Habakkuk 3:1-19 | Yet I Will Rejoice

Delight in love. He shows us faithfully. Lift up your voice. His gentness will join our hearts with praise. We gather in his goodness. A family of grace. With each deliver. Praise the Lord. These times we live in. We will praise the Lord throughout every season. I am sure we have every reason to praise the Lord. Rejoice and be anxious for love. Pray your blessing. Come with a song. May your bless his peaceful fall to guard our hearts and minds. Christ eternal the shepherd of our lives. With each breath he g the Lord in these times we will praise the Lord through the season. I am sure we have every reason to praise the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord now. Tell of the good he said. Worship the Lord to remember all of the joy yet the hope that burns. The dark cannot destroy with praise that's never ending. We sing again. Rejoice with his hand in these weure reason Praise the Lord. We have every reason to praise the Lord. He is exalted. The king is exalted on

high. I will praise him. He is exalted forever. Exalted and I will praise his name. He is the Lord forever. His truth shall reign. Heaven and earth. Rejoice in his holy name. He is exalted. The king is exalted on. high. I will praise him. He is exalted forever. Exalted and I will praise his name. He is the Lord forever. His truth shall reign. rejoice in his holy name. He is exalted. The king is exalted on high. He is exalted. The king is exalted on high. I exalt thee. I exalt thee. I exalt thee, oh Lord. I exalt thee. I exalt thee. I exalt thee. Oh. Pressures come forward. >> Good morning, church. How are you? >> All right. For those of you that don't know me, uh my name is Nick Keller and I'm one of the deacons here. So, um if you guys something. I'm easy to spot and you can uh you can look for me and just say, "Hey, you." All right. So, uh we're about to go uh to collect offering and I just like to pray over that and u and we have some questions. So, if you would bow your heads with me. Father, we just come to you, Lord. Lord, we thank you for uh for this offering. Lord, we uh we just pray that that we can have wisdom

and and how to and discernment how to use this money, Father, to further your kingdom. Lord, I ask that you just compress it and make it um expand it, Father, so we can we can use it to to maximize um your your kingdom, Father. We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. >> All right. So, um today's question is, what is the fifth commandment? And what does it require? So for the answers, we look for Exodus 20:12. Honor your father and your mother that your gaze may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given you. Then we go to Matthew 15:4. For God commanded, "Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die." And Ephesians 6:1, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect king, a great high priest to save his love. Whoever lives and pleads for me. My name is great on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands. No tongue can bid me then depart. When Satan temps me to despair and tells me of the guilt within a word I look and see him there who made an end to all my sin because the sinless Savior life. My sinful soul is counted free. For God, the just is satisfied. To look on him and pardon me. to look on him and pardon me. Behold him there. The risen man, my perfect spotless, righteousness, the great unchange of all. I am the king of glory and of grace.

One with himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood. My life is hid with Christ alone. With Christ my savior and my God. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my heart. I once was lost in darkest night. I thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own a reel to your will. And if you had loved me first, I would refuse. But as I read my help grace, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless saints and led me to the cross. And I beheld God's love. You suffered in my face. You bore the wrath for me. Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah. I am Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is now Lord I would be yours alone and live so long I see the strength to follow your commands could never come from me. Oh father, use the words of life in any way you choose.

And let my song forever be my only is you. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is hallelujah. All I is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my birth. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus. And so Lord, we do want to thank you for this day. We want to ask that uh you would speak to us through uh the ministry of the word this morning. Um, thank you for the cross of Jesus Christ uh that pays for all of our sins uh that uh makes us whole and new. And we just ask Lord that you would uh minister to our hearts today through um through your word. As we finish Habach today, um thank you for the blessing that's been. Uh thank you for how timely it has been. We just ask for your grace and your mercy to be on us. Father, we love you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, good morning church. If >> if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, turn to Habach chapter 3. I'll give you a minute to find that little book. Hopefully, you've gotten a little better over the last few weeks of finding it. Uh we're looking at what happens uh here at the end. Um what happens when we don't get the answers that we want to our prayers? Uh what happens when we petition God? When we ask God and we we beg and we plead and we we ask for deliverance, we ask an answer and and he gives us an answer and we really don't like it.

