Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) 24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Jesus was actually talking about our lives.
Jesus isn’t giving advice – He is issuing commands.
We are forced to decide who He is and whether we are going to believe Him or not.
The crowds were amazed at his teaching because He (Jesus) had taught with REAL authority
What are we going to do with Jesus today.
How we respond to this will change everything.
#alivewesleyanchurch
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Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) 24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Jesus was actually talking about our lives.
Jesus isn’t giving advice – He is issuing commands.
We are forced to decide who He is and whether we are going to believe Him or not.
The crowds were amazed at his teaching because He (Jesus) had taught with REAL authority
What are we going to do with Jesus today.
How we respond to this will change everything.
#alivewesleyanchurch
For the latest sermons, stories, & training: https://alivewesleyan.com/sermons/
STAY CONNECTED:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALIVEWesleyan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALIVEwesleyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alivewesleyan/
Website: https://alivewesleyan.com
Newsletter: https://alivewesleyan.info/weeklyupdate
Oh, good morning. Pastor Tom is at Indiana Wesleyan university this morning celebrating the graduation of his oldest daughter from college. So we celebrate that with them, uh, this weekend. And, uh, so glad you guys are here. Let's have a word of prayer and we'll get started. Lord, thank you so much, uh, for just the privilege it is to be in a place like this with a community of folks who are committed to digging into your word, trying to figure things out, Lord, as you have a just directed us. And so, Lord, as we, uh, just go with your word today, Lord, pray to open our hearts and our minds to what it is that you would have a sword see and a new or fresh way in your hone and we pray. Amen. So this morning we're starting a new series called Demo Day. And, uh, it's a pretty recent, a trend now that when you hear that phrase, the first thing that comes to our mind is who chip, right? Chip Gaines, his, his, uh, his awful dad jokes, his unusual concern about his hair. That really is not very good. And, uh, you know, though all those poses as if he actually has muscles, right. And, uh, and so, and so we, it's kind of new thing that now when we hear the phrase Demo Day, we actually think of watching people do hard work instead of actually doing hard work. You know what I'm saying? I know for many of you that is a terrifying thought, but there was actually a day when I was younger and more muscular. I know that's hard to imagine when I was actually the demo guy. All right. So I had a friend who had a construction company and whenever they were about to do a renovation project that they knew there'd be a lot of demolition and removal and all that, they would call me and have me come in. They knew I would come in like, you know, a wrecking ball, just destroy everything and still have the energy to carry it all out while they peacefully and comfortably sat and watched all this happen. Much like Joanna. Right. And the show. And so, um, so unfortunately for us, we actually didn't know at that time that this was like hit show multimillion dollar kind of footage. So we were a little late to the game on that. But when it comes to demolition in most of these like fixture up kind of a situations and the whole objective is to strip everything down to what really matters, right? The elements that if they fail, everything else fails. And so most of us who would refer to this as the foundation, right? This is the foundation. And in Matthew Chapter Seven Verses 24 through 27, Jesus uses this simple story to describe how important of foundation is to the rest of the structure. So I want us to read this together. Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise like a person who builds a house on solid rock though the rain comes in Torrance and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house. It won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey is foolish. Like a person who builds a house on sand when the rains and floods come, and when the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty mighty crash. Now, I think that most of us here can agree that the principle of this story seems moderately obvious, right? I mean, we've all seen homes at the beach, uh, either maybe in person or maybe on house hunters on Hgtv. They're all built on tall stilts or platforms that keep it elevated, all move. So it's off of the, the moving and the unstable sand beneath it, right? And we can all pretty much agree with Jesus on this principle. And to be perfectly honest, for me, it feels almost like a little bit of a let down. Okay, this is the grand finale of the greatest sermon of all time. The sermon on the Mount Matthew Chapter five through seven. And I can almost kind of wonder what was he thinking ending with this until we realize that the actual profoundness of this moment and the intervention that this simple truth can create is the fact that Jesus