there are six people that I believe it's impossible
to tell the story of Christianity without. Obviously,
there's Jesus Christ, there's Adam and Eve, there
is Moses, then there's the Apostle Paul and the
Apostle Peter. So Peter, the apostle who preached
the very first gospel sermon, he is one of the
most important figures in Christian history.
I mean, you have this man that stood at the right
hand of Jesus. You have this man that was an
apparent leader of the apostles, the man who
the Catholics believe was the first pope. This
man who is so beloved and notable that in England
alone, there are roughly over a thousand historic
churches dedicated to him, Peter. I would say
we see Peter as a very valuable part of our heritage
as Christ followers. He is a priceless proponent
of the kingdom of God. But do you ever stop and
wonder if Peter ever questioned his worth? Do
you ever think about how Peter must have thought
about himself, the self -image, the idea of who
he was, what value he brought to the mission?
what value he brought to his friends and to his
community. Do you ever think that Peter, as we
know him, this valuable, very integral member
of the kingdom of God, do you ever think that
he struggled with his own sense of worth? See,
I imagine in the two or so years that Peter spent
with Jesus, he spent a lot of time thinking about
where he came from. He spent a lot of time wondering
about how other people saw him. You know, before
becoming an apprentice to Jesus, Peter was the
son of a fisherman. And so being the son of a
fisherman, that means Peter was a fisherman.
He was from this little fishing village on the
Sea of Galilee. And because Peter was a fisherman
from a family of fishermen, he was not nor would
he have a real chance to be someone at the top
of the social ladder. You see, fishing, it's
a major part of the economy in this area, in
this time, but it wasn't some relaxing or super
profitable career on a nice boat. Basically,
what Peter did was he lived and he worked under
a system where he most likely would never really
feel like he was worth much of anything. And
unlike in today's capitalistic American dream
society, Peter did not have much control of his
life. He didn't have much say in what career
he would have. He didn't have this ideal of what
fortunes he could obtain. And he had no control
over how other people saw him. Peter was at the
bottom with no chance of really moving up. His
father was a fisherman. He was a fisherman. His
son would have been a fisherman. This was Peter's
reality. And in those days, it wasn't a super
valuable reality to have. But as I said, that
was his life before he started his apprenticeship
under Jesus. So this morning, I want you to see
how Peter's life is transformed, how it goes
from this dark and, well, maybe not dark, but
just bleak, mundane, normal and ordinary life
to something that we view as super extraordinary,
something that gets cathedrals named after him,
something that gets churches named after him,
something that causes people to name their son
Peter. I want us to see how the transformation
begins when Jesus steps into this ordinary life.
We're going to do a lot of reading this morning
from Luke chapter 5. There are 11 verses. I know
how horrible. We're going to read a lot of scripture.
It'll be on the screen. If you'd like to turn
there in your own Bibles, you can. I would encourage
that actually because there's more text around
it that I would love for you to read after this
is over. but starting in verse 1 of Luke chapter
5. On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing
in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing
by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats
by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of
them and were washing their nets. Getting into
one of the boats, which was Simon's, also known
as Peter, he asked him to put out a little from
the land, and he sat down and taught the people
from the boat. And when he had finished speaking,
he said to Simon, put out into the deep. and
let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered,
Master, we toiled all night and took nothing,
but at your word I will let down the nets. And
when they had done this, they enclosed a large
number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
They signaled to their partners in the other
boat to come and help them, and they came and
filled both the boats so that they began to sink.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at
Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me. For I am
a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were
with him were astonished at the catch of the
fish that they had taken. And so also were James
and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners
with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be
afraid. From now on you will be catching men.
And when they had brought their boats to land,
they left everything and followed him. Now, this
appears to be the second time that Peter is called
to follow Jesus. In John chapter 1, we read of
this moment where Peter had followed Jesus for
a little bit through Judea before going back
to fishing, which is why Peter and Jesus, they
seem to know each other. They have some familiarity
with each other here in Luke 5. Now Jesus, he
had spent a lot of time in this area. He was
familiar with the Sea of Galilee and the fishing
culture there. He was aware of the perception
that people had towards lowly fishermen. And
knowing that, he still purposefully chose to
call these men, to go to these men, including
Peter, and he calls them to follow him, to be
his apprentices, to be his disciples. I mean,
like we said, this is the second time that Jesus
had been with Jesus, that Peter had been with
Jesus, that Jesus had called him. And it's kind
of practical. Some of us give up. We give up
following after the first ring. Some of us, when
we call somebody, we give up calling after the
first ring. Oh, they didn't answer. Guess they
don't want to talk. But what Jesus does is he
continues to invite. Peter into this new life.
