The Signs of the Times
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
At an intersection, the green light changes to yellow;
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At the theater the house lights flash;
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In the Battalion Tactical Operations Center a Warning Order comes down from Brigade;
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At the airport terminal the boarding call comes over the intercom;
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At a railroad crossing the lights begin to flash;
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In a small Midwestern town the tornado siren screams;
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On the football field the two minute warning sounds;
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In the cargo bay of a C-140 a red-light comes on;
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In the Desert of Judea, a voice of one calling in the wilderness is heard declaring,
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”
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What do each of these have in common?
They are signs or warnings that we need to prepare ourselves for what is about to happen...
And the most important of signs is the signs of the times.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 12 and focus on verses 54 through 56.
Our message this morning is titled, “The Signs of the Times”
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As you are turning to our passage today please keep in mind that the message today will focus on Jesus stressing the importance of being able and willing to identify the signs of the times.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Interpretation of the Weather
2) The Rebuke to the Hypocrites
And...
3) The Interpretation of the Times
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the one whose name is above all...
You are totally unique and one of a kind...
Truly no one is like in all of creation...
For you have created all things seen and unseen.
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Thank You for revealing Your will and desire in the Scriptures...
Thank You for Your eternal promises...
Thank You for Your acts of love, compassion, mercy, and grace.
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Help us to be molded into the image of Your Son...
Your Son who voluntarily came into our world in order to save His people...
Your Son who is our precious Lord and Savior.
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.
55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.
56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Interpretation of the Weather
1) The Interpretation of the Weather
Verse 54-55: He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.
Before we jump directly into our text, we need to be mindful of our context...
That mean we need to start by looking at what Jesus said prior to our passage for today...
And that takes us to Luke 12:49-53 which says:
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!
51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.
53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
So, Jesus came to cast fire upon the earth...
And His truth would cause division...
Sometimes even among the closest of our relationships...
We went into great detail last Sunday...
So, if you missed it, look it up on our YouTube channel.
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Now, Jesus talking about the cost to follow Him ties into our massage today...
The reason for this is that it shows that it is necessary that everyone should realize the seriousness of the time that we are in...
In Jesus’ time, one was to pay attention to the fact the the Kingdom of God was at hand...
That the long-promised Messiah had finally arrived...
And for us it is to be aware that we are drawing closed to the end of the age...
For our world is looking more and more like Noah’s time...
A major sign of the end times.
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So, with this understanding, we are to take heed to put things in order in our lives while we still have the opportunity.
Just like we have the skills and discernment to have a pretty good idea of the weather that is coming...
Likewise, we need to have the discernment to understand the spiritual things that are revealed.
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You see Beloved, the people of Jesus’ day...
Well, they lacked the tools of modern meteorologists...
They had no satellite photos...
They had no Doppler radar...
And they certainly did not have sophisticated computer forecasting models!
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Yet by making simple observations on familiar patterns, the people in Jesus’ day could have some idea of what kind of waether was approaching them...
They were able to make accurate short-term weather predictions...
And that knowledge was essential for many in their day-to-day decision making.
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However, when it came to interpreting spiritual things, that was a whole other story...
As Matthew 16:1–4 says:
1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’
3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
So, the people and especially the religious elite....
They demanded signs from Jesus...
Yet they ignored all the signs right in from of their face.
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Jesus made claims to be the Son of God and performed the miracles that backed up those claims...
As only the long-promised Messiah could have performed those miracles...
Only the Son of God could have done what He did...
But the reality of the matter is that the people as a whole just did not want to believe...
For Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that they wanted.
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They wanted a warrior Messiah who could liberate them from the Romans...
However, Jesus came to liberate people from the slavery to sin and death...
Yet the people where blind to their spiritual bankruptcy ans failed to see the signs of the times that the Kingdom of God was at hand.
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Beloved, the people in the 1st century could discern that a west wind means rain due to the moisture-laden air coming from the Mediterranean Sea which then condenses into rain as it rises up the cooler hills of Isreal...
And the people in the 1st century could discern that a south wind means heat was in the future due to the air coming from the Negev desert which was described as a furnace blast of desert air (common in late spring) that can raise the temperature thirty degrees in an hour...
In fact, this heat is so scorching that it wilts plants.
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However, these same individuals could not discern what God was doing in their midst.
All the indications are that God is at work through Jesus...
