Introduction to Ephesians

Today is the awaited day where we start the book of Ephesians, so if you would please turn to the book of 1 Timothy.

Yes, we are going to start the book of Ephesians in the book of 1 Timothy. I'm happy to hear many of you are paying attention through the chatter and the laughter, but yes we're going to start the book of 1 Timothy, I'm sorry, the book of Ephesians with a verse of 1 Timothy 4, 13, and then we will get to Ephesians today. I promise you have waited so patiently and are in great anticipation as am I. So 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 13 is a verse of Scripture that I want us to take attention to as we start the book of Ephesians. And, you know that the books of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy are very connected when it comes to who are involved in the information there. And so 1 Timothy 4, 13 says this, "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching."

We are a church that strives to be very strategically obedient to the Word of God. And when it comes to the reverence in church that's missing in our culture, we strive to slow our culture down within the walls of this dear church so that we can have due respect and honor and glory for our King. And to take it slow and to really think about what we're doing. And this is a command in Scripture for which I am so thrilled to be able to demonstrate today the obedience to this particular verse, "Give attention to the public reading of Scripture." And so in here in 1 Timothy we are to be reading and exhorting Scripture. And so when you read publicly the Word of God and then the exhortation and the teaching is the sermon. And so reading and expositing Scripture is what we do in our worship services. Preceding this verse is a very important verse in verse 6. And pointing out these things to the brethren, "You will be a good servant of Christ Jesus." A good and faithful servant of Christ Jesus in verse 6 means this. It means that you will be exposing anything that contradicts Scripture. And that's not popular in our day, but we want to do this in truth and grace. We want to be loving, truly loving. Loving is telling the truth and we don't shrink back from that. And so those who are exposing what contradicts Scripture are good and faithful servants according to what Paul's instruction to young Timothy is. And as he lived in a pagan day, as do we, we can take note of what is expected of us. And so after we publicly read Scripture and hear it explained, and it is explained in a way that is challenging and that is riveting and that gets to the heart of where you are, you are forced then into obeying it or disobeying it. It is projected in a way that brings you to a point of decision. That is preaching somewhat. So 1 Timothy 4.13, "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation and teaching." And I would like to explain to you what teaching is. Teaching is making the meaning clear. And so as the word is being taught, it is to be being clearer and clearer in your mind. And so making the meaning clear, explaining the doctrines. The hearers then are learners. You should be learning things as you are listening to preaching. And then as well, the teaching and the preaching is clarifying truth. If you have some type of mom and pop philosophy that is not in alignment with the Scriptures, true preaching will help bring you into complete alignment with the Word of God so that you can continue therein. We all experience this. And then we also hear teaching by way of telling what the text says. If you are truly teaching the Word of God, then you are teaching what the text says and you have none of your own philosophy or ideologies in there, you are not in the text. The teacher is not in the text, but the text rules and dominates the content. And so it is not only clarifying a doctrine, but it says what the text is saying. So when it comes to exhortation and teaching, teaching is this. It is instructing how to obey what the text says. And so true sheep want to hear what the Father has to say and be guided in the right direction. And you come to hear instruction on how to obey what is explained in the text. And so true teaching is explaining the meaning. It is taking what is here and bringing it out. It's exposing the truth and making it plain.

And then it also says exhortation. And exhortation is a stirring discourse. And exhortation is something that is more powerful than just teaching. Exhortation takes where you are and exposes the fact that you are out of alignment with the Word of God. It stirs you to want to change. Transformation. The Word of God will continuously wash you and make you cleaner and cleaner and cleaner. And more like Christ. And if that transformation of power is happening in your life, then you are a Christian. If that's the whole time, if you are the same person whom you were five years ago or ten years ago, then you are not growing in Christ. And that's a really bad sign. True Christians grow. And we see that by example of what John told the church when he said that children grow to youth in the faith who become fathers in the faith. And so that spiritual growth model there is real. And it is as real as a baby, a true human baby, will not stay a baby. But it will grow into becoming a child and then a youth and then perhaps a father or mother one day. And so do baby Christians. They don't stay baby Christians. They continue to grow. And if that's happening, then that is evidence of your salvation. You don't have to doubt that. And so the exhortation is stirring. It's convicting. It's instruction that is persuasive. It makes a point, and like Martin Lloyd Jones was so good at, though he was by trade a medical doctor, seemed that he was more of a lawyer and that he would attack and eliminate all the threats that threatened the truth. And he would put the truth before the people and he would eliminate everything else so that you could only see that was what the word of God says. So exhortation calls you to be obedient to that truth and it implores you and it summons you and it warns you and then it encourages you. All of these things are involved here and it says give attention to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation and teaching. These things have their place both in the sermon, both in Bible study groups, both in studying the Bible at home. Did you know that in Colossians chapter 4 verse 16 it says when this letter is read, turn there, I want you to see it's talking about the Ephesian letter in Colossians chapter 4 verse 16 as we get closer and closer to the book of Colossians, or the book of Ephesians.

You can see how anxious I am to get there.

