February 28, 2016

We're continuing a series this morning on the nature of the Gospel in this morning. I want to talk about the fact that the gospel changes everything because when we Embrace and understand the gospel accurately in fully then it goes into every area of our life a worldview that changes the way we live and function. We've talked these past weeks about the fundamentals of the Gospel. The gospel is historical. We teach the good news of the completed work of Christ on the cross. Now that's different than advice Christianity is not moral advice is not a set of rules that you push up your sleeves and follow and work your way to heaven. It's not a religion. It is the announcement of what God has done on our behalf. It's an offer. It's an invitation. And so we preach the historical reality the death burial resurrection of Christ his teachings in his miracles. That's what we Proclaim as the gospel. The gospel calls forth worship. We dwell upon believe place our faith in the goodness of God revealed in Christ a goodness more gripping than human Idols. We do not pound upon the human will now you're going to have to hold me accountable this because first four decades, it seems like the dominant sense of preaching was that the preacher got up and pounded on the human will and a lot of times it was all about shooting on everyone right? You should do this you ought to do that and it became just this proclamation of a moral imperative, but as we were fully Embrace a Biblical understanding of the Gospel, we are all challenged including your preacher. So hold me accountable to that that that I want to preach the Beauty of Christ that I want to present him in such a way that your hearts are turned toward him as you hear me off and say Romans 2:4. It's the kindness of God that turns us toward repentance. And so I want to preach and reveal Christ in his goodness in such a way that we are drawn to him and not sleep in for the easy mistake that preachers makes where we simply kind of pound on people's will because we know that ultimately our own will is not able to save us we cannot simply set a course and go from A to B with no hiccups herrera's our struggles human nature sabotages our own desires to succeed and we again and getting realize we need the Lord we need someone something larger than ourselves for wish we were created to live the life. We were designed to live and so the gospel calls forth worship because it's we get a greater Glimpse and a fuller image of Christ in his goodness. We are drawn to him and and his goodness replaces those human Idols that sometimes taken Play on the throne of our heart. And so that's our desire to turn our eyes on Jesus as followers. The gospel of Christ. Jesus is the substance of every 4 shadow of God's purpose. He's the true and better Adam the true and better able we talked about that. He's the fullness of God made known and the author and Perfecter of Faith the Bible the church ministry are not ins is one way to think about this and say this but they are means to showing God's character displayed in Christ. And sometimes when we slip off of Christ being Central we can make the church have an end in itself. And so Christina just becomes it's all about keeping the church going or or biblical literacy can become the end. The goal is just to get everyone biblically literate, but those are not in there than they are means to Proclaim and reveal through our life and words and actions the character of God revealed in Christ. We are called to reveal Christ to this world. The dwell upon Him ourselves that they have his Beauty changes and then become windows for who he is to all those around us we talked about the gospel is personal. It confronts us with our sins before holy God and also confront us with the magnitude of his provision for us. Jesus died the death. We should have died and he lived the life. We should have lived we hold both Romans 3:23 and 8 Once to be unquestionably true and Romans 3:23 is all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God human nature. It is burdened with sin and dysfunction and we stand for Holy Gods with that Mark upon us. But Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So the gospel calls us confronts us with that personal reality that we are sinners and that we need to be rescued or saved that. We cannot do it ourselves and it also confronts us with the amazing reality that God has paid the price for us through Christ. Not only paid the debt of our sin but also provided his righteousness to us so that there's no condemnation for those who trust in Christ those who are in Christ and those are amazing truth but challenging for us to hold onto because we're always tempted to lean on one or the other and not hold both firmly as we should last week we talked about the fact that the gospel is cultural or you could use the word Incarnation its impact his personal and cultural. We're not called to stay out of the culture of the world and be different to retreat or attack or to go into the world and become like the world to join it order accommodate but to go deeply into the world and stay different. And that language is from Tim Keller when he talked about Jeremiah 29 when Israel as X X Files a nation some wanted to stay out. Let's just stay out of the city and just be different their own self the city wanted them to come right in and take on the culture and be assimilated in a dab. And God said, nope. It's neither of those. It's much more difficult than either of those. I want you go deeply into the city but remain very different so that you're a witness. And so that's the language that we see in the