline is about future reward, not momentary satisfaction. It is satisfying when my son is yelling at his sisters and the house gets all loud and bothersome, and I send him to his room, and it's quiet. That's satisfaction because now the house is quiet. That's an instant gratification. But that didn't fix the problem. That only fixed the loudness in my home. Yes, my home might have gotten quieter, but that's not discipline. True discipline goes beyond the punishment and moves to instruction and guidance. It's me after I've calmed down, walking up to his room and sitting with him and talking with him and correcting him and sharing with him why he doesn't want to grow up to be a man who yells at women. Why he wants to grow up and respect his mother. That's discipline. Punishment is easy. Discipline is difficult. Yes, I'm still going to send my son to his room. Yes, I'm still going to make him run around the neighborhood in 100 degrees. I am going to punish him, but I'm not going to end with it there. If my boy can play baseball in 105 degrees, he can be disciplined in 105 degrees. And in fact, I had a proud dad moment where my wife told me later on, she heard my son say this to his teammate. Unquote. That's the way I want my son to be. A boy whose integrity lives in the ball field as well as at home, as well as in privacy. But that takes discipline. That takes a lot of time. That takes a lot of frustration. That takes a lot of, I'm not just gonna punish, but I'm actually going to train up and raise up. I'm gonna do this because I care about who he becomes one day. And I know I'm talking about younger kids right now, but I'm talking to you older parents too. Continue to love your older kids and help them see that discipline in their life is what they want. And if you're an older student here or you're an older son or daughter here, you want the wisdom of your parents. You want the discipline from your parents. You want to hear the mistakes that they've made so that you don't make them again. True discipline never stops because true discipline cares too much about the child to keep them in their foolishness. I think it's fair to say to discipline your child is to love them. And in fact, this might be a harsh statement, but I think I can make a biblical argument that if you don't discipline, you don't actually love your child. And I say that because it's God Himself. It's God Himself that says, I discipline because I love. But have you ever stopped to consider that your Father disciplines you because he loves you? And in fact, to be disciplined by the Lord is actually a sign that you belong to him. Is there anything better than to belong to the God of the universe? If you have your Bibles, let's go out of Proverbs for a minute. I want to spend a second in Hebrews. Hebrews 12. If you have your Bibles, turn there with me. Hebrews 12, verse 5. As I was preparing for this morning, I've read this passage before, but man, this one hit well as I was preparing. Hebrews 12, 5 through 11 says this. Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. The Hebrew writer is quoting from Proverbs 3. But he goes on. He goes on and says this to his readers it is for discipline that you have to endure. God is testing you as sons. For what son is there whom whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them. But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. That he's talking about God, his holiness in verse 11. For the moment, for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Believer, let's look at verse 11 again. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. You want to be disciplined by your loving Heavenly Father, because that is a mark that you belong to Him. And it lets you know that He desires something better for you. He doesn't want you to stay where you are. He doesn't want you to be in your foolishness. He wants you to be like Him in righteousness. Remember, discipline from the Lord is a mark that He loves you and that you belong to Him. Remember, verse 11, as you lovingly discipline your children and build your home on the wisdom of discipline. A home built on wisdom is a home that is full of discipline. Discipline from the Lord and discipline for its children. As much as discipline sucks, it's such a good thing. It's such a good thing because we become more like our Savior when our God disciplines us. Finally, how else do we build a home in God's ways? A home is built in God's ways when the home is filled with humility. When the home is filled with humility. The longer I follow Jesus, the more I see that humility might be the key to a believer's life. Humility to recognize I need a savior. Humility that I don't know everything. Humility that God is right and I am wrong. Humility that I need to forgive. Proverbs 29, 23 says this. One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. One's pride will bring him low. Pride is a destroyer of homes. Pride is a destroyer of relationships. Pride leaves a man all alone with the wounded all around him. Why is humility so important? Because a home filled with humility is a home that is filled with forgiveness. Homes need forgiveness. Your kids need your forgiveness. You need your kids' forgiveness. Your parents need your forgiveness. And you will need your parents' forgiveness. This last summer we were in New York, I guess almost a year ago now. And I had one of the biggest crash-outs I've ever had on my family. I hate New York. It stresses me out so much. I just want to go to the country and be left alone. But New York, there's New York. And on vacation, we sat in our Airbnb and I asked for forgiveness because of what I had said, what I had done, and