Matthew 2024

Matthew chapter 28.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white to snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid for I know you're looking for Jesus who is crucified.

He's not here. He has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples. He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into galilee.

There you'll see him. Now I've told you. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly, Jesus met them, greetings, he said. They came to him clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers to go to Galileley, there they will see me. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave to the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them You are to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has become widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Then the 11 disciples went to Galile to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit it, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Thank you, Naomi. Well, good evening. Welcome from me.

My name is Rory. If we've we haven't met, I'm 1 of the the members of staff here, at Cornerstone. Just 1 more notice that was, which has been left off there. It's prayer meeting on Wednesday. So we're here on at 8.

Is there food at 7 30? Oh, good question to be decided. Check your emails this week. There may be food that may not be. But at 8 o'clock, we're coming together to pray it's is such a a joy, to come as god's people and to present our requests and to, thank the lord for all that he's been doing, through this church and in our lives.

And so we wanna come, and we want to honor god as we come to him in prayer. So do do come along to that. Now we're coming back and we're on our last session in Matthew, and we need god's help to help us understand this. So let's pray, and then we'll see what it has to say to us. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much, for all that you've been teaching us in this this gospel of Matthew. We thank you for all that we have seen about the lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he is indeed a glorious, savior that he is indeed the prince of glory that we have sung about that he is the 1 who has given all of himself, all all that he is, to die on a cross so that we may have a salvation. And so we praise you that you had died but not that not that you just died, but that you did indeed rise again. And that gives us great confidence to come to you, and it gives us great confidence to come and listen to you.

And so we pray father that your transformers. Into the likeness of Christ as we consider this story about him. May we have that truth that Christ love is so amazing and so divine that it demands everything about us. And so we pray that we will see our needs to give back to you, because you have loved us so so dearly. And so we pray these things in Jesus' name are men.

I wanna begin by, asking you, how do you decide, if something's true? How do you decide what is true and what is false? Now for many of you, you know that I, work part time, as a history teacher, as well as geography and IRS, what a what a lucky man I am. But as a teacher of of particularly history and arrests, I often have young people ask me, how do you know that any of this is true? How it could all just be made up?

It it it how how can I How can I be absolutely 100 percent sure that all the things you're saying is right? That's a good question, I think, although it's usually said to waste time. But I'm I don't mind wasting a bit of time in in these conversations. I mean, it's hard though, isn't it? And increasingly hard in a world of, fake news, in a world where you you watch a video, you're never sure if what you're watching anymore is real or AI.

So how do we decide? How do we decide what is true? How do we decide what is real? How do we decide if it's true or false? There have been many cover up stories in in history.

The cover up stories have been going on forever as as far as I can see. And that's probably why there's there's also many conspiracy theories going around as well. But you think about all the cover up stories. I mean, I looked up. There's there's lots of cover up stories that you might think about, you know, Watergate scandal of the 19 seventies where Nixon was trying to hide what was going on in that hotel.

There was an infected blood scandal in the UK. I mean, tobacco, that was a big cover, it wasn't it? Where people used to say tobacco is good for you. There's no health concerns with tobacco, and then everybody's dying of lung cancer. So clearly that was a cover up.

Or or or I was reminded this, this afternoon, I was at lunch with Peter Ann, of the Chernobyl incident. Everyone familiar with Chernobyl, there's a, a TV series that sort of documents it. Shhernobyl disaster was where this nuclear reactor went horribly wrong, and, basically exploded causing a huge nuclear reaction, and, causing deaths of some illness of many. It was a disaster for the the Soviet Union at the time. But in true cover up fashion, that's exactly what the Soviet Union did.

Even though there's this huge radiation disaster going on, they said, they they tried to cover up. At first, they just said, just don't say anything at all. Maybe no 1 will notice this huge nuclear reaction. Then they they sort of delayed an evacuation. There was a town.

There's a town just where Chernobyl is, And they said, I have nothing to do here. Just wait around a little bit. Karen playing your games. And then it was like, let's control the information. And then it was like, globally.

