Would you please take your bibles and turn to Titus chapter three as we talk about a Christ-centered conversion today? I mentioned last week that there's a lot of discussion. There are a lot of books out about what's wrong with the church and sometimes that can become a little overwhelming even a little bit irritating, but I think in the final analysis it's a good thing. It's a sense to be a cyclical process over time and ages and generations where we kind of reassess where we are as a church and how well we're doing. And the things that we're facing in this 21st century are not things that the church has not faced before. One of the more recent books and one of the better ones about the church and its assessment has the title Bad Religion. It's got not a very happy title. Bad Religion, how we became a nation of heretics. It's written by a young man named Ross Duphat. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard University. He was the youngest ever op-ed columnist for the New York Times. He was raised as a pentacostal. His sense become a Roman Catholic. He's a prolific writer and journalist and blogger. And he does a wonderful job of assessing where Christianity in America is in the context of all of the things that are going on starting his analysis from the 1950s up to the present time of Barack Obama and our postmodern era. He ranges from Glenn Beck to Barack Obama from the movie Eat, Pray, and Love to Joel Osteen to Oprah Winfrey to the Da Vinci Code and talks about how the warring political factions in our country, the cult of what he calls the cult of self-esteem and the prosperity gospel have really changed the face and the message of modern Christianity. He mentions five what he calls social forces that have changed Christianity. Here they are. Number one, the political polarization in our country has bifurcated, has divided the church into the liberal churches who tend to think in a democratic manner and the conservative churches who tend to think as Republicans. And he says that the churches become the pawn of bipartisan politics. Secondly, he mentions the sexual revolution. He says it is made biblical morality look perverse, unreasonable, unhealthy, and regressive. I mentioned to the discovery class this morning, it probably none of us even ten years ago would have thought that people who were against same-sex marriages would be the bad guys and people who advocated that would be considered the good kind and gracious people, but such is the state of our nation today. Thirdly, he mentions that the decolonization of the third world and the dawn of globalization has incorrectly labeled Christianity as an imperialistic white man's pro-European Americanized religion. He says that's not true and he's right. In fact, it was colonization that was one of the greatest favors in God's sovereignty that was done for what we call the global south for it brought them the gospel in the church. Fourthly, he says the enormous growth of materialistic prosperity has always been a problem and is a problem today. For wealth, he says wars against true Christian community and the health and wealth gospel is an aberration of what the truth is. And finally, he says of fifth social forces, the reality of these first four factors have been most embraced and had the greatest effect upon what he calls the gatekeepers and the opinion makers of our society, the academy, the university, the media, the arts and the major foundations as well as to large extent business and politics. He makes what he calls an assessment of the sociology of knowledge, how we come to know what is right and wrong and where the church used to hold what he called the divine center, the center place of what we call a moral force in our nation, it no longer holds that place because it has been co-opted by politics and compromised by wealth and divided by all kinds of prosperity and self-esteem messages that the world somehow senses are not really the truth. It's a good book, it's an enlightening book. And the amazing thing is that Duthat is talking about the very same things that the apostles talked about in the New Testament. For the Roman, the Greco-Roman society in which they ministered was very much like ours or I probably should say our world is like first century Rome. It was pluralistic, massively multi-ethnic. It had a rising, a standard of living, material prosperity was at its height in the Roman Empire when the apostles began to preach and teach. The old religion that had had the central force of moral energy was beginning to die, that is Judaism. And into this vacuum is the Roman Empire collapsed under its wealth and immorality as as everyone's religion was considered to be equal and so that the primary value was the worship of the state, Caesar's Lord, and the force of the society to shape the message of the church to accommodate that message into that vacuum step these 12 apostles and their church. Now folks if you read books like this you can quite frankly become overwhelmed until you realize that the church of Jesus Christ, the God's people over their span of history, Old Testament New Testament had been through this cycle at least, at least eight times before. It happened in the days of the Judges when every man did what was right in his own eyes led to the revival under Samuel and the establishment of the monarchy and then they went through it again in the decline of the monarchy after Solomon and in the age of the prophets the eventually led to the Babylonian