Consider your ways

This week Pastor Josh looks at Haggai 1 and the challenge from God to consider our ways when it comes to how we prioritise our life. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:28

Just to take your text again, if you have a Bible with you, or you have a Bible even on your phone, I would encourage you to come. The book of Haggai we're going to look at this morning. It's a very small book in the Old Testament. We're used to had a slightly different system this morning because we're using the tracts. There's no PowerPoint. So if you're able to get a Bible in front of you somehow, I'd encourage you to do so this morning. But Haggai really is a small book, and it's only about two chapters. Well, it only has two chapters. But it's one of those books in the Bible that we can so easily pass over on our way to something that sounds a bit more familiar. But when we slow down and listen to what God says to us through the prophet Haggai, what we see is that he speaks directly into the life of God's people. And this morning I think he's pretty direct in what he's trying to say to us as well. So we're going to read the first chapter of the book of Haggai, if you have it with you. And it says this. The Lord of armies says this. These people say the time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt. The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai. Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your panelled houses while the house, while this house lies in ruins? Now the Lord of armies says this. Think carefully about your ways. You have planted much but harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough to be satisfied. You drink, but never have enough to be happy. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The way puts his ways into a bag with a hole in it. The Lord of armies says this. Consider your ways. Go up to the hills, bring down lumber and build the house, and I will be pleased with it and be glorified, says the Lord. You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house I ruined it. Why? This is a declaration of the Lord of Armies, because my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house. So on your account the skies have withheld the tree, the land its crops, I have summoned a drought on the fields, and the hills on the grain, new wine, fresh oil, and whatever the ground yields on man and animal, and in all that your hands produce. Then Zerubbabel, son of Sheelfil, the high priest Joshua, son of Jehosedak, and the entire remnant of the people obeyed the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, delivered the Lord's message to the people. I am with you. This is the Lord's declaration. The Lord stirred the spirit of Zerububel, son of Sheotheel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua, son of Jehosedat, and the spirit of all the remnant of people. They began work on the house of the Lord of armies, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius. Amen. There's a lot in that can seem to be quite confusing. There's a lot of very odd names in there to read as well. But we're going to work through it slowly this morning. Really, I want to talk really specifically about how we serve God. Because so often we see people become Christians. And we're excited to become Christians. We've just been saved by God. But before long we we see fellow Christians stop growing in their faith, or maybe their faith becomes stagnant, or maybe they even stop practicing their faith at all. And I think a big reason for that is, especially in the West, just now as Christians, we become comfortable. We become comfortable living our lives as Christians. Having God as part of our life. Because for much of what we do as Christians here in Scotland, we don't actually need to rely on God to come through. We can do it in our own strength. We're not exercising that muscle of faith. Because faith is like a muscle. If we use it, it will grow. But if we don't use it, it will wither away and eventually die. How do we grow it? A large part of that is through serving God here on earth. Pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and putting into practice our Christian faith. Doing what God has asked us to do, going where God has asked us to go and relying on Him to come through. But unfortunately, for many of us, serving God and building His kingdom falls down the list of our priorities. And when you read the book of Haggai, it's a book all about priorities. It's a book about what happens when God's people know what God wants them to do, but they keep putting it off. And that can be us at times. That can be me at times. Sometimes, especially when it comes to serving Him. Because if we're honest with ourselves, serving God is something that we can all be tempted to put off, to postpone. I'm too busy at the moment. I'm in a particularly demanding season of life. I'm not really gifted in the way that they are. Someone else could probably do it better than I can. I'll get involved when things settle down. Sometimes those reasons are legitimate. There are genuine seasons where we're exhausted, caring for family, dealing with illnesses, working difficult hours, carrying burdens that other people don't see. But Haggai, I believe, asks a deeper question than simply asking, Am I busy? What Haggai is asking is what has become most important to me? Because there's a difference between having a full life and having a life in which God has been pushed to the margins. And that's exactly where we find these people here. This morning, as we go through this first chapter of Haggai, there's three things really I want to pull out from it. The first is very clear, and God gives the people a warning. He warns them and says, No more excuses. No more excuses. If you look at verse 2, it says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. To fully understand that verse, we really need to know the situation these people were in. You see, the people of Judah, God's people at the time, had been taken from their country and taken as prisoners or then to exile in Babylon. Jerusalem, their homeland, had been destroyed, including the temple. And now these people didn't have a place to worship for the first time since the time of Moses. But God promised them