How a Christian Should Behave?
Tom Shrader works through 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28, the closing passage of the letter, organizing Paul's practical instructions around three relationships: how believers should esteem and appreciate church leaders, how they should admonish, encourage, and help one another, and how they should orient themselves toward God through constant rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving. He emphasizes that esteeming leaders means knowing them, valuing their work, and compensating them well, while caring for fellow believers means addressing disorder, supporting the fainthearted, and refusing to retaliate for wrongs. The teaching closes with Paul's benediction, stressing that God's faithfulness—not human effort—is what ultimately preserves believers to the end.
“Worry about nothing, pray about everything — I am persistently, constantly, passionately coming before the Lord.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: 1 Thessalonians
Recorded: 2000 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 41 min
Themes: leadership, encouragement, prayer, thanksgiving, rejoicing, church community, forgiveness, faithfulness, new believer, pastor, elder, navigating conflict, feeling discouraged, struggling with bitterness, church member, young adult
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28, 1 Timothy 5:17, Hebrews 13:7, Romans 12, Philippians 4:4, Philippians 2:17, Philippians 4:6, James 1
Theological Themes: ecclesiology, sanctification, pastoral care, divine preservation, biblical authority, christian conduct, benediction, perseverance of the saints
Full Transcript
How Christians Should Respond to Church Leaders
We're glad you're here this morning. I would invite you to open your Bibles to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. Today we will finish this book, beginning in verse 12 and going through to the end. Starting next week, and for four successive Sundays, we will work through the book of 2 Thessalonians. These books are written very close to one another, and we're working our way through the book of Acts, stopping to deal with the books as Paul writes them. For the sake of continuity, we're going to look at these two letters together. Then we'll take our break in August, and when we come back in September we'll return to the book of Acts and the studies that flow out of that.
Paul has been writing to these people and has commended them for their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope. Remember, they are under persecution and suffering. They're confused, brand new believers, and yet there is a steadfastness there. They understand the truth. They understand who Christ is — that's the work of faith. They are laboring to serve one another — that's the labor of love. And now there is the steadfastness of hope. Paul deals with the second coming of Christ and some of the confusion about that, and now he begins to close this book.
As he does, here is how I've labeled verse 12 through the balance of the book: Paul begins to talk about how a Christian should behave in three specific areas — toward church leaders, toward one another, and toward God. He begins to focus on these three areas. This is the practical advice he leaves them with as he closes the book. It's not all-inclusive information — it's not everything you need to know about dealing with a church leader, dealing with one another, or responding to God — but you get a sense of what's on the heart of the apostle, remembering that he is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Appreciating and Esteeming Those Who Lead
The first thing Paul deals with is how believers should respond to church leaders. "But we request you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live at peace with one another." This is the kind of passage we talk about frequently, because it can quickly sound very self-serving. To me, that's one of the great things about teaching through a book chapter by chapter and verse by verse — you never have to apologize for what you're saying, because there it is.
Paul writes to this church at Thessalonica — and I would suggest to every church, for all times and in all places. He writes to East Valley Bible Church in this sense, and he says: here's how I want you to respond to leaders. I want you to appreciate them and, in verse 13, to esteem them. Notice that he begins with the word brethren. That word appears frequently in the text, and the reason it seems that way is because it is. Paul uses the word brethren over 60 times in his 13 letters, and almost half of those — 27 — are in 1 and 2 Thessalonians alone.
To this young church, he is driving home this point: you are brothers and sisters. You have something in common beyond a chain of DNA. You have a common bond, a common Savior, a common destiny. You have a common love, a common forgiveness, a common salvation, and a common mission and purpose on this earth — to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Many of you know that. Many of you have experienced being closer to people in this church than to your own family. Why? God designed it that way. You share something more important than DNA — you share a love for the Lord.
Knowing Your Leaders
So Paul says, brethren, here is what we want: we want you to appreciate your leaders and to esteem them. The word translated appreciate is also rendered respect or recognize, and it literally means we want you to know them. You need to know the leaders. That's why on the website you'll find a brief biography on each member of the staff and the elders — so that you can begin to know them. Let me state the obvious: you cannot appreciate and esteem someone if you don't know them. It goes beyond knowing who they are; it means knowing something about them.
