The Kingdom of God

Good morning. We're going to start our church service. I don't know if my microphone is on, but I'm going to welcome you anyway. So, I'm going to read our hymn that is in our lovely hymnal here. I'm just going to read the first part of it, and you can follow along if you want:

"We praise Thee, O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting. To Thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therein. To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy Glory. The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee. The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee. The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee."

Join us this morning as we worship Him.

(Singing)

A thousand generations falling in worship, singing the song of ages to the Lamb. And all God's people singing the song of ages to the Lamb. Your name is the highest; Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all—above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, and all creation cries: "You are lifted high, Holy forever!"

If you've been forgiven, and if you've been redeemed, sing the song forever to the Lamb. If you walk in freedom, and if you bear His name, sing the song forever for the Lamb. Yes, we sing the song forever! And the angels cry, and all creation cries: "You are lifted high, Holy forever!"

His people sing to the King of Kings, "Holy! You will always be holy, holy forever!"

Your name is the highest; Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all—all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all. Jesus, Your name is the highest; Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all—all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, "Holy!" All creation cries, "Holy!" You are lifted high, holy forever. You will always be holy, holy forever!

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee, which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea. Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns! Hallelujah!

Holy, Holy, are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are holy, are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb.

Are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns! Hallelujah!

Holy, Holy, are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are holy, are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Are You Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Amen.

You may be seated. Can you guys hear me okay? We are currently working on some sound stuff, so if you hear some light feedback or if we need to turn this mic down a little bit—it's echoing, but we're working on it. I'm going to try my best to enunciate as best as I can. Ironically, the livestream and the foyer are working now. So, if you have trouble hearing, you might want to leave the room and stand in the foyer a little bit if you'd like to hear.

Regardless of what's going on with the sound, the truth remains the same: we do worship a God who is holy and worthy of our praise, right? That's why we're here this morning. If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and open it to the Book of Mark. We'll be looking at three more parables that Jesus gives about the kingdom of God. If this is the first time you're using a Bible, the big numbers are the chapter numbers, and the little numbers are the verse numbers. We're going to be looking at Mark chapter 4, verses 21 through 34.

He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.” He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

— Mark 4:21-34 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, as Your word illuminates in the darkness, we know that in our own sinfulness we will be blind to Your glory. Our minds will be distracted and closed from understanding what You have to say. So, we ask, Lord, that Your Spirit would help us to understand the parables, to understand the kingdom of God, and to treasure the work of Your Son. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

Last Sunday, we looked at how Jesus uses parables to describe the kingdom of God. Jesus explains to His disciples that the reason why He speaks in code—the reason why He uses parables and images—is so that some are able to understand and others aren't. Immediately after giving this explanation to the disciples, He then gives three more images, three more vignettes, to describe what the kingdom of God is like.

Rather than giving us a bulleted list of truths, Jesus prefers to give us pictures—different images that we can keep in our heads so we can imagine them to understand the principles and learn more about what God is intending to do in the ministry and work of Jesus, and in our own lives. This is going to be the main idea for us this morning: The kingdom of God shines, is slow, and is safe. The Lord wants us to do three things this morning, and we'll use these as our points for this sermon:

1. Shine the lamp's light
2. Trust the harvest's growth
3. Rest in the seed's promise

Shine the Lamp's Light

Let's look at point number one: Shine the lamp's light. Let's look at verse 21 again. Jesus Himself has talked a number of times about what the kingdom of God is. In fact, in chapter 1 of the Book of Mark, Jesus clearly states the main idea of the whole book: that the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, and we are to repent and believe the good news.

Now, what Jesus does is He takes that message of the kingdom of God—the good news that Jesus comes to bring—and He likens it to a lamp. It shines light to those around. That news of the kingdom of God isn't meant to be hidden, put under a basket, put under a bed, or concealed in any way, but to be put on a lampstand in order to illuminate what is around it. Even though right now, in the ministry and the life of Jesus, the kingdom of God looks small and insignificant, in time it would explode, radiate, and shine into the darkness.

And when that light shines, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. God's light will shine, and when it shines into the darkness, we will be able to see things for what they truly are.

I don't know if you've heard this old Buddhist parable about blind men trying to describe an elephant. They gather around the elephant, and they touch different parts of it. One blind man touches the trunk of the elephant and says, "An elephant is like a rope." Another man touches the leg of the elephant and says, "An elephant is like a tree trunk or a pillar." Another one touches the tusk and says, "An elephant is like a spear," and so on.