What do we do then? I want you to picture um your kid as a 15, 16 year old. They're getting their license. They're learning to drive. It's Friday night. you're standing in the kitchen and uh come up to you and they say, "Dad, mom, I've been watching you drive for years and uh I've taken the course. I've already completed my hours my first Friday night with my license and I really want to go and hang out with my friends. We're all I'm going to meet up and uh just go have a great time. So, if I could go have the keys, I'd really appreciate it." And uh and dad, he says, "I don't know. I don't I really don't see that happening. And uh the teen, what do they do? They push back, don't they? They But dad, I know how to drive. My friends are all driving. They're all going to be there. You don't trust me, right? They start to push back. You're trying to hold me back. And from the teen's perspective, the no, it feels very restrictive. And from the father or the parents perspective, it feels just like a a no is very protective. This the child sees it as freedom. Uh the parent sees it as well, I want to see you grow in maturity a little bit before you just go out with your friends. They don't want to take unnecessary risks. But the teen hears rejection. The hears that, but the parents see it as love. But let's take a step back. Let's say that the parents, they know that their teen isn't ready. Okay? They can't even close a cabinet in their house. They they know their teen isn't ready. And and also more than that, they know that a a road on the way home is particularly dangerous in that area. And and let's say they also know that there's, you know, bars in the area and so there might be drunk drivers on that Friday night. Let's say they also know maybe that the

tires are worn and the brakes maybe need to be replaced. Talk to Fuel if uh you need to have that fixed. Maybe maybe they know that the freedom would shape their someone into careless someone who is careless. You see the teen's knowledge is partial. the parents knowledge is fuller. And when God says no to our requests, it's not because he lacks information. He possesses perfect wisdom. And so that teen has a choice to make, don't they? They can either rebel by sneaking out, sneaking the keys, or they could be bitter about it. They could accuse their parents of being unfair or they can trust and they can accept that delay. They can grow in maturity and prepare for the day when the answer becomes yes. And today we're going to look at five actions that we need to take when God says no when he tells us to wait when we have to delay. So um because this is a whole chapter, I'm going to ask you to stay seated for this. uh because it's it's quite lengthy. So that's my Valentine's Day gift to you guys. So enjoy. Habach 3:es 1-19. God's word. It says this, a prayer of Habach the prophet according to Shigenoth. Oh Lord, I've heard the report of you and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years, revive it. In the midst of the years, make it known. In wrath, remember mercy. God came from Teeman and the holy one from Mount Perna. His splendor covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light. Raise flash from his hand and there he veiled his power. Before him went pestilence, plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth. He looked and shook the nations. Then the eternal mountains were scattered. The everlasting hills sank low. His were the

everlasting ways. I saw the tents of Kushan and affliction. The curtains of the land in Midian did tremble. Was your wrath against the rivers? Oh Lord, was your anger against the rivers or your indignation against the sea. When you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation, you stripped the sheath from your bow calling for many arrows. Say love. You split the earth with rivers. The mountain saw you and writhed. The raging waters swept on. The deep gave forth its voice. It lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their place. At the light of your arrows as they sped at the flash of your glittering spear. You marched through the earth in fury. You threshed the nations in anger. You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Sah, you pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters. I hear, and my body quivers, tremble, trembles, excuse me. My lips quiver at the sound. Rotteness enters my into my bones. My legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold. There be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers. He makes me tread on my high places. To the choir master with stringed instruments. Father, as we uh turn attention to your word, give us understanding. Help us, dear Lord, um to uh apply this rightly to our lives as uh Habach is

just pouring out his heart here. uh help us pour out our hearts to you as a uh an offering just uh we are completely yours and so speak to us dear Lord uh that we would know you more today in Jesus name. Amen. Well the third chapter of Habach is a bit different uh because uh this is a a prayer that has been transformed into a psalm at this point. Um, so it changes literary genres and it takes place many years after chapters one and two are done. Uh, so there's been a lot of growth uh between chapter 1 and chapter 2 and and now you have even more growth between chapter 2 and chapter 3. And and the writing here, it it seems to be a song set to music. That word chigonoth, no one really knows what it means. Uh it could come from uh an Arachian word known as shaga which means wayward. Uh or it could imply maybe a whimpering sound. Uh no one's quite sure what that shigoth is. Uh but verse two it says, "Oh Lord, I have heard the report of you and your works. Oh Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years, revive it. In the midst of the years, make it known. in wrath remember mercy. And this teaches us a first point that I want to make today. Do I have slides? >> Okay. Uh the first point that I want to make is uh oh when you don't understand, pray for revival. Habachi starts this this whole book very confused, very frustrated. Uh he said, "Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? He said, "Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?" But now, what's Habach saying? He's saying, "I heard the report of you. I have heard of your work, and it's your work, Lord, that I fear." So listen to me, Christian. There are going to be times, there are going to be seasons where you don't understand what

