If you have a copy of scriptures, I would invite
you to find the very last book of the Bible,
the book of the Revelation. And we will be looking
at chapter 5 this morning in just a moment. Before
we begin, would you intercede with me that the
Lord... would open up his word to us this morning.
Let's bow and ask him to help. Father, in your
mercy, Lord. God, we will not have eyes to see
or ears to hear unless your spirit, Lord, opens
them. And Father, this morning we pray that you
would do so, that we might behold wondrous things
out of your law. Lord, reveal Christ to us. Expand,
Lord, our understanding of his greatness and
of his majesty and of his glory, Lord. Jesus
is the son in whom you are well pleased, Lord.
Let us make much of him this morning, we pray
in Christ's name. Amen. So we come to the final
Sunday of September where we're going to end
our missions emphasis month. We began three short
weeks ago with Brother Josh Wormley, our missionary
in Africa, and he started to detail the work
of missions and even some of the dangers that
missionaries may face on the field. Then the
following Sunday, the 14th, Pastor Kyle preached
really on the movement of missions. How it starts
out locally in Jerusalem, Judea, spreads out
to Samaria, and then eventually goes to the uttermost
parts of the earth. Last week we had Pastor Greg
Wagner with us and he preached on the message
of missions. And today I want to finish with
the goal. What's the end of missions? Sometimes
you might understand the word telos. Telos means
the purpose. What is the purpose? What's the
goal in mind with missions? Now, some may say,
well, it's to get as many people saved from hell
as possible. That's worthy, and that's admirable,
but it's not the main goal. If we're going to
understand the end of missions or the goal of
it, we need to ask, what is God's purpose? What
is his goal in that we send out missionaries?
And Jesus told us this. In John chapter 4, Jesus
said that the Father is seeking something. What
is it that the Father wants? In John chapter
4, Jesus said the Father is seeking worshipers.
Those who will worship him in spirit and in truth.
The goal of missions is worship. John Piper famously
said that missions exist because worship doesn't.
And so he went on to say, missions is our way
of saying the joy of knowing Christ. It is not
a private or a tribal or a national, nor is it
an ethnic privilege. It is for all. So that telos,
or the end or the goal of missions, is worship.
But not just any worship. Christ -centered, Christ
-exalting, Trinitarian worship. That is, worship
directed to the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit.
See, the goal of missions is never about us,
or primarily about us. Everything that takes
place is for the promotion of God and His glory.
So when we talk about missions, it is to create
worshipers who will give glory to God. What is
the chief end of man? Can't look at you, Kim.
The chief end of man is to glorify God and to
enjoy Him forever. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
10, whether you eat or drink or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God. Everything, eating,
drinking, mundane tasks such as that, is for
the glory of God, which means everything you
do ends in worship. What does it mean then to
worship God? It's a Christian buzzword. We gather
for corporate worship. But what do we mean? To
worship is to ascribe ultimate worth and glory
and reverence and awe and love and devotion to
God who alone is worthy. Worship is the believer's
response to God's saving grace. It really involves
two parts. There's adoration and there's submission.
In the Old Testament, written primarily in Hebrew,
there are two commonly words used. You have shahah
to bow down and abad to serve. So one word, shahah,
describes our posture. We bow down. It is good
to get on our knees. It is good to bow our heads
before him. And the other word, abad, is to serve.
That describes our action. We serve our king.
The New Testament, written in Greek, follows
the same pattern here. There's two commonly used
words. You have proskuneo, which means to bow
down, to prostrate oneself. And lathruyo, to
serve or to minister. So worship, when we're
talking about worship this morning, we're talking
about bowing down before our king. We recognize
his sovereignty. And by bowing down, we show
our humility, but we also show our dependence
upon him. And secondly, though, we serve him.
Now, I want to look at a passage this morning
found in the fifth chapter of the book of the
Revelation. Let me just say as a side note, this
is not the book of Revelations, plural. It is
one. There's just one revelation. Chapter 1,
verse 1 says, the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It's the unveiling, the revealing of Christ.
Now in chapter 4, the apostle John, who wrote
the book, he was invited into the throne room
of heaven. And we find them in chapter 4 singing
praises to Christ because of his role in creation.
Now we move to chapter 5 and the theme switches.
From Christ the creator to Christ the redeemer.
