The Parable of Ten Virgins

May 31, 2026

Transcript

1:04

So I had one job and I failed. Allow me to explain the story a little bit. So sometimes my kids will ride the bus home from school, and it's a blessing because busy schedules between myself and my wife, it's nice to have the rides home to school sometimes taken care of by the bus. And so my kids will occasionally ride, and there are very rare occasions where my younger two children will be the only ones on the bus. Maybe there are practices or things like that. And when that happens, the bus driver will drop them off, but they can't leave until they know that someone is at the home that's responsible, an adult, to receive the kids. Now I appreciate that. That's a good thing. Safety is very important. But the two little ones, we don't want the home by themselves. And so uh that's a good thing, but there was a time about a month ago where it created a little bit of a problem for me. I was uh a Monday morning, I've got Mondays off. My wife gave me really clear instructions. She said, Hey, the little two are riding the bus today, so you need to be home. And when they get home, you need to peek out and wave to the bus driver so they know, right? Pretty simple instructions. I have one job: be home, watch for the bus, wave, that's it. Now, technically, I was home that day and I was watching, kind of. Every once in a while I would glance out the window and see if the bus was there, but then I would go on and do something else. Now, the thing is, typically when that happens, I can hear the bus pull up, a very distinct sound of the bus, you know, putting on the brakes and stopping in front of the house. And so I would check here and there, but you know, it was the I was waiting, I was waiting. The bus wasn't there as quickly as I thought it would be. It was a little, felt like a little delay. So I'm waiting there, and eventually I begin to get a little distracted. You see, I was given one job, but personally I had my own priorities that day, which included some other things. And so I got a little distracted, and then all of a sudden I was startled by a noise. It was a knock at the front door. I open my front door, we got a long driveway, open the front door, and there are my two little ones, and they're standing there, and they said, the bus driver's waiting, and I look out, sure enough, the bus driver who looks slightly disgruntled at me, is standing there. I wave, I yell sorry, they drive off, we move on with life. Now, at the end of the day, it's all good, right? Kids were home safe, bus driver was slightly more delayed, everything worked out fine, though. They finished their route. I share that because it reminds me of something. It's possible to know that something is coming, but not to be ready when it arrives. Uh, this morning, that's exactly what we're gonna hear about in God's Word. Because according to Jesus, there's something that each and every one of us should know about. There's something that each and every one of us should be waiting for right now. God has not left us in the dark about it, He's given us clear instructions, He's told us what to expect, He's commanded us how to live, and He's told us to be watchful as we wait. But here's the thing if we're not paying attention, if we're not vigilant, if we're not prepared, that day may arrive and we might be caught off guard. Now, if that's the case with the bus, not really that big of a deal. But with this situation that Jesus describes, if we're not ready for the arrival of this, well, the consequences are significant. So if you want to see what Scripture has to say about all this and what Jesus has to say, I want to encourage you to open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25 is where we're at this morning. Uh if you came here and brought your Bibles, excellent. We open our Bible every Sunday. If you didn't bring your Bible, we got you covered. There should be a Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, take that Bible home. And if you're looking for the book of Matthew, let me help you out three-quarters of the way in. We get to the New Testament. It's the first book of the New Testament. After Malachi, you hit Matthew. If you went to Mark, go backward. Matthew 25 is where we're at. And um, as you're turning there, we are wrapping up this short little series through the month of May that we've been covering. Uh, and it's all about the parables of Jesus. We've called this series once upon a time. We are wrapping up this five-week series. The first three weeks we looked at various parables that were very famous from the Gospel of Luke. Last week we looked at one of the parables in Matthew, and now today we're rounding this out with another parable in Matthew 25. Just a reminder: Jesus loved to speak in parables. Parables are short, simple stories where Jesus would glean information from everyday life in the first century of Israel. But he would take these simple stories and he would communicate deep truths about the kingdom of God. Now, for his disciples, for his followers, when he would tell a parable, this would reveal more about the kingdom, and it would reveal more about the mysteries of the