New Testament to in Jesus talks about we are in the world but not of the world and we're so tempted at times to pick one or the other or so since that way. It's easier to not be able to world. And so we tend to come get out of the world and isolate ourselves and and Retreat and maybe even just attacked the world, you know, just throw a lob grenades at the world. You're no good. You're no good. That's not the biblical standing of the community of Christians in the world. And sometimes we go to The Other Extreme we make the mistake of assimilating we go into the world was such a desperate desire to seem relevant or to make a connection that we comprar. Why is the truth of scripture and that's just as much an era just as much a falsehood and so we don't go in either those two extremes the challenges for us to to go into the world deeply to have deep relationships and Connections In Love are lost prodigal brothers and sisters but to remain different remain who Christ calls us to be so that we can offer hope and Truth to the world. I want to continue to talk about this theme because it's so challenging for us to the church. Nothing for all churches in North America. It's very tempting to kind of go to one extreme to the other. Can you see how churches often cluster that way, you know sometimes and I don't like using labels, but you might think the categories might be conservative and liberal sometimes conservative churches can come gather together and circle the wagons and kind of retreat and just throw the lob grenades at the World War of the Worlds are horrible horrible. We're just going to stay over here and stay pure and sometimes little churches can be so anxious to be relevant that they can kind of give up the very truth that they've got to offer and say it doesn't matter what you believe and know we just accept everybody were completely inclusive. I never confront anyone with anything and since so often in our culture, we can pick one of those two extremes which leaves us without the gospel. Because the gospel is not compromising all truth in order to be accepted and the gospel is not retreating and isolating herself as if somehow it's US versus them. There's no them. There's our loss protocol brothers and sisters. There are brothers and sisters. There's only one God only one Maker only one Creator only one father and therefore all who are his children. So I'm at Jesus talks about Luke 15 become prodigal children who leave their father and our desire is to help them know his love and his phrase that he waits for them to return and call them back to him. It when Jesus talked about being salt in the world in order to make an impact if it's all going to make an impact on preserving something it has to make contact in it. Salt can't say hey, we're salt we can preserve but we're going to be way over here and have nothing to do with you to King riding corrupting worldwinner protect us and our kids until we're sure hope things work out for you and good luck and we can do that. There has to be contact we have to be rubbing shoulders be right alongside the in the lives of those who need the Lord who needs a gospel who need to understand forgiveness. You need to understand the burden of their sand who need to be challenged and comforted. We need to be right alongside them in order to be a witness to them. And that's why the call of the church is to balance that tension and not jump into 16 Tramore the other when he talks about the church and Christians being a light in the world. He says you can't you can't put a basket over that light. You can't hide away and say well we're just going to stay pure by being separate kind of thing and not having relationships are connections instead. He says You must let that light shine so that the darkness can see that life can be overcome by the gospel is cultural. Look at how Peter says it in these vs. He says dear friends. I heard you as foreigners and exiled to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. And so they're the part if we stopped right there we could say that's it. We we have staying we move away we stay away from the sins of this world. So that were protected and pure. Yes, we do. But look at what he continues to say. He says live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of wrongdoing. They may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us and so we're both to abstain from those sins that wage war on our souls not to be of the world not to be engaged in the same sort of sins that will corrupt us that will harm us and hurt us. But at the same time we're supposed to be in the world was supposed to have a relationship and be present in Such a way that the world can see into our lives into our marriages and to our parenting and to the way we live in such a way that they see the goodness of God not Perfection, but they're not going to say any of the goodness of God. If we never have our lives open to someone who needs the Lord if it's all sort of just me and my family and my Christian friends and that's 99.9% of anything that be called a deep relationship. Then we're missing out on what God challenges us to do as a church and we're missing out on blessing in our life because what he challenges us to do is to walk the way he's designed us to walk. To think about this the early church the way it related to the culture around them. I found this incredibly interesting the early church did not attend violent entertainment and they were considered by some critically antisocial cuz they wouldn't go to the Gladiator events or the sports events that were so violent and bloody they refuse to participate in those the