John 10 Part 2

I never alone?

You're a good, good father? It's who you are? It's who you are? It's who you are? And I'm in love by you?

It's who I am? It's who I am? It's who I am, am?

Oh, and I see many searching for answer far and wide? But I know we're all searching for answers only you provide? Cause you know just what we need before we say a word? You're a good father it's who you are? It's who you are?

It's who you are. Love by you? It's who I am? It's who I am? It's who I am?

Because you are perfect in all of your ways? You are perfect in all of your way? You are perfect in all of your way to us?

You are perfect in all of your way are you perfect in all of your way? You are perfect in all of your way to us always love so undeniable I can hardly speak peace so unexplainable I can hardly think as you call me deeper still? As you call me deeper still? As you call me, deeper still into love? Love your good father.

It's who you are, who you are, who you are.

Love by you. It's who I am. It's who I am, it's who I am. You're a good father it's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are? And I'm loved by you.

It's who I am. It's who I am, it's who I am. You are perfect in all of your ways who you are, who you are now perfect in all the way who?

Loud, sweetly singing all the flames and the mountains reply echo in their joy strain savory why your joyous trains prolong what the glass of tidings be which inspire your heavenly song jlc glory love me raise day world the lord is come let us receive her king let every heart prepare him and heaven and nature sing and heaven and nature sing and heaven and hi joy joy to save your race let me last on, boy.

Wild fears and flood rocky beat the sounds in rejoice repeat the sounds in rejoice sounding repeat the sound enjoy.

He blows the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glory of his righteousness and wonders of his love and wonders of his love and wonders of his love and all this wonders all he love baby awakes but little Lord Jesus no cry he makes I love you, Lord Jesus look down from the sky and save by my side till morning is Lord Jesus. I ask you to stay close by before ever and love me. I pray. Let all the dear children in your tender care and fade us for heaven to live with you. There's for heaven to live with you.

Father, we thank you for this day that you have given us. Lord, thank you for the season. A season of joy, of promise, of hope and of peace. Father, I pray as we go through the rest of the season that we'll live in the knowledge of your peace, your forgiveness, your hope and your coming. I pray, Lord, that as we turn to you this hour, you will turn our minds from the distractions of the world, from what's going on in our homes, from everything else, Lord, to focus on you and be with you tonight.

Lord, I pray that you'll prepare our hearts for you as we go into our service. And, Lord, I pray that this season you'll be with us to bring someone else your gift of eternal life. We thank you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Well, good evening, everyone. Before we jump into service today, a couple of advent reminders. We still have one more week of advent, next week before Christmas Eve. So I'm still looking for a volunteer or two who would be willing to do next week's Advent ceremony. And then next week, the week after that, two weeks from now, we will be meeting in Cedar City for our Christmas candlelight service.

And church will be moved from our normal time at 630 back to six to accommodate the longer Christmas, the candlelight service. Also, for Milford, there will be no morning service that day. As we tear down all of our equipment the night before so that it's ready to go. And we'll be on our way to Cedar. With that said, let's turn the time over to our candlelight ceremony tonight, and I'll see you guys back here in a minute.

Last Sunday, we lit two candles in our advent wreath, the candle of peace and the candle of healing and forgiveness. We remember them again this evening as we remember the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem. We come again to fulfill God's promise of peace. He forgives our sins. The third candle of Advent is the candle of victory over death.

The people of this world grieve and suffer because of death, injury and disease. In his love, God promised to wipe the tears from every eye and destroy death forever. And in this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces. A feast of wines on the leaves, of fat things full of marrow, of well refined wines on the leaves. And he will destroy on this mountain the surface of the coverings cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of his people he will take away from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken, and it will be said in that day, behold, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us.

This is the Lord. We have waited for him. We will be glad and receive his salvation. Isaiah 25 six through nine. We light these candles again to remember that in Jesus Christ the power of life was stronger than the power of death.

The gospel of John begins by telling us, in him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

You give us in your victory over death. We ask that as we wait for all your promises to come true and for Christ to come again, that you would remain present with us. Help us today and every day to worship you, to hear your word and to do your will by trusting you in every circumstance. We ask this in the name of the one who was born in Bethlehem and triumphed over the grave.