And we're going to spend the next few moments
looking at this chapter together. Let's look
at the first four verses. In John writing, he
says, and I saw, this is a vision, and I saw
in the right hand of him who sat on the throne
a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed
with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the
scroll and to loose its seals? And no one in
heaven or on the earth or under the earth was
able to open the scroll. Or to even look at it.
So I wept much. Because no one was found worthy.
No one was found worthy to open and read the
scroll or to even look at it. So we have a scene
set before us. God the Father is seated on his
throne. And in his right hand there's a scroll.
And we're told it has seven seals. And the scroll
has writing on both sides. Which indicates it
is complete and nothing can be added. What does
this scroll contain? It's the title deed to the
earth. It is God's sovereign plan for history,
for judgment, and redemption. And there are seven
seals. Seven in scripture symbolizes completion
or perfection. Think of the seven days of creation.
So the seven seals that the scroll has means
it is perfectly and completely sealed and complete.
The contents, though, are totally inaccessible
at this point. To go back to the ancient world,
when they wanted to have a binding document,
they were sealed with a king's signet ring to
prevent tampering. And if it had more than one
seal, it showed the importance of it. For example,
a will might be sealed several times, meaning
it could only be opened by the rightful heir.
So now you have God the Father in his right hand.
He's holding a mysterious scroll. No one's even
worthy to look upon it. In verse 2, we have a
strong angel. And he cries out with a loud voice.
Strong angel, loud voice. It's important. Who's
worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?
Now notice what it does not say. It doesn't say
who can open it. It says who is worthy to open
it. This is not a question about strength. It's
a question about worth. has the innate worthiness
of character? Who has the divine right that would
qualify him to take the title deed of the earth
and open it? You see the answer in verse 3. And
no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
was able to open the scroll. And I love John's
addendum here. Not only were they unworthy to
open it, they were unworthy to even look at it.
There's no one worthy. All creation falls short.
There is not an angel, a man, or a woman in all
creation who is able to open this document. Clearly
we see humanity's inability to redeem itself.
We're all unworthy. And this unworthiness is
universal. There's not anyone in the entire universe
found worthy to open the scroll and to break
the seals. So John has this visceral response
in verse 4. I wept much. He's weeping. He's weeping
strongly because no one is found worthy to open
it or to read it. So the apostle John himself...
One chosen by Christ, the beloved apostle. He's
not worthy and he's weeping much because without
the scroll being open, God's plan of redemption
is not completed. And much more, the judgments
that are going to fall on the earth and right
all the wrongs will never take place. He's left
in a conundrum here. He's weeping. What's going
to happen? Verse 5. But one of the elders said
to me, Do not weep. Behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David. He has prevailed
to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.
Don't weep. There is hope. There is one who is
worthy. There is one who is qualified. One who
is able not only to look upon the scroll, but
to open it and to loose its seals. There is an
appointed heir. It's the title deed. One person
qualified with the divine right and the moral
authority to exact judgment on humanity and at
the same time redeem God's people. He, who, excuse
me, is that rightful heir? It's the root of David.
This is Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews chapter
1 tells us that Christ is, quote, the heir of
all things. Psalm chapter 2 tells us, or the
second Psalm, shows us that Christ was the one
to whom the Father gave a promise. What's that
promise? You're going to rule the earth and inherit
all the nations. In Psalm 2, we see God speaking.
So the rulers are raging. He says, I have set
my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare
the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are
my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me
and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.
And the ends of the earth for your possession.
He gets it all. All creation is his. You shall
break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash
them to pieces like a potter's vessel. You, Jesus,
will bring judgment. But first he will bring
redemption. There is one who is qualified to
open the scroll, to loose the seals, and release
judgments on the earth. Well, who is he? He never
says Jesus. He first of all says the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. This is a reference to the
Messianic King. We read about this in Genesis
49. And I love how the Old Testament leads and
dovetails into the New. Genesis 49, verse 8.
Judah. You are he whom your brother shall praise.
And Judah means praise, by the way. Your hand
shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's
children shall bow down before you. Judah is
a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have
gone up. He bows down. He lies down like a lion.
And as a lion, who shall rouse him? Now look
at verse 10. This is the promise. The scepter,
the rule, shall not depart from Judah. nor a
lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh,
until Messiah comes. And to him, this one from
Judah, shall be the obedience of the people.
