A Call to Work - Pr Wayne Humphries - GTAN2501

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Pastor Wayne Humphries. Heavenly Father, it is such a pleasure to come to you on this new day, the creation of a new year. And as we study and as we learn, as we share this morning, Lord, I pray that your spirit will be here amongst us, that we might drink deeply of the richness of your glory. Bless all those here in the church and bless those who are watching online. Lord, might we continue to glorify your name and to share the power of the gospel to a world that is so desperately needing it. I ask also this morning as I preach, Lord, that my words will be your words and not my own. And I invite you to be here amongst us today. In Jesus name, I ask it. Amen. Friends, I hope you got your Bibles handy. You are going to need them this morning. On the 13th of May, 1940, during a dark period in Earth's history, Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the British House of Parliament with solemn words that still reverberate through history. And I'd like to read you a portion of that speech that he gave to Parliament as Prime Minister of England. He said these words. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say it is to wage war by sea, by land and air, with all our might and with all our strength that God can give us. To wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime that is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in only one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight in the seas and the oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches and we shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. There may be some amongst us who remember hearing that radio broadcast live, but my father shared with me that he heard this speech. And again, this is only a short excerpt from a very, very Long speech that he delivered. And I think what he was telling the country was that we are not going to give up. It doesn't matter what happens. There is no other alternative. We will find victory and we will continue to fight until we receive it henceforth. From this time, I believe it was Winston Churchill earned himself the nickname or the title, the British Bulldog, because he was not going to give up. He convinced his people that he, and therefore they with him, would never surrender to the dark tyranny that was threatening the entire world at the time. This, friends, was a national call to work. He was calling his people, he was calling his nation, and there was going to be no other result rather than victory. He inspired his nation with national determination, with national resolve that they would never, ever surrender. A Call to Work Friends, that is the title of my sermon this morning. And I think it's appropriate that we call about. Sorry, we talk about our call to work. Because as we stand at the beginning of a new year, at Sabbath day, God calls us to work. We're not only here just to warm pews and to sing songs and to express to God our heartfelt thanks for what he has done. There is a cost. There is something that we need to do, and we're going to be talking about today. I want you to open your Bibles with me to Matthew 21, Matthew 21:28 32. And there's an interesting passage in here that I want us to look at this morning regarding the call to work. Matthew 21:28:32. And I read these words, and this is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, and he's telling them a parable. Verse 28. But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterwards he regretted it, and he went. Verse 30. Then he came to the second son and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I will go, sir. But he did not go. Which of the two do you think did? The will of his Father? And they answered him and said the first. And he said, assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But tax collectors and harlots believed him. And when you saw it, you did not. Afterwards, woods relent and believe him. Now, that's a pretty pointed thing for Jesus to say to the Pharisees, isn't it? Because we know what they thought of the tax collectors and the harlots. But this man in this parable was talking not to tradesmen, not to workmen who he was going to pay, but he was talking to his sons, those who are related to him, and they refused. To refuse to work for your father was not only a refusal to do some work for a man, but it is actually an emotional attachment there as well, because the sons were saying something to the father about what they felt about their long term relationship with their father. And if the father says to the son, come and work in my field, in my vineyard, and the son says no and does not go, it can potentially have long term effects in the family relationship. What Jesus was doing here was he was symbolising the call to work of his church, those whom he saw as being his family, his sons and his daughters. And he called them to work not outside, but in his own vineyard. So the question we might ask ourselves is, how do we become sons? How do we become members of that family so that we too can be called sons and friends? There's three ways of doing it and we're going to go over it. There's steps, one step follows another. The first one is that of acceptance