Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Now and ask for the Lord to illuminate us with his spirit.
[00:00:07] O heavenly Father, we ask that you would give us your spirit that we might be able to hear what we ought to hear, to see what we ought to see, to believe and to act and to feel as we ought to feel and believe and act. Lord, we thank you that you are capable of doing miraculous things, like bringing things out of nothing new life out of death.
[00:00:35] We know that you are able and willing to work in our hearts that we might come closer to you and to one another through Christ. We ask that you would do that for us this morning as we consider your word. In two Corinthians. We pray this now in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:00:58] Remain standing if you're able, and let's continue to. Or let's just turn to God's word in two Corinthians nine, one through five.
[00:01:43] Now, it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I'm sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be otherwise. If some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you for being so confident.
[00:02:20] So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.
[00:02:33] You may be seated while back.
[00:03:01] I'm sorry. I was laughing already at myself.
[00:03:05] I was reading some tips about running.
[00:03:08] I'm not a runner. I was reading some tips about running. And seriously, one good tip, which I should put into practice, I suppose, is that as you get closer to the finish line, you're supposed to press further.
[00:03:23] You can gain good seconds on your time as you come right to the end. This is true not just for running, but all kinds of racing and life in general. That last mile. Right. Sometimes we talk about last mile delivery. Right. And supply chain management. That last bit sometimes is sometimes the toughest. It's complicated. You're tired, you're losing energy.
[00:03:48] It can be really difficult. And so it's good to remember that when you're getting close to finishing, to keep going, to press on, don't give up, especially when you're so close.
[00:04:04] Paul's saying something similar to that here.
[00:04:08] The corinthian church has been getting ready for at least a year now to prepare this gift that is going to go be joined with other gifts from other churches and go to the saints in Jerusalem. And Paul's saying don't give up right here at the end. And he gives a reason why we don't want to be embarrassed.
[00:04:35] We are going to be really humiliated, he says, if we show up after all of my boasting about you and all of your boasting, not prideful boasting, but confidence in what has been done, these promises that have been made, and we get there and it isn't there, it's not ready, he says, in this really striking way and clear way, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you.
[00:05:08] Right? Because they're the ones who are promising it. They're the ones who would get it. Paul doesn't want to get there and find himself in a situation where they're not ready, despite all of their promises to be ready. And now he's saying, we've got to do this, and then somehow they feel coerced to make it happen. He over and over again, he's emphasizing that this gift and all the gifts that we give for the ministry of the saints, as he says in verse one, has to be out of a heart of cheerfulness, generosity, not compulsion, but willingly.
[00:05:46] So that's the context in which Paul's writing this and talking about why he's sending these brothers in advance and in some ways explaining why he's writing this letter as well.
[00:05:59] There's another little bit of context that I really would like to point out to you. We have focused several times as we've been going through this passage on the way that Paul points to the macedonian churches as an encouragement to the corinthian churches. Right. If you remember back in chapter eight, at the beginning in verse two, we read that in a severe test of affliction.
[00:06:27] I'll start with verse one. It'll be easier.
[00:06:29] We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
[00:06:46] Paul goes on and testifies and talks more about this, and this is meant as an encouragement to the Corinthians. They're hearing about what their brothers and sisters have done in this other place, and it's inspiring. What we learn here in chapter nine is that it has also worked the other way. The Corinthians have been inspiring and encouraging and supportive of the Macedonians. So we read in verse two, I know in chapter nine, I know your readiness, of which I boast about you. To the people of Macedonia, saying that aca, aca is the big region which Corinthian, Corinth is in, saying that Achaea has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
[00:07:34] It's just such a beautiful picture and worth noticing this beautiful picture of the body of Christ.
[00:07:42] The scriptures tell us we mourn together, we weep with those who weep, and we celebrate together. We rejoice with those who rejoice. One of the tasks that God gives to us as a people is to be what some people have called one anothering based on all of the commands that we have in scripture. To do this or to do that for one another, showing hospitality, generosity, care, concern, sometimes confession. Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another. There's many, many commands in our book of church order, we talk about the mission of the church. One of those is mutual edification, right? This mutual building up of one another. And we're seeing that here in the lives of these people. It's a wonderful thing, and it should inspire us as well to live similarly as God has made us also a part of that body. Indeed, we are seeing not only their work, but God's. As Paul says, this is God that has put this into their hearts.