early church did not serve in the military because of seizures War and who it was and what the wars were about what they're like they abstain from that again called criticism from the culture around then they stood against abortion and infanticide which was rampant in that culture was considered perfectly acceptable in the Roman culture. If you had a child that you didn't want you said because of gender and usually a girl that you can simply leave that infant out in the elements to die and that was perfect except on that culture, but the church stood against that they would go and gather these abandoned babies and rescue them. And so they stood against the abortion in the Roman time. They empowered women to leave which was not the norm in the day women have their place had no Authority had know if leadership Watson, Even the Jewish culture. Like I said before the men would praise stay. I thank you that I'm not a gentile. Thank you that I'm not a woman and Jesus came in and body women to follow him is that his disciples you just came and had the woman at the well go and preach the good news about him. He came and had the very first ones to preach his resurrection to be the women who left the tomb go and tell the others that now I am resurrected and then go throughout the New Testament and see them in a culture that very much box women and limited them that the church was pushing that box open and making progress and going forward the church stood against sex outside of marriage which again was not the norm to start Church stood against same-sex practice in the church was radically for the poor and the church mixed races and classes, which was very countercultural in that day. Everyone have their place in their class in their position and the church didn't care about women versus men in the culture. They didn't care about slavery history. They didn't care about Jew vs Gentile or Barbarian. They said, you know what in Christ's there's no longer those distinctions. And so they lived in model this community that they went above races and classes and they believe that Jesus was the only salvation. Now those are radically countercultural.

What would that look like today?

You just pick some of those you would almost again love using labels. But in some of our thinking and helped us put these in categories, you know, you could say well against violent entertainment against serving in the military empowering women radically for the poor radically for mixed races and classes. That sounds like a liberal agenda in a liberal church sometimes in today's culture. But then if you say Okay believe Jesus is the only way to Salvation going against same-sex practice suit against sex outside of marriage suit against abortion and infanticide that sounds like a fundamentalist conservative kind of group see the reality is when we follow Christ. We don't fit nicely into one category or the other. And we make mistakes as Christians and his churches sometimes when we just line up with the culture and we just follow the liberal side because well, I guess I grew up more than then I do disagree. So we just fit in that category or we just line up and we follow the conservative side. We just go right along with them whether it's politics or theology or the way, we live out our Christian faith. We can make errors on either side and if we look at Christ and look at these vs. And Peter we're challenged to live life that have this tension. We went where we are both loving and engaging the culture and those in the world around us in an amazing loving and graceful and kind way and at the same time we're also willing to speak challenging truth to those who need to hear those truths. We don't compromise the truth. We stand for those true that are clearly part of God's word and his call to bless those and the challenges to live in that sort of tension. We're both were pulling away from those sins. We should pull away from but we're also Living our lives in such a way that those in the world outside the church see our good deeds and are drawn to Christ. Again, dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiled to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul not think about it. I could pretty much if I preach these. Hazard rule so to speak I could pretty much offend everybody. Good night. If I said look up if you're a Christian, you don't need to be involved in violent Sports. inclusa football boxing I preached all sermon on that good night and probably have a lot of people say well, I'm not going to that church anymore of that preachers full of hooey. How dare he say that I can't invest my time and energy and money and and what about violent movie If I started preaching against violent movies lightning would strike me for being a hypocrite. We are challenged by the gospel to be different than this world where challenge not just to go along not just to say well as soon and don't get everybody else. I'll just Embrace that kind of thing. You can go through each of those ever be debate about serving in the military. Be heated debate over that and there be Christians who'd argue both sides of it. They're refrigerated argue each of those sorts of issues. But I think the reality is we are challenged to live with some of that tension. The reason we resolve tension sometimes is it the way to avoid suffering? That's why I resolve tension. Sometimes I'm just going to be really honest here. I don't want to talk about violent movies being a bad thing because that confronts me personally and then there's a little bit of suffering if I say, I can't watch all the Mad Max films that I want to watch and maybe I shouldn't