Sermon Texts

March 12, 2023             Text:  Exodus 17:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

Marriage changes things.  “Wow, Pastor you really went out on a limb with that statement.”  Remember the euphoria of dating?  Being on your best boyfriend/girlfriend behavior.  Looking your best.  When I was at the seminary and dating Toni, in the summer I would hire a classmate to cool my car.  He would drive the air-conditioned vehicle to the dorm, and I would get in.  I didn’t want to show up for a date sweaty.  I wanted to smell the way Calvin Klein intended on a date with my girl!  But then we say “I do” and promise for “better or worse” and our carefree lifestyle diminishes.  When my car sits out in the summer, I am not hiring anyone to cool it down before I go home to Toni.  Marriage is never the smooth sailing, continuous high we all imagined.

This is what happened to the Israelites.  When they left on their exodus they came to a place called Elim.  Elim had twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees.  Elim was a bit of paradise.  But they couldn’t stay there.  They had to move on.  In our text they are camped at Rephidim.  But there is a problem – no water.  This doesn’t sit well with the people.  Grumbling and quarrelling are the elixir of the day.  

“I’M THIRSTY – CAN I GET A DRINK?”

The people are accusing God of abandoning them, even though He promised them sustenance in their journey.  They are testing the Lord.  The people wanted to strike the messenger by going after Moses.  The people were concerned about their families and just as concerned with their livestock.  Look at the words Moses’ used when he cried to the Lord.  “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me.” (v. 4). Moses did not call them “my people” or “your people.”  I hope no one does this but sometimes parents can say “that son of yours” or “your daughter” when they do something wrong.  It creeps into estrangement.  It really should always be “our son, our daughter, our children.”  We don’t leave them just because they grumbled about something.

The Lord understands this.  He didn’t leave “His people” just because they got a little “salty.”  He sends Moses and the elders of Israel to the rock at Horeb.  Moses strikes it with a staff and the water gushes out.  There is plenty to drink.  Their thirst is quenched.  Liquid gold flows down the throat.  “I’m thirsty – can I get a drink?”  They got one and many more.  God upheld His promise.

“I’m thirsty- can I get a drink?”  When we are stricken, do we ever thirst for His deliverance?  We can be stricken by things we didn’t bring on ourselves.  Violent weather.  Trouble at work.  Our own sickness.  Suffering as we watch loved ones battle health problems.  We also are stricken with our own sinful nature.  We go against God’s Word.  We create more problems for ourselves by our behavior.  We quarrel and grumble and complain and test the Lord.  We thirst for deliverance from our afflictions.

God’s Son is stricken to be our deliverance.  Christ the Rock was with God’s people at Horeb.  Christ is stricken and water is supplied.  Isaiah and Zechariah both prophesy that Jesus will be stricken.  Jesus Himself announces that He will stricken.  “The Son of Man will be…mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.  And after flogging him, they will kill him.” (Luke 18:31-33). When all of this happens, He does not complain.

He is doing all of this for your benefit.  His pierced side yields water and blood.  This water and blood still flow.  The waters flow in Baptism.  His blood flows in the Lord’s Supper.  The blood and water from the side of the stricken Christ quench your thirst for deliverance from your afflictions.  

The last verse of our text asks a question that has been around as long as man and woman, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  Well, how do you answer?  Like the Israelites, we are in the desert, and we still have some wandering to do.  We should not be surprised to have some hot, thirsty days.  And maybe…just maybe…we might grumble a bit.  Bring your grumbling and complaints to the Lord because He hears your pleas and answers your prayers.  Not always the way we like or as quickly as we expect, but the Lord is among us.  The answer is a definitive “yes, yes, yes” when we wonder if He is here with us.  He will never leave us even when we ask, “I’m thirsty- Can I get a drink?”  Step right up to the water fountain of Christ’s grace, drink and be satisfied.

Amen.       

