WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.059 All right, good morning. My name is Gregg Hampton. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.359 I'm one of the pastors here. If we have never 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.960 met, I would love to meet you. You can put your 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.140 name and information on the connection card at 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:15.619 the end. I would love to get together, maybe 00:00:15.619 --> 00:00:17.879 have a coffee or a soda or something like that 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.059 with you, hear your story. And if you'd like 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:21.879 to talk about Jesus, I like to talk about Jesus. 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:24.339 And so I would just love to give you the chance 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:26.640 to ask any questions that you have. about the 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.300 house and get to know someone that is connected 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:33.719 here if this is your first time thank you very 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.159 much for joining us you picked a great Sunday 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.299 here on Easter for joining us we are a church 00:00:39.299 --> 00:00:41.219 that has said from the beginning that we exist 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:45.320 to invite people in to call prodigals home to 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:48.659 adopt the spiritually homeless we are a church 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.679 that believes that no one should be left out 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.719 Because everyone is invited to rest, live, and 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.240 work in a great house. We really believe that 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:06.640 God loves you. That is part of what Easter is 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:12.239 telling us. God so loved the world that he sent 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:16.900 his only begotten son. His name is Jesus. And 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:21.519 today, the global church is celebrating the resurrection. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.359 of Jesus from the grave. Around the world, people 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.400 are saying, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.680 But the death and resurrection of Jesus didn't 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:37.299 happen in a vacuum. It's not a standalone moment. 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:43.799 It's more like the linchpin in a longer story 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:49.140 that every single one of us is a part of. It's 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:51.569 a story that goes, all the way back to the very 00:01:51.569 --> 00:01:55.209 first pages of the Bible. And it follows and 00:01:55.209 --> 00:01:58.709 carries through all the way to the very end. 00:01:59.750 --> 00:02:02.810 So let's open our Bibles. I'm going to be in 00:02:02.810 --> 00:02:05.890 three different places. Genesis 1, John 1, or 00:02:05.890 --> 00:02:09.150 Revelation 7. There are Bibles on the tables 00:02:09.150 --> 00:02:10.870 that you're at. If you don't have one, you can 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:13.629 also download one from any of the digital app 00:02:13.629 --> 00:02:16.189 stores. It's going to be Genesis 1, John 1, Revelation 00:02:16.189 --> 00:02:18.689 7. You can open to any one of those if you'd 00:02:18.689 --> 00:02:20.590 like. If you don't have a Bible, there's also 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:22.650 Bibles out in the lobby on the bookshelf. Feel 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:24.469 free to take one of those and take it home. It's 00:02:24.469 --> 00:02:26.930 not stealing, we promise. It is free. You can 00:02:26.930 --> 00:02:30.270 have it, all right? And we have a tradition of 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:32.430 giving the Scriptures our full attention when 00:02:32.430 --> 00:02:34.710 read in the context of the sermon. We can do 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:36.389 that any number of ways. You can do that while 00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:38.610 you are sitting, or you are welcome to stand 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:42.930 with me as I read the Scriptures. This is Genesis 00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:48.009 1, the beginning of verse 26. Then God said, 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:53.400 Let us make human beings in our image to be like 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.860 us. John 1, beginning in verse 1. In the beginning 00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:01.479 was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:04.439 the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.360 Through Him all things were made. Without Him 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.639 nothing was made that has been made. In Him was 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:13.479 life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:18.490 Jump to verse 14. The Word became flesh. and 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:21.669 made his dwelling among us, we have seen his 00:03:21.669 --> 00:03:24.490 glory, the glory of the one and only Son from 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:29.530 the Father, full of grace and truth. And then 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:31.810 the end of the Bible, Revelation 7, starting 00:03:31.810 --> 00:03:36.889 in verse 9. After this, I looked and saw a multitude, 00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:42.750 too large to count, from every nation and tribe. 00:03:43.370 --> 00:03:45.990 and people and tongues standing before the throne 00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:49.069 and before the Lamb who was Jesus. They were 00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:52.330 wearing white robes and holding palm branches 00:03:52.330 --> 00:03:55.069 in their hands, and they cried out in a loud 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:58.330 voice, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne 00:03:58.330 --> 00:04:03.650 and to the Lamb. Let us pray. God of every tribe, 00:04:03.750 --> 00:04:08.150 every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:09.569 you for the scriptures. We thank you that they 00:04:09.569 --> 00:04:11.349 have persisted throughout the millennia, that 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:14.639 we still have them. to read, to consider. We 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.459 pray that whatever you have to teach us today, 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.339 that it would stick, that it would become part 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:23.339 of the framework of our faith, that our faith 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:25.120 would become stronger as we become more like 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.980 your son, Jesus. Amen. Thanks, y 'all. You can 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:42.110 have a seat. In the beginning, God... Let us 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:47.149 make them in our image. The theological term 00:04:47.149 --> 00:04:52.149 we use for this is a Latin phrase, imago dei. 