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February 25, 2023 7:58 am

Comfort In A Troubled World

Lighting Your Way / Lighthouse Baptist

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February 25, 2023 7:58 am

Life is full of trouble and hardship, but God's faithfulness and comfort are always available to us. Through trials, we can be humbled, broken of our pride, and deepened in our dependence on God's word. We can also be validated in our faith, turned away from sin, and matured in our spiritual endurance. God uses suffering to remove our love for the world and to cause us to lean on Christ. He also allows us to minister to others who are facing similar struggles, and to be a witness to the world. Ultimately, God's sovereignty and love are at work in all things, even in our suffering, and we can trust Him to bring us through it and to use it for our good.

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I think where I sleep But I mean, we don't know that it wasn't a thing of an aces, but it was a criminal term. It was a civil phenomenon.

So it's an aesthetic genre. But the discovery, which is science had a hand, our time. But discovery conversations about water. And our songs are.

So, so that's not surviving. I'll just miss a both each of them in place. If I'm going to have a dozen dispersion, it's a good thing, yes, and everything else turned into seven days. And I don't know why anyway, I'm basically. I'm sorry, this one is not even.

And so, and a part of it is also using a survey in a man that is engaged in that kind of sexually kind of supposedly protected and used to find out that it's just my data. This is what we're starting to be very bad guy if they start. She's all in every time. Every time it's different than everybody else's time. She's traveling and going on her own soul.

She's even more like she can get set up in time. Good evening, Lighthouse Baptist Church. Will you stand and join with us as we sing? Great is thy faithfulness. As you listen, and sing these lyrics.

Just remember how great is our God and what He has done for you. Great is thy name. Oh God, my Love her. Mary There is no shadow. I don't know how The heat.

With Yeah. Thou changest. God, like compassions, they fail. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is life.

Faithfulness. Yeah. Great idea. Is my faith? Oh man.

Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, thy hand have provided great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. And on the second. Springtime and harvest Sun, moon and stars in their For s Joy. With all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning, my morning, new mercies I see all I have need in thy hand hath owned it. Great is thy faithfulness, God unto me. Pardon for sin, and the peace that endure it, thine own dear presence to cheer it. To kind strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Blessings on mine with ten thousand days. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. For each my morning new mercies I see all I have needed, thy hand hath oh thy day. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Amen. Amen. Our scripture reading tonight comes from the book of Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22. where the writer says, And almost all things are by the law perfect. With blood, and without shedding of blood.

Blood is no remission. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ to shed his blood on the cross for our sins. should cause us to cry out tonight in gratefulness and worship and praise. Yeah. Will you continue singing with us tonight?

Oh the blood. Oh, the blood crimson. Love price of life's demand. Same place on Him the hope of every man. Oh, the blood of Jesus washes me.

Oh, the blood of Jesus shed for me. What a sad replies that save my life. Yes, the blood is my victory. Save your Son, holy one, slay me so I can live. Oh, save the Lamb.

The great I am who takes away my name. Oh, the blood of Jesus washes me. Oh, the blood of Jesus shed for me. What a sacrifice that saved my life. Yes, the blood is my victory.

Oh, the blood of the Lamb. Oh, the blood of the Lamb. Oh, the blood of the Lamb, precious blood. Of the Lamb, what a sacrifice that chap my life. Yes, the blood is my victory.

Oh, what love, no greater love grace. How can it be that in my sin, yes, demon man, he shed his blood for me. Oh, the blood of Jesus washes me, oh, the blood. Of Jesus shed for me what a sacrifice that saved my life. Yes, the blood is my victory.

What a sacrifice that saved my life. Yes, the blood, it is my victory. Amen. Good singing, church. Turn around.

make somebody feel welcome. Tonight.

Well, it is so good to have you with us this evening. Lighthouse Baptist Church. Is anybody gl Thankful for a 70 degree day. In the month of February, man. Who's like, where's the cold at?

Is there anybody that exists like that outside? Ben, yeah. Yeah. But uh well we're glad to have you. Once you stop being so friendly tonight, we'll continue in the service.

And so uh You may be seated at this time. We're so glad to have you with us tonight. If you have a prayer request, That you would like to have prayed for, just raise your hand, and we have two. Good looking young men right here in the middle aisle. And they'll bring you that green prayer card.

If you have a prayer request you would like, Prayed for and mentioned to the congregation, just write that prayer request out on the green card. We'll collect those at the end of service. If you would like that to be privately prayed for by just the staff, just write the word private at the top and we won't mention that out loud. If you are watching online, we thank you for tuning in. You can also submit your prayer request through the comment section there and uh on online.

So if I could have some um Folks, help me pass out our January monthly report. I need maybe four or five people. could do that. That would be great. Thank you, Melissa.

I'll just let you break those up, Carl.

some folks that can help do that. Get a couple more guys. Yeah, Ben, if you wouldn't mind helping these guys down here, that'd be great. Thank you. And as they're coming around Maybe mention a couple things inside the bullets, and we're going to be jumping back in in just a moment to our 2 Corinthians study.

So we will be going to the book of 2 Corinthians after we review our. Monthly report. We will be observing the Lord's Supper this Sunday, so I encourage you to be just Thoughtful and prayerful in preparation for taking the Lord's Supper. We always want to make sure our hearts are right with the Lord as we enter into that time. We have a business meeting the last Sunday night of the month.

We'll have a preaching service and then introduce new nominations for trustees and deacons. Um We have our missions conference coming up March 5th through the 8th, and looking forward to that. Going to be presenting some new. Missionaries and we do that every year in our missions conference so just be aware that that's coming up and just being prayerfulness for that meeting. You uh Don't have a monthly report, just raise your hand and these guys will get by and give one of those to you.

So anybody else needs one of those, just raise your hand. We'll give that to you tonight. All right. Let's take a minute just to walk through that January report. Isn't it amazing we're already pushing halfway through February 2023?