maybe I should not be watching those but I don't want to I don't want to open that can of worms because it steps on my own till I want to avoid not to mention if I start saying stuff again sports Oceanside for that's just so we can just avoid suffering we can just say, you know what I just won't bring up those controversial issues. We will just not speak about those. We will just not address those but we end up not engaging our own Hearts as well as the hearts of the culture around us in the challenges that we need to be engaged in. We end up saying well, we'll just let some sins be okay in the life of the church will let some things go on their churches that don't address issues in some of those we would see really clearly clearly. Why is there a debate on that? But there's some churches that have given that is stripped completely that we don't talk about it. It's controversial. You know, when you get in the way you avoid suffering is by going to one of those two extremes instead of staying in the tension in the middle you avoid suffering by going to the extreme of accommodating the culture. I mean don't you feel this tension as a Christian Arthur issues in our culture sexuality is a prime example where you're very pressured and tempted to say I don't want to bring up that subject. I don't want to talk about it. My friends are going to say what are you you're you're a bigger than fundamentalist you I can't believe you believe that about sexuality. And so we're tempted to say can't we just accommodate can't we just not bring up that issue Define accommodate on that challenging subject. Then I won't have to get any Flack. I won't have to suffer. And so sometimes you simply accommodate the culture in order to avoid suffering or challenge. But the other extreme sometimes is you all, instead of accommodating the culture you will simply pull out of the culture and that's another way to avoid suffering. It's another power-play see if I, date in the culture, then I'll have certain level power. I'll be accepted. I won't be labeled or ridiculed. I can serve on certain boards that I couldn't serve on if I displayed my belief so fully but if I don't get power that way I can get it by going to the Other Extreme circling the wagons, and then I can write amazing, you know letters to everyone saying off the world is horrible and you need to give your money to my Ministry in my campaign and the world's going to hell in a handbasket and we need to the schools are horrible the government's horrible and it can just be all vistelar. Mist. And guess what that's another way to avoid the suffering cannot actually confronted have relationships and instead they gather Power by painting this picture where it's us vs them send in your money now. And Jesus challenges us to say you can't go to either of those extremes because both of them are extremes that abandon the gospel. He doesn't let us abandon our lost Brothers and Sisters in Christ and say we're just going to circle the wagons and say the world's horrible and we're going to keep ourselves separate and he also doesn't let us accommodate falsehood in order to be accepted because that's not an act of love to allow someone to live a self-defeating a self-destructive lie in their life. And so we're challenged to back to their this tension just like Peter talk about dear friends are urge you as foreigners in Exile to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong. These things are to be going on at the same time. If I'm leaving out the Christian Life. There's going to be times when some people say I don't like what you said or what you did. But he says that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day. He visits us at the same time. They're going to say Morgan has some beliefs and he actually said this but then at the same time in another context there insects kill Morgan was the one that stepped up and helped that person at work that was in a bind and no one else to do it at once. They're at your feet and stuff their shoes. And why don't you don't want to get involved in that mess and Morgan said we can do it my church of helping my wife will help and suddenly they were helping that person. And that's the tension that the culture supposed to experience from us as the church that that that our lives are connected with them in such a way that they see the Good Deeds that God is calling us to and they want to say God is good. See it in your life. But at the same time they're challenged in their lives to turn toward God because the truth is all of us are challenged by God, right? There's no group that isn't Challenge and we're trying to get together group chat, and we know the truth that when were challenged by God and we accept that challenge. It ends up being a deep blessing in our life when God confronts me and challenges me to walk the way he wants me to walk it stored a path of blessing and so it's out of this deep conviction that speaking the truth to someone is an act of love. That's why we speak it and we do it in the context of love as being people who they've seen up close because they know us they seen her marriages. They've seen her parents they seen us care for others because they've seen that love and maybe they've experienced them self and the truth is heard differently. How do you go forward on this? How do you make this kind of shift? Will you say I want to live that life? Why don't compromise by retreating, you know and attacking but also don't want to compromise by accommodating and kind of assimilating into the culture one you choose Jesus for your Cornerstone or your foundation. Ultimately your go to Martin Luther