and and Good morning. Welcome to Seoul Bible Church for our first time to worship in 2020. Let's get the year right. 2025, yes. It is a joy to see each one of you this morning. As you look in the bulletin for the announcements, we see that people have already committed nearly 500,000 won to Faith Promise. We wanted to clarify to make sure everyone understood that. So that faith promise sheet has been translated into Korean and is in your bulletin this morning. So for the next couple of weeks, you can put that in the offering so that we can prepare for the church budget meeting at the end of this month. And so there are further announcements about that in your bulletin that you can read through there. We do thank the Lord for his faithfulness and for your faithfulness over the past few weeks as we had a Christmas service and a New Year service as well. It was wonderful to celebrate the birth of our Lord. It was good to look back and remember God's faithfulness in 2024. And as we prepare ourselves to worship this morning, Mrs. Henderson will be playing hymn number 337, Pass me not, O gentle Savior, while on others Thou art smiling. Do not pass me not. That's number 337. Now, as you listen to my words, which are in the 337th chapter of the book of Genesis, which is written as the Will Come of the Lord, you will begin to understand by imitating the lyrics of this verse with the piano accompaniment. Now, this year, I'm going to challenge you not just to listen to God's word, but to hide it in your hearts. So during the month of January, Misoo is going to put John 15, one through three, here in our bulletin for us to memorize in Korean and in English. So that's four weeks to memorize three verses. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to say this in English, then you say it in English, and then Pastor Threl, Pastor Threl, well, Pastor Two will say it in Korean, and then we'll try to follow him in Korean, and then we will So we'll say the reference, the verse, and then the reference. And so we'll say it twice to try to get this in our hearts. So work with me and we'll get started. John 15, one through three. All right, so John 15, one through three, I'll say it first, and then you say it after I finish. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15, one through three. And now your turn, John 15, one through three. Together. I am the true vine, and my father is my husband. Every branch of me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15, one through three. And now, Johan Bochum. I will read it in Korean. I will read it first, and then I will read it in Korean. I am a grape tree, and my father is a farmer. Water is in me, so I do not sow fruit, but my father replaces it. Water sows fruit, so I try to sow more fruit, and he cleanses it. I have a lot of work to do with that Korean. All right. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. Let's stand to sing 458, What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Four, five, eight. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, ♪ He has never lost his head ♪ ♪ For this one true hope to yesterday ♪ ♪ He will proudly let it go ♪ ♪ For some good or bad, good or evil, he did it ♪ ♪ He has never lost his head ♪ Joy in the King. Save the Chippewa and the Risings. Joy in the King. That she had lost his head. For he holds a group of angels with him. He knows how to love her when she cries. I've got more to lose than what is in me. I've got more to lose than what is in me. You see today that the theme of our service today is to abide in Christ because he abides in you. This theme is really going to mark the theme of the messages in 2025. As you turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3, you're going to see that there are some things that would try to pry us away from God, sins that would cause us to wander from the Lord that we need fellowship with. At the same time, there are the scriptures to keep us in fellowship with the Lord. So if you've had time to turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3, we'll read the chapter. But realize this, verse 1 says, that in the last days difficult times will come. Verses 2 8. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power. such men as these. We continue on in verse 6. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins, let on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as, verse 8, Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth, men of depraved mind rejected in regard to People love themselves, love money, are arrogant, arrogant, rebellious, hate their parents, are ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful, un Among us, there are some who go into someone else's house and seduce a foolish woman. That woman commits a serious sin and is drawn to various greed, but she is never able to achieve the knowledge of truth. Just as Yanne and Yambure fought against Moses, we also fight against truth. These people are those whose hearts are corrupt. Now look at verse 9. But they will not make further progress. Their folly will be obvious to all, just as Janice and Jamboree's folly was also. Now then, verses 10 through 12. Now you follow my teaching, my conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance. Verse 11, persecutions and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured. And out of them all, the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. My teachings, actions, beliefs, faith, endurance, love, patience, persecution, and suffering, as well as what happened in Antioch, Iberia, and Russia, what kind of persecution did you see and know? But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. And now we finish the chapter, verses 14 through 17. You, however, continue in the things you've learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you've learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith. which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, complete, perfect, equipped for every good But you should learn and be sure of one thing. You know what you have learned in New York, and you have known the Bible since you were a child. So you, the people of Norway, should know the faith in Christ Jesus, and you will have the wisdom to be saved. As we get ready to go to the Lord in prayer, we do want to remember our missionaries as we do every week. And next week, when you see Professor Han, be sure to congratulate him on the one year celebration of his grandchild. The grandchild is one year old, so he is not with us today. It's an important day. But pray for those who aren't able to make it because of the weather or because of sickness as well. And finally, we do welcome Stellar, who is visiting with us. She is from Malaysia, but she is living here in Korea. So welcome, Stellar. Our father in heaven, we rejoice in who you are. You are indeed our Lord and our God. You are our Father. You are the good shepherd who shepherds his sheep. Father, we are the sheep in your Your rod and your staff, they comfort us. And Lord, even when we do go through those dark valleys, Lord, you are there with us. Lord, when the sins and temptations of this world beset us, you are there to deliver us, to rescue us. Your word enables us to battle our fleshly lusts and to defeat Satan. Oh Lord, our God, we need you. Lord, without you we are simply wasting our time. Without you, we proclaim with Solomon, vanity of vanity, always vanity. You have put eternity in our hearts. And because you are with us, Lord, we have eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are never alone, for the Holy Spirit dwells within us. O Lord, our God, we rejoice in you. We pray that you would help us by your grace to worship you in spirit and in truth today. Open our eyes to see Jesus in your words. Today, grant us a glimpse of your glory. Today, Lord, we would see Jesus. We desire to see Jesus. Lord, use our time together, our fellowship, our time in your word to conform us to the image of Christ. Use your word to bring the lost to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Most of all, Lord, we pray that you would be glorified here in our midst. We do pray for our missionaries who are serving you around the world. Make them fruitful for you. Bless their marriages, bless their children. Bless their grandchildren and those who have grandchildren. Bless the ministries, translating the word of God, sending courses, teaching for you. Bless the churches in Taiwan and Brazil and around the world. Lord, we do pray that wherever your word is proclaimed today behind the pulpit, that your word would be proclaimed with truth and achieve the purpose that your Holy Spirit has for you. Be with your people as they fellowship and worship you today. Lord, we do pray for those who have needs, that you would meet those needs according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Meet spiritual needs. Meet health needs. Meet financial needs. Meet those needs that only you yourself know. Lord, thank you for what you are doing and for what you will do, even because of this prayer this morning. We pray this in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving. Amen. As we continue our worship this morning, we're turning to hymn number 469, singing about the peace that God alone gives, 469. Let's sing the first three verses. We're going to sing the verses one, two, and three. ♪ For the Lord for evermore to reign in our midst ♪ ♪ Now in his kingdom come ♪ ♪ And his righteousness shall be known to all the world ♪ ♪ And his power and unity known to all the world ♪ Worlds, the earths are full of holy places, and the valley is the mother of all. Settled down on high is the Savior, full of love and grace. In the house of God there's a treasure, full of love and grace. So, Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ To be in love with the spirit of God ♪ ♪ I am lost in love with this wonderful place ♪ ♪ For this is where the Word of Jesus was born ♪ ♪ For there I will always be in love with you ♪ ♪ And your mystery will be known to me ♪ Haste, haste, wonderful haste, Coming down in the quiet of night, So you don't miss a thing, no, never, never. How many of you, raise your hands, that was your first time singing that song? All right, good singing. We're now going to worship the Lord with tithes and offerings. I ask Brother Ackley to lead us in prayer. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we do thank you this morning. As we begin this new year of 2025, Lord, with our theme of abiding in you as you abide in us, we thank you for the opportunity that we have here at Soul Bible Church to serve you. We pray that you would be with us now as we take this time to give back some of that which you have blessed us with. We pray that you would help us this year to stay abiding within you. Lord, that we could be strong, that we could continue to serve you here in Bongchon. In your name we pray. Amen. Let's turn to hymn number 415, I Could Not Do Without Thee. We'll stand once more to sing. Let's sing verses 1, 2, and 4. The Lord, the Father, and the Son. I'm I am. On the minors. Seek the Son of Cedrus, as in your justness. Good singing. I appreciate Brother Jay and Sister Ariel taking the Children's Church at this time. That's an important part of our church time, this ministry to the children as well as to you. You know, in 2024, we focused on Christ's promise to build his church in Matthew 16, 18. In Ephesians, we saw that the church is the very body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the work of