Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- 2 Timothy 3:1-12 - Understand The Times Pt 1 -Pastor Ryan

Well, good morning. Glad you're all here. Good to see everybody. Glad you can make it out. I want to invite you to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, we come before you today and we just thank you again for another day. Thank you for allowing us to be here, Lord, to be in your house. And Lord God, we just want to glorify you this morning, Lord. We give you all the glory, all the honor and all the praise for everything you've done for us. For all the ways you take care of us, for all the ways that you love us.

You show us your grace and your mercy, Lord God, each and every day. And so, Lord, we just glorify you this morning and we just magnify you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys can go and have a seat if you like.

Lord God, we just want to come before you this morning and we just want to express our gratitude to you this morning. We want to say thank you. Lord God, you know, it's because of you that we are here, Lord God. It's because of you we're able to come and worship in your house this morning, God. It's because of you that we're able to wake up this morning, that we have a way to take care of our families, Lord God,

that you provide for us, Lord God. It's all because of you. So we give you all the honor and glory this morning, God. And we just want to say thank you. I'm sure I've got to be strong as I are every song.

Cause you've got to lie to lie.

You've got to lie. Cause all that Jesus and died to save you. And Lord God, we just want to, again, take a moment and just say thank you for allowing us to be here. Well, God, what a joy it is just to be in your house this morning. What a joy it is to be in your presence. Lord God, and in your presence, Lord God, we can find our peace. We can find our joy. We can find our strength.

And just being near you, Lord God. Lord, fill us up this morning, God. Empty us of ourselves. Fill us up with more of you, Lord God. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. God, we just love you and we praise you. Would you guys stand with me for the last one? And all the joy to be. Joy to know it's when I decrease. You fill up my soul. What a joy to see. Joy to hold it's when you increase.

I want nothing more.

All the joy. Joy.

Yes, Lord God, that is our prayer this morning. That we would decrease and that you would increase. That you would be glorified. You'd be glorified in our lives. And Lord God, we just thank you again for allowing us to spend some time in your presence this morning. And Lord, as your word says, I would rather spend one day in your presence than a thousand elsewhere, God.

So we just thank you again. And as Pastor Ryan comes this morning, I just pray that your Holy Spirit would move mightily this morning. Give him the words to speak. Give us ears to hear. And a heart to receive it. I pray these things in your precious name. Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Good morning.

If you could begin the process of locating your seats. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A few things to take note of in your bulletin. Over on the left-hand side are the things that go on throughout the week. Different places to get plugged in. Take note of that and get plugged in somewhere. Over in the middle section. Some things to pay attention to. All right. This is going to require full listening.

All right. Everybody with me? You focused? All right. So the building will be open this week. So and then Monday, and I confirmed this with my contractor this morning. Monday, they will start breaking through the hallway area where it's going to go into the new building. So that means a couple of things. Number one, if you usually come here on a Wednesday night, you're going to have to use this west entrance.

Why? Because they'll have all of that blocked off for the community. They'll have all of the construction that they're doing so west entrance and then when you show up next Sunday, especially if you have kids that need to be checked in at the kid check area, you will actually go into this building the entrance into the the older portion of the building will not be open yet so you'll either have to come through this door or go across and go in the back door that's down there everybody with me so far nod your heads and make sure or not if don't and so I can explain it again everybody with me we all there okay perfect I didn't see head nods while I was doing this. So I'm just going to believe that you understand.

So, but that's how you all look at me when I teach too so I'm just believing that that's the case. Okay, a couple of other things that are not in your bulletin. The next one is that knowing that snap benefits have just ended with the government shut down which by the way I'm going to keep all thoughts to myself that are of a political nature, but knowing that that's happened we know that there's going to be people that are going to have needs. And so what we want to do is.

As the church we want to be able to help with that and so we want to fill up our food pantry so that over the next few weeks if if people have needs where it's like hey I can't eat this week because there's no money coming in we want to be able to help out with that and so if you would like to be a part of that please bring any food any non perishable food donations that you have they've cleared out the pantry to to provide room for that and we'll be working on putting some boxes together for the people that need that we're down here all week so anytime that you would want to. To. Come down and drop off some donations please come on down and do so but we want to fill up that food pantry so that we can help our community as much as possible.

At that point in time during the week I think you can come in the front door so and we'll just tell can't to get out of the way. The next thing that's not in your bulletin is I failed to get intercessory prayer put in there that's tonight down at the other end of the hallway so six o'clock tonight and then ladies you have a breakfast coming up this Saturday. Which again I think you need. This Saturday down at the other end of the hallway in the agape room and then we have operation Christmas child shoeboxes they are due on November the 16th that we have a little video to show for that we prematurely hit the video go I can't hear anything.

Oh there it is.

Greatest journey discipleship program to reach out to the ends of the earth with the gospel. The child is discipled not only know God. But make God known to others the greatest journey begins with an explanation of the gospel where children are given another opportunity to respond the children didn't go through 12 lessons to help establish them in their new faith teach them how to live for Christ and are taught ways to share their faith with friends and family to partner with an organization that's making the local church the priority empowering them to go make disciples I can't think of a better investment. For the gospel.

God sent his son to this earth on a rescue mission Jesus Christ died and shed his blood on the cross for our sin and then on the third day God in heaven said it's enough and he raised his son to life this is the good news and we've got a responsibility to take this message to the ends of the earth.

I so my understanding is that every one of these shoeboxes reaches at least 10 people with the gospel of Jesus Christ so we've got over 300 so far so that's over 3000 people. That are going to be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ to this and I just love it I love that that's going to take place so again in two weeks those of you that haven't started putting your boxes together I me need to remember that that that's when those are due on the 16th so those are the things that are going on and the sea of people in the back would tell me that I'm supposed to have somebody come up here and share so Gina.

So most of you know pastor appreciation month was last month but we appreciate our pastor so much we're going to carry it on the end of November for him so. We'd like to for the pastors to come on up if you would all the pastors Alan Jared Tristan you as well and your wife if you'd come up we'd appreciate it while they're coming up I'm going to turn this over to Nick.

