Brian McLaren: The Story of Esther // Bible Stories for Grown-Ups

[Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well welcome to church welcome to grace point we're excited to have you here that you've joined with us my name is murphy gill this is michelle we have been here for what about two years now about two years we love it it's our church home um but we just want to welcome you next week we're going to be starting a new series called let us be embodying our values this week we're pretty excited about our speaker this week dr brian mclaren is going to be speaking we he's amazing he has been influential in my life in a lot of people's lives i know that josh will introduce him a little bit more later on but we're excited about that for today just want to give a quick little shout out to to all of you that have chosen to join with us we have tons of folks that are from right here in nashville and we're really excited about that we also have people from all around the country as well as many of you that are meeting uh with us virtually all around the world and we're so excited about that and we just want to know that we want you to know that we really really appreciate the fact that you have chosen to join with us today if you haven't signed up to receive our weekly email communication yet you can do that on the website at gracepointwithanee.net subscribe well i hope that you enjoy the service today so thank you so much for joining with us again and we'll come back in just a little bit and bring some announcements to you welcome to gracepoint we are a progressive christian church loving our community by gathering in our homes even as we practice social distancing we're asking big questions about what it means to be human what it means to love our neighbors and what it means to follow christ we're cultivating a safe virtual space to deconstruct or reconstruct to question and to grow we are welcoming affirming and fully inclusive because who you are and who you love are celebrated here while we may be physically apart from one another we believe we're never truly alone you are never alone we're together in this we're togetherness so even though we can't give you a hug just yet we want you to know that you are beloved you are included and you are affirmed welcome to grace point welcome to grace point welcome home welcome home welcome home i lift my eyes up to the hills this my morning song where my strength comes from i lift my eyes up to the hills this my evening song [Music] this is the gravity of love just as the moon follows the sun you're all around me you're holding everything this is the hope of every land just as the universe expands your love is reaching you're holding everything we lift our eyes up to the hills when will our help come lord we cry how long we lift our eyes up to the hills even as we run hope is chasing us this is the gravity of love just as the moon follows the sun you're all around me you're holding everything just list the hope of every land just as the universe expands your love is reaching holding everything this is the gravity of love just as the moon follows the sun you're all around me holding everything this is the hope of every land just as the universe expands your love is reaching [Music] you're holding everything good morning grace point kids and good morning grace point youth i hope each of you are doing really well as our community continues to meet virtually we host weekly opportunities for community connection both for our gracepoint kids and grace point youth gracepoint kids you gather every saturday at 10 a.m on zoom grace point youth you hang out every friday night at 6 30 p.m on discord gpy you also have the opportunity to connect throughout the week on discord for an invite to that platform email me at lisa gracepoint.net gpy your sunday discussion guide will be shared this afternoon on discord gpy grown-ups the discussion guide is also shared with you it's shared on facebook instagram and also by email gpk as we enter into this season of awareness and expression of our gratitude this week and for the next four weeks we're going to begin exploring jail creatives the lord's prayer curriculum we're going to explore the lord's prayer found in both matthew and luke we're going to compare the text we're going to ask ourselves what this means to us today and we're also going to encourage ourselves to work towards imagining and creating a world as it is in heaven throughout the month we're also going to be mapping community resources we're going to be expressing ourselves creatively and we're also going to be practicing prayer in our own unique and beautiful ways gpk grown-ups you can find links to both our gpk bitmoji gathering space as well as our principal guide in your email inbox on facebook and also on instagram gpy and gpk grown-ups if you would like to be included in our email list email me at lisa gracepoint.net i would be happy to include you all right peace out big air hugs and so much love to each and every one of you good morning grace point we are here today to celebrate ella's baptism and baptism is a symbol of belonging what that means is today we are celebrating that ella has always belonged that every breath she has ever taken she has taken in the love and embrace of god and ella do you want to celebrate that today it is my joy to baptize you the new god and christ in spirit well we're back and we want to give you a few announcements uh for this week of things that are going on around grace point uh first off i want to encourage each of you i know you know that the service starts at 10 45 on the youtube channel that we have but if you join at 10 30 you'll get an opportunity to it's kind of like a virtual hangout like coming into the church foyer and chatting with some friends on there on on there you can you can chat back and forth you can see the stream