WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:09.279 Good morning, Riverside, Good morning, Riverside. There's a viral video going 2 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.560 around of a little girl trying to make her bed with a fitted sheet, 3 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:16.640 and at each corner of the bed she says, help me, Lord, 4 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:27.839 And that's I decided that would be my pre sermon prayer this morning. So 5 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:42.960 pray with me, Help me, Lord, help us Lord Amen. I 6 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.759 would like to begin today with some embodiment, as we've grown accustomed to doing 7 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:54.479 with Reverend Thorn at the helm. I want you to look around your pew 8 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.600 or your home, and I want you to take out the blue Bible nearest 9 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.239 to you. If you can't find one, walk around and find one. 10 00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:08.680 If your neighbor can't find one, help them out at home. If you 11 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:11.400 need to go, look on your bookshelf or under your bed, or on 12 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:18.480 your nightstand or in a box for that, go for that. I want 13 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:23.000 you to hold this Bible, and if you don't have one at home, 14 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:26.840 let me know. We don't want anyone to go without a Bible at home. 15 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:36.760 All right, We're going to hold our physical Bible. We don't use 16 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:42.319 these super often in our hands in this church, and I really like them 17 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:47.560 because I like to know what's going on around the parts that people are talking 18 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:52.439 about. But I want us to take a minute and just feel the book. 19 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:57.359 There's nothing special about these pages or this cardboard. This will eventually be 20 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:04.200 recycled when the next generation comes around, but I want you to feel it 21 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:07.799 with your senses, all four, not five. Although it is the bread 22 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:12.479 of life, we're not going to eat it. But let's take a look. 23 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.159 Mine has some nice binding breakage, which is kind of fun to look 24 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:20.639 at. Does yours have a dedication in it? Some of them do, 25 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:30.439 some of them don't. I like to smell old books, feel the pages. 26 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:35.199 I think sometimes we avoid opening it up because we don't want to make 27 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:43.400 too much noise. Let's make some noise. Let's do some rustling. Feels 28 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:52.680 good, I think, better than a kindle. I want to remind you 29 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.800 that anytime you're in our service and you feel curious about what's going on, 30 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:01.560 you can grab this thing. If you're bored about what's happening, there's some 31 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:08.199 crazy stuff in here. My dad taught me that a lot of the Bible, 32 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.759 he knows, he learned from being bored in church, and I have 33 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:15.240 done that ever since. I learned that is to start learning my Bible if 34 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:24.639 I'm not learning anything else, Lord have mercy, right, But these blue 35 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:29.000 Bibles are are a nice tool, and I want you to know that we're 36 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:32.080 going to come to this. But let's open to two thirty six, page 37 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:37.479 two thirty six at the back. These particular versions they like to start the 38 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.800 page numbers over at the New Testament, So I want the two thirty six 39 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:46.639 that's at the back of the book. Page two thirty six is our scripture 40 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:52.080 reading for today. So if you want to have it open and be looking 41 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:53.560 at it, that's fine. If you want to set it aside for when 42 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.879 we're going to use it at the end, that's fine too. But there 43 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.840 it is, page to thirty six in our bibles. If you have any 44 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.400 trouble finding it on yours at home, you can look at the table of 45 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:09.039 contents at the front. And of course Second Peter comes after First Peter. 46 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:17.040 That's helpful. Second Peter is a letter written to the church. And while 47 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:25.439 traditionally this book is attributed attributed to Peter, many scholars believe that Second Peter 48 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.800 is written in the face of Peter. That's how they would have said so 49 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.839 from the perspective of Peter. From petrine followers. I look that word up. 50 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:39.120 I've read it a number of times. Trust me, it's actually pronounced 51 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:47.480 petrine, but it means followers of Peter. They got together and they would 52 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:51.600 remember the vein of thinking of Peter, and they would write in that vein. 53 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:56.800 So many scholars believe that that's where this book came from. Many don't. 54 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.279 It was a common practice at the time, and several books of the 55 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.920 Bible we believe were written this way. But it doesn't really matter. It 56 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.279 doesn't take away from the power of the scripture or the inspired nature of the 57 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:12.279 scripture, but it does give us some information about what was going on in 58 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.680 church history when it was written. Many people consider Second Peter to be the 59 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.920 latest book in the Bible, so the youngest one. Some people who interpret 60 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:27.199 the Bible literally tend to date Second Peter around sixty eight CE. Common era 61 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:32.120 or ad historical critical readers place Second Peter between ninety and one hundred and sixty 62 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.839 eight CE. But let's just say we'll split the difference and say that it 63 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:42.560 took place about a century after Jesus was born and several decades after Pentecost. 