[0:00] Take your Bibles and go with me to Jeremiah chapter 1 if you would. I want to ask you to be in prayer for Brother Randy Sterwalt. He has cancer in his lymph nodes.
[0:11] He's 68 years old. And if he wanted to go back to Kenya without the chemo, they said he had six months. And if he takes the chemo, maybe three years.
[0:26] Of course, the doctor said, I don't know for sure about anything. I want you to be in prayer for him. He's supposed to be here with us in November. I don't think he'll be making it. And I'd ask you to pray for him if you would.
[0:36] Let's pray our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, I love you. And I thank you so very much for Brother Randy. And I just pray you'd bless him. And I pray, God, that you'd do a work in his life. Give him strength as he lives out what he has preached for all these years.
[0:50] As he faces death, faces going home, telling his wife goodbye. I just pray your blessings on him and on that ministry. I pray, God, that you would let him get back to Kenya one time.
[1:01] Have his goodbyes, Lord. If you could work that into his life, we'd all be grateful. I'd appreciate it. Thank you. And I pray, dear God, that you'd work tonight in the service. I pray your name would be glorified. I'll give you praise for all you do.
[1:11] In Jesus' name, amen. In Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 4 and following, and this whole chapter is about Jeremiah being called into the ministry.
[1:24] And Jeremiah is very much like me and some of the others of you in this room, a little bit afraid of what God had happened. He's called the weeping prophet because he cries a lot.
[1:36] His next book that he writes is Lamentations, like crying book. And his ministry is hard. Ever since I was 11 years old, I wanted to be in the ministry.
[1:47] And I asked God to let me be in the ministry. I asked God to let me be a missionary. But I was terrified of any of it for real. As I got older, I was more terrified than I could ever explain to anybody in this room.
[1:59] Except Betty, maybe she understands. And so when I got to college, I wanted to be in the ministry. I wanted to work in a church, but I didn't say I was called to preach. I wouldn't tell anybody I was called to preach.
[2:09] I didn't feel like I was called to preach. I was waiting on God to call me to preach, but then how does God call you to preach? Does he hit you in the head with a ball bat? Does a mule kick you? Do you see it written in the stars?
[2:21] How do you know you're called to preach? There was a guy in college named Rick Standard. And Rick Standard was the president of the freshman class. All the girls liked Rick. He could play the guitar.
[2:32] He could sing like Elvis Presley, who was a big deal back then. And I know you've probably never heard of him, but anyway, he was big stuff. And when he said he was called to preach, I was like, well, that's reasonable.
[2:43] Good looking, well liked, capable, talented. Now, another friend who wasn't near as good looking, in fact, he had a major problem with acne. But he was the craziest God ever met.
[2:57] He would preach anywhere. He used to get Rick to go with him and play the guitar. People would gather around at the bowling alley. He'd stand on top of the car. Rick would play the guitar. Rick would get out of the way. And my friend would preach up a storm, tell people to get saved.
[3:10] He took me to my first bar I'd ever been in. He said to me one day, why don't we go knock on doors and lead people to Christ? And I said, sure. And so I went with him.
[3:22] And we went to these houses. And when he witnessed, they prayed and got saved. And I witnessed, they just looked at me like staring at me. And we'd go to the next house. And it'd go good. The next house, it'd go bad. The next house, it'd go good. The next house, it'd go bad.
[3:33] And that was really the true story. And one day I went to him. I said, let's go knock on doors. And he said, I'm tired of knocking on doors. He said, let's go somewhere else. And I said, I don't understand that. So we walked up to the Bumblebee Cafe.
[3:45] Never been there before in my life. And I saw as we were getting close, I said, that's a bar. And I don't go in bars. And he said, you just hush and follow me. And he had a little Bible he could stick in his hip pocket.
[3:55] We walked into the bar. Steve walked up to the bar. And he goes just like this. He says, hello. Come here to talk to y'all. And he reared back and started preaching. And I'm sitting there going, there's a big guys, you know.
[4:08] And there are people in a bar. And I'm terrified. And when God called him to preach, I understood that totally. When God called me to preach, I'm like Jeremiah. So I want you to read with me and think about this. Some of you may be more like me than Steve or Rick.
