A Growing Knowledge of God

Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. Thank you for listening this Truth Network Podcast. Well, good evening to you from the Auditorium of Beacon Baptist Church.

That was not pre-recorded music you were listening to. That was Carly at the piano providing prelude music for us this evening. Oh my, can I ask you the question, is it well with your soul? Is it well? He has seen our helpless estate and has shed his own blood for our souls.

Wonderful truth. Thank you for praying for me. I'm feeling stronger, stronger than I think I've felt in a month when all this began, I think around the 14th of December. And last week as the week went on, I just was getting weaker and weaker. I was in the office all week, but I think on Friday morning I said to Pastor LaTour, I said, I'm pretty iffy about Sunday night. I don't know, would you be available to cover for me if I can't, if I'm not strong enough to preach? And he said he was working on something and that he would cover for me if I needed him to. And I needed him to.

Just could not trust my voice, constantly clearing my voice, coughing, sneezing. And so I think I made the right decision to just lay low over the weekend and regain my strength and rest. And so here we are middle of the week and I'm still feeling good, I have good stamina. So thank you for your concern. Thank you for praying. God has been kind and he has been gracious. Oh, blessed God, how kind are all thy ways to me, whose dark benighted mind was enmity with thee, yet now subdued by sovereign grace, my spirit longs for thine embrace. How precious are thy thoughts that o'er my spirit roll. They swell beyond my faults and captivate my soul.

How great the sum, how high they rise, can there be known beneath the skies. Preserved by Jesus when my feet made haste to hell, and there should I have gone, but thou dost all things well. Thy love was great, thy mercy free, which from the pit delivered me. A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood, the streams of love I trace up to the fountain God. And in his sovereign counsel see eternal thoughts of love to me. I love the theology of that hymn, I love how it is arranged, and I love how we can sing that, read it, meditate on it, and personalize it.

O gracious God, how kind are all your thoughts to me. Bow with me as we pray tonight. Father, we are glad, being justified by faith, that we have peace with you through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Father, thank you for what you have done for us in your son, the Lord Jesus. Thank you for redeeming us. Thank you for reconciling us. Thank you for propitiating the wrath away from us.

Thank you for adopting us into your marvelous family. Thank you for forgiving us of our sins. Thank you for writing our names in the Lamb's Book of Life.

We are rich indeed as we contemplate and think about what we have in the Lord Jesus. We come as children tonight. We come in humility. We come with no boast.

We come with no merit. We come only through His merit, our Savior's merit, the Lord Jesus' merit, through His blood and through His perfect righteousness. We thank you, God, for answered prayer. We thank you for your kind providence in our lives. We thank you that even in the midst of difficulty and storm you are with us, that your grace is made perfect in our weakness, that you delight to show yourself strong on behalf of those whose hearts have been made right toward you.

Lord, thank you for the promises of Scripture. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will answer you and you shall glorify me. We thank you that in the hour and day of trouble we have audience with you, that you do hear us and you will answer us. And you will answer us in such a way that you will enable us to glorify you in response to the trouble, the difficulty that has come upon us. And that's our prayer for our brothers and sisters tonight who are dealing with difficulty, are walking under the shadow of dark providence that you will sustain them, that you will meet their needs, that you will enable them to respond to these things in such a way that you are glorified.

Lord, thank you for Beacon Baptist Church, for brothers and sisters in Christ that you have kept by your grace. Lord, if we are in the way, it's because you set us on the narrow way. And you have kept us in the way. And you will keep us in the way until our final pilgrimage in this earth. So, Lord, we come to you tonight in believing faith that you've called us together in this way.

Thank you for those who have disciplined themselves and have arranged their schedules to be around their computers or whatever device they have that gives them access to this service. They've entered into this prayer. They are believing you for the things that I am voicing. So hear us, Lord, we pray, and bless our service. Draw from our hearts love and worship and praise and awe and wonder. Help us to love you more. Help us to love your word. Help us to love one another. Help us to love the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And help us to love this world and all of its darkness and all of its sin.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. A couple of announcements. Coffee and Courage will meet this coming Saturday at the home of Claudette Delorge beginning at 10 o'clock. And I think the plan is to be over at 12. That's this coming Saturday, January 16, 10 o'clock at Claudette Delorge's home on Doggett Street in Graham.

