Take A Stand

There's something about a good war movie that just hits different — because deep down, we know freedom costs something. And if we're honest, most of us are standing for a whole lot less than we were built for.

In this message, we dig into one of the most underrated chapters in the Bible — David's Mighty Men in 1 Chronicles 11. These guys weren't just soldiers. They were legends. Two men held a barley field against an entire army. One man chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. Another showed up to a spear fight with a club — and won.

You know why we know their names? Because they took a stand.

Here's the hard truth: following the crowd will leave you running from fights you were literally built for. Marriage. Family. Faith. Addiction. Sin. These aren't fights to dodge — they're fights to run toward.

Taking a stand is going to cost you something. Time. Comfort. Pride. But the bigger question isn't what it costs you to stand — it's what it costs your kids, your grandkids, and the generations behind you if you don't.

Courage doesn't come first. Conviction does. And when you find something worth dying for — that's when God steps in and does something miraculous.

You were made for more than comfort and convenience. You were made to stand.

Visit us at Generations Cowboy Church for more info about our church or find ways you can support what God is doing at GCC!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you want to click flipping your Bibles, uh, we're going to be going old school, First Chronicles, old test. If you can find it, that's where we're going to be. Uh, today's message is this take a stand. And so to me, uh, I don't know about you, but between Memorial Day and Independence Day, I always go on a bit of a movie journey. And if some of you want to judge me by the choices I'm about to say, it's okay. Like I got thick skin, you won't hurt my feelings one bit. But when I get to Memorial Day and Independence Day, I like to find a good military movie. I want to be reminded of men and women who had to take a stand somewhere so that we could enjoy the freedom that we have. And so for me, like the other day, I was scrolling through, I don't know how many times I've watched it, but 13 hours, I watched that. Like the Benghazi story, seeing somebody that had to take a stand so that other people could be safe. I'll go through and I'll watch Lone Survivor. I'll go uh saving Private Ryan is another one of those for me that that to see D-Day and what people went through so that we could have the freedom that we had. Somebody took a stand. And every fourth of July, at least 20 years now, I don't know how many. This might be the first one in a really long time. She won't be here for it. My daughter and I had a have a 4th of July tradition where we watch The Patriot together every 4th of July. I mean, it's one of those moments that it's just it's a great reminder. I want to always remember what it's like to take a stand and those stories to be remembered, those stories to be celebrated. And we understand what it's like to take a stand in our lives. In our home, we took a stand for what team we were going to cheer for in our house. And there were not going to be any Broncos fans or any Raiders fans in my home. Praise God. Come on. You're going to be a Chiefs fan. Like, and whenever I have grandkids one day, they don't have a choice. Like the first onesie I'm getting is a Chief onesie for whatever grandkid comes. Like, we got to take a stand for God's team. Amen. Come on. Yeah, I know. I'm going to get some emails later on. It's okay. Baseball, man. We are Cardinals fans. Like, Royals can be a second, but man, I've been cheering for the Cardinals since Ozzy Smith was doing backflips, man. Like, we are going to cheer for the Cardinals. That's why we're giving away four Cardinals tickets to the Braves games. Like, if you're going to go, go see a Cardinals game. These are the moments we get. Like we take stands. We're trying to teach our kids what it's like to take a stand and have a godly marriage. And so we're taking a stand. Why? Like I took a stand when I chose my wife. That's the last woman that I'm ever going to date in this life. That's the last woman that I'm ever going to kiss. That's the woman that I want to be 70-something years old sitting on my back porch hanging out with. That's my stand. We took a stand that we wanted to raise godly kids in our life. We've taken stands where we wanted our kids to understand what it was like to have a work ethic. Like things don't get handed to you. You work for them. Like we have these moments where we take stands. And today I want to take a look at some stories in scripture because here's the reality: taking a stand requires the courage to stand firm and watch God move. The reality is if you want to see God move in your life, there are going to be pivotal moments where you are going to have to draw a line in the stand, you're going to have to stand firm and have some courage and wait for God to show up and move. That there will be significant moments that if you want to build a legacy faith, whether we like this or not, we are all going to face challenges in this life. It's not a matter of if life is going to throw you a curveball, it is a matter of when life is going to throw you a curveball. And in those moments, are we willing to take a stand? Because it's those that were willing to take a stand that begin to alter the course of history for other people and build a legacy of faith. And so I wanted to take a moment to look at