James 1: Jacket Man

We challenge “jacket-wearing” faith and call for an implanted Word that shows up in our speech, our compassion, and our holiness.

Transcript

Opening The Church As Refuge

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Thankful that we have the ability to open our basement to those who may not have a safe place to ride out the storm. We certainly want to be a place for refuge for our community. But we all, we as a church need to understand that it's not as simple as unlocking the doors and letting people in. People say to me, Why isn't the church open? And I say, Well, why aren't you here? There's a real safety and security concern when you get that many people. And so it has to be done carefully and in order to serve people well and responsibly. And because of that, uh if we do in fact open up tonight, uh depending on the forecast this afternoon, it'll likely be from 6 o'clock. I think it's from 6 to like midnight. That's the forecast. But to make that possible, we need about five or six people willing to serve tonight in a safety and security role during that time, and specifically people who are willing to be stationed at the bell tower entrance and several people downstairs in the basement area, because again, it's a safety and security issue. So if you have the heart to serve that way, let me know before you go today, and we'll put a list together if we determine that we are actually going to open up tonight. But let's go to the Lord in prayer, and then we'll go to his word. We come before you, Lord, this morning, acknowledging that you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. From you comes life and breath and every blessing that sustains us. You are the Father of lights, and in you there is no shadow of turning. We praise you for your faithfulness and your holiness and mercy toward us through our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we confess that sometimes we often approach life with divided hearts. When trials come, we complain rather than to trust. When difficulties arise, we sometimes doubt your goodness instead of remembering that you are shaping us for your glory. In the confusion of life, we do not always know what to do. But your word tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, we should ask you. And so, Lord, that's what we're asking for today. Give us wisdom, give us wisdom to understand your word, wisdom to apply it to our lives, and wisdom to live faithfully in a world that often opposes your truth. And prepare our hearts now as your word is opened, and remove pride and distraction and hardness of heart from anyone who needs it. Make us quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to anger. Grant that we would not merely be hearers of the word, but doers. And plant your word within us. In Jesus' name. Amen. James chapter 1. I'm going to read verses 19 through 27. Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If any one thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. This is God's word. Well, I think I've reached the age or the vintage now where, and this could simply be delusion, but I think that I'm finally at the age where it's endearing for me to repeat stories. You know how it goes, you're your grandfather, your uncle, your dad, whoever it is, they they tell you the same story about 17 times. You've heard it before, but you listen anyway, because sometimes it gets better, or sometimes they add new aspects to it that they haven't told in the past. I guess that's my life now. It's a family tradition. My grandfather told me the same stories about World War II. He was an MP at a German POW camp, and I've heard a lot of stories. Actually, I I speak a little bit of German because of the stories that he told me. My dad has told me several stories about working for AT ⁇ T, and I guess now it's it's my turn. I think I've shared this story before. So I say all that to say I think I've shared this story before, but it came back to mind while I was studying James One this week. If you've if you've heard it, just say, aw, how cute he's sharing it again. I grew up in a very small town in in the northern part of New Hampshire. You all know that. Back in the 90s, when I graduated high school, our town had about 1,200 people in it. It's not a big town. Graduating, I was, I was the top half of my class. There's 30 kids in the class. Thank you. No, hold the applause till later. But the the town, our town was so small that it had a volunteer fire department. And those guys took it very seriously. I haven't seen, I assume volunteer fire departments appear uh exist in Kentucky, but I've never seen one here. But they took it very seriously. They trained hard and they met regularly, and when the pager went off, it was the 90s, they responded. Well, I knew a guy who joined the Volunteer Fire Department right after high school. He went through all the training, passed all the tests, passed the written test, the physical test, graduated, and when you finished the program, they gave you a jacket. You remember the jackets from the 90s that looked like this, that uh red satin, the bright, shiny ones, if you snagged it on anything, it was ruined because it would all come apart. But if you completed the program, you got the jacket. And it was embroidered with the name of the fire department. You even had your name embroidered on the front. And so this guy got his jacket and he wore it everywhere. Even in the middle of summer, when the temperatures in northern New Hampshire could exceed 70 degrees. And if you didn't notice the jacket, he made sure that you knew he was a volunteer firefighter. Years later, a friend of mine, a very close friend, he had been in the same program, said something interesting. And he said, Oh, yes, I remember that kid. He was a jacket man. They called him jacket man. And technically he was on the role of the volunteer fire department, but he never came to the meetings, he never responded to the fire calls, which I think putting out fires is like the main job of a firefighter. It's in the name. He never continued training, he just did enough to get the jacket, and then he just kind of ghosted. He loved the jacket, he loved the recognition, he loved the idea of being part of the fire department, but in reality, he was no more a firefighter than I am. And then all came to mind as I studied James because James is basically taking on that same thing that exists in the church. Be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. James is addressing the jacket wearers in the church. The people who like to identify being a Christian. They like the recognition of being part of the church, but they may even enjoy hearing the word, but they're not actually living with Jesus Christ. So as we approach this text today, James gives us three big ideas to consider. Let's start with the first one. Let's talk, the most important thing here is that the word must be implanted. Verse 19, we get simple but a searching command. Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. So James is not offering a vague notion about personality. He's describing the posture of a heart that is being shaped by the Word of God. James says, first we must be quick to hear. That means we listen carefully. We listen carefully to when others talk to us, and we listen most carefully to the word of God. You see, our culture rewards people who speak loudly and often. But Scripture praises those who listen well. A teachable spirit is one of the clearest marks of spiritual maturity. That's been my experience. If somebody has a teachable spirit, I know they have spiritual maturity. When the word of God is open, the believer leans in to hear what is going to be said. He wants to hear and understand and receive what the Lord is saying. The second thing, Jane tells us we need to be slow to speak. You see, a wise person listens longer than he talks. When you listen well, your words become fewer, but your words become more meaningful. Words spoken after careful listening tend to carry much more weight because they're shaped by understanding rather than impulse. I knew a guy, and it was very tough to work with him. This was back in my Merrill Lynch days. He would he would just like barge into my office. And he would ask he would ask a couple of questions, and as I was trying to answer his questions, he would leave. Like I'm mid-sentence. He gone. And he did that to me twice. And the third time that he came in, he started to talk, and I said, stop. Just like that, stop. I said, don't say a word. Close the door. On this side of it. Be inside. I said, if you are going to ask me a question, don't speak. But if you are going to ask me a question, you are going to listen to my answer. His knees knocked a little bit. And he did, in fact, listen to my answer, and he never did that again. And then I got a reputation. The third thing here is that we need to be slow to anger. James connects anger directly to the previous commands. When we listen first and when we speak carefully, anger loses a lot of its fuel, doesn't it? Human anger rises out of pride, impatience, misunderstanding. James reminds us that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. In other words, our emotional reactions rarely accomplish the spiritual results that we think they're going to accomplish. And because of this, James says we need to put some things away. Strong language he uses here. We need to put away filthiness and rampant wickedness. What are they? These are the things and the attitudes that choke the life out of your soul. Sin crowds out spiritual growth. But James doesn't stop with that removal. He moves to reception. We need to receive with meekness the implanted word. Now, meekness is not weakness. When I try to define meekness, I say it is the humble recognition that God is God and I'm not. When the word is received that way, it doesn't just pass through our ears, it takes root in our lives. And the image that James uses is powerful. The word must be implanted, it must sink deep down into the soil of the heart. You see, the word of God is not intended to remain on the surface. The word is not meant to remain on the surface as information. We don't come to the holy word of God, the word of the creator of the universe, and say, this is helpful information. It is, but it is intended to penetrate your heart and churn the soil. It has to take root, it has to grow, and then it'll bear fruit. And James reminds us that this implanted word saves our souls. You see, God uses his word as the instrument of both new birth and ongoing transformation. Paul says it in Romans, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. That faith is putting our trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, in his life, death, burial, and resurrection. That is our justification, isn't it? When someone hears the gospel and responds in faith to the gospel, what happens? God comes, as it were, and he takes all of our mess and all of our sin and our guilt and our shame and he takes it off of us, all of it. Not a little bit, all of it. And he's put that on to Jesus Christ at the cross, where Jesus willingly took it on our behalf. But not only that, he takes the perfection of Jesus Christ and He and He puts that onto us. So no matter who you are, what you've done, where you've been, when your faith is in Christ, God looks down upon you as if you are Christ Himself. He sees the perfect image of His Son in you because Jesus has given us His perfection. He has given us His sinlessness, He has given us credit for all of the work that He has done. But then He's taken all of our sin and shame. Glory to God. Amen. Somebody. Everyone's looking at me like, yeah, I guess. When we come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, we are made into a new creation. And that's how it's done. And then, of course, one of the first things we do after that is we go into the waters of baptism where we identify with Jesus, where we identify with his life, death, and resurrection, where we tell the world, hey, I'm his. And we got some folks lined up for baptism. We've got a baptism 101 class next Sunday. You can sign up for it. You can go to our website. You can look at baptism, and there's a baptism 101 registration. That lets me know that you want to be baptized. That starts that process.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

