Plainfield Christian Church
07-14-24 | Elijah: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Welcome to the Plainfield Christian Church podcast. We hope that this message encourages you today. For additional resources to learn about what it looks like to be fully alive with Jesus, visit our website at plainfieldchristian.com. Enjoy the podcast. Morning church. My name is Luke. I get to serve as one of the ministers here. Yesterday we saw another act of violence, yet another one. And leaving politics aside here for just a minute, I think we could all agree that we are deeply grieved, aren't we? By the continuing trend that we see around us of anger and bloodshed and division that is growing deeper and deeper in our country that's hurting people that God loves and ruining the lives of people that Jesus died to save. And so in moments like this, it raises some questions in our minds. How are we as Christians supposed to think about this? How are we supposed to feel about this? And as we react when we see these things come up, it's always important for us to start by remembering what's true. And there's a lot of things that are true that are helpful for us to remember. One of the things that's true is that God has ordained three institutions to govern the world, that God created three different institutions to help shepherd His creation, the family, the church, and the government. And all three of those institutions, family, church, and government, have slightly different purposes to help govern the world that God made. And Scripture is very clear that God has created the governments of the earth to restrain what is evil and to promote what is good. And regardless of who is in office, one of the clear commands of the New Testament for us as followers of Jesus is that we are called to pray for our leaders no matter who they are. And so we do. We pray for our leaders that God would give them wisdom, that God would give them Damascus road conversions, that God would use them to do His will. And so we're going to keep praying for those things in the months ahead, even during a politically charged season, because we care about the institution of government that God has ordained. And yet when we see things like what happened yesterday, we are reminded of the limitations of government, aren't we? And we're reminded of how fragile some of these institutions are and some of these people are that we put our trust in. We are reminded that the evil in the human heart that leads to murder and hatred cannot be fixed by any kind of legislation can it? We're reminded that what is true is that in moments like this it's only the gospel. It is only the cross of Jesus Christ. It is only the empty tomb that can deal properly with the sin in the human heart that leads to tragedies like this. The gospel is the only thing that can deal with the same sin that was in the heart of that shooter, the same sin that is in the heart of every political and government leader on the planet, the same sin that is in the heart in your heart and my heart. We are reminded that what's true in moments like this is that it's us. It's we, this institution, it's the church that holds the hope of the world in our hands. That we are the ones in moments like this that God has entrusted to walk right into the darkness with the light that only Jesus can give. And because today you and I follow a king who is the king above all kings and a Lord who's the above all lords and even when everything around us is shaken he is most certainly not. You and I get the privilege of approaching him in prayer this morning. So before we jump into this sermon would you just take a few moments and be silent and would you just draw your heart and your mind into awareness of God's presence? He's here with us and I'm going to give you a few little prompts of things that we're going to pray for just in light of this tragedy that's happened over the last few hours. Would you begin just by asking God to comfort those today who are grieving? Would you ask God to speak to those who are angry or scared? Would you ask God to bring conviction and repentance of sin everywhere that it's needed? Would you ask God to work through all of this brokenness somehow to magnify his own glory? Would you ask God to give us the courage and the wisdom to shine brightly for him? And so God as the world around us as these earthly institutions as people we look to even as our own lives are so fragile we're just a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes and yet you are not. From everlasting to everlasting you are God you are our refuge and strength and ever-present help in time of trouble and you are at work and you have been since eternity passed to reconcile all things to yourself under the name and the power of your son Jesus Christ and so it's in light of that God that we ask boldly for you to bring healing, for you to bring comfort, for you to bring peace to all those who are affected, for you to use us God by your Holy Spirit to be your people at this time that the world needs. We ask that you would bless and empower and use all three of these institutions that you would enable us and our families, our children, our grandchildren, our marriages, our brothers and sisters that you would enable us to be little beacons of light into our neighborhoods. God we ask that you would use us this church specifically, Plainfield Christian Church to be a place of hope and healing for our community and we ask Lord that you would work through our government specifically that you would lead and ordain those who are in office that you would guide them and that you would use them to establish your justice and your mercy on the earth. We ask this Lord in the name of your son Jesus Christ King of Kings and Lord of Lords and all God's people said amen amen amen. Open your Bibles with me this morning to 2 Kings chapter 2 where we're going to be 2 Kings chapter 2 and as you're turning there here's my sermon in a sentence for you this morning. Remembrance is the key to