of of all the different conversations that are going on it's really it's really pretty neat opportunity to connect with a lot of different grace point people um and kind of get to know some of us uh it's it's a really great time so i would encourage you to to log on to your to the service at 10 30 in youtube and then at 10 45 the service will begin next thing i want to bring to you is reconstruct reconstruct is sort of a a wednesday night gathering but it's done via the zoom platform that happens at 6 30 every wednesday night it's an opportunity to bring your your questions some sometimes serious questions sometimes silly questions but for the most part it's it's a really great time of just give and take a little bit of discussion an opportunity to connect with people really and there are a lot of people from all over the country and sometimes all over the world at that so i would encourage you to to find out more about that go to the grace point website gracepoint with an e gracepoint.net and you can find out more about reconstruct on wednesday night at 6 30. thursday october 29th we're going to be hosting a zoom trivia night and that is going to be so much fun uh nathaniel green is going to be our host and i think it's going to be great um i wanted to mention that our giving um there are two ways to give you can text gracepoint with an e to 77977 or you can go to our website gracepoint.net and give there and i think that's all the announcements that we have for you this week i hope that that you enjoy the service today i hope this is a significant meaningful time for you be blessed and we will we will talk to you later thank you bye [Music] in the silence tell me can you hear the voices calling out of the [Music] how much longer we'll just sleep when a lawless heart is the voice we're hearing we need freedom freedom freedom how much longer till we sing [Music] hearts of saints [Music] to sing as one a song of freedom now a song to overcome when a lawless heart is the voice we're hearing we need freedom freedom freedom how much love [Music] till we sing [Music] [Music] [Music] all oppressions [Music] away hearts new [Music] me [Music] [Music] how much till we sing a new song [Music] how much longer [Music] good morning grace point we are so glad you're here today especially if you're joining us for the very first time wherever you are in the world we are so glad you're here and you found us on a really really good day because today we have a guest speaker and i'm i'm so excited to introduce him although he really doesn't need much of an introduction i'll give him one anyway this morning we have bryan mclaren with us brian is an author he's been a pastor he's an activist a theologian he raises turtles brian is is this incredible human being and i have to say that in my own journey in development brian played a pivotal role way before i ever met him in person way before i ever knew him brian was pastoring me from a distance through some of his earliest books like the church on the other side or a generous orthodoxy a new kind the new new kind of christian fiction series or a new kind of christianity where he sort of launches his vision for the christian faith of the future all of those played and more played such a vital role in my own development uh theologically spiritually and in so many ways brian is one of the reasons i'm still a christian and so i'm just thrilled to have him here today a couple things about his work if you want to if you're just jumping in this his most recent book is called glare the galapagos islands a spiritual journey and some of our own grace pointers actually went to the galapagos islands with brian after this came out to be part of that experience so you can get that or there's also you can pre-order his next book anywhere online where you can pre-order such things it's called faith after doubt why your beliefs stop working and what to do about it and that'll come out early next year so today brian um is going to be actually i said last week i was ending our series but actually brian is going to conclude our series on bible stories for grown-ups today and brian's going to talk to us about the story of esther and i'll tell you i have a sneak peek on this i've seen this sermon and it's absolutely profound and incredible so i know you're going to enjoy it i know it's going to speak to you thank you so much brian for being here with us today hi friends uh my name is brian mclaren so glad to be with you this morning to talk to you about the biblical story of esther esther is the only book in the bible that doesn't mention god i guess that's one reason why i like esther so much frankly i'm tired of so much god talk i often think poor god your name gets used for everything it's constantly being dragged through the muck my friend nadia boltzweber suggests that that's actually what the second line of the lord's prayer means when we say our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name meaning your name has been dragged through the mud disgraced in a hundred different ways may your name be honored and revered as it should be this is one of the attractions of the contemplative traditions of christianity and the contemplative christian traditions we're more modest in speaking of god and for god we balance our god talk with reverent silence we believe that our presence and our actions should do a lot more of the talking in silence we find some relief from all the the god talks so that we can enter the god experience and god participation for all these reasons and more i think the book of esther has special relevance for these times the book of esther begins with some political intrigue in the persian empire something i know that we can hardly relate to these days it's the book starts like this this happened in the days of a hazueris the same hasjuaris who ruled over 127 provinces from