From Sadness to Joy

The third book of our New Testament, the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 24.! Luke chapter 24.

We will read the first 35 verses. This is God's Word. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright, the women bowed down their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee? The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.

Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others.

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.

But they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast.

One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days?

What things, he asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.

The chief priest and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body.

They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said.

But him they did not see. He said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken.

Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening.

The day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, Were not our hearts burning within us when he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, It is true, the Lord is risen and has appeared to Simon.

Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Two weeks ago, we looked at Paul's question to the Galatians. What has happened to all your joy? And we saw that the Galatians had been happy.

But as Paul was writing to them, they had become sad. They had shifted the weight of their salvation off of the Lord's shoulders and onto themselves.

And when they did that, their joy evaporated. So Paul could ask, What has happened to all your joy? This morning, we're going to see another case of sadness.

Another case of sadness. And you see it here in Luke chapter 24. It's these two disciples, our brothers, and they're sad.

It was Sunday early afternoon, probably. And they are walking the road from Jerusalem down to Emmaus. And here they are, these two men, and they are talking.

We know one's name is Cleopas. We don't know the other one's name. And they're talking animatedly, very emotionally talking with each other.

And you can imagine the scene. They're saying, It was a week ago. It was a week ago today. But now it seems like forever ago. He was here.

He was with us. Remember that? That was something. He came into Jerusalem. And the people shouted. And the crowds cheered.

And if you listen closely, you can hear something sad. Disappointed. And even cynical. In their tone of voice.

Remember, he came to the temple and he preached. No, he preached. And the crowds were riveted by what he said. That was something. That was wonderful. And then. Yeah, then.

Then it happened. Can't believe it happened. I just can't believe it. He was here. And now he's gone.

Now he is gone. And as they talk, Jesus himself comes up and walks beside them. And I've tried to imagine his tone of voice.

I'm not sure how he sounded. As he said, What are you discussing as you're walking along? What are you talking about? And their slow, shuffling walk finally came to a standstill.

And they're standing there with their heads down. Their faces downcast. Says they're sad. And Cleopas, probably with some weariness.

You can imagine if you've had to explain something to someone that you didn't feel like explaining it to them. When you didn't feel like explaining it to them. He's repeating something bothersome. Are you just visiting?

Are you just visiting? Are you new here? Don't you know what's been going on? Everyone's talking about it. How can you not know what we're talking about? But Jesus is not put off. He's a good doctor.

And he's going to keep going. He's going to press them. And he says, Well, what things? What things are you talking about? And out comes the story. Out comes everything they've been talking about as they've been walking along the road.

About Jesus of Nazareth. And they tell their sad tale. And it is a story of disappointment.

And it's a story of confusion for them. And it ends sadly. And so this morning I have four points that I want us to look at at this story.

And the first is the disciples' sadness. Let's just look at why they were sad and what that sadness was like. And then we're going to see two things that didn't help them. And I find these very surprising.

Two things that didn't help them out of their sadness. Then we're going to see Jesus' diagnosis and then Jesus' treatment. So the disciples' sadness. Two things that didn't help. Jesus' diagnosis and Jesus' treatment.

So look at their sadness. Why are the disciples sad? Well, because their hopes had been crushed.

Their hopes had been crushed. And they're stuck in the past. They can't get over what has happened. Jesus' death.

Jesus is alive. They've even had reports of the resurrection. And yet they are still stuck in the past. Still talking about his death. And you can see in just how they say things and what they say.

It's all in the past tense. So look at verse 19. He was a prophet. He was a prophet. Past tense. He's not a prophet anymore.

Obviously, he's dead. He was powerful in word and deed. But what happened? Well, they crucified him. They crucified him. Verse 21.

But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And there it is. We had hoped. That's why they're so sad.

They weren't hoping anymore. Their hope had died. It wasn't Jesus alone that died on that cross. It was all the disciples' hopes in him.