I'll frequently be talking to someone and they'll mention their student's discipleship group, and I'll ask who their discipleship leader is, and they'll say they don't know. Or someone will talk about their child in third grade, and when I ask who their teacher is, they don't know. Let me state the obvious again: how are you going to esteem and appreciate that person if you don't know who they are? Paul is saying: know them, recognize them, and esteem them. The word means to value them.
Valuing Leaders Rightly
Valuing leaders happens in a couple of ways. In some ways we simply put a title on them. One of the things I personally appreciate about East Valley Bible Church is that nobody calls me reverend. Nobody says monsignor or bishop. Periodically someone will say Pastor Tom, and I'm okay with that, though not entirely comfortable with it. What I like is simply Tom — and that's what people do here. Notice that in the New Testament, Peter is never referred to as Pope Peter, nor is it Saint Paul or Bishop John. You esteem them and you put value on them.
There is also another dimension to this, and it gets a little more pointed: you pay them. 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 17 says, "Let the elders who are considered worthy of a double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching" —
Honoring Church Leaders
Some churches seem to operate with an attitude that goes something like this: "Here's the deal, God — You keep him humble, we'll keep him poor. You keep beating him down circumstantially and we'll make sure he's in poverty." But that is not what the verse says. The verse says a church leader is worthy of double honor. That doesn't necessarily mean he is worth double as much as everyone else, but the idea carries with it respect, esteem, and compensation.
One of my driving forces at this church is to make sure that the people on staff are not merely compensated adequately, but compensated well. I want you to understand — I don't take a salary from this church. I take a housing allowance that is a fraction of a salary, but I take no salary here. So I am not out there feathering my own nest on this. I am simply saying we have to pay this staff — and not just adequately, but well.
One of the ways that is typically done is to survey all the churches to see what they pay. That is acceptable if those churches are already paying their staff well — but what if they are not? There should be a standard of genuine, adequate compensation.
Why We Should Esteem Our Leaders
What should your attitude be toward your church leaders? You should appreciate them — that is, know them, know who they are, know enough about them to say hello, and know some of them more deeply than others. You should also esteem them, meaning you should genuinely value them. Paul gives three reasons why.
First, these leaders are appointed by God. The phrase in the New American Standard says they "have charge over you." The point is not that they stand over you in a domineering sense, but that God has ordained leadership within the church. It is an elder form of leadership, and within that structure, these leaders bear responsibility for your soul. That is why we take this so seriously. That is why we sometimes have to deal with very hard things — why, for instance, we occasionally have to sit down with a couple that wants to be married and say, "We will not marry you because you should not be married. We care about your soul, and you are about to marry someone who is not a believer." The leadership model here is servant leadership. It is not to lord it over anyone or hoard authority, but to lead and shepherd in a way that brings honor and glory to God.
The Work of Godly Instruction
The second reason to esteem your leaders is that they give godly instruction. Leaders in the church are charged with the responsibility of teaching the Word. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember those who lead you, who spoke the Word of God to you. Obey your leaders and submit to your leaders." Submit to my leader? Yes — as long as you are part of that body. There may come a time when you decide to leave and go somewhere else, but as long as you are in a church, the attitude should be that you will respect and esteem those who teach you.
Beyond instruction, the third reason is that these leaders work diligently. The idea in the text is that they labor to the point of exhaustion and weariness. This is genuinely difficult work.
I spend about 40% of my week out in the marketplace dealing with men and women from a variety of backgrounds — real estate professionals, business people, all sorts of individuals. Every once in a while, one of them will say, in the form of a joke, "I wish I had a gig like yours where you just worked on Sundays." They'll add, "Oh, I know there's more than that" — but underneath it runs this current: it would be nice to step out of the real world. Let me help you with that. I see more of the real world in a week than most people see in a year.
When someone comes to see us during the week — and there is a steady flow of people coming to the church — they are coming because they are hurt or desperate. We see abortion and we see adoption. We see life and we see death. We see marriages doing reasonably well and marriages falling apart. We see parents who walk in and say, "I have this child and I don't know what to do." We see this all day, every day. There is no hint of complaint in saying that — it is simply what Paul is describing. This is genuinely hard, difficult work, far more difficult than what I did in the real estate business. If you made a mistake in real estate, you lost money. If you make a mistake here, you are dealing with someone's soul. The stakes are incomparably higher.
