Getting from Promise to Purpose

Merry Christmas to you.

I'm so glad that you're here, and I am so honored to get the chance to speak to you today.

Now, listen, I don't know if you have uh special traditions.

I'm sure you do with your family.

Uh we have some in our family, Blenn and I do, and and by the way, uh Blenn and I, on Wednesday of this week, we will celebrate 20 years of marriage.

Uh so yes, and you know, it kind of reminds me a little bit of a story.

Uh I heard of this couple, and they were old in life, and they were reflecting back on their life.

And the husband says to the wife, he says, You know, babe, I remember all throughout our life, you know, you you were there.

And I remember back in college before we were married, and I was playing football and I broke my leg.

And, you know, you were there.

And then we got married, and yeah, I got in that car wreck.

And and babe, you were you were there.

And then a little bit into our marriage, I lost my job, but you know, you were there.

And most recently I had that kidney failure.

And all the while, babe, you were there.

And you know, it got me thinking, I think you're bad luck.

Listen, Belinda's not bad luck.

She's very good luck, she's been a great blessing, but we have uh a little quirky tradition, okay?

And so what we like to do is on Christmas Day, you know, this started actually with the idea of what kids do to anticipate the presents, you know, and they go and shake the presents, and we kind of wanted them to have some anticipation about it, especially like with the Legos.

You know, you go up and you shake a Lego box, you know right away it's a Lego.

So Blinda would want to take out the Legos and then just wrap the box, you know, so the kids wouldn't have any clue.

Or we, instead of putting their names on the presents, we'd color code it, or we'd put a numbering system or make it out to a kid named David.

You know, we don't have any Davids in our family, just something that created anticipation, a waiting, a preparation.

That's what I want to talk to you about today, you know, as we are on the weekend after Christmas, it's kind of hard to know.

You know, do we bring a Christmas message?

And so I wanted to bring a Christmas-esque, a Christmas type message.

I want to talk to you today about getting from promise to purpose.

Getting from promise to purpose.

God's promise to you specifically, his promise to you, which then he will lead us to our purpose.

God's promise to you specifically.

You know, Jesus was God's promise to mankind.

We know from the beginning, Pastor John actually said it from John 1.1, we know from the beginning it was part of God's master plan to save the world through Jesus.

John 1 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

But from the beginning to the point at which the promise came, there was a period of waiting.

There was a season of waiting before the promise arrived.

And we've just come out of a season like that.

So you might not realize this, but the season prior to Christmas Day is actually called Advent.

And Advent is actually about preparing, it's about waiting for the promise to come.

Now, listen, merchants want you to think that Christmas Day ends the Christmas season.

They're ready to move on to Valentine's Day and start getting other things ready for you.

But the reality of it is Christmas season actually extends a little bit longer.

It's the holistic view.

So Advent is the preparation, the waiting.

And you might find yourself in that season.

Listen, I'm going to talk about going from promise to purpose.

But first I want to address, you might be at a place where you go, you know, I don't really think I've received a promise for my life.

I don't know that I've gotten a word from God.

I want to say to you, then you might be at a place where you're kind of in your Advent season.

That you're waiting.

You're waiting on a word from the Lord, a promise to give to you.

Listen, Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise, but it came with great waiting and anticipation.

If you think about the whole Old Testament, it is really like a woman in labor pains.

She's waiting, she's preparing, she's anticipating, she's pushing towards the Messiah.

That's exactly what we did and have done during the season of Advent.

We're preparing, we're waiting.

So maybe you find yourself in that season right now.

I want to say this to you, I want to encourage you that my prayer for you today is that maybe even in this message, God drops a word in your heart.

Something to say to you specifically.

He's got a word for you.

I believe he's got a promise for you.

So maybe that's where you find yourself.

But we find on Christmas Day the promise arrives.

Boom, the promise is here.

The Messiah has come to earth.

He is the promise.

