[0:00] Amen. Amen.
[1:00] Good morning.
[1:25] Welcome. It's a beautiful day. And it's so good that we can be together. There are many things we take for granted. Many things that we don't fully appreciate that we have.
[1:36] One of them is freedom. The freedom to meet together in this way. The freedom to be able to worship God. And in Galatians chapter 5, verse 1, Apostle Paul writes this.
[1:48] It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Set us free to know God. Set us free to enjoy his love. Set us free to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:01] Set us free to do his will. Freedom is the order of the day, as it were, in the Christian life. Not being constrained. That's what sin does.
[2:12] It constrains. It restricts. It hinders. It enchains. Jesus has come to set us free. And our first hymn encapsulates something of that. A wonderful hymn of Charles Wesley.
[2:24] And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Saviour's blood. 509. Let's stand and sing. And our praise of Jesus, the one who has set us free.
[2:35] Let's pray. Hallelujah.
[2:51] That's great, isn't it? That's true. That's so wonderful. So marvelous. Let's respond to them in prayer. Let's reply to God's wonderful grace to us as we pray together.
[3:02] Let us pray. Oh, Lord, we come with hearts filled with thankfulness for the things of which we've sung. Truths concerning yourself, your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all that you've done for us in him.
[3:17] In his death and resurrection for us. Lord, as we celebrated just a fortnight ago the tremendous events in history. The world-shattering, transforming events of the cross and of Easter Sunday.
[3:30] We bless you that we're the recipients of those blessings. We're the outcome of that work that you did. We're the fruit. We're the consequences.
[3:41] We're the result of the fact that you bore all our sin away at the cross. And you rose to newness of life to live forevermore. We thank you that today, oh Lord, we are your people who have been forgiven.
[3:55] Your people who have been raised to life. Your people who have known the chains break and the bars shatter. We are your people who've been set free. Free to enjoy the life that you created us for.
[4:09] Free to enjoy the God who made us. Free to live the life that you want us to live. That life which no longer, as it were, is led along by the nose.
[4:20] By sin and lust. Those things, oh Lord, that ruin and destroy and create harm and sorrow. But now, oh Lord, we are led by your spirit. We're led into the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.
[4:34] We're led, oh Lord, into your presence. Lord, to live before you and enjoy your smile. We're led, oh Lord, to follow after your good word and laws.
[4:46] And Lord, we thank you that in them and in you we find life in all its abundance. Oh Lord, come upon us and amongst us by your Holy Spirit, we pray this morning.
[4:57] Cause our hearts to be lifted up in the praise and the worship of our God. Speak to us, Lord, with that living word that sets free. And cause us again to know more than ever before what it means to be a child of yours.
[5:13] What it means to live for you. Cause us again to rejoice in you. Lord, we know that we all face difficulties. You know that we have struggled, some of us in this week.
[5:24] And Lord, we have found ourselves up against it. Found ourselves, Lord, brokenhearted even and struggling. But we thank you that in the midst of these things you have not left us nor forsaken us.
[5:35] Thank you that in the midst of all that goes on around about us, we can lift up our heads and see Jesus exalted at your right hand. We can lift up and see the one who has gone before, who has led the way, whose footsteps we follow.
[5:51] Oh Lord, help us again to lift our eyes up to Jesus. To put our faith afresh in you. Not only for the forgiveness of our sins. But Lord, our faith in you for all those things that are heavy on our hearts.
[6:03] Grant us, oh Lord, that we may rejoice in you. And may give you the praise and glory. For we ask it all in and through that name of Jesus. Amen.
[6:14] Amen. We're going to turn in our Bibles to Luke. Luke and chapter 3. Sorry, Luke and chapter 4.
[6:27] Had a little break from Luke over the last few weeks. And with Easter and Palm Sunday and other things. But we're back to Luke and chapter 4.
[6:40] If you've got one in the church, the Red Church Bibles, that's page 1031. Page 1031. We're going to read from verse 14.
[6:50] It's the very top of the page. Through to verse 30. So Luke and chapter 4, beginning at verse 14. Reading through to 30.
[7:02] Page 1031. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. And news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.
[7:14] He was teaching in their synagogues. And everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
[7:26] He stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
[7:37] Because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. And recovery of sight for the blind. To set the oppressed free.
