John the Baptist

Merry Christmas. We are so glad that you are joining us for worship today. I am Pastor Ben. It’s my privilege to share from God’s word with you this morning. Also, a special welcome, anyone? That’s a guest this morning. And of course, welcome to those that are joining us online as well. Well, Christmas is almost here. Are you ready? Hopefully, hopefully this isn’t catching anybody off guard. If you don’t feel like you’re ready quite yet you need to go back. Last week, Pastor Tim shared with all of us what it means to be prepared and how we can prepare our hearts. and over the last number of weeks, we’ve been taking a look at some of the, unsung, characters within the story of Scripture around the Christmas story. We look at Zechariah and Elizabeth, Elizabeth and Mary as Simeon and Anna. And now today we’re going to be looking at John the Baptist again. now, this will be the second time that we look at John the Baptist, and it’ll actually be kind of fast forward a little bit. not quite in the manger scene. There’s not going to be wise men or shepherds or angels.

It’s going to be later. but what we learn from John the Baptist helps inform our Christmas story, because it’s the story that we’ve all heard before. For the most part, isn’t it? One you’re familiar with yet? Hopefully we can hear in a new way today. I’m also curious, before we jump into any of the text as you’re preparing, I’m sure you have to get. You get gifts and you you schedule things with family. But is there anyone else out there like my family that has to watch certain Christmas movies before Christmas? Is there any anyone? Like, what are those movies for you? You have to watch it sometime in December. It’s a really great time. It’s a wonderful life. Home alone. Jingle all the way. The Christmas story. Our elf. I’m waiting for it. Where is it? There it is. Die hard. That’s right. You have to watch Die Hard, one of the top ten Christmas movies of all time. Now what’s interesting, or maybe is that no one mentioned any of these. No one mentioned. Home alone. Holiday heist. No one mentioned jingle all the way.

Tune. I didn’t hear anyone mention National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to The Christmas Story two or The Santa Claus three. Anybody here? Is that your favorite Christmas movie on this list? I should hope not, because according to the internet, which is never wrong. these are among the worst Christmas movies of all time. And what do you notice is a common thread among all of these movies? You’re sequels. They’re rehashing the same story. Okay, we got it. We know the Christmas story. Now it’s Christmas story two. We’ve seen Jingle All the Way, and now they’re going to jingle even more of the way. Like it’s these are not nearly as good. I mean, and really, is there a sequel that’s ever better than the original out there? You know, and in, in the first year of it. So there’s Terminator two, someone mentioned first service the Star Wars. And you know, we can we could argue some of those things. But but for the sake of the message today, like oftentimes we can agree often times that sequels are never as good as the original story. What we’re going to see here is that there’s a story that we see in John John the Baptist, and the sequel is better than the original, and then even more than that, there’s a story that we’re all familiar with.

Those of us that have grown up in church that that’s played itself out in the Old Testament is the original, but the sequel, Something’s different, is happening here through the person of Jesus and through this Christmas story. So let’s take a look. The original, the original story that we hear from John is this. This is what we heard a few weeks ago. Elizabeth, his mother, heard Mary, the mother of Jesus, enter in and the baby leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. John is overjoyed in the womb that Jesus in the womb entered the room. And he he celebrates. He, he, he gives a kick unlike anything else that his mom has felt. And she knows it, that there’s something special about Mary, and more importantly, there’s something special about who is in Mary. This is the original message that John gives. Something is different about Jesus. Something different is happening now. Then all that we know about John from that time until we see his ministry is this he grew up, became strong in the spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared for his public ministry to Israel. That’s it. 30 years goes by, we don’t hear anything else other than we just know he’s supposed to be this messenger.

