Finding Faith in the Silence | March 9, 2025

On classic tradition,

I thought about

having introduction

music, bumper music,

as Andy always has

and I sometimes have

before the sermon.

But given the subject

matter, I thought this

is a more important

awkwardness to keep.

It is always easy and

more fun to do a, a

fun, feel good sermon.

And honestly, I.

My life has been

really great and

I don't have much

to complain about.

Um, it's been hard

and it's been a

grind, but I was just

driving to church

this morning just

thinking how happy I

was of how joyful a

life I have in God.

But not everyone's

life is that way,

and my life hasn't

always been that way

and probably won't

always be that way.

I'm gonna have times

of struggles and

I've been thinking

about a lot of people

I know in my life.

That are in really

difficult moments.

We're in

difficult seasons,

difficult years,

and that spoken word

that, um, Susie so

graciously did and

so wonderfully did.

Um, I wrote that with

different times of

my life and different

moments I've been in.

Uh, and, and I just

wrote that because

I was thinking.

How life's not

always easy.

And I can think of

when I had the thought

of if I just pray

harder or if I just

try harder, this pain,

this thing will go

away and I'm just not

being faithful enough.

And that's why life's

hard right now.

That's, that is a

dangerous thought

and especially

dangerous advice to

give to somebody.

'cause I know some

really faithful,

God-fearing good

Christians who are

dying of cancer.

And that's just a

reality of this broken

world that we're

promised in scripture.

So I want this sermon

to be encouraging,

but I don't want to

discount that life

is hard and sometimes

you're in a place

of life where God

just seems silent.

You pray, God,

I need you.

Where are you?

And then you feel

like a bad Christian

'cause you feel

like you're doubting

God because you're

asking him where he

is and why you're not

seeing signs of him.

I had a conversation

several weeks ago,

um, with a, a girl

who used to be in

my youth group and

talking about having

doubts with God and

really struggling in

her faith, and she

was like, I'm, I'm not

a Christian because

I'm, I'm having these

doubts about God

and I reassured her.

Having a doubt,

struggling does

not mean you're

not a Christian.

I want to reassure

you of that.

And when you look

in scripture, and

especially in Psalms,

you'll find things

that affirm that the

Psalmist, whether

it's David or asap,

um, or, or several

others, you'll

find that there are

Psalms where they're

saying, God, where

are you right now?

My enemies are coming

down on me and I don't

know where you are.

So we're gonna

open up to that.

Um, let's go ahead

and go to Psalms 74.

Rusty, thank you for

pointing out about

the technology.

I would've been

really awkward if

I allowed on my

phone this morning

after you said that

you're so . I usually

do bring my actual

Bible when I preach,

but . I'm not gonna

lie, sometimes I

just have used the

whatever I've put up

on the slides, but

I'm not putting this

up on the slides.

'cause one,

it's a lot.

Um, but I think it's

important to dig into

the word, and I'm not

gonna apologize for

making you open up

your Bible on Sunday,

Psalm 74.

Oh God.

Why have you

rejected us forever?

Why does your anger

smolder against the

sheep of your pasture?

Remember the nation

you purchased long

ago, the people

you in of your

inheritance, whom

you redeemed, Mount

Zion, where you dwelt.

Turn your steps

towards these

everlasting ruins.

All the destruction of

the enemy has brought

on this sanctuary.

Your foes roared

in the place where

you met with us.

They set up their

standards and signs.

They behaved like

men wielding axes

to cut through a

thicket of trees.

They smashed all

the carved paneling

with their axes

and hatchets.

They burned

your sanctuary

to the ground.

They defiled the

dwelling place

of your name.

They said in their

hearts, we will crush

them completely.

They burned every

place where God was

worshiped in the

land, we are given

no signs from God.

No prophets are left

and none of us know

how long this will be.

How long will the

enemy mock you?

God?

Will the foe revile

your name forever?

Why do you hold

back your hand,

your right hand?

Take it from the

folds of your garment

and destroy them.

But my God is my

king from long ago.