india to ethiopia in those days when king hasjuaris sat on his royal throne in the citadel of susa in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers the army of persia and media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were present while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty for many days 180 days in all now look i know it's really hard to imagine a time when political leaders would boast of their wealth and power and all their gold-plated possessions but that's how it was back in those ancient days the story continues when these days were completed the king gave for all the people present in the citadel of susa both great and small a banquet lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace there were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars there were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry marble mother of pearl and colored stones drinks were served in golden goblets goblets of different kinds and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king drinking was by flagons without restraint for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired furthermore queen vashti gave a banquet for the women in the palace of king aheris so the king has his popularity ratings are high he's giving out free wine by the flagons he's telling people exactly what they want to hear he's giving them exactly uh what especially the rich people want and you might think wow queen vashti gave a banquet she must have some power in this kingdom as well a special banquet for the women but watch what happens next you'll see that queen vashti is really just a prop for the king's power on the seventh day when the king was merry with wine he commanded the human bistha harbona bigtha and abagtha zaithar and carcus the seven eunuchs who attended him to bring queen vashti before the king wearing the royal crown in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty for she was fair to behold now you may never have heard those names before my human biz the harbonah big th bhagtha zethar and carcass but eunuchs like these seven play very importantly in this story you might think of it like this in the ancient world kings and queens were always afraid that their closest confidence might confidence might turn on them for example their top aides or officials might steal money since there was so much of it lying around or they might participate in a plot to poison or kill the king or queen since there was always so much resentment by the hordes of people who were living in squalor and hunger while the court lived in luxury and ease or since many kings in those days had large harems some of their top officials might impregnate members of the harem which would result in the king raising children who were not his own so with big risks like that many ancient monarchs took young boys and castrated them that way the boys couldn't marry and they would quite literally be married to their job for their whole lives they had nowhere else to go which made them all the more trustworthy by the royal family not only that but to have a group of demasculinized men surrounding the king and fawning over him only serve to make him seem even more macho and tough and authoritarian leaders know they need to constantly look tough and that's where things get interesting the story continues but queen vashti refused to come at the king's command conveyed by the eunuchs at this the king was enraged and his anger burned within him do you see what's going on here queen vashti is sick and tired of being little more than a pretty prop for her husband she decides to break from the whole patriarchal power system where men rule and so the king does what any powerful person does first he gets angry and second he consults his lawyers then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom and those next to him were karshana shethar and matha tarshish maris marseina and memu khan the seven officials of me persia and media who had access to the king and sat first in the kingdom quote according to the law what is to be done to queen vashti because she has not performed the command of king hazueras conveyed by the eunuchs so do you see what's happening here there's a a power pyramid here the king is on top the supreme alpha male and then his top beta male so to speak and then maybe we could say the gamma eunuch males under them and only beneath that level would the queen have any power at all story continues then memo khan said in the presence of the king and the officials not only has queen vashti done wrong to the king but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of king aheras for this deed of the queen will be made known to all women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands since they will say king has you eras commanded queen vashti to be brought before him and she did not come this very day the noble ladies of persian media who have heard of the queen's behavior will rebel against the king's officials and there will be no end of contempt and wrath now there is a powerful political and social insight here the pyramids of power that seem so intimidating are actually filled with insecurity if anyone in the chain of command breaks with protocol the insecure potentate at the top is afraid the whole thing will crumble and so he has to respond with crushing revenge otherwise the whole system of fear and subordination will fall apart so the king's lawyers and fixers tell him what he needs to do to expel queen vashti from the royal harem and find some nice quiet submissive girl to replace her here's their official report if it pleases the king let a royal order go out from him and let it be written among the laws of the persians and the medes so that it may not be altered that vashti is never again to come before king ejesueras and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she