Introvert, Extrovert or Christovert?
[0:00] Good evening, a warm welcome to the service this evening, this communion service, and it's good to see a few visitors with us as well. And just a reminder as we come to the Lord's table, it is the Lord's table. Those who are from other places, this is not a free church, North Harris table.
[0:17] The invitation is warmly extended to all who are here to come and remember the Lord's death until he comes. Intimations, I'm not going to go through them all, but there was one I failed to intimate this morning, and that is that the community lunch that we would normally have tomorrow is not happening tomorrow. We were short on volunteers this month and so made a decision on Saturday just to postpone it this month and we'll resume after the summer. Thomas, it's great to have you with us.
[0:50] You're well known to the congregation and we're thankful for your ministry as you preach and as you serve the sacrament this evening. So thank you very much and we pray for you as you bring God's word. Thank you, David. Thank you all for your warm welcome. It's great to see you all, great to be with you this evening as we gather to worship together and I bring greetings from all your brothers and sisters in Carloway. It's great to have the opportunity to worship together and we're going to begin by singing to God's praise in Gaelic from Psalm 34. Psalm 34, singing from verse 8, we'll sing two stanzas.
[1:28] NINGNING Thank you.
[2:28] Thank you.
[2:58] Thank you.
[3:28] Thank you.
[3:58] Thank you.
[4:28] Thank you.
[4:58] Thank you.
[5:28] We're going to pray together and for the first part of the prayer we'll pray in Gaelic and then we'll go to English. Let's pray.
[6:05] Thank you. Thank you.
[7:05] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:17] Thank you.
[7:49] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[8:51] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[9:27] Thank you. We pray that you're going to be in the Lord. And bless you. And we pray together. Thank you, thank you, across our island and to the ends of the earth as people turn to Jesus and follow you.
[9:44] We pray it all in his name. Amen. We're going to read together now from Paul's letter to the Colossians and chapter 1, starting at verse 9 and reading down to the end of the chapter.
[9:58] So Colossians chapter 1. At the very start of this chapter, Paul gives his usual greeting.
[10:12] Then he expresses his thanksgiving to God for the church in Colossae. And then we pick it up from verse 9 where Paul writes, And so, from the day we heard, we've not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
[10:52] He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
[11:07] For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.
[11:18] And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
[11:33] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
[11:45] And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
[12:00] If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
[12:13] Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known.
[12:34] The mystery, hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
[12:49] Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
[13:06] Amen. This is God's word and may he bless it to us all. We're going to sing again, this time, the song Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me, which in so many ways echoes what Paul was writing there, that it's entirely and completely in and through Jesus, that we have anything and that we are anything.
[13:30] And this song is a great reminder of that. So we'll stand and sing these words together. Amen. My deep and boundless peace.
[14:08] To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, for my life is wholly bound to his.
[14:22] Oh, how strange and divine I can sing, all is mine, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
[14:32] The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, for by my side the Savior he will stay.
[14:47] I labor on in weakness and rejoicing, for in my need his power is displayed.
[14:59] To this I hope, the shepherd will defend me, through the deepest valley he will lead.
[15:12] Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
[15:25] Oh, fate I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future sure, the price it has been paid.
[15:38] For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon, and he was raised to overthrow the grave.
[15:51] To this I hold, my sin has been defeated. Jesus now, as ever is my queen.
[16:04] Oh, the chains are released, I can sing, I am free, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
[16:15] With every breath, I long to follow Jesus, for he has said that he will bring me home.
[16:27] And day by day, I know he will renew me, until I stand with joy before the throne.
[16:39] To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, all the glory evermore to him.
[16:52] When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
[17:03] Thank you. The singing in Harris is always amazing, so that was wonderful. Thank you. I'd love us to turn back together to Colossians, and I also want us just to have a finger turned to Revelation 21 as well, and we're going to be jumping slightly between these two passages.
[17:28] So as we turn to God's word together, I'm going to read again from Colossians 1, 28, 29, and then I'm going to read Revelation 21, 22 to 23. So just have a finger at Revelation and a finger in Colossians.
[17:42] So Colossians 1, 28 to 29, him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
[18:00] And then turning to Revelation 21, verses 22 and 23, we read where, in that great vision of the new creation, it says, I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.
