The People Confess Sin (Nehemiah 9:1-5)
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· 40 viewsOur sinful ways are exposed through our reading of the Word of God, which brings us to genuine confession, which leads us to worship the way God intended it. Jesus is the rebuilder of the broken, if you feel broken and shame, run to Jesus.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Personal Introduction: Good morning. If you brought your Bible please open it to . While you are turning there, if this is your first time here I want to extend the warmest of welcomes to you and I am so glad you are joining us. My name is Brandon Siller and I am an intern as some of you know here at Hagerstown Church. As part of my internship I have been given the opportunity to preach before you today and I am praising God for the opportunity that he provided through this internship and want to especially thank Josh for opening up the idea of an internship. This is the first sermon I have ever preached in front of a congregation so I can confidently say, I am extremely nervous. My prayer has been that God would use me to bring something to you today through his Divine action.
Illustration: So if you guys know anything about Elainna, my wife, and I, we are not very patient people. When we get an idea especially in terms of remodeling or decorating, we pursue that idea as soon as humanly possible. So let’s imagine that Elainna and I are in the market for a new desk, so we take a trip down to the IKEA and pick out a desk we like that looks like a fairly simple design. We get home after a long day and want to have this desk done before we go to bed because of our excitement. So I start the project and don’t even bother looking at the instruction manual because after all, isn’t it just a puzzle anyway? How many times has that been proven effective? Men, I have a feeling what I am describing may in fact be something you have done. So I spend the next 25 minutes putting together a desk by simply eyeballing the picture on the instruction manual. You all know how this story probably ends. Even though in my mind I see the finished product and think, oh this will be easy, probably no more than 25 minutes into it, I realize that I did something wrong. So in desperation and Elainna begging me to look at the instruction book, I open up the instructions and realize that I am not even close to where I should be and all the work I just did, now must be taken apart piece by piece so we can start again from scratch. From scratch I examine the instruction manual and begin following step by step the procedures in the booklet,, only then will I be able to enjoy a finished product that was intended from the beginning.
Set Up:This is exactly what the life of Israel looked like. Instead they were not buying furniture from IKEA, but they were worshiping the Holy God. Like me skipping the instruction manual, Israel had been skipping the part where they daily opened the Word of God. When we follow the Word of God (like the booklet from IKEA), we are brought to the point of confession (the step by step procedure) and that brings us to the point of worship the way that God intended (The finished product). The book of Ezra and Nehemiah play this theme over and over again.
This is exactly how
Set Up:This is exactly what the life of Israel looked like. Instead they were not buying furniture from IKEA, but they were worshiping the Holy God. When we follow the Word of God (like the booklet from IKEA), we are brought to the point of confession (the step by step procedure) and that brings us to the point of worship the way that God intended (The finished product). The book of Ezra and Nehemiah play this over and over again.
Historical Context: Ezra and Nehemiah were originally written as one book. So what you read in Ezra and what you read in Nehemiah throughout the last few weeks were a continuous story. Esther from last week took place in the middle of the story hence the reason Pastor Tim spoke on Esther last week. Nehemiah continues the story of Ezra which continues the story of 2 Chronicles. When the Jerusalem fell to the power of Babylon, many of the Jewish people were taken as captives to Babylon. However when the Persian empire conquered Babylon, things changed for the Jewish people as they were able to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city. While the book of Ezra covers the first two exiles, the book of Nehemiah covers the third and final exile from Babylon. The leader of Israel at this time is Nehemiah who was given the position of governor by King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah approached King Artaxerxes with hopes of rebuilding the wall that circled Jerusalem. After the wall was completed they dedicated it to the Lord and in Chapter 8 Ezra reads from the Word of God and the people wept as the guilt of all their sin came pouring over them. But Ezra and Nehemiah encouraged them to stand up and rejoice in the Lord and not to mourn. They would then celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) which celebrated the gathering of the harvest and celebrated the guidance and provision of God through their wandering in the wilderness. This leads us up to the point where we look at the story of Nehemiah and Israel. Two days following the feast, follow along with me in your Bibles or on the screen as I read .