And then the next morning session of Coffee and Courage will be Tuesday, January 26 at 9.15 in the Fellowship Hall. We are continuing our services as we have over these past seven or eight months. People present service in the morning, live streaming all of our services Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.

But people present only Sunday morning. Our faith promise totals. We have received 88 cards.

Our mission total is at 157,253 and the building fund is at 12,808. Two verses printed at the top of my prayer sheet from Daniel Chapter 9. Daniel says, And I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession and said, O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity.

We have done wickedly and rebelled even by departing from your precepts and your judgments. A lot of prayer requests tonight, so let's go over them at this time. We are praising the Lord that Eddie and Clara Driver's Caden, I think, is a grandson, had oral surgery and it has gone well. He had his wisdom teeth removed this past Friday. Sue Elliott's aunt, she was at a rehab. She's 94, I believe, wasn't really ready to leave the rehab, but the insurance company was saying it's time for her to leave because they weren't going to pay anymore. So they appealed and they won that appeal. So she's able to stay in that rehab a bit longer. So we thank the Lord for intervening on her behalf. John Spencer is doing well after knee surgery and hernia surgery for which we are thankful and he is rejoicing.

Government official of the week is Gibsonville Alder Clarence Owen. Pray for him. Marcy Councilman is scheduled for a cornea transplant and cataract surgery from her other eye on February 2. So remember her as she anticipates that. May Counts is recovering slowly from COVID. She's weak. She's getting around the house with a cane. But little by little, I think, is getting her strength back. I think she's finally free of that season of running a temperature. She ran a temperature for 8 or 10 days in a row late in the afternoon. Allen and Theresa Dyer have both contracted COVID.

Pray for them. Drew Guthrie is not only battling COVID but also cancer. Thank you for interceding for her.

Larry Hunter is recovering from the removal of two tumors from his bladder and waiting, I think, still waiting on the results of the pathology report. Alice Marley is recovering from a fractured pelvis. In fact, I have a card here from Alice that I'd like to read at this time. She writes in Psalm 32-11, we are told to be glad in the Lord and rejoice. She says, and I am rejoicing in my recovery. She says, I owe so much to my church for all the prayers, the cards, and thoughtful, thoughtful deeds shown to me. I'm so glad to be a part of a caring people. Thank you for all the things you have done for me.

With love, Alice Marley. Our Pope is still waiting on the results of an MRI that he had done on his brain. His breathing test has been canceled until further notice. And then Joan Zenson has tested positive for COVID but is asymptomatic. She is with her daughter in Tennessee. But if she stays well, she will return home on this coming Saturday.

Under others, Gail Ellis' sister, Linda Bowker, is running high temperatures. She has COVID and there are spiritual needs in her life. Let me see if I can find this quickly here. There's a number of things going on in Duane Craig's family's life at this time.

So it may be best just to read this short email that came today at 11.20 in the morning. This came from Lori on behalf of Duane and the family. She says, we lost Duane's sister last night at about 9 o'clock. She'd had a heart attack and they rushed her to the hospital and weren't able to stabilize her and she died. They say, please pray for the family.

There are a lot of spiritual needs. Duane's dad is still in the VA with a blood clot in his leg, which they will put a stent slash screen in sometime today to prevent it from moving to his heart. Also, they will do a procedure to try and find out why he is bleeding from his lung. We don't know how we're going to tell him about Missy. He will be devastated. We covet your prayers for the days ahead.

So a lot of things going on in their home. Please pray for them. Jack Petry is back at the assisted living place in Pittsboro. He's having breathing difficulties. They have had him on oxygen, on and off with oxygen. His spirits are good, for which we're thankful, but pray for Jack. May Counts' sister and brother-in-law, Ernie and Nancy Robbins, live in Tennessee and had a fire that consumed their home and all of their belongings. Ernie had some burns and had some lung damage from smoke inhalation.

