When You've Blown It: Finding Grace In Failure

Well great to see everybody this morning.

If I haven't had the chance, the honor to meet you, I want to say good morning and welcome to Church at the Grove.

I know I recognize uh some new faces this morning.

I I recognize some faces that that have been new recently to Church of the Grove.

And welcome back to all of you that are that are back with us this morning.

Um we're we're in this series.

It's a summer-long series on the study of of Moses.

And and I've I've gotten tired of Moses too, sometimes.

So no, I mean we're we're probably at that point in the summer where like Moses, okay, we got it.

We got it.

Um but uh but we're gonna we're we're we're we're gonna dive in.

And if you if you want to follow along, go ahead.

Numbers chapter 20 is the area we're gonna be in.

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

Numbers chapter 20 is is where we're gonna be.

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

You can follow along on the screen.

You can take notes in your own uh paper, leather Bible, or electronic Bible.

You can actually go to our Church at the Grove app and um and and and I think most Sundays they have notes, uh sermon notes in there for you to actually fill in.

And so today um I I was thinking back about when I had I grew up with two brothers, so there's three of us.

And and I'm telling you, we were we were just trouble.

We were most of the most of the parents of kids in in our on our road over in um Henry County, Stockbridge, is where I grew up.

They most of most of those families told their kids to stay away from the three butcher boys.

And um and if you understood why, you you you you you'd been there, you'd you'd probably uh would agree so much.

I mean, there was stuff always going on and arguing, and and and so there was a time where um my dad had I was I was nine years younger than my oldest brother, and then Eddie was my the middle brother, and so I was seven years younger than Eddie, and so it doesn't take a doctor or or anybody else to understand that I there wasn't family planning that that that went you know according, I think, to what they had had hoped and desired.

Obviously, they were saving the best to last.

And and the next week's sermon is on humility.

And so I I'll never forget my my dad bought this new car, and it was a big deal.

We were a middle class, lower middle class.

I mean, my dad worked hard and was an electrician by trade and then you know moved his way up in the company, and and and we just they didn't buy new cars.

I mean, we've just like my my wife and I, you we just don't buy new cars.

I mean, it's just not something you know we feel like we can afford to do.

And and so um my dad had this had this new car, and um, and and I was I was a toddler, and they they talked about how you know they could see my feet walking around the edge of the car, and and they wondered what was in my hand, and as they rounded the corner there was a a can can of black spray paint.

And so I'm just I'm just coloring designs on the new car as I'm waddling, as I'm waddling, you know, back and forth and going around the car.

And my my mom, I mean, I look, I thought she was just gonna fall over right there.

And then and then my brother, uh Butch, uh, the oldest brother, um, he says, Oh, mama, what are we gonna do?

And he says, I think I'm just gonna leave.

And she said, No, you're not.

You're you're gonna help me fix this.

And so, and so they um so see, they did what any of us would do.

They took a can of gasoline and they started, man, that paint came right off.

That black paint came right off, and whatever that sheen was right up under that black paint, it came off as well.

Um then there was a time where I was a little bit older.

I had learned to write my my whole name.

So my whole official name is William Russell Butcher.

And so I've always go by I go by Russ, uh, is what I've always gone by.

Um, and you know, some of my teachers wanted to call me William.

Uh some people like to call me Will.

I'd be okay with that.

Bill, not happy with that.

Um if I don't like you, you need to call me doctor.

Okay, so uh I'm kidding about that.

I'm kidding.

Oh I'm kidding.

So I so I um my uh my dad, I I had I had learned to write my name in cursive.

So so cursive writing is something we we don't teach as much in school now, but but it's a real pretty handwriting and where the letters stay connected as you and so I I was being taught how to write my name in cursive.

And so I found this, you know, just like the spray paint, you know, you shouldn't leave spray paint around a toddler, nor should you leave screwdrivers around a car and a toddler.

And so I practice writing my name in the side of the car.

And so, same scenario.

What are we gonna do?

Should we should we should we hide the kid or should we or should we hide the car?

Or should we get rid of them both?

I mean, I mean, there's these conversations taking place, and so uh can you imagine?

