Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Is on vacation this week. My name is Harry Shields and I have the honor of coming and worshiping with you today and ministering the word of God.
[00:00:16] I have a background in pastoral ministry and Christian higher education, but I'm a fellow worshiper just like you. So this is a wonderful privilege that my wife and I can come and be with you today.
[00:00:28] I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John. John chapter 13 John chapter 13.
[00:00:38] And I would like to read this passage of scripture. I invite you to follow along. John chapter 13.
[00:00:48] Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
[00:01:06] During supper, when the devil had already put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.
[00:01:28] He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
[00:01:34] Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
[00:01:45] He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, lord, do you wash my feet?
[00:01:53] Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.
[00:02:02] Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet.
[00:02:07] Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
[00:02:14] Simon Peter said to him, lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
[00:02:22] Jesus said to him, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for the feet, but is completely clean.
[00:02:33] And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. And that was why he said, not all of you are clean.
[00:02:45] When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you?
[00:02:58] You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
[00:03:03] If I, then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
[00:03:12] For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.
[00:03:20] Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
[00:03:30] If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
[00:03:36] This is the word of God, so hear it and receive it and be prepared to obey it for as long as God gives you life.
[00:03:46] Here at Village Church, you have been part of a sermon series that's titled something like the Questions that Jesus Asked.
[00:03:58] I don't know if you were aware of this, but Jesus asked a lot of questions in the course of his ministry.
[00:04:05] That should say something to us, that questions are important. It's important when we ask questions, important when questions are asked of us.
[00:04:14] Before we look at this text, specifically, I'd like to talk just a moment about questions.
[00:04:21] Because your life, your mind is bombarded with questions almost every single day.
[00:04:29] For example, in some places, there are what I'm going to call motivational questions.
[00:04:35] A motivational question is the kind of questions designed to encourage people, to motivate people to do something. It's the kind of thing that a coach would ask in a locker room.
[00:04:46] Maybe the team is behind. And the coach says, listen, I don't know what's wrong with you folks.
[00:04:53] You play better in this, in the past. What's going on now? Listen, we're gonna go out in the second half, and you're going to do better, aren't you? And the whole team begins to stand up. Yes, we're gonna do better.
[00:05:03] They respond to a motivational question.
[00:05:08] Then there are such things as shaming questions.
[00:05:13] I'm sure that many people in this congregation have pets.
[00:05:18] You have dogs.
[00:05:20] Let's assume something like this. Let's say the lady of the house is preparing for a dinner party that night at her house, and she bakes a loaf of bread.
[00:05:29] She takes the bread out of the oven, and she puts it on the island on the counter there in the middle of the kitchen.
[00:05:35] And she looks at Fido. Fido, don't you touch that bread.
[00:05:42] Fido just kind of waves his tail and she goes off to the grocery store to get some other things she's going to need for dinner that night.
[00:05:50] An hour or so later, she returns, she walks into the kitchen, and she notices the bread that was on the island there in the middle of the. It's gone.
[00:06:00] She looks around, there's Fido, pieces of bread coming out of his mouth.
[00:06:06] And she says to him, fido, what did you do?
[00:06:14] Fido kind of looks at her and says, wait a minute, I don't understand the question. Before you left, you told me I was so handsome, maybe even better looking than the other guy in the household here, right? I don't understand all of this.
[00:06:26] And she says again, fido, what did you do at that? Fido puts his head down, puts his paws over his head that he has been shamed because he's facing a shaming question.
[00:06:40] There are also what I would call teaching questions or the kinds of questions that are raised that get us to think. We could also call them thinking questions.
[00:06:54] Thinking question is the kind of thing that a teacher would engage in. She might say to a class, a literature class, the day before, listen, I want you to read this novel tonight in the first four chapters. And in the process, I want you to just think about the characters.
[00:07:10] The next day, everyone comes to class and she starts and she says, okay, you read the first four chapters now. There's several characters there. What do you think the author is trying to do with all of these characters?