was actually talking about our lives. He was actually talking about foundation of our lives. His lesson on building and foundations was only a metaphor for something much, much deeper, so he's talking about what is it, the core of who we are, what determines how we spend our time, our energy or our resources, what makes us tick, what kinds of things are we willing to fight for? What's the lens that we see the rest of the world through? And right now in this passage, Jesus is teaching in this sermon. So many counter cultural things that in these couple of chapters of Matthew, it's really easy to be overwhelmed and kind of struggle to take it all in. In this moment. He is like rocking these folks world about presenting a whole new paradigm, a whole new Lens, a whole new perspective. A couple of examples in Matthew five starting in 21 Jesus told them that unholy actions are not actually the only thing that subject to judgment, but it's actually intent or motive or attitudes. Then he goes on to say Matthew five he described adultery as something that we could actually do exclusively with our eyes or with our heart. And even now that sounds kind of kind of odd. And then even further down in Matthew five Jesus calls people to figure out how to love on and pray for their enemies just as they would their neighbors. And you want a culture where we spend a decent amount of time maliciously tweeting towards those who think differently than we do. We're trying to figure out how to post the right Facebook article to defend our rightness. This, this kind of is unsettling for us, right? And these new and these unsettling perspectives kept coming from the sky. Jesus taught about money, about divorce, about anxiety. He was talking about some of the most personal issues that people face today and the people faced at that time. And honestly, his perspective was it best unusual. And some of us can probably even say offensive now know that it's really early in the message to get this direct. But if we're going to continue to kind of dig into this passage, I have to say it. Whether you are a Christ follower this morning or not, we all have to come to reality with this one fact. Jesus isn't actually giving advice. He's issuing commands in this passage. See, Jesus isn't giving us suggestions on how to live a healthy and happy life. In fact, I would kind of go into the complete opposite direction and say he's less concerned about a healthy and a happy life and he's more concerned about what's right, the right way to live. Jesus essentially saying, this is the right way to handle money. Do it. This is the right way to handle anxiety. Do it. This is the right way to handle divorce. Do it. And if you step back and you look at the big picture of this moment, you probably starting to think what kind of person thinks they have the right to do this. And the only way I can kind of make sense of it is by acknowledging that this person, Jesus in this case, was intentionally putting us in a situation where we're forced to decide who he is and we're whether we're going to believe him or not. In Matthew spinal description at the end of chapter seven, uh, his description of Jesus and the closing verses, he said that the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he had taught with real authority. It actually says even right after that, quite unlike the religious teachers, so Jesus had had, had really floored these folks, right? He carried so much authority and how he spoke and how he taught that. Now these listeners had to decide what they were going to do with it. Where are they going to trust him, where they go into more than politely listened and move on with their lives the way they were? Were they going to embrace his teachings? And these questions don't just apply to the people that were sitting on a mountain side 2000 years ago. These questions apply to every one of us today. We have to decide what are we going to do with Jesus today? So according to different descriptions in scripture, Jesus came to Earth as a king. So I want you to imagine this guy who is claiming to be a king, standing in front of a huge crowd telling you, me and everyone else how we're supposed to live our lives, poking on some of the most personal, the most intimate, the most uncomfortable issues that we all face. And I feel like we're going to boil down this moment to kind of one of two things. Either this guy, Jesus is a narcissistic, egotistical power grabbing maniac, claiming knowledge and authority that he really doesn't have, or Jesus is the real deal. He's more than just a good teacher in this moment or a good preacher, but an actual king worth following. And how we respond to this will change everything. So because of all the abuse of power and influence and authority that we, we experienced at work or we hear about on TV or may even feel at home, it's very easy for us to ignore or even reject the fact that Jesus is giving commands in this passage. And I don't know about you, but I can, I can feel that a little. I mean I'm happy to listen to some good advice or someone else's opinion, but I'm going to get a little resistant or, or best annoyed if you start trying to, to tell me to behave or live one certain way or another. And I know quite a few of you and I don't feel