No one on staff is complaining. No one is saying they are working too many hours. What they are saying is that they are doing what they have been called to do. So Paul's word to you is this: esteem them, value them, let them know, and thank them.
How to Treat One Another in the Church
Now Paul turns from how we treat our leaders to how we treat one another. He writes, "I urge you, brethren — admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak." He is addressing the whole church and laying out how believers are to deal with each other.
The word translated "unruly" means literally "the disorderly." The primary idea here, in context, is those who are idlers. In the church at Thessalonica, there were people who knew Christ was coming again, and on the strength of that knowledge they had quit their work and become a burden to others.
Admonishing Those Who Are Out of Step
The word, as I said, is translated "disorderly." It describes a soldier who has left the ranks, who lacks discipline. Paul is talking to you — talking to us as a body. He said you are to admonish the disorderly: the people around you, the people in your sphere of influence, the people who are out of step, the people who are out of line. You go to them.
I get this every once in a while where somebody will come in and say, "Well, this person is doing this. I don't know if you know this, but they're doing this at the church and they're doing this in my life. Here's what they did to me." And I'll say, "Well, what do you want me to do? Why are you seeing me?" Let me ask you this question: have you talked to them? No? Then we're done. Don't bring it in here until you've talked to them.
You are capable people. If somebody has hurt you, you go to them. If you have hurt somebody, you go to them. If somebody is out of line, you go to them. These are the "one anothers." You admonish those who are out of step.
Encouraging the Faint-Hearted
But Paul adds two things very quickly. He says to encourage the faint-hearted. The phrase "faint-hearted" literally means small-souled. These people feel inadequate. Maybe they are, at this point in life, genuinely inadequate. They are struggling to find their area of giftedness, and you are to be there to encourage them.
We are doing a study in the marketplace called Power Brokers, and we are talking about how you empower other people. One of the key elements is encouragement. Maybe you are here today and you are a manager or you own a business. I will tell you, the cheapest way to motivate your people is to encourage them. They love it.
Friday night, Susan and I had the great privilege of being at a surprise 45th wedding anniversary party for Larry and Sue Wright. It was terrific, and it is always fun to see Larry. The last time you saw him was at my 50th birthday, and if you remember, we wheeled him out. He is taller than I am now — he has grown about an inch and a half since getting those knees fixed. He is on a Stairmaster, he is moving around well, and he looks terrific. He was legitimately surprised, and they had a great video with old pictures from his days as Lucky Lawrence.
They asked me to emcee the evening, which I love. What I pushed for was an open mic where people could come and speak, even though Larry hates that — he calls it glorifying the worm. But I said, no, we are going to do this, because he wants to hear it and needs to hear it. People need an opportunity to speak.
The third person up talked about Larry and mentioned that he attends Northwest Community Church. He talked about the first sermon he ever preached on a Sunday morning — not Larry, but this other man. He said he was up there teaching, and until you have done it, you do not really know how hard it is, especially when someone is in the room who you know really knows what they are doing. He knew Larry was there, and everywhere he looked, Larry seemed to be right there. I have had the same experience — I have had to teach when Larry was in the room, and it is awful.
When the service was over, this man went out a side door because he did not want to run into Larry. Then suddenly he saw him in the foyer, and Larry came up and said, "I am so proud of you." That is what you need to hear. Even if someone blew the lesson, you can address the content some other time. First, you encourage them.
The Danger of Correction Without Encouragement
I spoke at a friend's home last week. I had one session of an hour and a half, and I could tell I was losing someone in the back, so I took a short stand-up break of three or four minutes. I went back to say hello and to acknowledge that they had seemed disengaged — that is part of the work. A man came up to me and said, "You know, that part you were teaching — there is an illustration there," and he began giving me verses and additional material. I said, "Oh, thank you." He left, and I thought, who are you? I am never going to see you again. Half the people in the room know more than I do, but he felt compelled to demonstrate that.
