Rest in Jesus: By Drawing Near to the Throne of Grace

Draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that you may receive mercy and find grace and help in time of need. I know exactly what God wants you to do today. He wants you to draw near with confidence to his throne of grace so that you will receive mercy and find help in whatever you're going through today.

This is God's will for your life right now. This is God's will for your life this afternoon. This is God's will for your life next week and all the days ahead. And he wants you to draw near to him this very moment. That is exactly what he wants you to do.

And I can say that with certainty upon the authority of Hebrews four sixteen, our text this morning. Hebrews four sixteen. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And one thing about faith, you know what it does?

It draws near. It keeps drawing near. That's what faith does. It comes to God and it keeps coming to God. And this verse, I cited about this verse, and I'm kind of afraid of this verse because I feel that no matter what I say, it's not gonna exhaust the truth here because what is is in this verse is the very essence of what it means to be a Christian.

We come to the very heart of Christianity, certainly from what God expects from us and how we are to respond to the gospel. Are you a Christian? Are you? Are you drawing near to Christ? Are you resting in Christ? You know how you know if you've been born from above?

If you have received a heaven born faith, you will be drawn to the God of scripture through the Christ of scripture. There's only one God of scripture and there's only one Christ of scripture. And if you've been born from above with that faith that comes from above, you will be drawn to God Almighty, the majesty on high through his son, Jesus Christ.

There is no other faith. There is no other God, and there is no other Christ. And there is no other biblical definition of a Christian than one who draws near to God. That's what faith is about. Are you drawing near to God today? He is drawing near to you through the proclamation of his word.

You are to hear that word and to respond by drawing near to him. I wanna remind you of where we are in our study in Hebrews. Welcome back to it. Remember in verse 11, look back there. We're in this section about Sabbath rest. Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest.

That's the exhortation in this section, to be diligent to enter into that Sabbath rest. That's the exhortation of verse 11. And this exhortation continues in verse 14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we yet without sin. The exhortation, the first necessity. If you're gonna be diligent to enter into the Sabbath rest, the first necessity of that, and we've we looked at this last time, is that you maintain the biblical confession of Christ.

Don't let anybody else define Christ to you. There's a lot of Christs out there. There's the Christ of popular opinion. There's the Christ of tradition. There's the Christ of science. There's the Christ of you name it. But there's only one Christ to scripture. And that's what the author is exhorting this congregation who are thinking about going back or many in it are thinking about going back to Judaism to lessen, to let go of the biblical confession of Christ because it's too much and to embrace the Christ that is a little more easy to follow.

Maybe one that's a little more accepting. Maybe one that gets some of our loved ones into heaven. So we we either got to lower the standards of who Christ is and who God is, or maybe we just can't follow this one who's so exclusive. And so there's this tendency to turn back.

But if you turn back from the biblical confession or the biblical testimony of Christ, you will never enter into his rest. And why is that? Because you will lack the faith that is necessary to draw near to God. You see, the way we rest in Jesus is first, we must maintain that biblical confession.

Because out of that biblical confession comes the desire to draw near, the faith to draw near to God. So how do you the first necessity to rest in Jesus is by maintaining a biblical confession of him. The second way necessity to rest in Jesus is by drawing near to the throne of grace.

And that's gonna be our topic this morning, drawing near to the throne of grace. We rest in Jesus by drawing near to the throne of grace. Look at verse 16. Therefore therefore, in light of the exhortation to be diligent to verse 11, in light of the biblical testimony that Jesus is our sympathetic high priest, verses fourteen and fifteen, therefore, let us draw near.

Draw near. It's the present tense. Let us be drawing near. Let us always be drawing near. Let us be approaching God in light of the exhortation to be diligent and in light that we have a sympathetic high priest that Jesus has risen from the dead. He is exalted, he is at the right hand of God, and we are his people because that is who he is, our sympathetic high priest, let us be constantly coming to him.

Drawing near is about moving from a point far away and coming to a point closer away. That's closer. That is what drawing near. Be coming before God. Be constantly going through life, moving toward God, coming to him. What does God want from you today? He wants you to be drawing near to him, this very moment.