so when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom vast as it is all women will give honor to their husbands high and low alike this advice please the king and the officials and the king did as memu khan proposed he sent letters to all the royal provinces to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language declaring that every man should be the master in his own house you see it all kinds of diversity is now going to be reigned in through the same kind of hierarchy men over women kings over nobles nobles over commoners the hierarchy will be maintained so you might say that the book of esther begins with a feminist movement headed by queen vashti which is then crushed brutally by the patriarchal establishment and the old order is reimposed king hedgewares is really angry for a while but then he organizes a beauty pageant you can't make this stuff up people so he can check out all the prettiest young women in the empire after he samples the prettiest of the pretty he elevates one young woman named esther to fill vashti's position now esther turns out is a member of the jewish minority in persia when her parents died she was adopted by her uncle mordecai knowing how prejudice worked mordecai counsel lester keep your jewish identity a secret and so here we have the central drama of the esther story will esther be the kind of quiet sweet submissive compliant woman king azuris appreciates and will she protect herself and her privilege at all costs in these dangerous times well i won't read all of chapter two and three but here's a quick summary a few of king azuera's court eunuchs plan an assassination and and that tells us something behind the wealth and power in armies and patriotic holidays and banquets resentment levels are high in the persian empire even the eunuchs are restless the plot of eunuchs is discovered by uncle mordecai he tells esther and she warns the king who hangs the would-be assassins and this of course raises esther's profile even higher and it also gives uncle mordecai a lot more power and confidence one day uncle mordecai meets an arrogant mid-level bureaucrat named haman now you know exactly the type of person that heyman is he's learned how to work the system for his own advantage he's gotten super rich by rigging and playing the game and he constantly displays his dominance by requiring others to bow in his presence but uncle mordecai doesn't bow to him and that infuriates haman so much that he decides not just to strike back for the offense but to strike back 10 times as hard so he hatches a plan to kill not only mordecai but also all the jewish people in persia now i know it's hard to imagine a political system that gains and maintains power by uniting the majority against a beleaguered minority but again you just have to use your imagination so haman starts this political action committee that says watch out there's a dangerous minority group in the persian empire they aren't like us they don't follow our way of life they don't recognize our exceptionalism and superiority they are therefore a threat to our nation so haman knows how persian politics works and he goes to king hajjuris and says king your majesty i'll make a huge contribution to your fund if you'll authorize your administration to kill all the jews on a certain day and by the way if you kill them all you can then take all their wealth and possessions which will improve the gdp significantly now again i know it's hard to imagine a world where powerful people get the government to do their bidding by making huge contributions and by scapegoating and exploiting minorities but there it is when a rumor gets out that the king is planning a genocide esther is obviously terribly upset she makes an alliance with one of the court eunuchs who becomes her contact person with uncle mordecai mordecai becomes like a hard-working journalist he uncovers a bunch of leaked documents that prove what's going on again i know it's hard to imagine leaked documents playing a key role in government affairs but these things used to happen long long ago and far far away finally after uncle mordecai discovers and proves what haman and the king have pl have planned mordecai sends esther a message you have to speak to the king about this plot to wipe us all out esther sends back a message uncle mordecai you don't understand if i go to the king without being invited i'll be killed i have no rights even though i'm the queen i'm really low on the dominance hierarchy here simply because you know i'm a woman and the empire is a typical old boy's network well then mordecai sends her this message found in esther chapter 4 verse 13 in many ways the the key passage of the whole book of esther do not think that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other jews for if you keep silence at such a time as this relief and deliverance will rise for the jews from another quarter but you and your father's family will perish who knows perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this now i love uncle mordecai's wisdom here he says listen esther if they come for the jews they're coming for you too why miss the chance to be a player in history who knows perhaps you have come to royal dignity or just such a time as this silence would be compliance silence would be complicity don't throw away your shot now i know it's almost impossible to relate to a story like this a situation where you have some privilege where you have a share of power or you have a voice or maybe even a vote and if you use your privilege and power and raise your voice you might get in trouble so you're just tempted to play it safe and be quiet well esther sends this reply to uncle mordecai go gather all the jews to be found in susa a capital city hold a fast on my behalf and neither eat nor drink for three days night or day i and my maids will also fast as