Let's just say, it was a minor incident. The problem was is that when radiation reached Sweden, it was quite obvious that, that this was not a minor incident. You couldn't cover it up. See, the stories that are told, some of them are fake and are cover up. Some of them are true.

And how do we decide which ones are the fake? Which ones are the cover up? And which is the true story? Which story will you believe? Today, we're confronted with 2 stories.

Which one's the cover up? Which one's the true story? Which 1 will you believe? Let's have a look at these 2 stories. The first story, option number 1, the guards.

The disciples stole the body. Look with me again at verse 11 to 15. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them, you are to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.

And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. See, we pick up the story there in verse 11, and we're reminded that the women have just been confronted with the resurrected lord Jesus Christ. They've been told to go and tell Jesus' disciples that he's here, and he's gonna meet them in galilee. But as the women go and tell the disciples, the guards are making their own way to the city, and they're not going believe it or not to see their superiors. Uh-huh.

They're not going to see their superiors because they know that if they go in to see their superiors, they're gonna be in deep trouble. Uh-huh. They need a fixer. They need somebody to fix this issue that they've got themselves into, or not really their fault. Because they know if they went to the superiors, they'll be in deep trouble.

For for a Roman guard or Roman soldier to fall asleep on the job to fall asleep when they're meant to be guarding a tomb on post, it could have catastrophic consequences for them. There was, there's punishments for, soldiers who desert their post. It could be a quite a torturous and brutal clubbing and, or use use of other instruments. I don't know. You think of the tool.

They probably used it, off the soldier. You know, you think about, the story when Peter somehow escapes prison, miraculously, and acts, and what happens to those soldiers, well, they're put to death. And, so it it would not be prudent for the soldiers to go to pilot. So Who do they go to? They go to the fix, and they go to the chief priest, and they tell them you notice everything that had happened.

I mean, you could imagine the the story. There they go. Listen. We're not going to our superiors. We're coming to you because you wanted us to guard this.

This body. Right? And they tell him everything they go. There was this earthquake, and then an angel of the lord came down, rolled away the big, huge stones sat on it, and then said to the women, come and have a look at the empty tomb, nobody here, which, by the way, it's a funny thing. Where did where how did he get out of the tomb?

He didn't walk out there and did he. So amazingly just rose and probably just walked through the, I guess, well, through the stone. I don't know. You you decide. He tells them all that that happened.

And so here, the chief priests and the soldiers to a sense are confronted with the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead. The very thing that the they said wasn't going to happen has happened. And so, like, how how should you how should you respond to the fact that this is this has clearly been the case? Well, surely you would think that they would go, lads, we've made a shocking mistake. We've had a huge error here.

We actually killed the son of god. And and now he's risen from the dead. We probably should turn in some sort of repentance and contrition. Would you not think? No.

Not these lads. What do they do? Verse 12? When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised the plan, they're up to their old tricks again, aren't they? Just as they had plotted and schemed and devised a plan to get Jesus killed, just as they had given, a, a small sum of money to Judith, to agree to betray Jesus.

Here they are again, making this great, great plan sending more money out to soldiers to hush the very fact that Jesus rose from the dead. I was reading spurge, and he said, what makes a doctrine straight and clear? About 500 pounds a year. Here they are. They've been confronted with the truth about Jesus.

And they want nothing to do with it. And so they give the soldiers the story in verse 13 to 14. You are to say his disciples came during the night and stole them away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. It's very funny that the the story that they tell the disciples to say at the soldiers to say is the very story that they were worried that the disciples would come up with in verse 63 to 64 of chapter 27.

It was amazing, isn't it? Like, Tom was talking about this a couple of weeks ago. He's like, it just adds sort of weight to our argument and the resurrection occurred, that they had to post a guard in case the disciples came and stole the body. And now the body's gone and has been re has risen from the dead. They're like, oh, we better say the disciples robbed the body.

Now the soldiers, obviously, are thinking, well, verse 15. I'm not getting in trouble. I'm not in him. I'm getting not getting in trouble. I'm gonna get paid as well.