[7:51] To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll. Gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
[8:03] He began by saying to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. All spoke well of him. And were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
[8:14] Isn't this Joseph's son? They asked. Jesus said to them, Surely you will quote this proverb to me. Physician, heal yourself. And you will tell me, Do hear in your hometown What we've heard that you did in Capernaum.
[8:32] Truly I tell you, he continued, No prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, When the sky was shut for three and a half years, And there was a severe famine throughout the land.
[8:47] Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, But to a widow in Zarephath, In the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy, In the time of Elisha the prophet.
[8:59] Yet not one of them was cleansed, Only Naaman the Syrian. All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, Drove him out of the town, And took him to the brow of the hill, On which the town was built, In order to throw him off the cliff.
[9:18] But he walked right through the crowd, And went on his way. If you'd like to turn back to Luke, And to chapter four, Where we read just a few moments ago, That will be helpful, As we consider just part of this passage we've read, And looked at it together.
[9:42] Now I imagine some of you are getting very excited, Some of you are getting very worked up, Looking forward to the great event, In five weeks time, You know what it is, The royal wedding, Yes, the wedding of Prince Harry, And Meghan Markle, It's all started now, It's all brewing and beginning, And everybody's sort of looking out, And thinking what will the dress be, And so much, And so forth, I can't confess myself to being all that excited, Though I'm sure that many of you are, I haven't really followed much of the story, But how they met, And got to know one another, And how the relation blossomed of course, But for many people nowadays, Romance is found on the internet, And through internet dating sites, And they've become very, very popular, There's Christian ones as well, And I know of a couple at least, Who met through that, And are very happily married,
[10:42] And so I don't, I'm not dissing them in that sense, Putting them down in that sense, But what would you say, If you were to put your details, Onto a date, And I know that you would of course, But if you were to put your details, How would you describe yourself, How would you sort of, Sell yourself, If I can put it that way, Almost certainly, The people who use those sites, You know, Would highlight the good points, Wouldn't you?
[11:05] You'd highlight the good things about yourself, The virtues, The best qualities, You wouldn't really talk too much, About the bad habits, Or the problems, And so on, And I think some of the people, Maybe who so sites, I'm not trying to be judgmental, I think they might exaggerate at times, Some of the things that they have to say, About themselves, They want to make themselves, Sound better than they are, They want to really, Well yeah, Sell themselves, All of us are prone to that a bit, Aren't we?
[11:36] And when we talk about people, We all tend to be a little bit, Exaggerating about, About ourselves, About the good things of ourselves, It's a natural tendency, It's a natural sinful tendency, I have to say, For us to build ourselves up, Make ourselves appear better than we are, To ourselves and to others, And to play down the not so nice bits, Well I don't think any of us, Would want to describe ourselves, To another person, Or particularly if we were looking, To put ourselves forward, For a job interview, Or a date, In the way that, We're described, In verses 18 and 19 here, This description of people, Who are poor, Who are prisoners, Who are blind, Who are oppressed, That those aren't really, Good selling points, Are they?