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:58.550 Imago meaning image, dei meaning God. The image 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:00.550 of God, even though it's just the image of God, 00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:03.589 theologically speaking, it is presumed to mean 00:05:03.589 --> 00:05:07.569 the full phrase created in the image of God. 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:12.699 We are from the beginning. Different from every 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:16.279 other bit of creation because there is something 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:23.920 about us that is the same as God. Somehow, we 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.899 look like God. Anyone ever tell you you look 00:05:26.899 --> 00:05:32.060 like someone? Somehow, we look like God. We are 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:36.680 not God, but we have God features. Maybe it's 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:40.170 your cheekbones. Who knows? Maybe it's Maybelline. 00:05:40.230 --> 00:05:46.310 Now, what that means has been debated for millennia, 00:05:46.310 --> 00:05:50.230 for centuries, since the first century of Christ. 00:05:50.250 --> 00:05:53.430 In the first century, Philo of Alexandria argued 00:05:53.430 --> 00:05:56.310 that the image of God resided in the human mind 00:05:56.310 --> 00:05:59.449 or reason. He thought that we could boil it down 00:05:59.449 --> 00:06:03.850 to just reflecting a divine rationality. In the 00:06:03.850 --> 00:06:06.769 second century, Irenaeus separated image and 00:06:06.769 --> 00:06:09.350 likeness. He believed that we always bear the 00:06:09.350 --> 00:06:13.230 image of God, but God's likeness, things like 00:06:13.230 --> 00:06:16.050 righteousness and holiness, they get covered 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:20.209 by sin. And so then he believed that Jesus taking 00:06:20.209 --> 00:06:22.670 our sin on the cross is thought to uncover what 00:06:22.670 --> 00:06:25.149 is already there to bring likeness and image 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:28.449 back in line with each other. Others think the 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:30.850 imago Dei just means we share characteristics 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:34.279 with God. Think about the fruit of the spirit, 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:38.259 things like love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:43.139 kindness. Or maybe the Imago Dei is where morality 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:47.519 comes from. Sometimes philosophers wonder, why 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:50.259 does it seem like around the entire world everyone 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:53.420 agrees on certain things, that this is wrong, 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:57.180 this is right. Maybe it is the Imago Dei. Still 00:06:57.180 --> 00:07:01.420 others think it's more utilitarian. It's a task. 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:06.040 God rules and reigns over the universe, over 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:09.360 the earth. Adam and Eve in Genesis were given 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.939 a task to rule and reign, to subdue the earth, 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:17.060 rule over all of the creatures. And so maybe 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:20.639 the image of God is about authority. Maybe the 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:24.279 substance of the Imago Dei is found in our capacity 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:29.759 for relationships. God said, let us make humans 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.660 in our image because God is Father, is Son, is 00:07:33.660 --> 00:07:37.720 Holy Spirit, is three in one. Maybe the image 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.779 we bear is projected or realized in our desire 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:44.879 to connect with each other. In modern theology, 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.800 the Imago Dei is the foundation for human rights. 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:54.750 If we are all created, In the image of God, are 00:07:54.750 --> 00:08:01.310 we not all worthy of dignity? Wherever we land 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:05.870 on exactly what Mago Dei means theologically, 00:08:06.129 --> 00:08:11.790 we know that it matters practically. Because 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:16.189 if there is one thing that humans have excelled 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:19.310 at throughout the history of humankind, it's 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:24.819 deciding who belongs and who doesn't. Humanity 00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:30.420 has decided over and over and over again that 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:34.799 we can negate or deny the image of God in the 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.159 other. When that happens, we can justify just 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.460 about anything. Women can be made second class 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:47.399 citizens. The LGBTQ plus community can be othered 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:50.700 and excluded. Persons with disabilities can literally 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.379 be left outside because why would we add a ramp? 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:56.620 Discrimination against entire cultures and ethnic 00:08:56.620 --> 00:09:03.919 groups can be rationalized. Open a history book. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:09.460 You'll see it. And unfortunately, that problem 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:12.039 isn't just in the world at large. Churches have 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:19.360 done it as well. I believe the Imago Dei should 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:25.759 mean that no matter who someone is, whether they 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:30.539 live where we live, look like we look, believe 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:33.679 we believe, that they bear the image of God, 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:47.139 and they are worthy of dignity. In other words, 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:57.000 no one should be left out. Imago Dei isn't something 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.539 that we bear because of our beliefs. Imago Dei 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:04.620 is not something we bear because of our religion. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:09.220 Imago Dei is not something we bear because of 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:13.559 the color of our skin. Or our location. We bear 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:20.700 the image of God by simply being. We don't have 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:27.799 to earn it. We already have it. And we've been 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:31.259 given an example of how to live the image of 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:37.700 God to the fullest. John 1 tells us, Jesus was 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:40.799 with God and was God from the beginning. Through 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.000 him all things were made. Without him nothing 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.440 was made that has been made. When God said, let 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.379 us make humans in our image, we're meant to understand 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:53.759 that part of the image we bear already looks 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:01.100 like Jesus. Has already held the shape of Jesus 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:08.279 from the beginning. We could ask, well, if that's 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:14.279 true. Why would we need Jesus at all? Well, the 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.279 answer is because history proves we have no idea 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.799 how to live like people made in the image of 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:27.000 God. We have no idea how to treat everyone else 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:31.179 on this planet like they really are made in the 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:36.700 image of God. We needed to see it. We needed 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:40.909 proof that it could be done. And so when Jesus 00:11:40.909 --> 00:11:44.250 was born to Mary in Bethlehem and lived and taught 00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:46.889 and healed and preached and turned the other 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:49.970 cheek and loved his enemies and died and was 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:53.389 resurrected, in all of that, he lived his life 00:11:53.389 --> 00:11:57.070 in our flesh, in our likeness, so that we could 00:11:57.070 --> 00:12:04.830 see, finally, how to bear his likeness. What 00:12:04.830 --> 00:12:08.899 did he say in John 10 .10? It's a part of our 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:11.259 prayer. Every month we pray the prayer to live. 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:14.799 He said, I have come to give you life, life to 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:20.200 the full. Jesus is the perfect living example 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:24.240 of the fullness of the Imago Dei. And that is 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:29.879 why we follow him. That is why we need him. The 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:33.019 Apostle Paul says it like this in Colossians 00:12:33.019 --> 00:12:38.100 2. For in him the whole... fullness of deity 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:43.500 dwells bodily. And you have come to fullness 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:48.019 in him who is the head of every ruler and authority. 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:51.379 I especially like the way that the message says 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:55.279 this. Eugene Peterson translated it this way. 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:59.940 Everything of God gets expressed in Jesus. So 00:12:59.940 --> 00:13:03.899 you... can see and hear him clearly. You don't 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:06.460 need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:10.460 to realize the fullness of Christ and the emptiness 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.000 of the universe without him. When you come to 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:17.320 Jesus, that fullness comes together for you. 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:27.220 We all bear the image of God at our base. It 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:32.960 is the default model. that you already bear the 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:37.879 likeness of God. We are all invited to live that 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:44.820 image fully. His fullness shows us how to love 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:48.799 our neighbors, how to do unto others as we would 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:53.000 have them do to us. It shows us how to stop dividing 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.759 each other by color and gender and identity. 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.259 The fullness of Jesus shows us that no matter 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.779 what someone looks like, no matter who they are, 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.899 where they're from, no matter what they believe, 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:18.200 that to other someone is to other Christ. To 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:22.320 other someone is to other Christ, and to embrace 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:29.279 them is to embrace Jesus. In the beginning, we 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.899 were made in the image of God. In the middle, 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.419 Jesus lived in our flesh to show us how to live 00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:38.559 in his likeness. And at the end, we see the beauty 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:41.980 of what that leads to. Let me read it again. 00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:46.259 Revelation 7, verse 9. After this, I looked and 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:53.720 saw a multitude too large to count from every 00:14:53.720 --> 00:15:01.090 nation and tribe. And people. And tongue. Standing 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:04.490 before the throne and before the Lamb. They were 00:15:04.490 --> 00:15:06.750 wearing white robes and holding palm branches 00:15:06.750 --> 00:15:09.309 in their hands. And they cried out in a loud 00:15:09.309 --> 00:15:12.830 voice, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne 00:15:12.830 --> 00:15:16.350 and to the Lamb. There was a multitude too large 00:15:16.350 --> 00:15:21.970 to count. From every nation, every tribe, every 00:15:21.970 --> 00:15:26.710 people, every tongue. something about Jesus will 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:31.250 both honor and unite us in our differences and 00:15:31.250 --> 00:15:36.309 make space for all of us at the foot of his throne. 