David's Mighty Men, 1 Chronicles 11. If you don't know these stories, we actually just read them in our Bible reading plan. These are some of my favorite stories to read. If I was able to produce movies, these kind of stories would be fun movies. Not the cheesy Christian kind, but like, give me something good in today's world because these are action stories here. 1 Chronicles 11, starting in verse 10, it says this these are the leaders of David's mighty warriors. Together with all Israel, they decided to make David their king, just as the Lord had promised concerning Israel. Here is the record of David's mightiest warriors. The first was Josh Abim the Hackmanite. Where did they come up with these names? I don't know. Who was the leader of the three, the mightiest warriors among David's men? He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. Not total count over his career. One fight. Dude takes out 300 by himself. I don't know about you. That's the guy I want on my side if we're going to go fight someone, right? And then it goes on to say it says, next in rank among the three was Eliezer the son of Dodi, the descendant of Ahoa. He was with David when the Philistines gathered for battle at Pastamim and attacked the Israelites in a field full of barley. The Israelite army fled. Get this. But Eliezer and David held their ground. Two men against an entire army in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. And so the Lord saved them by giving them a great victory. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of friend I want when everybody else runs away. Somebody that's going to be there in the fight with me. Those are the type of stories that I want. 11, starting in verse 20, it goes on to say, Abishai, the brother of Joab, was the leader of the 30. He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. David had not one man, but two men that were skilled at what they were doing. It was such feats that became as famous as these three. Abishai was the most famous of the thirty and was their commander, though he was not one of the three. And then there was also Benaniah, the son of Jehoideah, a valiant warrior from Kebzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which include killing two champions of Moab. If you don't understand what that means, like that was probably giants like David killed Goliath. Probably the reality. David killed one, this guy killed two, but he's not done yet. Hold on. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. That kind of sounds like a pretty fun day, man. Once, armed with only a club, he killed an Egyptian warrior who was seven and a half feet tall. Picture Wimby, if y'all just watched basketball, all right? Seven and a half feet tall, and who was armed with a spear as thick as a weaver's beam, and Benaniah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with it. Like to me, these are incredible stories. Incredible moments where somebody drew a line in the sand. And somebody's like, Man, it's kind of a violent. Like it's Father's Day, alright? And it's in scripture. We're okay here. Okay? Think about the stories. Two men at one time that were able to take down and kill over 300 men by themselves. When an entire army runs away, two men stand in the middle of the field to fight an entire army. And win. I mean, another guy in the course of his time fights three giants to David's one, kills all three. And then he gets word that a lion, who knows, maybe he's terrorizing the sheep that somebody was out there. Maybe he was terrorizing a family, but he decides on a snowy day, I'm just gonna get down in the pit with this lion and I'm just gonna kill him. He didn't stand at the top of the pit with a 300 wind mag and take an easy shot. He got down and drew a line and made a stand. The reality is we have so many of these stories that we read about for somebody who is willing to draw a line and make a stand. And you know who we don't know about? All those who ran away. And I think there's some really significant things that we need to learn if we want to be a people who are willing to draw a line and make a stand. And so what can I learn from these stories? Because it's easy to read these stories and think, man, those were cool stories, but what is God saying to me? And so I have a few things that if we want to be remembered for a people that are taking a stand and making these moments, here's some things that we need to catch. One, if you want to make a stand, you need to remember that following the crowd will leave you running from fights that you're built for. That the reality is it's never going to be popular to be the person who takes a stand. But the reality is everybody that ran from the fight missed the opportunity for the fight that God equipped them for. And so if we want to be a people who are willing to make a stand, somewhere we have to be willing to be unpopular, go against the grain, go against culture, and not run away from a fight that maybe God is calling us to engage in. God has called us to fight some fights. There were some spiritual battles that we have to be willing to make some moments to step into those because the crowd will always believe a lie that is impossible to win. The army that ran away from that Philistine army, they believed a lie that they could not win this fight. They believed maybe out of fear, out of self-preserve preservation, maybe justification, that we could be slaves and at least we could be alive if we did that. Those are the thoughts of defeated people, not conquerors. And there are far worse things