So pray for them as they recover and plan to rebuild on the very site where the house burned. Leslie Fannin is asking us to pray for a man named Keith Sermoski. He's a friend of Leslie Fannin's son, Joel, in Canada.

He's in his 40s. He passed out at work yesterday and was airlifted to a major hospital in Saskatoon. His wife is a believer, but Keith is not and they have three young children.

And the last word we had is that he had not regained consciousness. So pray for this wife and these children and this man, Keith. Mark Wallace is a man Pastor Barkman is asking us to pray for who has severe diabetes.

Stuart Waugh is slowly improving, still longing to leave Johannesburg and make his way back to Zimbabwe. He's under the doctor's care and he's weak. So nothing real, nothing of any significance in terms of new news with him. I know you're praying for Mike Webster as he has been through a five or six week regimen of cancer treatment for colon cancer. We are asking you to pray for the families of Dorothy Kinley.

This is Brenda Blanchard's mother. She had a heart attack and a stroke on the 24th of December and passed away this past Saturday, January 9. And the funeral was today. Pray for the family of Tony Trolinger. He died as a result of COVID and he's a neighbor to Paul and Gail Ellis. His wife Linda was recovering from COVID and then Tony contracted it and he passed away. Paul said from all appearances a man had been healthy prior to this.

And Paul is favorable in thinking about his relationship with the Lord, believing that he was a believer. I've already mentioned Dwayne Craig's sister Janice Wren, W-R-E-N-N, known to them as Missy. Under cancer, there's three names that are highlighted.

Dawn Hammond, daughter of Eddie and Claire Driver, is scheduled for surgery on January 20. She's been battling cancer. Sue Lynch's cousin needs a liver transplant, but it has been postponed since he's been diagnosed with cancer.

That's Darryl Preston. And then Mark Riff, brother-in-law of Brenda Blanchard, has cancer and COVID. Please remember Betty Duncan, who is at home having severe back pain right at this time.

And Ruth Patterson at High Grove Long Term Care in Reedsville, who had COVID, but I believe has recovered from it. So we thank the Lord for that. I have a number of thank you notes here I want to read and then one missionary update from Tony and Tammy Honeycutt. They write to the church family, thank you so much for the Christmas gift you gave Tammy and myself. God bless you for all you do for us and the ministry.

Philippians 4, 13, Tony and Tammy. This is from Tim Easley. He says to Pastor B and all, I hope you are all doing well in this new year. Thanks for the gift in 2020 and for many years. I'm doing well over here and pressing on in the faith.

God is good. Blessings, Tim Easley. And these folks are responding to a monetary gift of $275 that we sent to all of our missionaries at Christmas.

That's been a tradition for many, many years. This is from David and Anju Anderson in Richmond with Capital Commission. Dear Pastor Barkman and Beacon Family, thank you so much for your faithful monthly support.

Then your generous $275 Christmas gift. We appreciate your gracious help in partnering with us to reach our leaders. Thank you for your kindness and encouragement. We thank the Lord for you and appreciate the tremendous blessing that you are to us. With much love and gratitude, David and Anju.

I read that. This is from David and Donna Edens. They write to say thank you so much for your Christmas offering of $275 that we received last month. We thank you for your faithfulness to supply our ministry over many years. We appreciate your prayers for us. Thank you for praying for Donna concerning her injuries sustained in the auto accident on October 24.

Contrary to our fears, she is now walking again without having to use a walker. God continues to bless the work in Agadez. At least eight special Christmas meetings were held by different groups of believers this month. And there's one picture of one of the meetings on this prayer sheet. He says, Meanwhile, the Islamic terrorists continued to attack and threaten Niger. The Boko Haram came across the border to attack the southwest of the country on December 24, killing 28, wounding 100, and burning 800 homes.

