Finding Comfort in Fellowship in a Crisis of Faith

Hebrews chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. However, we will peek back at 23. Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 10:24 Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

we'll start in verse 23. We'll read through 25, then we'll pray. We'll jump in. Hebrews

is kind of toward the back of your Bible. The author of Hebrews had worked his way up

to making his main point, and that is encouragement to his audience who are being tempted to turn

from their faith in Jesus Christ. And we saw last week in the verses we looked at that

word of encouragement, that they would stand firm, that they would persevere, that they

would not give up. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that in just a second.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering,

Hebrews 10:23

for he who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to

promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings as some habitually

do, but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Let's

pray. Father God, we come to you, dear Lord, and I pray that in these few verses that we

would find encouragement and strength today, dear Lord, that as we come together as a body

of Christ, that we would find encouragement and love, dear Lord, just being together.

I pray, God, that in these few minutes that your Holy Spirit would speak to us, that you

would speak through me, dear Lord, that you would help us to hear the words that we need

to hear, that you would help. Only the words that we need to hear come from my mouth today

and that your Spirit would just let us see and hear your word this morning, God. I pray,

dear Lord, that you would just hide me behind the cross, that you would help me to be able

to preach and teach in a way that brings glory to Jesus Christ in everything that is done.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. What we saw last week in the last verse we

looked at, which is verse 23, is we saw this call to the audience here that they would

not give up in the midst of their trials, in the midst of their persecution, in the

midst of whatever it was that they were going through. The author of Hebrews, as he's been

trying to make the point through the whole book, is do not give up on Jesus Christ. Do

not lose faith in Jesus Christ. For he who promised is faithful. If God has promised

you eternal life and forgiveness of sins, if God has promised to be with you in the

midst of your deepest, darkest days, then God will be with you. God will deliver you.

And even if we suffer in this life, we will spend an eternity with God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, these are the promises of God, so do not give up. Do not give up on your

faith and turn to anything else. Now, maybe this is fair to say that the audience that

he's writing to here were having a crisis of faith. Maybe you've heard that phrase before.

Maybe you've had a crisis of faith before. A crisis of faith is where you have faith

in Jesus Christ. You have faith in the Word of God. You have faith in who God is. You

believe God's Word. You believe what it says. You've trusted in Jesus Christ. And something

occurs in your life that begins to cause you to question who God is. Question the goodness

of God. Question your faith in Jesus Christ. And that is exactly what was going on to the

audience here. These were people who had come to faith in Jesus Christ, but yet for whatever

reason they were being tempted to turn from Jesus Christ. They were on the edge, and some

of them, it sounds like, had already walked away. They had already given up on Jesus Christ.

They had already turned from their faith. And the book of Hebrews is an encouragement

not to turn away from your faith in Jesus Christ. Now, they were going through hardships.

The audience that is being written to here was going through hardships. There was difficult

things that they were going through. There were some trials. There were some difficulties,

maybe even from other Jews, some pressure saying, hey, you need to come back to the

old way. They were really being tempted. They were really being pressured. It appears suffering

in some way. And it was that suffering that was undoubtedly causing them to question the

goodness of God or doubt the goodness of God. And that is what a crisis of faith is. Now,

most of the time, those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ and who have walked with Christ

for some years and who are familiar with the Word of God, most of the time, when things

are going good, there are no crises of faith in our life. When things are going well, we

typically don't question God. We typically don't have a crisis. Sometimes maybe that's

the case. But typically, the real crises of faith come in our life when something bad

happens. That's when the rubber really meets the road. It's easy to serve God. It's easy

to have faith in God. It's easy to worship God when things are going well. But we begin

to have a crisis of faith when things begin not to go so well. When the things that are

occurring in our life don't line up necessarily, at least in our minds, with what it says about

God. And we begin to have difficult seasons in our life. We begin to go through hardships

in our life. We lose somebody that we love that's very close to us. We have some experience

in our life that's dramatic. And when we have those experiences, we say, wait a minute,

I thought God was good. If God is good, then why is this bad thing happening? If God has

promised to watch over those who are His and to take care of them and to protect them,

then why in the world is this tragedy happening to me? And then doubt begins to creep in.