confidence. Remembrance is the key to confidence but it's easy to forget isn't it. I heard this story about two old couples who were sitting out on the front porch together one evening and one old man said to the other he said you know wife and I went out to a new restaurant the other night it was just great. I tell you what the stake was juicy service was good prices were just fantastic it was a stellar stellar place. The other guy said really man well tell me what it's called. The guy said oh I knew you're gonna ask me that say what's the name of those flowers the the red ones real pretty you know with the thorns on him a rose oh yeah say rose hey rose what was the name of that restaurant we went to the other night. It's easy to forget isn't it. Question for you now what would you do if you only had one day left on earth what would you do? Today was your last day what would you do because today we're going to get to see what Elijah does with his last a day on earth like Brad said we've been in this series this summer through the life of this guy in the bible named Elijah and God used Elijah to do some pretty amazing things but one of my favorite parts about the life of Elijah is that aside from all these miracles we've seen we've also seen some moments of real weakness we've seen Elijah get scared we've seen him get angry we've seen Elijah be short-sighted we've seen Elijah feel lonely we've seen Elijah want to give up and I'm encouraged by that because that's a whole lot like my life some days and we've read every single week James chapter five that tells us that Elijah was not some kind of spiritual superhero he didn't wear a cape he was a person just like you and me a normal man except he prayed and so if God used Elijah maybe God could use us to a few weeks ago Riley walked us through the story of when God tells Elijah to go call this other guy named Elisha to follow him I'm thinking God probably just played a joke on us by getting names that were that similar like if you get Elijah and Elisha confused welcome to Christianity that's how names in the bible work but so Elijah obeys and he goes and he finds this guy named Elisha to be his protege to be his friend here's the deal about Elisha though Elisha's already got a life Elisha when we read the story Elisha is plowing in his fields with 12 pairs of oxen he's got a successful farming business that he is in charge of in those days one ox was worth about as much as a car so that's like the modern equivalent of Elisha being out there with 24 Ford F-150s he's probably got some employees he's got a nice small business going he's wealthy he's set up he's got his life in order and then his profit guy shows up and he says come follow me and Elisha does something absolutely radical he says okay and he burns his plowing equipment he slaughters all 24 of those oxen he gives the meat away to feed local families for free and in those days the meat from one ox could feed a family of five for a year and a half this was a huge huge huge commitment on Elisha's part and he leaves all of that behind to go learn from this prophet named Elisha so put yourself in Elisha's shoes here for just a second he's been the CEO he's got a successful business his life is good and now he's gone from being the CEO to being an unpaid intern for the next 18 years just learning how to be a man of God learning how to be a prophet and if you got your Bibles in 2 Kings chapter 2 here's the scene Elisha and Elisha are walking around together like they have for 18 years except this is Elisha's last day on earth and he knows it his time is up and so what's Elisha gonna do with his last day Elisha chooses to remember remembrance is the key to confidence at least that's my theory he goes on a little tour of remembrance take a look at this starting in verse one it says when the lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal now you're gonna see some names of places they go try to remember the places they go on Elijah's last day from Gilgal Elijah said to Elisha stay here the lord has sent me to Bethel there's place number two but Elisha said as surely as the lord lives and as you live I will not leave you so they went down to Bethel the company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked do you know that the lord is gonna take your master from you today yes I know Elisha replied to be quiet then Elisha said to him stay here Elisha the lord has sent me to Jericho there's place number three and he replied as surely as the lord lives and as you live I will not leave you so they went to Jericho the company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him do you know that the lord is going to take your master from you today yes I know he replied so be quiet then Elijah said to him stay here the lord has sent me to the Jordan that's place number four and he replied as surely as the lord lives and as you live I will not leave you so the two of them walked on 50 men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan and notice what happens here Elijah took his cloak rolled it up and struck the water with it the water divided to the right and to the left and the two of them crossed over on dry ground now there's a lot happening there it's almost like in this section of verses the band is breaking up and so they're going around on a farewell tour and they've got four stops on the tour they've got Gilgal Bethel Jericho and Jordan and yet the lord took them to each of those places it wasn't just a random trip and so in order for us to understand this story we actually have to rewind to some earlier stories and typically as we're preaching around here I try not to operate with too much assumed bible knowledge we try to just kind of explain it as we go but today we're just going to have to operate with a fair amount of assumed bible knowledge we're going to fly at 30,000 feet across some of the big stories of the Old Testament in order to understand what's actually happening here Elijah and Elisha on their last day they go four places and we're going