St John the Beloved
Sermon and teaching audio from St John Church in Cincinnati Ohio.
St John the Beloved
The Gift of Prophecy
The power of words cannot be overstated. Just as Churchill's speeches rallied Britain against seemingly impossible odds, prophetic words have the extraordinary ability to transform lives, clarify confusion, and point people to Jesus Christ.
In this compelling exploration of 1 Corinthians 14:1-25, we discover that prophecy isn't some mystical ability reserved for a select few—it's a spiritual gift God wants every believer to earnestly desire and develop. But what exactly is prophecy in the biblical sense?
Prophecy is speaking to people on behalf of God, taking the timeless truths of Scripture and applying them with precision to specific situations and needs. Think of it as a spiritual compound pharmacy, where raw ingredients from God's Word are combined into a healing balm perfectly tailored to address someone's particular pain or confusion.
The prophetic gift manifests in three primary ways: words that edify (build up others through encouragement and comfort), words that clarify (bring understanding in a confused world), and words that testify (point people to Jesus Christ). Unlike speaking in tongues, which primarily benefits the individual, prophecy builds up the entire church and even reaches unbelievers by bringing conviction and clarity.
To grow in prophecy, we must devote ourselves to knowing God's Word deeply and listening attentively to people's pain. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wisely noted, "We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the word of God." This means spending significant time both in Scripture and in genuine conversation with others.
The most powerful prophetic testimony often comes through our personal stories of transformation. When others see how Jesus has changed us—especially if they knew us before—it becomes undeniable evidence of God's reality and power. Every time we trust Jesus in difficult circumstances, we add another chapter to our prophetic story.
Are you using your words to edify, clarify, and testify? God wants to speak through you. Start today by growing in your knowledge of Scripture and your understanding of people's pain, then watch as God uses your words to bring healing and hope to a world desperately in need of both.
For the rest of us, let me invite us to stand for the reading of God's Word, which comes this morning from 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Not the entirety of the chapter, but the first twenty-five verses, beginning in verse one, the Word of God reads this way Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men, but to God, for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now, I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments such as the flute or the harp do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will any one know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also. I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say amen to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may well be sorry, you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the law it is written, By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Thus, tongues are a sign not for believers, but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers, but for believers. If therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you're out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. This is God's word. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. It was May of 1940, and it was a dark hour for the Western world. France was collapsing under German invasion. The British expeditionary force was trapped at Dunkirk, and there was an immense pressure for Great Britain to negotiate with Hitler and to surrender peaceably to the Germans. And Winston Churchill had just been elected as Prime Minister. Churchill was convinced that negotiating with Germany in any way would mean the eventual destruction of British liberty and democracy. And he believed that Britain must resist. So his task was to convince his Parliament and the people of Great Britain that war was the only option. He gave several famous speeches to that end. Two noteworthy speeches come to mind. In the speech that has come to be called We Will Fight on the Beaches, he said, Even though large tracts of Europe have fallen, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the beaches, 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. And I imagine that he was pounding a desk and saying that from his chest. And in the speech, This Was Their Finest Hour, he said, Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say this was their finest hour. Churchill's conviction that Britain must resist the Germans was a minority view in his time. He was in the minority, and it was his task to convince everyone to change their minds. But he, in those speeches, he rallied his country and he turned the tide of the war and the fate of the Western world with words, just with words. This illustrates the profound power and importance of words. Timely words, spoken with conviction and with truth, have incredible power. They have the power to turn the tide of a war. They have the power to bring clarity to a confusing situation. They have the power to bring unity to a divided people. They have the power to encourage us to keep fighting when all hope seems lost and when surrender seems like the most sensible thing to do. The pen or the tongue is indeed mightier than the sword. As Paul winds down to his conclusion on his discussion of spiritual gifts, he teaches us here in 1 Corinthians 14 that there is one spiritual gift that every Christian should have, or strive to have and to grow in. It's a gift that God wants all of us to have, a gift that we should all develop and grow in. It might not look the same for all of us, but it is the gift of speaking prophetic words. The main point is found in verse 1. Paul says, earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. This