Just seems like time flies on, doesn't it? Yes, yes it does.

So, praise the Lord. We had 14 decisions to trust Christ in the month of January, and we give the Lord praise for that. Amen. And uh yeah, let's give the Lord a hand for that. Praise God.

Um You know, we've seen, I think, 13 folks come and confess Christ as their Savior the last couple Sunday morning services, and that's so exciting to see. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness. We averaged 572 in the month of January. Praise God, Sunday. This last Sunday, we had 62.

I think uh Six almost seventy, six, seventy around there. Uh so great turnout Sunday. Uh life groups we had average 272, Wednesdays 312. visitors, thirty eight and then new members, four new members in the month of January, so praise God for that. Because this is online, we don't go through the number details, but you can see those January total income, You can see the general giving.

What came in for missions, building, transportation. benevolence. Uh interest, income. And then total income. And so, praise the Lord that you can get some good bank interest right now, right?

So. Our finance manager does a great job with that.

So total income, you can see in the month of January. Mid-January total expenses in the general fund. Missions um building fund. Um. And then extra mortgage payments.

You can see we're able to pay a huge chunk in the month of January toward the prepayment. That's on top of our normal payments.

So we're able to pay that down. And now we're on pace to pay the facility to be debt-free at the end of 2024.

So under two years. Amen. That's exciting. Praise the Lord. And that time we think we need a bigger building.

You know, things continue to grow, and we praise God for his continued faithfulness.

So transportation, benevolence, you can see the total expenses. And then the account balances at the bottom there is laid out in the General Missions Building, Transportation, and Benevolence Funds.

So average offering in the month of January was 22,516.52.

So praise God for his faithfulness. Just a wonderful way to start the year off. The ink is black. The bills are paid, and all God's people said. Amen.

Praise God for his goodness and his faithfulness.

Well, tonight we're Going to be jumping into 2 Corinthians chapter number 1.

So if you have your Bibles, you can go ahead and flip to 2 Corinthians. Make sure you're in 2 Corinthians and not in. 1 Corinthians. Or you'll be wondering what version I'm reading out of. Where is he reading from?

So sec 2 Corinthians, it's on page 1723, okay? 2 Corinthians, we're going to read chapter 1, verse 1 through 7.

So if you have your place and you honor the Word of God as we stand to read those verses. Says in verse number 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are at Achai, grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the suffering of Christ aboundeth in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

Which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering which we also suffer. Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation. That word consolation there is also the word for comfort and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the suffering, so ye shall be also partakers of the consolation or the comfort. We're going to actually read down to verse 11.

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf. Father, as we come to this place tonight and gather together, we are so thankful for your word.

We are so thankful for the God who sent his Son to die for our sins, and we worship you as our Savior. We pray tonight that your word would bring us comfort, that you would give us an understanding of why trials and suffering and hardship and troubles come into life. Give us a biblical perspective.

Some folks in this church, some dear folks that may be watching also or later listening to this message, have gone through some heavy seasons in life and perhaps are in one of those valleys now. And I pray that your word would accomplish comfort. I pray that they would find you to be the God of all comfort and the father of mercies. And, Lord, as a body, that we would see people suffering and hurting, and we would have compassion upon them, and we would seek to comfort them in their afflictions. Lord, be with us now.

May you bless this service. We ask it in Christ's name, and God's people said. Amen. Amen. You may be seated tonight.

I think it would be fair to say that these last few years we've lived on. this planet and then America have been some troubling years. for most people. You know, life can be very difficult at times. And challenging.

No matter who you are, there is trouble in life that you have to deal with and work through. Uh you know, we all have car troubles. I was talking to somebody this week who, um needed to change their brake pads and Three of them came off clean and then There's always a special tool you need, isn't there? And uh Said, did you lose your salvation? Because if I could ever lose my salvation, it would be working on a vehicle.

Praise God for eternal security and the saving of the saints and his ceiling. Amen. But I know, I'm sure I've grieved the Holy Spirit at times. But we have car troubles. Usually, something in our house needs worked on fixed.

Um there's always There's always something that happens the dryer vent something is leaking the water line got froze Now sprung the league Health troubles come. Backs. Anybody wake up with back pain today? Do anybody have knee troubles that's Yeah. Feeling better already, right?

It's nice when other people raise their hands, to be honest with you, isn't it? A little consoling. It's like we're not in this boat alone. That's nice. Anybody have shoulder pain, high blood pressure?

diabetes, you know, i i it's all of that stuff. And then there are the tragedies. There are car accidents, there's people that we love who deal with heart attacks, loved ones who. We find out have cancer. Those are heavy phone calls.

Then we deal with work trouble. There's always that guy at work, isn't there? Seemed like every job I had, there was always that person. It's like now I understood what Paul meant with a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. Uh there's always that boss.

Just ask the people who work at Lighthouse. And then if it wasn't for those things, then you have societal problems, right? sin being promoted and then protected. You have clear racism being promoted by those who profess to be tolerant. Hate being put on full display through riots beating up innocent people.

I just saw this last week.

Some some hate violence because of just just people in a in a mob setting beating up and slamming a pumpkin on top of a young, skinny kid that had nothing to do with anything, but because he was the wrong skin color, they just beat him up. And it just things that happen in the world today that are just so sad. You you you look on the T V and see the murders, the rapes, the abuses and And and society has just become a mess, hasn't it? I was talking to a couple of police officers this week, and I said, you know, you guys are the last line of defense. There's four lines of defense God created.

He created the conscience. family, the church, and when those three institutions are destroyed inside of a culture, the last line of defense is law enforcement. And when you have leadership in your country that has now assaulted law enforcement, you have nothing left but... Chaos. And they wonder why.

