I know many here who have gone through so much, who have lost a loved one and who have gone through a diagnosis, who lost their job. And the next Sunday, they sit in these chairs and they show up again and they don’t have anything piffy to say. People tap them on the back and go, hey, how you doing, bro? And they go, I can’t even formulate a sentence to describe how I’m doing. I have no quick words.
I’m doing great. Pray for me. They don’t have anything. They can’t explain what’s going on. They can’t even describe how to get the help that they need.
They don’t know how to deal with their problems. And sometimes they sit and they cry. I’ve seen people who I know, who I love deeply, sit in this service, break down and walk out and then come right back and sit again. And look, they may sound out of place sometimes because they’re like, look, I don’t even want to be here. And you’re like, God bless you.
You, like, walk away because you don’t know how to deal with them. But they come and they stay connected to their faith community, and they still pray and they still read their bibles, and they still go to community group, and they mark themselves as present even when they’re doubting. Brothers and sisters, when you’re stuck in the middle, stay connected to those in your faith community. While you wait for Christ to come. I want to invite you to John, chapter 20.
We’re going to look at verse 24. Let me go ahead and read it for us as we begin our service. Here we go. Now, Thomas, also known as Didymus. Didymus means twin.
So Thomas evidently was a twin. One of the twelve was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hands into his side, I will not believe. A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands? Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.
Thomas said to him, my lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. We are nearing what the end of our series that we have called the ministry of Jesus, where we have looked through the life of Jesus and every event in Jesus ministry. And by the way, there’s only, I think, four sermons left in this series.
Aw. Exactly. But since Easter, we have been looking at the events that immediately precede the resurrection. And we have been looking at the appearances of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and we have been following his life and following the stories found in all the gospels and see that the resurrection is such an important and such a vital moment in human history, but also in the church, that all of the gospel accounts include the resurrection in it, not only include it, but include multiple stories or multiple detailed accounts to provide evidences of its reality. And we’ve been following along, we’ve seen every step of the way, kind of Jesus appearances and the people who are interacted or intercepted by Jesus.
And this has kind of been, allow me, if you will, to give you, like, a little bit of a recap, a little bit of a timeline of what we talked about. So first you have the resurrection of Jesus that happens there. That’s awesome. The next thing we looked at was Luke’s account records. Sorry, John’s account records that Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb.
So Jesus is resurrected from the dead. We don’t exactly know when that happens, but we know it’s somewhere in that early morning time of Sunday, that first Easter morning. Mary Magdalene arrives earlier than all the other women. And then immediately after that, the other women arrive. The three women arrive.
And they see that they’re perplexed. They see the stone is rolled away, that the tomb is empty. There’s clothes laying on what would have been the place where he was laid down. And they’re overwhelmed. And Jesus rather.
And there’s an angel there. And the angel says, look, the one you’re looking for is alive. And so they run back and they report this evidence to the twelve. And the two of the guys are very overzealous, Peter and John. And so they immediately run to the tomb.
And when they get there, they see what the women have seen. They don’t see Jesus. They just see that the stone has rolled away and that there’s no one in the tomb. And they’re confused. And they go back wondering what had happened.
After John and Peter go home, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, who is waiting at the tomb. That happens in John, chapter 20, verse 18. Mary Magdalene is so amazed that she runs back to the disciples and tells them, I have seen the Lord. But at this point, these disciples don’t believe it’s possible that a guy could raise from, from the dead. So they remain in the house with it locked up, no doubt contemplating what their next move is.
Certainly it’s not the belief that there is a resurrection afoot. The story goes on that these two disciples, these guys who are on the road to Emmaus, are walking and they’re talking and they’re struggling with the idea that maybe Jesus is, Jesus was their hope, but he’s certainly dead now. And while they’re talking, Jesus appears to them and gives them a whole theology of the Old Testament through the lens of the risen Messiah. And he talks to them and he preaches to them and they don’t fully understand it, but eventually he shows them the scars and then he disappears from their sight and they run back to the eleven to go tell them. Now, we have another event that happens in the middle there.
One corinthians chapter 15 tells us that Jesus appears to Peter. We don’t know where this is in the timeline, but it’s somewhere there. And the Emmaus disciples return immediately to Jerusalem and they find the other eleven gathered and they bust down the door and they tell them, look, the messiah has risen from the dead. And also he has appeared to Peter. Now, this should have given validity to the testimony of the women.