God. From Ephesians 5 and 6, we saw that the church is Christ's warrior bride, the soldier bride. She, the church, is engaged in conflict with Satan, the world, and our own flesh. And yet we have God's own assurance that the church will be, shall be victorious because Christ is our captain who has already won the war for us on the cross. And we have seen in Ephesians 4 that Christ, the mighty victor, has given to his church the spoils of war, quoting from the Psalms. As we moved on to 1 Timothy, we saw that the church is equipped with pastors and deacons and church members who are parts of God's Christ's body. The Church of Ephesus that we used as a role model or a test case stay faithful, stay true to God's word. And in 2 Timothy, we saw this call to faithfulness to the Ephesian Pastor Timothy. Pastors, people of the church, need to be faithful to God and have fellowship with one another. So as you can see in your bulletin on the front, Soul Bible Church is going to be abiding with Christ, who abides with us. So, as you can see in the front, the theme of this year's Seoul Bible Study is what is happening in Christianity. This theme, as you can see there, is drawn from John 15, 4, where it says, abide in me and I in you. What I hope to convince you from the Word of God is we need We need Christ more than we need health. We need Christ more than we need wealth. We need Christ more than we need worldly success. We need to be right with Jesus even more than we need social favor from co-workers, employers, friends, or even family. We need Christ. Now, we have the wonderful promise of Christ, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, Matthew 28, 20. The promise of God is I will never, never, ever leave you or forsake you. That's God's promise. Ephesians tells us that God's own Holy Spirit dwells within us as an earnest or the seal of our inheritance. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sits on the Father's right hand, pleading for us, interceding for us, advocating for us as our lawyer, as our high priest, he is there making intercession for us. Hebrews tells us that Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. 1 John 2 tells us that Christ is our advocate, our lawyer before the throne. Now get these two ideas together. Jesus Christ treats you as a savior. He's your rescuer from sin, but he's also your friend. As we read 2 Timothy 3 this morning, We saw troubles of today, didn't we? Difficult times will come. That's why Now Colossians 3.1 commands us to keep our eyes on things above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. But like Peter walking on the water, we get our eyes on the waves and the troubles and we see all kinds of difficulties. You look around anywhere in this world and you see evil, the clamor of evil drawing our eyes away from Christ to the mess that the world is in. In our neighborhoods, at work, on the news at night, we see 2 Timothy 3 lived out before our very eyes like a newspaper report. or an online report. Wherever we are in the neighborhood, in our families, at work, on the news, we see Second Timothy 3. Today, this very day, evil men oppose truth just as Jennings and Jambres opposed Moses 3,500 years ago. So if you have your Bibles open to 2 Timothy 3.2, you see that we live in a world that loves self. money that is full of pride. How often do we meet or see those who are ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unkind in both word and deed? Those who are disobedient to their parents are held up as role models. Be like this instead of condemn for their wickedness. So people love themselves, they love their pleasures, but they don't love God, verses 2 and 4. So, as it says in Deuteronomy 3, verses 2 and 3, these people love themselves and their pleasure, but they do not love God. They are religious, they have a form of godliness, verse 5, but they are lost. These are people who learn about the latest fads, the latest scholarship, but they ignore, verse 7, the unchanging wisdom of God's Word. But as we saw in verse 9, all this wickedness soon becomes apparent. The folly and the foolishness of sin. People see that and realize that those who have discernment can see this is folly, this is foolishness, this is sin. I call 2 Timothy 3, 1 through 9, the troubles of today. And in light of all this, we need truth for today and tomorrow in verses 10 through 17. Even in difficult days like today, there are those who are and who were faithful to God. In verses 10 and 11, we see Paul in his time was faithful, showing by his conduct, his teaching, his character, how to live in days like today. Here was a man with an overriding purpose. So he was able to trust God and love God even while he was being persecuted for God. He had hardship. He was hated. Yet he was patient when others were judgmental and impatient with himself and his doctrine. Most of all, this man Paul was faithful. persecutions, trials, problems did not stop him. It didn't matter if it was a shipwreck or stoning, he kept on going. Even in prison he was singing and writing epistles. And I'm going to use an American idiom here. He just kept on plucking along. He just kept on keeping on doing what God had commanded him and commissioned him to do. Others, God laid down. Hebrews 12. inspire us to be faithful in our troubles too. So as you follow along in 2 Timothy 3, 12 through 17, we see that Timothy follows the example of those who have gone before him, his parents, his mom, grandmother, Paul, et cetera. You see that in verses 14 and 15. So you and I have the scriptures to guide us, the church following Christ with us, and the Holy Spirit indwelling us. As you and I consider the world we live in, this difficult world, our troubles, our trials, we may be tempted to become discouraged