So we feel that, don't we? We feel that because we live here. You know, my grandfather lost his health and his mind serving this country. Seen him die in the V A. And and and you love your country, you love you love what what we see and what people have sacrificed for it.

And that troubles weigh on you. Then we have financial struggles. We've seen inflation jump thirteen percent over the last two years. We've all felt it in our spending. You go to the store.

You buy a two by four or some building material. over the last six months and We've also seen the financial situation in this nation. You know, we are $31.5 trillion in debt as a nation. It's so hard for me not to go there right now. When you have a President boasting that he's cut the deficit, That is a lie.

You don't cut the deficit because we went through cutting. COVID. Of course spending was out of control then. Just be honest at least about it. I could talk about that at length.

I don't want to. $15 trillion in debt in 2011, $31.5 trillion today. That's that's the definition of insanity. We were five and a half trillion dollars in debt in 2000. Yeah.

Where would we be today if we ran finances like the government? And they want to check our finances. Every $600 bank acc are you kidding me? You talk about Matthew 7, 1. Why don't you get the plank out of your own eyes?

It's crazy, isn't it? But that stuff can cause some stress when you begin to think about it.

Some some irritations, some troubles in the world. I mean, we would be in prison if we ran our finances like the government. And then we deal with relational troubles in life. We have marriages. Um, aren't you thankful you're not married to you?

You ever thought about that? Could you imagine? Be tough, wouldn't it? Praise God for a wife like mine because I would not want to be married to someone like me. We have struggles with children.

parent relationships, then we have co-workers, neighbors. Even people at church we can have strife at times with. And then outside of all that, we deal with ourself. We s we deal with the struggle of sin in our own thoughts, our attitudes. We don't say the right things at times.

Our actions aren't always right. The reality of Romans 7:18 is true. Paul says, I know that in me, that in my flesh dwells no good thing. We agree with John in 1 John 1:8 that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth isn't in us.

You know You say, why are you saying all that? I feel either you feel really worse now after coming to church, or you're feeling better because you know that you're not the only one. But Job was right when he said in Job chapter 5, verse 6 and 7, Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, yet man is born into trouble. as the sparks fly upward, And he says in Job 14:1, man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. We don't live very long and we have a lot of trouble in life.

If you deal with trouble in life and you feel like nobody else's life is like yours, there is. There is a lot of people. There are a lot of people that That have it worse than every person in this room. There there are some heavy situations. You know, and and then there's also times when God just feels distant.

When it just feels like, Lord, are you there? I know that you're there, but I just don't sense you. being there. Anybody ever felt that before? Like God just feels far away?

Um do you know you're not alone in that? Job 13, 24, Job said, Wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine enemy? In Psalm 10.1, the psalmist says, Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? Psalms twenty two, verse one.

This is David, but it's also the greater David who cried out from the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me? Isaiah said it in chapter 8, verse 17: I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. And so God may seem distant at times, the truth is, he's with us. And tonight I want to look at three truths from this portion of Scripture.

Um that could maybe give us some clear clearer understanding of why we have such trouble And how to find comfort in a troubled world. Because, friends, Trouble will come. It is coming. And according to the Bible, things will get worse before they get extremely better. The Bible says uh Deceivers will wax worse and worse.

Trouble will g get worse. People were deceived and being deceived.

So let's look at three truths from this tonight. First of all, let me give you about a dozen different reasons in the Bible why. Why God can allow suffering and trouble. You need to see that trouble and trials in our life and suffering in our life. Can be used in extremely beneficial ways in our life.

Like, what if God had a bigger purpose in our life than pleasure? What if he could produce something better in our life from pain than he could out of? Comfort. Like, like, what if there was something God could do greater in us if we could just. Understand.

You know, we do live in a fallen world. We are subjected to the effects of sin. But let me give you about a dozen reasons why God can allow these things. Deuteronomy chapter 8, you could hold your place here and flip back there. We will show these on the screen.

But Deuteronomy eight, these are worth circling, underlining in your Bible. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse number 2. First of all, Troubles and trials. Hello. allowed in our life or brought into our life by God.

To reveal what is in our hearts. Deuteronomy 8, verse 2, God tells the nation of Israel, Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness. to humble thee and to prove thee. And read the rest of that with me. To know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no.

So One reason that God brings us through these wilderness journeys. that can last for a Lengthy amount of time in life. is to expose Not to God what's in our hearts, because He's omniscient, right? God's not like, I'm curious what they have in their heart. I'd really like to know.

I I I I I need to find that out. No. No, the trial is there, the challenge is there, the wilderness is there for the purpose to show us what's in our heart. Have you ever said something like this? I never would have said that if they didn't.

The only reason I did that was because they We hear it every time our kids get in a fight. Our kids hate it every time we get in a fight with their spouse. But we like to blame shift. What you find in Scripture is anytime you respond in a sinful way, anytime you respond in a good way, It wasn't the person outside of you That that created that in you. It was the person outside of you that turned the temperature up enough to expose what was already there.

It's not their fault. They're just they're just a temperature. They're just the heat. And when the heat warms you up, what bubbles out is is really what's in your heart.

Well, the only reason I went off on them was becau well, the reason you went off on them was because that was what was in you. That's what was in you. If I have a cup up here and it's a styrofoam cup, and I said there's coffee in here, and you couldn't see it, and it was sitting on a table, the only way you could see what was in there was if an outside force hit the cup and it spilled it over, and what spilled over would be exposed by that which hit it. And when the pressures of life hit us, they begin to expose what's really on the inside, don't they? Secondly, troubles and trials will also break us of our pride.

Trials have a way of producing humility. Uh you should be more humble now than when you were y when you were younger. If you're 40, you should be more humble than when you were 20. If you're 60, you should be more humble than when you were 40. Pain has a way of carving pride off.