He brings

salvation on earth.

It was you who

split open the

sea by your power.

You broke your heads

of the monster,

or you broke the

heads of the monster

and the waters.

It was you who crushed

the heads of Leviathan

and gave it as food

to the creatures

of the desert.

It was you who

opened up springs

and streams.

You dried up the

ever flowing rivers.

The day is yours and

yours also, the night

you established the

sun and the moon, it

was you who set the

boundaries of all the

earth you made both

summer and winter.

Remember how the

enemy has mocked

you, Lord, how

foolish people have

reviled your name.

Do not hand over the

life of your dove

to the wild beasts.

Do not forget

the lives of

your afflicted

people forever.

Have regard for your

covenant because

haunts of violence

fill the dark

places of the land.

Do not let the

oppressed retreat

in disgrace May the

poor and the needy.

Praise your name.

Rise up, oh God, and

defend your cause.

Remember how fools

mock you all day long.

Do not ignore the

clamor of your

adversaries, the

uproar of your

enemies, which

rises continually.

Now

that Psalm

doesn't really tell

us how it ends.

It doesn't end

with God coming and

destroying the enemy,

bringing people

out of salvation.

That Psalm just ends,

God, remember us.

There's no prophets

left in this land.

We feel forgotten.

Please remember us.

And so there are times

in your life where you

will be there feeling

forgotten, feeling

like it is silent when

you pray up to God.

And that silence

can be deafening,

especially when the

enemies are yelling

at you and mocking

you, mocking your God.

And it's hard

to go on.

But I wanna let

you know something.

How we respond to

God's silence is

a demonstration

of our faith.

Silence is not a

matter of God being

unfaithful to us.

It's not a matter

of our lack of

faith necessarily,

and I'm not

even necessarily

gonna say that.

It's God testing you.

But I do think it

demonstrates your

faith in God, how you

respond to silence.

You see,

there's a

difference between

questioning God and

giving up on God.

It's one thing to

be looking and, and

saying, God, there's

all these promises

that you have for us,

and I'm not seeing any

of them and I'm, I'm

struggling right now.

And I'm trusting you,

please come bring

to my salvation.

But someone who's not

faithful in God is not

saying, please come.

'cause that would mean

they have some degree

of faith if they're

asking him to come.

I think God uses those

points of silence,

those points where

we've hit rock bottom

to reach us the most.

And it's not because

of a weakness of God.

It's not that God

can't reach us

anywhere we are in our

life, but this whole

thing called free

will comes into place.

'cause maybe God

can reach us when

we're not down

at rock bottom.

But as much as God can

reach us and scream

at us and yell at us,

we have to be the

ones willing to

listen to him.

And from my personal

experience, um, as a

stubborn, dumb person,

I am, I've not ever

been able to listen

to God until I've hit

rock bottom because

I'm convinced that I

can do it on my own.

And I have ways of

getting out of this

thing, or I don't even

think I'm digging.

All right.

Suzy, part of that

spoken word talked

about us digging our

holes of, of being

in these places where

we are, are trying to

find the next solution

of, of whatever

struggles we have.

And I think we think

we're climbing out

of these problems,

but sometimes we're

digging ourselves

further, deeper into

these holes and we

don't even realize

it until all of a

sudden we've just

hit rock and we

can't go anywhere.

And then we look up

and we are way too

deep to get back

out, and that's when

people find God,

trust God rely on him.

And that's maybe

the bigger question.

Is God silent

or are you not

just listening?

I, I had this point

in my life where I

was convinced of,

of what my path in

life was going to be.

And my mom and my dad

and my brother and

my friends were all

telling me, this is

not the right path.

This is unhealthy.

You need to get

out of this.

And I would not

listen to any of

them no matter how

much I love them.

And no matter how

much logic they

brought to me, I. I

wouldn't listen and

I had to hit rock

bottom to find out.

But I remember before

then pleading, 'cause

I thought I was

doing the right thing

and praying to God,

like, God, I know if

I just keep trying

hard enough, this is

gonna get better and

I'm trusting you to

make this get better.