Then on January 2, another group of jihadists came from Mali in the northwest to massacre over 100 civilians in two villages. Pray for the believers in Niger as they are being particularly threatened. Donna and I thank you for your part in this wonderful ministry through your prayers for us and your faithful financial support. And may God bless you sincerely in Christ. It's heartbreaking to hear of the persecution and the violence being perpetrated on people. And as troubling as it is for us, here's a man who's given his life to labor in that particular area. I have this update concerning the Sniders, Paul, Trish, Lane, and Marianne as they're ministering to the Kawai tribe in Pahun, Indonesia.

Whether or not they're right now, this will explain their whereabouts and what they've been doing. My dear friends, the family and I have been in Radford, Virginia for five months. I began working at the HeartCry Missionary Society office when we moved to Radford. Being involved in the work of missions while I recover has been a tremendous blessing. Our sending church, Bethany Bible Church in Big Lake, Minnesota, gave us their blessing to be a part of the work at HeartCry.

They believed this would only aid us spiritually while being close to my doctor. I want all of our supporters to know that I'm not sitting idly by while I recover from my sicknesses. I come into the HeartCry office when my health will allow it to help with the training and the needs of the Papuan HeartCry missionaries.

They have given me an office where I can study, pray, and write. The Lord answered our prayer about what I should be doing while in the States when we were invited to join the HeartCry team. Our desire is to return to Papua once I am fully recovered. However, according to my current health condition, I know that it will be a while before we can touch down on Papuan soil again. We greatly miss serving the Kawai people and we greatly miss the Doni evangelists that we work with every day in the village. Thank you for your constant prayers for my family and me. Please pray that the Lord will strengthen my health enough to return. The Lord has done a tremendous work in our daughter. She's dealing with noises and certain movements much better.

Pray for her salvation as we continue to teach and catechize her. How is my health? My MRI results showed some microvascular changes. This means that the small blood vessels in my brain are not giving enough blood to my brain matter. This is part of the reason why my nerves are still damaged and I'm having trouble mentally. I have an appointment with a neurologist in March to see what treatments are available. If left untreated, I could have some severe side effects in the future. I'm still battling depression, anxiety, and I'm having trouble focusing. The doctors have changed my medicine again to see if any positive results happen. The therapy for my facial and eye muscles was put on hold due to COVID. I'm not sure when I will be able to start this with a specialist. With all that said, I'm very thankful to the Lord that even though I am not able to serve right now on the field, He's allowed me to continue to be a part of the work from the States.

Plus, I have been able to do a lot of writing. Please pray for a writing project I'm completing this month. Pray for our family.

I'm thankful for a loving and caring wife who always supports me as I battle these symptoms. Pray for her. Pray for her sanctification in the Spirit. Also pray for my children to follow the Lord faithfully. Pray that my strength is strong enough for our daily family worship. I love to catechize my family. I need your prayers for mental strength to see this continue daily.

And finally, please pray that my health will return and that we can continue to serve in Papua Indonesia. That from our brother Paul Snyder. Well, let's spend some time considering a matter. On January 7, 1855, a young pastor started his sermon like this. He wrote the highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God who he calls his father.

J.I. Packer in his book, Knowing God, says this on page 17. There is something improving to the mind in a contemplation of the divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity.

So deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity. There are other subjects we can compass and grapple with. In them we feel a kind of self-content and go our way with the thought, behold, I am wise. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind than thoughts of God. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands the mind. He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around the narrow globe. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the deity. And here's the question that I'd like to consider with you tonight and that is, do you know God?

Do you know Him better right now than you knew Him at this place last year? Now, I want to be specific about what I'm asking. I'm asking, are you growing in your experiential knowledge of God?

And what do I mean by that? Well, it's possible to know an awful lot about God. It's possible to grow in our knowledge of God, simply our cognitive knowledge of God, but not really know God, not have a growing experiential knowledge of God. And my fear is that too many people have not been able to accurately make the bridge from the knowledge of God to the experiential knowledge of God. That is, the theology they know does not translate into the way they live their lives. They don't see the practical benefit of the study and the knowledge of God.

And that's what I would like to speak to you tonight about. And there are people who would disagree with me and oppose me and would say something like this, don't give me doctrine. I'm not interested in theology, just give me Jesus.