Amen. Thank you for those who did that for us this week. Oh, it did not cut over to me again. There we go. So, thank you.

This week we're going to continue our study through the book of John. We're going to finish chapter ten today, and then we will next week we'll begin chapter eleven, and then we'll take a pause for Christmas. But we're going to pick up kind of where we left off last week. We're going to be in verse 22 of John, chapter ten today. And as everybody is turning there, a reminder of where we were last week.

Last week, Jesus, he walked by and he saw this guy who was blind. And actually, I'm like two, three weeks behind. Now, last week, Jesus gave us the parable of the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep, and the sheep know him.

We saw that his sheep, they will not follow somebody who they do not recognize. They won't follow false prophets, false messiahs, false leaders, because they know the voice of the Lord, and they will follow the voice of the Lord. And then he revealed to us that he has sheep not of this ford that he must bring into the flock. And we identified those sheep as the Gentiles, those who are not of the jewish population. And then we looked finally, at the end of his sayings last night, at his authority, that he lay down his life of his own free will.

Of his own free will. He laid down his life and he had the power to take it up again. So that's going to bring us to where we are today. In verse 22, we're going to read verses 22 through 30 says that then the festival of dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus was walking in the temple and Solomon's.

He was walking in the temple. The Jews surrounded him and asked, how long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the messiah, tell us plainly. I did tell you. And you don't believe.

Jesus answered them. The works that I do in my father's name testify about me. But you don't believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one.

Okay, so we see some probing here. So he's at another festival. The next festival we'll read about, by the way, is Passover. And so after this chapter, we'll be within about one to two weeks of his crucification.

We're really close to that. But there is this festival dedication right now during which there is a lot of rededication, rededicating of yourselves to God, renewal, change of life that should be taking place right now. And he's walking in the temple. And the Jews. Remember when we read the Jews, it really means the jewish leaders, right?

They surround him, and here's what they say. How long are you going to keep us waiting? We're eager to know. We're ready. Tell us just plainly whether or not you are the messiah.

This question was asked a couple chapters ago as well. And it was asked before, and they ask him over and over again, who are you? So Jesus, he says, I have told you and you just don't believe. I don't know if you remember that. We talked about that a few weeks ago, where it's like when they came and they said, what sign will you show us?

And Jesus says, what do you mean, what sign? I've shown you signs. I've shown you works. I've turned water into wine. I've given sight to the know.

I've raised the dead. I've made the lame walk.

He says that I've healed the lepers. He's done all of these things. And they keep coming, and he keeps telling them who he is. So today, as we read, he will outright indicate who he is.

This will be one of the only times where he directly says. But he will plainly say, just as they ask. So he says, I have told you and you don't believe. We really need to contemplate that for a minute. Right?

I have told you and you don't believe. The same thing happened. Remember the blind man that was healed? The blind man from birth? In chapter nine, he went to the pharisees and they asked him how he was healed.

And he told them. He says, this man, I was blind. And he took mud, put it on me. I washed and I see. And do you remember how many times they asked him, how were you healed?

Within the same conversation? And at the end he says, I don't know why you keep asking. I've already told you. And you don't listen. And so there's this tendency.

They don't really want to know. What they want is for Jesus to change his story. And tell them what they want to hear. That's what they wanted out of the blind man. And as we look at the condition of the pharisees.

We also need to look at the condition of those around us. There are those around us who we will.

What some people call Bible thumpers, right? We'll thump them in the head of the Bible. And keep thumping them and thumping them, but they will never get it. And there has to be a point in which we have to realize. If somebody doesn't want to receive it, if they don't want to understand it or they don't want to believe it, they never will.

And no amount of us spending our time arguing with them is going to change it. Which is why Jesus, he just cuts to the chase. He says, I've told you and you don't believe. But he goes further. He says, the works that I do in my father's name.

Testify about me. The works that jesus does. Can we not evaluate his works. And determine if he is of God or not?

He says about his disciples, he says, you will know them by their fruit. Well, what is our fruit? The fruits are works. The things that we do, that we say, the way we act, those are the fruits. And jesus says he could identify his disciples by their fruits, by what they do, what they say, how they act.

