Salt and Light | Where Passion Meets Purpose | Ian Larrat

Hey, good morning, everyone.

Uh it's great to be here today.

Uh, for those of you who don't know, my name's Ian.

Uh, my wife Carol and I just spent uh a month serving in a COVID-19 field hospital in Italy with an organization called Samaritan's Purse.

And uh Pastor Brody just asked us to share a little bit about our experience there and some of the things we learned and some of the things we went through.

And so it's an honor and a privilege to be uh here today and to travel through space and time to wherever and whenever you're watching this.

It's uh it's kind of bizarre talking to a room full of empty chairs, but uh such is the world we live in, and we're gonna make uh the most of it and uh thank God for technology.

We can still stay connected and still have church.

Um but yeah, we spent a uh a month in Italy and we got the call uh middle of March, and 48 hours later we're on a plane heading to Cremona in northern Italy.

Uh Cremona is in the Lombardy region, which was one of Italy's most hardest hit areas.

And uh we had no idea what we're going into, and we had to do some last minute preparations, some planning, get everything in order, and then head out.

And the the night before we left, we were uh had a few hours to kill, so we went for a hike up Mount Bushri, and we just we sat on the top and we we kind of looked over the valley and it was a beautiful sunset, and just kind of reflecting and preparing our preparing ourselves, and I remember thinking, I don't know if I'm gonna be back, and I don't know what I'm going into.

And at that time there was talk of travel being shut down and borders closing, and so we did we didn't know what was gonna happen or when we'd be back, but we felt we felt called to go and we felt like it was where we were supposed to be and what we were supposed to do.

And also had a sense too that I felt like when we did come back that things probably wouldn't be exactly the same as uh as when we left.

Um but we just want to say a big uh big thank you to everyone who was praying for us and kept us in our thoughts and prayers, and also a big shout out to all the healthcare team here at home, uh the ones that I work alongside in the ambulance service, and uh my wife Carolyn works in the hospital here at KGH, and so a big thank you to everyone there who's doing your part to to keep us safe, and also a huge thank you to everyone at home who's doing your part to slow down the spread of the virus.

Um the uh the disaster that we saw in Italy was on a scale that uh we really didn't want to see here, and we thankfully we're able to make it back home, and we're super encouraged to find that things are are not nearly as bad here as they are there, so keep up the good work.

And I just got to say that that this is a crazy time in our world, and there's a lot of there's a lot of fear and there's a lot of tragedy and there's a lot of bad things going on, but it's also a super exciting time to be a Christian.

Because this is one of those rare times in history where we get a chance to put our money where our mouth is and actually go out and be the salt and the light of the world, as Pastor Brody's been talking about all month, and to actually make a difference.

And I know uh in the world the church sometimes has a bad reputation for being this place where we we put on our best clothes and we come into church and we pretend like we're perfect.

And you know, the reality couldn't be farther from the truth.

The reality online, and maybe maybe you're not part of KCC, maybe you just happen to come across this video.

Uh I want to encourage you when when all this blows over, uh, come on down and check us out.

I'm a little bit biased.

My wife and I have been coming here for a few years now, and uh it's been a really great home for us.

And uh if you're if you're like, well, I've I've never been to church, and I don't know if that's for me, I might burst into flames as soon as I walk in the front door.

Hey, come sit in my row, you'll fit right in.

Or any other row for that matter, too.

We're just a bunch of people who who love God and are doing the best we can to make a difference and to be uh the salt and the light of the world.

And the organization that we went with, Samaritan's Purse, is one that uh really exemplifies what it means to be a Christian.

And our experience in Italy has has really transformed our view and our perspective on what it means to be a Christian and what the role of the church is in the world and what the role of Christians are in the world.

And uh for those aren't not familiar with Samaritan's Purse, it's run by uh Franklin Graham, who is uh Billy Graham's son.

It's a donation-funded ministry, and they have multiple different programs.

One that a lot of you are familiar with is probably Operation Christmas Child, where they send uh shoeboxes full of toys and supplies to poor kids around the world, and they put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces doing that.

And they also have something called the Disaster Assistance Relief Team or the Dart Team, which is what Carolyn and I joined.