And yet, in spite of all the testimony, and in spite of more importantly, Jesus own testimony, that he would rise from the dead, no one believes. And so that’s how we start. John, chapter 20. Josh talked about this last week, but the room is locked, the doors have been barred for fear that they’re going to be arrested and possibly even executed, and they’re going to experience the same fate their master had faced. They’re fearful.
They’re frightened. They’re terrified. And so consequently, they are hiding behind the door. And when the Emmaus disciples come in to tell them that Jesus is alive, they do not believe. And it says at that immediate moment, Jesus appears to the other ten.
Jesus walks in and says, peace be with you. And they are terrified. And he says, peace be with you. And they are terrified once again. And eventually he shows them the scars and they say, amen.
You are risen from the dead. Now, that’s what we’ve talked about so far. So I want you to know this. This is where we are. There are twelve apostles.
One of them is gone. He’s dead. That’s Judas. So there are eleven more disciples. And all the women, all the women believe.
And the eleven disciples. Sorry. And ten of the eleven disciples belief. And now we’re introduced to the character Thomas. Thomas.
Now, Thomas also called Didymus, one of the twelve was not with the disciples when Jesus came. He’s not there. And they come in, they say, look, we have seen the risen Messiah. But for whatever reason, Thomas is not present. Thomas missed the appearance.
He missed that sermon. He wasn’t there. All of this has happened, and he has yet to know what’s going on. So now I’d like for you to think a little bit about Thomas. Thomas would have heard the women.
He would have heard the people from the road to Emmaus. He would have gotten home, and he would have immediately heard the other ten. And they go, look, he’s alive. And what does Thomas say? Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, I will not believe.
Thomas returns. And I would imagine that he walks in the door and they say, hey, we have some news for you, Thomas. Sit down. And Thomas takes a seat, and he can see. What was once a face of mourning is now a face of celebration in the eyes of the disciples.
And everyone is excited. And he’s sitting there thinking, why are all of you so happy? What is going on? He sees their face has changed. And they sit him down and they say, Thomas, it’s true.
He’s alive. And I imagine that Thomas takes a deep breath and he says, unless I can touch the scars, unless I can see the place where they took my friend, my teacher, my messiah, and hung them on a tree, I will not believe. I will not do it. Can you picture it? Can you picture it?
Everyone’s excited in the house. Everyone’s celebrating. Everyone but Thomas. There is no budging Thomas. Thomas.
But Thomas, you got to believe. We actually saw him. No, no, no, no. And maybe Thomas breaks down. Maybe Thomas wails in tears.
I will not believe. No. No matter what you say. And if you’re one of the other ten, what do you do? What do you do at this time?
If you’re one of the women, what do you say? Do you keep trying to convince your friend? And then for how long? Well, the sermon, the scriptures go on to tell us that it stays this way for the next week, for a week. And every single day, they’re walking into that house with Thomas and the other ten.
And the ten are going, woohoo. We have seen the risen Messiah. And Thomas goes, I will not believe. Every day, and then another day, and then another day, they meet for hours on end, and he will not believe.
You could picture it, right? You know, in my study of these texts, we said that we wanted to learn from the characters that maybe were struggling the most or maybe needed the most healing. And I’m always trying to study those characters out, trying to study out Thomas and try to pull away kind of relevant ideas for all of us, things that are kind of pertinent to the human experience. And I certainly believe that this story is so, it makes so much relevant sense to the way you and I experience our own faith. I want to explain it to you.
Last week I was at a kind of a minister’s kind of retreat meeting thing in Gainesville, and one of the teachers there was a friend of mine named Marshall, and he talked about this idea that as a church leader, as a pastor, an evangelist, an elder, we are responsible, he described, for ministering to those in the middle. That’s what he said. And this is what he was describing. He said, for most of your christian life, for most of us, rather, the christian life starts off really good. You know this, right?
You’re optimistic, you’re excited. We talked about people getting baptized. All those people are just like, God is good, you know, and we’re like, wow, you don’t know what’s coming. God is with me, you know, and you really feel that. You feel like God is with you and you try to overcome sin and you do it and you try to, like, reach out to your family and they actually say yes.