captivity to the restoration of Israel and to another revival under Hagiai, Zachariah, and Malachai. In the first century as Judaism was dying a man from Nazareth named Jesus Christ brought a new message and a new community to the world and the Holy Spirit on Pentecost gave another great revival perhaps the greatest revival of all time in all history. We saw it in the rise of institutional Christianity under a man named Constantine and now that turned into medieval superstition and men like Francis of Assisi and Safranola and other middle-aged preachers began to call the church back to the gospel and back to a renewed vision of what the Christian faith was. We saw it in Medieval Christendom that was finally corrected by the great reformation of the 16th century. We saw it in the 17th century enlightenment and the rise of Puritanism and what we call the evangelical faith. Again in our own times in classical liberalism and the rise of fundamentalism in the age of modernity and the evangelical movement of the 19th and 20th century and we're seeing it now for an eighth time in the emergence of post-modernity and books like this and other books calling us back to a historical faith. Back to what Duthart calls the faith once for all delivered to the saints borrowing that phrase from the little epistle to Jude. Each time that the church has lost its way and forgotten this message and compromised its witness, the Holy Spirit has brought revival to the church, reformation to our faith and a renewal to God's people wherever they are. And he always begins that work the same way every single time with a Christ-centered conversion. Remember the thesis of our sermon series that for us to be an authentic worshipping community that can be used by Christ in the world for good. We have to be a real church with a real Christian message and that's what Paul is talking about in the midst of this changing of the guard as Judaism was absolutely collapsing and as as the Greco-Roman rule was imploding upon itself Paul wrote some letters to two young pastors, Guinean Timothy and his friend named Titus. And he called them to major on the truth. That's the word that occurs most often time and time again in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus the truth. Titus 1 Paul begins with that word Paul, a servant of God in a possible Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth. And he gives us this truth of solid, sound, historical Christianity to bring us back to dead center. If there are five reasons why we are slipping away from the faith, let me give you five reasons to be encouraged that the fat lady hasn't sung yet. It's not all over. And here's the first one. God still loves us. He still loves mankind. And he has given his sons so that we will not perish but have eternal life. Our Father in heaven has confronted bad religion innumerable times since the fall of Adam and Eve. And he has well qualified and empowered to confront it again. Secondly, Jesus Christ is still mighty to save. You know, the interesting thing is it doesn't matter whether Jesus Christ is popular or unpopular with people in the culture. When Jesus Christ decides to move and to save people all of the sudden the masses turn to him is mighty to save. Stronger now in his resurrection than he ever was when he was on earth, able to bring Pentecost after Pentecost. That's the third thing to encourage us. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of life and his major work has always been the work of new life. Whether it's regenerating, causing a dead soul to be born to new life or reviving the faith of an individual, renewing a church, reforming a Christianity, restoring the whole culture. The spirit of God is able to do that. He's the spirit of new life. Fourthly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with true Christianity. It does not have a shelf life because it rests in the heart of the gospel which is the power of God to save mankind, all mankind, from all walks of life over all time. Nothing wrong with true Christianity. It's the pretender that is bad religion. And finally, the Bible remains the living and abiding word of God, the infallible force of truth and the agent of salvation for all men at all times. That's another myth we have in our minds that somehow people have to believe the Bible in order for God to work in their life. Well, I stand before you as a converted person, a converted person who at the time he was converted did not believe that the Bible was the word of God. But somehow, despite my unbelief, sitting under the preaching of God for 15 months, for reasons I have no idea why I did that. That Bible penetrated my mind and converted me. I did not come to confirm and affirm that the Bible was the infallible truth of God until after I was converted, not before. The Bible is able to do its work even in people who don't believe it. It is able to sear into the soul, he Bruce says, and judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart because it is the living and abiding sword of the Spirit. But whenever God begins this new work of bringing the church back to good religion, he always begins with the work of conversion. He begins with three things. Three simple forces, spiritual forces in the world that never fail, the mercy of God, the Father, the new life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, and the justifying work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And that's what Paul talks about in chapter 