Go on speaking and do not be silent

[0:00] Good morning, friends. We are going to be opening the Bible together. My name is Tim, part! of the team here. Thank you so much to the band, especially those members of our various youth! groups who have been taking part in it. We're really grateful for it. We're going to be in Acts chapter 18 this morning. If you want to grab your Bible and open it, we're going to be continuing the story of Paul's second missionary journey that we've been tracking for several weeks now, where he travels around from city to city to city and has encounters with different people, comes to tell them the good news about Jesus, that he has died to rescue anyone who puts their trust in him through his death on the cross. And everywhere he comes, he finds challenge and opposition, and it is exactly the same where he turns up this time.

[1:04] I'm going to read you the chapter, make a few, kind of tell you the story as I do it. It will help you to have, the words are on the screen, it will help you to have your Bible open if you've got one with you, so you know which bits are me reading and which bits are me just telling you about it.

[1:17] But the question that I'd like us to be thinking about in our heads as we're going through the story is, how should we think and feel and act when we feel discouraged? When we feel like all the fight has gone out of us, when our courage has left us, when our boldness has gone, when we're unsettled or things are challenging, how should we think, feel and act? Okay, this is Acts chapter 18.

[1:47] After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. This is an enormous city in the south of Greece, huge megacity, very rich, well known for its vice. Think LA, you've kind of got the picture of it.

[2:05] And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. So the emperor Claudius had chosen to expel all of the Jews from Rome. Exactly why it's not super clear, but the sources that we have, I think it happened about early AD 50s, excuse me, seem to indicate that it was about the fact that lots of the Jews had started to follow Jesus. And as a result, they got very unsettled in the city.

[2:48] Don't worry about anything else that's going on in the room. I know it's not the easiest to concentrate, but we're really glad that everyone who is here is with us. Do your best to focus on me. So they've left Rome because the Jews have been asked to leave, because the Jews have been fighting over the fact that some of them have started to follow Jesus. Basically, the same thing that's happened everywhere that Paul's gone, the same kinds of riots have come to Rome. Aquila and Priscilla must have been part of that. Probably they were Christians.

[3:21] And Paul, he says, and he went to see them. And because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tent makers by trade. So Paul, he's a tent maker, it means a leather worker. Aquila and Priscilla do the same job. He goes, he finds them, he meets them.

[3:44] And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. And when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, like however else he's been, he shook out his garments and said to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. So much like however else he's been, he preaches in the synagogue. Many of the Jews don't respond and get quite angry about what he's saying, that Jesus is the promised Christ that they were waiting for. And Paul does what Jesus told lots of his disciples to do. He says, if you go somewhere and the people reject you, shake the dust off and off you go somewhere else. So he does the same thing.

[4:37] He says, I'm not going to talk to this Jewish group anymore, at least here in Corinth. He does the same thing. Later, he goes back to the Jews and he gets to Ephesus. He's not making a pronouncement for all time. But he chooses to say, they're not listening. They're not interested. I'm going to move on to tell someone else. That's okay, by the way. You're allowed to do that in your own life. In fact, Jesus encourages it. You're telling your friend about Jesus and they make it clear they're not interested. You can move on. And he left there and he went to the house of a man named Titius Justice, a worshipper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. That, I imagine you're not catching it. I appreciate it. It's not the easiest to follow it. It's okay. That's a joke. Did he catch that? Paul, that's fine. Paul, he's, so he's talking to the synagogue. They're not that interested. He's like, I'm going to go somewhere else. And he moves as far as the house next door. And he takes up residence there. And he's like, oh, okay, I've gone this far. Like, it's actually a deliberately provocative move. He's like, you need to hear this. I'm going to stop telling you here. I'm going to go so far away that I'm going to be next door. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord.

[6:15] So he's abandoned preaching there. But the most important Jew in the city has become a Christian. Interesting. Loses his job as a result of it. She loses all of it. We see a little bit later on, loses all of his status. He believed in the Lord together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing Paul, believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, do not be afraid. Why is he afraid? I'll come back to that. Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent. For I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you. For I have many in this city who are my people. And he stayed a year and six months, the longest he stayed anywhere so far, teaching the word of God among them. But when Galio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law. When Paul was about to open his mouth, Galio said to the Jews, if it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.

