Please open your Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 63.

Psalm 63.

Psalm 63.

Oh God, 63.

Oh God, thou art my God, I seek thee.

My soul thirsts for thee, my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is.

So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary, beholding thy power and glory. Because thy

steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise thee.

So I will bless thee as long as I live.

I will lift up my hands and call on thy name. My soul is feasted as with

marrow and fat and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips when I think of thee upon my bed and meditate

on thee in the watches of the night, for thou hast been my help.

And in the shadow of thy wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to thee, thy right hand upholds me, but those who seek to destroy my life shall

go down into the depths of the earth. They shall be given over to the power of the sword.

They shall be pray for Jekles. But the king shall rejoice in God.

All who swear by Him shall glory,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Those of us in leadership at Bethlehem believe that the more sharply you can bring into focus the purpose why this church exists the more strategically

and the more fruitfully and freely you will be able to invest your life in serving that purpose for why we're here.

Or to put it another way, if we members cannot verbalize or articulate or get clear in our minds why we exist as a church, it will be very

hard for us to work together to accomplish what the church is here to do.

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