Yes, Terry. Thank you, Terry. Doris, such a beloved
part of our church, left incredibly big shoes
to fill, and she'll be missed. Last Sunday, she
sat right over here. And the previous Sunday,
she sat over here. And so we're so very thankful.
And today, she sits in the communion of saints,
beholding the face of her Savior. I'm sure she's
singing that more noble power, sweeter song that
can save her as she lies silent in the grave.
That's amazing to me. We'll continue to pray
for Terry, Kim, the family, and this week as
we prepare for the funeral. You know, Doris would
want us, she'd say, I know what Doris would say.
She'd say, right, now preach Jesus to them because
he's the hope. So let's look to Jesus at this
time, Matthew chapter 9. It's a longer passage
than what I normally preach on, but let's read
through. It's going to be verses 14 through 26.
You may not have, if you've read these before,
think they don't tie in. I hope to show you this
morning that they actually do go together. So
beginning in verse 14, it says, Then the disciples
of John, that is John the Baptist, came to him,
that is Jesus, and they had a question for him.
They said, Why do we and the Pharisees, we fast
often, but your disciples do not fast. And Jesus
said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom
mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But days will come when the bridegroom will be
taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment. For the patch falls away from the garment,
and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new
wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins
break. The wine is spilled, and the wineskins
are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins,
and both are preserved. Now if we stop there,
it would seem a little bit like, what's going
on here? But keep reading. Now while he spoke
these things to them, behold, a ruler came, that's
a ruler from the synagogue named Jairus, and
worshipped him, fell before him. saying, My daughter
has just died, but come and lay your hand on
her, and she will live. So Jesus arose and followed
him, and so did his disciples. And suddenly,
as they were making their way to Jairus' house,
a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years
came from behind and touched the hem of his garment.
For she said to herself, If only I may touch
his garment, I shall be made well. But Jesus
turned around, and when he saw her, he said,
Be of good cheer. Take heart, daughter. Your
faith has made you well. And the woman was made
well from that hour. Now when Jesus came into
the ruler's house and saw the flute players and
the noisy crowd wailing, he said to them, Make
room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.
And they ridiculed him. But when the crowd was
put outside, he went in and took her by the hand,
and the girl arose. And the report of this went
out into all that land. Let's pray and ask the
Lord to help us. Our Father, Lord, we're so very
thankful there is hope. There is a confident
hope, even in the midst of death. Lord, as my
sister Terry is just standing and testifying
to her own mother, Lord, we're so very thankful
that, Lord God, the gift of faith and grace that
you have given, and Lord God, that even death
does not separate us from your love. That, Lord,
there is hope that lies beyond the grave. And,
Lord, God, help us, Lord, this morning to see
the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, and
what he has done. God, open our eyes to behold
wondrous things out of your law. We pray this
in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, in Jeremiah 31, there
is a great promise. It's a promise, or prophecy,
I should say, of a time when a new covenant is
going to be given. And Jeremiah writes about
this in Jeremiah 31. He says, behold, the days
are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah. Now, they've always had a
covenant, the Mosaic covenant. But not according
to the covenant that I made with our fathers
in that day that I took them by the hand to lead
them out of the land of Egypt. He's like, we're
not looking at that old covenant. My covenant,
which they broke, though I was a husband to them,
says the Lord. This is a covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds,
and I will write it on their hearts, and I will
be their God, and they shall be my people. No
more shall every man teach his neighbor and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they
shall all know me, from the least of them to
the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will
forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will
remember no more. Now the Jewish people had always
been defined by their relationship to the Mosaic
Covenant. We call that the law, the law of Moses.
In fact, their whole Jewish identity, the way
they dressed, the way they ate, the way they
interacted with people, was tied to that covenant
that God gave to them through Moses. But now
you have this great prophet Jeremiah, and God
is telling the people through him, That there's
coming a day when a new covenant would come,
unlike the one they had always known, and it
would be better. It's new. It's radically different.
