Numbers 6:22-27 | In The Wilderness

Listen to this week’s sermon, In The Wilderness, preached by Rev. Benjamin Kandt from Numbers 6:22-27

Episode Transcript

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (00:06):
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to the sermonaudio from New City, orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's prayer
.
For more resources, visit ourwebsite at newcityorlandocom.

Gina Fickett (00:20):
Please join me in praying the prayer of
illumination.
Please join me in praying theprayer of illumination.
Eternal God, the grass withersand the flower fades, but your
word will stand forever.
Holy Spirit, help us to loveand trust your word.

(00:40):
Through Jesus Christ, we prayAmen.
Today's scripture reading istaken from Numbers 6, beginning
in verse 22.
The Lord spoke to Moses sayingSpeak to Aaron and his sons,
saying Thus you shall bless thepeople of Israel.
You shall say to them the Lordbless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you

(01:06):
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
So shall they put my name uponthe people of Israel and I will
bless them.
This is God's word.

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (01:26):
My wife Alana and I met when I was a
senior in high school, andsomething you need to know about
me was that I was a completefool when I was a senior in high
school.
I like to say I was clinicallywild.
So if you think about it, youcan pray for my kids in case
it's genetic or something likethat.
But what happened was sometimesI, you know, make the joke that

(01:47):
there's a 50-50 chance of mebeing alive today if Jesus
hadn't intervened.
And when I was a sophomore incollege, jesus showed up,
dramatically altered my life andbegan his incredible work of
transformation that he's begunin many, if not all, of our
lives in this room.
But here was the problem.

(02:08):
In 2012, when I went to myfuture father-in-law and
mother-in-law to ask for theirdaughter's hand in marriage,
they hadn't seen those years oftransformation, and so when I
nervously sat down with them ata local diner, I sit in my booth
and I slide across the table aportfolio of reference letters.

(02:32):
See, for some reason that seemssuper normal for me to do then,
but now y'all laugh because itis ridiculous.
I had a reference letter fromeach of our sisters, from our
campus minister, from half adozen of our friends and my
pastor, all in this portfolio.

(02:52):
Why?
Well, because I was asking fortheir blessing.
Isn't that what we call it?
I was asking for their blessingon our marriage, and so I
wanted to receive a verdict fromsomeone greater to someone
lesser, that I was worthy oftheir daughter's hand.
Why do we call it that?

(03:15):
Why do we say asking for theblessing?
It's because that's what ablessing is.
The blessing is when a somebodyconfers goodness on a nobody,
and that's what I needed in thatmoment and that's what we see
in Numbers, chapter six.
Our text this morning is ablessing.
It's a blessing.
Now, here's the thing aboutblessings we all ache for it.

(03:37):
We all ache for a blessing andsome of you in this room you may
know this that when we talkabout in worship, we talk about
it as the benediction.
You'll see, at the bottom herein the corner of your worship
guide, it says benediction.
That just means benediction, agood word spoken over you.
That's what that is.
Now, many of us in this roomhave fathers and mothers and

(04:03):
caregivers who have spoken goodwords over us throughout our
life.
We've heard things like this ismy beloved son.
This is my beloved daughter,with whom I am well pleased.
But some of us in this room, wehaven't gotten that, and if you
didn't get it, you will seek ityour entire life until you find
it.
But some of you in the room,actually, you're still waiting

(04:24):
for that.
You're waiting for a good wordspoken over you by your father
or some of you in the room, yougot a blessing when you
performed, whether in school orin sports or in religion, and so
you find yourself to this daystriving constantly to earn that

(04:45):
blessing and you wonder whyyou're so busy and overcommitted
.
But some of us in this room,we're looking for that blessing.
You're looking from thatblessing for a significant other
, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, theopposite sex, somehow, because
a blessing is when someone whomatters say that you matter, and
you find yourself wondering whyam I so desperate to have those

(05:07):
words spoken over me?
It's because you were made fora blessing.
You were made for benediction.
You see, the core desires ofthe human heart are for security
, significance and satisfaction.
You want somebody to look atyou and to speak over you the

(05:30):
security of saying you're goingto be okay.
You long for somebody to lookyou in the eyes and give you the
significance by just simplysaying you matter.
And all of us in this room weactually ache for someone to
speak the satisfaction over usthat says there is enough.
There will be enough for you.