[00:07:24] 20 students in the class, Everyone has a different answer, but they're giving answers. They are accomplishing what she's trying to. She wants them to think.
[00:07:36] Teaching questions, thinking questions.
[00:07:39] I would go so far as to say that almost all of the questions that Jesus raises has to do with thinking questions. He wants us to think. Last week I heard Pastor Michael saying that Jesus raises questions because he ultimately wants us to get around to think about what is going on in the heart, what's going on in the mind.
[00:08:01] A teaching question, a thinking question, is designed to do that.
[00:08:07] The thinking question directed us today is in chapter 13 and verse 12.
[00:08:13] Jesus basically says something like this, do you understand what I have done to you now? Why does he raise that question now? Before we go any further, I wanna suggest to you that the primary thing that Jesus is trying to get at is the issue of time, fleeting time.
[00:08:41] The fact of the matter is that time's always getting away from us. We can't hold onto it. We don't always know this, but time is getting away. And Jesus is talking to his disciples about the passing of time, evaporating time, fleeting time.
[00:08:57] How do we know that?
[00:08:59] If you were to go back just one chapter, John chapter 12, you would notice that time is running away, especially from Jesus.
[00:09:08] In the first part of the chapter, the first eight verses, there is a shocking scene that takes place.
[00:09:16] Might I add that John 13, 1:17 is a shocking scene, but there's another one in chapter 12. Here's what happened.
[00:09:27] Jesus had gone to the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha, and many of the people were gathering together to partake in a meal at that place. They were doing so because Lazarus had been raised from the dead. Everybody wanted to see Lazarus. Everybody wanted to see Jesus.
[00:09:47] When they get there, people are talking and people are probably shaking Lazarus hand. People are probably putting their arm around Jesus. And all of a sudden, people notice something.
[00:09:58] People notice that Mary comes out. And Mary has a vial of very expensive perfume, has a long stem to it. She breaks off the stem. It's never been opened before. And she starts to pour out the perfume on the feet of Jesus.
[00:10:18] The disciples are outraged.
[00:10:21] They cannot believe what has just happened.
[00:10:25] Some of them specifically, Judas Iscariot says, listen, this could have been sold for a lot of money and it could be given to the poor. Notice what Jesus says in verses 7 and 8 of chapter 12.
[00:10:40] Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
[00:10:48] For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.
[00:10:55] Jesus is alluding to the fact that time's running out. He's not going to be with them much longer. We know later on in the Gospel that he's going to be arrested, falsely tried, he's going to be crucified. And then the good news is on the other side of that, he's going to be raised from the dead. But he's saying to these disciples, not just once, but several times, time is running out.
[00:11:18] We see this again at the end of chapter 12, specifically at verse 36, Jesus has identified himself as the light of the world.
[00:11:29] Then he says this in verse 36, while you have the light that is Jesus, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.
[00:11:42] But notice the first part of that verse. While you have the light, the implication is the light is not going to be with you forever. It's passing away.
[00:11:51] Time is running out.
[00:11:54] This passage is about time.
[00:11:56] But you notice in chapter 13, there's a time marker right at the very beginning of the chapter. Verse one says, now, before the feast of the Passover. And we'll stop right there.
[00:12:09] Because if you've been reading along in the Gospel of John, you know that Jesus is preparing everything for that point. When he gets to Jerusalem on the day of the passover, he is going to be arrested and executed, so to speak. He's going to die. So he knows that this Passover is indicative of the fact that time is running out. And so he does something extraordinary, shocking.
[00:12:36] He begins to wash the feet of the disciples.
[00:12:40] But that's not the primary thing that he's doing.
[00:12:43] Verse 15 tells us that he is leaving for them. An example.
[00:12:48] Time out for just a moment.
[00:12:51] There are some denominations in our world today that would look at this and say foot washing is something that the church should be doing, ought to be doing it on a regular basis.
[00:13:01] I have no qualms with churches that want to participate in foot washing. Some would even say it's an ordinance. I personally do not believe it's an ordinance.