to give each of them labels they're four places that are significant in the history of God's people for starters let's talk about the Jordan we could call Jordan the place of transition now we got to rewind we got to go back to the book of Joshua to understand these four places specifically starting with Jordan if you go back this afternoon and open to Joshua chapters one through four you'll see something really significant happens at the Jordan River you might remember that hundreds of years earlier God's people the Israelites had been in slavery in Egypt and the way God was going to rescue them from slavery is he sent this guy named Moses he said Moses go tell Pharaoh to let my people go and so Moses goes and he sends ten plagues on Egypt through Moses Moses leads the people into freedom but then Pharaoh's army comes after them they're trapped between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea but then you remember what God does to help his people escape he parts the waters of the Red Sea and Moses leads the people through the water on dry ground pretty amazing nobody's ever seen water part like that before God parts the Red Sea Moses leads the people out and then they spend 40 years walking around in the desert and they never actually make it to the promised land which was their destination and so eventually Moses dies and this guy named Joshua becomes their leader and a whole new generation of Israelites is now following Joshua and the only thing that stands between them and the promised land is the Jordan River and so imagine being one of that next generation this younger generation of Israelites following a new leader and you've grown up in the desert and you've heard the stories that your parents have told you've heard that God can part the waters but you haven't actually seen it with your own eyes and so Joshua this new leader leads this new generation of Israelites right up to the Jordan River and you know what God does at the Jordan River he parts the waters again then the people walk through on dry ground into the promised land it was God saying hey I'm the God of your ancestors and I can do for you what I did for them it was officially passing them on from the older generation to the younger generation from Moses to Joshua that's why the Jordan is the place of transition that's where Elijah and Elisha go they also go some other places though they also go to Gilgal we'll call Gilgal the place of beginnings then you see Gilgal show up in Joshua chapters four and five that after those people crossed the Jordan River into the promised land their first stop is to make camp at Gilgal it's new leadership a new land it's an exciting new time to be a part of one of God's chosen people in a new generation that's why Gilgal is the place of new beginnings the next place that Elijah goes on his last day though is to Jericho you might recognize that name we'll call Jericho the place of battle that shows up in Joshua chapters five and six that after they camp at Gilgal it's time for God's people down to drive out the hard-hearted infanticidal warlords who are occupying the promised land and the first stop is this big military garrison called Jericho Jericho's got these massive walls that's an impregnable fortress it's like attacking an army tank with a squirt gun how are they going to get this done what chance do the Israelite peasants stand but maybe you remember the story by the power of God they march around the city seven days in row on the seventh day they march around again they yell they blow their trumpets god knocks the walls down this is d-day for the Israelite people Jericho's the place of battle but then Elijah goes to Bethel that's the first place that Elijah and Elijah go on their last day and we'll call Bethel the place of dependence Bethel shows up in Joshua chapters seven and eight and Bethel was the place originally where if you actually rewind a few hundred more years earlier than Joshua their forefather Abraham maybe you remember the story of Abraham the Abraham God called Abraham to leave his home and Bethel was the place where Abraham learned to depend on God because when God first called Abraham to leave his home and he gave him this promise that hey your descendants are going to outnumber the stars of the sky Abraham I'm going to give you a family I'm going to use your family to bless the whole world in Genesis chapter 12 Abraham builds an altar and he worships God for the very first time at Bethel and if you read through the book of Genesis over and over and over again when Abraham's life gets hard he goes back and he worships at Bethel again he learns to depend on God and then hundreds of years later eventually Bethel had been taken over by some really evil people and so Joshua in the Israelites they have to fight to get Bethel back but they are defeated in their fight to get Bethel back and eventually they have to weed out some of the sin in their camp and then God gives them victory and they learn that depending on God as their only hope Bethel is the place of dependence I know that's a lot so come back with me to 2 Kings Elijah and Elisha walking around in these four places on their last day can you imagine what they're feeling on their farewell tour put yourself in Elijah's shoes knowing you've only got a few hours left maybe Elijah's wondering man have I taught Elisha enough can he really do this does he have what it takes is he ready will will the people be okay under his leadership put yourself in Elisha's shoes and he's wondering what what's life gonna be like without my mentor around we've always been able to rile or lie on his wisdom or to pull out a miracle when we need one we follow the example of his prayer life is the God who led him going to lead me to do I have what it takes am I actually ready for this but remembrance is the key to confidence and so God takes Elisha and Elijah around on this tour to each of these places Gilgal Bethel Jericho Jordan as if to say guys I was faithful in each of these places long before you got