[18:15] And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. You can turn back to Colossians because that's probably where we'll be looking more, but we'll refer to Revelation as well.
[18:32] And as we just come to look at this, we'll just pray together for a moment. Father, we thank you so much that your word is open before us and we pray, Father, that we will be open before you.
[18:42] We pray we'd have ears that can hear, minds that understand, and hearts that burn with love for you and for one another. Amen. So tonight, as we look at these passages, I want us to explore a topic that has a massive impact on all of our day-to-day lives, but one that we maybe don't talk about very often, or we certainly don't talk about at church very often.
[19:10] I want us tonight to think about our energy. And you'll see Paul mentions that in verse 29 of Colossians 1. He talks about him toiling, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
[19:26] And it's a topic that affects all of us in everyday life, maybe most of all on Monday mornings when energy is not that high always. And as we think about energy, our title is maybe a little unusual, but I hope it will be helpful.
[19:41] Our title for what we're going to think about tonight is three words, introvert, extrovert, Christovert. Introvert, extrovert, Christovert.
[19:53] Now the first two of those words will be familiar. The third one, I made up. But I hope it will still be a helpful word for us to use.
[20:04] That, as I said, the first two are familiar because the introvert, extrovert distinction is a very common way of classifying people. And I'm sure everyone in here has at various times thought about which one you are.
[20:16] are you an introvert? Are you an extrovert? An introvert is somebody who generally prefers a quieter environment, somebody who's very comfortable on their own or comfortable in a small group, someone who maybe prefers to listen more than to talk, someone who likes thinking through their own ideas and plans, and someone who, on the whole, doesn't like being in a busy, crowded environment.
[20:43] An extrovert is the opposite. An extrovert is someone who thrives in a crowd, someone who enjoys socialising and who finds it easy to interact with other people and they can absorb information quickly, they can process ideas with ease and they love new opportunities, new ideas, and they're less comfortable in quiet or isolated settings.
[21:13] Introvert, extrovert. Which one are you? And maybe you're very clearly one or the other. You think, well, yeah, I know I'm an introvert or I know I'm an extrovert.
[21:23] Maybe you are a fairly even mixture of both because some people are a bit of both and sometimes it can depend on the setting. Sometimes you can be very extroverted in some settings, introverted in others.
[21:36] You see that very often in children. So sometimes if you go to a child's house, an environment where they're familiar, they are the life and soul of the party. You take them out in public, they won't even look at people, let alone talk to them.
[21:53] And likewise, you might have some people who on the whole are very quiet. You think, oh, they're very reserved, they're very introverted and then you take them to a football match and you're like, oh, not so introverted after all.
[22:07] So some people are a mix, sometimes it can depend on the setting. And also, I think we can misjudge what people are quite easily because if I ask myself the question, am I an introvert or an extrovert, I actually don't know the answer because I think sometimes I feel like one, sometimes I feel like the other.
[22:24] What I do know is that I like talking and so in various settings I will talk a lot but I also know that the more nervous I am, the more I will talk.
[22:36] So if you see me in a setting and I'm talking a lot, you might think, oh, look, he's really comfortable. It's actually because I'm nervous and I'll talk more and more the more nervous and anxious I am.
[22:48] And likewise, you might have somebody who's actually very, very quiet but they actually far prefer to be in the company of others. Even though they don't say much, they actually love being in a busy, stimulating environment.
[23:01] So an introvert is more comfortable in their own company with their own thoughts. An extrovert prefers interaction with others.
[23:13] And the actual words that you have there, introvert, extrovert, capture that. Intro is a prefix that means inwardly. Extra means outwardly and the vert bit comes from the Latin word that means to turn.
[23:28] And so that's really helpful especially for us thinking about our energy levels because both of these terms are describing where we draw our energy from.
[23:41] So an introvert gets more energy from turning inwardly towards their own company, their own thoughts and ideas. These things will energise them and the opposite is true.
[23:54] A lot of socialising, a lot of other people is draining. An extrovert is the other way around. An extrovert gets their energy from turning outwards and being in busy, stimulating environments.
[24:11] That fills them with energy and if they're alone for any period of time it drains them and leaves them tired. Now as Christians it's completely okay to be an introvert and it's completely okay to be an extrovert.
