[0:00] Amen. Well, it's an honor to be here tonight and excited for the opportunity to preach tonight. And so it's just a blessing to be here. And we are looking forward, as my wife said, to getting to Rota, Spain and ministering to our military, trying to figure out this technology like Brother Gardner does, but mine's not working here. Maybe you need your face. Yeah, you don't understand anything, Siri. Come on now. I'm preaching now. You got to be good on good behavior. But it is an honor to be here. And as my wife said, we have enjoyed the last, I guess, a couple of months when we haven't been traveling. We thought we'd be in Spain and we've been able to come to vision a lot more. And so we have enjoyed that being around. And I thank Pastor Gardner for being a preacher of God's word.
[0:46] I once heard a man say that preaching is helping people understand the Bible better or helping them read the Bible better. And I believe that's what Brother Gardner does. He explains God's word.
[0:56] He preaches God's word. And so I am so thankful for him. I'm also thankful for Trent. I know Trent does a lot behind the scenes, but Trent is always a friend. He's always the first one to text and say, Brother Mike, do you need something? Or I heard your car broke down. Is there any way I can help you?
[1:12] What do you need? And so I thank the Lord for Trent. And then I also want to give a shout out to, since it's Pastor Appreciation Month, Brother Stephen, I think he's done a wonderful job as a song leader, song director. And during when we were all outside meeting, I remember texting Pastor Cofield and saying, you should really be proud of your son because he's done a great job leading the music.
[1:34] And he told me he was proud of him. And so it is an honor to be here tonight and preach the word of God. But nobody's excited tonight is not only am I excited because I'm get to preach, but I think my wife is extremely excited tonight because she gets to hear a new message. Amen. I've preached all my missions messages here already during missions conferences and other times. So this is a new message tonight, but I want you to go to Mark chapter number six. And Trent put a little pressure on me on Sunday school because he said, what are you preaching tonight? And the message I'd been studying was Mark chapter six. And so I said, Mark chapter six. And then at the end of the service this morning, he announced that I was preaching for Mark chapter six. So I really had to study this afternoon. Amen. Because we're preaching for Mark chapter number six. But as Dylan said, what a year 2020 has been, I mean, whoever thought that we would see all the things that are happening in our country happened this year. COVID is just one aspect of it. The hurricanes last night on TV, if you were trying to watch football and all you could watch was some weather man enjoying his 24 hours of fame, showing you weather tracker and pointing out the fine details of where tornadoes rise up at this use section that's happening. And just what a weird year it's been. But one of the things I always find is that every generation or every group of people think that their generation has it worse than anybody else. How many of you had a grandpa that used to tell you he walked the school uphill both ways in the snow? And that was my grandpa. He would always say that. And I was like, that doesn't even make sense, grandpa. I mean, if you go uphill one way, you got to come down downhill the other way.
[3:25] I mean, it doesn't even make sense. But we always think we have it worse than some other generation. And I think when persecution comes, as Dylan was talking about, we always think we're persecuted greater than any other time in history. But the truth is, if you read history or if you read the Word of God, you'll find out that persecution's been going on for the ages. Trials and tribulations are nothing new. You just read the Bible and you'll find about the disciples, how they went through trials, how they went through tribulations. And we're going to look at one of those stories tonight here in Mark chapter number 6. And we're going to begin reading in verse number 45. Mark chapter number 6, verse number 45. The Bible says, And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And we had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when he even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.
[4:34] And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out, for they all saw him, and were troubled. And he immediately talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves. For their heart was hardened. As I began to study this passage of scripture, we find that the disciples are in the midst of a storm. And we're going to walk through this passage, but someone said this, you're either coming out of a storm, in the midst of a storm, or you're about ready to enter into a storm. Because trials are a part of our life, tribulation is a part of our life, so you're either in the midst of a storm right now, you're coming out of a storm, or you're about getting, you're getting ready to go into a storm. This is an amazing story, and as we look at this,
[6:00] I just want to point out a few things about this story. We find the context a little bit earlier. Go back, if you would, to verse number 30. In the beginning of the chapter, Jesus had sent the disciples out two by two, and he told them that they weren't supposed to take much with him, they were supposed to go, and they were supposed to preach. And notice what it says in verse 30.
[6:22] And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. Now, I find that interesting, because Jesus knows all things, amen.