[4:21] And so look with me, if you would, Jeremiah 1, 4. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.
[4:33] And I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak. I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child.
[4:45] For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee. And whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces. For I am with thee to deliver thee, says the Lord.
[4:56] Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, to pull down, and to destroy, to throw down, to build, and to plant.
[5:13] That's part of Jeremiah's call. I just want to share with you five things. If you want to write them down tonight about Jeremiah's call as we consider his call to the ministry.
[5:27] Look at Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 5. Jeremiah's call to the ministry was a drastic change. It was a drastic change. Look, if you would, in chapter 1 and verse 5 and just underline this.
[5:40] I ordained thee a prophet. Underline prophet. Jeremiah is called by God to be a prophet. But Jeremiah was born into a family of priests.
[5:50] And now God's calling him to be a prophet. Being a priest promised a predictable life, a secure income, and respect from people. It mostly was a work in private, in the sanctuary, in the holy places.
[6:05] It was being born a priest. You didn't have to prove your call. You're going to spend time sacrificing animals. You're going to spend time dealing with some individual people. But being a prophet was the opposite of all that.
[6:18] You never knew what God was going to tell you to do. And you never knew where God was going to tell you to go. Being a prophet meant you were always calling the people out to do right. It's a scary thing to stand and preach.
[6:30] In fact, I'm going to show you a verse that's going to blow your mind. People are angry with the prophet. He's always stirring things up. He's always stirring things up. By the way, Jeremiah's ministry is a very sad ministry because most people don't listen to him.
[6:45] He serves like 40 years, and by the end of it, they're in the captivity. Being called to be a missionary or be in any kind of ministry is also a drastic change. Leaving family and friends to do what God wants you to do.
[6:58] When you do that, you're considered to be odd or different. You have to prove your calling. You can't just do your job. You've got to prove your calling. You've got to step out and say you have a special place.
[7:09] You have a special call, and you're being watched, and you live in a glass house. I'd been pastoring. I got into college. And while I was in college, I realized being a missionary wouldn't work for me because they said that being a missionary was for losers.
[7:22] And I knew I wasn't a loser, and so that meant I wasn't called to be a missionary. And that's what some of the great, famous preachers of the day were saying. And so I decided I wanted to pastor a church. At 23, I started knocking on doors.
[7:34] And Betty and I, by ourselves, me, a skinny, 145, 150-pound guy, we started building a church, and we got people to come to church. And then one day, God dealt with my heart about being the missionary he called me to be.
[7:46] And when I told my friends, I called one preacher friend. The fact is, it was the guy that took me to my first bar, and I said, boy, God's dealt with my heart about going to the mission field. And he said, well, if an angel from God came down and knocked on my door and told me to go to the mission field, I'd tell him he had the wrong address.
[8:00] I called another one of my friends. I said, God's called me to be a missionary. And he said, I know your church isn't going that good. I'll help you get another one. Everybody I called. My mother-in-law said there are a lot of Hispanic people in Miami.
[8:13] Why do you have to leave the country? Because it is a drastic change when you become a missionary, when you become a preacher, when you become the called-out man of God.
[8:25] But Jeremiah had been distinctly chosen. Look if you went to Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 4. The word of the Lord came unto me, and the Lord said to him, I formed you in the belly.
[8:37] I knew you. If you got your Bible, you ought to underline, I formed you. You ought to underline, I knew you before you ever came out of the womb. I already knew you. I sanctified you before you came out of the womb.
[8:48] I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet. Jeremiah is fearful. He doesn't want to go preach. He doesn't want to be the man of God. He's afraid that he will fail, and so he is not clear about his call.
[9:01] He's worried about it. And God said, hey, son, don't be mistaken here. I made you. I set you apart. I called you forth, and I appointed you to be a prophet.
[9:13] God knows all of us before we're ever born. God knows all of us before we're ever born. He has plans for our lives, so don't mess them up.
