Multiply Through Being Faithful Amid Faithlessness | September 6, 2026

Ishmael LaBiosa: You know, I didn't have this in my notes to tell, ⁓ but at the nine thirty service the Lord made it clear to me that He wanted me to say a few things in regard to both our Hispanic ministry and Honduras. it'd be nice. I s I do sit in my office and I pray and I study, ⁓ but sometimes God the Holy Spirit gives it to you at the last minute, which I can accept. But I don't always appreciate ⁓ you know, at the fullest level, because I know if it's not in the script, only the Lord knows what I will say up here behind this ⁓ podium. Let me talk first of all about the Lord's faithfulness to us in our Hispanic ministry. We just celebrated seven years, and you probably don't know the backstory on this, but let me give you a little backstory. It really is all about how God is working. Not through big programs, but person to person laying on people's hearts and doing particular things. About fifteen years ago, the Baptist churches in Appomattox pulled together in an attempt to reach the Hispanics in Appomattox. And I was part of that. The Appomattox Baptist Association said we want to reach the Hispanics in our area. We pulled resources together and Hired a Hispanic minister. The bottom line is it just didn't materialize. the Hispanic minister worked and worked and worked and worked and worked, and I watched him work, and he just basically said, not the right time, not the right place. And so I was a part of that. And so when just a few years after that, David Tolls comes up to me and says We ought to start a Hispanic ministry at Liberty Baptist. And I s and I thought in my mind, David, all the churches tried to start a Hispanic ministry and it didn't materialize. He said, Well, I think what the Lord wants me to do. Now, one of the things you'll know about me, for good or bad, if you have something burned in your heart you need to do, if it's not against the Bible, I'm gonna give you room to do it. And that has been my style. The whole time here. And so I said, David, it's yours to do, sink or swim, go for it. And I remember looking in the fellowship hall one week, and there was a reasonable group ⁓ in the Hispanic ministry. And I thought, well, I wonder what the Lord's doing here and who is he sending? Well, I w tried to get to know some of the folks. I speak English, they speak Spanish, that creates a bit of a problem. ⁓ but we worked through it. And let me just tell you what the Lord was doing. I began to ask those that the Lord brought to our Hispanic ministry, where are you from? Guess where ninety percent of them were from? Honduras. And not only that, they said we put up photos from our Honduran mission trip, and some of them were quoting our Posting on Facebook in the reply, that's where I grew up. That's the grocery store I went to. And so it was almost like, not almost like, it was like God saw our faithfulness, Liberty's faithfulness, to go to Honduras. And when a church started here, God sent Honduras to us. That's the story that the Lord writes. Then David, our former Hispanic, he's our emeritus pastor now, we thought, well. We need another pastor in our Hispanic ministry, and ⁓ w we had no leads. Finding pastors at all is hard. Finding an Hispanic pastor is almost impossible, especially to come to Appomattox. And little did we know that Darrio Gonzalez from El Salvador has been a missionary literally around the world. He was last in Romania, but his assignment you saw Dario up here, he's impressive to me. ⁓ I told him, I think you can preach in English. He goes, ⁓ no, his English sounded good enough to me. But ⁓ I'll have a little chat with him after this about that. ⁓ nevertheless, ⁓ he was in Romania and his last assignment was the war was breaking out in Ukraine. And he was literally going to the Ukraine border, picking up people and bringing them to safety and feeding them, and basically it got awfully dangerous, and they said, Come back home. Now Dorrio said, Why? You know, I'm in the front lines of ministry. Why would the Lord put me here? And it was all right at the same time. We needed Hispanic pastor. And ⁓ not only that, one of the limitations I have when I go to Honduras, ⁓ I'm not a great builder. I can throw a hammer if I need to, but you know, don't put me in a cement truck. Who knows what will you get? Probably some type of cement art, not a sidewalk. ⁓ I mean I'll do my best. I don't mind working. ⁓ and so I've wanted to talk to the Hispanic pastors, and I have. You saw Raul or Relito, ⁓ but Darillo will go this year and he will help train some of the pastors. The Lord's working all of that out. Now, I didn't get permission for all of this, but Danny and I are good enough friends. I know the other story about Honduras. So long ago so that's how God worked out Honduras. That's none none of me. That's all of God. It's not strategic. It's just God said, I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do when I'm gonna do it. And so our mission in Honduras, how did that work out? Well, God called a man long ago to a church in Drake's branch. His name was Tom Kennedy. Now, Tom Kennedy