Can you imagine?

And so there see the the there the psychology world will tell you there's five levels of anger.

Five levels of anger.

And I haven't gotten to the Bible yet.

I'm gonna actually teach what the Bible says, but but just to give you an idea of these five levels of anger, which are I think are helpful to help us understand.

And the first one is mild irritation, it's uneasiness, it's an unpleasant disturbance.

Now, does that does that describe either one of the scenarios I talked about?

Um indignation is the second level, it's this deeper level of intensity.

I didn't I didn't tell you about the time that my brother Eddie and I were um throwing the football down at the barn, and the ball got away and went through one of the planes of glass on the on the garage door that went up on the front of the building.

And Eddie and I argued for 20 minutes.

Eddie said, We can tell dad anytime.

I said, No, we're gonna do what's right, we're gonna tell him now.

And he said, No, we can tell him anytime.

And I said, No, we're gonna do what's right, we're gonna tell him now.

I've been in these situations before, Eddie.

I understand.

Eddie's seven years older than me.

And so Eddie said, sure enough, Eddie said, you you do what you want to do.

And and I walked straight to the house, and as I walk into the house, I can see Eddie's bicycle head over the hill.

And I went in and told dad.

And so I think I think I was getting to the indignation level because number three level is wrath.

Wrath never goes unexpressed.

Now, I was probably somewhere around indignation and wrath.

And I'm not gonna tell you what my dad said in church because it wouldn't be appropriate.

But level four of anger is fury, it's uncontrolled anger.

Fury introduces violence.

And this is this is the kind of anger that that we see where people lose it.

They lose control of their ability to calm themselves and to walk through a situation that may be uh very difficult, even even anger involved, and it's uncontrolled anger.

Fury all always introduces the potential or literally violence, and and then stage five is rage, a moment of rage.

The Time magazine, I believe it was 1966, if I could remember correctly, because I was born in 1965, and and so obviously I don't remember this fr personally, but uh if you are my age or know much about history, especially the history of the University of Texas, uh a man climbed up into the clock tower, um, I believe in the summertime of 1966, I think, and he shot and killed, I want to say, uh I know in the teens, maybe up to 20 people.

Um that and they called it a a moment of rage.

That's what that's what the Time magazine title of Time Magazine.

Yes, I was reading Time magazine as a one-year-old, and so that's that's what I'm kidding, but that's what it says.

And so, and so we we we get we have this idea of uh of rage, this moment of rage.

And so most of us have have dealt with doing something like I did, or doing something like my brothers did, and we incur, we incur uh irritation, indignation, um, wrath, um, fury, and rage.

We we incur that from our our our parents, maybe somebody in our family, maybe somebody that's uh in our friendship circle, and and and we're we we just mess up.

You know what the Bible calls it?

There's a three-letter word for it.

And the three-letter word literally means to miss the mark.

Anyone know what that word is?

Sin.

That's what the word sin literally means.

It's borrowed out of the archery world to describe what it means to miss your mark.

And and so uh and so we all sin.

We all mess up, we all miss the mark.

Paul said this: all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So we're all guilty.

I love the story where Jesus encounters the woman that's caught in adultery, and and by the end of that story, all of these accusers are dropping their stones because none of them are without sin.

He says, You without sin, drop uh, you throw the first stone.

You without sin, throw the first stone.

And they begin to drop them.

They begin to drop them, and they begin to drop them.

And here's why it's because the big idea for today is that your failure doesn't cancel God's grace, it invites it.

Your failure doesn't cancel God's grace.

Your failure invites it.

Your sin doesn't cancel God's grace, it invites it.

And we see this in Numbers 20, and I'm just gonna read through these verses, and then we're gonna make a few comments about about the specific situation that we find ourselves in in this passage in Numbers chapter 20, verse 1.

Numbers 20:1

It says, in the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel.

Now remember where they are.

We've been through the story of Moses.

Uh he spends the first part of his life in royalty.

Um, he is scooped up out of the uh out of the river into the loving arms of Pharaoh's family.

They save him out of the river.

And so he grows up in royalty.

He realizes that something about his identity is off.

It's different.

