- And so take your Bibles out, whichever one, whether it's an electronic version or a physical Bible. I want you to turn to James 1, locate verse one and hopefully you've also been able to download the notes so you can follow along this morning. There's some things in there I want you to remember throughout the week as we talk about James and the specific topic of today. You know, today's topic though, really doesn't need an introduction. We have all had them and we are all going through them. The things that we face in life come in small doses and big doses and sometimes they're chronic and sometimes they have a starting point and an ending point, but we are all stretched. And sometimes they come in catastrophic ways. Now, when we entered into March this past spring, we all entered into a zone that is described as a trial. And I don't know about you, but I actually was optimistic thinking that by the time I'd get into the summer, the heat would kill this virus and things would kind of start getting back to normal. If you're like me maybe I was simple-minded. But then I kind of thought well, maybe we'll start moving in the right direction here and what I'm realizing now, if you're not, I certainly am, I'm not exactly sure when this thing is going to end. And quite frankly I'm not really sure life will ever get back to normal at least within the next year or so. And then perhaps in the midst of COVID-19, there has been economic pressure on you, perhaps you've lost a loved one, perhaps there was a diagnosis just prior to COVID-19 of something chronic in your life. We all are experiencing right now issues of unrest nationally that I certainly would not have seen coming. I don't know about you. And right now we're in probably one of the most important election years, there's polarization all over the place. I mean, quite frankly, it's not an easy time here. And that's why I chose the book of James. It's a practical book with very practical solutions that help us understand that we can have a real faith that really works in real life. And God wants to remind us through James that faith is real, it produces genuine works in our lives. And, especially when we look at today's topic and that is this that real faith works when life doesn't, okay? Now, if I could have concocted a better point to make this morning, I would have but this is it. Life is not working well for many of us and that's why this book is so helpful and practical for us. You know, James is this radical, cross-centered, cross-cultural message of authenticity and humility. And that's why I love this book. And the faith that he's talking about isn't simply the faith that saves you and gives you forgiveness and eternal life, he's talking about a faith that also sustains you, that allows you to continue to grow, that fashion's you to become the person that God would have you be. And real faith works in real life in real ways, ways in which we find ourselves today. Now a classic illustration of this would be every morning I have a choice to make. I get up, I can either go to the right or I can go to the left. Now left is lovely Lynette's closet. I can go to the right, which is Roy's closet. It's just really convenient. God knew I had a simple mind and He said, I'm gonna give you lovely Lynette that way He can keep things left and right. Now, it's not a political statement in any way, okay? But I know that when I get up, I go right and I put on the clothes that reflect who I am inside. My person, who I am, my gender, all that kind of stuff. Now it's really what James is saying here. He is saying, you've got a faith if you have put your trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He is your God and you are following Him. Then there are Christian character qualities that are the clothes that you now need to put on your life. And every day it needs to happen. You need to make some choices in the midst of the difficult days. And so he says in verse one, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Now, who is this right up front? Well, James is the half-brother of Jesus. If you go into Matthew 13:54-56, we find out that Jesus had brothers and sisters. James is one of those individuals that is mentioned by the way. Jesus appeared to him after He arose from the grave, Paul records that in 1 Corinthians 15. Now James accepted Christ as Savior, as Lord, he became one of the most influential leaders in Jerusalem. You can read that in the book of Acts in the New Testament. And it was James who wrote this book probably around 45 to 58 A.D, it's the New Testament book that we have. He was martyred for his faith in A.D. 62. Now he writes to, and he says here as a servant of God, and by the way, that word means a lifetime servant of God, to the Lord Jesus. And he says to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. Now 12 tribes will remind you that these individuals are Jewish and the audience that he's writing to are Jewish believers that have been spread throughout the Roman world because of a couple of things. First, they became followers of Jesus Christ. So as Jewish individuals in Judea, Samaria or Israel, they came under persecution by the Jews, you can read about it in the book of Acts. So they were dispersed and eventually because of persecution, they began to move to the known Roman world. The second thing that was going on during this period of time is Claudius was the emperor in Rome and in 45 A.D., he decided that he liked the Jewish people. So he boycotted their businesses and they came under persecution and they fled Rome. So now you have this group of Jewish