you do after that i will go to the king though it is against the law and if i perish i perish so you see what esther esther's saying i'm going to put my skin in the game i'm going to risk everything by being a whistleblower about government corruption and wrongdoing i'm going to engage in civil disobedience to expose this horrible crime that's being planned by our government by top officials in our government including the king but look give me three days to prepare and you fast and pray with me i'm not sure i'm going to survive this but i'd rather die than be just another pretty face the king uses to beautify his corrupt and violent regime so esther developed a really sophisticated multi-step plan then you can read about it on your own in chapters 5 through 10 of the book of esther but the bottom line is this the evil and violence that haman planned for the jews actually happened to him it all backfired on him but everything depended on two people people who could have laid low and played it safe but decided to take a risk it began when mordecai refused to bow to haman he refused to play this the submission game he was like rosa parks he decided to stop being dehumanized by a corrupt system through a symbolic act of refusing to bow of just standing tall he he stood up to the system in a way that made things worse but that's where esther came in look let's speak very frankly the ugly truth is esther was what we would call a trafficked woman she was a sex slave forcibly taken into king hasjuaris harem she had no rights she was the kind of young woman that jeffrey epstein and justlane maxwell would find and sell to powerful corrupt men but when she found herself in the company of the powerful she wasn't addicted to the luxury and security they offered she risked it all for her oppressed people now you might wonder if i think this story is historical i mean perhaps there was some historical seed to the story but to me this story has all the marks of a cleverly structured work of fiction but whether it's non-fiction or fiction or a mixture of the two it's three-part message is the same and i'd like to try to articulate that three-part message as i close this morning first never give up even if liberators like queen vashti are crushed by arrogant angry insecure men never give up even if the eunuchs fail at their attempt at self-liberation never give up even that even if arrogant small-minded big mouth bigots like haman try to humiliate you and threaten you never ever ever bow and give up because the power of dominance pyramids is always more fragile than it appears and the bigger they are the harder they will fall when their time comes so don't roll over and play dead don't sink into the paralysis of despair be willing to say with esther if i perish if i perish but i'm not throwing away my shot second never underestimate anyone including yourself i can imagine people making fun of esther she was just a woman just a jew just a member of the king's harem just another pretty face just an immigrant and a minority but when her time came she was fierce and fearless and clever it might be good right now to interrogate that word just that is often used to minimize people yeah look i'm just a layperson look i'm just a quiet citizen look i'm just one person with one vote look i'm just a middle-class person or i'm just a poor person look i'm just a guy with a high school diploma look i'm just a member of the lgbtq community look i'm just a divorcee i'm just a teenager i'm just a senior citizen i'm just a recovering addict i'm just a stay-at-home mom i'm just a nurse i'm just a truck driver i'm just one person and now instead of shrinking and minimizing yourself with that word just take uncle mordecai's question to esther and open up the possibility who knows perhaps you are who you are and you are where you are because you have a role to play in just such a time as this i may not be queen vashti i may not be a court eunuch i may not be haman with all his wealth and swagger but i am who i am and i will use what i have to join god in god's liberating work in the world never give up never underestimate anybody including yourself and that brings me to one final lesson never assume god is where the most god talk is instead assume god is where the quiet behind the scenes struggle for human liberation human dignity and human goodness is unfolding often behind the scenes that lesson is very important to me i grew up in a context of endless god talk we had arguments about who had the right words and who had the right words about the right words i grew up in the christian tradition that argued about god talk while lands were being stolen from the native peoples and never took notice that argued about god talk while lives were being stolen through slavery never woke up to that reality i grew up in the context where while the dignity of millions of people was being stolen through white supremacy and male supremacy and the supremacy of money people didn't notice because we were all so involved in our pious god talk i grew up seeing jesus as a ticket to heaven ignoring his jewish identity as a man dedicated to human liberation which by the way is the real meaning of the word salvation i have some rabbi friends who in 2002 started an organization of rabbis for social justice the group is called trua which is the hebrew word for the call of the shofar or the ram's horn they're calling jews to stand up for the tradition of jewish social justice of human rights and human dignity for all people one of their mottos is resisting tyrants since pharaoh whether it was pharaoh in egypt nebuchadnezzar in babylon ahaduaris and persia or caesar augustus in the time of jesus jews have seen god active wherever people are struggling to be free in that vision every person no matter their race religion class group gender is made in the image of god no exceptions a