How God Multiplies Faith Through Ordinary People

Acts 11:19–26 | Can God use your everyday life to help others follow Jesus? The church in Antioch began growing as ordinary believers shared the gospel wherever they went. Pastor Chris Teien explores how their witness, encouragement, and commitment to biblical teaching helped faith spread.

Discover how sharing Jesus, depending on God’s power, and investing in others can strengthen the church. You do not need a prominent position to make a meaningful contribution. Begin with the people and opportunities God has placed before you.

IN THIS MESSAGE

#1 A MULTIPLYING FAITH BEGINS WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE

Persecution scattered believers into places they may never have chosen to go. As they traveled, they carried the message of Jesus with them. Their story shows how God can work through difficult circumstances and ordinary people to bring the gospel to new places. (Acts 11:19)

#2 A MULTIPLYING FAITH SHARES JESUS NATURALLY

Some believers reached beyond familiar circles to tell others the good news about Jesus. Look for opportunities to speak about Christ in your everyday relationships, including with people whose backgrounds differ from yours. Keep the gospel central as you share the hope you have in Him. (Acts 11:20; Romans 1:16)

#3 A MULTIPLYING FAITH DEPENDS ON GOD’S POWER

Acts tells us that the Lord’s hand was with these believers, and many people turned to Him. Their experience reminds us that spiritual growth depends on God’s work. Pray, serve, and speak faithfully while trusting Him to bring the results. (Acts 11:21; 1 Corinthians 3:6)

#4 A MULTIPLYING FAITH IS STRENGTHENED THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS

Barnabas recognized God’s grace at work and encouraged the believers to remain true to the Lord. His example shows the value of helping others persevere rather than leaving them to grow alone. Encouragement, fellowship, and accountability strengthen our life together in Christ. (Acts 11:22–24; Hebrews 10:24–25)

#5 A MULTIPLYING FAITH GROWS THROUGH ONGOING TEACHING

Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch, where they spent a year teaching the church. Coming to faith is the beginning of a life of learning and discipleship. Make room for biblical teaching and help others understand and apply God’s Word. (Acts 11:25–26; Colossians 1:28)

#6 A MULTIPLYING FAITH PRODUCES VISIBLE CHANGE

The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch, identifying them with Christ. Following Jesus should also shape our character, priorities, relationships, and actions. Consider whether your everyday life reflects the Savior whose name you bear. (Acts 11:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

BE ENCOURAGED

God can use your willingness to speak, encourage, and invest in others. This week, pray for someone who needs Jesus, encourage a believer to keep following Him, or invite someone to read Scripture with you. Take one faithful step and trust God to work through it.

Full episode and transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/19079620

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I hope this message helps you understand and apply God’s Word. Find sermon transcripts at https://Well.faith, learn more at https://ChrisTeien.com, or come visit us at https://Rockwell.church in Virginia, Minnesota. If this message encouraged you, I’d love to hear from you at wellfaith24@gmail.com.