He continues to go after him. Peter had already
had his chance and it could have been very easy.
Jesus had a lot of options of people to follow
him. It would have been very easy for Jesus to
say, all right. This guy, Peter, he doesn't want
to follow me. That's fine. Moving on to the next.
But instead, what Jesus does is he goes and he
finds Peter again. He gets in Peter's boat. He
intentionally teaches Peter, trying to get him
to see not just that he thinks that Peter is
worth something when the world around him doesn't,
but he wants Peter, I think, to catch a glimpse
of what he has planned for him to do with his
worth. You see, after Jesus demonstrates his
deity doing this miracle of putting all these
fish into the nets. I mean, you think about the
way it's described. And I love the chosen. If
you've seen this episode of the chosen where
they let their nets out and it just like devastates
these boats. And there's all these people that
are running to help to bring the fish onto the
boats and get the catch in. And they're like,
we can't take on anymore. It'll sink us. And
it's this beautiful. of Jesus' awesome power.
And so you have this demonstration of deity.
And Peter is shocked. He's blown away. There
in Luke chapter 5, we read Peter say, depart
from me, for I am a sinful man. Josh and I didn't
talk about the Lord's Supper talk, but I think
it was convenient that Josh said, you know, you
see the best parts of me, but in reality, I'm
just a sinner. And that's what Peter sees. That's
what Peter sees in himself. He's like, I'm not
worthy to be in the presence of God. I'm not
worthy to be in the presence of the Messiah,
the Savior. Depart from me. Because at this moment,
Peter can only see his sin. He can't see his
worth. But thankfully, God does not see what
we see. Yes, God sees our sin. He sees the mistakes
we made. He absolutely sees when we are in a
position that is contrary to what he has called
us to be. He sees when we're doing things that
are contrary to what he has called us to do.
He sees all of it. But when he looks at you,
he does not see sinner. He sees his child. He
sees past our mistakes and he sees what we are
worth in his eyes. And we know this because God
proved it. And here's something I love. Peter
himself. actually goes on to write about this
very truth. He goes on to write about the good
news. Way after this moment here in Luke chapter
5, Peter in his own letter in 1 Peter chapter
1 writes this, You were ransomed from the futile
ways inherited from your forefathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ like that of
a lamb without blemish or spot. I want you to
think about that. if you have given your life
to Christ, if you have been baptized into Christ,
if you have been redeemed, if you've been bought
with the blood, which we have all been bought.
It's just a question of if we're going to accept
it or not. And if you are in God's family, he
looks at you and he sees someone that he purchased
from their futile ways. He sees someone that
he has redeemed from their sin. He sees someone
that he has bought. not with silver or gold,
not with money, but with the precious blood of
Christ. And if you have been bought with the
precious blood of Christ, He looks at you like
a lamb with no blemish, with no spot. In other
words, He does not see you as a sinner. He sees
you as His purchased child. Think about that.
The same Peter who was once a nobody fisherman
that probably, I think we can gather through
Scripture, he had his own issues. This same Peter
now understands that his worth and our worth
was never supposed to be measured in currency.
net worth or achievement. It was never measured
by where you were born, what family you were
born into. It was never measured by your accomplishments.
It is simply measured by the cost of the cross.
You see, Peter wasn't really that valuable in
a worldly sense. Peter wasn't valuable because
Jesus liked his fishing skills. Peter was valuable
because Jesus was already planning. He already
knew what he was going to do. For Peter and what
he was going to do through Peter. Jesus was going
to pay a price for him that no amount of silver
or gold could touch. And because Jesus, being
God, sees Peter's worth, he tells him, don't
be afraid. Peter says, depart from me, Lord.
And he's filled with this like this awestruck
fear. You think about the priest that would go
into the Holy of Holies and how they would go
in with a rope tied around their feet just in
case they died being in the presence of God.