like I'm alone in that. And although we know according to scripture that Jesus, his intentions were good in the authoritative role of king, it's far more comfortable for me. And I imagine for you to embrace this Jesus guy simply as a great teacher who had some wise idioms for us to live healthier and happier lives rather than an authority figure that we're being called to obey and to follow. So many of us might be struggling with this worldview, with this lens, but cs Lewis seems to have personally drawn a clear line on this topic when he says this, when I read this quote from him, I'm trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus. I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut them up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us and he did not intend to. You see, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. In Mathew seven Jesus was metaphorically backing us into this corner saying, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, but anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish. Jesus is trying to to describe the results of our decision as black and as white as he possibly can in a way where anyone can understand it, no matter their education, their expertise, their experience, their background. He was saying, if we label Jesus as a good teacher, the future is unstable. But if we label him as our actual authority, we're choosing to build on something of substance. And the reality is is that every single one of us is building our life on something. And what we're building our life on is actually a really, really good question for us to work through in our own hearts and our own minds. Because we can build on all kinds of things and you could help me build a list up here if we wanted to. We could, we could we build our lives in our kids or our marriages or our money or our career hobbies. You could help me add all kinds of things. And honestly, most of them are all good things, but they aren't the right material for an unshakeable foundation. Every item that we would probably put on our list as a possible foundation material would eventually potentially breakdown, break apart or let us down. And this is an incredibly important principle to understand because this passage of scripture describes to builders who had the exact same information, right? They both knew which plan was best. Both builders heard the truth, but only one listened. Matthew seven, 26 says, but anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey is foolish. Like a person who builds a house on sand. And we all understand what Jesus means by this. We all know of times when someone's, what someone says, but we don't actually what we hear, what they say, but we don't actually listen. Right? So, uh, you know, I'm thinking about my wife, right? And she, she tells me she doesn't like to be touched in the morning. Okay. Or, uh, spoken to in the morning or even acknowledged that she is alive in the morning. Like she doesn't want any of that. And I hear what she's saying, but I rarely adjust my behavior and obey or listen. And I can assure you the consequences are significant, right? And so why do we choose more times than not to only here and not actually listen. Maybe we don't think the other person is worth listening to. Maybe it's a boss we don't respect or a family member who's life is a mess. Maybe it could be that what someone is saying is you're going to take more work or it's not going to result in me actually getting what I want. I'm pretty sure that describes like 99% of the time that my kids don't listen to me or maybe it's less personal. Maybe there is no attitude attached to it, but it's simply that we don't understand what the person is saying. No, I don't think that that's what is actually happening here because it seems pretty simple and Matthew seven with this builder, but just in case, let's talk about the difference between rock and sand, right? So so a rock, it's going to withstand quite a bit, right through even just a little bit of winter rain, but a sand, it doesn't take much right for it to move all around. It all seems pretty basic. Santa moves rockstone but let's just give this builder or the benefit of the doubt and assume that he still does not understand the comparisons. All right, let's make it even more simple. For the, for all of us today at its most basic form, Jesus's teaching here was saying if you, it's important to get the first thing right because if not, it can produce some disastrous results, right? It's important to get the first thing right because if not, it can produce disastrous results. I don't want to give you an example. All right, so a couple of years ago, how has helping lead worship at a conference that was hosted in a hotel in Charlotte and we had invited a few of our friends to come help us lead worship for this weekend. And so a couple of musicians, one of the guys that we invited his name, uh, to play guitar, his name was Chris. All right. Chris, spelled c. H. R. I. S. This is very important for you to remember. All right. It's an important part of this story. All right. So additionally, the conference was led by a parcel. It led by the husband of a woman that I work with here in the office at alive in her name is Kristin. All right, which is spelled