by believing in the name of Jesus. Acts chapter 16, verses 30 and 31. By believing in the name of Jesus. Now, I know that sounds too easy to inherit eternal life simply by believing, but believing with the heart and believing with the soul and accepting what Jesus has done on your behalf and allowing it to have an effect on your life results naturally in wanting to conduct action. But by believing in Jesus name is the first part. Acts, chapter 16, verses 30 and 31. He brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now, this was a prison keeper who recognised in those who was in his prison, Paul and Silas, that these two had salvation. They had a belief. And he fell on his feet on his knees and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Expecting it to be something that he maybe has to pay some money or maybe he has to go and do something. But the response was this, they said, which is consistent with the rest of Scripture. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. But to believe, we need to know. And how can someone know unless someone tells them there's a clue? The second step is through the new birth, or what we call conversion. Let us step back to John, chapter one, John, chapter one, where we see the concept of conversion being revealed in verses 11, 13. And he came to his own and his own did not receive him, but as many as received him, as we read in the Book of Acts, as many as believed in Him. To them he gave the right to become the workers in his vineyard. Is that what it says? Become the children of God, to be embraced in his family to those who believe on his name, who were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And we see this concept of the new birth, the new creation, being revealed in some depth when we look at the story of Nicodemus. So we see that there is acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then Christ does something for us. In fact, he is the one that gives us the ability to accept Him. He is the one that gives us the ability to be converted through the presence of the Holy Spirit, Spirit in the life. So it is Jesus working through the person, through the individual, through yourselves, through myself, to draw us closer to Him. This is how we become sons. And what is the great culmination of all this? We looked at it a second ago and that is we become embraced into his family. We've looked at the concept of adoption before. What does it mean to be adopted? Does it mean you just visit for a week and then leave again? You have all the rights and all the privileges of every other sibling in that family. When God says He adopts us into his family, we gain the rights and the privileges of being a part of that family. It's hard to understand, isn't it? We call Jesus our brother. Ephesians 1:5. Now, I've been practising looking up these verses in my new Bible, so I'm hoping I'm going to be a little bit quicker today. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 5. This is a beautiful concept, friends, and this is something that we really need to grasp because it gives us an indicator of the depth of the grace of God. It says in Ephesians 1:5, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. So it's almost like in Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, they became orphans and all of their family became orphans as well. And this verse is telling us that through accepting Christ and what he has done for us, he is reintegrating us back into his family where we rightly belong. He's pulling us back in to be readopted, to be adopted back in with his family. Friends, what a beautiful concept that is. And anyone here who has in their family perhaps have been adopted themselves or has experienced the emotional content that comes with a person being adopted into a family will understand the depth of what that really means. But friends, to be adopted into the family of God is greater again. So a man becomes a son. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and says, a man asks his two sons. So to become a son of the Father, to become a brother of Jesus. We believe, we accept, we are converted, we are adopted, fully adopted into the family of God. And then comes the call to go to work. Now, ideally, I would understand that a son would consider it a pleasure to work for his father. And I have very fond memories. I have a bit of a giggle down the front here. I imagine there would have been one or two. I have very fond memories in high school of going to work with my dad. He used to be a house builder and we had a great time. He taught me how to build houses. I never did an apprenticeship, but I have an idea on how brick goes on brick and how you lay the foundation before the roof and how to cut out a roof and how to do all these different things. It was a wonderful experience. And unfortunately it was only in later life that I found out my mum said, for heaven's sake, take that boy to work with you. But I'm glad she did because it was a wonderful experience. It bound me together with my father. And even later in life as I went on and did different things, we now share a special bond with each other because he would say to you, remember that job we did in this and this. Remember that job we did and that and that it is a pleasure to go