He’s supposed to help prepare the way for Jesus. And finally, in Luke chapter three, we see the sequel. John, who jumped for joy in the womb, now shows up on the scene. And here’s part two. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It doesn’t necessarily sound like the original, does it? The original he. All he did was jump. All he did was kick. All he did was just be overjoyed at the presence of Jesus. And now here in the sequel, now here, John is starting off his message. Now, 30 years later, preaching baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All else that we know up into this point and from other gospels is that he’s living in the wilderness. He’s wearing camel skin. He’s eating locusts and honey. And so if you did like a Google search of, like, John the Baptist or how we depict him, it looks something like this. Just kind of an unkempt guy that just wild hair, wild beard, living out in the wild. And that God is going to use him to help prepare the way to help share this story. To share this message. He chooses him. Now, what’s unique, like I mentioned, is not only is this John sequel, but there’s a sequel to the Old Testament. This is what we’ve seen over and over and over again. The cycle looks something like this.

Faithfulness and blessing. This is how it all starts out. Even starts there in the garden. Faithfulness and blessing Adam and Eve are their everything is good. They have all this that God has gifted them. It’s all good. Or the children of Israel. Finally, when they get to the promised land here, God has promised this land of milk and honey. It’s all good. But then sin and rebellion, turning from God, worshiping other gods, sinning against one another, sinning against God. And then what follows is judgment and consequence. That God punishes his people. That God raises up other nations to carry the Israelites away. That God kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden. And then a call, a call to repentance that they might be able to receive forgiveness from God. And this is this is the this is the cycle. This is the part of the cycle where we see John. This is where God always raise up a prophet, one to speak on his behalf to the people. And the message that comes from the prophet is always this repent. Repent. Recognize how sinful you are, repent, and then be forgiven. And then finally there’s deliverance. There’s forgiveness, there’s restoration. But it’s a cycle. So then just go ahead and loop back to the top, living blessing and faithfulness for a little while. And then sin, and then deal with the consequences and then have to repent. I mean, thank goodness. And none of us have this kind of cycle going on in our lives, right? As a father of three boys, seven, five and three years old, I see this cycle I think several times every single day.

I could not tell you. Maybe I should try to, like, mark it down. How many times? Don’t do that. Stop playing so rough. Someone’s going to get hurt. Slow down. Find a nice way to play. Don’t do that. And then sure enough, someone hit somebody. Somebody is coming crying. Someone has a bloody lip. Someone gets just yesterday. Don’t. Don’t throw snowballs at each other down at snow anymore. It’s ice. Two minutes later, the littlest one comes running in crying. Right? And then what? Judgment and consequence. Okay. Who threw it? Say you’re sorry. It’s time for repentance. And you know what they do. These kids of mine. I tell you what, because they’re not here right now. I’ll tell you. They dig their heels in. No, I’m not going to say I’m sorry. No, no, you can’t make me now sit in time out forever. I’m never going to say I’m sorry. Dig their heels in. And they actually just the other day, I just remember it because it stood out. Because it was such a simple thing. Hate to say sorry to your brother. Let’s all move on. Say sorry. You heard him. Let them forgive you. We’re going to move on. Doug is heals in 30 minutes. Goes by, 40 minutes goes by. Okay, but it’s approaching bedtime, and now I have all the chips. Guess what? You don’t say you’re sorry. No books tonight. Oh, so finally, this proud kid had his heels dug all the way in, goes over to his brother. Sorry. I mean, and it was just the most heartfelt, heartwarming contri. You could just feel it. It just was so warming to me that he would apologize in such a way. Where in the world do these boys of mine learn this? The sense of pride that they would never apologize, that they could surely never be wrong? You know I have right now. It’s right here. It’s their dad. The same one who, if he’s wrong, I mean, does not want to quickly run in humility to apologize. Those that I have hurt, that if I’ve hurt, if I’ve hurt my wife, I’ve hurt someone I work with.

I hurt someone that I love, that I’m not the quickest to go and run to them, to repent and ask for forgiveness. It’s innate in our nature. And so where are you as we approach Christmas right now? Where are you in this cycle? Are you right now at the top? Are you faithful and blessed has been unfaithful and blessed. I’m just living in faithfulness. I’m blessed. Maybe you’re in the midst of sin and rebellion and you know it. You’re just living in it, and you’re not doing anything to fight it. Or you feel like you’re under judgment. Maybe you’re dealing with the consequences of your sin and your rebellion, and you’re waiting for God’s hand to be lifted from you. You. That’s how you feel. Or is it time, the time to repent, to seek forgiveness, and then hope and pray that that deliverance and restoration come your way? See, this is, this is a message that not only John shares, but it was prophesied that he was going to come and share a message like this, that he was going to live into this cycle right there at that spot of repentance and forgiveness. And it says this in Luke chapter three, verses four through six. It says, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, a voice of one calling, this is John the Baptist in the wilderness out there eating locusts and honey. Then he says, prepare a way for the Lord. Make straight the path for him.

Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall be made straight, the rough way smooth. And all the people will see God’s salvation. Originally when this was written, it’s through Isaiah, and it’s to the people of Israel. And he’s warning them, and he’s telling them, you’re going to go into captivity, another nation is going to come. You are going to be away from your homeland for 70 years. But then finally, finally, God will bring you back. And then here. Now it’s prophesying about John the Baptist, an even greater story, an even greater sequel to Isaiah, an even greater sequel to an exile in a different country. But he’s saying someone’s coming and he’s going to call all of us out. He’s going to tell us all just how things are, and it’s going to be a good news, bad news type situation. Straighten the path, make everything level, make everything right. But God’s salvation is coming. It’s not just coming for just a few, just for the elite, just for those children of Israel. It’s coming for all people. Like I mentioned, this is a good news bad news message.

When someone says to you, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news, which one do you want to hear first? The bad. The bad news. Right. Well, hopefully it is good news. Bad news. It’s not bad news. Bad news. Right. But. And a good news, bad news situation. If you go to the mechanic and he says you got good news and bad news. Okay, tell me the bad news. Let’s hear the good news. If you talk with a family member, if you talk to a doctor and the doctor tells you has good news and bad news, sometimes you want to know the bad news. So the good news makes sense. Because if you just start with the good news. Okay, doc, start with the good news. Well, I think we should be able to save both of your legs. Right? Okay. Wait. What was the bad news like? Give me the context. Like, how bad is it? What’s happening here with any of the prophets? But now, here at John the Baptist, the last prophet to be risen up before Jesus says he’s going to share some bad news.

It’s what he’s called to do. It’s not jumping for joy in his mom’s womb anymore. He is sharing some bad news before he can get on to the good news. And I warn you this morning, his bad news is bad news. He’s out there and all of a sudden crowds are starting to come to him. It’s his time for ministry and this is how he starts off. The crowds are coming out to be baptized by him and he greets them. Merry Christmas! Now he greets them. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Any time in Scripture that someone’s referred to as a serpent. It’s not a good thing. Just go back to the garden. Who is John equating them to? Say, who warned you from the coming wrath? Produce fruit. He’s. He’s telling them you need to repent. You are sinful. You’re more sinful than you can imagine. And then, not only that, I want you to repent of it. And then I want you to live a different way. I want you to produce the fruit that comes from repentance. Here it is. I mean, John is just like the Old Testament prophets in this way. He is saying it like it is. You are sinful. You need to change. You need to repent. You need to turn back to God. In our modern context, we hear this word repentance. I’m not always so sure that we understand what comes with repentance.

We get this idea of, you know, saying sorry, just like, you know, my kiddos digging in their heels, but finally just saying sorry. But there’s two parts. The first part is this contrition to be contrite, to have godly sorrow over one sins, godly sorrow of how you’ve sinned against another, and most importantly, godly sorrow about how you’ve sinned against God. It is not just sheepishly saying sorry because you have to, and it’s also not this. It’s not sorrow over your sin and the consequences of those sins, because you got caught. That is not repentance. Repentance isn’t. Oh man, I really don’t want to be in trouble. Oh man. I just really want things to turn out well. Repentance is this is like soul wrenching. I have sinned, I’ve sinned against God and God alone. I have sinned against God’s children, who he loves, and it aches his heart, and it should ours as well. Now, I mentioned there’s two parts. We’re going to talk about the second part in just a moment, but we have to come to terms with this as godly sorrow, godly sorrow for what we’ve done. And so this is what John the Baptist is doing, is that he’s actually he’s telling the soil of all their hearts by giving them this bad news. He’s calling them to contrition. He’s calling to recognize the wrong of their ways. So that their hearts might be prepared for some good news to come. But he’s not done yet because he knows their hearts.

