Too Blessed To Stress

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected] we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media. So be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:25] Speaker B: All right, good morning everybody. And we have so much for which to be thankful. And I am so glad on this weekend we can thank God for the nation that we live in and for the freedoms that we enjoy. And I think it's great that we just give a little shout out, a little praise and a little gratitude to God for our country. He died for the world. But there's some special blessing that's been on our nation because our nation historically has always honored God. In fact, our laws are based on the Judeo Christian ethic. When you look back 250 years ago in our history and if you study that when those 13 colonies separated from Great Britain and adopted our Declaration of Independence, you remember the phrasing of part of that I wanted to share with you. Just to remind you this morning on this weekend where they said we hold these truths to be self evident. These are very obvious things. They're saying that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Those rights don't come from the government. They're guaranteed by the government, but they don't come from the government. Our founders understood that the rights that you and I have, all of us together have collectively and individually, those are God given rights that we have. And then they went on to explain it this way. That is among these there are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And those 56 men that signed that document were wealthy men, very established men, very accomplished men. But when they signed that, they pledged at the latter part of that. They said, we pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. This past week I was looking at the price that those guys paid when they had penned the words of the Declaration of Independence. Five of them were captured and tortured and died. Twelve of those men had their homes sacked, burned or occupied. Two of those men had sons who died fighting in the war. One had two sons who were captured and nine of them had sons or nine of those men died fighting for the freedom of our nation. So let's don't forget the price that was paid for the freedoms that you and I enjoy. Even Today I love the fourth stanza of our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. It says, this great is the power that has made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just and this be our motto in God is our trust. Now, I do believe in the separation of church and state, that is, that we don't have a national church or a federally mandated religion. But the separation of church and state does not mean the separation of God from government. And I think people ought to be involved in government who are Christians. They ought to be salt and light in every branch, in every area of government. And so I am glad that we can support and today we can pray for all of those who lead us as a nation. And we can pray for our country that will continue to be free and that our country will continue to be strong. I want to point out a verse that often on a weekend like this is highlighted because it's a wonderful verse, but it wasn't really written with America in mind. Now, the practical application of it, it does apply to our country, but this verse was written obviously 3,000 years ago. Our nation is celebrating its 250th anniversary. And so long before America was even a thought or even an idea, this verse was penned. And it's in the 33rd Psalm, and we've been in the book of Psalm, and in this 33rd Psalm, this verse 12 is the one I wanted to highlight. It's kind of a focal for what I want to talk to you about. It says this. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. Now, he is referring, of course, to the nation of his people, to Israel. That was what that verse is directed to. It's the interpretation of the verse. But as you know, in the Bible, there are the interpretation of God's Word, and then there are the application of God's Word. When you're looking at the interpretation of a passage, then you look at the setting. Who was he addressing it to? What was the context? What's the panoramic view? So the Bible says concerning God's Word, there's no scripture of any private interpretation, meaning every verse that you read in the Bible has an interpretation. And when it says there's no verse of any private interpretation, it means that you can't lift a verse out of its context and make it say whatever you want it to say. And a lot of people will do that. I've seen people, and I know you have as well, that will support their argument by Lifting some passage out of the Scripture, taking it completely out of context and applying it in a way that it was never intended to be implied. I mean, the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Well, you could say, well, right there, the Bible says you're not supposed to wrestle. I'm against the wrestling. Any kind of wrestling whatsoever. The Bible says wrestle not. Well, holy cow. That's not what it meant by what it said. That's not what it's talking about at all. But you get the point. So the Bible speaks of one interpretation. No Scripture, but private interpretation. However, there are many applications that you can make from a verse. And you say, well, Bill, how do I know if the verse is being properly applied? Well, you look back in Scripture and you ask the question, does the way in which I'm applying this verse, does it contradict, conflict any other passage of Scripture? If it doesn't