All right, today I'm going to talk about warring against distractions.
Warring against distractions.
A distraction can be defined as a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention
to something else.
And distractions are probably one of the most prevalent things in our day compared to any
other day in history.
Given with the rise of technology and news and social media, more than ever before, we
have more provisions to distract ourselves with.
If you were to eliminate all those things that distract us, that technology give or those
type of things, we would still have many opportunities for distraction as well.
But I've chosen the title warring against distractions, a type of military kind of mindset fighting
against distractions.
Because I think that there's a possibility that this is one of the main things that hinders
the work of God and might hinder our body at Christchurch right now.
So distraction could be anything that prevents someone from giving full attention to something
else.
Full attention.
When I think about following God and God's commands, you know, it says to do it with your
whole heart, right?
That's a full type of thing with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul.
All of your strength, all of your constitution.
Give it fully.
First Corinthians 15 says that we should always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
And, you know, some of us in this room are more easily distracted than others.
And some of us are distracted with things that, you know, we could literally set down.
Mainly this, our phones.
Our phones are a distraction.
Sometimes work can be a distraction.
You know, practical things.
But I'm going to try and talk about maybe not the trivial distractions, the things that
we can immediately just say, okay, this is something that needs to go, but a type of hindrance
to the work that God has called us to as a way of putting away that distraction.
You know, saying no to what might distract us from moving forward as a body.
Um, so the word distraction, the prefix, the Latin prefix dis means to just kind of break
apart.
And then, uh, trahir, uh, in Latin just means to drag.
So, um, if you think, if you think about the word distraction, uh, literally it means to,
to pull away, to drag away or to stop moving, you know, lack of traction.
You know, you think about that?
Like if you're distracted, you're not moving anywhere or at least maybe not moving in the
right direction.
So, um, you know, in our day and age, we can have, uh, so much time wasted very easily.
Um, if you get on social media, there's, there's these things called, called, uh, reels.
They're like little video shorts and you can watch an endless amount of them.
You know, you can pull up your phone and scroll and flip to the next one, gather information.
And then when you put your phone down, you don't really know what you learned, uh, because,
uh, well, that's the goal of the real.
It's just to keep you focused and possibly distracted.
Um, so, Satan, Satan would love for this church and every church for that matter to be focused
on the wrong thing, to be distracted.
Maybe not to focus on nothing, but if he can redirect our gaze somewhere else, uh, that would
be of much benefit to him.
A focused church, a church that is focused on a particular path, namely God's mission
as a church that is warring against distraction and wars against Satan himself.
And I think that our church, Christ's church is in need of focus, you know, eliminating distractions,
clearing the, clearing the field, not just making it empty, but filling it with the right thing,
the right focus.
Um, we've talked a lot about, uh, mission up until this point, uh, how mission needs
to be our focus.
I don't think that conversation is over.
So in large part, I'm going to talk today about how we can be less distracted and more
focused about the mission of God, the mission of the church, uh, and so forth.
So, um, I've got a couple areas that I believe that are.
Current distractions for us.
But one, one thing before I go into that is to know that, uh, distractions are in large
part provided.
Like we provide ourselves with distractions.
Some distractions are accidental.
You know, if you, uh, uh, are watching a show or whatever and an ad pops up, you can't
really do anything about that.
Uh, takes your, uh, focus away from what you were, what you were doing.
But in large part, we have control over what we focus on and thus we provide ourselves with
distractions.
So Romans 13, uh, verse 14 says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for
the flesh to gratify its desires.
So from this verse, we see that, uh, we have to have a taking on of Jesus to make no provision
for the flesh.
And if Satan would aggravate our flesh so as to have us focus on another thing, uh, so as
to not make us look at God, you know, the Bible says to look to Jesus.
And that's a very specific phrase to focus on Jesus.
If Satan wants to aggravate our flesh so that he can make us provide ourselves with distractions,
um, then he's winning.
But here in Romans 13, it says, make no provision, suffocate all provisions for the flesh.
You know, all of us have, uh, different, uh, ways of life, um, different jobs, uh, different
circumstances, all those things.
And we're tempted with different distractions.
We're not, we don't all have the same ones, but you know what those are.