[00:13:12] What I believe, according to verse 15, is that it's an example.
[00:13:17] It's an example of something that you and I need to do, especially as time is getting away from us and we have less days than we've ever had before.
[00:13:30] If you remember anything about this sermon, anything about this text, here's what you'll want to remember.
[00:13:38] Time is running out, so use your time to serve like Jesus.
[00:13:49] Now, as soon as you hear that word serve, you might back off for a moment and say, harry, that's very idealistic.
[00:13:57] It sounds good.
[00:13:59] Sounds like something a preacher would say. But the reality is we don't have time to serve all the time. We. We don't have time to serve in this elaborate way.
[00:14:09] For example, I know that some of you will probably go somewhere for lunch after this service today.
[00:14:15] Nobody in your party will get out of the car and say, I can't wait to get inside. I wanna serve the waitress today.
[00:14:23] I wanna just do something that will encourage her. I would hope that the end of the sermon, you might start to think about that. But we're not inclined to serve. Instead, we are inclined to be consumers, to get rather than to give.
[00:14:38] Are you aware of the fact that this concept of service appears throughout the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament?
[00:14:47] For example, in Matthew, chapter 20, the disciples, later to become the apostles, they get into an argument with one another and they're saying, I wonder which one of us is the greatest.
[00:14:59] Might be you. No, it's not you. Or maybe it's me. No, it couldn't be you. And they're in this argument. And Jesus steps into the argument and he says, you wanna be great?
[00:15:09] Wanna think about greatness? I'll tell you, great people are people who engage in great service. They serve other individuals.
[00:15:19] That principle appears several times in the Gospel. It appears also in Philippians, chapter 2, verses 5 through 11.
[00:15:27] Paul says something like this. He says, though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but rather he emptied himself. He kind of laid his side, his attributes or covered his attributes so they wouldn't be seen. And he functioned as a servant.
[00:15:50] This concept of service appears everywhere. It's what the scriptures. It's what Jesus calls us to do.
[00:15:58] Time is running out.
[00:16:00] So use your limited time to serve like Jesus.
[00:16:08] Now, if there are still some protests in your mind, you might Be asking, why would I do this?
[00:16:14] I'm going to give you three reasons from this text as to why you ought to seriously consider saying, I'm going to be a servant wherever God places me. I'm going to serve the people who are around me.
[00:16:26] All right, what are those three reasons? Here's the first one.
[00:16:30] You and I ought to serve like Jesus because of our context.
[00:16:38] Everybody has a context.
[00:16:40] You've lived out this day already, probably in several different contexts. You had a context in your home, you had a context out here in the lobby. You talked with some friends and. And then you walk through those doors in the back and you come in, you sit down. Then you were engaged in the context of worship because of that context. You lifted your voices in song. Some of you even raised your hand, which is a good thing to do. And you worship because you are in the context of worship. We all have a context all the time.
[00:17:13] I want you to see that Jesus was in a specific context.
[00:17:19] It was a context where time was passing and he was headed towards his death.
[00:17:25] Notice, for example, verse one of chapter 13.
[00:17:29] Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
[00:17:43] It was in the context of death. Yes, Jesus knew he was headed into eternity, he was headed back to the Father. But it was the context of death.
[00:17:54] Not only that, look at verse two.
[00:17:57] During the Supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus does something.
[00:18:08] Jesus was in the contract context of betrayal. Can you imagine? You know, someone or some people are turning against you. They're trying to get you. Jesus understood that context of death, context of betrayal.
[00:18:25] But notice something else.
[00:18:26] He's also in the context of completion, verse 3.
[00:18:31] Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and. And that he had come from God and was going back to God.
[00:18:42] We'll look at the next verse in just a moment. But Jesus understood he had completed everything that the Father had asked him to do. There was just one more thing, and that was to go to the cross.
[00:18:55] So he's living in the context of death, the context of betrayal. And he's living in the context of the completion of God's plan for his life and his ministry on planet Earth.