[7:26] But since it's a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be judge of these things. So unlike previous cities Paul's been to, when the Jews create a stink and they're like, this man is a problem, and the authorities sort of try and do something. This man in authority says, as far as I can tell, this is something about your religion.

[7:47] I don't care. In essence, deal with it yourselves. And he drove them from the tribunal. And they all see Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, so not the guy, this is obviously the new guy, after someone became a Christian, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Galio paid no attention to any of this.

[8:07] God says, no one will attack you to harm you. Almost immediately in the story, we're like, hang on, he's in trial again. But the outcome is that the guy who brought the accusation is beaten, not Paul.

[8:22] God's promise to him is true. And after this, Paul stayed many days later, and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria. And with him, Priscilla and Aquila. At Cancray, he cut his hair, for he was under a vow. And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there. But he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.

[8:47] But on taking leave of them, he said, I will return to you if God wills it. And he sets sail from Ephesus. I mean, he'll be back next week in Ephesus, so he doesn't end up back there. But when he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next, through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Now a dune named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.

[9:15] He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. He'd been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he'd spoken to all accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. Paul's moved on from Ephesus. He's left gentle, Priscilla and Aquila there. We'll come back to why in a moment. But then this other man walks onto the scene, Apollos, who sounds like another Paul, good at reasoning, bold, able to stand and talk about Jesus. And he has, we're told, an accurate understanding, except for something, which we'll, again, we'll come back to next week, because it becomes clearer what's going on there in the next chapter. But he is bold. He is like Paul. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

[10:11] So what they're doing, you might picture, or they've sort of taken him to the side of the church, and just tell him, it's not quite what's going on. Paul probably would have got right in his face, and been like, what are you talking about? Probably in the middle of his sermon, in essence. Priscilla and Aquila were like, let's have him over for lunch. That's the essence of it.

[10:28] We'll have him back, and we'll talk about this. There's some things in the Bible he's not understood. Let's help him see them. And probably, this is speculation, but probably the reason that Paul doesn't stay is because what Ephesus needs right now is not fiery Paul, who stands and tells the truth, but they need gentle Priscilla and Aquila, who will, they're not going to upfront people, but they take him aside, Apollos, they take him into their home, they sit down over dinner, they, as it were, open the Bible, and they say, you've missed some things. Let me explain to you baptism. Let me tell you about the Spirit. Can you see? And Apollos goes, oh, yeah, okay. And then goes on to be the kind of fiery person like Paul would have been in that place, ready to speak the truth to anyone who needs to hear it. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

[11:35] We need both things in church life. We need the gentle correction over the dinner table, and we need the bold speaking of truth to refute things that are not true. Together, the church needs both, different ones, different times. So, there is lots in that chapter of Paul's journey. There is lots I'm not about to talk about that you could discuss over tea and coffee later, but I kind of hope you do. Come to chat to me if you want to. I'd love to talk about some of the things I'm not going to talk about in here. Why does Paul cut his hair? I'm not going to tell you, but we can talk about it over coffee if you'd like to. But do mull these things, because what I'd like to do is really zoom in on Corinth, and particularly zoom in on that thing that God says to Paul one night, because my sense is that this is God's word to us today. He says, do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.

[12:43] Paul's scared, clearly. God says, don't be afraid, but go on speaking. So, he must have some sort of, like, shall I stop? Shall I pull back? He's perhaps discouraged. He's unsettled. He's unsure about something. We're not told exactly what, but if we think about the last few chapters of Acts, what's happened to Paul? Last, he was laughed out of Athens. Before that, he kind of ran away from a riot in Berea. Before that, he ran away from a riot in Thessalonica. Before that, he was caught up in a riot and beaten and put in jail in Philippi. Before that, okay, he had a bit of a rest in Antioch, back to his first journey. He was stoned near to death, or maybe even to death, and raised again at Lystra. Before that, he fled stoning at Iconium. Before that, he was driven out of Pisidian Antioch.

