A Word For The Rich in This Life - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, we have arrived to the final verses of the book of first Timothy, and so let's meet there together in chapter six beginning in verse 17. Here's what the word of God says to us this morning. Ask for the rich in this present age. Charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly guard the deposit entrusted to you.

Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. And the verses that we and what and how Paul said certain things concerning God. And you might agree that that would have been a powerful way to just close a letter. Closing. And instead of this this segment being the conclusion, it's as though we are brought right back down into the realm of commands and instructions and practicality.

And commands and instructions and practicality. And we cover a subject that we've already covered before to some extent. Now you read this and you think, why not just end in the high note of praise? Why not just finish by realizing the glories of God? Paul just breaks out in doxology and prays, declaring the majesty and the holiness and the splendor of the Lord, leaving us as we read it.

Just just reading it alone. Our hearts are stirred by the spurt of truths, and we're left in awe. And all for a sudden, we're just pulled down back to practical. It's a good question, right? And it's not that Paul had forgotten a thought and he said, Oh, I forgot to mention some instructions, so let me just add it in the end.

I think the Holy Spirit, even by this, has designed designed a point for us, and it's the marriage between worship and duty. It's the marriage between worship and duty. In other words, as we discover who God is, even to an extent where it causes us to adore him spontaneously, at the same time, it will cause us to eagerly reflect him in every sphere that we occupy in our lives. And so you you just read these string of awesome truths. You hear it.

And it it's no doubt that it causes us to want to love him and adore him and be spellbound by his majesty and magnificence. Yet at the same time, here's what I believe is being said even by the the structure. The more you understand who he is, the more you comprehend who he is, the more you want to serve him in any way he asks. The more you want to represent Him, the more you want to grasp His will for every corner of your existence, including what Paul brings up again, and it's money. Money must be a very important subject to God, especially in one letter bringing up in two different occasions in great lengths.

It seems like the Holy Spirit really wants his people to understand how to handle money. And that's exactly what he wants us to do. But in these verses that we just read, we're coming at a different angle. Earlier, we understood his instructions telling us and warning us about the dangers of desiring wealth, and the traps of loving money. But here now he speaks to the Christians who already have it, who are already rich and affluent and prosperous.

And what he wants to do is highlight the unique dangers and the unnegotiable duties of a believer who might be above average in their materialism. He doesn't condemn he doesn't condemn rich Christians. If he did, he would have said, as for the rich of the present age, you better sell it all. Never make more than x amount of money, and make a vow to poverty. That's not what he says.

He gives instructions, and he brings attention to the unique seductions that can affect the spiritual quality of those who might have more than others. Mainly those who who can afford luxury, who don't know the tension of financial strain, who don't know limitation, who have more of an ease in life, which the scripture is honest to say that if you have more money, you'll have more ease. But nonetheless, there is a danger. In fact, there are more than one. And the first danger that is brought up here is that they're charged not to be proud.

They're charged not to be haughty. And that's important because the idea here is that you are to be aware of the temptation of having an exalted view of yourself because of what? Your associations, your accesses, your abilities that stem from your wealth. Now I know that in this place, we might dismiss this message because we think we are not wealthy. But let me tell you this.

Everybody in here in comparison to the world standards is pretty much rich. Okay? So let's just settle that, and let's open our hearts to what God has to say. If you can afford more than clothe and basic shelter and food, you're rich in the world standards. Maybe not in American standards, but according to the world, you are.

And what we see here is that it's possible, especially for those who do have more, to have this temptation to think. Because money has a way of paving a way of life for you that can lead even a sincere believer to think that he is separate from others. And that attitude kills relational Christ likeness. It severs it. It slashes the potential of being like Jesus in great ways.

And that might not be a temptation for you, but believe me, the Bible has many ways of warning believers of that that very temptation. Listen to the words of Paul in a different letter in Romans twelve sixteen. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Are the lowly the homeless on the street when you drive by Downtown Chicago?

That's not who the lowly are. The lowly are the people that you do life with in your Christian community. That's who the lowly are. And God forbid that in this place, that there would be even one individual who would dare not associate with somebody or would even criticize others in their mind because they don't wear the brands that they think they should be wearing. Or they don't open their lives to others because they don't hold impressive positions in society, or they don't choose to mingle with those that don't have a taste of what only the the affluent can afford.