It would not be the law 2 .0. They don't need
an updated law, but rather this is an entirely
new covenant. So the Jews knew that. Now if you
look at Isaiah, the other great prophet, there's
all kinds of promises that God gave to Israel
that he's going to send them a deliverer, a rescuer.
a Messiah. So all this was very familiar to the
Jewish people. In fact, it would have been in
their collective psyche at any time. So they
would live in expectation of these promises one
day being fulfilled. Now, 600 years after Jeremiah,
there comes this man out of the desert, dressed
in funny clothes, eating funny food, John the
Baptist, and he comes on the scene and he begins
to call Israel to repent. And he says, you need
to repent for the Lord is coming. The Lord's
arrival is at hand. Something new was happening.
So in essence, if John was preaching that what
had been prophesied through Isaiah, through Jeremiah,
it was coming and it would soon be fulfilled.
Do you remember on that day when John the Baptist
first sees his cousin Jesus, he looks and he
cries out for the very first time, behold the
Lamb of God, which takes away. The sin of the
world. Now you can hear in that statement, takes
away the sin of the world, the echoes of that
promise given to Jeremiah about the promise of
a new covenant when what? I will forgive their
iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.
So John, the Baptist that is, began to be heralded
as this great prophet. He was very popular with
the people and in fact there was many disciples
who would rally and follow him. And some of his
disciples began to have questions when they started
seeing Jesus and his followers and what they
were doing. Now last week we saw another group
have some questions. We saw the Pharisees, the
strictest religious leaders. And they were criticizing
Jesus for eating with tax collectors and eating
with other notorious sinners in Matthew's house.
They could not believe, the Pharisees could not
believe that Jesus was the one sent from God.
Because he was willing to fellowship with men
like Matthew, other notorious sinners, and people
of ill repute. But this week we see something
different. It is not the Pharisees, rather it
is John the Baptist's disciples who seem to be
somewhat critical of Jesus himself. Notice verse
14. So they come to Jesus and they're like, hey,
we have a question. What's going on with you
guys? Now they came to Jesus and they said, why
do we and the Pharisees, we're always fasting,
But your disciples, you guys don't do that. Now,
John the Baptist is most likely already in prison
at this time. And his disciples were a little
critical. They're looking at Jesus. They know
that John had been pointing to Jesus. But they
weren't doing the same things that John had taught
his people to do. They did not participate in
the same regimen of fasting. Now, you and I might
be sitting here and saying, well, what's the
big deal? I mean, why were they so critical?
Because they could not understand why Jesus and
his disciples were not strict in fasting. In
fact, they said, man, this guy's a drunken and
a wine, he's a winebibber and a glutton. He doesn't
fast, he eats whatever he wants. They're not
strict in their religious devotions like we and
the Pharisees are. Now, they could have been
confused. It appears as though they're being
critical. But at the very least, they were unable
to understand the newness of Jesus' ministry.
Now they're followers of John the Baptist. Now
remember John the Baptist is an ascetic. So that
meant he lived a very strict lifestyle. In fact,
he lived out in the desert. He followed a very
strict diet. He ate locusts and honey. He wore
strange clothes. And he held strict religious
practices. So his disciples naturally followed
his own actions. We're also told that the Pharisees
The strict religious group that opposed Jesus,
they were always fasting. And all these people
were fasting, but there was actually only one
day a year that was commanded by God to fast
for the Jewish people. And that was the day of
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Now, there
were some other special occasions when Israel
was under attack when a national fast would be
proclaimed as well. But only one day of the year
when they had to. But you had tradition growing
up. So it's particularly among the Pharisees.
So by the time we get to Jesus, the Pharisees
were fasting two days a week, every week, religiously.
And apparently that was also the custom of John
and his disciples. That's a lot. I mean, we're
going without food for two days a week, and you
guys aren't doing anything. Now, why would they
be fasting? Usually that was a sign of sorrow.
But it was also a sign of anticipation. They
were fasting, awaiting the coming of God's kingdom.
So they were going to continue to fast until
the day when the kingdom of God came. And this
is what Jesus is trying to point them to. They
failed to understand the king was already present.
Why are we fasting? And you guys are not doing
the same. And Jesus said, verse 15 through 17.
I mean, can the friends of the groom mourn as
long as the groom is with them? He said, now
don't get me wrong, the days are coming when
the groom will be taken away, and then these
people will fast. Why didn't Jesus just answer
them directly? He answers them a little enigmatically,
correct? So he's referring to himself as the
groom, the bridegroom. He's referring to his
disciples as friends of the groom. That's all
Old Testament language. In Isaiah 62 and Hosea
chapter 2, Israel was referred to as the bride
of God. God sends his son to be the groom. John's
disciples were fasting as a sign of mourning.