believers that have fled Israel perhaps, that might've even fled Rome but they're living out in the Roman empire, they're not liked by the Jewish individuals who were in the synagogue because they believe Jesus is Messiah, so they're coming under persecution there. They're also coming under persecution because Claudius doesn't like them, the Romans don't like them. They're trying to figure out what their place is in life. And oftentimes when you get in a situation like that, you're not sure what to do and you close up and they were experiencing intense persecution. And James is afraid that they are no longer living out their faith. If they could fit in like the rest of the world, then they would and there was some compromising that was going on. Because of all this, they confessed Jesus with their lips, but their life told a different story. And James was afraid that the world was impacted them more than they were impacting the world. And so when you go through this, he's concerned. And so he covers several topics for us to look at. There's a number of them. He's concerned that they're not practicing their faith, they're not holding up under trials, they're giving into temptations, they're struggling with practicing and applying the word to life. They're struggling with how they use their tongue, they're struggling with arrogance and pride and giving into worldliness and materialism. The rich are mistreating the poor and then they're forgetting the whole topic of prayer in the midst of these difficult days. And when I look at what's going on around us, this book is a perfect fit for what we're experiencing right now. Especially today's topic because we're going through a global pandemic, economic hardships, we're in the midst of a pending election. There is a movement in our midst of an anti-Christian perspective on life. And honestly, I wonder if we are in for some days of persecution that are quickly coming upon us, regardless of who's elected. So these Christians and us, we move into times where we're disillusioned, we're discouraged. This COVID thing it's like a cockroach, the thing just keep showing up, won't go away. And James though, step on the bug, right? Well, that made it on camera. James though, if you'll look back down at what God says to us, interesting, right? He doesn't start with a rebuke, He starts with the word greetings. Do you know what the core of that word means? Rejoice. Hey, I know you're going through it, but you need to rejoice. And then he says in verse two, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." And then he closes our time here today with this verse. Verse 12, he says, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him." Well, what are trials? What do they look like? Let's talk about the truth of these things that he mentions here. The word trial actually means a test, okay? It really has two meanings. It first means a test that challenges the integrity of our faith, the moral fortitude of our faith. Has a positive outcome though. The other path that we can take with the same word, it'll come up next week when we talk about it, it means temptation. So it is a challenge to the integrity of our faith, positive outcome, but it also means temptation, which is a solicitation to evil and that is a challenge to the moral integrity of our faith. We'll pick that up next week. But here James is addressing those hardships, the difficulties, the struggles of life that we all face and they're designed by God or allowed by God to stretch us, to challenge us, to mold us and reveal several things about them. First, trials are inevitable. Notice what he says in verse two, when you meet trials of various kinds. It's not an if, right? And everybody can totally identify with this one, trials are variable. He says they come in various kinds. That word means multicolored. Some small, some big, some catastrophic. There are some trials that are just nagging at you, you can't stop encountering them, they just show up. And also he says that trials affect everybody. It's really what he's doing in verses nine through 11. It's an illustration, we'll come back to this. He's describing how it affects the rich and the poor, doesn't matter who you are. Trials are gonna come into your life and they're allowed or even designed by God. Please understand that. Why? Because of this last one, trials have a purpose. The Greek word for testing here means a process of authenticating something, that's the idea. So the test is brought into our lives, it does prove that our faith is real and genuine but it is a process that authenticates what God already knows is there. Actually the word means approval. Now this was a particular Greek word. And when they formed a pot out of clay and they subjected it to the heat of a furnace, when it was finished and it didn't crack, they would actually stamp this Greek word on the bottom of the pot and it means approved. And the idea is this, you are being molded into God's image. You are created in His image and He is molding you to be like Jesus, that's probably a better way to say it. And He's crafting you and then He subjects you to the heat or the test of a trial not to make you crack. He already knows if you've trusted Christ as Savior and Lord that your faith is real. But He's doing it to refine you, to change you, to strengthen you, to get you to that point where He can stamp approval on you and really the idea is, yes, that's what I'm after. In other words, it's that moment where God says, "Yeah, I got them where I wanted them to go. They're reflecting my Son more accurately than they've ever