March 8, 2023 – Lent Text:  John 18:4-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

Have you ever watched some of your favorite actors in roles you didn’t expect?  My all-time favorite comedy as many of you know is the Andy Griffith Show.  Well, one day years ago I am watching my favorite all-time crime drama, Hawaii-Five-O, and Andy Griffith is on the wrong side of the law.  He makes mistakes with his family that he would never do as Andy Taylor.  Another episode of Hawaii-Five-O had Buddy Ebsen of Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones fame, play a professor involved in murder.  It was hard to see these men out of their element.

The same thing occurs in our text.  Peter, the disciple who made the great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (Mt. 16:16), the one who jumped out of the boat to meet Jesus in the water, and the one who pledged loyalty to the Savior, is the same guy committing a crime tonight – assault with a deadly weapon.  Now maybe you are not surprised.  Peter is a little tempestuous.  

Jesus enemies came to the garden because they hated him.  They came with weapons to kill Jesus.  Peter wielded his weapon for a different reason – he loved Jesus.  Peter was full of righteous zeal – but it was misguided. 

You and I love Jesus too.  We get angry when His name is dragged through the mud, or His Word is ignored or ridiculed in our world.  We want to do something about it.  We want to defend Jesus.  Good and godly impulses to be sure, but we don’t want to go too far.  We don’t want to do something against God’s Word, we don’t want to become guilty of having . . .

“HANDS OF MISGUIDED ZEAL”

As we step into the garden, notice who is in charge.  Not the men with clubs.  It’s Jesus.  He meets his would-be captors.  “Whom do you seek?”  This capture is only successful because Jesus’ time had come.  Jesus declares, “Jesus of Nazareth…I am he.”  Looks what happens before they take him away.  They drew back and fell down like bowling pins.  Jesus demonstrates His divine power.  Jesus wasn’t finished.  Though vastly outnumbered, He was giving the orders.  “If you seek me, let these men go.” 

Peter watched all this.  Except he didn’t read the situation correctly.  He reacts in haste and anger.  “Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his ear.”  

How do you see Peter?  Can’t believe he did it?  Or do you understand emotions getting the best of a person?  He convinced himself that this night he would give up his life for Jesus.  When the Savior needed help, he would come to the rescue.

Nothing wrong with wanting to help a friend, right?  Well, not so fast my misguided compadre.  Jesus doesn’t need our help.  Jesus is true God.  He is omniscient (knows all), He is omnipotent (controls all).  Peter should have known that.  He hopped out of the boat and watched Jesus for three years.  Jesus gave him many convincing proofs of who He was.  Peter demonstrated a lack of trust in God.

Christians can have their moments.  The Crusades.  A Christian extremist bombing an abortion clinic.  For the most part, modern Christianity is a peaceful religion.  Don’t we all agree that any kind of violence directed at another is against the Lord’s fifth commandment?

Doubting God’s power, that is something I can relate to.  Not trusting God is a sin my mind knows well.  Thinking I can help God is a trap that Christians fall into far too often.  “If we would only elect the right people or pass the right legislation, we could get back to the days of being a Christian nation.”  “If our church would have more for families and talk less about sin, we would grow quicker like this or that church.”  If we only did X, Y, Z then we could make things better.

If you want to identify the problem, look at the pronouns.  If you are not good in
English grammar, then try this, look in the mirror.  You don’t have to hold a sword in your hands to identify with Peter.  Think of when your thinking has been misguided.  Yes, we want God-fearing leaders and healthy churches.  Yes, God wants Christians filled with godly zeal, but before we put our faith into practice, He wants us to put our trust in Him.  He wants us to make God’s Word and God’s will our guide.  And He wants us to understand how quickly things can go sideways when we don’t.

Jesus reprimanded Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me.”  Why was Jesus upset?  Because He knew what was at stake.  Because He knew there was only one way for sins to be forgiven and only one path that leads to heaven.  God the Father’s plan demanded that His Son be arrested this night and executed the next day.  The perfect substitute died in our place.  He took the cup of suffering to show His misguided disciple – and our misguided actions – how much He loves you and me.