He wants you to always be drawing near to him. And guess what? This is the good news of the gospel. Your creator who imagined you, who created you, wants to be in a relationship with you, and he wants you to constantly be drawing near to him. Do you believe in the God of scripture or not?

Then draw near to him. Be drawing near to him. He wants you to be in the habit of drawing near to him. He wants this to be your routine in life. No matter what else or where else you end up on this planet Earth, I can assure you this is what he wants from you wherever you are, whatever you're going through, any time of day, any time of night, he wants you drawing near to him.

And that's good news. The word of God that is revealed in our text this morning tells us how to draw near to God, where to draw near to God, and why you are to draw near to God. Read details about drawing near to God that I wanna look at this morning so that you will always be drawing near to God and that you can be certain this is exactly what God wants you to do.

Without such, you cannot rest in Jesus. You rest in Jesus by drawing near to God. So first detail about drawing near to God. You rest in Jesus by drawing near with confidence. Draw near to him with confidence. Look back at verse 16. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence.

There's the encouragement. Come before him with confidence. This is the manner in which we are to draw near. The how. How are we to draw near to God? With confidence in faith. That's what faith is. It's confidence. Confidence is about boldness, frankness, and it's not about being irreverent.

Okay. I'm coming in no matter what. Get out of the way. No. They that's not that's they got burned up who did that. Not coming irreverently. What confidence here speaks about openness or boldness of speech. It's not about being irreverent. It's about saying all. It's about speaking the mind.

It's about coming before God with whatever is on your heart. Come before him with boldness of speech, frankness of speech. Be very frank. Be very specific. Speak what is on your mind and in your heart. You remember queen Esther? You read about her earlier in this service. You remember queen Esther?

She was not confident. I can in terms of, she was a bit fearful. Come. She didn't know if her life was going to be taken if she stood in the presence of the Persian king when not summoned. Remember Esther five two? When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand.

So Esther came near and touched the top of the golden scepter. She was not confident that the king would hear her until that golden scepter was extended to her. And then very next verse, then the king said to Esther, what is troubling you, queen Esther? And what is your request?

He came with frankness of speech to speak what was on her heart. How can we have confidence to come before God who is perfectly holy and praise him that he is, that he is not corruptible? Oh, isn't that good news? That there is one out there who cannot be corrupted?

It gives me hope for the world right there. Just this whole idea of holiness is a beautiful thing. One who is incorruptible. He is holy, but then we know that we're sinners. And only the liar, which is a sin, tells himself he's not a sinner. How can we as sinners who know we're sinners and who know God is perfectly holy, how can we have this kind of confidence to come before him?

You remember that Exodus generation? Right after coming out of Egypt in Exodus 19, they came to a mountain that could not be touched. You remember the Lord came down on Mount Sinai and he said these things and he said these words, Exodus nineteen twenty one to Moses, warn the people so they do not break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish.

Also, let the priests who come near consecrate themselves or the Lord will break out against them. How do we in light of this holy God, how do we inform our conscience to direct us to be aggressively approaching God, to be drawing near to him at all times. You see, our conscience you know what our conscience wants to do?

It wants to maintain a comfortable distance from God. And we come up with all clever ways to to distance ourselves from God and become comfortable with it. Maybe it's through some kind of works. Maybe it's some some kind of philosophy. Maybe it's even in our Christianity. We will come up with a kind of religion that makes us comfortable with being distant from God.

So how do we come up? How do we inform our conscience to be aggressively moving toward God? We have to have a basis. What is that basis? Well, it's already been stated in the previous verses. Jesus is our high priest and he is sympathetic to our situation. So in Christ, the golden scepter has been raised to his people.

The golden scepter of God's favor is granted to all who will come to him in Christ. This is what the gospel is all about. God raising his scepter, a favor, that golden scepter, who all will And to that. We're able to do going that. Own merits or your own anything.

Why so is that? Because you know to you're imperfect. You know he's perfect. You need a perfect reason and a perfect situation to be able to approach God, and you know you don't fit that. And all the workings doesn't change that because deep down you know that. How can we have a confidence to approach God?

The answer is found in the perfections of God's son. And that's what book of Hebrew is is about. God has raised up for us a perfect high priest who is perfectly sympathetic to us and everything that we are going through. And so drawing near with confidence is not coming it's not about being irreverent or demanding.