done before," and He takes us through that time of growing. Now, faith is the object here of the testing, He wants that to be strengthened and He doesn't want that faith muscle to snap, He wants it to grow so that you can become more like Christ. Now, Peter picks up on this because Peter was written a group of suffering saints. We've studied this book together. And in 1 Peter 1:7, he puts it this way, "In the midst of those trials we are placed there so that the tested genuineness of your faith." And notice this, "More precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, maybe found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." He's talking about how gold is subjected to heat . Those things that are impure are removed and the pure gold remains. Let me give you an athletic imagery here. This is like a really good coach that looks at your life and says you won the genetic lottery. And this coach says to you, I am going to put you on a regimen so that you can become a better athlete because I know there's a gift there and I'm going to push you not to snap your muscles in your body, but for them to grow and be strengthened, till you get that hand-eye coordination going together so that you can see the talent come out. Now, what does this strong faith produce really tells you? Verse three, look there. "For you know that the testing, this heat process of your faith produces steadfastness." Now that word knowing means to remind ourselves over and over and over again, that God is up to something in our life. And what He's up to is strengthening us or building this steadfastness, the word can also mean endurance in our life. It simply means to abide under, it means to hang in there, don't give up. That's God's goal is to get this character quality of steadfastness and strength to emerge in your life, in the midst. Now, I have to tell you this, the only way you're gonna learn endurance, the only way you're going to learn steadfastness is in what? In a trial where it's tested. God's not gonna wake you up one morning and say, you know what? I think John deserves some endurance today Dwayne. No, it is developed when you are stretched. And those difficult times come into our life to do that, so that we may grow and He's like this good coach working with me. And tomorrow morning, if I got up and I said, I'm gonna run a marathon today. Lovely Lynette will be taking me to the hospital. It's just not gonna happen. It doesn't mean I can't run a marathon. The issue though, is I'm not ready for it. So that's why a coach comes into my life and he puts me on a strict regimen of eating and exercising, and I gradually build up to it so I can add a little more all the way through the weeks. And I'll tell you what? I could, if I wanted to, I don't really want to run a marathon. And so could you? If you're healthy enough, you could do it. It just takes some time. Here's another analogy that I think works here and really ties into what we're talking about. If you know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, He has you in His hand, that's secure, okay? That's what James, he's talking to those people. But God also has His hand on the thermostat of your life and He turns the heat up, and He turns it down, depending on the situation He's bringing into your life so that he can get you to that point where He says, that's what I wanted to develop in their life. It's refined. Now the key here is another word let, that's verse four. Steadfastness, remain. The end game is not just so you got endurance, the character quality, sure that's there but so that you might be complete. The word is mature, lacking in nothing. The people that I respect as mature followers of Jesus Christ are those that have gone through the flames of a fiery furnace. This is the parent who had this beautiful little child, they said something was wrong, the doctor walks in to the room and says there is something wrong, they've just entered a trial. It's the person I talked to on the phone who said, I entered into March, and I got this COVID you know, bug that everybody's talking about and I'm telling you, he spent the next three months, four months, he's still perhaps even struggling with it, trying to recover from this. That's, you know, in some people, it is a serious deal. And now that we're beginning to wonder if it's gonna be chronic for him, he lost over 30 pounds. He's younger than I am. He's being stretched, and he told me over the phone, he said, "I've grown so close to the Lord over these last several months of isolation," that's how it happens, God moves. Now why do we struggle with trials? Well, he unpacks that for us. There's really two quick reasons starting in verse five and the first one is this, we lack wisdom. Now the wisdom he's talking about his wisdom for trials. He's not talking about wisdom, general wisdom for life. He's saying, we oftentimes lack wisdom and this can easily be defined as God's divine perspective on your trial. That's what He's after. But we also lack faith. Okay, that's where the trust comes in. We get overwhelmed, and we stop trusting God. Again, James is not talking about the faith that saves, He's focusing on the faith that sustains you. And oftentimes, we begin in that midst of that trial, doubting His goodness, and we're struggling. And he says that we are this double-minded person, which he brings up in verse eight. And what that means is to sold. That means you're hanging on to your desire to control, you wanna control the situation, trying to figure it out, we all do this. And also God and you're not sure what to do, you're being