Now, think about that statement and the sentiment behind it. I'm not interested in theology. What is theology? Theos is God. It's the study of God. I'm not interested in knowing God.

I'm not interested in studying God. Just give me Jesus. Which Jesus are you interested in? Are you interested in the Jesus of the Jehovah Witnesses? Are you interested in the Jesus of the Mormons? Or are you interested in the Jesus who's revealed himself in Scripture? Too often people are only comfortable with the God of their own making, the God that they've created in their own image.

And that's a dangerous path to follow. We must be men and women committed to truth and to doctrine in the study of God as he has revealed himself in Scripture. We ought to be interested in Jesus as he has revealed himself in Scripture. John said in his first chapter in his gospel that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and truth. Jesus is God in the flesh. He is truth incarnate. He is the living truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And that's the truth we ought to be interested in. Listen to what Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 and in 2 Timothy 3. He's writing to Timothy, challenging this young preacher, Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance. And then he says later on in the chapter, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for what? For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers who will tell them what they want to hear.

So, I came across a survey that was done in 2018, so this isn't very old, it's just a couple of years ago, and this survey said this. 83%, now think with me about that, 83% more than 8 out of 10 teenagers said moral truth depends on the circumstances and only 6%, only less than 1 out of 10 said that moral truth is absolute. The truth depends on the circumstances, truth depends on your understanding, truth depends on culture, truth depends on so many things, there's no such thing as absolute truth.

That is a slippery, slippery slope. We're talking about the matter of epistemology. Epistemology answers the question, what is your source of truth? What do you claim to be your source of truth? And when people say, I don't believe in absolute truth, truth is relevant, it depends on the culture, it depends on circumstances, depends on me, what's true for me can't be necessarily true for you. And that's just an absolute contradiction because if there's something that's true, then there's something that's untrue. It has to be that way, there can't be, everything's true, nothing is wrong. In the scriptures, we meet the one who is truth incarnate, truth in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when Jesus stood before Pilate and Pilate proposed the question, what is truth?

It was staring him in the face. Jesus. So here are a number of areas that we would probably put under the category of counseling needs in a person's life. Perhaps I may address an issue that is pertinent to you tonight as we think about this.

I want to raise about five or six issues that are very typical in our lives. I want to show you how knowledge of God, knowledge of the attributes of God, bridge us back to our real needs. This idea that doctrine and theology is not practical is nonsensical. My posture is there is nothing more practical than doctrine and theology and I want to demonstrate that for you. For instance, when you are weak, when you are insecure, where are you going to go to get help with that?

Sense of insecurity, sense of weakness, you're going to look within yourself, you're going to look around and take inventory of what might be around you to help you. Or if you are a Christian, are you going to fall back on, draw upon, rest in the fact that you might be insecure, you might be weak, but God is omnipotent, He's all powerful. That's what we need, we need to preach doctrine, preach theology to ourself. None of us view weakness in a positive light, but if we are understanding the Bible and understanding the purposes and will of God, we understand that in our weakness, God has set the stage to manifest His power. That's what Paul was talking about as he was speaking of his trials, that God's power is made manifest in His weakness, therefore He would boast in His weakness that the power of God might be on display in His life. How many of us say, you know what, I'm looking forward to the next time I'm in a place of weakness that God's power, God's grace might be put on display. We don't typically think that way, that's why we need our minds renewed by the Word of God, because once we begin to understand this and have our mind renewed by the Word of God, we will be aligning ourselves with God's purposes so that when we are in a place of weakness, we understand, ah, I might be weak, but God is powerful. God is not weak, God is going to display His power in my life. So be encouraged with that. How about when you're confused, you're just confused, you can't make sense of things, you're confounded by the perplexities of life.

What do you do about that? Well, there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors, it's good to come and talk to a pastor, to someone who is esteemed, someone who's mature, but what about anchoring your life and your confusion in the God who is omniscient, the God who knows all things? And it's God's purpose, His wisdom that has determined that we are not going to know all things. In fact, we don't know very many things about the future. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, I don't know what is around the bend in the road in my life, and neither do you, and God has done that on purpose.