kingdom to his followers. But interestingly, when he told those parables at the same time, it would conceal more about the mysteries of the kingdom to those who didn't follow him. That's the dual-fold nature of the parables, and we saw that a lot more last week. But once again, Jesus is telling another parable, um, and we're in Matthew chapter 25, as I mentioned. Now, we're gonna be in chapter 25, but we're gonna start in chapter 24. So do me a favor and just flip the page before. Take a moment as we unpack a few things from chapter 24, and then we'll jump into our parable. Uh, just uh some context. It's a point in the story of Matthew where three and a half years have passed. Jesus has had his ministry. He's coming to the tail end now of his public ministry, he's preparing to die. He's in Jerusalem, he's with his disciples. It's only days before his crucifixion here in Matthew chapter 24. And as he's passing through the temple complex, uh, Jesus begins to make some comments to them. Jesus talks about the temple, and he describes in chapter 2 the fact that this temple is going to be destroyed. And so he's making these comments as he's passing through the temple complex. He's going to go through the eastern gate, we could presume that, down the Kidron Valley, up to the Mount of Olives. But he makes a statement that this temple is going to be destroyed. Not one stone will be left upon another, he says in verse 2. Then, picking up in verse 3, the disciples ask him a question when he gets to the Mount of Olives. It says, As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Now, this question from the disciples, to me it sounds like a two-part question. It sounds like there's really two questions here. First of all, tell us when will these things be. Well, what are these things they're referring to? That's a question. And secondly, he says, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Again, I think I would suggest to you this is a two-part question. Now, full disclosure, Matthew chapter 24 is called the Olivet Discourse. The Olivet Discourse is one of the more widely debated and argued passages in the New Testament. Uh, talks a lot about end times, and so people have lots of opinions about this. It's not going to be our primary focus today, but here's my conviction is if we just talk about the parable in chapter 25 and we don't talk about anything that Jesus said in chapter 24, I think we we miss some things. Our parable comes on the heels of what Jesus talks about in the Olivet Discourse, and so it really flows from it. And so, in order to understand the parable in chapter 25, let's just glean some things from chapter 24 in the Olivet Discourse. So again, I think there are two questions here. The first question they ask, I think is connected to verse two. Jesus just told them that the temple will be destroyed, and immediately after that, they ask a question. They say, Well, when are these things going to happen? I think these things are referring to what Jesus said about the temple. That's one question. The second question is, when are you going to come and establish the fullness of your kingdom? When is the end of the age? And so the the disciples are essentially curious about what Jesus is going to do in the future. They're asking the question, Jesus, what's the plan? What's the plan? And so that's where I want to begin. Let's start number one by talking about the plan. What's the plan, Jesus? What should we look forward to in the future? Well, again, I think through those two questions, it frames up the way we interpret the Olivet discourse. First of all, when they ask the question about when will these things take place, Jesus just talked about the destruction of the temple. We know, we have the vantage point of history, that 40 years after these events, the temple was destroyed. So in 70 AD, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. It was a catastrophic event for the Jewish community. The Romans swept in and they sieged the city, they destroyed the temple, devastating for people. And I think that Jesus unpacks some of that in the Olivet Discourse. However, those events that happened in 70 AD, those are not the end of the age, are they? But that's not when Jesus comes and establishes the fullness of his kingdom. No, that's the second question they ask. And that hasn't happened yet. We're still waiting for Jesus to fulfill that. Now again, we have history on our side. We know what happened in 70 AD, and we know what happened immediately after Jesus explained this to his disciples. We know that in the days ahead, Jesus ended up going to the cross, where he was crucified on our behalf. He was buried, he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and we were given promises that he will return. We know that Jesus has promised that one day he will come back, and when he does come back, he will usher in the fullness of his kingdom. We've been given promises that upon his return there will come a point where our bodies will be transformed. These lowly bodies will be made glorified like Christ, like his resurrected body, and not just our bodies, but all creation will be made new. One day Jesus will return, he will