But you don't mourn at a wedding. What do you
do at a wedding? That's a time of rejoicing.
It's a time of feasting with friends. It's a
time of great celebration. fasting would be very
inappropriate at a wedding. And now that the
king was with them in the flesh, fasting would
be very inappropriate. And if John's disciples
could have possibly understood what was taking
place, then they would have known and understood
why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting.
The king had come. The arrival and presence of
the king was a time for rejoicing, for feasting,
for mirth, for celebration. This was not a time
for sadness or mourning or fasting at this time.
And then Jesus does, for the very first time
in the Gospel of Matthew, he refers to his eventual
death. He says, the days will come when the groom
will be taken away. And then they will fast.
He said, after I'm gone from here, it will be
appropriate to mourn, to fast, but not now. Right
now is a time to celebrate for the new had come,
what was taking place. And he does this, and
again, he speaks to them a little bit figuratively.
Look at verses 16 and 17. He says, if you look,
he says, no one puts a piece of unshunk cloth
on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from
the garment and the tear is made worse. And you're
like, I mean, is he talking to me about clothing?
Are we really talking about clothes with holes
in them? No. He said, I want you guys to consider
what happens when you have a garment that has
a hole in it and you take this piece of cloth,
a new piece of cloth, and just patch it on that
old garment. He said, you know, everyone knew
at that time, if you put a new unshrinked cloth
on an old garment, when that garment is washed
and dried for the very first time, what's going
to happen to that patch? It's going to shrink.
For the very first time. And the very thing you're
trying to do, patch the hole, it'll be worse.
And then he says something else. He says, and
why don't you put new wine into already old or
used wineskins? What were the wineskins made
of? Animal skins. Most likely goat skins. Well,
what happens when you put wine into wineskin?
That wine is going to continue to ferment. And
that wineskin is going to expand because of the
gases being expelled in the process. Again, everyone
knew at that time. If you would put new wine
into an old, stretched out wineskin, when that
new wine begins to ferment further, the skin
is going to burst, spilling all that wine. Now,
again, we're like, come on, Jesus, what's the
point you're trying to make? What was he saying
to John's disciples? He's not talking about clothing,
and he's certainly not talking about wine. His
point was that a new age had dawned. The king
had arrived, and he's going to usher in this
new epic under a new covenant. Jesus Christ did
not come to patch up the old covenant. Rather,
he came to bring something entirely new, exactly
what Jeremiah had prophesied of. He did not come
to put the new wine of the new covenant into
the old wineskins of the law. That wasn't going
to work. The old was passing away because the
new had come. The kingdom for which they had
been praying and longing for and anticipating
had arrived because the king had arrived. So
this is not a time for mourning, folks. This
is a time for celebration. The promises of God
at that time were being fulfilled. When Jesus
arrived on the scene, he was the consummation
and fulfillment of the old covenant, and it was
the inauguration of the new covenant. Now we
go to two miracles, and they don't seem to be
related. Matthew then, now immediately in his
condensed version, which is how Matthew writes,
he presents two intertwined miracles. You have
the healing of a bleeding woman, and you have
the raising of a dead girl. Why? The new age
had come. Because this is what the kingdom of
God in its fullness looks like. When the new
kingdom arrives in fullness, there'll be no sickness,
and there'll be no death, and those are illustrated
in these miracles before us. These miracles are
not for ostentatious display. They're not that
you can sit back and just be in awe. Rather,
they are there to reveal who Jesus Christ really
is, the King of Israel. Now look at the text.
While he was speaking, a ruler came. As he was
talking with John the Baptist's disciples, you
have a desperate man coming. Very desperate.
And he's asking for help. Now Matthew just tells
us he was a ruler, but Mark and Luke tells us
he was a ruler of the synagogue. And his name
was Jairus. This means, because he's a ruler
of the synagogue, he would be incredibly well
respected in the community. So a man of his stature.
dignified, well -respected, it would have been
a hard time for him to come and humble himself
and ask for help. He didn't normally need to
ask for help. But this situation was different.
It was dire. This is a desperate man before us.