And so gladly, you think they're like, brilliant. Take the money and start spreading the words. The disciples stole the body, and we're not gonna get in trouble because the chief priests will placate pilot if he gets wind of the whole the whole stuff. They gladly take and they spread it. That's what the fake news is all about.

Isn't it isn't that why people spread fake news? You think about the influencers? I mean, I was watching a I don't know who's seen Louis Theroux in the Manosphere show yet. Yeah? You know, they don't believe everything that they're saying these these blokes.

Surely, they can't. But they know that it sells. And so they say stuff that's wildly inappropriate, and not always true. Just so that they can get paid. ThatHS Ticky Tockey.

I'm very familiar with them now. It's all for sales, he says. Faith news. But you think about the story. It is quite a quite ridiculous story, isn't it?

It's quite a laughable story. Your your explanation, chief priests and soldiers, is that the disciples came and stole the body. Now just remember that what the disciples are like at this point, you know, when Jesus was alive, they all lagged it off. I don't think they're in a real position to be gum and sneaking back in and going, well, we better rob the body, you know, because we've shown how brave we are before. And, like, the very fact that the guard would be sleeping is slightly ridiculous because we know that the punishment is really severe for them.

And so, like, okay. Let let's say they did fall asleep. The the the suggestion is that the disciples, like, always think of it like a cartoon, you know, sort of, crept past. Yeah? And then still, like, don't wake them up.

And, you know, they're not asleep. They've then got to sort of break the seal off the stone, roll it up the hill I mean, I'm sure I mean, like, that's not gonna take some sort of grunting and, you know, and all that. And then they they get the body, and they go, well, we better unwrap the body of the linen because, you know, we don't want the linen even though it's really expensive in today's age. And they leave it folded over there and they go with the body. That's the that's oh, makes makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

It's laughable. It's a ridiculous story. That's the story you've come up with. That's the 1 we're gonna go. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Makes sense. Check's out. It's laughable, isn't it? But even though it's laughable, doesn't it show just how evil and how wicked these people are?

Confronted with the resurrection of Jesus, they come up with the most ridiculous story to hush it, to cover it up. See, the problem for the chief priests was never an intellectual 1. It's not an intellectual issue for these these guys. It's a complete heart issue. They refuse to bend the knee to Jesus, and that's always been the case.

So there's story number 1. Got it. Check out. Here's story number 2. The disciples.

Jesus rose, and we are here to tell you all. Look with me at verse 16 to 20 Then the 11 disciples went to Gallalita, the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always to the very end.

Of the age. So just as the guard went into the city to see the chief priests, the disciples go to this mountain to see Jesus. And when we see mountains in the bible, we always must think there's gonna be something significant here. Mountains are always the place where something special happens. And in the old testament, the Mount Sinai is where god gives the law to Moses so that that that the Israelites might be the missional people of god.

It's in Matthew where on a mountain, Jesus gives this incredible sermon on the Mount. It's on a mountain where Jesus is transfigured, and the glory of god is shown to a few disciples, and it is on this mountain that we will get a mission again for the disciples. And so here they are. They they come up this mountain and they see Jesus. They see the the resurrected Jesus, the 1 that has spent all that time with them.

And how how are they going to respond to Jesus? Well, in verse 17, you'll see. They worship. That is major. They worship not just a man, but they worship Jesus.

It's a it's a sort of interesting thought because this is a man that they've spent so much time. They've they've seen him sleep, and they've probably heard him snore if he did snore. Not all of us do. They saw him sweat. They probably smelt him sweat.

An ordinary bloke, and that this bloke, they now bow down and worship As a Jewish person to bow down and worship someone, they must believe that he is the very person of guards. And so they worship. However, you'll notice some doubts You see that word there? Some doubt it's only used twice in the whole of the the new testament, and both times are in Matthew. The first time is when in Matthew chapter 14, Jesus walks on water, and they're like, oh my goodness.