It's a really popular story for a reason. Its point is that everyone has a subjective view of life—that everyone has a different piece of the puzzle. Rather than judging one another or saying that you're wrong for thinking this way or that way, we should all take time to recognize that we have our own subjective experiences, and we shouldn't presume that someone else is wrong just because their experience is different than ours. Everyone has a different piece of the elephant, a different piece of the puzzle. None of us can see the whole picture.

It's a really clever story, and for what it's worth, I think there is an element of truth in it. We should all take the time to recognize that we have our own unique experiences, and other people have different walks in their own lives, right? Sometimes we do only see a piece of the puzzle, and we should take the time to listen to others.

But the problem with this parable or this story about the blind men and the elephant isn't necessarily the story itself, but the storyteller. You see, in order to say that blind men are gathering around this elephant describing different parts of it, there needs to be at least one guy who can actually see the whole elephant, who can tell you exactly what is going on, to tell you that people are only seeing parts of the puzzle.

At first, it might seem humble to say that all of us have our own perspective and we should just listen to other people. But that assumes you know the whole thing. The Buddha, in saying that everyone is right in their own little way, is actually saying that he is the only one who can see everything absolutely correctly, right? And when you say that everyone else is equally right, you're also saying that everyone else is equally wrong. It actually makes truth not matter. Everyone could be right; everyone could be wrong. At the end of the day, it's just someone's opinion.

The problem is, no one lives their life like that. If I go to the doctor, I'm going to trust that he is going to be able to give me accurate truths about what is going on in my body. If I go to another doctor to get a second opinion, and the second one disagrees with the first one, I'm not going to look at what both of those doctors say and say, "You know what? Both of you are right. You just see a different piece of the same puzzle. We all see different parts of the elephant." No, either one of them or both of them are wrong. Our health is too important to leave it to just a matter of perspective. We look for truth in things that matter.

It's the same way with our souls. When we teach the Bible, we actually believe that everything in this book is completely true, without any mixture of error—that the words in this book are actually coming from the living God. And when the word of God is being proclaimed, when it's being taught, we are reminding ourselves and teaching the world that what we believe this Bible teaches is absolutely true. Our souls are too important to leave to our own perspective.

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

— Hebrews 4:12-13 (CSB)

See, when we talk about the word of God like a lamp that is on a lampstand, we believe that this book is not just another blind man trying to tell us another part of what the world is like. We believe that these are the words of the living God, the one who created the world. And when the word of God speaks to us, when the Lord tells us the way it is, that's not just a sharing of perspective; it's a declaration of truth. It shines light on what actually is and exposes everything in us.

Verse 22 says that there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. The Bible exposes us for who we truly are. When we talk about the state of our souls, we believe that there is an objective problem for everyone. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—that all of us are infected with the terminal diagnosis of our sin, and all of us will have to address it, whether in this life or the next. And that is not my opinion; that is a statement of fact, of truth. It's either right or it's wrong.

I wonder if you believe this. Christians have confessed for centuries that we believe God will come to judge the living and the dead. Are you ready for when He comes back? If you're not a Christian, this is the good news: not only are you sinful, but Jesus is a great Savior. You can turn from your sin and trust in this Jesus and find all the forgiveness that you need. You can listen to this message of the kingdom of God, this lamp on a lampstand, and turn and believe the good news.

There is also a good warning for us who profess to follow Jesus here. Maybe you're here this morning, and you're hiding in your own sin. There is not a single thing that the Lord does not see. We might try to hide in the shadows of our own sin, put on a nice collared shirt, show up to Sunday, smile, and shake hands, while living like an absolute sinner in the shadows. You can't run away and hide from the Lord. He sees everything.

I think about the ridiculousness of Adam and Eve in the garden. After they sinned, what did they do? They fled; they tried to hide from the God of the universe. But God sees everything. He will bring it to light. If that's you here this morning, and you know exactly what you're hiding from the Lord, if you're hearing this word and there are specific things coming to your mind, the solution isn't for you to sit in the pew and just resolve to do better next time, or to promise that you'll stop doing wrong. The solution is to stop trying to hide, but to come to the light. Jesus is open and willing to save. He can and He will save you.

You can talk to me, you can talk to Pastor Steve, or you can talk to any of the members here about your own sin. Don't let it fester in darkness. You see, Satan is going to try to convince you that your sin is able to be domesticated—that it's not a big deal, that it's something you can hide, something you can keep to yourself and not bother anyone else with.

