CONTINUING IN THE FAITH - Acts 16:1-5

Well, hey, if you have your Bibles or an

app, let's open it up. We're going to be

back in the book of Acts. Acts, chapter

Acts 16 · chapter mention

16. We're going to be looking at the

first five verses. Now, let me give you

some background so that way we

understand what's taking place in Acts

16 because I want us to really

understand the impact that this text

tells us in regards to the Apostle Paul

calling a young man by the name of

Timothy to come alongside him as they

continue to go about proclaiming the

kingdom of God and preaching the gospel.

Back in Acts chapter 14, and we preached

Acts 14 · chapter mention

through this last year. In Acts chapter

Acts 14 · chapter mention

14, Paul goes to the city of Lististra

for the very first time. This is during

his first missionary journey. And for

all the Bible nerds in the room, how

many missionary journeys did Paul go on?

Three. He went on three missionary

journeys. It's debated that he might

have gone on more, but throughout the

story of Acts, we see three missionary

journeys in particular where Paul goes

from town to town. village to village,

church to church to ensure that people

are hearing the gospel message. Now, I

want to remind us that that's not just a

wow story that we read in the book of

Acts. That's a wow story that should be

the reality of our lives as well. And

you may not be a missionary to the

extent that Paul was. That you'll go

from town to town, village to village,

maybe country to country to preach the

gospel. But you're a missionary in the

sense that in your workplace you preach

the gospel.

When you're at the little league, you

preach the gospel. When you're at the

grocery store, you preach the gospel.

And maybe your question is, "Well,

Roland, how am I preaching the gospel in

those places?" Through a lifestyle of

faith and obedience. That's what we're

going to talk about today.

What does it mean to live in such a way

that people recognize the gospel that

you proclaim, but also the gospel that

you live out? In other words, it's not

just the words that you say, but it's

the lifestyle that you live.

So, in Acts chapter 14, Paul finds

Acts 14 · chapter mention

himself in the city of Lististra. He's

there with Barnabas. And if you remember

that story, they heal a man,

a man who's been unable to walk. He's

had issues with his feet and his legs.

They heal him. They preach the gospel.

And God moves so powerfully through the

preaching and the signs, wonders, and

miracles of Paul and Barnabas that the

people in Lististra begin to call them

Zeus and Hermes. They mistake them for

Greek gods. And Paul sees an open door

there. And he begins to preach the

gospel. He begins to let them know that

those Greek gods are false gods. There's

only one true God, the God of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob. And from there, Paul

begins to visit the neighboring towns.

And they begin to strengthen the men

with the gospel message. And as their

time in those towns are done, they begin

to depart to go to the next area where

they're preached the gospel. And Paul

gives them these departing words.

He tells him to continue

in the faith.

Church, I think one of the most

healthiest questions that we can ask

ourselves is this. Am I continuing

in the faith?

Can the people in my circle, can the

people I encounter on a daily basis, do

the people who know me and the strangers

that I encounter, can they testify that

I indeed am continuing in the faith.

Because here's the reality about the

call to salvation.

Any of us can experience an emotional

moment.

Maybe that's part of our testimony. We

at some point in our life, we heard the

gospel proclaimed and we felt what we'll

call goosebumps and butterflies and

maybe we walked the aisle and maybe we

said a prayer and maybe we were

baptized. But as we began to grow into

adulthood, we realized that the gospel

that I thought had taken root in my life

really didn't

because I never continued in the faith.

I never grew up in my salvation. I never

worked out and through my salvation.

And if you were saved

as a child, this is for the adults in

the room, can it be said of your life

that you've grown in the faith, that

you've continued in your faith? Are you

a much wiser and more mature Christian

today than you were yesterday?

Can that be said of us? Or did we give

into a moment of emotion?

Did we make a decision that for so many

people around the world turns out to be

nothing more than something temporary

because we got stirred up during a

revival or we got stirred up during a

difficult season or we got stirred up in

a moment of desperation. Now make no

mistake, God works through those

moments.

Some of us have a story where we came to

faith in a moment of desperation.

We can share how when we encountered the

truth of God's word and how it was

proclaimed over our lives that something

within us was awakened

to the truth of who God is and we

repented of our sin. We turned to the

Lord and we've been growing ever since.

But here's what I want us to understand.

The Christian life is not merely about

starting well and finishing well. It's

about continuing faithfully.