And then we begin to question God. And then we begin to question God's Word. And then

we begin to say, is any of this even true? Is God even real? If this is the God that

I've been reading, if He is real, is He even a God who's worth following? If this is what

He allows His people to go through and to endure? And those moments are when we begin

to have a crisis of faith in our life. Now, we may have been reading through this book

all along and say, well, I'm not going to be like these. I'm not in the same boat as

the Hebrews. I'm not going back to the old sacrificial system. Well, it doesn't matter

what you're going back to. What matters is what you are coming from. And what they were

coming from was faith in Jesus Christ. And what they were going to was leaving that faith

in Jesus Christ. And that's the real difficulty. And that's why we have to be on guard. That's

why we always have to be on guard. And we always have to be in God's Word. And we have

to believe and we have to trust without a shadow of a doubt that God is good. And we

need to be reminded of that. And it's hard for us to believe that sometimes. It is hard

for us to believe that when we see the evils that go on in this world, when we see the

hardships that we face. And some of you may be sitting out there today and you may be,

as I say these words, you may be saying, I don't see how you can say that. You don't

know what I've been through. But I tell you today, because I cannot tell you anything

else, that God is good. And you may say to me after church, but why? But why this? But

why the other? And maybe I can give you an answer that's halfway decent or maybe not.

Maybe I can't give you an answer that's going to satisfy you in any means whatsoever. But

I can tell you this, that God is good. And I can also tell you this, that we do not understand

the ways of God. It is beyond us to comprehend the things that a perfect and loving and good

God does when they don't make sense to us. But God's ways are higher than our ways and

God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So we trust in the Lord with all our heart

and do not rely on our own understanding. Now I say today that God is good knowing full

well that life is hard. I'm not pretending for a second that the tragedies and the hardships

and the things that we face in our life are not difficult and they are not real. And there

are times that it doesn't feel like God is at work and it doesn't feel like God is present.

But I want to tell you today that God is good and God loves you. And that's all I can tell

you. I wish I could tell you, here's why God does this and here's why God does that and

here's why it's all going to be good. But I don't know because I'm not God. I'm just

a guy that's struggling with you, that goes through the hardships and sees the difficulties

and sees the evil and says, why God? Why do you allow this to happen? Why do you allow

good people to suffer? But what we cannot ever allow ourself to do is to question the

goodness of God. Because the moment we begin to question the goodness of God, a crisis

of faith may soon follow. And that's what's going on with the audience here in the Book

of Hebrews and that may be what's going on with you today. But that's why we read these

words. That's why we come on the Sundays we don't even feel like it. When we come when

things are falling apart and we're questioning God, we come because we need to be reminded

that the He who has promised is faithful. That Jesus Christ didn't die on a cross for

no reason, but that He died to accomplish the will of God so that everything could come

together just as it needs to be. And we don't always understand how God is working things

together for the good of those who trust in Him. But all I can tell you today is the truth

of God's word says that He is. And there is nothing else that I can offer you today. And

I can tell you this, there's nothing else the world can offer you today. If you turn

from the faith in Jesus Christ, if you quit trusting in the Word of God, there is nothing

else you can trust in because there is hope only in Jesus Christ. And that's what we saw

last week. We saw that He calls His audience to draw near to God in what? In faith. He

calls them to draw near in faith in the hope that they have in Jesus Christ that He who

has promised is faithful. God is with us today and God cares about us today. And God sent

Jesus Christ to die for us today so that through Jesus Christ we will have the strength to

make it through the days that we can't make it. And even on the days that we have faith

in God, that our faith begins to waver, we are like the man in the New Testament that

says I believe but help my unbelief. And there are days in our life, if we are honest, as

Christians, there are days in our life that we may begin to question and we may begin

to doubt and we may begin to really struggle with our faith when we go through that really

difficult trying hard time. And most of you have been through one of those. You may be

going through one now and if you have not, you will one day. And we need to remember

the Word of God when we go through those difficult times. That it is through our faith that we

find hope in Jesus Christ. And so His audience is really struggling here. And maybe some

of you are really struggling today. They're really struggling. But He gives them some

fantastic advice. He gives them some fantastic advice. And what He tells them is, is to get

together. Y'all need to get together and you don't need to stop getting together. Now,

what we call that is church. And when we do that is on Sunday mornings. But we do it at

other times as well. It doesn't matter when it is. It doesn't matter where it is. But

what the author of Hebrews tells us is that we need not to forsake the gathering of ourselves

together. He says that at the end of verse 24, or no, excuse me, in 25. Not staying away

from our worship meetings as some habitually do. So here we have a group of people whose

faith is hanging in the balance. And He's telling them, look, in the midst of your fight,

in the midst of your struggle, what you don't need to do is avoid being with other Christians.