pulled towards your will, or towards God's will. That's the idea that he's after. And as a result of that, he gives you an illustration. He says, you're gonna be tossed around like the wave. The circumstances are the wave, or the wind that's blowing into your life. And the wave just goes wherever the circumstance tells it to go, and never really accomplishes anything. And what happens is we go into a trial, and we get blown around controlled by the circumstance, and we never really accomplish the purpose that God has. That's the point of the illustration. Let me update it for you. Some of you know my son Austin, he lives out in Southern California in a bachelor pad, a couple blocks from the ocean and serves, you know, several days during the week. I mean, it's a great life, right? And when he gets on that wave, he starts going, if he falls, and I've seen it happen, I mean, the wave just turns him over, and over and over and it's oftentimes not very pleasant. But then if it catches the wave, he accomplishes a purpose and he really goes somewhere. And it's kind of like an updated version of what James is saying here. The trial blows into your life. If you hang on to it, you try and figure it out and do something you're not supposed to do, it's gonna turn you over and over and over, and the circumstance is gonna control you. But if you'll yield to God and your ride that wave, that circumstance that has come into your life, you're gonna move somewhere. And it's gonna be a great day, even though there's some pain involved. Now, where I really wanna go, is let's talk about the response to these trials, that James now gives us because he gives several ways to respond. And the first one we encounter right away with the word greeting, which means rejoice and then he uses another word in verse two. And there's really three key words here under this, count in verse two, and then know in verse three, and then he begins to touch on the word let in verse four, all three of those are commands. And he says, I want you to rejoice right away, because you're becoming more like Jesus. The word count, there actually means to lead. It means to step forward with the attitude of joy. When you move into this trial, lead with the attitude, it is a choice. I'm gonna choose joy here, I'm gonna rejoice in what's going on, he tells us why in just a minute. Adversity is not the absence of God, adversity is the activity of God. He's up to something, He's moving. How do I know I can have joy? Well, he says, "Remind yourself of the truth." Don't buy the lie, buy the truth of what He's saying here. Knowing, continually reminding yourself that your faith through this testing time is developing this enduring quality, this steadfastness, that's the idea here. God is up to a greater purpose and then he gives that third command, let, stay in the game, abide under is the idea here. Allow God to perform His work in your life, so that you will grow the way He wants you to go. And the idea is, then you'll reach that end game of being perfect, complete in Christ. He's removing those things that don't look like Jesus, and He's adding into your life those things that do. And you can have an attitude of joy in the midst of all of this because you know and you're allowing Him to do it, which really gives us the second response and that is, respond, rejoice, have that attitude, lead with it, and then respond with surrender and trust because you know God has helped us something in your life. Now, I'm telling you, you have to make a choice to have God's divine perspective in that moment. And then you're responding with this idea of surrender and trust. Did you notice as I read through it, the word let shows up in verse four, it shows up in verse five, it shows up in verse six, it shows up in verse nine. The idea here is to cooperate with God, let Him do His thing in your life. Don't grab it, that's that double-minded person again. Yield, let Him have His way. He illustrates it both for the rich and the poor in verse nine, 10, and 11, we'll come back to that in a minute. You know, we wonder if life will ever as I said, get back to normal again. We're seriously contemplating this. I don't know about you, but that kind of hit me this summer and then all of a sudden the depression started going up. Why? Because it's a pain. Anxiety is up, depression is up, suicide is up. I told you this past summer, calls to the national mental hotline are up over 900%. Why? 'Cause we are in a big time trial, folks. We are in the midst of something that God is up to not only in our lives, but in our nation and in our world. You got a business partnership, you've got to break off that business partnership because of an unethical decision that your business partner made. And you know by doing so you're gonna enter into an economic time where your family is going to reap the consequences of your righteous choice. What are you going to do? People are struggling, they're wondering what I should do. Students, you're at home a whole lot more than you used to be. And it's not just a pain for you, your mom and dad are wondering the same thing. Are they ever gonna go away? They're praying for a married partner. It, you know, appropriate time, but, we're just juggling all this stuff and it's adding up to pressure. And there might be some big ones too, chronic illness and sickness and all that kind of stuff. And honestly, we enter into these zones where God we wanna trust you, but don't you have that sense of we just need each other right now? Is this beauty of the body of Christ? To have real community not in rows, but in