Purify the Heart

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

A reading from John 14:3-11

3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Thanks be to God.

When Jesus spoke about going to the cross to prepare a way for His disciples, He pointed them to God the Father by pointing them to Himself. He did this because of His unity that He shares with the Father within the Holy Trinity.

Jesus identifies Himself with God the Father in such a way that they are distinct persons and yet inseparable. He claims attributes about Himself that Scripture identifies with God alone, namely the way of righteousness, the truth of God, and life or existence itself. Jesus says “no one can come to the Father except through Me”. When Philip asks for Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus responds with the implication that fleshly reason cannot comprehend the unity of the Trinity; yet He nevertheless asserts it when He says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Jesus is no narcissist. Nor is He the blasphemer that those who crucified Him thought Him to be. Rather, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, is truly the Son of God and the second person of the Holy Trinity. He points all to Himself because He was sent by His Father to be the mediator between God and man. To have Christ the Mediator is to have God Himself. To see/perceive who Jesus truly is is to see and perceive who God truly is.

If you believe this, recognize that that is the work of the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word of God rightly proclaimed, heard, read, and pondered in the heart.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

A reading from John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Thanks be to God.

John 3:16 describes Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God, and that term “only-begotten” means that the Son of God is truly God, because begetting means of the same kind.

Dogs beget dogs. Dogs don’t beget whales. Not because that would be weird; but because it’s impossible. So also man begets man, which is how we know that when Jesus of Nazareth was born of the virgin Mary, He became a true man. But even when He became true man, that was not the beginning of His entire existence. Rather, it was the beginning of the incarnation of the Son of God. The Son of God is not finite or limited, but is God. When we call Him the Son of God, a title for Jesus which we get from Jesus Himself, we’re not saying that He is less than the Father. As the Athanasian Creed confesses, He is only inferior to the Father with regard to His humanity; however, according to His divinity, He is equal to the Father. For us to call Him the only-begotten Son of God is to say that He is truly God. Having been begotten is not referring to His being born in time by the virgin Mary, but rather that He was begotten from eternity of the substance and divinity of God the Father. So he shares the attributes of God the Father. Just as God the Father is all powerful, all present, and all knowing, so also are those things true about the Son of God.

The question then arises as to why the Son of God died if He’s truly God, who cannot die. And this is the great glory that is found in the doctrine of the incarnation. He who is truly immortal enters into our mortality by which He makes His immortality available to us. He who is truly God became truly man in order to reconcile God and man within His very person and by His work.

Our sin, both inherited and actual, has separated us from unity with God. But God loved the world in this way that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

A reading from Genesis 11:

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Thanks be to God.

Did you hear the confession of the unity in the multiplicity? First we heard it with rebellious man, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…” Though they were many, they wanted to make a singular name for themselves; the problem was that their unity was false because they were unified by making name for themselves over-against the name of God. This was a unified rebellion against their covenantal Maker. Then we heard the unity in the multiplicity again when God said, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” The narrator continues, “So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth.” The One who said in the plural, “let us go down” is then described as the singular Lord. And what does He do? He destroys the false unity of the people and scatters them.

On the day of Pentecost, which we read about in Acts 2, we’re told that while people from across the world were gathered into one place, they all heard the disciples of Jesus speaking in their own tongues or languages regarding the mighty works of God. The name of God is not merely what He’s called but who He is and what He does. When the Lord has His Christians preach His Gospel, the multiplicity of man are then able to be rightly united, not only with one another, but in the singular name of the Triune God.

The persons of the Holy Trinity are then seen as working together for the good of mankind, God Himself desiring for man to be united to Him.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

A reading from Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

O Lord, have mercy on us.

Thanks be to God.

When God made man in His own image, He spoke in the plural “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And yet in the very next verse, the narrator (Moses) tells us “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” So within two verses of the first chapter of the Bible we have God described both in the plural and in the singular.

This is to show the complexity of God’s essence in a simple, albeit somewhat confusing way. The reader, or listener, is led to ask, “So God is both many, and yet only one?” I like to put it this way: God is the unity of a multiplicity.

On the one hand, we can’t really know what that means. How can God be three persons and yet one God? But a way for us to begin to comprehend the mystery of God is also given to us in those same verses, through the creature called “man” who was created in God’s image.

Notice a similarity in confusing language: “Let us make man... And let them have dominion…. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Within the first two verses which describe man, again both singular and plural are used. It makes sense that the image bearer of God is going to reflect the essence of God. If God is a unity of multiplicity, then the only creature that’s going to reflect the image of God is naturally going to at least convey some kind of unity of multiplicity. And notice how that was described?

Although “man” is singular, we’re told that God gave dominion to “them”, who are specifically male and female. The next verse after that we are then told, “And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…”. So when the male and the female are united in the one-flesh union, the result is another human being added to the equation. Where 1+1+1=3, the 3 are one singular unit: a family.

Hence the existence of the household community is the essential reflection of the relationship of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Now something supremely complex is not only made simple, but supremely relevant.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

Yesterday, on Holy Trinity Sunday, I read the first part of the Athanasian Creed. Today, we finish with part two.

It is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man. He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father with respect to His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ: one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire. This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word.

Today being Holy Trinity Sunday, I will be reading to you the first part of the Athanasian Creed.

Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated; the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal, just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but one Uncreated and one Infinite. In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords. The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone. The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is before after another; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three persons are coeternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped. Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.

Here ends the first part of the Athanasian Creed.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The grace & peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The initial comment about yelling at the congregation is in reference to the microphone not working.

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Old Testament Exodus 16:2–21

2In those days, the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11And the Lord said to Moses, 12“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Epistle Galatians 4:22—5:1

22Brothers, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” 28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. 1For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Tract Psalm 125:1–2, 5b

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount | Zion,* which cannot be moved, but abides for- | ever.As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his | people,* from this time forth and forevermore. Peace be upon | Israel!

Holy Gospel John 6:1–15

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixth chapter.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord.

1At that time Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise be to Thee, O Christ.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Welcome back to Purify the Heart. This is Pastor Zachary Courie. In Exodus 39, the priestly vestments were made. Today, we close the book of Exodus with chapter 40, where the Tabernacle is erected and dedicated for its sacred purpose.

Let us pray. Blessed Lord, since you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of your Holy Word, we would embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Exodus 40

40 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4 And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, 7 and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8 And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

9 “Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. 10 You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy. 11 You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. 12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water 13 and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. 14 You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, 15 and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”

16 This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. 17 In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. 18 Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. 19 And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 20 He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 22 He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, 23 and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 24 He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, 25 and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 26 He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 28 He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 29 And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31 with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. 33 And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. (Exodus 40:1–38, ESV)

This is the Word of the Lord.Thanks be to God.

Let us confess our Christian faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,hallowed be Thy name,Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;give us this day our daily bread;and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;and lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty God the Father, through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by Your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Thank you for joining me to Purify the Heart throughout this Lent! I trust that the Lord has nourished our faith by His Word. If you’ve enjoyed taking this journey with me, please let me know. If you’re interested in doing this again some time, or have theological or pastoral questions that you’d like me to answer, you can share that along with any other feedback with me by emailing me at [email protected]. The Lord grant to you and yours a blessed Eastertide. Grace and peace be with you, for Christ’s name sake Amen.