WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.379 Before we come to the Lord's table, I invite 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:08.439 you to open the Word of God with me to 1 Thessalonians 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:16.280 5, verses 16 through 18. Rejoice always, pray 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:21.019 without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:25.879 this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. We 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:28.320 easily become the victims of our moods, don't 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:34.000 we? Our reactions, our disappointments, our ambitions 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.740 are often governed by what's happening to us 00:00:36.740 --> 00:00:40.960 externally. But God wants us to learn to base 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:46.320 our lives on the internal and eternal realities, 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.859 not the external and temporal ones. God has provided 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:58.600 for us to be victors instead of victims. The 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:01.140 kind of life I'm talking about this morning is 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:06.060 an infectious kind of life. To be known for hope, 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.459 enthusiasm, and authenticity is appealing to 00:01:11.459 --> 00:01:14.959 everyone, and frankly, it's an uncommon way to 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:19.299 live. In the three short, terse verses that are 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:22.540 before us in our text today, God summarizes what 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:25.879 our duty to Him is as Christians in the midst 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.799 of varying and changing circumstances of life. 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:33.579 He says that our duty to him is to be joyful, 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:39.260 to be prayerful, and to be thankful. When one 00:01:39.260 --> 00:01:41.840 is characterized that way, it produces delight 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:46.719 in the life. This is not difficult duty. This 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:51.519 is wonderful duty. And God orders it of us because 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:56.890 it makes such an adventure out of life. to live 00:01:56.890 --> 00:02:00.950 this way. He says in the first place, be joyful 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:08.469 without limitation. Rejoice always. Someone has 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:10.990 said the uniqueness of Christian joy lies in 00:02:10.990 --> 00:02:15.110 its emergence under the most adverse circumstances. 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:20.810 You can trace that truth in scripture. Think, 00:02:20.810 --> 00:02:25.539 for example, of the apostles. In the times when 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:27.819 they were suffering persecution, and the scripture 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:31.560 clearly says that they went out from the presence 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:37.719 of those who had persecuted them with joy because 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.379 they were counted worthy to suffer shame for 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:46.060 the name of Jesus. Or do you remember the Apostle 00:02:46.060 --> 00:02:48.879 Paul and Silas after they had been cruelly beaten 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:52.759 and thrown into jail? because they preached Christ 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.199 in Philippi. And that night around 12 o 'clock 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.879 the scriptures tell us that they were singing 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:04.680 hymns and praising God in their cells and it 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:09.280 says the prisoners heard them. There weren't 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.620 too many hymn singings like that at midnight 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:16.639 in that jail. This was pretty unusual for them 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.270 to be joyful. especially after being so cruelly 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:24.349 treated. Paul's exhortation to the Philippians 00:03:24.349 --> 00:03:27.289 fits with this. He says, rejoice always, and 00:03:27.289 --> 00:03:32.990 again I say, rejoice. Struggles, disappointments, 00:03:33.289 --> 00:03:36.870 and demands that come to all of us can ruin our 00:03:36.870 --> 00:03:42.960 days. They are joy embezzlers. But the solution 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.000 is not to try to avoid struggles because we'll 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.960 spend the rest of our lives doing that unsuccessfully. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.599 The solution is not found in denying disappointments 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.500 for their part of life, nor is the solution found 00:03:57.500 --> 00:04:00.159 in ignoring demands because we all live with 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:06.099 them. But the solution is found in choosing as 00:04:06.099 --> 00:04:11.139 an act of our wills to express a joyful attitude 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:14.580 in the face of these things. It's a matter of 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:19.860 how we choose to face life's struggles, disappointments, 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.959 and demands. This joy of Jesus Christ that we 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.819 can choose to experience is a joy that cannot 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:33.379 be contained. I think of Scrooge after his ghostly 00:04:33.379 --> 00:04:37.000 encounters. Most of the movies depict Dickens' 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:40.660 character rightly as being exuberant. His joy 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:43.399 could not be contained after the change in his 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:47.160 attitude. Well, true Christian joy is something 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:50.399 like that. It cannot be bottled up. It has to 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:54.939 be expressed. People who are joyful are pursued 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:58.180 by other people because their spirit lightens 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:01.509 the load of others. Chuck Swindoll says, such 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:04.930 people display a well -developed sense of humor, 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:10.050 an optimistic outlook on life, and a light -hearted 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:15.350 spirit. Isn't that great? Is that the way you're 00:05:15.350 --> 00:05:18.129 living? We all like to be around people like 00:05:18.129 --> 00:05:21.930 this. A well -developed sense of humor, an optimistic 00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:27.930 outlook on life, a light -hearted spirit. Christian 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.350 joy is, of course, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:33.810 and we can choose to experience it only when 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:37.209 we are yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ 00:05:37.209 --> 00:05:41.410 and His Spirit is thus empowering us internally. 