circles, that's why we we stress small groups, getting connected with people. Paul alludes to it a couple of verses, 1 Thessalonians 3:2, he says, "You gotta strengthen and encourage each other." We jump over to Hebrews 10:24 and again, there's just a couple of these, they're all over the New Testament. There's so many love one another passages, it's an awesome study to go through. He says, look, go to church, be connected with other followers of Jesus Christ, why? So you can stimulate one another to what? Love and good deeds. Hang in there. That's that words, stay in that zone, God's moving. You know, we're not on our own, God knows about it, He cares for you. Matthew 6, great passage to go to, verse 25, that says, "God knows the very hairs on your head, He knows the trials in your life, He will provide for you, but you have a choice to trust Him, and then do it with joy knowing He's carrying out something in your life, He's changing you, He's transforming you." Now, oftentimes, as he says, staying in that game, He loves you and knows you surrounded. But it also means that we gotta respond this way and that is, we need to ask Him for wisdom. And that's what he says in verse five. As we're trying to figure out all this stuff, as we're trying to help people connect with one another and we're doing the same thing with other couples that are struggling and trying to figure out what life is like, and, boy, they need to talk to one another. And as we go through that, though, there are some times when we gotta request, we gotta rejoice, we have to respond. But then sometimes we're wondering, what do we do in the midst of this? And he says, well, ask again, wisdom is asking God for His divine perspective. It might be as simple as God help me, okay? Sometimes you just gotta utter those words. Lord, I need some guidance here in what is going on in my life. I need wisdom in the midst of this hardship. Whatever this is, I need to see these circumstances from your vantage point. And again, that's what He's doing in verses nine, 10 and 11 and he's actually gives us an illustration. He's telling those who are struggling, they're poor in the midst of trial, and they're being persecuted. All kinds of stuff is coming at them right now and they don't know if they're ever gonna get out of this state in life. They need to remember, notice what he says, boast in His exaltation. You know, he's talking about there? Who they are in Jesus Christ. They need to remember that this stuff is gonna pass away, and you need to exalt in who you are, you are a child of God, He's watching over you, He's caring for you, and you've got an eternity that's coming. He comes back to this in verse 12. But he also applies it, have some wisdom, if you're wealthy and you lost it all. Now, what's the wise response biblically? He calls it humiliation. What he says there and then he illustrates it. He says, "The stuff of this life, the wealth of this life is passing away." That's why it gives you the illustration of grass passing away when it's subjected to the heat of the sun. And if you are a rich person who continues down this road, pursuing simply wealth and never laying up treasures in heaven, you need to understand that that stuff, the rich come and go, and so does the wealth. His whole point here is to acknowledge the fact that when we go through those COVID times, economic pressures, God oftentimes strips away all that stuff that doesn't look like Jesus and all of a sudden we look back with God's divine perspective, when we say, wait a minute, I was really banking on that stuff way too much in my life. That became an idol for me. Boy, that became materialism. And God in the midst of what we're going through, we're all saying ouch. But He's pulling that stuff away and He's saying, "You need to be trusting in me 'cause that's the stuff that's gonna last for eternity." Now, wisdom for trials can only come from really one source, and that's God. It primarily comes through His Word. That's why we got to remind ourselves of verses like this, Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called, according to His purpose." God is up to something in your life. Now, here's a couple of verses, one of them we already referred to earlier, 1 Peter 1:7, but I'm gonna start with verse six. He says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by," what? "Various," multicolored. Some big, some small, catastrophic trials, "so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire. May be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." And then I think two verses that came to my mind that need to be a part of your faith walk at some point is Proverbs three, five and six and it really puts together the concept of asking for wisdom, and trust in the midst of life and the tension that sometimes comes up. He says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding," that's that double-minded person that's doing that. "In all your ways, acknowledge Him, go back to Him, trust Him, and," what? "He'll make straight you paths." You may not always understand the why but He's gonna show up and He's gonna guide you, and He's going to lead you. And notice what he says in verse five, He's gonna give it to you generously, abundantly. He'll provide the direction that you need. Now, wisdom is different than knowledge, be careful here. Knowledge is information, it's facts, wisdom is the application of that knowledge. He'll come back to this one too, it's all kind of fits together when he talked about applying the word here in a couple of weeks. But it's entering into a trial in life and