And it kept

getting worse.

And I remember

praying like, God,

where why aren't you?

I'm doing the

right things.

Why aren't you

making this happen?

And I thought God was

silent, but I just

wasn't listening.

Because he was

speaking to me

through my mom and

through my friends

and through my dad,

but I was convinced I

was gonna make things

better on my own.

It's a matter of

listening of how God

speaks to you and,

and if you have this

thought that God's,

you're gonna be in

this point and you're

gonna say, God,

come speak to me.

And some auto voy

audible voice is

gonna boom down from

the sky and tell you

what's gonna happen.

It's not impossible,

but that doesn't

happen a lot

in scripture.

It only happens to

a couple of people.

God might speak to you

through the scriptures

when you're reading,

might speak to you

through prayer, and

maybe it's not an

audible voice, maybe

it's a feeling.

Um, maybe it's you

asking a question and

then . Coming into

scripture and, and

seeing the answer.

Maybe it's a word from

a fellow Christian,

from a brother or

sister that speaks

wisdom to you.

It's a sermon that

you happen across.

I've heard tons

of stories.

I've had people

come to me like,

Hey, what you said

was exactly what

God was telling me.

And, and let me tell

you on the other

side of it, God did

not tell me, Hey.

Connie's struggling

with this right now,

God or Dax, I want

you to preach this

message for Connie,

like that's never

happened to me.

I've never preached

a message for a

particular person,

and I think that's

really dangerous.

I never want my

sermon to be focused

on a single person.

I'm not smart

enough to probably

choreograph that

anyway, but God is,

but you need to

be listening and

listening for

the right things.

Because God's not

gonna speak to you

exactly how you want

him to speak to you.

And what's also

important is when you

do think he's speaking

to you, go to someone

else, your brothers

or sisters in Christ

and ask them about it.

'cause I also have

met people who are

saying, God is telling

me to do this, and

I hear it and I

say, I don't think

that makes sense.

I'm not trying to.

Discourage your

ability to hear God.

But that doesn't

line up biblically.

That's not something

God asks people to do.

And that's why it's

important that we also

rely on our friends to

help us listen to God,

because we get clouded

by our own thoughts.

And I think we're

running into this

more than ever in the

world with technology

being what it is and.

It's been like this

for a while, but we

just so desperately

want the problem or

the solution to all

of our problems.

If you're sick, take

this pill, do this

diet, do this regimen.

It'll make it better.

And sometimes you

can't even say, it

almost feels annoying

and belittling even

to like, oh, I'm

sick right now.

And someone's

like, oh, well you

need to take this.

I got this vitamin C

packet that you can

put in your water and

it'll make you better.

And everyone's trying

to just make our

problems go away as

quickly as possible.

We've become so

scared of hardship

that we try to find

the easiest solutions

to get out of it.

And I wanna encourage

you that hard's

just a part of life.

There's nothing wrong

with taking medicine

or getting this

vaccine or reading

this book that gives

you some steps of

being more organized

in your life.

But if you're so

desperately trying

to find the perfect

solution to make your

life without problems,

it's not gonna happen.

Even if you're

following God

perfectly, which

you won't, you're

gonna have problems.

I once heard a

doctor talking

about, uh, someone

was interviewing him

and, and asking about

like, Hey, you know,

it was, it was an

actor and they were

saying, I always, uh.

On set.

The craft food

services always has

those, you know,

vitamin C packets

that you can put

in your water to

help give you more

vitamin C and boost

your immune system.

And they're like,

you know, as a

doctor, how do you

feel about that?

Is that good for

your immune system

or, or how, you

know, does that

help you get better?

And he said, well,

I'll tell you what

it really does is

it makes your pee

really expensive.

. And just to break

that down, right,

vitamin C is a water

soluble vitamin.

So basically your

body takes it.

And it dumps the

rest of it that

it doesn't need.

And if you're eating

a well balanced diet,

your body should

already be getting the

vitamin C. It needs.