and work for my father. Jesus also considered it a joy to work for his Father. What did he say to Joseph and Mary? When Joseph and Mary went to the. When Jesus was about 12 years old and they went to the Passover, and when they left, there were two or three days walking and suddenly realised that Jesus wasn't with them. So they went racing back to Jerusalem to find him. And what did he say? We're not going to look this up, but I'll give you the verse passage for those who were writing it down. Luke 2, 40, 52. He said, Wist ye not that I be about my father's business. So at the age of 12, which is interesting because that's the age of becoming a man in the Jewish culture, he knew what he was there for. He understood. I can only imagine as Jesus was reading through the scripture, he was learning the stories, seeing the prophecies, as he was reading through the Old Testament, as his mother was very faithful in teaching him all these things from the Bible, there would have been a dawning on his intellect one day that, hey, this fits me. That would have been a very sobering moment. But he said to his parents, wish ye not that I be about my father's business even at the age of 12. And in Psalms 47, 8, we see the words recorded, I delight to do thy will, O my God, because thy law is in my heart. Did Jesus look forward to and will to do and find it a pleasure to do the will of his father? Friends, I will put to you. Not only did he find it a pleasure, it was the whole reason that he came down here. It was the reason that he was born, was to do the will of his father. John chapter 9 and verse 4 underscores this point beautifully. Jesus loved doing the will of his father. John chapter nine and verse four. And there's an interesting double meaning to this passage that we're going to look at in just a moment. John 9, 4. He says to his disciples, I must do the works of him who sent me while he is day, for the night is coming when no one can work. So there's a sense of urgency that's brought into the work at this point, isn't there A sense of urgency, friends? The parable that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees related that the Father was calling his sons to work. But that parable is symbolic. It is symbolic of Jesus calling his sons and his daughters, those who are adopted into his family, not to sit on their hands, but he calls them to work. Where do we find that in Scripture? Let's have a look at three places. Second Corinthians, chapter six and verse one. Again, for those writing it down, write it down. But we're going to look these ones up, because I want to show you that there is a clear biblical impetus for us. When we accept Christ as our Saviour and are converted, we are to do a work for him. You know, even back in the. In the days of creation, when God created Eden and put it in the east, he put Adam into it, into that garden. And he said, just sit back and enjoy the whole thing. Is that what he said? He put Adam in that garden, to tend it and to keep it. So for man, work is a part of what we do. Work is life. So my father used to say, Second Corinthians 6, 1. We then, as workers, together with him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. So what's Paul telling the Corinthians, we work together with him, so he leads, he guides, he directs, he provides, he enables. But we have a part to play as well. We are not here to sit on our hands. God has given his sons and his daughters in his vineyard one of the most important jobs ever to be given to a man, and that is to work for him in the salvation of souls. God has a great army at his disposal. 1 Peter 2, verses 9 to 11. This passage goes back to what we were talking about, the adoption. But what happens when a person becomes an adopted member of the family of God? 1st Peter 2, 9, 11 and I want you to see this verse as God speaking directly to your heart. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. What does a priest do? A priest stands before the people and God, doesn't he? And God is saying here the entire generation is a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous night. You know, there's another way of reading that verse. You can say it is for you to tell other people what God has done for you, calling you out of darkness into his marvellous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from the fleshy lusts which war against the soul. Paul is telling the Corinthians, you were once sinful and lost, but now you have been saved by the grace of God. You are being called as a royal priesthood. There is a work for you to do, but it is not so much what you do as who you are that makes the difference. Because he says here, abstaining from fleshy lusts which war against the soul. What does that mean for us? It means, friends, as we have been looking at in so many sermons last year, the success of the Christian life is not what we do so much as who we are. Our work is to seek God. Our work is to accept Christ. Our work is to allow the Holy Spirit to reshape our lives into the lives of Christ and behave in such a way that the people in the world have never seen anything like it before. Nothing speaks a sermon of power, of the grace of God to the heart of an unbeliever than seeing the actions, the behaviours, the attitudes of a