God's doing in your family. you're going to find yourself where you're not quite sure what God is up to in in a local church or uh in a nation in those seasons of suffering. They're not going to make very much sense to you when you're walking in them. Many many times our first instinct is Lord, you got to put a stop to this. But Habach teaches us revive me Lord even in the midst of this. And so instead of praying remove the fire, what we ought to be praying is Lord refine us in the fire because here's what Peter says in this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you have been grieved by various trials. We are going to have grievous trials that we walk through so that there's a purpose behind it directly tied to the trials. The tested genuiness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Your sufferings are not the result of chance or happen stance. Your faith or your he health is going to fail. destruction is going to happen at some point in time and those are opportunities for God to work. Yes. But it's also a time for you to grow. My children, they get uh really bad uh growing pains, don't you guys? And they're and they they they cry. They suffer. They're they're like, "This is the worst feeling on planet Earth." And you know, my wife, she loves these uh those essential oils. And she's just like, "Yeah, just get it in there. Let it soak in real good, you know, and that it that placebo effect. That's what I think. But, you know, I know I'm in the minority with my homeschool moms here. So, love you guys. Love you, Amber. I'm sure she's watching. Just saying. She's got the fluid. She went straight to Nyquil. Okay. Joking. Oh, I got a text. That's I'm just

tripping. But but you know those growing pains, what they're an indicator of is a body that's growing. That's what they indicate. It's a healthy thing. Yes, it is painful. Pain's very real, but it means that there's growth. And so your sufferings are a means which God uses to grow you. And so don't despise them when they come. Instead, what we are called to do is look to Christ and say, "God, how would you have me respond to you in the midst of this?" And the revelation of God is what allows us that strength. And that's what he's going to recite in these next several verses. He reminds himself of God's work at Sinai. God. He came down in fire on the mountain before Israel. Verses 3-6 uses that Sinai language when Israel was delivered from slavery and oppression from Egypt. In in Exodus chapter 19, it says this, "On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain." That's Mount Si. And a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. When then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Si was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. And the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Si to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. Habach remembers this. This is the time where God made a covenant with the people of God. He made promise after directly tying it to his character and he called them to faithfulness. And he reminds us of the actual Exodus event.

God. He came and he crushed Egypt with pestilence and plague. And he asked, "Was your wrath against the rivers?" No, they weren't against the rivers. They were against the people. He came and he saved his people from their sins. God, he turned the mighty Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt, to to blood. He sent the plagues that sent Egypt into the dark age. He split the Red Sea and he drowned Pharaoh's army. See, God didn't negotiate. God conquered. And Habach is reminding himself that the same God that brought judgment to Egypt could bring Babylon to its knees. Habach, he recalls the son, standing still during the conquest of the Holy Land. It was the Lord who drove out the wicked from that promised land. What does it say? You marched through the earth in fury. He threshed the nations in anger. He drove the people out of that land of Canaan. He wanted to emphasize that. And I want to show you in verse 13 where he says that he crushed the head of the house of the wicked. And this is an echo of the ancient promise found in Genesis 3:15 that it is through between this offspring and her offspring. and he talking about Jesus will bruise the head of the serpent and that the serpent would bruise his heel. A promise from the Lord. All of these victories that he's recounting and pointing back to are just previews of the ultimate victory that happened at the cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died, it looked like Babylon had won. It looked like Satan had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. But the cross is God's greatest act of conquest. It was there that the head of Satan was crushed, ruined, destroyed. Sin was judged and death was defeated. And and we have to

remember that Habac all he sees is shadows. He doesn't see things clearly. We have the benefit and the blessing of looking back to see fulfillment and hope found at the cross of Jesus Christ. And the second action that I want you to take is when you feel hopeless. Remember who's in charge. You might look at your finances and you think, I I don't know how next Friday is going to look for me. And you're feeling pretty hopeless. Or maybe you have a rebellious child and you just don't know how God is going to get a hold of their heart. Or maybe you're just exhausted with our culture and you're underwhelmed by politicians. And all those things are totally real and they're totally terrible. And for Habach, Babylon is still coming. It's still a real threat. And yet he chooses to magnify the Lord over all of those feelings because we don't overcome fear by minimizing our concerns. Those worldly strategies of ah it's okay. I'm just going to get through it. I'm just going to g going to power through. Those things, they don't work. We overcome our fears not by minimizing concerns but by magnifying God. If you if you have financial concerns, you take it to the faithful provider. You have cultural concerns, you take it to the sovereign king. He can deal with it. You got personal sin, you overcome it by abiding in the gracious savior who died for you and has redeemed you. And many people, they battle with hopelessness because they have such a small view of God. Or actually, it could be that they just have such a big view of their problems. I want to u this is just a rock outside my office, right? And and sometimes uh what we do is we we we take a look at like this problem that we have and when we have a right view of it, I can I can totally see you guys just fine. There's