Right? They don't understand my my flavor of life. Are people, even Christian people, who are afraid to be seen or connected to others, who do not have the ability to improve their superficial reputation. And there are places around the world where that is very real in churches, by the way, and I won't have to name places. If there was anyone who had a reason to distance himself from us for the sake of his image, it's the Holy One of God.

If there is anyone who had the right to put out a stiff arm and to create a distance between him and us, it's Christ himself. And yet the scripture tells us that Christ who was rich became poor to make us rich. And when he comes into this world, he comes and he wraps himself in human flesh. And what's amazing is not the fact that he puts on humanity, but the way in which he chose to live on this earth. How did he live in this world?

To such a degree that the religious elite looked at him and scorned him. If you're really who you say you are, you're gonna eat with such people. You're gonna give time to such individuals. You're gonna actually reach out and touch them and embrace them. So Christ himself did not withhold his life from those who did not meet his standard.

Often achieved by accomplishments. And if we're not careful, there are successful people in the church. There are successful people in this church. And the temptation for those who have a gift in the mind to know how to acquire more is that in the pursuit and in your achievements, you would think to yourself, brought myself here. This is my cleverness, my ability.

This is my doing. You know, the Bible is really realistic. You achieving things in life requires hard work. Okay? It's true.

But here's the demand that God makes on all of us in this place, is that no matter where you go, what you do, what you accomplish, you would continually realize the grace of God behind it all. That is the the Christian maturity that God calls us to. That's not hyper spirituality. That is a necessary discipline in order to protect ourselves from dangers in this material world. When Israel went into the Promised Land, you know what happened?

God gave them instructions. You're gonna go in there, you're gonna actually take up spears and swords, you're gonna go and you're gonna defeat various enemies. Once you do that, you're gonna actually plant fields, plant trees, build homes, build fences. You're gonna do a lot of work, and you're gonna be prosperous. But after all that, realizing the practicality of their achievements, very well known warning in Deuteronomy eight.

And I would encourage you to turn there in your Bibles and see what God says. It's profound. It's sobering. And the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.

That he may confirm his covenant, that he swore to your fathers as it is this day. Your very ability to retain data in your mind is by the grace of God. The very energy that surges through your muscles, the little strength that you might have when you wake up in the morning has been declared by the grace of God over your life. Any creative corridor in your mind that you've traveled through and discovered has been led by the grace of God. Any cleverness or ability to negotiate and find the best deal and make the best move has been given by the wisdom of God.

Don't you ever forget it. Lest you say in your heart like Nebuchadnezzar on the rooftop of his palace, Is this not Babylon? The great Babylon that I have achieved by my power, only to make heaven cringe and God brings swift discipline. You know what's amazing about that story about Nebuchadnezzar? There was nobody around him when he said it.

It's not like he declared it to the whole nation. He was meditating to himself, and that thought alone brought such a stench to the throne of God that he says, I'm gonna deal with this pride. And I'm gonna make you like an animal until you realize that all of this was because of my grace. Do not be haughty. Those who are successful in this age must preach this truth in their hearts continually.

Rehearse it. Give thanks to God for it. Make it a reflex in anything that God opens for you, lest you close many doors because of it. I dare say it's better to be poor than to be rich. It's better to be poor than to be rich.

There's a danger of pride. But Paul says there's also a danger of false security. He says here that we are not to put our hopes on the uncertainty of riches. It's difficult for somebody in this life to increase in wealth, and not at the same time also increase with certain sentiments attached to it. Very, very, very, very difficult.

And the common trap is that what one should feel toward God is robbed by prosperity, and the security that you're supposed to know solely in the Lord is now transferred to materialism. See, God is so jealous for your worship and him being glorified that he gives us such an instruction. Extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, if riches increase, if riches increase, set not your heart on them. That might have happened to you at one point in your life.

And you're still writing that way. Here's the call, the same way that Timothy was charged to preach to his church about this. God. And God is jealous for you. And it requires a deep awareness, a daily awareness of God's mercies in your life.

His intervening hand in your life to protect your affections and your fears of the future to fluctuate when your money does. And it is our call to never allow financial stability to bring us to a place where you do not feel the weighty reality of singing what the Psalms declare, God is my refuge. He's my fortress. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. So let me add another thing.

