2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

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1 May 24, 2015 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON GIFT OF LANGUAGES MINISTRY INVOCATION O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND The need to find common understanding is necessary whether people are speaking in different native languages or unknown spiritual languages. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Acts 2:1-21; I Corinthians 14:1-25 Key Verse I Corinthians 14:15 Lesson Scripture Acts 2:1-21; I Corinthians 14:1-19 (NKJV) Coming of the Holy Spirit 2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Crowd s Response 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? 13 Others mocking said, They are full of new wine. 1

2 Peter s Sermon 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. 1 Corinthians 14:1 19 (NKJV) Prophecy and Tongues 14 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification. Tongues Must Be Interpreted 6 But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? 7 Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? 8 For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who 2

3 speaks will be a foreigner to me. 12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. 13 Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. 16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? 17 For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. COMMENTARY Everything in chap. 1 is preparatory to the great outburst of the Spirit who poured upon the praying band of believers at Pentecost. Over a period of forty days they had listened to the teaching of their Lord (1:3). They had received His commission to be worldwide witnesses, and they had been given His promise that the Holy Spirit would be granted them as empowerment for that mission (1:5; 1:8). With the Lord s final departure in His ascension, nothing was left to do but to wait and pray for the fulfillment of that promise (1:14). In chap. 2 their prayer was answered in a mighty way. Pentecost has often been referred to as the birth of the church. Just as through the Spirit God and humanity were perfectly united in Christ, so through the same Spirit God was united with His church at Pentecost. Perhaps even more striking was the prominent role of the Spirit in equipping Jesus for His ministry. The inaugural address at Pentecost was Peter s speech (Acts 2:14 40). It too was delivered through the power of the Spirit, which had just come upon him. It too dealt with the fulfillment of the messianic times. It too assumed a worldwide outreach (2:39), and it too would be rejected by a large part of the Jewish community according to the unfolding story of Acts. (1) The Gift of the Spirit (2:1 4) 2:1 The time was the day of Pentecost, which Luke noted with a phrase that is literally translated when the day of Pentecost was fulfilled. The fulfillment language bears more weight than chronology as the fulfillment of the time of the divine promise for the gift of the Spirit. The time of waiting was over. Luke was much more vague in his reference to the place. They were all together in one place. The next verse specifies that it was a house in which they were sitting. The most likely place for the gathering is the upper room where they had been praying. Perhaps it was near the temple, where large crowds would assemble on a feast day. 3

4 Who were the people gathered in the upper room? On whom did the Spirit descend? Was it the 120 mentioned in 1:15 or only the Twelve apostles? In 2:14 Luke mentioned only the Twelve, but there it probably was to connect them with Peter s speech, which appealed to their special role as eyewitnesses to the resurrection (2:32). The presence of the large crowd testifying to the witness of the Spirit-filled Christians (2:6 11) would indicate that the full 120 were involved, as would the text Peter quoted from Joel that refers to women as well as men prophesying (2:17 18). Pentecost was the second of the three great harvest festivals of Judaism, coming between Passover and Tabernacles. In the New Testament it is referred to as Pentecost, which means fiftieth in Greek. In the Old Testament it is referred to as the Festival of Weeks or of the Firstfruits, the first term referring to its coming a week of weeks after Passover, the second to the fact that an offering of two loaves prepared from the wheat harvest was made on this day. Although there was a difference among the Sadducees and the Pharisees over the precise reckoning of the day, the Pharisaic procedure seems to have been followed in the period prior to A.D. 70 in which Pentecost was reckoned as coming exactly fifty days after the first day of the Passover. It was a day of solemn assembly, and all work ceased. It was also one of the most popular pilgrim festivals, even more so than Passover, which was likely due to the improved weather conditions by the time of Pentecost. THE EVENT (2:2 4) 2:2 The coming of the Spirit is described in three carefully constructed parallel statements, each pointing to an aspect of the event: a sound came and it filled the house (v. 2); tongues appeared and one sat on each of them (verse 3); they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (v. 4). The emphasis is on the objectivity of the event. It was audible, visible, and manifested itself in an outward demonstration of inspired speech. The audible manifestation is described as coming suddenly from heaven. The picture is of a blowing blast of wind, like the roar of a tornado. Wind phenomena often accompany an appearance by God in the Old Testament. In Greek pneuma has the double connotation of both wind and Spirit, and that connection is to be seen here. 2:3 The same sort of double meaning is found in v. 3 in the reference to the tongues. Much as in English, the Greek word glōssa can refer to the physical organ of the tongue. It also has the metaphorical meaning of what is spoken by the tongue, spoken language. So here, the lapping flames that had the visible likeness to tongues enabled the believers to speak in inspired language. Again it was a question of a heavenly manifestation. The picture is that of one great flame representing the Spirit, which separates into many tongues of flame with one 4