64 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:46.240 The other thing I want you to know about Second Peter is that he writes 65 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:51.199 in the second person plural, so whenever you see the word you, you 66 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:58.759 have to interpret it. And this is my rule, as y'all English doesn't 67 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.079 have a good second person. We're supposed to just get it, which is 68 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:05.079 why we say folks and friends and you guys, and use guys and y'all. 69 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:11.759 So whichever I will allow you to choose your own second person floral. 70 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:15.120 But that's how we have to read it, because there's something different about reading 71 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:20.079 a scripture that says, y'all better behave yourselves versus behave yourself, bro. 72 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.480 And if we get that wrong, we miss out. This is a book 73 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.519 of the Bible talking to all of us, and we're supposed to behave ourselves. 74 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:34.399 So Second Peter is writing to the early Church, or at least that's 75 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:38.680 what we call them. We call them the early Church, even though it's 76 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:42.439 been at least a generation, probably several since Jesus walked among the disciples. 77 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:46.839 And I find it that really interesting because even though in the grand scheme of 78 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.120 history, Riverside is a young church, I don't think of us as the 79 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:57.959 early Riverside and we've been here for ninety three years a couple of generations have 80 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.399 passed through these doors, and it does feel like we're just starting out. 81 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.560 It feels like we've been around the block for a long time. We have 82 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:10.600 the Riverside Way, we have Riverside issues, Riverside glory days, we have 83 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.720 memories of Riverside way back when, and we have the way Riverside always does 84 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:19.120 things. But if Second Peter is talking to the early church, then we 85 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:26.800 are also a baby church, a young church, a church that has tremendous 86 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:32.079 potential and a lot of room to grow and figure things out. So this 87 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:39.319 disciple of Jesus Peter, Second Peter, New Peter, Peter's friend Peter. 88 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.680 He's telling a new and ancient church what it means to be the body of 89 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:50.079 Christ. We can hear it as he's talking to a baby church, or 90 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:58.079 maybe an ancient church, an old church, an online church, a thriving 91 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:03.279 church, a slowing church. The message of Second Peter is to all those 92 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:11.480 kind of churches. And his message is this, B who you were called 93 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:24.319 to b B who y'all were called to be? Second Peter is a culture 94 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.519 making book. The writer is looking upon the church to say, who are 95 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.480 you going to be in these days? Of peril, of persecution, and 96 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:37.200 yes, even of apocalypse. Who are you going to be? That's a 97 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:41.919 big question, especially for a tiny book of three chapters. But Second Peter 98 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.559 Chapter one is guiding us to become the Body of Christ. And my thesis 99 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.720 statement to present to you today is that we will not create a culture of 100 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:58.240 the Body of Christ by employing a list of rules. Second Peter inspires us 101 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:05.080 to create this christ culture based on virtues, and that is exactly what we 102 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:11.639 need today. I want to go back to twenty fifteen. Way back twenty 103 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:15.840 fifteen, I had been serving the church in some capacity in my whole life. 104 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:20.559 I had served or attended probably a dozen different denominations, but only recently 105 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:24.679 what we call a mainline denomination, and it was in the Mainline, specifically 106 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:33.120 Riverside, that I first encountered, after thirty six years of life, Roberts 107 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:41.480 rules of order. I know that might seem shocking to some people, but 108 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:45.000 I'd never served on a committee or board or institution where they'd use them, 109 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.399 and I'd never engaged them at all. All I knew is that everyone in 110 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.840 the room was following a list of rules that I had never seen before, 111 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.919 and honestly, still don't know very well if you don't know what they are, 112 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.360 and I have to assume some of you don't because I didn't. Again, 113 00:09:56.440 --> 00:10:01.279 it just makes me feel better. This is the thing that that helps 114 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:05.360 everybody know when to say I motion, or I make the motion, or 115 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.039 I second that motion, or let's approve the minutes. Well, I'd like 116 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:15.759 to call the question all of these phrases I didn't understand. I didn't know. 117 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:20.240 I've done a little bit of digging about mister Henry Robert, and it 118 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:26.720 should surprise no one who's used the Robert's Rules of Order that mister Robert came 119 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:33.200 from a military background, and when he encountered civilian conversations in board meetings, 120 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.039 committees, and churches, he felt that there wasn't very much democracy happening. 