in this life than death. And so if we want to be somebody who's going to make a stand, then we have to understand that we might actually be built for a fight. That there are moments where we have to stand on the side of courage rather than stand on the side of fear. And some of those fights that we want to run away from is actually fights maybe that God is calling us to get into. Instead of an enemy terrorizing you, maybe God has actually equipped you to terrorize the enemy. What do the fights look like in today's world? Fight for your marriage. Husbands and wives. Do the uncommon thing. Stay married for life and do whatever it takes to do that. Pray for the person that frustrates you. Every spouse said, there's a few brave souls in here that said, Amen. There you go. Take a stand. You can leave me. I'm going with you wherever you go. We've taken a stand. Take a stand as parents. I'm going to raise a godly legacy in my kids no matter what. Take a stand for that. Don't wait for that moment to happen. Take a stand and make that moment happen. Yeah, but you don't know the mistakes I made. Great. You're still breathing, so you still got an opportunity. Take a stand now. Pick now to take a moment to fight for a legacy for somebody else. To fight for the faith of future generations. Maybe for some of us, it's taking a stand and fighting for somebody else's faith. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful for everybody that showed up this morning, especially the dads on Father's Day to come set up and do everything that we do for church today. Because they said, look, it's not just about me and my faith. I'm going to take a stand for somebody else's faith. And I'm going to create a space where somebody else, I'm going to fight for their faith and take a stand. Why are we looking for groups and leaders and hosts? I'm looking for people that are not just saying, man, what's in it for me? But I want to take a stand for somebody else's faith and help them grow in their relationship with Jesus too. And in order to do that, we can't run from some fights that God has called us to. Because whether we realize this or not, God has called you and I into some fights. Don't run from the fight he's called you from, because he may very well have equipped you for this fight. And it's not the enemy who has defeated you, it's you who have chosen defeat for yourself because you're running from the very thing he's called you to fight for. Don't follow the crowd, take a stand. The other thing is this the reality is making a stand requires you to count the cost. Whether we like this or not, if we want to make a stand and we're going to take one somewhere, it comes at a cost. And the reality is all these stories of these mighty men that we read, they had already counted the cost and they had determined that dying was worth the cost if this is what God wants to do. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, and these are haunting words being on this side of history, he said that a man who won't die for something is not fit to live. Fitting words from Martin Luther King Jr., who would eventually take a stand and cost him his life. And the same invitation is true. There's always going to be a cost for taking a stand. There's no way to avoid that cost. And if you think I'm avoiding the cost, here's the reality: you're still paying a cost on the other side. You always pay a price no matter what. What price do you need to be willing to pay to make a stand of faith? Yes, it will cost you time. It will cost you hobbies, it will cost you habits, it will cost you commitments that you could give to something else. It will. It will cost you comfort. If you haven't figured it out, though, in this world, conviction does not have the luxury of comfort. We want to be a people that have convictions, but we want to be comfortable. They're the opposite of each other. I have convictions that I believe God has placed inside of me. And because I have those convictions, I don't have the luxury of comfort. I chose to lay down my comfort because there's something greater that I believe God has called me to live for. And so, yes, it will cost. It will cost us in terms, it'll cost you your pride. Because that army that was running away from David as he stood in the field with his other warrior, I promise you, they were saying that those guys were dumb and they were never gonna win. And this was a battle that they shouldn't have picked because it's not gonna turn out well for them. They were questioning every decision those two guys made until they ended up winning, and so somewhere as you take a stand, it will cost you your pride, and that's okay. But we have to be willing somewhere to take those moments to let it cost us something. Because the reality is, what is the cost if we don't pay the price? That's the other side of it, nobody ever like we just ask, what's it gonna cost me to do this? What's it gonna cost me if I don't? If we don't decide to do what it takes and sacrifice to build a legacy and buy a piece of property and a building for future generations in this community, what's the price if we don't do that? We're just looking at the price tag and saying, Man, this is what it's gonna cost to do it. I'm looking at the other side of it. What's gonna happen three generations from now if somebody's not willing to pay that price? Who is going to be here to be a voice of truth and to point people to the hope and the power of Jesus Christ? Because guess what? That's not somebody else's problem, that's our problem now. There is a cost