that that exile would not last forever. And eventually, after about 60 or 70 years, under the Persian King Cyrus, the people were permitted to return to Jerusalem. God rescued them. They came back and they're excited to be back. They're excited to follow God and serve God, and so they begin to rebuild the temple. But before long, opposition arises. They start arguing with each other, and discouragement sets in, and the work stops, and years pass, and then the temple remains unfinished. How similar does that sound to us at times? These people had literally been rescued and saved by God, and before long they just start getting on with our lives again. I think sometimes in our own Christian walk, we confess that exact same thing. We know that we have been saved and rescued by the work of God from our life of sin. But now what? What do we do with that? Because if we don't do anything with that, our faith can grow stagnant. We stop moving forward and we stop serving God. That's exactly where these people found themselves. And then High Guy comes with the word of the Lord. Notice how the people explain their situation. It says that they say, the time has not yet come. Sounds reasonable. They're not saying we hate God. They're not saying we'll never rebuild the temple. But they're simply saying not yet. Now's not the time. That's often how our disobedience to God sounds. Rarely do we say no to God. More often we say, God, not just now. I'm not ready yet. Now's not the right time. Maybe when life is less complicated, maybe when the children get older, maybe when my work settles down. The danger of saying not yet is it can sound kind of spiritual. Because we haven't rejected God. We've simply postponed our obedience to him. But look at what God says through Haggai. In verse 3 it says, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, and then in verse 4 he says, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? There's the problem. The people aren't living in ruins, their houses have been built, and apparently they don't just have functional houses, but the reference to paneled houses actually tells us these people had quite extravagant houses, that their houses had received real attention from them, real investment from them. And there's nothing wrong with having a nice home. God's not condemning them for that. The problem is the contrast. Their houses are receiving all this attention. But God's house is lying in ruins. Their own lives are moving forward. But God's work has been put on hold. And the question God asked them is penetrating. He says, Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paralleled houses while this house lies in ruins? In other words, he's asking them, have you got your priorities right? And that's the question Haggai puts before us this morning. Not simply are you serving God, but really, what place does God actually have in your life? Because we can become very good at investing in ourselves and everything except the things of God. We have time for work, time for entertainment, time for holidays, time for hobbies, time for our homes, time for our phones, time for sport, time for social media, time for everything that matters to us. And yet when it comes to serving Christ and his church, suddenly we discover that we're very busy. Those things aren't bad things. The issue isn't that those things are bad. The issue really is what comes first. Jesus says in Matthew, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. First. That's the issue really. Haggai isn't simply trying to make people busier. God isn't saying you're not doing enough activities. But he's saying you've forgotten what matters most. And that's the important distinction for us as well. Because Christian service really isn't supposed to be some sort of religious activism. We don't serve the Lord because he needs us to keep his organization running. We don't serve because we're trying to earn our salvation. We don't serve because if we don't volunteer for enough things, God will be disappointed with us. The gospel actually tells us the opposite. Christ has already come to do and done what we can never do. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are not accepted because we serve, but we serve because in Christ we have been accepted. And that's the foundation. Jesus didn't come looking for people who had already made themselves useful. But he came for sinners. He came for people who had failed, he came for people who had wandered, He came for people who had nothing to offer God. And at the cross, Christ gave Himself for us. So when Haggai challenges us about service, the Christian response isn't, I'd better work harder so that God will love me more. But it should be that God has loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. How could I not want to live for Him? Notice in the passage what happens next. Says in verse 5, Therefore, says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. And then God began to expose the consequences of our misplaced priorities. Says in verse 6, you have sown much and harvested little. You eat but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothed yourself, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. It's a vivid picture. They're working, they're earning, they're eating, they're drinking, they're building, they're accumulating. And yet there's a fundamental dissatisfaction. It's as though everything that they are pouring their lives into is leaking away. I want to be careful this morning because Haggai isn't teaching a simple formula that says if your life is difficult, it must be because you're not serving God enough. That's not what he's saying. That's not what the Bible teaches. These people are under a particular covenantal discipline in a particular historical situation. But there's a principle from it that reaches into our lives this morning too. See, we are never designed to find our ultimate satisfaction in building our own little kingdoms. You can spend your whole life accumulating things and still feel empty. You can achieve things and still feel restless. You can have a beautiful home and still lack peace. You can be busy every single hour of the week and still wonder what your life is actually for. All of that is because God has made us for Himself.

