Three for 3: Week 1

Welcome to Church of the Crossing. My name is Andrew.

If you're new, if this is your first time, I'm

so glad that you're here, especially glad because today we

are starting a new message series. It's titled three for

three three lessons from Proverbs chapter three. That's a mouthful,

try and say that three times fast. But as we

get ready to open a Proverbs chapter three, I want

to encourage you today to make sure you have something

that you can write with to take notes, a pen

and paper, a device, something you can record notes. In fact,

you can use the Church of the Crossing apps. There's

a place each week where there's an outline with fill

ins that you can track along with the sermon, and

you can save these and send them to yourself. Because

here's my desire for all of us that as you

are hearing from God's word and you're taking notes and

following the outline, my desire is that you have a

library of notes from God's word, so that six months

from now, a year from now, when there's a problem,

when there is a challenge, when there is a difficulty

in your life and you think, I think we heard

from God's word about something, and you can go back

to your archives for encouragement for that moment, in that situation,

and especially for these next few weeks. Having something to

write with is going to be helpful. But before we

read from Proverbs three, would you join me in praying?

Father God, We come to you because we know that

your word is truth, that in a world of confusion,

in a world of spin and noise, your truth is unchanging.

And so God, we want to hear from your word today.

We want to receive from your words. So God, would

you silence distraction in our hearts and minds? Holy Spirit,

would you cover this space, cover the words of my voice,

so that we can hear your truth. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I want to say this series on Proverbs chapter three

has been inspired greatly by two of the most influential

people in my life, spiritually influential, and those are my grandparents.

Their names were Courtney and Veda, And here's a picture

of me with them when I was a little baby.

And my grandparents loved the Lord and they loved the

Book of Proverbs. They met each other when my grandmother

was a student at Anderson University then it was called

Anderson College, and my grandfather worked in construction and then

they started a family in our hometown, Middletown, Ohio, Southwest Ohio,

and my grandparents worked hard. One of the best words

that can describe my grandparents is the word grit. Will

you say the word grit? Grit? They were a people

of grit. My grandfather from an early age, as a

young boy, he went to work with his father on

the job site. As a young boy, my grandfather learned

about tools. He was familiar with wheelbarrow and hauling gravel.

To go to college instead, he pursued a career in construction.

He built his first home with his own hands, and

he built a company in home building and real estate.

And he was a person of grit. I heard stories

growing up about how my grandfather navigated union strikes in

his industry, navigated a terrible recession, navigated financial challenges, even

employees stealing from his company. But he never gave it up.

He was determined because he was a person of grit. Similarly,

my grandmother was a person of grit. She grew up

in a farming family out in Kansas, and she learned

from a young age how to get up before the

sun to work on the farm. How to work long

days in the heat. She learned the faith and the

grit of a farming family that depended on God for

rain and for the harvest. And her greatest challenge was

later in life when she was diagnosed with cancer at

a young age, and she had the grit to fight

that battle until cancer her took her life. My grandparents

were people of grit through the ups and downs. Their

faith in Jesus was constant. Here at Church of the Crossing,

we want to be a people of grit. We want

a people who roll up our sleeves and get our

hands dirty and do what God is calling us to

do for the mission of Jesus around here. We like

to say that grit is doing what it takes to

get what matters done. It takes grit to serve in

children and youth ministry on Sundays. It takes grit to

open our neighborhood market on Saturdays for our neighbors. It

takes grit to launch Celebrate Recovery, where we're bringing the

Gospel to those who are broken and hurting and living

in darkness. It takes grit to open multiple worship services

in different languages. We want to be a people of

grit on the mission of God, and Proverbs chapter three

for these next few weeks is gonna help us develop

that grit. Proverbs was my grandparents' favorite book of the Bible.

In fact, Proverbs chapter three, verses five and six, our

text today, is inscribed on my grandmother's tombstone. I remember

my grandfather telling me once that there are thirty one

chapters in the Book of Proverbs. That means you can

read one chapter a day for a month, and hopefully

you'll be wiser at the end of the month than

you are at the beginning of the month. And so

with all that in mind, let's open the Bible and

read from Proverbs chapter three, and we're gonna start reading

in verse five. Would you read with me? We read

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not

on your own understanding in all your ways, Submit to Him,

and He will make your paths straight. Do not be

wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to

your bones. Look again at the first line in verse five.