5 resting on each individual. Luke was well aware that he was using metaphorical language in these verses by carefully employing adverbs of comparison: like the blowing of a violent wind (verse 2), what seemed to be tongues (literally, tongues as of fire, verse.3). He was dealing with the transcendent, that which is beyond ordinary human experience and can only be expressed in earthly analogies. 2:4 Verse 4 gives the result of the Spirit s coming on those gathered in the upper room. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, and this led them to speak in other tongues. Sometimes this experience is described as a baptism in the Spirit (1:5; 11:16). In other instances the word poured out is used (2:17f.; 10:45) or came upon (8:16; 10:44; 11:15) or simply receive (2:38; 10:47). All these instances refer to new converts and point to the Spirit s coming in various ways, not always signified by tongues, as a permanent gift to every believer. This should be distinguished from other references to filling, where the Spirit comes upon one who is already a believer in a time of special inspiration and testimony to the faith (cf. 4:8, 31; 7:55; 13:9). Those who consider the miracle to be speaking in tongues can point to its being a well-attested, early Christian phenomenon as well as to its seeming appearance elsewhere in Acts (10:46; 19:6). It is described as declaring the wonders of God in v. 11, and this could be likened to Paul s description of tongue-speaking as speaking to God and speaking mysteries in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:2). Paul likewise worried that outsiders might consider the Corinthian tongue-speakers to be out of [their] mind. From Paul s treatment the glossolalia there was clearly not rational discourse but an ecstatic praise language, edifying to the individual tongue-speaker, but not to the church. The word tongue may be ambiguous in verse 4, but the word dialect, or language (dialektos), in verses 6, 8 is not. It can only refer to a known language or dialect. Luke used the expression to speak in other [heteros, different ] tongues [languages] in verse 4, thus making a distinction from tongue-speaking (which he did know and referred to in 10:46). Likewise, in v. 4b he used an uncommon Greek word in the phrase as the Spirit enabled them. This rare word means to utter, to declare, to speak with gravity and is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for prophesying. Finally, the long list of nations in vv is sandwiched between references to people who marvel at hearing the Christians in their own language (verses 8, 11b). The list obviously illustrates the breadth of the languages that were spoken. Awareness of this has led some scholars to postulate a miracle of hearing. Filled with the Spirit, the Christians began to speak in tongues different from their own (verse 4). A crowd was attracted and utterly amazed to hear these Galileans speaking their languages (verse 7), a crowd that represented the 5

6 greater portion of the entire Jewish Diaspora (verses 9 11). The disciples were brim-full of the Spirit. They praised God; they magnified his name; they prophesied. The members of the crowd were bewildered. Still the inspired speech of the Christians demonstrated the spiritual power present that day. All were prepared to hear Peter s explanation. THE GATHERING OF THE CROWD (2:5 8) 2:5 They were pious Jews from every nation under heaven. These devout Jews are described as staying or dwelling, in Jerusalem. The word usually implies residency, making it unlikely that these were merely pilgrims who had come to the feast. They were rather Diaspora Jews who had returned to the city of the temple to dwell there. The miracle was a demonstration of the Spirit s power and presence: these Diaspora Jews heard their own tongue spoken (not Aramaic or Greek) and realized that this should have been impossible for the Galileans. 2:6 8 The crowd is said to have come together at the sound. The inspired Christians doubtless left the upper room and rushed forth, most likely to the temple precincts. Only there would be found sufficient room for a crowd of 3,000 plus. There also the crowds were to be found, assembled for the Pentecost festivities. Most likely the inspired cries of the Christians attracted the onlookers. Certainly the inspired speech perplexed them because each one heard them speaking in his own language. The label Galilean need not imply that all 120 were from Galilee, though a sizable band of disciples had accompanied Jesus from there to Jerusalem. THE COMPOSITION OF THE CROWD (2:9 11a) 2:9 11a Verses 9 11a are a part of the direct discourse spoken by the crowd, but likely they are a note from Luke enumerating the various nationalities present. t begins in what is present-day Iran (Parthia) and then proceeds across the Middle East (Mesopotamia), then southward to Judea, then north to central Turkey (Cappadocia), to northern Turkey (Pontus), eastward to the Aegean coast of Turkey (Asia), inland to Phrygia, then south to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey (Pamphylia). The catalog covers North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Cyrenaica), then north and west all the way to Rome, then southeast to the Mediterranean island of Crete, and finally much farther east and southward to Arabia. There are some striking omissions, areas of particular prominence in Acts, like Syria, Galatia, Macedonia, and Achaia. Then there are the problem references, such as Judea. THE RESPONSE OF THE CROWD (2:11b 13) 6