If you worship with less intensity, and you pray less frequently because you're successful, for the sake of your testimony, you're better off being poor than rich. You're better off being poor than rich. If you knew that riches, promotion, your business taking off, you hitting some kind of idea that will make you this or that, if you knew that it would make you less dependent on God, less aware of his glory and beauty, I would join you and pray that that would never happen in your life. That may be hard for some people to hear. Right?

It's like offensive, almost. But here's the reality. The Bible esteems many things more than money that the world would never dare to put in the same category. And so you've probably even jokingly entertained this thought to yourself or to others. Hey, what would you do for a million dollars?

Right? Or would you do fill in the blank for x amount of money? So here, let me throw one out at you. Would you rather be poor and have a peaceful family or rich and have a broken home? I'm just giving you one example because here's what Proverbs seventeen one says, better is dry morsel.

You know what that means? Crusty bread. Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs seventeen one. Do you believe that?

Better is crusty old bread on the countertop than a table filled with feasts, but with a broken household. You know why I bring that up as an example? Because God wants you to set your affections on the things he calls you to set them on, lest we become miserable by a misguided estimation. And I'll add to that. God calls us to trust in the things that he wants us to trust in, lest we plant our feet on shifting sand, and that can include your savings.

The danger of a false security robbing the sentiments and the trust that belongs to God and sharing it with mammon. But there's another danger. And it may not be considered as a danger, and it kind of goes off course a little bit before we return. It says here that we are to set our trust on God. Now look at this phrase, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

And it's There's another danger for believers, and it's not necessarily for the rich now because he zooms out and he says, us, including himself. And so I would say this is a danger for us in our in our interpretation of money, or pleasure even, or how we interact with the material world. And here is the danger. You hear the first two points, and you say, obviously, that's true. Yes, obviously, that if I have the ability to to to experience more, know more, have more, my heart can become proud, and I can dismiss God and forget God.

Absolutely. But here's another danger for the spiritually minded that they don't consider. It's to falsely believe that if you are somebody who has God in the center of your life, that God doesn't want you to enjoy anything at all, unless it's a spiritual discipline. Less amens there. Right?

And and I want to tread on that lightly because I don't think our problem in the American church is that we don't know how to enjoy life. But I wanna honor the verse nonetheless. And there is a category of people in Christendom who struggle with what I just said. Asceticism is? It's a severe self discipline that closes off any form of physical pleasure.

It brands that kind of ideology as a lie, as a lie. The scripture could have read, God who richly provides us with everything to barely survive. Did he say that? No. To enjoy.

Scandalous. What that means is that when any of our senses you know the five senses, whenever they experience righteous pleasure, there's some stimulation there as you interact with this world, you shouldn't feel guilty about it. You shouldn't think you're less godly because of it. You shouldn't think that you're not a spiritual Christian because you enjoyed that steak last night, or because you heard beautiful music and it stirred your emotions, or because you went away to a rest with your family and you actually laughed throughout the weekend. I I love this verse in Genesis two, and sometimes we miss it because we just we look for other things in the Genesis account.

But I love this practical insight in Genesis two:nine, when God is creating the Garden Of Eden for man. It says here in verse nine of Genesis two, and out of the ground, the Lord God made to spring up every tree Now look at this. That is pleasant to the site and good for food. He could have just said that was good for food. The Lord could have wrote here that the trees in the garden were meant for survival, but he goes beyond that.

He says it's for aesthetic satisfaction. You know what that means? That when God created nature, as you look out even now, you see the sun shining in, you see the the sun reflecting on the grass and the different leaves. God could have made every tree the same shape, the same amount of branches, the same height, all across the horizon. But instead, he purposely sculpts every single one, different versions of trees, different fruits, different colors, different ways that they change during the seasons.

So that what? You would eat from it? Sure. But also when you would go on that walk and you would allow your eyes to glaze over that forest, something would be stirred in you in such a way where you would say, God, you're amazing. You're amazing.

You're an artist. You are glorious. Let me clarify by saying that this is not a truth for those who love money and wanna run with it and say, well, I'm gonna join God on the quest for my enjoyment on the path of prosperity. It's not true. It's a verse for those who love God, but don't know how they can in a material world.