You know, if you did a quick survey of your life and ask yourself, what are the main things
that distract me?
It probably wouldn't be zero.
You could probably say, okay, yeah, this is my number one thing.
And I think the Lord wants to highlight, um, why that is, you know, and ask yourself, do
I provide myself with those things, with those distractions?
What is it about me that wants to take my gaze away from what I should be doing, what God
wants me to doing, to be doing, and, uh, and thus, um, fulfilling his work to me.
So, um, number one, I believe, uh, distraction for this body is, um, kind of two things.
Number one, feelings and opinions.
Feelings and opinions.
Second Timothy four, three says that for the time is coming when people will not endure
sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to
suit their own passions.
So, right here, Paul, or, yeah, Paul's writing to Timothy saying, there's a time that's coming,
uh, kind of looking forward to the last days possibly, that people won't endure something.
They won't endure sound teaching.
Why won't they endure that?
What's, what's the, uh, what's, why the departation from sound teaching?
And it's because their ears itch.
Interesting phrase.
Uh, in other words, it doesn't scratch the, the, the itch that, that would suit somebody
anymore to, uh, um, maybe keep them focused.
You know, um, when you hear the same thing over and over again, you know, it can get pretty
old.
And as a culture, we're really not, uh, conditioned to, uh, love the old thing.
You know, um, I was talking to someone the other day about how like sauce, like on food
is just like everywhere, you know, like it seems like anywhere you go, it's just like,
you have like a thousand sauces that you could add.
And it's just like, nothing tastes good without sauce.
We have to have sauce, you know, it used to be just salt, but I guess now it's, you know,
sauce and flavor kind of just addicts of flavor in the same way.
I think, you know, um, sometimes we can, uh, we can not be satisfied with what we have heard
so often.
We treat what is common, uh, with maybe some disdain after a while.
And, um, Paul is saying that there's coming a day when people won't endure what is sound.
It's not just one endure something old, but what is actually sound, stable, firm.
They won't endure it because it doesn't scratch the itch, you know?
And, um, not only does, do their ears itch for something else, but it says that they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, passions as in feelings.
You know, they're led by how they feel, you know, you might sit in a service and hear the
gospel and you've heard it a thousand times and say, you know, I just don't really feel
like that's doing it for me.
You know, I don't really feel like, uh, maybe what we would regard as sound teaching is scratching
the itch.
You know, maybe I'll get some, maybe I'll find some other guys that will distract the
itch.
Maybe I'll look up, you know, the opinions of other people, uh, see if there's a better
sermon out there.
Um, and, and to be honest, there's endless amounts of opinions, you know, maybe with some
sound teaching mixed in there, I'm not going to, you know, I'm not demonizing preaching
or any of that, you know, I think we should regularly listen to sermons.
I mean, I'm doing one right now, but, uh, but only, only if, you know, we have the backdrop
of sound teaching the word of God.
If I speak to any of you with authority, it's because it lies in the word of God.
I have no authority of my own, but it presides in God's words himself.
So if I speak God's word to you, then I speak with authority.
So I think feelings and opinions can be a distraction to us.
And what I mean by that specifically is, is that we are all too often led by sight, which
is very closely tied to how we feel.
We observe something and we say, you know, I feel this or that way about that, you know,
what the Bible says to walk by faith.
You know, what we don't see, um, is what we believe for, you know, and our heart actually
follows that.
Um, Luke 12 verse 34 says, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also the, the,
the heart could probably be described as the feeling mechanism, you know, somebody.
And, uh, so if you seek, if you seek the treasure, then your heart will feel the right things.
If you seek the right treasure, your heart will feel the right things.
Right.
Um, but if you avoid, if you avoid that, that which is true and right, then, um, maybe you
might still feel it, but the question is what, what is the treasure that you seek?
Where, where is your heart directed to, you know, is your heart distracted and you're treasuring
opinions, maybe your own compass to guide you, your own feelings, you know?
Um, you know, the Bible talks about seeking.
It says, seek first.
Jesus himself says to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to
you, his righteousness.
Right.
Um, and when we do that with all of our heart, then we feel after the fact we have to have
a plumb line that guides us.
So feelings and opinions, Christ Church, don't let it be a distraction.
I know it's easy.