Colossians 4, 16 says this, "When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans. And you, for your part, read my letter."

As my prior Bible college president would always say, that better be God. (Laughter)

Colossians 4, 16 says this, "When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans of you, for which your part is to read my letter." Now, we have an instruction here to read the letter out loud in church. And I don't know if I have ever, well, to the best of my recollection, I don't think I have ever been in a church service where we have read an entire letter as part of the preaching and teaching time. You have, I know, because we have Bible study teachers here who do that. And you do know this as well, that John 831 is our main verse here at Bula Baptist Church, which says, "To continue in the Word and so prove your disciples of mine." And so if you are truly continuing in the Word, then you are truly disciples. That's Jesus' words. That's conditional. And a part of continuing in the Word is just knowing what the whole letter says. It seems very logical that when you get a letter in the mail, you read the whole thing.

And now, in their context, they had the author up front, so they knew who was speaking right away, and so they could read it from the top left all the way to the bottom right.

But in our context, for some reason, we put the author at the back. So you have to flip to the back of the letter and see who wrote it, and then go back to the front before you know who wrote it to see what the context is. But here we have the privilege in the Bible and their context and their culture to see right up front that the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians. And so I would like to read this glorious epistle with you, this prison epistle. Turn, if you would please, finally to the book of Ephesians. And take a note of how clean this page might be because you will turn to this page over and over and over again in the upcoming season of your life, and perhaps it will be not as white and clean by the time we get done exhausting what is in the text here. I look forward to this. And before we read this entire Ephesian letter together, I want to give you the general content in block format, the main ideas. And so just listen before we read this, before I read the entire thing to you, I want you to know that chapter one contains from the Apostle Paul a blessing for the congregation and his praying for them. It is beautiful. Chapter one contains blessings and praying. The blessings are from heaven and he is explaining every spiritual blessing to them. And then from an overflow of discussing the blessings that are from heaven, he just simply transforms and has to pray. He transitions into prayer because of the wonders that he talks about. And then in chapter two, it talks about doctrines and dwelling. The beautiful doctrines of total depravity and sovereign salvation and work in the church are going to be explained. We will see these. Total depravity in verse one means that you're dead in your sins. And then as well in sovereign salvation, he makes you alive. That is how someone is saved. Christ makes them alive. And then he raises them up. It's a picture of baptism there. And then for work in the church, we are created from before the foundation of the world for good works. He designs these works and he creates the gift and he gifts you and he empowers you for good works. So doctrines and dwelling, the dwelling is referred to in chapter two as a household. We are God's household. We are a growing temple. The Bible says in verse 21 in chapter two that we are growing into a holy temple. You will grow through the study of Ephesians. We are growing. The Bible study, true preaching will grow you. So at the end of this, you perhaps will be different, I hope so, more like Christ by the time we get through with Ephesians. And some of you are probably taking a guess as to how long we're going to be in this book based upon how long it took us to get through Colossians. And if you know how long it took us to get through the book study of Colossians on Wednesday nights, well that was four chapters. You can add a little bit more time because Ephesians has six chapters. So get comfortable.

Here we go. Chapter three talks about how Paul is a prisoner of Jesus Christ and then he prays again. It's wonderful. Paul is a man of prayer. Even in his writing, he is pausing to pray. He can't even get through writing the Ephesian church a whole letter without praying twice. Boy, is that not an awesome observation. Have you ever been around someone who just says, "Hold on, we got to pray."

Hey, that is a Paul-like disciple. That is a wonderful person who will actually pause in the middle of what you're doing and say, "We need to pray about this. Let's take it to the Lord in prayer." And so in chapter three is about how Paul is a prisoner in Christ and he's also praying again. Chapter four, Paul is working on unifying, structuring, and growing the church. And then he instructs us how to walk with the Lord. Unifying, preserving the unity of the church in verse three. Structuring through the offices in the church and how that structure then will produce a foundation for growth. You will grow as everything is in the right place. The things will be functioning well. You'll grow in your faith. And then in chapter five is all about imitating and everything that is involved in marrying. And so as we are to be imitating Christ, verse one says to be imitators of God. And so we're learning how to imitate God. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, verse one, "If you don't know how to imitate Christ, imitate me until you figure that out." Right? So you perhaps can be a disciple maker and to be an example and say, "Look unto me how I am striving to learn how to pray." And I'm taking Paul's prayers and I'm just mimicking what he prayed for his people. I'm praying that for my family and our people. So let's use that. And how I'm studying the Bible. Let's learn together. And so Paul is saying imitate Christ, but if you don't know what that means, let's imitate the Christlikeness in someone else. And how Paul lives before Timothy through all these missionary journeys teaching him how to truly share the gospel and make disciples was dynamic. And now Timothy is dynamic who is now pastoring here at Ephesus. Now as the work of imitating is being explained, he moves and transitions to marriage and how wives and husbands have very specific roles. And that is beautiful. And then chapter six is all about living. If you wanted one word, living. It is family life, work life, and your spiritual life. And that spiritual life is definitely a war. We are in a battle and we are to be putting on our spiritual armor. And then our work life as doulos, slaves unto Christ, we serve God, not man, but we serve underneath the authority of mankind, whomever your boss may be, as if we are serving God. And when we do that, it is glorifying to the Lord because we have a God of order. And in our family life, the roles are immense. And so now I would like to take on the wonderful task of reading the book of Ephesians with you. So let's turn to chapter one in Ephesians and read chapter one all the way through.