7 2:11b 13 This time the content of the Christians speaking is given, the only hint in the entire narrative about what they were saying. They were declaring the wonders of God. Their testimony was the language of praise. They may even have burst forth in song, for such can be a natural expression when one is filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18 19). They had observed the miracle of the Christians speaking in their own language, but there had as yet been no interpretation about the meaning of this sign. They were thus prepared for the explanation Peter would soon provide. Overview. One of the most commonly cited interpretive keys for understanding Acts 2:1 13 has been to compare it with the giving of the law at Sinai. More important is that Luke himself did not make any such connection explicit. The superiority of the Spirit over the law is certainly a major Pauline theme (cf. II Corinthians 3:6 18), but nowhere in Luke s account of Pentecost is any allusion made to the Torah: not in the narrative and not in Peter s speech. When Luke saw connections with an Old Testament tradition, he usually gave echoes from the Old Testament text, and these are lacking here. The Spirit does unify humanity around the lordship of Christ, and that is a major message of Acts and even of this immediate context (cf. 2:41 47). It would be contrary to the text to speak of the Spirit giving a new common language. The opposite is rather the case. The Spirit gave the Christians many languages, all the languages represented by the nationalities listed in verses The Spirit empowers Christian witnesses to take the gospel to the many different languages of the world to create a worldwide people of God, united by a common confession in the lordship of Christ. First, his major emphasis doubtless was that the church has now been empowered for its mission. With the coming of the Spirit, the witness began. It began with the enthusiastic praise of the Spirit-filled Christians and the inspired sermon of Peter, and it resulted in the immediate harvest of 3,000 converts to Christ (2:41). Just as Pentecost was the festival of the firstfruits, so these are the firstfruits of the harvest in the Spirit. The spiritual harvest did not culminate at Pentecost. It began there and continued in ever-widening circles, from Jerusalem to Samaria to Antioch, from Cyprus to Asia Minor, from Greece to Rome, from Jews to Samaritans, from God-fearers to Gentiles. The worldwide scope of the Christian witness is anticipated at Pentecost in the roll call of nations (verses. 9 11). To be sure, it was a question of only Jews and Jewish proselytes at this point, but they were Diaspora Jews and represented every nation under heaven (verse. 5). Pentecost foreshadowed the worldwide mission. Finally, the pouring out of the Spirit has eschatological significance. It inaugurated the final period in God s plan of salvation. He acted decisively and 7