And so in a moment of rage, in a moment of rage, he he kills an Egyptian that is that is an abuser of his fellow um Israelites.

And so what does he do?

He buries, he doesn't say, hey, um, by the way, I've killed somebody.

He buries the body in the sand and he heads for the wilderness.

And so he spends the first part of his life in royalty, spends the next part of his life running away from committing murder, and and and he and he basically runs into the wilderness where he finds Jethro, his future father-in-law.

He begins to tend sheep, he begins, he got, gets married, has children, and and and then God calls him, you are to come back and to lead my people out of slavery.

And so he goes back.

And we we talked about this.

He leads uh Pharaoh through the ten plagues and shows God's power, shows God's ability.

He takes God's people.

They wander through the desert, they finally cross the Red Sea.

It's a miraculous salvation moment in the history of God's people.

Um they are now across the Red Sea, but they find themselves down at Mount Sinai.

God brings the law to them, and you still see some issues, and so they are still down in that area in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

It says, in the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zen and camped at Kadesh.

While they were there, Miriam died and was buried.

Underline circle that.

Miriam died and was buried.

There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron.

Underline rebelled.

The people blamed, underline blamed, they blamed Moses and said, If only we had died in the Lord's presence with our brothers.

Why have you brought us to the congregation of the Lord, have you brought the congregation of the Lord's people into the wilderness to die along with all of our livestock?

Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place?

This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink.

Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the tabernacle where they fell face down on the ground.

Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them.

This is so powerful.

And the Lord said to Moses, You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community.

And as the people watch in the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel has arrived in the wilderness of Zen, camped at Kadesh.

While they were there, Miriam died, was buried over there, and it will and it's he says, over there, and it will pour out its water.

You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and livestock.

So Moses did as he was told.

He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord.

Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock.

Listen, you rebels, he shouted.

Listen, I just want you to think about that phrase.

Moses yells out, listen, you rebels.

Listen, you rebels.

Listen, you rebels.

That doesn't sound like the character of Moses.

That doesn't sound like a man who's who's been in touch with the holy.

It sounds like a man who is who's tired, fatigued, and maybe going through a difficult season.

He says, listen, you rebels, he shouted, must we bring you water from this rock?

And then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff and water gushed out.

What did God tell Moses to do?

Speak.

Speak to the rock, and water will come out.

I mean, there's something going on inside of Moses' heart, his emotions.

He's he maybe he's in these five stages of anger.

He is, there's something not right, and so um, and so he he struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out.

So he disobeys God and still gets water.

What do we call that?

Say it, you said it.

Grace.

That's God's grace.

My people need water.

Even though my leader is gonna be disobedient and he's not gonna obey what I have instructed him to do, I'm still gonna give the people water.

That's God's grace.

That's God's grace.

So he struck that rock.

The entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me enough, let me put in another word there that some of your translations will read.

You did not believe me.

You did not show me and demonstrate belief.

In my holiness.

He says, You do not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel.

You will not, you will not lead, listen to what he says, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them.

Ouch.

All that Moses has been through, and he's not going to be able to lead them into the promised land.

This place was known as the waters of Meribah, which means arguing, because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.

This theme, I want you to see the theme really, the theme that permeates this, especially with this part of the scriptures, but in but in other areas of scripture, we see that failure is not final.

God's grace offers restoration.

Especially when we look at this passage and we look at what's happening in our own lives and how we along the way have made a mess of things.

God offers grace, God offers restoration.

Failure's not final.

And the whole passage here is the the focus of it is God's holiness, God's justice, but also God's restoring grace.

And there's there's five five five um phrases or or or uh just five thought patterns I want you to lean into to to hopefully walk away with something practical for your life this morning.

And the first one is this is the pain of leadership.

The pain of leadership.

The pain of leadership.

Verses 1 through 5.

In the first month of the year, the whole community of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zen and camped at Kadesh.

While they were there, Miriam died and was buried.

Who is Miriam?

Does anybody know who Miriam is?

Moses' sister.

Man, Moses' sister died and was buried.

Can you imagine the emotional pain?

There was no water for the people to drink at that place.