saying, "God, I just need your wisdom and I need your words. I got two groups at work and I know there's a job promotion, as we mentioned earlier, and both of those groups, I got one group that's starting to gossip behind the back of another group of individuals. And yeah, they're pointing out some real faults. And if I participate with them, I'm gonna up my chances to get this job promotion. But if I act the way you want me to, then I'm lessening my chances, but I'm actually gonna do what you've told me to do and not talk behind people's backs. So God, give me some statements. Give me some way to respond in a positive direction in the midst of this," that's what He's after here. And then he closes it with one last word that helps us respond, rejoice, respond by trusting, letting Him have His way, and then requesting this wisdom that we need and those two work together. But then he comes back to that perspective, remember, God is faithful to His promises. That's why he says in verse two, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial." Two things happen, he's gonna grow, he's gonna mature, I think that's the idea. But then he's gonna have this crown of life, this eternal life awaiting for him when he gets to heaven, where he hears those words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." You know, God may not tell you, the why in life. Have anybody ever figured that one out yet? We go through and we experience some of the stuff, why God, is this happening now? Why won't it go away? You pray and you pray and you pray and kind of get the same response. And God says, "Wait." You know, when God says, wait, you know what He's doing? Remain under. Just stay where you are. I know you're feeling the pressure, but I'm right there with you, I got you. And I want you to mature and grow. I want you to get to that point where you have become more like Jesus. I'm removing those things that don't look like Jesus and I'm adding those things in your life that do look like Christ and you're being formed into my image and that's what's happening in all of our lives right now. And our faith is proving genuine and we are growing and we're becoming more like Him because ultimately, you know, life is not about me. Life is about Him. Life is about you living in a world as the scattered seed throughout our world right now, just like James is saying. Each and every one of you, you've got new life, and you are to bear fruit, do you know, why? Not because of you but because we do live in a world and it's becoming so obvious, just open your eyes, that needs hope. We're becoming a world that needs someone to step into someone's life, and tell them in a loving way, and in a kind way, you need Jesus Christ. And you do so through your lips, and through your actions, as you step into their life, and you live your life in living color in front of them, in the midst of some really heated moments, why? So that they can find the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, 'cause that's what they need more than anything else. So we come to the table today, and I hope you all have the communion elements before you, we come to this table to remind ourselves as Jesus's half brother did that, hey, it's about the cross. And it's about coming to know Him. And if you have come to that decision in your life where you acknowledged your sin, and in repentance and faith, you turn from self, you turn from sin, you turn from that direction you were going, and you turn to Christ, and you believe He died for you and rose from the grave and you've embraced Him, you have turned and put your trust in Him as a person, that He paid the price for your sin, and you're trusting in Him for His forgiveness, He will grant you eternal life, and he will change you and He will transform you so that you can begin to live out this new faith and give hope to other people. And He's called us to this point to remember what He's done. So in the next few moments, here's what we're gonna do, I'm gonna just pause here briefly and I'm gonna allow you to prepare your heart. Even though we're not passing the elements, this is a time for you to reflect as a follower of Jesus Christ. Again, that's, if you've made that choice, you're welcome to take communion with us. Thank Him for what He has done for you. If there's any sin in your life, set that aside. God, I've been trusting you the way I should. Well, surrender that right now. And then as we reflect upon what He has done, I will read a passage and then lead us in taking communion together. So let's go before the Lord quietly reflecting on the gift we've been given in restoring that fellowship with Him if need be. Lord, it's in these moments that we pause, to reflect upon those essential things in our life that are critical for us to remember as your children, thanking you for the gift that was given by Christ being nailed to a cross, His blood being shed for our forgiveness and we thank you that He arose from the grave. But it is by way of the cross that we have new faith in you and we give you thanks today that we can remember that we are forgiven and set free and that you've given us faith as a gift, so that we might stand the trials that we go through and you made it all possible because of the cross. And the Lord Jesus on the night, when He was betrayed, He took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And in the same way, He also took the cup after supper saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." We give you thanks, Lord, work in our heart, that we might live for you and proclaim your death until you come again.