[00:19:08] And then there's verse four.
[00:19:10] Notice what Jesus does in that context. His time is running out.
[00:19:15] He rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garment and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
[00:19:24] Then he proceeds to wash the feet of the disciples, the apostles.
[00:19:30] He did that because of the context in which he was living. He was completing everything that Jesus had him do now. He was motivated, he was compelled to care for these disciples.
[00:19:46] I have a friend, his name is Dave. Dave worked for over 30 years with Kimberly Clark Organization Corporation in Neenah, Wisconsin.
[00:19:56] About five years ago, Dave made a decision to retire.
[00:20:01] One of the things that motivated him was because his doctor diagnosed him with Alzheimer's.
[00:20:08] Over the years, his condition has become worse.
[00:20:13] And what has happened because of that is that he cannot care for himself. His wife, Jane would say of him that his body is still strong, but his able to function the way it was designed.
[00:20:27] Something interesting has happened with that family. They have four children.
[00:20:31] Do you know that children take turns? Every weekend one of the kids will come home so that they can care for mom, help her with things around the house, and they can care for their father, take him for walks, help to feed him, different things, all because of the context in which that family is living.
[00:20:56] What about the context of your family?
[00:20:59] What about the context of your work environment? What about your neighborhood?
[00:21:04] Has something happened there? And you have been placed in that context so that as time begins to evaporate, you have the opportunity to serve the like Jesus.
[00:21:18] So as time's running out, use your time to serve like Jesus. Do it because of the context in which you're living.
[00:21:29] Second reason as to why we should think about serving like Jesus, we ought to do it because of our condition.
[00:21:39] Let me define that term.
[00:21:42] When I'm using the term condition today, I'm talking about something positive, something that is positive about our life, that ought to motivate us to do something, especially in response to other people.
[00:21:56] You may remember a few years ago, I don't know if they still do this or not, but it used to be at the end of the super bowl, there would be the naming of a most valuable player.
[00:22:08] And then a reporter and a cameraman would capture the MVP as he's running off the field. And they'd say something like this. Hey, Sam Darnold, now that you've won the super bowl, what are you going to do?
[00:22:20] Sam Darnold would look into the camera and he'd say, I'm going to go to Disney World.
[00:22:26] All because of his condition. He had just won. Something positive was there for his life. And so he's going to do something in response to.
[00:22:34] I want you to see that if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You live in a very specific, wonderful condition that ought to motivate you to serve. Verses 5 through 11 happens to talk about it. I want you to notice what happens beginning in verse 5.
[00:22:52] Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
[00:23:04] In fact, there was a practice that Jesus was engaging in that should have taken place several minutes before in the ancient world, especially in a Jewish culture, when families and people would gather together to celebrate the Passover.
[00:23:21] Usually they would go to a room and in that room or in that house there would be a servant.
[00:23:27] The servant's responsibility was to come to make sure the food was ready. And then when everybody reclined at the table, yes, they reclined. They didn't sit in seats, but they would get down with their feet stretched out to the back of the table and then the servant would come along and the servant would begin to wash their feet and wipe their feet and wash their feet and wipe their feet and go all the way around the table for every guest.
[00:23:51] That happened at the very beginning of the gathering.
[00:23:55] Did you notice that no one in this party comes in and says, yeah, I don't see a servant. Okay, I'll take care of that Jesus, I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it. No one does it.
[00:24:08] They just assume that as consumers someone is going to take care of them.
[00:24:14] And after the meal we are told, Jesus kind of edges his way away from the table and he stands up, he takes off his outer garment.
[00:24:27] Some people would say he was naked at that point. I do not believe that was the case. Probably still had a loincloth, but he takes off the outer garment and he goes over and he picks up that towel that maybe everyone else saw and he puts it around his waist.
[00:24:42] And like that missing servant, Jesus gets down on his knees and begins to wash it and wipe their feet, one after one after one.
[00:24:54] What's interesting, no one is said to have protested until we get to Peter. Look at the text.