Avoid fellowshipping with other Christians. You guys need to come together. There are

some who have gotten into the habit, He says, of not gathering together with other Christians.

But what He tells them to do in the midst of their difficult time is you guys need to

continue to get together and worship God. Now it's important for us that we remember that

we need to take a time, that we need to come together, and we need to be with one another

as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. That's where we're going to find our hope. That's

where we're going to find our strength. Now there are days that we wake up Sunday mornings

that we don't feel like coming to church. And if we're honest, there are some of them

Sunday mornings that we just don't come to church. Now I'm not saying that we don't sometimes

have a legitimate reason. I mean, sometimes we're sick. Sometimes there are legitimate

reasons why we don't come. But sometimes we just don't come because we just don't want

to come. And it's real easy to take a Sunday off and to take two Sundays off. And pretty

soon it's real easy to completely get out of the habit of coming together with brothers

and sisters in Christ to worship God, to lift one another up. It's real easy to get out

of that habit. But it's real important for us that we stay in that habit. Now there will

be Christians sometimes that will say, well, I can be a Christian and I don't have to go

to church. Well, that is true. You can certainly be a Christian and you don't have to come

to church. But I would like to thank and I hope for everybody that comes that there's

something that we get from church, that there's some blessing that we receive from church,

that there is some blessing for us to say, God, I'm going to take some time out of my

life and I'm going to come and I'm going to worship you, dear Lord. I'm going to sing

these songs to you, God. I'm going to come and I'm going to sit through Sunday school

and I'm going to listen to your word and I'm going to try to grow in your word. And I'm

going to sit through a sermon, dear Lord. And I want to listen to your word so that

I can grow in your word, God. I want your Holy Spirit to come and to work in my life.

I would like to think that there is some blessing that we receive from coming together and being

in God's house. And maybe you say, I don't like the songs we sing. The Sunday school

teacher don't do a very good job. Half the sermons are too long and don't make no sense.

Even if all of those things are true, I would still like to think that you get a blessing

from being around brothers and sisters in Christ. I'd like to think that when you walk

through that door, as everybody begins to come up to you and begins to hug you and begins

to shake your hand and begins to say, brother, how are you doing? Sister, how are you doing?

It's good to see you. How was your week? I'd like to think that there is some blessing

that we get as brothers and sisters in Christ from being with one another. Now, I'll tell

you this, y'all don't ever do this, and I'm the worst person in the world because I'm

the preacher and I've done this before. But there have been some Sunday mornings that

I just did not feel like coming to church. Now, y'all probably had never done that before.

That I was in a bad mood and I didn't feel like coming. Some days you just not feel it.

Some Sundays you wake up and you're like, praise the Lord, it's a beautiful day. And

some days you're just like, I just don't want to do it. They're going to ask me how I'm

feeling and I've had a horrible week and I'm just going to lie and tell them everything

is great and I just don't feel like it. And they're going to ask me about this and they're

going to ask me about that. And there are some Sundays that we just don't feel like

it. And I've had a couple of those in my life, but I'll tell you this too. I've also had

some of those Sundays where I was like, God, I'm going to do it. And I went and then being

in the presence of God's people and being in the presence of God's word and seeing smiles

on people's faces. I come in with just a bad attitude and I left saying, thank you God.

Thank you for changing my heart when I didn't feel like coming. God, thank you for showing

me your goodness. It's good to be in God's house. And maybe not every Sunday school lesson

is good and maybe not every sermon is good and maybe not every song is good, but maybe

there are some things in church that we're missing. Maybe there are some beautiful moments

that we missed that bring joy to our life. Maybe there's some joy there. Maybe you say,

I get tired of coming. I don't want to come because I ain't getting nothing out of it.

Well, maybe just maybe you're not putting anything into it. Maybe you're coming with

a bad heart. Maybe you just come to church every day and say, well, what can the church

do for me in this way? And what can the church do for me in that way? And how can the church

help me in this way? Maybe we need to change our mindset and say, God, how can I serve

in the church? What can I give to the church? How can I help this church? How can I be involved

in these ministries? How can I be involved in this community? How can I be there to love

all my brothers and sisters in Christ and put them a card in the mail and pick up the

phone and check on them and drop by and see how they're doing and ask them how they're

doing and tell them I love them and tell them that I'm praying for them. Maybe as much as

we get out of church, maybe we need to be putting that much back into church. Maybe

we need to say, God, I'm not feeling it today, but God, help me to see your joy and help

