Some Assembly Required to Build Strong Faith*

The Christian life is filled with resources, instructions, and opportunities—but it still requires work and faith to put it all together. In this relatable and encouraging message from Colossians 2:1–7, Pastor Chris Teien uses real-life experiences and spiritual truths to show how assembling a strong, vibrant faith takes persistence, community, and trust in Christ’s foundation.

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/16335647

Key Points:

1. God Provides the Pieces—Some Assembly Required – Colossians 2:1–7. God gives us His Word, His Spirit, and His people, but calls us to actively grow and build strong faith.
2. Have an Attitude of Love and Encouragement – Colossians 2:2. Faith flourishes best in a loving, supportive Christian community.
3. Build Skill-Level Confidence in Christ – Colossians 2:2–3. Know what you believe and who you trust—confidence grows with use and experience.
4. Do What’s Right and Follow God’s Instructions – Colossians 2:6. Don’t try to build faith your own way—trust God’s Word and live by it.
5. Secure Your Life on the Right Foundation – Colossians 2:7. Deep roots in Christ lead to strong, enduring faith.
6. Overflow with Thankfulness – Colossians 2:7. Gratitude for what God has done keeps your faith strong and your heart joyful.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

• Funny struggles assembling a coffee bar with missing instructions—illustrating faith assembly struggles.
• Building a child’s swing set without reading directions—learning the hard way about the importance of following instructions.
• Real-life ministry stories about encouraging others and building spiritual community.
• Reflections on being slightly ahead in the parenting/grandparenting journey and using that experience to mentor others.

Notable Quotes:

• "God gives you the parts and the plan, but He invites you to build a life that glorifies Him."
• "Confidence in Christ comes from seeing Him work in your life and sharing that with others."
• "Thankfulness is the ultimate reward of a life built on Jesus."

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Take inventory of the spiritual resources God has given you—and start building.
2. Invest in loving and encouraging relationships with other believers.
3. Grow confident by applying God’s Word daily and trusting the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
4. Practice daily thankfulness for God's work in your life and His continued faithfulness.

Scripture References:

• Colossians 2:1–7 – Building strong faith
• Hebrews 10:25 – Encouraging one another in gathering
• 2 Peter 3:18 – Growing in grace and knowledge
• Matthew 7:24–27 – Building on the rock
• Ephesians 4:31 – Living in love, not bitterness
• Revelation 3:14–22 – Warning to the lukewarm church

Keywords:
 faith building, Colossians 2, spiritual growth, assembling faith, Christian encouragement, Christian foundations, thankfulness, growing strong faith, Christ-centered living

Closing Statement:
 Some assembly is required, but God provides everything you need to build a strong, lasting, and joy-filled faith. Trust Him, stay rooted in Christ, and encourage others along the way.

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The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