So is the same not true for Jesus? Can we not examine the life of Jesus and his works. And determine if he really is of God or not? There are demonic things, and there are godly things. And the Pharisees, they've dealt with demons.

They know the demonic. So he says, look. Look at my works. Look what I am doing. Are those of God or not.

They testify about me. And the same is true for anyone. The things that we do, they testify about who we are, whether we want them to or not. Look what Jesus says, though. He says, you don't believe because you are not my sheep.

Paul tells us or not. Paul? Well, Paul does, but so does Jesus. He says that the flesh cannot understand the things of the spirit. The flesh cannot understand the things of the spirit.

There are spiritual things, things of heaven and things of God. And there are earthly things. The flesh understands the earthly things quite well. But it's not in our nature to understand that which is heavenly. In order to understand that which is heavenly, we need a interpreter.

The Holy Spirit. We need that. And the only way we receive the Holy spirit is to belong to Jesus. The Holy spirit is a gift he sends us. It's a part of God, a member of the Godhead, that he sends to us to a seal us, to seal us as his until the coming of the promise.

But also to comfort us, but also to interpret for us, to give us understanding of these spiritual truths that our flesh cannot understand. And he tells the Jews here, he says, you are not my sheep. You don't believe. You don't understand, nor can you, because you do not belong to me. But my sheep hear my voice.

I know them, and they follow me. And here is the promise to the sheep of Jesus. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. So what does he give us? He gives us eternal life.

It's a promise. Those who are the sheep of Jesus will not die. And because there's someone out there who says, who would say to us how foolish these christians must be. Do you know how many christians have died for thousands of years before them? We're talking eternal death.

Your spirit will not die, and your body will be resurrected unto a resurrection of life in the kingdom of God. Right? You will never perish.

And then the greatest blessing of all. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. This promise is a powerful promise.

This promise is the promise that we use when we build our doctrine of eternal security. And in eternal security, there are a lot of different views. There are those who say a Christian can lose his salvation. In fact, when I was studying for this, I noted that one pastor pastor Croft Pence. I've often read his works and studying for my own.

Let me tell you what he says about this. He says, no one can take us out of the Father's hand. However, we can remove ourselves by our indifference in sin, right? So, as you can see, I teach eternal security. I teach that you cannot lose your salvation.

Then there are others who take this and say that no one can take us out of our father's hand, but we can. So I want to remove the confusion, because as you read from different pastors and theologians and whatnot, you're going to get a wide range of answers on this topic. When God says all people will bow and confess, how many people does God mean? Does he mean everyone, or does he mean only those who ultimately decide to do it? He means everyone.

He means at some point, every soul will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord.

Anytime that God has used a statement that includes everyone, such as everyone or all people or every people, he has typically meant everyone, with very few exceptions. So when he says that no one can snatch you from his hand, you have to ask the question, am I one of those no ones? Well, if he says nobody can take you, and you are a buddy, you are included in his own inclusive statement of no one. So no one can take you from the Father's hand. Once the Father has redeemed you, once the Father has saved you through Jesus Christ and put you securely into the palm of his hand, you have the Holy Spirit sent to you as a promise.

It's sent as a promise. Let's look at what he says about that.

Look at Ephesians 113 and 14 with me.

Ephesians 113. It says this in him. In verse 13. It starts with in him we're referring to Christ. You also were sealed at the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed.

The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the possession to the praise of his glory.

So when we are saved, not only are we securely in the hands of Jesus and of the Father, but we are sealed. The Holy Spirit is sent to us. He is a promise. Not he. The holy spirit is God.

He is a promise. He is a down payment of the inheritance. And he seals us, marks us as one of God's. So because we are marked as one of God's, we have a true hope. We have a hope that we will be saved.

The great news about the gospel of God, the great news, and I proclaim this today, knowing the season that we are in not just the Christmas season, which should be the most joyful, peaceful, celebratory season, one of the most celebratory seasons of our lives, but the winter season, the time of year when people are depressed, the time of year when suicide rates are at their highest. Suicide is at the highest every winter. This is the time of year when people are struggling, contemplating life. And so I tell you this, there is a promise of eternal life. But is there any such promise if you could lose it?

