Paliban Daily » Sermons

Poll – Will the Antichrist be a Homosexual?

Paliban Mom — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:41:26 +0000

We’ve always thought that the Antichrist would be a manly man, like Rock Hudson or Hillary Clinton. This sermon, originally printed in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Sarah Palin’s hometown paper), makes us wonder if he might instead be a Sodomite! Be sure to take the poll at the end of the article and let us know what you think.

Ron Hamman of the Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla writes, in part:

. . . But as the study of Bible prophecy includes verbiage as to the behavior of the one called “that Wicked” by Paul in II Thessalonians, it is not only a legitimate question to ask, but also one to answer.

. . .

Sodomy is defined in scripture by two things, the first being that of where it began: Sodom. In Genesis 13:13 we have the first mention of the men of Sodom, pronouncing that they “were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” Their saga is continued in chapters 18 and 19 with their sin being so great that not only does God say that it “is very grievous,” but he himself comes down to destroy them with fire, the rubble of which still stands as a warning to us today.

. . . their sin is obviously [homosexuality] by how it is described: lying with mankind as with womankind. What other conclusion can be reached when they want to “know” the men who were in Lot’s house, the same word the Bible uses in Genesis 4 in relation to the conception of Cain? And that Lot himself understood their intentions is clear; not only did he call such behavior wicked, but he also offered his virgin daughters as substitutes, which the men of Sodom refused.

And one more thing: Sodomy is the only sin for which God came down from heaven to destroy. Though God dealt with many other sins in various ways, there is no other for which he came down from heaven to verify and destroy . . .

But will the Antichrist be a homosexual? Having seen what the Bible says of sodomy, we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, “Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard… the desire of women….”

From a lost perspective, the reason sex sells, pornography is profitable, and prostitution is “the world’s oldest profession” is mankind’s desire of women. From Christianity’s position, it is part of the glue for the bond of marriage and the propagation of a godly heritage. But homosexuality does not regard this — in their unbridled lusts they burn for their own gender.

But consider this: The time is ripe for such a leader. Indeed, it should not be surprising that the one who is against everything Biblical and Christian should be a partaker of so great a sin; there is no greater way to reject the Creator than to reject your gender and his design for it. And at what other time have we seen such perversion come out of the closets onto our streets, threatening violence if we do not accept their ways?

Is it any wonder that Revelation 13 says that this same Antichrist will make war with the saints of the tribulation, and overcome them? Are they not now readying themselves to make it illegal to “offend” them in any way, calling it hatred to preach against their sin? Is it because they love us? The time is ripe for such a man . . .

You be the judge.

Well, this sure put it in perspective for us! Perverse groups like the Human Rights Campaign, who claim to seek “equality” and “gay rights”, are simply front groups for the Antichrist!

Hmm . . . HRC . . . Hillary Rodham Clinton. Coincidence? We’re not so sure! Are you?

Ron Hamman, Pastor of the Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla, may be reached for comment at (907) 357-4229, or via email at rghamman@mtaonline.net.

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Sermon: Should Christians “Respect” False Religions?

Jenny Donati — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:23:40 +0000

This week, a guest commentary from R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally published on May 14, 2009.

The world we now know is marked by religious pluralism and the clash of worldviews. The modern world brings individuals and groups of different belief systems into both proximity and potential conflict. How should Christians respond when asked about this? Should Christians “respect” other religions?

Headlines throughout the world announced this week that Pope Benedict XVI, while visiting Jordan, spoke of his “respect” for Islam. This came on the heels of the Pope’s notorious 2006 speech at Germany’s Regensburg University. In that speech Benedict quoted Emperor Manuel II, one of the Byzantine monarchs, who said: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

The outrage throughout the Muslim world was immediate and overwhelming. The Pope issued clarifications and explanations, but Muslim outrage continued. This week, with the Pope scheduled to make his first papal visit to an Islamic country, the sensitivities were high.

The Vatican’s official transcript of the Pope’s comments at the Amman airport records him as saying: “My visit to Jordan gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by His Majesty the King in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam.”

