The scripture reading this morning is the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 30-44. And God’s providence has brought you here today to hear his word read, and this word particularly. So, please give your attention to God’s word.

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter answered him, ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And all the disciples said the same.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.’ And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord stands forever. You may be seated.

Your congregation, I believe that this text we’ve come to today is broken up into two sections: the predictions of denial that is made from our Lord Jesus Christ and the rebuttal that is given by Peter and the disciples. Then, Lord Jesus goes into Gethsemane and prays. This is something that is very well connected; they overlap a lot.

So, as I was preparing to preach from verses 30-46, you know exactly how that went—two sermons emerged where one was only thought to be there. I thought over it and upon studying really, I want to give a lot of emphasis to the sorrow that Jesus felt, particularly when he says, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” There’s something significant there that is important, and rather than looking at that in part, I want to split it up because there is something about the suffering that Jesus is enduring in Gethsemane, in his soul, that is incredibly important and something we would not want to overlook. I think we should give lots of attention to it.

We speak and say regularly, do we not, that Jesus came, and when he incarnated, he took to himself a true body and a reasonable soul. What does that mean? How does that apply to Jesus? What does he mean when he says he is sorrowful, even to death? The same word “sorrowful” that the disciples used when he said, “One of you will betray me.” They were sorrowful. What does this mean? I want to look at that because the reality is that the sorrow that he is enduring, the sorrow that he is undertaking, cannot be removed from our sins for which he is going to die on the cross and the wrath of God that he is going to endure for our sins.

But it is those sins that are woven throughout this account from Jesus in his words to the end when he finds them sleeping and up to when his betrayer comes. What you see in this passage, from verses 30-46 in completion, we will hold off for verses 45 and 46 till we get to the betrayal. But in 30-44, you see before us sins that are common, sins that are universal to fallen man. They are ones we will see in the apostles, but they are seen in all Christians and might I dare say, all people. It is something we will know of ourselves and we will recognize.

Now, what these sins are that are present here come to us first in the predictions that Jesus gives to his disciples, his apostles, in verses 31 through 33. I will cover a little more, but just so you know that Jesus instituted the Passover, the Lord’s Supper, after observing the Passover and it says that they sung a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is where David went when he fled in his betrayal from his son.

And they sang a hymn. It is not sure which one, but it is likely Psalms 113 through 118. I would encourage you to go and read that today and this week. Psalm 113-118—they’re not very long; one of them is like two verses, very short. You can read those Psalms and I want you to read them thinking about Jesus leaving the institution of the Lord’s Supper and heading to the Garden of Gethsemane, where all of this is about to happen. Read those Psalms in light of what David was saying and how you see Jesus Christ throughout those, how what he would have been experiencing was happening and was going to happen, and how it would be an encouragement.

Also, read it thinking about those men, those apostles with him, who would understand this more fully afterward. They sing a hymn, and singing is such a good encouragement and help and strengthening for us as we go forward to endure something weighty and heavy and sorrowful. God gives us the word and gives us great things, but he’s also built into humanity the gift of singing. We should sing; singing is helpful and is good for the soul.

And I will admit, it’s something I’m not really sure entirely how God does it, but he uses singing and music to feed us, to nourish us, and to help us. You have sung parts of the Psalms twice already today: Psalm 150 and Psalm 116. They are food for our souls; they build us up to come into more and more sitting under the word.

So, they sing and they go forward, and Jesus looks at them and he says something to them. Now he has told them what he was going to do that night, and now he’s going to tell them something about themselves. What does he say in verse 31? “You will all fall away from me, because of me this night.” They will reject him.

It needs to be noted that this rejection is not the same as Judas. It is not a full betrayal and turning upon him, but it is, in fact, a rejection, a downing in some sense. They are going to fall away that night because of him, because of who he is and what he is enduring. For it is written, and he quotes here Zechariah 13:7, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” Isn’t it wonderful, by the way, to know that a verse that many of God’s people would have read and thought, “Now, what is that referring to?” Now, here you have an answer. Jesus says, “It was always about me.”