And so I want to read a scripture, which is one that you probably read during the Christmas season at some point.

It's Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 11.

Luke 2:8–11

It says, Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid.

For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

For there was born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I love that the angel starts by saying, Do not be afraid.

That's kind of an important thing to say, because you know, when you just show up to a bunch of shepherds sitting in a field, they might be a little scared.

I kind of put myself in that situation.

I think that might scare me just a little bit.

But I think for us, what oftentimes makes us afraid might bring fear, is actually the fear of the unknown.

We don't really know what to expect.

And that's part of what I want to address today is what to expect in getting from promise to purpose.

And my reminder to us today is just as the angel said to the shepherds, do not be afraid.

In that process, do not be afraid, be encouraged.

So here's Jesus, the promised Messiah.

He's here.

Listen, that's great and all, but he still has to accomplish his purpose.

The promise can't just arrive and then not accomplish his purpose, or it's kind of a little pointless.

The promise arrived, and we know that his purpose was, according to Matthew 1.21, he will save his people from their sins.

So Jesus' purpose was identified, and it had to be accomplished.

So it's kind of like if my kids on Christmas Day, the presents are there.

There's been great waiting and preparation, anticipation for it.

And suddenly Christmas Day comes and they get that gift and they open it and say it's a guitar.

This guitar just sits right there and then walk away and it never does anything.

It didn't fulfill its purpose.

That guitar needs to be played to actually fulfill its purpose.

Jesus came, he's the Messiah, he did fulfill his purpose.

But my point today is that that didn't just happen.

It didn't happen on the day that the promise came.

There was actually a process that Jesus went through.

And that's what I want to talk to us about today, getting from promise to purpose.

It's one of the most common scenarios I hear voiced by people.

They say, Listen, I feel like I got a word from the Lord, but now I'm waiting.

I don't really know what to do in the waiting.

If you've been a Christian any amount of time and you've gotten a word from the Lord, maybe it's been a word about some kind of direction for your life.

Or maybe it's part of expecting an answered prayer.

And so for you, now there's that season.

What do I do?

You've gotten the word, maybe you're excited, it feels like that holy night when Jesus came.

But now what?

The promise is here.

What did God do next?

What did he do in Jesus' life?

And I want to parallel that and show us about getting from promise to purpose.

So the first point is that God may call you to Egypt.

God may call you to Egypt.

All right?

Stick with me for a second.

Matthew 2.13 says, An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.

For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

Now you understand that Egypt is in Africa.

Okay, it's kind of thought to be, you know, you think of it in the kind of the Middle East, but it's on the continent of Africa.

So I kind of think of it like this: you know, every American child kind of prays at some point, God, I'll follow you, I'll go anywhere you want me to go, just don't move me to Africa.

And here, even Jesus, in a way that only he could do, experienced something that he did for us, and that even he moved to Africa for a time.

It's clear from the scriptures.

Joseph and Mary understood it.

Jesus was the prophesied Messiah to the people of Israel.

Even King Herod, when he heard about the baby being born, he called his chief priests and the scribes and said, Hey, where does it talk about that this baby's gonna be born?

It says this in Matthew 2, 6, but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

So you can imagine the confusion.

He's gonna shepherd his people Israel.

So heading to Egypt might feel a little off course.

It might cause just a little bit of confusion.

And just a reminder, this all came to Joseph in a dream.

I mean, we kind of know an angel of the Lord came, but it was still a dream.

I mean, don't you think Joseph might have said, you know, Mary, I don't know what about them grapes last night.

It might have been a little fermented.

I gotta tell you about what this dream was.

I mean, I don't know how God speaks to you in a dream, but there was an amount of obedience that had to take place.

You know, when we think about our journey from promise to purpose, what God's doing in our life, we usually like to think of it as here's a point of our promise, and here's the purpose to where God's taking us, and we'd like for it to be a line.

Just take us straight there, God.