There are so many different angles to this situation. First, we have the spectacle of a Pope being received as a head of state. This is wrong on so many counts. Second, we have the Pope speaking in diplomatic jargon, rather than in plain and direct speech. Third, we have the Pope speaking of “respect” without any clear understanding of what this really means. Does the Pope believe that Muslims can be saved through the teachings of Islam?

Actually, he probably does — at least within the context of a salvific inclusivism. The Roman Catholic Church officially teaches that Muslims are “included in the plan of salvation” by virtue of their claim to “hold the faith of Abraham.”

In the words of Lumen Gentium, one of the major documents adopted at Vatican II: “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohamedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”

The same language is basic to the current official catechism of the church as well. Within the context of the document, this language clearly implies that Muslims are within the scope of God’s salvation. While the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Islam is both erroneous and incomplete, it also holds that sincere Muslims can be included in Christ’s salvation through their faithfulness to monotheism and Islam.

Thus, when the Catholic Pope speaks of “respecting” Islam, he can do so in a way that evangelical Christians cannot. Within the context of official Catholic teaching, the Pope can create a fusion of diplomacy and doctrine.

While evangelical Christians face a different context to this question, the urgency is the same. We are not playing a diplomatic role as head of state, but we are called to be ambassadors for Christ and His Gospel.

In this light, any belief system that pulls persons away from the Gospel of Christ, denies and subverts Christian truth, and blinds sinners from seeing Christ as the only hope of salvation is, by biblical definition, a way that leads to destruction. Islam, like every other rival to the Christian gospel, takes persons captive and is devoid of genuine hope for salvation.

Thus, evangelical Christians may respect the sincerity with which Muslims hold their beliefs, but we cannot respect the beliefs themselves. We can respect Muslim people for their contributions to human welfare, scholarship, and culture. We can respect the brilliance of Muslim scholarship in the medieval era and the wonders of Islamic art and architecture. But we cannot respect a belief system that denies the truth of the gospel, insists that Jesus was not God’s Son, and takes millions of souls captive.

This does not make for good diplomacy, but we are called to witness, not public relations. We must aim to be gracious and winsome in our witness to Christ, but the bottom line is that the gospel will necessarily come into open conflict with its rivals.

The papal visit to Jordan points directly to the problem of the papacy itself and to the confusion of Roman Catholic theology on this very point. To understand Islam is to know that we cannot identify Muslims as those who “along with us adore the one and merciful God.” To deny the Trinity is to worship another God.

Respect is a problematic category. In the end, Christians must show respect for Muslims by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit of love and truth. We are called to love and respect Muslims, not Islam.

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Featured Sermon: Thou Shalt Not WHAT?

Paliban Mom — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:46:20 +0000

Millions of Christians think the Ten Commandments should be placed in every school and every courthouse, as the cornerstone of our society. Do they know what they’re asking for?

[Back in October 2008, Jean (Paliban Mom) wrote an article on the Ten Commandments, explaining what they are and how important they are to Sarah Palin. The original, with commentary about Palin's beliefs, may be found here.

That page became one of the most popular on the original Paliban site, and she soon adapted the page for speaking engagements. Jean has delivered what follows to more than forty Christian women's groups around the country, and even two in Canada. They're all left wanting more . . . More of God's Commandments! - Jenny]

Almost every day, I can pick up the paper and see an article about the Ten Commandments. Someone is suing to have them removed from a courthouse. Someone else is upset because a Christian donated a granite monument carved with the Commandments for a public school.

Am I dismayed? Not at all! Because in each of those articles, I also see the tens of thousands of local Christians — millions across the nation — who are standing up and shouting, “We want everyone to obey our God’s Commandments!”

It’s in letters to the editor. It’s in editorials. It’s in protests outside schools. It’s in school board elections, turning out the spineless and Godless who would promote “evil-ution” and Darwinism and remove “under God” from the Pledge.