[13:42] And now, the Jews of Corinth have started what feels to Paul like the same pattern. I mean, we're not told why he's scared, but I kind of get it. Like, he's everywhere he goes. He goes to synagogue, and he says, look, the Bible's about Jesus. We should worship him and follow him. And then, a riot starts. And every time, he's like, oh, not again. I think his discouragement is entirely understandable. I'm amazed he managed to go this far. And I suspect lots of us can relate, not necessarily to riots and stonings and being driven out of town. I imagine very few of us can relate to that. But to being scared. Scared of history repeating itself. Scared of the fact that something has happened, you're like, it just looks like it's going to happen again. Or just unsettled.

[14:40] Because things in life, I make you like, ooh. And such that you pull back, you feel discouraged. You're not sure how bold you can be. It may even be that after what Andrew shared last week, many of you are feeling unsettled. I don't know. But perhaps.

[14:55] We, as a church, received this quite powerful prophetic word at our encounter evening a few weeks back. Andrew made reference to it last week. Starting in Isaiah 6, vision of the Lord.

[15:10] Here I am, send me. But the kind of, the heart of the word was this phrase. We're called to be pioneers, not settlers. Pioneers, not settlers. I think that's true of all churches. But it's also God's word to us right now. You might feel unsettled. We need comfort. And God also wants to unsettle us. Pioneers, not settlers. That, for a few, that might mean off to the ends of the earth, like Vinnie and Diana have gone. Probably for most, it doesn't. But it does mean an attempt to break new ground. Do new things. Keep trying stuff. Keep moving forwards. Go, that's not working. Let's go this way. To not get too comfortable. To not stop.

[16:03] What does that look like in church life? Because we're probably not talking about literal breaking ground very often, or literally going to a new place. For most, it looks like evangelism. It looks like telling your friends, your neighbours, your work colleagues, your acquaintances, that lady at the till about Jesus. It also looks like disciple making. The Great Commission is going to all the world, baptize people in the name of Jesus, and make disciples of them, teach them to obey all that he commanded.

[16:35] So yeah, helping people meet Jesus for the first time, and then helping them learn to follow him, in all the ways that he calls us to. And it looks like kingdom living, such that in every place we find ourselves, in our workplaces, in our homes, in wherever we go, whatever we do for fun, that we're like, oh, what would this look like in the age to come?

[16:59] Oh, I cannot perfectly do that yet. I'm not perfect. I'm a sinner. But how can I live a little bit like the age to come now? How can I bring some sense of the kingdom into the place that I am now? That's what breaking ground looks like. Tell people about Jesus, help them follow him, and live like the kingdom is here, because that's how it's here.

[17:22] We're not called to be a comfortable church having a nice time. No church is. We're called to be a people who are unsettled by God, and go, okay then, I'll do the hard thing.

[17:38] Have a go. Sometimes it doesn't seem to work, and God's like, it's okay. Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. Other times it's like, oh, it worked. And the Lord's like, yeah, funny that. But we're called to have a go. Called to try some things. Called to sort of hold the Lord's hand as he says, go this way, and we're like, oh, okay. It's the kind of people we're called to be. I'd like, if I can, just to highlight a couple of things we've got coming up this term, which you've possibly seen the dates for already, but might give you some opportunity to put a little bit of this into practice. So, we have a number of Christmas events at Christmas time, and some of you, your hearts sink, because you're like, tell me it's October. Yes, it is October.

[18:36] The dates are out there, but one of them I'd like to particularly highlight is our evening carols. So, I think on the 14th of December, in the evening, we have coming to speak Adrian Holloway, who's an evangelist. Lots of you will know him. He came to speak at our Together weekend.

[18:53] He is going to, he'll be, he's funny, he's winsome, he's very good at winning a crowd. It'll be fun, but he's going to preach the gospel and give people an opportunity to be saved, then and there, to respond.

[19:06] Why don't you invite your friends? Well, certainly look at all the things we're doing at Christmas and go, which one looks like a good fit for my friend, my colleague, my family member? And get them here. Last Christmas, I'm told, the equivalent thing, the room was absolutely jam-packed full. So, putting on two, we've got evening carols that week, we've got afternoon carols the week after, which won't be quite so direct, I think, in its call to respond, but still, we'll hear the gospel.

[19:42] There'll only be people there if you invite them. Who could you invite? Who might that serve in your life? Who's the person that would be a good thing for, who might like to come? Think about it.