c. H. R. I. S. T. I. N. Also very important for you to remember for this story. So the first night we had some downtime, I had a hotel room by myself. So I pick up my phone and I text Chris and I say, Chris, want to come to my hotel room and hang out there? You may already have figured out where this is going. I had not actually texted Chris. I had actually texted my coworker Kristin. Uh, and you guys know it. You guys know what I'm saying? Like it's important to get the first thing right cause it can really have some disastrous results. No, graciously, uh, she and her husband, uh, understood my mistake and we laugh about it now, but it certainly could have ended in disaster. And, uh, I got the first part, Rome. Well, just to be clear, getting the first thing right does not guarantee that things won't get messy. But what it can guarantee is that no matter how destructive or how chaotic things get in the moment, there's still something stable. There's something unmoving, there's something solid supporting us. And here's one more significant truth that Jesus drops in this passage that I don't want us to miss is regardless of your foundation, a storm is coming. And for those of you who have been around the block a time or two, uh, you know, that is Debbie as this may sound, you're either going into or you're coming out of some kind of storm. No, this isn't like some kind of doomsday prepper or kind of mentality here. Okay? This is just part of living in a broken, jacked up sick world. You know it, and I know it. We just don't often like to say it out loud. But if you look back at the beginning of verses 25 and 27 when it's referring to the two different builders and the homes they built both versus start with when the rain and the floods came and when the winds beat against the house. See, the storms didn't actually differentiate between these two guys. The storms aren't only targeting people with shaky foundations. I mean, if you look through scripture, you'll see folks who had bed, rock, kind of foundations, people like David job, Abraham, Daniel, Peter, Paul, all these people, bedrock kind of foundations. But they still experienced storm after storm and none of them knew what kind of storm was coming or when it was going to come or how strong it was of a storm it was going to be. But they did know the strength of their foundation. And so can you, and so can I, we won't know the strength of the storm, but we can know the strength of our foundation. And I find a lot of peace in that. And I wonder if that could partially explain how in the next chapter of Matthew, we find Jesus Asleep on a boat in what seems the disciples are describing as as a real squall. All right? And if you don't know what that is, maybe find a red deck, no Burton neighbor to ask. But there's a huge storm right on the lake and Jesus and his disciples are on a small fishing boat. The disciples would probably bailing water. They're like fighting the oars. All this kind of stuff. They're scared to death and they look over towards the front of the boat and there is Jesus sound asleep and they have to be wondering like foot is happening with the sky, like he took too many ambien or or what what is going on? But maybe Jesus is imperfect piece. When everyone else is sensing this impending doom, not because he knows anything about the storm, that doesn't matter. That's irrelevant. Instead, he knows the strength of his inner foundation. He knows that if it comes down to it, his power to weather the storm was coming straight from the unmovable, the unshakable eternal rock. Isaiah Chapter 26 verse four says, trust in the Lord, always for the Lord, God is the Turtle Rock. You may disagree with me on this, but I feel pretty confidently that Jesus did not decide in that moment, in the middle of that squall that he better start figuring out what his foundation was. You see the foundation decision had already made. And that's a really good thing because it's building a foundation in the middle of a storm will often most often not result in the outcome and the results that we want. I've spent enough time around construction projects and I'm sure many of you have to that we all know that you can't pour, you cannot pour a foundation while the storming. Well, some of those technical professionals in the room might say, you actually can, and I'm not going to argue on that, but I've done enough research to know that no one prefers to do it that way. You have to work so many more angles and be exceedingly more uh, careful to prevent weakening or cracking. And you can be putting yourself and others at risk doing it like that. So let's just say that you shouldn't pour a foundation while it's storming because eventually something is going to test the strength of that foundation. Eventually a storm is going to reveal who or what your life is built on. And the question is, is who you trust? You've got to be able to answer this question before the storm hits so you'll know who to lean on or what's to lean on during the storm. So we wrestle with who Jesus is now so that you'll have a firm foundation with a storm when the storm comes later. If you still haven't settled on what you believe to be true about Jesus, you need to spend some time reflecting on that. You need to get it settled