Father, what words have we just sung? We have just signed our lives over to you. Everything, Lord, everything about us belongs to you. Everything we have, everything that we are, everything that we can be and will be, it's yours. to be used for you, to be used for your kingdom, to be used for the advancement of Christ's name in this world that is so dark and blind, that so desperately needs to hear of our Savior, that so desperately needs to see the life of Christ in the body of Christ, in the hands and feet of Christ, in the church, in the lives of Christians. Father, help us, help us to see the call that you place upon our lives, each and every one of us who is here today. has not just one calling, has multiple callings that are all flowing from that one vocation, that one calling to live for Christ. So whether we eat or drink, whether we are plumbers or accountants or analysts or financiers or whatever Lord you have called us to, Lord, may we use all of that for your glory and honor. May we hand that over to Christ and see its proper use in the kingdom of Christ. We ask, Father, bless us now as we turn to your word, as we read it, as I explain it, as we seek its application in our lives. Grant me clarity. Grant us all a comprehension. Grant us all a conviction, Father, to live for you in undying love and devotion. Hear us, Lord, we pray now. In Jesus' name, amen. In Nehemiah chapter one, we begin reading at verse 11, and we read until chapter two, verse eight. We've read these words, these verses already. want to look at them again though, taking a step back and saying, what's so unique about Nehemiah? He's a cup bearer. I want you to see that God places so many of his people in positions of authority to be Christian cup bearers, not just Christians, but to be Christian cup bearers. This is the word of the Lord, Nehemiah, beginning at chapter 111. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name and give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king. In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? Then the king said to me, what are you requesting? So I prayed to the God of heaven and I said to the king, if it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, how long will you be gone and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah. And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. And thus far, the reading of God's holy and inspired word. We want to consider the topic and the theme today from God's word, Christian cupbearers, Christian service, and the priority of God's kingdom. Christian service and the priority of God's kingdom. And if you, maybe have a hard time tracking here. Here's really the point of the sermon. It's a question. What are you going to do with what God has given you? What are you going to do with where God has placed you? I want to look at this from God's word in four points. First of all, Nehemiah. Multiple examples from the Old and New Testament. You, thirdly, and then fourthly, Jesus. Nehemiah, the Bible, you and Jesus. Don't forget where you came from. Don't forget where you came from. That's an expression we hear oftentimes in our day, and it surrounds people who arose from very humble origins, whether they're artists, singers, athletes, politicians, lawyers. Don't forget your roots, they're told. Don't forget your upbringing. Don't forget the community that birthed you, the streets that formed you. And when you come to enjoy influence and power, don't forget to help your people, whether your people are Puerto Ricans or New Yorkers or an urban city where you were raised, you were born in. We ask this question, though, of ourselves as Christians. not as whatever ethnicity you are or whatever culture you come from, wherever you were born. For the Christian, who are our people? Who are your people? This is not to downplay or to denigrate your culture, your family, your roots, right, all of that, very important. But fundamentally, your people are the church of Christ, the kingdom of God. This is where our priority and our focus must be. So much so that from God's word, we're told in Psalm 137, if I forget you, oh Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the root of my mouth. If I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Jerusalem here is not some city in the Middle East. Jerusalem here is the people of God. Zion from above, the kingdom of heaven, where Christ is King. And see, what Nehemiah here teaches us is that when God brings you into a place of power and of prominence, or maybe not, who of us here is gonna be an elected official? Who of us here will have a platform, be an influencer, be in the spotlight? Perhaps none of us. Wherever God places you, you must use what you have in service to Christ and for the church. Don't neglect your people. Don't neglect your priority, which is to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. Matthew 6.33. Don't bury your talent. Don't bury the light of the gospel. Don't ignore the critical moment. What we are called by God to say, to believe, to be convinced of is, Lord, I don't want to overlook or neglect the opportunities, the doors that you've opened for me to serve you and to serve your church. And so positively, how do we ask the