me to see your grace and help me to see your love and help me, God, in some way of being

here with these brothers and sisters in Christ. Help me to find you in some way and see some

way that I can help them. Let me tell you a good example of joy, of just a little joy

that I saw in church last Sunday. Last Sunday, we had the Lord's Supper after the church

was over and everybody begins to walk up. And I'll tell you something that was just

beautiful. I was standing here and I had my head down. I was praying. I kind of looked

up and there I saw this young lady, little girl, that just had gotten baptized a few

weeks ago. And for the first time in her life, she was partaking of the Lord's Supper with

her dad right there by her side. And I said, thank you, God. What a beautiful, what a beautiful

thing to see. What a beautiful joy to see that. And maybe there are things like that

that we can see around our church all the time if we just look. Maybe on those days

where we say, I just don't feel like coming. Maybe on those days where the sermon wasn't

that good. Maybe just maybe you saw a brother and sister in Christ and they really need

you. Maybe they're suffering and they're in pain and maybe you just go home and say, God,

I'm not doing good, but I pray for that brother and sister in Christ. Regardless of how I

feel today, dear Lord, regardless of what my heart is like, God, I pray for them because

they need you. I pray for their family. I pray for their situation. And do you know

that it almost never fails in my life that when things are just rotten and my heart is

just rotten and it's not in the right place, that when I begin to pray and begin to pray

for other people, it's the most beautiful thing in the world, how God begins to just

kind of deal with us. Maybe you've experienced that. But there's a lot of benefit that we

get when we come together as brothers and sisters in Christ. There's a lot of benefit

that we get as we try to grow in the word together, as we try to lift one another up,

as we praise God for the work that he does in this church and the people in this church

and how he uses us and how he blesses us. So what does the author of Hebrews tell his

audience? He says, look, you guys are struggling, but what you don't need to do in the midst

of your struggle is quit coming together because there is beauty in the body of Christ. It's

a crazy thing. When we need to hear God's word most, when we need to be around other

brothers and sisters in Christ the most, oftentimes those are the times that we don't want to

come to church the most. We don't feel like it. We don't want to do it. We don't be around

the people. But when we need it the most, it's the time we don't want to come the most.

But those are the times that we got to make the effort, that we got to say, okay, God,

I don't feel like coming. I don't understand your word. I'm questioning God, maybe some

things that are going on. I don't want to question you, God, but I'm struggling. So

God, let me come together with brothers and sisters in Christ so that I can continue to

seek you and to grow in you. And if we're having struggles in our faith, if we're having

struggles in our belief, if we're having struggles in our life, then we need not to forsake the

assembling of ourselves together. And that's what the author of Hebrews tells his audience.

And that's good instruction for us today. But what did you say before that in verse

24? And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works. Isn't

that a beautiful thing? And let us be concerned about one another. Let me ask you today, are

you concerned about other people in your life? Now, the obvious answers to that question

should be yes. But if we're honest, maybe it's not. We get pretty concerned about our

own life. We get pretty concerned about what we're going through and our jobs and our family

and our troubles. And oftentimes, it's easy for us to fall into that trap that we become

so concerned with the things that we have going on that there might be a brother and

sister in Christ who has a need and we totally miss it because we're too concerned about

ourselves. But the call of Christianity is to consider others as more important than

yourself. Philippians chapter two tells us that. That's one thing that's so important

for us as a body of Christ, that we never become a people who are selfish, but that

we are a people who are all about serving one another. That we are a people who consider

others as more important than ourselves. Maybe there are some needs around you today. Maybe

there are some that you've overlooked. It's okay. Ask God to help you to see them. We

don't always see those things. Sometimes we do get caught up in ourselves and we get so

caught up in what we're doing that we kind of miss the things that are around us. But

we need to pray to God and say, God, help me to see ways that I can help those brothers

and sisters in Christ around me who are part of this body. God, help me to help them. That

we can lift one another up. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Let us

lift one another up in love and in good works. Now, we've already seen here last week, we

saw the mention of faith. We saw the mention of hope. Here we see a mention of love. Sometimes

you see these three things together. The most common place you probably recognize that is

from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13. All that remains is faith, hope, and love. But

1 Corinthians 13:13

the greatest of these is love. These are the things that are crucial to us as Christians.