It says trust in the Lord. Do you ever struggle

to trust God with all of your life? For some

of us. I think it's easy to trust Jesus with

our salvation, but what about the everyday parts of our lives.

I trust Jesus to forgive my sin, but are you

trusting him with that problem at work? With that coworker?

Are you trusting him with that relationship? Are you trusting

him with that health issue, with that financial need? Like

I trust Jesus to take me to heaven, but when

you've got to pay the bills? Or are you trusting Jesus?

I want to share the big idea of this message

is one main point that I want us to remember,

and that is trust Jesus with all of it. We

might trust Jesus with some of it, but I'm encouraging

us today to trust Jesus with all of it. Not

too long ago, Lorena and I were traveling out of

the country and our trust was tested. I had no

problem trusting the airline to fly the plane. I had

no problem trusting the ground crew, the air traffic control.

I had total trust in the pilots because they're professionals.

They do this all the time. I even slept on

the plane without any worries. I trusted the tour guide

to lead us through the foreign city and translate the

language for us. That wasn't our biggest challenge. Our biggest

challenge of trust was leaving Shepherd here in the United

States with his grandparents. What if something happens, What if

there's an emergency, What if they can't reach us, What

if we can't make it back in time? What if?

What if our faith? Our trust was tested? And I

even remember those the first day or two Lorraa and

I being a little bit irritated, like, why haven't we

received a picture yet, had a trust completely? Trust Jesus

with all of it? Do you trust Jesus with your salvation?

Like I trust those airline pilots to keep me safe?

But what about the everyday parts of your life? I

know some of our congregation who are going through divorce

that can be difficult to trust the Lord. Others are

going through job change or unemployment that can test your

trust in the Lord. What about the diagnosis or I

know some of us who have children who have walked

away from the faith. Is it difficult? Do you struggle

to trust the Lord with your children? The big idea

today is trust Jesus with all of it. I think

we know that in our minds, but in our spirit,

in our heart, it is so difficult to live out.

What are those obstacles that get in the way of

trusting Jesus? What are the challenges that get in the way?

I think can think of a couple. One of them,

I think is simply worry. What do you worry about?

What keeps you awake at night? What causes your mind

a spiral? You know what I'm talking about, the mental spiral.

Proverbs twelve says anxiety weighs down the heart. A few

years ago, I had a raccoon problem. The house I

was living in had a back deck porch, and underneath

that porch was a ground level basement window, and a

family of raccoons had made their home under the deck,

and they were scratching and knocking on this basement window

trying to get into the house, and I could hear

it on the main level. And so I decided to

take matters in my own hands, and I got one

of those those cage traps and caught the raccoon humanely,

and then I took it to a state park and

released it into the wild. And I'm not making this

up when I tell you the name of the state

park was Raccoon Creek State Park. You can look it

up Southwest Pennsylvania, Raccoon Creek State Park. And so I

thought my troubles were over, got rid of the raccoon,

until about a week later I heard that same scratching noise.

There was another raccoon. So I did the same thing

and use that trap and took it to Raccoon Creek

State Park and got rid of it and thought, for sure,

now my troubles are over. Until another week later I

heard that same noise and I had to do the

same thing again a third raccoon. At this point, I've

become a master expert in raccoon trapping. Now I told

you earlier that it was a family of raccoons. I

found out later that more than likely it was the

same one raccoon all three times. I learned later that

raccoons are notorious for traveling long distances to get back

to their home. They will cross highways and roads, even

if it takes some days. They will go back to

where their den was because it's home. Worry is a

lot like that raccoon. It keeps coming back. It's recurring,

it is haunting, it is tormenting. It is triggering. And

I'm sure that you've become an expert at coping with

your worry, just like I was an expert raccoon trapper.

You've got your coping. You know how to distract yourself,

you know how to ignore it, you know how to

minimize it. You may even self medicate to escape from whatever.

You've got a coping system. But I want to tell

you that your coping system falls apart because worry, fear,

anxiety always come back home unless we address them biblically,

unless we trust Jesus with it all. Now you might

be listening and worry is not a major challenge for you.

There are other obstacles to trusting the Lord. You may

know or have heard of, the former president Harry S. Truman,

But did you you know there's another Harry Truman in history.