said that went when the chips are down and your Under Pressure. What is your go-to? What do you call on to vindicate yourself? Because the reality is Jesus is the only thing that the turtle that won't fade all else that we can depend on Fades when we depend on it. Your go-to could be your physical strength. You can be an athlete and you can say that's it. You know, if push comes to shove ultimately baby. I am a fantastic quarterback and that is but if that becomes my ultimate Foundation my fundamental what happens when that starts to slip away from me or an actor or actress who makes their looks their Foundation their fundamental, you know, I'm 49 just a few weeks here, you know is going to be my thing because it's going to go away from you every year. It's going to go away for a little more and more. You can't say well my athletic ability or for my looks or this Saturday because those things will fade over time. Maybe it's your career. You know, what all the way I'm successful risen to the top of my career. I have this sort of degree or I've succeeded in my career. I'm a lawyer, doctor or I'm an educator but that becomes your ultimate that can fade what happens if you lose your job. Do you lose your identity? Are you no longer that person? It's a wisdom along with the challenges is to choose Christ as our Cornerstone. Our ultimate one person said it this way it's as if the doctor came to you and said look here here's a test results. You're going to pass away in a week unless you take this medicine that I have right here. And you're going to say well then I'd like the medicine. Well the Menace very expensive breakfast if you're going to have to sell your home and you probably have to live maybe in a small apartment or maybe a trailer or maybe it's move in with family because the medicine is very very expensive. You probably got to sell your car. You might have to take public transportation to go to Bicycle to get around. And so maybe you really don't want it and what you going to say that you're saying? No, no, no. No. No, I want the medicine. What good will might how do me if I'm dead what good will my car do me? If I'm dead that medicine would suddenly become the ultimate thing. That you that you considered precious. And we're challenged to have the wisdom to respond to the challenge to make Christ Our Cornerstone. Our precious Cornerstone do understand that he is the foundation of our life that he's our ultimate no matter what happens in our life even about Family itself. We should say I have Christ. All else could be gone but I have price he's my ultimate I can depend on him as Joe though. He slay me Joe would say though he slay me. Yet I will trust him. II believe that he is precious and we're going to take communion here in just a few moments and when you take communion you think of those verses Romans 3 and Romans 8 and I think of him lyrics see from his head his hands his feet sorrow and love flow mingled down. That's that's one of a million ways to Focus On Christ and realize his preciousness. That he endured the cross Hebrew says for the joy set before him and that Joy was redeeming you and I he suffered death death on a cross were told him scripture so that you and I would not have to suffer so that you and I can have our sins paid for so the his righteousness could be attributed just as you take communion is a way to stir up in your mind and heart and a focus yourself on the reality that Christ is precious and a deed worthy of being my cornerstone and trust him as your foundation your fundamental your Cornerstone. Island on this. To the worship team can get ready. I heard one author point out that right after 9/11 there was this false idea that religious fundamentalism automatically led to Terror and he was reading his wife like the 20th article in the newspaper that once again with thank you know, that's the problem. It's any sort of religious fundamentalism it automatically cetera and his wife said if you ever seen an Amish Terror, well, that's a good question. I don't think I ever have seen an Amish Terrace and yet they're fundamentalist their fundamental. They are fully committed to their face Above All Else, their entire lives are structured and devoted to that Faith the difference. He pointed out inside Polly is it depends on what your religions fundamentals are? That's when fundamentalism can be dangerous. It depends on what are the fundamentals of your religion? And for us Jesus is our fundamental. He's our Cornerstone and look at what Peter says right after the first we talked about you're going to live in the world in such a way that you're going to do things are going to be involved in your life. You're going to be involved in their life. They're going to see the good that God is doing in your life in and through you and at the same time does the times in which they accuse you and vilify you because of the truce you stand on both. Those things are going to be going on. Here's what he says in the next vs. After that. He says to this you were called. Why was Paul the living that tension this is the very next verse after what we just read. We are called to live in that tension that I talked about that tension of holding to the goodness that God calls us to do and be in other people's lives in our life to display it to be open to be his light in this world to be his salt in this world to this. You were called because Christ suffered for you. That preciousness that we spoke about a moment ago that Christ is our precious Cornerstone leaving you an example. So Christ is our example that you should follow in his steps. We follow a savior who died for his enemies.