And uh they respond to natural disasters, they respond to war zones, they respond to infectious outbreaks, and they they bring a field hospital and they provide care to those in need.

And we uh we joined in the fall, we did our training in Calgary, which is the Canadian headquarters, and uh our training was a week long and it covered everything from logistics to medical scenarios to some some pretty intense safety training because a lot of the places they go are unstable areas of the world that are quite dangerous.

So we actually got trained on how to how to handle ourselves in carjacking and kidnapping scenarios, and we'd run simulates uh simulations where we'd pull in a pickup truck and uh ex-Navy SEAL type guys in full military fatigues with assault rifles and handguns would yell at us and pull us out and throw us on the ground and fire blanks at us and and pretty intense stuff.

So uh thankfully in Italy the uh the risk of kidnapping there was extremely low, and uh, but a different kind of risk altogether.

Um but the thing I love about Samaritan's Purse is they're an organization that runs into the fire, and they really exemplify what it means to be the hands and the feet of Jesus and to just make a difference in uh in people's lives.

And we responded to uh Cremona in Italy, and uh the Italians there were so generous and so welcoming and and uh just made us feel right at home and whatever we needed, they made they made sure to have it.

Normally, when you respond on a dart, you you sleep in one of the tents, in bunk beds, in a dorm-style situation with uh with the rest of the team.

But a local donor in Cremona heard about that and instead rented out rented us out an entire hotel for the entire time that we're there, and so uh and then even sent us a chef's we had home cooked Italian food.

Uh it was just exceptional.

And we went from the great toilet paper shortage of 2020 uh here in Canada and we went over to Italy and we walked into the hotel and into the hotel room and I looked, and there was not one, but there was two rolls of toilet paper hanging on the wall and a bidet.

So I knew we were gonna be okay.

Um after after a few weeks of uh being in Italy and them just you know, they they spoiled us left, right, and center.

Um, when Easter rolled around, the the heavens opened and it rained chocolate like you wouldn't believe.

We had uh more chocolate than we knew what to do with, and the pinnacle was someone donated a four-foot-high chocolate egg that we just kind of looked at and didn't know where to start with.

But we had pizza brought in.

Uh we were really cold the first week and temperatures went below zero at night, and uh jack boxes of jackets would show up.

And uh we just found out this week actually that uh the mayor of Cremona has asked for all of our names and he's decided to make us all honorary citizens, which is uh just such a cool honor and such a privilege to be a part of uh the work that went on there.

And after a few weeks of being there, uh they did a carbon copy of uh the hospital in Cremona.

They did a carbon copy of that in Central Park in New York when things really started heating up there.

And uh it's the first time there's been a field hospital in Central Park since the Civil War.

So it's uh it's a fascinating time.

And uh we'll show some photos here, but uh in Italy what we did is we had a 68-bed field hospital that worked as an extension of the local hospital in Cremona.

Um of the 68 beds, we had 10 ICU beds with ventilators for critically ill patients.

And over the over the period of time that uh Samaritan's Purse was in Italy, they were able to treat over 300 patients and discharge the majority of those.

And um it was just such a privilege to be a part of that.

Um my wife Carolyn really wanted to be here today, but she's actually working a shift on ambulance in Oliver, but she sends her love and uh she wanted she won she wrote a note she wanted me to read for you, and she says, uh, thank you.

I would like to thank this opportunity to thank all of the people who prayed for us while we were in Italy.

Your prayers made a difference.

About two and a half weeks in, I remember feeling completely exhausted at my max, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

In that moment, I was reminded of all the people who were praying for us.

In the same way that Hebrews 12 describes a cloud of witnesses cheering us on from heaven.

I felt lifted up by hundreds, if not thousands, of prayers that I knew family, friends, and strangers had been praying all over the world for us.

Although we were on the ground, the people in the background praying for us, you were very much a part of the success and the work that we did there.

Thank you.

If you didn't pray for us, that's okay.

We still love you.

But I encourage to I encourage you to pray for someone.

It might be a frontline worker, a single parent, a youth, a grocery store tenant.

We all know someone we can pray for.

We never know the intimate challenges that people face, but taking a moment to lift them up in prayer can make all the difference.

Thank you.