contradict or conflict any other passage of Scripture, you could take that verse and then apply it. Now, here's where I'm going with Psalm 33:12. It is a blessing that is promised for a nation, though it did not specifically have America in mind. But you can apply that to our country because the principle is the same. The principle is that this nation, whose God is the Lord, any nation that will pursue God, he is saying, is a nation that will be blessed. And I'm just suggesting to your heart that if that's true of a nation, it's true of the people of a nation. Now, let me get right down to where you and I live. In this 33rd Psalm. There are some very practical ways whereby you and I can be greater blessed in the days in which you and I live in and the season in which you and I are living in. And these blessings can be applied to a nation and they can be applied to the people of a nation. So I wanna look just for a little while with you at this 33rd Psalm and I've lifted some important passages out. I hope you'll apply them to your personal life because these are principles that you and I can apply today that will allow our lives to be blessed in a greater way. Number one, he talks about the praise of his people. If you have a Bible, look at Psalm 33. If not, I'll share this with you. Look at the first three verses. Notice he talks about the praise of his people. He says, rejoice in the Lord. Praise the Lord on the instruments. Now, we just did that a minute ago. He said, sing to him a new song. Now, what does that mean? Well, that's just simply saying that a people of a new generation will find a new way in which they can give God praise, a new song. God is doing something new in the lives of people. Don't miss that now. A lot of times we'll sing some old hymns, and I love old hymns. I grew up singing old hymns. But there's nothing wrong with singing a new song. When I was in my old church, the old First Baptist Church, we would try to, from time to time, incorporate a new song into the. Into the worship set. And if you've been a part of an old traditional church, you know, incorporating a new song in an old church goes over like snow in hell. It doesn't always work. And so from time to time, why are we doing this new stuff? I said, well, the Bible encourages us to sing new songs, and so there's nothing wrong with the new song. And then one of my arguments was, have you ever thought about it? Amazing Grace at one point was a new song. Somebody had to introduce Old Rugged Cross. And can you imagine if people had that same mindset in that day? I don't like these new songs. Old Rugged Cross. They're doing that new song again. Here we are with Amazing Grace. For the love of God, we're singing that one again. That's a new song. And I'm just saying, generationally, we all have that in common. We like to gripe about things. And so, you know, somebody complained about it, but here in Scripture, and I'm just chasing this little rabbit to make a point, there is nothing wrong with singing to the Lord a new song. So where do these psalms come from? Where do these songs come from? They come from personal experience. And when somebody writes a song, and we've talked about this, the reason it resonates with other people is because the song was written out of experience. I don't care if it's a secular song or a sacred song. If it connects with your heart and mind, it's because something in that lyric connected with your experience. That's why sometimes you can hear a song on the radio. It'll take you back to when you were dating. It takes you back to some moment in life, maybe the birth of a child. And all of a sudden, that was your song. And when you hear that song on the radio, all of a sudden, it brings back a memory because the writer of the song wrote it from an experience, and. And it happened to connect with your experience. Well, that's the Psalms. And in the Psalms, you've got all of this Emotion. You've got people who are struggling with God. You have people who are pressing into God. You have people who are running from God. You have the psalmist saying, where are you, God? Why are this? Why me? Why now? It's all in the song. They're songs, and they're songs from experience. And he's just saying, sing to me a new song. Share something out of your experience that is praiseworthy. And so we. We see here that God loves when we sing him a new song and play skillfully with a shout of joy. So he opens this song before he ever gets down to the blessing, by saying that God receives the praises of his people. I love this verse. In Psalm 22, verse 3, the Bible says God inhabits. Are you ready? The praises of his people. He inhabits the. Everybody likes praise. I mean, everybody enjoys. Don't you love when somebody says, you do that well, or thank you, we all do. Your child, when you get out of here in a little while, if you find something that they're doing and you praise them, you'll see, all of a sudden, it changes their whole attitude. Praise does something incredible. Try this, ladies. Next time your husband carries the trash to the curb, brag on him. Give him some praise. Go, Hercules. Hercules, look at you. You so strong. You're strong. Look at you. You know what he'll do? He'll look for stuff to carry to the curb. He'll come back and say, all right, baby, I can carry that trash. You got it right here. It's something about praise that just. That affects us in a positive way. And the Bible says God just loves it. He loves it when we slow our roll and we just say, God, I just want to give you some praise. It's one of the ways whereby he's saying that a nation can be blessed, and it's one of