Deuteronomy 8 verse 3 says this. One of the reasons he brought them through the wilderness journeys, it says, and he humbled thee and suffered. thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know.

So he sought to produce humility in their hearts, and the way that he did that was. through trials, through Physical difficulty. Isn't that what God did to Nebuchadnezzar? And the problem of pride is more destructive to us than the pain it takes to remove it. Let me say that again.

The problem of pride is more destructive to our spiritual and physical and relationships. Than it is the pain that it takes to remove it. God would rather. cause pain to remove pride from our life and allow pride to cause pain in our life and in the life of others. Thirdly, trouble and trials can deepen your dependence on and faith in God's word.

Deuteronomy 8, verse 3, going back, it says this, And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. He was teaching man there is a resource that you need more than physical food to sustain you. You need the word of God. That is your sustaining power. And trials should drive us to God's word.

The Christian who is able to endure in life is a Christian who has endured in the scriptures. And isn't that what Jesus did in Matthew 4? Satan came and tempted him. He went to the word, didn't he? It is written.

You know, when the cup of Christ's life was. was was hit He spilled out the scriptures. I mean, when he's starving to death and offered bread, he says, It is written, Men shall not live by bread alone. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. The scriptures spill out of his mouth.

I mean, Satan is turning up the temperature, and scripture comes out. Number four, troubles and trials will validate the genuineness of your faith. It's one of the greatest benefits of trials. Matthew 13, 21 talks about this. It says, Yet hath he not rooted himself.

He dureth for a little while. He professes he's saved. He lasts for a little while. But when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he's offended. His faith doesn't last.

The Bible tells us very clearly that when you're saved, your faith lasts. Matthew 24, 13, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And you know why you endure? It's not because you're strong enough, it's because He is strong enough. 1 John 2, 19 says, They went out from us, and I've been quoting this the last couple Sundays.

But they were not of us. Why did people leave the church? Why did they leave the body of Christ?

Well, they went out because they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that it might be made manifest. They were not all of us. You love the Word of God.

You love the body of Christ. You love the ministry of the saints. Jesus came to build the church. That's what you want to be a part of. Who can it be said that suffered more than Job?

Yet, in all his affliction, Job did not fall away and abandon his faith in God. Satan thought it would happen, but it couldn't happen. Because Job was sustained by God's grace. And if it seems supernatural, it's because it was. And though Job was responsible to be faithful, God.

Gave him the grace to be sustained. Job 13:15, he says, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. God says, He's one of mine. Turn the temperature up. and you'll never pull him out of my hand.

God uses trouble and trials to remove our love from the world. W w when trials come in life, don't don't we see things in a Y you you look at the world and you just lose affection for it. I mean, if we went down to Dayton Children's ICU room today, none of those parents would care about their homes. They don't care about their cars. They don't care how much money they make.

It just it just removes the concern of physical stuff. And not saying people are. all that way, but that's the natural inclination that we all have and it a as a natural person is to to begin to fall in love with worldly things. In Matthew 13, 22, it says, He that receives seed in the Among thorns is he that hears the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. He becomes unfruitful.

You know, the early church was consumed with heaven. They sung about heaven all the time. You know why? Because the early church didn't have much affection for the earth, because it was tough. I mean, they suffered.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, We're confident, I say, willing rather to be absent from the body than to be present with the Lord. We'd rather be there than here. I play. Philippians 1:23, Paul says, It's a battle. I want to desire to partner to be with Christ.

That's far better. Too many Christians, it seems today, have sought to build their house on the sand instead of on the rock. You know, having possessions, nothing wrong with that, but when possessions have us, that's the problem. Um Number six, troubles and trials. Can cause us to turn away from sin and become obedient to the Lord.

What if sin didn't have consequences? Like what if you could send and there was no negative effects? Things got always better. But there's consequences, and God has wired that you reap what you sow, and you run out of line with the truth, and you're going to run down a wrong path with.

Some pretty harsh speed bumps at times. And so God can use suffering and hardship in our life to get us. Awake out of our spiritual slumber.

Sometimes it brings a lost person to salvation, a saved person to living right for God. Psalms 119, verse 67. The psalmist writes, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word? Psalms 119:71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.

You know, and and those trials can also cause a Christian to confess sins. Isn't that what David did in Psalms thirty two, verse three? When I kept silence, he says, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long for day and night. He says, God, your hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer Selah.

And it drove David to repentance. He said, I acknowledged my sin unto thee. My iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgression, Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Matthew Henry was right when he said, sin is the cause of our misery.

And and and God will let us be miserable in sin so that it brings us out of our blindness and spiritual poverty and and and that and that's what it took for the prodigal son, wasn't it? I mean, some of us, aren't you thankful that your parents didn't bail you out that last time? Aren't you thankful that they didn't bail you out? Even then you maybe got upset with them. If, oh, where were you at?

And then you come back later and say, I just want to thank you because if I didn't go through that valley and I didn't go. My dad always told me, son, if you ever go to jail, he said, I'm not coming to get you. He told me that like Seem like every six months. I seem like it all the time. And all I could think of, it was almost relieving to me.

I've never told him this, but I always thought. Good. 'Cause if I went to jail, I would not want you to get me out. I would feel safer in jail. I know when I get in trouble in school, I don't want you to come get me.

I don't want you to come get me in jail. I always thought that felt better. I didn't understand the psychology. I don't know what he was trying to work there. Number seven, suffering properly handled would result in rewards in heaven.

You know, sometimes God can allow trials in our life, and those can be opportunities to be eternally blessed. That's why he said in Matthew 5.10, blessed are ye when ye they are which They which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you, persecute you, say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. How many people do that, though?

Like, yes, I'm really getting persecuted for my faith. Most people get all worked up. Can you believe what they said about it? And it's like, settle down. I see guys like Matt Walsh get all worked up in our societies and in his little statements he makes, and I'm thinking, you profess to be saved, yet you can't handle when people get opposed.

