- Good morning. My name is Kevin and I'm really glad that you've joined us this morning. I invite you to take your Bible and turn it to 1 Timothy chapter four, we'll be beginning at verse six. We're in the middle of a series right now entitled, this is us, a healthy church. As we walk through the letter of Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy, where Paul is encouraging his young protege, his mentee, this young pastor of this church in Ephesus, how to develop and grow a healthy church. And as Paul does that, he shows us how we can become a healthy church here at Rockpoint. Now the context of the passage starting in verse six that we'll be looking at is in chapter four verses one through five, where we saw last week that Paul warned Timothy that false teachers were gonna be coming into the church and we're probably in the church already. And there would be teaching false doctrine specifically legalism, that false teaching that says that a person can earn or merit God's favor by things that they do or don't do. Legalism, short circuits spiritual growth, and keeps a church from becoming healthy. And Paul warned Timothy about that in verses one through five. This morning, we're gonna be picking up another essential ingredient to this idea of a healthy church and it is the concept of godliness or growing in godliness. When you hear the word godliness, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Or when you hear someone say, so and so as a godly person or so and so is an ungodly person? What images come to your mind? Maybe an even more important question is the question who needs it? Who needs this thing called godliness whatever it is? I'm praying that the Father will so impress each of our hearts at the end of our time, you will be so moved by the Spirit of the Living God that you will want to pursue godliness with everything within you. And so to that now let's pause for prayer. Father, we just thank you, this morning for the wonderful privilege we have again of opening your word. And we invite you, Lord Jesus, to accomplish your purpose in our lives. Holy Spirit that you would take these words from Paul to Timothy to us, and that you would so impress upon us our need for growing and being trained in the area of godliness. Father, move us to make that decision where we want to pursue godliness with all of our being. We ask this for your glory and for our joy in you. In Jesus name, amen. Now, in these verses, we're gonna see that godliness, involves at least four things. First of all, godliness is a choice. Following as I begin reading in verse six. Paul says to Timothy, if you put these things before the brothers you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus being trained in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Verse seven, have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths, rather train yourself for godliness. Paul begins by saying godliness is a choice. It's not automatic. Just because you were a follower of Jesus, doesn't mean you're gonna be making progress in this thing called godliness. Now Paul reminds Timothy in verse six that he is a multiplying disciple. He is an individual who knows Jesus and is helping others come to know Jesus, to grow in Jesus, and then helping those individuals to do the same for others, to be a multiplying disciple. Paul says that you'll be a good servant if you'd be putting these things before the brothers and sisters. And then he reminds him the end of verse six that you've been trained in the words of the faith, you've been trained in good doctrine, what has impacted your life, you are following those things. Then in verse seven, Paul says that, I really want you Timothy to choose godliness. Now, he reminds him in verse seven, to have nothing to do with these irreverent silly myths, these speculations that he's spoken of already a couple times. Don't put your attention Timothy on secondary things, Paul is telling him, but rather I want you to choose to train yourself for godliness. There are 12 commands in 11 verses, short 11 verses and here's the first two. Don't do this, but rather do this, choose to pursue godliness. Now godliness, what is it? For me the best definition of godliness, it comes from the Greek word it means to be devoted to God that impacts the way you live. It's put an action. Devotion to God in action, it leads to action. It involves who you are and involves what you do. It's both being and doing. Godliness is more than morality. It's more than just choosing to do the right thing, but it's not less than morality. Godliness is more than having correct orthodoxy or believing and thinking correct things. It's not less than it involves that, but it's more than just having correct orthodoxy or correct beliefs. Godliness involves the hearts. It involves with who we are in Christ, it involves with our identity in Christ that then manifests itself in our character as followers of Jesus, that impacts then, the way we live, the conducting of our lives. It involves our ID, who we are in Christ, involves our character, it involves our conduct. Now, here's a list of 20 qualities or characteristics or descriptions of godliness that I've made for myself, the first nine come from Galatians chapter five, verses 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit. And then the other 11 come from other passages in Scripture. And these are just a list of things that give me a handle of what this concept of godliness that God wants me to choose to make a key part or central part of my life. So for example a godly person is loving. A godly person is joyful, a godly person is peaceful, has patience. A godly person is kind and good and gentle. A godly person is faithful. A godly person