[00:08:54] So all of these things are going on.
[00:08:57] And yet, despite all of this, good Paul does give a reminder, doesn't he? Notice how he puts it at the first verse? He says it's superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know of your readiness.
[00:09:17] But he goes on to write about it, right.
[00:09:20] It's an interesting kind of way that we speak sometimes. It's like, it's not necessary for me to say this. And then we say it.
[00:09:28] Paul's doing that here. It's totally superfluous. It's above and extra for me to say this. And now here's a paragraph.
[00:09:37] How do we explain this? Is Paul being inefficient? Is he wasting words? Is he lying about saying it's superfluous when it's really not?
[00:09:47] One of the church fathers? Ambrosiastor has a good answer to this, I think, which I'd like to read in part to you.
[00:09:54] He says it is superfluous, but in order to demonstrate his diligence, it was necessary for Paul, to write like this so that they would be all the more willing to do what they were asked than embody the truth they were being taught. And here's the second and even better point. I think he says, for superfities. If I'm saying that right, I'm not saying that right. Superfluities, whatever, however we put, you'll correct me later, tend to show greater concern.
[00:10:26] It's a loving action. It's a greater concern. He says, our Lord did not doubt Peter's love for him, but even so, he asked the apostle three times, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
[00:10:40] This repetition may seem superfluous, but it contributed to the perfecting of the admonition. At length, Peter would learn from it that he must act with great diligence.
[00:10:53] I love that picture. Right. The Lord isn't confused and doubtful when he goes to Peter and he says, simon, do you love me? Right. He doesn't know that. It's for Peter's benefit. When Peter repeats it three times, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. It's for his benefit. We need reminders, even over and beyond the first time or the initial acts or the zeal that was first there. And so Paul, on the one hand, is using this way of speaking that occurs both in English and in Greek, this way of speaking that essentially is trying to say, I want to remind you of this because it's important and because I want you to be diligent about it. But at the same time, I don't want you to think that I'm not recognizing what you've already done and that you know this and that I am, in fact, reminding you of something you know, not teaching you something new. I'm encouraging you in something you're doing, not telling you to do something that you're not. I think that's how a good way to interpret what Paul is saying here and the way in which he's saying it.
[00:12:12] So we've talked a little bit about how Paul is speaking to them and some of what he is saying.
[00:12:17] Let's think a little bit more now about avoiding humiliation. What does he have in mind? He clearly wants them to avoid it. Right. There's a warning here.
[00:12:30] He is calling them to a particular action.
[00:12:33] Make sure the donation, make sure the gift, this act of love, is ready for the ministry of the saints, or the ministry for the saints. Make sure that's ready. The why of that is, otherwise, if you don't, we would be humiliated, and essentially you as well.
[00:12:57] Humiliation is a feeling that we and an experience and a state. And there's different ways to describe it and think about it. It's something we all have in our lives on a regular basis. We probably think about it and experience it more than we realize. It affects us in many, many ways.
[00:13:18] And there's a lot of confusion about how to handle those feelings.
[00:13:23] Some people will tell you that you should never, ever be ashamed about anything. Right? Just do what you want. Who cares what anybody thinks? Be your own man. Be your own woman. Go forward. Block it out. Don't care. And there's more colorful language, right, for describing this attitude.
[00:13:45] There's another way where we, at the same time recognize there's real limits to that.
[00:13:54] We, first of all, are legitimately ashamed sometimes for things we do and things we have done.
[00:14:02] How do we think about these things? How do we deal with them? What does Paul have in mind as he gives them this warning in defining humiliation?
[00:14:13] I think we could say it's something like this. It's a feeling or experience of embarrassment over the disconnect between what we should be or do and what we actually are doing or who we are.
[00:14:32] Or sometimes it's the disconnect, the space between what we thought, something we believed, and what actually was.
[00:14:43] So let's give some examples of this from the scriptures.