Turn this over to Nick and let them carry on I appreciate it there we go all right all right I'll stand in the back that's all right you don't need to see me we just want to show our appreciation to all of our pastors the dedication and commitment that they have weekend week out we don't always see what they do. But the.

Amount of pouring into the love that they have for all of us here in the church and for the community is just hard to fathom at times and so their dedication to their ministry and wives we can't we can't forget you for what you do to support your your husband spiritually mentally emotionally it's it's a daunting task at times to be a pastor to lead people to pour into him it can be tiresome but also the joy that comes with it so we just want to show you our appreciation just a token of that is we have a few gifts for you and then also we have some. Desserts and a cake in the back so after service we'd love for everyone just to join us really quick.

And just say thank you to our pastors show some love towards them we appreciate it and Ryan sweet bouquet will sit up there while he preaches maybe. Yeah but thank you pastors we appreciate all very much the wives thank you for everything you do our church is just continue to grow not just in numbers but spiritually and so it's a blessing and we appreciate it and we just want to show our love to you so. Thank you guys.

If we can let me just pray real quick I know we have full service we got to get through this but let me just pray for everyone up here because it's just one way that we can support them so having father we love you and God thank you so much for Calvary thank you for what you're doing here just these men and women have chosen to step up and be in the role where they are leading individuals they're leading ministries Lord that you just put your hand over them continue to fill up their cup as they're filling others Lord that you just give them the emotional the physical support that they need day in day out to do this we love you. Thank you.

God I ask that we just continue to be a light to our city we appreciate love the gospel and just thank you for the dedication for these men and women that they have towards the mission we love you in Jesus name amen.

Well thank you guys so much for that and okay I'm going to do the best I can to say this and not get emotional but y'all know me I just want to say how thankful I am for this congregation because told you you guys loved our family so much and.

In a really really hard time in ways that you didn't have to and I just want to say how thankful I am for for the love that you all have shown truly and it's not just our family I've seen you do it with with every family that's gone through hard things in this church it truly exemplifies what church is supposed to be what the body of Christ is supposed to be and that's people that love each other and people that support each other no matter how hard the times are that they going that they go through and so I just I appreciate you guys so thank you. Thank you.

And thank you for this so and thank you for dessert because you know how much I love dessert so all right responsive reading now the emotional parts done you think we're going to be in Psalm 1 Psalm 1 looking at the new American standard if you need a copy should be one in a row around you and as you are turning to Psalm 1 if you are able please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 1.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does he prospers the wicked are not so but they are like chaff. Psalm 1.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish and so father as we know that that's what your word does for us I pray that as we take time to meditate in your word this morning that you would do just that Lord that we would become like those trees that are planted by the streams of water that would yield fruit in good time as we as we meditate on your word as we take time to soak it in and allow your Holy Spirit. Psalm 1.

To use it in our lives and so father be with this time in our in your word now we pray in Jesus name amen you may be seated and if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2nd Timothy chapter 3 2nd Timothy chapter 3 well as we've said these are final words from a faithful servant so Paul is writing to Timothy as he's sitting in prison writing to Timothy as he knows he's facing execution and writing to Timothy the things that he feels like are

pertinent for this young pastor to know if he's going to continue to not only stand for the things of God but to lead the church of God after Paul's departure and so we we said that there were several different things that he was going to teach he told him to guard the treasure he told him to be strong he told him to be diligent and today in chapter 3 he will tell him to understand the times to understand the times I was hoping to fit all of this into one sermon but the longer that I studied the more I realized there was too much here to

to do it in one so it is going to be a two-part series so the title this morning is understand the times part 1 and so we look at chapter 3 verse 1 and this is what it says but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant revilers disobedient to parents ungrateful unholy unloving irreconcilable malicious gossips without self-control brutal

haters of good treacherous reckless conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power avoid such men as these for among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighted down with sins led by various impulses always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth just as

Janice and Jambres opposed Moses so these men also oppose the truth men of depraved mind rejected in regard to the faith but they will not make further progress for their folly will be obvious to all just as Janice and Jambres folly was also now you followed my teaching conduct purpose faith patience love perseverance persecutions and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch at Iconium

and at Lystra what persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord rescued me indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted now as Paul begins to explain to Timothy about the difficulty of the last days he's going to do a few things first of all introduce that subject to be aware of the times and then he's going to tell him about the state of the world and then he's going to tell him about persecution

it starts off in chapter 3 verse 1 it says but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come in the last days now this is an important subject for us to identify and for us to define because everybody wants to know what the last days are a lot of people believe that today we are living in the last days and I would not disagree with that although I do have to caveat that by saying we've really been living in the last days for about 2000 years now because ever since the

ascension of Jesus into heaven we have been living in these last days and so what does it mean for us now that we've always been living in these last days at least since the ascension of Jesus well I believe that where we're living now is the last of the last days and the reason why I think that is first of all prophetic in nature because I think that all of the things lining up with the nation of Israel and its prophetic nature are important to understand with understanding that we're living in the last days but also as I look at the development of technology especially in

comparison to what it teaches in the book of Revelation and the unifying world that we live in where it seems like language continues to be less and less of a barrier and more and more there is a unifying factor that's prepared for an antichrist I think we're living in the last of the last days but as Paul is writing this to Timothy Paul believes that they're living in the last days now it's kind of interesting because every great man of God that God has used throughout the centuries has all believed that they've lived in the last days

and yet we're still here because we weren't there yet Jesus has not come back yet and so what does that mean does that mean that Paul was wrong when he thought he was living in those last days no it means Paul lived with what we all have to live with it's called the doctrine of eminence the doctrine of eminence the doctrine of eminence teaches the imminent return of Jesus Christ that it could be at any point in time we know that no man knows the day or the hour and whatever your eschatology is that's in time study whatever your understanding of the end times is

if you're a true believer in Jesus Christ we're all anticipating one thing and that's the second coming of Christ we had he has to return otherwise scripture is not really scripture and so as Paul addresses this we need to understand that Paul believed he was living in the last days that we are living in the last days and there's something that we need to know about these last days that we're living in he says realize this in the last days difficult times will come

difficult times will come that word difficult means hard to bear perilous or fierce the Amplified Bible translates it fierce times will set in you see Timothy again is a very timid individual he's a nervous guy and he doesn't like to face the hardships of life that's why Paul had to continually tell him to confront the difficulties that were around him because it was his nature to step back it was his nature to to not want to take part in the confrontations and and Paul knew he needed toughened up. Paul knew he needed to anticipate the difficulty, and so he lets Timothy know the hard truth that everybody has to understand. Timothy, it's not going to get easier.