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

How faith multiplies through ordinary people. So we're in Acts chapter 11 in the Bible. And so I'm just kind of bouncing around as I talk about discipleship. But I guess what you would call these are expository topical messages where I try to give you the background of what's going on in the passage instead of just throwing verses at you out of context. But in Acts chapter 11, it's a turning point in the church, a turning point in the church because so Jesus, he came, he taught us how to live, he made disciples, he trained them up. Jesus died, he rose again, he sent the disciples out in power the apostles to go out and to spread the message. But in the very beginning, in the very beginning, they were just focused on other Jews like them. The Jews avoided close contact with Gentiles because of ceremonial laws and purity concerns. So they purposefully went out of their way not to hang out with the Gentiles, those uncircumcised Gentiles, how terrible they are. So we've got a great message of how Jesus is changing the world, but I can't share it with you because you're a Gentile. But then, and as you look through Acts chapter 6, there's division between the Jews. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is martyred and persecution breaks out, and it causes a bunch of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem to flee to different towns to run and try to get out of there so that they don't get killed. In Acts chapter 8, the believers are scattered and the gospel starts moving because when they are dispersed, they start sharing the gospel with the other people where they end up. And then in Acts chapter 10, God radically changes Peter's understanding through a vision and sends them to a Gentile Cornelius, and you can read about that. And then the Gentiles hear about Jesus, receive Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit, and it becomes undeniable that God is saving them too. Which brings us to Acts chapter 11, where Peter's trying to explain to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem why he went into a Gentile home and what God is doing. And the church begins to recognize that God has granted repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles. So that's happened in Acts 11, 18, and then we get to verse 19, and we have the scattered believers, and so they are out among the people, and they start to do something that might have been against the rules, against the culture, to lead Gentiles to Christ. And as we read about it, we're gonna see that it was God. It was God who was at work letting them know that there is a new mission to reach the Gentiles for Christ. And the apostle Paul is actually going to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He at the time is still called Saul. Some people think that when Jesus showed up and said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Cut it out. Come to me and let me call you Paul, that's not exactly how it worked. So his Jewish name was Saul, his Gentile name was Paul. And because Paul wanted to do all things he could to lead some to Christ, he started to be known a couple chapters later in Acts as Paul. So maybe you've done the same thing. When I came up here four years ago to be the pastor, I had been up here before and had a 218 area code and realized how important that was. And then I moved away and became a 9-5-2- and didn't want to be a 9-5 tour when I came back up here. So as soon as I found out I was headed up here, I got myself a 2-1-8 area code because I wanted to not have that as a barrier. Didn't want to be seen as an outsider because of my phone number. But sometimes I wonder if that even matters. Because when I first came up here 20-some years ago, I was about to buy a Japanese vehicle, SUV, and it was a great deal. But I'm like, I'm moving to the Iron Range, better buy American. So I get up here and whatever it was, 1998 with my Dodge caravan, which happened to be made in Canada. And nonetheless, it was American. And then I got up here and they're like, yeah, so that whole don't buy a Japanese car thing, that was like 20 years ago. That doesn't matter now. You really missed out. You should have bought that. But nonetheless, to become all things so that people will listen to your message and come to Christ. Now we're not talking about moral compromise, we're just talking about little barriers that might cause people to be upset or to push people away. But my first point here, I'm not going to read through the whole passage, I'm just going to work our way through it for the sake of time. But number one, a multiplying faith begins with ordinary people. So again, Peter in Acts chapter 10, verse 34, Peter says, I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism in every nation. And these scattered believers just start sharing their faith in Christ with other Gentiles. So let's look at verse chapter 19, or for chapter 11, Acts 11, verse 19. Out of the NIV. Now those those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word only among the Jews. Like I said, they're trying to keep the message to themselves. They're trying to make sure that they don't offend anybody or they've got these customs that were from the Old Testament law that they're trying to hold on to. So they figured the best way to do that is not to associate with these Gentiles. And so they're pretty much keeping to themselves, like it says, they've been scattered. And so their life is a mess. They're like, how could God allow this to happen? How come he's not protecting us? And the most interesting thing to think about is sometimes when God allows difficult things to happen, it's when he is really moving. When difficult things happen, then maybe God starts to move in someone's life or God starts to move in someone's ministry. God can do amazing things, but sometimes we're too comfortable. Sometimes we're too comfortable to change, to move, to go out and do new things. So Jesus died on the cross for all men. Jesus died for all of those people that were gonna come to him. All of those people on the cross. And so now his team that's supposed to be out spreading the message is like hanging out in Jerusalem and not really going