is taller than I am. So if you've been to Honduras, if you're over five foot ten, you stand out. Tom Kennedy is was was much is taller than I am. And God bless anybody taller than I am. It is not an enjoyable existence because nothing works. ⁓ you know, the pants are too short, the shoes don't fit. It's not fun, okay? If you want to be taller, think about it. ⁓ plane rides, car rides are all awful. Okay? I mean, really, it's just a miserable experience all the way around. ⁓ I think it's a joke that we're named small because we're all tall. It's a weird thing. ⁓ I have an uncle who's six eight, and my dad had an uncle Henry who was around seven foot. So it's a joke. It's gotta be a joke. That's not the point. See, I don't have the script. And help me. You see, the Lord needs to write it, write it down for me. Tom Kennedy was called to Drake's Branch Baptist Church. Drake's Branch Baptist Church is about 30 or so minutes down the road. It is not a metropolitan area, okay? It is one little road. And I talked to Tom, heard his story. He said when he would step outside on Drake's ⁓ at Drake's Branch Baptist Church on Sunday mornings, when the church bells rang, it was deafening to him. He said he thought with this many churches in this small of a place, the gospel needs to go around the world and God could likely use me somewhere else where the gospel is less preached. Well, God begins to work in Tom's heart as he is at Drake's Branch Baptist Church, but he's also getting a doctorate of ministry right at the same time. He told me all of this himself. And I asked him what he a doctorate of ministry is a doctorate degree, ⁓ From a seminary where you try to solve a ministry problem. Nevertheless, one of the problems that Tom saw in Drake's branch were a lot of the men struggled with alcohol. They were drunks. And so he he wrote his dissertation that ⁓ he wanted to implement this. He said he didn't have the resources to minister to all the men with all the alcohol problems, but the local lay A, Alcoholics Anonymous, met in the community. And he felt like if he could just move AA inside the church building, that it would change the complexion of it, that it would put the men in the building so that he could directly minister to them and offer them something that they did not have. Well, nevertheless, one of the men who comes to that AA program is a man by the name of Robert Napier, who was a functional alcoholic. And he kind of came to the end of himself in that program. ⁓ Under the ministry of Tom Kennedy. Tom was right. By having a recovery ministry under the steeple of a church, it not only got you off of drugs, it got you on to Jesus. And that's what happened. He wasn't on drugs. It got you off of alcohol. Robert wasn't on drugs. He's dead now. He can't refute me. But he was not a drunk. He was not on drugs. He was an alcoholic. Nevertheless, ⁓ he he got on to Jesus. And about that same time, Tom says. I feel condo called to Honduras. Now, Tom was a master mentor. Because some pastors come to build a congregation. Tom saw it as his responsibility to build a missions movement. He had an excellent idea. I just need to tell you about all of this, and I'm gonna preach my sermon, but this is part of the sermon. The Lord has done this in our place with these people. That that brings it to this day. So Tom said, This is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go To Honduras and I'm gonna set up what is a a portable chapel. It's like four walls and a top and a steeple. And he says, I'm gonna go to a place, I'm gonna set up this portable chapel, and I'm gonna preach the gospel there. Well, Tom was a force of nature because he's like six five. He's like one big gringo in a world of Hondurans, okay? And ⁓ gringo is what they call you. You know, if you go to Honduras, they'll call you a gringo. They call me a gringo at least. Big gringo. Yeah, hello, that's who I am. No problem. Okay? But Tom, Tom sets these chapels up, ⁓ preaches the gospel, and people attend this portable chapel. Well, Tom is immediately pouring into identifying pastors, identifying people. This isn't his to to to keep, it's his to pass on. Well, then he says the church is of a reasonable size. In Honduras, he says we now need to build a physical structure around the portable chapel. Well, Robert, who had been saved and got rid of alcohol, said, I'll come help you. And so he starts building the blocks around the portable chapel. And then Tom literally takes the portable chapel, he collapses it once the building is built, moves the portable chapel, says, Well, you guys have your building now, let's go. And he sets the portable chapel up and did that. I think Tom did that somewhat like 30 times. Unbelievable. I mean he just kept doing this, kept doing this, kept doing this, kept doing this. Well, there's another story that's happening in the background because Danny's a fisherman. Anybody who's been around Liberty knows Danny's a fisherman. He's a he's an excellent fisherman. ⁓ he's teaching James how to be a fisherman. Almost so much I'm afraid James is gonna get the fishing bug, and then that's gonna be another problem for Rusty, you