Third John. This is a little short book. Short book from a short preacher. Do you remember that story? that
I told you about Spurgeon and that little short preacher that
got up to preach. I won't tell it again. In case
you hadn't heard it, I'll tell it. Spurgeon gave a test to his
preaching students on impromptu speech, speaking extemporaneously
without notes. And he assigned the subject,
and he picked one little short fellow. I guess he liked him.
Virgin was short, too, about five feet four. He picked this
little fellow and said, Stand up, Bill. And he said, Bill,
speak on Zacchaeus. And the little fellow got up
and he said, Well, Zacchaeus was short, and so am I. Zacchaeus was up a tree, and
he said, So am I. And Zacchaeus came down, and
he said, So will I. He sat down, and Spurgeon said
he gave him an A for it, one of the best he'd heard all day. This is a short passage, but
it is long on meaning. It's a personal letter from the
Apostle John. to a man named Gaius. Yet it is the word of God to
all of his people. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and it is for all of God's people. Let's look at verse
1. The elder unto the well-beloved
Gaius. Do you remember our study in
2 John last week? Remember how he started his second
letter out? Same way. The Elder. John doesn't use his
own name. And that tells me that John is
one of God's true servants. He's not come in his own name. Preachers today are plastering
their name in every conspicuous place, aren't they? It's obvious,
or should be, that they come in their own name. John wasn't. Like another John, well-known,
John the Baptist. Yet he didn't want his name to
be known. They asked him, who are you? He said, what difference
does that make? Well, tell us about yourself.
I'm nothing. I'm a voice. Now, he, you want
to know about somebody, John said? Now, Jesus Christ, there's
the one. Let his name be sounded for. There's only one name worth mentioning. There's only one name worth remembering. Like George Whitefield said,
he said, let the name of George Whitefield perish from the earth.
Let the name of Jesus Christ be praised. So this man, John,
was come sent by God, and not in his own name. That makes him
a true servant of God. That's a good test, isn't it?
Try the spirits. That's the first way you want
to try. Whose name do they come in? Who's getting the glory? The elder. This means simply
teacher. And he writes under the well-beloved
Gaius. Beloved. well-beloved Gaius. This is a term of tender affection,
a term reserved for the people of God. I hear preachers today using this term in a wholesale
manner. You know how it sounds real religious
stuff, beloved, dearly beloved. We are gathered here Everybody
out there is not dearly beloved. Not the beloved of God. Beloved
of God. God's beloved are so because
they are accepted in the beloved. God's beloved, God's dearly loved
people are so because God had one only begotten well-beloved
son. And the love of God is in him.
For all those that are in him. This is a term used by all of
the apostles, all of the apostles who wrote the epistles. Every
single one. Uses this term. Paul, Peter,
James, John, Jude, every one of them uses this term. You just
look right across the page there, Jude chapter, Jude, verse three,
beloved. See that? Every single epistle
will use this term. And we've looked at this before,
but let's look again. Look over at 2 Peter chapter
3, just back a couple of pages. I'm not going to have you turn
all over the scriptures, just a couple of places. And I will
make this short tonight. 2 Peter 3, and I've said this so
many times. And you know it's so, but misapplying
the scriptures is the source of... Well, preachers today just
tell everyone, preaching to everyone, that the Word of God, every single
word of it, applies to everyone without exception. And that's
lying on God Almighty. See these bumper stickers? There's
one real popular today, now. I've noticed lately. And it's
they're using it in. In defense of. Their anti-abortion
stand. And the scripture they're using
is I have before I formed you in the belly I knew you. Who who said that and to whom
was he talking. You can't apply the word of God
wholesale to everyone without exception. Any more than you
can pick up a letter I wrote to my wife and say, well, I wrote
it to you. It'd be lying on me and it'd
make me mad. It wouldn't be so for one thing.
