We're turning to the book of the Psalms, the Psalm 127. The Psalm 127. I'm going to read the five verses. It is a short psalm. And so Psalm 127, the title of the psalm is A Song of Degrees for Solomon. And so let's hear the word of God as we find it recorded in this, the 127th Psalm. Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the watchman keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Though children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is a man that hath his quiver full of them, they shall not be ashamed. but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Amen. And we'll conclude at the end of the verse five. Could we unite just in prayer very briefly before we bring God's word? I need the Lord's help. And I trust that you'll pray for that even as we seek now the Lord together in prayer. Our loving father, we thank you for the word of God, the scriptures. We thank the Lord for the centrality. Oh God of our worship service, Now, as we come to the central act of worship, the preaching, the hearing of thy holy word, we come, Lord, to give, Lord, the majority of the time even to this exercise. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt now come and, Lord, revive our hearts as we have been singing. Revive thy work, O Lord, thy mighty arms. make bare. We commit, Lord, now this service to Thee, and the preaching of it. Lord, I give myself entirely to Thee. I pray that Thou wilt empty me of sin and self, and Thou wilt now fill me with Thy Holy Spirit. Help me to preach with power and clarity. I pray this in and through the Savior's holy name. Amen and amen. Attending the temple or the house of God at Jerusalem was obligatory under the ceremonial law for every Jewish meal. Three times throughout the calendar year, every meal Jew was required to leave their home, wherever that was, in Israel or beyond, and make their way to the Jewish capital to celebrate three specific Jewish feasts. The feasts that they came to commemorate were the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as Passover, the Feast of Weeks, also known as the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Now Moses, when he comes to write the book of Exodus, he comes to record what God required of his people Israel, in Exodus chapter number 34, and I want to read a number of verses here to set the context. For we read from the verse 18 of Exodus 34 these words, As I commanded thee in the time of the month Abeb, for in the month Abeb thou camest out from Egypt. All that openeth the matrix is mine, and every firstling among the cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is meal, but the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if thou redeem him not, then thou shalt break his neck. O the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem, and none shall appear before me empty. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest. In e'ering time and in harvest thou shalt rest. Now it's very interesting to notice that all of those Jewish feasts, these three Jewish feasts, These Jewish feasts, they coincided with important harvest times in the nation of Israel. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, it coincided with what is known as the barley harvest. The Feast of Weeks, well that coincided with the harvesting of the wheat. And then the Feast of Tabernacles, it really marked the conclusion of what was known as the fruit harvest. And so God required his people during the busiest times of the year, harvest time, he required them to set aside their secular employment, their agricultural employment, and they were to leave their home and they were to come and they were to worship Him in Jerusalem. Now, brethren and sisters, before we go any further, I believe we could learn a lesson from this. Our busy work schedules are no excuses for us never to come and to worship God on His ordained day or in any other appointed time during the week in which the church of Jesus Christ comes to worship for prayer and gathers for prayer and worship. I'm too busy or I'm too tired are certainly not reasons to be absent from God's house on a regular basis. As inconvenient as it may have been for them and for their particular families, these Jews, they assembled at the temple in Jerusalem during what we would call the most hectic times of the year, harvest time. The lesson is so very clear. God must be given his rightful place regardless of how busy our work shifts are or how busy our social calendars are. Now to hearten the pilgrims on their journey to the temple in Jerusalem during these three great pilgrimages, the worshippers would have sung songs in preparation for their attendance at the public meeting place. They didn't come to God's meeting place murmuring or complaining. No, they came to God's house singing. They came to God's house praising God. They came to God's house worshipping God. God the Holy Spirit has been pleased. To preserve in the divine record the very songs that the pilgrims would have sung as they made their way from their homes and made their ascent to the house of God. Jerusalem was built on a mountain range. and therefore there was a going up to the house of God. That physical going up was also to be a representation of how they were to go up to God's house spiritually. There was to be a raising themselves from worldly things and bringing themselves by the grace and help of God to a higher plane, to a greater plane, to a place where God would be worshipped. I can imagine These pilgrims leaving their hometown, maybe some from Nazareth, others from Bethlehem, other individuals from Hebron or other places within the nation of Israel. Now I can see them as they