And when we came back from Italy, we had to quarantine for two weeks, of course, and we had a very romantic couples' quarantine.

I highly recommend it.

It was like a second honeymoon.

It was amazing.

And uh we were chatting and reflecting on our time in Italy, and my wife made a comment that stuck with me.

She said, You know, for the first time in my life, it felt like my passion had purpose.

It felt like my passion had purpose.

And so today I want to I want to chat with you for a little bit about the idea about the place where passion and purpose meet.

That's the point in life where we are the salt and light of the world, where we can live a fulfilled life and live out the call that God has for us.

So we're gonna talk about where uh where passion and purpose meet.

Before we do though, let's just dive in, let's just open in prayer real quick.

God, we thank you for a church.

We thank you that uh it doesn't matter what's going on in the world, Lord, that you have uh you always find a way to minister to your people.

And God, we just pray for everyone listening today.

God, I pray that uh that you would speak through me, that you would use me, God, in spite of myself, and that you would help just a spark to be lit in the hearts of those who listen, God, that they would just get excited about what you're doing in this in the world and excited about the gifts that they have inside of them.

And God, I just pray that you would bless everyone.

God, we pray for our nation, we pray for our country, we pray for our healthcare team, God.

Thank you for keeping us safe, and Lord, we ask for your your continued favor and protection.

God, we pray in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

I think I even I think I even heard something.

Uh, you know, it's been really fun watching uh how the church has adapted in this in this unusual time, uh, both with our pastoral staff here and watching them do messages uh, you know, to a virtual audience and also other preachers from around the world.

And there's a lot of little things that preachers do that just you can't do anymore that play off the audience.

You know, that the thing like where they're like, turn to the person beside you and say, I'm so glad you're here today, you know, or whatever it is.

But uh, I don't know if you're at home wherever you are, if you're watching, if you're watching this with someone today, just turn to the person beside you and say, I cannot believe you wore pajamas to church.

My goodness.

And uh to start, I want to I want to read uh a scripture.

Um, this is one that's been on my heart.

This is one I shared with our team in Italy uh when I was there.

This is um a verse that if you've been in church for more than 20 minutes ever, you've heard this verse.

This is one of our hallmark verses.

This is a verse that everyone knows.

Uh people like to print it out, put it on posters in their kitchen, they like to make t-shirts out of it, bumper stickers, they like to sometimes even get it tattooed down the side of their arm.

Uh people have it memorized, they like to quote it, but the verse is in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7, and it says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

You know, in the world today, there there's a lot of fear right now.

There's a lot of fear out there.

Am I gonna get sick?

Am I gonna die?

Am I gonna be able to pay rent?

Am I gonna lose my job?

Am I gonna lose my house?

What's gonna happen to the economy?

When will everything go back to normal?

Will it ever go back to normal?

When will it end?

And there's a lot of fear out there, but God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

God has given us a spirit of power.

You know, this is the time for the church to stand strong and to accept the risk and to run into the fire and to make a difference and to be a light in the world, and uh a spirit of power and of love.

This is a time, man, when even just a small gesture, just calling someone and seeing how they do and checking in, saying, Hey, I was thinking about you, I was praying about you this week.

I want you to know that I'm that I'm praying for even a little gesture like that, a little bit of love, can go a long way.

And of course, a sound mind.

You know, there's so much misinformation out there and uh so much irrational, fear-based thinking, but God has given us a sound mind that we can make decisions in difficult times with wisdom.

And uh we could we could stop right there.

That's probably good enough.

That's a good little verse, it's a nice little message, but I want to also focus on the verse before chapter seven, verse, or before verse seven, uh verse six.

And this is one that we don't often read because it doesn't it doesn't sound quite as nice, it doesn't fit on the card, it doesn't fit on the poster.

If you were to get it tattooed up the side of your arm, your tattoo would turn into a full sleeve, and you'll look like a biker, and I want to give you a job.

And if you're a biker, no offense, please don't hurt me.

But uh verse six says this Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

And in this in this passage, uh Paul is writing a letter to Timothy with the intention of encouraging, encouraging him and building him up.

And while Paul wrote these words, he was actually in prison awaiting execution.

So he was at the end of his life, and he was chained up and he was isolated.

