Let Your Light Shine Before Men

If you have a Bible turned to book of Matthew, chapter five, as you're turning there, I wanted to read something to you that I felt very prompted just a few moments ago to turn to in the book of Psalm, chapter 34. I want you to really listen to what the word of the Lord has to say tonight, and I know you said, well, that's silly when a pastor says listen. No, it's really not because just because you're here, don't mean you listen. And just because we're hearing, don't mean we're understanding.

Right? And you know, I've touched you, the word of God says faith comes by what? And hearing by the what? Word of God, but the original translation of that is faith comes by understanding.

It's not just a matter of what you've heard, because I could preach something, and it always amazes me how many different people would hear something different. But it's not a matter of just what goes into our ears. It's what we understand. Faith comes by understanding.

And so when we understand, then we are faith is built, and we're able to step out. It's not just about a matter of hearing it. So I want to encourage you to really grab hold of what the Lord has brought for us tonight. And I want to share with you out of Psalm 34 and verse 19.

Someone here tonight, and I'm sure there are more than one of you here tonight that need to hear this. Psalm 34 verse 19 says, many, say many. Many are the afflictions, something like that. That would not make a top five list of our favorite verses right from the beginning, right?

But hold on, because it should. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but there's no period after many are the afflictions of the righteous, period. There's not a period there. Phrase God for that, amen?

Because in other words, we can say it like this. That's not the end of the story. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. And yes, we do face afflictions in this life, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Come on, can somebody say praise the Lord? Hallelujah. Yeah, we face some stuff in this life, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. It's not a matter of will we face it.

Jesus said in this life, you will have difficulties. He said you'll have tribulations. You'll have sufferings in this life. But hold on, why?

Because he has overcome the world. He said, be of good courage. Be of good courage. Yeah, you're going to have those things, but that's not the end.

He will deliver us in that great news, in that great news. So if you're at Matthew chapter five, this is where we're going to pick up. You know, we've been studying the beatitudes. And I wanted to encourage you tonight to be who God created you to be.

Be who God created you to be. We're going to pick up in Matthew chapter five, verse 13 through 16. We're not going to go back and read from verse one through verse 12. We've done that so many times.

We're just going to pick up in verse 13 where we need to begin tonight. And it says this, you are, say I am. You are because he says you are, right? Teaching destroys ignorance.

Amen? You are the salt of the earth. Let that soak in for a minute. You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and to be trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand. And it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way.

Are you with me? Let your light shine before others. That they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. Isn't that good?

Oh, there's so much there. Jesus calls us as believers, not just to believe, but to influence those around us in the world by being who we are, salt and light. There's a story that I heard many years ago and it reminded me of another story that I was involved in in a men's ministry meeting one time. It was a weekend we went away.

But there's this story of a missionary who goes to a remote village and somewhere in Africa, a very remote village where they had no light. And once it got dark, there was no way to see anything. They had no light. And a missionary who had been doing some missionary work in that region was taken to that village.

And he was explaining to them about being a light. And so he took out a flashlight that he had brought with them. And when he turned on the flashlight to their amazement, they couldn't believe that there was this device that pushed away the darkness. And he would turn it on and he would turn it off.

It reminded me of one time we went on a youth excursion when I was in a youth group as a young 13 year old. And we went caving, not just walking through caves that are already, we went down in caves and crawled through holes that we were barely able to get through. They tied a rope on you, you know, and you had to hold onto that rope because you went in and if you got lost, you may not find your way back out. So we had to tie the rope and it would go through your belt buckle or whatever.

So you had a lifeline and get back out of there. And to be honest, I'm not real claustrophobic, but I don't like being in really tight places where I can't feel a way out. And there was some, I mean, it was dark. Anybody here ever go in a cave, go cave?

I mean, it was dark. I'm telling you, it was the darkest dark I've ever seen in my life. We look out the window and that's dark, but if somebody was standing at that window with their hand on it, you'd see their hand. I'm telling you, this is so dark, you could put your hand literally in front of your face and not see your hand in front of your face.

That's dark. And so we went way down into this cave and we had to crawl through this hole. Now, my last 13, when I was 13, you know, I was really skinny. You know, I was a real skinny kid and, you know, not real big and weak climb through.

