n-wSC8hSEug

Good morning. I had not originally planned on being here this morning, so I'm going to take a little different text than our study in Hebrews. But I'm very happy to be here this morning to celebrate this 250th anniversary, the United States of America. A special weekend it is, special country.

Very thankful for the United States, thankful that this is my home. And I'm thankful within the United States that I live in Texas. Donald Trump, our President, said Friday night at Mount Rushmore, he said this, and he said, the triumph of the American independence was the result of the most extraordinary people in history, the most extraordinary culture in history, and the most extraordinary ideas in history, all creating the most extraordinary republic ever, ever, ever, in history.

It all came together. For the miracle of July 4th, 1776. And he goes on to say: 250 years ago, the words of our Declaration of Independence sent an earthquake through all of the coming time. They sparked a revolution that has never ended but still continues this day. Well, I am thankful for the United States, for the people, and for the culture and the ideas that gave rise to the United States.

But we have to ask ourselves: where did these ideas come from? They weren't born in 1776. The great dignity that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights didn't come about in 1776. No. These extraordinary ideas came long before the United States was ever conceived.

What was the cause of the cause? It's a good question. Where did this spiritual insight into the unseen come from? To find the answer, we have to go back in time further than 250 years. We have to go back and look at the great liberator himself. So, this morning, I want to see if you can guess my text.

I've got this little writing project going on this summer that I hope will be a tool for devotions at home. But see if you can guess the text this morning. Come with me in your mind, I. We look on a quiet spot which seems the most tranquil in contrast to the busy city which it is near.

Many graceful trees throw their refreshing shade around, and beyond lies a sheet of still blue water, sparkling in the bright beams of an eastern sun. Two figures are approaching this calm seclusion. One, with closed eyes and helpless bearing, seems to trust altogether the guidance of his companion. Whose hand leads him tenderly and carefully along, while his eyes are bent on him with compassionate interest.

Any idea where that narrative takes place? Well, turn to Mark chapter 8, and let me read it, this scene to you again. We look on a quiet spot, which seems the most tranquil in contrast to the busy city which it is near. Many graceful trees throw their refreshing shade around, and beyond lies a sheet of still blue water, sparkling in the bright beams of an eastern sun.

Two figures are approaching this calm seclusion. One, with closed eyes and helpless bearing, seems to trust altogether to the guidance of his companion, whose hand leads him tenderly and carefully along, while his eyes are bent on him with compassionate interest. Any idea? Well, look at verse 22 in Mark chapter 8, and let me read to you to verse 25.

And they came to Bethsaida, and they brought a blind man to. Jesus and implored him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, he brought him out of the village, and after spitting on his eyes and laying his hand on him, he asked him, Do you see anything?

And he looked up and said, I see men, for I see them like trees walking around. Then again he laid his hands on his eyes, and he looked intently, and it was restored, and was restored and began to see everything clearly. Go ahead and turn on the scene.

Bethsaida, located shore of Galilee, Sea of Galilee. And notice in verse 22, and they came to Bethsaida. Who are the they? And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored him to touch him. They, some good friends, some friends who had heard about Jesus and wanted their friends, their friend, to be touched by Jesus.

These were good friends, good friends. You know, one of the interesting things and profound things about Mark's gospel. Is that the inability of the disciples to understand who Jesus was? And this inability of the disciples to understand who Jesus was gives us insight to the deep darkness that humanity has fallen under.

Last time I preached, I preached from Hebrews chapter 5. And in verse 11, 11, it speaks about those who are dull of hearing. I would like to tell you great things about the gospel, but I can't because you're dull of hearing. You're dull. And this is what's happening in Mark's gospel.

You see this through the disciples. They are dull of hearing. They're slow to understand. And this dull of hearing depicts the spiritual darkness or dullness of the disciples and really everybody. That's a major theme, this spiritual darkness. And I don't think you realize just how deeply impacted we have or are.

By spiritual darkness and blindness. Remember when I was little, old people scared me. I mumbled when I talked. And especially old people, even my grandfather, scared me. I'd walk by, you know, hello, blah, blah, blah. What? What did you say? And several older people in my life, what?

