Jacksonville Presbyterian Church
1st Corinthians 9:19-27 (June 16, 2024)
Hey, good morning. Welcome to Jacksonville President again. If you would grab your Bibles, open up to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. If you don't have your Bible, grab one of these blue hardback Bibles. They're all throughout the room. You can turn to page 1137. We are into 1 Corinthians chapter 9 versus 19 through 27. So that screen is wrong. So it's 19 through 27. We're finishing chapter 9 this morning. Page 1137 had a great weekend already. I got to marry some of our members yesterday. So Gabriel and Catherine Bright are now married as of yesterday a few hours ago. And you might remember Gabriel got baptized here on Easter, just a couple of months ago. So very sweet for the life of our church. And we have over 60 people in Mexico right now. That's unbelievable. What grace. Well, let's look today at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 versus 19 through 27. And really, this whole section is going to be on Christian freedom. What are we freed from? And what are we freed to? And I really want you to be thinking this whole morning about how we as Christians are called to live here in the Rogue Valley in 2024 in light of our freedom in Christ. Like, what does this mean for us today? With all that to say, let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, starting in verse 19, the apostle Paul writes, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I don't box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. Friends, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever, and this is the word of the Lord. - Praise be to you, God. - Amen, would you keep that Bible open as we pray together as God's beloved people? Father, we love you this morning because you first loved us. And so Father, would you help us to see how the gospel sets us free? And what this means for how to live our lives today? Lord, the rest of this week and really Lord, until you come again, or we meet you. And so Father, we ask for your wisdom and we ask for your Holy Spirit that you would give us the mind of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, let's do some trivia. Are Christians free? Are Christians free? Yeah, so you might know the song whom the son sets free is free indeed. Yeah, well, that's all based off of 1 John, or excuse me, John, chapter eight, where Jesus says if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Okay, so if you're a Christian in the room, you're free, right? Yes. Right, yeah, free from what? Sin, hell, you're free from being a slave to sin. But let me ask you another question. Christian, are you a slave for Christ? Are you a servant? You know, remember in Greek which the New Testament's originally written in, the word do-loss can either be translated as servant, bond-servant, or slave. But they all are getting at the same idea. You're not free, you're a servant, or you're a bond-servant, or you're a slave. So are you a slave for Christ? Well, Paul says at the beginning of Romans, at the beginning of Philippians, and at the beginning of his letter to Titus, Paul says that he himself is a do-loss, a slave, or a servant. In fact, Jesus himself tells you and me, Christian, he says this, he says, so you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, all you need to say to God is we are unworthy slaves. We have only done what is our duty. So are you free in Christ, or are you a servant for Christ? Are you feeling detention? Look down at 1 Corinthians, chapter nine, verse 19. What does Paul say? "For though I am free from all." I'm free in Christ, that's what Paul's saying. Therefore, I have made myself a do-loss, a servant to all. How did those two things go together? How can Christians in the same earnestness say, yes, I am a servant of the Lord? My job is to serve the Lord, right? We are at a worship service, right? Those words matter. We serve the Lord, we're servants. You could even say we're slaves to the Lord in a certain way. But also, we're free in Christ. Well, how in the world is that supposed to work is Christianity just inherently like silly? Does it not make sense? Well, what I want you to grasp this morning, and really it's going to track our whole time together. If you can get this idea, the rest of this sermon, and really this passage is going to make a lot of sense. And that is you and I, we need to be able to distinguish what philosophers will call negative freedom from positive freedom. And think about it this way. There's kind of, when we think about being free, like you're free, I love my freedom, you're probably conceptualizing it at the level of negative freedom. Meaning, you can't tell me what to do. I'm free from rules. I'm free from all of these things. You know, I love doing the wedding yesterday, but some people look at being married and they call it the ball in. Oh, guys, that was, you were not supposed to say that today. That was not the opportunity. That came out real quick. That was real quick, you guys. What's that joke about? Well, if you get married, you're not free anymore to be single. Well, let's see, we're conceptualizing freedom from, from having restrictions, rules placed on us. That's negative