So we're still in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 2, and before we start, I want to tell you a little story, some assembly required. How many of you dads have ever had to put stuff together? I mean, they just assume that you're the dad, so you should be able to put it together. Christmas time, that's always a good time when kids get toys and all of a sudden you're putting it together. It's like, hey, we just got our kid a 3,000-piece connect set. Doesn't that look fun? Yeah, little Billy, why don't you go off in the corner and play with that? No, Dad, why don't you help me to put it together? It's like three days later, look, we made a roller coaster. Or what about the things that you tried to put together but just make no sense at all? My wife, around her birthday time, is around Christmas time, and she wanted this thing for the coffee maker coffee bar thing. She wanted this deal. So she ordered it online and it showed up in this box. And it was supposed to be this cabinet deal that looked real normal, but it came in this box that was real little and flat. And I looked at that and I thought to myself, how does that turn into whatever it is that you want? I didn't even have a real clear picture in my mind as to what exactly we were supposed to do, but we took a few pictures while we were doing it. So Caleb thought, hey, it's really no big problem at all. We'll make this work. And we looked at the instructions and we came to the conclusion that whoever made the instructions did not have the actual physical piece of furniture in front of them when they were writing the instructions. Because there were arrows for bolts and holes that didn't exist, and it was really chaotic. And as a guy, I thought, if you give me a pile of wood, I can probably make something of it. In my mind, I'm like, hey, not a problem. But if you looked at this, it didn't really make sense at all. Because the instructions were it was like building a house of cards that was supposed to turn into a sturdy piece of furniture. And so we had all the materials and we had some kind of instructions that we didn't totally understand, and it actually started to affect our attitude after a while. I wanted to just forget it and just be done with the whole thing. But my wife really wanted it, and supposedly the people in the online review said yes, it was hard to put together, but once it was done, it was sturdy. And then Caleb got frustrated and decided that maybe the pieces would be better as a baseball bat. And it was all difficult and everything, but eventually we got it together. And the weirdest thing about it is that I don't think you could put it together by yourself. But once you got like the last four screws and bolts together, then it actually held together and it's really sturdy. But until you get those last screws and bolts in there, it's put together like a house of cards. Somebody in accounting said, hey, I think we could save a lot of money on screws and bolts if we have it put together like this. And anyway, it works, it's sturdy, you know, it's has its intended purpose. My wife's extremely thankful and happy she got what she wanted, and it's all good, and it worked out. And I look at this passage we're about to look at, and I think about some assembly required, and God's given us all these resources. He's given us time, he's given us for most of us health and some financial resources and freedom to share our faith, a ton of Bible material, you know, Bibles in print, Bibles on our phone, Bible resources, a free video service to share with right now media, all these different pieces that we can put together, and God wants us to do something with it. He wants us to take the pieces and trust him, use his word, and also sometimes you can get help from other people that have more experience to put it all together, to do something great with your life, to do something that has eternal significance, to glorify God, and then you will be thankful, thankful for the opportunity that you had, thankful that God's using you to make a difference, thankful for all of these things. So let's just look at the passage real quick in Colossians chapter 2. So I'll just read all seven verses. I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for the many other believers who have never met me personally, Paul writes. So Paul is writing, he's never met these people at Colossae. He's never met, so far as I can tell, the people at Laodicea, which was actually down the street. We'll talk in a few minutes about in Revelation when Jesus calls out the church of Laodicea. But Paul is caring about these churches. He cares about these churches and he is involved in praying for them and trying to train and instruct them, even though he's not there in person. We actually have the same opportunity now with all the resources that we have. You can encourage people on Facebook, on Twitter, on all these different things. You can reach out to people around the world and encourage them. And I actually get some encouragement from people across the country. I get a lot of encouragement from a pastor out in California. We have these great opportunities to help build strong faith into people's lives, not just our neighbors, though our neighbors are great, not just our family, though that's first priority, but to people here around the country, even around the world. I want, Paul writes, I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I'm telling you this so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you, and I rejoice that you are living as you should, and that your faith in Christ is strong. And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down deep into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. So God gives us all of these materials, and he wants us to put them together. Some assembly required. He doesn't put it all together for us, he gives us the opportunity to be involved in the process. Our faith, the genuineness of our faith, is proven by how hard we're willing to work, to use our time, investment, resources to help put it together, to put things together in faith to make a difference in our lives and in other people's lives. So the coffee bar put together, that was just a