[6:36] And so they are sent out by Jesus, and they come back, and they tell Jesus, hey, this is what we did. This is what we accomplished. This is what happened. This is the message I taught. This is the message I shared. Hey, this is, these are the people that responded to the message. And it was really all about them. They were saying, this is what I have done. This is what I have taught. This is what we taught the people. And they're telling Jesus this. But remember, Jesus is still training them, amen.
[7:06] They're still disciples in training. They haven't arrived yet. And so Jesus, he responds back in verse 31. He says, listen, you need to come apart and rest a while. You've been really busy. You've been working hard.
[7:19] And so we need to come apart and rest a while. And so they go to a desert place. But as they get in the ship to go to the desert place, everybody sees Jesus, and everybody runs ahead of them. And so they're going on vacation.
[7:33] But when they get to the spot, all the people are there. We know from the feeding of the 5,000, there is at least 5,000 men there waiting for them. Now, could you imagine going on vacation?
[7:46] And you think, hey, I'm going to get away. And you get to your vacation spot. And not only is your family there, but 5,000 other people there are waiting on you. That wouldn't be very good vacation, would it?
[7:59] That would be kind of disappointing. You're like, hey, I thought we were going to rest. I thought we were going to get away. What are all these people doing? And you see the difference between Jesus and the disciples here in this context. Because Jesus, he says, listen, he looks at the people he has compassion on. He says, they're like sheep without a shepherd. He says, they're sheep without a shepherd.
[8:21] They're just wandering around. And he begins to teach them. He begins to pour into them. He begins to instruct the people. And then it's getting late in the day. And the disciples come to Jesus. And they said, listen, it's getting late in the day. Send them away. Get rid of them. They need to go get something to eat. And it's amazing what Jesus, he says, you give them something.
[8:46] And the disciples are like, what could we give them? We don't have anything. If we had, if we bought bread to give them, it wouldn't be enough for all these people. And what Jesus was trying to teach the disciples was, listen, it's not about you. It's not about your resources. It's not about your talent.
[9:07] It's not about what you have. You have to depend upon Jesus. You have to rely upon Jesus. Jesus. And so he's teaching him then this, in the feeding of the 5,000. And so we get to the end of this story. And Jesus tells the disciples, he says, hey, I want you to get in a boat.
[9:24] And so let's just walk through this passage, if we could, looking here at this storm that was taking place. And so notice, first of all, in verse number 45, it says, in straightway, he constrained his disciples to get into the ship. And they'll go to the other side before on the Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. The first, we're going to look at some facts here in this story. The first fact I want you to see is this, is the storm was in his plan. Jesus constrained the disciples to get in the ship.
[10:00] You say, why did he tell them to get in the ship? Because he thought that the people were, in John, it talks about, they thought they were going to make him the Messiah. And it wasn't the time he came to die on the cross for our sins first. And so he sends, he tells the disciples, get in the ship and go to the other side. He constrained them. The idea of that word is there, he compelled them.
[10:24] He kind of pushed them. He forced them to do something they didn't really want to do. But Jesus says, listen, I need you to get in this ship and I need you to go to Bethsaida. I need you to go someplace else. They were in the will of God. They were where God told them to go. And still the storm is going to come. Jonah, he was in a storm because he disobeyed God. The disciples are in a storm because they obeyed God. That's what you want to know when you're going through a storm. You want to know I'm in the will of God. I'm where God wants me. Hey, when the storms come and the winds blow, you want to be confident. You want to be sure you want to know, hey, I am in God's will. And God has a purpose for this storm. God has a purpose for this trial. And so the storm was in their plan.
[11:23] Now, Jesus tells them to get in the boat. He constrained the disciples to get in the boat. Now, what was that like? Could you imagine? Here's Jesus. Now, Jesus is the son of God.
[11:39] Now, wouldn't you like to hang around him? Wouldn't you feel safe being around Jesus? Wouldn't you like to be around Jesus all the time? And so Jesus tells them, hey, you need to leave me and you need to go across the water. I always hear my wife tell this story when we first got to Peru.
[11:59] And she went to town with Joy Gardner. They went to eat. And Joy got out of the car to go someplace. And she told my wife, she says, you stay in the car. And if a policeman comes, just move the car.
[12:14] We're new to Peru. My wife doesn't know Spanish. She hasn't driven in Peru in Adiquipa. And so Joy goes someplace to pick something up, leaves my wife in the car. A few minutes later, a policeman knocks on the door, on the window and says, you're not allowed to park here. And so my wife was like, what do I do? So she was, she got on the driver's side and she began to drive around. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know what she was doing. And she just began to, she began to get fearful. She began to get frightened. And she just began to pray, God, help me find joy. Help me find joy.