You'd be deceiving yourself. You'd be lying on me and I'd
get real mad about it. Right? Bearing false witness
against me. Same thing with God's Word. Beloved. Look at chapter 3, verse 1 of
2 Peter. This second epistle. Beloved,
I now write unto you. That's as clear as the nose on
your face in the state. Who he's writing to. Beloved. And he says that four times in
this chapter. Chapter 3. He says it four times. Mark that spot. Turn over to
chapter 1. Who are these beloved he's talking
to? Chapter 1, verse 1, Simon Peter, he is addressing it like
you would any letter you write to somebody. You don't just write
a letter and say, well, whoever will pick it up. Huh? Do you? You say, dear so-and-so. So does the Word of God, dear. What was that? Are they beating the kids, your
baby down there? You don't just write a letter
and don't address it to somebody. Verse 1, Simon Peter, a servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ, to whom? I'm writing to whom? Them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. And he goes on to talk about
all his promises, grace and peace to you, according as his divine
power has given us all things, precious promises, and so on
and so forth. Isn't that clear? There's no doubt who he's writing
to, isn't there? Well, back to chapter 3, he says,
Beloved, now, down to verse 8. And you're going to hear somebody
quote this, one of these days, if you haven't already. You're
going to hear somebody quote verse nine here. Look at verse
eight. Beloved, now who's he writing
to? To them who have obtained like
precious faith through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereby
unto are given all these promises and so forth. Beloved, don't
be ignorant of this one thing. One day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, a thousand years is a day. Verse 9, 2 Peter 3,
9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some count slackness, but he's longsuffering to usward.
Who's he talking to? Who has he just addressed? Beloved,
he's longsuffering to usward, not willing that he should perish.
Any who? The subject is not all men. He
just got through saying that scoffers and mockers shall come
and elect them, but my beloved, don't you be ignorant. God's
long-suffering to us. He's not willing that any should
perish, any of us. But that all, look at that, all
should come to repent on it. Who's the all? All of us. All
the beloved. I'm here to tell you. If God's
not willing for something to happen, it ain't going to happen.
If God is willing for something to happen, it's going to happen.
Because the Scripture says he doeth according to his will. In the armies of heaven, among
the heavens and the earth. Doesn't it? Not by the will of
the flesh, the will of man, but of God. You worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. God's not willing that
any should perish, but whoever any are, they won't perish. Right? It's the Beloved. Verse 14, Beloved,
seeing you look for such thing, be diligent to be found of him,
in him. Verse 17, Beloved, you know these
things. You know these things. And you
already knew all that. It doesn't hurt to remind us.
So he's the beloved, the term beloved, that's the reason I
hate to hear these preachers use it. And by the way, you've
heard them, haven't you? They're just trying to be pious,
aren't they? A dearly beloved. And beloved, this is a special term reserved
for God's people. Beloved. So John's writing this
man named Gaius, and he says beloved, he says the well-beloved
Gaius. whom I love in the truth, well
beloved gave." Evidently this man was well loved, a special
man, dearly loved by all the apostles. And though he himself
was not a preacher, he was not an elder, he wasn't anything
of the sort, but he was a faithful brother and held in high esteem
just as high as anyone else, as any well beloved. I'll show him to you. Look over
at Acts chapter 19. I believe this is one and the
same fellow. No one indicates this is not,
but it certainly will apply. Acts 19, this man named Gaius
was a disciple of Christ, a faithful supporter of the gospel, a companion
and a helper to the preachers of the gospel. He was persecuted
for the gospel's sake. Look at Acts 19, verse 28. You
remember when Paul went to Ephesus and they had the big riot because
he preached the gospel? Look at verse 28. When they heard
these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying,
Great is Diana of the Ephesian. The whole city was filled with
confusion, and they caught, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus,
they grabbed this fellow Gaius who was there with Paul and this
Aristarchus, trying to get a hold of Paul, but the Lord didn't
allow it. They grabbed this gayest fellow, and they would have beat
him if there wasn't such a confusion that followed all this. At any
rate, he escaped. Now chapter 20, verse 1, after
the uproar ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced
them and departed to go to Macedonia. There accompanied him into Asia,
Sopater, Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Secundus, and
Gaius of Derbe." So this man was a companion of the preachers
of the gospel. He was persecuted for the gospel's
sake. He was a disciple. All right, now back to the text. This man loved the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at it, verse 3. He says, I'm sorry, verse 1,
he says, "...a man under the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love
in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things
you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers."