If I have to worry about whether or not a week from now or a month from now or a year from now, I am going to lose that gift. Is there really any promise? No. The reason it's a promise is because God cannot go back on his word. It's a promise because God already completed the work and he told us that we cannot be removed from his hand.

But there's something else that we need to understand about God. Salvation is frequently referred to as a gift. Right? The gift of salvation.

I want to show you what the Bible says about the gifts and callings of God. Look at romans 1129 with me in romans 1129. It tells us that God's gracious gifts and callings are irrevocable. That is a writing from Paul the apostle. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable.

When God gives us a gift, he does not take it back. It's irrevocable. So this is a wonderful promise right now that we can cling on to that. When you are saved, I say saved, and I don't say that lightly, because there are people who think that they're saved, but they're not.

There are people who think they know Christ, but they don't. So when you are saved, when you are washed and renewed by the blood of Jesus Christ, when you are sealed with the holy spirit of promise, when you receive the gift that Jesus gives to all of us openly, he says that no one will snatch you out of his hand. You have a promise of eternal life that you can cling to, a promise that you can look forward to and hope for, a promise that is as sure as the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow, that no one can take you out of the father's hand.

So let's talk about sin for a minute, right? Because there are some who do say that you can remove yourselves with sin. I want you to understand what faith really will do to someone. Jesus says, you will know my disciples by their fruit, by what they do. We're going to read and we've read a few times already that Jesus will say, I am the vine and you are the branch.

Whosoever abideth in me and I in him will bear much fruit. As we abide in Jesus Christ. Your desire to sin goes down. Your desire to do that which is wrong, it begins to fade. It never fully goes away because there are moments of weakness.

But that desire, that urge to just go. No saved believer of Christ says, with this freedom I can go out and live, right? Have. But each believer in Christ says, with this freedom I shall praise my God and live a life glorifying to him, right? So there is a when you abide in Jesus, he says, you will bear much fruit.

And then in verse 30 he says, I and the Father are one. Right? They are one in many ways. They are one in the fact that they are God. John, chapter one, verse one says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

So they are one and that they are both God. They are the Father is for the God and the Son is for the God. They are one in unity. They're united in their purpose. They're united in their mission.

The Father and the son have the same goal, and the goal is that none would perish. Their mission is to save God's creation.

We also see this in John 1711. Christ says, I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world. I'm coming to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name, which you have given to me, so they may be one, just as we are.

So God and the Father are one. They're also equal.

The Father is equal with Jesus, and Jesus is equal with the Father.

Let's look at Philippians two as we demonstrate that the Father and the Son are equal.

In verse five of Philippians two, we are told by Paul to adopt the same attitude as that of Jesus, who existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited, right? So Jesus was and is equal with the Father.

And despite being God, despite being equal with God, look what he did. He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taken on the likeness of humanity, and had come as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

But he existed in the form of God, was equal with God, and had continued anyways to empty himself of that glory. So Jesus and the Father are one. Let's look at verses 31 through 38 again. The Jews picked up rocks to stone him, and Jesus replied, I have shown you many good works in the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?

We aren't stoning you for a good work, the Jews answered, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Jesus answered them, isn't it written in your law? I said, you are God's. If he called those to whom the word of God came, gods and the scripture cannot be broken. Do you say you are blaspheming to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world?

Because I said, I am the son of God. If I am not doing my father's works, don't believe me. But if I am doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father. Then they were trying to cease him, but he escaped their grasp.

Okay, so as Jesus proclaims his message of eternal life, he ends by noting that he is one with the Father or that he is one with God. And when you say you are one with God, you also proclaim to be equal to God.

And so what do the Jews do? They pick up rocks to stone him for anyone who is blind and oblivious to the fact that Jesus has claimed time and time again to be God. And I've talked with people even recently who say jesus never once made that claim.

So to those who are blind, pay attention. Every time the Jews pick up rocks to stone him is at a time in which he is proclaimed to be deity. So they pick up rocks to stone him. And he says, in verse 32, he says, I've done many good works that are the father's works. For which work do you stone me?