No, friends, I’m not dismayed. I hear God’s people loud and clear! They want everyone in this Christian Nation to follow God’s Law, starting with the Ten Commandments!

The only thing that I find disheartening is the sad fact that many of these Christians, who wish we would place these Ten Commandments as the cornerstone of our society and basis of our laws, can’t even list them.

Can you? Take a moment, and see if you can remember them all.

OK, let’s see how we all did!

The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

There it is, Commandment #1. God directs us to pray to Him ONLY. No other gods.

No Allah, no Buddha, no Vishnu, no Mary, no Lord and Lady, no Darwin, and no Cthulhu. We, being a Christian nation, should only allow people to worship God.

Tell me, in court, do they swear on the Qur’an? The Upanishads? The Kama Sutra? NO! They swear on the Bible!

We, being a Christian nation, should vividly remind anyone coming to one of our schools, courts, or other public buildings exactly where they are, and that Allah is persona non grata!

Let’s move on to the second commandment.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

This looks like a direction not to create any representational artworks, but there’s a follow-up:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

In other words, the Second Commandment tells us not to pray to paintings or statues or stained glass windows. I can’t think of anyone who does that . . . well, besides Hindus and Catholics and . . . you get the idea.

This is called idolatry, friends. God wants people to worship Him, not idols!

As a Christian nation, we should destroy all idols, and outlaw their possession. That’s what the Second Commandment means, and what we’ll do once it’s the law of the land.

Next we find the Third Commandment:

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Some people think Commandment #3 is a reference to using the Lord’s name as a cuss word; while that’s certainly blasphemy, what this really means is swearing on the Lord’s name falsely, or committing perjury.

Now, perjury is already illegal in America. If you swear an oath before God and lie, you can be sent to jail. More importantly than jail time, the statement that God will not hold blameless someone who commits perjury. That means a sin that cannot be washed away, friends.

That means eternal damnation if you lie under oath, a fate far worse than a few months in jail! People need to be reminded of what God has spoken on this subject, whenever they enter a courthouse . . . even if it’s just to be sure they have fair warning!

The Fourth Commandment is one routinely ignored in these United States. Sad, but true:

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Why are stores, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses open on Sundays? God forbids it in His Fourth Commandment, even if they’re run by Jews (the “stranger that is within thy gates”) or other unbelievers! Businesses of all sorts are to be closed on the Sabbath. You should not be out chopping firewood, or cooking big meals, or doing the laundry. It’s a day of rest and worship!

Be sure to let your legislators know that you support the Biblical punishment of those who deny God His special day. Can anyone tell me what that is? It’s spelled out elsewhere in Exodus . . . I’ll let you find it yourselves. Let’s move on to Number Five.

12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Commandment #5 seems pretty simple, but people just don’t get it. Children these days are allowed to run roughshod all over their parents, while liberals take away parental rights each day. While abuse should be prevented where possible and punished where it occurs, there is a difference between discipline and abuse!

Broken bones, bleeding welts? Yes, that’s abuse. A smack on the behind? Use of the rod, as directed in God’s Word? How can it be abuse when God says to do it? Spare the rod, spoil the child!

Undisciplined children grow up to be goths, and sodomites, and emos, and drug addicts, and serial killers, and rapists, and Democrats. How is that not abuse? Why aren’t their parents being arrested for endangering the welfare of a minor?

Tell your legislators that you support laws to rein in unruly and overly “independent” children, and the reversal of laws which prevent parents from properly disciplining their young. America’s future depends on it!

13 Thou shalt not kill.

The Sixth Commandment, frequently misunderstood, is a reference to murder, not execution. God commands us to execute all sorts of people; adulterers, sodomites, witches, unruly children, and certain so-called victims of rape, for starters! How can we execute people — usually by stoning — without killing them?