So that we wouldn't trust in what we know to be coming, but we would trust the God who knows and ordains and determines what's coming. Now, I'm not suggesting you to be content with confusion when you don't know what to do and you don't know how to make sense out of things, but isn't there something so satisfying to realize? There's a God who's omniscient, a God who never learns anything, a God who knows it all that we can rest in. What about when you're lonely? When you're lonely, does not the truth that God is omnipresent, that God is with you at all times, He's the omnipresent God?

Shouldn't that theology, shouldn't that doctrine, shouldn't that attribute of God minister to you and help you in that hour of loneliness? The psalmist says in Psalm 139, where shall I go from your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

If I make my bed and sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. That's good news for a child of God. This is very bad news for those who are pretending that God doesn't exist because there's no escaping the presence of God. You can't give God the slip, you can't outrun God, you can't find a place on planet earth where God cannot find you. We're never alone as a child of God.

Do not fear, Isaiah 41, 10, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Not when resources are running low. Financial buying, financial crisis. As long as I've known of the ministry in Zimbabwe, the needs so outweigh and outpace the resources, it can become discouraging after a while. I got news recently that a man who is a friend of Harry Maples, who has helped Harry Maples on his plane tickets to Zimbabwe as he's gone and helped carry on training conferences with me, this man lives in Texas. He sent a check for $10,000 to help with relief famine in Zimbabwe. And I had two thoughts about that.

One, I thought, well, praise the Lord. Harry told me about this guy and how generous he was and how he had a heart for the ministry there and I knew he'd helped Harry and his expenses in travel, but then to think that he was able to give $10,000. So first thing is I thank God for the man and for the tangible help it will bring to the men. And then I thought of the number of people over there and how $10,000 and how little in terms of the need that is.

And I don't say that to discourage anybody. I'm glad we've got $10,000 to send over there to buy whatever food we can, to help to whatever degree we can, but only God has unlimited resources. So when we are short at the end of the month and we are feeling the pinch and our resources are exhausted, what do we do? We rejoice in a God who says, I am Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. He provides ahead of time. He knows our needs. He's promised to meet our needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. What about when we're doubtful, when things go terribly wrong, when we have sinned and are suffering the consequences of our choices?

What then? Well, David wrote Psalm 34 when he was in a heap of trouble. But in spite of his sin and his mistakes, the Lord delivered him, and in response, David wrote in Psalm 34, 8, O taste and see that the Lord is good.

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Sometimes when we're in a mess and the messes of our own making and our own doing, we feel like, well, God's dealing with me. God is chastening me. I am suffering the consequences of my choices, my decisions.

So just knuckle under it and bear through it and learn what you can through it. No point looking to God. He's the one who's brought this on me.

That's wrong thinking. What about Jonah? When Jonah was at the bottom of the sea, was that because of his choices? Was that a mess of his own making? Absolutely.

But what did he do? He cried unto the Lord from the belly of the fish, and God heard him and God delivered him. So let's not entertain thoughts that, well, I'm in a mess, God's chastening me, God's disciplining me, and God is not able or willing to help me in this.

No. Let's get our theology right. So there's just a number of areas that I just wanted to challenge you with, and this is, I think, what we need. We need to be able to grow in our experiential knowledge of God, bring the theology that we know, that we have in our head, that we've been taught, and bring it to bear upon life, where the rubber meets the road. When you wake up in the middle of the night and this is on your mind, and you can't sleep, and you're lonely, or you're worried about this, or whatever it is, let the attributes of God, the knowledge of God, fill your heart and mind and bring you in a place of peace.

He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. That honors God. That pleases God. That glorifies God.

Well, that's my challenge for tonight. We have many, many prayer requests. Please join me as I pray, and you join me in concert as we talk to the Lord about these needs. Father, we thank you tonight that you are everything that we have said. You are the omniscient God. You are the omnipresent God. You are the omnipotent God, and you are so much more beside. Thank you that you have saved us by your grace. You keep us by your grace. You have purpose to use us in this world to be salt and light.