The scripture tells us in Hebrews that

God is the author and perfector of our

faith.

What that means for us is the God that

we gave our yes to

when we proclaimed our hope, faith, and

trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and

Savior. We stepped into a life that was

going to be and is going to be and

currently is being completely

transformed.

That's what it means to continue in the

faith. So now we get to Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

This is about two years later, year and

a half to two years later from Acts

Acts 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. Paul returns to Lististra.

And this is when we are introduced to a

young man by the name of Timothy.

We're given some great insights into his

personal life. Up until this point,

we've seen the gospel spread in such

amazing ways

and we've seen largely how the gospel

has impacted towns and churches. But

here in Acts chapter 16, we get this

Acts 16 · chapter mention

close view of what it looks like for the

gospel to impact someone personally. And

here's what I want to challenge us with

before we dive into the text. A lot of

times we come into church, a lot of

times we live our Christian life under

this umbrella that God is doing a work

among his people. Yes. And amen. We

praise God for how he works corporately

in and through the people of God. That's

us, this local church, the Grove,

planted right here in this community. We

are grateful for how God works through

us. But don't ever fall into the trap of

getting lost in the us because it's also

about you.

And God doesn't just save us, he saves

you. God doesn't just work through us,

he works through you. God doesn't just

call us, but he calls you.

And so throughout this morning, I want

to challenge you to ask yourself, am I

continuing in the faith? And what does

the gospel look like for me personally?

What role does God play in my life

personally on your Monday commute to

work?

as you scroll through social media late

at night, as you're hanging out with

friends on the back porch, what does it

look like for

you? So, Acts chapter 16, beginning in

Acts 16 · chapter mention

verse one, here's what Luke writes.

Paul went on to Derby and Lististra,

where there was a disciple,

who was there? A disciple named Timothy.

That's important. and we're going to

come back to that. The son of a

believing Jewish woman, but his father

was a Greek. Remember, Paul is following

up with what took place back in Acts

Acts 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. So from the context of what

we see taking place here in Acts 16 and

everything that has taken place so far,

we can assume that Timothy was saved,

that his mom was saved, and we'll learn

later in the New Testament that his

grandmother was saved through the

preaching of Paul during that first

missionary journey.

And what did Paul tell them before he

left? Continue in the faith. Verse two,

the brothers and sisters at Lististra

and Iconium spoke highly of him.

Can that be said of you?

Can the people in your circle, outside

your circle, in the office down the

hallway from you, can your neighbors,

can all of that be said of you that you

are spoken highly of? And here's the

challenge. If the answer is no, then you

have some repenting to do.

And there's a way in which you need to

walk that honors the Lord and magnifies

to the world around you, to the people

around you, that Christ is living in

you. You do know that this life is not

about you.

It's not about what you want. It's not

about what you prefer. Does God work

through those things? Sure. Does God

even bless those things? Absolutely.

Many of us can testify to how we've

prayed for certain things and God has

been faithful to answer those prayers in

the affirmative. But did you know God's

faithfulness is just as faithful when

those prayers are not answered?

When God says no and it doesn't come to

pass. And if our faith and if our

continuing in the faith is only ever

dependent on God doing things our way,

then that's no faith at all.

That's you desiring to manipulate the

God of creation

who invites you into his family not

because of anything we do or don't do,

but because entirely of who he is and

what he has done. Let's continue here.

Verse three,

Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. Why

does he want Timothy to go with him?

Well, it's clear he's a disciple. It's

clear that people speak highly of him.

So, what does Paul do? He took him and

circumcised him because of the Jews who

were in those places since all they knew

that his since they all knew that his

father was a Greek. We'll unpack that

here uh in just a moment, but just to

kind of ceue us up. We don't know a lot

about Timothy's father. We do know that

Timothy was of mixed race. He came from

two different cultures.

His family came from two entirely

different backgrounds. And so either

Paul's father or Timothy's father had

died or Timothy's father had rejected

the gospel. Right? That's our two

choices. But what we do know, and moms,

this is for you. You'll love this. Paul,

he'll later write letters to Timothy,

first Timothy and second Timothy. And

he'll really encourage and admonish

Timothy for the fact that he was raised

by godly women.

That his mother and his grandmother upon

hearing the gospel ensured that young

Timothy would continue to hear the

gospel. And not only that would continue

to grow in the faith.