And he goes on, he says, and don’t begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. John already knows that we are self-justifying machines. It is within our nature to not only dig our heels in, but to give reason why. You know what? I don’t have to say sorry. I don’t have to repent. Really. I’m not that sinful. And let me tell you why. And in this case they would say, oh, because I’m one of Abraham’s children. I’m. I’m one of God’s chosen. I’m in Israel. What is it for us today? Well, I’m not really that bad of a person. You know what? If you look at the people over there, I’m not that bad in comparison. Well, I do go to church or I do this or I do that. And really what we’re doing is we’re putting a spotlight on ourselves and trying to trying to use our good works to hold them up and say, you know what? I don’t really have to be all that sorry, because look at the good stuff that I do. So it kind of balances out right? John knows that that is innate within all people back then and even today, because we do the same things that those Pharisees back then would have done, that we could have religious hypocrisy in our hearts, that we want others to do things just right, and we look down on them. If they don’t, they don’t attend church this much or do this much or that much and whatever it may be.

But then oftentimes, you know, we let ourselves off the hook for the same things. You know, everybody should read their Bible every day. But sometimes I miss, but they should really do it. Or we become self-righteous of the things I mentioned that we look to ourselves and how good we are compared to our neighbors, compared to our family members compared to others.

And we put this spotlight on us in the best way and all of our good works. And we put a spotlight on all of their terrible works. And by comparison, then we look pretty good. The problem is, the spotlight actually belongs on all our terrible works, and it belongs also on God’s righteousness. And then look at that comparison. And the bad news isn’t done yet. Sorry. Almost. He goes on and he says this. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I’m going to go out on a limb. It’s gonna be a wild guess right now. But I doubt that anybody has this verse up over their fireplace at home. It’s not a good news verse, is it? It’s a bad news verse. It’s it is telling them this is how bad it is. You need to repent. And you don’t just need to repent so you can, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do a little bit better and dust yourself off and let let’s try again. It is no, there’s judgment and consequence, not just in this world, but there’s judgment and consequence that is eternal, that is coming, that there is a judge, a righteous and holy judge who’s coming. And that in your unrepentant, that in your lack of faith in him, that you are separated from him. And if you are separated, then you are cut off and thrown away.

So this cuts many of them to the heart. This is this is actually what this type of bad news message, bad news story, bad news preaching should do. And we see the response in general. The crowd says, what should we do? John answers, and if anyone who has to share one who has none and anyone who has food, it should do the same. And not just the crowd. But then it starts to get more specific to some of those known sinners, the tax collectors. So not only is there crowd there, not only are there Pharisees there, but worse yet, IRS agents are standing on the banks of the Jordan. And they’re cut to the heart. What should we do? Teacher, they ask, what should we do? Don’t collect any more than you are required to. And and then interestingly to the third group, soldiers, soldiers I mentioned before, right. Israel’s occupied at this time. The soldiers are not Israelite soldiers. These are Roman soldiers. Gentile outside of Abraham, outside the promise of God. Yet they’re also cut to the heart. What should we do? Don’t exhort money, extort money, and don’t accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay. There’s a group here that we know is present that doesn’t ask the question, though. The only group that doesn’t ask the question, what should we do? Is the Pharisees, the ones who thought they were all right because they were good religious folk? No need for repentance, no need to come before God with a contrite heart.