You're working in us, both to will and to do according to your good pleasure. You are conforming us more and more into the likeness of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, from one degree of glory to the next. So we praise you.

We praise you for the agenda that you have, that you are committed to, that you will see to its fruition. We praise you for answered prayer for Kayden Hammon, for Mary Hicks, and for John Spencer. We pray that you'll calm Marcy Councilman as she contemplates eye surgery on February 2. Thank you that you brought her through this last one.

She knows somewhat of what it will be like, but help her to look to you and trust you in it. Thank you for being with May Counts and for the recovery that she's known. Please bring her to full recovery from COVID. We commit Betty Duncan to you and the severe back pain that she's been experiencing, and Brother Pat, as he bears so much responsibility for her care.

For Alan and Theresa Dyers, they both have contracted COVID. Lord, have mercy upon them and raise them up. For Drew Guthrie, Lord, please help this dear sister. Thank you that she's trusting you. Thank you that she's looking to you. Lord, may her faith not fail. And Lord, would you be pleased to arrest this cancer in her body and return her to a measure of health if it would please you. For Larry Hunter, thank you for this brother.

We anxiously await the news of the pathology report, and in the meantime, Lord, keep him by your grace and nulling as well. Thank you for Alice Marley, for this sweet Christian woman. Thank you that she's healing from her fractured pelvis. Thank you for Ruth Patterson. We have such fond memories of Pat, and he's been with you for maybe 10, 12 years already.

And no doubt Ruth will join you before long. We lift our Pope to you and ask that you would help this brother in his breathing difficulties as he awaits the results of the MRI as he continues to trust you for the salvation of his dear wife. Lord, please save Angela, Lord, we would ask. For Joan Zenson, we thank you that she's been able to be with her daughter.

And despite the fact that she's tested positive for COVID, she is asymptomatic. We thank you for that, and we pray that we continue that she will be able to return to her place of residence. We pray for Linda Bowker, Gail Ellis' sister, help her to recover from COVID and work in her heart. Oh, Lord, please draw near to Duane and Laurie Craig and all that they're dealing with in the passing of a sister and then the demands of the care of his dad and telling him of his daughter's death. Lord, give them grace, give them all that they have need of.

Thank you for Jack Petry, strengthen this brother. For May's sister and brother-in-law, Ernie and Nancy, thank you for sparing their lives, and we pray that Ernie will make a full recovery from these burns and the lung damage that he has experienced. For Joel Fannin's friend in Canada, we pray for this man who has fallen unconscious, and we ask you to have mercy upon him.

Lord, preserve his life, and Lord, save him. Thank you for his wife, who is a believer, and for these children as they wait upon you. Lord, encourage them, strengthen their faith.

For Mark Wallace as he's battling severe diabetes. For Stuart Waugh and Mike Webster and Paul Snyder and many of our other missionaries, Lord, please, encourage them, strengthen them, and meet their needs. We pray for these families, Lord, who have known bereavement in recent days, for Brenda Blanchard and the death of her mother, for Linda Trollinger and the death of her husband, neighbors to Paul and Gail. Please give them an ongoing ministry there, we pray. For Josh Boyd, who is in need of saving grace, Lord, please break in upon him. Preserve his life until you save him, we pray. We ask you to give success to the surgery that John Hammond will be enduring on January 20. Sue Lynch's cousin, Darryl Preston, help him to recover from this cancer, that he might be able to have this liver transplant, and then Brenda Blanchard's brother-in-law Mark Reef will administer to this man.

Lord, we are overwhelmed as we think of all these needs. We only know bits and pieces. We know them because they're acquaintances of people in our church, and yet, God, you know them. You know them inside and out. The very hairs of their heads are numbered.

You know everything about them, their circumstances. You've ordained these trials in their lives. You have good and gracious purposes, and, Lord, we ask you to bring them to pass. For these people's good and for your own glory, thank you that we can gather on this Wednesday evening to talk to you and find instruction from the Word of God. Lord, dismiss us with your benediction of blessing that maketh rich and maddeth no sorrow, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.