Now that I'm old and now I'm hard of hearing, I get it. One of my kids walks by. Hi, Dad, how are you doing? Well, good to see you. What? What did you say? Speak up. I can't hear you. You're mumbling. Speak clearly. It's hard to speak to somebody who's dull of hearing.

All of a sudden, you get to where I'm tired. I've just got to where I started avoiding those people that would shout at me and I'd have to speak really loud. And, well, think about that's what Jesus is up against with his disciples. And this is an ongoing thing throughout Scripture: the dullness of humanity's ability to hear.

We ought to hear God. In a world without sin, God and the world and everything would commend us to God. We would intuitively understand him. But it's the result of the fall that we can't hear him. And God and his patience, one of the miracles of miracles and blessings of blessing is that God is patient with those who are dull of hearing, as we see in the Gospel of Mark and how Christ is with his disciples.

Look at Mark 8:17, just before this healing miracle takes place. Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? This is Jesus talking to his disciples. Look at 18. Having eyes, do you not see?

Having ears, do you not hear? Look at what he says in 8:21, right before this miracle happens. And he was saying to them, Do you not yet understand? It's like Jesus is saying, After all this time, do you still not get it? You see, a dull heart doesn't understand God.

But it's not just that it's hard of hearing, it's hard of heart. That's the problem. Those who really don't understand or listen have a hard heart. And it speaks of this, this spiritual inability speaks of the darkened prison in which we are all born into. And I don't think you realize just how much the fall has impacted you and how deaf you are to the voice of God.

But the good news is that our God is merciful. So apply yourself to hear. And it's shocking at this point in Mark's gospel. They're blind. They don't understand. Now, as we go through the book of Mark to this point, there's a lot of spiritually blind people that we encounter.

There's Herod. Okay, well, we expect that. Then there's the Pharisees. Okay, that's a little more understandable. But then there's the crowds. They witnessed the miracles. They heard the preaching. And that's a little more difficult to understand. But they're going to turn on. They too were blind. And then there's the family who came to apprehend him.

Jesus' own family. Now that's a surprise. But then we come here to chapter 8 and the disciples. Now that is. Is shocking. That is shocking that the disciples at this point didn't know who Jesus didn't understand Jesus. They didn't really know who he was or what he was about.

That is shocking. And what's even more informative about this is to notice the things that didn't open their eyes. There were all the exorcisms that they saw. Up close, they saw Jesus exercise authority over every mental and spiritual state of humanity. And that didn't open their eyes. They saw countless miracles where Jesus exercised authority over the human body and the forces of nature.

But that didn't open their eyes. They even heard his teaching. They even heard his explained teaching in private. And this doesn't open their eyes. They ate the same food. That didn't open his eyes. They were in close proximity to Jesus. But that didn't open their eyes. You see, Mark's gospel isn't just about the disciples, it's about us and what it takes for our eyes to be open, for us to be able to see into the realm of the unseen and understand the God of the universe, the God who created us, and the God who redeemed us.

You see, on our own, we have no ability to understand Jesus, let alone come to him for salvation. We are like a blind man who cannot see what he cannot see. We cannot know what we do not know. And we cannot know what we do not know unless somebody opens our eyes to what we do not know.

We are spiritually blind. We cannot know what we do not know about God unless God sends someone to open our eyes so that we may know the things about God which we do not know. That's the mission of Christ. And that's another major theme in Mark's gospel. He vividly portrays this darkness of humanity.

But then, another major theme, he shows us what brings humanity. Humanity out of this spiritual fog or darkness. Beginning Mark chapter 1, verse 1, the whole gospel starts with these words: the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Just as this is just the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

It was through the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That's what opened their eyes. They were touched by the gospel, and they kept being touched by the gospel, and they came to understand who God is. But the full revelation of the gospel had to wait until the resurrection.

And so as you're going through Mark, it's like he would give them a portion of who he is. He's like, don't tell anybody yet. Don't tell anybody yet. Because all this stuff isn't going to make sense until the resurrection. And then the gospel in its package is ready to go forth.