know. Because that means then Rusty, whether he's gonna be a fisherman or not, will be a fisherman because James is a fisherman. You you feel me on this one? Okay, so now watch out th no, no, no, this story is gonna get interesting now. Danny drives up and down to Clarksville, Bugs Island, and this story won't make sense for a moment, but he would stop at a convenience store there, and there was a lady working there, and well, the lady wasn't well taken care of by her husband, bottom line. Wasn't well taken care of. And and ⁓ and ⁓ and Danny noticed that and almost began to think You know, if ever meet this guy, whoever this guy is, I'll probably have a thing or two to say to him about the way he's treating his wife. Because he would drive up and stop at the same convenience store. Well, I I don't know where Danny I'm sorry, I don't I I don't have all this worked out perfectly. Huh? ⁓ yeah, yeah, I've talked to it enough. Okay. ⁓ Danny also had an aud. She was a missionary in Africa. Actually, over at the local Appomattox Baptist Association to this day. There is a like a mum like artifacts from her mission in Africa. I mean, she gave her whole life and died of lung cancer, I believe, because she would ride on bus where Africans would smoke. She didn't smoke, but inhaling it, it killed her. Literally, the mission killed her. Okay? That exposure. And this is where we just don't know what the Lord's gonna do. Danny wasn't at this point like a raging missionary. But Even in our death, the Apostle Paul's going to write from his deathbed. Even in his death, Danny's on Hazel dies. And she dies in so much faith. And basically, as she's dying, has one of those moments. I've been here for there's this has happened more than a few times with me. There are some saints when they die, they're just like, pray me out rusted because Jesus is coming. I mean it's a it it'll send chills from the top of your head to the soles of your feet if you've ever experienced it. I mean some people it's like death is coming for ⁓ and they're like, Well, this is wonderful. Let's just get going with it. Well, Danny experiences that with Aunt Hazel. It changes him. He says, I need to through a series of events, I need to get involved in missions. I need to be like Aunt Hazel. Now Aunt Hazel's dead. So he decides I'm going to go to a meeting. There's a mission going on in Honduras, there's a mission to Honduras, there's a meeting at Drake's Branch Baptist Church. Well, he goes to the meeting, he's ready to get going. So the guy stands up who is going to lead the trip to Honduras. And guess who that guy is? The husband of the wife who was in that convenience store. And that's a problem. Because now Danny says we're gonna Robert, me and you gonna have to have a little talk in the back room, because I've been driving down here fishing and you ain't been treating your wife right, and now you're up here talking about missions. And Robert confesses I was a drunk. I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. I'm changed, and now I'm going on the mission. These two guys who apart from Jesus would have probably had a conflict. partnered together in mission for twenty years. And Danny and Linda led that. Look how the Lord put all that together. That's not a first century story. It's a 21st century story. That's us. And notice today, Danny's been doing this and Linda, by the way I shouldn't not mention Linda. Linda's been the driving force behind it. I I I see what's going on here. ⁓ that now the baton is being passed to Steve and Melody. ⁓ Melanie Rhodes, and only the Lord knows who he's going to use next. I just want to say this is real ministry. This is real life. There's a Hispanic ministry in our church and there's a mission in Honduras, not because Rusty's got clever plans, but because the God who wants the gospel to go around the world, puts things together, changes people's hearts, overrides people's desires. And and moves his plan forward. I just want you to hear that today, and I want you to hear this text today, because I'm I'm concerned that sometimes, you know, all of this is clear now that we s that I stand from where I stand to see it all, but in the midst of it, none of this was clear. And there have been a lot of people in all of these areas that aren't as faithful as they once were. There were people that we thought we'd pass it on to that the bomb b baton got dropped. And here's my singular point that I want to press home today, that the Apostle Paul presses home today in Second Timothy chapter one, verse thirteen through eighteen. Here's the big idea, and then I'm gonna give you three supporting ideas and I'm gonna be done. It's Labor Day. That multiplication is not without a great deal of messiness. That you give and you try and you mentor and you work, and some get it and some don't, and some get it for a while and quit, and others don't get it at all, and that is not a sign that it's not working, it's just the process. The apostle Paul today names names. He says, This person and this person, they did this, and this person did that. And honestly, the mission The powerful mission of the gospel that will