Living The Crucified Life

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Just felt keenly this morning the absence of the brethren that aren't here. And I trust that somehow there will be a sensing of our togetherness, though we are not together physically this morning. [00:00:37] I don't know what this meeting should be called. We have different names for it. In German it used to be called Atnungsgemehe. How do you say that? Discipline, not discipline, but standards church, I guess. We call it sometimes council meeting. I'm never quite sure which kind of council it is. Is it C-O-U-N-S-E-L or C-I-L? [00:01:09] But some kind of a council meeting where either we council together or a council is a group of people that tells us what they counseled. Sometimes we call it preparatory service. What is it? I'd like to think this morning of the way that Paul spoke about it in 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter. We'll read this scripture, one that you've heard read many, many times. [00:01:43] I was thinking along a different line for this message until during the night it seemed to change somewhat and I'm thinking especially of the words that Paul said in verse 26 when he said, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Now, that may be more for next Sunday, I'm not sure. But in this scripture he is saying that there was some misuse of this service in the Corinthian church [00:02:17] and he was setting out to correct the misuse and he said, you do show the Lord's death. It seems like the misuse largely had to do with their coming together in a way that did not show the Lord's death. It seemed like it was more of a celebration maybe, maybe a festivity. They came together and they had a meal like they did in the Old Testament at the time of the Passover. [00:02:48] They had all this food prepared. And in this case, they came together and some brought quite a bit, some brought little, some ate much, some had nothing. You see, anything but togetherness in the church. So Paul was saying, he's setting out to correct this. And he was saying the reason that there is death and that there is sickness amongst them was because they didn't really discern the Lord's body. They weren't really showing the Lord's death. [00:03:21] And so he was teaching us how that we can show the Lord's death. Let's begin reading verse 24 to the end of the chapter. When he had given thanks, he break it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, The Lord is the new, pardon me, this cup is the new testament in my blood, this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. [00:03:55] For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [00:04:26] For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, tarry one for another And if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation And the rest will I set in order when I come Now he does say here that we should examine ourselves I don't know does council meeting feel like a heavy meeting to you or not [00:04:58] How do we come this morning? With the joy of the Lord in our heart or with long faces? It's a very solemn, serious time when we try to get things back in shape enough so that our conscience permits us to take communion. I'm thinking that this service should be much more than a preparation for communion. That it should be an experience of, it should be a current experience. It should be an ongoing experience. It should be, as much as anything, another step in our preparation for the great communion yet to come, when the Lord comes. [00:05:40] So it is something that, we're not saying that it's not well to have a special service before communion, but should not every service do the same thing for us? And our daily walk with the Lord. So, let us think then a bit about showing the Lord's death. I'd like to read yet how this reads, part of this reads in the Amplified. This cup is the new covenant, ratified and established in my blood. [00:06:14] Do this, as oft as ye drink it, to call me affectionately to remembrance. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until he comes again. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy of him will be guilty of profaning and sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man thoroughly examine himself, and only when he has done so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [00:06:52] For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that it is Christ's body, eats and drinks a sentence, a verdict of judgment upon himself. Let us just notice a couple of ideas that come from this translation. First, we notice that in the King James it says that as oft as we do it, we show the Lord's death till he come. In the German language it says, as oft as you do it, you shall proclaim the Lord's death. [00:07:28] I suppose that's maybe where the idea comes from that you preach about the suffering of Christ at the communion service. Sollt ihr das Herrn tot verkündigen, is what it says in German. You shall proclaim the death of the Lord. But in King James, the idea is that participating in the emblems is a declaration in itself. It is a proclamation. So as we take of this communion, we are proclaiming, we're focusing on what the Lord has done for us at Calvary. [00:08:03] Then there was another thought here I'd like to just call attention to. It says, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy of him, notice what