Don't Be Afraid

What's up everybody?

Happy Thanksgiving.

How are you?

Wanna welcome everybody joining us online?

Some of you are like, he's sitting down.

Yeah, so are you.

I ate just a little bit too much of Thanksgiving.

What's your problem?

No, this is what I do now every once in a while.

So just it'll be okay.

I'm not gonna, you know, sway side to side.

You're you'll make it okay.

If you've got a Bible, I want you to turn to a couple of spots.

Open up to Mark chapter four.

Put a marker in 1 Peter chapter 4.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

And if you're feeling really adventurous, put a marker in Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

We'll finish the message there together.

And while you're turning there, let me just kind of give you a heads up.

Uh most of you are gonna be surprised by our topic this weekend.

Some of you may have come with family, and you were just expecting the Thanksgiving weekend message to be about giving thanks.

I'm gonna go ahead and break it to you.

We're not talking about being thankful.

I'm sorry.

The Lord had a different plan.

We're talking about fear.

How many of us would say there's a lot happening all over the earth right now?

We just put your hand up all the campuses.

Yeah, yeah.

And have you noticed one of the things that we are seeing as the biggest response to everything that's happening all over the earth is fear.

In my lifetime, I have never seen fear like what I'm seeing today.

And here's what concerns me: it's not just out there.

We're seeing a lot of fear taking place in the family of God, in the house of God.

And I personally believe that the day in which we are living was meant to be the single greatest moment in the history of the church.

I believe that this was meant to be a defining moment for the church on the earth.

But it will never be a moment like that if it is our greatest hour of fear.

So we're gonna talk in this message about overcoming fear.

Now I know you're not afraid of anything, it's just me and everybody else.

But there are a lot of people on the earth that need a little bit of a refresher course scripturally on how to overcome fear.

So here's the title of this message: Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid.

One of the things I've learned about fear is Satan loves to scare you in regards to what might happen so that he can keep you from doing what must be done.

Mark chapter 4 is a story many of us know, and I want to read it together.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

It's a story where Jesus brings up fear.

Mark chapter 4, starting in verse 35, if you turn there, read it with me.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's let us, that's what let's means, let us, you and me, cross to the other side of the lake.

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed.

But soon a fierce storm came up.

High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

My man Jesus.

Storm is raging.

Jesus is back there sawing logs.

The disciples woke him up, shouting, Teacher, teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence or peace be still.

Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

Then Jesus asked them, Why are you afraid?

Do you still have no faith?

Here's why we're starting off with Mark chapter 4 and the story of Jesus calming the storm.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Because if we're not careful as followers of Jesus Christ, this will be our favorite miracle Jesus did.

The miracle where he stopped the storm.

But the subtitle to this message, Don't Be Afraid, is this What happens when Jesus doesn't stop the storm?

The answer to the question is we have to learn how to overcome our fear.

So I want to give you a couple of things.

If you battle fear, if you struggle against the spirit of fear, especially, I want to give you a couple of things you really need to understand.

And trust me, you're gonna hate point number one.

Okay, if you don't hate me already, after you hear point one, you're gonna hate my guts.

Just remember, I'm delivering his mail.

Okay?

I blame him.

Here's point number one.

If you're gonna overcome fear, you have to understand storms are guaranteed.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

I bring good news and tidings of joy.

Merry Christmas! Storms are inevitably guaranteed.

You hate me, I know.

But listen, here's why you need to understand storms are guaranteed.

Because if you don't understand that storms are inevitable, you're going to resent God the minute they come.

From time to time, I get a chance to spend time with church planners, and every time I do, I start off the same way.

And a while back, before Ethan and Elaine started and launched Gateway in Houston, we were sitting down and Elaine said, Okay, Press, out of everything you've learned being a church planner, what's the number one thing we need to know?

More than anything, what's the number one thing we need to know?

And here's what I said to him: it's the same thing I say to every church planner, and any of them that are watching are gonna laugh hysterically.