So we can't think that the path of falling Christ is to somehow circle the wagons and just lobbed grenades at our enemies. I said father forgive them for they know not what they're doing. We follow a savior who also could have recanted at any point and instead suffered and died to not let go of the truth that he came to live and Proclaim and so we can't follow Christ and simply accommodate and call us. His followers were called to live in that tension that both and so do this you were called because Christ suffered for you leaving example that you should follow in the steps. He continues he committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth when they hurled their insulted him. He did not retaliate when he suffered he made no threats instead. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. We live in a culture that wanted going to want to call us names to label us and they're going to put that pressure of the culture labeling us are disagreeing with us or calling us name is going to make us want to either compromise. I don't really believe that cuz I don't want to be able to be getting considered, you know, fundamental goodness. You just compromise on the truth or it'll fresh R Us to say. Oh, yeah. Well, you can just go to up, you know, and I'm going to circle the wagons and all you people are no good. I'm going to keep my kids away from you and we are tempted by that pressure to send and abandon the gospel. Because the gospel stays in that moment offering love and suffering the insults. And so Peter says Christ is our example when they hurled their insults at him. He did not retaliate when he suffered he made no threats instead. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly Jesus is our fundamental our Cornerstone. No attacking no isolation. No assimilation deeply loving connected to those around us who need to know the Lord and also deeply different. Jesus changes everything The gospel changes everything he changes Our Lives completely it changes the way we see ourselves. There is now for no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It changes the way we see our lost brothers and sisters. It's not US versus them their children of God. They're prodigals who left the father whom we long to call back to him. We don't want to be like the older brother, right? We want to see the Sun come back and we want to celebrate with Dad right the model in that story is not the older brother who says I can't believe this. All these people they're sitting in my PS4 you're playing a kind of music. They want a time music. I want I want this to me that way I've been in and I've been in this house for many years. I've been your son for me or sometimes that's the spirit in the church. We are the older brother. I'm not trying to be mean but it's is transparent and it's clear as the day is long at times and which we think the church is ours and that is ours to do with as we please and that leaders better. Do what we tell him to do. That is bologna. Not only bologna V heresy and sacrilegious isn't denying of Christ as your lord my Lord as the lord of the church. And so is what Christ asked us to do that we are compelled to do. Amen. I mean, I don't want to be found anywhere else now. We all stumble We All Fall we have bad days on I'm just like anybody else out there times when I want. I want things my way and not trying to lay a burden on someone shoulder But ultimately what I want to be challenged to and come back to and try to have the majority of my Life represent is trying to say what would you have me do Lord? I know there's times or leave me my wife and kids if they would we'd have a testimony. They can say Amen there's times when he's very selfish and it's all about himself and he's tired and he wants things his way. But my journey is to try to be aware of that and turn my eyes upon Christ as my precious Cornerstone. Because if he's my cornerstone if I can trust him if my faith is in him. Then that changes the way I live the way I see myself the way I see others it changes the way I circulated church. I don't have to arrive at church and who is going to be fun for me to spend a little time talking with who's going to build up my ego or who's going to be fun to hang out with maybe instead I arrived in about the more security. I haven't priced the war on Isis gets a who looks like they need someone to speak to them. You can change the way I interact with the world instead of going out in the world is just moving about my business. I got things to do and things to get done and get out of my way. If you look like you're going to stall my day instead we can have eyes that say you don't want who who looks overlook. Because my ultimate isn't my schedule my career even my very own family my ultimate my cornerstone my Foundation is Christ. And doing his bidding is the greatest use of my time at any point. Take that step of faith that involves both risk and challenge. And that requires surrender and we're going to we're going to sing hear the worship team is going to sing our closing song and it's a chance for us to to say to Christ. You are my cornerstone. I surrender to you everything my career my finances my family relationships my neighbors my time. Imagine that imagine not thinking about your time to wait. I don't know about you but I think about my time as so it's mine and it's packed and there's no I can't squeeze in nothing. What if you just said? Yeah. He said, it's yours Lord. What is the way you look at your schedule was very different. That's what it means to sing the song to say I surrender all. For those of us who are believers. It's a chance just to reaffirm that is why this path is to trust Jesus completely and surrender it all to him. If you've never made that decision on bite you during the song to give your life to Christ is the greatest exchange ever. You give him your life. He gives you his righteousness and his companionship and his spirit and his leading in your life. So I'll be in the back. If you want to make that decision come I'll be in the back. You can come to me in the back during the song be happy to pray with you about any prayer concerns you have or talk to you about a decision you want to make they'll also be pretty members both in the back and the front if you simply have a prayer need we want to play with you during this time, please stand as we sing Our Song