It would be a catastrophic contradiction to think that the more you have, the more enjoyment you will experience. Nonetheless, it's an invitation to rejoice in God in whatever lot that he has ordained for your life. Responding to all of his provisions with a heart of gratitude, believing this, as shattering as it might be for the spiritual, believing that he actually wants to, by means of material things, sustain you, refresh you, satisfy you, cause you to actually sense some kind of sensation of pleasure for what? Giving us even more reasons to bless his name. So how do I do that in this world?

What's the line that I draw? I think it's the matter of the heart, and the matter of the heart is this, that you enjoy everything in life with God, and not apart from God. That whatever he allows you to experience and know, whatever comes into your life, whatever he permits you to have, though in the balance of what the Bible tells us, and the balance is coming very soon, that you'd be able to look at it and say, God, you are wonderful. These are the dangers, and how we as believers can interpret wealth, and how those who have wealth can manage that wealth. But now we shift from the dangers to the duties, because there is a duty for those who are wealthy in the church.

And the duty is this, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, and ready to share. You can sum up the heartbeat of all those little instructions to this one notion, that you in your mind have a great motivation through your resources to advance the kingdom of God. That's in your financial planning. That's in your financial investments. That's what you actually have as a true desire as a believer.

I am fully aware that this teaching has been perverted, that there are ministries that this is all that they emphasize on. Nonetheless, when I read the New Testament, I would be dishonest to say that there aren't teachings about the Christian and giving. I would be dishonest, and I would can go to another extreme. As much as I abhor the prosperity gospel, there are also truths about how you and I relate to stuff. And I would be dishonest to say that when Jesus Christ enters into your life, that every aspect of who you are is transformed except the way you think, handle, and manage your money.

I'm sorry. He doesn't touch that. So we come honestly, and we come with an open heart. And I will tell you this. There's a radical shift that comes to the believer, and how he interprets his income when he gives his life to Jesus Christ.

And here's the radical shift. There's a great desire. There's a birthing of giving in the equation of the matter. Whereas that might have not been true before. What do I mean by that?

That for the believer, the mature believer, the spiritually in tune believer, and it's a temptation for some more than others, but the more that he gets, the more he joyfully and prayerfully considers how he should give. That's hard. I know it's hard. And maybe the reason why it's hard is because we cherish money more than we would like to admit. Nonetheless, it's a work of the Holy Spirit.

And this is not a coercion here. This is not manipulation now, so that you can give more to the local church. I'm talking about an overall attitude of giving in all spheres of life. I'm talking about a way of thinking, a mindset, not you giving a percentage of what you make, which is not a rule in the New Testament, by the way. It's amazing how we're willing to neglect so much in the old covenant, but when it comes to how much you should give, we honor that Old Testament verse.

There is no percentage that you are called to give. If you want to, that's between you and God. The New Testament doesn't teach a percentage. That's something that you have to determine. Had a brother come up to me saying, I got a new job.

This is how much I'm approximately making. What should I do? I say, well, you talk to God about it, and you see how much you wanna give. I'm not gonna give a number for you. More stirring than me determining a percentage that I'm going to give to the Lord on a weekly basis.

It's the New Testament church's heart behind the act of giving that stirs me more than anything else. Ephesians four twenty eight. Look at this. I just want to prove my point so you don't think that I'm pulling this out of nowhere. Longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands.

Now look what he says as the reason why, the motivation why. This will shatter a lot of American Christians so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Think about that. Paul, like, casually, he's just so casual with this command. Like, he doesn't come with this long apologetic of why.

He just expected to be something that we should all understand. That when you are somebody who has an honest job and you fulfill your duties as a single individual, as a married individual, as a father, as a husband, that somewhere in the first impression, somewhere there in your first thought process should be, Lord, what do you want me to do with this? What do you want me to do with this? This is yours, so you tell me where this should go. Do you want me to hold on to it?

Do you want me to what is it that you want me to do? And again, I say that there are many places in the New Testament that stir that stir me to see the the attitude of believers when it comes to how they handle how they handle their income. One of the most convicting places to me personally, you might disagree, was when Paul took great lengths to talk about the Macedonian Christians. Do you remember that? In second Corinthians eight.

I want you to see it because when I saw it for the first time, it was like a harpoon was released in my chest. In second Corinthians eight three and four, there was an opportunity for the churches around Asia Minor to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem. And and this opportunity was like the newsletter of their day. And what happens? The Macedonians who were poor, far poorer than other churches, look how they responded in verse three of second Corinthians eight.

