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(2Chr.36:14-16,19-23;\xa0\xa0 Ps.137:1-6;\xa0\xa0 Eph.2:4-10;\xa0\xa0 Jn.3:14-21)\xa0 \u201cBy the streams of Babylon we sat and wept.\u201d For \u201cpracticing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord\u2019s temple,\u201d the people of God \u201cwere carried captive to Babylon.\u201d\xa0 For all their \u201cinfidelity\u201d they were forced to watch as \u201ctheir enemies burnt the house of God [and] tore down the walls of Jerusalem.\u201d\xa0 And so did their \u201ctongue[s] cleave to [their] palate[s]\u201d in a foreign land; so they \u201chung up [their] harps\u201d; so their \u201cright hand[s] [were] forgotten\u201d\u2026\xa0 They could not sing the praises of the Lord; they could not strum to His glory \u2013 all the works of their hands were stilled.\xa0 They could but weep in desolation. So are we like them in our sins.\xa0 So do our transgressions silence our tongues and make us lame and ineffective.\xa0 So were we dead as these before Christ Jesus came to save us.\xa0 And as the Israelites were called back to the city of peace and entreated to build the Lord\u2019s house there once again, as they found their release from exile by the king of Persia speaking in the name of God\u2026 just as these could enter in once more to the \u201csong of the Lord,\u201d so we now find our freedom from the chains which bound us, and to the Lord\u2019s temple come proclaiming His gracious salvation. No more should we cry, brothers and sisters.\xa0 No more should we sit idly as the streams of this world pass us mockingly by.\xa0 No, now we must come resolutely to the Christ of God, for the word has gone forth to the ends of the earth that all who love Him should come into His light.\xa0 \u201cBy grace [we] have been saved\u201d; by the Lord\u2019s immeasurable kindness we have been redeemed \u2013 in His love we must now sing our song.\xa0 \u201cFor we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance,\u201d and so our work must now be accomplished in Him. \u201cWhoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.\u201d\xa0 And so \u201csaved through faith\u201d we must now bring before Him the offering of our lives.\xa0 There is no longer cause to hide.\xa0 There is no longer need to weep for our sin, to find the oppression of the world and the devil too much to bear.\xa0 No, the gates of Jerusalem are opened once again, and the Lord God has \u201cseated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.\u201d\xa0 Here in this light let us now find our home.\xa0 Here in His presence let us begin to live the Lord\u2019s eternal salvation.\xa0 Our tears of weeping, with our condemnation, have passed. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "A Guitar" from Thoroughfare, seventh album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us leave behind our sinful past and come into the light of your presence. YHWH, we were dead in our sins till you sent your only Son to save us, to bring us life by the grace upon Him.\xa0 Light has indeed come into the world, the light of Christ shining now in our midst.\xa0 Let us come to that light that we might escape the darkness into which we\u2019ve fallen and be raised up to be seated with Him. Jesus has been lifted up for our sakes, that all who believe in Him might have eternal life with you, Father, in Heaven.\xa0 Though our transgressions have been severe, you have mercy upon us still, and call us to faith in your only Son.\xa0 Though we have failed to listen to the prophets you sent to speak in your Name, let us not fail to heed the One in whom your love has come to perfection, the One who shares your own place on high. No more can you love us than by sending us Jesus, and so, no further opportunity will we have to repent and return to you.\xa0 Let us live now in your truth and your light, that our works might be done in you.