So you think if anybody could get through the hole, I could get through the hole, right? And everybody's kind of squeezing through the hole and the person in front of me squeezing through the hole and they were a little snugg getting through the hole and I'm thinking, oh, Lord, oh, Lord, you know, and we all have our flashlights on and you're trying to hold your flashlight and you're trying to hold onto the rope and you're going through. And I got through and we got through to the other side and there was this big opening, kind of like a room. And we all gathered in that room and the youth pastor said, okay, and everybody shut off your lights and everybody shut off their lights.

And it was the darkest moment I've ever experienced in my life. It was so dark. I hope our flashlights don't. I was thinking to myself, I hope I changed the batteries, right?

I hope I changed the batteries. How many when the power goes out? And I must say in my whole life, I've never lost power as many times as I have since I lived in dairy. It seems like every time there's a storm, there goes our power.

And so we're always grabbing for, you know, I even want to, last time I went out, I went and bought a bunch of them things they're about this big. You just press on them and they light up, you know? Bought a bunch of those to win the power because I just sent them all over the place and just touch them and it illuminates. But the amazing thing is that a little bit of light makes a lot of difference in a very dark room.

And so he would take a match first and light it and you see that spark and you can see everybody out just instantly and then it'd take a small little flashlight and then he had a bigger flashlight and it was amazing the difference of the light and what it would do. And we finished the rest of the excursion and came back out of the thing. But I've never forgot the illustration in my life. And we had gone on a mensory treatment many years ago.

I was on staff as a pastor at a church and the guy was the head of the mens ministry. It was a camping weekend. And that night he's going to give this illustration about a flashlight and I'll never forget it because he forgot to check the batteries. And he was all pumped up.

He had this great illustration of the flashlight and the flashlight didn't work because he forgot the batteries. But this story about this missionary goes on to say that he turns on the flashlight and they're just imagining something you've never seen before. It was like when we went to Southern Chiapas, Mexico. Anybody in here tonight went with us on that trip?

Chris, you remember when Susan walked into the village? You remember the responsive look on people's faces? When my wife walked into the village, their eyes lit up. And this has happened a number of times on mission trips.

They'd walk over and touch her. Because they had never seen anyone that was as fair skinned with as light of hair. Everybody they've ever seen in their entire life had dark hair. And I mean dark hair, right?

And so here we come on this mission trip and we get out of the van and here comes fair skin, white hair, Susan. And they're all like, it was like they had seen something they had never seen before. We had packed suitcases after suitcases after suitcases of supplies and we're unpacking them. And we got to the place where there were frisbees.

And so we started tossing a frisbee around and they were like, they thought they were dinner plates. They were like, why are these people throwing things that you eat on around like their toys? They didn't know that they were frisbees. They saw something they had never seen before.

There's nothing like a little child seeing something for the first time. It always made me laugh the first time. I'd see one of my kids taste something that they never tasted before. And especially when it was like ice cream.

And they had smacked their lips and their little tongues and move and they'd reach for the spoon. Or if it was something they didn't like, how many of you have ever seen somebody acknowledge something they had never seen before? And so this village, this guy turns on this flashlight and they had never, and so they did whatever ministry work they were going to, and as he was leaving, somebody went to him and said, hey, they're asking if it would be possible for you to leave that flashlight because they don't have any other way of having light like that. Maybe little fires or whatever, but they didn't have something that illuminated light.

Because it was one of those ones that, oh, you ever see one of them flashlights? It really puts out a big, it was one of them jobs. And it just lit up so far and the distance and the width. And they were just amazed.

Could you leave the flashlight? One of the most humbling experiences of my life was on that mission trip when a young mom in her early 20s sobbed and wept because we gave her a coloring book and crayons. And she was a young mom of little children. And she said that was the greatest gift she had ever been given in her life.

And it brought her to tears, a coloring book and crayons. She never had that before. She never had something and then you get it. And so they asked, could they have the flashlight?

Anybody understand what I'm talking about? And so he left the flashlight. And he was scheduled to go back there in a few months because they were taking another trip because there was a lot of stuff they were doing. And they were scheduled to go back and he was going to bring a team with them and come back.