It's this concept of,

you know, taking in

all these vitamins

so you're healthier

and so you don't

get sick as long.

It's kind of like if

someone's building

a house and I'm

like, okay, I have

you building this

house, how quickly

can you have it done?

And they're like,

well, it's gonna

be a lot of labor.

It's gonna take us,

you know, two months.

I go, okay,

tell you what?

What about if I

give you a whole

nother truckload

of two by fours?

How soon can

you get it done?

Now they'll be like,

well, we already have

all the equipment,

so it's still gonna

take two months.

Okay?

What about if I

give you a third

truckload of lumber?

It's still gonna

take the same amount

of time, pushing

more materials, if

anything is just gonna

make it take longer.

Now, this is not a

health lesson, but

more what I want

you to understand

about life.

Sometimes we just

keep trying to

throw things at our

problems to make them

go away quicker, but

it's not gonna help.

It's a matter of

relying on God.

And that's hard 'cause

it's not fun to wait.

And what I wanna

discourage you from

is almost becoming

so adapted to.

Easy solutions and

making things go

away as I think

it's a detriment

to our society and

to our culture.

And when you

look at Psalm 74,

it does almost

seem sad when

you end right?

And there's

not an answer.

On one hand, I think

that's fitting because

that's how it is

sometimes in life.

But there actually is

an answer, and part

of that has to do

with how you read it.

So you see in Jewish

writing and in

Jewish culture, and

even their thought,

their writing

wasn't the same

way that we write.

They have what's

called castic flow.

It's what's

called a chiasm.

And when you read

the Old Testament,

you'll find these,

but it's kind of like

if you took a text

and then you put a,

you put a mirror in

it and then have it

reflect backwards,

the same thing.

And I'll show you.

So this first

part, my people

hear my teaching.

Listen to the

word, wait.

No, that's not

the right one.

Sorry.

Oh God.

Why have you

rejected us forever?

Why does your anger

smolder against the

sheep in your pasture?

Remember the nations

you purchased long

ago, the people of

your inheritance,

whom you redeemed.

Mount Zion,

where you dwelt.

Turn your steps

towards these

everlasting ruins,

all the destruction

the enemy has brought

on your sanctuary.

And saying, God,

listen, remember you.

Remember these

things that happened?

Listen to us 'cause

this is what's

going on right now.

Please remember

the, the mountain

that you brought us

to, the inheritance

you promised us.

And then it goes on,

on four through eight.

Your foes roared

in the place where

you met up with us.

They set up their

standards, the signs.

They behave like

men wielding axes

to cut through a

thicket of trees.

They smashed all

the carved paneling

with their axes

and hatchets.

They burned

your sanctuary

to the ground.

They defiled the

dwelling place

of your name.

They said in their

hearts, we will crush

them completely.

They burned every

place where the God

had worshiped the

um, where God was

worshiped in the land.

Here they're saying,

this is what the

enemy's doing.

This is the situation

that we're in.

Right

then it goes on.

We have give.

We are given no

signs from God.

No prophets are left,

and none of us know

how long this will be.

How long will the

enemy mock you?

God?

Will the foe revile

your name forever?

And why do you hold

back your hand,

your right hand?

Take it from the

folds of your garment

and destroy them.

God, we don't know

where you are,

but we need you

to do something.

And then there's

this middle part that

sticks out from the

rest of the psalm.

The God is my king

from long ago.

He brings salvation

on the earth.

God has been king

and will continue

to be king,

but then it goes back.

It was you who split

open the sea by your

power, you broke

the heads of the

monster in the waters.

It was you who

crushed the heads

of the leviathan

and gave it to the

food, gave it as

food to the creatures

of the desert.

It was you who

opened up springs

and streams.

You dried up the

ever flowing rivers.

The day is yours.

Um, the day is yours.

And yours also, the

night you established

the sun in the

moon, it was your,

it was you who set

all the boundaries

of the earth.

You made both

summer and winter.

They went from.

Before saying we

don't have signs,

you're here,

prophets are gone.