John says, that's Jesus. And in case we're confused,
he said, it's the root of David. The root of
David? Yeah, Isaiah 11, 1 and 10. There shall
come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse. Jesse's
David's father. And a branch shall grow out of
his roots. And in that day there shall be a root
of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people
for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting
place shall be glorious. Okay, now understand
what Isaiah is saying. There's coming one who
descended from Jesse. He's actually going to
be a descendant of David. He brought David's
line into existence as the creator. Yet he also
has his roots in David as his descendant. Now
that ought to make you scratch your head. How
can this Messiah be both David's creator and
his descendant? By the way, that was the very
question that Jesus Christ posed to the Pharisees.
As a human. One born of Mary. Jesus had his root
in David. But as God, the eternal son, he is
the root of David. And he is both human and divine.
The God -man we're speaking of here. The elder
then, in Revelation 5, he comes to the apostle
John. He says, stop crying. There's a lion who's
prevailed. He's worthy to open this scroll. He's
worthy to reveal its contents. How did he prevail
though? Through his death and resurrection. It
was through the death and resurrection that the
Lord Jesus defeated Satan, overcame sin, vanquished
death, and it granted him the sovereign authority
of the earth and to open all scrolls. Now the
remainder of chapter 5 is going to be focused
on the worship of this lion. Look at verses 6
and 7. And I looked, and behold, in the midst
of the throne and of the four living creatures,
in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent
out into all the earth. Then he, that is the
lamb, came, and he took the scroll out of the
right hand of him who sat on the throne. All
right. The elder just told John that this lion
from Judah's tribe has prevailed. So John turns
around and he's expecting to see a lion. But
instead he turns around and what does he see?
He sees a lamb. And it's a lamb that looks as
though it's been slain, yet it's standing. So
the Lord Jesus is both the lion from Judah's
tribe and he's the slain yet living lamb. Now
what's going on here? You see here a contrast.
And it's really a contrast. Of Jesus' two advents.
His first advent, first coming. Second advent,
what he will fulfill when he comes again. As
the lamb, Jesus was judged. As the lion, he will
judge. As the lamb, he offered his body as a
sacrifice. As the lion, he returns as the king.
As the lamb, he came to serve. As the lion, he
came to rule. He comes reigning. As the lamb,
he comes meek and mild. As the lamb, he comes
meek and mild. As the lion, he comes majestic.
Both of these are talking about the advent of
Christ. The lion at his second coming. And so
the reference here, when we see, talking about
a lion, John turns and sees a lamb, we can't
help but think of John the Baptist's words when
he first saw Jesus. Do you remember there in
Matthew chapter 1, or John chapter 1? It says,
When John saw him, he said, behold, the Lamb
of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
The Apostle John, seeing this Lamb is so very
important because it reveals the work and ministry
of Christ as our Redeemer. And it really answers
the question that Isaac had for Abraham. Do you
remember, Abraham is told to go and offer up
his son Isaac. And on the way up there, Isaac
asked this most important question in Genesis
22. Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said,
my father. And he said, here I am, my son. And
Isaac's looking around. He says, hey, dad, look,
you got fire and you got wood. But where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham says these
prophetic words. My son. God will provide, now
we have for himself, but literally it says God
will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering.
So the two of them went on together. And then
John the Baptist, when he first sees Jesus, behold
the lamb of God. Which takes away the sin of
the world. Jesus is the answer to Isaac's question.
My dad wears the lamb. Jesus is the lamb that
God has provided. He is the lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. Now notice where
he is in the vision here. In the midst of the
throne. He's in the center. The Lord Jesus Christ
stands as a center and focus of heavenly worship.
He's in the midst of the throne and he's surrounded
by four living creatures and the 24 elders, which
represents God's people from both Old and New
Covenant. You have the 12 patriarchs and the
12 apostles combined together, the 24 elders.
I know I'm going fast, but that's a side note
there. So what's the point? Jesus is in the midst.
Jesus is the center of all that happens in heaven.
And so what we understand is, friends, we do
not worship a baby lying in a manger, but rather
we worship the living, reigning Lamb of God ruling
today from heaven. Now John gives this description,
and if we're not careful, we'll focus too much
on literal aspects of it. He said this lamb had
seven horns. What does seven represent? Perfection
or completion. So horns speak of power. So it
speaks of perfect power. His omnipotence. The
Lamb has seven eyes. Perfect sight. Perfect knowledge.