And their hope was still buried in the tomb, even though Jesus was alive and well. And that's why the story of the resurrection didn't help them at all. The women come and tell them this great news, but it just seems like nonsense to them.

And the women say, we've seen angels. And the angels told us he's alive. He's not here anymore. Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He's not here. He's alive. And so even some of the disciples came and saw that the tomb was empty.

They had heard about the resurrection, not from one or two people, but you saw the list from several. And then some of the 11 went and saw. But none of that cheered them up.

None of that gave them any hope. It was just confusing. They didn't know what to do with it. They didn't know what to make of it because Jesus is dead. That's just the fact.

Jesus is dead. So whatever all that was about, it doesn't make them feel any better because Jesus is dead. It's over. Things didn't work out like I thought they were going to work out.

Now, can you relate to them? Can you relate to them? You know the feelings of having your hopes dashed.

Crushed. You know that feeling of I had hoped. And maybe it was something you could articulate. Maybe it was a hope that you could actually talk about.

That had risen from the surface of out of your heart. And you could understand and you can express it. But now it's gone. But a lot of our hopes are unspoken hopes, aren't they?

Hopes that are just there in our hearts. And we hardly think about it. We don't really put it into words. But there it is in your heart. You thought getting married would solve your problems.

But you find in this world of sin that marriage doesn't. And for some folks, you can be just as lonely inside marriage as outside. You had hoped.

And now what? Now where do you turn? Or you thought going off to school. Young people going off to school. Getting a car. Getting a job.

Having money. You thought that would make everything better. You'll finally be free. You'll finally be able to experience life. And now you have it. You're out. And things aren't magically better.

You had hoped. Or maybe you've been struggling with some sin. Some powerful, addictive sin. Something that so easily entangles you. And you started a new program.

You thought you had it. You thought you had it figured out. And it seemed to be working for a while. But now you're right back at it. Right back at it.

And you had hoped. And you're worse than you were before. Because at least then you had the energy of hope. But now hope is gone. Or maybe you've been suffering physically. And you've tried this treatment and that.

And all of a sudden the symptoms go away. And you think, that's it. I've finally broken through.

I've made it. And a month goes by. And you're feeling pretty good. And then month two happens. And you're worse than ever. You had hoped.

Hoped. We can all relate to these disciples. Of having hopes. But having those hopes crushed. And they had hoped.

Jesus was the one. That he would save Israel. That he would set them free. That he would set about bringing in God's kingdom. That he would save Israel from Rome.

But he hadn't saved them from Rome. Instead, Rome had crucified him. Rome had hung him up. It was the exact opposite of what they expected. Rome had crucified him.

They had hung him up like a piece of meat. And he was naked. And he was alone. And it was utter humiliation. And they had hoped in that. And now that was gone. And now they were crushed.

And you know, on the other side of hope. Is worse than anything. Now nothing will ever change. What now? Where now?

What's the point? What's the point of anything? God doesn't act. God never acts. And so off they shuffle.

Down the road to Emmaus. Out of Jerusalem. Away from it all. They're going to go lick their wounds. Far away from the scene of their tragedy. No.

It doesn't end there for these disciples. It doesn't end there for them. Jesus is probing the wound. But he's not done with them yet. Because how does the story? The story begins with them sad.

But how does the story end? Well, you see verse 32. Look at what it says. They have. We're not our hearts burning within us.

While he was explaining. While he's talking with us on the road. As they open the scripture to us. There it is. The hearts burning. So they have a sad heart. They begin with a sad heart.

And they end with this burning heart. Now two weeks ago I told you about Christmas Evans. And how he went up into the hills of Wales. Crushed. Sad. Depressed.

And he prayed. But he came down with a heart burning. That's even how he described it. He said, I became like those two men on the road to Emmaus. My heart was burning like the first time in forever.

So. Alive to God. Not sad anymore. But with a deep. Expectant. Joy. Now John Wesley.