person who has allowed Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to reshape their lives into his own image. John chapter 14, verses 12 to 14. Fortunately, Christ does not leave us on our own. I have so many people come to me and say, pastor, I want to do evangelism. Pastor, I want to work for God, but I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to do it. Friends, it is our calling, if we can do nothing else, to allow the Holy Spirit to infiltrate our hearts and minds and give ourselves in consecration to him completely. And friends, the really good news of the gospel is that we don't have to do it on our own, because God will do it us. I can't tell you how I felt when I realised that all the pain and all the impetus was taken away from me, because God has promised to do it for me, with me and through me. John 14:12, 14. Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do. Also, there's another call to work, and greater works than these will he do. Because I go to my Father and then comes the promise. And whatever you ask in my name that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Friends, isn't that encouraging? Now, there's a whole world of understanding that goes to that verse as well, because the first thing a person will say is, what happens when I ask a prayer and it doesn't come to answer? Well, friends, sometimes this is where faith comes in. But how many times, you know, we had an evening up in Warwick last night. We had an agape feast and people were asked to come forward and tell us what it was that God had done for them this year. And friends, some of the responses that we got from that were just amazing to hear some of the things, and not only what they were telling, but it was the way they were saying it, with the belief and the love and the faith and the strength that they gained and the faith that they gained from seeing God at work in their own lives. It was just. It was a really warming moment, wasn't it, Robin? It was beautiful. And I don't think there was a single person there that didn't take the microphone and share something. One lady picked it up twice. I'd love to share those with you, but we don't have the time at the moment. So this is the work that we are called to do. You know, some people can get up and preach wonderful sermons and run long evangelistic seminars and baptise a thousand people. And friends, if they have been given the five talents, then that's great. But everyone has at least one. And there might be one person somewhere in your life that you can be an influence to for Jesus. That is the work that you are called to do. It doesn't mean that you have to do what all the big evangelists do. You don't need to do that. If 20 people, if 30 people in this church can influence one person, that's more than what your pastor can do. Can you see how it works? So we are called to work. The work is not onerous. It comes naturally from being connected with Jesus Christ, from accepting him, accepting his conversion, allowing him to reshape you into the life of Christ. And then as you go out to work to share with people, he also walks step by step with you as you go. There's no excuse. Where are we to go to work? There's a great parable that I want to share with you in a moment. Matthew 21:33. Where is it that we are to work? Where does God call us to work? Does the Bible tell us, I want you to go here and do this, or I want you to go there and do that? What does it say? Matthew, chapter 21 and verse 33. Another parable. I love parables because there's so much you can draw from them here. Another parable. There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress and built a tower, and he leased it to vinedresses and went into a far country. Now here comes some more shameless advertising. Monday nights, starting in the middle of January, we're going to be looking at the sanctuary on Zoom. And this is a passage that we analysed very deeply. Now, let me share something with you. There was a certain landowner, who was the landowner. The landowner was God, who planted a vineyard, which is Jerusalem, and he set a hedge around it, which is the law, and dug a winepress, which is the word of God, the wine of God, as represented in the Book of Revelation. And he built a tower in it, which is the temple. So the Pharisees understood exactly what Jesus was talking about, and now we do too. He's talking about his people, Israel, that were put on the earth and given a city, given a temple, given an understanding of the plan of salvation to tell to the whole world. And he listed to vinedresses. So God gave it to his people, and then he went into a far country. So he left with his people the responsibility of actually doing the role of spreading the word of God, even Right back in the days of the Israelites. Friends, as we read a moment ago, we are part of God's family. And as Adventists and as the Bible clearly reveals, literal Israel has now been transferred to spiritual Israel. And so as the literal Israelites were given the role of telling the world about the Gospel, in which they failed miserably. Sadly, there was a long process that happened and spiritual Israel, when Paul the Apostle Paul was the first Gospels preacher out to the Christian community. He was sent out at the end of