Verse four, as they traveled through the

towns, they delivered the decisions

reached by the apostles and the elders

at Jerusalem for the people to observe.

If you remember back in Acts 15, the

apostles and the elders in Jerusalem,

which is known as a Jerusalem council,

had gathered together,

not to decide in and of themselves. The

scripture says it was the Holy Spirit's

decision, but to affirm how God had

already been working.

James gets up, you remember, he quotes

the prophet Amos to let everyone know

that that God has always saved people

through faith. It's not Jesus plus

something else. It's Jesus and Jesus

alone. And so Paul, as he visits these

cities again, he delivers this letter.

And what's the result? Verse 5. The

churches were strengthened in the faith

and grew daily in numbers. And all God's

people said,

>> Lord, would you bless your word? Holy

Spirit, would you stir our hearts?

It's a small passage this morning, but

there's so much history that is taking

place here. As we're introduced to this

young man, Timothy, we discover that he

has been uniquely positioned. Now, we

can preach an entire sermon based off of

how God has uniquely positioned you in

this life.

Timothy has been uniquely positioned in

a place that was largely Greek in

culture and nature. There was a small

Jewish settlement in Lististra.

This is why this is a huge thing where

Paul will take Timothy and circumcise

him. And if you've been familiar with

where we've been over the past couple of

weeks, you read that and you think,

"Well, wait a minute, Roland. I thought

they had affirmed that the gospel was

all about faith

and that you didn't have to be

circumcised if you were Jewish." So why

then does Paul take Timothy to do those

things? I'm glad you asked because we're

going to get into that in just a moment.

That's a large part of this picture of

limiting our freedoms for the love of

the people.

Why Paul will later say in the New

Testament, I have become all things for

all people that the gospel might be

proclaimed, that the gospel might be

might be received and that people would

be resurrected to new life in him.

And so a Greek father, a Jewish mother,

caught between two worlds. You've ever

felt that way?

Caught between two worlds. Maybe you're

one way with one group of people. You're

another way with another group of

people. This was this was not Timothy's

experience, but I I think it's a moment

worth challenging ourselves to consider.

Am I caught between two worlds in such a

way where I compartmentalize my faith?

Because you'll never grow in your faith.

You'll never spiritually mature to the

point where God is working in you and

through you in a way that he so desires.

If all we ever do is compartmentalize

our faith. Are you following me? That

means at work, we're one way.

With a certain group of friends, we're

another way. In one text thread, we're

one way. In another text thread, we're

sharing all the scriptures and the

things that we find that are a blessing

to us. we begin to compartmentalize

because we live in two worlds.

But what I love about this moment is

that it beautifully fits into the larger

story of Acts.

Because as we look closely at Timothy's

life, we're going to discover that

spiritual growth is not accidental.

We've said this so many times. If if if

you've been a part of the grove for any

amount of time, you know that we always

hone in on this that spiritual growth,

spiritual maturity, you don't drift into

it. It doesn't happen by accident. You

must exercise intentionality. You must

be disciplined in the faith in order to

grow in the faith. And we follow this

rule and principle in every other area

of life.

The fishermen and hunters in the room,

you know what this is all about.

You prepare

for hunting season. You get everything

in order because you know that trophy

that you want to bag by the end of the

season.

You don't have to learn this principle.

You do have to be disciplined with it.

We all know what it's like to put in the

work for a desired outcome.

The same way works in our spiritual

life.

And the enemy hates it.

This is why we must crucify the flesh

daily.

This is why every waking moment I need

to be reminded that there's a greater

power that rests in me than any power

that would come against me. But there is

a nature and that nature is sinful. That

nature is rebellious. It's disobedience

against the holiness of God. And so I

need to put to death that nature and I

need to seek holiness and righteousness.

And the more that I allow the truth of

God's word to speak into my life, the

louder this voice becomes.

Or let me let me put it into language

that we understand. The squeakier this

wheel will become. And what gets the

grease? Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

But for so many of us, we're not

disciplined enough to sit and pray,

to sit and read, to sit and worship,

to sit in silence, in solitude, and get

away from the noise. And let me just let

me just camp out here for a bit. Here's

what I honestly believe. And and maybe

you can call me naive, and that might be

true. I I am definitely one that always

swings towards giving people the benefit

of the doubt.