When in reality, if this point over here is the promise and this is the purpose, our journey kind of goes like this.

And eventually you get to the purpose.

Why would God do it that way?

I mean, he created geometry, right?

He knows that the shortest distance between two points is a line.

So you would think, God, if you want to get me from your promise to my purpose, then you would just take me directly there.

That would be great.

But I don't know if you've looked in God's creation, but he kind of likes to use creativity and shapes and colors.

And actually, if God uses a line, he's usually using it to make another shape.

I mean, he loves that creativity.

And so you know what?

God may use a line in your life to get you from one place to another, but it's probably used to shape you and mold you into a way that God wants to use you in a new way for his purpose.

God will use a line, but how it's going to be used is more about shaping than getting you directly there.

If you think about this, God really did have a purpose in taking Jesus to Egypt.

It was safety.

It was literal safety.

He had to flee.

If you think about the time in which they were in, the Romans occupied Israel, so they lived in an occupied state.

Okay, the king therein of the Jews was a crazy guy wanting to kill all the babies.

I mean, it was a crazy, crazy time.

Listen, God may detour you for safety or for other reasons.

But know this Jeremiah 29, 11 says, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.

He knows better.

He might be foreseeing something that he needs to detour you because safety is what he's thinking about for you.

And needs to take you away just to make sure you're safe.

I don't know what Egypt looks like to you, look, looks like to you.

It might be safety.

It might be taking you out of some place that's comfortable into some other place, but you don't know that God is making provision for you for safety.

He might move you to another job or two or three, and that feels frustrating to you, but in reality, what he's doing is he's developing you.

He's shaping you for something new that's next, and he needs you to develop in these new ways for what he has for your purpose.

Listen, you might be going through trials right now.

I want to encourage you with 1 Peter 4, 12 through 13.

It says, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

God may be shaping your perspective of what exceeding joy is.

Maybe you find yourself in a season where temptations are surrounding you, and you feel tempted on all sides.

First Corinthians 10 13 says, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.

But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

God may be showing you his faithfulness in a new way right now, because there may be a time in the future where you really need to lean on his faithfulness in a new way.

And right now he's training you and teaching you about his faithfulness.

Maybe you feel in a time of persecution in your life.

2 Corinthians 12 10 says, Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses.

For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

God may be showing you where your true strength needs to come from, because there's going to be a time where you cannot rely on your own strength.

And you need to know where your true strength comes from.

Maybe this season of being in Egypt for you is learning that.

Maybe for you, here's one that you might not think of.

Maybe God has you in Egypt for someone else.

Have you ever thought about that?

We also, we always want to know why God has us in a certain place for us.

What if God has you where you are for someone else?

It's part of their journey.

It's part of what he's doing in their life.

Listen, as I was preparing this message, I really felt like that was a word for people this weekend.

You've been asking God that question.

God, why am I here?

Why am I doing what I'm doing right now?

And I feel like God wants to tell you today, listen, it's actually for someone else.

The perspective you need to have is that this right now is not about you.

I have you here in Egypt and I'll move you back to Israel at some point.

But right now I have you here because it's for someone else.

If you'll accept that, then you'll really realize the true purpose for what God has for you right now.

Egypt might look like a foreign land to you and to me, but it's just another territory in God's kingdom.

He can use it for his purposes completely.

So if you find yourself in Egypt right now, then I want to say to you, as the angel said to the shepherds, do not be afraid.

Second point in getting from promise to purpose is God may take his time.

Like 30 years or so.

I mean, think about it.

He he used 30 years to get Jesus to his purpose.

Ultimately 33 for his full purpose.

I mean, why not 20?

Why not 18 when he could vote?

It's a little plug to vote.

We're about to get into voting season, so be sure you get out and vote, okay?

27, why not 27?

Why 30?

I mean, we know John the Baptist got started earlier.

He was a cousins with Jesus.

He got started in his ministry earlier.

Why?