That we have faith, that we have hope, and that we have love for one another. That we

love one another. That we promote love for one another. That we make sure that everything

we do is building somebody up and not tearing them down. It's important for us to do that

as brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't want to fall into the trap to begin to talk

about other brothers and sisters in Christ in this church. To begin to cause divisions

in this church. That's not promoting love. That's promoting hatred, bitterness, anger.

That's not what we want to promote. Too many times in churches, that's what's promoted.

There's this click and there's that click. This one talks about that one and that one

talks about the other one. People are in real need and we're too busy arguing about stupid

little things that don't matter. Because we don't consider others as more important than

ourselves. We're not promoting good works. We're not promoting love. We need to promote

love for one another and we need to promote good works. The works that are going to be

for the kingdom of God. That's why we come together as a body of Christ. It's to promote

the kingdom of God. It's to serve God in everything that we do. We need to be reminded of that.

Sometimes God blesses us and he's good with ministries that we do or people that are reached

or whatever it is. We thank God that we can do that but we should never seek to do that

for a pat on the back. We should never seek to do it so we can tell everybody else in

the community, all the other churches, well you know here's what we did. Oh well that's

good that you all did that but we did twice as many shoe boxes as you all. Praise the

Lord that's precious what you all did. We should never fall into that trap of thinking

that we've done more or never get discouraged because another church does more than us and

whatever it is. We're called to do what we can do. What God has placed on us. What God

has given us the ability to do. And there's no amount that's too little or no amount that's

too much because we need to do it all for the glory of God. We don't want to fall into

the trap of promoting ourselves but we want to come together so that we can promote love

amongst one another and good works for the glory of God. He finishes here at the end

of this passage in verse 25, not staying away from our worship meetings as some habitually

do but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Encouraging

one another. Do we do a good job of that? Do you do a good job of encouraging people?

Maybe you do I don't know. But if you don't you need to try to. You need to try to say

an encouraging word. Now here is what the easiest thing in the world to do is. It's

easy to say a discouraging word. That doesn't take no trouble at all to find something negative

to say. But what we need to try to do is find an encouraging word. Try to find something

positive to say. Now if you want negativity you walk out into the world you turn on the

news you will be bombarded with negativity. But in the body of Christ we need to find

some peace and some rest. We need to find some encouragement. If you can't find any

peace and encouragement and love in the body of Christ then we're doomed because you're

not going to find it outside of the body of Christ. So when we come together we need to

come together as men and women as children of God who encourage one another. Encourage

one another when you know somebody is down and struggling and wanting to give up. We

need to be those who encourage one another. We need to be those when our brother and sister

in Christ is not here to say I missed you. To call and to check on them and just to encourage

them and to pray for them. This is what builds the body of Christ. This is what strengthens

our faith. So when those times of adversity come we do not have a crisis of faith. We

do not turn from Jesus Christ but that we cling to Jesus Christ and through the help

of our brothers and sisters in Christ around us we grow. We strengthen ourselves. But the

worst thing we could possibly do in the midst of hard times is to separate ourselves. It's

the worst thing we could possibly do. In our worst times often we want to be alone. We

don't want to be around anybody else. But when we're alone we're an easy target. You

ever watch those nature shows? You see all these animals. They travel in packs. Sometimes

you see the lions. They're trying to get one. They don't go after the strongest ones. They

don't go after the whole pack. They kind of circle the pack. They wait until they can

find one who's maybe weak and one who's smaller and they wait to get it along from the rest

of the pack. Why? Because it's an easy target. But there is safety and security in the presence

of God in brothers and sisters in Christ. But the moment we get out from the pack, the

moment our sin, the moment our doubt begins to draw us away, we become an easy target

for the devil who is like a roaring lion looking for one who'd devour and he will devour us

if we are not careful. So we need to be a body of brothers and sisters in Christ who

seek God, who come together, who love one another, who promote love and good works,

who considers others as more important than ourselves, and who are ready for the days

of trouble when they come. When will they come? I don't know. I guarantee you there's

days of trouble that are going to come in your life. I don't know what way they'll take

place but they'll come. He says here at the end of this verse, and all the more as you

see the day drawing near. I don't know what day he's talking about there. About half

your translations are going to have that capitalized. Some interpreters believe that being the day

of the Lord, the return of Christ. Others just see that as a day of difficulty that's

approaching in the context, a day that might be coming for the audience that's here. I

don't know. We need to be prepared for all those days. We need to be prepared for the

day that Jesus Christ will return, but until he returns, we need to be prepared for the

difficult days that are undoubtedly going to come in your life. There are going to be

seasons of pain. There are going to be seasons of heartache. There are going to be seasons