[19:55] And think about it now, because it doesn't feel like Christmas. It doesn't, but you'll want to invite them in a few weeks. And so, think about who you might want to invite. And then, after that, in January, we have our Alpha course running, which is a course of, I think, 11 weeks designed to have a meal together, designed to sit down and talk about big questions of life, and hear the gospel, and explore it together. It's kind of a very light atmosphere for the curious to explore the gospel, and again, we have an opportunity to meet Jesus. That's deliberately put then, so that off our Christmas events, we can go, what's your next step? Or, why don't you come and do this?

[20:35] You might have heard Nicola recently talk about the fact that she came to Christmas last year, and that was the thing that made her come to Alpha, and now we've baptized her, she's saved, she's part of the church. That's the story, and that's, and we're going to see if we can do more of it.

[20:51] But, essentially, we have to invite people and see what the Lord might do. And if you're thinking, yeah, okay, maybe a friend for Christmas, I'm not sure about who I might have to invite for Alpha, particularly if you're like, I don't quite know what that feels like. I've not been, or I haven't been in a long, long time. What would that be like?

[21:12] Well, funny you should ask. We deliberately have an event to help you. So, you will see one of these on your seat next week. They said, to invite you to an event called Taste of Alpha, that is on the 10th of November. These will be in your seats next week and the week after, which is not for your friends. It is for you. What we are essentially going to do, a kind of one night only, come and do, see what Alpha feels like together. There will, it will be set up like Alpha will be. There will be a meal.

[21:39] We will watch some portion of some video that Alpha have produced. There will be some chatting on tables. It will feel like Alpha. The point being, find out what it feels like and then think, okay, which person that I know might this work for? Who could I invite here? And I imagine we'll feel like, oh, actually, you know what? That friend who they've started asking, everyone started asking questions about Jesus, haven't they, the last six months of the year? Suddenly, everyone wants to read the Bible.

[22:08] Maybe you've noticed this among some of your friends. You're thinking that might serve them. Or indeed, you might think, you know what? That isn't right for them, but that's really helpful because it helps me think about what I actually need to do is invite them to this thing or tell them this or offer them this or have this conversation, whatever it might be. We'd love you to be there. We will talk more about the details, or probably next week, but nearer the time. But do try and come if you possibly can.

[22:35] Even if you're thinking, I don't even have any non-Christian friends who I could invite, that's something to think about. But why don't you come and stand, as it were, or sit and eat with your brothers and sisters to encourage them? So if you can come, that would be wonderful.

[22:50] Some of the ways that we cannot hold back. You do not have to do anything through one of our events, though. You are actually allowed to just tell your friends about Jesus. I don't know if you realise that.

[23:00] Do not be afraid. Go on speaking and do not be silent. Why? Why should we not be afraid?

[23:12] Because it's one thing for God to say, stop it, you silly sausage. Stop being so scared. That's not what he's saying. Why shouldn't we be afraid? He gives us two reasons. The first one, for I am with you.

[23:26] Don't be afraid, because Jesus is with you. Wherever you go, whatever you do, Jesus is with Christians.

[23:38] He's with you. It's like, I don't know if you ever walked through a kind of shady part of town. I must admit, I don't know if Alton has any. Maybe it does. I haven't found them. This is the thing about having lived in Birmingham for a long time. It's very nice here. Anyway, you walk through a part of town. It's late. It's dark. And you're like, I don't know how comfortable I'm feeling here. I'm not quite sure what's going to happen. We've all had that experience somewhere, I'm sure. If you're walking through somewhere that feels a bit shady, and you're starting to think that, like, am I about to get mugged thing? You're walking under the mugging bridge in Nottingham, which was always a fun place to go. I'm not even joking. Anyway, sorry, I'll get distracted. You feel different about it if you're walking in a group, right? Suddenly, it's much more secure, especially if some of them are really big men. You just have, I mean, the odd situation that doesn't help, but generally, you're like, oh, I feel more confident. The thing is, you see where I'm going? You're actually, wherever you walk, wherever you're going, whatever the situation, whatever you're about to say, your enormous big brother who spoke the world into being, who is the very word of the Father, is at your right hand, and at your left, and before you, and behind you, and above and below you, and in you, even in your bones.

[25:08] He's with you. You literally do not need to be scared. God is with you. We might think, perhaps, you might remember the story from 2 Kings chapter 2, prophet Elisha. An army of Syrians has come to his door. He is there with one of the men, his servant Gehazi, and there is a literal army outside.