(05:51):
And so this morning, as we lookand continue this series through
the book of numbers called inthe wilderness, we get to
numbers chapter six, and we aregoing to take up what's called
the Aaronic blessing, not theironic blessing, the Aaronic
blessing, not the ironicblessing, the Aaronic blessing.
And I want you to see that thisis God's direct answer to your
most basic human desires, thatin this text, everything you've

(06:13):
ever wanted is found right herein this blessing.
So if you have a Bible or adevice or the worship guide, get
Numbers chapter 6, verses 22through 27, in front of you and
we're going to look at it underthese three headings.
The first one is security,which is verse 24.
The second is significance,verse 25, and the last one is
satisfaction, in verse 26.

(06:34):
Look with me at the security inverse 24, where it says bless
and keep.
It says this the Lord bless youand keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
The new city is a Presbyterianchurch.
Surprise, for some of you arelike uh-oh, what does that even

(06:56):
mean?
Well, let me tell you one thingit means One of the many good
things about being Presbyterianis that we are confessional, and
all that that means is thatwhen we go to read and interpret
the Bible, we ask the questionwho's going to be better at
reading this book Me alone withmy Bible, or my brothers and
sisters for millennia?

(07:16):
And we answer with B, brothersand sisters from millennia.
And so when we say we'reconfessional, it means we're
drawing on this great history ofChristianity that's been going
on for 2,000 years when we readthe Bible.
And so our confession, theWestminster Confession, has a
whole section on the way weunderstand Scripture, and

(07:37):
there's this beautiful line inthere.
It says that one of the ways inwhich we come to have a high
view of Holy Scripture is whenwe notice quote the majesty of
its style.
The majesty of its style, inother words, things like poetics
, actually matter.
And so when we look at our textthis morning, there is both a

(07:59):
musical and a mathematicalmajesty to its style.
I want to show you this Nowhere's the thing.
You can either trust me or golook this up, because a lot of
this is in Hebrew, but this iswhat I want you to see.
In Hebrew, there are threelines of 15 words, okay, so the
whole thing just made up ofthree lines of 15 words.

(08:21):
Now each line begins with theword the name Yahweh.
This is God's self-disclosedname, one of the greatest gifts
he gave to his people.
God self-defines andself-discloses.
He says I am who I am, yahweh.
Every line begins with thatword.
Now, if you know something aboutHebrew, there's no exclamation

(08:42):
marks, and so the way that inHebrew, the idiom for making
something a big deal is, youwould repeat it.
Jesus did this when he wouldsay to people truly, truly, I
say to you that meant lean inand listen up, but the most
emphasis you could possibly puton something is to repeat it
three times.
Think about Isaiah 6.

(09:03):
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord,god Almighty.
And so the threefold repetitionof the name of God in the
center at the beginning of thisbenediction.
It's a big deal.
The only other time we see thisin scripture is when we put the
name of God on children andbelievers, believers and their
children in baptism.

(09:24):
The name of the Father, thename of God, on children and
believers, believers and theirchildren in baptism.
The name of the Father, thename of the Son, the name of the
Holy Spirit.
You see, this putting of thename of God on the people of God
is core to blessing.
But it's not just Yahweh'srepeated.
Look with me at verses 24, 25,and 26.
Line one in Hebrew has threewords.

(09:45):
Line two has five words.
Line three has seven words.
It goes further.
Line one has 12 syllables, linetwo has 13 syllables.
Line three has 14 syllables.
Even more, line one has 15consonants.
Line two has 20 consonants.
Line three have 25 consonants.
What is going on here?

(10:05):
You see, you don't always knowwhat a text means until you know
how it means.
Substance and style matter, andI think what's being conveyed
here is that there's thislengthening and intensifying of
this benediction as it buildsover time.
The reason why is because Ithink that it's showing how the

(10:25):
blessing of having Yahweh dwellat the center of the camp is
expanding and spreading outthrough the whole people, and we
see this in what theWestminster Confession calls the
majesty of its style.
Now the last one I'm going topoint out.
Here.
There are 15 words.

(10:45):
Three times Yahweh is repeated,12 other words besides the name
of the Lord.
I think what this means andother commentators as well that
the blessing of Yahweh'spresence is for the 12 tribes of
Israel and the significance ofthis is because God has a
blessing, an abundant life he'sdeclaring for his people.