he says, will be guilty of profaning and sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Doesn't it give us more of the idea? We often think in terms that if we take unworthily, we sin against ourselves. [00:08:36] But he is saying in the Amplified, more nearly the original language, that to partake unworthily is profaning what God has done. It is a mark, it is a statement, it is a proclamation against Calvary itself, against what the Lord has done. So it is like all sin in a sense. All sin is first of all a sin against God himself, not just against other people, not just against ourselves. But sin is always against God. [00:09:09] Well, let's notice a bit about this preparation, examination, and the declaration that we want to make. First of all, we want to think a bit about the cross. When you think about the cross, the death that we're going to proclaim, declare, as we take the emblems. As we go to that cross, the first thing I see there is, what for need that I have personally? [00:09:39] Why is there a cross? Why was there a cross? Is not the cross a statement that comes from eternity past? A statement from heaven itself, that man is so lost, there is no way to get back to God. So as we come to that cross, we see our own need. really it is for me that that cross is there I have a need that the Bible says left me with no hope and without God in this world so when we come to this communion table we are making a confession [00:10:12] that we have a need of Calvary that was for me because of a need that I had not just some convenience but it was the only solution to my need Secondly, the cross shows us the price of our redemption and that's why it is good that we preach the suffering of Christ that we declare it verbally even as we look at that cross and we see what it cost our Lord You see there the love of God displayed when he said, I will take the chastisement of our peace [00:10:48] He will suffer for our sins and take them upon himself We see his love, but we see also the price of our redemption as we see our Lord's suffering, which we'll leave for the actual communion service. And then besides that, it shows us the provision that God has made. He has provided something in the cross. The scriptures would tell us that it is there that we get forgiveness of sins. [00:11:19] What a provision. under the burden and guilt of sin that the Bible says the wages of sin is death. There we are under that pressure, under that judgment, and then we're forgiven. Think of Barabbas, who had the verdict against him. He was in prison. How do you think Barabbas felt that day when the message came and said, Barabbas said, Barabbas, come with me. And they opened the door and Barabbas wondered, where is he going to take me? But he said, you're free. Forgiven. I think if we had a genuine conversion experience, we know a little bit how Barabbas felt. [00:12:06] When that weight, that guilt of sin was taken from us. Not only that, the Bible says if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. When we go to Calvary, we see that it is there that this provision includes our cleansing. We can be clean. We don't have to live under the power of sin, which is another aspect of the cross. We are delivered from the power of sin. [00:12:38] There is no longer an excuse that we need to live under sin. So when we take communion, we are making a statement, an admission of need. We are giving recognition to the great cost that it cost our Lord. And we are as well giving recognition to the fact that we are set free. Both from sin, its guilt, its power. and we can today have victorious lives than if we can come to the communion table [00:13:10] and when our taking of that communion emblem is a statement of those facts communion becomes a blessing I'd like to say also that we think in terms that not necessarily today are we preparing for communion but we are thinking about the preparation for communion and that we focus this coming week on the communion of what it is meant to be for us [00:13:42] of what our Lord has done so that we are in a process of preparing that is going to open up the blessings of communion to us in a way like maybe we haven't experienced for a while or maybe never or maybe always, I don't know. I think you would do well if we'd all stand to our feet just about now. How do we then show the Lord's death? Let's think a little bit about showing the Lord's death. [00:14:14] Well, one of the ways we do, we're reminded of this at every communion service, that as we take the bread and as we take the cup, we are there seeing something visible. The children can see it. It's a testimony to them. It's a testimony to each other. And it's a renewal in our own minds as we're reminded you bite into that bread. You take it. It is crunched. It is mauled. It is disintegrated. And you think about the suffering of our Lord, what he suffered as we received that. [00:14:48] and then you take the cup and as we take that into our bodies we are reminded of the blood that flowed from his side and from his hands and from his back and from his crown, from his feet all over his body his life was ebbing out and out and out it is a statement that we are making when we take communion that we are showing the Lord's death but I'd like to think even more specifically this morning in another way. [00:15:19] That is the way that we show by remembrance what the Lord suffered for us. But there's