And so he goes back into the village. And the interpreter runs up to him and says, hey, hey, hey, I got to get you before you go in. He's like, because they don't understand. They're telling me, I haven't been here either.

And I just got here ahead of you. And they're like really upset because for some reason, the light isn't working anymore. And they don't know what to do to get the light to work again. And so the guy's thinking about it.

They must have broke it. They must have somehow. And so he goes and he examines the light and everything looks fine. And he knows instantly what probably had happened.

Here when he left, somehow they forgot that you have to turn off the flashlight. So when they were ready to go to bed, they would just cover it up. And then the next night when they wanted it, well, how long do you think those batteries are going to last? They covered up the light.

And the light wasn't able to be effective anymore. It didn't work. So what use was it? What use was the flashlight if it didn't work?

And so he went and he checked it and he realized what had happened. And he instantly changed out and explained to them what had happened. And he said to him, you have to turn it off. Because if you don't, then there'll be no power.

And when there's no power, there's no light. And because they didn't maintain it, it went out. And can I say to you tonight, that's kind of the way it is with believers. If we don't maintain our relationship with Jesus Christ, if we don't maintain our walk with him so easily, the light can begin to dim if we're not careful.

And Church, do I need to remind you at all that we are the light? Because we have the light of Christ in us, right? But why do we hide it? Why do we hide it at times when we're meant to let the light so shine before men?

Amen? And to do that, we've got to maintain it. We have this salt of truth. But sometimes we keep it in a shaker.

Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Notice, he didn't say, he didn't say, try to be salt. He didn't say, try to be light.

He said, you are the light. You are the salt. It's not something that we can just muster up in and of ourselves. We can't try good enough to be the light or the salt.

We become the light of the world because of Christ in us. Greater, the Bible says, is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Amen? Listen, this isn't like a command to become something new.

It's a call to live out who we are in Christ. It's not like he's commanding us to be something new. He's just telling us to live out who we are called to be. Remember, I said a few weeks ago, we can be in the family, but that doesn't mean we act like the family.

You know, how many sports fans we have here tonight? You like sports? How many football fans? I like football.

I actually call it football more than the pros, but I like the pros. Obviously, if you're from around here, you're a stealer fan, you know, and so unless you're of the fasicas family, you're an Eagles fan. And I told him tonight, I just may have to be switching. I don't know if something doesn't change.

But there's been these debates through the sports talk of the current stealer defense. It's an ex-players are calling out the current players and saying, you're not worthy of the name on the back of your uniform. That's a stealer jersey. Well, just because they were the Steelers of the 70s and 80s and 90s, it's just different today.

It's different today. You watch some of these guys today. It's like nobody ever taught them how to tackle. You know, when somebody's running with the ball, they run up and just kind of throw themselves into them.

You know, we were taught you, you aim for the midsection and you drive and you wrap them up and you take them down, right? Today it's like somebody's running by them and they go, and these guys who played years of the, they're having fists, but something's changed. Something's changed. It's not that they've all changed, but there's, if you watch it enough, you can tell there's a change.

They were talking about one particular player who on the goal line, he could have, he could have engaged and tried to stop the guy, but they said he made a business decision because he realized if he would have engaged, maybe, just maybe he could have possibly injured himself or, you know, whatever. They, but he, they said he made it. He just decided instead of he just back off and let him go into the end zone. They, they, they say that, you know, back in the 70s and 80s, when a, when a Steelers game started, the stands were full and they were full until the game ended.

People leave early now. People don't show up. There's season ticket holders that have kept tickets through families, but they just, that it's times, times change, times change. People change.

And, and there's, there's a cultural shift and change that's happened in the world and it's happened certainly in the United States of America, but we're not called to be of the culture. He said we are light and we are salt. It's a declaration of who we are because of who he is and because of who he is, we must be who we are called to be. Amen.

So if Christ be in us, the hope of glory, if Christ be in us, then we must let our light so shine before men to the point where nobody should have to guess, are they a Christian? Are, I've worked with you for 10 years and I didn't know you were a Christian. No, it should be evidence. Are in and of ourselves how we conduct ourselves, what we say, the things that we talk about, how we do things, it should be evident that we are Christians.