He was. He was a wreck. As he came into this small meeting. In Aldersgate. In 1738. Now we know John Wesley as this wonderful evangelist.

And God used him to save. Hundreds and thousands of people. But as he comes into this meeting in 1738. He is not that man yet. He's a wreck.

He had already tried his hand at being a missionary. He'd come to the colony of Georgia. And he had preached. And it was. An utter failure.

It hadn't gone well. Things were falling apart. And. Really what was happening was God was putting his finger on the fact that John Wesley was not converted. He was preaching.

Preaching the gospel. Preaching faith. And yet he himself had no faith. And he had hoped. He had hoped. That he was saved. He had hoped that.

Things. God was going to use them. But he realized that it had all been. A charade. It had been a farce. And he had come to the point where he had even quit praying for his own salvation. So in despair.

So all of his hopes are gone. Now he didn't want to go to that meeting. You know what that feels like right? On some sad Wednesday.

You don't feel like going to the prayer meeting. That's how he felt. He went. He went anyways. There was no minister there even that night. And it was just someone reading.

Reading a book. And the man read of all things the preface to Luther's commentary to the Romans. So it wasn't even the commentary. It was the preface to the commentary. And the minutes ticked away as this man talked about faith in Jesus Christ.

John Wesley wrote. About 8.45 p.m. While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Jesus Christ. I felt my heart strangely warmed.

Heart strangely warmed. And there it is. That's the burning heart. The burning heart. There's hope now. There's life. There's expectation.

God isn't this God who never does anything. Now God is full of power and grace and ready to save. That's the burning heart. And that's what these disciples have.

And so friends. Are you sad? Are you in despair? Well you can have a burning heart. There is such a thing as a burning heart.

Where it's life and joy and expectation in the Lord. Where you're not thinking about oh it's so bad and nothing ever changes. But now there's hope again. Well how did it happen?

How did these two disciples get their joy back? How did they get their burning heart back? Well secondly let's see what didn't help. Let's see what didn't help.

Strangely enough talking about it with each other didn't help. Talking about it with each other didn't help. We have the saying that misery loves company. And so often the case the reason misery loves company is because it's just this mutual reinforcement of my own misery.

I like to hear how miserable you are because it justifies how miserable I am. And that's what we like. We want to feel like it's yeah being miserable it's good. We get some sort of satisfaction about even sharing in our misery.

And so these two disciples had been talking had been discussing. The word is emotional. They went through everything that had happened. And it didn't help.

Why? Because neither of them brought anything new to the conversation. They didn't bring anything new to the conversation. They never brought anything biblical. Anything greater than themselves. It was just their ideas.

Their experience. And they went through everything. And where did they end up each time they were talking? They ended up with Jesus dead. He's dead. Now can sharing with each other help when you're sad?

Yes. Yes. I am not saying, oh, keep that all bottled up inside. Yes. But if we're just commiserating with each other, just being miserable together, that doesn't help.

Just talking doesn't help. Listening to the ear is good. But these men need a truth. And listening to each other can be very good. We need to do more of that, brothers and sisters.

None of us are whole. We're all broken. We're all experiencing sin. We're all experiencing the effects of the fall. And we need to share those things.

But we can't substitute listening for speaking the truth in love. So just talking to each other didn't help these disciples. And we've already said this.

You know what else didn't help? Was seeing Jesus alive. Seeing Jesus alive didn't turn the corner for the disciples. No, they actually turned the corner before that.

So let me ask you, when did these disciples turn the corner? When did their hearts begin to burn and hope begin to light in their life? And well, was it before or was it after they recognized Christ?

Well, it was before. Their hearts burned. And then they saw him. So let me ask you, what did these disciples really need?

Well, they didn't need to just talk with each other more. And they didn't really even need to see Jesus. They needed something else. And so often I think that's where we make the mistake.

Too often we think that if we just didn't have to live by faith, if we can just understand how all these things were going to work out and what God was doing, if we could just see the end, then it would be okay.