Never mind now in your mind thinking about how you heard on that ministry channel or how you watch on TV or how you've seen those teachings that expose false teachers. Never mind those who pervert the teaching of giving. Just look at the verse. Just look between you and God in this verse. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord.

Now look at this, verse four. Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. When I read that, my jaw dropped. Why? Because Paul did not have to beg the Macedonians to give.

The Macedonians begged Paul to give. Think about it. That's quite fascinating, isn't it? And it's not that they were in abundance. We learned earlier that they were much much more scarce than their resources.

But there was something in the Macedonian Christian's mind, listen to this, that when the news spread that there are some people who need relief, there are other brothers who need relief. I'm not talking about you giving money here so that I can go buy a jet. So I can have a nicer car. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about genuine need, an opportunity for gospel mercies to be extended.

When that opportunity came to the Macedonian church, they were like, oh, wow. Guys, this is our chance. And they're like, Paul, we know that we're not in the best place right now, but please don't don't bypass us. We really want to be a part of this mission. How how loose is your grip on money for you to be able to say that?

Because I discovered this studying this and I didn't even like it. I was like, ugh. One of the ways that God tests whether we are in that place of putting false security and our affections being too much on money, one of the ways that he tests and actually regulates and keeps us in check is actually through the discipline of giving. Know what I mean by that? Is that that is really a test to see where is my heart.

When there's a need, and and I feel by the spirit that I'm called to provide that need, whether it's here or whether it's a brother or whether it's a family member, whether it's a ministry that's really blessed you in that whatever it is. I think in that moment, the Holy Spirit gives us a reality check of where I'm at. Doesn't feel good. And sometimes we can think, don't guilt me into that. I don't want if you feel guilty to ever give, don't you dare give.

You understand? I don't care if three people beside you give when that plate passes. If your heart is not cheerful in that act, you keep it in your pocket. Do you think God needs our giving? Do you think the one who owns a cat on a thousand hill really, really needs our giving?

He doesn't. It does something to us though. It does something to us. I read this and I am fully aware that there is a part of my life that Jesus wants to sanctify. And sometimes that looks like different things.

But I want to conclude in this thought. Is there an illustration that embodies all these truths that we heard this morning as a sake for us to be inspired? And I think there is. And there is a man in the Bible that is just brushed over so lightly, but he's the one that came to mind when I read these verses. And it's actually at the burial of Jesus.

In Matthew 27, you can turn there to see what I'm talking about. In Matthew 27, verse 57, we read, rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a rich man. Why?

Like, is that really an important detail that he was a rich man? And the obvious answer is yes, because this rich man was a disciple of Jesus. And in this moment, he was unashamed to be associated with a poor prophet that was scorned by the nation with vicious hatred. I mean, people argue that he was a secret disciple, but he wasn't a secret disciple here anymore. So no matter how long he was a secret disciple, this is a very public thing.

You're asking for the body of the one that was crucified be before the entire nation, and you're gonna take his body and bury him. And that remind you of Paul's instruction to Timothy, don't be haughty. Don't think that you're somebody else because of what you have. Jesus, a man who didn't have a pillow on his head, this rich man says, I wanna honor him. And I'm gonna expose my life before others to see that I'm willing to associate myself with him.

But not just that, we see that he was a man, though he was rich, who had his affection set on Christ. Did he not? Did he not? To take his time and his effort and his resources, though Christ in the physical sense was dead at this time, to say, I want to I want to bless my master and shower him with whatever honor I can I can give with the resources that I have? I see a man who loves Jesus and not his wealth.

I see a man who didn't didn't say to himself, well, this Jesus promised so much and now he's dead, so might as well move on with my life the way it was before I met him. Now I see a man who says, here's Christ. He touched my life. He changed my life. So I want to give something to him to tell him how much that means to me.

His priorities are somewhere else, and they're not in this world. And according to verse 60, do you see verse 60? It tells us that it was his own tomb. He didn't, like, take up another tomb. He didn't build another tomb.

In that moment, the very tomb that he invested in, a wealthy man to have it carved into a place. The very thing that, like, people today, you can reserve I I never understood that, but I guess people do it all the time. Like, you reserve your grave. You can buy a piece of lot in advance. That's a common thing.