[12:27] We want to put ourselves forward, As being rich, And free, And easy, And clear sighted, And open minded, And yeah, All those sort of things, But, If we did use those descriptions, Then we would at least, Be being honest, And the Bible, Above all other things, Is absolutely honest, In its description, Of the state, Of humanity, In the state, Of men and women, Of our hearts, And lives, Isaiah, Who this prophecy, This promise, Is quoted from, By the Lord Jesus, As he reads it, In the synagogue, In Nazareth, At the very beginning, Of his ministry, His three years of ministry, Isaiah, Is, Recounting God's promises, Of sending a Messiah, Of sending, A saviour, Of sending someone, Who will transform, The situation,
[13:28] For the poor, The prisoned, The blind, And the oppressed, And that person, Jesus says, Is himself, Notice he says, As he read the scroll, He sits down and says, Today the scriptures, Fulfilled in your hearing, I'm the one, That was spoken about, And promised, Those 600 years before, I'm the one, Who was anointed, By the Holy Spirit, And we saw that earlier on, Is baptism, Anointed by the Holy Spirit, To bring about, The transformation, Of people's lives, That phrase, Anointed, Is the phrase, From which we get the word, Messiah, Or Christ, Messiah in the Hebrew, Christ in the Greek, Which was the language, That most of the New Testament, Was written in, And anointed, The anointed one, The Messiah, The anointing, Took place, On particular people, Who had special roles, So, The high priest, Who served in the temple, And brought in the sacrifices, He would be anointed, With oil, As a sign,
[14:28] That he was consecrated, Set apart, Committed, To that work, The same with the king, Of the country, Who would recognize, That being the king, He was under God's rule, And each of those, Was anointed, To show that they were, Set apart, To serve, God's special purposes, And God's special purposes, God's plan, From the beginning of history, Was always, To bring about, Transformation in the world, To bring about, Transformation in the lives, Of the people, Of this world, And Jesus, As he came into the world, As he begins, To minister, He's fulfilling that plan, He's bringing it, Into being, He's carrying it out, He's accomplishing it, So what does that mean, What does that mean, For humanity, What does that mean, In real life terms, Well I want us this morning, Briefly to look at, Those four descriptions, Those four transformations, That God promises,
[15:30] In Isaiah's day, And that finds, Realization in Jesus, Not just in Jesus' life, And ministry there, In the New Testament, In the Gospels, In those three years, But in the lives, Of those who are, His followers, All the way through history, And even into today, How he transforms lives, What difference, He really makes, That's the question, What difference, Does Jesus make, In your life, And mine, Why, Why is it essential, That he is part, Of our lives, Well the first, Thing that Jesus, Has come to do, The first, Part of God's plan, Is to bring, Or to proclaim, Good news, To the poor, Good news, To the poor, What does it mean, To be poor, Well the many different, Interpretations, And levels of, Poor, From time to time, You'll, There be a news headline, Telling us that so many, Percent of families, In the UK, Are living, In poverty,
[16:32] But the reality is, If you speak to most people, In the UK, All of us, Think that we, Could do with just a bit more, All of us aren't as rich, As we would like to be, All of us would like, A bigger house, Or a bigger car, Or a rise in our income, And so on, But to be really poor, Means to be, Means to be, Lacking what we need, To be really poor, Means to lack the fundamentals, To live life, To be really poor, Is to possess nothing of value, To have nothing, Which could be called wealth, It really is to be, Up against it, It really is harsh, It really is truly unpleasant, And not wishing in any way, To deprecate, Or to put down, Those who are, In our country, Poor, But there is a great, Difference between, What is provided here, And what is provided, In many other parts of the world,
[17:33] We very rarely, Apart from, Willful wickedness, See children, Starving to death, As many other parts, Of the world do, But poverty, What is Jesus, Talking about, What is Isaiah, Talking about, When he says, Good news, To the poor, Well the reality is, Is that all of us, Are poor, Every single person, Is poor, Because everything, That we have, Comes from God, We have nothing, In ourselves, Of value, Of worth, Of richness, We come into this world, As the saying goes, Naked we come, From the womb, And naked we go, To the grave, We come with nothing, And we leave with nothing, And everything, That we have in between, Is given to us, Either it's given to us, By our family, Our parents, Or whatever, Or even as we go, Through life, And travel through life, Whatever we have, We receive, We may work for it, But we still receive it, From others, The truth is that,
[18:37] Our world, Whether it be, The developing world, Or the western world, Is poor, Because the people of, Our world, Ourselves included, Are unable to provide, For ourselves, What we most need, And most want, That's why we find, In our world, That the tendency, Is towards greed, Wanting something, That we do not already have, Or being envious, Of those, Who have something, That we think, That will satisfy us, But we never are satisfied, We never are content, We are always hungry, For more, That must show, That there is a poverty, In our soul, If I can put it that way, There's a, There's a poorness, About us, That we cannot, Give to ourselves, Or receive from ourselves, What we need, We want more happiness, We want more pleasure, We want more praise, From others, Because we're empty, Empty of anything good, Anything, Satisfying, The apostle Paul,