leave their homes behind. They maybe leave their wives, their children. It was required that the men would come, but at times the families would ascend as well. I can see them as they leave their places, and maybe as a wife and as children, as they look out through the door and they see their husbands making their way to Jerusalem, I can hear them as they sing the words of Psalm 121, verse 8. Psalm 121 is known as the Pilgrim Psalm. This is a psalm that the Covenanters, whenever they were leaving from one another after the Conventigles, they would have sung this psalm together, God's preserving hand upon them as a people until they would gather again for worship. Can you not see the mother and the children sing this psalm as they wish and as they spur their husbands and their fathers to the place of public worship? I can envisage them as they now come to near the holy city, Jerusalem, They lift up their voices in unison and they sing the words of Psalm 122. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together. Whether the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name And then whenever all of the festivities had come to an end, I can see now this company, this caravan of individuals leaving the city of Jerusalem behind, and the company of their fellow pilgrims returning home, and I can hear them sing the words of Psalm 127, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in peace. Unity. Psalm 133, I mean, in the verse number one. This collection of 15 psalms, these 15 pilgrim songs are better known to us, as you know, as the song of degrees or as the songs of ascent, the songs of ascent. And one of those psalms we have come to read this afternoon, Psalm 127, it is this psalm that contains the words of the motto text for this year. And the words that we want to focus in upon are the words that really open this particular chapter. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. In the will of God, contractors will begin a building project on this church building very soon. extension out the back, God willing, some modifications made into the interior and also to the exterior of these church premises. But as beneficial and as needful as that work is and will be, it is rather the spiritual building of the house of God that we want to remember is the most important building work that will take place on this site over the next year and in the years that lie beyond. So for the rest of this meeting we want to consider together the words at the beginning of the verse number one and apply them to us as a congregation on this the first Lord's Day of 2025. Now the title of this psalm must not be overlooked. For the title of the psalm informs us that the recipient of this inspired sonnet or this inspired song was none other than Solomon, David's son and rightful heir and successor to the throne of Israel. Now you will know that David, having surveyed the place where or the conditions where the Ark of the Covenant was housed and as he looked around at his own beautiful home, David the Cain wanted to construct a building, a house that was becoming, that was suitable, that was fitting the Ark of the Covenant or the presence of God. Now initially David was encouraged by the prophet Nathan to do it. However, God appeared to Nathan in a vision that particular night and told him to go back to David and to tell him that he was not to build the house of God, the house of the Lord, because he was a man of war, but rather a man of peace would arise. a figure, a type, a representation of Christ who is the Prince of Peace, the one who has promised to build his church, and that that one, the Son of Peace, that he would then take to task the building of god's particular house and so god says in 2nd samuel nathan says to david in 2nd samuel 7 verse 13 that out of david's family there would be one who would have built a house for my name and i will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And so it was going to be the responsibility of Solomon to build and to beautify the house of God. And I believe that this psalm was penned with that in mind. Here's a young man, and he's going to involve himself in the building, the task of building the temple, the house of God, the place where the Ark of the Covenant would dwell, and where God would come and place His name, and where His glory and His honor would dwell. And as David thought about that, he wants to instruct Solomon with these particular words. He wants to remind his son, Solomon, accept the Lord, build the house. It was as if David was saying to Solomon before any work commenced on the tabernacle or the temple, he was saying to Solomon, Solomon, you can have all the skilled craftsmen at your disposal. And you can have the best quality of materials to your hand, and you can have the finances required to construct the house of God sitting in the bank, but unless the Lord builds a house, unless the Lord commands a blessing, all your labors are going to be in vain. And surely we have to come and acknowledge that as God's people. And we have to come and acknowledge that as a congregation. That unless the Lord blesses our labors, for Christ in this new year, then our labors will be in vain. We could have the best of preachers occupying this pulpit, a much better preacher than I am, and you could have a much better, more eloquent, more passionate, more earnest, more godly minister in this pulpit, who presents the best crafted sermons, the best illustrated sermons, And so there are a number of matters that I want to speak to you upon this morning from the words of this motto text as we consider together the matter of the building of God's house. I want us to note in