anywhere. So persecution comes, and it was bad for Stephen. But if you read the account of Stephen Bertie being persecuted, he had great faith as it happened, and he went to go be in the presence of Jesus. He gave his life for something really good. And so it scattered the church, but it also motivated the church. Sometimes persecution makes people bolder and stronger and more committed. That's actually what happens to the church and even to our church today. But so they traveled to Phoenicia and to Cyprus and Antioch. So Antioch was a big deal. It was in Syria, it was 300 miles north of Jerusalem. It was the third largest town in the Roman Empire, had a population of about 500,000 people, and that's where they fled to. They fled to all sorts of different places, but they end up in the spot. And your Bible, depending on which Bible, study Bible you have or whatever, might say something about the church in Antioch or the beginning of the ministry to the Gentiles or things like that. But this is a turning point in the Bible. And so just in the time that we have, I wanted to just look at that simply, not go into crazy in-depth stuff that takes too much time. I really want you to apply this to your life, not just get really good at Bible trivia. So they have been scattered and they're just sharing with the Jews, and then something changes. But they're just ordinary people. So they are not experts, they are just people on the run, and they are in this place spreading the word only among the Jews. Number two, a multiplying faith shares Jesus naturally. So you have ordinary people, and they're displaced, so they're in a different place among different people, and they know this great message about Jesus. They have this great faith in Jesus, they have the Holy Spirit, and so there they are, just ready to be used by God. Maybe you're in the same place. Maybe you have been dispersed to the iron range, and you're like, I don't even know anybody up here. What am I doing here? Maybe you've been here all your life, and you're like, I know everybody here, nobody wants to hear from me. But maybe you think that God can't use you because you're just an ordinary person. But my guess is that God is much more likely to use an ordinary person than he would be someone seen as the pastor of a church. So I was reminded the other day, I don't know if I shared this before. I was reminded, it was it last week, I think, I went to Walmart and I was in the meat section looking for one of those clearance pieces of meat with the yellow tag, you know, it's half-priced meat. If I go home and grill it for the next five hours, it should be safe. So go to get the meat, and I'm standing there, and this older guy walks up to me and he says, Hey, Pastor Chris, how are you? And I'm like, Great. And I'm thinking to myself, who are you? And he's like, We've never met. I've never been to your church, but I watch. I watch online. And someday I might come. I said, That's great. 1015 on Sundays, it'd be great to have you. It's so much better in person than it is online. And I'm like, that's interesting. And then as I'm walking out the door, the security guy who I do not know says, Have a good day, Pastor Chris. And I'm like, What is going on here? And so, yeah, people know I'm a pastor and I'm coming to talk to them about Jesus, they might be on guard. But if you, an ordinary person, start sharing your faith naturally, they might be more interested to listen. So let's look at verse 20. Verse 20. So ordinary people dispersed in a different place. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks, also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. So I already mentioned that was like not something that we did, so that's not allowed. But, you know, Peter, God is working on Peter, so Peter's gonna let the Jerusalem home team leaders know that God is up to this, and it is a good, it is a good thing. So I wonder in our lives how many opportunities we miss out on to tell people the good news about Jesus because we don't think we're qualified, because we're just ordinary people, or I don't have all the answers, or I what if they asked me a question I don't know the answer to? These people didn't know all the answers, they just knew what they knew and the experience that they had, and they started to tell other people about it, and these people were responding. These people are like, hey, I want some of that, and they were coming to Jesus too. So I think that Satan does everything he can to try to get us to be fearful, to try to get us to be ashamed of the gospel. So Paul writes in Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. When I was many years ago and my kids were little and I was looking for some money on the side while I was going to Bible college and working full-time, and that was the volunteer youth pastor in my church, I got hired by a Christian t-shirt company to go to shows and conventions and even concerts and sell t-shirts at a table, sell their Christian t-shirts. And so I got a really good deal on Christian t-shirts. And so I had some that I would wear all the time because they weren't too offensive. Nobody get too mad. And then there were others that were like turner burn kind of shirts or whatever. And it literally made me feel anxious some days when I was wearing them, thinking I was about to become the target of people's persecution if I wore that. And so it just depended on the day and how I was feeling. But this whole idea of being ashamed of the gospel, what are we ashamed of? There's absolutely nothing in the gospel to be ashamed of. Now we could be ashamed of what some people have done in the Christian church or what some pastors get go to prison for. You hear them in the news and everything. And we just acknowledge that's bad and that's not us, and Jesus never intended for that, and that we're all in a spiritual battle and Satan's trying to do everything he can to destroy people and destroy the church. But if we have the answer to the biggest problem in life, that is eternal death and the disease of sin, how could we keep that to ourselves? So I'm going to show you a quick video clip on what is the gospel, just for a reminder.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