121 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:46.240 People weren't voicing what needed to be heard. So he created Robert's Rules of 122 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:50.919 Order for the sake of justice. The whole point of Robert's Rules of Order 123 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:54.159 was to be fair. Now I have to say, I admit that this 124 00:10:54.240 --> 00:11:00.120 is not reflective of my first encounter of Robert's rules. I've been observing them 125 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.080 among us for a few years, and I also see them in the UCC 126 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:07.120 and all of my meetings, Community Committee on Ministry, the Association, the 127 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:13.240 conference of every meeting has these special rules and they do provide as the quote 128 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.679 in your bulletin reads a bit of liberty. If you open up the inside 129 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:20.799 of your bulletin, we always have a quote for a reflection, so that 130 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:22.600 when you come in you can be thinking about what the themes of the day 131 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.159 are. In the inside of your bulletin. Inside front cover, I have 132 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.919 two quotes. The first one is from Henry M. Robert. We're going 133 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.200 to forgive him for his outdated sexism just for this moment. But his quote 134 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:39.399 says, where there is no law, but every man does what is right 135 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:50.279 in his own eyes, there is the least of liberty. The rules liberate 136 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.960 us, and his desire was that Robert's rules of order would liberate meetings so 137 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.799 that people wouldn't dominate, so that you wouldn't get mired and back and forth, 138 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:03.039 so that there would be a way to make sure all voices were heard. 139 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:09.120 Awesome, but they can also be oppressive. They can stop good conversation. 140 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:13.320 They can be used as a bludgeoning tool, ramming decisions through the formulaic 141 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:22.159 process. And the rules had a lot of extra talking sometimes right, So 142 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:28.559 do Robert's rules give us a more democratic and fair meeting? Sometimes they sure 143 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:33.559 do. But second Peter is not a list of rules to follow in order 144 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:37.879 to behave like the church. Second Peter knows that a good set of rules 145 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:43.360 is not going to fix or form the church. Rules don't make the culture. 146 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.159 You cannot build a church on by laws. You cannot form a fellowship 147 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:54.399 on Robert's rules. But even as I say that that might produce anxiety in 148 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.919 you if you are a big fan of the rules and the by laws. 149 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:05.039 And I understand that we do feel a sense of groundedness and foundation when we 150 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:09.000 have a nice set of rules to follow. So when I say that all 151 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:13.279 of that, please hear an asterisk that I know that guidelines keep us on 152 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.559 the narrow path. And this is not a throw out the rules with the 153 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:22.120 bathwater sermon. But let's look at that second quote in the bulletin. This 154 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:28.080 is from Henry David Threaux. And we will again exclude, excuse the white 155 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:35.159 Henry who is using these sexist men only phrasing for the sake of the sermon. 156 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:41.399 The law will never make men free. It is men who have got 157 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:48.320 to make the law free. These two Henry's and their quotes on the law 158 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.240 that are opposite, Let me go back to the first one again, where 159 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:56.120 there is no law, but every man does rud is right in his own 160 00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:01.960 eyes, there is the least of liberty. And then threw the law will 161 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:03.679 never make men free. It is men who have got to make the law 162 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:11.919 free. Henry David Threau is an abolitionist, and he wanted to change unjust 163 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:16.039 rules and laws. He was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, 164 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:20.279 but his perspective captured in this quote reminds us that laws are made for liberation, 165 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.879 and if the laws of the land or laws of the church are not 166 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:30.639 liberating us, they must change. Rules must evolve. Rules do evolve, 167 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.960 and sometimes they evolve towards dysfunction. But if we anchor ours our rules to 168 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:43.879 virtue, they will evolve towards liberation. We have a lot of rules at 169 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:48.759 Riverside, and they do change over time. Did you know that until pretty 170 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:58.679 recently you couldn't wear pants and be an usher. We've had racist rules, 171 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:03.960 We've had sexist rules, aged rules, anti gay rules, anti children rules. 172 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:09.720 But thanks be to God, Lord help us the Holy spirit moves and 173 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:18.159 we change. There are two rules. I'm going to move down to the 174 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:24.759 communion table. Folks, you can follow me. There are two rules that 175 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:30.840 are outside in the narthex. I wonder if you can imagine them in your 176 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:35.320 head what they are. Can anyone look in their mind's eye and tell me 177 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.159 what the one or one of the two rules are that we have posted in 178 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:50.480 the narthex. No food or drinks in the nave. The other one no 179 00:15:50.679 --> 00:16:02.240 recordings or cell phones. Let's talk about cell phones for a minute. Things 180 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:07.080 are changing really fast. And when those placards were put up, I don't 181 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.480 know if anyone could imagine what our cell phone life is like right now. 182 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:18.360 But more than anything, I don't think anyone could imagine that it would be 183 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:26.080 the way young people show delight. If you've been with a young person, 184 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:33.279 whether Gen Z or a young millennial or now Gen Alpha, if they see 185 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:42.399 something they love or someone they love, they pull out their phone and they 186 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:48.240 take a picture, and then they do the best evangelism of anybody in the 187 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:56.919 room because they post it to everybody. One time we had kids doing a 188 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.120 protest up here. The youth came in did a protest about climate change, 189 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.680 and one of the youth was sitting in the pews and they pulled out their 190 00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:07.079 phone to take a picture of it because it was so cool. It's happening 