And I think baptism is we're going to do on Palm Sunday this year.

A Direct Challenge To Men

SPEAKER_00 15:57

We go through that process of baptism and then we are discipled. We are being trained and we are being taught, and the word is being implanted in us. The word becomes implanted when we consistently sit under the teaching of the Word of God, when we serve together, when we give generously, when we walk alongside one another in an imperfect church family for the sake of Christ. Spiritual formation, listen to me, formation doesn't typically happen in the dramatic moments. It happens through the faithful exposure of the Word of God week after week, and then week after week after week after week. That's how we become formed in Christ. And men. If you're a man, say amen.

unknown 16:51

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

If you're a man, say amen. Let me say something directly to you. If you're a man, let me say something directly to you. On Wednesday nights, we have an adult discipleship class right in here. I teach it. But guys, we are outnumbered three to one with women. The women show up. Ladies, amen. We also host a teaching session here every Tuesday night in partnership with several other area churches right here. But very few, if any, of our men take advantage of it, even when somebody from our church is teaching. Our life groups, women outnumber the men. The opportunities for growth are here, but you need to take them. Now, guys, if you're over the age of 45, it may be time to repent of your preferences and embrace the discipleship to actually grow your faith.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Listen, man, I say this to you because I love you.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

I don't love you as much as Jesus does, but I love you. I don't love you as much as Rich Liebe does. When I grow up, I want to love people like he does. But I say this because I love you. I want the word, men, I want the word implanted in you. And that doesn't happen by osmosis. It only happens when you walk, uh, invest in your walk with Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Guys, here's a hard truth. You're not too busy. Your priorities are wrong.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

And I know after today someone's gonna text me and say, hey, I have this and this and this and this. I know. Your priorities are wrong. You need to grow in Christ. The guys in this church are some of the hardest working men that I have ever met. But the guys in this church are some of the most apathetic, detached men that I've ever pastored.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

You're not lazy.