freedom. That's what philosophers will call it. But there's another side of freedom, called freedom to, or positive freedom, which is the freedom that I was able to celebrate yesterday in the wedding where I watched two people commit their lives to each other forever till death do them part. And now they are free to live life together, free to love and to forgive and to build a family to the glory of God. So when you think about freedom, you've got to be able to understand that yes, in some sense, you're free from something, but what is your freedom for? Think about it this way, why did God set you free? Was it so you could just do whatever you want? Or were you freed so that you could become who you were always meant to be? I don't know if this makes any sense, but I'll try to use maybe an analogy from sports. So next month, what's happening? Anybody know in the world of sports, what's happening next month? The summer Olympics. Yeah, and does anybody know where the summer Olympics are this year? They're very well informed, good. But can you tell me where they were last time? Nobody cares. Yeah, okay, so this year though, they're in Paris. All right, so how does this idea of freedom from versus freedom to work? Let's use an Olympic athlete as an example. Let's say there's a lady and she ran at the University of Oregon, and now she's in Olympia and she's about to run, okay, in the Olympics. Does that person exist? Is there an Oregon duck running in the Olympics this year? Let's assume there is. She's running in the Olympics, okay? But let's take back maybe that lady, that Olympic athlete, and let's take her back to, I don't know, the age of 12. All right, and at some point in her life, she realizes, hey, I think I'm pretty fast. I bet if I train really, really, really, really well, and I work really, really hard, I might one day be able to compete in the Olympics. And this is one of the beautiful things about living in a free country, because ideally in this country, she would be able to pursue track with everything she's got. She would not be held back by poverty, or because she's got to go work in some factory. She would be free from anything holding her back to run as much as she wants. Now, take that same lady, that little girl, right, free to pursue what she wants to do, right? And let's fast forward to when she's, I don't know, like 18 or 19, okay? And she's waking up every day at 5 a.m. when it's cold outside, and she's running, and you just want to sleep in. Is that woman free in that moment? (audience laughing) Is she free? What do you, well, you might think that sounds a lot like slavery, waking up at 5 a.m. and running till you can't breathe hardly, but to her, that's her freedom. She's traded in freedom from doing whatever she wants to do so that she can pursue this one thing. What was her freedom for? It was freedom to run. Does that make sense? So when Paul says that you and I are free, what he means is you and I are free from being enslaved by sin. The Bible says that all of us are born sinners. The inward bent of our heart is towards sin. It's towards what we want. And Jesus says if you don't know God that you're actually enslaved to sin, but guess what? If you believe Jesus is the Messiah, that he died for your sins. If you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, Jesus says then whom the sun sets free will be free indeed. So what I want you to grasp about freedom this morning is this understanding that in the gospel, you and I are free from and we are also free to do things. But all of the beauty and the meaning and the things that are worthwhile in your life, they're not found just in freedom from. It's just not having restrictions removed from me. It's actually giving everything I have to this one beautiful thing. And that's actually freedom if you can believe it. When she's running around the track at 5.23 a.m., she's free. Although it may not look like it to you, but it is. I think that's very similar to how Paul understands his freedom right here in 1 Corinthians chapter nine. Look at verse nine, 19. And let's look at what he means by freedom from. He says, Paul says, "For though I am free from all, "I have made myself a servant to all, "that I might win more of them." When he says, "I'm free from all," what he means by that is he's free from sin, that what's driving him is no longer Satan in the forces of evil is not only just his sinful nature, but there's also this sense that Paul is free from having to follow all of the Old Testament ceremonial laws. You might could say it this way. He's free to eat barbecue from now on. He can eat pork the way that he is right with God is not through the ceremonial laws anymore. It's only in Christ. So Paul is Paul free to eat pork and is he free to just do whatever he wants? Christian, is he free? Yes, but what is his freedom for? Why did God set him free for all of those things? So that Paul could love God and love others with everything that he has. So unless you have this conception of freedom too, your life isn't really gonna make any sense. Like, okay, I can be free because Jesus died for me. Great, so I'm gonna do whatever I want. It's like, no, that's not how it works. I mean, imagine if you were at the wedding