Now, do you think that might cause a little tension?

There's a million to two million people out in the desert that need some type of hydration.

And so there's no water.

So Miriam has died and she's been buried.

There's no water for the people to drink.

And so they rebelled against Moses.

The pain of leadership.

They rebelled against Moses and Aaron.

The people blame.

Moses and said, do you feel it?

The pain of leadership.

If only we had died in the Lord's presence with our brothers, why would you have brought the congregation of the Lord's people into this wilderness to die along with our livestock?

Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place?

This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, no water to drink.

They could go on.

And here's what I want you to see is that there is a pain associated with leadership.

Listen, there's pain associated with leadership at all levels of life.

How many moms are in here?

Listen, how many of you have had kids and you understand when I talk about the pain of leadership?

How many of you have been, are or have been or will be employees at some time?

Right?

There's pain of leadership.

Sometimes you have responsibilities.

And somebody drops the ball and it affects your responsibility.

There's the pain of leadership, especially if you're in charge.

I could go on down the list and ask, how many of you own your own business or self-employed?

The pain of leadership.

How about just leading ourselves?

The pain of self-leadership.

And so godly leaders experience frustration, grief, and pressure.

Miriam has just died.

This had to be personal, extremely personal, in loss and sorrow for Moses.

Then the people continue to complain and they rebel.

That adds pressure.

Moses and Aaron face relentless criticism despite their faithfulness to the Lord.

And so what do we learn from this?

We learn that you know what?

Leadership fatigue is a real thing.

People can can be overwhelmed with the need of making decisions and leadership fatigue and grief, grief, that's possibly add grief in there because we as leaders, especially as pastors, we are we are in part of our ministry is walking people and families through to the end of life.

And that's so hard.

That is so difficult.

And so this is when we need to press into God.

Listen, not act for God, not act for Him, but to press into Him to act with Him.

You see it?

And so we talk about the pain of leadership.

The second is the presence and the instructions from God.

The presence and instructions from God.

I love what Moses and Aaron do right here because it's a great example for all of us, verses 6 through 8.

Moses and Aaron turn away from the people and went to the entrance of the tabernacle where they fell face down on the ground.

Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord said to Moses, and you and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community.

As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water.

You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and the livestock.

And so what do we see here?

We see Moses and Aaron do what they should do, and it's basically go and and pray.

They literally lay down face down before the presence of God and they begin to pray.

They pray over the desperate situation they're in.

They pray, I'm sure that there's prayer for the loss that Moses has experienced.

And I'm sure there's prayer.

God, give us wisdom as we deal with the blame and the criticism.

And God, please bring us water.

Bring us water.

You can imagine Moses feeling responsible.

We need water.

And so what do we learn from this?

We learn even in the moments of conflict, God leads us with grace.

God provides a clear and gracious path.

Even in the difficult moments.

He tells Moses to speak to the rock, not to strike it.

God is offering water as an act of grace, not judgment.

This is a picture of how God's provision flows through obedience.

And so, even in the moments of conflict, God leads with grace.

Our task is not to take matters into our own hands, but to trust his voice.

The failure.

Moses utterly fails.

I mean, he really does.

He steps into a major, major just situation where he falls short.

Verse 9, it says, so Moses did as he was told.

He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord.

Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock.

Listen, you rebels, he shouted.

Must we bring you water from this rock?

Then Moses raised his hand and does what?

Strikes the rock.

Twice, once, but not once, but twice.

And water gushed out.

So the entire community and their lives drank to their fill.

And here's, I love this, I love these verses here because I see in these verses a picture looking forward of a Savior that'll be hanging on the cross.

And he is struck.

He is struck.

He is pierced for our transgressions.

To the point that water gushes out of him.

Water gushes out.

As a matter of fact, it's I think of this passage, and I think of where Jesus talked about the I ams in the Gospel of John, where he says, I am.

What does he say about water and thirst?

I am.

I am the water of life.

I am.

I am here to quench your this eternal thirst that you have.

He says, and so he um he's trying to teach us to lean into him.

Lean into him.

Um Moses strikes the right twice.