Represents his omniscience. Seven spirits of
God. This does not mean that there are literally
seven separate spirits of God. This is a vision,
folks. This points to the fullness of the Holy
Spirit in his perfect power and perfect presence.
So the seven spirits represents the Holy Spirit
in his complete work. sent out into all the earth
shows his omnipresence. So we have his omnipotence,
his omniscience, and his omnipresence. But there's
a great paradox we see in verse 6. This lamb
stood as a lamb as though it had been slain.
It's slain, it's killed, yet here it is standing
alive in the midst of heaven. It's his resurrection.
The cross. Looks like a glaring defeat, but because
of Christ's resurrection, that seeming defeat
has been turned into the world's greatest victory
ever. And we start to sing about this. Look at
verses 7 through 10. Then he, the Lamb, he came
and took the scroll out of the right hand of
him who sat on the throne. So Jesus takes the
throne from the Father. Now when he had taken
the scroll, The four living creatures and the
24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having
a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which
are the prayers of the saints. And they sang
a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the
scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain,
and you have redeemed us to God by your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and
nation. And you have made us kings and priests
to our God. And we shall reign on the earth.
When the Lamb came and took that scroll from
God the Father's hand, the weeping ended and
the worshiping began. Now, I hesitate putting
this in here. What we see in Revelation when
Jesus takes a scroll from God the Father's hand
is the fulfillment of Daniel's vision of Daniel
7. Quickly, and I won't spend a lot of time on
this. Daniel writes this, another vision. I was
watching in the night visions, and behold, one
like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of
heaven, he came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought him near before him. Then to him, that's
that Son of Man, was given dominion and glory
and a kingdom, that all peoples and nations and
languages should serve him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
We see this taking place in Revelation 5. So
earlier, John's weeping. No one's found worthy.
Suddenly, you have a land slain approaching the
throne, and he does take that scroll from the
Father's hand. And we understand that the Lord
Jesus is the one who's uniquely qualified, uniquely
worthy to receive authority over all creation
and to fulfill God's plan for history. So when
Christ takes the scroll, all heaven begins to
fall down and worship before him. Verse 8. The
four living creatures and 24 elders fell down
and they had harps and they had bowls full of
incense. Notice what's happening. All heaven
is joining in in worshiping the Lamb which is
an affirmation of Christ's deity. Why? Because
we're told God shares his glory with no one and
the very fact that they are worshiping Christ
in the presence of God reveals that Christ is
God. The living creatures and the elders, they
have a harp. That's an instrument of praise.
They have a golden bowl full of incense, which
represents prayers. See, praise and prayers are
directed to Christ. By the way, just a side note
here. It is noteworthy. Our prayers are part
of God's plan. We may not understand how it works,
but it does mean something. And they begin to
sing. Verse 9. What kind of song are they singing
in heaven? The very first thing we're told is
that it is a new song. What do you mean a new
song? It's about the new covenant and the redemption
that Christ has accomplished. It's a worship
song. Thou art worthy. By the way, where do we
get the word worship? It comes from an old English
word, worth -ship. It's a gospel song. It's about
the good news. For you were slain and you have
redeemed us to God by your blood. That word slain
is very graphic. It's a word sfatso in Greek
and it literally means slaughtered or butchered.
Christ was butchered. He was slaughtered. That's
what it refers to, a slaughtered animal. All
of heaven is singing about the cross of Christ
and the blood of Christ that purchased our redemption.
Now I want to ask the church something. If this
is what heaven is singing about, what should
the church on earth be singing about? About the
blood of Christ, about his cross. We should be
making much of him. That's why we gather to worship,
to make much of Jesus. It's a missionary song.
For you were slain and you have redeemed us to
God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue
and people and nation. Revelation is full of
symbols. Seven represents completion. But we
have here, you have the number four. Four often
represents the whole earth. You have the four
corners of the earth, the four winds of heaven,
and here we have four terms. Every tribe, tongue,
people, and nation. What's the point? We are
seeing here that Jesus has ransomed people from
all across the globe. The goal of missions...
is that people from all nations, all languages,
all ethnic backgrounds will one day be gathered
around the throne of God singing praises to Christ
for having ransomed them. By the way, this is
why we give to missions. And this is why we go
as missionaries to make Revelation chapter 5
a reality. See, the gospel is to be preached
to all people. What did Jesus say? We are to
make disciples of all nations. It is universal
in scope, fulfilling the promise that was God
made to Abraham. Do you remember that promise
that God made to Abraham? Hey, Abraham, in your
seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.