The Mirror And Obedience

Genuine Religion In Real Life

Invitation To Respond And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Your priorities are wrong. My observation is this that the guys in our church will serve and be very busy to avoid spiritual growth. That has to end today. Hard work, busyness, leadership, hard charging, and say, hey, look, I'm up to my eyeballs with stuff. I know you are. Your priorities are wrong. You guys can show up with a shovel and work, but I want you to, you need to show up with your Bible and grow. Discipleship is not something reserved for women and children. I don't know if that's been the culture here in the past, but it's not anymore. It's the calling of every believer, especially the men who are meant to lead their homes. And I love you guys so much. Listen, men, I love you guys so much. I'm willing to have you upset with me for a while so that you come here and grow just to prove me wrong. I would much rather you're upset with me for a while than and grow in Christ than for you and I to be BFFs and get ice cream together. And then you're on your deathbed 40 years from now, and you're like, Goulet never challenged me to grow in Christ, and now my family has walked away from Jesus because I was too proud to say, yes, Jesus helped me grow. Because I thought I knew it all and I wasn't teachable and I was stubborn and I was stiff-necked. And I said, No, that's for the women. Only the women go and learn about the Bible. Hogwash! Jesus help me grow. Men, we must grow in Christ, or there is no future in this church. Men, we must grow in Christ, or there is no future in your family that the legacy of Jesus will carry on. Now I know people say, hey, I got this heritage from my mother and my grandmother. Glory to God for godly mothers and grandmothers. Amen. But men, we need to start changing the script here. We need people to say, my grandfather loved Jesus so much, my dad loved Jesus so much that I couldn't help but love Jesus as well. I'll tell you right now, here's my fear for the guys of this church. We're gonna become like the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness. Some of you guys are longing for Egypt because it feels familiar, even though God's leading us somewhere better. Meanwhile, the next generation's gonna step into the promised land. I can tell you right now, guys, if you're gonna be homesick for every anything, be homesick for heaven. We need to be the generation that humbles itself, repents, and walks forward in faith so that we can enter the promised land alongside them. We should be quick to hear. Slow to speak, slow to anger, ready to receive the implanted word that God uses to shape his people. Men, I want to hear you say amen. Or if you want it, you can say ouch. The amen's habit. That brings us to the second big piece here. The second big heading is that we need to do what it says. Verse 22, but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. So James moves from receiving the word to responding to the word. Moving from knowledge to action, if you will. You see, the issue James addresses is not ignorance of Scripture, but a failure to obey it. Many people hear the word, but hearing alone is not the goal of Scripture. The word of God is meant to transform your life. So when someone hears the truth but doesn't obey it, James says something very sobering. The person is deceiving themselves. In verse 23 and 24, he says, Anyone is a hearer of the word, not a doer, he's like a man who looks intently at a natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. The mirror, the mirror shows us reality, doesn't it? It reveals what's actually there. But the problem isn't the mirror. The problem is the person who sees the truth and then walks away unchanged by it. The word functions, the word of God functions like that mirror. And it shows us who we are, where we're going, and where we need to change. Has anyone in here ever seen a mirror? Show of hands, please. Has anyone here ever used a mirror? Does anyone here own a mirror? Seven of us. Who in here looked in the mirror this morning? You should have looked a little longer. I mean, it takes a long time to look like this. You don't just get out of bed with hair like this and look this good. Actually, you do. It takes a long time to get my hair just right. But you had to make sure there's nothing in your teeth. You gotta make sure that nothing's all messed up on you. The mirror shows all of it to us clearly, doesn't it? Imagine though, if you looked at the mirror, you got you got a nose hair problem, you got a big chunk of something in your teeth, something sticking out of your ear, and you're just like, ha ha, and you walk away and you do nothing about it. And you're going about your day and you're just making people uncomfortable because they're trying not to look. See, the point of the mirror is not just information, is it? We don't put mirrors in our homes for information. The point is correction. In the same way, the point of hearing scripture is not just about learning something new, it is that it exposes the sin that is there and it calls us to respond through change. And so we need to move from being a jacket wearer to an actual firefighter. What does that look like in the Christian life? Well, James gives us some points here, and the first thing is you need to know what it says. Verse 25, the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty. So the language here means to look into the perfect law means to actually bend down, to bend down and examine something very closely. Real discipleship begins with careful attention to Scripture. Not just casual exposure, but intentional study. That means opening the Bible with regularity and listening attentively when it's preached and asking honest questions of the text. I can tell you, especially from the preaching perspective, the goal when