We are in the context here of dealing with someone who is small-souled and struggling. You do not need to beat them up. They already know they are inadequate. You do not need to pound them down. Those kinds of emails — bad idea. The Wall Street Journal just ran an article on companies having serious problems with inter-office email, because people will put things in an email they would never say to someone face to face. Email is person-to-person, but it is not face-to-face. It is not relational.
Helping the Weak
Paul also says to help those who are weak — especially those who are weak in the faith. We know there are people here who do not know very much about the Bible, who do not know much of the New Testament. Some of you are very successful in business. Some of you are 35 or 40 years old, and your third-grader who spends time in children's ministry is learning as much as you are, and you feel a little intimidated by that. But that is just pride, is it not?
If you are ignorant, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Ignorance simply means you have not yet been taught.
Admonishing and Encouraging One Another
We have a problem, because we can't fix stupid — but ignorant, we can fix. How do we fix it? Sunday evening apologetics of the Bible builds greater confidence in Scripture. Wednesday night doctrines of grace develops an understanding of our doctrinal statement. Fundamentals of the Faith grounds new believers in a wide range of basic Christian faith. You need to be in these classes.
Here is what Paul says: admonish one another, but don't kill each other. Encourage one another. Help one another. Right after he says to be patient, you get a great insight into the human psyche. If you are going to admonish, encourage, and help, you need to know that you can easily become very discouraged. Patience is the thing that allows you to go through this again and again, and you need patience for this work.
Fortunately, if you took communion, you have patience — because in doing so you are saying, "I am a Christian," and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience. You have those. What Paul starts to do here is ask these people to act in a way that is not natural. It is supernatural. He says admonish one another, encourage one another, help one another, be patient.
Do Not Repay Evil for Evil
This is a church that has experienced all sorts of persecution and all sorts of people doing wrong. Paul says, "See that no one repays one another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another." The natural thing, when somebody does you dirty, is to come right back at them. For years I lived with that "I don't get mad, I get even" statement. Paul says there is no place in your life where retaliation is appropriate — never.
But they really did it — I know, and that is exactly why he wrote the words he did in Romans 12: "Never pay back evil for evil. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." God will square that account. This is not, by the way, just for the church. This applies to all human relationships. You are never going to have a friendship if every time you are slighted by the other person you are keeping score, and there comes a point where you say, "Okay, that's enough — you're out of the game, relationship over."
Applying This in the Home
How about a marriage? How about a home? Let's start there, because we have children and students in here. God says to you: obey your parents. Save any objections for somewhere else — you obey your parents. Wives, submit to your husbands. Save that objection too. "But you don't understand what a jerk he is. You don't understand how he treats me." Do you see any exception written here? Don't repay evil for evil.
We will assume for the sake of discussion that he is a jerk — but we point out quickly that you married him. Just because he is a jerk does not give you the right to step out of your role. Do you see that? Husbands, love and nurture your wife. "But she takes advantage of me and I just try to —" save it. Never do we arrive at a place where we are repaying evil for evil.
When families come into your office — fathers, fathers, here is the instruction to you: do not provoke your children to anger. You are out there, it is a tough world, you have been kicked around all day, and you are looking for someone to kick. We now live in a society where children are valued less than the dog, so you get on them, and on them, and on them, and on them. Then you say, "Well, I have a rebellious kid." I understand that — and I would bet you made him that way. The natural thing is to fight back. Paul says no — God will take care of that.
Rejoicing, Praying, and Giving Thanks
Having spoken about how we are to respond to one another, Paul now addresses how we are to respond toward God: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks." The first thing that jumps off the page is those words — always, without ceasing, in everything. In our relationship with the Lord, it is twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It is a constant thing.
Here is what Paul says he wants: rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything. This is God's will. If you want to know God's will for your life in your relationship with Him, it is that you would rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. Break it down: rejoice always — be cheerful; be strong through prayer; be grateful. And as that is true individually, it should be true corporately. We should be a happy church. People should come in here and see something different. There should be joy.