(11:07):
The camp of Israel is builtaround the central presence of
God in their midst, and thatblessing of God is intended for
them.
But it's not just intended as aone-off, momentary thing.
It's actually intended toendure for the entirety of their
existence.
So not only do they needblessing, but they also need

(11:27):
keeping, and that's the nextword we see.
Look at verse 24.
It says the Lord bless you andkeep you.
Now in the book of Psalmsthere's this section called the
Psalms of Ascent, psalms 120through 134.
And it's basically a road tripplaylist for Jewish pilgrims
that would go up to the templethree times a year.
Now, if you double click onthose Psalms, one of the things

(11:50):
you'll realize is that each ofthem is basically a meditation
on Numbers, chapter six, on thebenediction, the blessing we see
here.
It's throughout all of thosePsalms.
Why?
Well, I imagine if you're aJewish pilgrim and you live
maybe in the north, in Galilee,and you're journeying your way
down to Jerusalem.
As you're going, there's thisbuilding anticipation for the

(12:12):
moment when the high priest willcome out, raise his hands and
pronounce this benediction overyou, the people.
And so you've got this playlistof 15 Psalms that are building.
Well, the second of those psalmsis Psalm 121, which is just an
extended meditation on this wordkeep, keep.
At the end of that psalm, inverse seven, it says the Lord

(12:34):
will keep you from all evil, towhich the realists among us go,
really All evil Like.
I've lived enough life andpastored enough people to know
we face some evil in this life.
So what could possibly be meanthere?
Well, jesus even taught us topray every single day.

(12:56):
Deliver us from evil.
This is core to our existencein the world is that we will
engage with evil.
Now, the Bible does not say thatChristians are safe from evil
things, but they are safe fromthe evil of all things.
Let me say that differently.
God's MO is not to keep you outof trouble, but to keep you in

(13:19):
trouble.
Do you see that?
He shows up throughout thestoryline of Scripture and he
never simply airlifts people out, but instead he himself
parachutes in.
The pastor, tim Keller, said itlike this If we knew what God
knows, we would ask for what Godgives, and Keller practiced

(13:41):
what he preached.
In 2021, he was diagnosed withstage four pancreatic cancer
that would eventually kill him,and in an article I believe, one
that he wrote for the Atlantic,or something like that he said
in that article I'm notprimarily fighting cancer, I'm
primarily fighting my own sin.
What was Keller getting at?

(14:01):
Well, god may not keep yourbody from cancer so that he can
keep your soul from evil.
That's what Keller was gettingat.
Now, if that sounds harsh,remember God.
Unlike you and me, god is notconfused about your highest good
.
It's not bodily health, it'sthat he would keep you from all
evil, and he will do that.

(14:23):
Psalm 121, verse 7, promises it.
But not only do we need theblessing of security, but we
need the blessing ofsignificance.
Look with me at verse 25.
Verse 25 says the Lord make hisface to shine upon you and be
gracious to you.
There's a psychologist namedGordon Flett.

(14:44):
He's a psychologist at YorkUniversity and he's the foremost
scholar on a subject calledmattering.
Mattering and what mattering isis it's.
They've defined it as this core, universal human need that's a
necessary component forwell-being.
Mattering is when you ask thequestion do I matter to someone
who matters?

(15:05):
You can convey mattering byyour face and your actions and
your words, and some researchshows that 30 percent of
adolescents do not feel thatthey matter to anyone.
Just think about that.
Like 12 to 17-year-olds thatyou're around about, one in

(15:25):
every three of them doesn'tthink they matter to anyone.
Something happening there?
Some people would say that thatmight be part of the root of
our mental health crisis thatwe're in right now.
Some people would say that thatmight be part of the root of
our mental health crisis thatwe're in right now.
And so if mattering is soimportant, if it matters, what
is it?
Well, dr Flett goes on to sayit's more than belonging or

(15:47):
self-esteem or social connection.
The best way to talk about itis, he says, you won't be happy
if no one notices.
When you walk into a room, yousee, because you're going to be
asking the question, eitherconsciously or unconsciously do

(16:09):
I matter to someone who matters?
I love the way that verse 25puts it the Lord, make his face
to shine upon you.
One commentator translates thismay the Lord look up when you
walk into the room.
You see the word face isrepeated twice in this blessing
Once in verse 25, once in 26.
We've got that old English wordcountenance, just the word face