Like, don't have you never read Matthew 5, 10 through 12? Don't you know that we should rejoice and be exceeding glad? You should think, man, they're giving me an opportunity to be eternally blessed. What a blessing that is. Be a light.

Let them persecute you. Let them lie about you. Say all manner of evil falsely. Paul said in Romans 8:18, the sufferings of this world aren't even worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Number eight, troubles and trials can mature us.

Isn't that what James tells us? He says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into. Diverse temptations or trials is the Perosmos is the Greek word there. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting or lacking nothing. Just like just like Training for a sport builds an endurance in you, so trials builds a spiritual endurance.

And so God uses those trials to mature your faith. I mean, who wants to get on an unproven ship? Anybody want to get on a boat going to Europe that's never sailed before? You're like put it in the water and take it for a test run first, sir. Our life is like that, isn't it?

I mean, who wants to Who wants to to to follow your example if you've never had one? Those most used by God are usually most tested by God. Number ten trials and um Suffer number nine trials and Troubles can allow Christians to be a witness. People get saved through this. Paul and Silas, sang in a prison cell in the Philippian jailer, got saved.

I mean, Jesus from the cross, wasn't that the greatest display of the grace of God? I think about Paul in Philippians 1. He says, My bonds are manifest in all the palaces and all other places. Philippians 1:13. Troubles and trials can also cause us to lean on Christ.

That's Paul's thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12. He began to just call out to Christ over and over and over again. Yeah. Because it because we need to be reminded of our Or insufficiency, don't we? And uh People ask me, you know, why did God allow this COVID thing?

You know, He's sovereign, He could have stopped it. Why did He allow it?

Well, I think there's multiple reasons. I think there is a. Global work of Satan that there is a controlling factor that's greater than even the engineering minds of all the conspiracy theorists. They think they. figure it all out and you know Charles Hobb.

All these guys that are up there and the big money guys that orchestrate things. But it's When you read Revelation 18. The Bible takes it four layers deep in conspiracy. It's the false church. The governments It goes into the false prophet, the Antichrist, Satan himself, and then behind all of it it says, and God will work all these things together for his own good.

They're all responsible. But God is so sovereignly magnificent that He will cause all of them to fall on their own swords. and bring a victory for the end of the day. That's how glorious he is. They'll have so thought they sold out Christ and end up hanging by their own noose like Judas or Haman.

And then, 11, troubles and trials can make us grateful and thankful for what we have. You ever you ever made this statement? I never knew how much I had until I Took it for granted till I lost it. Never knew how much I took it for granted until I had it taken away or you know, it ma maybe you lost the ability to do something, you know, I I've I've lost the ability to run because of this this injury to my ankle that I never got taken care of from high school. And so you you begin to lo and and you begin to appreciate just being able to walk through a day without pain.

You begin to if you had knee issues or shoulder issues or back issues, you went through surgery and you're like, man, I feel healthy. I don't have pain today, you appreciate that. I got my hearing back. I didn't, I don't know if I told the church, but I we went down for our twentieth anniversary down to The Bahamas area, me and my wife, and we rented a little boat and we went to some different islands to do some fishing and just sightseeing and stuff. It was really neat.

And we just by ourselves, and I was like, this is awesome. And my wife was pretty nervous, but it worked.

So I threw this anchor out and it goes down like and you could see like 40 feet down in the water. I mean there's sharks and barracudas and fantastic fish. And uh but we were about twenty some feet deep and went down and and the anchor gets stuck and it's I mean it's twenty some feet down. I mean it it's it's down there. And she's like, you know what?

You need to do, you need to put your big boy pants on, get down there and get it. No, she didn't actually say that. That's what I said to myself in my mind. It's like this just cut the rope.

So I swim down and get it, but in the process of that, I end up popping my eardrum, and it actually just really, really messed me up. But.

So so uh So I couldn't hear for like a few days. I mean it bled a little bit. I mean it was it was pretty bad and I had to go down again a couple of days later because I did the same thing and so Didn't get bit by a shark, nothing like that.

So she's dropping meat after me. She's like, you know, no. God, there's it's all this fish blood I'm swimming through. What are you doing, huh? Yeah.

Check my life insurance policy. What's going on here? And uh But you know, when you get your hearing, like I can hear good now, and it's like, man, you appreciate that, right? When you you lose something for a little time, it's like, man, I I don't want to be deaf. Um And so When you go through trials, it can really make you thankful for the things you have.

And I think sometimes Especially when I you know, I I I love the blend of our church. You look across our church, you got you got young people here. Is there any demographic that we're not blended in? I mean, are we all thirty to forty year olds here? This is the Yeah, we all feel that way, right?

Actually, in our 20s, man, you guys look great, you know. But we we It's just a blend and and and that's wonderful because you have young people and old people and and and older people. I don't know how you don't don't write me a letter, you know. Old people like us, 40-year-olds, you know. Again, I have four daughters, so I'm actually in my 90s.

Daughter years make me older. But You begin to appreciate these things, and I love talking to those folks who are more seasoned in life. They're able to share with you. A lot of that wisdom. A lot of that understanding, a lot of that life experience, the journey with God.

And that's so beneficial. I love our D groups. I love our life groups, the blend of things. Or re-engage. We have around 40 couples involved in that.

You have young and older couples that are able just to minister one to another. It's so healthy.

So needful. And then, number 12, suffering can allow you to minister to others who are facing similar struggles. And that's really what 2 Corinthians dives into here.

So let's look at a second thought here. Not only is there a reason that God allows comfort, we looked at a dozen things. There's really a lot more I could cover, but those are just some surface thoughts. Secondly, the the We'll see the God of comfort in verse 3 through 5. The God of comfort.