His name was Harry R. Truman, and he is not

related to the former president, but Harry R. Truman, Harry R.

Truman was a rough character. In the nineteen twenties, Harry R.

Truman moved to Washington State, where he made a home

for himself near the mountain Mount Saint Helens, which is

also a volcano in the nineteen twenties. He was a

bootlegger and worked his way through Prohibition. And his first

marriage didn't last very long and it ended in divorce

because he was too stubborn to get along with. And

his second marriage didn't it last much longer because he

had a disagreement with his wife and threw her in

the lake even though she couldn't swim. And I'm sure

she ended that relationship before her hair was dry. But

in the nineteen eighties, Mount Saint Helens was starting to stir.

Remember it was a volcano, and experts that the volcano

would erupt, and so Washington ordered an evacuation of all

of the people who lived near the mountain. But Harry R.

Truman did not want to leave. He didn't believe the advice.

He didn't take the advice. He was too stubborn. In

one interview, he said, I don't have any idea whether

it will blow, but I don't believe it to the

point that I'm going to pack up. The mountain ain't

gonna hurt me. That mountain's part of Truman, and Truman's

part of that mountain. But what do you think happened?

The mountain did erupt. The whole north side of the

mountain collapsed, and the largest landslide in US history destroyed

Harry Truman's home and him inside of it. He lost

his life because of his stubbornness. Stubbornness kills your faith.

Stubbornness kills your trust in the Lord. Can I tell

you something that I've learned. Stubbornness is not a Christian virtue.

I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God honors

and blesses stubbornness. God honors grit. But grit is not

the same as stubbornness. Look closely at our text again,

verse seven. This do not be wise in your own eyes.

That's stubborn. Fear the Lord and shun evil. That's grit.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to

your bones. You see, Grit is a humble determination to

obey God, no matter what the consequences are. Grit is

a humble commitment to obeying God, even if it costs you,

even if it's hard, even if it's difficult. Grit is

a commitment to God's way. But stubbornness comes from pride.

Stubbornness is my way, is the only way. I know

best my way, not God's way. Do you struggle with

stubbornness from time to time? You find it difficult to

take advice? To heed advice? Do you ascribe to the

notion that it's better to ask for forgiveness later than

to ask for permission? Now? That might be a sign

of stubbornness. Do you resent feedback or resent somebody who

has a different idea? Stubbornness give me an obstacle to

trusting the Lord. So if our big idea today is

trust Jesus with all of it, how do we do that?

What steps do we take to trust? Well, this is

where I want to encourage you to take notes, to

write these down, because we're gonna look at the word trust,

and trust is going to be an acrosstic for the

steps we can take. And I don't often do this,

but I think it's appropriate that trust being across where

each letter represents one step we can take. And so

that first letter is the letter T, and T stands

for turn worry over to God. God. Turn worry over

to God, bring him your troubles, bring him your problems,

turn over your anxieties and insecurities. Look at our text

again in verse five. Trust in the Lord with all

your heart, all of it, Give it all to him.

I think of turning over your worries to God like

turning the keys of your house over and when you

sell your house. When I sold my house a few

years ago, I turned over the keys to the buyer,

turned over ownership to a new owner. Remember those pesky

raccoons under my porch, Not my problem anymore. I turned

that over to somebody else. Turn worry over to God,

give it to him, give it, give him the problem.

So I want to take a moment right now, and

I want you to look at your notes. I'm going

to ask you to write something down in your notes.

When you turn your worries over to God, you can

claim the promise that we reader later in Proverbs three

that says, when you lie down, you will not be afraid.

When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have

no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that

overtakes the wicked. If you want that to be true

of your life, take a moment right now, and I'll

pause and write down one thing you're worried about turning

over to God. The big idea today is trust Jesus

with all of it. And the next letter in our

steps is in trust is our and R stands for

run from temptation. Sin and temptation will sabotage your trust.

Read again in our text, verse seven, it says, fear

the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to

your body and nourishment to your bones. You see this

word shun says shun evil. In the Hebrew language, the

word shun means to turn away from, to avoid, to

turn off, get away from evil, run from evil. Earlier

this past summer, Lauren and Shepherd and I were out

of town and one morning I wanted to go for

a run, and so we all got into the car

and we were looking for a park with a playground

where Shepherd could play while I went for a jog.