change the world, Christianity, it's main missionary. The Apostle Paul is in a Roman prison talking about all the people who've let him down. And I just want to say even though a lot of people let Paul down, until his literal last dying breath is giving and giving and teaching and instructing to the final moments. And my Concern is after some of us try one time to mentor somebody and it doesn't exactly turn out like we want it to, you'll say, I'm just gonna retreat to the comfort of my house and not deal with this anymore. Well, you have the prerogative to do that, but that's not the example of the Bible. If you have your Bible, Second Timothy chapter one thirteen through eighteen, I'll give you three quick ideas on these relatively short verses. The first big idea to multiply, we must hold and guard faithful Christian teaching, especially when others deny it. Verse thirteen, which I read last week, but I want to read two other verses that give it greater context. Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard through the Holy Spirit who lives in us that good thing entrusted to you. Verse seventeen of chapter two, which sets more context. Paul actually named some of the people in Ephesus, who he may have known that he potentially poured into, and they decided not to stay with the program. It says, and their word will spread like gangrene, among whom are Hymeneus and Philetus. They have deviated from the true saying that the resurrection has already taken place and are overturning the faith of some. And then Paul mentions one more name. In chapter 4, verse 14: Alexander the coppersmith. did great harm to me, the Lord will repay him according to his works. Watch out for him yourself, because he strongly opposed our words. You know the gospel has to be preached. Christian truth has to be taught for every successive generation. We cannot assume anybody knows anything. You have to restate the most basic things over and over and over again. Because we are here a short time. We have a short moment And the next generation is coming, the past generation is moving out, and honestly we have to do exactly what Paul says, hold and guard the teaching. We must be clear that we're humans made in the image of God, we're sinners, that Jesus has come to save us, that his his death is sufficient to cover our sins, he's risen from the dead, he'll come again. All of those truths must be stated and stated and stated again and again. Because if they're not, then the church and the culture falls into error and confusion. And honestly, error and confusion seem to be about all we fall into these days. Notice Paul has to deal with problems in his own days. He names two guys, Hymeneus and ⁓ Hymeneus and Philetus. Interestingly enough, you may not know this, Paul ministered in his three missionary journeys a collective of about three years in Ephesus. So Paul is writing to Timothy, and Timothy is going to Ephesus. Okay? And so Paul is not unaware of the people that are there because he spent almost three years there when he established the leadership in the church of Ephesus. He prays with the Ephesian elders in the book of Acts. I mean, he knows the folks, and he's pointing out to Timothy: hey, look, some there are already in the Ephesian church denying what I said. There was an early. ⁓ false teaching in the church, and here it was. May not make a lot of sense to you. It said that the body was unimportant, all that matters was the soul. You want to be spiritual, focus on the soul, not the body. And so what they were saying is that a physical resurrection wasn't all that important. All that was important is a spiritual resurrection. And so they denied the physical resurrection of Jesus and said, ⁓ all we need is a spiritual resurrection, and don't worry about it. Now, I actually have a little bit of a concern here, and I'll vo vocalize it right now. I am too much of a man of integrity to do this, but I thought about it. Okay? And let me tell you what I've thought. I thought about just saying something on Sunday morning that is about as in left field as it could be. Okay? I mean a really good heresy. I mean one that is so wrong, it's been condemned by everybody. And just see if you notice, you know? And this is my concern about how it would go. I think most one or two of you would meet over there in the hallway. And you go, Did that sound right to you today? You go, no, it didn't sound exactly right to me. I don't think you probably meant what he said he said, but he said it. Okay, let's go to lunch. You know, that's that's I mean, I think that's about the way it would go. Now, that is not keeping and guarding the truth. And so I'm too much a man of integrity to do that, but boy, I wish I could stress test this congregation just to see what you would go for, okay? Because it is not just my responsibility to hold fast to Christian teaching. It's your responsibility. It's the church collective. And I do believe in what we call the priesthood of the believer that you got a Bible and a brain and the Holy Spirit and you can spot a fake. And and that's your responsibility. And Paul says, Look, Hymeneus and Philetus are