[24:24] It's not that one is right and the other is wrong and if you look in the Bible you see a great mixture of both. I think David in the Old Testament loved to be around people. I think Elijah was delighted to be on his own.
[24:36] I think Peter thrived when things were busy and dramatic but Paul even though he was an effective public speaker he actually often spoke about how difficult he found that and how he felt nervous and weak as he went to proclaim God's word.
[24:53] Christians can be introverts Christians can be extroverts. The key point I want us to think about tonight is that regardless of whether we're introverts or extroverts or a bit of both above all of these categories as followers of Jesus first and foremost we want to be Christoverts.
[25:15] What do I mean by that? What I mean is that the primary place where you should find your energy is by turning towards Jesus and as Christoverts we want to keep turning towards him because the big point that we're trying to recognise is that Jesus is energising Jesus is the source of all our energy and we want to turn Christward to be renewed and strengthened and energised for the week ahead and for the rest of our lives.
[25:54] So I want us to unpack that a little bit more and as we think about energy as we think about turning towards Jesus we're going to go through three steps because it's helpful to remember that energy needs to be sourced it needs to be harnessed and it needs to be enjoyed energy needs to be sourced harnessed and enjoyed a great example of that is the peats they need to be sourced out there on the moor you need to harness that by cutting it letting it dry lifting it taking it home and then you can enjoy it when you sit in front of a roaring peat fire and so we'll work through these one by one as we think about being Christavers source harness enjoy so in terms of source the first thing that we need to think about is a very obvious but maybe a sometimes neglected theological truth and it's this the ultimate source of all energy in existence is Jesus Christ he is the ultimate source of all the energy that's in existence and Colossians 1 makes that very very clear you see it in verse 16 of Colossians 1 for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him we must remember that the creative work of God was accomplished through God the son that's one of the great truths that
[27:22] Colossians 1 emphasizes for us you get the same in John 1 as well and you see in there that little phrase all things at the end of verse 16 that can look so deceptively simple and yet the truth is that's one of the most astounding statements you could ever read everything that exists all matter all motion all time all forces all interactions all processes all beauty all intelligence all energy it all finds its source in Jesus and that's why the manger in Bethlehem is such a big deal because the creator and source of everything became one of us and is lying in a manger and because he became one of us because he became alongside us often in our minds we can think of Jesus clothed with the same limitations that we have and that's what you see in the
[28:23] Gospels when you look through the Gospels you see that he shares the same limitations that we have in regard to energy so we see Jesus weak we see Jesus hungry we see Jesus tired we see Jesus sleeping and we see Jesus suffering but we must never ever forget that that weakness was a clothing that Jesus was willing to put on to fulfill the mission that God the Father had given him it was a clothing and every so often you get a glimpse of what Jesus is really like behind that clothing of human weakness you see it in various places you see it in the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus went up a mountain and he took Peter and James and John with him and he was transfigured before them his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light you see it on the road to Damascus when Saul was travelling there confronted by an appearance of Jesus as Saul approached Damascus suddenly a light from heaven shone around him and falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him
[29:34] Saul Saul why are you persecuting me and he said who are you Lord and he said I am Jesus whom you are persecuting and we see it in the verses that we read in Revelation where we read I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb now you may not have noticed but as I was reading those verses all those things the Transfiguration the Road to Damascus and Revelation they all have one thing in common they all describe Jesus in terms of bright strong light and Revelation makes it even more explicit by saying that the brightness of Jesus makes the sun unnecessary that's what it says there there's no need for the sun or moon to shine on it because the glory of God gives it light the lamp is the Lamb now this is one of the Bible verses the verses the Bible where modern physics actually gives us even more even deeper understanding of what's being said here