is self controlled. But then the other 11 come from other passages in Scripture. A godly person has a measure and growing measure of holiness. A godly person is humble, honest. A godly person has integrity and has compassion and contentment in their life. A godly person is thankful and sincere. A godly person is considerate. And then lastly, a godly person is both forbearing and forgiving. A godly person to someone who is God-centered and Godlike in his or her conduct of life. Christ-centered and Christ like, in that which they live. Now when we think about this training in godliness that Paul tells Timothy I think involves those 20 qualities, I can narrow them down to three simple statements. Number one is to abide in the fear of the Lord. When I'm being trained in godliness, I'm growing in my capacity to abide in the fear of the Lord In Acts chapter nine, verse 31, it says, so the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, had peace and was being built up, because they are walking in the fear of the Lord, it says, and they were walking in the comforts, or the direction of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the church multiplied. And so first and foremost, for me to be trained in godliness, I need to learn to abide in the fear of the Lord and, kind of what that means for me, number one, it means that I think correctly, I think biblically about who God is, He is God and I am not. He is sovereign, He's the boss, He's in control, I am not. Second of all this reverence of the Lord or this fear of the Lord involves, I'm aware of His presence in my life. There's this deep sense that the Father is present with me always through His Spirit dwelling within my heart. And then thirdly, living in the fear of the Lord or abiding in the fear of the Lord, it means that I accept or I own my obligation, my accountability to my Father in heaven. He alone is God, He alone is in control and I'm not and I'm accountable to Him. So to be trained in godliness, I first have to grow this capacity to abide in the fear of the Lord. Secondly, I'm to be gripped by God's love for me. The Apostle Paul was gripped, was constrained, was controlled by God's love for him through the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse 14, for the love of Christ for me, controls me or constrains me having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died and He died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again, on their behalf. Paul was gripped by God's love for him. When I talk about living loved, that's what I mean by this. I am gripped by the Father's love, that the Father infinitely loves me through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus paying the full penalty for my sin. And I am a gripped by the Father's love for me and the fact that He delights in me. He's happy that I am His son. And so when a person is abiding in the fear of the Lord and is gripped by the Father's love, which the Father has to work into our hearts, the result is that we delight in. There's a response back, we delight in and desire God ourselves in Psalm 42 verse one, the psalm as David says, as a deer pants for the flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God? The most important thing in David's life was the Father Himself, was God Almighty. And so when I'm learning to abide in the fear of the Lord and I'm gripped by His infinite love for me through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, it produces in me this delight in, this enjoyment, this desire for God. True godliness engages my affections, my passions, my longings, my desires. It creates within me the capacity to enjoy God and His presence. Now, that leads us to this phrase in verse seven about train yourself. It's an athletic term, discipline yourself. Training in godliness involves three Cs. It involves a commitment, a coach and curriculum or a plan or strategy. First of all, it involves a commitment. When I think of commitment in the athletic room, I think of Michael Jordan, many of you've been watching this documentary on TV. When I think about a commitment to win in the arena of sports, he come at the top of my list, he was fully committed to win. Paul says, I want you to have that same sense of commitment to godliness, pursuing godliness in your own life, growing in godliness, practicing godliness, be committed to that. Second of all, it takes a great coach. The Holy Spirit, He is my coach. He is your coach as a follower of Jesus. He lives in your heart to coach you, to direct you, to put on godliness, to train and practice in godliness. He's a wonderful coach. And thirdly, the curriculum or the plan that he uses ultimately is centered in the Word of God. He uses the word of God and for me the curriculum or plan is a daily time with a Father, with the Triune God, with a Father and the Son and the spirit. What I call a quiet time. I was trained early in my walk with Jesus by the navigators, who talked about this, having a daily quiet time with the Father and, that has about my practice for the last 30 some years, the following Jesus. Daily meeting with the Father and personal worship of Him. Reading His Word, studying His Word, sometimes listening to His Word, meditating on His Word, memorizing His Word. Making plans to obey His word, and spending time in prayer responding back to Him in prayer and then living in accountable relationships with others, training in godliness. So Paul says first and foremost, Godliness is a choice we have to choose it. Second of all, he says, Godliness is an investment. Look at verses eight through 10. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Verse nine, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. Verse 10, for to this end, we toil and strive and even suffer because, we have our hopes set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Godliness is an investment because godliness is valuable, it is all value, it is most valuable. Though it's kinda hard to get our hands around it, it is infinitely valuable that we pursue and growing in godliness, in our walk with Jesus while we're on this planet. In verse eight, Paul uses the analogy of bodily training, training as an athlete would, to win in his or her sport, or like CrossFit training, personal training. So be careful what you eat, get enough sleep, do exercises, manage the stress in your life. That has there's value in doing that. But Paul says godliness is of greater value because it is true and helpful in every area of life. Not only helps you physically but it helps you emotionally. Godliness will help you emotionally, it will help you in the area of socialness. It will help you in the area spiritually, it has value in every area of life, and he says this holds promise both for this life and for the life to come. This life it has value and I think it's specifically in the area of relationships, godliness, as I grow and godliness it impacts the way I do relationships. I do relationships better, as the measure of godliness is growing in my life. In terms of eternity, the life to come, godliness, Jesus said it again and again, like Matthew chapter six, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where, moth and rust don't destroy and where thieves can break in and steal. So lay up treasures in heaven. There are rewards as I grow in godliness now, I will be rewarded then, for the measure of godliness that I've grown in. So godliness is valuable. Then in verse nine, Paul basically says, I want you to pay attention, Timothy, what I'm saying is trustworthy, deserving a full acceptance. Don't blow me off, heed what I'm saying. I'm cutting it straight with you, young man. Pay attention. And then thirdly, verse 10, Paul gives the reason why godliness is such a great investment, why godliness is valuable. He says to this end, we toil and strive and even suffer because, here's the reason because, we have our hope set on the living God who saves those who believe. The reason is because Jesus is a great Savior to those who believe. Our investment is 100% sure. Investing right now in the stock market is not really that sure. Something maybe, could do but it's not sure but when I invest in godliness, I am guaranteed that my return on investment will be there both today and for eternity. He is a great Savior, my hope is in Him, for those who believe. The third thing that Paul says about godliness is that it takes courage. When I think of the word courage I think of Christ confidence, confidence in Christ. Look at verses 11 through 13. Paul says command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct in love and faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. Verse 11, Paul says to Timothy, his young protege, step up, man. I want you to command these things. I want you to teach these things, not in your authority, but in God's authority. And that's gonna take courage. And the reason why it's gonna take courage is he highlights it in verse 12. He says, I know you're a young man, and I know there are people much older than you who you are pastoring and leading and shepherding and discipling there in this, in the church in Ephesus. And so I want you to set yourself an example, but before you can set yourself an example you have to choose, Timothy, as a young person, not to allow your youthfulness. Timothy at this point was probably around in his early 30s. And there are probably people much older than him and he says, Paul is reminding Timothy, don't let your youthfulness, don't let them push you aside and don't let you push yourself aside. Timothy has probably given to timidity, to measure a fear and Paul is encourage him, to not let that affect you, but rather, set yourself as an example. And, I can really relate to this. I was 26 years old, I just finished seminary. I had come to Christ, probably about six years before that around in my 20s, early 20s. I'd come to faith in Jesus, I got married, went to seminary, and now at 26, I was planting a church in 1987, with five core families in a small community in Nebraska, outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. And the families that I was leading that we were planting this church in the community of Malcolm, Nebraska. Many of them had walked with Jesus, had known Jesus, longer than I had been on this planet. And I was so afraid at times, and I was so intimidated at times, because of my youthfulness and trying to lead, to pastor, to grow and start a new church with them. For example, one of the individuals, Brian Erickson, was the executive director back at the Bible. Brian was his right hand man. This worldwide organization and Brian Erickson was one of those core families that I was to lead. And so the only thing that got me through this was 1 Timothy four, 12, where Paul says set yourself as an example. Allow yourself to be an example of who Jesus is to those that you're leading. He gives five different areas. He talks about in your speech, what you say, and your conduct what you do, and your love and faith and purity. And so, basically, what Paul is saying to Timothy is that when you speak do people hear Jesus? And when you do certain things, do people see Jesus in your actions? In love, when people see you relating with others do they see you loving a wide scope of people? You loving all people and you love them deeply. Do they see that? Do they see Jesus as love in you? Faith. When people see your leadership, Timothy, and for me at that time and still Kevin, do they see your