What's going on here? And it says, why do some of you doubt? It's kind of this idea that you vacillate. You're not so sure. You're kind of caught between 2 minds.

Do I, should I believe or not believe? I mean, Maybe that's understandable. You think when people don't usually ride from the dead. And I should I worship this man? And there's doubt there about is Jesus who he is, says he is?

But Jesus is ever patient with his people. And so he draws close to them, and he gives them a message to affirm to encourage and to embolden them. And that message is verse 18 to 20. The guards, the soldiers, they got given a story. A message.

The disciples get given a message. And what is it that he says? Verse 16 to 20 first 18 to 20. Sorry. You'll notice the word all kept popping up or a variation of all.

Did you see? All authority. All nations. All things or everything always to the very end of the age, in other words, all times to the end. Now what is Jesus saying in this message?

Well, to encourage his disciples, he's saying he has all authority. Now, yes, Jesus always had all authority in a sense as the eternal son of god, but now he's even more so because he has authority as a man. He is the true Messiah that the old testament prophesies about. He is the 1 who has authority, not just of life, but he has authority of death itself. He's the 1 who has died and rose again.

And so the new testament writers understand this. So in in in Peter's amazing sermon in acts chapter 2. And verse 36, he says this. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this god has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both lord and Messiah. He's the king.

He has all authority. Paul takes up the argument in Romans and chapter 1 where he says who through the spirit of holiness, Jesus, was appointed the son of god in power by his resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ our lord. He's been made by his death and his resurrection He is keeping given all authority. All will bow the knee to him. In Philippians in chapter chapter 2, the amazing song about how Jesus comes from heaven all the way down to a cross.

But after the cross, it says Therefore, god exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of god. He has all the authority. So there you have the disciples and they're doubting, and Jesus comes and he says to them, I have all.

Authority. I have all the power. And he's about to go and take his position on the throne where god will crown him the king of all kings, and he will sit the right hand of the father, and he says I have the authority. And because I have the authority what does he tell the disciples to do? Verse 19, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.

The job of the disciples is to make disciples of all nations. Now it doesn't mean force them, which some people have seemingly misunderstood, to make us to plead and to implore and to persuade and to and to just show why following Jesus is so important. And how how is it that you can make disciples of all nations? Notice all nations, by the way. It's no longer just Israel.

It's all nations. It's not just you know, 1 ethnic ethnic group. It's actually the the gospel is gonna go out to all nations, all nations that we've talked about. In Iran included as we heard tonight. And so how?

Well, Firstly, you've got to go. Just as when the women were confronted with Jesus, and they clasped in there, wow, brilliant. And they said go, and they went. You have to go. But not only do you have to go, you baptize in the name.

That's amazing this sentence, but this these 2 verses are jam packed full of stuff, really. Go and baptize in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit. Notice, he didn't say names. And in that sentence right there, He shows god to be a triune god, the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit baptized them. And thirdly, to teach them to obey all things I have commanded.

See, many people I think in our western world think that being a Christian is just trusting that Jesus is your savior, but it's not. It's trusting that Jesus is your savior and your lord. And so to be a follower of the lord Jesus Christ is to be 1 who listens and obeys what he says. And so what is the job of the disciples? Well, it's to go and it's to go and tell the story of Jesus.

It's to go and tell people about what they saw with Jesus. It's about to go and tell people what they heard Jesus say. Do you notice here Jesus doesn't say anything new? He's not like, I've got I've got a few more teaching points to give you here lads. Just get your pens out and note them down.

They've got everything that they need. In chapter 26 verse 1, it says he's he taught them all things that he needs to tell them. He's taught them everything that people need to know to hear. And so they have to go and they have to go, well, well, they they'll tell the stories of Jesus. They'll tell the story about, like, the most incredible sermon they heard on a mountain.

It was electric that everybody was like, what the that, like, the authority of this man, they'll tell the stories about when he walked on the water and we doubted. He'll tell the stories about how Jesus said radical things about forgiveness. And that means that we have to forgive. He'll tell the story about how Jesus talked about how we how we need to cut out sin of our lives, and so we need to obey the command to be radical with our sin. So the disciples must go, and they must win people to become disciples, to become followers of the lord Jesus Christ.

