September 22, 2024 // The Great Secret

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast.

How do we know where to find answers to the toughest questions in life?

While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search and how do we discover

this truth?

Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, takes a

specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life we're searching for.

Well we're so glad that you're here today and I ask you to take your Bibles, turn to

Philippians chapter four if you would.

I'm going to tell you a great secret today, that's the title of the message, The Great

Secret.

Last week we looked at the great perspective, what it means to look at things through the

eyes of scripture and the eyes of the Holy Spirit and we looked at some phenomenal verses

in Philippians chapter four.

Today we're going to continue that same thing in Philippians four.

Next week will be our last message in Philippians and so that means we would have covered the

book throughout the course of this year and Philippians is a phenomenal book, it's got

so much in it for us.

Please stand with me for the reading of God's word beginning in Philippians four and verse

ten.

Verse ten.

Now stay alert with me because I'm going to ask you to say out loud one of these verses

but I don't think you'll have to look at the screen because it'll be so familiar.

Verse ten says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived

your concern for me.

Indeed, you were concerned before but you lacked opportunity.

Now remember Paul's in prison, he's writing to the church of Philippi who has helped them

in the past but then stopped helping him and he needs provision, he needs to eat and so

he says you've revived your concerns, you sent a gift to me.

Verse eleven.

Not that I speak from want for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I

am.

I know how to get along with humble means.

I also know how to live in prosperity.

In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,

both of having abundance and suffering need.

Now here's that verse I want you to repeat with me, are you ready?

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

We know that verse really well.

Nevertheless you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Father, my prayer today is that you would let us look at this text, look at these words

and be able to see what you have for us.

We're not in prison like Paul was but we still struggle with contentment the way Paul has

mastered and Father I pray that you'll use his life to speak to us where we are today.

I thank you for your word.

We ask all this in Jesus name.

All God's people said amen.

Amen.

Please be seated.

This text is so full of great information today.

It's so good and so practical and I'm looking forward to walking with you through this text

today.

You know when you read this passage you'll see the word secret.

The secret of being full and lacking as well.

I'm going to show you with you the secret Paul says.

The secret of contentment is what he's talking about.

One other translation of the scripture though doesn't use the word secret but it uses the

word recipe.

In other words the recipe of contentment is what we're going to have.

That means all the right ingredients for you to have the right recipe for you to be able

to have contentment in your life is part of what this message is all about.

Now I know something about recipes even though I'm not a cook.

When I was in college I'm dating my wife.

I went on the first date with her.

I think I was a junior in college and she was a sophomore and we went out to eat at

Pizza Planet after a basketball game.

And we went to Pizza Planet because that's the place I always like to eat after basketball

games.

I was a basketball player.

Pizza Planet was where we went at the end of the game.

So I took her there.

Normally I ordered a large pizza and ate it all for myself.

And that day I thought well I need to order a large pizza and hope she doesn't eat very

much of it.

She wasn't big enough for her to hold the whole pizza by herself and after she ate one

piece of that pizza she was done.

And I thought this has the makings of a good relationship in the future.

It's one piece.

After we were married a year and a half later I said do you think you can make that pizza

here in our own oven?

You think you can make it like at Pizza Planet?

And she put together, this was 46 years ago, put together a recipe and she knocked it out

of the park.

It was the best pizza I have ever eaten even to this day.

So she keeps the recipe.

She knows all the ingredients.

I had it last week.

For 46 years we've been eating the best pizza on the planet and no we're not going to tell

you what it is.

It's a secret.

But there is a secret that I will reveal to you today.

It's the secret that Paul shared that he had about contentment.

Now before we dive into the contentment part of this passage I want you to notice first

of all Paul's emphasis on giving.

Now this is not incidental.

This is where this passage is heading.

In fact next week he'll talk about how God is able to supply all your needs according

to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

There was a major emphasis on generosity all the way through chapter 4.

But he's doing it by laying upon a foundation of contentedness and perspective before you

learn about generosity.

Yet no fewer than six times in verses 10 to the end of the chapter does Paul refer to

this gift or this generous offering that they gave for him while he was in prison.