You're living in hard times, and we will continue to live in hard times until the second coming of Christ, until Jesus comes and sets everything right. And so these are some things that you need to anticipate to know that the times are difficult. And he's going to describe two different things. He's going to first of all describe the state of humanity in the world. Then he's going to describe

the state of humanity within the church. And then he's going to address the persecutions that we will see in the last days. The first thing that he does is he deals with the things we will see in people in the world. Now, I also think it's kind of interesting because when you think about understanding the times, most of you, if you read my Instagram post or the Facebook post that said, how we live in light of the times, understanding the times, you probably thought I was going to talk about something prophetic. Wars or pestilence or famine

or economic issues and how those all point to the second coming of Christ. But we have to understand something. When Paul addresses the hard times that Timothy needs to pay attention to, he doesn't address all the things you think he would like that. Instead, he talks about people. Because one of the hardest things to deal with when it comes to the end times is the increasing depravity of

humanity. And that's why I'm going to talk about the hard times. And I'm going to talk about the what Paul tells him to pay attention to. And so he gives him this list of about 18 things, 17, 18 things that he needs to pay attention to. And so like I, as I like to do, we're going to work through this list one by one. The first thing he tells him is men will be, first of all, lovers of

self. They will be lovers of self. Now that word in the Greek is an interesting word. The word in the Greek is philato. Phila meaning Philadelphia love or brotherly love. Auto meaning self. So if you actually look at that word in the Greek and translate it, you're going to see that it's a literally, it would mean self-love. Now I thought that was kind of interesting because what seems

to be the theme that gets promoted a lot in today's culture? Self-love. We call it something a little bit different. We call it self-care, right? But ultimately that's what it is. Men will be lovers of themselves. The idea behind that word self-love or a lover of self is a narcissism. Something that puts self at the center of everything. And I think if we could define

our generation with just that, we would be lovers of ourselves. And I think if we could define our generation with just one term, it would be the term self. Because we are a self-obsessed culture. We are a self-obsessed group of people and we love everything about us. You know how I know that? If I were to take a picture of second service right now, and then next week I tell you I'm

going to post this picture that I just took of second service of everybody that's at this service, I'm going to post it out on the bulletin board out there. Do you know who the first person you look for is? It'd be you, right? Why? Because I'm going to post it on the bulletin board out there. I'm going to post it on the bulletin board out there. Do you know who the first person you look for is? It'd be you, right? Why?

Because you're the most important person in your world. And quite frankly, you think you're the most important person in everyone's world. That's why everybody thinks someone's talking about them all the time, right? Why are you talking about me? Why do you think I'm talking about me, right? I think it was put best in a song in the 70s. You're so vain. I bet you think the song is about

you, right? That's who we are. We're a vain narcissistic group of people. The problem is it's continuing to intensify as the time goes on. It's continuing to intensify the closer we get to the second coming. of Jesus Christ, because Satan knows that if he can keep you focused on yourself, you're not focused on anything else, including Jesus, and he can destroy your life. And so he says men will be

lovers of self. And I think it's interesting that that's where Paul starts with this, because I think that every other issue that comes up after this springs from this one issue of self-love. It springs from this one issue of narcissism. It springs from this one issue of putting ourselves in the place where only Jesus belongs. Ourselves in the place where only God is intended to sit, and that's on the throne of our lives.

He says in these days, in these difficult times, men will be lovers of self. The second thing it says that they will be is that they will be lovers of money. Lovers of money. We can substitute the word greedy there. And in the culture that we live in today, greed has overtaken us, because we love the money that we can make. It's interesting because in and of itself, money is benign, right?

Like it's neither good nor bad. It's neither evil nor holy. It just, it exists. The only power that money has is the power that you give it over your life. The problem is too many people give money all of the power over their lives. You know how I know that? Because as I look today, there was an entire island of guys that used to go and be pleased in a sexual sort of way. And anytime we've tried to get to the bottom of

exactly what happened there, all of the people with the money paid off all of the people with the authority, and we can never get to the bottom of it. And that's what we're trying to do. Get to the bottom of it. Why? Because men are lovers of money. And lest you think it's just all of those people out there that do it, I have a question for you. What is your driving force in

life? What drives you every day? Is it your desire to serve the Lord, or is it your desire to serve your bank account? Don't get me wrong. You have to pay the bills. That's what a responsible person does. But at what point in time does it go beyond paying the bills and stretches into something else? Men will be lovers of money. The third thing he says is that they will be boastful and arrogant.

Boastful and arrogant. I thought that word boastful was very interesting in the Greek. The word boastful means an empty pretender. An empty pretender. Now, that word in ancient Greek culture was used for a doctor who could claim that he could heal illnesses with some new thing that he had just come up with. In our culture, we would call him a snake-oil. He would say,

right? I won't tell you what else I'd call him, but that is what it is. Someone who makes a claim that they can't back up with their actions. That's a boaster. And boy, do we live in a culture of boasters today, don't we? Everybody loves to talk about what they've done. Let me share with you all of the amazing things that I've done in my life. We live in a boastful and arrogant world, and it

will continue to wax worse and worse. It will continue to intensify again, because men are lovers of self. Therefore, they have to constantly praise God. They have to constantly praise God. They have to constantly praise God. They have to constantly praise God. They have to constantly praise themselves. Men will be boasters and arrogant. The next thing it says is that they will be a

reviler. Reviler could also be substituted with the word blasphemer. Someone who blasphemes the truth of God. Someone who blasphemes against God, either through their words or through their actions. And can I say, the culture we live in today is incredibly blasphemous. I watch it happen over and over again. The things that people say in regards to God are just fascinating. And again, most of