is a gift that God wants for every believer. And we're going to break that down into three points like we usually do, but I want to first quickly define what I mean. What is prophecy? That it sounds strange to our ears. We're not, we it's not a language we often use. What does it mean? Well, the basic idea is this the biblical concept of prophecy is complex, but basically, it is speaking to people on behalf of God. Speaking to people on behalf of God, speaking God's word to people for their edification, for their clarification, and for their salvation. Prophetic words are rooted in Scripture. Scripture alone is the infallible word of God, so any prophetic word will be some form of applying scripture, or what God has revealed in His Word, some form of applying Scripture to someone's situation. Prophecy is not something more than scripture, but it is a specific and a timely and a profound application of Scripture. And all prophecy must be weighed and sifted by the written word of God, and we'll see that next week as Paul continues to speak about it. What I'm doing right now, teaching and preaching from the pulpit are forms of prophecy, but prophecy is more than that. Prophecy is also the spontaneous ability to speak God's word in conversation that is tailored to the individual. Something that all of God's people can learn to do and should learn to do. Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. So what does that mean? Well, just three things. Prophetic words are words that edify, words that clarify, and words that testify. Words that edify, that clarify, and that testify. So first, words that edify. God wants you to be able to use Scripture to encourage and comfort people. God wants you to be able to use Scripture to encourage and comfort people. The Corinthian church, as we see in this passage and we've seen the last few Sundays, the Corinthian church was obsessed with speaking in tongues. This is something that was that sort of came from their pagan past and something that they practiced within the church, and they it was heavily emphasized. Paul does not discourage them. He says, I want you all to speak in tongues. He says, I'm fine with that. I speak in tongues more than all of you. But the main point in this chapter is that prophecy is better than tongues because it builds up others. We read in verse 4, Paul says, the one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Furthermore, Paul desires for every Christian to excel in this gift. He says in verse 5, he says, Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. And Paul says there that he wants them all to prophesy. He wants it for all of them. It's not just for some Christians, but it's for everyone. It's not just for me, not just for our elders, but it's for you. God wants this for you. And Paul envisions in verse 24 that an unbelieving or an outsider, an unbelieving person or an outsider to the church might enter a church gathering and find that everyone there has a prophetic word. Everyone there is able to speak to them and to testify to God's grace in a way that applies to them. Prophecy edifies or builds up the whole church, which means that it builds up and strengthens the church through encouragement and consolation. In verse 3, we read On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding, that means edification, for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. So, in conclusion, what I want you to see, just in this first point, is that prophecy is for every Christian. God wants you to be prophetic. You as a believer in Jesus, having the name of Jesus, share in the prophetic ministry of Jesus. And prophecy means opening our mouths and using our words. And prophecy is more than just an abstract knowledge of the Bible or a knowledge of the Bible that never really touches ground in anyone's life or in anyone's real situation. For example, it's one thing to know the story of David, and you could know it very intimately, and all of the historical data and all the ins and outs, and that's good, but it's another thing to be able to take David's story and use it to encourage someone who's being unfairly persecuted, or to use it to comfort someone who has lost a child, as David did at multiple points in his life. And that's when it begins to get prophetic and to have prophetic power. God wants you to be able to use Scripture to encourage and to comfort people. When our children were young, there was a season when Julie had a real challenge with nursing, as many women do. It was painful and nothing seemed to help. And we were eventually sent to a compound pharmacy here in Cincinnati. I don't think it exists anymore. It was called PAX Pharmacy. And sadly, around the country, the these kinds of places are few and far between. I had never been to a compound pharmacy before, but it's a place where pharmacists don't just dispense pre-made medicine that's sort of one size fits all, and you could find it on any shelf. It's a place where they actually have raw ingredients and they understand how medicines work and they can create medicines on the spot tailored to your specific need. So we'd never been to one before, so we went and we got this salve that was borderline miraculous. We've never had anything like it before or since, but and we used it for everything. It was uh it brought almost immediate relief from pain and healing. We would we would use it on all kinds of cuts and scrapes. If a kid got a scraped-up knee, you put it on there, and then the next morning it would it would seem to heal overnight. Um, it was amazing, and now it's gone. But that's a picture of what prophecy is. The prophecy is the Spirit of God helping you to take the raw ingredients of God's word, to assemble them in the right way, and to apply them like a healing salve to a specific need, right where it's needed. That is what it means to be prophetic. God wants you to be able to do that in your own life and for others. So, how can we grow in that? How just to apply that before we move to our next