here and I will be faithful long after you're gone remembrance is the key to confidence that's their story what about your story this morning walk back through your story if if God was going to take you on a walk this afternoon back through time to show you the places in the past where he's worked in your life where where would God take you to remember in fact this is a really dangerous thing for a preacher to do but I'm going to ask you to close your eyes it's really dangerous I know don't close your eyes for too long okay but close your eyes with me let's do a little exercise together close your eyes take a deep breath and picture the places and the faces on the screen of your mind where's your Gilgal your place of beginnings where'd you start where were you when you first heard the gospel when you decided to own your faith and you said yeah I'm all in what did what did that feel like who baptized you who were your heroes in the faith who showed you the way what about your Bethel where is your place of dependence what was it like when you first confessed your sin and you felt that burden of guilt coming off your shoulders do you remember the first time you felt what it was like to worship free and surrendered what about the first time you trusted God enough to give sacrificially to really trust him and depend on him where's your place of dependence what about your Jericho where's your place of battle think back through all the battles you've had to fight in your walk with Jesus health scares money troubles difficult relationships losing a baby marriage pain divorce death grief addiction anxiety depression doubt wrestling with your sin the loss of your dream think of the most difficult thing you faced and through it all God was there wasn't he it wasn't easy but he brought you through what about your Jordan where where's your place of transition when you moved from one phase to the next think about the different seasons you've been in who are the people who've gone before you who set the path that you're walking on today whose footsteps are you following they have passed the baton to you and for some of you now it's time for you to pass the baton so who's coming along behind you who's walking in your steps is it time for you to pass the baton to them what do they need from you to be faithful to Jesus remembrance is the key to confidence you can open your eyes now for some of you can wake up I hope you enjoyed your nap Elijah and Elisha made their farewell to her from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and at each step you notice what happened right Elijah says go home and Elisha says not on my life as surely as god lives I'm not going anywhere you you need friends like that but eventually the two of them come to Jordan the place of transition and times up and you saw what Elijah did Elijah he takes off his cloak and he rolls up his cloak and he hits the water and the waters of the Jordan River parted just like they'd done for Joshua generations earlier and look what happens after that in verse 9 it says when they had crossed Elijah said to Elisha tell me what what can I do for you before I'm taken from you and Elisha asks for something crazy he says let me inherit a double portion of your spirit Elisha replied you've asked the difficult thing Elisha said yet if you see me when I'm taken from you it will be yours otherwise it'll not as they were walking along and talking together suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared separated the two of them and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind Elisha saw this and cried out my father my father the chariots and horsemen of Israel and Elisha saw him no more then he took off his garment and tore it into Elisha then picked up Elisha's cloak that had fallen from him and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan he took the cloak that had fallen from Elisha then he struck the water with it where now is the Lord the god of Elijah he asked and when he struck the water it divided to the right and to the left and he crossed over the company of the prophets from Jericho who were watching said the spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha and they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him so here's these two guys it's their final moments together Elisha says to Elisha hey right before I go up to heaven what can I do for you Elisha says give me a double portion of your spirit and to us it sounds like he's saying bro I want to be twice the prophet you are but in Jewish years they would have heard it a little differently than that they understood what Elisha meant here you see when a father died he would give a double portion of his inheritance to the oldest son so if a father had three sons he would divide his inheritance into four shares and the oldest son would get two of those shares because he had some extra responsibilities to lead and to care for the family and oldest kids are always the best right can I get an amen this morning yeah and so when Elisha says give me a double portion of your spirit he's saying hey I want to be like your firstborn son I want to be the one to carry on your legacy and Elisha says hey listen that's that's tough but if you see me when I'm taken away you'll know that God has answered your prayer and just like that swing low sweet chariot of fire Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind but Elisha sees it happen he sees Elijah escape death and can you imagine in that moment what Elisha must have been feeling because one minute they're walking along talking his mentor is right here and then the next minute his mentor is being taken up into heaven in a whirlwind and Elisha is left standing all alone and can you imagine what he's feeling in that moment because Elisha like he didn't realize he was a bible hero he didn't have the playbook he can't just flip over to 2 Kings chapter 3 and see what happens next in this story no he has no idea what's coming next he doesn't know how this is supposed to go or turn out