(16:29):
.
Would he lift up his face onyou?
Why is this such a big deal?
Well, your face is yourrelational gate.
It's the way in which youinvite people into your
relational presence is throughyour face.
And there's this super nerdybook called the Neuroscience of
Human Relationships by LouisCozzolino, and in there he's got

(16:51):
a section on the neuroscienceof the face.
It's amazing, trust me, and oneof the things he argues is we
know that humans were created tobe hyper social primates
because we have different eyes.
Now, the white of your eye iscalled your sclera.
The colorful part is called theiris.

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All other primates have thesame color iris and sclera.
Humans alone have what we callthe whites of the eyes.
There's lots of reasons for whythat might be, but here's one
of them it matters for humaninteraction to be able to detect
eye movement.
It matters.

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Why does it matter?
Why would God create us in sucha way to maximize the
readability of human eyes?
One word peekaboo.
Just kidding, not really, butyes, at the same time.
This is why, when a parent anda child are playing peekaboo
together, okay, these feel-goodneurochemicals called serotonin

(17:56):
and dopamine are being dumpedinto both of their brains, which
stimulates brain growth andinterpersonal bonding together
at the same time.
Now, what's the significance ofthis?
Children learn their identitybefore they have words, and they
learn it from the face of theircaregivers, and they learn it

(18:17):
from the face of theircaregivers.
The Lord, make his face toshine upon you.
Would you get the smile of Godover your life?
This blessing is saying Do yousee the significance of what it
means to be deeply human and toneed the face of another to
become who we are?
It's so significant thatthere's this reality of you were

(18:39):
made to be smiled at.
Kurt Thompson says it like thiswe are all born into the world
looking for someone, looking forus.
We receive our significancethrough who is looking at me,
who is glad to be with me, whoshares my distress, before one
word is even spoken.
And so, if that's true, if allof this could be communicated

(19:01):
through the face without anywords, then we also know not
only can we communicate grace,but also disgrace.
You see, many of us can remembervividly the look on mom or
dad's face of disgrace.
It was this combination ofirritation and disgust which

(19:23):
resulted in a neurochemicaldisintegration in your own brain
.
Now I know the look.
I've received the look.
I've given the look, the lookI've given the look when my kids
do something that displeases me.

(19:43):
I know what it's like to beable to undo my child with a
simple look of disapproval.
It grieves me.
I also know what it's like tocommunicate profound reassurance
with a simple smile to my child, to communicate profound
reassurance with a simple smileto my child.

(20:06):
You see, the face is the placeof both grace and disgrace.
It's all in the face.
And so when the text says theLord, make his face to shine
upon you, in other words, tosmile at you and be gracious to
you, you can see how these arelinked.
The Lord is answering here thedeep question of do I matter to
someone who matters?
Because God is omnipresent.
He's everywhere present, buthis face is reserved for those

(20:28):
who have access to hisrelational presence, and for
many of us, the face of Godinscribed on our hearts is a
perpetual scowl, and so it makesit so we don't really want to
draw near to God.
Why would you draw near to aGod when you expect and
anticipate you're just going toget the look?

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Where is the ground ofconfidence that when you look at
his face you will not receivedisgrace, especially when you
know yourself well enough toknow you deserve it?
How can we possibly haveconfidence to enter into the
presence of God to receive asmile?
Well, here's the thing.

(21:11):
The Aaronic blessing came at theend of the tabernacle service,
never at the beginning.
That's why it's the last thingyou receive here every Sunday.
What's going on there?
It was deeply biblical logic.
In Leviticus 9.22, it says thisthen Aaron, then then Aaron.

(21:35):
Then Aaron lifted up his handstoward the people and blessed
them and he came down fromoffering the sin offering and
the burnt offering and the peaceofferings.
The sequence here matters.
The blessing came after thesacrifice was accepted.
You see, in the tabernacle whathappens is Aaron wore a
breastplate that had 12 stoneson it representing the 12 tribes

(21:56):
of Israel, and Aaron would taketheir name into the presence of
God for judgment, so that hecould bring God's name out of
the presence of God for blessing.
Aaron would go in and he'doffer a sacrifice in order that
he might then offer the blessingof God to the people on whose

(22:18):
behalf he offered the sacrifice.
The deep confidence we have inthe smile of God is not from
looking at ourselves but fromlooking at a sufficient
sacrifice.
But we have an even bettersacrifice than the one that was
offered in the tabernacle byAaron.
You see, aaron brought thesacrifice.
Christ was the sacrifice.