[12:47] Help me find joy. And she's driving around. And finally, she sees joy on a corner and joy flags her down. But that's what it must have been like for the disciples. They say, hey, we're going to, Jesus says, hey, I'm going to stay here. You guys go. Hey, that can be a little fearful sometimes, can it?
[13:06] To be out on your own? To go by yourself? I mean, we have blessing services. We send missionaries off and missionaries want to go to the field. But can I tell you, it's a little bit different going to the field than being at vision. It's a little bit different being on the field than coming to vision on a Thursday night. It's a little bit different going to a church on Sunday morning and know, hey, on Thursday night, I'll still be at vision. I'll see my friends. I'll see those that are praying for me. Hey, it's a little bit different because you're going to be out there on your own now.
[13:36] Now, Jesus sent them in the storm. The storm was in his plan. Let's look at another fact. Not only was the storm in his plan, but in verse 47 and 48, it says this, and when he even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing. The second thing, in fact, I want you to see is this. While they journeyed, he prayed. See, Jesus stayed behind to pray, to go up the mountain and to spend some time in prayer with the heavenly father. And can I say this? If Jesus needed to get alone and pray, how much more do we need to get alone and talk to the heavenly father and spend time in prayer? And so he got alone to pray. But the Bible says that he saw them as they were out in the water. He saw what they were going through. He saw what they were facing. I like it. It's very interesting what it says there.
[14:41] He saw them toiling in rowing. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. Rowing looks fun. Amen. It looks fun. It doesn't look that hard. Just go, you know, do a little rowing. Maybe you've been in a boat before and you have some oars and you got out there and you just started rowing and it was a good time. You do it for a few minutes. It's a good time. But really, oars in a boat, they're there for safety purposes. They're there for an emergency. Only when the motor stops do you want to use the oars.
[15:12] Amen. And so you don't generally use oars, but rowing can be very difficult. One of my favorite rowing stories is we used to go to Canada all the time as a little kid. My grandpa had helped build a cabin on a lake in Canada and we would always go up there every summer for two weeks and the water was freezing. About the only thing you could do was fish. And so we'd fish morning. We'd fish at night.
[15:37] We were fishing all the time. And so we had this boat and they went out and my grandpa and another guy and they were all at the far end of the lake. And the motor stopped working. And so they had to start rowing. And so my nephew, cousin, or whoever he was, he began to row. And this speedboat came up and he asked my grandpa and this guy row and he says, hey, do you guys need some help? And my nephew, this family member, he was a little obnoxious and he would just blurt things out. And he said, no, sir, I'm practicing for the Olympics. And so the speedboat took off and my grandpa about took that oar and hit him over the head with it. And the guy went away for a while. And so then the speedboat came back and they were still rowing and they were a long way away from the cottage and they're still rowing. And my grandpa seen the speedboat come back and he told the guy, he said, listen, if you say one word, you'll be practicing for the swimming team. He says, you do not say a word. But I mean, rowing looks fun until you've gone a little while, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, until you're rowing in the midst of a storm. And so they were toiling. They were being tortured. This was terrible time. It took extreme physical effort. It was very discommodely. They're trying to row. They're trying to go somewhere. But notice what the Bible says. The wind was contrary unto them. The wind was against them.
[17:17] They didn't have a tailwind that they could go fast. They didn't have a crosswind that might've been a little difficult. No, the wind was right in their face. They're trying to row and the wind is pushing right against them. They couldn't make any ground. They couldn't make any headway. I mean, they are struggling. Is that, does that not seem how the world is against the church nowadays?
[17:39] Did you ever think you'd see a day when churches would be closed? When churches would not be able to hold meetings? When churches would get fined in California for having services? Did you ever think a day would come in our country, the United States of America, where freedom is preached and freedom is held up? Did you ever think a day that would come that that would happen?
[18:02] And here's the sad part to me. There's some churches in this county that haven't even gone back to church yet. It's kind of like the pastor said, hey, I'm getting a vacation. I'm going to enjoy this.
[18:15] Hell, there's a world out there that needs to know Jesus Christ. We don't have time. We have to get out there. And so we see them toiling. We see Jesus, why they journeyed. He prayed. Let me give you another fact. Fact number three, verse 48. When they were in peril, his presence was near. Notice what it says. And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.