[9:24] In Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 17, he makes this promise to Jeremiah. Thou therefore gird up thy loins and arise, and speak unto all them whatever I command you. And don't you let them scare you by looking at their faces when they're hard, lest I confound you.
[9:37] You mess up, and I'll mess you up. You stick in there. So you could mess up. Can I just stop here? This is really a message about the call, but I need to say here, some of you might not take a very strong stand about abortion.
[9:53] These verses right here are probably stronger than you really want to deal with. Would you notice what these verses say? Today I formed you. God formed Jeremiah in the belly, just like he did the rest of us.
[10:08] Look with me if you would in Psalm 139.13. Psalm 139.13. You need to understand. You need to understand that in the book of Jeremiah, God said while he was still a fetus, if you want to call it that, while he was still a body part, if you want to call it that, God said, oh, no, you weren't.
[10:25] I formed you. God said, I knew you. God said, I already had a plan for you. You were a lot more than just a piece of meat in somebody's belly. In Psalm 139.13, the Bible says this.
[10:39] David's talking, the psalmist is talking, for thou hast possessed my reins. You covered me in my mother's womb. While I was in my mama's womb, not just Jeremiah, but while I was in my mama's womb, he was working on me.
[10:55] Verse 14. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You should only like that, fearfully and wonderfully made. You know what I really wish you'd circle the word made.
[11:06] You know, you're not just a product of a bodily function between a man and a woman. You're not just a product of a sex education class. God made you.
[11:18] God made you. Marvelous are your works, and my soul knows that. Verse 15. My substance was not hid from you when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth.
[11:32] Your eyes did see my substance. God, while I wasn't fully formed, you saw me being yet unperfect. And in thy book, all my members were written.
[11:45] In thy book, all my members were written, which were in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. That is like a ridiculous statement, by the way. I don't know if you just noticed that sentence. If you're an evolutionist or an abortionist, or if you're one of these Christians that are kind of like, it's okay.
[12:01] Do you notice what the verse seems to say? In your book, all my stuff was written down. I sometimes wish God had put me together different. I got this big old long trunk and little bit short legs.
[12:13] Sam Paxton's got this little bit short body and these real big legs. I am pretty sure. I'm pretty sure I'd look better with Sam's legs. And he'd look better with my body because I'd be tall and he'd be short.
[12:26] You're getting this? You're getting this? He said, hey, but when I put you together, I put you together. I have a whole message as I preach on this to South Americans. It's still true about you.
[12:37] Do you realize the color of your skin was chosen? Huh? Do you realize the kind of hair you got was chosen? Do you realize that nose you got was chosen? You say, man, I'd have loved to have been born without this hawk's beak.
[12:49] He knew where it was. It was written down in his book. I think sometimes you want to dismissively consider abortion.
[12:59] It's not, you know, it's a day and time when we don't want to take stands anymore. Little sissified millennials, excuse me. But that's what you are. You need to get a backbone and grow up.
[13:10] You know what it says in Luke chapter 1 and verse 41? When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, the baby jumped. The baby jumped. Holy Spirit put that in there and then Mary was full of the Holy Ghost.
[13:24] Either we believe in evolution or we believe God made man. If we believe in evolution, then we truly are only evolved animals and that makes it all okay. You know what?
[13:35] You can abort a baby if it's an animal. You can kill an old person if it's an animal. You really think abortion ought to be a sexual reproduction control system? You really think that we ought to not teach our people about purity instead of taking a life because the baby is inconvenient?
[13:53] I wish you could go back to the verse and underline this. God knew him before he was born. You know what? Before Jeremiah was born, if you believe the Bible, God was like, you was Jeremiah in the womb and I knew you in the womb.
[14:07] God saw him as a person. Not a mass of tissue. Apparently God recognized him before he came out of the womb and breathed there. God had a plan for his life.
[14:17] Before he was ever born, God had a plan for his life. I sanctified you and I ordained you a prophet. Before he comes out of the womb, God's already set him aside and said, that's mine.
[14:28] He's going to serve me. God formed him to be a prophet. If God's involved in making you, then maybe you should accept how he made you. Can I get an amen right there? You know, girls ought to just accept their gender.