John doesn’t tell us what happened to the soldier who had his ear cut off.  But Luke does.  Jesus reached out His hand, touched the servant’s ear and healed him. This was the Savior’s final miracle before His crucifixion.  Why did He do it?  Why heal?  Why help the enemy?  Because that is who Jesus is.  Because that is what Jesus does.  Jesus came into the world to seek and save.  Jesus has the greatest love for lost souls.  Jesus is full of compassion and mercy, and why a few hours after he healed Malchus, He reached out his hands one last time.  He stretched out His hands on the cross to redeem us from misguided zeal.

Amen.         

March 5, 2023 Text:  Genesis 12:1-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

A man became a Christian at an older age and loved to tell others about the Lord.  One day at a meeting, he gave a beautiful witness to his Savior.  One person who had heard his words was disturbed by something.  “The man has told us God’s part,” he said, “but he forgot to tell us his part, the part before he was converted.  Tell us more.”

The aged man stood up again.  With confidence he responded, “Friends, I forgot to tell you about my part.  I sure did my part all right.  I was running away from the Lord as fast as I could for 30 years, and the Lord just took me until he ran me down.  I did the sinning.  The Lord did the saving.  And that was all the part I had.”

In our text we have the calling of Abraham.  Another old man – 75 years old – who had worshipped other idols in his past.  God called him and made a change.  You still hear his name today.  It all started here in chapters 11 and 12 of Genesis.  Abraham was . . .

“SEEING THROUGH FAITH”

Again, Abraham’s heritage and lineage was not as a follower of the one, true God.  Martin Luther writes, “If you should ask what Abraham was before he was called by a merciful God, Joshua answers that he was an idolater, that is, that he deserved eternal death and eternal damnation.”

Abraham was commanded by God to leave his country.  This meant a loss of security and protection of law.  We have people in our church this morning who have experienced the same thing.  They left their country of origin.  That takes great trust.

Abraham was commanded to leave his relatives.  The ones he left were the ones worshipping the idols.  This enabled him to be consecrated for service to the Lord.  He got away from the bad influencers in his life.  Verse 5 said he went to the land with “people that they had acquired in Haran.”  Who were these people?  Servants, laborers, and children and relatives of the same.  Luther writes, “Not simply his household but the true and holy church, in which Abraham was the high priest.”

Abraham was to go to the land God would show him.  He went “seeing through faith.”  He did not know his destination.

Have you ever left home and didn’t know where you were going?  Many of us in our marriages have probably done this with our spouses.  Toni and I have done it for each other.  Pack a bag.  It can be fun.  We go because we trust the other person.  Maybe your mom and dad did something similar.  Get in the car.  You do, because you trust.

Abraham knew a few details.  He didn’t know the place, but God gave him seven promises.  “A great nation.”  Israel has become the “holy nation” of God that spans the globe.  “I will bless you.”  God blessed Abraham in so many ways.  His grace and favor were upon him.  “I will make your name great.”  His name is still revered among God’s people.  Abram means “great father” – Abraham means “father of a great nation.”  “You will be a blessing.”  By blessing Abraham, Abraham could in turn bless others.  “I will bless those who bless you.”  Here Rahab the prostitute comes to mind.  She is in the lineage of Abraham/Jesus and the Lord used her for good.  “Who dishonors you I will curse.”  Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans all experienced the fulfillment of this promise.  “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  The Messiah came through Abraham to bless the world. 

Abraham knew these seven promises.  He had no idea how they would come about.  He needed to be “seeing through faith.”  In our Epistle lesson for this morning Paul writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  From this calling forward, faith in God would be a part of Abraham.  He builds altars when he reaches destinations.  What was important?  Worship.  Worship keeps us in the faith.

This “blessing of Abraham” continues to be a part of us through God’s grace.  The Messiah, Jesus Christ is, was, and will be a blessing to us.  When we are “seeing through faith” we know how the Lord works in our lives.  We like Abraham have God’s promises.  He forgives when we don’t put Him first.  He calls us to faith – in baptism, the journey began.  He will hold on to us when we stumble and fall.  He will guide the path.  He provides us possessions as we make our way in this world.  He even tells us the destination.  He sent his Son on ahead to be ready for our arrival.  When we get there?  We too will be around the altar of the Lord.  We get a glimpse of that in coming to the communion rail.