question, Lord, how can I devote myself? in the position you've placed me, with the position you've placed me to serve you. It's not just serving God in whatever position, but it's serving God with that position. We'll see more about this in a moment here in Nehemiah's life and in scripture. This is the core of Christian service. This is how Christian service speaks. This is the conviction that drives it. This is its joy. And so we look at Nehemiah. Nehemiah has entered the king's service with a high level of skill. This is a man who didn't get to be a cup bearer because he was very pious. No, he gets to be a cup bearer, and we can so easily overlook this, because he was really good at his job. He was really good at being a cup bearer. And we'll talk about what that involves in a second. Yes, God had blessed him. God had given him many gifts, many talents. But you don't get to be the right hand man of the king if you're not good at what you do So what does it mean to be a cup bearer? This is not? Like being some kind of like waiter Who just brings in food to the king? No, this is and you're gonna pardon my French here I've tried to pronounce this right over the last couple of days sommelier a sommelier is S-O-M-M-E-L-I-E-R. Maybe you could correct my French later. It's someone who has expert knowledge of wine. It's someone who knows how to pair wine with food. which means that he also knows food. He also has to approve food for it to be brought to the king, ensuring, yes, not that it's poisonous, that's the basic skill, but that it's good, that it's good food and enlivening to the heart of the king. And as a result, a cupbearer had direct access to the king. He guarded and controlled what was brought to the king. He guarded what would be brought to his attention. He was a highly trusted official, a counselor. He could have the king's ear at a moment's notice. Good kings want a certain kind of person around them who's loyal to them, who's good at what they do, who's able to see things objectively and advise them. Nehemiah, what do you think about this? What do you think about this case here in front of us? And this is what Nehemiah was. Kings don't want flatterers. Kings don't want people who are shoddy with their work or mediocre. No, they want people who actually care for the kingdom and the land that they rule. And the king saw in Nehemiah this competence, this skill, and this excellence. Of course, all of it from the Lord. But King Artaxerxes doesn't know that. He just sees someone who's good at his work. Someone who, as Proverbs 22, 29 says, Do you see a man skillful in his work? He who stands before kings, he will not stand before obscure men. This is a general principle of life. If you're good at what you do, you will be promoted. In our topsy-turvy world, I get it. That's not always the case. You're actually demoted in order to not compete with the boss who doesn't want any rivals around him. Generally, that's not the case, though. If you're skillful, you will stand before kings. And so what about us? What about us here in the Christian life? We, like Nehemiah, have started the Christian life with many talents and endowments from God. You have so many blessings from God. So many blessings from God. God has given you all things. And in so many ways, the Lord has blessed you so that you're good at what you do. We have PhD student here, we have analysts, we have graduates with MBAs, we have people who are devoted to their work and are good at it. The world sees only your craft and excellence, but you know that it is the grace of God. You study, you excel, you have skill, you have competence. You want to understand how God made the world and how your product and your service helps people in your corner of the world. No matter what you do, white collar, blue collar, students, whether it's plumbing, nursing, law enforcement, accounting, being a restaurateur, being in banking, cyber security, whatever it is, God has placed you there and to excel, which you are called to do. You cannot be mediocre at your work. You cannot produce a shoddy product of poor quality, badly done. You cannot just mail it in. That doesn't honor the Lord. Jesus was a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter before he was called at the age of about 30 to enter officially into his messiahship. Do you think Jesus made bad tables? Do you think Jesus made bad, you know, we don't quite know all the products that he would have made. Technon is the Greek word. It is more not carpenter, but mason. A general contractor. Do you think Jesus did not excel in what he was doing in his earthly vocation? Oh, you know, just doing this. I'm on hold here until, you know, my father calls me, you know, and I go to the Jordan River to be baptized. I can just create mediocre work here. Nonsense. Such a thought is, near blasphemy to think that the creator of the heavens and the earth would in his earthly vocation be about mediocre product and mediocre service and mediocre work. Not only do we see that Nehemiah was good at what he did and what he was called to do as a cupbearer, but here's the point. And here's the lesson that Nehemiah uses, and we'll see this in future weeks, and we see it even now. He will use all that he