of hardship. There's going to be seasons of death. There are going to be hard times in

your life and there are going to be times probably for every one of us if it's not already

been that our faith is shaken. And on those days we need to seek God with all of our heart

and do not rely on our own understanding. We need to come together with brothers and

sisters in Christ. We need to be in the word of God. We need to encourage one another and

we do not need to forsake the assembling of ourselves together because there should be

power and love and grace and beauty and joy and peace in the body of Christ. I pray that

as the body of Christ that we exhibit those qualities, that we are there for one another,

that we love one another, and that all we do, we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ. All

we do, we do it for the glory of God. Maybe there are some of you today and you're having

a crisis of faith and you're really struggling. I want to pray for you today. If you want

to come down, I'll pray for you later. You want to pray where you are, pray where you

are. You want to come down and kneel as we have this time of invitation. But if God is

dealing with you today and you're struggling, then you keep struggling with God, but do

not give up on God. Do not turn away from God because there is no one else that we can

turn to. Maybe you know somebody that's struggling today. Maybe somebody in this church. Maybe

somebody in your family. Reach out to them. Pray for them. Encourage them. Let them know

that you love them and that God loves them because it's that strength of God. It's this

blessing of community that God gives us and what a blessing it is that God doesn't send

us out on our own to make it through this world and it struggles, but God brings all

of us here together just as he has today so that we can grow in his word, so that we can

seek him, and so that we can encourage one another. Let us be found faithful to do that

today. Father God, we come to you. We thank you for your good word. I pray, God, that

if there is one who is struggling today that you would help them, that you'd meet them

in their struggle, dear Lord. You know that life is hard. You know that we are weak, and

so we need your help, dear Lord. Maybe it is true of some of us in here today that we

believe, but dear Lord, we need you to help our unbelief. God, I wish I knew all the answers

to all the questions, dear Lord, but I don't know all the answers to all the questions

as to why you do the things you do and why you allow things that you allow, but dear

Lord, I do believe that you are good and I pray that you would help us never to forget

that. It's easy to say that you're good. It's easy to trust you without question when

times are good, but dear Lord, I know that when times are hard, that's when it really,

really gets serious. So God, I pray that even if we think we are ready to stand in the midst

of hardships in life, that you really help us to be ready, that you help our hearts to

be strengthened, dear Lord, that when those times come and those days of difficulty come,

that we would not give up on you, that we would continue to stand firm in you, dear

Lord, that we continue to trust in the cross of Jesus Christ, that our faith would not

waver, that our hope would continue to be strong, and that our love for you would grow,

that our love for one another would grow, dear Lord. I pray, God, that you would help

us to be a body of Christ that is continually gathered for your glory, that we come together,

dear Lord, to hear from you, to learn your word, to grow in you, that we come together,

dear Lord, to help one another. Maybe there are some today that just, they just wasn't

feeling it when they came, dear Lord. Maybe they're still not feeling it. Maybe they just,

maybe they're just struggling. I pray, God, that you would help them not to leave without

experiencing your presence today. I pray, God, that you'd give them some peace and some

joy and some comfort. I pray, God, that you just let them receive a blessing from being

here, dear Lord. If it's nothing else, a blessing of a hug from a brother and sister in Christ,

or an encouraging word, or maybe your word that we read today, whatever it is, God, I

pray that we would all leave here today saying that we have received a blessing by being

able to gather together here to worship you. God, maybe there are some here today and they

do not know Jesus Christ. I pray today that they would. I pray that they would repent

of their sins, God, that they would ask you to forgive them, that they would quit living

for themselves and they would live for Jesus Christ. God, I pray that if any made that

decision today that they would come forward here in a moment in this time of invitation,

dear Lord, that we can celebrate. God, maybe there are some today that are just struggling

and they're just right in the midst of it, dear Lord. It's serious, God, and I pray that

you just comfort them and strengthen them. If they need prayer, I encourage them to come

forward, dear Lord, so that I can pray for them so that this body, these brothers and

sisters in Christ, as they see there's a need that they can begin to pray, God. But I pray,

God, that you would work in our midst today, that your Holy Spirit would be among us today,

that we would seek you today, that we would find you today, that our faith would be stronger

today when we leave than it was when we came. Help us to be ready for whatever is before

us, dear Lord. No matter what hardships and difficulties we may face, dear Lord, I pray

that you give us the strength to stand firm in our faith. And I ask these things in Jesus'

name, amen.