This man was a believer. His soul was in prosperity. "...I rejoiced greatly when the
brethren came and testified of the truth in you." This man was
a believer. The truth in him. What was in
him? He knew good doctrine. Christ was in him. Christ is
the truth. Christ in him was his hope of
glory. Christ was in him. He had the faith of God's elect.
He was a believer, and he was loved. He loved Christ, loved
by Christ, loved Christ, loved the gospel, God's people, and
was dearly loved by all. Now, his name could easily be
substituted for many of God's people. You could put some names in here,
in Gaius's place, of some people that I believe love the gospel
and are supporters of it, been faithful in it, and they're loved
by the people of God, whom Christ is in them by faith. You could
put some names in that easily. John said, I love in the truth,
and I do too. And you do too, these people.
And as we said last week, this, I love in the truth, it's the
gospel that unites us. This is that tie that binds us.
If it were not for the gospel, we wouldn't even, we probably
wouldn't even know each other. We probably wouldn't even like
each other. We're so different in personalities and all. We
come from such different backgrounds. We probably wouldn't know each
other. We might not like each other. But in the gospel, in
the truth, because of Christ, we love each other. And this
relationship is even closer than flesh and blood. That's how I
know it's true. That's what John is saying. I
really love you. I'm not just saying it, Gaius. I mean it. I love truly. I love him the
truth because of the gospel, because of him, and I love truly,
not just saying it. I mean it. You can say the same
thing, can't you, about the brethren? Can't you? About the sister? Sure you can. Verse 2. Beloved,
John said, I wish, or I pray, I pray above all things, that
you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. I
want you to prosper financially and be in health. Health and wealth. John's not preaching the health
and wealth gospel, but when he's praying for his brother, he said,
I want you healthy and wealthy. Anything wrong with that? Is
that wrong? That ungodly, that greedy, what's
the word for it? Is that bad? No, it's love. It's
love, that's what it is. Now, there'd be something wrong
if you're wishing for your own wealth and not thinking about
the brother, but if you're thinking on the things of others, if you're thinking on the things
of others, you're wishing that they might prosper, aren't you?
Love? You want your children to prosper?
And I've used this illustration before. Don't you want your son
to be comfortable? Your daughter? You don't want
them to be in need and want, do you? Unless it be for their
spiritual good. But you want above all things
for them to prosper. You don't want them sick, do
you? You don't pray for their illness, do you? Why, no. No. It's love to pray for the well-being
of those that you love, right? There's nothing John wanted more.
Evidently this Gaius fellow was sick. Evidently, I believe it seems
to infer that Gaius was a little bit down right now. And he was
sick and maybe a little low on means. And John says, I'm praying
to this end that you might prosper and be in health. We've had brothers and sisters
who have been sick nine to death, and we prayed and didn't stop
praying until the Lord answered us, until the Lord healed them.
He either killed them, healed them that way, or raised them
up, healed them that way. But you don't quit when you love
somebody. You pray without ceasing. That's what the Lord said. He
said we need to pray without ceasing. Pray for one another. That's not sin against the Lord
and ceasing to pray for the brethren. the brethren. God uses prayer. And I've asked this question
before. Why? Why does God use prayer? When known unto God are all his
works from the beginning. Johnny, he's already he's already
ordained everything is going to happen and nothing's going
to be changed one bit. Prayer doesn't change things.
God has ordered all things from the beginning, from the foundation
of the world. Right? That's what the Scripture says. Acts 15, 18, is that it, John? No one under God or all his works
from the beginning. Then why pray? Why pray? Prayer is not going to change
a thing. God's will is going to be done, just like he preordained
it. Why pray? There's one good reason. with several good reasons. Here's
the first one. He said to. Isn't that clear? He said to. But I'm just not
going to break what God said to. You remember Ezekiel 37? He said, I will, I will give
them a new heart. I will write my law on their
hearts. I will cleanse them from all unrighteousness. I will,
I will, I will, I will. Remember that, John? They get
so unbounded Some of the last verses there, it says, and I
will yet be inquired of for this thing. They're going to ask me
to do it. I've already determined to do it, and I'm going to do
it. But they're going to ask me to
do it. So when I pray, number one, God
says to. Number two, when you pray for
a thing and God answers you, then you acknowledge him for
that thing. If you hadn't prayed for it, if you hadn't prayed
for it and the thing came to pass, you'd attribute, you wouldn't,
you just, you wouldn't give God all the glory for it, would you?