the first place the method. The method in the building of God's house. Now as with any building project, blueprint plans stipulate the structure and the design of the building that is to be constructed. You go to have a house built, employ an architect and they'll draw up blueprint plans. And those plans will stipulate how that building is to be constructed, its size, its dimensions, also the materials that are to be used. And so there is a plan, there is a pattern by which the building project follows. We're all very aware of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to Peter at Caesarea Philippi. Matthew chapter 16 and the verse 18, Jesus Christ said to Peter, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And in these words, I believe that we have got God's blueprint for the building of his church. Plans that reveal to us that it is ultimately Jesus Christ who builds his church. It is Christ himself who builds his church. It is Christ who purchased his church with his own blood. And it is he who sees to her advancement as he redeems from among the nations of the world and adds those redeemed ones to his church. And so it is ultimately Christ that builds the church. But having said that, it would be wrong for us to think that the work of the building of Christ's church, the house of God, is done without any human involvement whatsoever, for that is simply not the case. It has pleased God to use His redeemed ones to see to the building of Christ's church. Through our witnessing and through our labors, God is pleased to see to the conversion of sinners and thereby to the building of His church on earth. We cannot expect to see sinners converted if we are not telling them the truth of God that will ultimately come to bring them to saving faith in God. Now of course, Of course, the work of God the Holy Spirit is indispensable. It is the work of the Spirit of God to convert sinners. It is the work of the Spirit of God to regenerate the heart. It is the work of the Spirit of God to enable the sinner to embrace Jesus Christ as He has offered to them in the Gospel. But the Lord uses us as his instruments in the task of making Christ known to those who are perishing in their sin. Remember it was some Sunday school teacher, some mother, some father, some minister, some pastor, some evangelist, some door-to-door worker who first introduced you to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And whenever you think of that, that God employs us in this great task of seeing His house built, we find that there is a high honor that is placed upon us. A tremendous honor that is placed upon us. You know, God could have very well sent holy angels who left not their first estate. He could have employed angels in the task of building His house, His church on earth. But that was never God's intention. That was never God's purpose. That was never God's plan. But rather, God has been pleased to use men and women, young people and boys and girls, saved by His grace to see to the advancement of His church and His kingdom here on earth. This is God's blueprint. There is no contradiction with regard to these words, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. It is not with regard to their labors. It is with regard to who is blessing their labors that is dealt with in this particular verse, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Now, there needs to be application in any good message. And here's the application. I'm asking you today, is there any engagement on your part as an individual in the building of God's house, in the building of Christ's church in this local community? Are you praying for the advancement of Christ's cause here in this village in County Antrim, You take the opportunity afforded to you as a Christian through the various ministries of this local church to reach the lost for Christ and also to see to the edification of those who have already trusted in Christ for salvation. We must never think that God is going to do for us what he has tasked us with. And what has He tasked His church with? Well, it was prayed in our prayer meeting before we came in. He has tasked the church to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to every creature. He has commanded us to be His witnesses. He has commanded us to persuade men and to save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire. And so I trust that God will help us in this year to give ourselves to such a task. Now in our labors, we must always remember that all of our efforts, as necessary as they are in the building of God's work and the building of God's house, our labors will not accomplish what God intended them to accomplish without his blessing upon them. Brethren and sisters, our motto text reminds us that we can only expect failure if we go about and we attempt this important work without the help of God. And whenever you think about it really and honestly, what preacher can change a sinner's stony heart into a heart of flesh. There's no preacher. What evangelist can take a child of wrath and make that individual into a child of God? There's no evangelist that can do that. What Sunday school teacher can see to the spiritual transformation of their Sunday school class? There's no Sunday school teacher can do that. What open air preacher can see to the turning of sinners from their sin and on to Christ? There is none. All of these, all of these require the working of God in the heart and in the soul of the unconverted. We learned very quickly, as was prayed in our early morning prayer meeting, that without me, Jesus Christ speaking, that without me ye can do nothing. We can do nothing. J.C. Ryle, he brought these two