But the gospel isn't just that Jesus is a great miracle worker or that he has authority over every realm of human existence. It's how he uses that authority and what he accomplishes with that and his patience towards us and his willingness to open our blind eyes. So that we may know the God He loves, to know Father God like He knows Father God.

The beautiful thing of the gospel, especially in Mark, that brings us out: Jesus never gave up on them during the process. He repeatedly touched them with the gospel truth, much like He repeatedly touched the blind man at Bessaida. So, what is the solution to this habitual darkness that you may be experiencing today?

Well, the answer is the repeated touch of Jesus. Let's look at the miracle itself. I want you to see three details of this miracle that Mark stresses. First, I want you to see the complete nature of this cure, the complete nature of it. Look at verse 8:25. Then again, he laid his hands on his eyes and he looked intently.

Notice that first. He looked intently. That is, like through a microscope. He looked intensely, intently, unimpeded clearness. Observational clarity, up close. He could see in great detail, and he looked intently and was restored. That's the second detail. He was restored. That is to full health, to the proper function of his eyes, was restored.

So all the faculties of his life, of his eyes, were working properly. Notice again, verse 25, and he looked intently and was restored and began to see everything clearly. Speaks of a new condition. From that moment, from that second touch of Jesus, he saw everything clearly. Word clearly means, we use the word telescope, or we get the word telescope.

He could see afar. The word afar off and radiance. He could see clearly and radiantly at a distance. He could see close up. His sight was restored. That's the complete nature of this cure. It was complete. Second detail I want you to see is the gradual nature of this cure.

This is the only one of its kind. Why did it take two phases? You don't see this. Anywhere else. This is unique to Mark. He's the only one that records this miracle. This man goes from three stages of sight, from no sight to partial sight to full sight.

Third detail, this miracle, I want you to see the cause of this cure. We looked at the complete nature of it, the gradual nature of it. Now I want you to see the ultimate cause of it. And again, this is the only one of its kind, very unique.

Notice the beginning of verse 25. Then again he laid his hands on him. The complete cure came at that second touch. What in the world is going on here? Was Jesus not powerful enough? Did he not get it right the first time? Did he have to go back and scratch his head and say, what did I do wrong?

No, he's showing the disciples something. And Peter locks into this. Peter gets it. And that's why it shows up in Mark's gospel. This miracle foreshadows what Christ is going to do for his disciples. And so, what happens in Mark, the disciples go through three stages of spiritual sight.

They go from no understanding about Christ to partial understanding to a complete understanding. Look at what happens right after this miracle. Verse 8, 27. Jesus went out along with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea, Philippi. And on the way, he questioned his disciples, saying to them, Who do people say that I am?

And they told him, saying, John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, but others, one of the prophets. And he continued by questioning them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. There it is. Just as Jesus led the blind man out of the city to heal his physical blindness, at this point in Mark's gospel, Jesus leads the disciples out of Israel to heal their spiritual blindness.

And he asks them, and he presses them, who do people say that I am? And then he brings it more home. Who do you say I am? That is what you have to get. And Peter, Peter makes those words. You are the Christ. You got it, Peter. I am the Christ.

And then he goes on to say, and I'm going to go suffer. Peter says, no way, that ain't going to happen to you. And Jesus is going to say, get behind me. We'll look at that perhaps again. Get behind me, Satan. What Jesus is going to tell him.

You see, Peter has gone to partial sight. He gets it. Jesus is the Christ. Now Jesus has got to teach him what being the Christ involves. He's going to have to lay down his life. And in addition to that, the disciples are going to have to learn what it means to follow Christ.

They go from no sight in the Gospel of Mark to Jesus being the Christ. And then they're going to discover he's going to lay down his life and he's going to take it up again. And then the gospel is ready to go forth. But they've got to move from no understanding to partial understanding to complete understanding.

And that, this miracle, foreshadows what's taking place. And so these verses and the verses that follow, really, Jesus begins to open the eyes of his disciples and show them. Who he is and what following him really means. You see, Mark's gospel is about faith. It's about how one comes to have it and where it takes us.