All families of the earth, here it is. It's universal.
All languages and ethnic groups and tribes and
nations are present there at the throne of God.
It's a praise song. He made us kings and priests,
our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Do
you understand what this is saying? In the kingdom
of God, believers will be restored to God's original
intention that mankind will be his royal representatives.
Adam failed, but we won't fail anymore. Christ
is the true king and we will reign with him in
the renewed creation. Notice where we will reign.
It says on the earth. In the new heavens. And
the new earth. Our future existence, church,
is not in some ethereal heavenly existence floating
around on a cloud, but rather reigning with Christ
on the earth in new glorified bodies. That's
what we have to look forward to. Verses 11 and
12. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne. The living creatures
and the elders. And the number of them was 10
,000 times 10 ,000 and thousands of thousands.
John's at a loss for words, folks. And he said
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain to receive power and riches and wisdom
and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
Innumerable heavenly multitude begins to sing
praises to Christ. You have angels and creatures
and elders, all of them, 10 ,000 times 10 ,000.
In the Greek, they don't have a word for that.
So this just means innumerable. John doesn't
have a word for it. The heavenly host here is
praising Christ. Why? Because he was slain. His
work of redemption. Worthy. Worthy is the lamb
who was slain. He's getting the honor. He's getting
the recognition that he never received here on
the earth. Heaven sees him for who he is. In
fact, there's a seven -fold doxology. Seven adjectives
used. And again, seven, the number of completion.
John uses seven adjectives for praising him.
He is worthy to receive power, it says. On the
earth, he was born in weakness. He died in weakness,
but he was raised in power. On the earth, it
says, or he's worthy to receive riches. On the
earth, he was born into poverty. But now he possesses
the riches of heaven and earth. Wisdom. Do you
remember as the Lord Jesus walked this earth,
men derided him? They called him a lunatic, said
he was out of his mind. And now he's shown to
be the wisdom of God. Worthy to receive strength.
Jesus Christ shared in our weakness of humanity.
God became tired and hungry and thirsty, the
God -man, I should say. But now he possesses
all strength. Honor. I love this. On earth he
was defamed. He was called a fraud, a deceiver.
Yet in heaven he is given the highest honor by
having the name that is above every name. He
receives glory. Again, on the earth they called
him a fool, a liar, a troublemaker, a son of
Belial. They said he was a glutton. They called
him a wine -bibber. But one day... Every knee
is going to bow and every tongue is going to
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord giving him
glory. He's the true king, but on the earth they
mocked his kingship, right? They put a crown
of thorns on him and a mock robe and a fake scepter.
But now in heaven he receives all the glory.
And I think about those Roman soldiers who fake
bowed before him. They will see him one day ruling
and seated on his true throne as the king of
the universe. And he's worthy to receive blessing,
reverent adoration. The one who became a curse
for us now receives the highest praise. And this
worship comes to a crescendo in verses 13 and
14. And every creature which is in heaven and
on the earth and under the earth and such as
in the sea and all that are in them, I heard
saying, I mean, this is everyone. John, really,
he's stretching the human vocabulary here. Blessing
and honor and glory and power be to him who sits
on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.
And then the four living creatures said, Amen.
And the four and twenty elders fell down and
worshipped him who lives forever and ever. All
creation joining in praise. There's universal
worship. It says every creature in heaven, on
earth, under the earth, under the sea, in the
sea, I mean, you name it. All voices join the
voice of heaven in this heavenly course, praising
the one who sits on the throne, that's God the
Father, and the Lamb. Christ receives the same
honor and worship as the Father who is seated
on the throne. Do you know what that means? Once
more, this is a very clear picture that Jesus
Christ is God. He shares in the worship given
to the Father. And the four creatures, they give
a final seal of agreement and they cry out, Amen.