great truths together, God, the building of God's church, and then the blessing of our labors as we go about that. He said this in the following statement. He said, in building the true church, the Lord Jesus Christ condescends to use many subordinate instruments. The ministry of the gospel. the circulation of the scriptures, the friendly rebuke, the word in season spoken, the drawing influences of affections, all are means by which his work is carried on and the spirit conveys life to souls. But Christ, he said, is the great superintending architect, ordering, guiding, directing all that is done. Paul may plant a polis water, but God gives the increase. Ministers, he said, may preach, and writers may write, but the Lord Jesus Christ alone can build. He, I'm sorry, and except he builds, the work stands still. Oh, may we find this year the Lord working with us. as he through our labors builds his house, his church in this locality. And that brings us to consider a very important matter when we come to think about our labors for the Lord. God only blesses what he has promised to bless. And what has he promised to bless? What has God promised to prosper? Well, He has promised to bless and to prosper the going forth of the Word. And that's it. Isaiah 55 verse 11, It shall not return on to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Romans 10, 17, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 1 Corinthians 1, 21, for after that the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to see of them that believe. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, we read, for this cause also thank we God without ceasing. Because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which he factually worketh also in you that believe." It speaks about salvation. That's what initially happened. They heard the word preached. They were brought to saving faith. But folks, that's where the word didn't stop working. Rather, the Word continued to work in the heart, sanctifying the soul, sanctifying the child of God. As it were, the putting off of that which is grieving to the Spirit of God, and the putting on of the new man, this working, this effectual working of God and His Word in our hearts. The preaching and the publication of God's truth has always been God's way of building His church. Whenever we keep the word of God front and center in the work of God, then I believe we can seek the blessing of God upon our labors. God's work done God's way through God's word. That's it. And that's what I want. And I trust that that's what you want. I know that that's what our church session wants. The Word of God central as we gather for worship. There must never be a deviation from that. There must be the centrality of the Word. Because the power is in the Word. The preaching of God's Word. It is the preaching of God's Word that has power to convict. It is the preaching of the Word that has power to save, that has power to restore, that has power to sanctify, that has power to edify, and it has power to revive. So then let us support the going forth of God's Word in this place by our presence and by our prayers. And so we have here with regard the means by which the church is built. God builds his church through the preaching of the word. You are built up as a believer in your faith through the word. May you hunger, may I hunger more for the word of God this year. May I find myself under the means of grace on as many opportunities as God and his grace affords me. May I never be absent when the word of God is preached. And so we have here the means. But let's think about the materials used in the building of God's house. Now, I'm not a builder. I know that there are some men here are builders. I was trying to think of the list of items that are employed. There is a list of items with regard to a building. I can't remember what it was. I should have contacted someone. They would have gave me the information. But you'll know that whenever you build any structure, You'll know that there's materials that have to be purchased in order to complete the building project. Think of materials like concrete, steel, mortar, wood, and brick, and slate. And that was the case when it came to the building of the temple in Jerusalem by Solomon. He had his building materials acquired for him by his father, David, that would see to the furnishing of God's house. I want you just to listen. You don't need to turn here, but I'm turning to 1 Chronicles. You can turn if you desire. I don't want to prohibit you from doing that. I want to encourage you to look at God's word, but I want to read just a number, just a verse here with regard to the building materials, with regard to the temple. It says in verse, Number two of 1 Chronicles 29, David's the speaker here. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for things to be made of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, the wood for the things of wood, and stones to be set, glistering stones and of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance. The lesson is so simple. the best materials for the best of persons, the best of materials for the house of God, the best. David provided the best for the building of the house of God. I don't know what type of materials will be used, I don't think we'll have gold and silver with regard to the furnishings of God's house here. And so we'll not be blowing, as it were, the budget. But we're thinking about the spiritual building. That's all I'm concerned. Yes, I'm concerned about the building around here. Don't get me wrong. But that is not my primary concern. The primary concern is the spiritual building of this church and this