And it’s incredible. And you’re like, everyone’s complaining. This is actually easier than I thought it was. And you think, God is good, and God is faithful, and God is good in every situation. And so you journey, and the normal christian journey starts off really well.
You have victories, right? And you’re like, God is good, right. You feel that. You get a sense of that to be just true. And then, you know, kind of the end of the story.
All of us know the end of the story. What is the end of the story? The end of the story is God makes everything good. And you believe that? Romans eight, right?
For the good of those who love him. Romans, revelation, chapter 21, I’m making all things new. God makes things good. But most of the issue in our christian life isn’t the start and isn’t the end. You know where the issue is in the middle.
God is what? Not here. God doesn’t care. God’s not with me. And he was sharing with all the ministers there that it’s the minister’s job to take care of the people who are in the middle.
And as he was talking, I thought of this text because Thomas is in the middle. This is Thomas story. Here’s a quick review for Thomas. He starts off as Jesus disciple. He’s one of the twelve.
Jesus is on that side of that mountain and he says, thomas, come up. Come. You come up and you come up. And he is chosen from amongst this crowd of disciples, 5000 large. He says, come, you.
I want you to be an appointed apostle next to me. Whoa. I am one of the chosen few who get to be with Jesus. That’s the start of his journey. And we actually know the very end of his journey where Jesus is Lord.
We know Thomas story. Thomas will eventually be a missionary in India. By the way, to this day, Thomas is venerated as the apostle of India. There exists even today a population of christians amongst the Alabaster coast which is on the west side of India who believe that they are a direction. They are direct conversion descendants of the apostle Thomas.
Thomas is martyred in India, speared because of his great faith. We know that eventually he will declare Jesus is lord. When everyone says, denounce Jesus, we know the end of Thomas story. But you know what the middle of Thomas story is? Doubting Thomas.
You get this, though, don’t you? Have you ever been in the middle? You’re like, God is faithful. And then your juvenile belief is tested. And then all of a sudden you’re like, is there a God?
And the cynicalness and the critical nature find its place in your life. And it goes from, God is faithful to. He may be faithful, but he’s not faithful to me. You ever been there that time in your life? I tell you, this is so much a part of the human nature that the stories in the Bible are all rich with this idea of people who make it in the start and make it at the end, but their middle is all messy.
How about Father Abraham? You know that guy, Abraham? God says to Abraham, look at the stars. Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars. Abraham is like, whoa, this is incredible.
And then he goes, hey, where’s my heir? I have no heir. So I’m going to sleep with my maidservant so I can make an heir come. And you know that whole middle, that whole disgusting mess there with Abraham and Ishmael and that whole situation. Eventually, what happens at the end, though?
He is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. How about the story of Israel freed from Egypt? And then what do they have to do for 40 years? Wander in the desert before they get to the promised land? The start is good.
The end is good. The middle is messy. David, you’ll get this slide. If you get the slide. You’re the man they’re trying to pick a king.
You’re the guy. You’re the man. And then you are the man tells the story, right? You know the story. He’s like, he kills that Rai Rai, the Hittite.
He kills him. He kills him and he goes, hey, here’s the little iwi lamb story. You are that guy. Oh, crushed. And at the end, he’s the man, the God of David.
How about Mother Mary? You are highly favored. You who are highly favored? You who are highly favored? Oh, my goodness, I’m highly favored.
I’m carrying the Lord. There’s no room in the inn. You’re going to have to give birth in this dirty, dirty pen. And then eventually she gives birth to the Lord, her God. This is why I think this little account can we can learn so much from it, because often we find ourselves in the middle, or we have loved ones that are in the middle.
And here’s the question I want to explore for the rest of the time that I have. What do we do when we’re stuck in the middle? And this is Thomas? Thomas is sitting there and everyone is saying, jesus is alive. And he’s just there.
And Thomas is like, yeah, sure, sure, guys, he’s alive, sure, whatever. And he just sits there for the next week. How awkward is that for everyone? The apostles are, like, trying to convince him, hey, he’s alive. He’s like, unless I see the scars, I will not believe.
And he just sits there. And I imagine that people are pulling him aside. Peter’s like, john, you want to give it a shot? Okay, yeah. How about, you know, whatever?
You want to give it a shot? I don’t know. I’ve already tried that. He’s like, calling people for advice. What can I say to him to convince him that the messiah is alive?