I myself struggle sometimes with how I feel about things, um, taking the opinions of other
people.
Uh, but ultimately what God says and the way that he has set things up matter most, you
know, he is our, is our compass, you know, let it not be that we are led astray by or distracted
by feelings and opinions.
Um, what's another distraction?
I think in large part, this might sound really simple, but comfort and convenience, comfort
and convenience.
Luke 9, 23 says, and he said to, he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him
deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose
it.
But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
There's many, there's many things that Jesus said.
In large part, there's a lot of uncomfortable things, you know, calling us out, you know,
of, uh, the things that we coddle, calling us out of idolatry, the things that we idolize
more than God.
Uh, you know, if anyone would come after me, uh, he would have to deny himself.
You know, I just talked about feelings.
Feelings are a large, are a large thing that we have to deny regularly.
Um, what are some examples of comfort and convenience that distract us?
I think that, you know, for Christ's church, we've been sent out by, by Bellico's church
with a blessing and with authority to do one work.
Um, it's to spread the kingdom of God and all of life and do it together.
Um, but we can coddle a type of comfort and convenience, uh, about ideal settings or how
we think things should be or how, you know, things are going and whether we, um, measure
up to those things or, you know, uh, our own opinions and how much influence they have.
We can, we can, we can reside in a type of, um, critique, uh, if we're distracted by comfort
and convenience.
Like it's not comfortable to be placed in the setting that you're not used to, you know,
I'm sure all of us have gone to a party or, you know, place or event that we don't know
anybody, never experienced.
And it's just kind of like, yeah, this isn't comfortable.
This isn't convenient, you know, but there's a reason why we do those things.
God calls us out to, uh, to the lost.
You know, he himself said he came to seek and save the lost, which is going to press us.
It's going to press us to, to embrace what is uncomfortable and not convenient, but not
to no end.
We, we embrace the uncomfortable and inconvenience, not in vain, but for a specific purpose.
God has, God has called us out to be a people who regularly embrace the uncomfortableness so
that others like Jesus himself for, you know, not pleasing himself, the scriptures say, uh,
so that others might feel welcomed and comfortable and convened.
And we embrace that.
So I think that's, that's one thing to convene, the comfort and convenience of maybe neutral
talk and neutral relationships.
Um, although we should be, we should be seeking out normal, natural, neutral avenues for people
to come in, you know, that's caring for them, but make no mistake that the gospel itself
is, um, is not a comfortable thing.
You know, in fact, actually there's a promise that we will one day be hated for the gospel,
but we do it for Christ's sake.
So comfort and convenience, uh, of things having the way we want it, you know, I mean, I think
that that, that resides in all of us, you know, you think about, okay, how would I do this?
You know, what's the way that I would want things, you know, um, maybe even on a small
level, obviously big level, we can be okay with things, but like little nitpicky things.
Those are the things that, that really get us hung up, you know, like, um, our way versus
how God chose to flesh it out.
Um, the scriptures say to always be ready to give up account for the hope that you have
a reason for the hope that you have, you know?
Sometimes we're not always ready where we have to be prepared, you know, are you, are
you someone in Christ's church?
Are you someone following God that is not prepared?
You know, and if all, if all the ducks are in the row, um, if everything lines up, then
I'll be good, you know, or are you somebody who's saying, no, Lord, by your grace, you may
be prepared.
And I'm willing to embrace the uncomfortable, the inconvenient to, uh, to follow you, whatever
it be.
Acts, Acts 20 verse 19 says, Paul himself writes, I do not account my life of any value nor as
precious to myself.
Paul didn't count his life as precious to him.
He says of any value, which is kind of like, you know, like of any value, like all lives
are valuable, but yet he had a specific lens on, uh, in which he viewed his life.
And he said, I don't count my life of any value or as precious to myself.
Do we, do we share that, that sentiment with Paul?
You know, Christ's church is, is a missionary people.
It was sent out.
And you have to ask yourself, is my time too precious to me?
Is my schedule too precious?
Is my stuff, my belongings too precious to me?
It's my relationships, whether in the past or, um, presently, you know, hindering a work
that God is doing.
We have to ask ourselves, is my appearance, is my reputation too precious to me?