[00:14:49] Turn to Luke 1317 as one example in Luke 13. Actually, I'll read at verse ten, and then 17 to the conclusion. Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and behold, there was a woman who had a disabling spirit. For 18 years she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, woman, you are freed from your disability.
[00:15:35] And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight. And she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, there are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered him, you hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox and donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, who not, not. And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at the glorious things that were done by him.
[00:16:28] How did Jesus put his adversaries to shame. He intentionally shamed them.
[00:16:36] And he did it by exposing the disconnect. Right? He exposes this disconnect, this space between what they are saying and what they are doing. He exposes their intentions. He says you're more than willing to take care of your own ox and your own donkey, to loose them, to take care of water on the Sabbath. And yet, when it comes to this woman who you should be caring for, a daughter of Abraham, this special one who's been bound in all these years, you're not willing that she would be loosed and released.
[00:17:10] It's not just the disconnection between their animals and this woman, but it's exposing their lack of care, their lack of concern, their true hearts.
[00:17:23] So we see other ways in which God shames people. Turn to one Corinthians 127, and I'll read through 29.
[00:17:53] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. So God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.
[00:18:12] So what does God do here? He takes the wise and on their own terms, the promise of wisdom. And the people that hold wisdom as an idol is that if you do the right things, if you follow the best practices, everything's going to be great for you and everything's going to be fine.
[00:18:34] If you are strong, right? If you are physically strong, financially strong, emotionally strong, in any way you want to modify it, if you are strong, you are going to be fine.
[00:18:48] How does God expose the pride in those things?
[00:18:52] Well, for the strong, he uses weak things to expose their weakness and to expose that what they think they are and how strong they are is not really that strong. How do you know I'll use weak things to undo you.
[00:19:09] What are some examples of this? Well, the greatest example is the death of Christ.
[00:19:15] The world in all its strength, Satan in all his power, put to death the incarnate son of God. That's a lot of power.
[00:19:26] In the gospels, those biographies about Jesus and his ministry in this world, we read about political power, money power, relationship power, physical power, governmental power, legal power, all kinds of things coming to bear on that moment. And it's successful.
[00:19:51] They crucify him until he raises from the dead.
[00:19:56] And God conquers death.
[00:19:59] Through the death of Christ, he conquers Satan. He parades them in open embarrassment. Satan and all of his enemies. In the resurrection of Jesus, God takes a baby born in a manger and puts Herod to shame.
[00:20:22] Over and over and over again. God does this. He exposes this gap just to run through a few other examples to keep thinking about this theme of shame, embarrassment, humiliation.
[00:20:37] In two Corinthians 714, Paul says he was not put to shame because of his hope in Titus. In other words, he, like with the Corinthians, he had confidence in this brother and this fellow coworker to do well, and he did well.
[00:20:52] He was right to think what he thought about Titus.
[00:20:57] We read earlier about slanderers, slanderers being put to shame when they revile us. Peter talks about this when they revile us for our good behavior, when they say, look at those Christians. Look how awful they are, and then you see what the Christians do, and it's embarrassing.
[00:21:20] One Corinthians 1122 talks about people who are trying to humiliate those who have nothing. The context is the Lord's supper and people eating and drinking and getting drunk and trying to shame those who don't have enough or a lot. In a world that values strong financial wealth, this aims to make people feel like they're less than they are by exposing this perceived weakness.
[00:21:50] So sometimes when we're afraid about getting embarrassed, what's happening is we're afraid about that exposure happening. Right? They thought I told the truth, and I didn't tell the truth. Right? They think I'm smart, but I'm not really smart. They think I'm organized, but I'm not really organized. They think my marriage is awesome, but it is not awesome.
[00:22:18] You could go on and on and down the list. And that's that feeling of exposure, that feeling of seeing that separation made manifest and revealed of what we are.
[00:22:33] Sometimes the fear is not genuine. Right. People try to expose us and shame us for things that simply are not a problem, things that, in the Lord's eyes, are just fine.
[00:22:48] Sometimes people will try to humiliate others because they haven't read this or that book or because they grew up in this or that family or lived in a certain place or whatever.
[00:22:59] We try to hurt each other sometimes through humiliation that is often unfair and sinful. And in those moments, we have to remember who we are and embrace the truth. And that's ultimately what grounds so much of this.