establish his kingdom in all its fullness, and he will bring about the new creation. This is what Jesus has promised. That day has not happened yet. That day is still coming. And that's the second part of their question. Jesus, explain this. When is that going to happen? The question they ask is this and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? Well, that's something we're still waiting for. And Jesus talks a little bit about this in the Olivet Discourse. And what I would suggest to you is it's incredible what Jesus says. First of all, Jesus describes many events that will begin to unfold as his disciples are looking toward the future. He describes all sorts of things that will happen, and he says that through these tumultuous times there will be some who will try to be deceptive and to say that the arrival of Christ has come, the end has come. Jesus actually describes this near the beginning of the sermon, his discourse, and he says, when this happens, don't be deceived. In light of the end and looking toward the future, don't be too gullible about the claims of people that the Messiah has come. Be wise, be discerning, be resilient. In fact, Jesus says that many of the things that we experience in this world, these are what he describes as birth pains. Now, I do not have firsthand knowledge of birth pains. Yes, really. I am a man, so I cannot have babies. Some might try to debut debate me on that today. I know that it's a little bit of a weird time we're in. I'm pretty convinced I cannot have babies. I'm a man, I have no firsthand knowledge of birth pains. I did, however, once stub my toe really hard on a coffee table, though, and it hurt, all right? And my wife has assured me that they're not connected at all. No way, not even close. I have secondhand knowledge of birth pains, not first. Uh my wife had children and she experienced the pain that associated with that. And so I know that there are times where when you go through birth pains, it can be also deceptive, right? We had an experience like that as well, where we kind of felt like, oh man, I think this is the moment, right? The time has come. And so we go to the hospital and we're told, no, it's Braxton Hicks, right? Which, if you don't know, it's it's a false labor, right? It feels like you're gonna have a baby and you're not. And so we went home that day. They're birth pains. This is the way that Jesus describes the world we're in, the times we're in, as we await the new creation. We're waiting for something incredible, miraculous, something that we're hopeful for, excited about, just like having a baby. But the process to get there is painful and difficult, and there are things that happen that are very, very challenging, and sometimes we can be deceived into thinking that maybe the end has come when it hasn't, that the moment has arrived and it hasn't. That's the first danger that Jesus warns about in this Olivet discourse, but it's not the only danger. You see, that's one side of the coin. We can be deceived to think that the end has come because all these signs and things are happening. We can be deceived to think that. Every danger, every hardship, every war, every earthquake, every headline, immediately we can assume this is it. Don't be deceived. But the other danger is this. The danger of assuming that because Jesus hasn't returned yet, we don't really need to live with a sense of anticipation, right? We've been waiting a while. It's this idea of, you know, maybe we can just relax. Maybe we can just live however we want. We have all the time in the world. This is the other danger that Jesus warns against. He warns against the danger of being complacent in our spiritual life, the danger of being careless, the danger of not being ready. He warns against this in the Olivet discourse. This is dangerous because, beloved, hear me. Jesus is coming back. He will return. That's a guarantee, you can take it to the bank. This is why at the end of the discourse he encourages his disciples to be watchful, to be vigilant, to be ready. He says, Nobody knows the time nor the hour, not even the Son of Man. Nobody knows the time or the hour, but rest assured, it's happening. This is why in verse 44, Jesus says this. This is significant for a message today. Therefore, you must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. That's the plan. Jesus makes it clear the temple was destroyed. That event has happened, but now the other question, when will be the end of the age? We're still waiting. We're living in the gap between those two things. We're still waiting for Jesus to return. That's the plan. And he's really laid it out very clearly for us. So now that we've seen number one, the plan, and now that we have some context for the Olivet discourse, I want to now take us to chapter 25, where we're going to look at our text today, which is number two, the parable. The parable. So now that we're in chapter 25, let's look at the first twelve verses. I'll just read it. You can listen or follow in your Bible, and then we'll unpack it section by section. And notice what it says. Then the kingdom of heaven will look like, what will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. And then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. So that's our parable. Let's unpack this bit by bit. First of all, let's start in verse one. So it begins by saying, Then the kingdom of heaven. Now note, we've talked about this. The parables are all about unveiling these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And once again we have a parable about the kingdom of heaven. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Now, this might seem a little bit disconnected from our culture, but if you lived in the first century and lived in Israel, this would make perfect sense. Marriage in the first century in Israel was different than ours. We have engagement and then we have marriage. You find someone, you fall in love, you get engaged, you get married. In their culture, the families would arrange the marriage, and then you would enter into this one-year betrothal period. Now, this one-year betrothal was legally binding. This is what Joseph and Mary were in when Mary became pregnant. This is why Joseph almost went for that certificate of divorce, right? Because it required a divorce in order to break a betrothal. So you have one year of betrothal, and then finally you get to the big day, the wedding day. And what happens is the groom, he will leave his home and he will have a procession over to the bride's house where he'll meet with the bride, and both bridal parties will be there, and then they'll go to the marriage ceremony, and then they'll go all the way back to the groom's house where the reception will take place. That's where the party goes down, and it's a great time of celebrating. And so that was Jewish marriage. And so this is something that often happened at nighttime, a very fest uh festive event. And so what happens here is it's night, these women, they the ten virgins, these young ladies, part of the bridal party, they bring lamps with them. These lamps are like torches. So it was a long stick, they would soak rags in oil, they would place them on the top, they would light them, and they would burn for a little while, but it would often go out, and so you're supposed to bring with you extra oil if you want those to be lit for a prolonged period of time. Well, that's the problem. Notice verses two through four. It says, five of them were foolish of the virgins, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. You see, according to Jesus, half of the group was totally unprepared. One half was prepared, they took extra oil, the other was not prepared, and the ones who were not prepared, their lamps wouldn't last very long. And so notice what it says in verse 5. It says, And as the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. So the virgins are there, they're waiting for the groom to come out, they're waiting for this procession to the bride's house so they can get the show on the road, so they can have the ceremony and have the party, but the groom is delayed. Now, this shouldn't be surprising, especially in that culture. I did some digging this week and kind of learned that in the first century of Israel, punctuality was not a cultural virtue. There are places in the world today where it's very comparable, where this idea of being on time, it's a little more relative, right? People aren't concerned with being places in a very exact, precise time like we are in the West or like we are in America. You may have traveled to an island before and they talk about island time, right? That's the idea. Or maybe you've been to other countries. I was in Africa a little over a year ago, went to Ethiopia. Many places in Africa, they're not so concerned about precision with time. It's not that big of a deal. It's kind of a relative thing. And so I was in Ethiopia. I had this training at a Christian hospital with Christian doctors. I took it very seriously because, you know, I wanted to make sure I did a good job. So I was punctual. My training started at 1 p.m. I showed up at 12:30, ready to go. Got all my stuff, waiting for people to show up. It's one o'clock. I'm looking, and guess what? Nobody was there. Not a soul was there at one o'clock. I'm like, am I in the right building? Like, I don't know what's going on here. I'm waiting, I'm waiting. 10 minutes or so, the first person comes in, like, oh, is the training here? Yeah, yeah. One o'clock. Yep. Waiting, I'm waiting. I'd say about a half hour in, people start trickling quite a bit now. 45 minutes, a lot more people show up. The one o'clock training started at 2 15. Yeah. And for me, I was like, wow, that was a little surprising. For them, it was totally normal. It's not wrong, it's just different. Some of you type A people like it would make your skin crawl. I get it. It's the culture. It's just the culture. This was the same thing in the first century. This is Jesus' culture. The groom is delayed. We shouldn't be surprised by that. And the issue really isn't that the groom is late, the issue is that he was later than some of them expected. You see, the point here is the wise virgins, they planned well. They planned accordingly. They they thought through this whole thing and said, well, maybe he'll be delayed longer, so let me bring some