unknown 14:55

St.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Augustine famously expressed it this way. He says our hearts are restless until they find our rest in God. Hagini is calling these people to stop and ask. What are you actually living for? That's the challenge for us this morning as well. Before we talk about what we should do for God, we need to ask, has God got first place in my life? Because perhaps the greatest obstacle to serving God isn't a lack of opportunity. Perhaps it's that we've become too comfortable building our own little kingdoms. So the first word from Haggai this morning is extremely direct. God says to the people, no more excuses. Not because God is a harsh taskmaster, but because God loves us enough to confront us when our priorities have become disordered. Perhaps this morning we need to hear that as well. Maybe we have been saying now's not the right time. Maybe one day. God's word to us isn't do more, but it's come back to me. Put me first again. And the wonderful thing about this passage is that when God calls his people back, he doesn't leave them there under condemnation. But he gives them something to do. He tells them to consider their ways. Haggai has confronted the people with their excuses. They've said the time has not yet come. And God has exposed the lies underneath those words. They have found time to build their houses, but God's house has been left in ruins. And then in verse 5 we say God tells them, consider your ways. And then he says it again in verse 7, consider your ways. It's repeated because God wants them to stop. To stop, to think, and to examine themselves. This morning I believe God wants us to stop, to think, and to examine ourselves. Don't just leave this place this morning and carry on. Don't just simply rush into another week. Don't just fill the diary with another hundred things for the week ahead. But consider your ways, God says. That's the second thing I want us to see this morning. First is that there can't be any more excuses. And secondly, God says, consider your ways. He's saying he's not simply saying to the people you're wrong. But he's saying, think about what you're doing. Look at your life. Look at your priorities. Look at where all your time goes. Look at what you're investing yourself in. And ask whether the way you're living really matches what you say you believe. Because one of the easiest things to do, and I've done it myself as a Christian, is to say the right things while living according to a different set of priorities. We say God is important, but our calendar really tells us what matters to us most. We say the church matters, but our availability tells us what really matters. We say the gospel is precious to us, but our willingness to sacrifice for it shows us otherwise. And again, Haggai, he's not simply saying that everyone needs to go out and volunteer for every ministry that we have. But he's speaking to a different issue, a deeper issue. He's asking us to look at the direction of our heart. See, the people here become preoccupied with themselves. And God's call to them is consider your ways. What are you building? That is really the question behind this whole chapter. The people were building their houses. God asked them to think about what they are building with their lives. And perhaps that's a question worth asking ourselves. What am I building? Am I building primarily for myself? Am I investing everything into my career, my comfort, my reputation, my financial security, my family, my hobbies, my retirement, my future? Again, none of those things are bad. But if all of my energy goes into building those things, while the kingdom of God is pushed to the edges, God says through the Prophet Haggai, consider your ways. Because one day every earthly thing we build will pass away. The house will eventually be sold, the career will eventually end, the possessions will eventually belong to someone else, the money will eventually be spent, our bodies will eventually grow old, but the kingdom of God remains. Jesus tells us, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Why? Because as Jesus tells us, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What we do with our resources, with our time, with our energy, reveals something about our hearts. God says, consider your ways. This morning, there's two really practical ways in which you can consider your ways. First of all, consider your time. One practical way of applying haggai is to consider our time. If somebody asked you, what are you passionate about, you would maybe give them an answer. But if they looked at your life for the last month, your calendar, the things you spent your time on, your money on, what would they conclude you are really passionate about? What does your week reveal about what you value? Perhaps you've got no time to serve because your life is genuinely, overwhelmingly busy. Then I think Haggai's word for this this morning is particularly important. Because sometimes the answer isn't finding an extra hour in the week. But sometimes the answer is deciding what actually needs to be removed. Because we can't do everything. We are