Here's what I said.

If you do this, this is going to be absolutely, terrifyingly, miserably difficult.

This is gonna be the hardest thing you ever do in your lifetime.

And like everybody else, I've said that too.

They were like deer in headlights.

Ethan looked at me and he goes, gee, thanks for the pep talk.

I said, Listen, guys, I'm kind of being sarcastic to prove a point.

If you go into this expecting perfectly calm seas, then when the storms start to rage, you will either get mad at God or run from the clouds.

So I would rather tell you this is gonna be so much harder than you think, than tell you, oh, this is the easiest thing I've ever done in my life.

Here's one of the things I've learned about storms.

Oftentimes, the size of the storm is usually not as scary as the surprise of the storm.

This is why we have to cover point number one.

Storms are guaranteed.

1 Peter chapter 4, if you put a marker there, let's read it together.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

1 Peter 4, verse 12.

1 Peter 4:12

Peter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you were going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

That's a great verse right there for 2020.

Because every time we roll our eyes and say, the storm's just getting worse, I wonder if all of heaven isn't going.

He told you, don't be surprised by fiery trials, tribulations, storms.

I think Peter was pointing back to what Jesus said in John 16.

He said, Hey, in this life, you're gonna have tribulation.

And then he says, one of the nastiest things Jesus said, I believe in Scripture, but take heart.

I have overcome the whole world.

That's what I'm talking about, best friend.

In this life, you're gonna have some trouble pressing you, you're gonna have trials and tribulations.

But take heart.

I've overcome the world.

Okay, here's something we all need to remember: the saved don't escape storms.

Those who are saved don't escape storms.

They just know what to do in them.

Flip over to 1 Peter chapter 1, because if storms are guaranteed and God is sovereign, that means that God allows storms.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Why would God allow storms?

I think in 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, God tells us why he allows storms.

1 Peter 1:6

Let's read it together.

So be truly glad.

There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.

These trials will show that your faith is genuine.

It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, though your faith is far more precious, and the implication here is to God, your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.

Okay, here's what 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7 is telling us.

Life is a crucible.

Why?

Because our God is a goldsmith.

Here's another way to say it.

I think one of God's love languages is genuine faith.

Not social media faith, not church attendance faith, genuine faith.

I wonder if every time the storm clouds come our way in life, if God on the throne isn't peering over the balcony of heaven going, hey, hey, guys, guys, it's about to happen.

The storm's coming at Preston.

Two things are about to happen.

Give me the popcorn.

Give me my popcorn.

We're about to watch this movie.

Preston's about to see two things happen.

We're about to see how genuine his faith really is.

And secondly, he's about to see how strong I really am.

So I think when the storm clouds come our way, God's going, that's what I'm talking about.

Here we go.

Listen, isn't it interesting that the sailor is deathly afraid of the very thing the farmer begs God for?

I think God sees our storms quite differently than we see our storms.

He guarantees storms.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write this one liner down.

God doesn't prevent storms because they produce too much good to be bad.

Storms are guaranteed.

Here's the second thing.

If you're gonna overcome fear, you have to understand fear is a choice.

Fear is not a guarantee.

See, I think the enemy loves to try and convince us that as it relates to him, that every storm which is guaranteed brings fear, which is guaranteed too.

And here's one of the things I've learned about fear.

Fear is an option, not an obligation.

The storms are guaranteed, but fear does not have to be.

So I want to give you a couple things, and let me just tell you this about fear.

I feel especially qualified to talk to you about fear.

And I don't feel that way about a lot of topics, but I feel quite qualified to talk to you about fear because about 14 years ago, I went through the scariest season of my whole life so far.

And it lasted for about two years and no one knew it.

And so I want to share a couple of things.

If you struggle with the spirit of fear, you might actually think, oh, I just get scared from time to time.

You might actually be wrestling with the spirit of fear.

And let me show you a couple of ways, evidences that you can know if you're battling a spirit of fear.