[19:38] In Romans 7, 18, Speaks of himself, In that way, I know that nothing good, Lives in me, But it's to these, Poor people, That Jesus comes, With good news, And what is good news, To the poor, It's riches, It's provision, It's gifts, It's wealth, And the good news, That Jesus brings, To the poor of our world, To his world, And ours is this, Riches beyond, Our wildest dreams, Wealth, That we cannot, Even begin to measure, When you read, Through the New Testament, Particularly, But also in the Old, As well, And it talks about, The blessings, Of what it means, To be a Christian, What it means, To know God, The Bible keeps using, Phrases like that, Treasure, Reward, Inheritance, Riches, Words which we associate, With hitting the jackpot, Winning it big, Amazing wealth, Jesus came into this world,
[20:40] With the good news, That the poor, Can be transformed, But to do that, He did something, Unthinkable, Here's how Paul puts it, In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, For we know the grace, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, That though he was rich, Yet for your sake, He became poor, So that through his poverty, You might become rich, The incredible thing is this, In our poverty, With nothing, With emptiness, With hunger, With longing, Into this, Jesus came, And in literally, In one sense, Laid aside those riches, Which are his, Or gave them to us, He paid the debt, That our sin, Has accumulated, In our lives, And before God, And he paid it, With the richness, Of his perfect, Divine, Life,
[21:41] And death, Good news is this, The son of God, Has brought riches, To the poor, Riches, That will satisfy, Riches, That will take away, Hunger, Riches, That will fill, Empty, Hearts, What does that mean, What are these riches like, What are they actually, In reality, Well the next thing, Here we see is this, He has sent me, To proclaim freedom, For the prisoners, It's good that we're having, Daylight Christian Prison Trust, Here on Wednesday, Let me encourage you to come, You'll be thrilled to hear, What God is doing, In the prisoners lives, 85,000 or so people, In the UK, Are in prison, At any one time, And they need the gospel, And on the whole, I don't wish to again,
[22:41] Be judgmental, But on the whole, I would imagine that, The large majority, Of those people, Are in prison, Because they've committed, A crime, There may be one or two, Who've been wrongly arrested, And wrongly convicted, But on the whole, They've, They're there, Because of some act of greed, Or some act of violence, Or anger, And they're incarcerated, They're locked up, They're imprisoned, But you don't have to be, Behind physical bars, To be in prison, Do you?
[23:12] For many people, In our world today, Maybe many of us as well, There's a sense of feeling trapped, Trapped by life's, Consequences and situations, Living lives, Which have very little, Real freedom, We can feel trapped, In our workplace, In the job that we're in, It's the only thing we can do, And we have to do it, Because we need the money, To pay the mortgage, And feed the kids, We're trapped in that work, Some people, There's the great sadness, Of being trapped in a, Unhappy marriage, Or unhappy relationship, No way out, No way to be free, Feeling unloved, Uncared for, Some people, There's that entrapment, Of a failing body, Maybe due to age, But maybe due to illness, Or to some other, Problem, Our bodies are, Our cell, We can't get free of the pain, We can't get free of the, Sense that,
[24:15] It's not, What we want it to be, Then of course, We may be, Trapped by our habits, Or our addictions, Whether those be, Alcohol or drug, Whether they be gambling, Or whatever they may be, In reality, Those feelings, Of imprisonment, Are all manifestations, Of our, Being held captive, By our sin, And the sin of others, We're slaves, In one sense, That's what imprisonment is, Isn't it?
[24:48] To be enslaved, Jesus said, Very clearly, In John chapter 8, Very truly I say to you, Everyone who sins, Is a slave of sin, Sin is not freedom, To do what you want, Freedom to express yourself, As we're often told, Sin is quite the opposite, Sin is actually, What takes hold of us, And holds us in its grip, It says, I need more excitement, I need more adrenaline, I need more thrills, I need more, And I can't find, Any peace, Until I do, Yes of course, We walk around, Don't we, Yes we go where we want, And we do what we want, To a certain degree, But it's not freedom, It's an open prison, We're prevented, From enjoying life, As it was intended, By God, We're separated, By an impenetrable fence, From the God, Who created us, And loves us, And worse than that, We're actually on remand, Awaiting,
[25:49] Our court date, When we will receive, The sentence, That our crimes deserve, In the courtroom of God, But, Jesus says, I've been sent, To proclaim freedom, For the prisoners, He says in John, In chapter 10, I have come, That they may have life, And have it to the full, And in John 8, You shall know the truth, And the truth will set you free, Freedom, Liberty, From these things, And in these things, Are the riches, That Jesus gives us, That which we search for, And hunger for, Are the riches of his grace, But how can we know this freedom, Which sets us free, How can we know this truth, How can we find, And where can we find, This deliverance, From the captivity, Of sin, In the way that Jesus,
[26:50] Next, Performs, A transformation, Recovery of sight, For the blind, Of all the senses, That we have, Taste, And hearing, And touch, And smell, Surely sight, Is the most precious, Isn't it?