extra oil. They were wise. The other ones were foolish and really reckless. It would be really, really silly to show up and to not bring extra oil for an event like this. And so as they wait, there's a delay from the groom. Eventually, after a long delay, everyone falls asleep. Then notice what it says next, picking up in verse 6, it says this. But at midnight, and technically this is the middle of the night, so it's not necessarily midnight, but the middle of the night there was a cry, Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. So as soon as the groom appears, it's time for the wedding procession to begin. It's time to move to the bride's house so we can get the show on the road. And so the virgins begin quickly preparing their lamps, getting them ready for the procession. There's a problem, though. Notice what it says, picking up in verse 9. It says, 8 and 9, and the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. Now, notice here how the wedding is about to begin. Those five virgins who have prepared well, they're ready to go. But the five who didn't prepare, they have a dilemma. They're not able to keep their lamps lit. They don't have enough oil. And so immediately they begin to go to the people next to them and say, Hey, you've prepared well. Can I have some of your oil? But they realize there's not enough for both to go around. And so they're forced to go into the city and to try to wake up the dealers and to see if they can secure oil so they can be part of this procession. It's the eleventh hour, but they go out into the city and then notice what it says. It says, And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Now, this is the part of the story that gets kind of strange. People maybe struggle with it. It's like, well, hold on. All of them were expected to be at the feast. All of them are supposed to be there. There's a procession. Clearly, the groom and the bride know who's part of the bridal party, but now all of a sudden, because they're late, the door is shut and he can't open the door and he pretends like he doesn't know them. What's up with that? Some of you maybe struggle with that part of the story. Can I remind you that this is a parable? We've called this series once upon a time because these parables aren't true stories, they're just stories. And from these fictitious stories, we draw truths out of them. And so this parable is not true, it's an illustration. Don't get hung up on the story. Seek to find the deeper meaning, which leads us to our last section. Now that we've seen number one, the plan, now that we've seen number two, the parable. Third and finally, let's draw out the point. The point. Jesus ends in verse 13 by saying these words Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Now, let me remind you, there was a verse we looked at in Matthew chapter 24 that spoke about the fact that we don't know the day nor the hour that the Lord Jesus is coming back. This is repeating that same phrase. And so this parable is all about the return of Jesus, if you haven't picked that up already. So in the story, in the parable, the bridegroom is Jesus. He's the groom, we are the ten virgins, and what the story is teaching us is that while we wait for the return of the groom, we can wait one of two ways, either wise or unwise. The foolish way, the unwise way, is to wait in such a way that's totally and completely unprepared for the return of Jesus. Now, in this parable, it's important to notice that the foolish virgins are so unprepared that they actually don't end up making it to the wedding feast, do they? No, they're outside the door and they're knocking on the door and they're saying, Lord, Lord, and the groom says, I don't know you. Now, this should sound familiar if we know our Bibles well, because earlier in Matthew's gospel and Matthew chapter 7 in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about the fact that some will cry out, Lord, Lord. But they won't enter the kingdom. And then Jesus goes on to say, I'll say, Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. I never knew you. You see, what Jesus is teaching here is this idea of the wedding feast. It's the kingdom. There are some who will say, Lord, Lord, and they're not actually the Lord's. They won't enter into the feast. You see, in this parable, Jesus is explaining, everybody there was invited, everyone was expected, but there were some who were totally unprepared and they didn't enter. They were unprepared for the delayed arrival of the groom. And beloved, can I just remind you once again, Jesus is coming back. Jesus is coming back. He gave us a promise. 