And, and, and, and Lord gives us a call to, to live as who we are to be in Christ, the salt of the earth. We, we are the preserving power church. We are the preserving power in a decaying, and crebed world in society. We are the preserving power.

We have the hope of glory. Remember we've been clothed in salvation and he's given us a robe of righteousness. And because of that, we let the light so shine. But if we don't maintain the light, we don't always resemble the light because we've not maintained the light or we've not stayed in the light or we've not done what we've needed to do to grow and become more like the light, right?

But it's him shining through us. It's not us and us of ourselves. It is him shining in and through us in a hurting world. We can be the preserving power.

We should be the grace and the mercy and the love. You are the salty set of the earth. But if that salt loses its saltiness, how many no salt preserves? And back then specifically, salt was valuable not just as a seasoning but for preserving.

And without refrigeration, salt kept meat from spoiling. Salt adds flavor as well. How many at the dinner table say, Hey, can you pass me the, why do you want the salt? Because it adds some flavor to something that you're eating.

A cousin of mine, we were dating sisters when we were young teenagers and we, we, it was the first time we were invited to, you know, our girlfriends, families for anything and they invited us for Thanksgiving. And my cousin went with the turkey came on the table and she was a very proper woman and she had everything just so perfect and so nice and you were sitting there and they bring out the turkey and it was just carves so perfect and everybody's, you know, getting their food and my cousin says, can somebody get the catch up? She started to cry. The mom, she started to cry.

I'm kicking him under the table. I can't believe it was the first time we, you know, we got invited over and you made her mom cry and, you know, and mom went off into the kitchen and I said, did something happen? And the dad said, well, he said, ask for catch up. Men, you needed to put some flavor on what was and to her that was an insult.

I said, you're going to get that kitchen and I apologize right now. He said, what? I said, eat it if it is, even if it is bad. Eat it.

It was good though. It was good. It wasn't bad. But she was so upset because he wanted to put some flavor on it.

Do you know, unfortunately, some of our churches today we have to put, but we don't put, but some churches feel they have to put flavor on what's being done to attract. Listen, church, we are the born-again spirit-filled blood-bought church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We serve the one who is the most creative. He is the only creator.

Amen. We don't, he draws all men unto himself. Amen. He has never lost his power.

There is power, power, wonder, working power in the blood of the Lamb. Not everyone's going to like that and it doesn't matter to me. I believe it. That settles it.

We don't believe in the power of the blood. Well, it doesn't matter what you believe. That's what we believe. You don't believe what you want to believe, but this is what we believe.

We believe there's power in the blood. You believe that tonight? We believe in the work of the cross of Calvary. We will not, we will not shy away from that.

We believe that. We believe in the fruit of the spirit. We will not shy away from that. We believe that if God did it in the book of Acts, if He did it in the New Testament, we believe that He can still do it today.

Why? Because the Bible says He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And He doesn't operate based on our insecurities. I'm not even glad for that.

He is God. Amen? In that good. But sometimes we have to, sometimes I've read stories where church services, this was way back in like, I don't know, the early 90s I think is when this was going on.

There were churches that were holding revival meetings and they put perfume scent in the air ducts. And then at a certain time they'd turn the air conditioner on and then make a proclamation that the presence of the Holy Spirit was going to flow and there would be a tangible aroma of the Holy Spirit. And then that hit the air conditioner on and that perfume or whatever it was. Listen we don't need to doctor up perfume to manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit.

He is the Holy Spirit. Amen? He can manifest and do anything He wants to do. We don't have to do false things to draw people to God because God doesn't move in lies.

He is truth. Absolute truth, right? And He's enough. He's enough.

How many are so glad that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases? Are you glad for that tonight? Jesus is literally saying to us here that the world is dying, the world is suffering, the world is decaying. But we as His followers are, we are what makes the world better.

We preserve it. And that only happens when we live out godly lives, character, integrity, compassion, love and truth. And when we live those things, people see the goodness of God. Amen?

Think about it. Think of Joseph in Egypt. His integrity preserved a nation during famine because of his integrity. Think about Daniel and Babylon.

His faith preserved a remnant of righteousness in a pagan empire. Listen, you may be the only believer at your job, but be the salt in the light that He has called you to be in the midst of the darkness. Because if you're the only one there, He has put you there for a reason. He's placed you there for a reason.