He is the good shepherd, and he will be struck this night, and the sheep of the flock will scatter. They will leave him that night. He makes another prediction, though, in verse 32. “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” He will be raised; he will not remain in the grave. He will be raised, and he will go before them to Galilee.

And there’s another prediction that’s made here. Upon this, Peter says to him that this is not going to happen. Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He makes a prediction and is telling them that out of fear for your lives, you will deny and disown me. Peter says, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And Jesus says, “No, you’re going to deny me. This is going to happen.”

So, this is the context of what you’re going to see. Now, I would like us to look at this text, look at the sins present, and then we’re going to look at something else that was present there and close with an application.

So, what are the sins that you see throughout this text of Jesus singing with his disciples, going to the garden of Gethsemane, predicting their betrayal, predicting their denial and scattering, and then even in his prayer itself and their presence there? What you are seeing first is a rejection of God’s word. This may not be immediately obvious, but consider this: Jesus is telling them, “You will deny me tonight. I will be struck, and the sheep will be scattered.” And it’s going to happen in fulfillment of the scriptures, and Peter says, “No, it’s not. That’s not what’s going to happen.”

Jesus is giving him an interpretation and telling him a fulfillment of God’s word, and Peter is rejecting the word of God in his own defense of himself and his promise of faithfulness. This is a sin that is common, and we must understand that what is so difficult to grasp is that in every sin we’ve ever committed, whether of omission or commission, thought, word, or deed, they are all a rejection of the word of God because we are disobeying what God has said and are in essence saying, “I will not do that.”

Realizing we are so fallen in our nature, so corrupted and polluted by sin that we go forth and we disobey the word of God; we reject its authority over us. What you’re seeing from Peter in his response is a massive rejection of God’s word.

The next thing you see is a belief in self’s power, even over God. Do you understand what Peter is saying? He’s saying, “I will not do what you say. I don’t care about your predictions; I’m not going to do it. I have enough power within me to not do what you’ve predicted I’m going to do.” Again, this is how sin blinds us and makes us so foolish, doesn’t it?

Jesus is telling him that God is orchestrating things; he has brought it to this end and this is what is to happen in accordance with the scripture, and Peter says, “No, I have the power. I will not deny you.” Jesus says, “You’ll deny me three times before the rooster crows,” and he says, “No, I won’t. I will not do this.”

There are other sins here as well, such as a sin of forgetfulness. Have you thought about this? Judas has just left. He has told them they will be betrayed. They were sorrowful and said, “Is it I?” They saw this. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper telling them to take and eat.

He has done all of this. They have sung of the glorious realities that though God would be harmed and would endure suffering and trial, what would come about is the opening up of the gates of righteousness. And now they are here this night, after that, denying that this will happen and going forward, they are asleep in the garden. It’s like nothing happened.

Think of where they are in the institution of the supper, and where they are at the end in verse 44. It’s as if nothing happened; it’s the same night, the same evening. They are doing what Psalm 103 says we should not do: “Forget not all his benefits.” They have forgotten—quickly forgotten.

We do. This sin has become so powerful that we forget. We think of all we have. We know of all we have, and something comes and it leads us astray, and we forget those things. We forget the blessings; we forget the nearness we have to God. This is what sin does; it clouds us.

But you also see here false confidence, don’t you? Peter does not think his flesh is weak. Jesus says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And Peter would respond essentially by saying, “No, my flesh is perfectly strong. It is fine.” He thinks that he is incapable of turning upon Jesus.

But what you learn of him is that he’s actually weak. Look at verses 40 and 41. “And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter—why? Because Peter said, ‘I won’t deny you. Even if they all do, I’ll die with you.’ Jesus said, ‘So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

Peter believes himself strong enough in his flesh, confident in his spiritual resolve—he feels he has enough ability, yet despite all that resolve, he didn’t have the strength to stay awake. He couldn’t even fight off sleep.