[00:25:04] Verse 6 says, he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, lord, do you wash my feet?
[00:25:12] Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.
[00:25:20] Verse 8, Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet.
[00:25:27] And Jesus answered him, peter, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part in me.
[00:25:34] He's basically saying to Peter, peter, if you do not let me do this because I'm trying to accomplish something, I'm trying to Lay out there for you a teaching question, a thinking question. And if you do not let me do this, you have no part in me meaning by that. You have no part in what I'm about to do in the world.
[00:25:53] You have no part in my kingdom plan.
[00:25:57] Somehow that eventually got through to Peter. And notice what Peter does.
[00:26:03] In verse 10, we are told, Jesus said to him, let me go back, just a verse.
[00:26:09] If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Verse 9. Simon Peter said to him, lord, not my feet only also my hands and my head.
[00:26:20] Jesus said to him, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.
[00:26:34] At that point, Jesus is making a proclamation, a proclamation about the condition of 11 of the disciples.
[00:26:44] He's basically saying, I'm speaking metaphorically here, but because you have believed in me, because you're following me, because you embrace the fact that I am the Messiah, the Savior of the world, you have been cleansed. My righteousness is your righteousness.
[00:27:02] Jesus is talking to them about their good condition, and it frees them up to serve as well.
[00:27:14] On Wednesdays, I travel out to Elgin to the Wayside Gospel Mission.
[00:27:21] I have the privilege of serving as a volunteer, as a pastoral counselor.
[00:27:26] And I meet all kinds of individuals. I meet men who have just been released from prison. I meet men who have been homeless. I meet men who are wandering, not confused. Maybe they've been alienated from their families. And so they come to the mission and some of them will come in, they want to talk. And I've developed some relationships with these men, with some of them who come back almost every week.
[00:27:49] I have a sheet that I will take them through. On that sheet is a. A list of all that we are in Jesus Christ. It talks about our identity.
[00:28:00] I'm convinced that our identity in Jesus Christ is one of the most important things that we can ever embrace.
[00:28:10] And so it talks about the fact that in Jesus Christ, I am forgiven. In Jesus Christ, his righteousness is my righteousness. In Jesus Christ, I am a disciple, and I will follow him. And on and on. About 15 different things in that sheet.
[00:28:25] There's an explanation with every one. So we'll go through it and we'll talk about it, and we'll go through it again and talk about it some more.
[00:28:33] Some days those men will come in and they'll tell me about the fact that they got an email from their spouse who's basically saying to them, I can't do this anymore, and I don't want to be involved in this marriage.
[00:28:47] Or sometimes they'll get a notice from their parole officer who said, you need to appear in court next week.
[00:28:55] Some of them might even get a notice that the job that they've been applying for, it didn't come through.
[00:29:03] And so we'll talk for a while and we'll look at that list. And then when they get up and they're going out, I might say something like this, hey, hey, who are you?
[00:29:12] And they'll turn around and they'll smile. I'm a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:29:18] His righteousness is my righteousness. I am bound for eternity.
[00:29:24] His love and his hope has become my love and my hope.
[00:29:30] Identity condition makes a difference. It frees us up to serve the people around us.
[00:29:40] Time's running out.
[00:29:43] So use your limited time to serve like Jesus. Do it because of your context and do it because of your condition.
[00:29:53] One other thing, you and I need to think about serving like Jesus because of our calling.
[00:30:01] Everybody here has a calling. It takes a variety of different forms.
[00:30:05] For example, let's assume this week that maybe the middle of the week, your boss calls you in and says, listen, I hate to ask you this. I know you've been working hard, but I'll tell you, we have so many orders we have to fill. It's been a wonderful summer and things are going well. Would you mind working overtime just a couple days this week?
[00:30:28] In your mind, you're saying, I want to get home.
[00:30:31] I'm tired. I don't want to do this.
[00:30:34] But because it's your boss and because he has asked you to do something, you say, sure, I'll do that. I'll be glad to work overtime. We can use the extra money. It'll be great. And so because of your calling from your boss, you do that.