Here's the first one: you over-emphasize what Satan says.

You know you are battling a spirit of fear when you over-emphasize what Satan says.

Fourteen years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was having my time with the Lord and I heard a voice say to me, Preston, if you say yes to the call of God in your life, what I did to Job will pale in comparison to what I do to you.

What I did to his family is going to look like nothing compared to what I do to your family.

And I didn't tell anyone, I didn't tell my wife, I didn't tell my best friends, I didn't tell my mentors, I was so embarrassed.

And here's what was happening.

Every day I believed his lie, I became more convinced his lie was my truth.

I began believing what Satan was saying to me.

And here's one of the things I learned going through that.

God taught me something.

One day I was driving in my truck down the road and I was getting bombarded.

This voice was saying, This is gonna happen to your wife, this is gonna happen to this child, this is gonna happen to this child, this is gonna happen to the church, all these things are gonna happen to you because you said yes to the call of God.

And I remember driving down the road, and one of the most amazing and special moments in my life, the God of the universe shouted in a way I don't think I've ever felt him shout before.

As I'm hearing, this is gonna happen to your wife, this is gonna happen to this child, this is gonna happen to this child, the God of the universe I felt said, that's not how I talk.

And I mean, when he said it, peace just blanketed me.

And to this day, 14 years later, I find myself when I hear that voice trying to scare me, taunt me.

There have been times where I've said out loud 20 to 25 times, that's not how God talks.

That's not how God talks.

That's simply just not how God talks.

I will say it until my heart believes it again.

And it might sound silly to you, but I'm telling you, no daddy scares his children.

And let me remind you, Satan is the father of all lies.

Everything he says to you is a lie.

That's why we have to combat his lies with the truth.

And sometimes we just have to say, that's not how God talks.

Here's the second thing that if you're really battling a spirit of fear, this is what you're gonna see.

You overreact to what you see.

You overreact to what you see.

In Mark chapter 4, what do the disciples do?

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Jesus is asleep on the boat.

And the disciples come and shake him and say, Teacher, teacher, don't you even care?

We're about to die.

Okay, dramatic disciples.

Jesus is there just going, Jesus, Jesus, don't you even care we're about to die?

Okay, listen.

Every emotional overreaction is rooted in a fear.

Satan's trying to fire your way.

I remember during that two-year run, uh, one day our daughter Riley, she was probably about, I don't know, five-ish.

And she put her arm, do you know how the oven has the handle on the outside?

She put her arm in between the handle and the oven.

And the oven wasn't on, but she got scared because she got stuck.

So she started screaming, Daddy, help me, help me! Well, because I was battling a spirit of fear and hadn't told anybody.

I freaked out.

I run in there.

I thought her arm had been sawed off by an intruder.

And I run in, and I'm not proud of it, but I I freaked out.

Somebody do something.

And I'm just screaming.

Riley's screaming even more now.

My wife, who is amazing, walks into the kitchen and she goes, babe, you need to get out of this room.

And she calmly grabs my daughter's elbow, pops it out, and everything was fine.

Okay, I'm trying to make fun of myself because I know there are a lot of people overreacting to what they're seeing right now.

Let me just remind you, your daughter's arm is just temporarily stuck in between the oven window and the handle, and the oven isn't even on.

It's gonna be okay.

But listen, when we're battling a spirit of fear, we overreact to everything.

Then here's the third thing.

When we battle a spirit of fear, you overcorrect after the storm is over.

One of the biggest ways you know you're battling a spirit of fear is you repeat fear's two favorite words.

The words never end again.

Imagine, it doesn't happen in Mark chapter 4, but if the disciples were overcorrecting, they would have gone to the shore and said, Peter would have been the one, you know it, to say, I am never getting on a boat, ever again.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Okay, it's the same thing as someone who just experienced a very unexpected divorce.

And says, I am never getting married again.

Someone who puts money in the stock market and it tanked for a week.

I'm never letting go of my money again.