But the disciples, they didn't need to fast forward to the end of the story for their hearts to burn. So often we say, if I can just understand what God is doing, then I'll be happy.

But that's not what they needed. That's not what they needed. Because not seeing was not their problem. Well, what was their problem? We see Jesus' diagnosis in the third place.

Jesus' diagnosis. Now look at what he says there in verse 25. Jesus hears them out. And what does he say?

How foolish you are. It's even harsher than that. Oh, fools. Oh, fools.

In the Bible, a fool is someone who isn't thinking sensibly about God. In the Bible, fools are people who are thinking things from their own perspective, their own human perspective.

So God, this great, big, loving, planning, purposeful, sovereign, kind, powerful, speaking God, wasn't weighing on their minds.

The fool says there's no, says in his heart, there's no God. He doesn't reckon with God. A fool is someone who doesn't fear the Lord, who doesn't esteem him and reverence him. A fool is someone who God isn't weighing upon his life.

And so why does Jesus call these two men fools? Because that's what they're being. They're being fools.

He puts the finger on their problem. They weren't reckoning. They weren't calculating. They weren't figuring with a God who could raise the dead. They weren't calculating and figuring with a God who had spoken in his word about this very incident.

The crucifixion of our Lord. They didn't need to see the risen Christ. They didn't need all their questions answered. What they needed was a new sight, a bigger sight of God.

They're sad because they aren't thinking. They aren't thinking. They're talking. They're discussing. They're arguing.

But they aren't thinking things through biblically. Jesus goes on. Oh fools. And slow of heart to believe.

Now we've seen a sad heart. We've seen a burning heart. And now here's a slow heart. What's a slow heart? Well, a slow heart.

You can find it in your life. You have no problem paying attention to a TV show or a movie for 30 minutes, do you? You're into it.

And you say, well, I should pray. And you go to pray. And can you pray for 30 minutes with as much ease and facility as you could watch a show?

No. A sad heart. It's hard to believe. Slow to believe. Slow to believe that God listens. Slow to believe that God cares. Slow to believe that this even matters. And that's what these men's hearts are like.

They're like molasses. They're so slow of coming to grasp the truth. Now what weren't they grasping? What weren't they understanding? What weren't they getting? What weren't they believing? What does it say?

It says all that the prophets have spoken. All. That's the word. That's the key. The problem here. They're slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

They had some, but not all. The problem is not that they got it all wrong. It was that they got some of it right and they missed out on some of it. And so now here we get to the bottom of it.

Why are these men so sad? And why, brothers and sisters, do we get sad sometimes? Because they're only believing part of the truth. Isn't it true that so often we're sad because we're only believing part of the truth?

But not all of the truth. Now these men believed some of what the prophets said. They believed that there would be a Messiah.

And that Messiah would redeem Israel. And they believed in glory. And all those things were true. The Messiah will come and rescue us. And he will save us from worldly powers.

And there will be no more oppression. And no more sorrow. And no more running. And no more exile. They believe in this great coming king. And you know what? They were right. No doubt these two men sang Hosanna when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

That fit with their theology. The only problem is their theology is small. It's only partial. So, is that everything?

Is it just Jesus riding into Jerusalem and Jesus conquering and Jesus experiencing glory? And then all of God's people experiencing glory with him? No, that's not everything. See, they would read Genesis 3 and they would say, Yes, the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

And then they would stop. And we would say, but now isn't there more than that to that verse? Doesn't it say that he will bruise his heel?

They read about Isaiah 66 and the coming of the glory of God's kingdom. But they didn't read Isaiah 53. They weren't believing all the prophets said.

Why are we sad so often? Isn't it because we're only believing some of what the scripture says? And we're slow to believe all that it says.

So you have a fall into sin. Terrible fall. And we believe what God says about sin. We believe what God says about his holiness and his justice and his wrath.

We believe those things. And then we sit there in that. We believe what God says about his sin, but not about his grace. We come to it. We sinned.