The Holy Spirit allows this “seeing through faith.”  Like the spouse or the child, we trust.  We will not be led to the desert when Sybaris is in sight.  We leave behind what holds us back.  We see in Christ our righteousness and the fulfillment of all our hopes.  In receiving God’s blessing, we can in turn bless others.

“And Abram journeyed on.” (v. 9a)  So do we . . . SEEING THROUGH FAITH.

Amen.       

March 1, 2023 Text:  John 13:21-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

King David’s life was filled with more drama than Game of Thrones.  One of his confidants was his nephew Joab.  Joab was fiercely loyal to David when he sent Uriah to the front to be killed so that David could marry Bathsheba.  This loyalty took a U-turn when Joab backed Adonijah instead of Solomon to succeed David as king.  David lamented betrayal when he wrote in Psalm 41, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, who shared my bread, has turned against me.”

Is there anything that hurts more than betrayal?  We might expect office politics or someone to slam the door when canvassing the neighborhood, but we expect loyalty from our friends.  That is why they are our friends.  If a friend shares a secret, manipulates a situation or steals a spouse, the betrayal burns like the sun.

David wasn’t the first person to be betrayed and he won’t be the last.  Like Joab, Judas was close to Jesus.  He was part of the inner circle.  He broke bread with Jesus. . . and Judas lifted up his . . .

“HANDS OF BETRAYAL”

Since the 1940’s nobody names their child Adolph.  Since biblical times nobody names their kid Judas.  Was Judas instinctively evil from the womb?  Why would he do this to Jesus?  He was evil from the womb but just like we are, and Andrew was or Philip was.  Jesus called 12 sinful men to follow and to serve.  

We know from earlier in the Book of John that Judas was a thief.  As the keeper of the money bag, he took for himself instead of giving the money to the poor.

This love of money was just what Satan needed to get him to change teams.  “You’ve already stolen, how about 30 pieces of silver to hand over Jesus?”  His greed unrepented and unchecked corroded his soul over time, and eventually put Judas’ betraying hands at the table.

Betrayal hurts because it is personal.  Judas’ double life even fooled the other eleven disciples.  They didn’t see the greedy darkness in his heart.  But Jesus knew.  “One of you is going to betray me.”

For many of us when we get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we check our baggage at the door.  No politics, no news that we might see differently.  Husband and wife put on the happy face even if a fight occurred the night before.  Siblings clean up their act.  There are certain expectations, and it is a celebration after all.  Jesus is with his disciples having a celebration.  His accusation of a betrayer brings tension.  These men get defensive.  They deny.  They deflect.

My family has seen this tension.  People fought and stormed off to their rooms.  There was silence.  Nobody knew what to do.  Our family of four will never forget that incident.  It made everything uncomfortable.

That is what the disciples experienced.  Tension.  Uncomfortable.  In Matthew it says they “stared at one another.”  Jesus gave no names.  He gave only a clue – “One of you will betray me.”  That set off all kinds of thoughts.  “Is it me?”  “What does he see in my heart?”  “Am I capable of this?” 

Well, are you?  What secret sins are you hiding?  Ever sold-out Jesus for money?  Is there something unrepentant in your life that it is corroding your soul?  Greed?  What is the devil waving in your face?  We are all capable of any sin, if left unchecked or unaddressed.  

As the accusation hung in the air, they are all scrambling to avoid blame.  Peter wants John to ask Jesus who He is talking about.  “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread, when I have dipped it.”  Jesus had exercised pastoral care with Judas throughout these three years.  Now He is trying to jar his conscience by calling him out publicly.  He is trying to encourage repentance in Judas.  It is too late.  The public shame will not change his heart.  His hands except the morsel and the betrayal is set.