finite creatures, we have limited time, limited energy, limited capacity. But that's what makes our priorities even more important. Jesus doesn't call us to do everything, but he calls us to follow him. And following Christ will necessarily mean that there are things that we have to say no to. There'll be opportunities that we decline, comforts that we surrender, sacrifices that we need to make, because we have something greater. We have Christ. So firstly this morning, I think, consider our time. And then secondly, consider your gifts. Perhaps I think an excuse a lot of us make, I'll tell it myself, is I don't have much to offer. Maybe you look around and you see other people in the church and you think to yourself, they're the ones who are up front, they're the ones leading worship, they're the ones who can organize, they're the ones who can teach children, they're the ones who can evangelize, they are the people who seem naturally confident. What could I possibly contribute? But when you look at the New Testament picture of the early church, it's not a handful of professional Christians who do ministry while everybody else watches. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that the body has many members. The body, as in the church, different gifts, different functions, different responsibilities, but one body. And then Peter tells us as each has received a gift, use it to save. Serve one another. Each, he tells us, has received a gift. Not merely the exceptionally gifted, not merely the confident, not merely those with lots of free time, but each. God has given his people gifts so that those gifts might be used for the good of others and for the glory of him. Ask yourself this morning, what has God given me and what can I how can I use it for him? Notice as you move on to verse 8 what God actually tells the people to do. He says, Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. There's something very concrete about this command that he gives them. Go, bring, build. Go bring, build. God isn't asking them just to have good intentions, but he's calling them to obedience. Sometimes we can spend so long talking about things that we never actually get it done. We discuss, we plan, we think, we pray, we intend. But eventually that obedience has to become concrete, and that's what happens here. He says, go, bring, and build. There comes a point where I have to say, Lord, here I am, what can I do? And notice the motivation that he gives them. He says that I may take pleasure in it and I may be glorified. That's the goal. It's God's glory. Not our recognition, not our reputation, not getting thanked, not being noticed, not receiving applause, but it's God's glory. Haggai's command is so important this morning. He says, consider your ways. He's not asking us to serve thoughtlessly, or to serve just because there's a gap on our road, or to serve because you feel like someone's pressured you into it. But he's asking us to stop and consider. Stop and consider what Christ has done for us. Consider that Christ has saved me, he's forgiven me, he's given himself for me, he has made me his own, he's placed me in his structure. He has given me gifts and he's given me people that I can show his love to. So now we need to stop and consider, Lord, how can I serve you? And perhaps this morning, if you consider our way, some of us might realize that we've been putting it off for far too long. Perhaps there's been a ministry that you've been avoiding. Perhaps there's been someone you've been meaning to encourage. Perhaps there's an opportunity to serve that you've been continually postponing. Perhaps this morning you need to start praying and asking God, where do you want me to serve you? Haggai doesn't leave God's people just sat staring at their failure. Because the most encouraging part of this chapter is still to come. The people hear the word of God and then something happens. It tells us that they obey. And when they obey, God speaks one of the most precious words of this whole chapter. He tells them, I am with you. And really, this is where my final point takes us this morning. Because God does not call his people to serve him and then send them away to manage it all by themselves. But he calls them to serve him in his strength and with his presence. We have seen Hangai confront the people with their excuses. They say the time has not yet come. And God's answer essentially is to consider your ways. Look at your priorities, look at our lives, look at what we're building, look at where all our time and energy are going. And then in verse 12, we read that Zerubbabel, son of Sheothil, and Joshua, son of Jehosedat, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. Small word in there is very important when it says they obeyed. What's important in our life is that we obey the voice of the Lord our God. Because the Bible isn't given just to inform us. But God speaks so that his people might respond. Notice that the response is comprehensive. Tells us Zerubbabel obeys, Joshua obeys, the remnant, that's the people who came back from the exile that obeyed, the leaders obey, the people obey. There isn't a