another way that we show the Lord's death and that is in living the crucified life. Now we have, we believe in seven ordinances or eight. Those sisters wear a covering and we say that is a testimony that we believe in God's order. But there could be a person that wears the covering that is making a statement that I believe in God's order [00:15:54] But that same person could very well be anything but submissive That would be a contradiction But if that person wears the covering, makes the statement and lives the life Now the statement has validity, it has strength The same thing is true in communion. We can all take communion. We can try to make proper confessions and statements and then take the communion and now we have shown the Lord's death. [00:16:29] But if in my daily living I'm not living the crucified life, it invalidates my statement. So it seems to me that the way that we show the Lord's death is by living the crucified life. that forgiveness, that freedom. We don't live under a cloud of bandage but we live in freedom. I like to think of taking part in communion not as kind of a serious yes it is serious [00:17:00] but not as only a solemn experience but an experience of rejoicing in the provisions of Calvary showing the Lord's death both sides of it the suffering and the release You may be seated if you promise to stay awake. So let us think a bit about partaking, showing the Lord's death by living the crucified life. Partaking unworthily is partaking without sensing the meaning of Calvary. [00:17:38] Without thinking about the meaning of Calvary Not only on the day of the cross The day Christ died there But in the living out of the power of the cross in our life Preparation is an important part of life I think a literal illustration would make it very clear I'd like to ask the children a question this morning Is it important that we prepare food before we eat it? [00:18:12] What do you think? Some of the boys think so. Is it important that food is prepared before we eat it? Well, just let me give you a very literal illustration. Our fish food, fish can be food. I think a lot of us like to eat fish. Let's say we just go fishing and we get a nice big bass. We put it on the plate and we say, there you are, it's food, ready to go. [00:18:44] If that's all we would do, we wouldn't be very hungry. And a lot of life is like that. Life, to live it to its fullest, requires preparation. A victorious life, a joyous life, a fruitful life does not just happen, but it is a process of preparation. And it's not just the council meeting preparation, but it is a walk, an ongoing experience that we're thinking of. [00:19:18] Let's turn to Matthew, the fifth chapter. Jesus speaks to this issue, tells us very specifically that he considers preparation an important thing in our Christian life. Matthew chapter 5 verse 23. Now this does not say communion as we think of it. But he does talk about some special experience in a person's life. And I don't know if this had to do with coming and offering a sacrifice at an altar or just what it was. but it says like this if thou bring thy gift to the altar [00:19:49] and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Jesus is saying very distinctly here that preparation precedes worship preparation precedes service The Old Testament King David, after he had sinned and was reminded of his need [00:20:20] and was called to repentance, he made some profound statements. And when he talked about coming to a place of an altar, he said, Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not, else would I give it thee. He would have been very ready to make a sacrifice for his sin. He would have gladly brought another ox or another sheep and put it on the altar. He said, if that's what you would want, I'd bring it. But that's not something you want. [00:20:52] He said, what you want is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And then he goes on to say that once the broken heart and the contrite spirit are in place, that God can again accept an offering. But preparation must precede sacrifice or service or worship or whatever. And so when we think about this preparation, I'd like to think a bit of what he says in 1 John, the first chapter. [00:21:24] What is it to prepare for this relationship that is an expression of the power of the cross in our hearts? John wrote different things here as he acknowledged Jesus as the creator and then verse 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth [00:21:54] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin I think we could say just as well we have fellowship one with another and with God himself when we walk in the light. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [00:22:25] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. this thing of preparation now the Bible says these things have I written unto you that you sin not but if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and I think that's what Jesus what John was writing about here when he was inspired is that he is not saying that we can we ought or we may live a life of sin [00:22:56] and just go through a cycle of sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting. The other day we had visitors from Oregon in our house. The lady told us how when she was a Catholic woman, she would used to go to the confessional. And she'd sit in her little booth beside the priest. And there was a little opening there with some screen over opening that you could talk through. And there she would confess her sins to the priest. Then she'd go back out and she'd had some resolve to do better [00:23:30] But she'd just go back out and sin some more Then come back and confess some more And I trust that we do not see council meeting as something like that This is not our confessional But as our council meeting preparation is We have this commitment to show the Lord's death the meaning, the purpose, the power of the Lord's death that we show yes the suffering we show our need [00:24:00] but in that acknowledgement we come to the place where we also are showing the Lord's death in that it gives us victory over those things and we live a life that is pleasing to the Lord but if any man sin the preparation that it takes is confession if we confess our sins and it does not need to, no, better said, it ought not wait till council meeting. I'm glad we don't call it Adnuskme or Standards Church. [00:24:36] It is necessary that we respect church decisions, that we have life in the heart that is expressed on the outside. But I don't think council meeting is the time to deal with those issues. It may be alright to deal with them there if it's necessary, but it should not be left to that time, certainly. It is rather a way of life, a hard experience, than a certain occasion. [00:25:07] And if we fail, the thing that we need to do is confess. Not to deny, not to justify, not to cover, not to hide, but confess. The only way I know in the scripture to deal with a broken relationship with God with something that does not please God is by confession. It's the old, old word that was the original message under grace, which is what? Repentance. [00:25:39] The first message of Jesus, the first message of John the Baptist, the first message of the disciples was repentance. Repentance is still good to deal with sin. Preparation requires repentance. And repentance is not justified. Repentance is not comparing with others. Repentance is not covering up so people don't know. So, repentance is dealing with the sin as an act against God. [00:26:12] And if we show the Lord's death, we will acknowledge God's attitude about sin and deal with it God's way. There are so many new words, terms in our time to deal with the problems of humanity. But it could be so much more simple if we just repent. that's God's way to prepare so if there is something in John here where we read he speaks also about walking in the light [00:26:44] that is an open life walking in the light means an open life it means not covering when you walk in light you can see and others can see If we walk in darkness, see how did Jesus say in John the third chapter, he said something there about right after he said God loved the world and he came not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. [00:27:21] Then he says, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light. because their deeds were evil. Always, when someone needs to live a covered life, you throw suspicion on your own self. Now, what are the things that are in our homes today? What is there in our home today that we hope people don't find out about? [00:27:54] What is there in our cars that we hope people don't find out about? and maybe even more profoundly yet what is there in our heart that we hope people don't know about. That's scripture back there in Matthew the 5th chapter. He speaks there about coming to the altar and remembering that someone has ought against us. He says stop everything, hold everything, leave here your gift, [00:28:24] just lay down your ox or your sheep for your peace offering or whatever you bring. Just stop everything. Do not even try to go ahead and worship God. Do not even try to please God if you don't take care of that issue. He's talking there about relationships. I forget who it was that said something along this line. That if we try to bring up something that is pleasing to God, if we want to serve God, if we want to do God a favor, but we neglect our relationship, it is, forget what the term was, but like an affront to God. [00:29:10] It is trying to give God something He cannot get, cannot receive, because we have not done it God's way. So he says, when you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember It doesn't even say that you have something against another But that someone has something against you Leave it, go be reconciled, then come, then come Sometimes people, especially we face this in El Salvador I'm sure Juan will remember this [00:29:42] How many people said, I just don't, you know, there's a little problem between me and this person and I just don't feel like I'm ready to go along to communion. I'm just going to stay back. Well, there was one good thing about that and that was the honesty. But there was one error about that and that is these scriptures are not here so that we don't take part in communion. These scriptures are here to teach us to build relationships, to get things in order so we can take communion. It should never be an excuse [00:30:12] not to go along to communion if something is out of order. The idea is to get it into order so that we can show the Lord's death. And the Lord's death breaks down the middle wall of partitions and there is fellowship. So if I regard iniquity in my heart, if I hold a grudge against a person, that leaves us without a free conscience. We