And then now they're

saying, but there

were these things

that happened before

acknowledging that

signs have been

given in the past.

And then this last

section is really

the other two kind

of together mirrored

back and forth.

Remember, the

enemy has mocked

you, Lord, how

foolish people have

reviled your name.

Do not hand over the

life of your dove

to the wild beasts.

Do not forget

the lives of

your afflicted.

People forever have

regard for your

covenant because

haunts of violence

fill the dark

places of this land.

Do not let the

oppressed retreat

and disgrace may

the poor and needy.

Praise your name.

Rise up, oh God, and

defend your cause.

Remember how fools

mock you all day long.

Do not ignore the

clamor of your

adversaries, the

uproar of your

enemies, which

rises continually.

So you see how if you

lift that up, it's

kinda like a mirror.

See, in, in Jewish,

when they write in

chiasm, the point

is actually it's

not where we make

our conclusion.

Our, at the end

of, of our writing.

For them, it's in

the middle and it's

about the symmetry.

It's about

making the point.

And then kind of

reiterating the issue

as we go back on.

So if you read the

end of the Psalm,

looking for conclusion

as we do it does

seem like it ends.

Very sad.

We don't know

where God is.

Hopefully he's coming.

But when you look

at it with verse 12

being the conclusion,

being the main point,

my God is king.

My king from long ago.

He brings

salvation on earth.

Despite all these

problems, the Psalmist

is recognizing that

God is king, that he

reigns and he will

continue to reign.

They have hope and

they trust in God

despite all the

atrocities they're

facing, despite God

being mocked in his

temple, being torn

down and burned,

God is king.

And he reigns.

And so when you're

in those times

of trouble, I'm

not gonna say you

shouldn't be grieving,

but have faith

that he's there.

And I get that.

That doesn't make the

silence any easier.

It might still

be a struggle.

And so I wanna

encourage you

with this, God is

getting you used

to a quiet that you

desperately need.

'cause there's a

difference between

silence and quiet.

Silence means there's

nothing there.

Quiet means something

is not speaking.

We live in a

noisy world.

You look at the

news, you go to

work, you car, horns,

podcasts, radio.

It's rough.

Even if you're like, I

don't like this news.

This news is, you

know, this news

is just too angry,

or it just, it's

making me depressed.

So you go to another

news and they just,

and they tell you

how wrong that news

was, but they also

just sound angry and

that's depressing.

In fact, even in our

culture, we have a, a

word used to describe

this concept of even

just being on your

phone and looking

at the news, right?

They call it

doom scrolling.

Have you

heard of that?

Of just you're

endlessly scrolling

and it's just

depressing seeing

all the things going

on in this world.

We

live in a loud world,

and I think sometimes

God's just trying to

get us into quiet.

And also when you look

at most of the times

in the Bible, when

someone comes to God

and finds God, they're

not in the temple.

They're not in a whole

group of people, but

it's usually someone

individually out in

the middle of nowhere.

Mary was out by

herself when an angel

came to her and told

her that she was

going to deliver

the son of God.

Moses was approached.

He wasn't by anybody.

A burning bush came

and approached him

and called out to him.

It's in the quiet

places where God

speaks to us best.

Maybe that's

where God's trying

to take you.

I mean, rusty was

just talking about

his trip with

Marty a while back.

Where they were out in

the middle of nowhere

and not in contact

with anybody and no

phones, and that's

where you connect

with God the most.

Right?

This world has

convinced us that we

need more talking.

We need more books

that give us all

the solutions.

We need more podcasts

and self-help, books,

all these things.

Sometimes

less is more.

And I'm not saying

you're a bad person

or you're a sinner.

If you've read any of

these books or done of

these things, I don't.

I think it's okay

in quantity like

most things, but

we need to also just

get used to quiet

and not having to

have the next thing

to get us through.

'cause God isn't

the next thing.

He's always

been the thing.

He's been the thing

ever since Jesus

died for us and

even before then.

CS Lewis wrote

about this concept.