simple thing that my wife wanted and makes her happy, and we're still using it. It's great. No complaints about it now, but when I first looked at it, it didn't make sense. And now that we're on the other side of it, if you want one, I can show you how to quickly put it together, you know, because I've already experienced it. So you in the Christian lives have already experienced Christ in your life and Christ answering prayer and Christ getting you through hard stuff and all of the difficulties in life that you've experienced and how God has gotten you through, would be just the thing that you could share with other people going through the same thing. So I'm on the other side of having children now. We have one adult child living at home, and basically you're headed for the empty nest. We have some grandkids and everything, so we're a little ahead of some of our friends that are the same age as far as kids, adult kids and grandkids and everything. But because we're tracking a little ahead of them, we can encourage the other ones that are in similar situations that this is how we went through, this is how God provided for us, this is how God helped us. And so you can use the experiences that God has given you to help other people in need, to help them assemble. And what are we trying to assemble? What is the thing that we want? Strong Christian faith. Building strong faith, that is what we're looking for, that is what we want, that is gonna make all the difference in the world. When the storms of life come, if you have a strong faith, it's gonna help get you through. When people have issues around you, when they struggle, when they don't know what to do, when you have strong faith, they can lean on your strong faith to help get them through. So many times people need to hear from you that God is real, that God can help them in their time of need, and then you show them Bible verses and things to encourage them, which is actually point number two. Number two, have an attitude of love and encouragement. Paul wanted them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. The church should be an encouraging place. We should gather together and worship the Lord and encourage one another. Yes, people fall into sin and do things that are wrong, and we should gently take scripture and encourage them to get on the right track. We don't want to be an exclusive place. Next week I'm gonna talk about the dangers of legalism, living a list of rules and excluding people based on the list of rules they don't follow. Talk about grace and how important love is and encouragement. Encouragement makes all the difference in the world. So if we are putting things together for people with faith and love and encouragement, it's gonna make all the difference in the world. 2 Peter 3.18 says, rather you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him both now and forever. So we're building faith, but we're also encouraging people to grow in their faith. That's why if we can have small groups and people come to small groups or one-on-one discipleship, helping people grow in their faith, sharing things that have encouraged us. If you see something on RightNow Media that was really awesome, you should let me know so I can share that with others. I would love to have a list of the top resources on right now media for like kids' videos. What are the best, the kids, the videos that your kids like the most, or for men's issues or whatever. There's lots of videos on there that are encouraging. I should do a better job of coming up with a list of the ones that are really good for parenting. There's a bunch of resources on Christian finances and things. But as we go through life, often there is conflict and there's difficulty and there are periods of doubt. But as we go and we pray for people and we encourage people, then we're actually being used by God. God is using us to be Jesus Christ in the flesh, to be his hands, to be his feet. Sometimes people go through hard things and they think that they're the only one. They think that they're the only person that's going through the struggle or difficulty, and that no one, no Christian person has ever sinned like that, or no person, Christian person has ever had that kind of struggle. But then in your in the knowledge that you have, you can encourage them. You can say, hey, King David was a man after God's own heart, and he wrote a bunch of these psalms, but there is a time in his life when he was tempted and he gave into temptation and he tried to hide his sin from God. And you can actually read about that in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, and maybe they would find encouragement in that. How do you do that? You do it in love. You do it because you care for the person. You want to help that person to be restored back into a right relationship with Christ to continue on. Sometimes people fall into sin in the church and then they embarrass themselves out. They feel that, oh, everybody knows I fell into this sin, so I can never go back to that church because everybody knows. But we don't want to be a church like that. We want to be a church that says people fall into sin, seek forgiveness from the Lord, and let's move on together. The past is the past, but we're moving on together for the future. We're all sinners saved by grace. That's why it's important to come to church, actually. Some people think that, oh, I can just do TV church or internet church or I don't need to go to church. That's not really important, but the Bible says that we should come to church. The writer of Hebrews said that it's important for us to gather together. And what a great thing if we can get together is the church family and invite people out to do things together, to be involved in people's lives. But Hebrews 10, 25 says, let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. So we want to encourage people. We also want to have a standard of living and a standard in the church where we all agree that certain ways of living and acting aren't appropriate. So we might, especially as church leaders, come alongside somebody and say, We care about you, we love you in the Lord, and you're not living right, walking right, doing things right, and