it's outside of the church, but sometimes it's even within the church where they promote things or they make statements that are opposed to the things of God or misrepresent the things of God. And they are blasphemous in nature. The next thing he says is that they are disobedient to parents. And I love that anytime Paul puts a list of bad things together, he also includes, and you hate your mama, right? Like, and you don't treat your mom like you're supposed to. But I have really

been thinking about this this week. This aspect of being disobedient to parents, because listen, I work with a lot of young people and I love y'all, right? Like, I love young people. I love working with kids. But there's something I've started noticing about the way that kids are raised today. The way that kids are raised today is we allow them to have their big feelings, right? Anybody ever seen that? Oh, they've got big

feelings. Let them express their big feelings. Listen, we can all have emotions, but at some point in time, the expression of the big feelings is just called disrespect. And it's called disobedience. And we have to understand that. And we have to understand that. And we have to understand that. Because right now, we're raising a culture of kids. This one and the one that was

right before were raised a culture of kids that don't know how to respect authority. And listen, I hear it from some of you older people. This generation does not understand respecting authority. Well, you raised them. At some point in time, can you take a little blame for yourself? You raised them to be disrespectful. You're the one that allowed them to have their big feelings

without any kind of consequences for the disrespect. At some point in time, you're the one that allowed them to have their big feelings without any kind of consequences for the disrespect. At some point in time, that's the problem. Is that I expect kids to act like kids. I don't expect parents to act like kids. And that's usually where you run into issues. And I've worked with kids since I was a kid. And I've

watched this happen over and over again. Where you say, hey, here's the issue with little Johnny. And they're like, well, what did you do? And I'm like, what did I do? What do you mean? I just told you what little Johnny did. Yeah, but you probably had some part in it, right? And I'm going, what world are you living in right now? Disobedient to parents. And when that happens,

they don't understand respect for authority in culture. But really what happens is they don't understand respect of the authority of God. Because the child's first place where they learn to respect the authority of their creator is when they learn to respect the authority of their parent. And what we see right now is an increasing culture of disobedience to parents. The next thing

is that they are ungrateful. They are ungrateful. That word means unthankful. I shared this with a group of middle school kids this week when I was taking them through the Acts model for prayer. And I talked about thanksgiving. It's the same thing I've shared with you all. I said, do you realize that if you are not a person who is thankful for things, you will actually become stupid? And they

were like, I said, yeah, it's true. The Bible says you'll become stupid. It actually says in Romans chapter one that they did not give thanks to God. So God turned them over to a debased mind. That word debased means void of knowledge. That means that if you're not thankful, you'll become stupid. Explains a lot about culture today, doesn't it? Every time I hear someone talk, I'm like, you must

not be very thankful, right? Because I hear the words coming out of your mouth and you sound like a moron. Clearly we know what the issue is. But listen, it's the start of thing. It's the start of November, right? We can officially start having a thing to be thankful for every single day. It's okay. Listen, I've started doing something in my journal. I don't journal every single day of the

week. I try three or four days a week to make sure that after I have my Jesus time, I spend a little bit of time journaling what I'm learning. And I learned these two journal prompts recently. They have been massively helpful for me. I start off every journal entry with two things. Number one, what are you thankful for today? Number two, what are you struggling with today? And I get really,

really real with God. I'm not going to let anybody see my journal anymore because I get really real with God. And I've had to learn to really pay attention to what God's doing in my life so that I'm thankful for those things. But I'm here to tell you right now, when I start my journal entry, with what I'm thankful for, my perspective changes because I've just put God back in the place where he belongs. And when I write down what I'm struggling with, it allows me to be

really honest with God and it puts God's word back where it belongs. And that's the instructor of my life. So I start off every journal entry with those two things. And I got to tell you, borrow that because it's really helped me a lot. He says they are ungrateful. And of course, the next one he says is they're unholy. And this is one of the things that I find the most within the church

today, is that people do not understand holiness. anymore. We don't understand what holiness looks like, especially in the world. The world is unholy. They are, they are completely debased, right? Because of the world that we live in today. But what I'm seeing is that's creeping into the church. What I'm finding in the church is that people in the church don't know how to identify sin any longer. I hear people say, listen, I'm

gonna step on some toes when I plan to. I hear some people that are willing to let anything fly out of their mouth because they're like, well, you know, it's not really that big of a deal. Or they're living with their boyfriend or girlfriend, or you're having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend, or you're drinking as much as you want to. I just get drunk every now and then. And you name it. And those sins are prevalent within

the church. Because we can't identify holiness anymore. And God wants us to identify what holiness is supposed to look like. And I expect those things from the world, just like I expect kids to act like kids. I don't expect those things in the church. And at some point in time, we have to deal with what's going on in the church. We have to deal with what's going on in the church.

Because he says, in the last days, men will become unholy because they won't be able to identify sin any longer. The next thing he says is, they will be unloving. And this is a very fascinating word. The word unloving means devoid of natural affection. Devoid of natural affection. Calloused and inhumane. Calloused and inhumane. Think of it like this. Again, I plan on stepping on some toes

with what I'm about to say. I'm going to step on some toes with what I'm about to say. I'm going to say, I can't think of anything that would describe this better than the sin of abortion. I can't think of anything that more describes being devoid of natural affection than a mother who is willing to put their child's life to an end. Now, I want you to understand something. I'm

going to couch this with this. If you're here this morning and you have done this in your life, you are guilty of this sin. I want you to know that there is healing in Christ. I want you to know that you can take that to Jesus and trust that he is able to forgive, that he is able to cleanse, that he is able to heal, and he is able to restore. It is not the unforgivable sin. But when