separation between perceived important Christians and everybody else. But the whole community is called to obedience. And that matters for the church. Because serving Christ isn't simply for a select few. The pastor serves, the elder serve, the deacon serve, the musicians serve, the Sunday school teacher serves. But so does the person who prays for people, so does the person who welcomes someone on the door. So does the person who gives generously, so does the person who visits alone, so does the person who gets alongside another Christian and encourages them. So does the person who goes out and tells their neighbors about Jesus. Every Christian is called to serve. The question isn't whether God has called you to serve, but the question is where has God called you to serve. Then we come to verse 13. I think it's perhaps the heart of the whole chapter of what's going on because it says, Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message. I am with you, declares the Lord. I am with you. What a word that is to receive from God. Because God's not saying to them, go and get on with it. He's not saying you failed, now go and sort yourselves out and make up for that. He doesn't say you should have done this years ago. But he says, I am with you. And that changes everything. Because the people here are about to undertake a task that's much bigger than them. They have to rebuild the temple. They have limited resources. They have opposition all around them. They've already experienced discouragement. And perhaps they feel inadequate in this moment. But God's answer to their inadequacy isn't you're stronger than you think you are. But it's I am with you. And that's a much better promise. Because the answer to our weaknesses isn't pretending that we're strong, but the answer is knowing who is with us. When Jesus sends his disciples out to make disciples of all nations, he gives them a very similar sounding promise. He says, Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Jesus says, I am with you always. You see, the presence of God is what enables the people of God to do the work of God. Matthew's gospel begins by telling us that Jesus is Emmanuel, which literally means God with us. God didn't simply send instructions from heaven, but he came to be with us. The Son of God took on flesh. He entered our broken world. He lived among sinners. He touched the unclean. He welcomed the outsider. He served the weak. And ultimately he went to the cross. Why? Because our biggest problem wasn't that we're not serving him enough. But our greatest problem was sin. We had turned away from God. We had lived for ourselves. We had failed to love God in the way that we should. We had built our own kingdoms, and yet Jesus came to rescue us. At the cross, Christ bore the judgment that we deserved. He died in the place of sinners. He died in our place. And then he rose again. So as Christians, we we don't serve in order to become God's people. But we serve because through Jesus God has made us his people. And as you read the Bible, it tells us a promise is very similar to what the people hear here. So we are given the Holy Spirit. We are given the same power that raised Christ from the dead now comes and dwells within us. God's presence isn't something merely that we remember from the Bible. But it tells us that He comes and dwells within us. Paul says, Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? Think about that in the light of Haggai. Haggai is all about God's people rebuilding the temple so that the place of God's dwelling would be restored. We know now that we have the ultimate privilege of God's Spirit coming and dwelling within us. Verse 14 says that the Lord stirred up that spirit of Zerubbabel and the spirit of Joshua and the spirit of the remnant of the people. God isn't just telling them to go and do these things, he isn't just commanding them, but it tells us that he stirs them. That God's Spirit works in them. He moves them to act. And that's an important truth for us as we come to serve God. Because we need God's strength not only to accomplish the work, but we actually need God's strength to want the work. Because there are times, and I'm sure you've felt it, where we don't feel like serving God. There are times where our hearts are cold and we're not compassionate for the things of God. There are times where we feel tired and we become selfish. There's times where we become discouraged. And the answer to that isn't to manufacture a false enthusiasm. But it's to go back to God. Ask Him to stir our hearts again. Ask Him to remind us of what He's done for us. Ask Him to stir in our hearts and give His compassion and passion for the things that break His heart. We should be asking, Lord, stir my spirit. And then finally, verse 15 says, And they came and they worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, the Lord of hosts, their God. There it is. They worked. The excuses stopped. The reflection became obedience. The obedience became action, and they picked up the work. And that's ultimately where I want to land this morning. It's not simply just leaving here and thinking, isn't Haggai interesting? But