The truth is, if you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. The only way a Christian remains in darkness is by continuing to hide. The way you find true healing is by going to Him. Jesus has brought the light of this message of the kingdom of God through His word, and when He brings it to light, He helps us understand what is true.

Not only do we recognize what the Lord does, we also are called to steward that responsibility that He gives us. You can see that in verse 24:

"And he said to them, Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

We will be measured by the measure that we use. The image there is kind of like a balance scale. When you were purchasing things back in the day, they would have a scale with certain weights, and they would weigh out how much rice or how many goods to give someone else. The point that Jesus is making is that when you put something on the scale, that exact same measure, that exact same weight, is going to be used for you.

The weight that we give the gospel message determines how we will be affected. You can't just hear the word, you can't just hear the truth of the gospel, and then walk away and ignore it. We have a responsibility to truly listen, to pay attention to the words that we hear, and to apply them to our hearts.

Obedience and disobedience compound. They add on top of each other. We have a responsibility to listen and to be changed by what we hear. And when we do, the Lord pours out even more blessings onto us. When we respond to the gospel, when we repent of our sin, when we trust in Jesus, and when we follow Him in obedience, the Lord promises that He is going to pour out even more blessings on us to help us grow and follow Him.

But when you hear the gospel, when you hear the good news of Jesus, and you continue to harden your own heart, when you reject it, when you are hard-hearted against it, it says here: not only do you not have, but even what you do have will ultimately be taken away from you.

When it comes to the kingdom of God, there is no neutral ground. Jesus is saying that it is not possible for you to be an outside, neutral observer. There is no Switzerland in the kingdom of God. If you've heard this good news, you have a responsibility to respond and to follow the Lord. You have a responsibility to respond, and that's what we need to do.

When you hear the gospel message, you need to respond. I'm not saying it's not worth taking the time to consider, but following Jesus is always going to be costly. There is a weight, a measure that is being used. It is always urgent. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to us, but He is absolutely worth it. Come to the light; you can follow Jesus.

That is the responsibility that we have as Christians when it comes to the message of the kingdom of God that we've received. When it comes to the gospel we've received, our job is not to take that word and then put it under a basket or live it only amongst ourselves. You might hear people say, "Share the gospel; use words when necessary." That's the same thing as saying, "Feed the hungry; use food when necessary." You need words. You need the message of the kingdom of God, and if you believe it, you have a responsibility not to hide it, but to expose it—to shine light into the darkness. 2 Corinthians says that we wage war not against flesh and blood, but against arguments, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That's the responsibility that we have.

Trust the Harvest's Growth

Not only are we supposed to shine the lamp, but number two: We are to trust the harvest's growth. Jesus gives a second image here, bringing back the image of the seed in verse 26:

"The kingdom of God is like this, he said. A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn't know how. The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Jesus gives another parable of the sower, except in this case, He's not talking about the soil—the type of ground that the seeds get planted in—rather, He is talking about the plant. He makes two observations.

Number one: the man has no control over the seed's growth. He doesn't know how the seed grows. You just put it in the dirt, cover it with more dirt, put water on that dirt, and you hope something happens, right? It's out of your control. You can sow seeds, you can tend the plant, you can pull out weeds, you can try to care for it, but one thing that you can't do is force the seed to grow. You can't microwave the process. Instead, what you have to do is wait.

In other words, farming is an act of faith, an act of trust. Do you believe that the word of God is capable of doing the work? Do you believe that the Lord can do impossible things in the lives of unbelievers?

Martin Luther wrote this concerning the rapid spread of the true gospel during the Reformation and the revival that occurred. He said this:

"Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the word did everything. Had I desired to foment trouble, I could have brought great bloodshed upon Germany; indeed, I could have started such a game that even the emperor would not have been safe. But what would it have been? Mere fool's play. I did nothing; I let the word do its work. What do you suppose is Satan's thought when one tries to do the thing by kicking up a row? He sits back in hell and thinks, Oh, what a fine game the poor fools are up to now! But when we spread the word alone, and let the word alone do the work, that distresses him. For it is almighty and takes captive the hearts, and when the hearts are captured, the work of the papacy will fall of itself."

He says that he did nothing; the word did the work. He slept, and the word worked. He hung out with his friends, and the word did the work. "I did nothing."

Can you say that about your own life? Can you say that about the ministry of this church? I don't think Martin Luther is suggesting that we all kick back and do nothing, that we recline on our Sunday Lazy Boy and proceed not to do any ministry. What he means is guarding ourselves from when we get overwhelmed by the temptations of this world—when things get hard, when you see the great need around you, and you feel overwhelmed by the task.