family, the workings of God among us. And surely, brethren and sisters, in that building we should be giving our best, the best, the best of our years. You know, there are many in this congregation, and that's what they gave. They gave the best of their years. I have to be honest, they're now aged. They're now unable to be involved in the work of God. But long before I ever came, in the early days, they gave their best. They gave their best time, they gave their best talents, they gave it to God, and now they can sit back, and I know that they have regrets, and I know that they would just love to be helping as once they once helped around the house of God. But at least they can look back and say, at least I gave myself to God's work when I could. Can you say that? The young people, your life is going as quickly as all of our lives are going. Are you giving your best to the Lord? Your best time, your best gifts, your best talents? Are you giving your best? Am I giving my best? My best time, my best giving, my best worship? not to this church, not to this denomination. Are you giving your best to the one who bled and died and suffered for you on the cross of Calvary? Am I? Did I give my best in 2024, my best praying, my best preaching, my best worship? And here we see in this gathering of materials together, we see a variety of materials that were gathered together. Oh yes, there was a need for gold and also the need for silver, but there was also need for wood. Wood's not as expensive as gold or silver, but just as necessary. And maybe you're a believer here today and you say, well, I'm certainly not gold and I'm certainly not silver. I'm just like an old lump of wood. But can I say that you are required and you're as necessary in the building of Christ's church as the other materials. And so there was, as it were, there was a unifying. There was a unifying of all of these materials. They were brought from different places, acquired from different lands, but they were all brought to one site. And in that one site, they were blended together, and they were knit together, and they were brought together to raise one house for the glory of God. And God brings us from different areas, Cullabakee, and Portlanone, and O'Huckle, and Bilakee, and other areas, Castle Dawson, and from various parts, and various timelines. But he brings us together to bring us together, and to knit us together, young and old, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all built into the splendid Ephesus, of Christ's church edifice. That's the word. You know, one of the key building stones that was used or one of the key building materials was those massive stones used for the foundation and for the walls. Some of those stones, I did a little bit of research now. I'm speaking about Herod's temple. You'll know that Solomon built a temple, and then that temple was destroyed through the captivity. But Herod, he built a second temple, Herod's second temple. And in some of Herod's second temple, there are some stones in that particular temple that weighed up to 570 tons of stone. No cranes, no mechanical ways by which that stone could be moved, simply by sheer brute human strength, and maybe animal strength as well. Those stones were brought. And the amazing thing was that those quarried stones, they were sized and they were shaped away from the temple site. But whenever they came to this temple site and when they were transported to be built in situ, each stone fit it precisely. Something that could only be attributed to one thing, the Lord building the house. God's overruling hand. You were a stonemason and you tried to get stones and you chipped away at them off site, and then you brought them on site. I don't think that you would be able to have those stones put together in a perfect manner, but it was the case in the days of Solomon, the overruling hand of God. You know, every believer is hewn and shaped by divine grace and placed into the church by the chief architect himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. A stone is shapeless. A stone is a lifeless mass of rock. It can never split itself from the quarry. It can never fashion itself into the shape or the beauty required. It can never, as it were, set itself up upon a lintel or to make itself a column in any physical structure. And such is the spiritual state of every man, dead, lifeless, powerless. But believers hewn out from the quarry of humanity by the Spirit of God are different. They are termed by Peter as being lively stones, stones full of life. A life that is derived from Jesus Christ, who is a living stone, the foundation upon which his church rests. We thought about that in our early morning time of prayer. In those words from the book of Isaiah chapter 28 and the verse 16, therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. One preacher put it like this, every stone in God's temple from the foundation to the top stone is made a precious, a glistening, a living stone through the indwelling life of Jesus, the Prince of Life. Can I ask you, have you been placed by divine grace into the building of God? Do you belong to that edifice that is the church of Jesus Christ? Have you been joined? Have you been united to Jesus Christ, who is the chief cornerstone? All these materials, costly, different, yet all required. And so it is in God's building. God purchased us at a high cost. And into His church He sets us. some as ministers, others elders, some Sunday school teachers, others workers, some individuals, leaders in works, but God sets us and places us into his church and it's all a building that is growing up, a building that is advancing, a building that is