(22:38):
Aaron wore them on his chest.
Jesus Christ, to this day,wears you on his hands and on
his feet and on his side.
You see, aaron went in justonce per year.
Christ went in and he came outonce for all.

(22:59):
Contrast is the mother ofclarity.
If this is a benediction, whatdoes a malediction look like?
Well, the opposite of blessingis a curse, and in Galatians
3.13, it says Christ redeemed usfrom the curse of the law by
becoming a curse for us.
The opposite of keeping isforsaking, and in Mark 15, 34,

(23:20):
jesus cried out my God, my God,why have you forsaken me?
The opposite of the shiningface of God is utter darkness,
and it says in Matthew 27, 45,that darkness was over all the
land when Jesus was crucified.
You see, the opposite ofgracious is deserving.

(23:41):
Jesus got what we deserve so hecould give what he deserves.
Isaiah 53, 5 says he was piercedfor our transgressions.
He was wounded for ouriniquities.
The opposite of an upliftedface is a hidden face.
The hymn famously puts it likethis how great the pain of

(24:02):
searing loss.
The father turns his face awayas wounds which mar the chosen
one bring many sons to glory.
Last and finally, the oppositeof peace is coming undone.
Isaiah 53, five says upon himwas the chastisement that
brought us peace.
Last and finally, the oppositeof peace is coming undone as
they have.
53, 5 says upon him was thechastisement that brought us
peace, and with his wounds weare healed and made whole.

(24:25):
You see, we have confidence inthis blessing because Christ
bore our curse to go back to thebeginning.
Jesus Christ is our letter ofreference before the Father.
Now I have this theory thatbehind every great
accomplishment is either thepresence or the absence of this
blessing.
Whether it's business successor an Olympic gold medal or

(24:49):
academic brilliance or whateverit is.
There's either the striving toachieve blessing or the thriving
from received blessing, nothingelse.
We long for a good verdict tobe spoken over our lives.
Everybody in this room does,and there is only one way that
you can be confident that youhave that it's because Christ

(25:15):
took the malediction so he couldgive you the benediction.
You see, at the end of Luke 24,jesus had just led the greatest
Bible study in the history ofhumanity.
And in verse 50, right beforethe gospel ends, it says this
and Jesus led them out as far asBethany and, lifting up his
hands, he blessed them.
And while he blessed them, heparted from them and was carried

(25:35):
up into heaven.
You better believe Jesus knewwhat he was doing.
He was and is the great highpriest who offers blessing to
all who come to him.
And what results from thatblessing?
One word peace, peace.
Third and final point is oursatisfaction comes from smile

(25:59):
and the peace of God.
Look at verse 26.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
A Hebrew way of writing is youbegin and end with things that
are important, and this beginswith blessing and it ends with
shalom, with peace.
Shalom is this webbing togetherof all things the way they

(26:21):
ought to be, of God and ofourselves and our neighbors and
all of creation being broughttogether into a harmony of sorts
.
And shalom is when we get tofinally ultimately rest in the
goodness of God, the pressure'soff, you see, because Jesus
alone gives us this kind ofpeace.

(26:43):
Romans 5.1 says therefore,since we have been justified by
faith, we have peace.
Jesus can give us the peacewith God that we need.
He can give us the peace, aninternal peace with God, an
internal peace with ourselvesand an external peace with our
brothers and sisters.
Peace with ourselves and anexternal peace with our brothers
and sisters, our neighbors andeven our enemies, and I had a

(27:09):
picture of this that wasclarifying to me.
One day, I want to tell youthat story, and we'll be done.
My wife and I one of ourfavorite things we get to do
together is premaritalcounseling.
My wife and I, one of ourfavorite things we get to do
together is premaritalcounseling, and we had Tony and
Karina Bertram over our houses,probably a year ago, sometime
this time a year ago.
And one of the things I oftendo is I invite the couple, or