Someone who got sick in a public place, I'm never going out in public again.

Okay, listen.

Fear overcorrects when the storm is over.

And if we're not careful, we will look in God's direction and say, I don't care what you're asking me to do, but I'm not doing that again.

Here's what concerns me about that.

Some of the greatest revelations in life come from surviving raging seas.

That brings us to point number three.

Let's get to point number three.

This is the important part.

Faith is a must.

If you're going to overcome fear, faith is a must.

Now I know some of you are saying this seems very elementary, Preston.

I have a personal philosophy.

I know I am not nearly as brilliant theologically or any other way as Pastor Robert.

I know it.

My dream was to be Solomon.

I think I'm more like the talking donkey in Scripture.

I know I'm a lot more simple than you are.

But I kind of have a philosophy.

If you don't pass second grade, you shouldn't wake up every day telling God, teach me 12th grade theological lessons.

Overcoming fear is a second grade principle, but we are seeing fear run rampant.

And so all I'm trying to do is give you a refresher.

Okay?

If you're gonna overcome fear, faith is a must.

If you're taking notes, write this down.

A lack of fear is the result of an abundance of faith, not the absence of trouble.

Whew! That's nasty right there.

You don't need to clap, you just need to let it sink in.

The best one-liners are not the ones you clap at, they're the ones you let sink in.

A lack of fear is the result of an abundance, of an abundance of faith, not the absence of trouble.

Here's another way to say it.

Fear shrinks when faith grows.

So quickly, let's walk through three ways faith grows.

I know it's simple, I know you know it, but a lot of us are acting like we've forgotten these very simple lessons.

So let's just refresh ourselves.

Here's the first thing Faith grows when God speaks.

Faith grows when God speaks.

Did you know one of Satan's biggest fears is man hearing God speak?

I can prove it to you.

What's the very first question asked in the Bible, and who asks it?

Satan asks the first question in the Bible, and he says to Eve, did God really say?

He played his hand.

He's letting us all know one of his biggest fears is man hearing God speak.

Romans chapter 10, verse 17.

Romans 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Fox News.

I had to.

To be fair and equal, so then faith comes.

Comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of CNN, MSNBC, Drudge Report.

Insert your favorite news outlet.

Is that what the Bible says?

No.

No.

Faith comes by hearing.

And hearing comes by the word of God.

I know this is simple.

Let me just read you a little something.

When I was going through my little fear problem, Isaiah chapter 40 is a chapter God used to ring my bell.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

Let me just read some snippets from Isaiah 40.

All right?

This is God talking.

In verse 12, he says, Who else has held the oceans in his hand?

Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?

Now I love it when he talks like that.

Preston, who else has measured the heavens with two of his fingers?

Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?

Who knows enough to give him any wisdom, advice, or teach him?

Has the Lord ever needed anyone's advice?

Verse 18, to whom can you compare God, he says.

What image can you find to resemble him?

Haven't you heard, Preston?

Don't you understand?

Are you deaf to the words of God?

The words he gave before the world began?

Are you so ignorant, Preston?

God sits above the circle of the earth.

The people below are like grasshoppers to him.

He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.

Look up to the heavens, Preston.

Who created all of the stars?

He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.

Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

Oh Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?

Oh Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

Have you never heard?

Have you never understood?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of all the earth.

He never grows weak or weary.

No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

That's not even the best part.

Chapter 41, verse 4.

God says, Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time?

It is I, the Lord, the first and the last.

I alone am He.

When I was in the middle of getting dominated by a spirit of fear, it was his word that got me out of that dark hole.

I would read things like Isaiah 40, and at the end I'd be so riled up.

I said to the Lord, I remember saying to him, This is like the greatest halftime speech in the history of humanity.

He goes, You want to know something better?

I don't just send you out onto the playing field.

I go with you.

That same God you just read about goes with you.

Faith grows when God speaks.

Here's the second way faith grows.

Faith grows when God is present.

Psalm 46, verses 1 and 2.