And so you have this idea that being in the presence
of God is this fearful thing. Why is it fearful?
Because we know we're sinners, we're unworthy.
And if we go in the presence of the true righteous
God. in a state of being unworthy, we might just
die. And so Peter gets on his knees and he's
saying, depart from me, Lord. I'm not worthy
to be in your presence. And Jesus says the same
thing that all those angels that used to appear
to people back in the Old Testament say. He says,
do not be afraid. And I think we need this message
because we have a worth problem. We have a self
-image problem. We have a problem where we see
ourselves as awful. We see ourselves as worthless.
We see ourselves as stained. And we say things
like, well, if God only knew what I've done,
as if he can't see it all. Or we come into church
or we avoid going to church because we feel like,
well, I'm not good enough or I could never live
up to the standard of being a Christian. I could
never be good enough. I could never be holy enough.
And what we see in scripture over and over and
over again is that God does not care about you
being good enough because you're right. You cannot
be good enough. What God cares about is what
he can do for you. And that is save you and redeem
you and make you righteous, not by your own actions,
but by. the good news of Jesus Christ. But some
of us are so blinded by our own sin, by our own
mistakes, by our own deficiencies that we cannot
see ourselves the way God sees us. Some of us
might could, but we're so afraid of what following
Jesus and leaving behind the old life might look
like. Either way, whether it's that you're blinded
by your own sin or you're afraid of accepting
the call to follow Him, that way of living is
incompatible with a heart, with a mind that believes
what God says and demonstrates about our worth.
If I truly believe what God says about my worth,
I'm going to stop focusing on my inadequacies.
And I'm going to lean into what Jesus has done.
If I stop or if I truly believe what God says
about my worth, then I'm going to be willing
to go with God wherever he calls me because I
will know that the only person in this world
that could ever purchase me is God. I mean, think
about this. When you're dating, especially ladies,
you don't settle for a man that just treats you
okay. And at least I hope you don't. You don't
settle for somebody who just treats you like
they're okay with being with you. You don't settle
for somebody that just tolerates you. You don't
settle for somebody that's just willing to be
around you. No, you find somebody that what?
Loves you. You find somebody that adores you.
You find somebody that treats you right. And
the same is true for us. If we believe that we
are actually worth something, that this world
cannot pay for, that this world cannot afford,
and the only person who can afford it is God,
then what should we do with our lives? Raise
our standards. You think about professional athletes.
They don't just go to the team that's willing
to take them on the roster. Now, if you're struggling
to get on a team, maybe you do, but they go to
the team that can do what? Pay the most for them.
We live in a capitalistic society, so we understand
this idea, right? You pay for or you get what
you pay for. And what God has paid for is some
really good stuff. And if he has paid for good
stuff, and if we are that good stuff, then we
can't live like everybody else. We've got to
live like our worth says. And so I say all that
to say we need to believe what God says we're
worth. We need to believe what God has said our
value is. And then, once we know what we're worth,
we've set the market. we don't settle for any
less. We don't settle for just tolerable. We
don't settle for just, I'll settle. We don't
settle for less. We set our standard high and
we live up to that. And the standard is following
Jesus because where Jesus goes is way better
than anywhere on this earth. Where Jesus says
to go is way better than what this earth has
to offer. And the life that he offers is so good.
It's a life full of. joy and peace and happiness
and comfort. Now, it's not necessarily comfort
in a worldly sense, but it's a comfort in knowing
that my life for eternity is secure. It's a life,
as Jesus says, that is abundant. And so we need
to believe that that's what God wants for us
and from us. And if I'm honest, I think that's
what scared Peter the most. Maybe it's what scares
you the most. Not that God believes you're valuable.
I think that's probably a pretty, maybe an easier
concept to understand. It's definitely an easier
thing once you understand it to enact in your
life like God believes I'm valuable. But I think
what we struggle with is what it means for our
lives. Because I've said it before and I believe
it to be true. When you learn something, you
have to respond. When you learn something, you've
got to respond in a different way. If I teach
you how to drive a car and I teach you the rules
of the road and I teach you how to keep it in
the lanes and I teach you how to go 10 miles
over the speed limit, not 11, just 10. If I teach
you how to drive a car, then you have to respond.