Just as they are following the lord Jesus Christ, they're saying, come on, be followers of the lord Jesus Christ, come, be baptized, be obedient, to the lord Jesus Christ. So will you obey the words of the lord Jesus Christ? That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. It's to trust. It's to accept that Jesus is everything that he says he is.

It's to accept that he is truly your savior and your lord, and it is to obey him. I love, the words here in verse 18 to 20 because I think, actually, even within the words, they teach us about his words. Sounds like a riddle. Feel like I'm not making sense anymore. I've got a bit.

But he says, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, well, 1 of the things he commands us to do in this passage is to be baptized See, a lot of people, I think think that baptism is just like an optional extra that we might do. I might get baptized. I might not. Well, Jesus doesn't give us that possibility here. He actually says that part of following him is that you are baptized, that you publicly declare that Jesus is your savior and your lords, that you publicly declare that you are united with him and not the world, that you publicly dramatize the gospel to a world that needs the gospel.

This part of the way that you can try and tell people to come and follow Jesus because in baptism, you're saying I have died. Just as just as Christ died. That's why we go down. Just as Christ died. I went into the grave.

I have died and gone into the grave with my sin. And just as he rose again, I rise with him into resurrection life. And 1 of the most heartwarming things to say, or to hear people say as they stand in this pool, and sometimes they nearly crack their head on the side, because, you know, I'm well, let's not go into that too much. But, you know, you we haven't had any accidents yet, but anyway, they say. What did they say?

Is what what what do you think about Jesus Christ? They say, what? Jesus Christ is? Beautiful, isn't it? Send shivers down me that someone has said I'm gonna follow Jesus with my life.

I'm gonna be a disciple of the lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna try and obey his commands. And with the disciples, I'm gonna go on a mission. And what is the mission of the disciples and what is our mission? It's to share the glorious news of the lord Jesus Christ.

In reading for this sermon, I was reading, a commentator and a preacher called Tim Chester, and he said Matthew 28 isn't the end of the story. If anything, Matthew 28 is just the preface. The main story is 20 centuries of global mission. And the great news is is that we, brothers and sisters, we can have the pen in our hand, and we can start writing the new story or the same story. Sorry.

The next chapter of people coming to become followers of the lord Jesus priced. See, mission isn't just for people that know lots of different languages are a little bit weird and wanna go to a different country. Every single 1 of us are called to be part of Mission. And so if you're a Christian, how will you be a part of Mission? There's lots of ways, isn't there?

1 is to pray. Pay for our missionaries that we've got some on the wall there. 1 of them is that you go into your workplaces. Your sports teams, if you play sport, whatever it is that you do, your families, and you share with them that you're a follower of Jesus, and that you would love them to be followers of Jesus as well. Some of you, and maybe we should think seriously about this, maybe call to be missionaries.

How exciting that is. Pete was talking about it last week that we can go and take risks to do dangerous things. No? Is god calling you to become a missionary and to go to a country that doesn't know about Jesus and to go and proclaim the gospel to people? Wouldn't that be exciting?

I would love wouldn't we love it if we could send Someone from Cornerstone Church, Kingston, to go and be a missionary and be involved in the greatest mission in the world is so much better than, like, being a career having a career as an accountant or something, sorry, accountants. That you could go and be a part of the worldwide mission of all nations. How will you be a part? Of this great mission that Jesus sends us on. Now it sounds quite scary, doesn't it?

Sca sounds quite daunting having to go and tell people about Jesus. Feel like I mean, I don't know if if if you're like this, but sometimes you think, have I I don't even know any words when I end up in conversations with people. I just sort of stutter. And I sort of just wanna run away. That's why we need to remember the last part of what Jesus says in Matthew.