He says, uh he acts in anger and frustration, and God still provides water.

This is still God's opportunity to display his mercy and to display his amazing grace.

What does this mean?

Failure doesn't mean that God forsakes his people, but it does matter how we represent him.

It does matter how we represent him.

God's standards for leaders are higher because their influence is broader.

Because as we move forward as a church, we want to move forward on our faces before a holy God.

And so we have times of prayer, and we uh we we have you know systems in place.

We we have a uh Wednesday morning prayer time, and I know a lot of people can't make that, but it's uh it's on a Zoom meeting, and so it's just trying to try to make it as convenient as possible.

But we also do do these prayer gatherings, prayer nights, sometimes uh prayer and worship, and on so July 30th, Wednesday night is gonna be a night of prayer.

It's gonna be a night of prayer.

It's gonna be actually a family night.

It's gonna be it's gonna be it's gonna be there's gonna be fun, but but we are gonna lean into the presence of God.

Lean into the presence of God because we know, we know as leaders that we can't sustain what God has placed upon us and given us responsibility for.

We can't sustain it ourselves.

We need to sustain it together as a family of God.

We need to sustain it by the power of God in us and through us.

And then he goes on to say, in verse 12, he talks about the failure of Moses, but then he talks about the judgment of God.

Verse 12 says this, but the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I am giving them.

Oh.

Ouch.

Ouch.

We're talking about grace, we're talking about the goodness of God, we're talking about how God provides opportunity for us to have forgiveness.

Yes, but God is also holy.

What do we see?

What's the key truth out of this passage?

God is holy.

And failure to trust, remember I talked about this, they demonstrated a failure to believe God's word.

And so a failure to trust and honor Him and to believe Him results in consequences.

Listen, sin always has consequences.

Look, if sin is trying to hit the mark and sin is missing the mark, there's always consequences.

There's always consequences.

There's always consequences when we miss the mark, when we when we get into sin and we disobey our parents, we disobey God, we we we do our own thing.

And so what we learn is this Moses and Aaron are told they will not lead the people into the promised land.

That had to sting, that had to hurt.

And and the big issue is you did not trust me enough to honor me as holy.

That's that's the that's the umrb version.

William Russell Butcher version.

Established that when I was holding that screwdriver, writing it in the side of my car with the William Russell version, William Russell Butcher version.

Um here's what do we learn from this?

The most painful failures are those that stem from a lapse in trust, even in discipline.

But even, even, even in us dealing with the consequences, God is not done with us.

See, the book teaches us, the book is full of grace, and it's an amazing grace.

And yes, there are consequences when we disobey, but there is still grace to be tapped into.

And that's what we see in verse 13, and even reading beyond verse 13 is the grace of God, the grace of God.

Verse 13, this place was known as the waters of Meribah, which means arguing.

Because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.

And so what do we see this?

Though Moses failed, God is not finished with them.

Even though Moses has had to deal with being disciplined by a holy God, God is not finished with his mission for his people.

He's not even finished with Moses.

He's not finished with Moses.

Listen, we go to Deuteronomy 34, 5, and I don't have that on the screen, uh, but if you wanted to write that down or keep track of it, let me just read this.

So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no one knows the place of his burial till this day.

And the Lord said to him, This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob that I will give to your offspring.

I will let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not be able to go there.

And so we see this in 34 5.

He still allows Moses to be a servant.

He still allows Moses to be a part of this.

And later, God personally buried Moses.

God personally buried Moses.

God honored Moses in his death.

And then he later appears with Jesus in the New Testament on the Mount of Transfiguration, which is Matthew chapter 17, verse 3.

Matthew 17:3

So as we talk about the grace of God, I'm coming back just to close with this, is that your failure doesn't cancel God's grace.

It invites it.

Your failure does not cancel God's grace.

It invites it.

And I'd be willing to say that there's probably a few people that are here this morning who have yet to come to grips with their need for forgiveness.

To come to grips with the reality of the fact that you, like me, like all of us, have fallen short of God's glory.

And God, there's one thing I know God will never compromise, and that is who He is in His holiness.

He will never compromise that.

He will never give on that.

He will never cut any slack on that.