My father and mother came to visit and came to church with us one January, February, or March. It was always interesting because I was raised in a very different background, so I would watch them and wonder what they were thinking — though I never got into those conversations, because like children, they were going to tell me what they thought when they were ready. One day we went out for lunch, and my dad said, "I'll tell you something about that church." I said, "Okay." He said, "I have never seen a place where so many people are so happy to be there." And that is what it ought to be.
Now, wait a minute — we have real hurt and real pain. What do you do with those trials? Here is what James said: "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials." Paul says, "My brethren, rejoice in the Lord" — Philippians 4:4 — "Rejoice."
Rejoice in the Lord Always
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice." Paul understands hurt and pain. He says this: "Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all, and I urge you to rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me." There should be a sense in which — not Disneyland — this should be the happiest place on earth. It is not that we have a bunch of people putting on a mask. They are not denying what is going on in their life, but there is a joy that transcends it.
What is God going to do? We have done everything we can think of, we are up against it, we never thought we would be here, and now we are here — what is God going to do? There is a joy as I rejoice in Him, I wait for Him, I rejoice always. And I pray.
Pray Without Ceasing
How do I pray without ceasing? That means in my heart there is a constant acknowledgement that I am dependent upon Him. Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving let your request be made known to God," and may the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your heart. Simply put: worry about nothing, pray about everything.
I am persistently, constantly, passionately coming before the Lord — individually and corporately. In fact, somebody said this speaking of a church: they pray best together who also pray alone. There is a constant, unceasing attitude that I am dependent upon Him.
Give Thanks in Everything
I am to give thanks in everything. Chris Christiansen, who works here in the ministry of adult ministries — primarily in the area of CTO, Call to Obedience, some of what we might call counseling but really discipleship — says that this is his favorite verse. I think it is his favorite verse because he is dealing with people who are hurting all the time.
Any person can give thanks when everything is going well. Praise God, the deal closed — that is not very hard to do. Praise God, the baby is healthy. But he says give thanks in everything. "Praise God, I thank You for this cancer — I would not have chosen it, but I have it, and You gave it to me for a reason, and You are going to use it." "God, I don't know why I could not get into this class, I don't know why I could not get into this school, I do not have a clue why I cannot have what I want in my heart, but I know this: You are in control and You are working all things together for good. So God, I thank You." I am grateful. I stop the grumbling and the moaning and the complaining, and I am grateful in the midst of it.
Do Not Quench the Spirit
At the end of verse 19, Paul says: do not quench the Spirit. Do not take the fire that the Holy Spirit puts in your life and douse it. How would you do that? Sin is what quenches the Spirit. All of a sudden you see people whose life spiritually is cold, things are stale — sin is in there somewhere. It may not be a sin they are committing, but it may be a sin of omission. They have sinfully stopped praying. They have stopped studying, stopped fellowshipping, stopped sharing, stopped serving, stopped giving. That is how you quench the Spirit.
Do Not Despise Prophetic Utterances
He says this: do not despise prophetic utterances. He is not talking here about Jean Dixon or fortune telling or anything like that. When he talks about prophetic utterances, he is talking about those who speak from God's Word. F.F. Bruce says it this way: prophesying is declaring the mind of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So Paul is saying: do not quench the Spirit with sin, and do not despise this prophetic utterance. Rather, examine everything carefully to see if it is true, hold fast to what is good, and abstain from what is evil. When somebody asks, do you have prophets today? Yes — we had three of them going last hour. We had Walter down in C2, who was a prophet. What was he doing? Declaring the counsel of God. The prophets Paul is speaking about, the equivalent today, are those who teach the Word of God. We have Tim up in high school, and as Tim teaches he is declaring the Word of God — he is a prophet. As Jamie works with the high schoolers through the book of Ephesians, he is a prophet. He is declaring the Word of God. That is what Paul is talking about in this process.
That is why Paul comes right back and asks: how do I know if this prophet is true? I do not have to wait and see if my lottery number hits. Here is what I do — I take the Bible, and I compare what he said to what it says. Then I know whether this prophet is right.
Hold Fast to What Is Good
Verses 21 and 22 offer some great advice. "Hold fast" means literally to latch yourself onto something, to glue yourself to it. Do not turn loose of the things that are true, and run away from the things that are not true — get away from them.