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; hand you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you
v [ch. 8:2]
You are the Lord, you alone. eYou have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; hand you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you
Let’s pray. God we thank you for your word and how much it reveals your nature and who you are. Lord I pray that as we dig deeper into this passage that you use me to bring something you want this congregation to hear. And Lord may anything that is good that comes from me, be only for your glory. Lord may we exalt you above all else. May your name be known across all nations. We thank you for the freedom we have to worship you and gather around your Word. I pray this in your holy name, Amen.
w []
x See
y See
f See
z ch. 10:28; 13:3, 30; [; ]
g See
1 Hebrew the offspring of Israel
e See
a ch. 8:7, 8
b [ch. 8:7]
h []
c []
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Today I want to show you how focuses on three things that are essential to your faith: The Word of God, confession and worship. From Nehemiah we can come to the conclusion that the word of God exposes our need for genuine confession. When we genuinely confess our sin we are able to enjoy Worship the way that God intended it to be. So in order, let’s first look at the Word of God
וְ
II. The Word of God
II. The Word of God
The Bible consist of 66 books and is written by around 40 different authors in a span of 1,500 years. But leading up to this point in the history of the Bible, the Torah (first five books) was all that was written and accepted as the Word of God. This is still the holy book of the Jewish people today. Throughout Israel’s history, when they had gone astray someone would open the Word of God and read from it, and following the reading would be confession, repentance, and even revival. Revival is an awakening of a church or community to their sin and begins the action of repentance and correction. But this would only last for a short amount of time, it would not take long before the nation of Israel would find something that they would seek after over the Lord.
8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
Explain:
This Day Is Holy
Explain:
(1)The Word of the Lord mattered to Israel. Just like the Word of the Lord matters here. They preached it in a way that was understandable and I pray that you find that the case here. Hagerstown Church firmly believes the Word matters and we let that drive every aspect of our church as much as humanly possible. But the Word of the Lord did not stop with the nation of Israel, the Word of the Lord matters throughout the whole Old Testament and even to the New Testament. Jesus himself believed that the Word of the Lord matters. He quotes at least 25 different Old Testament books out of the 39 books that make up the Old Testament. The Word matters. The Torah was a testament of the binding covenant made between Israel and Yahweh. This is why Nehemiah goes out of the way to explain the separation from all foreigners, because this at the time only applied to those of the seed of Israel.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
(2) , makes it clear that when the people gathered together much would be accomplished. Israel gathered in a posture of humility. They were fasting, which is abstaining from food, they were in uncomfortable sackcloths (a garment made of goat hair or camel hair) and placed dirt on their head as a sign of sorrow. Then they dedicated themselves to a time of prayer. Prayer is seen throughout Nehemiah which earns him the title by some scholars as a man of prayer. The book of Nehemiah opens up with a prayer for revival to Jerusalem and the Jewish people. Nothing of eternal significance in the Bible is done without prayer. They dedicated themselves to the reading of the Word of God for 3 hours which would not be a way to encourage church growth in our culture. And finally they devoted themselves to confession. No revival of eternal significance happens without the power of prayer, the scripture, and confession. Only then can we worship the One true God the way He intended it.
(2) , makes it clear that when the people gathered together much would be accomplished. They dedicated themselves to a time of prayer. Prayer is seen throughout Nehemiah which earns him the title by some scholars as a man of prayer. Nehemiah payed special attention to detail and never went into anything without prayer. The book of Nehemiah opens up with a prayer for revival to Jerusalem and the Jewish people. Nothing of eternal significance in the Bible is done without prayer. They dedicated themselves to the reading of the Word of God, which is not what we would even imagine doing on a typical Sunday. And finally they devoted themselves to confession. No revival of eternal significance happens without the power of prayer, the scripture, and confession. Only then can we worship the One true God.
(3)Israel hungered for the word of God as seen in they stood up for the reading as a sign of reverence to the Word of God, but they didn’t stand for just a quick passage, no the Bible says they stood and read/listened alone for 1/4 of the day. First off imagine being there in the story. Desiring God so much that you wanted nothing more than to stand and listen to Ezra read from the Bible for 3 straight hours. Now it is pretty hot outside and I have a feeling that if I told all you to stand up and I will be finishing this outside, I would probably get a lot of angry glances. While we cannot go back and look at their heat index, the Weather Channel tells me around this time (the month of September) Jersualem is about 82 degrees. Spoiler alert, they don’t take a break after 3 hours and eat catered Chick-Fil-A, no this is only the first half of Israel’s day. Israel spent 3 hours listening to the Word of the Lord being proclaimed. 3 things were expected every time the Israelites opened the Word of the Lord. They expected to hear God speak through His word, to offer them guidance, bring them to repentance, or to bring about more genuine worship. Secondly they were to read God’s word widely. Not to zone in on once particular passage but to read it in large chunks at a time. Hence spending three hours to read.