3, verses 1 through 7 is he tells Timothy, there's a lot of bad religion on the island of crate where you are. These people are liars and evil beasts and lazy gluttons, if you go back to chapter 1, verses 10 through 16 or so, he talks about their bad religion and how in order to bring good religion to people, God is going to do a converting work. Here's what he says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient to let us stray slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, who may poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we may become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Here Paul talks about a Christ-centered conversion. It is amazing John Stott says that as Paul and verses 1 through 7 here focuses on the very heart of salvation. Stott says this is the most comprehensive explanation of what salvation or conversion is in all of the New Testament. He says is often met with negative reactions. People will blush, frown, snicker, even laugh as if it were a huge joke. And thus the devil whose ambition is to destroy not to say succeeds in trivializing the most serious question we could ever ask ourselves or put to anybody else. For Christianity is essentially a religion of salvation. Zoe have come to terms. We have to come to terms with the concept of salvation. And one of the best ways to do so is to study Titus chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. I'm sure that Mr. Duthott has put his finger on a lot of the problems in our culture today. In fact his thesis in this book is that the decline of the American way of life is due to the decline of the American religion, Christianity. But I'm here to tell you, although I accept all he says is a good book, that that is not fundamentally the reason why we have bad religion in America. Bad religion comes from false Christians. People who are not converted and think they are. And good religion comes from true Christians. People who received the mercy of God, the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and been justified in Jesus Christ, people who are saved. And they know it. And so I want us to look, you talk about a basic sermon. It doesn't get much more basic than this. The mercy of God, the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and the justifying grace of Jesus Christ. That's what we're going to look at this morning. Looking first of all of this, the two Christians have received the mercy of God. Read with me again verses 1 to 5. Remind them who? The people he's talking to in chapter 2, the Christians. Look how chapter 2 ends. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all four. No one disregard you. He says Timothy, I want you to be bold. I want you to be confrontation. I want you to be confident in preaching about these things. A call to holiness in chapter 2 verses 11 to 14. A call to conversion in chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. A call to a holy life of good works. Chapter 3 verses 8 to 15. I want you to exhort them, urge them on, rebuke them, confront them about their rebellion and their ignorance and their bad religion. I want you to let no one disregard. You're a young man. Don't stand in your youth. Stand on my message. Don't let people blow you off. Tell them that they need to receive the mercy of God. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid crawling, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in Malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and the loving kindness of God, our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. Paul says, Titus, when you preach the gospel, begin with the mercy of God. Call the people to be what God wants them to be, remind them of what they once were. And the difference between what they were and what they are now is the mercy of God. Look at these parallel statements of seven virtues and seven vices. Here's what Paul says we ought to be, not so that we can receive eternal light, but because we have already received the mercy of God. And therefore, we are submissive to rulers, but we were once led astray. We should be obedient, we were once disobedient, ready for every good work, but we were once slaves to our various passions and pleasures, speaking evil of no one, used to hate others and were hated by others. We are to avoid crawling rather than be envious, be gentle rather than foolish, or humble rather than foolish, be courteous towards all people rather than passing our days in malice. Here's a great radical contrast between what we were and what we are. And the only difference is one thing that the goodness of God and his steadfast love for us has given to us mercy. We have been people who have experienced the mercy of God. Paul's telling us here that Christians are radically different from other people and different from the inside out. They love and submit an obey authority, their parents, their pastors, their bosses, their magistrates. They exhibit biblical wisdom of thought, word, and deed, not the folly of foolishness. They love other people and are kind and gracious. They give themselves not to gossip or slander or speaking evil of us, but to speaking the truth in love. They do not quarrel with other people, they are peacemakers, they are humble and not push your proud, they are masters of their own souls and their own passions and urges and not slaves to those things. They don't hate other people, even when people hate them. They are people of courtesy, not contempt. They are never