He is holy, and He demands a standard for those that call themselves followers of Jesus.

And He's given us.

Matter of fact, He gives us what we would call living hope that comes through Christ, that comes through the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And so when Moses struck those rocks, it was a foreshadowing of how Jesus would be struck to provide forgiveness and provide righteousness and to provide right standing with a holy God.

And so I want to ask you, would you bow your heads for a second?

We're not going to belabor this, we're not going to drag it out.

There are those of you that are here this morning, and I and you are able to come to grips with the reality that you have blown it and you have fallen short of God's glory.

And I'm speaking to those of you that have yet to put your faith in Christ, but you know you need Christ.

And this morning I'm inviting you, if you want to put your faith in Christ, I'm just going to ask you to slip your hand up while your eyes are closed and heads are bowed.

You say, Russ, I need Christ in my life.

I need to ask him to forgive me of my sin.

And I need to walk in the grace that he offers me.

If that's you, would you slip your hand up?

You say that's me.

I need to slip my hand up.

I need Jesus in my life.

Anybody?

I see that in the back.

Thank you.

Thank you for your boldness and honesty.

Anybody else?

I see that down here.

Thank you, sir, for your boldness and honesty.

I see that down here.

Thank you for your boldness and honesty.

Thank you.

One more.

One more.

Anybody else?

Anybody?

I need Jesus in my life.

I need to trust him.

I need to believe him.

Now, now let me let me speak to all of us together.

Let me speak to all of us together so you can open your eyes and and raise your heads up.

Look at me.

Listen, those of us that are believers, we, by the way, if you if you raised your hand and you want to trust Jesus for the first time, can we give them a round of applause?

Say yes.

Hallelujah.

Yes.

Hallelujah.

Yes.

Thank you.

And what we would like for you to do is let one of us know.

Let me know.

Let Jonah know.

Let Pat know.

Put it on a card.

Write it down.

It's just so we can follow up with you.

The rest of us, I'm assuming, are believers, but but we somewhere in this story, we find ourselves.

We find ourselves, and we find ourselves maybe feeling like we're failures, feeling like we we've really messed up.

And a little gasoline is not gonna, it's just gonna make things work.

Worse.

It's gonna make things worse.

And you know what you need?

You need the Holy Spirit to empower you to overcome and to listen, listen, to break the strongholds of the enemy.

You're a believer, but you are being oppressed by the enemy who wants you to be oppressed and wants you to be addicted and wants you to be ineffective in your witness and wants you to be kind of fuzzy in how you're living.

So when people look at you, they can't clearly see Jesus in you.

And so the enemy will use the circumstances around us.

He'll use sorrow, he'll use pain, he'll use, he'll use all types of circumstances like he did with Moses and Aaron to distract you.

And you know what I loved it about this story of Moses and Aaron?

They were willing to pull away from God's people and get on their face before God and say, God, what is it that you want us to do?

How do we need to do it?

Now they still messed up.

But I'd much rather mess up on my face before a holy God who I know loves me than just pull away and not do anything.

Step in.

Step into what God is doing.

There's something happening around our country, there's something happening around the world, and many, many, many leaders call it a soft revival.

And when I say that, it's because it is happening and it is so real, it is so real that the news media wants to ignore it because they know that's not going to get the kind of attention that gets them the kind of attention they want.

But students and young people and adults and churches in the United States and places like Iran, places like North Korea, China, all over the world, there is a soft revival taking place where underground there's a movement of people who are really desperately longing for the Lord.

And so, Father, as we leave here this morning, God, we ask that you would lead us and guide us.

God, that you would you would speak to us, make this real, God, that we would we would trust in you.

God, trust in you completely.

And God, that we wouldn't see ourselves as failures, God, we'd see ourselves as people who are going to continue, continue to move forward.

And yes, we might slip up, we might stub our toe, we might make some poor decisions along the way, but we are going to rely on your grace.

God, we're gonna rely on your grace because it's your grace that gets us through the pain of leadership, that gets us through these other challenges that we're facing.

And so, Father, we love you.

We thank you.

Would you be our living hope?

Be our living hope.