He is so weakened in the moment that he cannot fight off sleep. It’s why Jesus says, “So you couldn’t even stay awake. You were so confident that you said you would never walk away, and yet sleep comes and you become powerless. Watch and pray that you don’t enter into temptation because the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Let me ask you this: Where do the disciples pray throughout this whole thing? They don’t pray; they’re not mentioned praying. In fact, they’re actually weak.

What you see as well is more painful is that you see in them something we also see in ourselves because we know that we are weak and often from that, one of the first things to go is loyalty. You see, they were saying they would be loyal to him—we are told that our highest loyalty is to be to the Lord our God, over all things. But Jesus says, “This night, when pressure comes—and it’s going to come—you’re going to all scatter. You’re going to reject me. You’re going to deny me.”

He says, “I will not deny you.” But Jesus says, “No, you will.” Three times they reject him, and they are rejecting loyalty to him and putting their own self-protection over him. This is easy to do with our sins. It is easy for us in moments of temptation, in moments of pressure, when it’s clear—we could show and express our loyalty, whether in words or actions to our God—we are quick to shrink and quick to put that loyalty aside.

And you see the weakness here is that they scatter. The reality is that without a shepherd, the sheep scatter. This is our condition, which is to say what? The sheep are utterly lost without their shepherd. This is what happens. The shepherd is struck, the sheep are scattered, and they’re gone—they’re utterly lost.

This is the condition; this is what we would do. What are we like as Christians without our good shepherd? We are sheep that are scattered with nowhere to go, with no sense of direction, with no thought on what we can do. This is our condition, this is our reality, and this is often the fruit of our sin. The fruit of a sin of thinking that we are self-resolved and powerful and can care for ourselves and that we can live independently of God, or we do not need what God’s word tells us.

We become so confident in ourselves. Yet when struck, when persecution, this hardship would come, they scatter because the next thing—their fear is driven; suffering is put before them, and they will not endure it. They cannot, and they leave him, rather than suffer. They choose ultimately, out of fear, themselves over Jesus.

What is put before them is themselves over Jesus. He says, “This is what you’re going to do: You’re going to leave; you’re going to scatter out of fear. You’re leaving me.” And they choose him; they are fear-driven and they choose themselves.

And this is something we do, don’t we? Small little things occasionally come up where it is a clear opportunity in some capacity or another to be clear of our loyalty to Christ. To be clear that we belong to him. And what do we do? Not say something, put something else in the way—choose other things, organize ourselves in our lives and say, “Oh, it’s not because of anything else.” But in reality, we will often choose ourselves over him. And we do so often out of fear—fear of loss, of money, of relationships, of prestige, or whatever the case may be.

And we think, “I won’t do this; I’ll put that aside because the consequences could be worse.” But here’s something else we see: they are disobedient. They are disobedient to him. He tells them to watch and to keep alert, and they won’t do it.

So, of all things we can say, it is put forth to them as his basic commands that he gives them, and yet they won’t obey him. What you’re seeing is the total pollution of sin that comes; we are, in our sins, polluted by it. This is the reality. We point out all of this, and you may think that’s a list of a few sins, and it doesn’t really get to the fullness; yet it’s comprehensive of us all, isn’t it?

Self-motivated rejection of God’s word, being more confident in ourselves and our flesh than we should be, choosing ourselves, rejecting him in loyalty, realizing what we are when we do not have him. We become the opposite. We scatter, we deny him. We think that our spirit is willing and we think that that is sufficient, but the flesh is weak, and we often cannot fight off the simplest of things.

And we realize that all who you are is corrupt and is polluted with sin. Polluted by sin, and that pollution is shining forth; the inward pollution of sin is coming forth in these men. We all see it, and we all know this is us. This is everybody who is not immune to this, who has not faced these temptations and has fallen to them.

What we’re learning is that when you take into account what Jesus is saying when he says, “My soul is sorrowful, even to death,” is that you see that sins are sins in the body, and while we do sin in the body, they are often rooted in and come forth from sins in our very own souls.