And jesus can ask this because he has done no sin. He has done nothing for them to charge him with, so they must be charging him for something that he has done. So he says, for what of my good works? Do you want to stone me? This is a different approach from that of which we have read in the past.

In the past. As soon as they pick up rocks to stone Jesus, what does he do? He vanishes. He disappears. He leaves.

This time it's different. This time he confronts them. He says, why do you seek to stone me? And they say, we're not stoning you for a good work. They say, we're not stoning you for giving sight to the blind, for raising the dead, curing the lepers, giving legs to the lame.

They say, we are stoning you because you're a man and make yourself to be God.

They accuse him of blasphemy. Blasphemy is a serious charge, a very serious charge. Blasphemy is a charge deserving of death.

So what does jesus do? He's kind of in between a rock and a hard place. Or he would be if he were a mere man. He'd be in a rock and a hard place. But look how he answers.

He says, isn't it written in your law? I said, you are God's. Let's look at what Jesus is quoting. By the way, when he says law, he is not referring to the books of Moses, but he's referring to the scripture in general. His quote here is from psalms 82, verse six.

So this is a psalm of AsAP. And let me read you what AsaP has written in psalms 82. It's only eight verses, so we're going to read it says, God stands in the divine assembly. He administers judgment in the midst of the gods. In the midst of the gods.

How long will you judge unjustly and show favoritism to the wicked? Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan, provide justice to the afflicted and the poor. Rescue the helpless and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know or consider.

They go about in their darkness so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken. And I have said, you are gods and sons of the most high. All of you, however, you will die like men. You will fall like one of the princes. Rise up, o God.

Judge the earth, because you shall inherit all the nations. So look at verse six. There again he says, I have said, you are gods and sons of the most high, all of you.

The context of this some commentators and pastors, they apply this psalm to the angels. They say that when God sits among the gods and is telling them, I have called you gods, sons of the most high. And then it says in verse seven, however, you will die like men. Some pastors and commentators have taken the context of this and have applied it to angels. But Jesus does not seem to understand that this psalm refers to angels.

Look at what he says here in John, chapter ten and verse 34. He said, or sorry, verse 35. Well, we'll look at 34 and 35. Isn't it written in your law? I said, you are gods.

If he called those to whom the word of God came, gods.

So Jesus understands that he is calling those to whom the word of God came, gods. In other words, humans. If we were to evaluate the context of psalms 82, the psalm is talking about human judges and rulers, right? There were jewish judges set apart to judge the nation of Israel.

For the legal accountability. To judge situations, judge crimes, judge civil cases. And the psalm is chastising them. Why? Because they favor the wicked.

The judges were corrupt, and they favored the wicked. They ruled in favor of the rich. They ruled in favor of those who bribed them.

And they did not pay any attention to the widow, to the homeless, to the orphan, to the poor, to the blind. Right. To those who could not repay them. They paid no attention. And so the psalm is reprimanding them for that.

But then it says, I have said, you are gods. They were gods in the sense that they had authority.

But Jesus, he turns this around on them.

He turns it around and he says.

Doesn't the law. Doesn't the scripture say that humans call humans gods? Right. And if the scripture cannot be broken. Do you say you are blaspheming.

To the one the Father set apart and sent into the world? Because he said, I am the Son of God? Jesus is pointing out the double standard here. They trusted the judges. They trusted the rulers.

The ones where God had said to them, you are gods.

But now when Jesus says, I'm the Son of God, they apply a different standard. And Jesus says, if the scripture cannot be broken, you cannot do this. He also demonstrates that if the scripture had referred to men as gods. Then there is certainly no blasphemy in the one divine being set apart from God. Sent into the world to do the work of God.

And is performing the work of God. To proclaim that he is the son of God.

This is, in the minds of the Pharisees, a answerless question. This is one in which they are unable to argue with Christ. And so, look what Christ says. He gives them something else. He says in verse 37.

If I don't do the work of my father, then don't believe me. So he says, basically he says, stop paying attention to what I say. Pay attention to what I do.

My words obviously aren't convincing you. So look at what I do. Look at my works. The actions that I'm doing. The miracles I'm performing.