has, all that he has been given by God for what? For the rebuilding of the wall and the establishment of Jerusalem. He had been given abilities, the capacities, the endowments to lead this kind of reformation, to be this kind of reformer, planning, preparing, organizing a cohort of men, of workers, leading a reconstruction project of an entire city. In other words, if we could use this phrase, Nehemiah leverages his entire life, his skills, his status, his influence, his promotion, his proximity to power for what purpose? For personal gain? To advantage himself? No, he leverages his entire life for the good of the church and for the kingdom of God. His priority is the good of God's people. When he hears that something is wrong in Jerusalem, that God's people, the wall has been ruined, the gates are destroyed, what does he do? He is comfortable in the capital city, in the palace of Susa. He doesn't have to lift a finger. He can say, well, I'll leave it to the next guy. I'll outsource this to someone else or to something else. Or, you know, God is sovereign. He'll take care of it. No, what we see, what we hear from God's word is that Nehemiah is deeply impacted. And he says, I must go. I must do something about this. He is right next to the king, and at the critical moment, Nehemiah serves the Lord, serves the kingdom of God, and refuses to neglect who God is, who he is in God, and what God's promise is. He refuses to do nothing. This, of course, is a lesson for us. When you are in the presence of earthly power, what will you do? What will you do with what God has given you? What will you do in the positions God is placing you? So many today, so many professing Christians, and you know a boatload of them, and I know a boatload of them. It seems like every artist started singing in the choir in their church in some Southern Baptist church in the South. You know, whether it's Beyonce or Britney Spears or whoever, Elvis, right? I mean, this goes on for years. What did they do with the talent God gave them? My brother lives in the Nashville area. Every church is, it's like super saturated with professional musicians. It's like the best music in the world in those churches. We know Christians, we know a boatload of them who have gained a degree of power and influence only to sell out the church, only to compromise their faith. We could look at Francis Collins, right? Just someone who was applauded as the poster child of being an evangelical in the secular world. What a betrayal his life has been. Christians who began well and yet were promoted to positions of power, who became increasingly liberal, adopted the values of the world, and saw compromises with the world as no big deal. So many Christians, so many professionals, so many artists, so many people in power, elected and unelected, act like Gentiles. Look at what God says about Gentiles in Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10 tells us at the very near the end of that chapter, Mark chapter 10, verse 42 through 44, Jesus tells us what leadership looks like, what leadership ought to look like. And Jesus called to them. Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. but it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. We're going to come back to verse 45 about the Son of Man and redemption in a moment near the end of our time. You see what Jesus is saying here? Is that the way of power in the world, the way of leadership in the world is the way of tyranny and of cruelty. That doesn't mean necessarily that rulers in the world have a bad tone of voice or something like that. It means that in our world, you get applauded if you use those who you rule for your gain. Corporate executives, politicians, strip mine their companies and their countries and exploit the people they lead for selfish gain. They see the people they lead as a stepping stone to something greater for me, myself, and I. For their personal advancement. And God tells you, if you're in the kingdom of God, this is not the way to lead. This is 180 degrees opposite of what you are to be. God tells you that you must continue to use what he has given you, your work, your skill, your power, your influence, for what? For personal gain? That's the way of the Gentile rulers. Are you no different than they? No, you are to use all that he has given to you for his kingdom. for his gospel, for his church, for the salvation of others, for the maturation of other Christians. This is to be the posture of your heart. What we just sang in 538, take my life and let it be consecrated, O Lord, to thee. Notice where the stanzas lead. Take my hands, take my feet, take my voice, take my lips, take my silver, take my gold. Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose. Take my will, take my love, take myself, and I will be ever only all for thee. What has God given you? You take all of that, all that you are, including your secular work, quote unquote, and you say, here, Lord, it's yours. It's yours. It's not a part from the kingdom, it's actually something vital in the kingdom. Somehow we get thinking, beloved, that we can serve Christ and the cause of the church and the cause of the gospel until we ascend and get promoted and become a policy advisor. And now I have to do something, you know, I use my power for some other goal. until I have a modicum of influence or authority. I serve Christ until I get a promotion in my job, or get elected, or become a vice president at my company, or become an assistant principal at my school, or what have you. No, you are to especially serve God in that position, with that position. This is Nehemiah's life. If you don't believe me, secondly, let's look at a number of examples very quickly from the Old and New Testament. I'm gonna just mention some of the citations from God's word. You can look them up on your own time. I trust that these are kind of well-known so that Mentioning them will just jog back your memory. Joseph in the Old Testament, Genesis 39 through 41. We're told that he's promoted to Pharaoh's service at the age of 30. What was his vocation? He was a dreamer and interpreter of dreams. And what does he use his power and position to do? To help the church, to help the people of God, to help his family and deliver them from famine and starvation. Esther. was a Jew. Her name was Hadassah. Her other name was Esther. And we're told that Esther wins the grace and favor of the king of Ahasuerus. And she is in his sight more than others. And he makes her his queen. And there is a passage in Esther that's so important for us. If you wanna turn there, you may. Esther chapter four, verse 13 and 14. Esther four, verses 13 and 14. There is a plot against the Jewish people that Esther doesn't know about, or maybe she makes believe she doesn't know about. And her cousin Mordecai tells her about it. There is a plot to genocide and to exterminate all the Jews. And Mordecai goes to Esther and says this, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther and he can't quite get to her right because she's in the center of power at the very height of the Persian Empire. He says, do not think to yourself that in the king's palace, you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my woman will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, although it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Mordecai reminds Esther what God reminds all of us. He has placed you where you are. You need to do something with that. You need to serve God in that position, with that position. You were placed in power, Mordecai tells Esther, for God's sake and for the sake of His people. Do not refuse your responsibility. Third example, Daniel. We're told that God, in chapter 1 of Daniel, had given Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. God gave Daniel and his three friends learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. They were the best students. They were not B minus students, let's put it that way. They were given to the life of the mind, to the intellect, to a curiosity, to a study, to scholarship. They knew not only their Hebrew faith, but the faith, the false religion of the Babylonians. And we're told by the end of chapter one that Daniel and his friends were 10 times better than all the other magicians. We're told in chapter five that in Daniel was found an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, solve problems. I'm not telling you this so that all of us can aspire to some post-doc degree, right? Some of you are in that, praise God for that. I want you to see though that it's from God that all of this is given. You start out life with so many blessings and gifts and talents and endowments from God. What happens to Daniel? In Daniel chapter four, Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's second dream leads Nebuchadnezzar to worship God. This is worth looking at here, chapter four, verse 34 through 37. Daniel confronts this wicked king with his pride, and as a result, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled for seven years, and at the end of those days, what does Nebuchadnezzar do? He raises his eyes to heaven, and his reason is returned to him, and he blesses the Most High, and notice what he says. These are the words of this wicked king that are inscribed in scripture for us. the words of God, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? In chapter six, now Babylon has been taken over by the Medes and the Persians, And King Darius is now in control. You know the story in chapter six, Daniel is faithful to God, praying three times a day, and he is envied by so many. He's thrown as a result into the pit of lions. He's spared, he's delivered, and those who accused him are then thrown in the pit of the lions, and they're absolutely destroyed and killed before they even reach the bottom of the pit. And as a result, notice what Daniel six says. As a result of Daniel's God-given competence and sacrificial faithfulness to God, Darius writes a decree that all must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. How would Darius even be able to write this decree if Daniel was not there in that position that God has placed him in, and using that position for the glory of God? I make a decree in chapter 6, verse 26, that all in my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. There is a consistent pattern all throughout Scripture, where God places his people in positions of power, maybe some power, some great power, maybe