Judas would go ahead and identify Jesus with a kiss.  It must have hurt.  Jesus went to the cross and uttered these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  God treated Christ as though He had committed Judas betrayal, as though He had turned traitor like Joab.  God banished Christ to suffer hell’s punishment for our greed, our self-righteousness, and for every secret sin we insist on hiding.  They have been punished in full.  They have been paid in full.  “By his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

How could Jesus love Judas?  Well, He did love him and did forgive him.  Judas thought Jesus would return the betrayal.  In an act of unbelieving despair, Judas took his own life.  The Gospel teaches that God doesn’t betray sinners; instead He turned His back on His Son.  He reconciled the world.  Banish the thought that God will banish us for our sins, and don’t let Satan or anyone else convince you otherwise.  God made peace with man in Christ.  Ask not how God could love and forgive a traitor like Judas.  Ask “How could God love and forgive a traitor like me?”  In Christ alone.

Amen.             

February 26, 2023             Text:  Genesis 3:1-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

Back in 2020, a new board game hit the shelves.  It was created by Jeopardy champion and now host Ken Jennings, along with well-known game designer Richard Garfield.  The game gives you a category like, “World record holders weighing over one ton,” or “Queens of Egypt.”  It lists six possible answers.  Three are correct, three are wrong.  The name of the game?  Half Truth.  I love trivia games and it sounds like an enjoyable evening.  Want to join in playing the game of Half Truth?

Don’t we already play the game of half-truth quite consistently?  It is not a fun party game.  It is you and I trying to level the playing field of our sinful lives by offering half-truths about what we are doing.  It is not a game by Hasbro or Milton Bradley.  It is Satan’s game.  It doesn’t bring smiles and witty banter, but tears and heartache.

The devil is quite clever in our text for today.  He is spewing half-truths.  But if we lay all the blame on him, that is only a half-truth.  Eve and Adam give in to the half-truths.  We thank God for His truth in keeping his promise that day in the garden to send a Savior for our sins.  

“SAVED FROM OUR HALF-TRUTHS”

We try to cover our sin with half-truths.  “Lord, I know I messed up with those words I used back there, but look at all the other good I have done today.  I opened a door for a fellow citizen, gave my wife some love and read my devotion this morning.”  We try to compensate for our shortcomings.  God must really be impressed, isn’t He?  We try to cover our backsides just like Adam and Eve did with their fig leaves.  “Who told you were naked?”

Instead of compensating maybe we look for the easy mark.  “She had it coming, she is so difficult to get along with.”  Who me?  We start redefining our relationships as adversarial, like Adam did with his wife.  He doesn’t just blame Eve, he blames His Creator, “The woman whom you gave to be with me.”  

Here is where we have a hard time handling the truth.  As with the first man and woman, our intimate knowledge of evil brings shame of which we cannot overcome.  You’ve felt that shame, haven’t you?  Red-faced, tense, knowing what you did.  It hurts.  We can’t fool God by trying the end around play where someone else is responsible.  “Must have been my brother, he is always getting into things.”

Our half-truths leave us crying, “Officer, I know I was speeding but I’m late for my massage.”  Our half-truths leave us indignant, “Come on, do you really think I would do that to you?”  Our half-truths leave us in pity, “I’ve had a hard day.  I’m tired.  I’m sick.”  Our half-truths leave us seeking new prey, “Who can I tell on to get me out of this one.”  We can be quite pathetic at times, can’t we?  Do you think God had the same thoughts about two people who had the whole earth and couldn’t get along?

We need someone to cover our half-truths.  How about the Truth Incarnate – Jesus Christ?  Yes, we need the whole truth of Jesus who is going to cover our sin by taking the full responsibility of our sin.  He is going to crush the serpent’s head.  Christ was crushed on the cross for us.  He truly paid the whole price to compensate.  He covers our shame with Himself.  Come out from behind the couch.  The Lord forgives our blame and our excuses and our pity and our fake emotions.  He does it because we are His.

His own Adam and Eve received the same cover for their half-truths.  In verse 21, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”  He clothed and covered them, and men and women have been covered and clothed ever since.

This Whole Truth brings life.  Like Adam and Eve, we have to leave the garden, but life comes in Christ.  Amid death that would now come into the world because of these half-truths, the promise of life comes through the first female – Eve – “the mother of all the living.”  Amid death, the promise of unending life will come through the seed of the woman.  