It's about coming to God openly, honestly, plainly speaking to him about anything and everything on your heart. It's about coming knowing he wants to hear. He can take it. This is knowing that he he will listen to you. He wants to hear you. So in Christ, the golden scepter of his favor has been extended to you.

Come to him. That's the message. Come to him. Come to him just as you are. Come to him and pour out your heart to God Almighty. Come. Confess your sins. Come. Tell him how you feel. Come. Confess your undisciplined thoughts. Come. Ask him for whatever you need. Come.

Come. Come. The golden scepter of God's favor has been extended to you in Christ. Express your thoughts. Express your concerns. Express yourself. Express your longings. Express your fears. Express your attitudes. This is what drawing near in confidence involves, plainness of speech. But it must be in Christ. It's only in him is such favorable access granted.

I'm talking to Christ of scripture. All other ways are like coming to a mountain that cannot be touched because all others cannot deal with sin and make a sinner's conscience clean. An evil conscience does not draw near. You need something greater than the work of man to clean sin.

Hope you come back tonight. We're still working through Psalm 51. We look at how David's soul was cleansed of great sin. Well, the golden scepter has been raised to you, and it really has in Christ. Draw near in a manner of confidence. That's how you are to be drawing near to God.

Second, draw near to the throne of grace. Rest in Jesus by drawing near with confidence and drawing near to the throne of grace. Look back at verse 16. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Now this exhortation or encouragement speaks to the object to which we are to approach, the object to which we are to draw near.

This is the where we are to go. Where are you to go? Where does he want you to go today? To the throne of grace. To the throne of grace. To the throne. To the grace filled throne. That's the idea. What a beautiful concept. The throne of grace.

What is a throne? It's a seat of power. It's a seat of ability. It's the seat of authority. And the one who sits up on it exercises a dominion over the realm, whatever that throne is over. A jurisdiction. That's what a throne is. It's it's the sovereignty over a jurisdiction.

What's the jurisdiction? A throne of grace. Throne of grace, of God's favor. The throne of God's favor. The throne of God's will. We're talking about draw near to the throne of grace. Draw near to that realm of God's favor. Wouldn't you like to be in the realm of God's favor?

I'll tell you, that's where life is. Under the realm of your creator's favor. To be inside that realm is everything. The Bible speaks that realm is in Christ. To be outside that realm is death, turmoil, and hell. To be inside of it is rest, life, and joy. Be diligent to enter into that rest by drawing near to the throne of grace.

And the one who is upon the throne is the one who decides who receives the expressions of his favor. Favor is never just in the abstract. It shows tangible expressions, which we'll see in a moment. But there is a question that we need to deal with here. Who is the one sitting upon the throne of grace?

Is it Jesus or the father? I won't spend a lot of time on this because the clearly in the context, it is the father. It is the majesty on high. Remember in Hebrews one one, very beginning, the book, God, after he spoke in long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also made the world.

He is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purifications of sins, that's the son, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, the father. The whole context we're entering into in Hebrews, yes, Jesus is a king.

Yes, he shares the throne. Yes, he is at the right hand. But in the context of where this is going, in Hebrews, it's about Jesus' high priest ministry. And the next six chapters are about us, what I call the great ocean of Hebrews that we are launching off into.

And this text is that that last launching point that takes us into the high priestly ministry of Jesus and what he is doing now at the right hand of the father. And so the fountainhead of grace is father of God, and the the grace that was witnessed in Jesus during his first advent and what he's and even now, the things that he said and what will come, all that shows us the grace of the father.

It's showing us the father. And so those who draw near to God in Christ are sure to receive God's favor because of the merits of Christ. He's bringing us to God. So there's a distinction here. In the context, Jesus is the high priest bringing us into the favor of God Almighty, the father.

And he himself, Jesus, is one with God Almighty. But the point of all this, in Christ, the golden scepter of God's favor has been raised to you from the throne of grace. This is the wonder of wonders. The throne that to many is the throne of judgment. And to all, it's a throne of judgment one way or the other.