Sometimes the temptation is to microwave ministry to produce rapid results, to cause quick change, to manufacture miracles. I remember reading an evangelism workbook where the writer instructed the person to walk through their need for Jesus, put their arm around the unbeliever, and begin the sinner's prayer so the other person would be pressured to repeat the words after him. That's not real change. That is trying to socially pressure someone into the kingdom of God. That doesn't work. When you do that, you actually distract from the Lord's real work.

Our job isn't to force a seed to grow; our job is to be faithful. One of the hardest commands in Scripture isn't the word "do," but the word "trust"—to truly believe that the Lord is at work in and around our lives, to look around and trust that if we continue to do things God's way and not our way, He is the one who will accomplish the work around us. The Lord will bring the growth.

That's what the Lord calls us to do: to sow seeds and trust that the Lord will grow them in His timing, in His way. And what does that way look like? You can see it in verse 28: "The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The soil produces a crop, first by a blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. Now, when Jesus speaks in parables like this, using images like this, we can sometimes get too metaphorical and over-analyze everything. You'll hear people say things like, "Oh, you know, the blade is curiosity, and then the head is real faith, and then the full grain is the works that we produce when we come to faith." I think that might be true in a sense, but I don't think that is Jesus's point. Otherwise, there would have been some kind of explanation.

The point that Jesus is trying to make here when He talks about the progress of this plant is that the crop grows—that it actually takes time, and it progresses over time. It's a process. It's not instant perfection. The seed needs time in order to sprout, grow, and then bear fruit.

Sometimes we hear about radical conversion stories where people turn from radical evil that they've done in their lives, trust in Jesus, and their life is completely transformed. I praise God for those stories. But most of our lives are not indicated or defined by instant growth and change. Oftentimes you go home, and your spouse says something and then you snap, or you go to work and things frustrate you, or we sin, or we're impatient with our loved ones.

Sanctification is not instant. The Lord is continuing to grow us gradually. And when the crop is ready, that's when the Lord sends His sickle for the harvest. The Lord doesn't collect premature plants. His timing is perfect. He is at work in you, and if you are in Christ and you're still here on the earth, Jesus is not done with you. He's going to continue to tend to you, to care for you, and to grow you. And He will take you when the time is right for Him. In the meantime, He still has work in us—to grow us and to care for us. The kingdom of God is going to happen in His time, not ours.

Rest in the Seed's Promise

The last point for us this morning is to rest in the seed's promise. Number three: Rest in the seed's promise. You can see that in verse 30:

"And he said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? It's like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade. He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples."

These parables aren't exact pictures of what the kingdom of God is like. They're images or symbols to show us different glimpses of what the kingdom of God looks like. The last parable that Jesus gives is one of a mustard seed that starts small and then grows taller than all the other plants and produces large branches that birds can rest in.

Pastor Steve left a pack of mustard seeds in the drawer in my study. They're still there. I didn't bring them because I don't use props when I preach, but I looked at them. They're yellow and they're super small—they're really tiny. But when they're grown, they can grow up to ten feet tall, right? Think about the trees in our parking lot that are currently breaking off the asphalt, and birds are able to come and nest in their shade.

See, Jesus's ministry at this point might have seemed small in comparison to the rest of the world—compared to the Roman Empire, to Egypt, compared to great dynasties that we look at and think about, even compared to Israel during the golden era of David's reign. But the kingdom of God that Jesus establishes is going to grow to be extremely large, so that it would be able to provide true protection.

In fact, this image of this tree is not a new idea. The idea of birds perching in it and creating nests isn't just some kind of fancy image that Jesus is using. He is actually deliberately referencing another time when the Lord talked about how He would grow a large tree to provide protection.

In Ezekiel chapter 17, God pronounces judgment on Babylon and Egypt, explaining how their trees will be uprooted and how God would topple their kingdoms and execute judgment on the wicked. And this is what He says in Ezekiel 17, verses 22 through 23:

“’This is what the Lord God says: I will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high towering mountain. I will plant it on Israel’s high mountain so that it may bear branches, produce fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

— Ezekiel 17:22-23 (CSB)

God promises a day where kingdoms would fall, where He would tear out the roots of the Roman Empire, of Babylon, of Egypt, or any other opposition to His own kingdom, and He would establish His own tree. This tree would grow to be so large that birds could come and rest under it. The kingdom of God that He would come to establish would be an everlasting tree.