Paul highlights, first of all, let me just kind of walk through some of these verses to. Overview. Verse 1, he talks about his apostleship. He had been. He had been attacked.

Um as That some false leaders in the church at Corinth had come against him. shares with them how he's an apostle of Jesus Christ and it's by the will of God. And I just want you to consider if Paul was spoken against often by these people in the church at Corinth, by some of the false teachers, and people had spread that around, and he wrote 13 books of the New Testament, do you think even faithful pastors today could have people who speak ill against them from their own churches? Right. And so and then he and then he says and Timothy our brother Timothy our brother.

Timothy was not an apostle. But he was really Paul's son in the faith. He became really the protege of Paul. He didn't have a. He he had a Christian m mother and grandmother, but his his dad was a was a Unbeliever, he was a Greek.

Paul wrote two epistles with the name of Timothy, 1 and 2 Timothy. Paul was Paul's son in the faith. Timothy was a pastor. Timothy became a preacher. He mentions Timothy in eight other New Testament books, six of them in the introduction and the salutations.

He was with Paul when they started the church at Corinth. He later served as Paul's personal messenger to the church there. Paul's recipients were the church at Corinth. We looked at that city and the wickedness of the city last week. We saw that it was really one of the most sinful cities in the world in that day.

And God started a church right in the midst of that pagan. Sinful culture. And then he also addresses them, if you notice in verse 1, not only the church at Corinth, but he says also in verse 1, with all the saints which are in all Achai. That that would be like Corinth was a was a um metropoli uh metropolis of the province of Achaea. And it would be like saying the church at Xenia with all the saints in the Dayton area.

And so he brings the introduction there. He says, grace and peace. Grace speaks of God's favor that's been given. Uh to them. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2.8, by grace we are saved.

I like what one man said. He said, Grace is everything for nothing to those who don't deserve anything. Grace is what every man needs, what none can earn, and what God alone. can and does freely give. And so Grace, and then he says peace.

I said metropolis earlier the wrong way. I was like, that word didn't come out right. I don't know if some of you noticed it. But those are the things when I get home my wife's like, Did you know you said that word wrong? Yeah.

Sometimes you ever get brain freeze? You ever see something?

Sometimes I look at people, I'm like, I know their name. But what is it? I do this with my kids. call them like eight different names.

Now I always call them the other three and then I get to the last one, I'm like, you must by default be the fourth name.

Okay.

So grace and Metropolis, okay, I got it right. See? Grace and then peace. The word peace there is It's from an interesting Greek word. It it's from a word that means to like Bind together.

It would be like saying somebody is like really stressed out, their mind's being pulled apart. versus somebody who has it all together.

So peace is the idea that, man, that person just really has it all together there. It's the well-being, inner rest. Jews use the phrase, shalom, peace be to you, as a greeting and a farewell response. It's the state of mind of the person.

So grace is like your position with God, you're saved. Peace is the response of our mind to that reality. Praise God, I'm saved. I have peace with God. Through salvation, he has given me saving grace and now peace because of that grace that's been given to me.

And then Paul highlights that both grace and peace come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's just kind of introductory thoughts in verse 1 and 2. And then we see what he says in verse 3. He said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says this: The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Now, Now the central role of God Is in all that Paul did. He saw God at the very center. I want you to do something for a moment. Take just a few seconds and read verse one through three and count how many times he refers to the Father or to the Son. in your Bibles.

I'll give you about 15 seconds. Take just a moment to do that. Look at verse 1 through 3. Read those verses and just count how many times he refers to God the Father or God the Son. You should have come up with a number around.

Everybody's afraid to say it. We're definitely in a Baptist church. I like Stevens. And all the people are like, what? Glad I didn't say it out loud?

So look, verse 1, Paul and Apostle love. Jesus Christ, by the will of God to our brother and to the church of which God, which is at Corinth with all the saints, okay, verse 2, grace, beauty, peace from God our Father Yeah. Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be. God, even the Father of our And uh Father Mercy in the God of all comforts.

So th I counted nine now that I'm thinking of reading through here, but I know there was ten. I know there was ten. Yeah. I'll bet my Metropolis on it, all right?

So fun.

So What I'm trying to show you, and I didn't realize this until years ago, I was memorizing through different sections of the scripture. And uh in in the Apolline epistles. And I was When you memorize scripture, you see things differently and And I thought he has the name of Jesus, God, or the Father rolling off of his tongue constantly. I mean, there's nine to ten references to God. Jesus the Father In just the first three verses.

He couldn't hardly speak. A sentence without getting Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, the Lord God the Father, the Father of all mercies, the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, just at the center and heart of this man was his adoring love of God. I wonder how often the Lord comes out in our life. He recognized as God is the author of all of this.

He's just that the sinner. I mean, sometimes we can live as practical atheists, can't we? And he says here, blessed be God. Eulogatos is the word in the Greek. It's where we get eulogy from.

It means to like speak well of. Bless, speak well of God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ. Literally, the next time you face trouble, speak well of God. Start there. Start speaking well of God.

Why? Because he's the father of mercies. Mercy's there is a word that means to have compassion, to feel compassion toward another's misfortune, having sympathy and pity on the person. I came across this written by David Brandon in Our Daily Bread, and it just. Just touched me, it says, one day in nineteen thirty two, a pianist and singer and songwriter Thomas Dorsey discovered his need for God's comfort.

He left his pregnant wife, Nettie, at home and at Chicago while he drove his Maudeley to St. Louis to sing at a revival meeting. Everything went well. The crowd responded enthusiastically. At the end of Dorsey's performance, he received a telegram with the tragic news that his.

wife had died in childbirth. Within hours the baby boy also Died. Filled with untold grief, Dorsey sought answers. Should he have stayed in Chicago and not gone to St. Louis?