(4) The third thing that Israel expected from their reading of the word of God was conviction from their sins. Israel knew their brokenness and how their wickedness was leading them toward complete destruction. They knew that the Word of the Lord would set straight their path and guide them back to righteous living. Think of Psalm that is widely known, I will only read two verses of the 176. Psalm 119:105-106
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to keep your righteous rules.
Israel became fully aware of their sin and wickedness which brought them to the point of fasting, wearing of sackcloth, and heads covered in dirt. This was just the beginning because after the 3 hours of the Word of God, they would confess and worship for another 3 hours. The Word matters.
e ch. 7:65, 70; 10:1;
Illustration: The Word of the Lord is like that of a plane’s emergency landing procedures, when Nehemiah saw that the people were not turning from their sinful ways he and Ezra gathered them together to hear the Word of the Lord read. Planes have a binder known by some as the Emergency Procedures binder, in the case of an emergency such as a failed engine, lost fuel, or any sort of emergency situation, the binder walks them through the steps of how to try to restart the plane or how to best prepare the plane for an unexpected landing. This is exactly what Nehemiah was doing with Israel, he saw the point of no return was glooming over them. I want to be clear, I am in no way saying that the Word of God should only be used in an emergency, but if you fail to see how that relates, your life is always on a crash course until you confess your sins to Christ. There are many ways we as people of Hagerstown Church can apply these truths to our lives:
Application: (1) The word matter here at Hagerstown Church. This is not a phrase we say just for the sake to have a phrase. We say this because we strive to keep the Word in the center of all that we do. I pray that Josh and Tim’s preaching is always making that clear to you.
(2) Revival won’t come to Hagerstown until we as a community of believers understand our desperate need for the Word of God and prayer
(3) When we read the Word, we should not do so to mark it off our checklist, we should go into our quiet time expecting God to speak to us through His word. The entire Bible is God’s word to us. I encourage you as you continue to view the Word of God this way. I urge you to read the Bible with this in mind, 6 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
(4) We should strive to memorize scripture. Now if you’re involved in a D-group, you may think “well I already do this.” While that is true, I want to take it a step further, what are your intentions for memorizing the Word of God? Is it to make sure you’re not the only one who doesn’t have their verse memorized? Or is it because you see the inherent value of memorizing the Word of God? I pray that you fall in the latter category and I encourage you to continue in that way.
When we understand our desperate need for the Word of God, naturally born from that, is our need for genuine confession. When God is revealed to us in the Bible we are faced with our sinful reality. Confession is born out of the Word of God because it reveals our need for Him.
kgive me life, O Lord, according to your word!
108 Accept lmy freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,
and mteach me your rules.
f ch. 12:26
109 I hold my life nin my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid pa snare for me,
but qI do not stray from your precepts.
g ver. 2; ;
111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes
g
h []
h
i ver. 7
j [ver. 25, 50]
k ver. 88; See
i ,
l []
m ver. 12
n See
o ver. 83
j ver. 7, 8
p See
q ver. 10
r
s ver. 14, 162
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
t ver. 36
u See ver. 33
9 Or statutes; the reward is eternal
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
III. Confession
III. Confession
Examine: Confession can be defined as our admission of guilt or sin. It is the point where we realize our sinful nature and desires and are heartbroken by them and admit them before the Lord. This is exactly what happen to Nehemiah and Israel. The reading of the Word exposed their wickedness and they were heartbroken to the point of weeping uncontrollably. They were so ashamed they confessed their sins and the sins of those who came before them. Throughout chapter 9 verses 6-32, Nehemiah is pointing the people of Israel back to God. He is constantly reminding them of all the things that God has done for them. God’s creation act, God’s guidance in their wandering, God’s appointment of leaders and so much more. There are two important things to notice about Israel’s posture throughout Nehemiah, (1) They did not blame those before them for their sinful ways. At no point in the story does Nehemiah say “We acted this way because this is what our father’s taught us.” They owned up to their own failure for forgetting what God had done for them. (2) They did not blame any outside circumstance. They did not offer even the slightest excuse for their failure. Israel did not say “God if you would have just shown up when we needed you, we wouldn’t be here.” No instead they realized that God had and was showing up in their need, but they just chose to overlook it. If you are sitting here wondering “What does Israel have to do with me?” I am here to tell you it has everything to do with you. You and me, we are Israel in this story. We are the ones who have strayed so far away from God that we are looking to other things to be the lord of our lives. We are searching for our joy in our worship of materials, money, success, status, and many other things the world tell us we need. We have gone so astray that I fear when we come to church to praise God, we are not praising the God of our Bible, but the God we have created in our own mind. A God that is okay with sin, a God that wants us to do whatever we feel like will bring us joy. And I beg you to take a look at the history of Israel. Living this way, desiring things that are not of God, send you down the path of suffering and even destruction. Just like Israel we find ourselves caught up in sin every single day, when we place anything on a level that is higher than God.