00:05:42.110 --> 00:05:45.370 Then this joy can be known. So I want to exhort 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:48.110 all of us today not to permit our circumstances 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:52.810 to become thieves, to rob us of our joy in Christ. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:57.540 Let's choose to exchange the spirit of heaviness 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:02.879 for a garment of praise. This joy we're talking 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.959 about is not blind optimism, but rather is an 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:10.160 inner delight in God and in His dealings with 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:16.339 us. The Bible says that God loves a joyful giver. 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:21.310 He also loves a joyful, cheerful servant. And 00:06:21.310 --> 00:06:24.850 Nehemiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:29.290 your strength. Therefore, rejoice without limitation. 00:06:30.389 --> 00:06:34.569 And then he says, be prayerful without cessation. 00:06:35.949 --> 00:06:40.170 Pray without ceasing. Why do you think that prayer 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:46.930 is next in this list? Perhaps it is because prayer 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.930 is the means for us to deal with our heavy circumstances. 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:53.339 the disappointments and the struggles and so 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:56.860 on. Prayer is our means by which we're able to 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.079 release our burdens to God so that we no longer 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:05.040 have to carry them. That's a privilege that every 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.160 child of God can enjoy. In northern Italy, about 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:17.930 610 AD, there was a pious monk who had been baking 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:21.269 bread and he had some dough left over and so 00:07:21.269 --> 00:07:26.129 he formed that dough into thin pencil -like rolls 00:07:26.129 --> 00:07:30.709 and then he twisted them into little figures 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:34.269 representing children with their arms folded 00:07:34.269 --> 00:07:38.649 in prayer. He then coated those pieces of bread 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:42.689 with syrup and salt and put them in the oven 00:07:42.689 --> 00:07:46.660 along with the loaves that he was baking. And 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:49.459 when they came out, they proved to be very appetizing, 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:53.459 and so he got an idea. He did not want simply 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:56.120 to give away these morsels for no purpose, and 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.860 so he promised boys and girls who would memorize 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:03.379 their Bible verses and lessons from catechism 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:07.660 that they could have one of these morsels. And 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:10.000 because he intended to give them as a little 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.339 reward, he called them that in his language, 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:17.889 pretiola. from which we get our word pretzel. 00:08:19.029 --> 00:08:21.649 So the next time you eat a pretzel, remember 00:08:21.649 --> 00:08:25.269 that it reminds you that we can fold our hands 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:30.569 in prayer at any time to God. What a special 00:08:30.569 --> 00:08:33.269 privilege that is. Pray without ceasing. But 00:08:33.269 --> 00:08:37.529 how do we do that? Are we to stay on our knees 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:40.070 all day long? Well, of course, that would be 00:08:40.070 --> 00:08:44.059 silly to think that way. Pray without ceasing 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:48.419 is not uninterrupted praying. It is not continuously 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:52.019 occurring, but it's constantly recurring prayer. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.240 The same word is used in the original of a hacking 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:58.340 cough, which is, yes, that's right. Thank you 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:04.000 for illustrating that. A hacking cough is not 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.460 a very pleasant thing to have to put up with. 00:09:06.979 --> 00:09:10.399 But it brings to us the idea of urgency, something 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.840 that you just do spontaneously because you feel 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:19.840 is necessary. We ought to pray in the same manner. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.620 A few weeks ago a friend and I were driving from 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.500 Chicago back to the Twin Cities. We encountered 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:27.879 a snowstorm all the way from Chicago up through 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.860 Tomah. It became obvious we were going to be 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:32.720 late getting back to the Twin Cities and his 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.980 wife was to meet us at a certain place at a certain 00:09:34.980 --> 00:09:38.679 time. And so, because we had borrowed the car 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:41.659 of a friend, which has a cellular telephone in 00:09:41.659 --> 00:09:44.500 it, as we were driving up the interstate through 00:09:44.500 --> 00:09:46.899 the snowstorm, we punched in just a few numbers 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:49.279 into that telephone, and it wasn't but a few 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.480 seconds until we had his wife on the telephone 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.419 as we were driving up the interstate. Absolutely 00:09:55.419 --> 00:09:58.039 amazing to me. I mean, I can't figure out yet 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.320 how airplanes fly. I still can't figure out how 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.610 you do this. and you talk to somebody and theoretically 00:10:03.610 --> 00:10:05.429 we could talk to somebody on the other side of 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:08.529 the world as we're driving along the interstate. 