I talk about this, I'm not talking about you because you're sitting in this church right now. And you are here because you want healing and restoration. I'm talking about the rest of the world that's marching for the right to put a child's life to an end. And I think that that is one of the greatest signs of us living is, the last times is that we do not understand affection for people, and we are completely willing to see lives come to an end as long as it benefits me, as long as my life is still comfortable because of it. I see it with the physical abuse that takes place in the lives

of children. I see it with the sexual abuse that takes place in the lives of children. I see it just sometimes with the way that we treat people. We are devoid of those natural affections, and we are calloused and inhumane in the way that we treat human life, and that is a sign of the last days. Again, I'm going to say, if you're a woman sitting here this morning,

and that's been you, I want you to know that as you confess that to the Lord, he wants to forgive and cleanse you, because I do not want anyone walking out of here feeling condemned. I want you to know that there's healing in the name of Jesus, but it's unfortunate to see what happens. What has happened to our society? Do you realize that since Roe versus Wade was overturned, abortions have actually gone up? That's one of the most heartbreaking statistics I've ever heard,

and it hurts my heart deeply. You know why? Because you cannot change a culture with a law. You can only change a culture with the gospel. I'll get off my box on that. The next thing it says is that they are irreconcilable. Irreconcilable. That word irreconcilable means unforgiving, unwilling to forgive those who have harmed you. The next one is a malicious gossip. The word malicious gossip means a slanderer or a

false accuser. Now, I find this fascinating that this is going to increase in the last days. As time goes on, this will continue to intensify. Do you know what happens in every news cycle right now? I don't care what your favorite news organization is. It happens in all of them. They hear a story, and they run with a story. They don't check to see if it's true. They don't know

if it's correct or not. They don't know if it's true. They don't know if it's true. They don't know if it's not. And they put all of the names out there, and people hear a story, and they run with the story. And it could be a completely false accusation. And then on page three, there's printed, by the way, we were wrong about that. Right? Because we are a culture that loves to

slander other people. We are a culture that loves to gossip about other people. And lest we think it's just something that takes place with CNN and Fox News, I know it takes place on your news feed too. Because I've watched, I've lived in this town long enough to see that if you're a fan of Fox News, one person gets accused of something, that story gets hit and shared multiple times until that person's name is destroyed in the town, and they have to move. I've watched it happen, and you all

probably know some of the stories I'm talking about. And unfortunately, some of us have probably taken part in it. Malicious gossips and slanderers. Do you know what that word is in the Greek? That word is diabolos. The devil. Right? That's bad. You know why? Because the devil is known as the accuser of the brethren. And so when you falsely accuse other people, you are acting like the

devil. That's all that there is to it. He says that will increase in the last days. The next thing it says is that they will be without self-control. They will be without self-control. Again, I brought this up during first service. Our entire culture is built on a lack of self-control. The economy of our culture is built on a lack of self-control. Have you ever noticed that? If you don't believe

me, just pay attention to advertising. One of my favorite guys to listen to at one point in time was Rush Limbaugh. God rest his soul. Like him or dislike him, he was right about a lot of things. As a matter of fact, according to him, 99.8% of the time. He was right on a whole lot of things. And I'll never forget this statement that he made. He said, if you want to understand the heart of a culture, watch their advertising.

Because advertisers know what they're doing. And I remember thinking, well, that's about the truest statement I've ever heard. Because advertisers know exactly what they're doing. Well, what's advertising? How are things advertised? Well, one of my favorite things is Nike. I don't boycott things. I know a lot of people boycott Nike for all kinds of different things. Listen, they make some sweet sneakers. I'm going to keep wearing it, okay?

So Nike's original slogan. Well, what's Nike's slogan now? Do you guys know? Just do it, right? Well, Nike's original slogan was, if it feels good, do it. And then it got shortened to just do it because that was too wordy. You talk about a slogan that promotes a lack of self-control, that's it. Everybody remember Sprite from the late 90s, early 2000s? Some of you don't. Some of you

remember? Obey your thirst. It's a lack of self-control. And it's kind of interesting because you hear those commercials, you don't think too much about it at the time until you quote it to yourself. It's like, obey your thirst, right? Now we say something different. We say, treat yourself, right? Because that's what we do because we've been programmed that way

because advertising has programmed us to live a life without self-control. It was already natural in us because of sin, but now it continues to get programmed into us through our advertising. In the last days, there will be a time without self-control. The next one he says is they will be brutal. That word brutal means savage or fierce. Listen, thank God we're done with October. I know

some of y'all like the Halloween holiday. I hate the Halloween holiday, okay? But what I really hate is that every streaming service I turn on, there's the entire Fright Night thing, right? Like there's all of the horror movies that you can watch. And I am fascinated at how brutal some of these movies are. I don't watch them because they give me bad dreams. They have since I was a tiny kid,

I thought I would grow out of it one day. I have not, in fact, grown out of that. I still have bad dreams if I watch a horror movie, right? Now I can watch a war movie. That doesn't bother me because that's real life. There's nothing demonic about that. But these horror movies are awful. They're brutal and they're savage. And you know why they show us these brutal, savage movies? Because we

like it. Why? Because we're a brutal, savage people. In the time when Paul was living, they had gladiator fights and people were killed right in front of them. But we're more civilized now. We'll watch it on TV. We'll watch it happen in a movie. We're not like those Romans. We're way too civilized for that. We'll watch it happen over and over again on a movie. That's who we are. And I've watched how that's changed culture because I've watched

how kids now videotape some of the most savage. Listen, when I was in high school, there were fights, but they were not savage fights. Now some of these ones, and unfortunately I get to see them because they get videoed and they get sent out to everybody. And some kid in every way will go, did you see this one? And I'm like, no, let me see. Oh my gosh, I can't believe that happened. Because this is some savage stuff that goes on in these things.

Why? Because things will continue to intensify and get worse. He says, the next thing he says is, is that there will be haters of good. That one feels pretty self-explanatory. They will be treacherous, a betrayer or a traitor. This next one I thought was interesting though, they will be reckless. Because that word reckless is a word that means they will be reckless. They will be reckless.

Reckless means headstrong. They'll be headstrong. You know what it means to be headstrong? I have a song going through my head. It means I'll take you on. Anyway, the word headstrong carries with it the idea of determined to have your own way. Determined to have your own way. Again, if lovers of self is a great way to encapsulate our community or our culture today,

a good little subheading would be determined to have their own way. And that's who we are. And that's who we continue to move towards as people that are like that. He goes on to say, they are also conceited. That word conceited is another interesting word. It means to be blind with pride. Blind with pride. It also means a vapor of smoke, which is kind of interesting. But I thought blind with pride was a really interesting definition of that.