malicious because they have received mercy. Mercy makes us humble and makes us loving. As Paul said in another place in Romans, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us where our people of mercy and love. I wonder if most Americans would say that about evangelicals, that we are humble people, merciful people, loving people, or would they say that we are harsh and sensorial and aggressive, never wrong, always right, hard on other peoples but easy on ourselves, all talk little mercy. No wonder they don't want that religion. They want the religion of Jesus Christ. They want mercy. They agree with James, the Lord's brother, mercy, triumphs over judgment. Folks, do you know what causes us to be hard on people? Listen to me. It's because we have forgotten the mercy of God. It happens more often to older people than it does to younger people. Younger people are still close enough to their conversion. The wrongness, the indecency of their previous life, that they can remember more easily what they were before God took pity on them. Older people, my age, have lived so long in the righteousness of Christ that they have forgotten. How raunchy they really were. I remember about a month after I was converted, I was on the way to church once and I had a headache. So I stopped at a quick stop to get some Tylenol or something. And the guy came in the door. He had been molested. He was bleeding. He was bleeding from every opening in his body. He had nothing on but a pair of shorts, no shirt, no shoes, nothing. His eyes were bloodshot. He was wheezy and he went and he got a bunch of medical supplies and he put them on the thing and then he turned and he said to the people and said, thank God I'm gay. And I looked at him and he said, what are you looking at church boy? I guess he assumed if I was in the suit and tile and Sunday I had to be going to church. I said, being the young buck, I'm looking at you, what about it? Which was a very Christ-like response.
He said, you hate me don't you? In that moment I was about to say no I don't hate you but I'm going to call cocky when the next week and you say one more, the Holy Spirit said to me, you know? If it wasn't for my mercy that's what you would be. And I said, I don't hate you. You feel sorry for me don't you? I said, I don't. So he turned the cash out and bless his heart. He didn't have enough money. I mean the blood was dripping from his nose. He didn't have enough money. So I said, why don't you let me cover where you're short? He said, I don't need your help. I said, you don't. But I said, we all need the help of God. God's been good to me. Why don't you let me be good to you for his sake? Well, I paid for it. And as I went to get in the car, he followed me out and he still said, hey, I said, yes, he said, are you going to church? I said, yes. What of it? He said, would you pray for me? I don't know what response I'd have to that again today. I doubt maybe today, but I think I'm paying for his shortages. But then you see I was so close to the own immorality of my own life and still such a new believer, still under the romance of mercy that it was hard for me to hate that boy. I did lie to him. I did feel sorry for him. You know, we're going to turn into bitter old people if we ever forget the mercy of God. Amen. There's something else that works in our life to bring us to faith. That's just not the mercy of God, but it's the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. That's verses five and six. The true Christian has been regenerated by the spirit. He saved us not because of works done by us and righteous us, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Here is this third person of the Trinity, this second person in this scenario who's introduced into our life. Not someone we invite, not something we earn. In fact, most of the time people kind of know about God and they have an inkling about Jesus Christ, but the Holy Spirit, they're clueless about him. But he walks into our life and brings these two powerful works, the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Literally, the washing of again birth and the once and again new. Those are the way the words read literally in Greek. Every Christian must experience individually some new work of regeneration, new life, a washing away, a cleansing of sin and in planting of a new nature that the Holy Spirit brings when he lives inside of us in order to become a Christian, in order to be born again. William Hendrickson said there's a difference. It isn't, Paul just isn't using two phrases that mean the same thing. Know that he's pointing to different things. Paul is pointing to the beginning of our life, the washing of regeneration, how we start to be a Christian and something that was on again and again and again the renewing of the Holy Spirit. William Hendrickson said although this work of the Holy Spirit, as well as regeneration is ascribed by God to the Spirit, nevertheless there is this difference. Regeneration is entirely the work of God, but in renewing more sanctification, man as well as God takes apart. While regeneration is never directly perceived by us and becomes known to us only because of its effects later on, renewal requires the conscious and continued surrender of man's whole personality and life to the will of God and the work of the Spirit. It's not enough just to be born again and to rest in that. There are times when you come to the end of yourselves, when you've come to the end of your anger or your