I believe for most of us, if not all of

us, there is a genuine desire to grow. I

I don't think anyone in here would say,

"I have no desire to grow in Jesus

Christ." If you're a believer, I don't

think that you would say that. I think

there's a genuine desire for you to

grow. And it's either because you've

lacked intentionality is why you haven't

grown or maybe you just don't know the

tools that are accessible to you. Maybe

you just don't know the pathway that has

been laid out for you to grow in the

Lord. Well, what we're going to do is

we're going to go back through our

passage.

And we're going to look at the pathway

Timothy took. And I want us to realize

that this is not a pathway that is

simply exclusive to Timothy. It might

have been unique to his cultural

context, but the principles remain true

across time, generations, and cultures.

And so hopefully by the end of our time

this morning, we'll leave here

strengthened and equipped and empowered

to be the type of people who grow in our

faith, who are intentional and

disciplined with it. So if you're taking

notes, here's the first thing that we

see. Growing Christians

develop godly character.

What does your character look like? It's

been said this way. Who you are is not

who you are in public. Who you are is

who you are in private. That's the

measure of character.

That's the measure of who you truly are.

Who are you in private? Because here's

what we see all throughout the

scriptures. What happens in private

eventually makes itself into the public

square.

You might be fooling co-workers. You

might be fooling family. You might be

fooling your spouse. But you don't fool

God.

And so what do we see about young

Timothy? That growing Christians develop

godly character. I love how Luke

introduces Timothy. Now, we're going to

hear a lot about Timothy as we continue

through the book of Acts. And as you

continue into the New Testament, you'll

hear a lot about Timothy on how he'll go

and pastor the church in Ephesus, how

he'll continue to grow in the faith.

How does Luke introduce us to Timothy?

He doesn't mention his giftings.

He doesn't mention his charisma. He

doesn't say this was a strong man. He

doesn't say this was a man who was

wealthy or who had accomplished X, Y,

and Z. Though that resume probably would

have been great.

But how does God introduce Timothy? This

is the measure by which God looks at

your life. By the way,

he says Paul went on to Derby and

Lististra where there was a disciple

named Timothy.

Luke focuses

not on what Timothy has accomplished,

but he focuses on his character.

Do you know that's what God focuses on

as well?

God is less concerned about your

accolades and accomplishments, though

those are praiseworthy.

But what God is more concerned with is

your heart and your character.

Growing Christians develop godly

character. That word disciple in the

Bible is never used lightly.

It is always used to express someone who

has their eye on the prize.

Someone who desires to grow, someone

who's a learner, someone who's a

watcher, someone who studies a craft in

order to master that craft. Anyone who's

ever walked through apprentichip knows

what this is all about.

So what or rather who is uh Timothy

learning?

Who is he studying?

Who is he trying to become like? And

that extends to us also. There's only

one answer. The lamb of God who takes

away the sins of the world. Jesus

Christ. This is who we learn from. This

is who we watch. This is who we aim our

hearts at. This is who molds us into the

men and women we are to become. And that

only happens when we set ourselves to

the task of growing and learning. And

what that also tells us is that Timothy

wasn't just an outward follower of

Jesus.

He was an inward child of God. He was a

man who was formed by biblical truth

inwardly. This is what godly character

is all about.

The contrast we see is in the ministry

in the gospel ministry of Jesus

when he encountered the religious group

known as the Pharisees.

On the outside they looked like they had

it all together. Did you know to be a

Pharisee you had to be able to quote

word for word the first five books of

the Bible? Did you know that

some of us can quote lyrics to our

favorite song more than we can quote the

scriptures?

And the Pharisees had to learn the

Torah, the first five books of the

Bible, and be able to quote it word for

word to even qualify.

These were individuals that were not

oblivious to the truth of God's word.

And so outwardly, they looked great.

Inwardly they were a mess.

And we've referenced this so many times

before. Jesus recognizes this. He calls

them whitewashed tombs. You look great

on the outside. You're dead, corrupt,

and rotten on the inside. Could that be

said of our life? I pray not.

But if it can be, today is a moment of

repentance for you

to turn from the Lord to say enough is

enough. And to understand that spiritual

maturity, godly character is observable

through the things that I do in my life.

Because look at verse two.

It says the brothers and sisters at

Lististra in Iconium spoke highly

of him.

In a matter of a year to two years,

Timothy was shaped in such a way that

people recognize something different.