[27:08] It may be the one, That we take for granted, The most, Until we get a little bit older, But it's one of the things, That brings us the greatest joy, To be able to see, Your grandchildren, Or your children, To be able to look over, At a wonderful landscape, To be able to see, A beautiful sight, Like a sunny day, All these things, Are taken from us, By blindness, Surely one of the hardest, Things to bear, Must be for someone, Who once had their sight, And now, Has lost it, But the truth is, That we are all blinded, To the most beautiful things, In this world, We are blinded, To the things, Which alone, Will bring us the freedom, And the treasure, That we're seeking for, We're blindly led, As it were, Down this avenue, In that dark alley, Here's how Paul describes it, In 2 Corinthians 4, He says, The God of this age, Has blinded the minds, Of unbelievers,
[28:09] So that they cannot see, The light of the gospel, That displays, The glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, We're unable to see Jesus, For who he truly is, As the son of God, The vision of the majority, Of people in our world, Is blurred, Or even obliterated, They cannot see, Where they are before God, They cannot see, Who God is, They cannot see, What Jesus came to do, To some, He's just so ordinary, So everyday, So insignificant, But Jesus came to restore, Our sight, That we might see, And see aright, John 9, I've come into this world, So that the blind, Can see, The transformation, That Jesus brings, Is he brings light, To the darkness, He takes away, The scales from our eyes, He brings an understanding,
[29:09] Of our situation, And of the world, As it is, Paul writes, In 2 Corinthians 4, Of God, Who made his light, Shine in our hearts, To give us the light, Of the knowledge, Of God's glory, Displayed in the face, Of Jesus, See, Being in a prison cell, Even if the doors, Are open, And you're blind, You can't find, Your way out, To many people, The doors, Have been opened, Are open, But because of their blindness, They just cannot see, The right way, To go, And so that brings, The final, And the greatest, And the most wonderful, Change, To set, The oppressed, Free, Liberty, For the oppressed, As sight is returned, We find that it brings, That change,
[30:10] Oppression, Is when a person, Or people, Are controlled, By a more powerful, Person or government, Oppression, Ultimately means, That a person's life, Is not their own, Their life is treated, As the possession, Of another, To be used, For their own pleasure, Their own benefit, Oppression, Is keeping us, Down, Keeping us, Under, The Bible makes it clear, That all of humanity, Is oppressed, Oppressed by our, Fiercest enemy, Not a dictator, In that sense, Not a government, Not a regime, But an enemy, Who uses our weaknesses, Against us, For our own harm, And sorrow, For John writes, In 1 John 5, The whole world, Is under the control, Of the evil one, We only have to look,
[31:12] Around us, And see that, How can, People act, In the way that they act, How can people, Do the things that they do, With such evil, And malice, Towards one another, Only because, There is a malicious, Enemy, A force, A power, A government, That's the devil, The God of this age, He's called, The God of this world, And he has the world, Dancing, To his tune, Whenever he leads people, Into sin, Whenever he deceives people, And turns their hearts, Away from truth, Paul writes, In Ephesians 2, About how we, As Christians, And all people, Follow the ways, Of this world, And the ruler, Of the kingdom, Of the air, Like a master puppeteer, The devil knows, How to pull, The strings, Of people's lives, To do his bidding, With incredible, Subtlety, And ruthless skill, He plays upon,
[32:13] Our lusts, Our fears, To keep us, In every conceivable, Type of captivity, To keep us, Under, To keep us, In the cell, To keep us, In the dark, To keep us, To keep us, Impoverished, Greed is a prison, Pride, Is a jail, Hatred, Are chains, That weigh, Us down, And no amount, Of pleasure, No amount, Of religion, No amount, Of, Pride, Can set us free, Can set us free, We started, Our service, This morning, With those words, Of Paul, From Galatians 5, It is for freedom, That Christ, Has set you free, John tells us, As well, In 1 John 3, The reason, The son of God, Appeared, Was to destroy, The devil's work, A new era, Has dawned, In this world,