violence or your envy or your lust or your arrogance or your materialism when you surrender to the Spirit again and it feels like you've been born again all over again. You've experienced renewal. Here is all the work of the Holy Spirit comprised under these two statements. This work of the Spirit to cause us to come to spiritual life, to give us repentance and faith and to bring us to conversion, to be justified and sanctified and glorified. It's all under these two headings that he starts the work in renewing us in regeneration and continues to renew us again and again in spiritual renewals and revivals and reformations in our life until we become the kind people God wants us to be. This is the Holy Spirit's making of new creations, born and new, converted or changed and always in the process of renewal, but is wrong with the church today. Here's a, we have too many people, too many members who say they've been regenerated, if they've been made new, that they've been converted and yet their life show that they have not.
This is the number one problem I think in the church, especially among I might say younger ministers, younger people. They tend to think that if we hold this standard of regeneration and renewing this holiness, this call to be different, to be transformed, that the world won't be interested so the more we look like and talk like an act like an worship like the world, the more the world will say, well this isn't that tough, I'll just join. My loved ones, it's not working because Jesus Christ and the world expect Christians to be different. They're not interested in religion that's the same as they are. They already have that. What they're looking for is something new. We tend, listen to me, listen carefully to me. We tend to sell the unbeliever short. We tend to think that he's stupid, that he never thinks through things spiritually deep, that he has no hunger for God, that he's not interested in spiritual things, that he'd never come to church, he'd never want to read the Bible, but history has proven the opposite. Unbelievers themselves who tell you that the thing that draws them to the church are three things. And always these three things, very clear, forceful, known nonsense, preaching of the Word of God. Tell me the truth and don't give me any spin. I want to make up my mind and I want the proper information number two. People who are welcoming to them, even though they know they're not converted in number three. People who are humble enough to say we were sinners too and we'd love for you to join us as an ex-center and a new saint. That's what they're looking for. Something radically different that is only the work of the regenerating and renewing power of the Holy Spirit. When they don't see that, they're not interested in good for them. Neither should we. Jesus expects Christians to be different, to be new creatures, and that work only comes about by the internal and powerful work of the transforming spirit, and it only can be rooted in Jesus Christ. And what he has done for us, that's Paul's third point. The true Christian has been justified by Jesus Christ, verse seven, so that being justified by his grace may be become errors according to the hope of eternal life. Here's the mercy of God that opens up for us a new life through the gift of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. Free gifts, we don't earn or deserve. Here's the secret and internal work of the Holy Spirit working in you now, even though you don't even feel it, to bring into a new mind, a new heart and a new life. But the public dimension is what everybody can see. Jesus Christ on the cross, and risen from the dead. Jesus Christ paying the penalty of our sins, raising himself out of the ground in this new life, to give us this new life, this resurrection life, this life and this spirit rather than condemned in the flesh. We can be justified before God through Jesus Christ. We can become an error of eternal life, with a sure hope heaven after we die. Once we repent of our sins, put our faith, trust alone in Jesus Christ. God does the divine transfer. He takes your account, your book of sin, and he lays it on Jesus Christ and takes Christ perfect obedience, his complete righteousness, and transfers it to you. It is reckoned to him, counted to him, imputed to him as righteousness, the one who believes in Jesus Christ. He declares you not guilty. He removes all condemnation from you. He imputes or credits you the perfection of Jesus Christ. He completely accepts you and adopts you as a son or daughter. There is therefore now no condemnation. Not even when they sin and fail, not even in their full of bad religion, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, only the motivation of love and gratitude and security to press on and holiness. When people say, you know, Pastor, if you preach holiness too much, you're going to discourage people, not if I preach it biblically, not if I tell them that the launching pad for their holy life is the righteous life of Jesus Christ, that even when they sin, God accepts them, that even if they are backslid and you can't tell them from a rank-pagan,