They saw that his faith was visible. It

wasn't a private faith,

but it was a public faith that showed

people the power of Christ in his life.

And here's here's the take-home for us.

We live in a world that is obsessed with

visibility, do we not? Right? Social

media, if it's taught us anything, it's

taught us that people desire to be

visible. People desire to be liked.

Everyone wants to have some form of

influence over people. Everybody wants

to have a platform. Do you know what the

number one desire is for young people

today? When you ask them, "What do you

want to be when you grow up?" Do you

remember what's uh when someone asked

you that question? What what what you

wanted to be? For me, at one point it

was a doctor. I wanted to be an

astronaut. I wanted to be an astrologer.

I wanted to be a pharmacist. But kids

today, they'll say influencer. They'll

say YouTuber. Nothing wrong with it in

and of itself, but it does tell us

something, especially when we compare

this to the text that God is far more

concerned with who you are becoming

rather than who you are, whether someone

knows your name or not.

Who are you becoming?

For moms and dads, what is your marriage

becoming? What is your family becoming?

Dad, you thought you were going to get

away this this morning because it's

Mother's Day. Who are you becoming?

How are you forming and leading your

family to develop godly character? And

here's the question. Who are you

becoming when no one is watching you?

Could this be opened up?

You click on a social media icon

and you go to your for you page

and you see what is suggested to you.

In a room of this size, more than half

the people in here would have lewd

and levicious items

come across their phone.

That's the reality. That's the culture

that we live in. But that doesn't mean

we have to accept it.

who you are becoming in private is what

matters because that is going to

overflow into the public. And so as

Timothy's character grows, something

else becomes evident.

Genuine spiritual maturity is always

going to produce a heart of surrender.

Here's the second thing that we see.

Growing Christians care more about the

mission than their preferences.

I think one of the most surprising

moments, you've probably caught it,

happens here in verse three.

It says Paul wanted Timothy to go with

him. So he took him and circumcised him

because of the Jews who were in those

places since all they knew

was that his father was

a Greek.

Now, if if you've been following us

since Acts chapter 15, you know, wait a

Acts 15 · chapter mention

minute, this sounds contradictory.

I thought they declared that

circumcision was not necessary for

salvation. But here's what we need to

understand. This is not about salvation.

This is about ministry.

It's about mission.

Timothy is ethnically Jewish. In this

time period, everything followed the

lineage of the mom.

And so Timothy would have been

considered a Jewish individual.

And so in order to become all things for

all people that the gospel would be

proclaimed and people would come to

faith in Christ, he chooses to identify

with his Jewish brothers and sisters.

Because Jewish people would have

considered a Jewish individual that did

not follow the rule of circumcision.

that would have been a personal offense

to them.

That doesn't mean they would have been

unsaved. Remember, this is not a

salvation issue. This is a mission

issue. We exercise this principle all

the time.

I'll tell you, being a pastor has has

put me in some pretty interesting

positions. I'll give you an example that

many of you can relate with.

I'll be I'll get introduced to someone

and we'll have a conversation and and

and 15 to 20 minutes into the

conversation they find out I'm a pastor

and that conversation shifts.

I shouldn't have said that. Oh, I'm

sorry I let that slip.

We know what it's like to limit our

preferences

for the benefit of others. This is that

principle right here. This is for the

purpose of

the mission.

You know, one of the greatest tests of

spiritual maturity

is finding out which of these questions

appeals to you the most. Here's a test

for you.

Two questions. The first one, I'm a

Christian. What am I allowed to do?

Versus, I'm a Christian. What in my life

helps people see Jesus the most?

And I think in our world today so often

that first question appeals to people.

I'm a believer. What am I allowed to do?

And so we'll search the scriptures not

because we want to know God more, but

because we want to find a loophole

to an area in our life where the Holy

Spirit is already convicting us.

But what do growing Christians do?

Growing Christians care more about the

mission of God than their preferences.

And so what does that mean? That means

sometimes spiritual maturity means

surrendering freedoms, surrendering

preferences, surrendering control and

comfort and opinions, not because we

have to, but because we love people

enough to remove those barriers

and to show them Jesus. Every missionary

does this. Every foreign missionary does

this. They teach you to set aside your

personal preferences. And most often for

Americans going into the into the

mission field, it's this mindset that

you have to rescue everybody.