yesterday and the guy says, "I'm gonna love you. "I'll be faithful to you to death to his part." And she goes, "Great." So I can like leave you right now and go party and you're still gonna be faithful to me. You'd be like, "You missed the whole point of the vow. "You missed the point." The point is that you'll give everything to the other person. It's freedom too. Although to someone on the outside, I guess it looks like the ball and chain, but that's not really what it is at all. All right, so what is Paul free from? He's free from all of these, you know, food laws. I mean, that's the whole context, right? Of 1 Corinthians 8 and 9, he's talking about food laws. So sure, Paul's free in Christ to eat the meat, but he's not going to. Why not? Because he's freed so that he can love the people around him. I think that's what Paul's getting at when he says, "I'm a servant to all." That is, "I work for their good." So freedom from sin, condemnation, all of these rules to be right with God, the gospel is opposed to those things. You're right with God through faith in Jesus. You are free from having to earn your salvation, but you're free so that you can actually fulfill your life's purpose. You're freed from so that you can be free to become who you are meant to be. So what is it that we're free to do? Well, Paul goes on, he says, "This is what it means "to turn from free from to free to." Look at verse 20, he says, "To the Jews, "I became as a Jew in order to win Jews." And then he's gonna describe them in another way, to those under the law that's still trying to follow the Old Testament, ceremonial laws and the Old Testament. He's like, "I became as one of those under the law." Though, because he's a Christian, I'm not actually under those laws anymore. But I operated as one like that so that I might win those under the law. And then in verse 21, he shifts to Gentiles or non-Jewish people, people like me. And he says, "When I would hang around with Gentiles "who love, you know, poor barbecue "to those people outside the law, "I became as one outside the law." And then he says, you know, in this parentheses, his point is like, "But I wasn't living lawlessly. "I wasn't just committing sin because, you know, "I've been set free from the laws, my righteousness. "I'm still following the law of Christ. "I'm still following Jesus." But I operated as one outside of the ceremonial laws that I might win those outside of the law. And then in verse 22, he says, "To those who are weak," remember the weak are the newer Christians, with more sensitive consciences, the ones who didn't want to have anything to do with their old way of life, who were not ready to claim all of the rights that they had as Christians. You know, new Christians that are sensitive. He says, "When I was around weak Christians, "I became weak." That is, I didn't exercise all of the rights that I had. You know, a few weeks ago, I compared it to, if they were sensitive to eat the Zeus burger, Paul would say, "I'm not gonna eat the Zeus burger "because I want to win the weak. "I want to help them follow Jesus more." So then he gets probably to the most famous sentence, you know, here in 1 Corinthians. People who aren't even Christians, all things to all people is a phrase they might use. Paul says, "I have become all things to all people "that by all means I might save some." That is, I might share the gospel with them. And look at verse 23, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel "that I might share with them in its blessings." All right, so there's a lot packed into this. So what's Paul getting at? Okay, if you look at verse 20, what he's saying is, he's saying, "When I'm around Jewish people, "I operate as if I'm still Jewish." Isn't that interesting? He says that, he says, "I become as a Jew," which is fascinating because many of you probably know that Paul was ethnically Jewish. So how can a Jew be as a Jew? Well, what he means is he's gonna follow the dietary restrictions. He's gonna follow the ceremonies. He's gonna go to the festivals. And he's doing that not because he has to do those things to be right with God, but so that he can accommodate himself to people who still do those things. You might say it this way. He's entering into their world, honoring them so that he can share the gospel with them. He's neighboring them very well. But when Paul's around Gentiles, you know, people who were working on Sabbath and stuff, Paul wasn't demanding that they follow all of those ceremonial laws because he's not under those laws. And then of course, when he's around weaker Christians, those who are new to the faith, he didn't try to push him to do all of these things that more advanced or mature Christians would be able to do without feeling like they're conflicting their conscience. And now when he says, "I've become all things to all people," I know the tendency is to think, okay, so basically what you're telling me is Paul's changing the message. No, Paul's not changing the message. What he's doing is he's being sensitive to the people that he's around, just like you probably would be. But he's also not being a people pleaser. You know, sometimes I think when people hear this, they're like, "Oh, I guess I gotta