And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age. See, the book of Matthew in chapter 1 started with the fact that Jesus was gonna be born and that he would be called Emmanuel, god with us. And the book of Matthew ends by reminding us that Jesus is Emmanuel god with us. And so Jesus, although he goes physically to be with the father, does not leave us here alone, but sends us his greatest gift of the Holy Spirit to live within us so that we know always that he is with us. He's always with us.

And so acts chapter 2 happens, and there's the their disciples all praying in a room. And suddenly, the Holy Spirit descends on them like flames of fire, and they become the most bold people ever. When Peter's transfer transformation, right? He was denying the other week, and now he's standing up in front of a whole audience of different languages. And he says, listen here about Jesus because he now has Jesus with him.

Brothers and sisters, it's great news that Jesus is always with us by his holy spirits. And so, yes, You may be scared as you go into school. You have to try and tell people about Jesus, and they might laugh at you, and they might take the mic a little bit, but you need to remember Jesus is with me. The Holy Spirit is with me. There you are.

Just trying to say something of of of some theological or some sort of of of of significance about Christ in your stuttering away. Remember brothers and sisters, Jesus is with you by his holy spirits. And he will always be with you And when you get it wrong, he's with you still picking you up dusting you off. Go again, son. He's with you always.

And so as you speak, Christ speaks through you. Apostle Paul says we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to god. So Jesus says I will be with you always to the very end of the age, and he will see us to the very end. Century, after century, after century, he has been with his people. I will go to the very end.

Where he brings in his new kingdom. And so that is story number 2. It was a bit longer than story number 1. Sorry or not. So we've had 2 stories.

Similarities in the stories, isn't there? Both go to an authority. Both are told a message to speak. Both go and tell people. How do we decide which 1 is real and which 1 is fake?

Well, I think as you investigate them, only 1 rings true. When you consider both of them, only 1 lasts forever. You think about this story here that the the chief priests come up with. It's discredited because it's so ridiculous. But Jesus's story, has lasted all down the ages, and it will continue to dominate.

Even when we don't think it is, it will. So you can try and cover up this story. They tried to cover up Chernobyl. It's quite hard to cover up a nuclear explosion. You know what's harder to cover up?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can't cover him up. He's too big. If death cannot contain him, how can your little cover up story contain him? So don't believe the fake.

I mean, you can try and listen to the fake news of this world. You can try and listen to all the other messages, but all the other messages when when it when tested. Are showing to be fake. Christ truly rose. And Christ sent his church to go and be the witness to this world.

So what will you do with Jesus? What are you gonna do with him? Will you worship him or will you doubt him? Will you follow him? Or you fall for the lies.

If you haven't ever come to Jesus, the resurrected lord Jesus, will you come tonight? And will you trust him? Will you be baptized? And will you obey his commands. And brothers and sisters rejoice.

Rejoice that Christ is alive. He is risen. And he is with us today by his holy spirit. And so with the knowledge that he is always with us to the very end of the age, let us go. Let us make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Let that be our mission. Let's pray father, we thank you, for all that you have taught us. And we thank you that in a world where there is fake news, where there are cover up stories, they even try to cover up your story. We know that your truth will prevail. We know that your truth will always win out.

We thank you that you, the risen lord Jesus, has been proclaimed ever since your resurrection. And we praise you that you will continue to be proclaimed until the day that you return. And so we pray father that you will give us great assurance and great encouragement tonight. That you have not left us here alone, but that you have given us the Holy Spirit. So, therefore, you are always with us.

And so we pray father that you'll give us in this room, great boldness, to go and to share the lord Jesus Christ with a desperately lost world with desperate fake news. May they see the truth that Christ is the risen lord Jesus, that he is truly Messiah, that he is the savior, and may they become followers of him? May they come and know him and the joy of what it is to be dead to our sin and alive in Christ with the hope of resurrection life to come. Fatheriki was boldness. We have friends.

We have family. We have peers and colleagues that so desperately need to hear the word of god. They desperately need to hear the incredible news of Christ. And so may we in some small measure? We are weak, we know.

We are afraid at times, but we have you. And so with the knowledge that we have you, may we go and proclaim Christ to all nations. And so we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.