We were unfamiliar with this city, so we were driving

around and we found a playground that looked promising until

I noticed a coyote walking through the playground and we said, nope,

not for us, and we kept on driving. Temptation is

like a coyote looking for an opportunity to get into

your life. It's a red flag. One Peter chapter five says,

be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy. The devil

hours around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,

not a coyote, a lion. Ask yourself, where does temptation

most often find you? Temptation find you when you're alone,

when you're tired, when you're hungry, Temptation finds you when

you're hurting. Where does temptation repeatedly show up? Are you

struggling with a secret sin issue that nobody knows about

that you're ashamed of and you don't know what to do,

or are you fighting the same temptation over and over

without any victory. I want to encourage you run from temptation.

That's why I love our ministry on Tuesday Nights called

Celebrate Recovery, where we gather together and we worship Jesus

and we celebrate and we find healing and freedom from

hurts and habits and hang up. And it's improper to

think that Celebrate recoveries only for someone who might have

addiction or substance challenges. It's for anybody who is struggling

and wants healing, because you know what, we're all recovering

from something, whether we're recovering from sin or recovering from hurt,

or were recovering from the past or brokenness. We're all

recovering from something. We all need healing and freedom. That's

why we need to run from temptations. So take another moment,

and then your notes write down one temptation that you

need to run from. I'll pause for a moment. The

big idea today is trust Jesus with all of it.

And for the next step in trust, let's look again

at our text in verse five. There's one word here

that we should notice. Trust in the Lord with all

your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. It says,

do not lean on your own understanding. I've brought a

pair of crutches with me today. You know, all of

us are leaning on something in life, but do you

know it or not. We are leaning on something to

get us through life. It might be a relationship, a

person in your life that you're leaning on, could be

money in the bank, a job, a career that you're

leaning on to get you through. Might even be an

addiction or some kind of substance or some kind of

thing that you're just using a coke to just get through.

Like we're all leaning on something. I recently read a

story about a man who had a serious injury while snowskiing,

and so he had to use crutches for his recovery.

And the hardest part of the crutches, he said, was

climbing up the stairs. Walking up the stairs, you know,

one crutch out of time, pulling himself up one step

at a time. By the time he got to the

top of the stairs, he was panting out of breath

and beads of sweat on his forehead. After a few days,

his hands were red and swollen from gripping the crutches.

His arms were bruised and raw from leaning on the crutches.

This man found out that leaning on crutches is exhausting,

and so is leaning on your own understanding. It's exhausting.

If you want to have an especially exhausting day, look

at all the problems and challenges that you face and

try to tackle them with your own limited point of view.

Try your own strategies, try your own tactics, use those

man made systems, and when you hit a brick wall

or a dead end, turn around, back up and do

it all over again. And you'll find yourself exhausted emotionally

and spiritually. You know, critics of g will say that

believing in Jesus just a crutch. The truth is we're

all leaning on something. We're all leaning on something to

get us through, leaning on something to get us through life,

whether it's a person, a hobby, or leaning on something.

So that's why today I want to encourage you to

upgrade your crutches. Upgrade your crutches. If we got to

lean on something, let's upgrade our crutches. I brought these

trekking poles with me. I use these when I go

mountain climbing and hiking in the mountains, and I can

lean on these because you know, following Jesus is a

lot like climbing a mountain. It's challenging, it's difficult, there's

ups and downs. You may feel like giving up, you

may feel like you can't do it. It's hard following Jesus.

And when I'm hiking, these trekking poles are something I

can lean on. They can give me sure footings, steady footing.

Especially when I'm coming down the mountain and there's loose

gravel and there's slipping and sliding on the rocks. I

can lean on these trekking poles. So I want to

encourage you. Upgrade your crutches. Lean on Jesus, Lean on Christ,

because he is the only one that you can count on.

He's the only one who is completely perfect and completely steady.

Only Jesus can save us from sin and death. It's

the death of Jesus, his crucifixion, and his resurrection that

saves us, that forgives us, that brings us eternal life.

Christ alone is the one who can save you. Christ

alone is the one who can comfort you. Christ alone

is the one who can get you through the worst

part of life. Let me ask you on whom do

you lean when you are suffering? On whom do you

lean when you're in the hospital. On whom do you

lean when your family feels like it's being torn apart?