2,000 years ago, he promised that he will return. And guess what? We're still waiting. After 2,000 years, we're still waiting for the groom to show up and get this party started. We're waiting for the wedding feast, that day to come, that thing that we're looking forward to when we took communion, we're waiting for that to happen. And the danger with waiting is that maybe we begin to presume, man, you know, Jesus said he's coming back. That was a long time ago. I don't know if it's really happening anytime soon or really happening at all. And you begin to get complacent. You get you begin to get relaxed. You begin to say, man, I got plenty of time to do what I want. Let me just live however I please. The danger is about getting too comfortable. I I can tell you I've got firsthand experience of this with the bus, but at the end of the day, it wasn't a big deal when I missed the arrival of the bus. That's not a problem. You're unprepared for the arrival of Jesus? That's a problem. That's a big problem. Jesus is coming back. And when he returns, there will be a day of judgment, Scripture says. For some of you out there, I don't know if you're ready for that day of judgment. Are you ready, prepared to stand before the judge of all the earth? Because on that day, I can assure you that the person sitting next to you, their preparedness won't help you out on the day of judgment. We saw that with the ten virgins. There were some that were prepared around them. They were friends, and they were trying to rely on their friends' readiness in order to prepare them, and it was insufficient. It is so true with you as well. There's coming a day where you as an individual will have to stand and give an account to the judge of all the earth. Are you prepared for that day? You see, for those individuals who are ready, those who are prepared, they're ready because they've repented of their sin. They've realized that they're sinners and they're desperate and in need of a savior, and so they've placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who are ready who are ready for the arrival of Christ, they've already been justified, declared righteous, not because of what they had done, but because of what Jesus has done on their behalf, because of his death, burial, and resurrection. These are people who are ready for the return of Christ. Because they've been made right with the holy God through what Jesus has done. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for the return of Jesus and for judgment day? He's coming back. I believe he's actually coming back soon. But if he tarries, if he delays further, can I warn you? Can I warn you not to get complacent? Don't get relaxed. Don't lose sight of the truth that he's coming back. The big idea this morning, very simply, that we see in the text is this ready or not, Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. He's made a promise, and he who promises is faithful. He made a promise and he will deliver. And he's inviting you to come to the party when he returns. You're invited, you're all invited. We're invited to the party. And he's not given us unclear instructions. He's been clear. We're not left in the dark. He's told us what to expect, he's showed us how to live, he's told us to be watchful. So I hope that you're ready. I hope that you're paying attention. I hope that you're prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. I hope you're vigilant about the way that you live and not complacent. But turning to the Lord and saying, Lord, I'm a sinner in desperate need of salvation. I'm turning from my sin and I'm trusting in Jesus. I want to be ready for his return. I hope that that's your posture this morning. If you're the person right now in the room who's been living your life for yourself, living complacent, living a life that's all about what you want to do and what your agenda is, completely unaware of what God's agenda for all creation is, you're in trouble. Can I challenge you to wake up, to come to your senses, to be prepared? Jesus is coming. Are you ready for it? Are you ready for his return? Ready or not, Jesus is coming. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the promise that you've given us. We live in a world filled with challenges and hardships and pain and struggle. And Lord, this should not be surprising to us. These are birth pains. We know that these pains are indicators, signs, as the people ask for from Jesus, that there's something that's coming. New creation is coming. In fact, all creation, as Roman says, groans inwardly as we eagerly await the adoption of sons. Lord, we long for the fullness of redemption. We long for new creation. We long for the king to return, the judge to return. We thank you for those of us who've been reconciled to you through faith in Jesus, that that judgment took place on the cross, that we don't have to give an account for our sin that was already dealt with. We thank you that on judgment day we don't have to fear condemnation. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But Lord, for the people in the room who've grown complacent, who are living lives for their own agendas, doing whatever they want to do, Lord, I pray that they would be roused in this moment. That through the power of the Spirit, you would awaken them to the truth of what your plan is, and that they would come and fall before you, repenting and believing the gospel. I pray. So thank you, Lord, for this promise of the return of Jesus. May we be people who are ready. May we be people who say, Come, Lord, Jesus. I pray that that would be the posture of our heart in this church for your glory and for our good and for the good of those around us. We ask and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.