no problem there. But what happens if I start putting it right here? you know, I I can kind of see, but it's just obscuring my vision right there, right? I have really squinty eyes anyways, so you know, it's like, but I can't see very well. But when we get a better view, when we quit focusing on the on the problem and we start looking at what God is doing, that gives us a much better view of the actual situations. Has has that problem changed in size? Has this pebble gotten smaller? No. Still the same size, but my focus is different. Let's look at verse 16. He says this, "I hear and my body trembles." You ever been in a situation that you're just so scared that your body trembles? I hate that. I hate that feeling. Lips quiver at the sound. Rottness enters into my bones. My legs tremble beneath me. Habach is still scared. He is still scared. And many times I I think that we believe that fear is the absence of faith. And I'm not not totally sold on that. Like I understand it clearly fear is a negative thing and it's not to make its home in the heart of a Christian. Um but the psalmist he says when I am afraid I put my trust in God. Not if I am afraid. He says when I am afraid. And so faith seems to be the antidote for fear. Listen to what the psalmist writes in Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Starting to get a better view. Starts with the Lord. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh. Gross. My adversaries and foes. It is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. On the Sea of Galilee, the disciples, they were crossing that dangerous sea with its notoriously strong and

dangerous storms. The disciples, they were afraid. They said, "Save us, Lord. We are perishing." What did he say? Why are you afraid, oh you of little faith? The third action I want you to that I want point you to is that when you're afraid, choose to trust God. Even when your body is trembling like Habach, faith overrules fear. And so it's easy to say that, but what does that mean? The first thing that you need to know is you got to be real with God about your fears. You got to be real with God. You got to be real with yourself. Habach, he doesn't pretend like everything's okay. He admits to trembling. And so maybe you just need to stop pretending that you're strong enough. You need to quit lying to yourself and others and say, "I've got all this under control." You need to admit your fear to God. And spiritual maturity doesn't mean that you're emotionally lying. So admit to the Lord that you're anxious, that you're overwhelmed, that you're struggling. Tell him that you're fearful, that you don't know how this end. That that's not unbelief, okay? That's honesty. That's a good place to start. Secondly, anchor your fear in God's truth. Fear it shouts out loud and faith answers back. Fear says with what if everything goes wrong and faith it says that the Lord is my strength and my portion. Fear it says you will not get out of this and faith says the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Fear says you're all alone. And faith says Jesus promised I will never leave you nor forsake you. Thirdly, walk in obedience. And that's the hard part, right? Because faith does not wait for your feelings to get mine. Habach, he says, "I'm trembling with fear, but I will quietly wait." That's what Habach says. I'm going to obey before relief comes, before deliverance comes, before I see how all this works

out. I'm going to wait on the Lord. I'm going to be patient. I'm going to trust. Some of you, you want to wait to feel calm before obedience. But that's not courageous obedience. Obedience is trusting the Lord. Even in the midst of trembling. It's found perfectly in Christ at the Garden of Gethsemane. He was on his face pouring sweat intermingled with blood because of the sheer pressure. And he prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done, Lord. Let that be done. Fear it puts a period where faith finishes the thought. I don't see how this ends well. Period. Faith continues. I don't see how this ends well, but I know who writes the ending. But you know what? God has already shared the ending. Judah is going to be taken by Babylon. It's going to be a terrible event in redemptive history. The temple is going to be destroyed. The covenant people of God are going to be dispersed. Uh the young men are going to be carried away. Many of them castrated and forced to serve in the palace. What do you do when a loved one passes or a sickness is confirmed? What if your plans do fall through or financial ruin does come? Listen to what Habach says because this is very important. It's very Jobesque. He says this. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. There's no figs, no no harvest, no sheep, no cattle. And for the Jew, this meant no income, meant no food, no stability. Let's put this in modern terms. Even though uh your account gets drained, even though the jobs disappear, even though your reputation suffers, even though culture decays,

even though the church loses members, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. See, it's not about recovery. It's not even about God's provision. It's not about the outcome. It's I am going to rejoice in the Lord because he is good and he loves me. When everything else fails, decide to rejoice in the Lord. I mean, here's the let's get real question. If if God removed all his blessings from you and you're left with nothing but him, is that enough? Is he enough for you? And how you answer that question is very important because it reveals whether you love the Lord or you love the gifts that the Lord gives. Do you love his blessings and his benefits? We can rejoice in those things. Those are fine. But when it's all said and done, if everything else was stripped away and you lost everything, including your health, everything, is God enough for you? Look at verse 19. Says, "God, the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers. He makes me tread on my high places. Notice the progression of Habach. He has all throughout this book, he has moved from a problem- centered view to a very God- centered view. He's moved from complaining and lamenting to glorifying and rejoicing. And so this leads to a fifth outcome is that when when you are weak or fifth action, when you are weak, find your strength in the Lord. Habach he writes, "The Lord is my strength." He doesn't say, "The Lord gives me strength. The Lord is my strength." And that's different. God doesn't give us strength so that way we can remain in our sin. He doesn't want his people focused primarily on the external issues, but to focus on the