or As we consider our hardships, we do well to go back to the week that Jesus went to the cross. Think of the night as Jesus observes the Passover with his disciples. In John 13, we see that Jesus surprises His disciples at this meal by taking not the role of Lord and King, but of servant. And he goes around washing their feet. This is not the expected behavior of the Messiah and Lord. Peter was absolutely scandalized. But that Passover was when Jesus not only washed feet, but he instituted communion, the Lord's table. He instructed them with the broken bread to remember his broken body on our That cup would remind us of his blood shed for our atonement until he returns. Jesus Christ, the man of sorrows, would by his sufferings grant us eternal life. We are told that it was night. The time was night. As he spoke in the darkness, he spoke to troubled hearts and minds. Turn in your Bibles to John 14. In John 14 through 16, in this farewell discourse, Jesus speaks of trust, abiding, and triumph. This year, as individuals and as Seoul Bible Church, As we consider our walk with Christ, let us abide with our Lord, because this is life indeed, true life. What we're going to see today is that as we abide trusting the triune God, we will triumph. Let's start by reading John 14. I'm going to read verses 1-11. Verses 1-6 and 7-11. Yes, John 14. John 14, one through six. Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe, or you believe, in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. that where I am, there you may be also, and you know the way where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How do we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. You should not doubt your hearts. Believe in God and believe in me. There is much to do in my father's house. If not, I will tell you. I am going to prepare a letter for you. If you go and prepare a letter for me, I will come again and bring you to me, so that you may be where I am. You will know the way to where I am going. The fairy tale says, Lord, we do not know where you are going, but how can we know the way? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. There is no one who does not come to me, but to my Father. Now, verses 7 through 11, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us a father, and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say, show us the father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I don't speak on my own initiative, but the Father inviting me does his works. Verse 11, believe in me, that I am in the Father, the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. If you knew me, you would have known my father. Now you know him, and you have seen him. Believer, show us your father. Then you will be happy. Jesus said, Believer, I have been with you for so long. Do you not know me? You have seen my father. How can you see my father? What I want us to see from John chapter 14 is that we must trust the Triune God. Jesus knows that his cross is only hours away. He knows his little flock is going to be scattered in fear as he is tried and crucified. His sheep will be fearful. They will be confused. They will be wondering what in the world is going on. And so as Jesus Christ prepares for his own exodus, as it says in Luke, as he prepares for his death, He both comforts and instructs His disciples. And His directions are really simple. And maybe we find them really hard to do. He says, believe God, believe me. Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me, verse one. That believe in God, in the Greek, can also be translated, you believe in God, an assumption of something that already has happened. The Greek allows for both English and Russian. So in other words, people, you know the Bible. You know the God of the Bible. You trust the Old Testament Scripture. You trust in God. You believe in God the Father. And then Jesus amplifies this. As you trust God the Father, trust me in the same way that you trust the Father. And as you read verses one through six, Jesus is basically saying the future is in my hands. I'm going to prepare a place for you. What is Jesus saying? He's saying, I've got you. You're mine. Fear not, let not your heart be troubled. Don't be anxious or worried. You're coming to me, verses 3 and 27. You know the Scriptures. You know my. You know the Father. You know God, verse four. Okay. You know I am the only way to God. I am the way, the truth, and the life. So we see here Christ commanding us, trust me. And what we see in verses 7 through 11 is that Jesus has revealed God the Father to in himself. Now, if you go back to John 1 verse 14, it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, the incarnation. We saw his glory. We saw the glory of the son. The glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. A few verses later, in verse 18, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained to him. And of course, Hebrews goes on to explain that Jesus Christ is the final best revelation of God. Trust Christ who is preparing an eternal home. Trust the Father too. But remember, this section in chapter 14 is trust the Triune God. drop down to verses 16 and 17. Chapters 14 through 16 speak more of the Holy Spirit than any other passage in the Bible. And so in verses 16 and 17, we see, I will ask the Father, he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it doesn't see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. Yo Han Bok is Chapter 14, Verse 16. I will save my father, and he will give you another protector, and he will be with you forever. I am the spirit of truth, And so the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We see this in verse 17. He is the helper. Now you see in verse 16, he's another helper. He's another of the same kind. This is the same kind of ministry Jesus had. The Holy Spirit is God, just as Jesus Christ is God. And what we see in verses 25 and 26 is that the helper, verse 26, is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you. The Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us of God from the Word of God. Flip over a couple pages to chapter 16. And we're going to read verses 7 through 11. Verse 7. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper, this is the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And he, when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because I do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see me. concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. You need help understanding the Bible or deciding what to do. Read John 16, verses 13 and 14. Verses 13 and 14, John 16. says that when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak. And He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take a mind and disclose it. When you are reading the Bible and you don't understand it, and you want to know what it means, what should you do? I want you to look at John 16, verse 13. It says, And so as Jesus says the same thing in 1526, that the Holy Spirit testifies in Christ. So in John 14, really in this entire passage, we see a call to trust the Trident God who is in us, who has saved us, who is with us. Trust that Jesus is in God the Father. Trust that Jesus Christ is in you. 1418, Jesus says, I will not leave you as orphans, I will come. Jesus said in verse 14 and 18, I will not leave you like orphans, but I will come to you. Verse 20 says, In that day you will know, I am in my Father, you in me, I in you. He also said in verse 20, On that day, you will know that I am in you, and you in me. Now your trust in the abiding Christ will naturally cause you to love him more and to obey him better. Look at 14.21. He who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. Think of this. You know God. So you love him. So you obey him. So he loves you. And he reveals more of himself to you, and you love him more. And you learn more of him, so you love him more, and so you obey him even better. This is not a vicious cycle, this is a virtuous cycle where things get better and better. So we have seen that we must trust the Triune God. We've keyed in on that from John 14. In John 15, we see that we need to abide in Christ who abides in us. Let's read John 15, verses 1 through 5. I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. So verses 1 through 5. We are not orphans. God is with us. And Jesus explains how God is with us in this parable, in this metaphor of the vine and the branches. And the point of this metaphor, the point of this is that God is with his people, his people need him. So this is building on 14. We trust in God, so we abide in him. God is with you. God is for you. Your troubles, that we've talked about so much, may be the father personally pruning you, the husband. The theme of John 15 is abiding Christ who abides in you. Look at verse 4. Abide in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, So neither can you unless you abide in me. We need Christ. Without Christ, we can do Nothing. Verse 5. Christ has cleansed us. He has forgiven us by his blood shed on the cross through his word. Verse 3. Now we must abide in Christ to grow in grace and godliness. So abide in Christ for life, abide in Christ for fruit, verse 5. And finally, verse 11 says, these things I've spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be formed. Do you realize God rejoices in you? God looks at you. You are his child. God loves his children. And he, Luke 15, the prodigal son, he rejoices in your salvation, the lost coins. He rejoices in your being his. Heaven takes joy in redemption and salvation. Heaven also rejoices over our sanctification, over our growing Christ-likeness. I don't know the last time you read Song of Solomon, but the husband and the wife in the Song of Solomon delight in each other. The church, God's people, is the bride of Christ. And Jesus Christ is our bridegroom. This means that just with the same extravagant love expressing the Song of Solomon, so God rejoices in the beauty of his bride as she is clothed in righteousness. That makes most of us pretty uncomfortable. Let's use another metaphor. God is our father. We are his children. As a father rejoices over his child's sporting, academic, or musical achievements, God rejoices over our accomplishments for him. Now, in both of those metaphors, the joy is mutual. God rejoices in us, but we rejoice in Him. Children take pride in their parents. A wife rejoices in her husband's accomplishments. briefly because we don't have much time, we look at John 16 and we see that we can triumph with Christ the victor by the Holy Spirit. The thing is, John 15, 18-25 tells us the world hates us because it hates our God. So 15.23 says, he who hates me hates my father also. So the world hates you, it hates God also. Verse 18, the world hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you. You and I are called to follow our master down the road of being despised, rejected, and mocked for righteousness. Our suffering is one of the ways we identify with Christ. We abide with Christ. But in our troubles, we are able to triumph by knowing and living by God's Word. It is the sword of the Spirit. And in 1412, Jesus says, you, the church believers, are going to do greater works than I did. That was verse 1412. As we abide in Christ and love, we demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commandments. That's chapter 14, verses 15, 21, and 23. Okay, so basically, we love God, so we obey Him. And so, if we're continually disobeying, that shows that we don't love Him all that much. You