And the crowds would do well to recognize this...
But they didn’t!
Jesus has provided much evidence of God’s activity in His earthly ministry...
In fact, we as a church have been studying the Gospel of Luke for over two years...
And time and time again Jesus has provided more than enough evidence that He was the Messiah...
So, the people of His day had no excuse.
Their lack of response have left them in jeopardy...
So, as primitive as their method of predicting the weather was, their ability to discern spiritual matters was worse...
And the same is true with those who ignore the Gospel message today...
Truly, one would need to be blind not to see all that is happening in our world today...
Time and time again Scripture has told us that our world would act that way that it does...
That we would live in a time where evil is called good and good would be called evil...
No other ancient book is like the Word of God...
No other modern book is like the Word of God...
So, again, the people have no excuse to still be in the dark and to not be able to discern the signs of the times.
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The spiritual emptiness of the hypocrisy of unbelievers of Jesus’ day have blinded them from understanding the signs announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ teaching and ministry.
They had the long-promised and long-awaited Messiah in their midst and refused to acknowledge Him.
As John 12:37 says:
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
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Now, Jesus says that the unbelievers of His day are not just ignorant...
But that they are actually hypocrites...
And that takes us to our next point.
2) The Rebuke to the Hypocrites
2) The Rebuke to the Hypocrites
Verse 56(a): You hypocrites!
Here the word “hypocrites” shows that the people Jesus was speaking to were not sincere in their professed inability to “interpret this present time.”
If they had been open to the truth, they would have been able to interpret the present and recognize that God’s kingdom had in fact arrived.
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In other words, the crowd’s sin was not due to simple ignorance...
The crowd’s sin was actually due to willful ignorance...
The reason for this is that their problem is much more a matter of an unwillingness to interpret than an inability to interpret.
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So, at first glance, the connection between predicting the weather and hypocrisy may not be readily apparent.
But Christ’s point is that they were able to routinely reach weather conclusions based on far less evidence than His unparalleled words, supernatural works, and sinless life provided.
That evidence conclusively proved Jesus was the Messiah, God incarnate.
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Beloved, think of it this way...
Even with all the advancement with technology, the weather man can have a pretty good idea of the weather...
But sometimes they are off...
Yet, Jesus’ words and Jesus’ supernatural works, and Jesus’ sinless life acted as definitive proof that Jesus was who He claims to be...
He is fully God...
He is fully man...
And He is the One promised from long ago to save His people!
So, as 1 Corinthians 2:8 says:
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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Now, the hypocrisy of the people in this instance was in pretending not to have enough evidence to convince them that Jesus was who He claimed to be and demanding more and more signs from Him.
Yet the people truly rejected Jesus because He was not a military leader overthrowing their enemies and exalting Israel.
On top of that, they also deeply resented and hated His diagnosis of their spiritual condition...
Furthermore, Jesus’ claim to be God in the flesh was seen as blasphemy.
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So, although the Jews and their religious leaders claimed to follow God...
Their allegiance to Him was not genuine...
As Matthew 15:7–8 says:
7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
So, we can see that the Jews and their leaders had hearts that were far from God...
And they did not recognize the Messiah when He finally came because they didn’t want to believe it...
Their spirituality was false...
Their allegiance to God was a sham...
Their virtue was just superficial...
Their religion was only external...
And their hearts were truly filled with evil.
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The people were following the terrible example of the Pharisees...
That is why Jesus spends so much time warning against their hypocrisy...
As Luke 12:1–2 says:
1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
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If the religious elite humbled themselves they would have seen that they were wrong about the Messiah...
They would have seen that their idea of the Messiah was not based on the Word of God but based on their selfish material desires...
They would have repented when confronted with their sinful hearts...
And if they did that they would have been able to interpret the present time...
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Interpretation of the Times
3) The Interpretation of the Times
Verse 56(b): You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
I like this point mentioned in the MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Luke which says:
“The Jewish people, in particular their religious leaders, viewed themselves as being ‘a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.’
Yet they failed to discern the monumental and unparalleled reality that God’s Son the Messiah was among them and proved who He was by an incalculable array of supernatural miracles.
That shocking lack of discernment in the face of such evidence rendered them permanently blind, darkened, foolish, and immature.
They had failed to comprehend the true purpose of the law, which is to point people to Christ, and they failed to confess Him as Lord.”