8 definitely in Jesus Christ to create a people for His own. The Spirit is the sign of these final times. 8. Peter s Sermon at Pentecost (2:14 41) In Peter s first sermon, the element of scriptural proof dominates. The sermon falls into three main divisions. First, the full citation of the Joel text serves to connect the sermon with the immediate occasion of the Spirit-filled Christians (2:14 21). The central section of the speech establishes that Jesus is the Messiah, with Ps 16:8 11 pointing to His resurrection and Ps 110:1 to His exaltation (2:22 36). Finally, there is a call to repentance, with a final allusion to the text of Joel and a report of the response of the Jewish crowd (2:37 41). 2:14 16 Peter stood up along with the eleven other apostles. As the Twelve, the apostles were the witnesses to the resurrection, which would be the central subject of Peter s sermon. Peter was their representative, the spokesman for the testimony of all Twelve. Peter raised his voice, a common Semitic expression for beginning to speak. He addressed the crowd. The verb means to speak seriously, with gravity, a word often used for prophetic, inspired utterance. Nine a.m. (verse. 15) was a customary prayer hour (literally, the third hour ), and Jews would only eat after that at the fourth hour. After having obtained the crowd s attention, Peter explained the real basis behind all the ecstatic behavior at Pentecost: the outpouring of the Spirit predicted by the prophet Joel (v. 16). 2:17 21 Peter gave the relevant passage in Joel in full. Joel s prophecy was originally given after a locust plague had ravaged the land, creating a severe famine. Joel called the people to repentance, promising the restoration of their prosperity and going on to foresee the coming of the Day of the Lord, the dawn of the messianic age, when the Spirit would be poured out on all of Israel. Peter could not miss its applicability to Pentecost. Joel began his prophecy by saying and afterward. Peter s version refers more specifically to in the last days, reflecting his conviction that the messianic age had already dawned in the resurrection of Christ, that we are indeed already living in the final days of God s saving history. For Peter the universal pouring out of the Spirit on the whole Christian group was demonstration that the end time had come. Perhaps the clearest indication that the entire 120 received the Spirit at Pentecost is Joel s inclusion of daughters as well as sons all were prophesying. Joel undoubtedly had seen the Spirit s outpouring only as a gift to Israel, and perhaps many of those Jewish-Christians at Pentecost saw it the same way. The remainder of Acts clarifies that the promise applies to the Gentiles as well: it is indeed poured out on all people. 8

9 Verse 18 emphasized that it was prophecy, inspired utterance from the Lord. The signs below are the blood, fire, and thick smoke, which could more easily be related to the events in Jesus passion and at Pentecost. In any event, the signs in verse 19 are standard apocalyptic language and almost certainly refer to the final cosmic events preceding the Parousia. Verse 21 was the most important verse for Peter: Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. For Peter the Lord in the context of this sermon was Jesus Christ. Everything that followed in the sermon Christ s death, his resurrection, his exaltation pointed in the same direction. Whoever calls on His name, whoever confesses Him as Lord, will be saved. I Corinthians 14:1-19 Verse 1. Follow after charity; literally, chase; pursue. And desire; rather, yet be zealous for. But rather that ye may prophesy; and yet more strive after the gift of sacred preaching. Verse 2. In an unknown tongue. Probably it is this word, not found in the original, which has given rise to the perplexing, unhistorical, and unwarranted theory that the gift of tongues was a power of speaking in foreign languages. Speaketh not unto men. Because, as a rule, no one understands anything that he says. The word literally means hears. It may, perhaps, imply that no special attention was given to those who gave way to these impulses of utterance. In the spirit. The spirit is the one Divine part of our human being, and when a man is a true Christian his spirit is in union with, is as it were lost in, the Spirit of God. St. Paul recognizes the true tongue as a result of inspiration, that is, of the overpowering dominance of the human spirit by a supernatural power. He pointed out the extreme peril of yielding to or self-inducing these emotions public, or in leaving them uncontrolled. Mysteries. Secrets revealed possibly to him, but unrevealed by this strange tongue to others. Verse 3. To edification, and exhortation, and comfort. His words build up the Christian soul, by rousing its efforts and consoling its sorrows. The Son of prophecy (Barnabas) is, as Stanley points out, also a Son of consolation (Acts 4:36). Support (paraklesis) involves comfort, i.e. strength and calm. Verse 4. Edifieth himself. When the tongue was genuine, and under due control when it avoided the physical and orgiastic manifestations by which a sort of spiritual possession was indicated in the ancient oracular shrines; when the self-consciousness was not wholly obliterated, a sense of ennobling conviction would be produced by this spiritual outpouring. Those who have experienced the emotion describe this very result. They felt enlarged and elevated their 9