And as they do, those 24 elders representing
all the people of God, they fall down and worship
our Lord. There's only one response to the worthy
lamb. Who has redeemed us by his blood. And if
you know him at all today church. The one response
is to fall down before him in worship. The vision
closes with the united eternal worship of Christ.
Redeemer and Lord. What's the point of history?
Is it just abstract and there's really no point?
It's pointless? As the nihilists say. Postmodern
say. No. This is the point of history. It's going
somewhere. It's linear. All creation, all creation
will one day honor the son, Jesus Christ, the
son of the living God as Lord of all. That's
the point of history. And right now you're invited
to bow your knee and confess him as Lord. See,
what's the point of missions? What's the goal
of missions? I would say it's the same point
of history. It's the goal of history. It's that
Jesus, the slain yet risen lamb, is worthy. And
we recognize that worth now. That's what we do.
Now what? As we close. Now what? What do we do
in light of this? If Revelation 5 teaches us
anything, it teaches us this. That only Jesus
Christ is worthy of our trust. No leader, Republican
or Democrat, monarch or anyone else. No government.
No political system should have our ultimate
trust. Be involved, seek the welfare of where
you live, great. Ultimate trust goes to Christ
only. See, where does our faith rest? Our faith
rests in Christ, the risen, the slain, yet risen
lamb. Secondly, though, and I said this earlier,
but I want to emphasize it again. Church, your
prayers matter. The saints had golden bowls filled
with incense representing prayer. So what does
that mean? You and I need to pray boldly because
God uses our prayers to unfold and further his
purpose. I don't know how that works, but I believe
it by faith. Additionally, let me just say this.
There is hope in the midst of chaos. The lamb
has prevailed and he is in control of history's
outcome. It's not meaningless, but he's not only
in control of history's outcome. He's also in
control of your life's outcome. Yeah, he has
the scroll of the earth. But Jesus Christ also
has the scroll of your life. Your life is in
his hands. Your job is to trust him. And lastly,
as we close out this missions emphasis month,
the gospel, that good news, it's for all people.
Every tribe, every language group. Every ethnos,
meaning every ethnic group. All people. Friends,
our mission is global. Because the Lamb of God
and his sacrifice has redeemed for God people
from all places. And we need to support that
mission to take the gospel to those places. We
are diverse as a people, right? We've got the
Philippines. We've got Mexico. We've got Americans.
I'm sure there's some other ethnicities in here.
We're diverse as a people. But we're united as
one body. We are the people of God. We're not
divided along socioeconomic labels in the kingdom
of God. We are the redeemed children of God,
the body of Christ, and that's what this table
represents. The many... Become one. Brothers
and sisters, all these people, all these flags.
So my challenge for Mamre, if you're joining
us today, this is my challenge for Mamre, is
that you would participate. 100 % of our church,
100 % of families would be involved some way
in missions, giving and praying. You pray about
whatever amount, I will never seek you out, but
I pray that, Lord, you have a heart to take the
gospel to the nations so that Revelation 5, you
have your hand in that. All nations gather around
that throne singing praises to the worthy lamb.
This is why we give. This is why we go. This
is why Ralph and Tim, I think Wes, are right
now in Peru, South America, in some tribal jungle,
telling others about Jesus Christ. Let's close
in prayer. Father, I thank you for your word,
Lord God. How can we add anything to it? Jesus
is worthy. The Lamb is worthy, Lord. I want to
sing it. I want to shout it. I want that to be
maintained and manifest in my life. That there
is a worthy one and his name is Jesus, Lord.
That there is hope in chaos, Lord. That it's
not random. It's not accidental. Our lives have
meaning. And Father, I pray for those gathered
here today, Lord. There may be some, no doubt,
there probably are some who don't know your Son.
They've never bowed the knee. They've never confessed
him as Lord. They've never seen him as glorious.
And I pray that today, God, open their eyes.
Give them a heart to believe. Lord, give them
a heart that would willingly confess Christ as
Lord and Savior. And Father, for your church,
God, help us to see why we do what we do, that
we live for the glory of Christ and the kingdom
of God, seeking him and it first. Oh, God, forgive
us, Lord. Prepare us, Lord, as we come to the
table of the Lord. Lord, soften our hearts. God,
prepare us to be the people of God. Make us what
you want us to be. We pray this in Jesus' strong
name. Amen. Deacons, if you would come and prepare
the table.