And that's it. That's it. That's the end of the story. And our hearts latch on to it. And we believe with all of our hearts that we have sinned and God is holy. But we don't believe that God is gracious and kind.

Our hearts are slow to believe. We get stuck in places. And when we get stuck, we get sad. And Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones tells the story of an experience he had one time.

It was between World War I and World War II. And he was off preaching somewhere. And the elders there at this other church said, we have a man that we want you to see and talk to.

He'd be wonderful. He'd be useful. But the problem is he's just so sad and depressed all the time. It cripples him. And so Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, sure, I'd be glad to talk to him.

So the man, he sat down with the man. And the man proceeded to tell him, he said, well, why are you so sad? The man proceeded to tell his story. And he says, well, when World War I began, I enlisted in the Royal Navy.

Yeah, the Royal Navy. And I joined the submarine force. And I was down in the Mediterranean. And we were in battle there in the Mediterranean. And we were under the water.

And all of a sudden, there was a loud thud. And the submarine went down, down. And we hit the bottom. And that's why I'm so sad.

And Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones scratched his head and said, well, I must have missed something here. So, okay, tell me that again. Because he apparently missed something.

And the man said, well, we were in the Navy. We were serving in the Mediterranean. And our ship got hit by a torpedo. And down, down it went into the depths.

And the man, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, I missed something again. I don't know what I'm missing here. And so he proceeded to tell him again the whole story.

Down, down we went and we crashed. And Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, well, did you stay down there? And the man said, well, no, we got rescued.

We got rescued. Some Coast Guard people came by, pulled us up. And we got ashore. And we went to shore. And we went to the doctors. And I got all better. And that was the man's problem.

He was still living like he was stuck at the bottom of the Mediterranean. In reality, he had been lifted up. He had been rescued. He had been brought on shore. He had been healed.

But he was still living in the past. Sometimes we're like that. We feel like we're there. We're down at the bottom of the Mediterranean. When in reality, hasn't Jesus lifted us up?

Hasn't he saved us? So we believe half of the scriptures. We believe in joy. But then we're surprised by trials. Should trials surprise us? Should it be a surprising thing when it happens?

Or all we see is the pain. But we miss the promised joy. We see the affliction. But we don't see the preservation.

We see the suffering. But not the glory. And so in your pain. In your suffering. Whatever it might be. Are you feeling betrayed? Surprised?

Why is that? Has God not said that we would suffer? Didn't he say there would be trials? That there would be afflictions?

That there would be persecution? That he disciplines the sons he loves? He hasn't hidden anything from us. He doesn't hide the suffering.

But he also doesn't hide the glory. These light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory. We need both.

We need to know that, you know what, I'm going to suffer here. But we also need to realize that these things are achieving for me an eternal weight of glory. So there will be sorrow. There will be trouble.

But they're achieving glory. That's the way it was for Jesus. That's the way it is for his people. Now the disciples' problem was that they were only believing some of the scripture.

And that's Jesus' diagnosis. Slow of heart. It was a heart problem. And so, now what about Jesus' treatment? What does he do to help these dear disciples?

Well, beginning with Moses and all the prophecy, he explained to them what was said in the scripture concerning himself. He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

The problem was that they were only believing half the scriptures. And the answer was that he was going to tell them everything. The problem was that they weren't believing all that the prophets said. And so the answer was learning all that the prophets had said.

So why are these men sad? It was a deficiency in understanding. And so the answer is he's going to teach them all of the scriptures. And he showed them the whole picture.

He showed them the sufferings. And he showed them the glory. And not just the glory, but the sufferings. And not just the sufferings, but the glory. But the sufferings and the glory that follows. And so what can we learn from all this?

What was Jesus' answer? It was this comprehensive understanding of the word of God. They needed to have the word of God, the truth of God, in all of its fullness, in Jesus Christ, brought to them.