please people all the time. "I gotta be all things to all people." That's normally how we mean that. I don't think that's what Paul's point is at all. I think actually what Paul's doing by talking about operating like this is he's being our great show and teacher. Remember last week I suggested to you that apostles, spiritual leaders show and teach? I think Paul is showing by his own example how he becomes a missionary in where God has placed him. Here's what I'm getting at. The most important question you can ask yourself today, Christian, is how am I a Christian living in 2024 in the Rogue Valley called to live out the freedom that I have in Christ? You are free. You are free from trying to earn God's favor, you're free from trying to earn your salvation, you're free from all of the ceremonial laws, but why are you free? You're here to love God and love the people in your community and family that God has placed you in. You're free to be very, very present in the lives of your neighbors and friends and family. And Paul's gonna show you what that looks like, how to neighbor well. Paul says when I'm around Jewish people, I will give up some of my rights because I don't wanna offend them. I don't wanna make a problem for the gospel. I'll give up some of my rights. When we're on this group of people, I'm not gonna claim all of my rights. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna try as best I can to see life through their eyes. David Brooks is a writer. He's written a new book I really appreciate called How to Know Somebody. And that's what the whole book is about. How do you really know somebody? How do you love somebody? And he says, basically, you get to know them and what it all boils down to is how well can you see life through their eyes? He writes in this book, and I think he's getting at what Paul's doing. David Brooks says, "Human beings need recognition "just as much as they need food and water." I love that. My mom used to always tell me, "Recognition, what babies cry for and men die for. "Do you see me?" Why are people about to compete in Paris for a perishable crown? And in about six months, none of us will even remember that the Olympics were this past summer, but they want it for that momentary recognition. Okay, Brooks goes on. "Human beings need recognition just as much "as they need food and water. "No crueler punishment can be devised "than to not see someone, "to render them unimportant or invisible." When you do that, what you're saying is you don't matter, you don't exist. On the other hand, there are a few things in life as fulfilling as the sense of being seen and understood. I have often asked people to tell me about times they felt seen, and with glowing eyes, they tell me about pivotal moments in their life. They talk about a time when someone perceived some talent in them that they weren't able to see themselves. They talk about a time when someone understood exactly what they needed at some exhausted moment, and that person stepped in in just the right way to lighten the load. Have you ever had that moment where someone truly saw you and understood and helped you lighten the load? They saw life in a small way through your eyes. I think this is closer to what Paul is getting at when he says, "When I'm around Jewish people, "Paul loves them." He loves them. In Romans 9, he says, "I wish I could go to hell "so they wouldn't Paul loves the Jews." He sees life through their eyes, and he does it so that they will share in the blessing of the gospel so that they could know God the way he does. When Paul's around Gentiles, I mean, talk about a cultural gap between a Jewish Pharisee named Paul and a Gentile who's eaten pork every day of his life, who grew up going to the Zeus temple and who's living in Corinth, who's never thought about not working on Sabbath in his entire life, right? And it's not even mentioned his circumcision or not having being circumcised. There's a big cultural divide, but when Paul moves into Corinth, he's not just thinking, "Well, I don't have to earn my salvation "so I can just do whatever I want with my life." Paul sees his freedom from and then his freedom to, and so when he moves into Corinth, he tries to see life through those Corinthians eyes. He loves them. Paul's even willing to give up some of his rights when he's around weaker Christians, Christians who don't know as much, Christians who aren't as mature, but why does Paul do it? He does it because the purpose of his life is different. The purpose of his life is to love God and to love the people around him. So what's loving to the people around him? Him pacing at their pace, seeing life through their eyes. So remember when I told you that Paul was a shower and a teacher, he's not just teaching you the gospel. Paul's not the only person called to do evangelism, Christian. The point of all of this is to give an example to you and me. So Christian, are you neighboring well? Do you know the neighbors? Do you know the coworkers? Do you share the gospel? Bill McAnlis likes to talk about, there's this line of uncomfortability. And at some point, you have to cross it. You've got to cross the Rubicon and mention the name of Jesus and say, "Hey, do you ever want to read the