but remembrance is the key to confidence and so when Elisha looks down on the ground what does he see laying there it's Elijah's cloak it's fallen off of his shoulders and so he he picks it up and this is just Luke's imagination right but but can you imagine you got to think he picks up that cloak and he runs his fingers across the fibers and it still smelled like his teacher and he smelled and man man if this cloak could talk it's an old cloak's been around a lot of years there's an oil stain down on the hem must have been from all those days baking with miraculous flour and oil with the widow at Zarephath he feels the fibers and look there's there's a hole singed in the sleeve from the fire at Mount Carmel there's a few spots of dried blood stained right there on the collar Elisha remembers how those got there he remembers the day that Elijah walked up onto his farm and said come with me and it was crazy but Elisha remembers he said okay and he and he slaughtered 24 oxen right there and it was a bloody mess and his parents thought he was crazy but man man if this cloak could talk and the whole thing was still a little bit damp it was dripping because just a few minutes earlier Elijah hit the Jordan River with it right there on the surface of the water the waters had parted to the right end of the left just a few moments ago and then then Elisha has an idea he grabs the cloak and he walks right back to the Jordan River and he rolls it up just like his teacher had done it can you imagine how much faith this took and he cries out where now is the Lord the God of Elijah and he strikes the water just like Elijah had done can God really do for me what he did for him is what I remember God doing in the past really a down payment on what God can still do in my present maybe you've wondered that like where now is the God the God of Elijah where is the God of my spiritual heroes where is the God of all these stories that I hear about when I look at the mediocrity of my own life where's the God of my grandparents and my parents who walk so faithfully where's the God of my years when faith was young and fresh and easy and it's Camp Allendale and CIY and VBS and now it's just hard and I feel dry where now is the God of Elijah can he actually work in the life of somebody like me and Elisha hits the water and the waters part just like they parted for Moses and just like they parted for Joshua and just like they parted for Elijah they parted for him God answered his prayer because Elijah and Elisha they were just people like us but they prayed and what's really cool if you let me nerd out here for just a minute Elisha prayed for a double portion and God says yes but because if you read through the book of Second Kings we have exactly twice as many miracles recorded for me Elisha as we do from Elijah 14 from Elijah 28 from Elisha so I don't know where you are today but which of those places you at on your little tour of remembrance maybe this morning maybe you're at the place of beginnings maybe you've got your life you got your twenty four oxen in your field things are going pretty well you've got your life but maybe God is saying no it's time for you to begin something new today and I actually want you to slaughter all twenty four of those oxen and it makes zero sense financially it makes zero sense relationally but God is calling you to dive in and start following him for real and it doesn't make sense but I promise you do you think Elisha would go back and trade 24 oxen for a life of 28 miracles he's so thankful that God took him to the place of beginnings maybe that's where you are today maybe maybe today you're in the place of transition though maybe maybe you're looking back on your life so far and you're saying what have I accomplished really like have I done anything and the reality is that even for somebody as great as Elijah his greatest legacy was not something he did it was someone that he equipped so who is God calling you to invest in who's he calling you to disciple who's he calling you to invite to join you and to equip who has God put around you that he wants you to go drape your cloak over their shoulders and say hey come follow me as I follow Christ maybe it's time for the place of transition maybe you're in the place of battle this morning things are just hard you're wrestling with your sin you got some serious doubts I don't know maybe you're in the place of dependence today and those other things that you've been trusting on for so long have been yanked away and you feel like God's the only thing you got left that's a good place to be because in every single generation from Moses to Joshua from Elijah to Elijah God raises up men and women who are willing to be used by him and my prayer is God if you're going to use anybody would you please let it be us if you're going to do something would you please do it here God if you're going to send somebody would you send us so where are you at this morning I don't know what's going on in your life what are you afraid of what are you dreading what's the most confusing situation going on around you what's the uncertainty nagging at the back of your mind what's the worry or the weariness that's just sapping your strength of soul and in that situation whose voice are you listening to what are you focusing on several decades ago Dr. Alfred Tamarist faced the most difficult case in his entire career as an autolaryngologist that's the big word for an ear doctor I've practiced that many times in my office so I would not mess it up for you you should be impressed and Dr. Alfred Tamarist the ear doctor had this famous opera singer who came to him one time and said hey I can't hit certain notes anymore there's notes that used to be well within my range and I just can't hit him anymore I've seen doctor after doctor I don't know what's going on the problem was that all these other doctors had thought there was a problem with the opera singers vocal cords surely that's why he can't hit those notes anymore but Dr. Alfred Tamarist discovered