And then of course he comes to the last one. They will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And of course, the Amplified Bible translates it out very well. It says that they would be lovers of sensual pleasure rather than lovers of God. And this continues to be the issue in the culture today is the love for sensual pleasure. It's what's driving our economy. Matter of fact,

you know that that industry, the sensual pleasure industry, we'll call it, makes more money than all of the other sporting industries. Because they are a people that loves pleasure rather than God. And it continues to be the issue in the culture today. And it continues to be the issue that needs to be put to death within the church today. And of course, that is couched with the phrase that they love it more than they love

God. And so he deals with the state of humanity. But then he gets real serious. He deals with the church. Because notice what he says in verse five. He says, they hold a form of God. They hold a form of Godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men, for among them are those who enter into households and captivate those who are weighed down with sin and led by

various impulses. He says they have a form of Godliness, but deny its power. And this is what's fascinating as he's describing the world. We need to understand that he's also describing those who are false in the church. Because he says they have a form of Godliness. In other words, they know the right things to say. They go to the right. They might go to the right church. They go to a church. They own a Bible. But their life doesn't

reflect it. Their life doesn't reflect it. Again, the Amplified Bible sheds a little light on this. It says that they have a form of Godliness, but their conduct denies their claim. They have a form of Godliness, but their conduct denies their claim. In other words, they know the right thing to say, but they don't do the right thing. They don't do the right thing. They don't do the right

thing. You see, the power of God is there to set us free from sin. The power of God is there to give us a holy life. As a matter of fact, we're told in 1 Peter that his divine power has given to us everything that we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who calls us. And so the power is there to set us free from sin, and yet we deny its power by not living

according to the gospel. And that indicates something to us. It indicates that while the church is there, there will always be a false church that's alongside of it. False claims of Christianity that go along with it. It's the very thing that Jesus said would happen. You see, he told this parable, the parable of the wheat and the tares. He said a farmer went out and he sowed

wheat into his field, but at night an enemy of his came and sowed tares into the field. Now, here's the thing about the tares, which is a type of weed, and the wheat, until they produce until the grain, until the heads, the grain heads out, you can't tell the difference between the two. It's not until they begin to produce the fruit that you can tell the difference between the two. And he said, this is the way it's going to be in the kingdom, is that there will always be the false among the true. And that will continue to take place in an ever-increasing and intensifying

way in the last days until it finds its culmination in the great tribulation with the Antichrist. Because notice what he says. He says they have a form of godliness, although they deny its power. And he sets up an interesting to-do with these guys, these ones who are false believers within the church. He says, avoid such men. Avoid such men. It's kind of interesting that

he says that because you find yourself going, so does that mean we have to start picking and choosing people that we avoid and people that we don't? I think we have to couch this with a little bit of what God's word has to say. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. You can't just cut off every single relationship with someone just because they don't believe like you or don't act like you. But you do need to

understand that your fellowship with believers is always going to look different than your fellowship with unbelievers. And your fellowship with true believers is always going to look different than your fellowship with a false claim of belief. I have lots of friends that don't walk with Jesus now, and I love them dearly. And I would go and talk to them about anything in the world, but I'm never going to talk to them about anything in the world. I'm never going to talk to them about

my faith. And it's not because I don't want to. It's because I can't. Like, I can't go to them and say, this is where I'm struggling in my walk with Jesus, or this is what God's teaching me in my walk with Jesus, and have them really appreciate that. Or this is the joy I'm having in my walk with the Lord, because I'll just get a blank stare from them. Because if their heart's not there with

me, if they also are not believers, then they're not really going to understand what I'm talking about. And there's no true fellowship that can take place. And the same is true within the church. If you're a false believer, eventually you're just going to move past, because you don't want to listen to me talk about my faith. As a matter of fact, you're probably going to call me radical.

You're like, listen, you're taking that a little too seriously at this point in time, don't you think? Let's not get too serious about it. And that's my indication that maybe you're not really on the same page with me. And my life is never going to align with yours, because you don't have a proper view of Scripture. You don't have a proper view of God. So he says, avoid such men.

You're never going to be able to have the right kind of fellowship with them. He goes on to describe it a little bit. He says, He tells them that there will be those who will peddle a false spirituality. They will pray on the weak, they will pray on the naive, and they will peddle something that is false to them. We see this happen over and over again, as false spirituality is peddled to the weak and the naive,

and they give in to those ideas. And they give in to those things. But not only will they peddle a false spirituality, but they will peddle a counterfeit gospel. Look at verse 8. He says, Just as Janice and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth. Men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith, but they will not make further progress,

for their folly will be obvious to all. Just as Janice and Jambres, but they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all. So, I hope you're asking yourself a really important question right now. Who on earth is Paul talking about? Right? Anybody asking that question? Quick show of hands. Yeah. Okay. Good. A bunch of you. Good. That's why I'm here. I'm here to explain things.

So, if we were to go all the way back into the book of Exodus, early on, remember, God calls Moses. He says, listen, it's time to tell Pharaoh, let my people go. It's time for you to go tell that to Pharaoh. So, he shows up to Pharaoh. And he has this staff, and God says, that staff's going to be really important. Matter of fact, when he was called, Moses says, how do I know you sent me? And he goes, see that staff in your hand?

Moses goes, yep. He says, throw it down. So, he threw it down. It became a serpent. Listen, at that point in time, mission over for me. That's all I'm saying right now. Game over. I'm not going. Pick it up. No. I don't think so. Talking? Great. I'll talk in front of anybody. Pick up a snake? So, he says, pick it up. Picks it up. Turns back into his staff. He goes, that's going to be real

important for you to remember. So, he shows up to Pharaoh the first time. He shows up. He says, let my people go. I wonder if he's saying it. I hope he did. Anyway, and Pharaoh says, no. He goes, oh, yeah? Look at my staff. Throws the thing down. Snake. Well, there's two guys that are there, sorcerers, that according to Jewish history were named Janus and Jambres. And those sorcerers were

alongside Pharaoh. They threw their staffs down. They turned into serpents. Of course, then Moses's staff swallowed up theirs. And that was a pretty cool scene. And they were like, oh, who cares? Well, this Janus and Jambres presented, if you will, a counterfeit gospel. Because they could counterfeit all of the things that Moses was able to do with the plagues up to a point until it came