That’s just silly. Don’t murder people, and only execute them in accordance with God’s Law or when necessary, such as Israel defending itself with carpet-bombing of civilian areas after the latest vicious rocket grenade attacks from Hamas.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment Seven is not limited to “stepping out” like John Edwards and Bill Clinton are wont to do. Divorce is not recognized in God’s eyes; therefore, divorcing and remarrying (as done by future President Palin’s false-Christian failure of a 2008 running mate, John McCan’t) is committing adultery. Adulterers are to be executed under God’s Law. Again, tell your legislators that you support full enforcement of the Ten Commandments as God intended!

15 Thou shalt not steal.

Does the Eighth Commandment say, “Thou shalt not steal BIG things”? No. It says not to steal at all. That includes stealing cable. That includes plagiarizing writing (stealing ideas). ALL stealing is a sin, and is to be punished!

God demands it.

How should we punish thieves? Well, Jesus was crucified between two other men. What was it they had done? They were thieves.

Should we bring back crucifixion as a standard punishment for stealing? I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t say we have to use that particular method, but we can certainly go with something a bit more meaningful than “community service”!

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

A bit redundant, perhaps, Commandment Nine addresses perjury again. We don’t really need to go through it again, so let’s jump onto the Tenth!

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Commandment Ten tells us that jealousy is thought crime. Covetousness is to be punished, as it is forbidden by God.

If you find your eyes lingering on your neighbor’s ass, or his slaves, or his wife, or his house, wishing they were yours, you are committing a grave sin. You are violating the Tenth Commandment, and sinning against God.

Purge those thoughts from your mind! Look lovingly at your own wife, and your own house, and your own ass. Admire your own servants. Bear in mind that these are what God gave you, and what He feels you should have. Praise Him for your robust ass, for your powerful manservant, for your wife bearing Soldiers for Christ.

The Ten Commandments are praised by many, friends, but ignored by many more. Vast numbers of Americans can’t even list them, yet want everyone to follow them.

We think they’re right, everyone in the nation should follow God’s Laws. Not just Ten, but all 600 and more!

We have to start somewhere, friends. Tell your legislators. Write a letter to the editor. Talk about it with your neighbors and church group. “Well,” you can say, “The United States was founded on Christian values. Why shouldn’t we have the Ten Commandments posted? It just reflects where we came from. It’s our heritage, for God’s sake!”

Just remember to set a good example. Are YOU following ALL TEN Commandments? Vote in our poll, and leave a comment below!

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Featured Sermon: Your Conscience, or God’s Word?

Jenny Donati — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:00:32 +0000

Pastor Billy-Reuben Gibson of Libertydale Bible Baptist Church asks whether we should do what seems right — follow our own conscience — or look to the Lord for clear direction.

This inspirational sermon was submitted via email (see the Get Published page):

Friends, as a Bible-Believing Christian, my sense of right and wrong comes straight from the Word of God. The Bible is the very foundation of my moral values, Amen.

When I was out street-preaching last weekend, I met an honest-to-goodness Hellbound Atheist who wanted to “debate”. I asked him what was his basis for morality if he doesn’t believe in God or the Bible. He told me that he empathizes with others — he knows that an action towards another is wrong if he would not like for someone else to do it to him. He gave as an example that he knows that it is wrong to kill others for pleasure because he doesn’t want to be killed, and because he doesn’t want anyone to kill someone he cares about.

I swiftly rebuked this Hellbound sinner with God’s admonishment against following your own conscience rather than God’s written laws in Deuteronomy 29:19-20.

19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

(I’ll include the Brick Testament version, where available, for those who find the KJV a bit difficult. To increase the “flow” of the sermon, I’ve also linked to all the relevant verses instead of leaving the Scripture in the text. Just right-click a link and choose “Open in New Window” to read along without using your place! -Jenny)

Later however, I started thinking about what that evil Athian had said. At first, I couldn’t quite point out what was specifically wrong with his argument. It almost seems reasonable that one could behave morally simply by empathizing with others and following one’s God-given conscience. I knew that there had to be a reason for the LORD’s prohibition against letting my conscience be my guide, so I did what I always do when questions pop up in my head — I cracked open my King James 1611 Bible, and I immediately found the answer, Amen.