[30:41] I did a wee bit of Google researching which is always a great place to go if you want some irrefutable facts but I think this is fairly accurate a question for you how much of the earth's energy comes from the sun pick a percentage in your head you don't need to shout it out but just pick a percentage in your head how much of the earth's energy is derived from the sun well according to the University of Calgary's energy education site the answer is 99.97% so we know today through modern physics that almost all of our energy comes from the sun that means if Jesus makes the sun unnecessary then he is a colossal source of energy and of course that makes perfect sense because he's the one through whom all things were made that includes the sun that includes every other energy source in existence and if he upholds the universe by the word of his power if he holds all things together as Colossians 1 16 and 17 tells us then it's reminding us that all the energy we ever need is coming from him and all of this is a reminder to me and maybe a reminder to you that our view of
[32:05] Jesus needs to be so much bigger but yet for some people this kind of thing can be a stumbling block some people can struggle to see Jesus as the ultimate explanation of reality and when you put Jesus alongside modern astrophysics and whatever else high energy physics you can't think oh well people's faith wobbles and they struggle to see Jesus at that level but you have to think about what are your alternatives when you think of all the energy in the universe what is the ultimate source is it a glorious magnificent pile of nothing is it a glorious magnificent mystery something that none of us can ever know or understand or is it a glorious magnificent person God himself loving us and reaching towards us through his son Jesus
[33:06] Christ now I know I'm a minister and I know that makes me biased and I know that I'm a Christian but two of those options are just rubbish they're absolutely rubbish and frankly absurd the first one but the option that the gospel gives us to me is the only one that makes sense and all of that's helpful for us to remember when we think of Jesus as the source of all the energy that exists it's reminding us that every time that you expend energy every time you expend your energy you are using something that Jesus has given you so whether that's cooking or exercising or traveling or heating your home or turning on your lights or listening to music whatever it is all that energy ultimately comes from Jesus that means that every minute of every day we are experiencing the reality of his common grace and generosity towards us and that means that at every moment when you turn on the light you can be a
[34:11] Christovert turning to Jesus and praising him and thanking him for everything that he's made everything that he has provided energy needs to be sourced Jesus is the ultimate source of it all but energy also needs to be harnessed and I want us to think about that as well and that happens all across our lives every day whether that's turning on a tap turning on your phone starting up your car all of these things are harnessing the energy that Jesus has created what I want us to think about is the fact that harnessing energy I think we can say has two aspects in terms of harnessing energy you need fuel and a spark fuel and a spark now literally that happens in a car engine you need fuel diesel or petrol you need a spark plug or the heat from compression in a diesel engine you need fuel you need a spark in order to harness energy and
[35:16] I think these two categories are really helpful because we can apply them in a more figurative general way to many aspects of our lives we need fuel and that fuel is physical so we need to eat we need to sleep we need clothes to preserve our heat we need many physical things in order to function the fuel is physical but we also need a spark and what I want to suggest to you is that that spark is spiritual the spark is always spiritual now when I say spiritual what I mean is something that is real but non physical real but non physical and it's absolutely crucial for igniting our energy so let me give you an example which I hope just clarify what I'm trying to say you might eat a bowl of pasta you might put on your running shoes and you might get your phone out and stick your running playlist on none of that fuel is going to get you out the door it's all fuel it's all physical stuff you need none of it is going to get you out the door what's going to get you out the door desire a desire to run to be fit and to enjoy that sense of achievement that's the spark that energizes you that's the thing
[36:51] I lack I've got trainers I've got shorts I've got a playlist I don't often have the desire to run but when you have it that's what gets you out the door it's the spark that energizes you and this is a really important thing for us to think about in terms of where we draw our energy from we've been saying that introverts and extroverts will draw their energy from different places in fact that's true but I think it's!