Everybody else is cut to the heart. So this morning, if you were on the banks of the Jordan, if John the Baptist was before you calling you a brood of vipers, calling you to repentance, what would your assignment be if you were to ask him, what should I do? Is there an area of your life that isn’t straight that needs to be straightened? Is there a sin in your life that you’ve let go on for far too long that needs to be repented of and right? All of us have stuff. What would your assignment be? Now, this type of teaching, they’ve been waiting and they’ve been waiting for 100 years of silence. No other prophet has been risen up in Israel for 400 years. And so now John is here and they’re hearing this. And then their response is not only to respond in repentance and being baptized, but it’s also to ask, what should they do? And then they might think, this is it. This is the Messiah. We’ve waited expectantly or wondering in their hearts. John might be possibly the Messiah. And John answered them, I baptize with water the one who is more powerful than I will come, who straps the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. John already knows that his deal is that he’s a messenger. He is not the Messiah. He is there to prepare the way he is, not the way. He is there to help till the soil of everyone’s hearts. With all of this bad news. So that they might be able to see and receive the good news. He goes on finally with a bad news and he goes this. The winnowing fork is in his hand to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat to his into his barn. But he will burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire. And with many other words, John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. A couple of quick things. The first couple of lines there, like what does that talking about?

It’s talking about hell. It’s talking about Jesus being a righteous judge. And as he comes in all of his righteousness, when he comes again that he is going to separate the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, those that are in him and those are that are outside of him. And so he is telling them this news, this bad news, that some will be separated from God. But then he goes on and says, and with many other words he exhorted them, and he proclaimed the good news. But up to this point, has it sound really sounded all that good? Not yet, but that’s intentional. He’s preparing their hearts so that they might be able to not only hear the good news, but they could be able to see it. If you actually go back into the book of Isaiah, where it first prophesied that John the Baptist was going to come and prepare the way, and you go just a few verses ahead. Back in Isaiah, it says this. It says, behold, the Lord God comes with mine, and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense, that is, that his judgment is going before him, just as John’s going before him into preparing the way, and he will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs into his arms. He will carry them close to his heart and gently lead those that are with young.

Some sort of good news has to be coming. It was back in Isaiah. We we heard there was going to be a way prepared. And then it says, behold the Lord God, behold, look, look and see and perceive. God is coming. And it’s only through that. It’s only through seeing Jesus that actually repentance can be true repentance. I mentioned before, there’s two parts to repentance. And without this, without a message that there’s a messiah, a Savior, someone to save us is coming. It’s just contrition is just sorrow and living in that cycle over and over again. But something comes in and changes the whole tree and it’s Jesus. Because then you can have an object for your faith that you place outside of yourself and outside of your actions and outside of you comparing yourself to others. The second part of true repentance is faith. You have godly sorrow for what you’ve done against God and against others, but then you have faith, faith, and trust in him, that when he says, you’re forgiven, you’re forgiven. Not 99.9% that you are 100% forgiven. And then even more than that, and I believe oftentimes we miss this, that Jesus came and he took your sin away. But then not only that did he take your sin, but then he gave you his righteousness, that in true repentance that you have confidence, boldness, assurance to know that you know that you know that when you repent your of your sins, not because of your repentance, not because of how sorry you feel, but because how good your God is, that you are in fact forgiven.

That’s the good news that finally comes from John. He tells them this. He says the next day Jesus is coming down all these crowds, all the Pharisees, all the soldiers, all the tax collectors are there. And Jesus is coming towards him as well. And John says, behold the Lamb of God, which will show us how to be good people. Finally. Well, that’s not what it says. Behold the Lamb of God, who, what takes away the sin of the world, making it very clear Jesus his mission statement. What did he come here to do? He didn’t come here to make you a better person. He didn’t come here to repair all of your broken relationships. He didn’t come here to make sure that you had a happy life. He came here to take away your sin. And that follows all the bad news, right? That the bad news had been building the bad news of repentance. The bad news that we haven’t done enough. The bad news that Jesus is going to come to judge. And now here John says, look, here he is. And here in this moment, he’s not coming to judge, but rather he is coming to take away your sin. And then a curious thing happens. Jesus himself is baptized. All the people are being baptized. Jesus was baptized too. It says, and as he was praying, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven. You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well pleased.