On whom do you lean when you can't overcome that

sin issue? On whom are you leaning when it feels

like life has bottomed out and there is no job

and you're all alone? On whom are you leaning all

my friend, lean on Christ, Lean on Jesus. Upgrade your crutches.

That old hymn says it best, that says, my hope

is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy. Lean

on Jesus's name. If you know it, say it with me.

On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground

is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. You

gotta lean on something, So upgrade your crutches. Lean on

Christ our big ideas. Trust Jesus with all of it.

And the next step in trust is the letter S.

Notice what we read in verse six. We read in

all your ways, submit to Him and He will make

your paths straight. S stands for submit to God's way.

Submitting to God is like those trekking polls. You gotta

lean on God's word. You gotta lean on his promises,

lean on his way. Now. I know that the word

submit might rub some of us wrong. Submit sounds like weakness.

Submit sounds like vulnerability. Submit is the opposite of stubborn.

Hear me clearly, listen closely. A submitted life is a

powerful life. I struggle to submit to the Lord. A

few years ago I entered the ordination process to be

ordained in the Church of God, and it's a lannthly process.

It's the time consuming process. Had to meet with a

committee of other ministers for approval, and then I was

assigned to go through just about three years of classes

and training to learn theology and doctrine. And it was tedious.

I mean monthly two hours zoom meetings in the evening.

Nobody wants to be on zoom for two hours in

the evening. It was hard, and I remember at the

beginning of the process, I didn't like it, and I

thought to myself, I've been in ministry for over a decade,

i have a master's degree. At the time, I was

working on a doctorate degree, like I should just be

ordained because of my experience. And the Lord just gently

adjusted my attitude and reminded me I need to submit

to accountability, submit to the process, humbly follow God's way,

Submit to God's way, submit to the Lord. In Proverbs

chapter three, verse six, this word submit comes from the

Hebrew word yadah, and it means to know, So you

could literally read this verse as in all your ways,

know him and He will make your path straight. Submitting

to Jesus is knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus is trusting Jesus.

I'll say it again. A submitted life is a powerful life.

We read in the Book of James, submit yourselves then

to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

You cannot resist the devil in your own will power.

You gotta look at the first part of the verse.

It says, submit yourselves, then you can resist the devil.

I want to tell you that the devil's afraid of

a man or woman who is fully submitted to God.

The devil is no match for a man or woman

who is submitted to God. The devil fears a family,

a home that is fully submitted to God. That temptation,

that addiction, that problem is no match when you are

submitted to God. Will you submit to God's way and

you will have victory and supernatural power in your life.

Submit to God's way. A submitted life is a powerful life.

So let's take a moment in your notes and I'll pause,

but write down an important decision that you have to make.

You already know what it is. Even if it's that

thing that you tried to push away in your mind,

it's probably that take a moment, Will you submit that

decision to God's way? I'll pause. The big idea is

trust Jesus with all of it, including that decision. And

now we've come to the last step in trust, the

last letter T, and it stands for take a step

of faith. Following Jesus requires faith. We've got to step

out in faith, even if you can't see all the steps,

even if you can't see the whole map. So look

again at our text one more time. Trust in the

Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own

understanding in all your ways. Submit to him, and he

will do what make your paths straight. He will make

your paths straight. I've been studying this passage for a

few weeks now. I've read different translations. I've read theological commentaries,

I've read Bible scholars. I've looked at the Hebrew language,

the context, the verb tense very closely. And here's what

I've learned, without a doubt, one hundred percent. This verse

does not say he will make your paths easy. Beware

of anybody who says following Jesus is easy, because it's not.

He will make your path straight. I love how the

new King James version translates it. It says he will

direct your paths. Don't you want Jesus directing your path

Don't you want g Jesus one step ahead of you.

Don't you want to let go of that pressure and

that anks to try and figure it out and solve

it on your own. But don't you want the joy

and the peace of being able to walk where He's

leading you. Don't you want Jesus guide in your path?

Take a step of faith. You may or may not

know that. Earlier this year, Lauren and I bought a

storefront business, and that was a big step of faith.

I mean, I don't know anything about running a retail store.

That's why Lauren pretty much runs it and I try

to stay out of it. But it was a step

of faith. And at first when this opportunity came up,

I was reluctant. I wasn't very interested. It was a

little bit skeptical. You know. I couldn't fully understand it.