(27:32):
maybe just the guy, to come inand watch as I put my kids to
bed.
Why?
Because imitation is how welearn how to do this thing y'all
.
If they don't learn how to puta kid to bed from me, I just
don't assume they're going tolearn it from anywhere else.
But in this case, tony watchedas I did what I do every night
for all of my kids since the daythey were born I hold them, I

(27:54):
look them in the eyes and Ispeak over them.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
Then I kiss them on the face, Ido the sign of the cross on
their forehead and I put them tosleep and I walked out and Tony

(28:16):
said to me he said you know, mydad did that for me every
single night of my life.
And I said, oh, tell me more,because I'm always looking for
models of good fathers.
And so I asked Tony, and then Iasked Tony's dad, tim, and then
, in preparation for the sermon,I texted them again.
I was like, hey, give me thedeets on this, because I need
this, because it's good, it'sreal good.
And this is what Tim said.

(28:36):
He said I read a book and theblessing from number six was the
only thing I remember.
Reading from that book Happensto me too.
He said having never received afather's blessing spoken over
me.
I thought I'm going to make achange for my family going
forward.
So I'd get down on my hands andknees every night and all three
kids would jump on my back andride me like a horse as I would

(28:59):
take them to bed and then, oneby one, every night,
individually, I'd give them thisblessing and if for some reason
, I was too tired or forgot,they would remind me and say
Daddy, give me peace.
With great humility, I suspectit's one of the best things I
ever did as a father.
I've always wanted my kids toreally understand how wonderful

(29:21):
God's love is for them and howaccepted they are by him.
Now I asked Renee, tim's wife,about this and she said Tim made
this a point because he wassomeone who grew up with
feelings of abandonment and hedid not want his, he wanted his
children to never feel that way.
And she said I can stillremember standing at the kitchen

(29:43):
sink as he would go from roomto room giving peace to his
children.
Well, I asked Tony about thisand Tony said the two things
that he remembers that reallystuck out from his dad giving
peace was first, that there wasa sense of comfort and peace
that he felt as a kid because heknew when he went to bed he was
always going to get theblessing from his father.

(30:03):
He said I don't think I canremember a night when my dad
didn't give us peace, but I doremember when it stopped.
He said I was in the ninthgrade and there was one night
when my dad didn't come into myroom to give me peace.
I wanted to go and ask himbecause I couldn't fall asleep
without it.
But I wanted to go and ask himbecause I couldn't fall asleep

(30:27):
without it, but I was tooembarrassed to ask since I
wasn't a kid anymore.
You don't outgrow your need forblessing right.
Looking back, I wish I hadasked because I know my dad
would have loved to keep givingme that blessing and also I
think deep down I didn't wanthim to stop.
But if you listen to Tony tellhis story of how Jesus got a
hold of his life, he'll tell youthat when he was in college he
had strayed away from Jesus,wasn't really walking with Jesus
in college, and one night hewas at a dinner with his family

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and his dad was just bragging onhim about how amazing he is,
how proud of him he is, and Tonygot up from the dinner and he
walked out.
His dad, being a good dad,noticed something had happened,
so he followed his son out thedoor.
He said what's going on, son?
Tony confessed to his dad allthe ways he had been living and,

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through tears in both of theireyes, tim simply brought him
into his arms, held him and saidthe Lord bless you and keep you
.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
Tony says in that moment, Ialways knew I would never stop

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being his son, whom he loved,and, more importantly, I started
understanding that God wouldn'tstop loving me either.
I wish that Tim was here today,but he's actually up in Michigan
giving peace to ex-cons in achurch for people coming out of
prison.
He does this still, and I toldhim I was going to be sharing

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this story because of howbeautiful it is that somebody
who receives the blessing of Godcan give the blessing of God,
because we all ache for thisblessing.
We all want good words to bespoken over us by someone who
matters, and we all long for averdict to be declared over our
life.
And the truth of that story andthe truth of number six is that

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we can have that and we cangive that in Jesus Christ.
Let's pray, lord Jesus, we cometo you now, the one who bore
our curse so we could receiveblessing.
Thank you that it's by yourchastisement we were brought
peace, that shalom.

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Holy Spirit, pour out thatshalom into our hearts and minds
now.
Would people in this roomactually experience their
nervous systems calm as theyreceive the peace of God that
comes from nowhere else butthrough Jesus Christ.
It's in your name we pray, amen.