we want to help you get back on track. Ephesians 4.31 says that we're to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. So we love each other, we care for each other, and we are not only part of a church body, a local church, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ. And that is a huge thing. There's so many people that are lonely, that are looking for friendship, are looking for ways to connect, are looking for somebody to come alongside of them. And if you see somebody that keeps showing up over and over again, you should go connect with them, share phone numbers or whatever, and try to invite them into your lives. So people often feel alone, they feel neglected, left out, ignored, uncared for. And maybe not even maybe it's not even you or what this church has done, but maybe somebody did that to them in the past, and they just feel that all people are going to treat them that way, that there's something about them that makes them unlikable or unlovable. But we want to encourage people. And then we need to have an attitude of love and encouragement while we're putting this all together. Number three, our skill level should be confident. Skill level, confident. You ever seen those things before? The do-it-yourself, build the project, and it says skill level. Nobus, able to glue two pieces of wood together without much trouble. Intermediate. Here's confident. Paul says, I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself. So what was Christ's mysterious plan? God's mysterious plan that people didn't understand, that David didn't totally get, Isaiah didn't totally understand, Moses didn't totally understand, that we can totally understand the Savior of the world came not just to save us from our sins, not to just pay the price for our sins, but to live with us, to give us wisdom and knowledge. And it is Christ's in us, the hope of glory, that is God's mysterious plan. His plan wasn't just to fix the problem, but to give us a whole new way of living, a whole new way of life, to adopt us as children of God. His mysterious plan is revealed, and that is Christ Himself. And we are not to just know about Christ, we are to walk with Christ, to live in Christ. Christ is our leader, our savior. We follow Christ, we live for Christ, we serve Christ, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to do all of that. So we should be confident in that. We should be confident that we know in whom we believed and what we believed. We should be confident that what we believe is true and worth sharing with other people. And when people ask us questions about how to live the Christian life or things like that, we should have a confident level, a confidence level that says, here's what it says in Scripture, this is a resource to help you grow. This works. I'm confident in this. Just like if you're putting stuff together, you're confident that if you use a certain glue or a certain rivet or a certain screw or whatever, you're confident that it's going to hold together. You're confident that it works. And we need to have complete confidence in what Christ and what the Bible says is true and living the Christ's life. A lot of people ask questions like, does God really exist? Does God really care about me? Is he interested in my daily life? Is he interested in my welfare? Can I really know God in a personal way? Is there really an eternal life? Is there really life after death? And so all of these difficulties can be helped when you come alongside and confidently share Christ in your life. And the coolest thing is that sometimes if you're sitting here thinking to yourself, if somebody asked me that question, I wouldn't know what to say. A lot of times the Holy Spirit kicks in and gives you the words that you need, gives you exactly what you need to share at that time or the resource. And if you carry around some of those how to find God New Testaments and you're familiar with what's in the front and the back, it will help you. I've been putting on your bulletin each week something that's found in the New Believers New Testament. And this week I put the adopted and assured section from the beginning on page A20 that talks about how our Heavenly Father has adopted us, given rights of a Son, that God disciplines his children, and that we have an approachable father. And you can read about that and share that with others. It's right in the front of that New Believers Bible. And if you are really digital and prefer to just carry everything on your phone or find the most opportune times or to share this stuff, you know, when you don't have a book around, but you've got your phone, TakartaBible.com actually has the whole New Believers Bible that you can buy for your phone for really cheap and you can have that resource with you. But skill level, confident. Be confident in what you believe, be confident in the way you minister, be confident that what you have to share and who you serve, Jesus Christ, is of value, is true, and can change the world. Be confident. Alright, when I was putting together that coffee bar, it would have been really cool if I could call out for support. Nowadays, even there's YouTube videos or videos that are actually helpful sometimes. I much prefer to skim down a page and read than to watch a video. Though I was thinking it'd be cool to put a flat screen TV in my garage so when I have to access those how-to videos, it's just right there on the screen. Haven't done that yet. And there's some really good videos that are full of good information. There's also videos that are full of bad information. If you're trying to fix your car and you're watching the video, don't even bother watching the one that starts out with a guy that looks like he's had a few too many drinks and he starts out with saying something like, I ain't never done this before, but here goes. Okay, that's not the one you want to watch. He doesn't have the confident level, he doesn't have the knowledge, he doesn't appear to know what he's doing. So maybe he gets a lot of YouTube hits by being funny or not. I don't know. But we need to look for those resources and call off for help. So the support available is Christ's wisdom and knowledge, not just the world's wisdom and