Each one of us comes into God’s house individually, from different backgrounds, families, situations, experiences, challenges, and joys. But here, in God’s house, something happens that makes us not just a collection of individuals but joined together as one person, one Body. This unity happens because we have been gathered by one Baptism in one faith in one Lord, our God whose greatness has been shown in our hearts and to the world in His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Here our Lord speaks, and we listen. And in the listening, we are moved to repentance and faith, true repentance of heart over our sins and true faith that knows that the Scriptures, the Word of God, are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. May true joy motivate our praise of God here and all our days as God’s people scattered throughout the world.