that they've been justified in Jesus Christ, so it's not a fear, it's not of any supernatural effort, it's not out of any kind of list of do's and don'ts that we finally get to where we should be, it's because of Christ and us, the hope of glory, who's made us right with God and now in confidence, we work out our salvation of fear and trembling because God isn't work within us, but to willing to work for you is good pleasure. You know, maybe it was because of the faithfulness of the preacher who I sat under when I was first converted, but I've never called this into question, that once I put my faith in Jesus Christ, the story was over, I mean, the final scripted and written, I was right with God, and not only will I not be condemned, I would be given great reward because Christ had died for me, and now he was living in me, I had been crucified with Christ, there's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in this flesh, I live by faith in the Son of Man, who loved me and continues to do so and gave himself up for me. Folks, it is this justifying grace, this righteousness of Jesus Christ that gives us the confidence, the assurance, the humility, the strength to push for heaven and holiness, and that which is pleasing to God and good for other people, and when we fail, as he always does, Christ makes up the difference and we are right with God. What a confidence we have in the finished work of the Savior. Amen? Now listen, you put these three things together and you've got good religion. The primary cause of bad religion is that religious people have forgotten the mercy of God, they have become harsh and unloving and intolerant and mean. They have not experienced the renewal of God. They might be regenerated more and again, but they have gotten lax and lazy and worldly and they haven't gone back and sought the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit or perhaps they are sitting in the church thinking that I have done that and they haven't, they have never repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ or maybe they are so afraid of trying to step forward in obedience that they are paralyzed and they have forgotten that their worst failure can be turned into a great success because of the justifying work of Jesus Christ. They just can't lose with Christ. They can't. The fat lady has sung and we're in heaven with Christ and we are shining with his righteousness. That's the end of the story, the gospel story. Years ago, James Packer wrote a book called Knowing God and he said in that book towards the end, we need to ask ourselves what is my ultimate aim and object in occupying my mind with all of this knowledge of God? What do I intend to do with my knowledge about God once I've got it? For the fact that we have to face this, that if we pursue theological knowledge only for its own sake, the knowledge of God is bound to go bad on us.
That's what's happening to Christianity in America. We're resting in knowledge and the knowledge of God is going bad on us because we've forgotten mercy. What we once were and how God for reasons will never understand, plucked us as a brand out of the fire and said not anymore. You won't be like that anymore. I'm going to help you. We've ignored the Holy Spirit and his calls to repentance and faith and renewal. We acknowledge him as a doctrine but not as God who lives inside of us. In fact, sometimes we're so comfortable in our worldly ways we don't want him to change us and that grieves the Holy Spirit. And we are resting in what Christ has done for us and we're afraid to step forward at the next stage sanctification for the fear that if we fail, God won't love us anymore. We really don't understand how powerful the blood of Jesus Christ eternally is. There is nothing a justified person can do ever to make God not love you and to make him reject you. You are safe and secure in Jesus Christ and that confidence, that security, that love should motivate you forward toward good religion, good works as Paul will tell Titus in the very next paragraph. How about it? How many of you here need to remember today the mercy of God and be refreshed in it? How many of you here need to count again on the powerful work of the Holy Spirit and be renewed in it? And how many of you are living in fear and you need to remember the justifying grace of God and rest in it? How many of you need God to help you again so that you become the all that God intends you to be? Let's pray. Father, this little passage on conversion we think would only affect those who had never come to Christ, but in fact, your Holy Spirit says it affects us all. For none of us can escape our daily need for the mercy of the Father, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit and the justifying grace of Jesus Christ. This is why we call you our great God and Savior, Father, Son and Spirit, because you all participate in partner in this work of bringing us to newness of life, moving us forward in this world and taking us towards glory. And you do so with great mercy, great power, and great grace so that we are prepared to be a blessing to you and an encouragement to other people in good Christ-centered gospel religion. We need renewing refreshment. We need to be recharged by the presence of the Lord in our life. We need you to answer our prayers this morning. Some of us for the prayer of repentance and faith that we might for the first time really trust in Christ. We need a Holy Spirit to cause us to be born from above into a new life. We need your mercy, Father. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Judges not save us all. Being as to Christ take us on with Him and use us for great good in this world that you might be pleased that we might be blessed and others might come to this new life as well through Jesus Christ our Lord and whose name we pray. Amen.