because I'm convinced that if you examine the life of Jesus, he isn't a liar. He isn't sound power tripping, ego maniac. He isn't even a pushy salesman. When he says that this is what's right best or true, I believe it actually is, and when we read through the sermon on the mountain, we see all these teachings that initially felt so counter cultural, we began to realize that we are the ones who are sort of out in left field. Jesus actually knows how life works best, not us. I. Let's look at a simple example. Matthew Chapter Seven verse 12 which we all know today as the golden rule. Who of us today believer or not? Wouldn't agree that this is a good principle to live by. And this is just scratching the surface. I mean, even though Jesus may have taught this stuff a long time ago, it's like a good can of spam. It never goes bad, right? So what Jesus taught is still how life works best. He's not crazy. And honestly, here's one way to find some proof. Let's interact a little bit here. Okay? How many of you have siblings? Great. All right. Now, how many of you have at least had a mother at some point in time in your life? Great. All right. So most of us. All right, so what would it take for your siblings or your mother to bow down and worship you as God? Now maybe you're thinking not even a chance. Uh, even Jesus's family thought he was crazy for a little while. Or maybe you're in the rear part of the group that says they already do. All right, but what would it take for your brother, your sister, or your mom to bow down? I mean, these people who may love you to pieces to bow down and you abuse God. And then live the rest of their lives standing up to defend you as God. Maybe you would take these words from Matthew Chapter 28 he isn't here. He is risen from the dead. Just as he said would happen. You would have to rise from the dead to prove that you have this kind of authority. And that is exactly what Jesus did. He proved that he was lord over everything, even death. So he stands in front of his disciples and he says in verse 18 I have been given all authority in heaven and on Earth. So when the storms, the chaos, the unknown of life come crashing in all at once. I want someone like that in my boat. Imagine the kind of confidence, the kind of piece, kind of security that that could bring into all of our lives. And some of us are in a storm right now and it's really hard honestly for us to see clearly enough or even think clearly enough to know where to begin on this new foundation. So I'm going to suggest this morning a few cornerstone kind of principles that I believe can give you something solid to build on. The first is this because of the cross, you have nothing to hide. Jesus took my sin. He took my shame, and he hung it on the cross so that I would no longer have to feel the need to hide from guilt or shame or embarrassment. And respectfully, he took all of yours too. And if we think back to Adam and eve in the garden when their eyes were first opened to the reality of good and evil and right and wrong, the Bible says they hid from God because they were ashamed in many of us have made decisions or have attitudes or habits that we're not proud of, but Jesus has already taken care of that. Romans chapter eight verse one says, so there is now no condemnation or no judgment for those who belong to Christ Jesus. So if we choose to build our foundation on the premise of who we are and in Christ and what Christ has done for us on the cross and creates so much freedom, we're no longer trying to waste our time managing a certain image or living in the pretense that everything is okay even when it's not just being just living in the identity of Christ is one of the greatest gifts that Jesus has given us. The second thing is because of the tomb, we have nothing to lose. We just celebrated last weekend, Easter weekend, the time that we remember Jesus's resurrection and what it should give every person who chooses to trust in the hope and the confidence that we have, the hope and the confidence we can survive any storm. If we look in Romans chapter eight verse 11 it says, the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same spirit living with
Speaker 2:then you.
Speaker 1:That's once we accept the reality and the power of the empty tomb. Life becomes limitless. Situations. We encounter the storms, we navigate the mountains we see in front of us. We're no longer limited to what we can do, what I can do or what you can do, but now our perspective changes. When we placed this truth as the cornerstone of our foundation, our perspective changes from what we can do to what God can do. That's huge. The third thing is this. Because of Jesus, I have everything to gain, so I want to look at this principle in the most unbiblical, unflattering, common sense approach that we can take. Sounds like a really good sermon, doesn't it? I know many of us wake up some days wondering if this is really worth it. Why am I choosing Jesus? Especially on the days that it seems so hard. My response to that is, well, because if this is the right way to do life, I have a lot to gain and very little to lose. I mean today, if we're right now, the only reason that you can muster to choose Jesus and to give him a chance boils down to the question of why not?