[14:42] And guys ought to just accept their gender. Sorry, this is one of those men, but it's right here. I'll just be honest. It's right here in the passage. Y'all can get mad if you want, but he said, I knew you. And I put you together and I made you like I wanted you to be.
[14:56] We ought to teach your children that they are specially made. We ought to be grateful, not hateful about the way God made us. I need to accept the way he made me, including my deficiencies. Trusting that he has a purpose for my life.
[15:08] God made me. I'm taking too long on this point, but I'm just going to be honest with you. That verse ought to jump off the page at you.
[15:20] I knew thee before you came out of the womb. I sanctified. I formed you in the belly. That word formed there is kind of like the word that's used by the potter when he puts the clay and mulls it the way he wants it to be.
[15:33] God made you. And if God made you, you should accept how he made you. Here's another lesson for us in the chapter. Don't you ever doubt that God knows everything from the beginning to the end.
[15:45] God knows everything that's ever happened before it ever happened. He knew it and he knows everything that's going to happen. God knows everything. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, he said that all things are going to work together for good.
[15:56] He foreknew us and predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son. You are distinctly his to be used as he chooses.
[16:07] Who should determine what you do with your life and all that you have and all that you are? Who should determine that? You see, if you're an animal, if you're a product of sexual action, if you're just an egg and a sperm and that's what got you here, then maybe you can make up your own decision.
[16:27] Maybe if you're just like any animal, you can make your own decision. But if God made you, then you just lost the privilege of making the decisions. Can I get an amen right there? If God made you, if God made you, then you belong to him.
[16:42] In Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, By the way, plenty of verses.
[16:56] He bought us. He made me and he bought me. He made me and he bought me. I belong to him twice over. Verse 2 says, Don't let the world tell you how to think.
[17:09] Look at verse 2. Be not conformed to this world. For too long, all you've heard out of that message is, a bunch of independent Baptist standards, but you really want to know what it's really about right here? It's about this.
[17:19] Won't you stop thinking like the world thinks? Won't you stop thinking like the world? Why are you letting the world conform you? And where you think like them, where it's okay to abort a baby, where it's okay to change a gender, where all that's okay.
[17:32] Don't let the world tell you what to do. Be not conformed. Don't be conformed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[17:45] Go with me, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 10. Jeremiah faced a difficult calling. I don't know if you ever paid attention, but in Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 10, oh, Jeremiah's ministry, his ministry plug that's on his Facebook page is pretty bad.
[18:02] On his web page, when he sets it up, you know what he says? He doesn't say, I'm a sweet and loving pastor. Look, if you would, Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 10, and he doesn't get to say this. God tells him, see, I have set, I have this day set you over nations and over kingdoms.
[18:18] Okay, so let's just go ahead and get her straight, buddy. You get to rip into the president and the Congress and the Senate. You get to rip into governors and everybody. You just get to rip them because I'm setting you up to do that.
[18:30] And then he said, this is terrible. You get to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down. Now, that's a pretty rough message.
[18:43] I'm being here tonight, and my job is to root out. I'm going to root you out of here. I'm going to destroy the way you're thinking. I'm going to change things here. And then after I've done all that, I'm going to build and plant. Jeremiah was apprehensive about his call.
[18:57] In Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 6, he said to God, I can't speak. God, I mean, what you're asking me to do? Hey, if I could be a priest over in the other room in there, I'll kill a lamb, and I'll put the blood where I'm supposed to, and I'll follow all the details of everything I'm supposed to do.
[19:12] I'll check out the person's house. It looks like it might have leprosy, and I'll check out the guy that's getting a bald head. I'll do all the stuff. God, what do you want me to do? I want you to root out, tear down.
[19:23] I want you to destroy. I want you to build up. And he said, I can't speak. I'm a child. The Lord said to him, say not, I'm a child. Thou shall go as I send you, and you do what I command you to do.
[19:35] He was intimidated. Look, if you would, Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 8. Be not afraid of their faces. For I am with thee to deliver thee, says the Lord. You know, in all my years, I've been teaching and training preachers.