the ways he's saying, whereby the people of a nation can be blessed is when we learn to give God praise because he is worthy of our praise. Praise affects us spiritually. It does something to you spiritually when you praise Him. Praise does something for you emotionally. Psychologists have studied that when you say affirmative things and you say positive things, that it not only affects the person that you're speaking those things to, but affects your life as well. So find some reason this week to say to someone you love and someone in your circle, I'm proud of you. You do that. Well, thank you for what you've done for me, and just give them some praise and see for yourself how that will affect their whole Life and their whole attitude and their whole outlook, particularly for that particular day. Now, you might not be in a season where praise comes easy. And I'll. I'll grant it. There's some seasons that you and I are going to go through that are hard seasons. And during those seasons, you say, bill, I'm going through a hard time. Maybe it's financially, maybe it's relationally, maybe it's physically, maybe it's emotionally. And you're in a season right now, and you hear me say that you're going, man, I'm not. I'm not in that place right now. I'm not in that space right now where I can give him praise. Can I give you some free advice? You don't necessarily praise God because the times are good. You just praise him because he's good. You see, if you develop what someone is called, the attitude of gratitude. That's a good phrase. If you really develop the attitude of gratitude, you can be praising God in every season. Again, not because the season you're in this morning is necessarily good, but the season will end. But you give him praise for. Because he's good. And I just don't want you to miss this. When you read this 33rd Psalm, and it opens with this great encouragement and this great admonition to give God praise. It's giving us the secret of how a nation can be blessed and how the people of a nation can be blessed. And is when we are giving him, we're giving him praise. You say, well, what are some things? Help me write some things down that I can praise God for. Well, how about this? Praise him for his presence in your life. Just praise him because he loves you. He knows you. Have you ever thought about the God of Heaven? He knows you by name. In fact, when Jeremiah wrote about it, he said, we're fearfully and wonderfully made. God doesn't make junk. He made you as an individual. He has a specific purpose for your life. He knows you by name. I was at a store last week. I was up in Decatur, and I was in this store, and this older gentleman came over to me, and he goes, good to see you, man. I said, good to see you, too. And then I had that look on his face. You know how you run into people and you know they know you and you know you know them, but you can't quite put it together. And so we're doing that thing. That's why I go, hey, man, or how's it going? You know? And so he says, you don't Know me, do you? Oh, I hate it when they do that. I said, man, your face. Your face. You got a face. Your face. I didn't know that face. And so he gave me his name, and honestly, it still didn't quite connect. And I went, yeah, you know, just. God forgive my hypocrisy right there. I said, well, how's your family doing? Family's great. We're all doing good. I said, you're retired, right? I'm taking a guess because of his age. He goes, yeah, Bill, I've been retired for a long time, you know. And, yeah, I thought, yeah, I'll figure that. I said, were you gonna shoot some firecrackers off this week? You know, just being funny? He goes, no, I may shoot my shotgun, but I'm not gonna shoot any fireworks. And I said, so we had this conversation and I said, well, man, it was great to see you. And then he said this to me. He said, it was great to see you too, Steve. He didn't know me, I didn't know him. But we walked away thinking, I just saw Steve again. And I saw this old dude again. What's my point? You'll never ever have an experience with God where he goes, good to meet with you, Steve. I mean, he knows your name. He knows the things that you need in your life. So, man, if you just need a reason to give him praise, just praise him because of his presence. He's promised never to leave you. He's promised never to forsake you. Someone said, he's the friend that will come into your life. If every other friend walks out, he will not leave you. Listen, there is nothing you could do this morning, nothing you could do this morning to make God love you anymore. And there's nothing you could do this morning to make him love you any less. That's the reason giving praise so many times, our relationships on this earth, they're commercial and transactional. And I'll do this if you do that. And I do that because you do this. And sometimes you have people in your world that are because friends. They're friends because of this or because of that. Sometimes you have relationships and friends, they're friends if this or if that. Provided you do this or provided. And if that goes away, they go away. But he's an in spite of friend. He is with you regardless on whether you're on the mountain or in the valley where you're going through a good time or a hard time. I'm just saying, guys, if you slow your roll long enough you can find a lot of reasons to give him praise. And that's all David was saying. David was saying, I know what it's like to go through hard seasons, and I know what it's like to be blessed incredibly. But I want my nation blessed. And I realize that if God is gonna bless the people of a nation, that