[18:48] Now, that's an interesting phrase. Would have passed by them. Why would he pass by them? I mean, I've read my Bible a lot of times, and I've looked at that, and I've really never understood that.
[19:01] Why would Jesus, Jesus is coming to them to rescue them. Why would he say, I'm going to pass by them? Why would he do that? What does that mean? Well, it was interesting as I was studying, one commentator said this, Jesus passing by clearly is not a ploy to leave the disciples to their own devices. That would not be consistent with Jesus' compassionate attitudes towards the needy and suffering. He sees the disciples' adversity, and he walks on the water to reach them. And so what does that mean? He passed by. It was interesting because I studied this. You know, that phrase is used a couple times in the Old Testament with Moses in Exodus chapter 33, verse 22. It says this, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. Yahweh was going to pass by Moses, and he said, hey, I'm going to pass by. We call that an appearing of Christ, an epiphany. Exodus 34, verse 6 says, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. And so it's the Lord passing by Moses. It happens again with Elijah. Jesus, God passes by. And so I believe that's the meaning of it. It wasn't that
[20:38] Jesus wanted to pass by them, or he just wanted to go around them. He wouldn't do that because, remember, he told the story of the Good Samaritan. Remember, they said, hey, who's my neighbor? And he told about the Levite. What did the Levite do? He passed by, didn't he? What did the next guy do?
[20:54] He passed by. Only the Samaritan went to him. And so I believe here, the Lord Jesus, he wanted to come to them. He wanted to help them. He wanted to be near them. He was passing by. Can I tell you this?
[21:09] Jesus wants to be near you. When you're in peril, his presence was near. I always like to say this, and I believe it with all my heart. You're as close to God as you want to be. You're as close to God as you want to be. And I always use this illustration. There was a man and a woman, and when they first got married, I mean, they sat side by side. They would go someplace. She would sit right beside him.
[21:42] He'd put her arm around her as he drove the car, and they would go down the highway, and they were close. And then they began to have kids, and their car began to fill up, and their van began to fill up with kids. And then they began to, their kids moved out, and they began to have grandkids. And one day they're driving down the road, and the lady looked at the man, and she's sitting over by the window on the passenger side, and he's over there driving. He looked over at her, and she looked over at him, and she said, honey, why is it that we don't sit like we used to sit when we first got married?
[22:16] Remember when we used to sit side by side, and you'd put your arm around me? Remember how it was in those days when we were first newly married, and we were just starting our family, and how it was then?
[22:30] And the man looked at her, and he said, I remember, but I have not moved. Hey, that's the truth with God sometimes. Hey, God has not moved. But where are you? Are you as close to God as you want to be? The final thing I want you to see, the final fact, is this.
[22:55] The disciples failed to recognize Jesus' person and power. Look what it says in verse 49, but when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried out.
[23:10] They thought it was a ghost. They didn't know what it was. They thought they were seeing something, and they cry out. I mean, I imagine myself as a little boy. My grandma lived about 200 yards from me, and sometimes I had to go get sugar for my mom, or flour for my mom, or my mom would need something to make something, and it was pitch dark at night, and mom would say, Michael, go get this to your grandmothers. And I mean, you never heard somebody make as much noise in the country as I did, because it was dark out there. I thought the boogeyman was going to get me, and so I would run, and I would be singing at the top of my lungs as loud as I could, so everybody would be knew that I was out there.
[23:51] And my grandma could hear me coming. She'd laugh at me. She's like, are you scared of the dark? I said, no, grandma, not a bit. And I would go back home. I mean, that's, but that's what happened to the disciples. They were fearful. You say, why did they not recognize Jesus? I would say this, because they were not expecting to see him. They weren't expecting to see him. He had sent them out in the midst of the sea. They weren't expecting for him to come out there. They weren't expecting him to walk on the water. And then he says this to him. He says, be of good cheer. It is I, be not afraid.
[24:27] You know, there's a real, Mark does this throughout the book, but it's, the disciples can't figure out who Jesus is. They don't, they think he's a spirit here, and they cry out. They're afraid. They're troubled. But if you look down, when they get to land again, the people all know who Jesus is.
[24:48] Hey, how well do you know Jesus? Hey, do you know him better than other people know him? We must know Jesus. So here's the message. I'm going to give you the application. Notice what it says in verse 50. Be of good cheer. It is I, be not afraid. So here's the message this evening.