By driving in the car the right way. And if you
don't drive the car the right way, then guess
what happens? You either wreck or you go to jail.
So when you learn something, it demands a response.
You cannot stay the same. When you receive good
information, when you receive new information,
something has to change. If I tell you there
is a scary man outside your house coming to get
you, then what will you do? You've now learned
this information. You're either going to take
protective measures or you're going to run. But
you have to respond. You can't just sit there.
I guess being still is a response. I wish my
kids would respond that way when I say, hey,
we need to sit still during church, right? But
you have to respond when you learn something
new. And so if you learn and you accept that
God deems you to be priceless, that has to change
how you live. The way I would put it is, you
don't take an Escalade through a mud hole for
fun. You know, Escalades are nice. Do people
even drive Escalades anymore? I'm still stuck
in the 2000s, right? Escalades, nice, you know,
you've got the nice wheels on them. They're not
really meant for anything other than driving
on the nice road. We had guys in high school
that had the nice lifted trucks and we called
them pavement princesses. Maybe you've heard
that before. Like, you don't take that through
a mud hole. You take a razor from Nelson Power
Sports through a mud hole. I got you, Jared.
You don't take the nice thing through the nasty.
And so if God says you're the nice thing, why
do you keep going to the nasty? If he says you
are as valuable as an escalade, why would you
go through the mud hole? You're worth too much
for that. The same is true for our lives. If
God deems us priceless and we believe it, then
we have to live like it. And I think a big part
of the problem for us as Christians in this world,
for the American church especially, is we say
we accept Jesus as our Savior, we accept the
gift of salvation from Him, but we don't really
let that change our lives. We don't let it change
the way we operate when we're at our job. We
don't let it change the way we operate when we're
out in the community. We just keep living as
normal. The only difference is we wear a cross
necklace sometimes, or we get a Bible verse tattooed
on us, or we put the Jesus Save sticker on the
car. But it doesn't change the way we live, and
that is not how becoming a disciple and apprentice
of Jesus is supposed to look. And so Peter, after
witnessing the greatness of Jesus and hearing
what Jesus has called him to do, Peter finally
decides to give this rabbi, this teacher, a chance.
He accepts the call to go fish for something
new. And it's this invitation from Jesus that
changes everything for Peter. I want you to consider
this. How often... were fishermen in the ancient
world invited to change their occupation and
learn from a great religious teacher. How often...
Did someone get to go on adventures and witness
the things that Peter was going to get to witness?
Peter would witness people risen from graves.
Peter would witness people being healed of all
kinds of illnesses, diseases, and ailments. Peter
would witness women have their lives completely
changed by the prophecy of Jesus. Peter would
witness all of these things happen in radical
community. He would witness the church form.
Peter himself would walk on water. This is the...
Invitation of a lifetime. This is like Charlie
Buckets finding the golden ticket, except Charlie,
he won a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory
by accident. Jesus choosing Peter was no accident.
This was intentional. Peter received this invitation
because Jesus saw value in him. Peter wasn't
invited because he'd proven his worth. Jesus
didn't see value in him because Peter did something
special. Peter was invited because Jesus had
already decided that he was priceless, that he
needed him for his mission. The truth of this
that I want you to hear today is an invitation
says you are worth something. I want you to think
about when you get invited to a party, when you
get invited to a wedding, even if you don't want
to go, especially if it's a fall wedding, when
you get invited to the special event, it makes
you feel important. Right? And then on the flip
side, when you don't get invited, how does that
feel? When you know that the party's going on,
but nobody asks you. When you know that somebody's
getting married, but you never got the invitation
in the mail. When you know something good is
happening, but it seems like nobody wants you
to be a part of it. This is, let me take a time
out and talk about Friends Day, okay? How many
of your friends and family would be upset? If
they learned that you had a friends and family
day at church and you didn't invite them. So
invite them so that they feel like they're valuable.
Okay, back to the sermon. Okay, so we know how
valuable an invitation is. And we know how valuable
or how much it hurts when you don't get the invitation.
But in God's kingdom, we don't have to worry
about not getting the invitation. We don't have
to worry about not being good enough, not being
liked enough, not being whatever to get invited.