What is the gospel? It's the most important question you could ever ask. With the most significant answer you could ever receive. The gospel is an announcement. It's not good advice, it's good news. Good news about freedom and forgiveness for bad and broken people. The gospel is not something you do for God, but something He did for you. The Gospel is simple yet profound. So basic that even a child can comprehend it. Yet so deep that no scholar, author, or philosopher could ever uncover the full scope of its depth and riches. The gospel is beautiful. It is light in your darkness, strength in your weakness, hope in your hurting, grace for your guilt, mercy for your misery, healing for your soul, joy for all people. The gospel is jocking, innocence in the place of righteousness, holiness in the place of shame, Son of God in the place of sinful man, God without honor, Lord without breath. The gospel is about Jesus Christ, born in a manger and raised by a carpenter, tempted by Satan but filled with the Spirit, baptized by his cousin and affirmed by his father, questioned by leaders but loved by outsiders, befriended by sinners, betrayed by his friend, respected by some, rejected by most, crucified for all, buried in a borrowed grave, resurrected on the third day. The gospel is a gift, costly for God but free to you. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, but a gift for the guilty. It cannot be earned and it cannot be lost. The gospel is about grace. Known is so good that they don't need it, and known is so bad that can't have it. The gospel is not just a clean slate, it's a final verdict. Not guilty. The gospel is about strength that no enemy can defeat, peace that no suffering can steal, hope that no storm can wash away. My hope is built on nothing less and nothing more than Jesus' blood and righteousness. The gospel is about God. He is infinite and unparalleled. He is strong and gentle. He's the King of heaven, Lord of armies, the healer of hearts, and the light of the world. The gospel is about you. Your move. Not clean up your act, but come as you are. Because Christianity isn't acting like you have it all together, but admitting that you don't. That is the gospel.