Had God done him an injustice? A few days after Nettie's death, Dorsey sat down at the piano and began to play. Finally, sensing God's peace and closeness, he began to sing.

Some new words and play a new song. Precious Lord. Take my hand. Lead me on. Let me stand.

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm and through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord. Lead me home. Can you imagine?

The the first time those words come out of his soul. Those are soul words, aren't they? You and I face a problem too big for us. Guess what? There's a God of all comforts, a father of mercies.

that comforts us in all of our afflictions. And he's called the God of all comfort. The word comfort there Paraklesis, it's actually the word where Jesus says, I will send you another parakletas, another comforter. It's para is beside and kaleo, it's a compound word where you get the word call from.

So parakalitas is is come called to come alongside. It's it's It's one who comes alongside in order to bring you comfort, consolation, encouragement. And and he's the God of all paracholesis. He brings all of that. And that's why Jesus said in the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the.

People that mourn, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. You know what? Joy we're going to have in heaven. We're going to get to heaven and find the God of all comfort bringing comfort. to our souls that we can't even begin to grasp.

The affliction of this life The comfort of eternity. And in verse 4 he says, Who comforted us in all our tribulation? We have a God who cares for us. He doesn't leave us, Hebrews 13:5. He's proven his love toward us, Romans 5:8.

He sustains that faithfulness according to 2 Corinthians 4.

Now, there are limits to God's comfort in verse 5, it tells us. For as the suffering of Christ abounds in us, so our consolation also abounds in Christ. And he really refers to it in verse 4: who comforts us in all our tribulation. You know, God will comfort us in our tribulation and our sufferings, but he doesn't comfort us in our sin.

Some of us have faced some trauma and trials in our life because we just did some sinful. Foolish things. Anybody ever done one of those things? Yeah. Yeah.

1 Peter 4, verse 12 through 16 warns against that. It says, Beloved, think it not a strange thing concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, though some strange thing happen unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as you're partakers of Christ's suffering. That when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you. Again, this reverberates back to what Matthew 5:12 says.

For the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. And then he says this: But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet, if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.

So God will both bless and comfort us eternally and reward us eternally who suffer for him, but he warns that he will not, for those sinful reasons, God will not comfort us in those, he will rather chasten us in those things, right? And then thirdly, let me wrap this sermon up. A ministry of comfort, and that's what he brings us to in verse 4, 6, and 7. Suffering can also allow us to minister to others. He says in verse number 4, Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

You know, when we've gone through suffering and trials, it allows us to, in turn, be able to minister to them. You know when somebody gets cancer in our church has a Has lost a child, has lost a spouse. You know, the first people who seek to minister to them. are typically the people who've gone through the same things. Because they have felt the pain of it and they have felt the relief from God by it and they want to minister that grace.

Thank you for that. Aren't you thankful your suffering is not wasted? That God can use you to minister grace to others. And it's needed, isn't it? Because life hurts.

People don't know what to do. They get confused. You bring them hope. Because they see you having had endured that. And so consider that the trials you're going through can also be many times tools.

that God is building in your life to be able to minister to others. Paul says that when we go through tribulation and suffering, the God of all comforts will comfort us. I see this when we have our re-engage classes. People in there who've gone through trials in their marriage and God grew them. They're able to speak into the lives of other couples.

Wonderful thing. Paul speaks of the benefits they'd received from Paul in suffering in verse 5-7. In verse 6, Paul declares that his affliction benefits their comfort. and salvation He could be speaking in verse number six, because it's kind of worded in a hard way sometimes. It says, And whether we be afflicted, it's for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual and enduring, and the same suffering which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted, it's for your consolation or salvation.

You read through that, it's like, get my mind around that. What's he saying? Let me sum it up for you. He's basically saying, whether we go through trials in life or we go through comfort in life, God uses both of those to bring you benefit.

So, if I go through trials, he's saying, God's going to use that to minister to you. How? He's going to allow you to be a minister to me to comfort me. And if you go through trials, I can turn around and minister to you to bring comfort to you. And we're able to minister one to another.

And God uses both things to bring benefit. Paul saw literally everything is fruitful, working of a sovereign God. And that's the right outlook, isn't it?

So often we look at pain, but Paul saw a greater purpose. And then in verse 8 through 11, Paul highlights how great. God's uh God God used them and worked through them and provided for them. And his provision was for them. Look at verse 8.

He says, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble. He let them know, and he begins to explain the trouble that he had in Asia. He doesn't go into the details of this. There's some suggestion of what it could be, but whatever it was, it literally pushed him to the point where he didn't think he was going to live. They despaired that they were going to live.

They thought they were going to die. His life was on the line. But it was familiar to the church at Corinth because they obviously knew what it was. Because he doesn't go into detail, and he says, you guys knew about this because they ultimately pray about this. And it's like, why did God put them through that?

It says in verse nine, but we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead.

So God brought them through that to teach them, again, not to trust in yourself, but to trust in God. Isn't that what God did to the Israelites? Here's the invading army coming behind you. The Red Sea opens up. You can trust God.

Verse 10, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver us, and whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.

So. His faith increased, everything was better. And then look what else happens in verse number 11. That really ties into verse 6. He says, He also helped together by prayer for us that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means, notice what he says, by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

He said, you helped us by praying for us. And that gift was bestowed upon us, and we are thankful for that. You know, prayer is important. It matters, doesn't it? And so who are you praying for?

Paul knew they prayed for him. It's important to let people know: hey, I want you to know, I've been praying for you, I care about you. You know somebody going through hardship in the church, send them a letter, make a phone call, reach out to them, come to them in person, talk to them. After church, when we break up in groups, pray for them and do it diligently. And so in conclusion, in life we're going to face a myriad of problems, friends.

Man's life is a few days and full of trouble, as Job tells us. God may at times seem distant, but he's not, is he? He may be silent, but he's there. No matter what we go through, we can trust God. There's a lot of reasons God allows us to go.