he then will bless collectively the nation as a whole. And one of the first steps to being blessed is found in the praise of his people. Here's the second thought. And you see this down in verses nine, I'm sorry, verses four through verses nine. And this has to do with the power of His Word. So David says there's something about the praise of his people that brings about blessing, but there's also something about the power of His Word. Listen to these phrases. And I've just lifted a few phrases from verses 4 to 9. For the Lord of the. I'm sorry. For the Word of the Lord is right. Well, that's right too. The Lord of the Word is right too. But the Word of the Lord is right. It's spot on. His Word is precise. It is right. The Bible talks about the fact that His Word is sharp, it's quick, it's powerful. In Hebrews 4 he talks about all scripture as given by inspiration of God in second Timothy three. And so David is saying his Word is right. By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and all the host of them, the breath by the breath of his mouth. Listen to this. He spoke and it was done. You hear me say from time to time, God stepped from nowhere and stood on nothing and spoke everything into existence. And it all stays there because he tells it too. It's the Genesis account of creation. It's the verse Paul wrote when he said, in him, we live and move and have our being. Look, God gave me life this morning. That's why I'm here. God gave you life. That's why you're here. God gave those watching online life. That's why you're there. Simply because the God of Heaven, all that we need and all that we have, we owe to Him. And you see something about the power of His Word. When you think about our nation, so much of our nation and the founders of our country believed in God's Word. When you study one of the motivations for the pilgrims who came and discovered this country, one of their motivations, they had economic motivations, they had a desire for freedom, but they also desired to honor God's Word. They wanted to be in a place where they weren't forced into a certain type of religion or a certain framework of way they express religion. And one of the things that motivated them was obedience to God's Word. So historically, we're on good footing. And biblically, we're on good footing when we understand and we embrace the power of. Of God's Word. I can tell you this morning that anything God wants you to do, you can find in His Word. In fact, in John 7:17, God talks about Jesus talked about having a will, a plan for every life, and he gave the secret in that verse in the secret. And you've heard me teach this principle is if you have a will to know his will, you will know his will. He doesn't hide the ball. And one of the ways you find the will of God for your life in obedience to his word is you do the things that you know you should do that don't contradict with His Word. And as you do the things you know to do, God will begin to reveal to you things you didn't know to do. Start being obedient in the areas that you know to do. Well, I know it's right to, you know, to pray. I'm gonna pray. I know it's right to read my Bible. I'm gonna do that. I know it's right to share resources and to give and be generous. I'm gonna do that. I know it's right to love my neighbor. I'm supposed to love my neighbor as myself. That was in the great commandment that he gave. So I don't do it perfectly, but I'm gonna do the. I'm do those things. I'm gonna do those things. Right. Those are basics. It's like in football. It's blocking and tackling. It's the basics of the game. It's knowing the fundamentals. And when you start doing the basics of your Christian faith and you're consistent in that, and you do the things you know to do, God starts opening doors and things that you didn't know to do. But he will never give you something you didn't know that you were supposed to do if you're not doing the things that you know you should do. So the principle here is I follow after His Word. In His Word, I find his will. His Word is precise. It's precise. His Word is practical. It can be done. I mean, that's why when you come to church, I'm telling you, man, you ought to come listening for a word from God. And I don't mean to sound all esoterical about that. I mean, literally listen to something that resonates in your heart. Think about being in a huddle and you have a position to play. You're a guard, you're a tackle, you're a tight end, a split end, you're a center, you're a quarterback, you're a running back, you have a position to play. And in that huddle, you're listening for the play. And each of the things a quarterback is giving from the call, from the bench, is giving an assignment to the different players. The linemen are listening for how to block, and the receivers are listening to the routes to run, and the runners are listening for the holes to hit. And all those things are coming from the sideline. And I'm saying, when you come to church, you're listening for your part. Maybe you picked it up in worship. You may have been listening to a worship song, and all of a sudden you think, wow, man, I needed to hear that. Man, that's so good. When Ashley sang that, that something resonated in my heart. When Chima sang that, something resonated in my spirit. Or maybe it's something that I'm teaching. And all of a sudden you're thinking, that's gonna help me this week. And you do what I talked about last week and you mark that down and then you pray that in and then you live that out. James had a big concern. James concern is that we're hearers of the word and we don't do it. And James