knowledge, but Christ's wisdom and knowledge. And the Holy Spirit helps us to know what to do. Knowledge is the things that we need to know that we know the things that we have, and then wisdom is how to rightly apply that. Sometimes the godly ability to rightly apply knowledge, to know which things are right and how to do certain things in different situations. This Bible commentary says there's no understanding or knowledge of God apart from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As we get to know Christ, he gives us full assurance that we know God. So we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, and then we have we receive the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand these things that we need to know, to understand these things that can make a difference. True wisdom is found only in Christ, true knowledge is found only in Christ. Knowledge is often described as good judgment. Wisdom is an application of that good judgment in the form of good actions. So Paul was addressing false teachers that were trying to tell the people at Colossae that Christ wasn't enough, that what Paul was sharing that would become the Bible wasn't enough, that there needed to be the superior knowledge, that they needed to have this extra stuff that wasn't necessary. And Paul was encouraging them, saying, Christ is enough. Christ is all you need. You don't need to go beyond that, you don't need to seek things beyond that. So we want to pursue wisdom and knowledge. And as we grow in Christ, we often gain more wisdom, and it is a great thing to be able to share that with others. So the false teachers were brought down by Paul. This was a blow to the false teachers, a colossae who claimed to have a higher level of wisdom and knowledge. Paul makes it clear all, not just some, spiritual wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ. We don't need the visions of a television preacher or the writings of a cult leader or a false teacher. We just need Christ. Every believer must understand Christ is all they need, so that no one may beguile them with enticing words. We must have full assurance or confidence that in Christ we have all spiritual knowledge, so no one can deceive us with persuasive arguments, and we move forward in Christ and encourage them. So, number five, we need to make a commitment as we're assembling this Christian life, this Christian faith, to do what's right and to follow God's instructions. So many times we just want to chuck the instructions and do our own thing. How many of you have ever had opportunities to put things together and looked at it and just threw the instructions out the window and said, I don't need that because I'm a man, I can handle this. I got tools, I know how these things work. And then you find yourself having to do rework or take it all apart again because you missed an important part. You're like, oh, I guess I should have read I should have read the instructions because there's no way to put it together that way unless you do it in this order. Ever done that before? So we had to, years ago, put together a kid's swing set. And I looked at that swing set, I'm like, oh, that's easy, no problem. And I started to put it together, and then when I got to the end, I realized there's no way that's gonna work the way that I did it. So then I went back to get the instructions and I did the instructions. Sometimes I get nervous when I follow the instructions exactly. I don't know. I sit there when they have a parts list and count out all the parts. Okay, you're supposed to have 32 of these, and I don't always do that, but I always get nervous when I've assembled something that is important or maybe dangerous if not assembled appropriately, and I have extra pieces left. I'm like, oh no, why do I have these extra pieces left? Hopefully accounting decided, hey, it was better to just send some extra bolts and then have people say they didn't get enough. But when I have extra pieces left, I get a little nervous. But Paul writes, though I'm far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you're living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. So would that describe you? If we were, if Christ were to do an analysis of your life, if he were to give you a review, would he say that you're living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong? Then Paul writes, and now, just as you accepted Christ as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Sometimes as we live the Christian life, we go and we do, we have our spiritual disciplines, we read the Bible, we pray, we share our faith, we give, we do all these things. And we're doing all of it, and sometimes it's just not as exciting as it was in the beginning. And we start to look out and try to see if there's something more, something new, or something more exciting. And sometimes that leads us into error, sometimes that leads us into a cult. Sometimes those people that go door To door, the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons and things like that, they're happy to see you're a Christian and they want to talk to you about faith. But what they do is they redefine words that you think are normal Christian words. They're saying, Yeah, we believe that too. But if you look careful, if you research it, you find out that they're redefining the words. So don't really believe what they're saying that you believe. They're trying to confuse you and lead you astray. But do you follow the instructions the way the Lord has given them? Do you look at the Bible and say, okay, God says we should do this, but you know, we're a modern people, and so when it comes to human sexuality, God probably didn't know what he was talking about. So we should just be able to do whatever we want. And do you compromise in that area, or do you look at it and say, well, the Holy Spirit had it written in the Bible, and therefore it must be there for a reason. So God must know best. So therefore, I must say that marriage should be between one man and one woman for a lifetime. And so I don't see a way to change that, to compromise and say that's God's will. Actually, that's also a page in the New Believers Bible talks about does God approve of alternative