It is also the throne of righteousness, holiness, justice. It is the throne of almighty power. But to those who are in Christ, it is the throne of grace. That's the good news of the gospel. And to us, it is always a throne of grace. Even when we are disciplined by him, it is always for our good.

He may allow Satan to buffet us for a while. He may let us be tempted. He may let us experience difficult circumstances. But you can be certain of this. It all comes out of a throne of grace who is working all things together for our good. Draw near to the right object.

Be sure you see God for who he is and his throne. It is a throne of grace. He wants to be in relationship with you. And his teaching and standards of holiness and exclusiveness are for the purpose of grace, to really bring you to him. Arrest in Jesus, first, by drawing near with confidence.

Second, drawing near to God to the throne of grace. And third, drawing near to encounter God's supply. Draw near to the throne of grace to encounter God's supply. Look back at verse 16. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so power do have so we we speaks to the goal of drawing that.

Near that. To God. The why question. Why do we draw near? Why does God want us drawing near to him? Well, very simple. He wants us to experience his supply. You can't experience his supply unless you come to him. He wants you to experience his supply. The problem with those who don't continually draw near to God is that they do not recognize their need of him.

I hope that is not you. Do you draw near? I can tell you the one reason why you don't draw near and the one reason why you don't continually draw near is because you don't really see your need for him. In which case, you really don't understand yourself.

You really don't understand the universe around you, and you don't understand God. We are dependent. Every breath you breathe, you are dependent upon God. We are dependent. And those who do not recognize their dependence are proud. They are not humble. And this is why the scripture over and over says, only the humble are going to be blessed because only the humble know their need, and therefore, only the humble are going to go to God and request of him the things they need.

There's a connection in all this. Listen, friends. You I don't care who you are here today. You are dependent upon him. Your dependence is to drive you to him, whatever you're going through. Your dependence upon him, you recognize that dependence so that you will go to him, so that you will meet him, so that you will experience his supply and know him, the supply giver.

Know God. Yes. We come to him for his supply. But in the process, we come to know the supply giver. To know God is eternal life that Jesus said. But look at the words so that. So that is reveals the purpose for which we are to draw near.

And so what happens in the rest of the verse is that there are several details of this supply. Three things that this supply involves. There's something that we receive. There is something that we find that results in something very tangible. I wanna look at that because this is why we come, why we are summoned.

First, there's something that we receive. Notice this, so that we may receive mercy. So that we may take hold of something. We may grasp something. We come in order to receive something. What is that? Mercy. Pity, sympathy, compassion, all that. Come to him with confidence because you will receive mercy.

We have a high priest who is sympathetic. That's just been laid out in verse 15. He has been tempted in the very same things that we are being tempted with. You had life perplexing issues, so did he. We have somebody, a sympathetic high priest who also is who also knows our vulnerability.

Not only is he being tempted, he knows our vulnerability. He knows what Satan is up to. He knows what Satan wants to do. But he is sympathetic. How did he learn these things? What was for this reason? He had to become human. He had to face life's challenges the same way we do, dependent upon God.

He had to be tempted the same way we are. Why? Hebrews two seventeen has already answered that. I'll read it to you. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. He knows exactly what Satan is up to. He experienced all the worries, all the sorrows, all the burdens that you'll ever face. He understands them from the inside.

He has faced every temptation that you will face. He went through every imaginable, difficult circumstance and perplexity. He knows our existence inside and out. He felt the pains of loss, betrayal, persecution, and rejection, and he felt all of that most intensely. You see, he knows what Satan intends to do to us and to you.

He knows that you need God far more than you realize you need God, and he has moved to help us. So you can draw near in confidence, not because of the perfections of your works, but because of the perfections of our high priest. The first detail of God's supply is mercy.

And that is something that we receive when you come to him and keep coming to him, whenever you do come to him, you will find mercy. Mercy awaits those who draw near. That is why you are to be drawing near. Mercy awaits. So draw near to him. Draw near to him.

Well, the second detail of God's supply involves something that we find, Something that we find. Look back. Verse 16. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace. Find grace. So there's something that we find. We find grace, find favor, find goodwill.