These are all distractions and God would have us be focused.
God would have us be delivered from that which bogs us down, you know?
And I believe that God wants to save us from some distractions.
What about another distraction?
I kind of just mentioned it, but, um, sentimentality.
Can be distracting.
Um, being sentimental is not bad in and of itself.
I think, you know, um, it has a lot of good fruit and to some degree, if you have love and
affection for somebody, you'll want to see them again.
You're sentimental about that.
You'll make memories with somebody and you'll treasure those memories.
But a sentimentality that is, uh, that finds us in an idolatry, meaning a fixation of always
living in the past, always wishing you had something that you don't currently have.
Um, relationships with old friends, uh, can only be, uh, experienced with them and not,
uh, to the end of new relationships.
Sentimentality can be a distraction.
Luke 9 verse 59.
Jesus said, he said to another, follow me.
But he answered, Lord, let me first, let me first go and bury my father.
And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead.
But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
That's like a really like staunch phrase, you know, but notice that Jesus didn't just say,
leave the dead to bury their own, bud.
See ya.
You know, he provided them with what to focus on.
He said, but as for you, go proclaim the kingdom of God.
Preach the gospel.
We don't, we don't, we're not unaware of what God has said to do.
If, if we're distracted by something in our own heart or our own life,
not only can we depart from those distractions by God's grace, but we actually know the way.
That there are souls, that there are souls right now in Raytown and in Kansas City that
God is orchestrating for us to run into.
Do you believe that?
Do you believe that God has called us out as an apostolic people, a sent people?
Then we need to preach the gospel.
We need to depart from the, the, the coddling of the dead.
Maybe not like literally, but you know what I mean?
Coddling our distractions.
And preach the gospel by any means.
1 Corinthians 9, 15 through 16 says,
But I have made no use of any of these rights.
This is Paul talking.
Nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision.
For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting.
For necessity is laid upon me.
Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.
There's a lot of people in here that are really good at preaching the gospel.
I don't think we're, we're terrible at it.
But we must not be distracted.
We must be focused.
I was just talking yesterday to, to somebody and remembering like, in, in the Lord of the Rings, right before the battle at Helm's Deep in the second movie.
There's a, oh, sorry.
That's a really old movie.
I can't believe you haven't watched it.
I won't spoil anything.
All these, all these elves are lined up ready to fire.
They've got their arrows drawn, ready to go.
And they're waiting on their commander's command.
And once he gives it to him, they all fire in unison.
And they take out that first line, that first rank of bad guys.
And then they draw and they get ready for the next man.
But then as the battle progresses, they can't really do that in unison anymore.
There's, there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a command to just fire at will.
And it's kind of pandemonium.
Everyone's just fighting, you know.
There's a way that we can, as, as, as Christians and as a body of Christ, be firing at will of our own volition and not in unity.
Okay.
Christ is our chief commanding officer.
And he, he gives us directives.
And I would say that in order for us to be undistracted and a focused and effective church, that God wants us to rid ourselves of distractions, focus on the same thing and listen for similar cues from our commanding officer to fire in unison.
Okay.
If we all fire at will, if we say, I'm going to preach to this guy, you can preach to that guy.
And maybe we'll just eventually come together and it'll be great.
Well, I believe God wants us to be a little bit more organized than that.
He wants us to be aimed together at the ready.
You know what I'm saying?
Like waiting on our commanding officer, watching, watching for people who God is drawing.
You know, Jesus said, no one comes to me unless the father draws them.
Are we watching for that?
Do we know what that means?
Do we know what it looks like for someone to draw somebody?
Do we know what new birth starts to look like?
You know, first Peter says, let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
Do we see that in unbelievers lives?
Do we see them a departation?
You know, do we see people being drawn?
You know, but more importantly, are we as a body undistracted enough to say to the guy to the left and the guy to the right?
We're not firing at will.
We're all drawn together.
So that's what I believe, I think, are some of the main distractions.
There are more distractions.
You could keep up many, but I tried to keep it concise.
I just started talking about the next half of this sermon, which is what we actually should focus on.
So if we know the things that distract us, then what exactly do we put our hand to?
What do we focus on?
And some aims, areas we can take aim and focuses, I believe one of them is a concentration on mission.