Because, what is happening here? I will touch more on this at length next Sunday, is that he is starting to bear the consequences, the reality of our sins—and where does it come to him first? In his soul. He is sorrowful in his soul, and his soul is beginning to bear this, even to death.

Because the soul is central to the existence of who we are in our humanity. We are body and soul. This is not to elevate one or the other, but rather to understand that we are physical and spiritual. We are body and soul, and the soul is central to our existence.

To deny our sins or rejection—what we see in all the sins mentioned here—where do they come from? They come from the inner man, don’t they? Rejection of God’s word is not merely reading with your eyes and coming to a physical conclusion; no, it is a rejection from your innermost parts of who you are. Rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord, as Messiah, as the one who gives his life for your sins—it is not merely rejecting something physical.

Where is that coming from? You know this. It’s coming from your very being, from your soul. It comes from within, from who we are. To forget is part of setting aside, to forget his benefits; what is that, but it is coming from the inner person? False confidence is what? It comes from something you feel of yourself, which shows your blindness within.

So, it’s coming from who we are, from the inner man. This is why in the sacrificial system, there would be—that in Deuteronomy 12 it tells us that we give a sacrifice of blood because the life of the flesh is in the blood, meaning that it is spiritual, that it is throughout, that it is universal, that it is there because blood made atonement for the soul because we sin in our souls as much as our bodies.

Ezekiel 15 says, “The soul that sins will die.” Jesus Christ is here sorrowful to the point of death, bearing the sins of our souls first—this is what is happening. And you might say, “What sins?” The list I just gave you is just a taste. It comes from our very being. Those who sin in their souls must die.

Blood was shed because the life of the flesh is in the blood. The outward has something internal within it that gives it life. Life is there; but what makes it move? We can sit there and say that a physical body moves and goes about—joints, ligaments, this or that—but what gives it life to do that? And that’s what we’re getting at. It’s the inner reality of who we are.

We sin against the Lord in our bodies, in our souls, and in our hearts. So, sin was present in the garden that day in Gethsemane. But what else was present? The power of God was also present.

You see the power of God in this way: well, first it starts that the power of God is that he keeps his word. Did you see that? That God promised, and he says, “As it is written,” quoting Zechariah 13—God’s word is given, and it will be kept. It will not be thwarted. That’s what we mean when Peter says, “No, I’m not going to deny you.”

Well, the word of God has said that they’ll all scatter. So, if you don’t, you see the logical conclusion: no, God keeps his word. You can trust the word of God when it tells you things.

You can trust it for many reasons; but what is before you is to know that God brings it about, He arranges and fulfills it. There’s also the power of God in that he will strike the shepherd, but he is doing so to atone for our sins. Jesus is being struck not merely so that the sheep would scatter, but is being struck for the atonement of our sins.

This is what is happening when the cup is given to him. When he says, “If this cup can pass from me,” it is as if it is offered to him, of saying, “Will you drink this cup?” And he is asking, “Is this what I must do? Is this what it will take to atone for their sins, to satisfy your holy and just wrath?”

And the Father is saying to him, “Yes, it is.” And he says, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he’s saying, “Yes, the will of God is for you to drink this cup. The will of God is to have seen that the shepherd is struck so that atonement is made for the sins of the sheep.”

The power of God is not simply here to display his hatred of sin, though it is, but it is coming forth to show us that Christ, the good shepherd, is struck to pay the sins of the sheep. Our sins were paid for; the power of God is that he might, in his might and his justice, bring atonement for our sins.

Only God can bring that about, and he is doing that through the work of Christ. But there’s also another level—the power of God is in those predictions, is it not? That Jesus says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

The power of God—his own power—the power of the triune God, who is almighty over all, who is over everything and has all power in himself—will raise the Son. He will raise him from the dead. He is almighty to raise him, to bring him about, to defeat the great enemy of humanity, which is sin and death. It will not hold him; he will raise him from the dead upon dying on the cross for our sins and satisfying the holy wrath of God that is due for us, which we have seen is rightly due for us.