[33:14] With the coming, Of the Lord, Jesus Christ, An era, In which, The evil regime, That keeps humanity, Under, Can be overthrown, Can be defeated, And men and women, Can come out of that, Long dark prison cell, For the first time, Into the glorious, Warm light, Of the son, Of God, For Jesus came, To proclaim, The year, Of the Lord's favour, The time, Of God's, Goodness, The time, Of God's, Grace, We live in that day, Dear friends, We live in the day, When we can, Enjoy the riches, Of the freedom, Of being the children, Of God, And yet so many, Still would rather, Huddle up, In the darkness, Of the cell, So many would still, Prefer the darkness, To the light, So many would keep, Themselves, Within, Those bars, Still hungry, Still longing, Because, Of institutionalization, It's become so familiar,
[34:17] The world, In which we live, Tells us, This is the way, You're meant to live, You're meant to live, Hungry, And greedy, And proud, You're meant to be, Always searching, And seeking, And trying this new thing, And trying that new thing, And moving from one place, To another, And one thing to another, That's how we've always lived, That's what we're told, Is the only way to live, And so the radical message, Of Jesus Christ, Is no, There is another way to live, There is a better way to live, A life of transformation, Where poverty is a thing of the past, Where imprisonment is gone, And the bars are shattered, Where there is light, And sight, And liberty, Of soul, And heart, And mind, To think a right, To live a right, To love a right, That's why Jesus came, That's why Jesus died, And rose again,
[35:18] And is alive today, That's why he says, To the people of this world, Come to me, All you who are heavy, Laden, And burdened, And I will give you, Peace, Life, Freedom, Joy, Hope, If the son sets you free, Said Jesus, You will be truly free, So let me urge you, If you haven't ever before, Come to Christ, He is coming to this world, For you, You may, Think that you're doing okay, But I hope that as you've, Listened to what God has said, You'll realize, In the honesty of your heart, That really there is, Absolutely nothing within you, That can give you,
[36:19] Or provide for you, That which you long for, More than ever, Eternal life, Peace with God, Will you come to Christ, Will you ask him, Please Lord Jesus, Come and do these things, For me, Set me free, Open my eyes, Give to me the blessings, That come simply by faith, As I turn to you, Let's pray together now, And do just that, Father in heaven, Oh Lord our God, You know us all, Absolutely, You know our hearts, Our minds, Our thoughts, Our fears, There's nothing we can hide from you, Even if we can hide it from others, We thank you oh Lord, That knowing this world, And knowing our condition, And knowing our need, You gave your son,
[37:21] The Lord Jesus to come, To be our rescuer, Our saviour, And thank you that you, Willingly came Lord Jesus, Willingly came, And left the riches, The joy, The comfort of heaven, To enter into the squalor, And the poverty, And the difficulty of this life, That you were not, Somehow, An ivory tower type of God, But a roll up your sleeves, Get down and dirty God, Who entered into the muck, And the grime, And we thank you Lord Jesus, You came, Not that you might only, Sympathise with us, In our need, But Lord that you might change, And transform, This world, And our lives, We thank you Lord, For those of us, Who are Christians, This morning, We can honestly, Agree with all that we've heard, That we were once poor, And imprisoned, And blind, And oppressed, Oh but Lord, We thank you, That you have, Transformed us, And though there are times, We still feel,
[38:21] Because of the, The pollution, And the corruption, Of this world, Chained in one sense, And locked away, And trapped, Yet Lord, In the midst of all of that, We have such liberty, And freedom, Which comes from knowing, That we are loved, And accepted, That you are for us, And not against us, And we pray again, Oh Lord, For those who do not know, These things, Those who are still, Here this morning, Lord, Not just here this morning, But in this town, Whose lives are still, Oh Lord, In blackness, And imprisonment, Oh please, Set them free, Shed your light, Into their hearts, As you did for us, That they may enter, Into all the riches, And the joy, And the forgiveness, And the delight, Of knowing you, Their Father God, Be with us Lord, We pray, Make your word, To us, Real, For we ask it,
[39:22] In Jesus name, Amen, For I am convinced, That neither death, Nor life, Neither angels, Nor demons, Neither the present, Nor the future, Nor any, Power, Neither height, Nor depth, Nor anything else, In all creation, Will be able, To separate us, From the love of God, That is in Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Amen.