how I had acted. Homes need forgiveness. Don't hold on to your pride. Pursue reconciliation. Pursue forgiveness. Marriages need forgiveness. One of the greatest things that you can do for your family. In fact, if you still have small kids, and even if you have older kids, one of the greatest things that you can do for your kids is to teach them what it looks like to forgive your spouse regularly and often. You see, I am a moron and I do a lot of the same stupid things over and over and over again, and God has blessed me with an amazing wife who is humble and forgives me a lot because I need a lot of forgiveness. But her humility does not come from herself. Her humility comes from the recognition of how much forgiveness she needed from her Savior. You see, humility and forgiveness often starts with remembering the cross. When we remember the cross, we remember the great price that was paid for us and how much forgiveness we needed for our sins to be forgiven. Yes, it takes humility to see that you are broken and in need of a savior, but it takes so much forgiveness for you to be reconciled to your Savior. When we humbly remind ourselves of the price that was paid for our transgressions, to be forgiven, forgiving those who have wronged us is not as difficult. And in fact, I would say to be humble and forgive is to be like Christ. Paul writes this in Philippians 2. Philippians 2, 5 through 8. He says this, have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. There's no greater example. There's no greater example than the God of the universe coming down and being born among his creation and being like his creation and not just staying there, but dying for his creation. Dying for you and me. He humbled himself and then he made a way possible for us to be forgiven by him. Church, live in humility. Build your home on humility. Build your home on forgiveness. And I think when you do, you will be building your home a wise, wise home. Let's be people who know God, not just know about him. Let's know him intimately. Let's know him personally. And let's let those around us see how great a God He is by being changed by Him. Let's live with integrity. Let's not be a Christian on Sunday and a different person on Monday. Let's not be the hypocrites that so many point and look at at the church. Let's let Jesus and God change us so that he gives us strength to be the same person in private as we are in public. Let's be people who love discipline and are changed by it. Love to discipline your children because you know you are disciplining the foolishness out of them. And love being disciplined by your Savior because you know that He is shaping and changing and disciplining the foolishness out of you as well. Let's be people who live humbly and are ready to forgive and live a life absent of pride. Oh, that we would be people who are humble and ask God to take pride out of our life. I believe when we do these things, our home will be built in God's way and be built on wisdom. Let Proverbs teach you as you spend time in there how a home is built in wisdom. Let's walk in wisdom. Not just this summer, but for the rest of our life. Let's walk in wisdom and may our homes radiate the wisdom of God Himself. Here at life, we like to wrap things up, not just talking about scripture, but applying them to life. We call them truth to life. These questions are for you, not for your neighbor, not for someone who you're thinking of right now. Man, they could have heard this sermon and really needed it. This is for you. The first question I have is, do you know God? Do you know God? And this first part starts with have you placed faith in him as your savior? Do you know him as your savior? Are you saved by him? And second, if you are, do you know him or do you just know about him? Do you know and have a personal relationship with him? Where you spend time with him, where you read about him, where you sing about him, where you listen to other wiser people talk about him? What does your relationship look like with God? Do you know God? Second, where is wisdom not being built, not building your home? Where is wisdom not building your home? Where might you be acting like a fool and you think your house is being built on wisdom? Ask the Lord to examine you. Write down in your notes, write down in your Bible next to that proverb that God called you out this morning. And ask God to give you strength to build your home in wisdom and not in foolishness. And finally, who needs to see this wisdom being lived out? I think it's gonna start with those right around you. Your husband, your wife, your kids, your family members. And then let those circles get bigger and bigger and show them that God's wisdom for life is so much better than this world's wisdom, so much better than your wisdom. And let them see the Savior that has changed and transformed your life. Church, let's pray. Jesus, I thank you. I thank you for the amazing, amazing gift of a relationship with you. Father, we thank you for the cross. We thank you for your son. We thank you that the God of the universe says, I want to know my people, and my people can know me. What a gift. What a gift. That we would be known by God. And that God would say, Yes, come and know me. Come and know me in a personal way. Father, I pray that we would never stop growing in our knowledge of you. That our relationship with you would be so close and so intimate that in the dark times we know that you are just as close to us as you are in the good times. Father, we thank you. May our voices be lifted high, singing about the great Savior that you are. God, we love you. May our lives glorify you. In your name. Amen.