When there was a earthquake several

years ago in in Haiti and devastated the

the country, America responded the way

America does in a great way. The church

responded in a phenomenal way. We start

to send money. we start to send food. We

start to send all these things.

And we were sending so much food that it

was putting the local farmers out of

business. And so they said, "We

appreciate everything that you're doing,

but pump the brakes a little bit because

it's hurting our own people.

We know what this principle is like.

Limiting preferences

in order to focus on mission." Here's

the last thing that we see.

Growing Christians strengthen the

church.

This is what Paul and Timothy do. So,

we've seen that that Paul recognizes

Timothy. Timothy is recognized as a

disciple. Are you recognized as a

disciple?

Someone who's learning and growing

and has this genuine desire to master a

life that honors and obeys Jesus.

Timothy was spoken highly of. Are you

spoken highly of?

And I don't mean to to focus on the

outliers. None of us in here are liked

by every single person.

Maybe some of y'all in here don't like

me. I I don't know.

I would be a fool to think a 100% of you

do.

But we're not going to be liked by

everyone. Our desire

to fulfill the mission of God is for God

alone.

We don't let others determine what God

has already determined. So, are you a

disciple? Can you be spoken highly of?

Are you willing to lay down some of your

preferences and freedoms for the sake of

the mission? And I love this part in

verse four.

Says, "They traveled through the towns.

They delivered the decisions reached by

the apostles and the elders." What are

you delivering?

We all have something to deliver.

Mom and dad, you're delivering something

to your children. It's going to form and

inform them of what parenting looks like

in this world. Moms, the way you love

your husband informs your kids how a

woman is to love a man. Dads, the way

you love your wife informs your kids how

a man is to love a woman.

What are you delivering

to the people around you? Because what

we find here with Paul and Timothy is

they deliver in such a way that it

strengthens the church. It doesn't

divide it. It doesn't weaken it. It

strengthens

it. Verse five.

So the churches were strengthened in the

faith and grew daily in

numbers. Let me close with this.

Your spiritual growth matters.

It matters because you have influence.

It matters mom and dad because your kids

are watching you.

It matters teachers because your

students may not see Jesus in anyone

else.

It matters business owners because your

clients and the people that you sell to

can see what honest hard work from a man

of God or a woman of God accomplish is.

What you do matters. Your spiritual

growth matters and it affects far more

people than we ever realize.

And let me just encourage us with this.

I want you to hear this. This is not

about trying harder.

I think that's the mistake that we make.

I mean, I I'm I I'm part of making that

mistake as well. We we gather in a place

like this. We hear an encouraging

message, one that challenges us, and we

say, "Then I will just just try harder."

This is not about trying harder.

There's not enough harder that you can

do THAT WILL ACCOMPLISH WHAT GOD DESIRES

TO DO THROUGH YOU. GOD IS NOT LOOKING

for people. He's looking for people to

surrender.

And when we surrender to him, when we

fall in love with him

and we abide in him

and connect with him,

we become more faithful. We don't become

more faithful by trying harder. We

become more faithful through surrender

and abiding. Remember verse one,

he was a disciple.

Timothy was a disciple not because he

mastered a system.

He was faithful because he remained near

to Jesus. And for some of us this

morning, we need to be challenged with

that truth. Remain near to Jesus. Let me

pray for us.

God, we thank you for this morning.

We thank you for how you move and how

you work.

And in this place, I know that you are

calling people to repentance. I know you

are calling people to eternal life. I

know you are calling people to step

outside of themselves and into the hope,

the faith, the trust that is in Christ

and in Christ alone. And so, Holy

Spirit, as you move and stir hearts

and as people are awakened to faith, may

you get the glory. In Christ's name, we

pray. All God's people said, "Amen."

Would you stand to your feet with me?

We're going to sing together. We're

going to close our service by lifting up

the name of Jesus, King Jesus, who

reigns in majesty and glory.

Our altar is going to be open. This is a

time of response for you to to have a

moment with God. You can come up to the

altar. You can have your own moment with

God. Dads, if you'd like to bring your

family forward and and pray together or

if you need someone to pray with, Pastor

Eric and myself will be available. We'd

love to pray with you. Pray for someone

in your life and lift that up together.

We can thank God for a blessing. And if

you feel the Holy Spirit is stirring

something in you, maybe you need to

repent, maybe you need to confess a sin,

whatever, whatever it is, this is an

opportunity for you to respond. I love

you, church.