[37:21] it's that because the introvert extrovert distinction is maybe a little bit too simple and there's actually lots and lots of interesting research has been done in recent years to think about where people draw their energy from and I want to give you a little bit of information about that thinking about where people find their energy in other words where people find the spark that gets them fired up and into action here are several here's six or seven categories that can be a source of energy and inspiration so some people are energized by a sense of wonder so they see they love ideas and vision some people are energized by invention they see potential something specific that can be achieved some people are energized by discernment where they evaluate and think okay this isn't my idea but
[38:22] I can evaluate whether this is good or bad some people are energized by what's called galvanizing where you rally and encourage others to act some people are energized by enablement where you are bringing something from an idea to a reality and bringing others along with you and some people are energized by tenacity taking something through to completion and the kind of theory is that you got all these categories and different people are energized by different things so some of them will energize you some of them will drain you and some of them will have little effect on you so some people love new ideas and they love starting stuff and they hate finishing them if you want a real life example go to my garden where you will find many started projects and no finished ones other people are the opposite they love to see something through to the end so if they are starting something they are finishing it and it's only when they're finished it they are satisfied some people love to spur other people on and they are really good at coming alongside people they may be not very good at coming up with ideas themselves but they love helping other people along the way some people like to plan every detail perfectly and to strategically get and try and give a big sense of vision to a project everybody is different the reason
[39:59] I'm giving you all these examples is because these things wonder invention discernment galvanizing enablement tenacity they're all non-physical but they're the spark that will energize you you can't go and pick them up in a shop but every single one of them is needed and all of this you'll find in secular leadership research online the amazing thing is is that like everything good that you find in the world it sources in scripture that's really where it comes from all of these ideas are actually rooted in the Bible all of these things humanity's ability to wonder and to invent and to discern and to galvanize and to enable and to have tenacity all of we can invent and achieve and enable and accomplish all because we are made in the image of God every animal in the world is just trying to survive we are different we've been made to do so much more and the key point is that everybody in here will be energized by different things but if we are
[41:15] Christovers if we keep turning to Jesus and looking to him we will find the sparks that will energize us so if wonder energizes you if big amazing vision energizes you then turn to Jesus and think about the incredible potential that he brings into your life the fact that Paul writes that he's able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think according to his power that is at work in us if invention energizes you turn to Christ and think about all the new and different ways that you as a congregation and you as individuals can reach out to the community around us with the gospel Paul writes about that he says to the Jew I became a Jew in order to win Jews to those under the law I became one under the law to those outside the law I became as one outside the law to the weak I became weak I become all things to all people that
[42:16] I might save some we can think of all the new ways that we can go and reach an ever changing world with the unchanging message of the gospel if discernment energizes you if you love to think and evaluate turn to Christ and feed off his wisdom and sisters in church have ever met if enablement energizes you turn to Christ serve alongside him if tenacity energizes you turn to Christ hold fast your confession press on fight the good fight we're all energized in different ways but we'll find every single one of them in Jesus and so we can turn to him and look to him and listen to him and when we do!
[43:07] we will fire us up like nothing else and that's the key to living for Jesus in every way we are relying on the energy and the strength that he gives us that's why Paul can speak in Colossians 129 of struggling and striving on the energy that Jesus works within him now that word struggling in 129 isn't struggling in the sense of fading and failing it's actually struggling in the sense of fighting it's a word that speaks of competing for a prize battling forwards and we do all of that in the energy that Jesus gives us so how do you harness that energy how do you do it by being a Christ of by turning to Jesus every day by letting the great truths of the gospel be sparks that ignite you and at different times and in different seasons different sparks will ignite us in different ways the key point is that we keep turning to him we keep looking to him keep listening to him keep praying keep reading keep meeting together keep offering your life to
[44:29] Jesus in other words to put it in the opposite way never unplug from Jesus no matter how low or weak or de energised you feel never ever unplug from Jesus and the amazing thing is that if you feel like you have unplug from Jesus then you can plug right back into him tonight and be re energised and re strengthened energy needs to be harnessed last of all energy needs to be enjoyed being a disciple of Jesus involves a lot of energy it's a journey it's an adventure and at times it can be a struggle and at times it can be very hard but we always want our lives as disciples of Jesus to be energetic because we don't want to be lifeless we don't want to be standing still we don't want to be static and we don't want a relationship with Jesus to be draining!
[45:35] But sometimes it can feel like that can't it? Sometimes it can become like that and sometimes on a Sunday at quarter to six we aren't thinking yes I'm going to church we're thinking right okay let's go that's how it feels so often and sometimes it feels like our spiritual battery is like a phone on one bar just hanging in there and that can happen very easily it happens to me and I'm sure it happens to you when it happens it's all because we're getting our fundamental thinking about the gospel the wrong way round now that's such an easy thing to do it is so easy to get our thinking about the gospel the wrong way round I have done it so many times it is so so easy to do it and it happens like this we think about
[46:39] Jesus we think about our discipleship we think about our growth as Christians and we think that we need to feed energy into that we think that we need to feed energy into our relationship with Jesus so we think I've got to do this and when that happens prayer becomes exhausting because it's like this thing you've got to do we feel as though if we do enough of it then we'll boost our spiritual acceptability before God he'll be more happy with us things will be better if we can just put this effort in church becomes draining because we just think of it in terms of fulfilling obligations I need to be there I need!