In Roman prison you weren't fed unless somebody on the outside gave for your needs to be met.

So he was dependent upon this church.

In fact this was the only church that helped him.

In verse 15 he says you know that no other church helped me in my suffering but you did

and so he's commending them for giving and that gives us the opportunity to talk for

just a minute about the importance of giving in the New Testament church.

There's some things I want you to see about the New Testament church as they gave.

It's very important especially not just this week but next week as we look at the practice

of giving in general.

Let me just share the three things the New Testament church was famous for in their giving.

First of all their regular giving as they gathered.

The New Testament church gathered weekly on the first day of the week and they gave their

offerings their tithes and offerings to the Lord during that time.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 16 in verse 2 you have a glimpse of that where Paul is writing

to the church at Corinth and said on the first day of every week each one of you is to put

aside and save as he may prosper so that no collections be made when I come.

Now he's not stressing the tithe necessarily but he's stressing the weekly practice of

giving in the New Testament church.

The New Testament church really was built on those who came to Christ out of the Jewish

faith and their practice was tithing and that continued on to the New Testament church today.

We even consider that the starting place for healthy giving in the church.

Regular giving as they gathered.

Secondly, the New Testament church was known for radical giving as they rose.

Anyone that's read the book of Acts stands apart when they look at Acts chapter 2 and

Acts 2 · chapter mention

verse 45 where it says they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing

with them with all as anyone might have need.

I mean it's a powerful picture of a brand new church.

The church right after Pentecost and they're seeing all kinds of needs in that first century

Roman nation, Roman empire.

And yet the Romans weren't meeting those needs until the New Testament church took up the

need and they gave regularly to meet the needs of those both inside the body and outside

the body.

In fact they became famous for their generosity.

So radical giving is what happens when you sell your land and your possessions and say

listen let's help somebody else in the need that they have because I know God has taken

care of me.

And of course you have to have contentment to be able to do that or you won't give.

That's why contentment plays into generosity as well.

Did you know today that Christians in America give four to five times more to philanthropic

causes than any other people in America today?

We've learned generosity because we've learned that God gives to us and provides for us.

So we have that practice of generosity.

A few years ago when we started our Six Stones mission network is what we called it at the

time but Six Stones was started to help meet needs in the community.

That is just a natural assumption that somebody is going to meet the need of somebody else

that doesn't have enough money.

Somebody is going to give them food.

Somebody is going to give them clothing.

And we learned nobody was doing that.

They weren't getting it from the government.

They weren't getting it from their neighbors or any other members of the community.

So Six Stones mission network was begun right here on this stage in this congregation and

you as a congregation gave sacrificially to help that ministry begin.

Unfortunately we saw 35,000 people a year being fed and clothed through Six Stones mission

network.

But it happened because of the generosity of God's people which is an illustration of

exactly what the New Testament church was doing.

Regular giving, radical giving, but they also had a perspective of giving and that's what

I call reverential giving.

It's giving as worship.

If you read on in Philippians chapter four, Paul is going to characterize their gift to

him in this way.

He says, what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to

God.

This begs the question, what is your giving smell like?

Are you giving in such a way that's a pleasing aroma to the Lord?

Are you giving in such a way where it's worship?

You bring that to him because you're worshiping him and trust him with all that you have.

So here's Paul at the start of this particular section talking about giving and how important

it was to him and to God.

But very quickly he moves into this issue of contentment.

Here's why contentment is so important.

People who are not content with what they have will certainly not give any of it away.

If you're not content with what you have, you're always going to be wanting more and

that really affects your giving, especially affects generous kind of giving.

That's how this context weaves in and out, attitude and perspective and contentment with

generosity.

But let's take a few moments and let's really center in on the importance of contentment.

I was reading this last week, an author by the name of Arthur Schlesinger who called

our society one of inextinguishable discontent.

That's a mouthful.

Indistinguishable discontent.

We can't put out the fire of discontent, he says.

We always want more.

Ricky Zell said we want better, we want next, and we live endlessly for the next thing,

the next position, the possession, the next experience, the next purchase.

We're never satisfied.