to creating the flies. Because that was the miracle. That was the plague that they could not counterfeit. They could counterfeit the blood in the water. They could counterfeit the frogs until it came time to the creation of flies. Because that was the creation of a completely new thing. You see, they could counterfeit the miracle unless the miracle, was producing life. Because a counterfeit gospel looks really good unless you want it to really

produce life. And then the counterfeit gospel won't do you any good. And Paul says you have to understand that there will always be those who want to peddle a counterfeit gospel. And it will intensify as things go on, as the last days continue. And what I'm watching today is a lot of counterfeit gospels. There's the counterfeit gospel of prosperity. There's the

counterfeit gospel of legalism. There's the counterfeit gospel of self. There's the counterfeit gospel of licentiousness. And then there's all of the other counterfeit gospels that are out there that involve things like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons and all those kinds of things. But the problem is they're all a counterfeit of the truth. Because they can look really similar

until it comes to producing life. And then they can't. They can't produce life. Because it's not a true gospel. Because it doesn't really produce life in an individual. He says they opposed the truth by counterfeiting the truth. And I wrote this down because I think it's true. So it will be in the last days. They will attempt to replace truth and reality with the flashy and the exciting. And it will look really good until it tries to

produce life. And then it can't. And this is what he says in verse 9. They will not make further progress for their folly will be obvious to all just as Janice and Jambree's folly was also. When I was in Bible college, I worked security as part of my, we had servanthood hours that we had to do. And mine was security. And I usually worked on the weekends. And the Bible college doubled as a retreat center. So there was always some kind of a retreat going

on. And so we worked security for that. And there was a guy that was head over the retreat center. And he's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. He's an old man. Police officer, but he also used to be a Jehovah's witness at one point in time.

And so we would all meet up for coffee and he would tell us kind of what we needed to expect, what was going on that morning, places that we needed to be. And, and usually we'd get into a theological discussion as well because it's Bible college, right? And so we were talking about false gospels, false religions, things like that. And we said, okay, how do you, how do you witness to a Jehovah's witness? Like, like, what do you do with that?

And he said, here's what you have to do. You can't debate because there'll be an answer for every debate though. They'll always have all of their talking points. He said, you have to preach them the gospel because they've never heard the gospel. Because if you tell them the finished work of Jesus Christ, that will be life-changing for them because all they've ever heard is a counterfeit

gospel. And I remember thinking, so it's probably easier than we think it is because anybody that's believing a counterfeit gospel, when they hear the truth of who Jesus is and the truth of what he did for them and the truth of the freedom that you can have in Christ, it sets you free. I don't care which counterfeit gospel you're following. When you hear the finished work of Jesus Christ, you find yourself going, now that's true because it shows the folly of the counterfeit. He says,

these will ultimately make no further progress for their folly will be obvious to all. Well, after he dealt with the state of humanity both in the world and in the church that will intensify and get worse, the closer we get to the last days so that Timothy will be prepared for that, he deals with our favorite subject, persecution. Notice what he says in verse 10. Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra.

What? Paul says, you followed my life. And Timothy really did literally follow his life because he went with Paul on many of these missionary journeys. He was alongside him and he followed his life. And in direct contrast to those who peddle false spirituality and in direct contrast to those who peddle a counterfeit gospel, Paul said, but remember, you followed me.

You followed me in my teaching and my purpose and all of the things that I went through. But not only that, Timothy, you followed me in my persecutions and in my sufferings. And while the folly of the false will always prove itself true, the Lord delivered me from them all. He gave three examples at Iconium and at Lystra and at Antioch and it's fascinating because in each of those places, Paul faced incredible persecution.

Once, some believe maybe he even died and God brought him back to life. He suffered incredible persecution in those places and I find it fascinating that the testimony that Paul gives about those things is he says, and the Lord delivered me from them all. Because I don't know about you, but I look at the things he went through and it's like, oh, it didn't feel very delivered to me. You got the tar kicked out of you everywhere you went.

It's because we don't view deliverance in the right way. See, we're too Western culture. We're too lovers of self. We're too lovers of pleasure. We're too lovers of the easy. And we view deliverance as never going through anything hard. See, Paul, through the filter of the gospel of Jesus Christ, viewed deliverance very differently. He viewed deliverance as being sustained in the midst of the hard.

He viewed deliverance as being sustained in the midst of the difficulty. He viewed deliverance much differently because every time God delivered him, every time God brought him out of it so that he could go and continue to preach the gospel even more. Because deliverance looks different as a disciple of Jesus Christ. And as Paul writes this, he knows he's facing death.

But I don't think he's viewing his death as the end of his life. He's viewing his death as God delivering him from all of the things that he's still dealing with. Because death is a deliverance for a believer in Jesus. Sometimes for the believer, healing is the deliverance. And sometimes for the believer, not being healed is the deliverance. I know because I've lived this out and I've watched this be true.

And Paul says, but God delivered me from them all. And then he makes this powerful statement to Timothy. Timothy, the guy who avoided confrontation. Timothy, the guy who avoided confrontation. Timothy, the guy who was nervous and timid. Timothy, the guy who could sometimes have a weak constitution because of stress in his life. And he looks at Timothy and he says,

and yes, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. I can almost guarantee if you have a Bible promise book in your house, that was not in it. I can almost guarantee that if you bought the favorite Bible verses to hang on your wall at your house, that one won't make it. Because that's one of those promises none of us like to keep.

That's one of those promises none of us like to rest in. And I read a commentary that it really stuck out to me because this guy asked a question in the commentary. He said, as we look back over all of history, we find that this proved itself true in most of the history of the church, except in the Western culture. In the Western culture, we have had it very easy to have not faced much persecution.

He said, so my question is, are we safe from the persecution in the Western culture because of how godly the culture is? Or are we safe from the persecution because of how ungodly the church is? And I don't know about y'all, that question sort of haunted my soul. And it has really made me take stock of my life. And it's really made me take stock of my witness.