Lord, what would you have me do? Maybe you've been serving faithfully for years. Then perhaps Haggai isn't telling you to take on more, but perhaps it's reminding you why you serve. Because Christ is worthy. Perhaps you feel tired, you feel weak, you feel that you can't do it. Then maybe this morning it's for you to hear that promise that God is with you. You can go in his strength. Perhaps you've been pushing God to the edges, filling your life with all these other things. Maybe he's saying, consider your ways this morning. Consider your time, the things that fill your life. Consider your gifts. God has given us all gifts to use for his kingdom. Where does all this leave us? Because the question that I think Haggai wants us to leave with, or I take from the book of Haggai anyway, is are we as God's people giving ourselves to the work that God has entrusted us? Because this morning I want to say something very clearly. There is work to be done. Not because Mospark Baptist needs to keep itself busy. Not because we want to fill every rutah with people volunteering. Not because the church needs to become an organization with program after program. But because there are people who need Jesus. There are children who need to hear about Christ at our kids' cup. There are young people who come to our youth who need adults who will love them, who will listen to them and point them towards the way of Jesus. There are lonely people who walk into our cafe on a Wednesday who need friendship. They need someone to talk to. There are people who need prayed for. There are Christians who need encouragement. There are people who are asking questions about God and need someone to talk to about it. There are neighbors around this church who need acts of practical love. There are people who need to hear the good news of the gospel to transform their life. And God has placed us here. He's placed us in this community as his people. And when we look around this place, we discover that God's already put all of these opportunities in front of us. We don't need to look too far to see an opportunity for God to work. This morning, let us consider our ways. What has God given us? What opportunities has he placed before us? What gifts has he given you? What people has he placed around us that we can serve? Where could we serve? The question isn't can I serve, but it's will I serve? Because Haggai's people, or the people in Haggai, had plenty of reasons why they couldn't. But eventually they stopped making excuses and they obeyed what God was asking them to do, and they worked. And when they did so, what was God's word to them? He says, I am with you. So this morning I want to leave you with the words from the book of Haggai. I am with you, declares the Lord. And then it says that they came and worked on the house of the Lord. May that be us this morning. As you leave this place this morning, Mike's already mentioned it, but there's a flyer, and it simply has different ministries that go on in this church. I would encourage you to take one home with you and ask God genuinely, God, would you want me to serve in any of these areas? God, give me a passion for one of these ministries, for these people. Show me how your heart breaks for them. Not all of the ministries are on it. If there's something else you think of and you want to get in touch, you can do it. Or if there's a gift in that you think you have that isn't on one of those ministries, get in touch with us. My phone number is actually on the bottom of it. The church email's on it as well. Get in touch with us. We would love to talk to you and walk you through that. Because maybe be a church that considers our ways. Maybe be a church that hears God's word, that stops making excuses, that sees the people around us, a church that uses the gifts that God has given us. A church that loves our neighbours, a church that proclaims Christ, and a church that serves sacrificially. And above all, maybe be a church who does all of this in the strength of the God who is with us. Because ultimately the work is his. Ultimately, this church is his. And ultimately we as his people are his. And all of the glory belongs to him. Let us pray together this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have rescued us from a life of sin. Lord, we thank you that you have saved us from a lost eternity. Lord, we thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus, Lord, and maybe never forget that, especially this morning as we come around your table to remember that sacrifice that was made. Lord, would you study our spirit today? Would you create within us a passion for your work? Lord, create within us compassion for people who need to hear the good news of the gospel. Show us ways we can serve you. Show us ways in which we can find time to build your kingdom throughout our weeks. Lord, ultimately remember that all of the glory belongs to you and everything that we do to work for you. It's because we want to see the expansion of your kingdom. We want to see your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. And we want to introduce introduce as many people as we can to you. Amen.