Listen, God is a unique God in relating to you in unique ways.

He's made you uniquely.

So whenever you're looking at someone else, don't use their journey as a template for how God should relate to you.

He's going to relate to you in a unique way.

We want God to see us for who we are.

He's created you, he formed you in your mother's womb for a purpose and plan.

So expect for him to relate to you in a unique way.

I don't know if you've ever noticed, but God is really not on your time schedule.

You know, some people have actually used the word slow.

God can be slow.

I mean, think about it.

Here's sometimes slow has been used to describe his behavior.

Okay?

He's he's slow to anger, he's long-suffering.

You could make the argument that being gracious takes some time.

And I will tell you, compassion is definitely a time-consuming effort.

Okay?

But he comes by it honestly.

Okay, listen.

Here it is.

2 Peter 3.8.

It says, Beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

I'm a guy who really likes my expectations to be set properly.

I think this helps set expectations.

This is Peter.

All right?

Here's the apostle that Jesus said, I'm going to build my church on you.

He's written two books of the New Testament.

And here he says right now, it's kind of like preachers do when they say, If you if you forget everything else, don't forget this.

Remember this one thing.

And here's what Peter says: remember this one thing to God.

One day is as a thousand years, and vice versa.

I mean, why would he say that?

Except maybe to set expectations for you.

Time is infinite to God.

He's not concerned with our time schedule.

And the quicker we realize that and understand that, it might help us understand his timing in our lives.

But he follows that up in verse nine when he says this the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Oh, yeah, I like that kind of slowness.

Yeah, that's the slowness I'll take.

See, the same thing that might really kind of annoy you about God in the process of getting you from promise to purpose, that slowness, is actually the slowness that allowed him to wait for you to reach repentance and then led you to salvation.

That's the kind of slowness we like.

But you know, we as people are kind of like that.

Something we may see in someone that kind of might be annoying, actually might really be a benefit to us.

I have this experience in my own life.

My wife Belinda, she's the kind of person who loves to ask questions.

She's not afraid to ask questions.

She's not afraid to ask for a better deal, or for a sale that might have ended last week to be applied this week, or to ask to throw in more stuff when she's buying something.

And this over the course of our marriage has caused me a great deal of angst.

And to be honest with you, it's probably because of my own pride.

Because I'm really like, you know, babe, people just don't do that.

They just don't throw in other stuff.

But reality is she's a good negotiator.

And so we'd go to a restaurant or we'd go to a retail store and she would ask for something.

And I'd be so embarrassed, I'd be like, babe, you know, they don't do that.

Don't ask that question.

And then they would do it.

And I'd be even more embarrassed and actually a little upset because I'm like, now you're only encouraging her.

See, she's gonna do this again, and it's gonna continue, and this frustration in me is only gonna continue.

And then we went to buy a car.

And so we were at lunch one day, and we're talking about buying the car, and we were gonna trade in a car.

And she said, Hey, I have some time.

Why don't I go this afternoon and see if I can figure out what trade-in value they'll give for the car, and then you know, you can come later and do the deal.

Because, you know, I was kind of the one who always did the deal.

I said, Yeah, that sounds good.

So she goes and I get a call a little bit later.

She said, Hey, uh, kind of what are we looking at for the trade-in value of the car?

I said, Well, if we could get X price, that would be great, but I'm kind of thinking we'll probably get Y.

And she goes, Oh, okay.

So she called back a little bit later.

She said, Hey, they actually gave me X and a little bit more, so I got even a better deal.

Is that good?

And then it hit me.

She has a superpower.

And I should use this power for good.

So I thought to myself, okay.

I said, Hey, why don't you see if you can actually get them to X price on the new car we want to get?

And she said, Okay, and I thought, they're never gonna do that.

It's a ridiculous price, but you know, she likes to ask, so I'll let her ask and have fun with it.

She called back a little bit later and she goes, Hey, they gave me X price, so what do I do now?