gospel of John maybe? Do you know that I'm a Christian?" But Christian, if you really know the gospel that you are set free, why wouldn't you want to share that with him? I mean, that's Paul's point in verse 23. He says, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings." Paul's saying, "I want those people in heaven with me." So if all I have to do is push back a little bit of discomfort, if also all I have to do, I'm willing to do it because the blessing of knowing these people are loved and saved by Jesus is worth pushing through the awkward for about five minutes if that's what it's going to take. You know, if you're a Christian in the room, I know you've probably heard all this before and Paul probably knows that too, which is why he finishes up here in verses 24 through 27, basically telling them not just to share the gospel, but to really give it their all. And he's going to use a sports analogy, which I really appreciate, not just because it's an Olympic year, but for another reason I'll tell you about in just a minute. Look at verses 24 through 27. This is the last way to sort of use your freedom too. And I'm going to suggest you what Paul's saying is you're free to give it your all Christian. Paul says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize. So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable reef, but we an imperishable. So I don't run aimlessly, I don't box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. What I love about that is in ancient Greece, in that ancient world where the Olympics came out of, there was another set of games called the Ismithian games. And it was based off of the Ismith, which is a very hard word to say, if you have a list, it'll give you a list if you try hard enough, the Ismith of Corinth, which is where the people of Corinth are. And so actually on the off years, when the Olympic games were not being held, there were games and races being held in Corinth. And it's very likely that Paul lived in Corinth during the time that the Ismithian games were going on, races and stuff. So a lot of the economy of Corinth was built around hosting these sort of Olympic style games. And Paul's using that analogy to try to get them to realize something pretty basic, but also challenging. Look at verse 24, he says, don't you know? And that's why he says, don't you know? He's like, don't you guys host the Ismithian games like every two years? Don't you know that in a race, all of the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Paul's saying, run the race of faith. If runners are willing to run around in a circle, literally going nowhere, why wouldn't you run the race of faith? And then he says, in verse 25, every athlete exercises self-control. They know how to control their urges. Remember, this is in the context of eating meat sacrificed to idols. And he's saying, remember, athletes know how to control their diet, so why not you? And why do athletes control their diet? Why do they exercise? Why do they work? In verse 25, he says, and they do it for a perishable wreath, but we do it for an imperishable one. I love sports, don't get me wrong, but there is a sense of, the Bible can say, don't forget, nobody remembers who won the 2006 World Series. Does anybody, I'm so thankful nobody does. That'd be really embarrassing. We need to see it in perspective. And his point is not to downplay sports. His point is to say, Christian, what is your freedom for? And if athletes are willing to practice self-discipline, if they are willing to control their diets, if they are willing to exercise, to discipline their bodies, for something that's going to pass away, why wouldn't you give everything you have? Everything you've got for the glory of God. You know, I pray you never forget this, friend. All you really have in life, all you really have in life is your relationship with God and the lives of people you invest in. That's it. David Brooks, a great New York Times writer, who says people need to shift from pursuing resume virtues to eulogy virtues. You know the difference is? I mean, it's great to have a good resume, a good curriculum vitae, but what you should be pursuing in life is, how are people going to talk about you when you die? What's your eulogy going to sound like? Whose lives have you poured into? Paul's giving you an example. When I'm around Jews, I love them. I enter their world as much as I can. I try to see life through their eyes when I'm around these Gentiles. I do the same thing. I try to see life through their eyes. Though I am a Christian primarily, and neither Jewish nor away from the law, his prime identity is in Christ. And even when he's around weak people, he doesn't look down on them. He enters into their life. He sees life through their eyes, so that they can share in the gospel, in the grace of God with him. And what he says in verses 24 through 27, Christian, is he says, "Give it your all." That's his whole point, right? He's asking these rhetorical questions about, don't athletes exercise self-control? But look at verse 26. He says, "I don't run aimlessly. "I don't box. "I don't air, you know, shadow box for no reason. "I do it for a reason." And don't misunderstand. The gospel, as R.C. Sproul used to