wrong. They didn't just have a little they're wrong. And Timothy, when you get there, you ought to say that's wrong. That takes some doing. And then notice. You have Alexander that Paul names here in the text. They're not de Alexander's not deviating from the truth. Alexander doesn't like Christianity. Honestly, when Paul went to Ephesus, he got drugged into the theater and nearly mobbed because when he preached the gospel, so many people came to faith that it disrupted the local economy. And you can read all of that in the book of Acts. And so Alexander opposed him. And now Paul's sending Timothy there, and he's going to oppose him too. What am I saying? This is not mentorship without difficulty. This is not mentorship without problems. This is not mentorship without opposition. And sometimes I think we think, ⁓ we're just gonna we're just gonna go have coffee and I'm gonna talk, and the person's gonna sit there and go like this, and they're gonna do everything I tell them to do. Or I'm going to have a mentor and they're going to be really wonderful. And if all of that doesn't work out, you're out. But that's not how multiplication happens. Multiplication is messy, and you just keep tenacious at it. I want to show you this second idea ⁓ that is seen in verse 15. To multiply, we must be aware of the real risk of desertion by others when ministry becomes costly. Verse 15: this you know, all those in Asia have turned away from me and Including Phigellus and Hermogenes. Now notice, I'm not sure that Phigellus and Hermogenes have actually rejected the gospel, but guess who they've rejected? Paul. Because he's gotten too complicated. Paul's in prison. Paul is a convict. Paul's on the run. To be associated with Paul is to be a bit of a problem. And so some people said, you know, I was okay with you when you were Christianity light, but now that you're Christianity heavy, I'm out. And Fygellus and Hermogenes are not the case. Do you know what Paul is not doing right now? He's not saying Timothy I am so overcome in church hurt. Look at all these people who've hurt me. Can you come and ⁓ we have a little grief group about that? I'm not saying that being hurt's not real. I'm not saying that it's not painful. But if you're gonna pass it on, you're gonna have to work through difficulty, work through rejection, work through difficulty, you're gonna have people who are gonna disappoint you. And that's part of the multiplication process. And if you're not ready for that, you'll quit before you get started. Now I want to end on this optimistic note because Paul wants to note not only one person, he wants to note a household. And today this is a glowing example of what we can be. You know, I I am encouraged by your presence every Sunday. You could do otherwise, you choose to be here. There are some of you, however, I am really encouraged by your presence. And here's the reason why. We have history. I mean, you've been here when things were tough, you've been here where things were good. You've been here when things were easy. You've been here where things were hard. And Paul has a similar sentiment right now. And honestly, don't underestimate being this person in somebody's life. Notice this third big idea to multiply. We should not underestimate the encouragement that can be offered by faithful loyalty. To others. Verse 16 says, May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesaphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my change. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant that he obtained mercy from the Lord on that day, and you know how much he ministered at Ephesus. Paul wants to mention not only this person, but it's interesting to notice. That he doesn't just say, May the Lord grant mercy to Onesaphorus. He says, May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesaphorus. And I'll tell you why I think that is the case. Two things are the case. Paul has a three-year ministry in Ephesus. And guess who's there to minister to Paul? Onesaphorus and his household. Now, I've made the journey in modern times from Ephesus to Rome. It's a long way. I mean you gotta take a plane. I guess you could take a train, but I don't want to ride it. Okay? I mean you gotta you got a long way to go. You could take a ship. It's not a short trip. And and I don't know what the historical reality is here, but Onesaphorus is in Ephesus, and then Onesaphoros is in Rome, and when he's in Rome, he doesn't just say, I'm just gonna see if I can find Paul. He diligently searches for Paul and ministers to him. It says it right there. It says, on the contrary, when he's in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. You often wonder here, did Onesaphorus actually plan a special trip? And say, look, I'm leaving Ephesus, I'm going to go to Rome because Paul's in chains and he needs ministry. And not only did Onesaphorus bear the brunt of doing that ministry, but guess who bear bore the brunt? When Onesaphorus was no longer at the house in Ephesus, his family. And Paul says, May the Lord bless all of you. And I I just want to point out that if you minister and you do this, it will not just