Psalms 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear.

Though the earth should change, anybody feel like that's true right now?

Though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, we will not fear.

Why?

Isaiah 41 in verse 10, God says, Fear not, for I am with you.

See, if I were the disciples in the boat that day, I hope instead of freaking out and waking up Jesus, I hope I would have done something like this.

Because think about this, I've never noticed this before.

But Mark chapter 4 tells us that Jesus got into the boat with the disciples and other boats followed.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Think about this for a second.

The disciples were in the boat, Jesus was in, and they were the ones freaking out.

You know who should really be freaking out?

Anybody in a boat, Jesus isn't in.

I tell my kids all the time, I don't know how the world does it without Jesus.

Storms are hard enough with him in my boat.

The disciples had Jesus in the boat, but they were so fixated on the storm that they forgot their Savior was in the boat with them.

I feel like that's happening in the church right now.

Everybody's measuring the size of the storm, and we should go back to Isaiah 40 and attempt to measure the size of our God.

I'm not even fully convinced that Jesus was completely asleep in that storm.

I think he was playing a little jokey joke.

The waves, scripture says, were coming over the edges of the boat, filling up the boat.

That means the waves were hitting Jesus.

I really think it was just kind of this right here.

Let's just see how they do.

Father, let's just watch.

Let's watch this movie.

Peter's so entertaining.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Don't you even care?

We're about to die.

Okay, listen, remember, fear is an option.

Jesus did not choose.

Because he's overcome the world.

The disciples chose to be afraid.

Fear shrinks and faith grows when God is present.

If you're struggling with fear right now, can I tell you two things you need to be doing more than anything else?

You need to be face in this book and feet in his manifest presence.

Because I'm telling you, no matter how bad the storm seems, when your savior is in your boat, the storm can't be nearly as bad as all those other boats trying to navigate the same storm without the savior of the world riding shotgun.

Here's the third thing.

And we'll end with this.

Faith grows when you walk in it.

Faith grows when you walk in it.

Faith is a muscle.

I want to illustrate this.

You can turn over to Philippians 1 if you put a marker there.

But I want to illustrate it before I read it.

Years ago, our middle son, Tyler, was playing baseball.

He was playing third base, and he had four errors in a row.

And if you know anything about baseball, errors are not good.

One error in a week is bad, but four in one game in two innings, that's catastrophic.

After the third error, Tyler had been trying to fight the tears back, but he just started crying.

I would have been crying after the second.

And he's just crying.

And after the fourth error, he looks over at me and he has this look in his eyes.

And he didn't say it because his coaches were standing next to me.

But the look said everything.

Daddy, get me out of here.

I don't want to do this ever again.

What happened after the game is what I to this day, in 18 years of being a daddy, I refer to as the single biggest mistake I've made as a dad.

After the game, Tyler got in the car and said, Daddy, I don't ever want to do that again.

I'm never playing baseball again.

And I said, No problem.

I get it.

You don't ever have to play again.

You can quit.

What I didn't know is in that moment, fear had such a hold on Tyler that he wasn't just quitting baseball, he was quitting everything.

And several years go by, and Tyler hasn't played any sports, and one day, he said, Daddy, I want to play flag football.

I said, Great.

We'll get you going, we'll get you set up.

About six games in, they're playing the number one team in the league.

And Tyler was probably about 11-ish at the time.

And the number one team had three kids that look like they literally drove their trucks to the game.

I mean, just big, okay?

I mean, their beards were more full than mine.

And in the first half, Tyler goes across the middle.

This is flag football.

Tyler goes across the middle to catch a pass, and the biggest kid on their team, after Tyler catches the pass, is standing right there.

And he just puts his arms out like this and levels my son.

Right in the chest.

The breath got knocked out of him.

He's fighting back the tears.

He gets up.

They get to halftime.

I was so proud of him.

In the second half, it happens again.

This time he's in the end zone.

And he's going to catch the pass.