You'd attribute it to, well you'd just go on without thinking about
God. You know what I mean? But if you've been praying for
a thing and asking for a thing and God answered, Lord heal so
and so, Lord heal so and so, and He heals them. Who do you
give glory to? Dr. Schwartzenduber or No, the
Lord. It hadn't rained for a long time,
had it, last month or so. And we asked for rain. How, and
it didn't rain, but a few hours later did it. Chance? Why, why are we so, loathe to believe that God answers
prayer, huh? We ask for it, and it rains. We ought to give him all the
glory for all the rain. All the rain. Number three, it
unites our hearts in one purpose. When you pray for a thing, your
hearts are united together. One of our Ladies like Violet
here get stabbed sick, facing surgery or serious trial facing
one of our own. We unite our hearts together,
collectively. Unite our hearts with one accord,
one purpose. That's what it said the people
in Axe did. They came back after they were persecuted and this
and that, and they got together. They had a need, they had a desire,
and they all lifted up their hearts to the Lord. God heard. It unites our hearts, and I've said
this so many times. It promotes love. It provokes
us to love one another. The more you pray for somebody,
the more it will provoke you to love that person. It's so. It's so. The more you pray for
someone, the more it will provoke you. The more God will provoke
you to love that person. You cannot be mad at someone
you're praying for. And I've been mad at you, and
you've been mad at me. But you can't stay mad at somebody
if you're praying for them. The Lord softens your heart.
You pray, and the Lord softens their heart. A sovereign old
man's heart ends up softening mine, you see. It provokes us to love. We need
provoking. to love, nor did he provoke one
another. Verse 3, he says to Gaius, he
says, I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified
of the truth that is in thee, even as you walk in the truth. This man was a believer in Christ.
How do I know? He acted like it. This man did, this man proves
his faith by his works. You see that, Rick? Say, I know
the truth is in you. I know the truth is in you, because
you're walking in the truth. Do you see that? So clear, isn't
it? The truth was in him. God had
revealed his Son in him, and the truth was coming out of him.
He was walking by faith. He proved his faith by his work.
Everybody said so. That's what everybody said so. The brethren came and they said
so. They just didn't hear his good doctrine. They said, this
fellow, verse 5, he said, you've done faithfully whatever you've
done to the brethren. They, verse 6, they've all borne
witness of your love to the Church. See that? They've all borne witness. This man, Gaius, knew the grace
of God because he was gracious. Grace is real. This man knew the mercy of God
because he was merciful. This man knew the love of God
because he proved his love. And that's what the power of
God does. It comes not in word only, but with power. Life-changing. It turned an old child of wrath
into a man of peace. A fellow that would at one time
would have popped a fellow in the nose for provoking him. It
would make him a little more long-suffering. But he needs
more grace. He never stops attacked. He needs
more grace. Make a child of wrath, a child
of peace. David, he said, therefore war, I'm for peace. Peter, later
on, said the same thing, didn't he? Peter, at the beginning,
fell his ear off. Hey, let's get him. Later on,
he was a man of peace, wasn't he? It'll make a child of wrath,
a child of peace. It'll make a despiser of good. a lover of that which is good. I know you say with the writer
of these words, I'm not what I should be, I'm not what I ought
to be, I'm not what I want to be, I'm not what I'm going to
be. Thank God I'm not what I used to be. That can be said of every
believer in here. I'm not what you used to be.
Still got a little meanness in me. But you're a whole lot sweeter
than you used to be, isn't he, Roberta? Verse 4, he says, John
said, I have no greater joy than this, than to hear that my children,
my spiritual children, that they walk in the truth. Oh, I like
to hear their profession of faith. I like to hear them, their knowledge
of the scriptures and their knowledge of doctrine, but I'd a whole
lot rather see it put into practice, he said. They were actually walking
in the truth. Yeah, actually walking like Christ.