Lord and to live for him. Notice that Habach, he has some interesting words here. He says, "He makes me tread on my high places." What does that mean? See, the high places during this time in Israel, they were where idol worship took place on the top of the mountains to get as close to the sky as possible. And it was there that they made sacrifices and and where they worshiped their their false gods of Bales and Kimosh and Molech and all these different things. There were it was places where idol worship occurred. And Habach is saying that the Lord gives us strength to tread upon our high places. And so the Lord, he gives us strength. Not so that way you can keep your idols. Not so that way you can continue to trust in his gifts, but so that way you can destroy the idols in your life. The high places, those are enemy territory. It's what caused Judah to fall into sin in the first place. So what are your high places? God has given you strength in Christ. Not so that way you can tuck them aside, but so that way you can destroy those idols. Notice that God, he gives strength to do that. He doesn't flatten the mountain for us. That'd be awesome, wouldn't it? We ask the Lord, Lord, just take care of this. But you are a morally responsible agent. You have skin in the game. You're called to tear that down because he's given you his spirit. He doesn't flatten the mountain for us. could, but he wants us to see the victory. And God, he promises sure footing. He promises strength. So, are you asking God to remove the climb, or are you asking him to strengthen your feet? Habach, he's he's changed so much, but the situation hasn't changed. Babylon's still coming. The circumstances haven't, but his vision of God has. Habach saw that God is coming. that God he saves completely and that he reigns

and that's enough. So what do people see in your life? Does your joy in Christ exist when everything's good in your life? When the economy is good? When all the kids are healthy? When the church is growing? When life is stable? When's your joy fragile? Habach, he said that the righteous shall live by faith, not figs, not flocks, not by favorable headlines, not by a stable economy, not by a smooth life, but by faith. Bach still didn't get the answer that he wanted. Judgment was still happening. The exile was still happening. Future was still hard. But something had changed and it wasn't God. He moved from demanding that God changed his circumstance to trusting that God was enough. And God is enough for you. He is more than enough. Babylon didn't shrink, but his vision of of God grew. So, church, we have even more reason to rejoice than Habach did. He looked forward to the crushing of the serpent's head. We can look back and we can see Jesus Christ. We see Jesus that he died on the cross for you. That he redeemed you by his own blood. At Calvary, it looked like Babylon had won. But the moment God took his last breath on that cross, it was done. The veil was torn in two. Great earthquake came. The dead, the righteous dead came to life. Three days later, Jesus rose again forever as a a sign and a promise of our sure resurrection. If Christ has conquered sin and death and hell, what storm is too big for him for you now? Head, heart, hand, head. God, he wants you to know that he is enough. Even when everything else fails, he is enough for you. Don't you dare think that that that he's

not. He has all the riches of heaven, but more than that, he offers you himself. And what does he ask in return? He asks for you. He asks for your heart. That's why he calls us a living sacrifice in Romans 12. So offer yourself. Say, "God, here I am. Do what you want to with me. He's enough." And he will see you through it. God, he wants you to believe that your joy must be rooted in him, not in his gifts, head heart. He wants you to believe that not in his blessings, not in his benefits, but in Jesus Christ. And hand, I want you to trust him in the trembling. I'm not going to tell you to stop trembling, okay? It's a real thing. But trust him in the trembling. rejoice in him in the loss and find your strength in Christ. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you so much for this day that you've given to us. I ask that you would just minister to us today. Um I pray that you'd give us understanding uh for how you're working in our midst. And uh, Father, as uh, we transition now to uh, uh, a new time in our uh, church uh, especially the service, I just ask for grace and peace. I pray for um, each person that's here. I pray that we would all um, be open and attentive to your Holy Spirit. Help us to trust in you even when the world falls apart. Lord, you you hold us in your hand even when we don't like the things that we see. We see so much violence and corruption and Lord, I just look forward to you returning. So, we do pray, God, that you would come back. Any day would be good. Uh so, we just ask for that. Lord, in the meantime, help us to live like people with hope uh in the future. We love you, God. In Jesus precious name we pray.