[47:31] to be fulfilling all these the gospel becomes depressing because we feel like we're not good enough because when we start thinking that I need to get my prayer life up to a certain standard and I need to get my church attendance and involvement up to a certain standard the one thing that will always happen sooner or later is that we will feel that we are not meeting that standard and we are failing and we feel like we are not good enough and we feel like we don't have the energy to improve and the key point I want you to recognize is that all of that is to get the gospel the wrong way round because the gospel is never about us contributing!
[48:27] Anything ourselves the gospel is about us constantly relying on the grace of God in Jesus Christ everything everything is in complete reliance on the grace of God in Jesus that's how we come to faith that's how we live by faith that's how we grow in faith that's how we are kept in the faith it is all because of God's grace through his son we're saved by that grace we're sanctified by that grace we serve him by grace and we are energized by his grace remember I said that all these images that take back the veil and show us what Jesus is like they portray Jesus in the brightest most powerful light and it's comparing him with the sun think about this on a sunny day if a sunny day actually comes this summer summer in inverted commas when do you ever go outside and top up the energy of the sun never you just go outside and bask in its warmth its light and you recharge under its energy and that is how we are to approach
[49:57] Jesus that is how we are to think of Jesus we come not to give him the last bit of energy that we've got as we try to impress him we come to him to receive from his endless inexhaustible energy we come to him to be refreshed to be re-energized to be recharged Jesus is not calling you to come and drain your battery Jesus is saying come and recharge your battery come and be refreshed and renewed and re-energized as we seek to serve him and that's why we can enjoy the wonder of his energizing presence as we come and worship together that's why singing to Jesus is so energizing hearing his word is so energizing sharing in the Lord's supper together is energizing it's all means by which Jesus is recharging us it's all means by which he's pouring out his grace upon us and as we do that as we keep turning to Jesus as we're energized by him do you know what you must never forget you must never forget that that's what you're going to spend eternity doing as we read in
[51:08] Revelation there's no need for a son in the new creation because we will be eternally energized by the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that vision of Jesus in the new creation is what theologians call the beatific vision that great beautiful majestic vision that we will have when we see Jesus face to face and what I want you to see is that that's going to be the most energizing thing that you're ever going to see and that's what makes it so exciting forever and ever we will be Christopher turning to Jesus looking to Jesus enjoying his beauty and his glory and we will be so energized by his presence and if you are here tonight and you feel exhausted this is reminding you that the gospel is everything you need it's everything that you need so I don't mind if you're an introvert
[52:21] I don't mind if you're an extrovert I don't mind if you're like me and you don't really know which one you are but by God's grace I hope every single one of us will be Christ of us amen let us pray!
[53:05] thank you so much! we can come to you and be refreshed and re-energized and renewed and we pray that as we come together each week to worship you as day by day we pray to you and read your word and in a few moments as we share the Lord's supper together we pray that you would re-energize us and especially if there's any here who feel really drained tonight Lord may they just be re-energized encouraged refreshed by you thank you Lord Jesus for everything that you are and for everything that you've done for us Amen We're going to sing together the hymn When I Survey the wondrous cross which is a great Christopher hymn turning to the cross looking to Jesus and also a hymn that prepares us so well for coming to the Lord's table as we sing about the cross and as in a few moments we see the cross before us in the bread and the wine so we'll stand and sing
[54:12] When I Survey together When I surveyed the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died my riches gave I count but lost and poor contempt on all my pride!
[55:00] O'er bid it Lord that I should boast Save in the death of Christ my God!
[55:17] All loving things that charm me most I sacrifice led to his blood See from his head his hands his feet Sorrow and love flow mingled down Tid e'er such love and sorrow meet Our thorns compose so rich a crown Where the whole realm of nature mine
[56:19] That were an offering far to small Love so amazing so divine Demands my soul My life aspire aspire!
[56:47]