[25:32] His servant starts to lose it because he thinks, well, obviously, we're going to die. They're clearly very cross with us. What's going to happen next? Elisha seems fine. His servant is sort of like, oh, have you noticed? Like, looking out the window, kind of like, that's an army. They've said they're here to kill you. I might be all right if I really leg it, but like, what? How is this going to work out, Elisha? And Elisha just prays to God, will you just open Gehazi's eyes? And suddenly, Gehazi sees what presumably Elisha already could, and sees what Elisha calls the chariots and horsemen of Israel, an angelic army, significant orders of magnitude bigger than the Syrian army in front of them.

[26:16] And Elisha's like, why would we be worried? There's more of us. I think we'll be all right in this battle they want to have. I'm just going to kind of sit here and watch it happen.

[26:29] But Gehazi needs his eyes open to see reality. It's the same thing for us. We need our eyes open to see reality. If we could see reality, we wouldn't fear because Jesus is with you. You know what? It's not the same thing. When there's a big bloke, he can punch someone. Jesus is not there, is he? The point is, actually, if we could see reality, he is. He is there.

[26:54] You're not sure you believe it? I understand. It's not as easy to believe. But Jesus has given a meal that we can eat, so we know that he's with us. We're going to, in a little bit, have bread and cup.

[27:07] As Hannah started us with, the physical reminder, it's like, Jesus is with me, but I can't, it's not physical. It's like, he's physical. Come and eat it. You don't need to be afraid. You can go on speaking. You don't need to hold back because Jesus is with you.

[27:25] Second reason you don't need to be scared. What does he say? He promises Paul that no one will attack him to harm him. But then he says, I have many in this city who are my people.

[27:35] He has many in that city who are his people. He has many in this town, this district, who are his people. You don't need to be afraid.

[27:47] What does that mean? It means God's gone ahead of us. It means that God is the one who saves. The work's his.

[28:00] Right? You're not being asked to go and tell your friends to make disciples to live like the kingdom, thinking, oh gosh, if I don't, it won't happen.

[28:13] No. The Lord will accomplish everything he wants to. He's perfectly capable of sending someone else. And he will.

[28:25] He saves. Jesus on the cross saves. We just trust him. You don't have to do anything to be saved. You don't have to do anything to make someone else be saved. You can't. You're not strong enough to lift them out of the pit.

[28:37] All you've got to do is tell people that you love Jesus. There's a difference between pressure, which would be if I were standing here and saying, if you don't tell this town, oh my word, what's going to happen to them?

[28:56] No one will tell them. An invitation, which I think is what the Bible does, which is to say, God's about some work here.

[29:06] Do you want to join in? The Lord has, it says, the Lord has many in the city. He knows who he's going to rescue. He knows who he's going to rescue.

[29:19] He will send someone else if you bottle it. That is not an excuse to be like, oh, thank goodness, I don't have to do anything. But it is an invitation to say, you get to join in with what God's doing.

[29:32] It's like, I've used this analogy before, but it's, work in the kingdom of God is like bringing kids to work day, right? God does stuff, and you sort of toddle along behind looking really excited about it.

[29:46] If your dad works in a building site, and you go to work with him for the day, and you're a little toddler, and he's hammering a nail, and you put your hand on it, did you hit the nail in? From the toddler's perspective, yes.

[29:57] Yes. You did. Of course you hit the nail, and your hand was on the hammer. Would the nail have been hit if your hand wasn't there? Yes. That's what work in the kingdom is like.

[30:10] Right? You do, of course you do it. Your hand's on the hammer. But the Lord is about his work. He will build his house. Nothing's going to stop him. But the dad who's building in the building site, does he have more fun if his son is there with his hand on his hand?

[30:27] Yes, he does. He has a lot more fun. That's why the world is like it is. That's why God invites us to join his mission. It's more fun for him. Okay, there's more to it theologically than that, but that is part of it.

[30:39] Right? That is genuinely part of it. He has more fun saying, come and work with me. Come and do some things with me. Let's have some fun together. Let's go do some mad stuff.