faith, you're trusting Jesus, both in good times and in hard times? Do they see you trusting Jesus? And then in purity. I think of two areas, purity in terms of motivation. Do they see that you're not driven by greed? For position, for power, for seeds, for the praise of people, that you're driven by the praise of God, the glory of God. And in the area of sensuality or sexuality. Are you pure as a young man, or in as a person? Are you pure in that area? Do they see Jesus in the area of purity in your life? Important things, it takes courage to grow in each of those. And thirdly, Paul says in verse 13, I want you to prioritize your ministry, Timothy. I want you to give yourself to the public reading of Scripture. And it's kind of hard right now, with COVID and the whole thing. But we need to speak to that, we need to be gathering together and listening to the reading of God's Word. Prioritize that Timothy. We need to make it a priority here at Rockpoint. Second of all, we need to make sure that we are giving ourselves to exhortation. Word exhortation is idea of application of life, accountability in relationships. This is essential in our life group ministry here at Rockpoint. That in life groups on a weekly basis or sometimes every other week, you are getting together with the same individuals and there is exhortation, there's accountability. There is a desire and a longing for application of Scripture that is taught into our own lives. And then finally, Paul says in verse 13, I want you to give yourself to teaching to doctrine, to sound doctrine, not just to simple feel good stories, but to the Word of God, make it central essential to all that you do, Timothy. Lastly, verses 14 to 16. Paul tells Timothy that godliness takes initiative, it takes efforts. Look at verse 14. He says, do not neglect the gift that you have which was given you by prophecy, when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Verse 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. Godliness takes initiative, it takes effort. And Paul reminds Timothy in verse 14, don't coast. Do not neglect, do not hold lightly, the gift that the Father gave to you by the laying on of hands. Back in Acts chapter 16, we read about how Paul met Timothy, this young man probably 16 to 20 years old at that point. And Paul met him and they laid their hands on him and they brought Timothy on with Paul on his second missionary journey, where Paul discipled and mentored this young man Timothy. And Paul is now reminding Timothy in his 30s, 14 or so years later, don't coast young man. You've received the gifts that the Father wants you to be faithful to steward well. You know that's true for all of us as Christ followers. Every one of us who is a follower of Jesus has received a spiritual gift, a supernatural capacity given to us by the Holy Spirit to serve to the glory of God for the benefit of people around us, especially in the church but outside the church. And we need to be that reminder to tell, as Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy, one, six, to fan into flames, to be passionately pursuing the gift that the Father has given to us and to be serving in light of that gift and with that gift. Godliness grows when we serve in the area of giftedness the Father has given to us, so don't coast. Verse 15, Paul says go for it. Go for it, practice these things, immerse yourself to more commands in them. Practice them, why, so that people may see your progress. People should see Jesus more and more in my life, as days pass. Go for it. It takes initiative, it takes effort, it takes concentration. And verse 16, Paul he ends by saying, hey, something huge is at stake and what's at stake is basically eternity. Keep a close watch on two things yourself and your teaching. Timothy, I want you to take close attention to your walk with Jesus and to what you're teaching others about Jesus, and they should be in harmony with one another. Make sure that you're practicing what you're preaching, but make sure what you're preaching is truth. So keep watch over it. Now it's easy to for us to water down spiritual reality, to lose the gospel of grace, for example, to say people you need to have Jesus in your life or you need to just start following Jesus or you need to ask Jesus in your, accept Christ. That's not the gospel. Paul said to Timothy, if that's what you're preaching as the gospel, that's not the Gospel. The Gospel is you have to talk about bad news, about sin, our own sin and the consequences of our sin, it deserves punishment and eternal separation from God because He is holy and perfect and righteous, and we are not and there's nothing we can do to change that. So the good news, so God came in His son, the Lord Jesus, and He revealed the way of God the glory of God. And Jesus died for our sins, paid in full the penalty for our sins and, rose again from the dead and He offers eternal salvation, the forgiveness of our sins to any who would believe, to any who'd repent and acknowledge, yes, I'm a sinner, and there's nothing I can do to be right with God and so I trust you, Jesus, as my Savior. That's an example where Paul says, pay a close attention, to both your life and to your teaching. Not just the area of gospel but all areas of teaching. That's important because eternity's at stake. So, for us to grow in godliness, I have to choose it, because God values it. So I'm willing to give my all in pursuing it. Is that where you are this morning? As the Father use these words to move your heart to see the value of godliness, that you're willing to choose it, because God values it and that hopefully you value it too. You see that has valuable for this life and for the life to come. As I grow in godliness, it makes