You may be the only Christian in your family. You may be the only one in your neighborhood, but your presence will be what preserves it. Shine. Sol that's flavor.

Sol brings out the best in food. Just as a little bit can transform something bland. We should bring out the best in those that we're around. When we walk into a room, the atmosphere should shift.

When we walk into a room, the atmosphere should shift. Hope. If there wasn't hope, when we walk into the room, there should be what? Hope.

If there wasn't peace, when we walk into the room, what should there be in the room? Peace. There wasn't kindness. When we walk in the room, there should be kindness.

And love should be acknowledged and seen when we walk in to a room, the joy, the Lord, in you and I, should be what makes people thirst for what we have. When they see the joy in us, when they see the peace in us, when they see the love in us. We can't lose our flavor, church. We can't lose our flavor.

It'd be a horrible thing if we lost our flavor. It'd be like thrown out and trampled on. When losers believe their spiritual distinctiveness, we are distinct people. We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation the Bible says.

But when we compromise, when we blend in, when we stop standing for what is right or what is truth, we lose the power to influence. We're not called, Paul says, to conform to the world, but we're called to transform the world. Why? Because we are the light and the salt of the world.

You are light of the world, a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden. It'd been prophesied so many years ago that God planted this church 50 years ago on top of this hill that one day, one day it would illuminate over the town. That it would be a light on the hill is what had been prophesied and a light cannot nor should it be hidden. Because when it is, it loses its purpose.

It loses its effectiveness. Light does something else. Light exposes. Light exposes.

Light reveals. And light also pushes away darkness. Notice darkness does not argue with light. It simply disappears when light appears.

If we turn out all the lights in the building tonight and when we turn them on, you wouldn't hear the darkness going, hey, the darkness just disappears in the light. The light overcomes the darkness. So much of the world today, so much of the world today is just hidden and driven by darkness and hatred and sin. But just one light, your light, my light, just one light can make an incredible difference.

And when the power goes out, one small light, one small candle can light up an entire room. When we lose power and we just put on that little light, put one here and one over there, you turn on one candle, one candle there, it makes a huge difference. It illuminates. And it makes what once was dark now light.

It makes it easier to navigate. The Bible says that the word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our heart. Don't underestimate the power of one believer shining where it is that God has placed them. Your home, your workplace, your neighborhood.

All these places need Jesus. They all need the light. Light must be visible. Jesus said no one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl.

In other words, don't hide your faith. Some believers think they're called to be secret ambassadors of Christ. Wouldn't it be a shame? Wouldn't it be a shame if nobody knew that you belong to Him?

Wouldn't that be a shame? But Jesus says a city on the hill cannot be hid. If Christ lives in you and I, it should be evident. It should be evident that He dwells with us.

People should see Christ's character in your life and in my life. They should see Christ's love in your life and in my life. They should see Christ's actions in our actions, His compassion, in our words, His hope, in our life and in the deeds that we do. Remember, Jesus said, let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven.

Because He didn't say that the goal is to shine so that you and I get attention, but so that God would receive the glory. We're to let the light so shine so that God would receive the glory. Not you and I, but that God would receive the glory. We're not the source of light.

We're a reflection of it. We reflect the light and we shine only because He shines through us. It's very similar. The moon has no light in and of itself.

It just reflects the sun. And in the same way when the world sees our good deeds, the Bible says they will see Christ's reflection in us and the result will be they will glorify the Father in that good. The purpose of our influence is to glorify and honor God. Our works are never meant.

Our talents, our gifts, our abilities are never meant to point to ourselves, but to point to Him. People, people notice your kindness, your patience, your gentleness, and your love. People recognize that because they don't see it all the time. Susan and I have people come up to us on a regular basis.

We like to engage with people. We like to talk about people or talk about their lives and ask them questions about their lives. We go into maybe a restaurant at lunch or dinner or whatever. We engage with the person and ask questions about how they are, how their family is, how things going in their life.

And just the other day we ran into a woman that we've known for a long time and she came over to the table and she said, oh, oh, she said, I was so glad you came in. She said, I'm not telling everybody this. She got required. She said, nobody here knows this.