point, two very simple things. And a lot of the application of this sermon will be very simple today. But the first, if that's what prophecy is, that means that we have to know God's word. And that's something that we can all do and we should all strive to be growing in. And every point that I'm going to make is going to come back to this today. But the greatest thing that you can do to grow as a prophetic person is to know the scriptures very well and to know them personally. Every Christian has the responsibility to read, to study, and to know the Word of God. You should be reading it every day. Uh, you should be meditating on it in all of your dealings and all of the twists and turns of life. You should be thinking about what do what God's word say about the situation. Um you should be studying it throughout your life. You might never be a teacher or a preacher, that's okay, but you must be a prophet. You might never speak from a pulpit, that's okay, only a few of us will, but you must speak to the people around you, to your children, to your neighbors, to your coworkers, to your spouse. And I don't only mean that we must know the data of the Bible, that's one place where we start, but we must also be personally comforted and personally helped by the scriptures, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, that we comfort others with the same comfort that we ourselves have received. As we are personally ministered to by the Word of God, we grow in our ability to help others. So devote yourself anew to reading and studying and knowing the Word of God. There's simply no replacement for that. But that's just step one. Step two is that we have to know people's pain. In order to prophetically speak God's word to people's pain, we have to know their pain. This means that you just have to spend a lot of time listening to people before you speak to them. So another way to put it is that we have to listen to God very well by getting to know his word, and we have to listen to people very well to get to know their pain. Bonhoeffer put it like this He said, We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the word of God. To grow in pro well, I'll just I'll put it like this. I, you know, I have a lot of pastoral counseling meetings that I do week in and week out and year in and year out. And oftentimes, in a meeting like that, if we're gonna meet for two hours, I will probably sit and listen for an hour and 40 minutes before I venture to say anything. And I might ask clarifying questions, get further information. It's so important that we listen to people and we meditate on God's word to be able to speak God's word to their situation and not what we think that they're going through, or not projecting our own situation on them, but to listen to them. So to grow in prophecy, we have to be curious, we have to ask questions, we have to give people space to talk, we have to get past people's defenses and find the areas of their pain, and only then can we apply the healing balm of God's word. So devote yourself to listening to God's word and to listening to the people around you, especially those who disagree with you, especially those who disagree with you. God wants you to be able to use Scripture to encourage and comfort people. That's point one, words that edify. Point two, words that clarify. God wants you to speak words of clarity to a confused and lost generation. Verses six through twelve are all about how prophecy is superior to tongues because it brings clarity, whereas tongues can just tend to bring confusion. Paul celebrates the gift of tongues, but he recognizes that it doesn't really benefit other people in any way, because other people can't understand what's being said. It may benefit the person that's engaging in that, but prophecy, on the other hand, builds up many people, it builds up the church because it brings clarity and understanding. Paul says in verse 6, he says, Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? And then he gives them an analogy of musical instruments, the flute and the harp, which are for music and enjoyment, need to give a clear, distinct notes and not muddled notes, so that we can recognize the melody and sing along or dance along. The bugle or the war horn, which is not for uh enjoyment, but to tell the city that it's being attacked, or to call people to prepare for battle, it needs to give a clear, distinct sound so that people understand what's going on, so that they can understand that they're in danger and get ready for battle. Paul concludes in verse 19 Nevertheless, in church, I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Paul celebrates tongues, but makes it clear that tongues are largely inappropriate for the public worship gathering unless there is an interpreter, because they only benefit the one person who's speaking in tongues. The greater need in the church is for prophecy, which brings understanding and clarity. So, in conclusion, prophecy is all about clarity, bringing clarity. A prophetic word is more than general biblical teaching. I've sat under a lot of sermons where that are terribly academic and I get lots of wonderful information, but I never, I did, I don't walk away with any clarity about my life or my situation or the world that we live in or what I'm supposed to do. It's more than general biblical teaching, but it is biblical teaching applied directly to our lives and situations in order to bring clarity to our current situation so that we know what we should think, so that we know how we should feel, so that we know what we should do and where we should go from here. So if you hear biblical teaching, but you remain confused as to how you should think, what you should feel, and what you should do in relationship to your life or what we're dealing with in the world, it has fallen short of being a prophetic word. It might be valuable to some extent, but it's not prophetic in the way that God wants it to be. So listen to these words which have long been attributed to Martin