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Although thousands of individuals would later believe in Jesus and be converted, the nation as a whole rejected Him then and continues to do so.
Israel’s failure to discern the times resulted in catastrophic judgment on the nation...
And we can see this very vividly in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple at the hands of the Romans.
As Isaiah 1:3 says:
3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
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This hardness of heart of the Jewish people made it so that the Gospel message that they foolishly rejected would be given to the Gentiles who actually accepted it.
This is recorded in many parts of the New Testament such as what is recorded in Acts 28:25-28 which says:
25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
26 “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
27 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
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In fact, Jesus explains that the hardness of hearts of the Jews is the reason He speaks in parables...
We know this truth from Matthew 13:13–15 which says:
13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
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You see Beloved, the key to seeing the Kingdom of God is to have brand new eyes...
Eyes that have had the horse blinders taken off...
Eyes that have had their scales removed.
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The key to understanding the reality of the Kingdom of God is to have a renewed mind...
One needs their stone heart transformed into a heart of flesh...
One needs to be born-again!
As John 3:3 says:
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Once we are able to see clearly...
Once we have new eyes...
Once we have a new mind...
Once we have a new heart...
We can not only see the Kingdom of God...
We can see the signs of the times!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
An old hand bill which was one of thousands that were dropped over Japan before the first Atomic bombs were dropped looked like this...
One side was a picture of bombers dropping their deadly cargo.
The other side was in Japanese and the third section was an English translation.
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The consequences for those who ignored these warnings were devastating.
How more tragic will it be for those who Ignore Gods warnings?
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The translation follows:
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“ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE
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Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend.
In the next few days, the military installations of some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs.
These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods.
We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war.
But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes.
So, in accordance with America’s well-known, Humanitarian policies, the American Air force which does not wish to injure innocent people now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives.
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America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has. enslaved the Japanese people.
The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan.
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You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war...
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We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but at least some or all will be so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately.”
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This illustration paints a vivid picture for us of an urgent warning that if not heeded can lead to epic disaster...
We need to have biblical discernment and share the Gospel truth with others so they too can have true discernment...
And that means we need to tell others about Christ and Him crucified!
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider Revelation 5:1–14:
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it,
4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Pastor John Piper of Desiring God ministries says this regarding this passage:
“Have you ever thought of your prayers as the aroma of heaven?
This is the picture we get when we read Revelation 5.
Here is a glimpse of life in heaven.
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In Revelation 5, we see God almighty on the throne with a scroll in his hand.
The scroll had seven seals.
They all had to be pulled off before the scroll could be opened.
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I think the opening of the scroll represents the final days of history, and the pulling off of the seven seals represents the kind of history we will pass through as we move toward those days.
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At first, John wept that there was no one worthy to open the scroll and look into it.
But then one of the elders in heaven says, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’
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By dying on the cross, Jesus had earned the right to open the remainder of redemptive history and lead his people victoriously through it.
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In the next verse, the Lion is pictured as a Lamb, ‘standing, as though it had been slain.”
Isn’t this a beautiful image of Jesus’s victory on the cross?
Standing, not lying, though it had been slain!
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It is as sure as though a lion had devoured the foe—
But the way he achieved the victory was by letting the foe slay him like a lamb!
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So, now the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll of redemptive history from God’s hand and open it.
This is such a kingly act that the twenty-four elders of heaven (God’s worship council, as it were) fall down before the Lamb in adoration.
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And do you know what the golden bowls of incense are?
Revelation 5:8 says they are ‘the prayers of the saints.’
Does not this mean that our prayers are the aroma of heaven, sweet smelling before the throne of God and before the Lamb?
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I am strengthened and encouraged to pray all the more often and all the more vigorously when I think that my prayers are being assembled and stored up in heaven and offered to Christ repeatedly in heavenly acts of worship.
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Let’s all bless and honor and adore Christ here below with our prayers, and then doubly rejoice that the worship council of heaven offers them again to Christ as sweet smelling incense before the Lamb who was slain.”
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Please give them new eyes...
Give them a new mind...
And give them a new heart...
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You...
Remind us that once we too were lost...
But someone in our past shared with us about Jesus...
And that ultimately led to us today having a genuine saving relationship with Your Son...
May we never forget this truth...
And may that truth encourage us to share the Good News with all we come into contact with.
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