When we examine what is happening in Christ even more next week, you’ll see that it is rightly due for us, yet God, of his power, would raise Jesus. And he is promising them this right away. It is the power of God to deliver him to say that he will bring about what he intends.

Jesus is not going to the cross as if the Father says, “I hope this ends as I won’t.” No, he is going as the Father determines, as he ordains, as he orchestrates and brings this about—that he will raise him.

But there’s another power here, and it’s the power of God—not to raise Christ, but to not allow these 11—and what I would add for us in Jesus Christ—to permanently, finally fall away. Because what does he say? “After I’m raised, I’ll go before you to Galilee.” He’s going to meet them in Galilee. He’s not done with them.

What is he telling them? You’re going to fall; you will be scattered. But when I’m raised, I’m going to gather you back together. The shepherd will be struck, but the sheep will not be utterly lost. They will be gathered back to him. He will bring them back; the power of God will not let them finally fall away. He will keep them.

And that’s why I would tell you to read those Psalms with the men in mind who said, “Though I despair in sin,” what do they know? They’ve been raised, they’ve been forgiven; they’ve been given life. And they cry out in the name of Jesus.

You might say, “To open up the gates of righteousness.” Not because of what they’ve done, but because of what he has done. And he brings them in.

So, what is the application here? Let me tell you a few things. First, you must see the weight of sin. You must not leave here missing the weight of sin. Jesus is sorrowful in his soul to the point of death.

These sins are so weighty that what Jesus is telling you, what you know from the scriptures, is that the only way for them to be atoned for and for your sins to be atoned for, not by you, is for the eternal Son of God to sit under the wrath and holy wrath of his Father, God almighty.

This is the only way; what is happening here is that Jesus is enduring the cross, but he’s also enduring hell for you and the wrath for us. What you will see clearly when all these texts are done is that this is what the Apostles’ Creed means when it says he descended into hell.

This is where it starts, and he goes there, enduring this because of the weight and duress of our sins. Which is to tell you, dear brother and sister, dear friend—you will never repay your sins.

If you will not know of Christ, you could never atone for your sins; you could never bear this weight; you could never repay it, you could never do enough good deeds—it’s not possible. It is an eternal punishment that you would have to endure.

There is only one who can bear the sins you’ve committed in body and soul and bring you full atonement, and that’s Jesus. What you’re seeing is one who is going to the cross—who is bearing the weight of our sins, the sins of the body and of the soul.

Now, even now, he’s doing that. He is the only one who can do this and he is calling you—I am appealing to you, in his name, as you receive his word here—to bring your sins to him. Do not think you’re going to atone for them.

Dear Christian, don’t think that and don’t think this is something you can check out on. Remember the weight of your sin! What is the weight of it, and what was the cost of your sin that you could never repay it? You could never atone for it.

Bring it to Jesus because he is going there to suffer in your place. He is going through what is due for you—that the wrath of God due for your sins is being placed upon him.

We have rejected God’s word; we have thought self-confidently and sinfully of ourselves; we have forgotten his benefits; we have false confidence; we have scattered; we’ve rejected him; we’ve acted in disobedience; we’ve acted out of fear; we’ve sinned in body and soul.

And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus will pay for each and every one of them. What you’re witnessing is a written account of how he did that and where it starts. Jesus will pay for all of these; bring them to him.

Let me tell you another thing: never think that you have mastery over your flesh. You may be forgiven; you may live in light of the cross and know of it, but never think that you have mastery over your flesh.

Peter was very confident, and he was—and you will see by the end of his life, as you read in the New Testament, he grew and was sanctified. But that is not a reason to ever be confident in your flesh. Never think you’re above sin.

Is a real Christian capable of falling away fully and finally? No, but that’s because of the power of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But left in our own flesh, this is what we do. And you, dear Christian, dear unbeliever, don’t think you can conquer that.