The Faithful God Who Sanctifies
Now Paul closes the letter. He begins this closing: "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you." That word sanctify sounds great — here is what it means: to be set apart for the purpose of God. May God Himself set you apart — and in fact, He has. Set you apart entirely, body, soul, and spirit, to be preserved completely without blame at the coming of our Lord.
"Faithful is He who calls you, and He will bring it to pass." One of the things we learn about the Lord from which we draw great comfort and encouragement is that He is faithful. John MacArthur talks about the phrase "calls you." Every time the divine call is mentioned in the New Testament it refers to God's effectual call of His chosen ones to salvation. Then MacArthur adds: the God who calls us will also bring us to glory — none will be lost.
If you took communion this morning and you truly are a Christian, then you are held in the hands of a faithful God who will bring it to pass.
You Are Chosen and Held by God
Understand that you are chosen by God. God has chosen you for salvation, and He is faithful. It is not about you — it is about Him. In those moments when we say, "I'm not really sure if I can hold on any longer," if you are truly His, He is faithful, who called you to save you and to allow you to persevere. So at the end of the day, at the end of your life, you are standing because it is about God.
He sanctified you. He set you apart in all aspects of your life. And so we begin to see life change totally — thinking differently, acting differently, working differently, recreating differently. All of a sudden, our very purpose and everything we dedicate ourselves to is to Him, to His purpose, and to His mission. And it reflects itself everywhere.
Pray for One Another
Paul closes in verses 25 through 28 with the word "brethren" — notice it appears three times in this little passage. "Brethren, pray for us." Paul is saying: we are not immune from this. We struggle, we are tempted, we get discouraged. Be praying for us, because we need one another.
When Paul says to pray for us, he means it. When we ask you to be praying for the praise team and the band, that is not just a throwaway request. These people are working hard, they can get discouraged, and it is tough work — pray for them. When we go to camp and ask you to pray for the safety of the kids, absolutely — but way bigger than that, pray for the staff and the people.
Greet One Another Warmly
Paul also says, "I greet all the brethren with a holy kiss." He is not suggesting we all begin a hugging and kissing routine. It was an Eastern cultural expression — a kiss on the cheek, the equivalent of our handshake or hello. The point is simply: greet one another, be friendly to one another.
One woman came up after a service and gave a hug, and when it was done she said, "You know, when I hug you, you look and feel like a tree being sprayed with pesticide." That is a great word picture. But the instruction stands — be warm and welcoming to each other.
The Letter Read to All
Paul then says: I charge you, I command you by the Lord, to read this letter to all of the brethren, to all the church. Paul was under false attack — people claiming he did not love or care for the churches. He wanted this letter read publicly. And he closes with this: "The grace of our Lord Jesus will be with you." That is what we need — God's saving grace, the grace that preserves us, carries us on, and carries us through.
Your Responsibility to the Body
When you are sitting here, understand that you are not just a little island. You are part of a body. Paul says here is how you are to respond to your leaders: esteem them. Here is how you are to respond to one another: you have a responsibility for each other. Those who are unruly, you gently and lovingly bring back in line. You encourage those who need encouragement, and you help the weak.
When we talk to you about service opportunities, it is not that we have an agenda apart from you. Our agenda is your spiritual development and the development of this church, corporately and spiritually. That is why you need to serve. That is why you need to be present with our people, our family. If you are sitting there saying you do not really know anybody, the fastest way to get plugged in is to serve.
Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks
This is how we respond to God: we rejoice always, we pray without ceasing, and we give Him thanks in everything. Father, we do rejoice in who You are and what You are doing. We do pray without ceasing — meaning we passionately, regularly, and frequently come to You, acknowledging our dependence upon You. And we give You thanks.
We acknowledge that there are things in our lives we do not fully understand and do not totally comprehend, but we know this: You understand them, You comprehend them, You know what You are doing. We pray especially for those who are here today and are hurting — that they would be encouraged, that someone near them would speak a kind word. That those who are weak would be challenged to grow in their faith. All of that flows out of having a right relationship with You. Let us be a people who rejoice and pray and give thanks — not in our own strength and power, but in Jesus' name. Amen.