Many of us wouldn't be here tonight if it weren't for enough pain that was inflicted in our lives. Recognize your trials and sufferings are a way to glorify God. in an incredible way to minister to others. The next time you go through a trial instead of seeking to get out of it Seek to grow out of it. It's all staying tonight.

With heads about nights closed, maybe tonight you just need to come and Cast your care upon the Lord, the Bible says, as he cares for you in 1 Peter 5, verse 7. Maybe there's a burden on your heart. You just need to say, God, help me with this. Yeah. family issue, a relational issue, a financial issue, a health issue.

friend that needs to be saved issue. You cast that burden on the Lord. He cares. He cares. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

He cares. Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labor. Uh I'll give you rest for your soul. Cast your care upon him. Maybe you're here tonight and You stood before God, you don't know if you'd be in heaven if you stood before Jesus and He said, Why shall I let you in heaven?

You're not quite sure what you would say. Friend, I would invite you to come tonight. If people could pull you aside in a private prayer room and sit down and show you from the Word of God how you could make sure. And when your life's over, you could be right with God. I'll meet you in the front if you need to make that decision for tonight.

Father, we thank you for your word tonight. We pray your word would accomplish all your desire in the hearts of your people. Thank you for the peace that you alone can give us. Bless now as we turn to you in Christ's name. Amen.

Let's sing tonight. You need to make a spiritual decision. There's mercy with The Lord and He will surely give you rest by trusting in. His word only trust him, only trust him, only trust him. Uh He will save you.

He will save you. For Jesus. He is precious. My courage to pass in. To be slow, plunge now into the crimson blood that washes white and soul.

Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now. Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest. Believe in Him without delay, and you are fully blessed. Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now.

He will save you, he will save you, he will save you. You may be seated tonight, and we have a great decision. Just this week, Bryston Marsden, he came and he trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Amen. and praise the Lord.

He'll be sitting down front here. Get down and let him know you're excited about that decision. And if you have a prayer card, just raise your hand and they'll get by to get those. We have a prayer letter. Tom's going to read that prayer letter and just raise those cards, and these guys will gather those up while he shares that missions letter.

Thank you. The Sierra Leone in West Africa. They had just a a short report in January about Christmas. On Christmas Day, the church hosted 111 adults and children. At the end of the service, they served rice, chicken.

And uh At the end of the service, they had they said many, many decisions. We thank the Lord for that. But on New Year's Eve, they showed the G the Jesus film. They scheduled the Jesus film. They had over 120 in the showing and To the count that they made, they said they had over 90 professions of faith that night.

Showing the Jesus film.

So we thank the Lord for that. Amen. And then they did a recap of 2022. 295 copies of John and Romans, or complete Bibles, were given out. 2,332 pieces of gospel literature distributed.

Three showings of the film, the Jesus film, resulting In 195 professors of faith, 65 women and girls introduced to Jesus through the weekly gatherings at a local women's center.

Sounds just like ministries at Lighthouse, right? What we do here, they're doing there. This is a mission field just like that's a mission field. Amen? Eight various leadership meetings, 20 believers baptized in the New Beginnings Baptist Church, 17 first-time commitments to tithing.

They had their first missionary conference, seven graduates of the discipleship course, introduction, institution, and weekly collection of a missions offering, introduction, institution, and observance of the Lord's Supper.

So they thank God. They're excited. It gets all of us excited when we hear what God's doing there, but then we're seeing it right. I visit other churches. Thank God this isn't a dead church.

This is an alive church.

Souls are getting saved. That's not the norm. We've caught around. The average church, if we're lucky, seeing five souls saved a month, I mean, a year, we're seeing that in a week.

So we need to thank God. We can't take this for granted. The hand of God is moving on this church, and it's moving on the missionaries that this church supports. Amen? So they want you to pray for the new year.

They're going to schedule the Jesus film. They want to do it three times in the new year. There's a major election in Sierra Leone. Pray that the government and the people will remain peaceful. And then as we pray tonight, pray that the Lord of the harvest.

will call forth labors out of our church. To fill the great need of missions around the world, but also pastorates. I visited a preacher I was gonna tell Pastor a little bit later. There's churches everywhere, they're falling apart, and they need men of God to step it up. And there's a church I'm gonna be visiting about three miles west of Springfield, running 18 people, so sad.

And the pastors are discouraged. But the good news is if God would raise up men here, We can go fill their pulpits and bring life and bring Jesus to them, amen, and to their community. Thank you. And pray for that work there. Thank you, Tom.

Some of the prayer requests, Gervin, pray for Charlotte Fry. She starts infusions for Crohn's tomorrow. Pray for the medicinal work. Charlotte Fry prays that Carl Nightifer, he had fallen Tuesday, hit his head, and he was taken to the hospital, but he's recovering well, so praise the Lord for that. uh Jaden Harold piece through trials of mental health issues.

that they turn to the Lord. And also for Ryan, Eddy and April for their health and also their business. Pray for the Rob and Beth Bissell for complete comfort and healing, understanding, hope, and just that they know how much we love those guys. And uh Also, the new move-in ministry, that souls would be saved, that God would bless that new move-in ministry. And so, let's break up in groups of two, three, four.

Also, pray for Terry. She shared with me that her sister had passed away just a couple days ago, and so I want to lift Terry up, the family, to the Lord as well. And so, I love those guys. And so, continue to pray for Pam as John's in heaven today, and he's been rejoicing there, and we continue to pray for her comfort as well. And so, so good to see you, ladies.

And so, let's all stand, greet somebody around you, break up in groups, take a moment to pray with one another, and then we'll see you Sunday. Have a great evening.
Whisper: parakeet / 2025-07-04 15:37:43 / 2025-07-04 15:39:55 / 2

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