lifestyles? So to do what's right and follow instructions. Now, many times the Holy Spirit will actually be working in your life in certain ways beyond even what there's a verse for, and moving you to do things, so to serve in certain ways or to spend your time in a certain way or to give in a certain way. And so sin is doing anything against God's will. And as the Holy Spirit convicts you and moves you, you should respond to that. As the Holy Spirit points out sin in your life, you should respond to that. Repent of that sin, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what it is in your life that's not pleasing God and ways that you can change, and then to make those changes. A commitment to do what's right and follow instructions. So when I work on things, I pretty much have a commitment, especially if it's for someone else, to do what's right, to use the right tool, to use I use a torque wrench. When I was younger, sometimes it was hard for me to get the bolts and nuts on enough. I'd use a torque wrench to make sure that I could get it on enough. But now it's really easy for me to put it on way too tight and to break the bolts off. So now I use a torque wrench to make sure that I don't overdo it and put too much force on those bolts because I want to do it right. I don't want the bolts breaking off or the rotors warping or whatever. So I want to do what's right. I have a commitment to do what's right, and I want to follow instructions. And I'll look to find specifications and torque specifications because I want to do it right. And the same thing should be in your Christian life. You should be looking out there, you know what's right, you should seek to do what's right, not to compromise, but to live in a way that honors God. And then Revelation in Revelation 3, 14 to 22, it talks about the church of Laodicea. And you can read that passage later today. But Jesus had this written. Write this letter to the angel of the church of Laodicea. This is a message from the one who is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation. Jesus says, I know all the things you do, that you're neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were either one or the other, but since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich, I have everything I want, I don't need a thing. But you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me, gold that has been purified by fire, then you will be rich, and buy white garments from me, so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. Jesus says, I correct and discipline everyone I love, so be diligent and turn from your indifference. And then he says, even more. But is that you? Have you become so comfortable with the riches and the convenience of life that you're not hot nor cold for Jesus, that you're just coasting? Have a commitment to do what's right and to follow instructions and to be hot for Jesus, to be on fire for God. Number six, a requirement for a secure foundation. So hopefully the trees around your house with these storms are coming through and the wind and everything have a strong root system so the trees don't fall down over, fall on your house. But we're supposed to let our spiritual roots grow down, and then we're supposed to let our lives be built on Christ, built on the foundation of Christ. And we need to have a secure foundation. Sometimes when you put things together, you need a flat surface to get it right. So even with that coffee bar, you needed a flat surface to put it together and get the screws and everything in correctly so it wouldn't warp or lean or rock. And as you're building your Christian life and building your strong faith and helping others, you need to know that Christ is your secure foundation. And then finally, number seven, the greatest reward is thankfulness. When my wife was thankful when she was happy with her coffee bar, it was a great reward. It was worth the effort that Caleb and I spent on it. When people send you thank you notes that you've helped them to grow in their Christian life or you helped them come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that is awesome. But lives built on Christ, overflowing with thankfulness. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you are taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Thankful to God. God, thank you that you've allowed me to live this life. Thankful to God. Thank you that you've provided for me and allowed me to be part of your plan. Thank you that you've helped me to help make an eternal difference in someone's life. Thank you that you have a plan for my life and that you are using me. I'm thankful for all that Jesus has done. I thank you for all that Jesus is doing and thankful for what Jesus will be doing in the future. Reward of lives built on Christ, overflowing with thankfulness. If you've never come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you could ask right now. We are all sinners and we need to be saved from our sin. And we can ask Christ, who died on the cross for sin and paid the penalty, to ask him to apply that payment to our life and to forgive us. And I asked Christ through prayer prayers, talking to God something like, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Please forgive me of my sin and come into my life, save me, and make me the person you created me to be. I want to follow you. And if you did that and you truly are wanting Christ in your life, then the Bible says that you are born again, a new creation, adopted as a child of God, given the Holy Spirit, and this is what we want to do as a church is bring people into a right relationship with the Lord so that they can make an eternal difference too. Lord Jesus, I thank you so much that you've given us an opportunity to look into your word and to be encouraged by it. There's so many things that we can study and so many things that we can learn. We could just stay constantly learning but never doing anything with what we're learning. But I pray that you would help us motivate us and encourage us to share what we're learning and how we're growing with others so that they too can be encouraged and built up in their strong faith. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.