can see that in the scriptures, chapter 14, verse 24. But I want you to see, Jesus says in chapter 16, verse 1, all this, chapter 14, chapter 15, chapter 13 too, these things I've spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. God's word keeps us from sinning. So God's Word is used to save you and to sanctify you, to keep you from sin. So we triumph by knowing and living God's Word, and the great commandment for believers is to love our brothers, love our neighbor as ourselves. And so in 15 verses 12 through 15, we see love your brothers, love one another. This is chapter 15 verses 12 through 17. And finally, as we get the idea from John 16, we can triumph through prayer and expecting future joy. We weep now, we will have joy. It hurts to have a baby, but we're glad to have the kid. Verse 21. And the final way to try is to pray. Verses 23 and 24. In that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you've asked for nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive. Rejoice as you remember what God has done for you in Christ Jesus. And now, as Christ commanded to, we are going to remember his death for us by taking the Lord's table. We're going to ask Brother Ackley and Brother Nob to come prepare the table. As Jesus spoke of so long ago, Jesus would suffer and die so that we can rejoice with him. You know, we come together on Sundays to worship the Lord because this is the day that Christ rose from the dead. But when we have the Lord's table, we remember the cost of our redemption. We do this looking back as sinners who have been redeemed, who have placed our faith in Christ. Communion is the communion of the saints, the believers of Christ. So this morning, if you do not know Jesus Christ, this is not for you. And for those who... If you do not know Christ, you're welcome to talk with Pastor Chu or myself after the service. I'm happy to help. But we see in 1 Corinthians 11 verses 27 through 32, there's a warning that we must not take the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. So let's take this time and ask the Lord to examine our hearts and to examine our own hearts. for any unconfessed sin, anything that marrs our testimony as we testify in Christ's name. There is no sin, error, mistake, or fault that can be damaged. So let's look at it and ask God to forgive us. Our Father in heaven, you know us. Lord, you know us better than we know ourselves. Lord, we confess that we have not lived as we ought. We have failed you many times. But Lord, you are faithful. You are just and righteous to forgive us of our sins. not because of our goodness, but because of Christ's righteousness that you gift to us so richly, so freely. Lord, in this hour, we pray that you would cleanse us and make us as white as the snow that has fallen outside. Father, God, please forgive us and let us rest in peace. Father, God, please forgive us and let us rest in peace. Lord, your gift of salvation was a gift of your own Son for us. You gave everything so that we could have eternal life. Your son's body was broken for us. We are cleansed by his blood. Propitiation has been made, atonement is finished. Lord, we pray that you would bless us as we fellowship with you by fellowshipping and remembering Christ's work for us. We thank you, Father, for this time to remember the greatness of our Father's love for us. And for the mercies we experience every single day. We love you, we praise you. In 1 Corinthians 11.23, Paul says, I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took. After the men distribute the bread, we will pray and take the bread. Yeah. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness for us. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. His body was broken for us. We thank Him. We thank Him. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Then he will now distribute the cup. so As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. That's great. Our Father, we know that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins. Our sins condemned us. The blood of Christ purchased our party. Thank you that we can now come to you as our God, our Father, and our friend. Lord, we trust you. We love you, we praise you as we take this cup. We pray in Jesus' name, we thank Satan. Amen. We've proclaimed the Lord's death. Now we will sing of that fountain shed for us. Hymn number 195, let's stand to sing. Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Why turn up the sun? Why turn up the sun? For she is the one that will run In my strong, gorgeous sun. For she was as light as the moon, And her voice as hard as steel. ♪ Keep your eyes on the stars above ♪ ♪ I'm just one way, I'm just how you may be ♪ ♪ Only two hours to go then ♪ ♪ Will it cleanse my sin and set me free? ♪ ♪ Wash me in the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ And I shall be washed in the sea ♪ ♪ Light with the sun ♪ ♪ Light with the sun ♪ ♪ Joshua, the child of the Lord ♪ ♪ We bless you, light with the sun ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ There was a man who sang this song to her ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm glad you watched this movie ♪ ♪ She glanced to her, and to her eye ♪ ♪ Tears rolled down her face like rain ♪ ♪ Pushed the man and washed him in blood ♪ ♪ And touched her feet hard ♪ There will be choir practice after the interdiction. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for a cleansing from Christ. We thank you that the Holy Spirit has regenerated us and given us a new birth. O Lord, help us to abide in Christ, that we may do all things for thee. Help us even in the coming week to be fruitful for you. We pray in Jesus' name with thanksgiving. I thank you and pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. you