Speaker 2:Yeah,
Speaker 1:honestly, that's good enough for me.
Speaker 2:Okay,
Speaker 1:give him a chance because I believe that at some point in your life, if you do that, your eyes will be slowly open to a Jesus can actually do in you and through you, and you'll begin to express in your own words what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter three when he said yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for his sake, I've discarded everything else, counting it all his garbage show that I could gain Christ. See, Jesus actually offers us things that we don't have on our own. Jesus offers us hope. He offers his purpose. He offers US perspective and he offers us forgiveness. He offers physical, emotional, spiritual healing, and for those of us who have already put this, this kind of principle is a cornerstone in our foundation. We could give testimony of that right now. But for those of you who haven't put this in place, the potential, the potential redemption and the remodel that Jesus can bring in your life is absolutely enormous. So if you are on the other side of the storm, and as a result, your life is in like complete shambles. Maybe you found yourself divorced or you're physically broken. Maybe you're starting all the way back at the starting line with your or your finances, or you're desperately trying to rebuild some broken relationship. Let's remember this. Sometimes there has to be demolition before there can be a renovation. Sometimes getting knocked down flat on our face is the only way for us to see that our foundation is actually full of cracks. And the weird thing about that is that it's this weird expression of God's grace. The storms in our lives, real reveal reality. And coming face to face with reality is sometimes the only thing that'll force us to listen up. God's grace is not always gentle, but we know it's always for our good. So I'm telling you from my experience that Jesus is not a liar and I've chosen to believe personally that Jesus is more than a t good teacher, but he's a king worth following. So my question for you this morning is simply, what do you believe to be true about Jesus? And before we dig into the series and and further navigate some of Jesus's boldest statements, it's imperative that we first decide how we feel about him as a person. Jesus called his disciples to answer this question in Matthew 16 verse 15 he said, then he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Now? I'm a peace apostle. Peter actually got this one right when he replied that he believed Jesus was the Messiah, the son of the living God. But the question this morning is, who do you say and who do I say that he is? And it's not really an easy question to answer. I mean, yeah, Peter answered the question correctly because he watched Jesus turned water into wine and turn a lunch for one and two a feast for thousands. He watched Jesus raise people from the dead. And heal the sick. But for us it's a little different for us. It requires some serious faith. It requires faith to build the foundation on something that we've actually never seen or touched. So let me put two options on the table for you to consider this week. For those of you who would say you have no foundation, consider building your life on the truth that Jesus is who he says he is and he'll do everything he says he will do. And for those of you who would say you have a foundation for your life, but you chose to be able to something that potentially might not survive the next, would you reflect this week? It's to consider taking on a demolition project and rebuilding your foundation. Following Jesus's commands. See Demo Day. It is actually hard work, but almost everyone loves the end result. So I want you to take this challenge with me. All right? I want you to read Matthew chapters five through seven once every day this week. And let's just all see what parts of our lives Jesus wants us to take on a whole new perspective in. And see what he can do with a community of folks who are striving to live with his commands as our actual foundation. Let's pray together. Well, we come to you this morning or asking you to open up our minds and our hearts, Lord, to what it is that we're building our lifelong got. We're asking you to, to help us figure out, is it in line with what you taught while you were here on the earth? Is it in line with what you've commanded us to do? And if God not God, I pray that you would help us to figure out what it's going to take to tear that apart and rebuild it. Laura is going to be hard work. It's going to be messy. It's just going to take time. It's not gonna be perfect. But when I pray, Lord, that as we consider this and Lord, as we dig into your word and ask you to give us new paradigm or a new lens through which to see the world around us, Lord, I pray that we as a result, Lord would find greater and deeper belief that you are who you say you are. You are a king. We're though bang a king worth following and Lord, that we can find so much confidence, so much security, so much peace in releasing control to someone who is unshakable and unmovable in Iraq. Thank you for that this morning. Your holy name, we pray. Amen.