And even still, in that from that point, he was saying, Hey, I'm gonna do what I can to encourage those around me, no matter how bad my circumstances are, I'm gonna reach out.

And the other thing I love about this passage is the idea that there's a gift of God inside of us.

That God has put something in each of us that's unique and different and put there for a purpose.

Other translations phrase it this way some say, fan into flame the gift of God that is inside of you.

Fan into flame.

You know, and sometimes there's maybe some people out there who at one time were on fire and they they had that flame, but if you don't tend to a fire, it goes out.

And in time, that fire becomes nothing more than a glowing ember.

But the great thing is is you can fan that back into flame.

And for some people, maybe, maybe you just have that spark in your heart that you've never really explored and never really followed out.

You don't you might not even know what all is in you, but God has put a gift inside of each one of us.

Um and the reason God has done this is not so that we can be great.

You know, we live in an egocentric culture and society where it's all about my ambitions and my goals and my dreams, but God has put gifts inside each one of us so that we can in turn turn around to the person beside us and help them in the areas where they're weak, because there's areas where you're weak, where I'm strong, and there's areas where I'm weak where you're strong.

And you know, God put something inside of Pastor Brody that I need.

And if Pastor Brody's not fanning that up and stirring up that gift inside of him, then not only does he miss out, but I miss out.

And God put something inside of me that you might need.

And if I'm not fanning it into flame, then I miss out and you miss out, and vice versa, and so on.

Uh 1 Peter 4.10 says, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Manifold means having many forms.

God gives us gifts and graces in different forms with the intention that we would minister it one to another, that we would stand together and link arms and we're stronger together than we are as individuals.

And God has hasn't called anyone to be a lone wolf or to try and do it on their own.

And uh in in my in my marriage, this is one perfect example, there's areas where I'm weak and my wife is strong, and there's areas where I'm strong and my wife is weak.

Uh, for example, I hate organization.

I loathe it.

It's it's the worst thing ever.

It stifles my creative thinking and my creative process.

But my wife is really good at organization and she keeps my life on on track and in balance.

And whenever she goes away for work or for trainer or something, I very quickly uh resort back to my bachelor ways, and it is not pretty.

And uh last year she went away for a week for I think it was training, and uh she was trying to tell me to eat healthy, and so I I invented this new thing which is amazing.

I call it the mouth salad.

There's zero dishes involved, it's fantastic.

Basically, how it works is you you you pack your mouth full of lettuce and you take a spig of salad dressing right from the bottle, and there's there's zero dishes involved.

And uh, if you haven't tried it, I encourage you to try it.

Uh but get your own bottle of salad dressing, especially given the current state of the world.

Um but you know, there are there are things that uh there are issues, there are issues of sin that some of us struggle with that other people don't, and they can be a strength to us in those areas.

There are areas of just general incompetence, things that you're not good at, but someone else is.

And the body of Christ, when they come together and they stand as one and they work together as a team, they can accomplish so much more.

And one of the big takeaways for me uh from Italy was just um just how amazing it is when a team comes together with one goal in mind, with one purpose and one shared vision, and they just bring what they have to the table.

Weaknesses and all, strengths and all, whatever it is, they bring it to the table and they do what they can.

And we had such an amazing team that we worked with in Italy.

Uh we were on the night shift there, so my wife and I did a month of straight nights, um, which was a miracle in itself that we we got through.

But we had it, we had an amazing team.

And we would have uh we would have um you know patients who needed to be cleaned and diapers changed and things like this, and we would have physicians and doctors who would just get right up in there and helping us do what whatever needed to be done.

We had translators who were hired locally, uh whose whose only job was to translate, but they would get in and help us lift heavy patients and get food for patients and sit with him and do whatever needed to be done.

And uh the the amount of good that came out of um such a small team was amazing.

And I want to show a video here that that uh show tells the story of one of our patients, and this is a patient whose name was Francesco when he came to us in critical condition and his prognosis was poor.

Um but uh during his time with us he turned a corner and started getting stronger and stronger, and uh and eventually was able to be moved from our ICU out of critical care down to one of the lower acuity wards, and from there continued to recovery.