Application: I encourage you to read 9:6-31 in your Bible later today and you will find out how we fall short and continually sin. Here are some ways that us in this gathering fall short and live in sin.
(1) We fail to rejoice in God’s grace and love. When something goes the way we don’t plan, we are tempted to point the finger at God.
(2) We fail to follow/seek God’s guidance in our lives. Many times we jump into decision or make plans without first seeking where God would have us go, or if our decision bring glory to God
(3) We fail to obey God’s commands.
(4) We fail to rejoice in the miracles that happen around us. We almost have a pessimist view or we spend too much time comparing ourselves to others in the church.
(4) We fail to rejoice in the miracles that happen around us
(5) We fail to worship God alone. So often our spouse, family, friends, things, take our sole priority and we fail to keep God in the front of all things.
(6) We fall into cultural Christianity, forgetting the significance behind our faith and traditions. We may miss the entire point of communion because we are not looking at the significance behind why we even partake in the Lord’s Supper.
Church what sin do you need to confess? Have you committed any of those 6 shortcomings today? I know I have. Look into your life and confess your sin your God.
Illustration/Transition: When you confess your sins, a weight is lifted off of your shoulders are you are set free from the bondage your sin placed you into. Sin can paralyze you and hinder your worship of the one true God. Listen to what David has to say about sin that goes unconfessed while I read ,
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
IV. Worship
IV. Worship
I pray that you can enjoy worship the way God intended it, but just like David wrote, unconfessed sin will weigh you down causing you to be in pain and anguish. God’s hand is heavy on those who are in sin, if you came into this place feeling heavy and angry, what sin have you left unconfessed. Confess it before God, do not delay. Only when you realize your need for confession and acknowledge that sin to the Lord, and receive forgiveness, will you be able to worship God the way he designed it to be.
IV. Worship
IV. Worship
Worship is our expression of adoration and reverence toward God. Worship can be and should be noticeable in every area of your life. This is likely not so for us and we know for sure it was not so for the nation of Israel, as recorded in the Bible. In response to their 3 hours of reading, Israel spent the next 3 hours confessing their sins and worshipping the Lord. Your confession is worship because you are admitting you were living by the standards of the world and not the standards of the Bible. Worship cannot be done without the Word of God revealing our sin to us. As we see with Israel, genuine confession drives you to deeper and more enjoyable worship. When you see your need for God, you are drawn to worship Him with great joy. But just like Israel, we think we can do it on our own. Israel at the sound of the Word of God dropped to the ground in weeping, mourning, and full of sorrow. When we realize how great God is and how unworthy of His love we are, it should bring you to your knees in worship and reverence. But the Levite leaders did not want them to be full of sorrow and guilt for their sin for long, because the work of the Lord set them free from their sin. They told them to stand and praise God for he is everlasting and is exalted above all. The Lord is the only God, who made the heavens and all that is in it points to God. The praise doesn’t stop in verse 6 but goes on down to verse 31, I urge you to dig back into this passage today. Notice how the words of praise from Nehemiah and Israel from 9:6-31 points to so many different attributes of God. You will see at least 30 times where the phrase you are, or you and an acting verb is given. Israel knew their sin was a result of their failed reverence toward God. One part of the chapter is specific in listing out attributes of God that should not go unnoticed, says “But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”
(1) God is ready to forgive. There is nothing you can do to earn merit before God, but he is always ready to forgive you no matter where you are at.
V. Conclusion
V. Conclusion
(2) God is gracious, meaning His grace makes it possible for Him to confront human indifference and rebellion with an unimaginable capacity to forgive and bless. This is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(3) We also see that God is merciful, He keeps his promises and maintains his covenant relationship with His chosen people. Even when we are unworthy, unfaithful, and broken people.
(4) God is abounding in steadfast love. His love will never fail and his love will never end.
(5) God will not forsake you, God does not abandon you in the dark. Like Pastor Tim spoke on last week, even if we don’t see God at work, His hand is crafting your story
(6) God will not withhold himself from you, he is the bread of life. He is the thirst you have longed for. “Jesus said to them,“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Please do not fall into the traps of the world that tell you other things are more pleasing or joy giving.