[00:23:18] What's actually true?
[00:23:21] What's true about us? What's true about the Lord? Who are we? Who is he?
[00:23:29] So what do we learn from this?
[00:23:34] One thing we learn is that we certainly should care about being humiliated, especially when it's deserved. We should not put ourselves in positions where we are doing one thing but actually being another or saying another. Our internal lives and our external lives should have consistency between them. Our public lives and our private lives should have consistency between them.
[00:24:08] The closer and closer people get into your personal relationships, the more they should have confirmed who you are outwardly, not, the less and less the outwards thing should be called into question.
[00:24:28] There's a sense, too, that's worth noting as well, as we continue to think about this, that there's a public way in which this matters as well.
[00:24:39] One of the things that we are called to do by Christ is not only mutually edify one another, as we talked about before, this building up of one another, but we have a witness, a witness to the world. And part of that witness does have to do with reputation.
[00:24:56] Reputation is another way of talking about the consistency between doing those things, between who we are and what we do. It matters. Now, of course, we shouldn't care about things that the world would accuse us of. That just doesn't make any sense or doesn't matter, is built on values that we shouldn't care about, but the ones that the Lord cares about, we should care about, and we should care about in a collective sense.
[00:25:27] So when Paul speaks to the Corinthians here, he talks about we would be humiliated, him and his associates, his fellow coworkers and ministers, to say nothing of you, he says, being humiliated as a body, as a church, and ultimately us together, the world doesn't even have to see it for us to be humiliated, right? Just if we know it, that's certainly enough, all the more so when people are watching us and looking to us to see who is Christ?
[00:26:02] How is he manifest? What does he say? What does he do?
[00:26:09] The scriptures tell us in many places that the world knows us by what we say, what we do, how we act. And if we make big promises and we say we're going to do things and we don't actually follow through, it's not a good thing.
[00:26:24] And it is in many ways legitimately humiliating.
[00:26:29] We ought to care about that kind of humiliation. We ought to avoid it and strive against it, not only for that, but it also feels awful.
[00:26:40] It's a weight. It's a burden on our souls. It brings further consequences. It dishonors Christ. It ruins the good name of others.
[00:26:51] These are things we ought to care about. We ought to care about not just calling ourselves Christians, but actually living as Christians in both our private lives and our public lives, as individuals and together and in every other way.
[00:27:11] Well, that, of course, is a very high task. It's a very high calling, especially when you consider who Christ has made us to be. He's not just given us a boost, he's saved us and called us into a position in a life of rebirth, of regeneration. We are called children of light, sons and daughters of God, citizens of heaven. With these high callings and this high honor, it makes the disobedience and the not finishing and the lack of excellence and all of these things even worse.
[00:27:57] What do we do when we feel the disconnect, when we see it either potentially exposed or just exposed in our own minds and in our own hearts before the Lord, who knows all things, what do we do?
[00:28:12] Well, the only thing we can do is cling to Christ.
[00:28:17] And the reason is because he promises that when we cling to him through faith in him, he will not put us to shame.
[00:28:30] He will not put us to shame.
[00:28:35] We tremble at the feeling of exposure potential because we might not do the things that we are supposed to do. And past that, we have not done the things that we ought to have done. It's a terrible feeling even sometimes. Notice when we see other people humiliated, it's such an awful feeling. What do we do?
[00:28:58] We cover our faces. We turn away. We try not to talk about it. Right? This sort of like shared embarrassment.
[00:29:08] This happens in a lot of ways. I won't give more examples, but what do we do in these moments?
[00:29:17] Listen to Psalm 1931. I'm going to read some other verses to you as well in light of this reality that we all experience because of our sinfulness. The Lord knows we're sinful. That's why he came and saved us from our sin. This is not shocking to him. And so he speaks to that and into our lives when he says things like this.
[00:29:48] Psalm 119.
[00:29:51] Psalm. Psalm 1931.
[00:29:55] The psalmist says, I cling to your testimonies, o Lord. Let me not be put to shame.