And before he catches the pass, the kid gets in the way and levels him.

Gave him a penalty.

He didn't care because he was trying to send a message.

Now Tyler can't hide the tears.

He runs to the sideline.

I'm about 60 feet away from where he comes off the field.

And I go.

And while he's walking to me, I felt the Lord say, Don't you dare do what you did last time.

This isn't about football, Preston.

This is about life.

You put courage into him.

In this family, we do hard things.

So my son came up to me and he starts crying, Daddy, I don't want to do this.

And I said, Tyler, let me tell you something.

You're gonna get another chance.

And it's gonna happen in the end zone.

And you're gonna score a touchdown on this kid.

And when you do, I want you to at that time his team was famous for celebrating in the end zone for touchdowns.

Like their touchdown dances were famous.

Okay.

I said, Tyler, when you score on this kid, I want you to take the ball.

And I want you to slam it right at his feet.

And then do the best touchdown dance you've ever done in your life.

Sure enough, he got his chance.

He caught the ball and he runs right up to the kid and just goes, slams it at his feet.

Everyone's going crazy.

You're gonna think I'm kidding.

But I felt the Lord remind me of Philippians chapter 1, verse 28.

Philippians 1:28

Let's read it together.

Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies.

So listen to me.

If you're battling fear, I just want to say something.

You're gonna get a chance to shove it in his face.

You are going to score in this game.

Victory has already been decided.

God's gonna set you up to make your and his enemies your footstool, not just his sons.

You're gonna get a chance.

And if you're afraid to step into the moment, you're not gonna get to experience the joy of victory when you slam that ball at his feet.

So here's what I want to do.

I know this is a little bit different for some of you, but we're going to begin now.

At every campus, including this one, wherever you're watching this message, if you are struggling with fear, I want you just to stand up right now.

Just stand up.

Don't wait to see anybody else that does.

You just stand up.

You're afraid of what's going on, you're battling fear, you're losing sleep at night.

Go ahead and stand up.

This is part of not being intimidated by the spirit of fear.

Go ahead and stand up, rub it in his face.

Okay?

Come on, stand up.

Every campus.

Every campus.

Imagine what the God of the universe might be doing right now.

Look, look, look, look, look, look.

She's standing up.

She's not cowering to fear anymore.

This is it.

Let's go.

Who else?

Who else?

Just stand up.

Come on.

Every campus.

I'm not living like this anymore.

I'm not living like this anymore.

Fear does not have a hold.

Perfect love casts out all fear.

You know what that means?

God's favorite thing to do is not spike the ball at Satan's feet, it's to kick him out.

So I'm gonna do something at every campus, every campus where someone's standing up, if you're seated, I want you just to extend your hands in their direction.

And we are going to blanket them in prayer right now.

And if you've ever battled fear and God's given you victory over it, I want you to pray the hottest prayer that you can possibly pray over them right now.

Let them know they're not alone.

The family of God stands with them, the God of the universe is standing with them.

Come on, pray out loud over them.

Just begin to blanket them in prayer.

God, we pray right now over every person who's battling a spirit of fear.

In Jesus' name, in the name and authority of Jesus Christ, we say go.

In Jesus' name, you have to flee.

The best part of the game is coming.

No matter how bad the storm gets, she is a daughter of the most high God.

He is a son of the most high God.

And it's not weak to say you're scared.

My kids get scared, they come and sit in daddy's bed.

God, we are your children and we run to you in this moment.

And I pray, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, that you would administer peace and power to every one of your children.

That we would not run from the storms.

The world doesn't need more of God's children saying, get me out of this game.

I don't want to play anymore.

The world needs more of God's children saying, This is our moment.

We're winning this thing.

And I'm gonna stay out on the field.

God, would you strengthen every one of your children?

In the same way you release me from that spirit of fear, give me victory.

Lord, I pray for victory.

Victory in the life of every person who's battling fear.

In Jesus' mighty and matchless name, every one of his children said, Amen.

Amen.