In God's kingdom, even a lowly fisherman like
Peter was invited to be a part of Jesus's great
mission. Think about that. No matter who you
are, where you've been, what you've done, No
matter where you've gone, what wrong things you've
done, how awful of a life you have lived in the
past, none of that matters when it comes to being
invited to God's party. God deems you worthy
to be invited to. Because in His kingdom, we're
all priceless. And so that's the truth that we
learn. And I hope you believe that. And if you
do believe that, the question then arises, What's
the response? In other words, what are you going
to do with this invitation? Because if you're
like me, and you get an invitation to a wedding
in the fall on a Saturday, you just put it in
the trash. Because there's football games on
on fall Saturdays. Stop getting married on fall
Saturdays. There's other pretty times of year.
Joking, but also, seriously, think about how
many invitations you get that you just... set
on the counter and you never look at them again.
Every invitation demands a response. Invitation,
did I say that? Invitation demands a response.
You either say yes and you go and you have the
fun and you do the thing and it's awesome or
you say no and you stay back and you feel like,
man, I wonder what I'm missing out on. So what
are you going to do with the invitation? I advise
doing what Peter did the second time, because
Peter, remember, he had his first chance, but
the second time, Peter accepted the invitation
to become an apprentice, a disciple of Jesus.
Peter believed that he was worth what God says
he was worth, and he invited others to do the
same. And maybe that's you this morning. Maybe
you've never actually said yes to the invitation.
You've never actually accepted the call. You've
been around Jesus. You've been to church. You've
been around Christians. You know, there's a few
times where you thought maybe this Jesus thing
is worth a try, but you always kept thinking,
nah, I don't know. If that's you, I want to challenge
you to not leave here the same way that Peter
did the first time. I want you to leave here
the way Peter did the second time by accepting
the invitation. Talk to somebody today. I, as
the minister here, I would love to talk to you.
I know we've got leaders in this room. We have
people in this room. If they have accepted the
gospel, they are a minister in Christ's kingdom.
They should be able to talk to you about what
it means to accept the invitation. We'll have
a moment shortly here after we sing and finish
up with a lesson where you can come and talk
and pray. We can take that step together. Or
maybe you've said yes to the invitation. You
said yes a long time ago. You got baptized. You
gave your life to Christ. And you were a follower,
but you've kind of been living like Peter was
right after he fell at Jesus' knees with your
mind so fixed on your own sin that you forget
to remember what Jesus, what God says about your
word. And if that's you, the solution isn't you
trying harder or doing more or just trying to
achieve. It is believing what's already been
proven to be true by the God of the universe
and then living like it. And so for the people
that have given their life to Christ, but maybe
you've been so captivated by your own sin that
you haven't really been following, I want to
give you this challenge this week. And this is
a challenge for me. It's to ask God. to help
you feel and live like the priceless piece of
his puzzle that you are. Ask him to help you
live like it. It's one thing to believe it. It's
one thing to accept it. But what does your life
show? I read a book recently called The Body
Teaches the Soul. And what the whole premise
of the book was, was the way that you live, the
way that you treat your body, the habits that
you instill in your life, those things, those
physical things you do, they will educate, they
will teach your soul. And you get the point of
like the idea that when you go exercise, you
feel better afterwards. Now your body might hurt,
but mentally. you feel better for having exercised.
When you eat certain things, when you eat right,
you feel better for doing it. Now you may still
think, I really wanted the cookie, but you also
are glad you didn't eat the cookie because it
showed that you have some self -control. And
so what the point is, is the way that you live,
the way that you operate in this world, the way
that you go about your life, that will educate,
it will inform your mind, your heart, and your
soul. And so ask God to help you live like what
you say you believe. And if you're already living
convinced of your worth in Christ, then the question
for you is, who is your Peter? Who's someone
in your life that's... going through the motions
of their ordinary life, someone who is just thinking
that they're not worth much, someone who's living
this life as it was predestined for them to just
go through life, you know, eat, sleep, work,
eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep,
play golf, eat, sleep, work. Who's doing that?