said, man, don't just hear. Put it. Cause God's word. Listen, folks. God's word is precise. God's word is practical. When we come into this room, we don't come into this room because we're perfect. We come into this room. Cause we know we're not. Some people walk into this room and most of us are broken. We're just broken in different places over different things. Things. And we're coming to church. Cause we need to hear something from God. I had a friend of mine tell me an experience that a member of his family had gone through where he was so broken in his life, just the bottom of his life had fallen out. And he was in such despair. He was in a city far away from home, and he needed to go somewhere. He just felt like, well, you know, I'm just going to find a good church and I'm going to go there. So he went into this church and he sat so broken and so desperate to hear something that would give him some hope and encouragement that would Help him in his life. And he said, man, the worship was good. But when the pastor got up to speak, he just talked about the history of the Canaanites and he talked about the para, you know, the Philistines, and he talked about, you know, these different characters. And it never found practical application. And he walked out of that room, said, well, I know a little more about the Canaanites, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I'm going through. There was never any practical application made. It was a message that hit the head, but it never hit the heart. And people come into this room, they're broken, and they're saying, I need to hear a word from heaven. And listen, the Bible is the most practical book in the world. And a pastor or a pastors do it great disservice when we can take the most practical, practical, relevant book in the world and make it irrelevant because God's word is precise. He has something for you. His word is practical. When you walk out of the room, you ought to walk out contemplating and understanding. I've known pastors and I'll pick on my kind for a minute, but I know some of them who preach to impress, not to express God's heart. They want to impress his people. They want people walking out of the room going, gosh, he's smart. That guy knows a lot. Well, listen, just because a river is muddied doesn't mean it's deep. Just because you don't understand what he's saying doesn't mean he's saying anything. Sometimes we muddy the water because we're trying to impress people and strike. And do you know Jesus? When they examined the teaching of Jesus, do you know he taught on about a seventh grade level? Could Jesus have confounded and confused people? Are you kidding me? He's creator of everything. He could have talked about science. He could have talked about law. He could have talked about physics. He could have talked about any aspect of society in that world and just blown their hat in the creek with how much he knew about it. I can prove it to you. When he was 12, when he separated from his mom and dad and they found him in the temple, remember, he's talking to learned doctors and lawyers, to people of degree people, brilliant people of that day. And the Bible says he confounded them at 12 years old. You know any 12 years old that could confound a doctor or a lawyer? I don't. And I'm just saying my point is, if Jesus wanted to impress people with his brilliance, he could do that. But instead, you know what he did? He put the cookies on the bottom shelf where everybody could reach them. He put the child on his lap, and he said, this is how you come to me. You come like a child. Innocent, open, curious, trusting. What's my point? My point is the purpose of the Word of God is to express his heart. And His Word is precise, and His Word is practical, and His Word is powerful. In Hebrews 4:12, he said he has the ability to discern the thoughts and the intents of the heart. I don't have that ability. I can't discern someone's thoughts or their intents. All right? I'd figure that old joker out in Decatur if I had that ability. I'm just saying, guys, I can look at you and you can look at me, and we can see kind of the facade that we have. But I can't see and you can't see into my heart. I don't have that discernment. That's why you can hear a message sometimes. And one person be encouraged by it, and another person can get some rebuke from it. And two people receive something completely different from the message. Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God takes His Word that is precise and practical and powerful. And if you're listening, he will apply it into your life in the way in which you need it. So you walk out of the room receiving something from God. So let's put this thing together. In this 33rd Psalm, he's saying it's the praise of his people. It's the power of His Word. And then hurriedly, he talks about the Providence, the providence of his plan. Look at verses 10 through verse 17. Let me read just a phrase to you. The Lord brings the council of nations to nothing. The Lord makes the plans of the people of no effect. It's the counsel of the Lord that stands forever. He says, from the place of his dwelling. He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. Verse 15. He fashions their hearts. He considers the works. Did you catch those phrases? He brings. He makes his counsel, his heart, his chosen. He looks, he sees. [00:29:24] Speaker A: He. [00:29:24] Speaker B: He fashions, he considers. What's the point David's making? He's saying God is a providential God. Nothing escapes him. God works. What is Providence? That's kind of Christianese. Here's Providence. Providence comes from two