And maybe they’re trying hard. They’re like, if you just try harder to believe, you will believe. And then I can imagine the public prayers, like, how passive aggressive do you think the prayers would have been? Lord, there are those amongst us who are struggling with belief. Would you convince those among us who are struggling with believe to believe?
And there is Thomas, just stuck in the middle again. We heard the end, but, boy, what happens in the middle? What happens when you’re stuck? And I know you know this feeling. I know some of you know this feeling.
You come to church and you sit in these seats and you mouth the songs, but your heart is still broken and life is still just wrong. And your dreams were dashed, and your pain is so real, and you’re just stuck there and you sit, and you know that it’s awkward, and people pull you aside and go, hey, bro, what’s going on? Like, I see your face is downcast. You see, you used to be so happy, but now you’re not happy. You used to sing songs so loudly, and now you roll your eyes and there’s no judgment on Thomas.
Thomas saw his lord killed on a tree. He saw his best friend murdered, and all of his dreams were utterly destroyed. And I think there’s people, right, who are in this room, who are in our community, who are just stuck in that place, stuck in the space between God is good and God will make everything good. Who are stuck there. In between, God is faithful and God will prove to be faithful.
In between, Jesus is Lord and Jesus is my lord, and we’re stuck there. What you act like is you’re cynical and you’re critical and you’re doubting and you’re depressed. And in the middle, you see everybody else, and they’re happy because they’re on the other side and they’re smiling and they’re giving you life advice, and they’re going, hey, bro, you know what I did is I just prayed harder. And you’re like, great. It’s not like I haven’t tried that.
You know what you should do? Why don’t you just deny yourself a little more? And if you could just deny yourself a little more, you’ll get to the other side of this. You know what I learned is if I read my Bible every day, things get better. And we’re trying to give advice, but we don’t really know what’s going on.
And the person’s like, I can’t unless I see it. I don’t know if I can believe. So what do we do? What do we do when we’re stuck in the middle? Well, I learn a lot from Thomas.
Here’s the little line. This is not a doctrinal statement. This line doesn’t make a doctrinal statement, but what I pulled from it, I find to be so profound, at least for my own life. Here it is. Are you ready?
It says, a week later, his disciples, that’s Jesus disciples, were in the house again. Again is not like once again. They had been in the house every day. A week later. And do you know who was there?
Thomas was with them. Thomas was with them. What does Thomas do when he’s stuck in the middle for seven days, he stays in the house with his disciples. He says, look, I’m one of you. I’m a disciple.
Of Jesus also. I’m not going anywhere. I may not be a believer yet. I may be a doubter now, I may be struggling with my faith and struggling with fear and dealing with my pain, and I may not be able to give you anything or provide anything. But for now, you know what I’m gonna do?
I’m going to be present. I’m not gonna seclude myself and run away and say, no. No one understands me. Instead, I’m gonna take a step closer into my community of faith. I’m not gonna push people away.
I’m going to stay here and be present. I’m not gonna miss meeting meetings of the body, as some are in the habit of doing. Instead, I’m gonna stay in the community of faith. Here’s my encouragement. You brothers and sisters, when you’re stuck in the middle, stay connected to those in your faith community while you wait for Christ to come.
I want to make a quick acknowledgement to you in this church, because I find this church to be full of heroes. I see this same Thomas spirit in so many of us. I know many here who have gone through so much, who have lost a loved one and who have gone through a diagnosis, who lost their job. And the next Sunday, they sit in these chairs, and they show up again, and they don’t have anything pithy to say. People tap them on the back and go, hey, how you doing, bro?
And they go, I can’t even formulate a sentence to describe how I’m doing. I have no quick words. I’m doing great. Pray for me. They don’t have anything.
They can’t explain what’s going on. They can’t even describe how to get the help that they need. They don’t know how to deal with their problems. And sometimes they sit and they cry. I’ve seen people who I know, who I love deeply, sit in this service, break down and walk out and then come right back and sit again.
And they. And look, they may sound out of place sometimes because they’re like, look, I don’t even want to be here. And you’re like, God bless you. You walk away because you don’t know how to deal with them. But they come and they stay connected to their faith community, and they still pray, and they still read their bibles, and they still go to community group, and they mark themselves as present even when they’re doubting.