Walking. All right, verse five. Beloved,
he says to this man, yes, you do faithfully whatever you do
to the brethren. You do faithfully. You are a
faithful man to the brethren, and you do whatever you do in
faith to the brethren. Didn't Christ say, as much as
you've done it, I'm the least one of these, you've done it
to me. That's how you do things in faith. You do it as unto the
Lord, whatever you do to the brethren, that's in faith. And
it's faithful. And he is faithful, the scripture
says, to remember your works toward the brethren. Didn't he
acknowledge them, Terry? He said, when I was hungry, you
fed me. When, Lord? And he did it one
of these. And he did it one of my own,
he did it to me. Whatever you do to the brethren,
you do it faithfully. And the strangers, the strangers. Evidently, this Gaius was a man
who entertained strangers. He had a home, a nice home. Whenever one of the brethren
came through, he kept them. He fed them. Strangers that might
need something, he helped them. He helped him. He entertained
strangers. I've entertained a few angels. The scripture says, though some
have entertained angels unaware, I've entertained some angels
and I was aware of it. Haven't you? You've had some
angels in your house and you've been aware of it. It's been a
real privilege. Verse six, read on, it says,
You were born These people are born witness of your love before
the church. Everybody knows what you've done.
And if you bring forward on their journey, if you bring these people
down with you, these godly, these worthy of this, worthy of this
work, after a godly sort, that's what that means, worthy. You
do well if you bring them with you. Evidently, Gaius was a man
who liked to, we read back there in Acts 19, and twenty have he
accompanied the apostle. He was where everywhere they
were. He liked to go where the preaching was. He liked to take
them. John, he might have had a nice wagon. Bought him a new
Chrysler two horse wagon, and he liked to use it. He liked
to take the brethren down to preach the gospel somewhere.
Yes, that's what John says here, to bring so-and-so with you.
When you come, if you do, you've done a good thing. Verse 7, for
his name's sake, for God's sake, for God's name, Christ's name,
they went forth. They didn't take anything of
Gentile. They didn't ask for a special offering, love offering.
No, they were living by faith, and you supplied their need.
And we ought to, verse 8, he says, we ought to receive such.
We ought to. Our special privilege. I'm asking
you to support Cody Groover. And we ought to. Man, oh man. God burn this place to the ground
if we're not going to see that the gospel doesn't go out like
that. If the gospel doesn't go out from this place and we don't
bring things in one hand and go out the other, God burn this
place to the ground. Cast our means somewhere else
where somebody will use it. See, every missionary like Paul
and others, they went out from the church, supported by the
church. They didn't go hold special meetings and take up offerings
like these hucksters today. They were supported by the church.
You'll never find anywhere where Paul or any of them asked for
an offering, didn't they? They were supported by the church.
Paul went a couple of times and said, nobody supported me. Nobody
gave me anything but the church at Philippi was the only one. You see, he said, we ought to
receive such. My, my. Oh, my. We ought to, shouldn't
we? Well, this man Gaius was a faithful
man, wasn't he? It's obvious. And such are some
of you. I thank God for you. And I put
your name right there with Gaius, right there alongside his name.
Yes, I could. Now, in every situation, from
the beginning, in spite of faithful people,
there has always been this problem right here, verse
9 and 10. Our Lord said, There must be
heresies among you, that they which are approved might be made
manifest. John says, I wrote unto the church,
but there is a fellow named Diotrephes who loves to have the preeminence.
Evidently this fellow wanted to have a voice. He desired to
have a voice or take some place of prominence among the people. Our Lord said, Offenses, there
must be offenses, but woe. wheel and woe unto them
by whom the offense cometh." Woe unto them. Six things the Lord hates, yea,
seven are abomination, and the seventh is him that soweth discord
among the brethren. God is ordained peace, but he
said there must be. There must be. You know, I've
been saying this from the beginning. Paul said it. Paul said it. Do you remember when we were
reading Acts chapter 20 this morning where Paul said, by the
space of three years I cease not to warn every one of you
day and night that after my departing would grievous wolves come in
and draw away disciples of themselves and so forth. You remember that?