Now John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was just baptized. Pop quiz. How many sins has Jesus committed at this point in his life? Zero, right? Okay, you all pass. So he’s the Son of God. He is God in flesh, sinless and perfect, and he’s coming to the waters of baptism for the repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. Why would the Son of God? Why would God Himself in flesh have to be baptized in this way? Well, we see a couple of things. First, this begins his ministry, and we see not only the Trinity, but we see this affirmation that this is Jesus, this is the Son of God and God the Father saying, I’m pleased with him. Let his ministry begin now. But you actually have to jump to a different gospel to more fully understand what exactly is taking place here in Jesus’s baptism. Not only is his ministry beginning, not only do we see the Trinity, not only do we see God being pleased in him, but we see this when we go to Matthew. So John would have prevented Jesus saying, I need to be baptized by you, which is right, but do you come to me? And Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Fulfill all righteousness. That Jesus in his life, in his earthly life did everything right. Being tempted in every way, never sin. Fulfilled the law, completely, fulfilled all righteousness, and part of him. Fulfilling all righteousness is that he would be baptized like we would be baptized, that he would come to the waters of repentance in baptism, in the same way that we need to that that we saw even here this morning.

And we know that what takes place now because of what Jesus did, even through those waters of baptism, because what it says in Romans chapter six is that for those that have been baptized into a death like his, have now been baptized into a resurrection like his as well, that when we are baptized into him, not only are our sins washed away, but then he gives us his righteousness, the righteousness that he has through his perfect life, through his death, and through his resurrection. And now we can have complete and utter confidence that the cycle has been broken, that we don’t have to play the same story over and over again. Like I mentioned, the story that came through the Old Testament, the story that was starting to sound like the exact same story by John the Baptist, or the story that maybe you tell yourself that I’m faithful, I. I sin, I’m being judged, I have to repent. I I’m a poor, miserable syndrome, a poor, miserable sinner. And yes, you certainly are as I as I am, I. But now it’s changed. The narratives change is not like, okay, now, now what do I need to do? So I can be right with God? No. Now you are right with God because Jesus has fulfilled all of these things for us. That faithfulness and blessing, they are found in the person of Jesus, that rebellion and sin. All of your sin has been taken on by Jesus. That judgment and consequence was nailed to the tree for every one of your sins and every one of my sins, and it’s been paid by Jesus. And then your repentance, your repentance, which is woefully inadequate.

And you nor I ever recount all of our sins. Yet even when our repentance is lacking is complete in Jesus, forgiveness, complete in Jesus, and now our deliverance, our restoration, it is given freely by him who those who would place their hope, their trust and their faith in him. That we might have confidence this Christmas. That we might be able to see the whole Christmas story this Christmas. Not just the story that we all know. A baby being born in a manger, but that as we approach that manger, that we recognize this, that that the light of the world came into a very dark and sinful and evil world, that he might take that all upon himself and give us his righteousness. The theologian Martin Luther put it this way, so that when the devil throws your sins in your face and he declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this. I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it for? I know one who suffered it and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and where he is, there I shall be also. It’s more than just a manger, folks. It’s more than just some animals gathering around. And Mary and Joseph and and wandering. And it is the Savior of the world. It is a change in our complete and total narrative. We don’t have to live the same story over and over again. But here, the sequel that includes A Savior is so, so much better than anything we could ever ask or think or imagine. And so my invitation to you is that I hope that sinks into your hearts and your minds this Christmas, that that God has called you to to repent. And that as you do that, don’t second guess for a moment. Am I really forgiven? Does he really love me? But just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that just as he is risen, you are forgiven. And that is the message. That is the message that we want our family and our friends and our neighbors to hear that you can go and share that story.

Not the same old Christmas story that they’ve heard before, but one that includes all of the bad news and all of the dirty laundry and all the garbage, all this sin that you and I had, it’s now been washed away. And the goodness of Christ, the righteousness, the holiness is now ours because he gives us to us freely. That is the message we want to share with family and friend. That’s the one that we want to go and proclaim and that we need to hear time and time again. Amen. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father God, we thank you. God, we thank you for your word. And we thank you that although it may be uncomfortable at times to to face even just the depth of our own sin, God is in those places when we can see just how broken and sinful we are. God that we can see how good and righteous and loving you are. God, let us be overcome by love and appreciation for all that you’ve done for each of us in Jesus Christ, and let us be so bold that we might go share it with those that we love, that they might come to that saving knowledge of who you are and what Jesus has done for them.

Amen. Amen.