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:12.190 They tell us in a few years that technology will 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:14.169 be advanced enough that every one of us will 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:16.570 have the opportunity to buy a telephone that 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:18.509 we can carry with us and we'll be assigned a 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:21.429 personal number. It'll be about the size of a 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:23.210 pack of cigarettes, if you'll pardon me, they 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:25.669 say. You'll be able to carry it in your pocket 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:27.529 and pull it out and make a telephone call from 00:10:27.529 --> 00:10:30.990 wherever you are. On the other hand, people will 00:10:30.990 --> 00:10:36.210 be able to reach you wherever you are. The point 00:10:36.210 --> 00:10:38.250 is that you'll be able to make a phone call whenever 00:10:38.250 --> 00:10:40.110 you desire to do it, and that's the privilege 00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:43.789 of prayer, folks. We can be prayerful without 00:10:43.789 --> 00:10:45.870 cessation. Throughout the course of the day, 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:48.690 we can frequently lift our thoughts and our words 00:10:48.690 --> 00:10:52.950 to God. Robert Thomas says, whether words are 00:10:52.950 --> 00:10:56.370 uttered or not. Lifting the heart to God while 00:10:56.370 --> 00:10:59.330 one is occupied with miscellaneous duties is 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:03.590 the vital thing. Verbalized prayer will be spontaneous 00:11:03.590 --> 00:11:06.909 and will punctuate one's daily schedule as it 00:11:06.909 --> 00:11:11.750 did in Paul's writings. I like the idea of punctuate. 00:11:12.250 --> 00:11:16.169 Punctuate your day with prayer, says the apostle. 00:11:17.830 --> 00:11:21.129 Then he says, be thankful without hesitation. 00:11:24.560 --> 00:11:28.919 In everything, give thanks. Clarence McCartney, 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.019 a famous preacher of another generation, used 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.279 to tell the story of two men who were walking 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.360 through a field one day, and they spotted as 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.460 they were walking through the field an enraged 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:44.299 bull. And noticing the two men, he instantly 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:47.960 darted toward them, and they began running toward 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.299 the nearest fence. Well, the bull was in hot 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:55.490 pursuit of the two men. So terrified, one shouted 00:11:55.490 --> 00:11:58.669 to the other, John, put up a prayer, we're in 00:11:58.669 --> 00:12:02.610 for it. And John answered back and said, I can't, 00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:06.690 I've never made a public prayer in my life. Well 00:12:06.690 --> 00:12:09.049 said, his friend, you must, the bull's catching 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:13.389 up to us. And so John panted, all right, I'll 00:12:13.389 --> 00:12:15.590 say the only prayer I know, the one that our 00:12:15.590 --> 00:12:18.029 father used to repeat at the table. Oh Lord, 00:12:18.049 --> 00:12:20.289 for what we were about to receive, make us truly 00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:27.759 thankful. In everything, give thanks, says the 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:34.080 scripture. Whatever develops, however happenings 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:39.259 may be combined, whoever calls or drops by, wherever 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:42.000 you may be living or wherever you may be transferred, 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.740 whatever conditions may occur, without hesitation, 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.860 we are to receive all of these with a grateful 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:53.120 heart. That's easy to do, of course, when the 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:56.240 bull isn't chasing you, when your conditions 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:00.460 are pleasant and prosperous, but it's not easy 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:05.500 to do when you are in the midst of pain and disappointment 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:13.500 or limitation and sometimes even routine. But 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:16.399 gratitude is always the right attitude for the 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:22.860 child of God. In the Bible, God tells us he is 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:26.480 always and persistently working for our good. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:31.279 Therefore, in everything we can be thankful. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.379 To live this way, he says, is to live in the 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.840 will of God. There are some aspects of the will 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:41.639 of God that we have a hard time figuring out, 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:45.659 but we need not doubt regarding being joyful, 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:51.129 prayerful, and thankful. because that is always 00:13:51.129 --> 00:13:55.269 the will of God, and to live otherwise is to 00:13:55.269 --> 00:13:59.570 miss the will of God. And the fact is that you 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:03.529 and I can live this way. If we couldn't, he wouldn't 00:14:03.529 --> 00:14:07.629 have told us to. We are in Christ Jesus, you 00:14:07.629 --> 00:14:11.389 see, if we're saved. If we have trusted the Lord 00:14:11.389 --> 00:14:15.710 Jesus Christ, As our Lord and Savior, then we 00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:20.570 can choose to live this way in Him, because we 00:14:20.570 --> 00:14:23.789 have the internal resources of the Holy Spirit 00:14:23.789 --> 00:14:29.450 to do it. We can be transformed in our attitudes 00:14:29.450 --> 00:14:32.669 so that instead of grumbling we are thankful. 