Empathy and conscience only get you so far. They can tell you a few obvious things, but there are too many things that they get completely wrong. The Bible is the only authority on what is right and wrong.

Here are some examples of things that conscience and empathy tell me are ok, but the Bible clearly states as being wrong:

I know a homosexual couple who have been in a committed, monogamous relationship for thirty years. They are honest and hardworking members of the community. They have an adopted son who grew up to be just as normal and well-adjusted as anyone else. They defy every off-the-wall stereotype of gays that the American Family Association has ever thought up. If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that homosexuality is ok, and that gay marriage is nothing to be afraid of. I need the Bible to tell me that it is wrong. (Leviticus 20:13 – Brick Testament; Romans 1:26-27)
In my experience, women seem to be just as intelligent and capable as men. If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that women and men are equals and that women deserve just as much dignity and respect as men do. I need the Bible to tell me that women are to be subjugated before men, and that men are to have dominion over women (1 Peter 3:1-6; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Timothy 2:11-15).
I know many nonchristians who live happy, productive lives. They love their families, and they are honest and hardworking. If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that it doesn’t matter what, if any, religion people follow, and that we should all try to just get along. I need the Bible to tell me that nonchristians are all antichrists (2 John 7) to be shunned (2 Corinthians 6:14-17), and if they ever try to turn someone from Christianity, I should kill them. (Deuteronomy 13:6-10)
I’ve seen people eat pork, oysters, catfish, crablegs, crawfish, lobster, clams, scallops, fried calamari, etc. without ill effect. I have eaten of each item listed before I was saved — they are all delicious. If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I wouldn’t have a clue that there was anything morally wrong with eating pork or shellfish. I need the Bible to inform me of that (Leviticus 11:7-10, Brick Testament).
If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that I should love my family. However, the Bible clearly states that I should be willing to cast aside (if not downright hate) my family if I want to follow Jesus. (Luke 14:26; Matthew 10:21, 35-37)

This cuts both ways. Here are some examples of things that conscience and empathy tell me are wrong, but the Bible states that as being ok:

If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that genocide is wrong. However, the Bible lists many stories where the LORD commands genocide. (Deuteronomy 7:1-6 – Brick Testament, Instructions for Genocide)
If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that slavery is wrong. However, the Bible clearly condones slavery. (Titus 2:9-10; Ephesians 6:5; 1 Timothy 6:1)
If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that peace is good and war is wrong, but the Bible says that the LORD is a man of war (Exodus 15:3), and that Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

I would also have been likely to come to several incorrect conclusions about the morality of rape:

If I relied on my own empathy and conscience, I would probably conclude that rape was always wrong, and that it is one of the worst crimes a person could commit against another. The Bible does indeed prescribe the death penalty for the unsanctioned rape of a betrothed woman — that is, a woman who is married or promised in marriage. However, the Biblical penalty for the unsanctioned rape of a single woman who hasn’t been committed to anyone yet is a mere slap on the wrist. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Brick Testament).
I would also have been likely to come the the conclusion that in all rape cases, only the rapist was guilty guilty of wrong-doing. However, the Bible tells me that if the “victim” fails to cry out, then it is because she enjoyed it. In these cases, it is fornication, not rape, and the so-called “rapist” and “victim” are equally guilty. According to the Bible, “no” only really means “no” when she cries out loudly for help. (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
Further, I would have never imagined that there would ever be a time that rape would be considered a good thing. I would have been grievously wrong, because God sometimes commands his soldiers to rape the virgin women of a village after they have killed all the men, boys, and non-virgin women (Numbers 31 – Brick Testament).

Friends, what the Word of God says and what your conscience tells you will frequently be in conflict. Being saved and having faith means ignoring your conscience and following Jesus. Do you let Him give you the answers, or do you fight His Word?

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Rick Warren: Invocation to Inauguration

Jenny Donati — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:38:12 +0000

Featured Sermon: Full transcript of Rick Warren’s Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.

And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us 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.”

Amen.