[19:46] I've had preachers I trained that preached the entire time like this right here. You know why, don't you? Because they want to look at your face. Hmm? Then I've had other preachers I was teaching, they preached like this.
[19:56] I had to do that in Prue, by the way. A building was as small as this platform sometime, and maybe a lady would just decide to feed her baby, and she wouldn't cover anything up, and then the baby would open the other side, and everything's out there, and I'd be like, God loves you people, and not all of you.
[20:17] Waiting for the Lord to finish that thing off. All right. He was leaving the intimacy of a priest to face down kingdoms.
[20:28] I have set thee over the nations. He's being called to very uncomfortable things. Root it out. Pull it down. Destroy it. Throw it down. Then you can build. He was going to be an instigator and a catalyst.
[20:41] He would make people very uncomfortable. His message and ministry would make him feel alone and hated. That's who he is. All ministry is uncomfortable unless you go with the status quo, which is what we tend to do.
[20:57] It's hard to be the preacher and always be saying, bless God, let's do something for God. Bless God, let's stand up. Let's rise up. Let's do something. If you just go floating along. And I'll ask you, are you confronting people about their relationship to God?
[21:11] You realize you can talk to somebody about, you can talk to somebody about politics. You can talk to somebody about moral issues. You can talk to somebody about streets. But to say, do you know if you die the day you go to heaven?
[21:22] We can't get that out of our mouth. It's hard to say. You challenge people to examine their service and ministry to God. You see, we're to live a non-conforming life, and that'll always be uncomfortable.
[21:34] But it will be. Our reasonable service. Fourth thing, God gave Jeremiah divine comfort for his ministry. I love this.
[21:45] First thing I see in the chapter is, he said, I'm directing your life. You see, Jeremiah wasn't alone and by himself. If you would notice in verse 5, God said, I formed you, I knew you, I sanctified you, and I ordained you.
[22:00] I'm doing this. And it was God that would give him the words to say. In Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 6, I cannot speak, I'm a child. And he says, you just say what I command you to in verse 7.
[22:13] In verse 9, he touched my mouth. He said, I have put my words in your mouth. You just say what I want you to say. Any real preacher doesn't get to say what he wants to say. Any real preacher doesn't get to say whatever is popular.
[22:26] He gets to say what the word of God says. And then God promised him he'd be with him and protect him. That'd be in China or North Africa, wouldn't it? In Jeremiah 1, 19, they shall fight against you.
[22:37] Look at that. Look at this promise. He said, look at it. You got 19 open? And they shall fight against you, but they won't win. They'll fight against you, but they will not win.
[22:48] Because I'm with you. Look at that. I am with you. Jeremiah, I made you to do what you're doing. Jeremiah, I've given you a job to do, and I've given you the words to say, and I will admit they're going to be against you, and people aren't going to like you, but don't worry about it.
[23:03] I'm with you, and I'll always rescue you. You'll never do ministry alone unless you rebel and live in sin. For us New Testament people, all the promises of God are ours.
[23:15] In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, all the promises of God in him. Yep, in him. Amen. And to the glory of God by us. You know what? God's got promises, and as long as you're in Jesus, they're your promises.
[23:28] 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20. Now, I like this last part. God gave him divine, God promised Jeremiah a divine completion of his prophecies.
[23:39] Look, if you would, in Jeremiah 1, verse 11. So he's finishing up the chapter, and he said, now, Jeremiah, I'm calling you. And Jeremiah said, excuse me, Lord, I'm a little bit scared and a little bit bashful, a little bit intimidated.
[23:49] I don't feel all that comfortable with what you're asking me to do. And he said, don't be saying that. I made you. I formed you in the womb. You're mine. And I'll give you the words I want you to say. And I'll be with you.
[23:59] And I'll give you power. And I'll just go ahead and tell you up front, Jeremiah, what I say is going to come true. What you prophesied that I put in your mouth is going to come true. Jeremiah 1, 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see?
[24:12] I said, I see the rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, thou hast well seen. Underline this. I will hasten my word to perform it.
[24:25] That almond tree was a symbol that God was going to get her done. That almond tree was a symbol of waking up and watching. It's the first tree that bloomed in the spring.