And it's really made me take stock of the stand that I take for the things of God. I will confess this. To you, I sometimes run from the confrontation. I sometimes choose not to speak up when it's right in front of me. I choose sometimes to take the easy way out instead of the hard way. That's the choice that I make sometimes. And so that's my confession to you all

that sometimes I don't face the persecution because I don't run into it headlong. And I will have to be honest and say that God convicted me of that this week. Because I think sometimes, we have it so easy in the Western culture because we look so much like the world that they can't tell the difference. And I think that if we're being honest as Christians, if we were to really sell ourselves out to Jesus, number one, you would have more joy than you could have ever imagined.

But number two, you will face more difficulty than you ever could have fathomed. You know how I know that? Because there was a young man about a month and a half ago that took a bullet to the neck because of the stand. And he was like, that's just the reality of the world that we live in. We have brothers and sisters around the world right now that are facing so much persecution.

Nigeria is facing a level of, our brothers and sisters in Nigeria are facing a level of persecution right now that I'm pretty sure would fold up most churches today. I guarantee almost all pastors in the United States of America would have to file for unemployment if we had that level of persecution. But do you know what would really begin to happen? What would really begin to happen is we would begin to see a purity in the church that we've never seen before.

We would stop seeing as much of the false in the church and we would start seeing real believers in Jesus Christ who know that not only is Jesus something that they've added to their lives to try to make their lives a little bit better, but Jesus is their life. He is their reason. He is their purpose. He is their why. Because at that point in time, he has to be.

At that point in time, he has to be. And brothers and sisters, I don't bring a heavy message to you because I want to bum you out. I bring a heavy message to you because we live in heavy times. We live in heavy times that he described by those 18 things. We live in heavy times of a world that looks like that and we as the church need to step up. We as the church need to step out.

We as the church need to grow and become who God has created for us to be so that we can reach that world that is around us. There's a fantastic revival happening right now, but there's also a fantastic amount of paganism that's happening right now. And the distinction is becoming sharp. And honestly, probably for the best. And as that distinction becomes sharper,

you're gonna have to make a decision because Jesus requires you to make a decision. He requires you to get off the fence. He requires you to stop being lukewarm. He requires you to stop being someone who just says, yeah, I'm gonna give this a try. And he says, you're either all in or you're either all out. I don't want any in between because all who live godly in Jesus Christ

will face persecution. And brothers and sisters, that's what we'll wrap it up this morning. Next week, tune in next week as we look at what our response to these things is supposed to be according to what he told to Timothy. Amen. Well, it's communion Sunday. I see ushers at the back. I mean, you got kids back there. Two, are they ready to roll? Two thumbs way up.

All right, so let's bring the kiddos in. So if you have a child, I don't know all the kids anymore. So if you have a kid that's gonna come through these doors to take communion with us, keep an eye on them so that you can guide them to you because I don't know all the names anymore.

It's just a big sea of them.

Right down here, Mila.

Is that all of them?

No one's responding to me. So I'm gonna take it that it is. Perfect. All right, so, all right, kiddos, we're about to take communion here. So listen close. While we talk about what communion means, okay? So inside of each of these trays, a couple of cups are stacked together. Bottom cup has the cracker. The top cup has the juice in it. And as I always like to say,

in and of themselves, pretty mundane elements, not much to them. It's the saddest snack you've ever had in your entire life. But what they represent for us as believers in Jesus Christ is incredibly powerful because on the last night of the feast, Jesus took the bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Take and eat. And we're reminded of the fact

that that's exactly what happened to Jesus. His body was broken for us. He endured the stripes on his back, the nails in his hands and his feet, a crown of thorns beaten into his head and his side being pierced because his body was broken for us. And every time we partake of that little cracker, we are reminded, this is what Jesus did for me. And of course,

on the last night of the feast, he also took the last of the cups. The last cup that was drank in the Passover meal is called the cup of redemption. He held it up and he said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. So we are reminded as we partake of the juice that Jesus' blood was shed for us. It's fascinating to look all the way through scripture

and see how the blood was always such a key. From the time that Adam and Eve sinned and God made the sacrifice of the animals for them, carrying through, the sacrifices in the Old Testament onto the culmination of those sacrifices, which found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The blood was always important. And there's this one statement made in the book of Leviticus.

It says, the blood has the life. And we're reminded that that's exactly what the blood of Jesus Christ has for us, is it has the life. And so as we partake, we're told in scripture to not partake in an unworthy manner. And that means a handful of things. Number one, it means that this meal really is for believers. Only so if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ,

I would probably encourage you not to take part in it because first of all, it won't mean anything to you. But second of all, the Bible warns against that. Now, here's the good thing. If you're here this morning and you're not a believer, it's as simple as you putting your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, confessing your sins and believing in what Jesus has done for us.

But if you're here this morning and you're a believer, partaking in a worthy manner means making sure that your heart's right between you and the Lord and between you and other people. And so if you're here this morning so I'm gonna invite the worship team to come on up because they're gonna share one last song with us. And as they share this last song, I would ask that you do whatever business between you and the Lord needs to be done. Whether it's the confession of sin, whether it's the forgiving of what someone else has done to you, whether it's just you getting back on the same page with your savior, allow this last song to be the time when God searches your heart and you do the business that needs to be done with the Lord.

And then we'll partake together. So as the, as the ushers hand out the elements, when you receive yours, if you would please stand and then we'll partake together.

This is the body.

This is the blood.

Broken and poor. For us, we're sharing His love. This is the body.

This is the blood.

Everything, Lord, that you've done for me won't take for granted the sacrifice that says, set me free.

We're sharing this business. Father, we come before you and Lord, I thank you for the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us. Lord, broken for our sins, wounded for our transgressions. And Father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that was enough to cover our sins. Lord, enough to make us brand new in you. And so Lord, as we partake of this this morning,

Lord, would you keep us ever in mind of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. Father, we thank you and we praise you. Jesus, we thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's partake.

And if you'd bow with me one last time. Father, as we go out from this place, I pray that you would lead us and guide us. Father, I pray that the truth of your word would sink deeply into our hearts. Lord, that it would fashion us into who you want us to be. And that your Holy Spirit would be present with us. So Lord, move in our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Love you all. Have a great day.