And this is kind of the number one thing, you know, we've talked about church as a family.
And I think three weeks ago I was talking about kinship and how that is one of the most apologetics for the gospel, a church that is alive and familial, which must be there.
It must fight for regularly.
But even more so, we must be a missional family that goes out and seeks the lost.
So a concentration on mission.
We have to concentrate on doing it together.
And we have to concentrate on preaching the gospel, the only gospel, the one that saves, you know.
So often we can get maybe lazy or apathetic with our relationships with unbelievers.
You know, and don't get me wrong.
Each one is different.
We have to develop trust with some before we share the gospel.
But with others, the time might be short.
So we must preach.
Romans 15 and verse 18 says,
For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the spirit of God,
so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Elycrium, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.
And thus, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation.
Paul says he makes it his ambition to preach the gospel.
Is it your ambition?
You know, we've got a lot of ambitions in this room.
A lot of great ones.
Is our primary one that we would preach the gospel?
You know, I talked a little bit about three weeks ago about our calling, fulfilling our calling, our ministry.
And that's kind of a specific thing to specific people.
You know, do you know what you're called to do?
Do you know what your ministry is?
You have specific gifts that God has given to you.
And a specific calling.
But one thing I will say, and that Paul is saying here, is that all of us are called to one thing.
And that's the calling that Jesus gave in Matthew 28, the Great Commission.
He says, go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to obey all that I've commanded.
Everyone has that calling.
Everyone in this room does.
You know, some people are gifted evangelists and others aren't.
You know, but we are all called to make disciples.
We're all called to preach the gospel.
And Paul says, this is my ambition to do that.
It's my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation.
But do we look deep inside and say, okay, Lord, if I have any distracting ambitions that hinder me from doing this work, would you save me?
You know?
In the parable of the sower, one of the most deep strikes to me as I read that is the desire for other things, being led away by the desire for other things.
You know, like straight up apostasy, you know, like God hating, you know, I've done with God is one thing.
But there is a type of being led away by just life itself, you know, that can happen.
And we must be on guard.
And so as to make the kingdom of God and all of life together, you know, that's our mission at Christ Church.
Our ambition, you know, to preach the gospel, to make disciples.
So we do it by taking aim at what we have received, you know, the apostolic tasks that we were given, you know, reminding each other of that.
And we do that through various ways.
One, I think, which is good to think about is micro missions.
You know, we just had a time at Michael's shop the other night where a handful of unbelievers were there.
And it was an awesome night.
You know, it was like a group of guys were on a micro mission.
There's one big mission that we all share, you know, we're all a part of.
But then there's then there's an actual down to earth in somebody's living room, in somebody's shop, in a bar, at a coffee shop.
Micro mission that we have to actually plan to do doesn't happen by osmosis, you know.
And some of us will do that, you know, and some of us will take care of the kids, you know.
Shout out to the moms out there.
But all of the things that we do to make that happen contributes to the mission.
And all of it is valuable.
So we do that in large events.
We preach the gospel.
We look for the micro mission with our fellow Christ Church peeps.
And then we do it in small events, whether it's one on one in a home or two on one in a home, however it might be.
But we must prioritize it.
If we don't plan to do it, it won't happen.
OK.
One aim or focus that I think would be possibly helpful for Christ Church is being a church plant.
And not a church.
And what I mean by that is to view us as we are and not as we think we should be or we think, you know, we want to be.
But actually look at where we are and thank God for that.
You know, Jesus says that he who is faithful with little is entrusted with much.
You know, the reality is we're small and little, you know, and that's fine.
That's good.
And that's OK.
You know that we're that way.
But saying Christ Church is a church plant.
We're not an established church yet.
We have many ranks to pass through before we get there.
And that's fine.
And that's natural.
That's normal.
We trust in God to grow us and to get us to a place.
But a distraction, I believe, is placing a burden either on yourself or on the church to be something that we just are not.
Because God has called us where we are.
He's sanctifying us presently.
Don't get me wrong.
I think we need vision for something.
I think we need to strive for something that's not here yet.
But there is a contentment and rest that doesn't look like a distraction.
I was helping my father-in-law with some yard work yesterday and kind of a helpful analogy.