191 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.880 in church, and someone told them to put their phone away. That's fine, 192 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.319 that's the rule. The rules are great, But what are we telling 193 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:25.519 them when their method of delight isn't welcome. So you're welcome to use your 194 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:32.279 phone and worship in a worshipful way and share and send the pictures and say 195 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:41.359 this is what we're doing at Riverside. The second rule is about communion or 196 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:47.519 is that about food? And this is a rule we break flag rally every 197 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:53.039 month on the first Sunday, we say no food in the nave, and 198 00:17:53.079 --> 00:18:00.759 then we bring in the stickiest, most staining drink there is, grape juice, 199 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:06.680 and we give it to everybody in cups that are impossible to get open. 200 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:18.640 We break it. We break the rule because the virtue is to remember 201 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:23.440 our beloved Christ. That's the virtue. There was a time when I was 202 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:27.759 doing family worship in Christ Chapel and I tried to have a clergy person with 203 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:33.240 me every time we did family worship, but they weren't always available, and 204 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:38.960 we have a rule that only clergy people can serve communion. I'm standing here 205 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:45.559 in front of everyone involved, everyone who could possibly have anything to say about 206 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.519 that, and I did it. I served communion to the children and families 207 00:18:48.799 --> 00:19:03.160 without being ordained because we wanted to remember Jesus. I don't care at that 208 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.720 point. Rules are great, but those children are going to have the body 209 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.880 and blood of Jesus. And if no one has time for that, I 210 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:22.160 do. And to you folks who are joining us online during communion, a 211 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.400 lot of churches said, if you are going online to do to do church, 212 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:32.279 you cannot even have communion because it's not real. If you're not actually 213 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:37.559 touching the bread that we've blessed in this place, it's not real communion. 214 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:45.200 Tough luck after the pandemic, you can remember Jesus. It sounds silly, 215 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:52.240 but it's absolutely what happened in churches across the country. And we decided because 216 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.640 of our virtue, which is valuing that connection, that inclusion, saying that 217 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.759 you are just as important to us as anyone in the room. We said, 218 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.319 no, oh, that doesn't bring quite true with what we know of 219 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.359 Jesus, and we know that Jesus took ordinary things around him, and because 220 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:11.799 he used them, they became blessed. And so every month we say to 221 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:15.440 you, go get whatever is ordinary around you, and we bless it, 222 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:19.680 and God sanctifies it, and you're good to go. Because the virtue is 223 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:30.000 more important than the rules. I'm not again asterisk throwing out the rules. 224 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.920 There's lots of great rules. I have lots of great rules. As a 225 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:38.480 parent, A loving parent has good rules for their children. But rules have 226 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:44.000 to grow and involve and change with us. And we have to ground those 227 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:45.519 rules. If we're going to make rules for ourselves, or if we're going 228 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:52.880 to form committees and create by laws and vote and all of this, the 229 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:56.799 underneath it all, we have to be grounded in those virtues that second Peter 230 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:02.880 talks about endurance, knowledge, wisdom, love, joy, peace, patience, 231 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.839 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gunness, self control. And that's how 232 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:12.519 we can write our laws to be liberating. To conclude, I want to 233 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:18.359 pray the virtues over us to empower us and to give us the strength and 234 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.920 wisdom we need to behave the way we should behave. I want you to 235 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:27.279 take that Bible back out, that blue Bible, open it up to page 236 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:34.480 two thirty six, and I'm going to pray these words over us, and 237 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:41.880 I just want you to have the embodied feeling of following the scripture along with 238 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.880 your finger. You don't have to say it with me, just silently tracing 239 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:51.720 the words with your finger as I pray for us, Verses one through eight, 240 00:21:55.200 --> 00:22:03.720 two through eight. Fully, and gracious God, may grace and peace 241 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.599 be ours in abundance. In the knowledge of You and of Jesus, our 242 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:15.839 Lord, your divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness 243 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.880 through the knowledge of Jesus, who called us by his own glory and excellence. 244 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:26.440 Thus Jesus has given us through these things his precious and very great promises, 245 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.680 so that through them we may escape from the corruption that is in the 246 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:37.359 world because of lust, and we may become participants of the divine nature. 247 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.680 For this very reason, we must make every effort to support our faith with 248 00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:48.319 excellence and excellence, with knowledge and knowledge, with self control and self control, 249 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:52.799 with endurance and endurance, with godliness and godliness, with mutual affection and 250 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:59.119 mutual affection with love. For if these things are ours and are increasing among 251 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:07.359 us, they will keep us from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of 252 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:14.400 our Lord Jesus Christ. Grow us up, God Lord, help us. 253 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:18.240 Lord, help us and Jesus sam We pray Amen.