the 490 days. I keep thinking about the sanctuary Bible studies we've been doing. Friends, you gotta come. They are so good, not just because of the presenter, but because of what the Bible is revealing about these things. We sit here today as spiritual Israel, as members of God's family, as a part of a royal priesthood, and he has given us the work that literally Israel had to tell the world about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the most important work that there is on this earth. And friends, there is plenty of work to be done. When God gave the Pharisees this parable, he also told us at the end of the book of Matthew, and this is Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 to 20, what that job was. So he told them, I've given you Jerusalem, I've given you the temple, I've given you the law, I've given you my covenants, I've given you my protection, I've given you the power. And now here is what I want you to do. Matthew 28, 18, 20 and Jesus came and spoke to them the last words he spoke to the disciples, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the Jewish dispensation, even to the end of what end of the age? Friends, are we at the end of the age yet? When is the end of the age? Will it be the second coming of Christ? So he's going to be with us to the second coming of Christ. He hasn't come yet, which means he's still with us today. And these commands stand, they remain. I said a minute ago that there was an urgency. Let's go back and have a quick look at 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6:2. This was the verse that I said. It had two parts in it. For he says in an Acceptable time. I have heard you. Am I in the right place? Second Corinthians 6:2. Yes, I am. For he says, in an acceptable time. I have heard you. In the day of salvation, I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. That sort of delivers a sense of urgency to the whole thing, doesn't it? So why is there an urgency here? Why is it urgent? Because, friends, there is a limited time. We know. And sometimes as human beings, it's natural for us to say all things are continuing on as they have before. We've been here since 1844 and it's been 170 years. And for all we know, there might be another 300 years. I reckon what will happen for me is that I'll sneak through and I'll probably die when I'm 90 and someone else can do the hard stuff at the end and I'll just wait for Christ to come. Is that what the Bible tells us? The Bible tells us now is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. Let's have a look at some examples of people. And the Bible is full examples of people whose work was limited by time. Now again, I'm not going to read all these verses because there's too many of them. We don't have enough time. But let me tell you what they say. In Genesis chapter 6 and verse 3 and chapter 7 and verses 1 to 6, there was a limited time for Noah to work. Now we say it's limited. It was 120 years. But at the 120 years, at the close of the time when that door shut and it started to rain, everyone who had heard Noah threw their hands up in the air saying, it's too late, it's too late. In Genesis 19:1 19, we see that there was a limited time for lot to work in Sodom. And there's a parable regarding the end days if I've ever seen one. In the book of Exodus we see Moses had limited time to work with the Israelites. Once he got to the door of the New Canaan, he brought them as far as he could. But then his day was over. We see that in Daniel 9, 24, Daniel reveals a limited time for literal Israel because he says in Daniel chapter nine, the angel says to Daniel, there is going to be 490 years, 70 weeks cut off for your people. And at the end of that 490 years, that will be the end of time for literal Israel. So there's only a certain amount of time it might seem like a lot of time, but, friends, when you have to turn in your tax return and you suddenly realise you're a week late and you've had six months to do it, it's too late. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. There are many, many other biblical instances. And friends, the Bible also calls us in multiple places. Hebrews 3, 7. Today, if you will, hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Second Corinthians 6. Now is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow or next week, but now. Isaiah 49, verse 8. Thus saith the Lord in an acceptable time. I have heard thee. This is the most interesting part. God gives us sometimes hundreds of years, and yet when we call on him with an open heart, he answers immediately. He doesn't wait 20 years or 50 years or 100 years. He sits waiting for you to call on Him. He stands. Jesus is at the place of the holy sanctuary in the heavenly sanctuary, waiting for you to call on him that he might offer his blood on your behalf to the Father in the heavenly sanctuary. It's a perpetual waiting, night and day. That's what Jesus has been doing for 2,000 years. People often say to me, well, when Jesus ascended to heaven, what's he been doing up there for 2000 years? The book of Hebrews, as you're about to study, is going to tell us that Jesus has been in the holy sanctuary working on your behalf, waiting for you to call upon his name so he can offer expiation for your sin. That's