I was looking at a tree and I was like, is that a tree?
And he's like, he's like, hey, easy.
He's like, it will be a tree one day.
You know, and I'm like, sorry.
I mean, I didn't know what it was.
But same principle.
You might look around and be like, is this even a church?
You know, are we really doing it?
You know, it's just like, well, God's growing us.
You know, like we're getting planted.
We're getting we've got weak roots.
You know, we've got strong hearts, I believe.
But as a church body, to sink our roots deep requires trust in God.
And if we lean on the promise that he was faithful with little is entrusted with much, I think we'll do well.
Don't be distracted by where we should be or don't compare yourself to bellicos.
You know, they have their own problems and we have ours.
So we're not we're not a church.
We're not a church quite yet, but we're a church plant.
I hope you guys know what I mean when I say that.
One thing that I think pairs along with that is not having a kind of get by mentality or like a fix mentality.
Like we're just kind of surviving until we get a fix, you know, and then we'll be good.
Or like, you know, operating off of like a Sunday high, you know, type of thing.
Yeah.
That just doesn't work.
Like we need enduring, long lasting during the week, every day life from God.
Not pseudo life from one another.
Although like we get life from God from one another.
It's part of the deal.
But life that actually nourishes our spirit to help us endure through the day to day.
That's that's a really important thing.
I think that I know I've struggled with.
It's like I'll just wait and kind of discouraged and I'll just wait until the next encouragement.
And then I'll be good after that.
And maybe a little while we'll go by and I'll be fine.
It's like, no, we need something enduring.
Which brings me to my next point.
Long term investments for long term gain or large gain.
You know, don't think about short term investments to get kind of here and there gain.
But we're in it for the long haul.
You know, I myself.
I told Aidea not too long ago that, you know, I want to be with this church until it either dies or it flourishes, you know, until the next one or whatever.
And, you know, that's a good thought.
But what's more important is that I get the food I need to endure presently.
You know what I mean?
And not live somewhere else, but live right now where God has me.
So not having a kind of get by or type of fix mentality, I think is crucial.
Last point on one thing, on a thing that I think God has for us to focus on.
And it's simply believing, simply believing by faith that God has actually in reality presently given us the things that we need to do it.
Believing that.
Believing that God has blessed this church and equipped this church, you know, with the things that we need to do.
If you look on the Christ's website, one of our values is missionary, servant, disciples.
I'm just going to actually read that real quick.
On missionaries, in Christ we are sent by God, which makes us missionaries.
In Christ we belong to God, which makes us servants.
And in Christ we are saved and sourced by God, which makes us disciples.
So missionary, servant, disciples.
Those three things, that's what we are.
You know, and it's not like that's what we're shooting for, although God is growing us, for sure.
But God has made us into those things.
We are that, you know.
I think that would help against distractions, is believing that God has actually equipped us.
And really believing it by faith.
You know, that God wants to use us, that he wants to make his home in each one of our hearts and lead us.
Second Peter 1 says that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
We've got it, you know.
All things that pertain to life and godliness.
Last thing, being skilled in endurance and fulfilling the ministry.
I kind of already talked about enduring.
Fulfilling the ministry as well.
And I would just encourage anyone who doesn't know their specific ministry, or the ways that even God has gifted you,
to not let that be the criteria for the overall call to preach the gospel, make disciples.
I think in large part, the way that we figure out our specific callings and giftings is by obeying the first.
The main call, which is to make disciples and to preach the gospel.
So, my prayer for Christ Church is that we would not be distracted, but we would be focused, you know, with arrows at the ready.
You know, ready to really lock in together.
That we would strategize.
We would not be lazy.
We would not let the past or the present comforts and conveniences distract us.
But we would know with full assurance of faith that God would have us be focused and united, you know, and aimed at the ready.
Waiting on God's order to send it.
I'm going to close with one verse, and then, Michael, you can come up.
This verse is from Acts chapter 20.
As Paul is giving his speech to the Ephesian elders.
It says,
Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears.
And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified.
I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who are with me.
And all these things I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the Lord.
Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how he himself said, is more blessed to give than to receive.
Thank you.
If you're ready to welcome.
You'reろう to go.
You're right.
Bye.
I'm sorry.
Bye.