progressing, the glory of God. And that really brings us to say a few closing words on the motivation behind the building of God's house. You know, brethren and sisters, why we do things can be as important as how we do things. Now I'm not saying that how we do things must not be thought to be and must never be thought to be not important, but why we do things can be just as important as how we do things Because we can often do things God's way, and we should always do God's work God's way. But brethren and sisters, sometimes our motivation for doing so can be all wrong. You know, at times our motivation to see the building of God's house, it can be very selfish. There can be a desire, as it were, to push ourselves forward, to be lauded and applauded by others, to have other ministers congratulate us. with the fine church that we have and the people and the congregation that we have. However, our motivation for everything that we do in the work of God and in our lives ought to be the glory of our God, the glory of our God. Why do we want to see men and women, teenagers, boys and girls, Why do you want to see them putting their trust in Christ? Why do we want to see this to the spiritual maturing of God's saints? Why do you want to see strangers and friends and loved ones attending this congregation? Why do you want to see others added to the membership of the church? It ought to be that God is glorified. That's it. Certainly God is glorified when His church is built, when she advances, when she flourishes, when she progresses. God is glorified. And this is what ought to be our motivation for everything that we do as a congregation here in Portland Owen, the advancement of God's glory. Through our personal witness and through our public worship, the glory of God should be advanced. Certainly as souls are added to Christ's kingdom, Christ's glory is advanced. As the saints of God mature in their Christian faith, God's glory is advanced. As the wanderer returns, the prodigal, from their backsliding, God's glory is advanced. As Christ is made known to a Bible illiterate and a gospel ignorant population, God's glory is advanced. And this ought to be our sole motivation in laboring together with God to see the building of His house in this place. God is glorified. God is glorified there. That's all we want. God glorified. God glorified. And so we need the Lord. Because except the Lord build the house. Then the labors, our labors, will be in vain. Now we're encouraged by the Apostle Paul, words that I often go back to when it's difficult in the work of God. Words in 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Finally, my brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, The great enterprise of seeing Christ made known. It is not a labor that is a vain labor, but it is a labor that has God's blessing on it. And that's all we want. Psalm 90 verse 17 ought to be our prayer. And let the beauty, let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. And establish thou the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. And so let's seek our God daily for his presence and for his power among us as we gather to worship him in this house and also as we go about our daily lives from day to day and witness of his saving grace to others. May we know God's power and presence with us in that great task. Pray. Pray and work. Labor with us. Labor for Christ. And may we come to experience as was experienced by the individual in the sand. a man who required and acquired from God a quiver full of children, oh, for a building full of spiritual children. And God adds to this congregation so that he and halo is glorified. May the Lord bless this word to our hearts. Let's bow our heads, please, in prayer. Just to remind you that you can pick up one of those calendars on the way out. Take one for every home, first of all. Trust we've printed off enough, and trust that you'll avail yourself of that. Put it up in your home. Pray for the work of God every day, and pray that God will build His church, His house, as God has intended to do so, and as He has purposed to do so. Our loving Father, O God, we thank thee for this work, the work of the building of Christ's church. We're glad, Lord, that it's thy church. And we're glad, Lord, that thou art the one who has planned it and purposed it. Thou art the one, O God, who is adding to the church daily such as should be saved. Those who are ordained to eternal life, thou art bringing to know the Redeemer. now we're adding them as a lively stone into the great building and someday the great top stone will be placed and the crimes will be on to it grace grace all of grace we thank thee lord for our position in that edifice in the church of christ we thank thee for redeeming us those among us who know these Think of those, O God, who find themselves still in the darkness of sin's quarry, as it were, out in the world, away, O God, from the church, the church invisible, not connected to her in any way whatsoever, not knowing the Christ of the church. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt, by thy Spirit, quarry them from where they are, and, Lord, bring them in to this building. Add them, Lord, to it, we cry to thee. And we pray, Lord, that by each week, precept upon precept, line upon line, God might be taught from this place and from this pulpit, and that there might be a building up of God's people in their most holy faith. Lord, build thy house, we pray, and give us a part to play in it. We offer prayer now. Take us safely home. We pray for the blessing of the triune God upon us as we travel home. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's lovely name. Amen and amen.