The word is eureka. You guys remember that school, right? Archimedes. You remember Archimedes' famous bath? Well, let me tell you about Archimedes' famous bath. Problem, King. Sierra Cruz was thinking that the goldsmith was cheating him because of the crown. He'd given the gold, and what the goldsmith was doing was he was make he was mixing the the crown with silver.

He's take he would take the gold and mix it and then give the king a crown, but then no one could measure. How do you measure the volume of a crown? It's one thing to measure the volume of a of a of a circle or sphere or a a rectangle.

That's fairly easy. But how do you measure the volume? It was just a perplexing mathematical problem. How in the world you do that? Archimedes decides to take a bath one night and he steps into the water and he notices that the volume of water is displaced to a certain level.

He's, ah, I got it. I figured out how to calculate the volume of any object. I can tell. And then I can tell the density from that. Derive the density. Solve the problem. Eureka. So he steps into the bath. Eureka, I found it. What does he do? Legend says he got up and went running out into the streets to tell everybody what he found.

Eureka. Eureka. That's probably apocryphal. Legend. And it makes for a good story, but it illustrates the point. The excitement of finding, of discovering that which is most useful, that which is the solution to a perplexing problem. So draw near to the throne of grace and you will find grace, discover grace.

And how does that grace work? Well, remember Jesus, as I just mentioned, he went through all the difficulties and trials that are common to man. Yet he did so in communion with the father. Through all the difficulties and trials and temptations, he never sinned. That is he never broke fellowship.

He never broke communion with his heavenly father. You see, he knows how to help those who come to him. He knows how to keep us in communion with the father. And that's something he knows. That's how we are to come to him. It's grace. We will find grace.

We will find that expression of him that keeps us in the realm of God's favor. Grace to keep us in communion with the father even after we sin. We come to him and we keep coming. I was watching a documentary in a hotel. My wife the other day, there's this documentary about these elephants in Africa.

And they were they were trying to there was this relentless migration to get to a watering hole, but they had to cross the severest of desert conditions to get to this water spot. Watching this and the herd makes its way to this incredible dust storm, hits. Elephants are moving.

There's this cute little baby elephant. You know how cute little baby elephants are. They're cute. And just tagging along with his mother. And somehow in the storm, the little baby elephant got disoriented. And somehow he ended up going the wrong direction from the herd. He was heading away from the herd, away from the water, away from his mother, crying, and he was heading swiftly to the open desert plain.

Documentaries like that usually have a happy ending, but this one didn't. Let me ask you a question. How many of you would feel compassion or maybe felt compassion for the little cute baby elephant? I did. How many of you if you were able to help that little baby elephant, how many of you would?

Probably everyone in here. Do you think you have more mercy and grace toward a baby than God has toward you? I think not. You see, the throne of grace is moved by the struggles and temptations that you are facing. God wants you to experience his supply because without it, you perish.

He knows exactly what Satan is up to. He knows the nature of evil and what intentions toward you. And so you can be sure that when you draw near to the throne of grace, you will experience mercy, and you will experience grace. Mercy and favor await you at the throne of grace.

So be drawing near. I hope you'll leave here drawing near. I don't know how many ways to say it. Draw near. Keep drawing near. This is exactly what God wants you to do. Mercy and favor awaits, but it it manifests itself in tangible expressions of his favor. It's not in the abstract.

So not only do you receive something and you find something, you find something very tangible. Look back at verse 16. So that we may receive mercy and find grace, and here are the words, to help in time of need. To help in time of need. The word for help is assistance.

It's used to describe supporting cables under a ship in the midst of a storm. In Acts twenty seven seventeen, there's a a ship that's being battered around. And these supporting cables are then employed to hold the ship together as it's being battered around so it doesn't fall to pieces.

That's the word for help, assistance. And notice when it shows up in time of need. Really, good way to say it is timely help. What will you receive? Going to the throne of grace, you will receive mercy, grace, and timely help. Assistance that shows up right at the right time.

That's what's being emphasized. Well timed assistance. Whatever is necessary at the time or whatever is needed at the very time it is needed. You know, every or our times of need. Think about your times of need for a second. We experience them all the time, don't we? Big and small ways.

But I want you to leave here thinking about every time of need, every situation, every difficulty, perplexity, and even the good times. We're dependent upon him. But all of these times are a summons for you to draw near to God. They are reminders to us. You need God.