Luther. If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. And to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point. His point, Luther's point, and my point are this: it's not enough to preach the gospel in general in a way that never touches down on our real life experiences, and especially the things that we're, that we in our culture are most dealing with. Faithfulness requires naming and confronting the specific evils and idolatries of our own day. And that's where it becomes prophetic, that's where it becomes prophecy, that's where it becomes clarifying and helpful, a melody that we can recognize and tune our hearts to, a trumpet blast that we can hear and prepare for battle and understand that we're in danger. And this is not just for pulpits, this is not just for me. It's for conversations with friends, with coworkers, with your kids, speaking God's truth with clarity, right at the exact point where confusion reigns. God wants you to speak words of clarity to a confused and lost generation. Clarity is exactly what you want when you go to your doctor. If you're not feeling well, maybe you've been dealing with something for a long time and you're not sure what's wrong, you might go see a doctor. You might gladly pay lots of money to undergo tests because you want to get to the bottom of what you're dealing with. Some of you who have struggled with chronic health conditions know how frustrating it is to go through all of that at the end of the day to have no clarity about what's really going on and no idea of how to get better. That's what you want. You want a clear diagnosis and prognosis. And we want clarity from our doctors even when it's hard to hear. A lot of us are afraid to go to the doctor or the dentist because we know we're not going to hear good news. But we know that it's good for us because at least then we know what to do, and we know what we can expect, and we know what's wrong, and we know what path we must take in order to make progress toward healing. Jesus is called the great physician because that's exactly what he does. He brings, first brings clarity to our broken lives. He identifies and names our problems and our pain and our sin. He calls them by name so that we might be able to recognize them and to be healed. Richard Sibs was a great Puritan minister, and he was often called the Heavenly Dr. Sibbs. I can only hope that I earn a nickname even close to that, but he was the Heavenly Dr. Sibs because he was so gifted at graciously identifying the sins that were killing us and leading us to the Savior through that clarity. That clarity is so important. Every preacher and every Christian should strive to be a spiritual physician, to share in that ministry of Jesus, able to clearly identify the things that are killing us so that we can recognize them and turn from them to faith in Jesus. And that's what makes our words prophetic. When we help one another see clearly what's wrong and point to the only one who can heal. So to make an application here, don't be afraid of clarity. I think there's a lot of nervousness and resistance to this in our culture. Don't be afraid of clarity because clarity is absolutely essential. And I'll give you one example. As a pastor, I often get asked by people outside of the church or by non-Christian people, often in the most like awkward situations, this is one of the number one questions that I get. They'll say, What do you think of gay people? Or they'll say, Do you think that homosexuality is a sin? That's a difficult question for a pastor or a Christian to answer because, on the one hand, the Bible is very clear. Homosexuality is a sin, and embracing that lifestyle is not consistent with following Christ. But on the other hand, there's so much more that we would like to say about it. We would rather begin with Jesus, who he is and what he's done, how he's changed us, because until someone understands Jesus, it will be very difficult for them to understand the biblical teaching on sexual ethics. But here's the truth: to be unclear is to be unkind. We cannot evade clarity just because it may be uncomfortable. Prophetic words must call sin what it is, whether it's sexual sin or greed or dishonesty or gossip or pride. If we are truly prophetic, clarity will lead to only one of two outcomes. Clarity will lead to people being transformed in their thinking, which is what we want, or they will be offended and walk away. And we're very afraid of that. We don't want people to be offended and walk away. We never know how people will respond. But if we are unclear, the only outcome is confusion. And confusion makes false disciples. Because we may be able to win people into our church by being confusing or unclear, but they could stay in our church for ten years and never be transformed in their thinking and never be conformed to a biblical worldview and to resemblance to Christ. So we cannot be afraid of clarity because clarity is essential to discipleship. God calls us to speak his truth clearly, even when it cuts across the grains of our culture. Clarity is kindness because only the truth can heal. So, words that edify, words that clarify, and then point three, words that testify. God wants you to use words to testify about Jesus Christ. Prophecy is not just necessary for building up people in the church, but also necessary for outsiders to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to Paul's words in 23 through 25. He says, If therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you're out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. Tongues are a wonderful gift, Paul says, but completely inappropriate for public worship because it is confusing for outsiders, confusing for unbelievers. Instead, Paul envisions a situation where when unbelievers or outsiders enter our midst, they're not alienated or confused or made to feel like a foreigner, but instead they are convicted and called to account and ultimately led to worship, ultimately included and brought in, led to worship the living God. And this