Um, if, if you've

read the book, the

Screw Tape or the,

uh, book letters,

it's more of a play.

The screw

tape letters.

The whole concept

of this is, it's

these demons writing

these letters.

They're, um, talking

back and forth of how

they can carry out

the plan of Satan,

um, and how they're

going to defeat God

and how they're gonna

be his adversary.

So there's this

passage that I'm

gonna read for you,

and this is demons

speaking, just to

make that clear.

Music and silence, how

I detest them both.

How thankful

we should be.

That ever since our

father entered hell,

though no longer,

no longer go than

humans reckoning in

light years could

express no square inch

of infernal space.

And no moment of

infernal time has

been surrendered

to either of these

abominable forces,

but all has been

occupied by noise.

Noise.

The grand dynamism.

The audible

expression of all

that is exultant,

ruthless, and Vero

noise, which alone

defends us from silly

qualms, despairing

scruples, and

impossible desires.

We will make the

whole universe a

noise in the end.

We have already made

great strides in

this direction as

regards to the earth.

The melodies and

silences of heaven

will be shouted

down in the end, but

I admit we're not

yet loud enough or

anything like it.

Research is

in progress.

Satan is trying to

overwhelm you with

noise so that you

cannot hear God and

you cannot sing the

melodies of heaven.

And that brings me

to my last point.

Silence is a vacancy

waiting to be

filled with praises.

All right.

We sung about singing

in the middle of his

storm, we sung about

God being a fountain

that's ever flowing.

I do love that song

on my fountains.

It's one of my

favorite songs.

Um, I think I

introduced it to

the church years

ago when I did my

senior sermon, uh,

over a decade ago,

um, in college.

But I didn't just

do that 'cause it's

my favorite song,

but it fits so

perfectly with what

that I wanted to say.

Right?

The beginning of

that song is this

dry and desert land.

I tell myself,

keep walking on.

We get in places with

God where we just feel

like I'm in the desert

and that's scriptural.

That's where people

find God in the

desert, but we just

keep walking on.

But walking on is much

more than just faking

it till you make it.

Let's go over

to Psalm 43.

Take me a second

to get there too.

Here's the Psalm.

In the similar

situation as the last.

Vindicate me, my

God, and plead my

cause against an

unfaithful nation.

Rescue me from

those who are

deceitful and wicked.

You are my God

and my stronghold.

Why have you

rejected me?

Why must th go on

mourning, oppressed

by the enemy?

Send me your light and

your faithful care.

Let them lead me.

Let them bring

me to your holy

mountain, to the

place where you dwell.

Then I will go to

the altar of God.

To my God, my joy

and my delight.

I will praise

you with a liar.

Oh my God.

I did forget I

put this one up

there for you guys.

So that was my Ben,

but I'm glad you

written your Bibles,

but then it ends.

Why am I so are

you downcast?

Why are you so

disturbed within me?

Put your hope in

God for I will

yet praise him, my

savior, and my God.

Now, this psalm is

not written in a CTIC

structure, so here

we do have the end

kind of being what

the lasting thought

is for everybody,

something

important here.

That word praise,

that's the Hebrew

word, yaah.

Now that word doesn't

just mean to sing.

In fact, really when

you look at that word,

it actually means to

cast, to shoot it's

directional and it's

aiming at something.

When I am someone who

maybe just sings songs

in the car or I'm at

a concert, especially

when I'm listening

to secular music

or whatever I sing.

I'm not a good singer,

but I do sing and

sometimes I just

belt it out, not

really belting it

out for my pleasure.

I'm not singing

to the band.

When I've gone to a

concert and I sang

out loud, which is

not really who I am

anyway, I'm not a very

expressive person,

but I'm not singing

it so that the front

man will hear me or

the people next to me.

I definitely don't

want the people next

to me to hear me.

It's just singing.

'cause for whatever

reason feels right.

I enjoy it.

Um, I like the

song, I like the way

it makes me feel.

That's not what

worship is.

That's not what

praising God is.