words. Pro video. Pro video. To see ahead. I don't have that ability. You and I see life a frame at a time. A day at a time, a moment at a time. God is providential. He sees The Bible says he's the alpha and the Omega, the beginning, he's the end, and he sees all the little cars in between. He's a providential God. I would apply it to you this way. I'd say God knows right where you are. He knows right what you're going through. He has a plan for you. He didn't just look down in this room or see you at home watching online, or wherever you're watching this from. He didn't just suddenly discover you. He knows where you are. He knows what you're going through. And he's got you, and he's got that. He's a providential God. And so when David is writing saying, this is the nation who be blessed by God. This is the principles of the people of the nation who can be blessed by God. When they first of all, they give him praise, and they second of all, they recognize His Word and respond to it in obedience. And thirdly, they see his providence at work in their life. Here's the fourth one, and we'll close. The fourth one is in verses 18 through verse 22. That's the protection of his presence. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his mercy. He delivers their soul from death. He'll keep them alive in the famine, in the hard times. And then David said, our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help. He's our shield. We've trusted in his holy name. And then he said, let your mercy, o Lord, verse 22, be upon us, just as we hope. Hope in you. Let me give you a beautiful, supportive verse for that one. It's in Isaiah 41, verses 10 through 13. Listen to what Isaiah said. Do not be afraid. I haven't counted it, but someone said, be not afraid. Appears 365 times in the Bible. I'll take their word for it. How many days of the week are there exactly, for every day of the week? You could think about it this way. God says, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I'm with you. I'm protecting you. Nothing can. You're in his hand, and nothing can take you from his hand. Nothing can get to you without going through Him. You're in his hand. In New York, there's a beautiful facility, the Rockefeller Center. And out in front of the Rockefeller center is his massive statue. And this statue depicts Atlas. And Atlas, as you can imagine, was this Greek mythological figure who was supposedly the strongest man in the world. And out in front of the Rockefeller center you have the statue of Atlas. And Atlas is bearing on his shoulders the world. I mean, you can Google it and you can see a, a picture of it. And Atlas is holding the world with all of his muscles straining. And you can see the artist depicts him as he is trying to hold this massive weight of the world on his shoulders. He's Atlas, but he's straining under the weight. But not far from the Rockefeller center is St. Patrick's Cathedral. And if you go from Rockefeller center down to St. Patrick's Cathedral and you step through the doors of that magnificent edifice, what you see is a little statue of this 12 year old Jesus that I spoke of a moment ago. And this little statue of this boy, Jesus is reaching out. And as he reaches out, he has the world in his hand. Now, when you think of the contrast that represents most people that come to a service like this, some of you walk in like this. The weight of the world is on your shoulders. You feel it. You're straining with every ounce you can. You came this morning just to hear something you hope will help you get through your week. When all along you have a savior that's just saying, give it to me, I can carry that. You're carrying something this morning God didn't design you to carry. You're bearing a burden this morning he didn't design you to carry. That's why he said in Peter, cast all your cares upon me. First Peter 5, 7. Because I care for you. Just give that to him, hand it to him, and then when you do that, you'll see. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Blessed are the people of a nation whose God is the Lord. Let's pray. Father. Thank you for your word. Thank you that I can stand as a pastor in freedom in a country that has honored you. And I pray will continue to honor you. So, Lord, as we close the service, we pray for our nation. We pray that our nation will always honor you. We pray for the people of our nation, those who lead us, those who serve in various offices and capacities. We pray for them. You've told us in your word to pray for those in authority. And I pray, Father, that the Christians will be salt and light, that we'll make a difference in our homes and in our communities and in our business, in the life of our church. Thank you, Lord, that our church is absolutely focused on honoring you and helping the hurting. So I pray for our crc. I pray, Father, you'll continue to enable us to meet the needs of people who are hurting and desperately need help. Father, give us the resources we need to do the work you've called us to do and thank you for those who provide so generously each month to make ministry happen. Bless them today. And finally Lord, I pray for anyone in the room who may never trusted you as their Savior that this might be that moment where they humble their heart on this incredible holiday weekend where they say Lord Jesus, I want freedom in my life. I want to know the power of your work within me. So Lord Jesus with everything I know about you I now trust all that I know about me. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. I trust you with all that I have. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.