[24:36] It's the tree that said it's coming and it's happening. Get ready. It's here. And he said, you see that almond tree? You know that's a warning for all of you. Well, here's my warning for you. I'll do it. You just say it and I'll do it.
[24:48] In Jeremiah 1, verse 13, he gives him another promise. In Jeremiah 1, 13, he said, and the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, said, what see us out? I said, I see a seething pot facing the north.
[25:00] He said, yep, I'm going to bring judgment from the north over everybody. And their sin will bring suffering on all people. Their judgments would come because of their sin.
[25:11] In Jeremiah 1, 16, he said, I will utter my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness. Who? Those who have forsaken me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have worshiped the work of their own hands.
[25:22] They have become idol worshipers. They've quit worshiping me and they've gone to worshiping false gods. Jeremiah, you go boldly preach, convince I'll do my job. Verse 17, speak unto them all I command you, lest I confound thee before.
[25:37] I can embarrass you if I need to. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to take my word. I want you to walk out there and I want you to preach my word and say exactly what my word says. And if you don't do that, I can embarrass you.
[25:49] See, a prophet can't get embarrassed because a prophet messes up, he dies. He said, you don't do that. Verse 18, look what he said he did to him. I made you a defensed city and an iron pillar and brazen walls against the whole land.
[26:06] If you got your Bible open, it's just interesting if you'd underline this against, against, against, against. Jeremiah, your ministry is against, against, against, and against.
[26:19] You heard about the preacher. They said, all you ever do is preach against everything. Could you preach a positive message? He said, I will Sunday. They came Sunday and he said, I am positive.
[26:31] I'm against it. That's what old Jeremiah's message is. Point number one, I'm against it. Point number two, I'm against it. Point number three, I'm against it. But look what he did. He said, Jeremiah, I'll make you a defensed city.
[26:43] I'll build a protection around you. I'll make you an iron post that can't be moved and can't be bent. I'll build metal walls around you because you're going to stand against the king of Judah and against the princes and against the priests and against the people.
[26:58] There would be opposition, but God would bless. I am with you. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail. I'm with you to deliver you.
[27:09] Jeremiah, you're going to have victory. So let's look at God's work in your life. As born-again believers, we are to take up a cross and die to ourselves. We're to go out and serve him, and that's a drastic change for anyone.
[27:22] Not just a preacher, every one of us. There ought to be a drastic change in your life. When you say you're saved and you're the same yesterday as you are the day after you get saved, the day before you're saved, you're wicked.
[27:35] The day after you're saved, you're wicked. Something didn't happen right there. There ought to be a drastic change. People will always be uncomfortable with anybody who totally sells out to God.
[27:50] Here's what we can learn from this chapter. You are special to God, and he is at work in your life. You are special to God. I can't read this verse without thinking this.
[28:01] I can't read this verse without knowing this. He made me. I was coming around the curve in Adikipa. My car had about 30-something Peruvians in it. It was a Nissan double cab, triple cab pickup.
[28:13] The tires were literally down to nothing. I couldn't get but about 15 miles an hour, and they were singing. There were probably 10 people in the front seat sitting three deep. They were singing praises to God. I remember coming around that curve thinking, I was born for this.
[28:27] That's what Jeremiah could say. Will you at least stand for the life of the unborn after you read this passage? Huh? I mean, it ought to affect the way you vote.
[28:37] I don't talk about that. But you vote for people that kill babies. I think you've got a problem. I'm still against it.
[28:47] I don't care what y'all think. And I'm in good company with Jeremiah because he's against it. Serving God is always difficult. And we always feel inadequate. And we always feel intimidated when you know God's doing this work.
[29:00] You have great promises of God if you just choose to believe them. God will do a work. God's word works, and you can go forward in confidence.
[29:13] Father in heaven, I love you. I thank you for who you are and what you're doing, and I pray that your name will be glorified and magnified tonight. God, I pray that you would help us to be encouraged as we step out to witness, to preach, to pastor, to be mysterious.
[29:26] Whatever it is we're doing, God, help us know that you are at work in our lives. And I'll give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do.