[00:30:02] I cling to your testimonies, o Lord. Your word, your promises, your law, your gospel, all of it. I cling to what you have said. Oh, let me not be put to shame.
[00:30:15] So we begin with a prayer, a really good prayer. A good prayer for the Corinthians at this moment, right when they hear Paul saying these words, what should they say? They should say, we'll cling to Christ and we will not be put to shame. We will be able to finish this. We will be able to honor him and do what we have said we would do.
[00:30:40] Romans five five tells us why.
[00:30:44] Romans five five.
[00:30:48] Ah, hope in Christ does not put us to shame. Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
[00:31:07] Remember how Paul hoped in Titus? And he found that his hope was legitimate, that he wasn't embarrassed because Titus proved to be who Paul thought he was.
[00:31:18] What this scripture is saying is, put your hope in God.
[00:31:24] We're not just talking about another human being, and we can trust other human beings, but it's a whole other thing. It's a whole other level. It's a whole other experience to trust in God in whom there is no change, in whom there is no turning, in whom there is no adjustments or surprises.
[00:31:45] In terms of his character, he always, always is who he says he is.
[00:31:53] There's never even the smallest thing you can think of, that space or that amount of time. There is no distance, no space between who God is and who God is.
[00:32:08] He is, I am.
[00:32:11] He is the eternal, unchanging one.
[00:32:17] And because of that, when we put our hope in him, in his testimonies, we will not be put to shame. And one of the reasons are Paul gives here in verse five, is that God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The work has already begun. You have God himself, the Holy Spirit being poured into your hearts. You are going to be okay.
[00:32:47] Verse six continues to add, while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
[00:32:57] So we have this contrast. Those who recognize themselves as sinful and in weak, in need of a savior and who go to him of fine salvation, like this woman who had this spirit for 18 years, and then disability, and then, boom, she's straight, she's walking. It's a Sabbath day. She's rejoicing, celebrating, worshipping God in healing and rest. Wonderful picture. The same thing happens for us when we go to the Lord and we put our trust in him. He pours his holy Spirit into our hearts while we are still weak. The strong, they're going to be ashamed in their strength, so called strength, their power, their wisdom. But those who see their need for Christ, who instead of putting their boast in themselves, see weakness in themselves, see potential and actual shame in themselves and disability in themselves. When we go to Christ, he saves us while we were still weak, he will not put us to shame.
[00:34:05] Romans 933 says, quoting other scriptures, behold, I am laying in Zion, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for the strong and the so called strong, the so called wise. But then Paul continues, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. It's not going to happen.
[00:34:28] It will not happen.
[00:34:31] We do all kinds of things in this life where we're constantly managing risk, right? I hope I'm not embarrassed for buying this guitar off Craigslist. Right? It turns out to be what? It's not, right? I hope I'm not embarrassed for trusting this person or taking this action or doing this thing. We're always managing this risk. We do not have to manage risk when it comes to trusting in the Lord. Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
[00:35:01] And that's because of what God has done, dying for the weak, for the ungodly pouring his spirit into our hearts. Or Jesus enduring the shame of this world, to take away our shame, to put us in a position where we can now be free from the eternal shame of hell and damnation itself, where we are raised in the salvation of Jesus and in the glory of Jesus, to a dignity and glory beyond curse, beyond humiliation, beyond all shame.
[00:35:45] Here's the amazing thing about being in Christ.
[00:35:48] We can shame ourselves because we have this great dignity.
[00:35:54] We have this amazing office and all of these privileges, and then we do stupid stuff that's shameful and rightfully embarrassing. But we do not lose that essential dignity and honor and glory even when we do those things, because God has done those things, because our glory and our honor and our position is not based on the things we do. It's based on the things he has done.
[00:36:28] You might take a beautiful house that is well constructed and beautiful in its shape and its form, and then foolishly decorate it terribly and landscape it all wrong, right? But the structure of the house has not changed. It's still a beautiful and magnificent home.
[00:36:56] You can think of other examples.
[00:37:00] When we come into Christ, we come as those who are weak, who are sinful, who are ungodly, who deserve to be punished for who we are and what we have done. But God, in his grace, freely gives to us his own righteousness, his own glory, his own honor. He forgives us, and he lifts us up. And one of the things he's constantly doing in the scriptures is he's reminding us of who we are.