He got strong enough to the point where he could sit outside and sit in the sun, enjoy some sunshine, and then eventually met our discharge criteria and uh and was sent home.

And uh this is just a super cool story that that makes all of the hardship worth it.

Uh so check this out.

Four or five days ago I was in a very big danger.

They sent me here to your organization.

This definitely changed my life.

And the first thing I remember is that wonderful doctor that told me, Francesco, you're out of danger.

For words that really changed my life.

You can't imagine how many people organized praying for me.

I couldn't imagine how many people praying for me.

Jesus, Francesco, there have been thousands and thousands and thousands of people praying for you.

Getting ready to come into the Easter resurrection sunday.

Jesus' words in John 16 right overcome the world.

Jesus, when he rose from the grave, he defeated death.

The patient was walking out to the ambulance because they sent an ambulance to transfer him safely back to his house for quarantine.

And as the patient walks out to the ambulance, um, he gets close to the paramedic, and the paramedic throws up his hands in the air and drops to his knees and has this big dramatic moment.

And it turns out that the paramedic and the patient were old buddies and they used to be in a band together, and the paramedic had no idea that his friend had almost died.

And so it's just uh it's just little moments like this where you can make a difference, where you can find that find uh that gift inside of you and stir it up and make a difference.

And and seeing stories like this for us uh made it all worthwhile.

Going to Italy was one of the hardest things we've done.

Um we had subzero temperatures, we had windstorm, uh, we had night shift, we had all kinds of different challenges, but just to see the impact that a team can make when they come together like this uh makes it all worthwhile.

So, step number one uh on our journey today about finding that place where passion and purpose meet is this stir it up.

Stir it up, stir up that gift of God that is inside of you.

Because we're we're all in this together.

And I want to read a passage from uh from the Old Testament in 2 Kings.

Um, this is this is a passage of scripture that's not often read very much, but it has a lot of parallels that are similar to what the world faces today.

It's the story of when the the city of Samaria was under siege and uh and people couldn't leave, they couldn't go to their jobs out in the field, they were running out of money, food prices were going through the roof.

And it's uh it's a tragic story.

It's also a very graphic story at times, um, but it's a story that has an important warning in it, and it's a story that also has uh an encouragement in it as well.

And so 2 Kings uh chapter 6, verse 24, and it says, It happened after this that Ben Hadad, king of Syria, gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria.

And there was a great famine in Samaria, and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of a cab of doves droppings for five shekels of silver.

So to any kids watching who are thinking of maybe complaining about your mom's cooking next time, just be thankful that she's not serving you a donkey's head for dinner and doves dung for dessert.

And for all of you scholars out there who are interested in knowing what these currencies equate to in modern terms, um, I looked it up just because I know you want to know.

And a quarter cab of doves droppings would set you back$70.

Think about what that could do with the keg.

And a donkey's head would set you back.

1100 dollars.

So I mean things are bad here, but I mean this this is really bad.

And it gets and it gets worse.

And this is the port the part where it gets tragic as well.

In verse 26, and then the king of Israel was passing by on the wall.

A woman cried out to him, saying, Help my lord, O king.

And he said, If the Lord does not help you, where can I hind where can I find help for you?

From the threshing floor or the wine press?

Then the king said to her, What is troubling you?

And she answered, This woman said to me, Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

So we boiled my son and ate him.

And I said to her on the next day, Give Give your son that we may eat him, but she has hidden her son.

Now it happened when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes and he passed by on the wall.

The people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.

And jumping down to verse 33, it says, and while it says, uh, and the king the king had come to the end of the rope, and he says, Surely this calamity is from the Lord.

Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?

And I know that the longer this COVID thing drags out, the more desperate people get in certain circumstances, and it can become hard to remain patient.

But then the word of God came from the prophet Elisha in chapter 7, and he said, Hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, Tomorrow, about this time, a siyah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two sias of barley for a shekel at the gates of Samaria.

And I love this phrase.

We serve a God who, in the middle of calamity and the middle of crisis, is ultimately in control.

And it's so easy to forget that, but we serve a God who can say, by this time, tomorrow, and it's over.

Right?

And uh and the goal here is to not become impatient, not to lose faith, not to lose heart.

And uh and so step number two is this stay the course.