revolutionary thought and it's every bit as revolutionary today as it is ever as it's ever been in a time when we're putting children in cages when there's a resurgence of hate crimes against muslims and jews against transgendered women against blacks against anyone who doesn't fit in with somebody's standard of who's acceptable to say that every person has divine dignity that's a revolutionary statement there are many even today who claim that god is to be associated with those in power even if they're arrogant corrupt cruel and self-seeking but no this radical jewish vision dares us to see god working for change working for justice working for equality working for the royal dignity not just of the king or the queen but of every person everywhere through the most unlikely of people including a young orphaned woman of a minority group who had been made a sex slave in the king's harem so my brothers and sisters i leave you with this blessing first may you live into the blessing of who knows and perhaps who knows perhaps you have come to exactly where you are right now for just such a time as this because there are people you can help and things you can see and work you can do from right where you are that fits in with the larger plan for human liberation and peace second may you live into the blessing of if if i perish i perish esther said but i will not remain silent and play it safe may you live into the blessing of if and third may you live into the blessing of never never give up never underestimate anyone including yourself and never doubt that god is active even if god is not mentioned that god is active in the struggle for human liberation dignity goodness and peace [Applause] amen [Music] and i haven't met peace i mean i was told that i remember i was told that she's been around here but i think they must be confused maybe they're confused with silence in fact i asked her i asked silence and she said nah young man peace don't live around here she says she don't even look like that queen she sings carries a big sword and her smile is clean her hair is natural and her rings like bells and on heels she sits a little taller than justice i don't know jesus and i haven't met peace injustice she said just his arms along and his embrace is strong and you can hear every step he takes no not every step he asks for every step he takes no not every step that is given every step he takes she said royce [Music] go back and tell them they got me wrong i am excited my cousins are dumb hushing you shut up settle sit still rice you know them i don't know justice i'm gonna have it at peace i've been waiting for them to pull up in one accord but i can't wait much longer these arms ain't much stronger but they strong though shoot i'll pat myself on the back look in the mirror don't know how to add i'm black i'm black i'm black black what does that mean anyway a word full of culture but void of identity that's why i gotta love my enemy now don't get me wrong i haven't always walked around proud but even when i did it i put my fist up [Music] and i haven't met peace and i can't help but wonder how it feels if i could say it with peace and justice whipping in that one accord i want to know i want to see him i want to talk to him i want to kick it with the same folks they roll with like freedom and liberty and opera opportunity i want to breathe not inhale not inhale but inhale exhale inhale now you've said it and i'm flattered you even use the hashtag black lives matter but when yeshua left the mini for the one under my blacklight mattered before the hashtag was relevant my skin is heaven [Music] [Applause] and i haven't met peace i wish i could walk away from this microphone telling you that i met him but i can't i believe in a redeemer i believe in a god of creation and i can't because i don't know justice and i haven't met peace but i'll tell you this i'ma keep looking i'm gonna keep pushing i'm gonna keep [Music] because i'm going to meet them and when i meet them i'm going to take them to my school i'm gonna bring them to my home i'm gonna bring it to my job i'm gonna bring him to my hood i'm gonna bring her to my friends i'm gonna bring her to my father i'm gonna bring her to my mother i'm gonna bring her to my sister i'm gonna bring her to my brother i'm gonna bring him to the jail inhale exhale inhale exhale because i don't know justice [Music] and i haven't met peace [Music] i know that i'm worth more than a teacher we ain't got to die no more love is what we're fighting for i know that i'm worth more than a t-shirt t-shirt t-shirt t-shirt t-shirt all right grace point it has been an incredible incredible morning um another incredible gathering we're so glad that you were here to be a part of it um and i just want to say last sunday those of us who were able to meet in the park in nashville for those of us who are local it was so good to get to see all of you and to get to even from a distance just to see your face or half your faces uh and just to be in the same space with you is wonderful i want you to know that we are regularly having conversations about what what looks safe and what looks like we can continue to do i hope to have more news about maybe other opportunities that are coming up um perhaps even next sunday but we're going to do our best we're trying to make sure we follow all the precautions and all the the advice and and take science seriously and take safety seriously so um yeah we'll we'll have more information on that as soon as we can thank you so much for being here look forward to seeing you again hopefully wednesday night next sunday we hope you'll be back we love you grace point grace and peace be with you [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] 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Length: 75min 29sec (4529 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 04 2020