We are told that he came and it says worshipped
him. Other versions may not say this. It may
say bow down. The word is proskounou in Greek
and it literally just means to bow down. And
this means it's a posture of humility. It's a
posture of reverence. And when it's referred
to God, it does mean to worship. We bow down
before God. So you have this well -respected
ruler of the synagogue. He falls before Jesus'
feet, showing respect and submission. He knows
he needs Jesus. He also knows that Jesus is the
only one who can help. But why is he so desperate?
Why is he falling before another man's feet begging?
Because his daughter, we know is 12 years old,
she just died. Could there be, I don't know,
any situation more desperate than a dad who just
lost a daughter? You're out of your mind with
grief. You're beside yourself. And this man,
he knows, he's heard of Jesus, he knows Jesus.
He's aware of the miracles. And he believes that
if Jesus will come and just touch his daughter,
that she's going to live again. That's incredible
faith. That's not desperation. That's a faith
-filled man right there. And we see in Jairus
a man who had faith in Jesus. Now, I don't know
who exactly Jairus thought Jesus was. Obviously,
he knew that Jesus was more than a teacher. He
was more than a prophet. He was more than a rabbi.
He also truly believed with all his heart if
Jesus would just touch his daughter, she'd be
raised back to life. Did he know that Jesus was
God in the flesh? I don't know. We're not told
that. But he did know this, that Jesus had been
sent from God and possessed the power of God.
In verse 19, we see Jesus and he agrees to go
with Jairus. He says, yeah, I'll come. I will
heal your daughter. He goes and his disciples
follow him. But in verse 20, this narrative is
interrupted with another desperate person. This
time it's not a man. It's a woman. And folks,
you know women at this time did not hold the
same status in society as men. But the difference
between Jairus and this woman, it is striking.
Jairus, he's a leader. He's a leader of the synagogue.
We don't even know her name. She's left nameless.
Jairus is well respected in society. This woman
has been shunned and exiled from society. Jairus
is a man of means. He has some wealth. This woman
has spent all her money on doctors who could
offer her no help whatsoever. Everyone wanted
to be Jairus' friend. No one wanted to be hers.
Verse 20. And suddenly a woman... Who had a flow
of blood for 12 years, came from behind and touched
the hem of his garment. For she said to herself,
if I only may touch his garment, I shall be made
well. She's desperate. She's as desperate as
Jairus was. She had spent every penny she had.
Her entire life savings were gone. She had spent
them on doctors and she still was none the better.
Can you imagine? You're hopeless. I'm not getting
any better. I've spent everything. I don't even
have money to go to another doctor. She knew
a doctor's not what I need. And she also had
heard of a miracle worker. She truly believed
that if Jesus, if she could just get to Jesus,
then the relief she so desperately sought for
would finally be hers. If I only, I don't have
to have a conversation with him. I don't have
to have a meeting with him. If I can just touch
his garment, she said. Then I'll be healed. Just
like Jairus, this woman has all her faith in
Jesus. And her situation was not life -threatening,
but it might as well have been because I'm sure
she thought her life was over. Because of this
flow of blood problem, and we don't know exactly
what it was. Was it hemorrhaging? We don't know.
But we do know this. She was rendered ritually
unclean. That meant she could not participate
in community. or in worship at the temple. She
would have been forbidden from that. She was
unable to participate in religious life. And
as a Jewish woman, that must have felt like a
death sentence. And by the way, it's been that
way for 12 years. She can't go to any parties.
She can't go to a birthday party. She can't be
in crowds. She can't go temple. She has to stay
away from everyone, for anyone who touches her
becomes unclean. She's desperate. Now the other
Gospels, Mark and Luke, they let us know that
at the time great crowds were pressing in on
Jesus. Where should this woman not have been
in a great crowd? Why? Because again, anyone
who just bumped up and touched her at all was
rendered ceremonially unclean and they wouldn't
be able to go to the temple until they had been
cleansed. Mark chapter 5 verse 24. So Jesus went
with him, that is Jairus, and a great multitude
followed him, and notice what Mark says, thronged
him. It's like what we see when stars are out,
and the paparazzi's all around, and they can't
hardly make their way through. So the crowds
were thronging Jesus, and by the way, there was
a lady among them, this lady, and she was not
asking for Jesus to meet with her face to face.