You need to come to him. We are always in need of his assistance, and so we should always be in a spirit of prayer. I know what some of you might be thinking. You might think your concerns are too little. I know I have. Or insignificant to bring before God.

My counsel to you is to start believing in the God of the Bible. Cease making a God of your own imagination. Inform your conscience of the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is comprehensively involved in every detail of the universe, every atom. You are certainly important to him.

Nothing is too so going do we're that. To to that. Seven times. And And so I'd love to just spend the morning looking at all of them. But I need to tell you the next time it shows up, just the one. You see, there's something we all need.

We need a salvation that lasts forever, salvation that cannot be lost. We need to be saved, and we need a salvation forever. Hebrews seven twenty five says this, therefore, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

You need a salvation. You need a forever salvation. There's only one that provides it. And so we need to draw near to God. You see, there is no Sabbath rest for those who look to themselves to maintain their salvation. Mercy, favor, and timely assistance awaits. The first thing you need is to be born again.

You need to receive his spirit. Put your faith and trust in him. Draw near. Say, God, forgive me. God, cleanse me. God, put in me what I need. You know it better than I do. But it doesn't stop there. Favor, mercy, favor, and timely assistance shows up in everything.

Every time we go before him. Every time. Draw near. Rest in Jesus. I can assure you, draw near to the throne of grace every time with confidence. Draw near. I can assure you, you will receive mercy, favor, and timely assistance. Know that. Even if you don't fully understand it, it's true.

Even though you can't get your mind all around it and see it in the moment, it's true. We have a perfect savior. That's our confession. We have a perfect high priest. That's our confession. We have one who sits at the right hand of God who is sympathetic to our situation.

That is our confession. He is perfect. That is our confession. He is perfect in power. He is perfect in knowledge. He is perfect in wisdom, and he is perfect in sympathy. Therefore, coming out of our confession of faith, we can go to him and approach him in faith.

We can approach God in faith with certainty that we will receive mercy, grace, and the most timely help every time. So draw near with confidence. Draw near to the throne of grace. Draw near to encounter God's supply. Be drawing near with confidence. Every day be drawing near, every moment to the throne of grace.

Every day is an opportunity to encounter God's supply, to be drawing near. Sabbath rest is for those who draw near to God and keep drawing near to God day in and day out. He perfectly understands us. He's perfect in sympathy. Let me say something in light of these truths, something to you Christians be And do to that.

You have real access to God. And You are loved comprehensively. You have someone who watches over you every moment. You have somebody who is praying for you. You have someone who holds you fast so that you will never perish. You have someone who is moved for your well-being and will not cease until it is complete.

And you have someone who acts for your benefit. So what does God want from you? Be drawing near to him, to be in the habit of coming to him. Let this be your routine. And let me tell you something. Satan tires of a person who quickly and immediately goes to God for help.

Get in the habit of quickly and me. Oh, that comes up. I'm going to God. Oh, yep. He gets tired of tempting those who immediately and quickly go to God for help because God gives that supply, and it's embarrassing. He will flee. He tires. Let me say something to you who are outside of Christ or you pretend Christians.

There is no Sabbath rest for you who let something other than the scriptures define who Jesus is. So be diligent to enter God's rest. Embrace the biblical confession of Jesus and always draw near. That throne of grace is open to you. Come to him. You will find mercy.

You will find grace. You will find salvation. You will find rest for your souls. So as a people, let us rest in Jesus by drawing near to the throne of grace constantly and always. Let's pray. Heavenly father, where else can we go? You're the one who gives life.

You were the one who extends grace. The realm of grace and favor belongs to you. It's under your jurisdiction, and you have made known to us that sphere in Christ. Help us to be more and more in Christ. Help us be in him. Let's come to him and keep coming to him.

Let this be the very essence and heartbeat of who we are as a people, as a church, as an organization. Where else can we go? Cannot go back to Egypt? Cannot go back to our former way living? Like the apostles, where else can we go? And so we come to you asking you to help.

You see the needs across this room. You see the depth of them. You see the breadth of them. Help us all here, I pray, father, to be drawn to you. And thank you for your mercy and grace in doing so. In Christ's name, we pray.