10 whole being was for a time expanded by this emotion. The Church. Primarily the body of assembled Christians, which he is addressing, and through them the Church of God in general. Verse 5. I would that ye all spake with tongues. We have seen all along and history has in various ages confirmed the impression, on every occasion when these phenomena have been reproduced in seasons of great spiritual revival that the external symptoms may be imitated with most dangerous and objectionable results both to the speaker and to others. When the expression is genuine, the fact that the tides of the Spirit can thus sweep through the narrow channels of individuality is in itself a sign that the spirit of the man is alive and not dead; and thus, he is an evidence of God s power both to himself and to others. Greater. Not of necessity greater absolutely or morally, but greater in the fact of his wider and deeper usefulness. Except he interpret. From this we infer that sometimes, when the passion had spent its force, the speaker in the tongue could give rational explanation of the thoughts and feelings to which he had given ecstatic utterance. Verse 6. Except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? My tongue will be useless to you unless I also speak to you of what I know by revelation, or by my thoughtful study, which may take the form of preaching or of teaching (ch. 12:28). Verse 7. Even things without life giving sound. Even musical instruments flute or harp dead instruments as they are, must be so played as to keep up the distinction of intervals, without which the melody is ruined and the tune is unrecognizable. Much more is this the case with the human voice. The indiscriminate use of the tongue is here compared to the dissonance of jarring and unmodulated instrumental sounds. In harmony there must be due sequence and intervals of sound. Verse 8. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound. A spiritual exhortation should be like the blowing of a trumpet in Zion; but if, as in the tongue, the trumpet only gave forth an unintelligible blare, its sounds were useless. Verse 9. Words easy to be understood; rather, distinguishable speech. Ye shall speak; rather, ye shall be (all the time) speaking. Into the air. Mere pulses of useless inarticulate breath, Verse 10. It may be. A mere expression of uncertainty as to the exact number So many kinds of voices. This does not seem to mean so many languages. The Jews always asserted that the languages of the world were seventy in number. It seems to mean classes of expressive sounds. None of them is without signification. The words rendered without signification, literally mean dumb. The meaning must either be that nothing no creature is dumb, or that every class of sounds has its own distinct meaning. 10

11 Verse 11. A barbarian; in other words, unintelligible, Unto me; rather, in my eyes. Verse 12. Even so ye. A general form of conclusion from the previous remarks. Of spiritual gifts; literally, since ye are zealots of spirits. That ye may excel to the edifying of the Church; rather, seek them to the edifying of the Church, that ye may abound. Verse 13. Pray that he may interpret; either, so pray as to be able to interpret, or, pray with the object of afterwards interpreting. The meaning, pray to have the power of interpretation given him, seems excluded by the next verse. Verse 14. My understanding is unfruitful. I am only aware that I am praying. I have no definite consciousness as to what I say. Verse 15. What is it then? What is the purport of my exhortations? I will sing. This shows that the glossolalia sometimes took the form of singing. With the understanding also. When we worship or sing we must indeed worship in spirit, but also worship and sing praises with understanding. (Ps. 47:7; John 4:24). Verse 16. That occupieth the room of the unlearned; that is, one in the position of an ordinary worshipper, who has no spiritual gifts. An idiotes is a private person; one who does not possess the skill or the knowledge which is immediately in question, Say Amen; rather, say the Amen. The custom of ratifying prayer and praises with the Amen of hearty assent and participation existed in the Jewish as well as in the Christian Church. The sound of the loud unanimous Amen of early Christian congregations is compared to the echo of distant thunder.being the answer of the congregation, the Amen was regarded as no less important than the prayer itself. Verse 17. Well. It is good and honorable for thee to utter the voice of Eucharist; but if this be done in the unintelligible tongue, what does the Church profit? The other. The layman or ungifted person. Verse 18. I speak with tongues; rather, with a tongue. More than ye all. This is exactly what we should expect of the emotional, impassioned nature of St. Paul, who was so wholly under the influence of the Spirit of God. It is clear from all that he has been saying that, while the personal and evidential value of this gift of yielding his whole being to the spiritual impulse, which expressed and relieved itself by inarticulate utterance, was such as to make him thank God that he possessed it, he must either have exercised it only in private gatherings or must have always accompanied it by interpretation. Verse 19. Yet in the Church. In any public assembly of Christians. Five words. No disparagement of the prominence given to glossolalia could be more emphatic. That I might [may] teach others also. The word rendered teach is rather instruct, the root of our catechize. 11

12 RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen. 12