But this is what he does. He reserves something for himself in his own name. But when it came to Jesus' death, what was his own, he realized actually belonged to my Lord. That's how the rich Christian should be. Lord, whatever I think is mine, whatever I've even reserved for my future, comfort and ease, at your word, it belongs to you.

At your word, I lay it at your feet. At your word, you can have it and occupy it. And I will do so with great joy in my heart. After teaching this, I mean, that's arguably the last thought of this letter. Because Paul spoke to pastors, he spoke to men in the church, woman in the church, widows in the church, single people in the church, and he brings one final category, those who are affluent in the church.

Gonna let any corner be untouched. But then he comes to verse twenty first Timothy six and says, oh Timothy, like with great endearment, oh Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. And that's what I would say to this church as we close this series in the book of first Timothy. We heard a lot. We heard a lot.

A lot of things that seemed obvious and a lot of things that challenged the culture. And here's the command for all of us today, as a church that is being built up, and God is establishing leadership, and establishing ministries, and putting more structure to this thing that God is building. Let's guard it and be faithful to every instruction. Whether it's how we handle our money, whether it's how we put prayer as the first priority, as Paul tells Timothy in this letter, whether it's honoring the gender roles within ministry in the home, guard it. Why would he say that?

Because there's gonna be people that are gonna challenge it. They're gonna try to come and twist it and change it and bend it according to the mold of the world of this age. Be careful. So guard it and protect it. That is the duty of a minister more than anything else.

It's not to come up with new ideas. It's not to be more creative. It's to take the ancient truths of God and to protect it with integrity, to declare it faithfully, to not twist it, but to fear God and even preaching and teaching it, lest he do so in error. And we have to be a people like that, a people of the book that will interpret this church and how we do church according to the written word of God. Guard it.

And that's how we end this series. Protect it. Cherish it. Understand why you believe it. Because I'm telling you, it's gonna get more difficult to hold on to the truths that we learned over the past few months.

I want you to understand what the spirit of this age has been doing and is doing at a quick rate. It is trying to infiltrate and affect and infect every institution that we know in this life. And guess what? They've made great strides. They've come into our educational system.

They affected the media. They've come into our government. What's left? Even the home now. You can't be a parent without the government telling you how to be a parent.

At least trying to. I'll tell you what's left. The place where you're sitting today, that's what's left. And you think the enemy is just gonna sit by and stand at bay and let the church be the church? No.

He will try to come in and he might gather everything against her, the media, the government, the police, the school system, to try to make this the bride of Christ, the army of Christ, the family of Christ, the spirit of this age. And by the grace of God, we will guard against it. Let's pray together in Jesus' name. And as we pray, please prepare your hearts to break bread. We're about to come before an ordinance that the Lord Jesus has instituted.

And it is my duty to say that if you're not a born again Christian, if you're not really giving your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not something that is open for all people. This is solely for those who have placed their trust in Christ and our disciple, of who he is. And so the scripture warns that if we take this in an unworthy manner, we bring judgment on ourselves. I don't want that for your life. And for the believer, that warning is still true for us.

If there's sin in our lives that we have not repented of, if there is fractured relationships between a brother or a sister, God calls us to go and reconcile and skip this meal and to come before it with a a clear conscience before anything else. Because Christ doesn't want us to partake of his body and blood if we're not willing to reflect it in our own lives. And so just in that place, take the time to reflect. Pastor Daniel and myself will join you at the table, and here's some instructions before we continue to pray. You're gonna come forward.

Sorry, I asked you to pray. Look up to me. I apologize. Come forward. And as you come forward, I I know it's been a while since we've done this.

You're just going to take one piece of bread and one cup. You're going to return to your seat. You're not going to eat it right away. We're going to sing together. Then we're going to rehearse the truths about these elements and pray over that.

And then we're going to eat and partake together. Okay? Gospel. Reflect on no matter what's shaking in your life, your salvation is secure. Alright?

Let's pray now. Father, we ask, prepare our hearts for this moment to fellowship with your son. Symbolic act, there is something true in the spirit that is important for us to understand. Help us see Christ. Help us not think of any of our problems now, any of our issues, what we're going to have for lunch, what we're going to do after this moment, and help us realize the gospel and its implications for us.

So Lord, we praise you, and we bless you, and we thank you for all that you've done. In Jesus name, amen. Let's come to the table together.