say, the gospel is not opposed to effort. It's opposed to earning, right? The gospel is opposed to you trying to earn God's favor. But the gospel is not opposed to you giving some effort, striving, right? I think that's what Paul's getting at. Practice self-control, right? For Paul in verse 27, he puts it in a negative sense. He says, "I don't want at the end of my life "to be disqualified. "I want to make sure that my life "is always about loving God "and loving the people around me." So let me just finish up with this. Why should you run the race of faith? Why should you try to get to know your neighbors or your coworkers or your family? Why would you try to share the gospel with them? You don't have to. Yeah, you're free never to share the gospel, Christian. You don't have to do that to be saved. But I think you're thinking about your freedom wrong if that's your response. Yeah, you're free from earning your salvation. But you're free to love the people around you. You know, one of the greatest movie quotes of all time comes from that great movie, "Chariots of Fire," you know? ♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ You know, they run on the beach. If you know the story, Eric Liddell, the great Scottish missionary, he's talking to his sister, and he says, "When I run," is he my know? "When I run, I feel God's pleasure." Why run the race of faith, Christian? I think that's part of the answer. I do it because I love God and I love the people around me. I'm willing to enter into their lives, to settle in. So how are Christians called to live in the Rogue Valley in 2024, in light of the gospel of grace? Isn't it so great you get to figure that out this week? Let me ask it this way, Christian, what is your freedom actually for? Do you know? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have set us free from trying to earn our salvation. Lord, that when we mess up, we don't have to do anything. Lord, that you have already forgiven us for the blood of Christ. And so, Father, we ask, Lord, that we would recenter our lives around that truth. Lord, that we would love you more and more. Lord, that our hearts would be growing larger within us as we love you and understand your love for us. And Lord, you pray that we would love our neighbors as ourselves. And Lord, just as Paul was willing to enter into their lives in their world, Lord, I pray for our church. Lord, that we would be a missionary church. Lord, that we would be entering into the lives of our friends and our neighbors and our families. Lord, not just to convert them, but to love them, that they could share with us in the blessings of grace. Lord, that they could know what it is to know you in truth, to experience the freedom that they have and can have in Christ. Father, this morning we pray for those of us who are suffering, going through difficulties. Lord, we pray for Randy Milhone, John Schmidt, Karen Applegate, Marge Card, Bailey Taylor, Clyde and Lorraine Hoffman, Paul Deller, Sean McCoy, and Jim Salts. Father, give to each one of them health. Lord, give them endurance. And Lord, we pray that you would give them courage. And Lord, as they suffer, would they find ways to testify to your goodness, to those who are watching them. Father, we pray for Harvest Baptist Temple, here in Medford, in Lord, we pray that the gospel would go forth from that church. Lord, that you would bless the pastors, the leaders, and the congregation of Harvest Baptist. And Lord, we pray that as they shine a light in our dark world, Lord, that you would bring people to that church, to know you in truth. And Father, would you unite that church together in the love of the Holy Fellowship of the Trinity. Lord, we pray for our, the pregnancy center this week and our baby bottle drive, Lord, we pray that more children would be born. Lord, that children would be given that precious life. Lord, that opportunity to live in the land of the living. And Lord, we do pray for those moms that they would have courage. And Lord, especially the dads, Lord, we pray that they would step up and be the men who God has called them to be. Lord, we pray that you would keep them from focusing on freedom from, and Lord, that you would call them to be free, to be the dads you have called them to be. And lastly, Lord, you pray for the Mexico mission trip. Lord, for all 61 of those people that we know so well and love so much, Lord, that you would keep them safe. Lord, we praise you that they get to worship this morning at Inglasia, Christiana, Lamano, de Jehovah, sober, and no stress. Lord, we thank you that there are brothers and sisters, south of the border, proclaiming your name. Brothers and sisters that we will see in heaven. And Lord, I praise you that your kingdom is for all people and all nations. Lord, we pray especially for the incoming freshmen, Lord, that they would get acclimated to the high school youth group. Lord, they would build good relationships with the other youth group students, and Lord, that those older students would make them feel welcome. Lord, we pray for the team building they'll do today, for the preparation for building, and Lord, we just commit this week ahead to you, for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.