take time out of your schedule, it will take It will take from your family. Now you should not neglect your family. But let me also say this. You should never neglect your family, but your life is more than just your family. A lot of people when you talk to them about missions, you know what they say? Well, we got a lot to do around here. That's true. Here's the problem with that. God doesn't just love the USA. God so loved the world. And the words from Jesus are not go to your neighbor and stop there. Not what Jesus said. Go and make disciples of all the nations. That's what he said. You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. And if you've never gotten out of Jerusalem, may I say very plainly, you probably Aren't on the mission. Now that may be a hard truth to hear, but it's a I think it's a true truth. Because Onesaphorus is like, Look, Paul's there. I know we got obligations here. I know there are things here, but Paul needs my help there. The mission is in Rome as much as it is in Ephesus, and the Lord has called me to do something there, and not just do something here, and it's a pull on everybody. But may I say the Lord will see. All our efforts. Sometimes church folks don't see it, sometimes friends don't see it, sometimes other ministers don't even see it, but the Lord sees it. And the Apostle Paul prays here may the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from the Lord on that day. When Onesaphorus and his house stands before the Lord, God will see Onesaphoros's and his household's commitment to the mission. Let me just tell you this, church, multiplication is messy. It's messy. You're gonna pick some people you think are gonna be winners and they're not gonna be. You're gonna have some people that you think they're gonna be with you through thick and thin, and the first sign of a problem, they're gone so fast, your head turns around on your head. And then other people you'll think, that guy, he's just a drunk. He won't amount to nothing. And he'll be the one that'll carry the baton. We just don't know. And so what is our responsibility? To give and to give and to teach and to teach and to model and to model and leave the rest of it up to the Lord and until our breath is gone, we're doing like Paul's doing, saying, Timothy, do this, do this, do this, do this, this is what's faithfulness to the mission. And I hope you hear this today, that multiplication is messy, people are messy, but this is not a fault in the system. It's just the way it is. And if you want to do one-on-one discipleship and mentorship, you got to be ready for this. And if you're not ready for it, may the Lord change your heart today. Some of you today are aware you need mentorship. Well, you need to be humble enough to say, I need this. I want this. And to find someone while they're still to be found. Because honestly, God gives us mentors for brief seasons and then he takes them on home. I mean, we've lost some good mentors already in the last six months. They're on to Jesus. You had your moment with them. Now they're gone. So seize the moment and don't let it pass you by. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, I'm always concerned every Sunday. I look at a crowd like this. Do you know that you know if you're to die today that you spend eternity with Jesus? You say, Rusty, how would I know that? Well, you know what it means to be a Christian. Turn from sin and self and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It's not what you do, it's what Jesus has done that you accept by faith. This altar is open. If you don't know, you're a Christian. Don't know where you spend eternity. I'll be here, Pastor Ishmael will be here. We'll take a Bible, show you how you can be a Christian. And if you are a Christian today, are you in the multiplication process? Are you receiving? Are you giving? If you're discouraged, will you not be discouraged and just lean into the process until your life is over? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask you. God, we give you praise today. Seven years of Hispanic ministry here at Liberty Baptist. God, we give you praise. Many, many years in Honduras. And yet, God, even with the reach That we have in these ministries. God, we know you love the world even more. God, there are more places still to go. There are more people still to reach. And God, you have called us not only to Jerusalem, but to Judea and to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And God, may you show each one of us how we can be faithful in your global mission efforts. God, yes, we pray. Here in Appomattox we will be faithful. But God, we pray that the light will shine so bright in this place that it will shine farther around the world because of our willingness to pray, to give, to go. And God, may we be like an Onesaphoros, may we be like a Timothy. That's an encouragement to those who are on the mission. God, may they count on this church, may they count on this congregation to support those and to help those and to come alongside those who are called to give uniquely. God, we pray for your guidance in our life in this church in Jesus' name. Amen.