[25:11] Cheer up. Cheer up. Now that doesn't mean just put a smile on your face. That sounds good. Hey, cheer up. Ben, cheer up. Come on. Smile. You can't do it. Okay. Brother Gardner, smile.
[25:24] But that's, that's, but really it's more than that. The idea of cheer up is have courage, have confidence. That's what he's telling. Hey, cheer up. Get some confidence about you.
[25:39] Not because of who you are, but because who you know. Amen. Get some confidence about you. Get some courage because you serve the one true God. And so he tells them, cheer up, take heart, have some confidence. And we find this phrase repeated five times in scripture. Jesus says it five times, be of good courage. And so real quickly, let's just walk through these passages and see why we should cheer up tonight. Go to the first passage if you would. Matthew chapter nine, verse number two. Matthew chapter nine, verse number two. Cheer up. Why should we cheer up? What does the scripture give us? What are the reasons scripture gives us to cheer up? Notice Matthew chapter nine, verse number two.
[26:29] And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy lying on a bed. And Jesus seeing their face said unto the sick of the palsy, son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Hey, the first reason we should cheer up is because our sins have been forgiven. Amen. Our sins have been forgiven. All my past, all my present, all my future. When Jesus died on the cross and when I asked him in my heart, he forgave me of all my sins. Praise the Lord. I'm glad I'm going to heaven. I'm excited about going to heaven, but I'm even more excited because God has forgiven me of my sins. I was not a perfect kid. I was not the outstanding kid. I was a kid that went to church, but I still had my faults. I still had my heirs.
[27:24] There is things I've done in my past that I hope none of you find out about. There's things I've done that I hope nobody knows about. But I thank the Lord that one night in September 2nd, 1990 in steeple-ass in England in a Baptist church, I heard the preaching of the word of God and I came forward and I asked Jesus Christ in my heart into my life and my sins were forgiven. Hey, you know why you should cheer up? Because your sins have been forgiven. They're under the blood. They've been covered. They're from as far as east is from the west. Your sins are gone. Jesus has forgiven your sins. Amen. Isn't that comforting to know? Isn't it good to know that your sins have been forgiven?
[28:11] I don't really like Halloween. It's not my favorite time of the year. When I was a senior in high school, me and four guys, we borrowed some pumpkins from a lady's porch.
[28:26] It wasn't long that we had them in the back of the truck. Well, what can you do with pumpkins besides throw them out of the truck? So we're driving down the road. One guy's driving. We get these pumpkins.
[28:38] We're passing a thing. It's standing up alongside the road. We start trying to hit that thing alongside the road. Call it a post box. Do you realize that hitting a post box, destroying post box is a federal crime?
[28:51] We're just having a good time. It's a Friday night. Saturday, Sunday night, two days go by. Everything's good. Nobody said a word. Sunday night, my dad gets a call on the phone. He says, Mr. Klein, I believe you have a son and he drives this kind of truck. Is that correct? He's like, yes, sir. And I remember fear coming in my...
[29:15] I remember my dad saying, thank you for calling. I remember dad walking in the living room telling my sister and my brother, it's time for you to go to bed. I said, I think I'll go to bed also.
[29:30] He said, you will not. You'll sit right there. My dad ended up turning me and my three friends in.
[29:42] Had to go to the police station. Had to go to the jail. The officer said, listen, here's what I'm going to do for you. You guys have to pay the fine. I'll fix all the mailboxes.
[29:57] You just have to pay for them. And then my dad said, you'll be grounded for every dollar that it costs you to pay for those mailboxes. And so my senior year of high school, I was grounded for two months.
[30:08] Hey, my sins have been forgiven. Cheer up. Your sins have been forgiven. Let me give you another one. The one we read in our text. Secondly, cheer up. The Savior is near.
[30:20] The Savior is near. In Matthew's account of the story, Peter says, Lord, is that you? Let me come to you. And he begins to walk on the... He gets out of the boat. He begins to walk on the water.
[30:32] And he's walking to Jesus. And then the Bible says he sees the waves. He sees the wind around him. And he begins to sink. Can I ask you a question? How do you begin to sink?
[30:44] Isn't it pretty quickly that it happens? I mean, you don't just hang out and say, I think I'm sinking. You're like, whoo! But Peter says, Lord, save me.
[30:55] And what's the Bible say? Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and picked him up and caught him. Hey, cheer up. The Savior is near. He's close to you.
[31:06] Just call out to him. Just ask him. Lord, help me. Be close to me. Be near me. Thirdly, John chapter number 16, verse number 33.