Maybe you're a

great singer.

And that's awesome.

And that's a gift

God's given you.

So you can sing

praises to him.

But a good worship

leader knows that

their great singing

is not so much about

singing good for

the congregation,

but singing

praises to God

that are beautiful.

And it's, it's nice

for all of us when

it's beautiful, right?

But that's not

what it's about.

And I love that with

our worship team,

that people who are

up here are not up

here because they

want everyone to

see the concert that

they're putting on.

They want to help

us all praise

and worship God.

When you go target

practicing, I mean,

could you imagine

if people are just

like, I mean, let's

just see what happens

and just shoot like

randomly, right?

No, they're aiming.

There's . All these

techniques that

they've put in to make

sure they hit their

target well, and so

that's what praise is.

I'm singing to God,

I have a method and

I'm concentrating.

I have aim.

Our praise is

something to be

directed at God, not

for anybody else.

Look, I'm sorry for

the clicker issues

and if you're someone

who goes to this

church and is like,

what did the deal

with these people

doing the slides?

I can do it better.

Hey, if you can do

it better, great.

Please come on

The clicker team.

There's only three

of us, right?

I had to be it today

'cause, and I'm

preaching and I didn't

wanna do it while I'm

preaching, so we'd

love to have you.

But my problem, and

I can't speak for

anybody else, my

problem is, is I

just start singing

and I get caught

up in the worship.

I, a lot of times

I'll, I'll close my

eyes and I'm singing

the songs and then I

open and I see where

like five things

back, I'm like, shoot.

And I'm sorry, but

I'm also not sorry

because I love God and

sometimes I get caught

up in worshiping

him and I have to

just like, I need to

actively pursue God.

That becomes a

muscle memory of

pursuing God and

singing to him when

not thinking about

other people that

I have to actively

think to not do it.

So I can look at

the screen and be

like, okay, okay,

So I just wanna

encourage you.

Times are gonna

be hard and maybe

it might feel like

faking it till you

make it, but you

develop that muscle

memory, praise God.

And so I just

wanna leave you

with those last,

uh, that last verse

in that psalm for I

will yet praise him,

my savior and my God.

Bow heads with

me in prayer.

God, thank you so

much for today.

Um.

Uh, thank you that

everything worked

out with me already

preaching today that

Andy was, um, Andy

and Jamie were able

to go off to, um,

the funeral they

needed to be at

without any worries.

Um, thank you for

granting me your words

so that we can all

grow closer to you.

Um,

help us get

used to silence.

That we crave.

Silence your quietness

in a noisy world.

Create opportunity

for us to praise

you and be with us.

Always.

Amen.

Now I forgot to

grab people to

do announcements.

So Ainsley really

wants to do

announcements.

Actually, can

I have Ainsley?

Good job volunteering

your parents.

Can I have Josh

and Audrey come up

here and actually

do announcements?

I mean, if fancy

wants to come

up, that's fine.

Is it on?

Can you hear us?

Hello?

Yeah.

Alright, so tonight

we've got ba

bam, six o'clock

teens be there.

It's gonna be

a lot of fun.

I mean, hit the

button again.

We've also got

the college age

small group.

Um, is it at Andy

and Jamie's still

five to seven.

Five to seven at Bowl

32 for the college

age Juice group.

Woo.

Alright, Ainsley,

um, Wednesday Night

Women's Group, uh,

second and fourth.

We, we Wednesdays

this week, March 12th.

So the women are

meeting this week

at seven o'clock

across the way

Men's group

meet next week.

'cause you guys

are the odd ones.

So you're on the first

and third Wednesdays,

again, seven o'clock

across the street.

Uh, Tuesday at 6:30

PM is Financial

Peace University

and Saturday at

9:00 AM See Megan

and Tim Darnell if

you have questions.

And this Friday, teens

games in the dark.

Six 30 to 10

we'll meet across

the street.

Yes.

If you have questions,

talk to him.

'cause he knows

what's going on on me.

But we're gonna have a

lot of fun either way.