Jesus said to them,“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Which of those have you forgotten? All of them? Some of them?
Worship cannot be enjoyed the way God intended until we realize our need for the Word of God and confession. Worship should be noticeable to all those around you, think of it in terms of this illustration.
In 1936 the Hoover Dam was finished coming in at 726 feet high, 650 feet thick at the bottom and 45 feet thick at the top. The purpose of the Hoover Dam was for flood control, irrigation, and many other things. But let’s imagine that we did not want a dam to be there because the Colorado River was our only source of water. Imagine that the dam just all of a sudden disappears, the water we desperately needed, comes rushing down like a tidal wave. Everyone around would notice the water the rushing down. This is what worship should be like in our lives. When we realize our need for confession and remove the block, naturally flowing from that is Worship.
Can you remember a time when you confessed and the dam was removed from your life? What was it like? True confession leads to joy and worship that cannot be ignored.
V. Conclusion
V. Conclusion
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
V. Conclusion
V. Conclusion
But maybe you sit here and feel like that is not you. Well that me try to offer you some encouragement. Your story isn’t over, even if you feel broken or unworthy, Jesus died so in the eyes of God you are worthy and whole. Jesus died on the cross to pay your penalty for sin-to rebuild your life from the wickedness. While it is true of us that there is nothing inherently good about us to make it possible to spend eternity with Christ, Jesus’s death makes it possible. God doesn’t see you for your brokenness or unworthiness, instead when God looks at you, he sees His son that suffered to make it all possible for you. God’s character revealed to us throughout Scripture should bring us to the point of awe and to a point where we confess our sins because we don’t even compare to the greatness of our God.
My challenge to you as we close out the day and get ready to go through our weeks is this:
(1) What role does the Bible play in your daily life? Did you know that 18% of professing Christians claim to read the Bible daily....18%....but if that is not alarming enough, 23% of professing Christians claim they have never read the Bible. The lack of desire for the Word of God, points to the fact that many professing Christians may not even know what it truly means to be a Christian. How can one claim to be a Christian if they don’t daily open their Bibles that reveals not only who God is, but how we as followers of Christ should live our lives. But maybe you do read your Bible daily, if I could be so bold and take it a step further, when you read the Bible is it viewed as just a checklist? Are you reading just to say you read, or are you reading because you feel you cannot function unless you spend time with God everyday reading His word.
(2) What role does memorizing the Word of God play in your life? Maybe for those in D-Groups you memorize the verse because you do not want to be the only one who doesn’t have it memorized. Or maybe you simply don’t memorize parts of the Bible at all. But I urge you to reevaluate the way you look at Bible memorization. Memorization strengthens your faith because it reinforces the truth, and happens when you need that piece of scripture the most. May that be so of us today Hagerstown Church, all of us, may our memorization of the Word be used in a way that strengthens our faith.
(3) Finally what role does prayer play in your life? Revival to Hagerstown won’t come apart from prayer. Nehemiah understood this and that is clear from the very beginning of the book, 4 verses in, Nehemiah is praying for God’s hand to be at work. Prayer is a way for us to express our worship and praise for all that God has done in our lives. We should not view prayer as only needed when we want something. What will that look like for you?
It may seem that all hope is lost, but there is hope. There is hope in the Word of God that can correct and guide us in the path we can go, it can build us up and edify us. Praise God fo His Word and the life it brings us. Let’s pray.
Closing Prayer: God I pray that as we leave here today that we are reminded of how great you are. Lord I pray that we live and rejoice in the fact that sending Jesus Christ down was to demolish any feeling of brokenness or unworthiness before you. Lord I pray that we see that, that we know that in reality we are unworthy, but the work of Christ changes that. When you look at us you see Jesus. The rebuilder of the broken, the lost, and the lonely. Lord may we exalt you in our worship throughout the week so that those around us know of the powerful work you are doing for us. May we desire your word and learn to study your word in a way that reveals who you are to us, so we don’t live in a way that only looks to you in need. Lord I also pray that anyone in this place that has a sin that they have held on to and is weighing them down, that you would bring them to confession, that they would see their need and the freedom that comes from that. Like the dam being removed and the life of living water crashing over them. Lord may that be so of our worship, a sign that goes unnoticed. We thank you for your steadfast love and for the fact that you will never leave us. We love you and I pray this in your great and Holy name. Amen.