Are they the work of God? He says, if they're not, then don't believe me. He says, you're just and not believe in me. But then he says, if they are the work of my father, then to believe in me.

He says, if I'm doing the works and you don't believe me. Believe the works. Don't believe what I say, but believe what I'm doing. No one can do these things except for God be with him.

And he says, if you would believe in my works, you would know and understand. That the father is in me and I in the Father. But the argument is done. They no longer answer Jesus. They no longer seek to reason with him.

But they pick up stones again and try to seize him. And he escapes their grasp.

I want to give, as we are here this season. I want to give the same challenge that Jesus has given to others, to those. If you don't want to believe the words on the page, then believe what Jesus did. Believe in the witnesses, all the people who saw it, all of the works.

That Jesus is God. We're going to finish tonight's chapter, verses 40 through 42. So he departed across the Jordan. To the place where John had been baptized in earlier. And he remained there.

Many came to him and said, john never did a sign. But everything John said about this man is true. And many believed on him there.

So this chapter ends with the reference back to what John had said that Jesus would do. And mentioning that it all came true. That everything John proclaimed about the christ came to pass.

This is as we end tonight. This is the end of Jesus'discord. Discourse with the jewish leaders. From this point on, through the rest of his ministry and earthly life. Jesus will no longer argue and bicker with the Pharisees.

He is going to, for the most part, from this point forward. He is going to separate himself among his friends, his family, spend some time with her. Then immediately before the end, he is going to separate himself further from everyone except for his disciples.

Next week, we will see Lazarus die, the brother of Mary die. And then we'll see him raised again. And then after that, beginning in chapter twelve. We will be six days away from the crucifixion of Jesus. So the rest of our time we got next week, chapter eleven, where Jesus does another miracle.

And then the rest of our time in the book of John, up to when he is crucified and resurrected. Will be the week of his death. As he prepares to leave. And imparts upon us additional wisdom and prayers and sayings. As we leave tonight, I want to give everyone who is listening to this.

Everyone who is able to hear the word of God tonight. Everyone who is depressed, who is contemplating their life right now. Everyone who is wondering what point there is to any of this, to those who are hopeless, to those who are peaceless. I want you to remember the gift of Jesus Christ tonight. The gift this Christmas season.

Jesus says, I give to them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. That promise can be equally yours.

If you would believe, admit that you are a sinner, if you would admit to yourself that you are who you are and who God says you are, if you would believe, if you would just believe in Jesus and trust in him in his works, as we've talked about tonight, in what he has done, and look to him as the author and finisher of your salvation. If you would confess him as your Lord, be willing to follow him, to acknowledge him as your God, not just your savior, but your God, your king, you would be saved.

The scriptures say that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So I invite you tonight, if you are ready to have this gift, if you're ready to have hope, to have peace, to have life, to have purpose, I invite you to receive that tonight, immediately after our closing prayer, we'll partake of the Lord's communion as we celebrate, as we celebrate his life this season, but also remember his death. We want to partake of his communion and remember that thing which he has done for us. And then I'll see everybody on Wednesday night at 06:30 p.m. As we continue our study in revelation.

We'll be in revelation, chapter six, on Wednesday. Let's pray. Father, I admit that I am a sinner. I admit that I can't save myself. And I am who you have proclaimed me to be.

I am selfish. I'm prideful. I'm self absorbed.

Father, I'm also hopeless right now and without peace and without purpose in my life. But I believe, Lord, what your word says. I believe that you came here to this earth. I believe that you were born to save us. And I believe that you lived to save us and that you died and rose again the third day to save us.

And I believe your words when you say to trust in you, to believe in you, and we'll have eternal life. And so I confess you, Lord Jesus, my God and king, as the Lord over my life. And I ask you, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart, to give me this gift that I do not deserve. But, Lord, that will give me that peace and that hope. And I thank you, Lord Jesus, and I celebrate you this month as we celebrate your coming.

Father, I pray that your spirit will work in all of those right now in this season. Lord, who are down and who are about and who are weary, Lord, would you bring them the peace that we have come to know? The hope and joy that we have come to know? Would you glorify your name as people's hearts are turned toward you. And may your kingdom come that we may be with you.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.