Chapter six in the last verse.

Ephesians chapter one verse one. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

To the saints who are at Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed upon us in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his intention, which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times. And that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in him. Also we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose, who works all things after the counsel of his will. To the end we will who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory.

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus, which exists among you and your love for all of the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. And I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of his glory, of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought which he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come, and put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as the head of all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. And you are dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formally lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive, together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at the time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of the commandments contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. It might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are now fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard the stewardship of God's grace which is given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery. As I wrote before in brief, by referring to this when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now being revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. Be specific that the Gentiles are now fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power, to me the very least of all saints. This grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf for they are your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit and the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

And now to him who was able to do far and more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who was over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. And now this expression, he ascended, what does it mean? Except that he also had descended into the lower parts of the earth. And he who descended is himself also he who ascended far above all the heavens so that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the statue which belongs in the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects unto him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by every joint supplies according unto the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body, for the building up of itself in love. So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you being renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor performing with his own hands what is good and so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment and so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us in offering and to sacrifice to God has a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among saints and therefore must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather giving thanks.

For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolaterer has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them for you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says awake sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is and do not get drunk and whine for that is dissipation but be filled with the spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God even the father and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife and as Christ also is the head of the church he himself being the savior of the body but as the church is subject to Christ so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of the water with that he might present to himself the church in all her glory having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she would be holy and blameless so husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies he who loves his own wife loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church because we are members of his body for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh the mystery is great but I am speaking with reverence to Christ and the church nevertheless each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth fathers do not provoke your to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ not by way of eye service as men pleasers but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will render service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatever good thing each one does this he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free and masters do the same things to them and give up threatening knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no partiality with him finally be strong in the Lord and then the strength of his might put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the powers against the world forces of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the places therefore take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the day evil day and having done everything to stand firm stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace in addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view be on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth that I may make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains in that proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought but that you also may know about my circumstances how I am doing Tychicus who the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will make everything known to you I have sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know about us and that he may comfort your hearts peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace be with you all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an incorruptible love may the Lord bless the hearing of his word let's pray

God we do stand and do reverence of your word

it would take the rest of our feeble lives to understand this simple letter

but I pray dear God for an empowerment to be able to expound upon these truths to accurately represent you for the betterment of the church and for your glory

dear God the Apostle Paul worked so hard to unite the Gentiles with the Jews there being only one and us being in you the main theme of this letter being our reunion in you

God help us to understand what that means may we just love you in return for you first loved us God we do thank you for this letter and we ask your blessings your continual blessings upon it as we continue in your word faithfully may you bless every here or here dear God may you bless their marriages may they thrive God in your word may they pray together may they be humble toward one another may they being bring peace to their home through reverence unto you dear God I pray for our families that we would thrive in you that we would study together and worship together and pray together at home and make this not just a Sunday thing or a Wednesday thing but a way of worship for all of life God we are so encouraged by this dear letter and we thank you for all of these magnificent themes help us dear God as we go through this mighty book to understand the riches that are in heaven that are made available to us in you and father I pray as well that we would be like the Apostle Paul so full of your spirit that it would overflow on those whom we and be evangelistic that we would spread your glory throughout the hall of the earth God we ask that you would not only refine this dear church but that you would bring those who are not here who you want to be here here add to our numbers and build up the body as you will dear God this is your church you're the head and we are simply your slaves and we will slave away and not only picking away at all the nuances in this letter to know you more but we will push dear God to align ourselves with you and to be obedient to be doers of the word and not only hear us as your servant James articulated so well God we love you and hear the plea of our hearts that we need you and unless you do this it will not happen transform our minds renew our hearts image help us to be your image bearers help us to be your workmanship to do your will and your works for your glory and the benefit of the church Lord if anyone is here underneath the reading and preaching and praying of you and your word I pray Lord if they're lost they don't know you personally if you've never saved them God you withdraw by the power of your Holy Spirit their conscience under conviction put before them all of the sins that they've committed that forced your dear son Jesus Christ and his purity to have to bear the punishment on the cross put that before their mind dear God help them to truly understand that it was their wretchedness that put Jesus on the cross draw them unto a sorrow that would bring them first of all low and then as they repent of their sin and cry out to you dear God please forgive me help them also to articulate by faith that they believe in your death and resurrection dear God we pray that by your power you would save souls here at Bula Baptist Church and I pray God by your power that you would see souls to move forward from salvation unto sanctification unto service Lord I pray that these things would be a real reality and I thank you for a a sober service dear God one that is reverent and honoring to you one that seems to press pause on life and brings us into your presence and I pray Lord that this has been meaningful for this dear congregation I pray this in Jesus name amen amen