I appreciate what one commentator said about this. Dr. Edwards says this: this story brings us to the continental divide of Mark's narrative. By the gradual healing of the blind man, Jesus shows how the disciples, in particular, may come to faith. Like the blind man, the disciples who have eyes but failed to see and ears but failed to hear can also be made to see and hear, but it will not happen on their own.

The ability to see both physically and spiritually is a gift of God, not human ability. Well, are you in a spiritual fog this morning? Well, I can assure you, the gospel will bring you out of it if you will let it touch you. And so this morning, I want to look at five categories of spiritual blindness that was present during Jesus' ministry.

Five categories, really represented by five. Different people. Four of these categories of spiritual blindness would not allow themselves to be touched by Jesus. They're held up as a warning to us. And I venture to say they are all among us today in some shape or form. And so I want to address each category so that you will not only come to Jesus for the cure yourself, but also be one of those good friends that will be instrumental in bringing others so that Jesus may touch them and they too may come out of their spiritual blindness and see clearly.

So that's where we're going. I'm going to look at those who are touched by Jesus. But first, we're going to look at the spiritual blindness in Mark's gospel. First of all, we encounter Herod. And Herod represents those who are caught up in worldly pursuits. Is that you this morning?

Are you like Herod, so caught up in your worldly pursuits that everything else spiritually? Spiritually, regarding God and his truth becomes secondary to your primary worldly pursuit. He is a representative example of worldly passion. And those like Herod, when push comes to shove, when the world gets in the way of a relationship with Christ, instead of pushing the world away, they push Christ away.

You remember Herod? His internal conflict was manifested in his interacting with John the Baptist. You turn back a couple of chapters, you can look at chapter 6 and verse 17. For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.

For John had been saying to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so. For Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe.

And when he heard him, he was very perplexed, but he used to enjoy listening to him. What an interesting situation. Herod enjoyed. To listen to John the Baptist, he had the privilege of hearing one of the greatest heralds of truth that had ever lived. And he enjoyed private conversation with him.

And you can see the convicting work at work in Herod's life. And the question is: would he allow himself to be touched by heaven? Would he repent? Or would he allow his worldly passions to silence the voice of God in his life? Well, you know the story. Verse 21: A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. And the king said to the girl, Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you. And he swore to her, Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you up to half my kingdom.

And she went out and said to her mother, What shall I ask for? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. Immediately, she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on the platter, on a platter.

So, what? Did he do? There it was. The voice of God or the pursuits, the things of the world. There it was, right before Herod. And what did he do? And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

And so Herod silenced the voice of God in his life. You see, God will cease striving with the Herods of the world because when push comes to shove, they will choose the world over God. And so you can be sure you will never see the unseen God if you're so choked out by your worldly pursuits.

Do not be like Herod. There's a second category of spiritual blindness that we encounter in Mark's gospel. These are the Pharisees, and they too come to us as a warning. These are those who are caught up in false religion. And by false religion, these are the people that prefer the teachings and the traditions of man to the world.

That of the Christ revealed in Scripture. These are those who find solace rather in the mind and thinking of man or the philosophy of man or the traditions of man as opposed to the truth of God. And they too love the praise of people. Just a different category.

They love to look religious, they love to look ambitious for God. But deep down, they prefer a religion that will make them feel good about themselves. They want a religion that will exalt them, not humble them. They want to dictate what Christ should be like. Instead of coming to the Christ of Scripture and letting the Christ of Scripture reveal himself and tell us who he is and what he expects of us, instead they go and say, Let me tell you what Christ ought to be.

And you see this with the Pharisees just in a few verses up in chapter 8, Mark 8, chapter 10, and Dalmanutha, verse 11. The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. Now, he'd been doing all kinds of signs.

Verse 12, sighing deeply in his spirit. Said, why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And then in verse 13, it says, Leaving him, he again embarked and went away. And this is very significant in Mark's gospel because when it says he's leaving them, he's done dialoguing with the Pharisees.

The next time you're going to see this in Mark's gospel is going to be at Jerusalem, just preceding the crucifixion. The next chapters in Mark's gospel are about Jesus and his disciples. When he leaves these Pharisees, he's done with them at this point. You see, worldly pursuits and false religious systems oppose Christ.