Would you say that characterizes the nation that we live in and sometimes maybe even characterizes

us just a little bit?

But the question begs, can we be content?

And the answer is yes.

We can be content if we look at the secret of contentment.

So here's a man in prison with nothing at all who's lecturing everybody else that reads

this passage about what it means to be content.

And in the words he writes, we learn the big picture of contentment.

I want you to look in verses 11 through 13.

We're going to put them on the screen back here because I want to spend just a few moments

looking at this next few lines that Paul writes.

And I want you to see some things that I've highlighted here that are so important.

In your Bible or on this screen.

He said, not that I speak from want.

I want you to know that even though your gift is important to me, I'm not begging, I'm not

pleading with you out of a sense of want.

Why?

For I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know how to get along with humble means.

I also know how to live in prosperity.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,

both of having abundance and suffering need.

And then the second big line there is, I can do all things through Him who strengthens

me.

Now let's spend just a moment and look at this line again.

You see the big bold print that I've shared with you?

I'm going to spend some time on that.

But I want you to notice what's in between.

I want you to notice that he's covering every conceivable situation.

No matter what extreme it is, having much or having nothing.

He says, in any and every circumstance, no matter what the circumstance is, no matter

how easy or hard it is, in any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of being filled and

going hungry, having abundance and suffering need.

I've learned to be content.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

These two lines today are going to be important for your life.

And I want to take some time to look at each one of them.

First of all, he says, I've learned to be content.

The phrase to learn means to experience the idea of having or not having and learning

to adjust to whatever it is you have.

It's not something that you just read about and acknowledge in your mind.

It's not some sort of a download of information.

Not even the download of truth.

Paul says when he said I have learned, he said I've come to experience both much and

little and through that have learned to be satisfied with wherever I am.

That's what the word content means.

To be satisfied, to be fulfilled, to have a sense that you're not lacking anything at

all because everything is taken care of.

Now for a man in prison to write that, who doesn't have a change of clothes, who doesn't

know where the next meal is coming from, who doesn't know how long he'll live, for a man

like that to tell us about what it means to have the secret of contentment, we need to

learn the secret of contentment.

As Paul writes this, he essentially is saying I've come to the place where I am satisfied

no matter what circumstance I experience.

I've come to the place that I am satisfied no matter what circumstance I've experienced.

Let me just ask this question of you.

Have you come to that place where you are satisfied no matter what circumstance you

experience?

Or would you say you're still on the learning curve, learning to be content, learning to

be satisfied no matter what circumstance you experience?

Now when Paul writes to us in these verses we were looking at, he gives three comparisons.

They're pretty simple comparisons.

They're very extreme.

It's like the pendulum swinging from one side to the next.

He said I've experienced prosperity and I've also experienced humility.

I've experienced fullness.

I've also experienced hunger.

I've experienced abundance.

I've also experienced need and yet I've learned to be content.

What's he saying?

Paul is saying that you learn contentment in the experience of having much or little

and having the same contentment regardless of which one it is.

If you can have contentment with much or little then you can certainly be content in all the

places in between much and little.

Whatever experience, whatever circumstance, you can learn to be content.

The pendulum swing is so big in life and I think you know it is for you too.

You have the awesome times when it's at the pinnacle at the mountaintop and then it swings

back in some unexpected moment, some unexpected circumstance and all of a sudden it's horrible.

Much like the start market.

It goes up and then it goes way down and then it goes back up and then it goes way down

and we're excited while it's up and we're frightened when it's down.

That's just the way life is.

Lots of extremes back and forth, back and forth.

And Paul is talking about those extremes and in the midst of those extremes he says I've

learned to be content.

Now if you listen to old people talk and by old people I mean anybody older than say 50

years of age.

Trying to cover myself here.

Now they talk about defining moments of life and the lessons they learned.

It's never about the time they made their first million.

It's always about the time they had nothing.

Have you heard old people talk?

Have you heard what they said?

Have you heard about the character that was built when they were growing up and there

was nothing?

Have you heard them talk about having absolutely nothing and maybe somebody else had something

and yet they learned to be happy with whatever they had?