can sometimes forget things. We can bury them in our subconscious. [00:30:44] We can cover them. We can try to make ourselves believe things. But we all know, I'm sure we all know deep down in our heart, the Holy Spirit of God speaks to our hearts. And we know just how it feels when you meet somebody that you don't love real much. You'll probably respond the right way, outwardly, but there's that little feeling on the inside. Just don't feel comfortable there. The cross can do much more than that. [00:31:19] The cross can deal with that thing where we can lay down our life, where we can come and live an open life, and we can be cleansed, and we can be free, and our conscience is free. We already referred to David's experience where he said, what God really wanted is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This thing of showing the death of the cross means a broken heart. Jesus laid down all his pride. [00:31:54] If he ever had pride. Probably didn't have pride in the sense that we think of it. But Jesus humbled himself and was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. To show the crucified Christ in the communion means to take a position of humility. Let's think just a little bit yet of the blessings of preparation. 2 Corinthians, the first chapter. [00:32:29] I think we all know what it's like when everything is clear and free. We all know what it's like when it's not that way. And we also know when you meet people, sometimes you meet people, they are just, they aren't perfect people, but there's just something about them that they're just free. They're just not tied down. They're not slowed down. They're not dealing with bondage. They're free. What a blessing. The blessing of preparation. [00:33:04] We see in Paul's experience, he talked different times about a free conscience. But I'd like to read his testimony to us this morning in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 12. Paul said where in his rejoicing was. He was mentioning here first some of the struggles that he went through. Difficulties that he had and he asked people to pray for him. and he blessed God for the experiences that he had [00:33:35] the comfort that he found in them so that he could be a comforter to others but then he says here in verse 12 for our rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience that talks to me about a prepared person his testimony was the blessing the testimony of his conscience That in simplicity and godly sincerity In other words, it was not put on [00:34:07] It was genuine, it was real Not with fleshly wisdom But by the grace of God We have had our conversation in the world And more abundantly to you He could say, he could look everybody in the eyes and say I love you Not only could he say it, but he showed it When he wept day and night for the people, he said sometimes, he did not cease to shed tears for them and to pray for them. Day and night, Paul had that sincere heart. [00:34:42] That was his rejoicing. It wasn't really what the people said about him because they didn't always say those good things about him. But he rejoiced in this, that his own conscience bore him witness that he had the smile of God's approval on his life. There's a song that we sing sometimes, or I'm not sure do we sing it, but I remember it from my youth. There's a phrase in that song that says like this, The master praises what are men. Now what about the reputation? [00:35:14] What about the things people say about us if they're not true? If the master praises, then you can face all that malignment, all those bad things that people might do and say to us. But if the master doesn't praise, if he doesn't give us that testimony in our conscience, oh, it doesn't matter again what the people say. Paul said that as well, that he doesn't talk about the things that people say about him. [00:35:47] What he's concerned about is what does God say. That was showing the power of the death of the cross. in that he had a free conscience that comes from the witness of God's approval in our hearts. I trust we can this year, this time, experience communion with that freedom in our conscience. Not one justifiable reason to think about something that's not taken care of. [00:36:21] Something that we're covering. Something we hope people don't find out Something that we try to dismiss and say well it really doesn't matter The question really isn't this morning does it matter The question is does it help our relationship with God The question is does this show the death of the Lord Does my life, the things that I do show the death of the Lord Otherwise, we can be sure that communion is less than God has meant it to be for us. [00:36:56] Another thing that's a blessing of this preparedness, Hebrews the 10th chapter, when Paul talked about the conscience, he said in verse 22, Let us draw near. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water There's one thing according to the scriptures that we can guarantee this morning And that is that if our heart is clean before God [00:37:31] If our conscience is clear It brings us closer to God You love to be in the presence of God when the conscience is clear And when the relationship between our brethren is right, when our relationship in our conscience is right, it brings the brethren together. Now we could talk about a lot of things that we can do, and I'm afraid this is what often happens, that there are substitutes that people use to try to build relationships in a church. [00:38:03] And we work on the social aspects. We have more fellowship dinners. Not a word against fellowship dinners, not even a thought against fellowship dinners, not what we're saying this morning. But if we do things to get together, to bring us closer to each other, and don't have that clear conscience, there's still something there that hinders. When our conscience is clear before God, we wouldn't have the least fear of God, the preacher, any brother or sister in the church would come on us in an unexpected moment. [00:38:42] It would be alright. It would be acceptable. That brings fellowship between people and man and God. Whenever we hold back, whenever we cover, whenever we have to keep some things behind walls, as it were, it casts suspicion. You know, some people say, that's none of your business. That's not other people's business what happens. [00:39:15] We may say that about our internet. We may say, you know, it's not other people's business what I do there. I'm accountable before God, that's true. But do you know what it does? It makes people wonder. Immediately, rightly so, it makes people wonder. Why is that kind of an attitude? It casts suspicion. That breaks relationships. That's just one illustration. [00:39:47] Anything in our life like that, if we have to keep it covered, it hinders relationship, as well as with God Himself. I'd like to read from Psalm 137 As the closing thought this morning, I often have to think of this scripture in relation to the Christian experience. The Old Testament Israel gives us this example like they do so often in issues that relate to the church. [00:40:26] Psalm 137, first few verses. We find Israel here in captivity. It says, by the rivers of Babylon there we sat down. Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. Here you find Israel. The people that God had delivered so miraculously from Egypt. The people that had all those wonderful experiences in the desert. [00:40:58] The people that had entered the promised land. But now you find them in Babylon. And how do you find them? They sat down. These people, Moses had written a song and he taught the people the song. They were singing. They had a tremendous message in their song if you read it in the Old Testament. But here you find them sitting by the banks of the rivers in Babylon. [00:41:30] They were weeping. Not only that, there were some willows there. On those willows you saw there are harps, there are stringed harps I imagine, were hanging on the willows. Nobody was playing a note of music. Then it says, for there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion. The Babylonians were saying, why aren't you singing? Sing us a song. You had a good song. You had a blessed song. You had a beautiful song. [00:42:08] Sing us a song of Zion. Even Babylon didn't ask him to sing a song of Hollywood. Even though Babylon was a type of the world, they wanted a song of Zion to be sung. But then Israel asked the question, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? Israel had lost their song. Whenever we get into a strange land, we'll lose our song. Whenever we get into bondage, like these people were in bondage, we'll lose our song. [00:42:44] Now, the songs that we sing are not so much a matter of our location, they're not so much a matter of our circumstances as they are a matter of the heart. The example of Paul and Silas has been an inspiration to me already in this. When was Paul and Silas singing? Now, the circumstances weren't very good. They were in prison. They were in stocks. They were suffering. It was midnight. Who wants to sing at midnight? But Paul and Silas were singing in that circumstance. It didn't have much to do with circumstances, but it had everything to do with their heart. [00:43:30] They still had a song at midnight. I'm blessed by those people that have gone through the valleys of sorrows. People that have had unpleasant circumstances, but they still have a song for the Lord. And then sometimes you see people that have lost their song. They've lost their enthusiasm. Whenever that song is going, it has something to do with being in some kind of bondage Or in a strange place where we don't belong [00:44:02] But if we are at that cross, there at the foot of the cross And we look up and we see our Lord and we come together Whether it's by the emblems, whether it's by the crucified life, or even more We can still have our song And I trust that as we come together next Sunday, Lord, really, that we'll have a song. It might even show up in our singing in the congregation. Not that I'm saying we don't sing well enough. [00:44:33] I'm just saying if our hearts are overflowing with the song of the Lord, and our hearts are prepared, we can show the Lord's death. And it can be a rejoicing experience. Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, we pray now your blessing upon this further service. We pray that you would help us to have a song for you. Lord, if we're in strange places, if there's bondage anywhere, we pray that you would help us to prepare our hearts before thee [00:45:07] to take communion in a way that is going to show the Lord's death in reality, that is going to draw the brotherhood together, that will help us be close to you. Father that will glorify your name guide us as we go through this further service in Jesus name Amen