[00:37:27] That's partly what Paul's doing here in our passage. He's talking to them about who the Macedonians are and who they are and the work that God is doing. He's reminding them of who they are as the body of Christ and how this is all God's work in them.
[00:37:46] And when they put and when we put our faith in that God who saves us, who dignifies us and glorifies us, even when we sin, who forgives us and restores us and lifts us up, we are encouraged.
[00:38:04] We are strengthened. We are emboldened. We are given the spiritual resources we need to press on, even when there's persecution, even when we're tired, even when our flesh is saying, I don't want to do this.
[00:38:20] In those moments, God is with us, and he is continuing over the course of our lives, closing that gap between who he has called us to be, designated us to be and who we are in our actions and our thoughts and our words and these deeds. He's closing that gap. And our hope, a hope that will not be put to shame, is that one day that gap will be so gone, you will not even be able to describe it. We simply are glorious with no qualifications. We simply are honorable, righteous, perfect, lovely, admirable in every single way, we can put our hope in God, in this process, at every moment in life, and especially in our giving and in our service. Within the body of Christ, there are obstacles. We will face challenges. But as we trust the Lord, we can trust that he is refining us. He is purifying us. He is strengthening us and glorifying us. And one day, we'll bring that to perfect completion.
[00:39:37] Romans 1011 says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.
[00:39:46] Let's pray.
[00:39:50] Our heavenly Father, you know the obstacles that we face.
[00:39:55] You know the sinfulness in our own hearts, our greediness, our discontentment. You know that we are anxious and fearful about other people, about things in this world. You know the discrepancies in our lives between who we are and what we do, between what we think and what actually is reality. You know all of this. We confess it now to you, and we ask for your help.
[00:40:23] We ask for your forgiveness. We ask for your discernment, that you would help us to have the wisdom to see and to know where that gap is and to avoid it.
[00:40:38] Help us to strive after righteousness, to seek it first and the kingdom of God.
[00:40:46] Let us learn to have your own mind and take every thought captive for you, that we might not be enslaved to our foolish desires, enslaved to our sins, enslaved to our ignorance.
[00:41:03] Lord, but we ask that you would be at work in us, refining us in thought, in word, indeed in our consciences, in our bodies, in our individual lives, in our corporate lives.
[00:41:16] Be refining your people and your church, o Lord, that you might be honored, that your name might be believed and made manifest in us and throughout the world.
[00:41:30] We pray particularly Lord now for our own ministry for the saints, our own giving and support of the church and of one another in Christ.
[00:41:42] As that happens in financial ways, as it happens in acts of service, in times of prayer, in moments of encouragement and confession, in all of these varied ways, Lord, we come to you now and we ask for your blessing. We ask that you would pour your love into our hearts so that we might more and more follow after you and love you as you called Peter to do, and as you call all of your saints to do. May we love you more and more and more and love one another.
[00:42:20] We pray for our giving here, the giving of gifts and offerings. We pray for your blessing there in the giving and the receiving and the distribution of all of that. We pray for our service teams, their volunteers, their leaders, the ordained supports that are over them. We pray for all of the informal ways in which ministry and service among the saints and out in the world is done.
[00:42:46] We pray for the ways that are unseen and invisible, those quiet moments where men and women, boys and girls, act with faithfulness to you without looking to anyone else for blessing or protection or honor or recognition. We ask that you would bless them in those quiet moments, that you would encourage them in their hearts and shine your favor upon them. Lord, we ask that you would protect us against ourselves and against the evil one who are fleshly natures that would seek to do us harm. We ask that we would put to death the sinful deeds and desires that are in us, that we would wage war, mortify and kill those things inside of us which would seek to undo the peace and purity and unity of the church and of our personal lives before you.
[00:43:47] Lord, we are so thankful, and we end our prayer now with confession and confidence and zeal that your word is indeed true in our prayer now we cling to your testimonies and we ask that you would not put us to shame because you have promised that everyone who believes in you will not be put to shame. And so we do that now, Lord, through Jesus Christ and him alone, in whose name we pray. Amen.