That's a character that's being built in their life when they had nothing.

They came to the place of contentment and if they continue that balance then it doesn't

matter if they have much or little, they're still at that place of contentment.

Yet they know that the things they have are not what makes their contentment.

Such an important lesson to learn.

So Paul is saying you learn through all those experiences no matter which way the pendulum

swings.

Sometimes people with great prosperity struggle the most.

Paul was writing a letter and in that letter he mentions a guy named Demas and I noticed

that I don't really know anybody who names their son Demas but it says this, it says

for Demas, having loved this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica,

Chresence has gone to Galatia, Titus to Domitia.

In other words, there are those that stay with me in ministry but not Demas because

Demas was looking for some other sense of satisfaction so he loved the world and he

went that way.

Man, I'm really glad my name's not Demas.

You don't want your name to be that but you don't want your life to be characterized

by that as well.

By a person who's always looking, loving the world more than they love the life that

God calls us to.

How would you like to be known only for that?

Now this passage is really the anti-prosperity message straight from the apostle.

You know today there's a teaching that is basically characterized as prosperity teaching

and preaching which basically says the most spiritual people are the ones that are most

blessed financially or the most blessed with material possessions.

I remember being in a meeting a few years ago, it's been almost 15 years ago now, and

in that meeting was a number of evangelical leaders and one of them was maybe one of the

most famous prosperity preachers in America.

And this guy was walking as we went through the time of introducing who we were.

We would talk about who we were, where our church is, and where our ministry was, what

we were doing.

And when it got to this guy, he kind of leaned back and he had his hands folded across his

chest and he'd been talking about his airplanes and his homes and all the prosperity he had.

He said, I've come to the place where I am finally content in life with what God has

given me.

And it was really a stunning moment because we'd had some great stories in there about

how God was working but he was talking about his possessions.

And I thought to myself, would you be happy in prison the way Paul is?

You see, if you're not content in prison, you'll never be content with the jets and

the many homes.

Contentment is not about what you have or don't have.

Contentment is about who you have and how big of a deal he is in your life.

That's what Paul says.

That's true.

And it's being satisfied when you have little or much because your satisfaction is not in

what you have, it's who you have.

Paul says this in verse 6, he said to Timothy, but godliness is actually a means of great

gain when accompanied by contentment.

For we've brought nothing into the world and we shall not take anything out of it either.

If we have food and covering with these, we shall be content.

And I think, yes, we need the basics covered, but contentment is knowing Jesus Christ.

Maybe the most important thing, most important perspective I've read over the last couple

of weeks is the perspective of the Puritan as he bows over his bread and water at the

meal.

And basically his prayer is, all this, that is his meal, all this and Jesus too, wow,

am I blessed.

We never think about that kind of prayer.

We never think about that kind of simplicity.

But that's what the Bible wants too.

With food and covering we'll be content because we have Christ.

In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 is a wonderful, wonderful passage about contentment.

Hebrews 13:5

It says, make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content

with what you have.

But I love the last part of this.

For he himself has said, I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.

So here's what the apostle is saying, be content with what you have because God has said to

you, I will never desert you.

I will never abandon you.

You have me, so be content with whatever else you have.

You have me.

Paul is talking about the contentedness that comes from having Christ and living satisfied

in him.

So these verses all teach us the same thing.

They teach us that we should learn to be content by trusting him to meet our need.

I want you to watch me for the next couple of minutes because I'm going to kind of try

to demonstrate something to you that I think this text teaches us in a very strong way.

If I find myself in need and that need is not being met by any way that I know of, I

have one of two ways of trying to feel that need.

I can reach up for that need to be met.

I can go vertical with my prayer.

I can go vertical with my expectation.

I can go vertical with my hope.

I can reach up and trust that sometime, at some day, at some point, God will meet that

need and provide all that I need.

I can reach up and do that.

If I'm trusting him, that's what I do.

First, second, third is my plan, A, B, C, D, E, F, it's my plan all the way through.

However, if I don't trust him, then I do a different thing.

Instead of reaching up, I reach out because I want this to fill my heart or that to fill

my heart or I want something else to be put in there and I go horizontal instead of vertical.