Can you imagine, Thomas? How can we help you believe? Show me his scars.
I don’t think we can do that. We ask the same question, brother. How can we get you out of this depression? Can you bring my loved one back? I don’t think I can do that either.
I know. I want to acknowledge you. Some people are scared and defeated and depressed, and they don’t even know what to believe anymore. But you know what? For some reason, they keep coming and they keep praying and they keep asking and they keep leaning into their community, and everyone around them moves on, but they do not.
And everyone around them looks happy, but they are not. And everyone around them is excited for the future, but they can’t seem to find out how to move on in their lives. And allow me, if you would, to say this to the brothers and sisters who are doubting, who are stuck in the middle, who are depressed and discouraged. If you’re in the middle, I want you to know you are as much a part of this community as anyone else is.
You are one of us. And you can sit here and you can come and you can meet with us. And I want you to know that it’s okay for you not to be okay. And it’s okay for you to be doubting, and it’s okay for you to be angry. And it’s okay for you to not feel as positive as you used to feel and not even positive about what’s next in your life.
And I want to encourage you. Just keep pushing into the presence of God, and eventually I believe Christ will find you. Keep praying, keep your heart open. Keep being in this community. Keep coming to service.
Keep going to community group. In fact, as my friend said, the one who taught, it’s the church’s job, I think, to minister to those in the middle. As the church, we are ministering spirits to those in the middle. And so you are welcomed here. If you’re struggling today, we want you to sit with us and pray with us, and we don’t know how to fix your problems.
That’s the truth. We can’t, like, we literally can’t fix your problems, but we can sit with you, we can pray with you, we can suffer with you. We can work it out, you know, to make room in our lives. And I want to also make a quick comment to the brothers and sisters who are on the other side. Can I tell you this?
One of your jobs in this church is to be just a source of encouragement to people who are suffering. I want to encourage you to not try to just fix them with, like, a quick sentence. Like, I don’t know if you’ve ever, like, have you ever gone through something and someone’s just like, don’t worry, it’ll be okay. Everyone’s like, thanks. Punch you in the face.
You know, that’s the way it feels.
But you can’t fix them. But you know what you can do? You can love them. You can pray with somebody. You can open up your heart to hear their story.
You can open up your schedule to grab a cup of coffee. You can share a laugh. You can open up your home to have someone over for dinner. You can be a minister. And I believe this is what the apostles are doing in this time as Thomas is just doubting and waiting.
And then here’s what happens. A week later, when his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them, though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hand? Reach out your hand and put it into my side.
Stop doubting and believe. Thomas sits there and he waits until finally he comes face to face with Jesus. I love this text because it shows me how much the Lord actually cares about us, that Jesus gives Thomas exactly what he needs to believe. Come touch my side. Stop doubting.
Just believe. A friend of mine this weekend was talking to me about what he described was over the last four years, he has gone through, as he described it, hell. His daughter has been struggling with gender issues and he’s a minister of the gospel and he’s suffering. And in the same time he lost his job. And then that led to some economic issues and then that led to some tension in his marriage.
And it’s just been challenged, like the compounding effect of challenges. And he was telling me that he’s been praying. He’s been praying for God to just tell him why. Lord, he says he prays on his knees every night. Lord, tell me why.
Tell me why. Tell me what this all means and make it make sense. He says he’s been praying this prayer for four years, until eventually one day in the middle of the night, at 330 in the morning, he woke up and he got on his knees and he said he felt like God told him, I’m doing this for your good. And he was able to say a prayer that he said he couldn’t pray before. He says, God, thank you for the things you allowed me to go through.
I believe Jesus met my friend that day. And I believe he stayed because he stayed consistent. He kept connecting, he kept praying, he kept coming to the community. I believe Jesus met him right in that place. And I think Jesus will meet all of us.
Just like he met Thomas. If we’re stuck in the middle, but if we keep searching for him, God looks for us. God ranges the whole world to encourage those who are fully committed to him. God looks for those who are struggling and doubting. And I think if we keep reaching, if we keep searching, if we keep knocking, we keep asking, if we keep knocking on the door, one day God will open it.
He will show up in the place of our pain, and maybe he won’t fix it all in this lifetime, but at least we can get on the other side of that terrible situation. What a great lord we have in Jesus Christ. Amen. A compassionate and faithful friend, one who is willing, if you keep searching, to meet you where you are. This is Thomas.