in doing nothing, just as much as there is a cost in doing something, that there is a cost of not facing your sin or your addiction that you're battling because you're afraid of what somebody might say. The cost is if you're not careful, you're gonna pass that on to the next generation and they're gonna carry your struggle because you won't fight the battle, you're gonna pass it to somebody else and let them fight the same battle. There's always a cost. Yeah, but but man, if I do it, it's gonna cost me something. If you don't, it's gonna cost you something too. Which price would you rather pay? I'm telling you now, the cost of regret regret is way heavier than the cost of paying it on the front side. I've just decided I don't want to get to the end of my life and lay in a hospital bed and regret the life I lived. I want to get to that day. I want to take a big breath. I just want to have a big smile on my face and oh God, I I did the best that I could, and I'm ready to meet you. That's that's my hope. That's the price I would rather pay than lay there in that day. And feel a deep sense of regret. Was there was more I could do, but I just didn't. There's moments where if we're going to take a stand, then you got to understand your stand is the doorway God uses to step into your life. Every one of these moments required a deep faith in God to stand. They had to trust God that he was going to deliver them. And even if he didn't, they were ready to die for him. It's a it's a it's a Daniel and a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego story. That is, as God threw them in the fire, you know, their words where my God can deliver me, but even if he doesn't, I'm taking this stand anyway. That there are moments where God has called us to take a stand and where we draw a line in the sand and take that step of faith is actually the doorway where God steps into our life and does something miraculous. You want to see God do a miracle in your life? Maybe it's time to draw a line in the sand and take a stand. Everybody wants a miracle, nobody wants to fight. Everybody wants the miracle, but the miracle is only a miracle because somebody faced impossible odds and drew a line in the sand. And so the invitation is to create a space where we can face moments where the odds are not winnable. Here's what we have to understand: you are going to face moments in this life where the odds are stacked against you, where it is impossible for you to overcome the situation you're in. And in that moment, the invitation is to say, I'm gonna draw a line in the sand and trust you, Jesus, no matter what. How do I know those moments? Because Kendra and I have had those moments. Three years of health issues and three trips to the Mayo Clinic, and somewhere drawing a line in the sand saying, God, no matter what happens to me, I'm gonna keep serving you and I'm gonna trust you for a miracle. To get to this place in a church plant. There's hundreds of miracles, some you've seen, some you don't know. Moments, time and time again, where God had to come through because it's all we had in this moment to get to this place. And if there's been a hundred miracles up to this moment where God has proved himself faithful, then there's going to be a hundred on the other side of this where God continues to prove himself faithful. And we will see that when we draw a line in the sand and say, I'm taking my stand here, God. Come hell or high water. God, I'm gonna trust you. That there are moments where we look at impossible situations and we determine that I'm going to have faith in you, Jesus, and trust you. There are going to be moments where you're going to face impossible odds, and you're going to have to look Satan in the eye, and you're going to say, I'll take that bet. And I'm gonna trust God. And you'll see God do a miracle. Maybe not the way you want, maybe not the way you hope. But it's his business that he's in. How do I know that? Because I'm standing up here today preaching to you. And this is a miracle that God would save somebody like me and transform my life and then give me this opportunity to lead other people to experience him. That's how I know God is a God of miracles. And so we open up doors when we draw a line and take steps. Because the reality is if we don't draw a line and trust God by taking this step, here's what I can tell you the door of fear opens the door to Satan in your life. Every time, hear me. Every time we respond in fear, it is not from God. God said, I did not give you a spirit of fear. I did not give you a spirit of timidity, is what it says. But of power, love, and a sound mind. And every time the enemy gets you or I to respond in fear, he gets us to close the door on the miracle God wants to do, and he gets us to open the door for him to take a step into our life. And that is the invitation from God. He wants the step of faith, he wants the door to be accessed where we can have the miracles that God wants for us. How do I know? Because here's the reality. Here's another way. You want to take a stand? Understand this that courage grows out of conviction. You want to figure out how to get courage where you can take a stand, get conviction first. Most of us think that when courage comes, I'll get a conviction. It doesn't work that way. You find a conviction in your life that you're willing to live or die for, and suddenly you'll find the courage to make the stand you need to take. It does not work the other way around. Get a set of convictions that build a spine in your life that make you unmovable. In