00:15:37.509 --> 00:15:47.409 The Imago Dei is a divine rationality and the 00:15:47.409 --> 00:15:53.490 convergence of likeness and image through Jesus. 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:58.000 It is God's love and goodness and kindness. It 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.960 is sharing authority in the earth we have been 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.240 given. It is about basic human rights. And yes, 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:06.620 it is also about relationship. And when we put 00:16:06.620 --> 00:16:12.539 all of that together, Imago Dei is about the 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:15.240 inclusive nature of the divine and internally 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:22.940 diverse God. Three in one. Father, Son, Holy 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:26.279 Spirit. distinct in persons, one in essence and 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.879 being. There is something about this story that 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.720 says from the beginning to the end that there's 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:41.440 room for you. Maybe I'm wrong. That's always 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:46.820 possible. Ask my wife. But from the beginning, 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:52.909 I believe that God saw the end. And he's letting 00:16:52.909 --> 00:16:56.090 us see that in the end, nothing should separate 00:16:56.090 --> 00:17:00.129 us from the love that is in Jesus. And we should 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:06.150 all gather at the throne together. That is the 00:17:06.150 --> 00:17:09.970 final expression of the fullness of God's image. 00:17:10.069 --> 00:17:17.430 All of us together in one place. United by the 00:17:17.430 --> 00:17:21.880 fullness of God in Jesus. bound by the invisible 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:29.500 fabric of the Imago Dei. Today, Easter is inviting 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:33.839 us not just to believe in one moment of resurrection, 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:39.579 but to live into what that moment reveals. That 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:41.740 Jesus came to show us what the fullness of the 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.700 image of God was meant to be from the beginning. 00:17:47.980 --> 00:17:57.119 Here at the house. We really are trying to be 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:01.160 truthful and honest when we say that no one should 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:07.019 be left out. That we are all image bearers, that 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:11.480 we are all created imago dei. That doesn't mean 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.759 we get it right all the time. That doesn't mean 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:19.740 that we all agree about everything. But we are 00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:25.359 trying. That's why for years, Our church website 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.980 has said we welcome all persons and have no leadership 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.220 limits based on race, gender, identity, sexual 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:35.099 orientation, or physical ability for those who 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:37.940 confess Jesus Christ is Lord because we know 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:40.220 that throughout the centuries, plenty of people 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:42.579 have been told that they don't really belong 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:48.700 in the church. We want to do our part to let 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:51.700 them know they too are created in the image of 00:18:51.700 --> 00:19:01.529 God. They belong. We want to do our part, not 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:05.009 just waiting to be united then, but to be united 00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:14.109 now. So that we are ready to be fully united 00:19:14.109 --> 00:19:20.250 then. So for the next four Sundays, we're going 00:19:20.250 --> 00:19:22.250 to continue this conversation about the Imago 00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:25.970 Dei. Each week for the next four Sundays, we're 00:19:25.970 --> 00:19:28.650 going to have a panel discussion with members 00:19:28.650 --> 00:19:33.089 of our congregation about why no one should be 00:19:33.089 --> 00:19:36.230 left out. We're going to have a panel on women 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:39.990 in the church, a panel on disability in the church, 00:19:40.029 --> 00:19:43.690 a panel on LGBTQ inclusion in the church, a panel 00:19:43.690 --> 00:19:47.890 on race and ethnicity in the church. These are 00:19:47.890 --> 00:19:51.250 not debates. We have already decided everyone 00:19:51.250 --> 00:19:58.890 has an equal place here. But they are conversations 00:19:58.890 --> 00:20:01.849 because not all of us understand everything we 00:20:01.849 --> 00:20:04.809 need to learn about the Imago Dei in others. 00:20:06.589 --> 00:20:10.150 They are conversations about how we can understand 00:20:10.150 --> 00:20:13.970 each other and live the fullness of the image 00:20:13.970 --> 00:20:19.809 of God more fully, together, united, now. We 00:20:19.809 --> 00:20:22.450 hope that you'll join us. If you're curious about 00:20:22.450 --> 00:20:28.980 why that is, come and see. And we'll do our best 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:35.119 to live the fullness of Jesus Christ within this 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.319 body that's already created Imago Dei together. 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:50.359 Amen? Let's pray. Father, I thank you that you 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:54.700 are so good to us, that you sent your son to 00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:57.519 not only die, and be resurrected but to live, 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:05.119 to show us how we might have a fullness. We thank 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:09.259 you that in your wisdom that he did bear all 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:15.579 of our sins. We grieve that this world wants 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:20.640 to cut down and kill people like Jesus. But we 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.779 thank you that he gave his life for us. And we 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:28.400 praise you and celebrate with you that he was 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:35.240 resurrected to new life. Pray your spirit would 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:38.319 do the work that only the spirit can do in each 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:42.440 and every one of us in this place. For Christ 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.079 is risen. He is risen indeed.