[31:18] John 16, verse 33. Another time, Jesus said, be of good cheer. John chapter 16, verse 33. I love this one.
[31:29] He says, these things have I spoken unto you that ye might have peace. Jesus said, hey, I'm teaching you these things so you can have peace.
[31:40] But notice what it says. In the world, ye shall have, what's that next word? Tribulation. What? We're going to have problems?
[31:52] That's not how I want it to be. But Jesus said, you shall have tribulation. But then we'll look at what he says. Be of good cheer. Why? I have overcome the world.
[32:07] Hey, why can we be of good cheer? Because Jesus has overcome the world. Amen. He already has the victory. Amen. We're already on the winning side. So you might as well cheer up because you are a winner.
[32:20] Amen. You are on the winning side. Jesus has already overcome the world. He has conquered it. He is victorious. I love that word overcome.
[32:32] Because it comes from our Greek word, nikeo. Which is where Nike got there for Nike shoes. Nike the swoosh. Nike victory.
[32:44] But the great one that was victorious was the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Hey, cheer up. Jesus has overcome the world. It doesn't matter who wins the election. It doesn't matter because Jesus has overcome the world.
[32:59] It doesn't matter if they get a vaccine for coronavirus. Jesus has overcome the world. It doesn't matter what happens. Jesus has overcome the world.
[33:11] We are on the winning side. Amen. Let me take you one other place. Be of good cheer. It's in the book of Acts. Chapter 23.
[33:22] Acts chapter 23. Verse number 11. Acts 23. Verse number 11.
[33:32] It says, As in the night falling, The Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul. For as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
[33:50] Jesus was telling Paul, Listen, hey, I'm not done with you yet. You still have to go to Rome. You're going to be a witness there for me. I still have a plan for your life.
[34:02] The fourth reason we need to cheer up is this. God has a plan for your life. God has a purpose for your life. If you're alive tonight, and you're breathing tonight in this auditorium, God has a plan for you.
[34:14] And you have to be willing to say, God, what is your plan? What is your purpose for my life? I'm so thankful. I get to sit in the classes, and I hear Brother Austin teach, and some of these missionaries are going for the first time, maybe the first time they've ever been outside the United States.
[34:29] But I look at it, and I say, Man, I've been to Peru already, and I've been a pastor, and now I'm going. I'm getting a second chance. I'm going back to the mission field again. And so hopefully I don't act like I did the first time.
[34:41] Amen. And hopefully I don't make the mistakes I made the first time. But God has a plan for my life. God wants to use us, and God wants us to reach military people with the gospel.
[34:51] And God has a plan for you. Cheer up. God has a plan for your life. What a great thing. What a great thing.
[35:03] So Jesus says, Be of good cheer. Cheer up. Fellow Christians, Cheer up. Your sins have been forgiven. Cheer up.
[35:14] Your Savior is near. Cheer up. Jesus has overcome the world. Cheer up. God has a plan for you. There's a song that says, So I thank Him for the sunshine, and I thank Him for the showers.
[35:32] I thank Him for the storms He brought me through. For if I'd never had a problem, I'd never know that God could solve them. I would never know what faith in God could do.
[35:44] Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word.
[35:59] Christian, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Maybe you're here tonight, and you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Maybe you can't cheer up, because your sins aren't forgiven.
[36:12] But I want to tell you, the opportunity's there. Jesus died on the cross, because He loved you. And He died for you. If you'll be willing to come to Him and say, God, I know I'm a sinner.
[36:25] And I ask, I know Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and I ask Him into my heart, and ask Him to save me. He will save you, if you ask Him to do that. And then you can be happy, because your sins will be forgiven also.
[36:39] Cheer up. Hey, let's keep on going for the Lord. Amen. Let's don't quit. We're so close to the finish line. So close to that trumpet sounding. Hey, let's keep on going.
[36:52] Cheer up. Dear, gracious Heavenly Father, I thank You for this day. I thank You for the opportunity to open the Word of God, and preach the Word of God. Lord, I thank You for the truths that You've showed me this week in studying this passage.
[37:06] And Lord, as we prepare to go to Spain, I know trials will come. We'll face storms. There'll be things that won't go right. But God, I pray that we would keep our eyes focused on You.
[37:18] Help us, dear God. Help Christians to cheer up. Lord, we have lots of reasons to have courage and to have confidence. And Lord, I pray that we would continue to look to You.
[37:30] Lord, be with this invitation now. We'll thank You and praise You for all You do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.