you come here is not to leave here and say, Well, Galea, I give you a seven out of ten today. It was all right. I could care less what your score is. But I want you to leave here saying, Lord, help me to think about what I've heard today. Now there may come a time, and there has been in the past, where I preach a two out of ten. I'm just a guy. But when the word of God is open and preached, you're not here to stand in judgment over it. You are here to receive it and to be changed by it. Somebody. That means you open it regularly, you listen when it's preached, you show up and you take part in discipleship. We can't obey the word of God that we never seriously consider. Then we need to remember what it says. We need to know what it says, then we need to remember what it says. So James contrasts the man who forgets with the one who perseveres. So the danger is that we never hear the truth, but that we forget it as soon as we walk away. This is why Scripture calls us to meditate on the word, to rehearse it in our minds, to talk about it, to build habits around it. And so when we, the person who perseveres keeps returning to the word and allowing it to shape how you think. I mean, firefighters constantly train, they constantly rehearse procedures. Believers, we need to continually return to the word so that that obedience becomes our spiritual reflex. And then we need to do what it says. James says the blessed person is no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts. And that's where the difference, I think, is finally revealed, isn't it? The firefighter responds when the alarm goes off. The Christian responds when the word confronts the heart. When scripture exposes sin, repentance follows. When scripture calls for forgiveness, forgiveness is extended. When scripture commands generosity, compassion, humility, the believer steps forward in obedience to that call. Action is the evidence that the word has truly taken root in your heart. And James says something pretty remarkable in verse 25. He says the one who does this will be blessed in his doing. And the blessing is not attached to just the hearing or even the knowing, the blessing is attached to the doing, to the obedience. The joy, the freedom, the spiritual growth that Scripture promises are experienced in the life of the person who actually lives out what the word teaches. So the follower of Christ experiences the blessing of the word by doing what it actually says. And that brings us to the third big piece here, which James calls genuine religion. So this is, he's moving from the general call to obedience to very specific practical evidence of what this true faith looks like. In verse 26, if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is what? Worthless. James is saying that someone may believe they are spiritually serious, they may consider themselves committed and faithful or mature, but if they can't control their speech, their religion is empty because the tongue reveals the heart. Words expose what truly exists in here. A life that claims devotion to God but regularly produces gossip, slander, anger, careless speech, a life where something is spiritually out of order that exposes a disorder in the heart. And James uses the word religious here. And we need to pause on that for a moment. Because our culture, especially the church culture, we often hear people say something like, Christianity is not about religion, it's about relationship. And I don't necessarily disagree with that. I understand what is being said there. And there is truth in that because saving faith is indeed a relationship with the living Christ. But the Bible does not treat the word religion as a bad word. In fact, James uses it here in a very positive sense. Religion, in a very basic biblical sense, is the outward practice of our faith. That's all it is. It's that visible expression of devotion to God. You see, the issue is not religion itself, it's whether that religion is empty or genuine. James is not rejecting religion, he's defining what true religion actually looks like. And that first mark is that bridled tongue. Watch your mouth. Anyone here ever have a mother say that when you're growing up? Anyone here ever had their mouth washed out with soap? Yeah, all the Gen Xers are like. So you're probably thinking like, you know, the lifeguard in the mouth thing or whatever that soap was. My grandmother would put the liquid stuff in my mouth. And it didn't work. And I now I have soap blindness as a result. I deserved every bit of it, I'm sure. But we need to watch our mouths. And James returns to this again, I think he's in chapter three, because our words have tremendous power. For believers, it means learning to speak carefully and intentionally. Resisting the impulse to tear people down, refusing to participate in gossip, speaking words that build up people rather than destroy. So I challenge you this week, as soon as if you're in an opportunity where somebody's trying to destroy somebody, say, hey, let's take a moment and let's think about the positive things that that person is doing and let's build them up, even if they're not in the room. One of the simplest ways to practice true religion is to pause before we speak. I mean, I think, and this is a metaphor, but I think the Lord puts a stop sign in our brain and it pops up before we say something. But some people have ran over that stop sign years ago. And so we need the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. And it can come by asking a question Is what I'm about to say, is this going to honor Christ? Is this going to help the person who hears it? And I think if the answer is no, the best response is silence. James then says, true religion involves compassionate care for the vulnerable. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. Your version might say in their distress. I mean, in the ancient world, widows and orphans were the most defenseless people in the society. They had no income, they had no protection, no social standing most often. So James isn't limiting the command just to those two groups, however, he's pointing to a broader principle. Genuine faith moves toward people who are suffering and in need. Let me say that again. Genuine faith moves toward people who are suffering and in need. True religion is not just expressed in worship services or theological conversations. It's expressed when believers step into the pain of others and provide help. I mean, I'm a Yankee. You can go up to New England and you're probably about a hundred miles between actual gospel teaching churches. Hopkinsville, Kentucky, however, has more churches than it does pear trees. But that's not stopping Hopkinsville from isn't that what those big white trees are, Bradford pear trees? There's a lot of them. And they stink. We have a church problem the same way. But I can tell you right now, that's not stopping Hopkinsville from falling into addiction, violence, and homelessness. Based on the number of churches in this town, this should be the perfect Christian example of a Christian town in a Christian county. I can go outside and throw a rock, and that rock will bounce off of five different churches. The stat I read this week was that Christian County has five to ten overdose deaths per week. That's per week. But I can tell you that if all the churches in our town truly had the word implanted and then acted on that, and the churches in our town were moving toward the vulnerable, the cumulative effect is that Hoptown would go up, not down. This truly would be a Christian county. And so, practically speaking, this means looking for people around us who are struggling and refusing to ignore them. It might mean checking in on someone who's lonely, helping a family going through hardship, supporting ministries that care for vulnerable children, or just being present with someone in grief. You know the best thing you can do for somebody who's grieving? Shut your mouth and be there for them. Amen. If somebody's grieving, you can just go sit with them. You don't need to explain the theology of grief or talk about angel wings or anything like that. Just go and be there with them and cry with them and tell them you love them. Compassion requires intentional action. It means that we see need and we move toward it instead of walking past it. So the believer who is serious about living out the word will develop eyes to notice suffering and a willingness to step in with love. You say, Gulli, I can't do all that. You can do one thing. And then if all of us in here did one thing, and then all of us over at Second did one thing, and then all of us over at Henderson Memorial did one thing, you see that cumulative effect? James goes on and says, true religion includes personal holiness. We need to seek personal holiness. Verse 27, he ends by saying, keep oneself unstained from the world. He's not calling us to withdraw from the world, but he's calling us to resist the corruption of the world. The world can constantly presses its values in on us. Pride and greed and lust and selfish ambition, bitterness. They're constantly presented as normative and acceptable. So to remain unstained means we guard our hearts and refuse to adopt those patterns of life ourselves. Holiness is not about appearing, it's not about appearing somehow. It's not about appearing morally superior. Holiness is about living in a way that reflects the character of Christ. This takes daily attentiveness. It means evaluing what influences you, shaping our thinking. Think about the habits that shape our lives and what desires shape our decisions. Keeping oneself unstained involves repentance when sin appears, humility before God, dependence on the spirit for strength. We need to remain spiritually alert so that the stains of the world don't gradually shape our lives. So let me try to end this way. When you put all this together, James paints a very clear picture of what authentic faith looks like. It speaks with care, it moves toward the hurting, it pursues holiness in everyday life. This is what pure and undefiled religion looks like before God the Father. It's not empty talk, it's not a label that we wear like a jacket for recognition. It's a life that has been shaped by the Word of God and is actively living out in the world. And so, friends, we're going to pray in just a moment and we're going to sing our final song. And God calls us not just to hear the word, but to respond to it. And so my invitation to the Lord has shown you an area of your life where you may just be hearing but not doing. You might be walking through a trial and you need wisdom. God is calling you to deeper obedience, perhaps. But most importantly, if you've never trusted in Jesus Christ, if you've never turned from your sin and placed your faith in him, today is the day, isn't it? Christ died for sinners and he welcomes all who come to him in repentance and faith. And so if the Lord is stirring your heart, if the Lord is calling you, do not harden your heart. The altar is going to be open. If you want to come and pray, I'm going to invite a couple of our elders to come down and be available to pray with you as well. But let's respond to the word that the Lord has given to us today. Let's pray and then we'll sing together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and for the truth that we've heard today. We ask that it would not leave us unchanged. But by your Spirit, help us not to be hearers only, but doers of your word. Give us wisdom, steadfast faith, hearts that trust in you. And as we leave this place, go before us and help us to live in a way that honors Christ in our homes, our work, and our community. And we ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's stand together.