For now, then, the life we lead is a life of repentance.  I have an inkling our half-truths aren’t over just because we heard them in a sermon.  Daily we need the Lord’s cleansing.  Daily we need the covering of His righteousness.  The Truth Incarnate works faith in us so that we know we have life.  Forgiving life, sanctified life, life eternal.

Telling half-truths might be a fun game to play but it won’t get us any closer to life.  Only Truth can bring life.  Only Jesus in the flesh is the Whole Truth.  That is the right answer.  Please advance to the heavenly kingdom.

Amen.  

February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday     Text:  Luke 18:9-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

Brushing your teeth.  Texting. Eating your lunch.  Opening a door.  Driving your car.  What do these mundane activities have in common?  They are most often accomplished by using your hands.  Take away your hands and these everyday tasks are very hard.

Your hands are an indispensable part of your life.  Hands figure prominently in the events surrounding our Savior’s suffering and death.  This will be the theme for our Lenten sermons, “The Hands of the Passion.”  The hands tonight do not belong to Jesus or Peter or Judas or Caiaphas or Pilate.  They are the hands of the two men in our text.

Most are familiar with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, but as we study it again, focus on their hands.  Make a connection between the actions of their hands and the attitudes of their hearts.  Then apply it to what you observe in your own life, to appreciate and embrace what it means to have . . .

“HANDS OF REPENTANCE”

The setting is the temple in Jerusalem.  Two men have come to pray.  They begin the same way, “God,” but that is where the similarities end.  The first man is a Pharisee, the spiritual elite of Jewish society.  They were reverent and obedient.

He prayed, “God, I thank you…”.  What a great beginning.  Should have stopped there.  “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  His hands were folded but he was giving himself a pat on the back.  He had been keeping the commandments.  

He actually felt he was going beyond.  “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”  He looked good, didn’t he?  The other people probably looked up to him.  But what about beneath the surface.  What was in his head and in his heart?  

We don’t know his motivation; Luke doesn’t tell us.  He could have been blinded by sinful pride or he prayed loudly to mask his insecurity.  

Ash Wednesday is about acknowledging our sinfulness and asking God for forgiveness.  We look to Jesus as the only hope for our sin.  The Pharisee looked past his sins and saw no reason to repent.  He went home empty-handed.  

The other worshippers probably didn’t see the other man who stood at a distance.  He was ashamed of what he had done, with eyes downward and beating his breast he offered a simple prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  He didn’t compare himself to others or put together a splashy resume.  He stared into the mirror of God’s Law.  He saw himself for who he was, a helpless sinner who could only beg for mercy.

It was a short prayer – seven English words – but it was powerful and genuine.  Jesus declared, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Jesus addressed this parable to the self-righteous who treated others with contempt.

Can you think of anyone who fits the description?  The classmate always telling you how great she is?  The co-worker suggesting how to do your job.  The friend who uses the Christmas letter to brag about the family.  Or, do you see someone who looks a lot like you?

If we complain about people who makes themselves out as being better than us, aren’t we making ourselves better than them?  When we criticize those who look down on us, aren’t we turning our noses against them?  C’mon, we would never stand up in church and call out another worshiper like the Pharisee did, but could God judge us for the way we pass judgement on each other in our hearts?

We can easily slip into Pharisee mode.  We need to be imitating the tax collector.  We need to fold hands and open hearts and confess every day, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Then we look to the parable and notice one more person in this little story, the person who told it.  If anyone should be boasting it is the storyteller.  He honored his parents.  He obeyed laws of the land and Ten Commandments perfectly.  Not for his own benefit.  Everything he did, He did for you.  If anyone shouldn’t be humble it is Jesus.  Yet He made himself nothing and came in human flesh.  He was a servant who allowed himself to be humiliated and executed for your sin and my sin.

He took your place so that you have a place in heaven.  He shed body and blood so you can receive it tonight and go away from this altar knowing His mercy is upon you.  His mercy assures you that you don’t have to be weighed down by guilt.  Your Savior is with you.  You know where you are going when you die.  You can leave this house of worship with humble confidence because you are in good hands.  You are in God’s hands.

Amen.