Who do you know that's doing that? And who is
it in your life that you can say, hey, let me
pull you out of the ordinary and bring you into
the extraordinary, the life that Jesus has called
us to, this life of abundance, this life of eternity,
this life of love, joy, peace, and all of those
good fruits of the Spirit. Who is someone in
your life that needs that simple but amazing
invitation? I want you to think about that person
and then don't just think about them. but actually
extend the invitation. And look, if you know
the story of Peter, you know he wasn't perfect.
We can think of all the times. I mean, I heard
a preacher one time, he called Peter the chief
mess up. I don't know that Peter was the chief
mess up, but in the New Testament, he kind of,
he does mess up a lot, right? So we know Peter
wasn't perfect. He still had his moments of doubt.
He still had his moments of failure, but despite...
his imperfection, Peter goes on to trust Jesus
enough that he would eventually step onto a stormy
sea and walk on water with him. He trusts Jesus
enough that shortly after the Jews had killed
Jesus, or had Jesus killed, he stood up in front
of a crowd of Jews and preached the first gospel
message just weeks after denying he even knew
him. And he preached this good news. of a risen
Messiah. And later, when the religious leaders
saw Peter's boldness, Scripture says they were
astonished because they realized, as the book
of Acts says, that Peter was an uneducated and
a common man. Basically, they said, Peter is
just your average Joe, but there's something
special about him. And what... The religious
leaders who want to deny Jesus, the religious
leaders who want to make it seem like Jesus was
not deity, these people that wanted everyone
to stop believing who Jesus said he was, they
say there's something special about Peter because
in the words of Luke in the book of Acts, he
had simply been with Jesus. This lowly fisherman
from a small little fishing town. on the Sea
of Galilee, was transformed into a confident
catalyst for the advancement of the kingdom of
God. Peter had accepted not only what God said
he was worth, but also what God had called him
to. And he followed faithfully until the end.
Peter would eventually die. He would be killed
for his faith. for living a bold life that invited
everyone, regardless of where they were from,
what they did, who they were, whatever. He invited
everyone to be a part of God's family. And that
ultimately got him killed. But guess what? I
can just imagine when Peter was dying. There's
historical points on how he died. We don't really
truthfully know how. But either way, Peter was
dying. He was being killed. And we can only imagine
that in that moment, he did it with a smile on
his face because he knew he lived a faithful
life and he knew where he was going. I think
about Stephen in the book of Acts when he's being
stoned to death for proclaiming the good news.
It says he looked up to heaven and he saw Jesus
and he saw Jesus stand to receive him. That's
the life. That's the way you can go out of this
life when you know that you lived faithfully
in your worthless, not worthless, priceless.
When you lived faithfully in your priceless portion
of this mission. See, people who don't know how
much they're worth, they don't often live that
boldly. They're not able to live with, as some
would say, reckless abandon. They're not able
to live without concern for what might happen
to them. They're not able to live without concern
for what their finances might look like, what
their community might look like, what their life
might look like, what their death might look
like. People that they don't know how much they're
worth, they don't often live that boldly. People
who don't know their worth often, they follow
their own self -doubt, and they chase after the
approval from this world, even to their own demise.
But Peter, he saw another way to live. He saw
a way that wasn't scared to proclaim the good
news of Jesus. He saw a way that wasn't scared
to preach the gospel, even if that meant being
ostracized, arrested, beaten, or killed. The
truth is that no inconvenience, no pain, no death
could take away what God said Peter was worth,
what God had called Peter into. Peter wasn't
just convinced of that, he was convicted by it.
And we need to be convicted by it as well. Convinced
by the truth that regardless of your background,
regardless of where you've been, what you've
done, where you come from, regardless of all
of those things, you are invited to the kingdom.
You are invited to the family of God. And once
you know that truth, you accept it regardless
of what may come. And so here's the invitation
for you today. As Jesus said in Matthew 11, come
to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest. What Jesus promises is a
good life, an abundant life, a hope and joy filled
life here and to come. And that's still the invitation
for us all today. It's not you need to get your
act together. It's not you need to. get cleaned
up. It's not you need to be perfect. It's not
you need to prove your worth first. It is simply
to come. And so that's the invitation we extend
to you today. Jesus says you are priceless. He
has proven it. He has extended the invitation
to even the least of these. And we say the same.
We ask that you come as we stand and as we sing.