So what can we learn from all this? One, when you are sad, the natural tendency is to avoid the Bible. The natural tendency is to skip church.

And we run off to Emmaus. And like these two, we'll talk about the problem. We'll dwell on the problem. And that's the tendency. We need to fight that tendency.

We need to be aware of that tendency and not give in to it. When you don't feel like reading. When you don't feel like coming here. When you feel like staying home because you're sad.

Keep reading. Keep coming. Keep hearing. Keep listening. And do it all the more. There's probably something that you're missing that you need to remember. There's probably something you're not believing that you need to believe.

And faith comes from hearing. So when you're sad. And you don't want to get into God's word. More than ever, you need to be in God's word.

Under the preaching of God's word. That's what these disciples needed. Two, what can we learn? Look for Jesus when you read. Look for Jesus when you read.

So often we're sad and we're stuck. Because we're stuck on ourselves. We're stuck on our situation. And we're all tied up in our own disappointments.

In our own losses. In our own trials. We're focusing on ourselves. But Jesus just doesn't show them the scripture. He shows them himself. So when Jesus taught scripture, he got to the main point.

Which was him. And when I'm sad, there's nothing like Jesus to cheer me up. I need Jesus to cheer me up. Jesus coming for me.

Jesus humbling himself for me. Bearing the burden of my sin. Jesus dying and rising again for me. Jesus taking himself to me.

And uniting his life and my life. And so that I can now do all things through Christ. Who strengthens me. When we're sad, the tendency is to dwell on ourselves.

But more than ever, we need to get to Jesus. We'll never feel happy. As long as we're indulging that selfishness.

Then third. Let's learn from Jesus how to help each other. Do you want to cheer up a sad Christian? How do you do that? Do you want to encourage your children?

Do you want to encourage your friends when they're discouraged? Look at how Jesus did it. Learn a lesson from him. He shows us how to encourage sad people. He listens to them.

Jesus did. He listened to them. And he let them talk. But then he gave them Jesus. Gave them himself. He gave them Jesus' sufferings and Jesus' glories.

And that's what your brothers and sisters need. They need a listening ear, yes. But they need Jesus most of all. They need you to remind him of what he did for them.

And you can say it point blank. Brother, Jesus loves you. He loves you. He cared for you. He died for you. His heart is on you.

He loves you. Parents, your children. Our children need us to give them Jesus. It's very easy, isn't it, moms and dads, to give our children the rules and the expectations.

And when they don't live up to it, we get upset and angry with them. But they need more than that. They need Jesus. And when they get discouraged, just like we do, and they get frustrated and disappointed and bewildered, and they struggle to obey, because they're our children, aren't they?

And we struggle to obey. So what do they need? We need to give them Jesus. And so you can gently pull them to you and say, I know. I know it's hard, dear.

I'm a sinner, too, and I struggle, too. And I need Jesus, too. Well, friends, how good it was for these two men to have someone who would come beside them and say, Here, let me show you Jesus.

And my question is, will you be that friend this week to come beside someone and say, Here, here, let me tell you about our Lord Jesus.

Let's pray. Oh, Lord Jesus, it is all about you. It is all about your glory and your fame and your salvation, what you have done for people like us.

It is all about us. As if we were something important. Oh, our worth is only in you, Lord Jesus.

We will boast in nothing except for the cross. And we will boast in no one except for Jesus Christ who laid down his life for us and who rose again and is now living and seated at the right hand of God for us.

Lord, come and be that gentle shepherd and heal your people and hold them close and encourage them.

Will you help us for those who are strong right now? Will you help them to encourage the weak? And for those who are weak right now, will you help them and heal them and help them to find encouragement and comfort and hope?

Not in their circumstances, but in Jesus Christ. We pray that you would open the eyes of the lost and show them the magnificence and the beauty and the glory of our Savior.

Will you teach us more about Jesus? More about Jesus and his word? Lord, just give us more of him. We would ask this in his name.

Amen.