No, you cannot, dear Christian. You think, “I can put this away on my own.” You might think, “I’ve grown in this way, and these things are not.” No. Sins creep in, and sins come forth, and they often seek to wreck you in the time and the moment you realize—you should never think that you have mastery over the flesh.

And there’s another side to this that I would say because on the one hand, we’re tempted to think that way, but you know what else we might do wrongly when we sin is to think, “Well, it was just a blip; it’s not a big deal.

“Oh, it’s just my youthful eagerness and arrogance, and I can just—we just do stuff like that—or that’s just the way I am; that’s just my personality.” None of that is what it is—it gives an excuse to your sin. It excuses your weakness. Never give excuses to your sins; never make excuses.

Don’t excuse your weakness because Jesus did not excuse theirs in this moment, did he? “I would die for you.” He doesn’t say, “Don’t say that; I know you don’t mean that; you’re talking.” No, he doesn’t say that, does he?

He finds them asleep and says, “So could you not watch with me?”—the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak—“Watch and pray that you don’t enter into temptation.” He does not give them excuses; he does not let their weaknesses go. No; he dies for them. He loves them, but he will not excuse sin.

If Jesus will not excuse our sin, we have no reason to excuse our own. And finally, would you see here a deep and have a deep stirring in your heart for love for your savior? Look at what he is willing to endure and what he did endure. Love him.

See his glory here; look at the glory of Christ that is set before you in this passage. He is teaching us the scriptures; he is promising to be with us; he is promising to go to the cross; he’s facing it at home that very night, and he’s enduring all of this, and he loves them.

He even brought them near to him, but his glory is there. The Father is praying to his Father; he is being upheld by the Spirit. He is so glorious that night, and look at him and grow in love for him! That is what will help us put that away as well.

Pray for the help of the Holy Spirit; he indwells you. Pray for the Spirit to help you in your weaknesses. And finally, I would say this: don’t despair. Don’t despair over your sins.

You should look at your sins and not cast them aside, not make excuses, and not make them out to be less than what they are. But you should also not despair, dear Christian. Because Jesus promised—what did he promise them? “I will rise, and I will meet you in Galilee.”

He will never leave you; he will never forsake you. Do not make light of your sins. The way you make the most of your sins is to bring them to him because he alone can deal with it.

He alone can take the guilt away; he alone can remove the burden for you. He alone can cleanse you of your unrighteousness; he alone can forgive you and make you right before the Father—he will stand in your place. He will do that, and he extends that to all those who are outside of his covenant.

He wants you to read this and see he’s calling you in; he’s calling you to come and receive what he has done for his people and to be among them. For those of you that are in the church, he is calling you—whether of sins or whatever they might be—to come to him, to be returned to him.

You might be scattered, but he’s calling you back. And if you’re a Christian who looks at this and you know of yourself and you would know that you have sins, don’t despair. Don’t despair; be repentant.

Bring them to him, knowing that he is calling you; he’s restoring you. He will not leave you; he will not forsake you. Hear that call of him right now.

Let me pray.

Father, thank you for the gift of this text that shows us the glory of Jesus Christ. In spite of that glory, we also see our own sins and weaknesses. We see our confidence in the flesh; we see our arrogance and our rejection of your word.

We are exposed; we see that we have sinned against you, in body and soul, from our innermost beings. Our sin is rebellion against you, and we deserve everything that is due us, and it is humbling to see that our Lord, our Savior, is taking that upon himself.

Father, we ask you to forgive us. We ask you, Holy Spirit, to come and comfort us, to help us, but also encourage us to be honest about our sins—to not forsake—to not look at ourselves as forsaken, but forgiven, but also to not make light of them.

Help us to remember we have no mastery over our own flesh but only what is done through the work of your Spirit. Father, draw your people near; help us and comfort us, but also encourage us to be faithful and to grow in our love for you, Father, through your Son and the help of your Spirit.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.