not a lot of power. As a parent, you do have power. You're in a position of authority. perhaps among foreign nations in the courts of rulers who do not serve God. And Christians must never forget who they are, who their people are, who do you serve. They serve God in that position, with that position. Can I give you a few examples from our own day? We were just reflecting on this, the elders and I, a couple of days ago. thanking God for his goodness. In our denomination, there are Christian farmers and businessmen who are millionaires. I won't mention it. This audio is public. Don't want to embarrass anyone. You would see them, you wouldn't even know they're millionaires. And throughout our existence, they have simply written a check and given it to me, given it to us for however much money their work is about God, is about the glory of God, not about themselves. Farmers, businessmen who have used their wealth and their capital to start reformed churches around the country, to start Christian schools around the country, all for the glory of God, not for self gain. In June, Andre, I don't know if you remember if you were there, but we were after one of the synod, synodical meetings in California with all the national representatives of the churches. I was just flabbergasted at hearing about the testimony of one man, millionaire, who started with a couple of cement trucks, built his business, to 50 cement trucks, right? And the point of this, again, is not God wants you to be a cement mixer. God wants you to own a company. No, that may or may not be in your future. But notice what kingdom priority looks like. And from that business, he helped establish many churches. purchasing property, helping establish a seminary in Escondido for the reformed churches. With that position helped establish Christian schools, Christian nursing homes, and so on and so forth. I was told of another example just this past week of a Christian physician's assistant, physician assistant in Michigan, in one of our URC churches. It's actually a very public case. Her name is Valerie Klosterman, and her hospital had been taken over by a conglomerate, by the University of Michigan, and they interviewed all the staff, and they said to her, like they did all the staff, what's your position on XYZ thing? And she said, well, I'm a Christian. I can't refer for transgender surgeries. I won't assist with abortions. And they let her go. They fired her. And she sued the hospital. By God's grace, she won that case and gave courage to others in a similar position who had not spoken up to take a stand for Christ and his kingdom and for the good of mankind. How about Christian lawyers? We've often had to contact Christian lawyers. Christian lawyers who give professional service to Christians and churches who face discrimination because of their Christian faith. That's it. Just because we're Christian, just because we want to be open on the Lord's day, to worship the Lord, because of our views of sexuality and marriage. You may think, well, none of that is me. I'm not a professional. I don't have that kind of power. I don't want to be in the public eye. I don't want that kind of influence. What's there for me? So many other examples in scripture. There's a story told of a little Israelite girl in 2 Kings chapter five who had been taken captured by the Syrian armies. And now she was in the service of, we don't even know her name. She was in the service of the wife of a military general named Naaman. And he was a mighty man of valor. But he was a leper. And the little girl says to her mistress, she says in 2nd Kings chapter 5, Oh, I wish that your husband, Naaman, would know the prophet of the land, because he would be able to cure your husband of his leprosy. And that prophet's name was Elisha. And because of that little girl, Naaman was cleansed and healed and gave glory to God. because God had healed him of his leprosy. How about John chapter six, and that boy with five loaves and two fish? Doesn't have much. He has his lunch. He's been given his lunch by his parents to go take probably, like so many other younger siblings, his older brothers who are in the field working. Five loaves, two fish, no power, no influence, no platform. And God takes that. and feeds a multitude of thousands. How about the parable in chapter 25 of Matthew of talents, where the master gives three servants various amounts of money, and they're given their starting point by the master to further invest and grow what the master had given to them. They know how to spot a good investment and a good opportunity. And you know the parable. One of them does what with the money he had been given? What does he do? He buries it in the field and does nothing with it. And what is this servant? What does he receive at the end? Congratulations from God? No, he is condemned. He is condemned. You see, what we're told in Nehemiah's story, what we're told all throughout Scripture, is that faithful stewardship means you recognize that what you have is not yours, but belongs to God. And God calls you now to use it to further his kingdom, to advance the name of Christ and his salvation, and to bring glory to God. So, What good, ask yourself, what good would Esther being a