I go horizontal to get something that's so temporary it can't even satisfy me for a few

days and then very quickly I forget about it and yet somehow I think that that next

experience, next purchase, next something will fulfill me.

It will not fulfill your heart.

So the secret of contentment is knowing where to reach to satisfy the heart that may be

feeling a little discontent and a little dissatisfied.

Go vertical.

See, what God does in our lives is so powerful.

He knows what we need and He knows how to give us the contentment we need.

So let me just summarize this in three real quick statements.

First of all, look up, not out.

Look up, not out.

Secondly, settle into simplicity.

Don't let life get so complicated by one thing after another in your life.

Just look at life simply.

And thirdly, live one day at a time.

Don't think about where you'll be in 10 years and 20 years.

I mean the Bible says you don't even know how long you're going to be here.

Instead we should say if the Lord wills, we will live and then do this or that.

Live simply.

Live daily.

It helps us with a level of contentment.

But you know, that's not the end of this passage.

That's the secret of contentment, but there's something else that will help us in this text.

And this is really what I call, this is the fun verse.

This is the fun verse.

The reason I say that is because everybody quotes this verse.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Say that with me.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

The apostle says first of all in this section of the text, I can do all things through Christ.

Now we need to know what that means exactly.

I read a very humorous article recently written by a woman who had lots of insight and here's

what she said.

The title of the article is, if I can do all things through Christ, why can't I find my

car keys?

Let's make it practical.

Well we see this all the time, this football season.

Football players are famous for saying, well we're going to beat Otech University and the

reason we're going to do that is because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens

me and then they go out and lose the football game later on that day.

Clearly this verse means something, but it doesn't mean all that.

It doesn't mean you'll always find your car keys.

It doesn't mean you'll always win the football game.

What does it mean?

What's the verse that's so inspiring, so helpful, so positive, so powerful, what does it actually

mean?

What can we count on this verse to do for us?

What can we count on Christ to do for us?

I want you to notice the context of this.

It's in the context of contentment.

I want you to notice the person that said it, a person in jail who's lost everything

else except Christ.

So what does it mean to say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?

I'm going to give you three statements that I believe speak to the core of what this promise

is for you and for me and for Paul and I believe you can count on it from Christ.

The first thing it means is, and the first thing I think Paul was saying when he said

it was, I can complete any mission he gives me.

I can complete any mission he gives me.

Paul was on a mission.

He was a missionary on a journey and he was in prison because of the mission that Christ

gave him and because he was on that mission and it was not easy.

He resorted to saying the promise that he was counting on day in and day out.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I don't know how he'll complete this mission.

I don't know what I'll have to go through to get to the other side of this mission,

but I can count on God to help me with this mission in every way.

He writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

who has strengthened me, same word, because he considered me faithful, putting me into

service in jail or out.

God was giving him all that he needed to fulfill the mission that God gave him in life.

Now we're all on mission.

Did you know that?

You may not be the apostle Paul and I'm certainly not the apostle Paul, but I'm on mission and

you're on mission in life.

It may be your mission as a husband or a wife.

It may be your mission as a father or a mother or outstanding witness for Jesus Christ or

someone simply following Christ who's influencing people around them.

You are on a mission whether you are actively engaged in it right now or not.

God has you on a mission in this life and this passage tells you he can give you strength

for whatever mission he calls you to.

That means if he's calling you to something bigger than you can imagine, just keep in

mind it's not your strength he's counting on.

It's his strength he's counting on and he will do the mission through you.

That's the promise.

I can complete any mission that he calls me to.

Here's the second part of that.

I can endure any situation he puts me in.

I can endure any situation he puts me in.

I think about all that Paul went through.

He went through every conceivable situation.

You can imagine he was shipwrecked.

He was beaten.

He was run out of town.

He was falsely accused.

He was ignored at times.

He was mocked.

He was belittled and then he had some difficult moments as well.

A few of you are listening to me actually.

Second Timothy chapter four verse 17 listen to this.

But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the proclamation might

be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear, pause, and I was rescued out of

the lion's mouth.

Almost like it's an afterthought.

I've gone through all kinds of things.

Oh yeah a lion's mouth was over my head and God got me out.

Now we don't actually know the lion's mouth was on his head but he was in the lion's mouth.

Here's a guy whose head has been in the lion's mouth or whose body has been in the lion's

mouth saying I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

That's pretty strong.

It means no matter what your mission, it means no matter what your circumstances, he's just

gotten through saying in any and every circumstance I found myself I can be content and cry.

No matter what you're going through he has the ability to strengthen you to help you

endure no matter how painful, no matter how difficult you keep in mind he is able.

You know this is one of the first verses my mom wanted me to memorize.

The first one was John 3 16, for God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that

whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The second one was this, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

And the reason my mom wanted me to know this verse is because as a child I've lost my

hearing and I was struggling being deaf, going to school, not being able to do some of the

things, hear some of the things that others heard and did and I was discouraged.

And she would keep saying just trust God I can do all things through him who strengthens

me.

So that was the second verse I memorized and I don't know which one I quote more but I

quote both of them a whole lot because they have become life to me.

They should become life to you.

This is something that you pray and the words you pray are these words.

This is something you say when you are facing difficult times and you're waiting and you're

trusting and yet you haven't seen God come through yet.

You have to be able to endure and He can strengthen you to endure whatever it is no matter what

it is, whatever it is.

And then the third thing, I can live any life He calls me to.

Of course I'm referring to the Christian life.

You know the Christian life is impossible for you to live apart from His strength.

Remember the famous verse that we looked at a few weeks ago, Galatians chapter 2 verse

Galatians 2:20

20?

I have been crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.

And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved

me and gave Himself up for me.

Well I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It's a passage that reminds us you can live the life He's called you to live as a believer

in Jesus.

You can say no to sin and temptation and yes to Jesus.

You can find contentment in Jesus.

You can find purpose in life.

You can know God's will for your life through Jesus Christ.

When you are dependent upon Him, when you surrender to Him, then He gives you the strength

to live this life.

I love this passage because this passage says so very much.

The great Bill Anderson used to end his messages by asking people to repeat things.

Sometimes you didn't know where Bill was going when he started asking people to repeat.

So when I first heard that I thought well they must really trust him because they're

going wherever he's going.

And often he asked him to repeat lines that had to do with his message or the text.

I'm going to practice that today with you.

I'm going to ask you to repeat these lines that all come out of the text, that all come

out of what we've just talked about today, that all have to do with I can do all things

through Christ who strengthens me.

Are you ready?

Repeat it like you believe it.

I promise you it's good stuff.

You can trust me with this.

Here we go.

I can complete any mission He gives me by His strength.

I can endure any situation He puts me in by His strength.

I can live any life He calls me to by His strength.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It's not a positive confession.

You're just repeating the fact of the promise of God for your life.

And that's something you're to live by.

Three invitations today.

Number one, if you don't know that you have this life that we've been talking about with

Christ, please stop at one of the decision stations.

They highlight those and you'll be able to see those as you walk out today.

Just stop by and talk to one of those that are trained to answer the questions that you

have and just have a conversation with you about a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our greatest desire is to know that everyone has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So that's the first invitation.

Second invitation is I want to encourage you to come to our guest reception area which

is right outside the center exit door and across the hallway.

We'll have staff members there.

I'll be there.

I want to personally thank you for being here today and we'll tell you some things about

our church that we'd love for you to know.

The third invitation is I want you to come back next week and hear really the pinnacle

of Philippians chapter four.

I mean it is an amazing text.

I can't wait to share it with you.

If I had any time, I'd do it now but I don't have that kind of time right now and probably

you don't either.

So next week be here.

We're going to have a phenomenal time together.

Let's stand together.

Father, I want to thank you today for this amazing passage of Scripture.

Thank you that you love us, that you care for us, that you give us the promises that

we can do all things through you, through Christ who strengthens us.

Father, my prayer is that we will put this passage to work, this truth to work in our

lives this week.

Thank you for loving us so much that you come alongside and help us in all that we need.

I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.