Oh, just let me touch his garment. Let me get
close enough in there. By the way, how close
do you have to get if you're going to touch the
hem of his garment? And why do you think she's
touching the hem of his garment? Where do you
think she is? She's probably on her hands and
knees trying to crawl up between them. I've just
got to get to that tassel there. And she did
so. And as soon as she did, she was healed. Notice
Mark, and I'm going to quote Mark here, chapter
5 again. Immediately, the fountain of her blood
was dried up, and she felt in her body that she
was healed of this affliction. And Jesus immediately,
knowing in himself, that power had gone out of
him, he turned around in the crowd and said,
who touched my clothes? But his disciples, I
love this, they're so human. His disciples said
to him, what do you mean who touched your clothes?
You see the multitude thronging you. I mean,
you really want to know who touched you, Jesus?
Look around, any of these people touched you.
And he looked around to see who had done this
thing. As soon as she touched his robe. the tassel
off the garment. He knew power had gone out from
him. And I love this. He wanted to talk to her.
He stopped in an emergency situation to talk
to this woman. Now let me just say, if I'm Jairus,
I'm frustrated. And that's probably the wrong
word. Because he needs Jesus to get to his house.
And he's on his way to his house to heal his
dead daughter. But he has time, not for another
Jairus, but for a nameless, helpless, desperate,
unclean lady. Jesus is not a respecter of persons,
folks. He's not impressed with titles. He's not
impressed with prestige. He's not going with
Jairus because he is Jairus, the leader of the
synagogue. That's not the way he's going. Jairus
came and humbled himself before him. He's not
going to show any preferential treatment whatsoever
over this woman and Jairus simply because he
was a leader in the community. He's not going
to do that. I love this. He has time for a poor
lady amid an emergency. What do you and I see
in this? He's not too busy for you. He's sometimes
like, well, he's running the whole universe.
The cosmos depends upon him. He has time for
you, folks. See, really important people, they
have handlers that's going to tell you who gets
an audience with this person and who does not.
They oversee their affairs and manages their
time. Jesus has no handlers, folks. He doesn't
have anyone saying, yeah, you can get an audience.
No, you can't. He doesn't only allow certain
people to talk to him. It doesn't matter if you're
a gyrus, well -respected, or you're a poor, desperate,
no -name lady. Why? Because Jesus cares for his
people. He's the great shepherd. And he protects,
he defends, and he cares for his sheep, even
the nameless ones. And perhaps in particular,
the nameless ones. Verse 22 of chapter 9, he
says, but Jesus turned around and he saw her
and he said, I love this, he's not mad at her.
He said, be of good cheer. Rejoice, take heart,
daughter. Daughter. Your faith has made you well,
and the woman's made well from that hour. He
called her daughter, a term of endearment. He's
restoring to her dignity and a place back in
society. No longer is she unclean, folks. No
longer is she isolated from society. She'd been
made whole through faith in Jesus. Now, what
about Jairus? What about his daughter? So he
goes to the house. And Jesus came into the ruler's
house. He saw the flute players and the noisy
crowd wailing. And he said to them, make room
for this girl's not dead but sleeping. And they
ridiculed him. They finally get there. I felt,
if I were Jairus, I mean, it probably had to
feel like an eternity. They get, and by this
time, a crowd had gathered to mourn with the
family. In ancient times, in Jewish culture,
no one mourned or grieved alone. In fact, it
was customary that you would hire professional
mourners. That makes no sense to us. But even
the poorest of family would have hired two flute
players and one wailer. Someone who's just wailing
to be present. And the idea behind that is no
one grieves alone. You weep with those who weep.
We rejoice with those who rejoice. But Jairus
is not a poor man. He's a wealthy man. And Matthew
tells us there's a noisy crowd. Probably much
more than two flute players and many wailers.
The scene's chaotic. It's full of commotion.
And I love what Jesus does. The Lord steps in
and he tells them, he goes, hey guys, stop. Stop
playing, stop wailing, stop grieving. This girl's
not dead. She's asleep. And they laughed. They
ridiculed. They mocked him to scorn. They knew
the girl was dead. And by the way, Jesus knew
she was dead. But he also knew that in just a
moment, this little girl would be raised back
to life so that it would appear that she had
only been sleeping. And by the way, what do we
call the believer's repose in death? We call
it sleep. They're present with the Lord. But
it's a euphemism for death here. So the Lord
Jesus, he dismissed the crowd. He puts everyone
outside we know from Mark. Everyone except Jairus
and Jairus' wife. Now, I can imagine. This is
me reading into the text. But if Jesus said,
I need all these people outside, who do you think
is the one kicking everyone out of his house?