[30:52] Will the Lord's plan work if I don't do it? Yeah, but you don't get the joy of participation. So don't be scared. Don't hold back. Keep on speaking.

[31:04] Do not be silent. God has many in this town and district and he is the one who saves. they are welcome to his table.

[31:19] So are you. We're going to do that. Let's see. We're going to come to his table, the physical reminder, the physical encounter, the physical participation in all the joy of heaven.

[31:32] I'm going to pray and Andrew will come to lead us. Lord Jesus, if we're honest, we can hear all that and still feel like, yes, but, but I am scared, but I am unsettled, but I have stopped being bold and I did used to be different.

[31:53] I have stepped back. I have lost my spine. I'm not sure what even to do next. I'm still kind of scared. If we're feeling like that, Lord Jesus, and I'm sure many of us are, would you come to us by your spirit right now and embolden us?

[32:12] Speak courage into our bellies. Light a fire of joy in us at the fact we get to join in with your work on this earth.

[32:25] Lord, we ask that your sense of you with us would be palpable, that we'd know it, that it would be a thing, yes, that we remember in our brains, in our minds, but also that we feel in our hearts and we know in our bodies that God is with us.

[32:46] Help us believe it, Jesus. And mostly, Jesus, we thank you that we didn't save ourselves. Couldn't have done it if we tried.

[32:58] But instead, you chose to come and die in our place, come and defeat the enemy, come and undo our sin, come and wipe off our shame, come and turn death into life, come and flip everything on its head so now it's, oh, first death, then life, as the order of all things.

[33:18] But you chose to do that at great cost to yourself. Why? Because you love us for the joy set before you. We're your joy. You have so much fun participating in your plan with us.

[33:30] Thank you. Yeah. We're really grateful. Help us be grateful. Help us believe that. Sit it down in our bones.

[33:43] Help us live as though it were true. And as we go about telling others, as we go about helping people follow you, as we go about living as though the kingdom were here, would you encourage us in that?

[34:00] We ask that we'd see fruit. We ask that when we don't see fruit, we'd feel all right about shaking off the dust and moving on. We ask that, but either way, we'd be like, but God was with me. Lift up our heads, O Lord.

[34:15] Amen. In John chapter 6, Jesus describes himself this way.

[34:29] It says, Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

[34:43] And as Tim has encouraged us, we're coming to a meal. A meal where God provides everything. And it's a meal of his grace and his mercy. It's for people who have put their trust in Jesus.

[34:54] If you haven't yet, can I encourage you, don't yet, don't, don't, don't, don't participate yet. Come to Jesus. That's when you come and get involved in this meal. But just let it go on around you.

[35:06] That's absolutely fine. But if you don't yet know Jesus, you may want to ask the person you've come with or the person sitting next to you, can you tell me more about him? And that's a great thing to do as well.

[35:19] And so we're reminded in 1 Corinthians, Paul writing to Corinthians, says this, For I received from the Lord while I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.

[35:41] Do this in remembrance of me. And then you're happy. his body broken just like a loaf of bread isn't that wonderful horrific because we know what he endured at the cross and yet wonderful because he comes to give us life and in a moment these will be distributed around the tables please head to the table get some bread and also pick up a cup of juice of wine and you can take them back to your seat we're going to take them together so take them back to your seat if you're aware of somebody near you who hasn't got bread and wine maybe they can't go and get you may want to get it for them somebody perhaps who's struggling with their mobility or anything like that so let's look out for one another as we come to celebrate this amazing meal together and then in the same way after the supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood represented by this juice drink it in remembrance of me and we will do that as well together if you are gluten free just to say there are gluten free bread samples on each table you can pick one of those up instead if you're gluten free so that's on every table the band are just going to play for us

[37:35] I think while we come and get off our meal this meal we're going to enjoy which Christ has provided I say grab it take it back to your seat and then we will pause and take it together feel free to move you!

[37:52] you! you! you! Thank you.

[38:22] Thank you.

[38:52] Thank you.

[39:22] Thank you.

[39:52] Thank you.

[40:22] Thank you.

[40:52] Okay, if does anybody not have bread or juice that they need, just put your hand up, give us a wave if you need that. Wonderful. Well, we are part of one body, united in Christ through his body. Let's take and eat and give thanks for his goodness and grace. Amen.

[41:15] Thank you.