He’s been doubting. He says, touch my side, touch my hand. Thomas does it. And then here’s Thomas response. Thomas said to him, my lord and my God.
My lord and my God. Here’s the story. He starts as Jesus disciple. He ends with Jesus as Lord. And in the middle, he is doubting Thomas.
But let me tell you, he gets to the end of the story because he keeps pushing into his community of faith, and he does not give up on it. I’m convinced no matter where you are, no matter what you’ve gone through, if you believe that God is faithful, but you’re in the middle right now. One day, I believe you will believe that God is faithful again. I believe that. And it may take seven days, it may take one month, it may take seven years.
But at the end you will know that we have a good and faithful God. Let me close out here verse 29. Then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed. Then he does a little bit of encouragement for all of us. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
He’s talking about all of us. First, Peter one eight describes it this way. Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you’re receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your soul. This is what it’s like to have faith in God.
But I think if we want to make the connection to the idea of being in the middle, this is the way I think about that verse that Jesus just said, blessed are you. When you can go through the worst the world has to offer and still declare that God is good. I think about Habakkuk, chapter three, and this prayer. And this is the prayer I want for all of us. It’s though the fig tree does not bud.
Meaning, though the thing that I wanted in life doesn’t come to fruition, and there are no grapes in the vine, which means I have been longing for God, for you to do something in this situation, and nothing has happened. And though the olive crop fails, meaning I have no money and the field produces no food, I don’t even have food enough to eat. Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stall, yet I will rejoice in. In the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my savior.
Wow. Can we be those people? Can we be those people that at the beginning we start out with God is good, and at the end we say God makes everything good. And in the impossible middle, even though we are struggling in our faith, we can still declare with our mouths and believe in our heart that God is good. Praise our God, who is good and who is holy and righteous.
Thank God for his compassion and the loving nature of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Messiah. This Christ, whom we love and whom we believe came to us at the worst of times while you were still sinners, Christ died for you. What an amazing truth, an amazing reality we have in Jesus Christ our Lord. Let’s pray together for communion.
Father, we come before you and we want to just. Lord, first I just want to pray for those in our church who I know are going through challenging situations.
I get the benefit of hearing the intimacy or those intimate thoughts that our members have. Lord, that your disciples have in this room. The stories where things just feel like they’re going awry. And every time I hear them, Lord, I just. Of people struggling in their marriage, of people struggling economically, of people who are struggling in their health or who have lost loved ones.
I just feel this incredible burden that God, that I can only imagine that you see and that you feel, Father, I know, Lord, that you want to make things better in their time. But I just pray, God, that you will give the brothers and sisters in this community a little bit of relief. Lord, would you meet them on their bedside? Would you meet them in the moment of their suffering? God, would you give them some relief so that they’ll know that there is a God in heaven?
And, Father, I know that sometimes relief isn’t what proves that you’re right. But, Lord, sometimes we just need it. God, we just need a little hug from you to know that you are present in our lives. God, I ask you that you would do that for our brothers and sisters. I ask also for those who have gotten to the other side, that we can be ministers of everyone in this room, that everyone here will be in support of others who are struggling and who are going through it.
And that will truly be a community as you have called us to be. Lord, thank you for your incredible righteousness. Thank you for your love. Thank you for sending Jesus, who died in our stead and was a victor over sin, hell and the grave. Lord, I’m thinking just about the idea that in some ways, Lord, you were in the middle, too.
You came from glory and you lived in heaven, and then you went to earth, and then you went to glory again. Lord. You know what that’s like. Lord, even in the death resurrection story, you were killed for our redemption. And then one Peter describes that you went into Hades or went into the place of the dead and redeemed us, and then you raised from the dead.
Lord, you know what it’s like to be. Be there. And so, God, I just thank you so much for being a priest that is not. That is able to sympathize, that is not so far away, but knows exactly, exactly what to do to bring us comfort and relief. Father, we trust you.
We believe you are good. Father, I pray as we take the bread that represents your body and the juice that represents your blood. I pray, Lord, that we will be more in contact with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ than we were before we came. We love you, Lord. We thank you for this time.
It’s in your son’s name. We pray. Amen.