Except, the kingdom that Jesus came to establish wouldn't be like the other kingdoms. It wouldn't be like Rome or like Babylon. Jesus didn't come to establish another earthly nation; He came to establish a kingdom not of this world. God became a man and dwelt among us. He humbled Himself from the highest throne and became a seed—a feeble man. And though He lived a perfect life, we in our wickedness responded by killing Him on a cross.

The skies were darkened, the lamp was extinguished, and the seed was buried. But on the third day, on Sunday morning, light broke into darkness. Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death, and now He sits on His throne in heaven, establishing His eternal, everlasting rule, waiting to come and collect His harvest.

Jesus is that seed that He is talking about, and when a seed is buried into the dirt, it dies and then rises again. And that tree provides everlasting salvation for us today. There is no safer place for you to go than into the arms of Jesus.

Friends, we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. Sometimes it feels like the Lord isn't at work, as though nothing is happening, that tomorrow brings the same troubles again, and again, and again, like we are here to fend for ourselves, tossed by the storms of this life, unsure where the wind will blow.

Friends, remember the gospel. Remember what the Lord has done for you. Even though things may feel insignificant right now, the Lord will always protect you. The Lord will always provide for you. You can nest in the safety of His branches, in His tree. You can go to Him, rest in Him, and trust that under His rule, under the true kingdom of God, you will be able to find true safety, true light, and true growth. Because the Lord, like a seed, came, and He died, and He grew a tree of everlasting dominion for His glory and our good.

That's the good news that we believe. That's what the kingdom of God is for. That's why Jesus came, and that's what we confess every Sunday morning as we gather together.

Let's pray. Lord, as we hear from Your word this morning, we trust, Lord, that this seed will grow. We ask, Lord, that You would help us, encourage us to believe in You, to trust You. We pray, Lord, that You would help us to capture these images in our minds, to treasure them, and to trust in Your work in our lives. We can only do this by Your help. So, we ask, Lord, that You would help us, in Jesus' name, amen.

Closing and Announcements

Somebody praise the Lord! I wondered what happened to my mustard seeds. I remember preaching that several times—I always have mustard seeds in my drawer. Good lesson on that, praise God.

I just want to thank Pastor John for delivering the message today. I was scheduled to do it today, but we just had so many things going on this week. I asked him on Wednesday if he would graciously step in, and he did. He delivered an excellent word, so praise God for that.

Our offering, as you know, we have a table in the back for our offering. You can give online, or you can mail it in.

Just a few things that are going on in the church with what we're doing: as you heard Pastor John say earlier, we're kind of revamping the sound system and putting everything together, and getting things up to speed in all of this, so bear with us on that. Also, in the next week or two, we're going to be putting—you know, the educational building, we needed a new roof, and we were able to put a new roof on that building, so that is all done. And so, the next thing that's going to come in there the next couple of weeks is the solar panels. We're going to be going solar, and so that is going to be saving us as a church at least $1,000 a month in electricity bills. So, that's going to be coming on.

I just say that because of all the things that we are doing over the years—changing, getting the church ready, modernizing, and doing things—it's all for God's glory, and it's all a result of the giving and the offerings that come forth. So, let's just pray for our offering.

Lord God, we thank You for the tithes, for the offerings, for those things that over the years, Lord, have been given to us, Lord, that we might build this sanctuary to honor You. So, Lord, we just thank You for what we have and what we are putting together. May You be glorified in all that we have, Lord. And also, Lord, help us to be good stewards over everything that You have provided for us, Lord. And so, in this we give You praise and honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Just a couple of announcements. Wednesday night Bible study is over for the year. We will start again in January because of the holidays; we generally take a break there. So Wednesday night Bible study will resume the first week in January. But just a reminder: on Sunday morning at 8:45, we have the adult Bible study in the library over there. And if you're interested in becoming a member of the church, we have the Church Matters class that Pastor John teaches in the Bible study room in the back; that's at 9:00 on Sunday morning. So if you need any more information on that, please just let us know.

So, our benediction from Numbers chapter 6, verse 24:

“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”’

— Numbers 6:24-26 (CSB)

May the Lord bless you, guide you, strengthen you, heal you. May He open your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your heart to receive what He has for you this week. And we give Him all the praise, and honor, and glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

(Singing)

Amen. I have a Maker; He formed my heart before time began. My life was in His hand. He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call.

I have a Father; He calls me His own. He'll never leave me, no matter where I go. He knows my name. He knows my every thought, and He loves me. He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call.

He knows my name. He knows my every thought, and He loves me. He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call, and hears me when I call, and hears me when I call.

Have a blessed week.