I said, sign, sign the papers.

And I just waltzed in later and did my own signing and off we left.

I mean, I used this thing, man.

It turned out great.

But listen, that's how we are.

Think about this: God's slowness in your life is a trait you should be thankful for.

It saved you for eternity, and it may help you in your process and getting from promise to purpose to not really take you off track.

Isaiah 30, verse 18 says, Therefore the Lord will wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice.

Isaiah 30:18

Blessed are all those who wait for him.

Think about how this verse starts and ends.

It starts by saying, Therefore the Lord will wait.

And it ends by saying, Blessed are all those who wait for him.

That kind of sounds like the golden rule to me.

Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

I mean, God's gonna wait for you.

Why don't you wait for him?

And now for us, the process of getting from promise to purpose is a matter of trusting his timing.

James 1, 2 says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

I want to be complete.

Listen, he cares too much about you to microwave his work in your life.

Our culture today has lost the value of patience, of not getting something whenever you want it.

Look, I never want Chick fil A more than at lunch on a Sunday.

And then through gritted teeth, I go, Oh, bless Chick fil A for honoring the Sabbath.

I'm so happy for them.

Listen, the worship of self is on great display in our culture.

You can see it everywhere.

Well, kind of like I said a little bit ago about that with Peter, I want to say to you: if you don't get anything else out of this message, here's the most revelatory thing I'm going to say.

God does not worship you.

And so I think why he likes working patience in us is it makes us more like him.

Patience stands at odds against the worship of self.

They really can't coexist.

His love is patient.

His love is refining.

His love is okay to sit back and let it take some time.

So if you find that right now you're seeing the slowness of God in your life.

Or when he is slow, and when it happens, I want to say to you, as the angel said to the shepherds, do not be afraid.

And the third point of getting from promise to purpose is God may not meet your expectations.

He may not meet your expectations.

Listen, the Jewish people have been waiting a thousand plus years for their Messiah.

It's fair to say they had a few expectations.

And really, when you look at the Old Testament and the prophecies that were given, it's kind of understanding to see how they got to some of those expectations.

We know that God had established the tribe of Levi as the priestly tribe.

So for a thousand plus years, here's a religious bureaucracy that's built.

And they kind of thought, you know, when the Messiah is here, we're probably going to know.

You know, because like we're the priests, so we're probably going to realize this.

And God allowed the Jewish people to establish a monarchy through David.

And so they knew that this would be a lineage, and the Messiah would come through him and that he would set up a great and powerful nation.

So the arrival of the Messiah in no name Bethlehem to no name parents was a little off the mark.

It wasn't what they expected, but the Jewish people lost the focus of the fact that the ultimate prophecy to Abraham was that through the Messiah, all people would be blessed.

There was a global purpose to the Messiah, not just a Jewish purpose.

So when you tie his promise to your understanding, then you underestimate his purpose.

When you tie his promise to your understanding, then you will underestimate his purpose.

Isaiah prophesied it in this way, Isaiah 49, 6.

It said, Indeed he says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel.

I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

God confounded the people of the days so that all the world could accept salvation through Jesus.

His way works.

Listen, even those closest to Jesus still had their own interpretation of what the promise looked like.

Here, I'm gonna read you a scripture.

I want to set the picture.

Jesus has gone to the cross, he's died, he's gone to the tomb, he's been risen from the dead, and now he comes back and he's visiting people before he ascends again.

Acts 1.6 says this.

Therefore, when he had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

Even the people who had been walking with him, these are the people closest to him.

They still had their expectations and they were still off.

We can carry our expectations so tightly.

Misplaced expectations of others can be a very dangerous thing.

They've ruined marriages, they've destroyed friendships, family relationships, and they have caused people to run away from God.

I think one of the reasons expectations can be so dangerous is because it bases your feelings on someone else's actions.

Your feelings are now based on what someone else does.

That's very passive and very reactive as opposed to basing your feelings on your own actions.