Remember reading that? Paul said that. John said it. Peter said
it. They all said it. Our Lord said it in many. Our Lord said it, many. And John
uses harsh words here. If I come, I'm going to remember
his deeds, which he doeth, prating against us with malicious word,
not content therewith, or with anything, discontented. I've
known a few like this. I've known several. And let me
say this, and we'll go on. Satan's greatest ploy is to try
to subvert or wreck the Church, and the way that he does it is
to infiltrate it. He doesn't bring in out-and-out
heresy. The Church won't receive that. Our Lord said it's so close.
if it were possible. That's how he works. It's so
like Eve. He deceived Eve. How? He was so close. He was so close to the truth.
And Satan subverts by infiltrating the church with people who are
angels of light, not out and out scoundrels, angels of light
in sheep's clothing, wool. Gifted, talented, good speaking
generally well thought of, they become one of you, they gain
your confidence, and through, eventually in time, through subtle
innuendos, couched in biblical language, Satan has always used
biblical language, they subvert the Church. And I have fallen, I remember
as a young man, Scripture says good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple. But Todd Nybert and I talked
this over. We, as young men, fell for a
few of these. They were good talkers, good
preachers, seemed so humble and meek and just so everything. And we fell for them and followed
them, all the while we were ignoring those quiet, solid as a rock,
faithful, meek and mild men who didn't have much to say, and
women who didn't have much to say, didn't have a horn to toot,
but just were faithful, ignoring them in favor of somebody else. That's the way it happens. Thank
God he, he, John said they went out from us, they were not of
us. Had they been of us they no doubt
would have remained with us, but they went out from us that
it might be made manifest. Manifest to who? To the church. Everybody's not of us. Now we receive everyone, give
everyone the benefit of the doubt and receive everyone Because we don't have infallible
discernment, do we? We do not have infallible discernment
concerning anybody. But he said, you will know them
by their fruits. They gather with us or they scatter
abroad. That's how you know. He that
is not with us is against us. And John warns, he warned him
about this fellow. Paul named ten names and John
named this fellow. And he says in verse 11, Beloved,
he's still talking about people here, not things. He said, Beloved,
follow not that which is evil, or him which is evil, but that
which is good, good and faithful and true and tried and solid.
He that doeth goods of God, he that doeth evil hath not seen
God. Then verse 12, he says, Demetrius, hath the good report
of all men, thus of the truth also. Yea, we also bear record
of Demetrius. You know our records, too. We're
in line. Demetrius, he has a good report. Follow him. Who's Demetrius? I don't know. This name just appears. Who's
Demetrius? Never hear about him again. Evidently,
this was just some little fellow, just some little faithful believer
in the Church. Demetrius, I could search two
names right, some names right there. And Charles, now he has
a good report of all men, and the truth is so yea, we also
bear record. I'm not lying. Now there's a
man. Follow him. Follow his example. And then he ends up with this,
just a simple farewell. He says, I have a lot of things
I'd like to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto
you. And I trust, you know, when I
thought about this just now, I thought, the Lord, if all the
things that he said and done were written in books, See, I had many things to say
until he was not able to receive them now. If all the things he
said and did were written in books, the world could not contain
the books therein. The Lord is saying this to us,
Jeanette. I have many things to write on
you, but I won't write any more. I'm going to see you face to
face. We'll discuss them for the next one billion years. Face
to face. That's good, isn't it? Peace
be to you. Peace be to you. Oh, our friends,
they say hello. They salute you. greet the friends
by name. All right, I hope that's been
of some benefit. Stand with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word, all of it, all the counsel of God. Lord, it's
so rich, so rich, so glorious, even the shortest portions. The
very smallest books in all of your word are full of truth,
glory, full of wisdom. Lord, how we thank you for this
little book, 3 John. We ask, Lord, that you would
make each one of us in here faithful Gaiuses, well beloved. I believe you have. I believe
there's some in here, many. in here who are your faithful
servants who have done well and faithfully whatever they've done
to the brethren and strangers. And I thank you for them. But
I ask that you would cause them to grow in grace, in this graciousness,
and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you
for this church. I ask your restraining grace
upon it, your keeping grace upon this church. Keep us by your
grace. Keep us from the evil one. Keep us preaching the gospel,
loving it, loving one another. Until we meet again, Lord, keep
us throughout this week. Let us go in the strength of
this meat for a few days until we gather once again in your
name, in Christ's name, we pray and are met together today. Amen.