But then as I was praying about it, I felt

the Lord say to my spirit Andrew, you can trust

me and you can trust Lauren. I didn't understand all

of it, but I could trust God. Let me say

that again, you may not understand all of it, but

you can still trust God. In the first six months

of owning that business, we're challenging, working with business attorneys,

business accountants, looking at spreadsheets profit and loss. All these

things are, you know, a little bit overwhelming. And in

those first six months, Fellaw, we're just trying to keep

our head above water. But God was faith and we

just kept taking one step at a time, trusting God,

taking one step of faith at a time. Now, your

next step of faith, most likely is not buying a business.

But what is God calling you to do? Here's where

we can look at our notes again and write something down.

What is your next step of faith? Is God calling

you to get involved and join a small group, this

next round of small groups, It's God calling you to

serve in ministry each week. Or maybe you've got this

thing you've been struggling with, this secret thing, the sin issue,

thing that you can't get victory over. Your next step

might be to attend celebrate recovery. Is God prompting you

to take a step of faith in your career, to

make a job change, go back to school. I'll pause

for a moment and write down what your next step

of faith might be. The big idea today is trust

Jesus with all of it. And we've looked at the

steps for trust t r ust. Earlier, I mentioned that

my grandparents inspired a lot of this sermons series because

they love the Book of Proverbs. My grandmother's greatest challenge

and test of her trust came when she was fighting cancer,

and she ultimately passed at a relatively young age. But

I'm so grateful that even though I didn't know my

grandmother intimately, she passed when I was just one years old.

I have her testimony. She typed out on a typewriter

her story and her journey of faith through her battle

with cancer, and I'd like to just read an excerpt

of what she wrote. When she was on this journey,

she said, I visited the doctor and he discovered that

my health problem had grown worse. He said, I believe

you are in trouble, and I want you to go

straight to the hospital and prepare for surgery first thing

in the morning. When I shared the doctor's diagnosis with

my husband, he was in a state of shock. The

next day, I was to enter the hospital for a

removal of lumps, and after surgery, the nurse told me

that cancer had been found. I thank God for his presence.

I still had joy and peace in my heart. Four

weeks later, I began chemotherapy. I began to question God

about going through the treatments. I knew the side effects.

I followed his plan, and He was with me each

step through six months of chemotherapy and twenty three radiation treatments.

And I searched the scriptures again, and I knew it

was time to trust the Lord for my complete healing.

And this is what she says next. There is no

end to what God will do for us when we

take our hands off and let Christ be glorified through

our lives. And I want you to read this next part.

She says, it was my part to trust him, to

trust him to see me through. I did trust him,

and he did see me through. Through this trial of

my life. I learned to trust in Jesus and recognize

what he did for me that day on the cross,

when he so willingly gave his life for me. His love,

his peace, and his joy is free to everyone who

asks and believes that he is the risen Savior. Do

you trust Jesus with all of it? I know that

if my grandmother was alive today and here in this room,

she would not let me walk off this platform without

extending an invitation to anyone here who has not put

your faith and trust in Jesus as your lord and savior.

And so I want to invite us to respond to

what we've heard today. Would you buy your head and

close your eyes with me? And if you're listening today

and you do not trust Jesus, but you want to

change that, you want Jesus to be your savior. You

want Jesus to be the lord of your life, to

forgive your sin, this is your opportunity. Would you turn

your heart and your mind to God in prayer and

simply repeat this prayer after me, say, Dear God, I

admit that I'm a sinner and I need your friend giveness.

I believe Jesus died for me and rose from the

dead to save me. Today I confess Jesus as Lord

of my life. I submit it all to you as

we contend to continue in prayer and responding with our

heads bowed. I wonder if you prayed that prayer to

trust Jesus as your savior. Would you be brave enough

just to raise your hand so that I can see you,

so I can tell you that God is with you,

that you are forgiven, that you are going to heaven

anyone else. God bless you. And now let me close

us all and pray. Right now, Father God, we thank

you for your grace. We thank you for the faith

that you've given us in Jesus, that we have an assurance,

that we have a confidence that you are greater than

our challenges, greater than our problems. And so God, pray

that you would increase our faith, give us the courage

to trust you, give us the boldness to trust. You

got to increase our faith. And we pray all of

this in Jesus' name. Amen.