And they will often join forces to keep people in a state of darkness. Remember in Mark 3:6, interesting verse. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against him as to how they might destroy him. Conservatives conspiring With the liberals. Wow. What could possibly bring that about?

A greater hatred for Christ. They both agreed. The Pharisees and the Herodians, those in false religion and those in caught up in worldly pursuits, both agreed Jesus has to be destroyed. And that's the federation, the spiritual federation forces that come against Christ. These are the two influences that Jesus warned his disciples against just prior to healing this blind man at Bessaida.

Look at Mark 8:15. And he was giving orders to them, saying, Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. What is leaven? Leaven is an influence, a spreading influence. Spreads from people to people, but it also spreads within a person. Beware of every inclination and thought process within you that pursues worldly ambition or a false kind of religion.

These two forces come together, they blind the eyes, they harden the hearts. You can think of these two influences like as paint colors on a painter's palette and characters, and all of us are in some way tainted by these worldly pursuits and false religion. And what Jesus is saying: beware of every vestige of those kind of influences in your life.

And so, both of these influences, this worldly pursuit and this false religious system, show up in the next two characters, although at very different degrees. Both elements are prominent. First is Judas. Judas. Judas represents phony Christians and a very good one. Judas was not caught up in a false religion or a false religious tradition like the Pharisees.

Though his religion was false, he was not caught up in the traditions of man. On the contrary, he was involved in that circle of true religion. He witnessed the pure doctrines. And the graceful forms of true Christianity. He saw it all. In fact, he even made great personal sacrifices to be with Jesus.

He often sat at the table with Jesus himself for three years. He witnessed the power of God and the perfections of Christ. He heard the perfect and purest teachings, and yet he remained in his darkness. Let that shock you, because it should. And what's more, he had convinced everyone around him that he was the real deal.

He was a master at resisting the repeated touches of Jesus. Don't let this be you. That's the warning. Judas represents those long-standing professors of Christ who have matured in worldly passions. They use Christianity as a means for some kind of personal gain. And when it comes down to it, when push comes to shove, they betray Jesus.

And such will be given over to Satan. Christ abandons such as those. And they will be given over to Satan and condemned with him. Don't be a phony Christian. Message, warning. But then there is another group, the crowds. The crowds. These are superficial Christians. And I recognize all these, these last three, the Pharisees, they're in a religious, their religion is false.

Judas's religion is false, and the crowd's religion is false. But from three different angles. Pharisees resorted to the traditions of men. Judas was in the circle of the best teaching, but he himself was an imposter. And the crowds, kind of like Judas, but they're superficial. They're shallow. Although Judas is much deeper, much more sophisticated than the crowds.

The crowds represent those shallow listeners. They are influenced both by worldly passion and some nominal form of religion. And they're constantly wavering between two opinions. Those are the crowds in Mark's gospel. Such people get caught up, or may get caught up in the novelties of Christianity for a time, but they don't get caught up in the substance of it.

They may love the new fads and new trends and the spiritual or the supernatural. In Jesus' day, some Loved the excitement of Jesus, popular speaker, while some loved the miracles that he did. Others loved the political establishment that they thought Jesus was coming against at being of Rome.

Or some simply just liked the food that he provided. But the bottom line is, they didn't love him or his teaching, and therefore they remained in spiritual darkness. And they received everything in parables because they had no heart for the truth. They loved the stories, but not the substance therein.

You see, we can learn from the spiritual blindness in Mark's gospel that Jesus shares no throne. And it would not be right for him to do so. God is not going to fit into your false, phony, or superficial religion. Because they're nothing more than worldly pursuits in a religious cloak.

Well, are you in a spiritual fog this morning? To what degree might I ask? Is your life colored by these worldly pursuits and some form of false, phony, or superficial religious activity? Mark's gospel is a warning to rid yourself of all of these influences and to come to Christ for the cure.