queen be? What good is Esther as queen if she won't defend God's people? What good is it to have that position if she won't lift a finger for her people? What good is Nehemiah being a cupbearer in the Cain's court if at the critical moment, when God's people are in trouble, he does nothing and says nothing? What good is it to have five loaves and two fish if you won't give them to the Lord? What good will it do your eternal soul to take the talents God has given you and bury them and not use them for what? For the gain and the advantage of the kingdom of God. God calls you, beloved, to serve Him wherever you are. I've given you a number of examples from Scripture of people in high positions of power and then people like you and me who don't have a lot of power. But God calls you to use that position, whatever that is, for Him. I ask you, As we've looked at Nehemiah, we've looked at these examples, but now thirdly, your life. How are you leveraging your position for the kingdom of God? How are you leveraging your position for the church of Christ? so that by the use of your strength, so that by the use of your years of experience, your walk with the Lord, your education, your parenting of your children, your money, your time, brothers and sisters can grow in the Lord. so that the church can be further established, so that the worship of Christ could be furthered in this world, so that future generations will come to know the Lord because of the legacy of your life and of your witness and of your devotion to Christ. What we're told in Nehemiah and by Nehemiah's life and by all of these examples, beloved people of God, is that we may not simply be takers in the kingdom of God. We may not be consumers in the kingdom of God. Let me see what I can get out of the Christian faith. Let me see what I can get out of the Christian church. Let me see what I can get out of the kingdom of God. That's what the Gentiles do. They strip mine companies and countries for their personal advantage. No, you are the beloved people of God, brothers and sisters, and God calls you to give, to serve, to be involved, to participate, to love, to pour out your entire life to God. The perspective you must have is what we'll sing in a moment. I love thy kingdom, Lord. I love the house of thine abode. the church our blessed Redeemer saved with his own precious blood. I love thy church, O God, dear as the apple of thine eye. For her, the church, my tears shall fall. For her, my prayers ascend. To her, my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end. How are you using what you have for the kingdom of God? And as we now conclude and move to the Lord's Supper, what can we say about the Lord Jesus Christ? Except that we praise God that he did not say. I won't help them, it's just too much sacrifice. It's too much suffering. I have to die, I have to pour out my life for them. We praise the Lord. for the blessed words of Mark chapter 10, verse 45. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. and to give his life as a ransom for many. Why are you here? Except that it is because of the Lord Jesus Christ who did not have a self-serving attitude. There would be no salvation. There would be no one who would be found in the kingdom of God if Jesus had had that attitude. We say reverently, no, Jesus leveraged his position. He used his glory, his sonship, his power for your salvation and mine. We praise the Lord Jesus, who Philippians 2 tells us, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men in human form. And he humbled himself by becoming obedient unto death, even death on the cross. This is our Savior who did this for us. who served us in His incarnation, in His suffering, in the night in which He was betrayed. He took a towel, He took off His outer robe and He took the towel and He tied it on and He washed His disciples' feet to leave us an example to follow, who suffered alienation, bodily and spiritual privation of all kinds, misunderstood by all, and in his death, taking upon himself God's wrath for your sins, for your salvation, so that now you would be found in him, so that now you would be found as his son, as his daughter, to not live for yourself, but to live for him who loved you and gave himself up for you. People of God, I leave you with this simple question. What are you doing with what God has given you? Amen? Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you, Lord, that you have not simply come to give us a pattern to follow, but you have given us the power to obey you. You're transforming grace now in union with our risen Lord who died for our sins, who served us, who served us, the creator of the world served us. Father, help us to meditate as we now celebrate the Lord's Supper in the bread and in the wine, the body and the blood of Christ our Savior, His devotion, to you and his love and devotion to us, his people, that he did not forget who his people were. And that, Father, we would live in his footsteps, following his example, seeking the priority of the kingdom, seeking to serve Christ by serving his church, one another, by serving with the message of the gospel of Christ's salvation to a needy and broken world. Help us, we pray now. We ask these things. In Jesus' name, amen.