that no the problems not with his vocal cords the problems with his ears because if you can't hear a note you can't sing the note and he discovered that opera singer sing at an average volume level of 140 decibels by comparison a fighter jet takes off at 120 decibels and the man had been singing so loud that the sound of his own voice had made him deaf if you're struggling today to look forward if you're struggling to see the way out if you can't do it the way you thought you were going to be able to do it maybe the problem is you just listen to your own voice too loudly and remembrance the voice of God is the key to your confidence so remember this whatever season you're in whatever place you're at the Jordan River a place of transition that same spot in the Jordan River where Joshua's generation crossed into the promised land God parted the waters it's the exact same spot in the Jordan River where Elijah struck the water with his cloak and he and Elisha walked through it's the exact same spot in the Jordan River where Elisha came back a few moments later and split the water and the waters part I've stood on the shore of the Jordan River I've seen this spot with my own two eyes but there was something else that happened in that same exact spot in the Jordan River a few hundred years later a man named John the Baptist showed up on the scene the Bible says he was a prophet like Elijah and he was baptizing people right there in that same spot in the Jordan River and John the Baptist saw his cousin come walking down the bank into the river it was Jesus and he cried out look look it's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River in that exact same spot in the place of transition the mantle was passed from John to Jesus just like from Moses to Joshua just like from Elijah to Elisha and Jesus the Son of God the Spirit of God descended on him like a dove and the firstborn of God received a double portion of his spiritual inheritance and from that place he embarked on his ministry and he did the most amazing things you've ever seen and the incredible thing is that every place you've ever been to Jesus has been to Jesus knows what it's like to be in the place of beginnings he's been there Jesus knows what it's like to be in the place of battle he's walked through there Jesus knows what it's like to live in the place of dependence where God is all you've got Jesus knows what it's like to be in the place of transition everywhere you've ever been everywhere you're ever going to go he's been there too and he's there already and all these amazing things we've seen in the life of Elijah that made you feel good or all of them are amplified in the life of Jesus think about it Jesus doesn't have to take off his cloak and hit the water Jesus just speaks and the waters obey and the storm is silenced Jesus didn't escape death in a chariot of fire Jesus didn't find his way around death Jesus walked right through death being murdered on a cross his heart pierced by the spear his blood spilled on the ground his swollen lifeless corpse buried hurried in a borrowed tomb Jesus didn't go around death he went right through it he submitted to it and on the third day he defeated death and he rose from the dead and when he rose again his followers they saw him they touched him they talked with him they ate with him they walked with him and after 40 days just like Elisha they stood there on the ground and they watched as Jesus ascended into the clouds and he said someday I'm going to come back just like this but in the meantime as the Father sent me now I am sending you it's your turn go into all the world and I'll be with you and so remembrance is the key to confidence today that the same God who called Moses the same God who called Joshua the same God who called Elijah the same God who called Elisha the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is the God who is calling you and me so I don't know what place you're in today whatever place you're in the prayer team is going to be around the edges of the room throughout the remainder of the service may we love to receive you would love to pray with you whatever season you're in right now God's there and we want to help you see what he's doing in your life but if remembrance really is the key to confidence then this is the way that Jesus has instructed us to remember him he said of this body of this bread this is my body he said of this cup this is my blood and so I'm going to give you a few moments and whenever you're ready you can receive the bread on your own but would you just take a few moments to just say thank you to Jesus for what He's done and for being right where you are and then we'll pray and we'll receive the cup together. Jesus we don't know what the future holds but we know the one who holds the future so we thank you your king of kings lord of lords and so we remember what you have done we believe every word on these pages in this book we've seen what you have done in our own lives and in the lives of those around us and so we believe we believe Lord and we thank you so much for your sacrifice on the cross that has washed all of our sin away we thank you so much for your resurrection from the dead that fills us with your Holy Spirit power so whatever season my brothers and sisters are in right now my prayer is that you would just be with them and that they would feel your witness close to them and that you would use them and lead them through we love you it's in Jesus' name then all God's people said amen this is the blood of Christ let's stay into worship our king thank you for listening to the podcast today it is our deepest desire here at Plainfield Christian Church that you would experience the joy of being fully alive in Jesus if you have any questions about our church or would like a plan to visit with us go to PlainfieldChristian.com if you'd like to receive our podcast every week we encourage you to subscribe to the Plainfield Christian Church podcast on whatever podcasting platform you'll prefer have a great week