[00:30:49] Or let's assume that the youth group, at the end of the summer, beginning of the fall, they have this wonderful retreat planned.
[00:30:57] They've rented two big vans that they're going to take with them on this retreat.
[00:31:04] Middle of the week, the youth pastor calls, says, listen, I'm wondering if you could help us out.
[00:31:11] One of the drivers, he's called out of town, and I don't know what to do.
[00:31:16] You're the only other person in the church that I know that has a CDL license.
[00:31:21] I'm wondering if you would drive one of the vans to the retreat location this weekend.
[00:31:27] You're saying, oh, no.
[00:31:30] All weekend with teenagers. I'm just hoping. Just my wife And I could have this week alone because our two teenagers are going on this trip.
[00:31:40] And then you say to the youth pastor, okay, I'll agree to do. Now, the teenagers will be sedated before they get on the van, right?
[00:31:50] No, they will not be sedated.
[00:31:53] But you agree to do it because you're calling. You've been called to be a father, been called to be a participant and a servant in this church.
[00:32:04] So your calling makes a difference.
[00:32:07] Jesus was emphasizing a calling in this passage. Look at the big question again. In verse 12, it says, do you understand what I have done to you, Jesus? Washing their feet. He said, you understand what I've done for you? It's not a new ordinance. But look at verse 13.
[00:32:26] You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
[00:32:32] Verse 14. He says, if I, then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet.
[00:32:39] You also ought to wash one another's feet.
[00:32:43] Then here's the clincher in verse 15.
[00:32:46] For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.
[00:32:54] The example is that of being a servant.
[00:33:01] You and I have a calling.
[00:33:04] It's a calling to Jesus Christ first and foremost. And then in light of that calling, he places us where we are with a wonderful condition where we've been cleansed by Jesus, freed up to serve the people around us.
[00:33:23] This passage is primarily given to disciples.
[00:33:29] A disciple is someone who says, I believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.
[00:33:39] He's called me to himself. And so this text is for you. And Jesus is basically saying to you, you have wonderful opportunities to serve today. He might be calling you to serve in your home.
[00:33:56] Anybody there that is discouraged? Anybody there that needs to be served? A spouse?
[00:34:04] Your children?
[00:34:05] Maybe an older parent?
[00:34:09] If so, the Holy Spirit is inviting you today to start your. Your ministry of service.
[00:34:16] Maybe it'll be in your neighborhood, maybe it will be at your place of employment tomorrow.
[00:34:22] But you're going to have an opportunity in the evaporation of time to serve just like Jesus.
[00:34:33] But I'm concerned that there may be someone here this morning who is not a disciple, has never come to a point in which they can say, yeah, I. I know Jesus personally. I am his follower.
[00:34:47] Like all of us, you are a sinner, just like me, desperately in need of a Savior.
[00:34:56] The Bible tells us we cannot save ourselves. That's why Jesus came into the world.
[00:35:01] Very God, of very God, perfect human being.
[00:35:07] And they came in with the ultimate aim of going to the cross and paying the penalty for our sins. So that anyone who trusts him, anyone who puts their faith in him, can have the assurance of the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. Have you ever done that? Ever trusted Jesus?
[00:35:27] If not, the Holy Spirit is inviting you today to trust him.
[00:35:34] May God help disciples to serve, even as Jesus did. And for those who are considering the faith today, would you come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Let's pray.
[00:35:53] Our Father in Heaven, we thank you that you speak to us in so many ways. But you speak through your Holy Spirit. You speak to us through your Word.
[00:36:07] This is your word in John 13.
[00:36:13] And you invite us in the fleeting nature of time to live as servants. Would you show us today how we can do that? Wherever you place us, show us how to serve.
[00:36:26] And Father, if there's someone here who does not know you as Lord and Savior, do not let them rest until they come to rest in you.
[00:36:40] We ask all of these things in Jesus name, Amen.