Let me contradict that to what you might see and might have seen during Christmas.

Maybe it applied to your kids, maybe this applied to you, that a gift is received and it didn't quite meet the expectation.

And your children open up the gift and there's just a tinge of disappointment.

Didn't quite meet the expectation.

Well, see, the person's actions now determine your feelings as opposed to whenever you give a gift, the joy you get in giving, now you have determined your own feeling by the action of giving.

We had that this weekend with Christmas for us and our family.

Our oldest daughter, Olivia, is 15, and we were going around and asking all the kids, what's the greatest joy you had in this Christmas?

And this was her first year to use her own money to buy gifts for the family.

And she said, I think my greatest joy this year was being able to buy gifts for the family.

She had the perspective of basing my feeling on the action that I do.

I think we've all expected something from God at some point.

We expect his promise to look a certain way.

I think if we're honest, we're not really looking for God's purpose.

We're looking for our interpretation of his promise.

And our interpretation is often off.

Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9 says this, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

Isaiah 55:8

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

To me, that's a good news message.

It's a way of God saying this.

Hey, I'm smarter than you.

I'm not gonna do things your way.

Because you know what?

If I did it your way, that would kind of put me on the same plane as you.

And well, you know what?

I'm not.

He's not gonna do it your way because his ways are higher than our ways.

Many of the Jews did that.

They had their own expectations and they missed their promise.

Their Messiah has come, the promise came and fulfilled his purpose, but they expected something different.

And now, 2,000 years later, many Jewish people are still waiting on their interpretation of the promise.

Listen, God will never conform to your expectations.

But know this if you posture yourself with obedience and patience, he will always exceed your expectations.

He will always exceed your expectations.

Listen, God answered the promise of the Messiah with a little baby who fulfilled his purpose to save his people from their sins, and in a way that only God can do it, all the rest of the world got in on it.

So God may call you to Egypt, do not be afraid.

God may take his time, do not be afraid.

And when you said obedience as your only expectation, then I want to say to you, as the angels said to the shepherds, do not be afraid.

I want to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today?

You know, as I said at the first part of the message, maybe today you're actually saying, you know what, I don't feel like I got a word from the Lord for something.

I want to pray for you that this service, maybe even right now, God gives you a word for something.

Maybe direction, something you're needing in your life, and he gives you his word, his promise.

You know, maybe you're in that waiting season of getting from your promise to your purpose.

I want to tell you this Jesus ultimately, to fulfill his purpose, he had to die.

My question to you is today, is there something in you that needs to die to fully realize your purpose?

Maybe you're holding on to something that you need to let go.

And that today, today is that time for you.

And maybe that advances you forward towards the completion of his purpose in your life.

We want to pray for you today.

If you're a guest here at Gateway, I want you to know we pray at the end of every service.

And you don't have to be a member of Gateway Church to come for prayer.

So I'm gonna invite you in just a moment to come for prayer.

We're gonna have our altar team come up here and they'll be ready to pray for you as soon as we start worshiping.

You come and you pray.

Maybe it has something to do with this message, maybe it doesn't have anything to do with this message.

You just have something you want to pray with someone about.

That's okay.

Listen, you don't have to be a big bad sinner to come for prayer.

We all need prayer at various times.

And today may be the day that you need prayer.

Let us pray for you.

Don't let this Christmas season end or this year end without bringing something that you can have someone agree with you and pray in prayer or pray over you.

So, whatever your prayer needed is, I want to invite you to come.

God, I thank you that you sent your promise, Jesus, and that he did complete and fulfill his purpose.

And God, for us, I pray today, Lord, for every person who is desiring a word from you, God, would you give them a word?

Or give them a promise.

And Father, then give us the patience to walk through the process of reaching your purpose in our lives.

God, I ask today for your encouragement to your people, Father, that you would take away fear from our lives.

Help us to not be afraid.

God, I ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.