She said, but I have to have major surgery, major surgery. She said, I was hoping you would come in. She goes, because I wanted to tell you, we don't know this woman outside of, she's waited on us at the table. She's never been to our home.

We've never been to her home. But she has seen Christ in us. She has seen graciousness in us. She has seen kindness in us.

She has seen patience in us. She has seen gentleness in us. She's seen the love of Christ in us. And it's so funny.

And she said, no, I'm not telling anyone this either, but I'll tell you. And I'm not going to tell anybody this, but I'm going to tell you. And there was like four or five instances where she said, I'm not telling anyone this. She said, I'm not even telling my brother and his wife this, but I'm going to tell you.

Why would somebody do that? Because I'm so good. No. No.

No. But rather, I allow the light of Christ to reflect in me. And I live every day to do that. I really work.

I purposely want to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ every day so that he is seen in me and through me. And sometimes you don't have to preach a loud sermon to him. Let him just see who you are. Because when they see who you are, it can make a tremendous difference in their life.

Oh my, the world needs us. Church the world needs us to be who we are. The world doesn't need more noise. It needs more light.

Do you know how much noise there is in the world today? Do you know how many argumentative spirits there are in the world today? The world needs more light. It doesn't need more opinions.

It needs more salt. You and I are the salt of the world and the light of the world. He was declaring unbelievable, incredible truth to his disciples that still echo today. The power of the gospel doesn't rest in buildings, in great programs.

It rests in ordinary people like you and I who live out our faith. So come on church. Let's be the salt. Be salt.

Preserve what is good. Be the light. Push back at the darkness. Be real.

Be authentic. Let your life so glorify God. Maybe you've hidden your light. But I'm here today to tell you as Isaiah said, a rise shine.

The light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Amen. A rise shine. Church the world needs the light of Christ.

The world needs the truth of the gospel. The world needs to see that being lived out today. I would dare say the world needs to see more sermons. They need to see more sermons.

They've heard a lot of sermons, but they need to see more sermons. Be able to find out in the lives of those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. We can't live under the banner of that's just who I am. That's just the way I am.

No, because we have been redeemed. We have been born again. We now are of a different bloodline. That may have been the way you were, but it's not the way you are now.

That may be the way your family was, but that's not who you are now. Because if you are in Christ Jesus, your Bible says you are now a new creature in Christ. Amen? Let our light so shine before men.

Let's pray. Father, we love you so much. Thank you for the moments you've given us together tonight. We've talked about tonight, I believe so strongly that you've laid on my heart so many months ago as we've worked our way through Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 through now verse 16.

God, we thank you so much for the power and the truth that you have revealed to us and that you have spoken to us. Help us Father, that as we go out into this world, Lord, to let our light so shine before men. Lord, let us be the flavor. Lord, when we walk into a room, may the atmosphere change.

Lord, may we bring grace and may we bring peace and may we bring joy and may we bring love. Father, may they see, may they see you when they see us, that your light would shine in us and through us, that we would reflect your heart, your character and your nature. We love you, we give you praise. Lord, I pray over this house tonight.

Lord, I ask if there be any sickness and I hear Lord, there's these stomach bugs that are going around and so many are being affected by that. Lord, I pray for all the little ones who are not feeling well and all the little ones who are getting this bug. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray God, your protection and strength and healing and health over our community. Lord, we pray that you will just release strength and release healing, release peace and release joy over this community.

Father, we love you and we praise you and Lord, we just give you thanks for you are good. You are good and Lord, we love you tonight. I pray Lord, then in our rising and our sitting and our coming and our going. Wherever our feet may trod and whenever our hands may touch, I pray Father, we'll be blessed of you.

I pray God that we would do things out of vain conceit, but yet Lord, we would do them for your glory. Lord, we wouldn't do what we do to be seen, but we would do what we do to reflect you. So help us Lord as we are the conduits that you've placed. Out of all of the time and space in history, Lord, you put us here at this time for such a time as this.

Help us Father, to grab hold of your word and to live every day to reflect your character and your nature and your heart to a broken and hurting world. Be with us as we leave this place tonight and God build the anticipation in our spirits until we come back together again Sunday morning to give you praise and honor and glory in Jesus name, amen.