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:36.990 We can be changed so that instead of being constantly 00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:41.980 anxious, we learn to be prayerful. We can be 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:45.059 changed so that instead of being discouraged 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:49.340 and depressed, we long to be joyful in the Lord. 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:52.419 Of course, the secret is that if we're going 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:56.580 to be changed, the Holy Spirit has to be in charge. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.960 He comes to the point of being in charge when 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:08.000 we have confessed our sins and our hearts are 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.779 therefore clean. We have surrendered without 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:16.799 any reservation, and we have intentionally resolved 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:21.440 to follow Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.860 about it that when a person has met those conditions, 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:29.259 the Holy Spirit will release the power of God 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:32.879 in that person's life to be obedient and to be 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.960 transformed. To choose to live as we've been 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:40.350 commanded is an expression of faith. that we 00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:43.090 believe at least two things about God. First 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:46.570 of all, that God is sovereign, and secondly, 00:15:46.730 --> 00:15:51.389 that he is good. I can be joyful today because 00:15:51.389 --> 00:15:55.250 God is bigger than my problems, and whatever 00:15:55.250 --> 00:16:00.610 they are, he is using them for good. Therefore 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:06.320 I can be joyful. I can be prayerful. because 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:10.960 God is able to change my circumstances or to 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.399 preserve me in them so that his best for me is 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.220 realized. I can be thankful because God controls 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:25.779 what comes into my life and he will fashion it 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:32.320 to accomplish my good and his glory. You see, 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:35.240 to choose to live this way is an act of faith 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:39.460 that God is sovereign and that he's good. And 00:16:39.460 --> 00:16:41.759 failure to live this way is an act of unbelief. 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:45.679 What a way to live. What a way to live. Our duty 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.139 to God. And it makes such a difference when we 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:53.039 choose to live this way. Robert Thomas says, 00:16:53.179 --> 00:16:57.039 the true victories in life are won by Christians 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:03.190 who are joyful, prayerful, thankful. I remind 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:05.769 you to think of the Lord Jesus before he went 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:09.950 to the cross, indeed the very night before he 00:17:09.950 --> 00:17:12.710 went to the cross when he instituted this supper 00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:15.269 that we are about to partake of this morning, 00:17:15.970 --> 00:17:20.029 this Lord's Supper. The Lord Jesus that evening 00:17:20.029 --> 00:17:25.289 was filled with joy. He knew what was but hours 00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:28.230 away, but he was filled with joy, and he said 00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:32.150 to his disciples, my joy may be in you." John 00:17:32.150 --> 00:17:37.730 15. He says to them, be of good cheer. You can 00:17:37.730 --> 00:17:40.630 see the smile on his face as he exhorts them. 00:17:42.109 --> 00:17:45.009 On that evening the Lord Jesus was prayerful 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:48.789 because he went to a garden, the scriptures tell 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:52.710 us, and there he prayed to his Heavenly Father. 00:17:53.769 --> 00:17:56.710 and the Lord Jesus was thankful. He took the 00:17:56.710 --> 00:18:01.970 cup and He took the bread and He gave thanks 00:18:01.970 --> 00:18:05.250 because He knew exactly what the bread and the 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:09.910 cup stood for and He gave thanks to God for the 00:18:09.910 --> 00:18:15.990 sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The Lord Jesus 00:18:15.990 --> 00:18:18.250 lived this way and you and I can live this way 00:18:18.250 --> 00:18:22.240 too. Let's come to the Lord's table today. in 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:28.599 the will of God. Yielded to the Holy Spirit, 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:32.660 our sins confessed, and choosing by the power 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:36.940 of God's Spirit within us to be joyful, to be 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:40.799 prayerful, and to be thankful like Jesus was. 00:18:42.819 --> 00:18:48.480 Let's bow together, please. Father, so teach 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:53.500 us to live. Forgive us when we are grumblers, 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.859 when we see the dark side of things, and we allow 00:18:58.859 --> 00:19:03.700 negative thinking to dominate us. Forgive us 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:07.680 for our proud independence and feeling to pray 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:14.920 and ignoring you throughout our days. Institute 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:18.079 within each one of us a new desire this morning. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:24.640 that by the Holy Spirit we might live victoriously 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:29.480 over our circumstances and not as victims of 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:34.720 them. With our heads bowed, I wonder if you would 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.900 like to talk to God just for another minute or 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:38.940 so about that. I'm going to ask those who are 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:42.960 serving to join me in the front. Let's prepare 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.940 our hearts to partake of the Lord's table.