the words of somebody who grew up in the 80s and 90s, y'all remember that song by Aaron Tippen? Come on. You got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything. You're welcome. They won't let me sing, don't worry. You want to know how you find the courage to stand for something? You get a conviction that's worth standing for, that you believe in. And you let that conviction shape the decisions that you make in your life, and you'll find the courage to do the thing nobody else is willing to do. Because men or women that changed this world were men or women that had convictions that drove every decision they made. And these moments become critical to reshape the things that God wants to do. If you want to take a stand for Jesus, find conviction. Why? Because faith is a conviction. It is a moment where we have to take a stand that becomes so important. Courage plays a pivotal role in all that we do, so much so that this verse is probably one of those verses that scares me the most. Revelation 21.8 says this but cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshippers, and all liars. Their fate is the fiery lake of burning salt. This is the second death. For those of you that might have grown up in kids' church, we used to sing this song from Revelation 21.8, right? Revelation, Revelation 21. Liars go to hell. Burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, burn. Why do we teach our kids these songs? Where did this come from? Like, I don't know. We know Revelation 21.8 for that one, but you know the one in that list that scares me the most? It's the one at the very beginning. If we could go back to it, it said cowards. The rest of the list we could all agree with really easy. The one that makes me uncomfortable is the first one in that list. That of those who will not see the kingdom of God is cowards. Somebody who was unwilling to take a stand. Somebody who was unwilling to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. And you're like, that's kind of hard. It is. Because we somehow think salvation is supposed to be what makes me most comfortable. And God's not going to ask too much of me. And as long as I just pray a prayer and then do my thing for a little while, we're good. No, somewhere following Jesus is going to cost you something. Somewhere following Jesus is going to give you a pivotal moment where you're going to have a conviction that it will build courage and cause you to take a stand or it will cause you to turn away. And there are no room for cowards in God's kingdom. As uncomfortable as that is, there are no room for cowards in God's kingdom. And so my prayer, I want to see everyone in here develop such a conviction that no matter what happens, you will find the courage to live it out. Just like every one of these stories that we read about today. Take a stand, find that courage. Last but not least is this God advances his kingdom through those who are devoted to the king. You want to see a picture of the gospel in the Old Testament? These mighty men are that perfect picture to me. These guys were devoted to King David. They repeatedly placed themselves in harm's way and even death because they were devoted to the King. If you King David, let's play connect the dots now. Jesus is referred to in Scripture as the son of David. And King Jesus had men and women that were just as devoted to him. So devoted to the king that they were willing to lay down their lives to follow Jesus. If you don't understand the story completely, I mean eleven of the twelve laid down their life and sacrificed it because they were so devoted to the king that they would not forsake Jesus to save their own life. Satan is not intimidated by Jesus being a part of your life. He is intimidated when Jesus becomes your entire life. Because when he becomes your entire life and you draw that line and you take that stand, those are the ones that make hell shake. And so here's what I can tell you. You want to know why the enemy in today's world attacks men so much? Because he's trying to destroy the ones that will take a stand for God. What about women? I'm not saying women can't take a stand. There's a lot of great stories in scripture where women took stand, but I'm telling you, there is something that happens when the man in the house stands up and takes a stand for their faith that shapes so many things. And Satan is scared of men. He's scared of husbands. He's scared of fathers that will own that responsibility until it becomes a conviction in their life and draw a line in the sand and say, I'm standing here. And my family's coming with me. Those are the ones that will change the course of history. Those are the ones that will shape a legacy of faith that will outlive you, that will outlive me, because somewhere God calls us to be devoted to the King. You will find no greater purpose in this life than to devote yourself to Jesus. I promise. If we can just acknowledge this. We take a stand every day, and our stands look like this. We stand for this world, we stand for compromise, we stand for silence and hiding. Some of us take a stand for comfort, for pleasure, for selfish desire. We take a stand for money. We'll take a stand for careers. We'll take a stand for owning certain possessions that we want. Every day, somewhere, we are all choosing to take a stand in some way. I've watched people uproot families in strong spiritual conditions to go pursue a job or a career or a title or more money somewhere else, even though their families struggle spiritually where they went to. We take a stand every