Which leads us to the fifth category of spiritual blindness in Mark's gospel, and that is the disciples. And Mark's depiction of the disciples' slowness to get it and hardness of heart is meant to encourage us. In contrast to those who resisted Jesus, are those who embraced him. Mark's gospel is a warning, but it's also an encouragement.

You're going to see this throughout Scripture: a warning of what not to be like and an encouragement of what to be like. But the disciples are going to have their eyes opened. They are going to see clearly. They are going to get it, even though they have to go through levels of a spiritual fog.

And sometimes that's us, isn't it? It as we're learning to follow Christ. And then the world keeps throwing things at us. And we're like, is he really in control? Is he really good? Is he really accomplishing something for his namesake? Is he doing this for my good? Are these things really true?

And we can enter into a spiritual fog and wonder. Well, look to the disciples. They're given to us as an encouragement. Boy, they went through a fog. And boy, did they. But despite the dangerous similarities between the disciples and the spiritually blind that we just talked about in all of the other categories, there is a difference between them.

And I want you to see, I want to mention to you three characteristics of the disciples. First of all, they had a willingness to come to Christ and follow wherever he leads. There was a willingness to come to Christ and follow wherever he leads. In Mark 1, Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

That was the invitation. Come follow me. And that invitation goes out to us today. Follow me. That's the invitation. And what did they do? Mark 1:18, immediately they left their nets and followed him. And they did. They followed him. They were willing to come to Christ and follow wherever he leads, and they led him.

They followed him all the way to Jerusalem and beyond. Second characteristic of the disciples is that they were willing to leave all behind for Christ. In Mark 8, 10, 28, Peter said to Jesus, Behold, we have left everything and followed you. Third characteristic of the disciples is their willingness to love God like he did.

They were willing to love God like he did. That is, with all one's heart. They were willing to be brought along to love the Father like Jesus loved the Father. And that's really where Christianity is all about, isn't it? What is the goal of Christianity? What's the goal of following Jesus?

To love God like He did, with all of one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. And this is what Jesus says in Mark 12, 29. Hear, O Israel, quoting this verse, Jesus says, The Lord our God is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.

This was in answer to the question: what is the greatest commandment? Where does true Christianity take us? It takes us to this point. Well, it was this resignation to Christ and to trust Christ is what characterized the 11 disciples whose eyes were opened. And they, much like the blind man, will receive the repeated touch of Jesus.

Their eyes will be opened. They will come to know God and they will be used to make God known. You see, the gospel is the greatest revolution in human history. It opens blind eyes. This is why he came. He is the great liberator. He opened blind eyes by proclaiming the gospel about God himself.

And this gospel set humanity free from the darkest prison. It sets us free from slavery to evil. It frees us from hopelessness to faith. And it takes us from death to life. Are you in a spiritual fog? Well, some of you this morning are in a spiritual fog because of your worldly pursuits or your phony religion.

Repent of every inclination. Nation to be like Herod, the Pharisees, Judas, the crowds, and even some of the dispositions of the disciples. But be there. Come to him and ask for his continued touch. You see, the image of the dignity of humanity is that we bear his image.

All people are created equal and endowed with certain rights. You can only say that is true because our creator and our redeemer God, creator God, redeemer God, affirms it. You see, we're sinners. What breaks the hardening effects of sin in our lives? What can do that? The gospel of Jesus Christ.

You see, we need to be touched by Jesus. You need to be touched by Jesus. In fact, we need the repeated touch of Jesus. This is what the disciples needed. This is what we need. This is what our nation needs. And this is what Jesus does for all who come to Him.

And for this reason, we can understand our existence as a church, can't we? This is why the church body is. Exists. We are to be like those friends who brought the blind man to Jesus and implored Jesus to touch him, to give him sight. That's our purpose, to be good friends, good friends to each other, good friends to this community, good friends to this great nation.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the great privilege to be your friends, those who have had our eyes opened and continue to have our eyes opened more and more. Father, we pray for your eye-opening work in this church body and in our nation, that you would keep the gospel alive, that you would raise up more and more gospel-centered and truth-centered churches and heralds.

Father, to the end that you may be exalted and that this world and the communities that we are a part of may not remain in darkness. We thank you for all these things. In Christ's name, amen.