will happen all the more as the Corinthians grow in prophecy together. Paul says, But if all prophesy, the unbeliever is convicted by all. Our preaching should be prophetic in every way that I've mentioned here. I hope that, you know, help me, hold me accountable. I want my words to be encouraging and clarifying and testifying. Our preaching should be like that. But also every Christian should be like that. Every Christian should be able to speak these kinds of words so that as unbelievers enter our community, they cannot escape the testimony that all men are sinners in need of grace, and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. Prophetic words do not just comfort and encourage, they don't just expose and bring clarity, but ultimately they testify about Jesus Christ and all that he has done for sinners. So there's really two ways to be imbalanced here. There's two ditches that we can fall into. One is to only focus on speaking hard truth and to only focus on being clear. Of course, we need to do that, but it's possible to over-emphasize that. The other is to focus only on being encouraging and comforting. Of course, we need to encourage and comfort. That's part of what prophetic words are about. But to be truly prophetic, we we have to do both and we have to testify about Jesus, which does both. It both clarifies and convicts us of our sin, but ultimately builds us up and encourages us and gives us hope and leads us to worship because Jesus. Jesus is the answer to our brokenness. So God wants you to use words to testify about Jesus Christ. When I was in high school, I had a buddy that lived down the street, and we were bad influences on each other. This was before I was a believer, he's not a believer. We got into a lot of trouble together, did a lot of things, did a lot of stupid things. And I became a Christian my junior year, and that relationship continued. We still hung out, but things, I had changed. Something had changed, and it was me. I didn't want to run into the same trouble that we used to get into. And I would rather, you know, let's just play ping-pong or, you know, do something we can both enjoy. One day he looked at me and he said, Billy, it makes me so uncomfortable to hang out with you because it makes me think about my own life. Now I wasn't, uh, and I've never forgotten that. I wasn't trying to alienate him. Um I wasn't preaching at him. I wasn't being obnoxious. My life had just become a testimony to the fact that Jesus was real. It hit close to home with him because I had been just like him. It had become undeniable to him. And that's what Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 14: that when unbelievers come into our midst, they should not leave confused, but confronted in a loving way. They should see lives so evidently changed that they cannot help but wrestle with their own. They cannot help but think about their own life. That's what Jesus wants for his church. Not just prophetic words from the pulpit, but prophetic lives in the congregation. The most powerful testimony is the story of how Jesus changed your life. And if Jesus can change you, someone as sinful and broken and selfish as you, then the outsider has to consider maybe he can change them too. If he can do that for Billy, if he can do that for Seth, if he can do that for John, why couldn't he do that for me? It's very challenging. So just to give an application here as we conclude, get some stories. You have some stories, press into them and get some more. The way that we get these stories is by trusting him and living a life of faith and doing the things that he calls us to do, even though we don't know how it'll turn out. Every day we have opportunities to trust Jesus, even though we don't know how it will turn out, to do things he's called us to do, walking with him in faith, or when we don't know where we're going or how it'll all work out. We trust Jesus when we end an unhealthy relationship, even though we know it'll hurt. We trust Jesus when we speak the truth, even though we know we might be laughed at or rejected. We trust Jesus when we confess and turn from our sins, even though we don't know what life is going to be like without them. We're scared to live without some of the things that Jesus calls us to forsake. If you're a Christian, you already have a testimony. You have a story, but God is far from done writing your story. He has more that he wants to give you. And your story is one of the most powerful testimonies that you have that testifies to the work of Jesus Christ. And that's what your story is meant to do. It's meant to encourage and build up and challenge and clarify things for others and point them to the Savior. Earnestly desire that you would prophesy. And what does that mean? It means to speak God's word to people, to speak encouragement and comfort, to speak to bring clarity and conviction, to speak to testify to Jesus Christ, as Moses said in Numbers 11, 29, would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit on them. That's what God wants for all of us. To that end, let us pray. Our Father, we do pray that you would fill us with your Spirit, help us to be a prophetically gifted people, a people that proclaims your word in a way that hits home, in a way that touches our lives and our situations, so that we might be encouraged and comforted, so that we might be given clarity and direction, and ultimately so that we would be led to Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again for our salvation. We pray, God, that you'd help us figure that out in our own lives. Help us to love your word and devote ourselves to knowing it. Help us to love people and devote ourselves to listening to them so that we might minister to them. And we pray, God, that you'd help us to see that this is something for all of us. Help us to grow in it, and through it, God, we pray that your kingdom would grow and that you would build up this church, both in maturity and in number. And we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.