Number one is stir it up, get that gift of God inside of you ignited, stand with those around you, work together as one, as one team, as one body of Christ, and then stay the course.

Don't give up when it gets hard.

And uh and so the Elisha said this, and then if you read down, there uh it goes on to describe there's these four leprous men who were sitting outside the the city gates, and they said they said to each other, they said, Look, if we stay here, we're gonna starve to death.

And if we go out there, the Syrians are probably gonna kill us.

But there's a chance that we might live if we go out there, if they spare our lives, and we at least have a chance of living.

And so, chapter seven, verse five, it says, And they rose at twilight to go out to the camp of the Syrians, and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise, no one was there.

For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses, the noise of a great army.

So they said to one another, Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.

Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact, their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and they fled for their lives.

And if you read on, just like the Word of God said, uh there was food available in the city, and people could eat, and it had ended just as quickly as it had started.

And I I have to reflect on the story, though, and wonder in that moment when there was food again in the city and it was over, I have to wonder how that woman felt who'd killed her own son.

And it's the tragic part of this story because if she'd waited only one more day, she would have been fine and her son would have been fine.

And so the warning in this passage is this don't let the desperateness of your current circumstances cause you to make decisions that sell out your future.

Don't make difficult decisions that cause you to sell out your future.

And I'm not saying that difficult decisions don't have to be made in times like this, but when you're making those decisions, you have to factor in and remember that we serve a God who can say, by this time tomorrow.

And uh and so stay the course.

Stay the course.

And uh in times like this, too, be careful who you surround yourself with.

I'm I'm willing to bet that these two women didn't talk to each other after that again.

Right?

There's gonna be people out there who try and give you poor advice and can try and get you to make a decision.

So be careful who you listen to and also don't do it alone.

You know, in my life, some of the biggest mistakes that I've made have been in times when I'm going through something hard, and I try and do it by myself, and I try and take it all on my own shoulders, when really I should be saying to Brody or to someone else, like, hey, I need help in this area, can you help me?

And uh, we're all in this together, and we all need we all need each other, so stay the course.

And I'll leave you with one last one last scripture.

This is the one that Carolyn referenced in her note.

It's in Hebrews 12, uh, verse 1.

It says, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

You know, it's so easy to get sidetracked and caught up in sin.

But there's also issues that drag us down that aren't even sin related.

It talks about laying aside every weight.

There's things in life, just the busyness of life and our own personal aspirations that can distract us from running the race with endurance and from making a difference.

And this this verse here is referencing uh ancient Greek Olympians who, when they would run, they would literally strip off everything and run in their birthday suit.

And uh now I'm not encouraging that, um, but the metaphor, the metaphor is a spiritual run, right?

Get rid of all the dead weight, the things that are holding us back.

And if you're an Olympian watching this morning, I thank you for wearing clothes.

Um, but run with endurance the race that is set before you.

So our third and final step is this stop at nothing.

Stop at nothing.

Don't get sidetracked, don't get weighed down by the burdens of life, stop at nothing.

So step number one is this stir it up.

Step number two, stay the course, and step number three, stop at nothing.

Stir it up, stay the course, stop at nothing.

Stir up that gift that is inside of you.

Stay the course, don't give up.

Stand with those around you.

Be a strength to those when they're weak, and let other people be a strength to you when you're weak and stop at nothing.

Remembering that we do we serve a God who can say by this time tomorrow.

And when you can stir it up, stay the course, and stop at nothing.

That's the point where passion and purpose meet.

So thank you very much for letting me share.

I'll just closing prayer real quick.

Uh, God, we thank you for your word today.

God, I pray that some part of what I said uh would just resonate with hearts out there, God, that you would just encourage us to stay the course, God, to not grow weary, to not give up, to believe that you you will bring an end to all of this, God, and that whatever people are going through, whether it's related to this COVID thing or whether it's something totally unrelated, God, that you are ultimately in control.

And God, I pray you would help us to stir up the gifts that are inside of us.

I pray that you would reveal to us the things that you've hidden in our hearts, God.

And I pray that we would stop at nothing in our pursuit of you, God.

And we thank you that you've called us for a purpose.

And we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

God bless you guys.