day. My invitation, my ask, my request is let's take a stand on faith in Jesus. Let's take a stand in his word. Let's take a stand in his truth. Let's apply it to our lives. Let's go find the lost. Let's go find the hurting. Let's create a space here where we're going to take a stand and make sure everybody that ever comes into this community, now or in the future, will have opportunities to hear about the love and hope of Jesus Christ and to grow and have a relationship with him. Why? Because we're taking a stand for them now. We're going to take a stand for marriages and families, for parents to be able to raise godly children with a godly legacy. And that's the stand we're going to take. And that's the fight I'm going to fight. That's the invitation from Jesus to us today. And the invitation that I want us to do is to sacrifice for that future, for God's best. Some of us have settled for something better. The enemy of better, or the enemy of best is better. Like so many times we say, Well, I'm better than so and so, right? Like we justify that. Yeah, but is that the best that God wants for me? That would be my invitation to you. Where can you take a stand? Where can you begin to move in and through us? Let's stand all across this place. I'm gonna invite us to pray over our dads in just a moment, but here's the here's the reality. This is what I've asked for. I've asked the worship team not to come up today on purpose. They've got some music that they're gonna play back there because we're gonna get ready to take a moment to pray. And so I just want to I want to do this. Here's the reality. You want to know why we're here today? Because there was a moment God called us to plant this church. And my wife stood alone with me and said, Let's sell it all and do it. And along the way, other people have come in and they've said, Man, I I'm I'm willing to make some sacrifices to see this happen. You stand here today because people have drawn a line in the sand. And there's gonna be more. And so here's what I want to say to every dad in the room. Hear me. I see you. I see the work you're doing, I see how much the world tries to beat you up. And you want to know why you're already winning? Because you're here today. You showed up today, you're making a stand today. The world packs so much on dads. You're supposed to be the spiritual leader of my home. You're supposed to be the one to provide, you're supposed to be the one tough enough to protect me, yet tender enough to help me take care of the kids and carry the weight of a thousand things and yet show up carrying that weight without anybody ever knowing that you're carrying all that weight. Because the moment anybody starts to see you flinch is the moment everybody starts getting concerned because you're just supposed to carry it all perfectly. And so you just find ways to keep carrying it and piling on the pressure and wondering am I doing enough? Am I good enough? And can I make it through one more day? You can. As you take a stand for your faith. And so this is my invitation. Dad, you give so much. I get it, you offer so many things to so many people. Thank you. And here's what I want to encourage us to do. If your husband, your dad, a dad of yours is around you, can you just put your hands on them and can we pray for every dad in this room? Instead of this moment of like asking something from them again, can we just take a moment and ask God for something for them? Can we take a moment here and pray over our fathers? And I want to pray over every dad in the room. And as I'm praying, I want you to pray over the dad that you have your arms around. And can we just take a moment to speak the hope and life and strength and grace of God into every dad here? Can we do that together? Man, Father, we just thank you today for every dad in this room. God, I thank you for every man who showed up today. It would have been easier to cash it in today on Father's Day. Maybe it's hard because dad's not here and I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it's hard because dad was never in my life and I didn't have the example I wanted. But God, for every dad that's here today who's showing up, not perfect, not getting it right all the time, but showing up and trying. God, I pray you fill them with grace. And I pray you fill them with strength. I pray you fill them with hope. I pray you fill them with love, fill them with courage, fill them with grit to show up and keep doing the right thing, the hard thing, when nobody else is looking, when nobody else is seeing, when everybody else is criticizing. May they have the determination to keep pressing on and build a legacy of faith in you. God, I'm praying for a house of men who love you passionately, not perfectly, but passionately, and who will love their families well, and who will build godly marriages and will build godly legacies for future generations to come experience you that the work we are doing today is not in vain. It's shaping something that's going to outlive every one of us here. That is my prayer. May we be men who take stands, and may we raise young men who take stands. May we raise daughters who are bold and take stands. May we be a church in this community who stands for you, Lord, and for the work that you want to do. May we give, may we sacrifice, may we offer all we can so that when we get to the end of this life, we can say, Jesus, we did our best. We did our best. That's my prayer for our church, for our men today. We love you, Lord. We ask it all in your name. And everybody said, Amen. Amen.