Chris T 16:17

Time in your life where you have responded to the gospel, you realize that you are a sinner in need of salvation, you realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and that he rose again and he ascended into heaven. And he is available as our personal Lord and Savior. If you would call out to him and ask him to forgive you and to come into your life to save you, that you want to follow after him, to start that personal relationship, it'd be awesome. And if you have questions about that, call me. My number's on the back of the bulletin, or let's talk about that. And we've got that How to Find God New Testament out there. We buy those by the case. You can share those with other people. If you read the first five pages in the beginning, it shares what is the gospel and how you can know for sure that you can be saved. But we're back to the whole reason that we're doing this series is because this passage Jesus instructed the disciples and us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the end of the age. I mentioned this the last two weeks, and I mentioned it again. It says we're supposed to make disciples, and I'm trying to give you some ideas on how you can do that. There are so many books on discipleship and workbooks and strategies. You just gotta find one that works for you and start investing in someone's life. A disciple is a fully devoted follower of Christ. And I personally don't feel that you ever complete the discipling process because there's always so much more that you can learn, so much more that you can do, so many more ways to grow. But the other part of this command, though, isn't just make disciples teaching them to obey everything, but it is to go. So where are we going? Where is God sending you? It might not be to a faraway land, it might not be to even another place, it might be across the street, next door, to the club that you hang out with or hang out in, or the place you exercise, or the place you play pickleball, or whatever, the place you fish, whatever. So many different places, but nonetheless to go. Number three A, multiplying faith depends on God's power. So we could say, Oh, we just can't do it. And it is so true, you can't do it on your own. There's not a way to be successful doing Jesus' work without Jesus' power. And when we receive Christ into our life, we also receive the Holy Spirit, and He can empower us. Acts 1.8, we'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us, so we can be witnesses in all those places that it lists. But okay, verse 21, Acts 11, verse 21. The Lord's hand was with them. With who? With the ordinary people who were dispersed in a place that they hadn't been before. And a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Who was leading this great number of people? The ordinary people, the people that weren't trained up in all things, the people that didn't have the opportunity to hang out with Jesus for three years. But these people turned to the Lord. The word turned carries the idea of a real change in direction, a change of heart, a change of life. It wasn't just surface-level interest, it was transformation. And sometimes we think, oh, we just have to say everything right. We have to go through the Romans road of salvation correctly, or we might get it wrong. Or and we just, oh, I probably can't do it right, so I'm not going to do it at all. But sometimes the Holy Spirit empowers you in the most amazing ways and the most inconvenient times to share Christ with someone. And it doesn't always mean that the day that you show up and tell them about Jesus, that they're just going to say, you know, you're right. What do I need to do to receive Jesus right now? Sometimes you're planting a seed, and so you'll be one of a string of people that God will bring into their life to tell them about Jesus. And as you are faithful to share, they are in the process of becoming more convinced to come to Christ. I mentioned this last week. 1 Corinthians 3, 6 says, I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. And God is the one who makes things grow. So it's interesting when you come across people where they might be at in their Christian life and their level of response. In Acts, I don't have this on the screen, but in Acts 16, verse 13, on Sabbath, we went a little way outside to the city to a riverbank where we thought people would be meeting for prayer. We sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart and she accepted what Paul was saying. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come stay at my house. And she persuaded us. Was it the persuasive preaching? Was it the great experience? She listened to us and the Lord opened her heart and accepted what Paul was saying. The Lord opens people's hearts, and there might be people that are just waiting to hear about the gospel message from somebody like you, from a normal, ordinary person like you. And it's God's power that makes it happen. It's God's power, God's power that even helps you to have the right things to say at the right time. I shared that last week too. How different times it seems like the Spirit empowered me to be saying the right thing at the right time to the right people, and it was cool. And what's even better about that is the more you do that and the more experiences like that you have, the more confidence you have to do it again. And leave the results in God's hands. Because it's God who makes the seed grow. Number four. A multiplying faith is strengthened through relationships. A multiplying faith is strengthened through relationships. So we want to multiply our faith. And we do that best through relationships. We are going to be more successful as Christ followers if we're involved in a local church. We're going to be more successful as Christ followers if we have other Christian friends to encourage us and to build this up. And you often find that in a local church. So we would like to do so many things in this church. We just need some people to commit. So I'm looking for some guys to commit to start a men's ministry. We've got a men's Bible study, which is awesome. I need some people to help lead men's activities. So many things that we can do and talk about faith. So if that is something that interests you, let me know. As the pastor of the church, I can't be the lead of every ministry, but I can help equip you to help lead a ministry and to make that happen. But multiplying faith is strengthened through relationships. Verse 22. News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. So what's happening now is the church in Jerusalem is like, hey, something's up there. I don't think that's, I think they're outside the rules. I don't think they should be sharing that with the Gentiles. I don't know. Let's send Barnabas to investigate, see what's going on. Barnabas, his name means encouragement. If you look through the New Testament, he encourages a lot of people. Barnabas shows up when he arrived and saw the grace of God, what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was glad for the Gentile believers. He was glad for what God was doing, and he was supportive. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and strong in faith, and many people were brought to the Lord. Barnabas was a good person to send. Barnabas loved God with all of his heart. Barnabas cared for people like Jesus did, and so he was a great encouragement. And so when we think about that, when we think about the way that we live our lives, let us be a great encouragement to other people too. And that is a good thing. Hebrews 10 24, let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And 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 someday Jesus is going to return. And that will be a great day. But it's important that we encourage people to faith. We encourage people to follow Jesus. We encourage people, we motivate one another to acts of love and good works, and we gather together, we meet together. It's easy to watch us online or listen to us online, but it's even more important that we get together, and it's more important that when you come to church, that you don't just race out the door as fast as you can, but you stick around and you talk with some other people and maybe make some friends, you know, have a cookie, sit at the table and see who talks to you. It's a good thing. There are some people that say, Well, you know, I came to church and I just didn't feel very connected. It's like, yeah, I saw you come to church. You were the last one in and the first one out. Nobody even had a chance to say hi to you because you were already gone. So don't be that person. But be the person that people can listen to you and maybe follow you, emulate your faith. 2 Timothy 2 2, Paul writes, The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, and trust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. It's all about reproducing your faith in others. Number five, a multiplying faith grows through on growing ongoing teaching. A multiplying faith grows through ongoing teaching. All right, so again, you have the ordinary people in the faraway land leading the Gentiles to Christ. And so they're sharing what they know, they don't know everything, and so now Barnabas has come in to investigate, and he's teaching and everything, but he has already invested into Saul, who will later be called Paul. And so actually, Saul is back in Tarsus because if you remember in the book of Acts, Saul was the one that was out helping persecute Christians. And then Jesus got a hold of him and said, Why are you persecuting me? And so Saul had his conversion and came to Jesus and started to learn and to teach, and God was really working through him and everything. But so he was the one that was out there being the persecutor, and when he stopped being the persecutor, then his group turned on him and they were trying to kill him. So the church is like, Hey, we've appreciated your teaching in Jerusalem, all these things, but you probably should go back home. So why don't you go hang out in Tarsus for a while? Why don't you get away from all the people that are trying to kill you? So Paul is hanging out in Tarsus. And Barnabas is like, Wow, we got a lot of new believers here. We really need some help in this teaching. I think the Holy Spirit told him, Why don't you go get Saul? So he wasn't sidelined, he wasn't disqualified, he was in training, he was getting prepared. Saul was. So verse 25. Verse 25. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Actually, that's for my next point, actually. But so Barnabas, hey Saul, Saul, where are you? We need you. Come with me. Let's teach these people. And so this might have been the training, the springboard for then Saul, who will be named Paul, to go start his missionary journeys and to start writing much of the New Testament and all of these things at this time. Again, this is a pivotable place, pivotal place in the New Testament when the Gentiles start coming to Christ. And maybe, like Paul, we can say we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. And so hopefully that is the desire of our heart. And also that we reach unity. Again, Paul writes in Ephesians, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. I'm going to talk more about that next week about maturity. Number six, a multiplying faith produces visible change. A multiplying faith produces visible change because this is where they start to be called Christians. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. The followers of Christ didn't choose the name Christians. They referred to themselves as brothers or as saints or disciples, but it was the culture that put the title on them. Those little Christs, those Christ followers, those Christians. And some say, some Bible commentators say that when they first were started to be called Christians, that it wasn't a nice term. It was like a derogatory term. And the disciples were like, We'll take it. And that's what we are called today. Because the people around them saw something different about them, about the way they treated each other, about their love for Christ and each other, about their priority of spreading the gospel, their fruit. Jesus said in Matthew 7.16, by their fruit you will recognize them. And in 2 Corinthians 5.17, Paul says, if anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation. And so the fruit in their life showed that they were different and that they were trying to do good to others. And would somebody look at you and not know anything about you? But as they watched you for a bit, would they say, I bet he's one of those Christians. I bet he's one of those Christ followers, just in the things that they do. I wonder if your neighbors know when you head out to go to church. Oh, he's going off to church. There goes that Christian off to church. But nonetheless, so many more things we could talk about. But next week, we're going to continue this with your life can change someone's eternity. Jesus, I thank you so much for this time. I thank you for your word. We can hear your word. We can hear many great things and not put it into action. But Lord, help us to go from here and to put this into action, put this into practice, to be Christ followers who are looking to reproduce our faith in others. And anybody that you put in our path in our circle of influence around us, that your spirit would just guide us to help them take one step closer to following you, to receiving you as Lord and Savior, to growing in their faith, to being encouraged in their faith. Lord, grow us, grow your church locally and around the world. Lord, we pray that we would share testimonies as to what you've been doing through the ministries that we all have here. Just thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.