I bet Jairus. I mean, Jairus, can you imagine
him forcefully telling the people to be quiet
and get out? Why? He truly believes she's going
to be healed. And the quicker y 'all get out
of here and let him do his thing, the quicker
I get my little girl back. This situation is
serious. Verse 25. And when the crowd was put
outside, he, that is Jesus, went in. He took
her by the hand. What do you not do as a Jewish
man to a dead body? You don't touch. Right? But
he took her by the hand. And that little girl
arose. She got up. She was raised back to life.
Now again, under the old law, the old wineskin,
if you will. Him touching her would have made
him unclean. That's the old wine of the law.
But the new had come. And he made the unclean
clean without defiling himself. The new wine
was there. Now look at verse 26. I love when
the Bible does these things because I think it's
just hilarious. And in my notes I put, no kidding.
And the report of this went out into all the
land. Yeah, no kidding. I'm like, can you imagine?
Word gets out, a 12 -year -old girl died and
was raised back to life. I can imagine news went
everywhere. Why? Because everyone who was sick
now had hope. And every parent who was on the
verge of losing a child had hope. It happened
once. He can do it again. But why is Matthew
putting these here? Something new was happening
in Israel because the new age had dawned. The
new age had come. The new wine of the new covenant
was ready to drink. You say, but how does this
apply to any of us here this morning at Mamre
Baptist Church in Southern Ohio? I want you to
see this one. I think this is exactly what's
so important. Look at what Matthew's doing. He
is not happy. sharing miracle stories. Oh, he's
a great apologist building a case for Christ.
So let me ask you this question. Who is Jesus?
Matthew has absolutely wonderfully and masterfully
shown us. Jesus is the one who has power over
stormy seas. Remember back in Matthew 8? They're
in the boat. They're going to drown and Jesus
gets up and says, hey, wind and waves, stop.
And they did. He's the one who has power over
demons. Remember Matthew 8? He goes over to the
Decapolis, the Gentile land, and the two demon
-possessed men, and Jesus rescues them and restores
them back to natural health. He's the one who
restored and healed the paralyzed man. Remember
in Matthew 9, the four friends who brought their
quadriplegic friend to Jesus, and Jesus healed
the man? He healed the paralyzed man. Today he's
the one who healed the woman with the issue of
blood and no doctor could do anything for her.
Today we see he is the one who raises the dead
back to life. Who is he? He's the long awaited
promised by God king. That's who he is. And this
is what it means this morning. He's the one who
can bring hope to hopeless situations. He's the
one who has authority, we saw also in Mark 9,
to forgive sins. He is the only one here this
morning who can save your soul and deliver you
from the consequences of your sin. He is the
one. Jesus Christ. He's the one who brought the
new wine of the new covenant with the promise
of eternal forgiveness. Their sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. Praise God for that.
Friends, your faith does not need to be perfect.
Whose is? But just like Jairus and just like
this woman, it must rest completely in Jesus
Christ. That's it. That's what Matthew's driving
home. He's the king. He is Lord. He is the longed
for Messiah. So now what? One principle and that's
it. This is the whole point. Trust him. You trust
him. Lord, I trust you. What helps a grieving
family? Jesus Christ. The one who has defeated
death. What hope do you have? Jesus Christ. When
you're going through the worst trial of your
life, where do you turn? To Jesus Christ. But
on your best day, when everything seems to be
sunshiny, who are you trusting? Jesus Christ.
There is no other. Matthew has clearly shown
us that, friends. Now you trust him. The new
wine, it was shed on that fateful day at Calvary.
And today we share in that. We look forward to
this meal and we get to remember Jesus and his
death and his body being broken and his blood
being shed for our sins and we commune with the
risen Lord who's alive today and offers fellowship
with his people. If you don't know him, trust
him. Bow before him, confessing your sins and
crying out, Lord, save me. And he saves all who
come to him in faith. Let's pray. Father, I thank
you for your word.