everything better, it's like the oil in a car engine. You take out the oil and the engine will seize up, it will stop functioning and working. Spiritually that's what Godliness is, is this capacity to be God-centered, and that manifests itself in my choices of life, my conduct. It's like oil to a car machine. So give it your all in pursuing it. Now involves my motive. My motive is because I fear the Lord. My motive in pursuing godliness 'cause I fear Him, I'm gripped by His love for me, and I desire and delight Him, that's my motive. It's a thank you. There is a sense of I'm selfish for more, Lord, I want more of you in my life. Second important question is who's got the power? I don't, you don't have the power. We don't have the power. But the Holy Spirit he is the power, he is the coach who lives inside our spirit, if we're followers of Jesus, if we trusted Him as our Savior. He is the power of producing and creating godliness in my character and then in my conduct of choices on daily life. And it also impacts my heart, the atmosphere of my life, my attitudes, my actions. Third question that's really important is whose responsibility is this growing in godliness? Is squarely mine. It's our responsibility, not God's responsibly. The truth is this, I will become as godly as I want to become, in the days that I'm on this planet. Until Jesus comes for me, I will be as godly as I want to become. It's my responsibility to partner, to cooperate, to surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit, to produce godliness in my life. I have to surrender to Him, it's my responsible, it's my choice. He will not make that for me. He is a gentleman, He will not force himself upon me. But He woos me and He welcomes me to say, yes, Lord Jesus, I want I need to grow in godliness so that my relationships can have the flavor and the smell of Jesus, in all that I am and all that I do. The fourth question that's really important to me is, is there progress? Is there progress in my life? Hopefully, I'm growing in godliness. I'm practicing, I'm training myself for godliness. It's full of ups and downs, successes and failures. Another part that's really important to me is, am I balanced in my godliness? Sometimes I'm pursuing godliness in this area of my life, but I'm not willing to pursue godliness in another area of my life. And the Holy Spirit will have a way of saying Kevin, sorry, you will not probably grow much more in godliness in this area until you grow in this area. That's true as an athlete, you have to be balanced in all areas of life for you to really succeed in that high level of excellence as an athlete. And the same thing is true spiritually in the area of godliness. He wants growth in all areas of our walk with Him. And so what about next steps? Well, there's a phrase that just gripped my heart, something worth much costs much. Something worth much costs much. That is true. And so the first question is, is godliness worth it? Do I value it? This growing sense of intimacy with the Lord Jesus, where people see Him and see less of me. Is it value, is it worth it? Is it worth it to me? I probably would experience less shame and less guilt and have less regrets if I would grow in godliness. Is it worth it? Yes or no? If it is, then I need to make the choice to pursue it, to practice it. The second question is, what smell do I give off? When people are around me, do they smell my fleshliness, my natural ness or do they smell the Lord Jesus? You know, it's interesting we use cologne to maybe hide our natural body scent. Jesus is the cologne, that on a daily basis He wants us to put on, to hide our fleshly scent. And so as I splash myself with cologne or with perfume in the case of ladies, it's like, you smell better. And when I'm giving myself to pursuing and practicing and training myself for godliness, I smell better 'cause people smell Jesus and not me. So what smell do I give off in my life? A good person to ask is a friend or a spouse or your children or parents. Thirdly, what's keeping me from growing in godliness? What's keeping me from growing in godliness? My fleshliness, pride, sin, shame, regret. What's keeping me from growing in godliness? Maybe pray, Father show me what's, what is keeping me from growing in godliness? Reveal that to me, change that in me. And lastly, what do I need to do to up my game for godliness? What do I need to do to up my game? Maybe I need to make that choice, maybe I need to see it as an investment that it is. Maybe I need to lean into courage, this Christ confidence, help me to do the hard thing, Father, to grow in godliness that my character would become more Christ like because in my choices, my conduct, that my behavior would also be choosing obedience to you and not choosing sinful temptations. What do I need to up my game? Maybe it takes initiative and efforts to have commitment, to rely upon the Holy Spirit as my coach, to have the Father use me and speak to me on a daily basis in a daily quiet time. Father, I just wanna thank you this morning for the awesome privilege that you've given to us, to grow in godliness, to pursue you in the area of godliness. Father, I just ask by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would work in my heart, you would work in our hearts, to move us to that place where we choose godliness, we value it, we see that it is an investment, that we invest in on a daily basis and slowly through time, our character changes and that Jesus is seen more and more in our life and our conduct. The choices that we make is saying, yes to obeying you and no to the temptations of sin. Become more consistent in our lives. Father, may that be true of us so that those qualities, those descriptions of godliness, like humility, like honesty and integrity, being joyful and thankful, considerate in all things, being a forgiving and a forbearing person. Father that all of those descriptions become more and more true of our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus. Jesus, we need your godliness to be more and more a part of our life, and Father, lead us specifically to make those decisions that each of us need to make and following you, to pursue, to practice, to train ourselves for godliness. do that Father for your glory, and for our joy and benefit in the Lord Jesus we ask this, amen. This morning, it is our great joy and privilege to celebrate together in the Lord's Supper and hopefully, you've gotten the elements ready. Some juice, a cracker, some bread. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul reminds us, that as followers of Jesus we are to consistently, regularly observe the Lord's Supper, Communion. And he says in 1 Corinthians 11, there are three things to Communion. First and foremost, it is a time for us to remember the Lord Jesus, that He died on the cross for us. That He paid the penalty for our sins. His blood was shed because of my sin, and that He was raised again from the dead, and in the glory of the Father and ascended into heaven, and is to return, at some point. We remember Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection. But second of all, we are to examine ourselves to make sure that we are in connection with the Father. And Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11, to confess our sin, if we're not in fellowship with Jesus, if we're out of fellowship with Him, if we're strayed from Him to, before we partake of the elements, we are to acknowledge our sin, we're to repent of our sin, we're to confess our sin. And so it's a time of reflection where we just say, Father revealed to me, the ways in which I am not connected with you, that I might confess it to you, that I might partake of the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner, as you say in 1 Corinthians 11. Reveal that to me that I might acknowledge that to you. And so maybe just take a moment and just prayerfully, silently say, Father, reveal any sin in my life or any barrier to fellowship an intimacy with you, that I might confess it to you, that it might be removed, so we might be joined again in an intimacy with you in a fellowship with you. I know my relationship isn't affected by my sin. My relationship is because of the blood that you shed for me, but my enjoyment, my fellowship with you is affected by my sin and reveal that to me right now. Having acknowledged our sin to Him, the third aspect of the Lord's Supper is we are, Paul says we're proclaiming our belief, our confidence that Jesus is returning for us. He's coming again. He is coming for you and I. And so when we partake of this, we announce to ourselves and to the Lord Jesus and to the world, Jesus is coming again, in the craziness of this life, He is Lord over all and He is coming again. And I am His son or His daughter, because I've been bought by His precious blood. And so if you have the elements, let's take them together. And so as Jesus taught the disciples and as Paul taught, Timothy and others in the early church, in 1 Corinthians 11, he said, that in the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took a loaf of bread and He broke it. And the breaking of the bread symbolize the fact that Jesus would break the power of sin in our lives, we would no longer be enslaved to sin as followers of Jesus. He has broken the power of sin, through His death and resurrection on the cross. He says, I want you to take that piece of bread and I want you to take any eat of it, as long as you remember me. And Paul goes on and he says in the same way, the Lord Jesus gave to us the cup. The cup is the reminder of the New Covenant, this new way in which the Father would relate to us. That would be based upon the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus for us as sinners. He says the cup has been given to us, the New Covenant, the blood that has been shed. And Jesus reminds us that we're to take it as we remember Him, that His life was given so that ours would not have to be punished for eternity. That He was punished for my sin, and I don't have to be. And so as we take it the cup together, let us remember the Lord Jesus and let us proclaim our belief and confidence that He is returning for us. Father in heaven, we thank you this morning for the awesome privilege that is ours, to know you as your sons and daughters, to be blood-bought by the most precious thing in the universe, the blood of your Son, the Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father, that you have cleansed all of my sin, because of what He has done for me on the cross. Thank you, Father, for the power of the Holy Spirit that has brought new life into all who believe. Thank you, Father, that you have given to us the opportunity to grow in godliness, to practice, to discipline ourselves for godliness, so that it would have a good effect in all areas of life and our relationships and with you and with one another. That as we are pushed more and more to polarization of viewpoints, we could live in that glorious middle where we honor and value people, on both sides and we see their perspectives as we hear them when we listen to them in a godly, as Jesus as you did with people, you listened well, and then you had this biblical grid to think and to discern, truth from err, and then you spoke pointedly yet graciously and invitingly, so that people would receive your words. Father, that's what we want to become more like. And so to that end we ask you to work in us as your church. In Jesus name we pray, amen.