what he's been doing, applying the benefits of what he gained from the cross. And we sit and wait. Maybe next week, maybe the week after. Maybe six months. I'll go later. I've got a few things I want to do first and I'll go later. Sister White tells us the angels are amazed at the flippancy with which we sometimes treat the gracious mercies of God. Angels stand amazed. Matthew 11:8. Come unto me, all you who labour in a heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Sometimes I think we prefer to carry around our own burdens than to give them to Christ and allow him to take them from us. Doesn't make any sense, does it? And what is our work? As we mentioned before, Isaiah 43:10. You are my witnesses, says the Lord. God has given us a wonderful privilege. God has given us a fearful responsibility. We're talking about fear. In the Sabbath school lesson this morning, God says to each one of you, you are My witnesses. What are we doing to honour that you shall be witnesses unto me? Acts 1:8, which is what God said to Paul, the most unlikely of Christian gospel preachers. He said, you shall be witnesses unto me. And again, we are royal priesthood in 1 Peter 2:9, to proclaim the praises of him, to point people towards God, not only by how we behave, but by who we are. Have you ever met anyone and you just know that person's got to be a Christian? They haven't said anything. It might be just the way they serve you at the checkout at Woolworths, or it might be the way they stamp your card on the bus when you're getting on the bus, or it might be a word of encouragement that they'll give you when you almost trip over somewhere and they'll help you up and give you back. And you just say to yourself, there was something special about that person. I know that there's a number of people in my life and I'm looking forward to getting to the kingdom and saying, lord, what about that person that I met on the train that day? Who was that? And God's going to go, that's an angel, and I'll go, I knew it. I knew it. This is the type of witness we can be to others. This is the type of witness that God wants us to be to others. Romans 12:1 2, one of my favourite verses in Scripture. Romans 12:1 2. And friends, there's no escaping the call to work that God gives us in this passage, because Paul's speaking to the Romans and he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove that which is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. It doesn't say, transform our minds so we can do good works. It says, we can transform our minds so we can show the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Does God promise a blessing from this? Psalms 126:6. They that go forth sowing the seed of truth, shall doubtless come again, bringing their sheaves with them. Isaiah 55:11. My word shall not return to me. Void. 1 Corinthians 15:58. Our labours shall not be in vain. As Winston Churchill's policy was never to give up, never to surrender, we as a church, under the influence and the power of the Holy Spirit, are to go forward believing in faith in his victory and knowing that he has promised through faith in him that our labours will not be in vain, I call upon each one of you. God calls upon each one of you who has made that acceptance of him in your life that has experienced the converting power of the Holy Spirit to take that next step. And as we stand on the threshold of a new year, let's make this a year that we will spend our time ensuring that we are consecrating ourselves to him. That we are going to allow the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, to allow his power to thrill through us, to change us into his image, that we might do his will and have his sheaves in his kingdom. Does anyone want to make that commitment today? I'm going to call you to stand up, friends. You want to make that commitment to Jesus Today I call you to stand. If you want to ask him to fill your life and reframe you into the image of Christ, I call you to stand up. Not just for the sake of standing up, but today we stand on the threshold of a new year. Let us make that commitment. Let us make sure that we can call on the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, to make us into the Christ likeness of Jesus, that we as individuals in connection with God ourselves might fulfil his will in your life. Heavenly Father, as we stand here today at the beginning of a new year, we see all these people that have stood up today to signify their re acceptance and their reconsecration to your service. And I pray that each one will remember that there is a God who loves them, who supports them and who will build them up in the faith. Help us to always remember, Lord, that the secret to the successful completion of your work is not what we do, it's what you do through us. And I pray in our hearts and our minds and our eyes will be turned towards Jesus that we will call on his power to thrill us through the agency of the Holy Spirit, that we will become Christ like and therefore be fitted to complete the work that you have done for us that we might see the wonderful return of Jesus in the clouds of glory. Bless us as we go our way is my prayer. In Jesus name I ask it. Amen. This programme has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio.