God Does Not Abandon His Children in Hard Places

Paul in Corinth | Acts 18:1-4 | Alex Sands

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Transcript

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Welcome to the Kingdom Life podcast. There are moments in life when the role gets heavy. The place beautiful. And we wonder if God is a rock and all that. Even when all in the hard place, I already prepared the right people. We actually be where God is already at Pastor Alexand. From 1810.

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Thank you so much for your grace. Lord, we just want to thank you this morning. Thank you so much for loving us the way that you do. Thank you for holding us. Thank you for keeping us. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. We thank you now as we prepare to dive into your word. We thank you for it. We thank you for your word that provides nourishment for our souls. It is bread for us, Lord, and we've come to partake. And we pray, God, give us understanding. Give us understanding. And I pray even for those who right now are in darkness. May they, Lord, see the light. May they understand. And may they run to the light. May they seek you, Lord. We know that they'll be found by you. Help me to deliver your word clearly, God, for your glory. That's what it's all about. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Alright, today, guys, we're continuing in our study in the book of Acts. Today we start chapter 18. We're in Acts chapter 18. And if you guys will give me a little bit of pastoral privilege, I'm a proud dad this morning because I have a graduate in the family of a new graduate. My youngest son, Blake, graduated from USC yesterday. Come on, Clemson fans, you can go ahead and clap to us. But it was almost surreal to hear his name called. And by the way, it's done by AI now. At least anybody else's graduation like that? It was just AI. But Blake Austin Sands. It didn't matter if it was AI or not.

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Yes!

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Oh, it was so good. It was just, again, like a surreal moment, but just proud of my son, proud of the journey, proud of all that me and Shauna have been able to do because it's by God's grace, and He's the one who's enabled everything. And so just all of that just bubbling over, and to have my family there too, it was just awesome to just see my family come out. And I noticed something though, as I was spanning, looking around the crowd in there in the auditorium. It's about 10,000 people, I think from what I understand. I'm looking around and I noticed that there are more women than there are men. And then, you know, I just happened to look a little closer, you know, and and it was like, you know, the ladies had a different response than the men. I mean, you can see it. I mean, it's hard to quantify, but you could see it. They weren't just celebrating in the ceremony, they were celebrating the journey and all that it took to get their baby on the stage. Dads, you know, dads are good for yeah, keep it up. How much you need? How much is it? Just let's just cut to the chase. Y'all go, I hope y'all edit this part of the street, but I got it. I got a text ten minutes ago from one of my children asking for money at 1036. But I heard, I answered, but dads are good with go ahead, keep it up, yeah. And we care. Don't get us wrong, we care, but we don't have the we don't have the word. Mom was there when the babies got, you know, in pain. Mom was the teen mom cutting up the oranges. Mom was up late at night, mom was his shoulder that the the the he or she could cry on. Mom had that nurturing kind of thing. Dad just didn't have, dads just don't have that. We're not in a general wired that way. So when when the when the graduates, you know, when they would look back and they'd find family, I didn't hear a whole lot of hi dad. Hi grandma. I mean, sometimes it was just a wave, but sometimes, hi grandma, hi mom. The pictures and everything else, but you know, I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't offended. Because again, a mom has a special kind of love. A love that's been there that stays, and and even in the dark places where there's confusion and everything else, a mother will say, I believe in you, you can do it, you can do this, I'm there for you. My door will always be open for you. And if it's not your biological mom, there's somebody God has placed in your life that speaks that to you. And so, can we just take a quick second and give thanks to the Lord for the mothers God has placed in our lives and said certainly like my son wouldn't be where he is, neither one of them would be where they are without Shauna and the gifts God has has given her. Moms are there in difficult places, but even more than that, God is with us in difficult places. Whenever we face difficult obstacles, trials, everything else in life, God is there. If you've experienced that love from a mother, you can't multiply it umpteenth among umpteenth times. That's God. Because it's a gift. When those individuals come into our lives, it is a gift and it's uh it shows us, gives us a picture of God's love for us. And and so here is the so here's here's the theme for today, okay? Quick theme is that God does not abandon his children in hard places. Can you say that? It's not saying that his children won't find themselves in hard places. The thing is, God will be there in the hard places. Maybe you're in a hard place. Maybe you're in a difficult spot. Maybe your workplace is a hard place. Maybe your family situation is a hard place. Maybe, maybe your health, the way you find your health right now, is in a hard place. Maybe it's a hard place trying to take care of aging parents. Maybe being an empty nester is a hard place. But we go through seasons in life where we find ourselves in hard places. When you find yourself in a hard place, understand God got there before you did. God was there before you were there, and God always shows up. And so the question is not, Lord, why am I in this hard place? The question is, Lord, what would you have me to do in this hard place? How do you want me to respond in this hard place? Today in chapter 18, we find the Apostle Paul in a hard place. He's in a hard place, and it's not just him we're gonna find as we go through the text this morning. He's not the only one at a difficult place. There are others at difficult places and in hard places, but we find God providing as he always does. Amen. Chapter 18, again, is where we'll pick up today. Last time we ended chapter 17 with Paul in Athens, and he is he's uh delivered a message at the Are Pagus, and there and before the wise men, the kind of the council, if you will, and there were about 30, I don't know if all of them were present, but about 30 of them, and they were questioning about this gods, these gods that Paul is proclaiming, and and and Paul, see, Athens was known for idols, philosophy, idols, architecture, and idols. Paul went around town and he was just provoked because he had been, he was there by himself and he was waiting for Silas and Timothy, and he was provoked because he saw all these idols, and one altar said to the unknown God. And Paul told the group, told the men, said, I'm here to tell you who that unknown God is. And he laid out God being the creator, God being the creator of everything, but God being the sustainer of man, creator of man, and sustainer of man, and he and he wrapped up the message saying, Look here, the time of this ignorance of worshiping idols, the time, look, God has winked at that. He has overlooked that, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent. Whether you're from China, Japan, whether you're from South Africa, South America, it doesn't matter. It's you have to repent. Because he's going to judge the world in righteousness by the man that he has ordained, and he made proof of it by raising him from the dead. You're speaking about Jesus. That point, he dropped the mic. Some people in Athens they had laughed at him and scorned and all of that, and they just continued to do that. But there were some who believed. Some people who were influential who believed. But it wasn't like a mass revival, but God was working. He worked, but it was time to move on. And we find in verse 1, after this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He goes about a three-day journey, about 30 miles, and he goes from Athens to Corinth. And Corinth was located next to a thin strip of land that had two seaports on either side. And because of those seaports, there was constant traffic, people moving through and into Corinth, people going from one side to the other, and there was uh money and trade and commerce and and all of that. And so people traveled from east to west because there was a shortcut if you took your ship across that thin piece of land. You had people who were passing through, ideas passing through as a strategic place to share Jesus Christ. Because people from all over the Roman Empire would be coming through. And if somebody placed their trust in Jesus Christ while they're passing through Corinth, well, who knows where it could go? It could go unlimited places. And so strategically, it was a good location for Paul to set up camp and share the good news. Money, trade, education. Corinth was known for those things. It was also a Roman colony and all the rights that would go along with it. There were a lot of veterans that lived there, and you know, former, you had former soldiers, you had people who had been like in privileged positions and such. Hey, they were, it was full of folks like that. But there's another thing, it wasn't just money and trade and all of that that it was known for, it was also known for its immorality. Corinth was like the worst parts of Las Vegas on speed. About a hundred years before this, there was a statue, a temple to Aphrodite. It said that every night a thousand some of temple prostitutes would descend upon the city and engage in immoral worship. That was the atmosphere. In fact, they they called this kind of living, you know, sensuous living. It was to Corinthize, Corinthanize, basically. It was it was like a like we use Google. Google is like a search term, but we've given it like a verb now. I Googled it. That's like Corinth. Morally, spiritually, it was dark, influential, but dark. And Paul went to Corinth and he went alone. Corinth is one of those spots that probably some Christians would tell you not to go. Some people will probably say, look, it's too dark, it's too immoral, it's it's too far gone. It's Paul didn't believe any of that. No place was too far gone for the apostle Paul. Paul goes into Corinth. But can you imagine his state of mind at this point if you've been tracking along in Acts? Can you imagine Paul's state of mind at this point? He's in his second missionary journey, his second major journey. He had a team when they made it over into Macedonia, but now he's alone. He and Silas were beaten in Philippi. Get into Thessalonica. Thessalonica, he was, he was opposed, went from Thessalonica to Berea, and he was run out and sent out on a ship and they and and went and was shipped off to Athens. All he said was, okay, I'm gonna leave, but Silas and Timothy just come soon, come quickly. That's how he ended up in Athens alone. And then he went to Corinth. Silas and Timothy still haven't shown up. Is it all right if the Apostle Paul could be tired? I mean, can we pick we have this picture sometimes of the Apostle Paul almost like a machine, like the gospel terminator? Coming to cut down unbelief. He was a human being. Can you imagine the the mental exhaustion? All the places he's been in, and now even in spite of the Holy Spirit directing him, it's still a new city. It's still new people. There are new arguments. There's new oppositions going to rise. Can you imagine that? Corinth was a hard place to do ministry. But there was a lot of opportunity there. But let's understand also that Paul could have been very tired. I'll let the cat out of the bag. Next week we'll see how Jesus has to come to him himself and tell him not to be afraid. Keep speaking, keep teaching. Jesus had to make a house call. It's all right. Sometimes in ministry, sometimes in serving and doing things for the Lord, you get tired. Sometimes it gets heavy. But the beautiful thing about it is God meets us in hard places, and sometimes it's not how you would expect. Look at how God provides as we continue in the text. Corinth, a hard place, verse 2, he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. Because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. The Emperor Claudius commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. Why? Well, there's some historical artifacts that point to the fact that there was a lot of disruption because of the Christians, because of Jewish believers, and they just kept talking about Jesus. And it caused issues that spilled outside of the synagogue. And to just get rid of the problem altogether, Claudia said, get out. Everybody, all of you Jews, get out. And that's how Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife, that's how they ended up in Corinth. They didn't go to Corinth because they wanted the scenery. They didn't go to Corinth because they would have better business opportunities. They were in Corinth because of political instability and found themselves refugees. Thrown out. Displaced. Their lives disrupted. Have you ever experienced disruption? Something you didn't expect? Something that just came up, something you could not control. Everything's new. They have to uh find new place to live. They have to find new routines, new relationships. They've got to make a living. All of that. Aquila and Priscilla were in a hard place. As you add all of it on top of it, Corinth, just by its own nature, was hard for believers. And Aquila and Priscilla were believers, Jewish Christians. And they're there out of no choice of their own. And they had to restart and rebuild. But look at what God was doing. God never leaves us alone in hard places. Verse 3. Well, first, the fact, verse 2, Paul, it says, he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of how many of you think it was just by accident? The fact that he found him, what that suggests to us is he didn't know them before. He bumps into them. Bumps into them. They're believers. He's a Jew. And also. They were of the same trade. Well, look you there. They were of the same trade. For they were what? They were tent makers. Tent makers in the first century, they made tents out of leather. And also they had uh uh goat hair, of course, goat hair, they would, and they would sew these pieces together for tents and and other things. And it wasn't a small operation. If you did this as your as a profession, if this is what Aquila and Priscilla did, it was at least six people engaged in this operation. That was their occupation. That was it, was what they what they did, what they had left behind. And this was not a one-man job as I shared. Well, Paul was a tent maker, he had a trade. Rabbis, as they were being taught and brought up, educated, they were taught a trade. So it wasn't it wasn't uncommon for for a rabbi to to also uh to be a tent maker or uh to do various other crafts to be able to earn a living not off of people. So Paul had a trade, just so happened to be a tent maker, just like Aquila and Priscilla. Now understand that in that culture, Romans they look down upon physical labor. And being a tent maker wasn't easy. You're working with leather and everything else, you're cutting and sewing and loops and everything else, all the kind of stuff I don't do. All of that is hard labor. And and in that culture, they look down upon working with your hands. They thought that was the work of slaves. That's the the Greeks and the Romans. That's how they viewed manual labor. Paul didn't mind, didn't mind what people thought about him working with his hands. He came over into Corinth, and Silas and Timothy, they haven't come to him at this point. So he's got to make a living. But he bumps into Priscilla and Aquila, who happen to be tent makers themselves. Don't know how many, what what kind of operation they left behind in Rome. Maybe they were looking for employees or just somebody to come along, and there is Paul in the same trade, and Paul needed them and they needed him. And they quote unquote bumped into each other. Listen, what Aquila and Priscilla could have just, because it's written off as being disruption, this was God's providence. Providence means God is putting pieces together, meaning God is orchestrating all of life, putting things together. They may have been displaced by the emperor, they might have been displaced, but they were not discarded by God. They may have been forced out by Claudius, but they were not forsaken, not by God. He was watching over them in their hard times, unpredictable times. God was still preparing and arranging this, these three to come together and they're gonna do ministry together. There's a lot more that's gonna happen between the three of them, but imagine only God could put this together. It's evidence of the providence of God. And again, thinking about Paul arriving alone, he well, he needed to be able to take care of himself and and and and and he man, he had to be lonely. I mean, is that all right for believers to miss the body of Christ, fellowship and community? I mean, he's he moves from place to place. I mean, he establishes a church, develops some relationships, and then God calls him to a different place, and starting all over again. Before Paul showed up, God was already arranging things in Corinth. Before he got there, Paul, I mean, God had already started putting pieces together. Always remember, church, you are not the first person to arrive at a hard place. God is always at work before you saw it. God is already arranging before you understood it. Understand this. The fact you didn't choose it doesn't mean God can't use it. Listen, God can do more with a disruption than than uh you can with a perfect plan. Sorry for that typo. God can do more with a disruption than you can do with a perfect plan. You may not have chosen the transition, you may not have chosen the job change, you might have not chosen the relocation, you may not have chosen to have to take care of your parents, you may not have chosen to have the difficult child, the difficult marriage, the difficult physical ailment. That might not have been your choice, but that doesn't mean God can't use it. That doesn't mean God won't use it. It doesn't mean you have a reason to leave. Think of Joseph. You all remember Joseph, right? He's the poster child for Providence. He revealed himself, his identity to his brothers, and then in Genesis 45, 5. Now don't be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. God sent me before you. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. You meant evil. The evil was evil. What they did was wrong. But God can use wrong to make right. What Claudius had intended for evil, for wrong, God worked it for good. He's going to multiply ministry in Corinth, and he's going to do great works in Corinth. Things that look, Claudius had no concept whatsoever, because understand, God is sovereign, and he is sovereign even over evil. The evil intentions of men, God is still sovereign. Don't get all upset about what you see and what's happening in the world. God is still sovereign. Yes, there is disruption. Yes, some of this that's happening in the world may affect you. We don't know the future, but God does. What we can trust is if we find ourselves in a hard place, God is already there. Trust the God who has been there and will be there. He is. We sang about it. I trust in God. My Savior. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. There will come moments in life where you will be tested whether or not you meant those words. You will find a hard place or it'll find you. Once you get there, understand, look, this is it. This is my time to show that my singing wasn't just words. I wasn't just there caught up in the moment. I was singing because I do trust the Lord. He is faithful and trustworthy. He will provide in this hard place. We will find hard seasons. Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean everything is going to work out the way you want it to. Sometimes things go from bad to worse when you profess faith in Christ, but the best decision you made was to choose Jesus, the ultimate good. We know the end of the story. He stays with them, which means he lodged with them. He stayed with them. For they were tent makers. And notice, he's working, he's he's he's sweating throughout the day, but he didn't use that as an excuse not to do ministry. It says in verse 4, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. He reasoned. That's the first thing. What's the second thing he did? Tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. So on the Sabbath, hey, seventh day, Saturday, every Sabbath, he shows up for Sabbath service. And he's there. Tired from out the week, but he's there. And in the synagogue, you had the Jews there, ethnic Jews, and you also had God fearers who were Gentiles, but they believed in Yahweh. And they strove to live according to God's commands, his ethics. Maybe not the men not circumcised, but still fearing God. Hearing God, listening to him. They were there, and Paul in the synagogue does what he does. He reasoned with them. And that means to discuss, to dialogue, to reason through, to engage in intelligent discourse. He's not there giving emotional speeches. He's not there telling everybody you'll just be all right, you'll just be all right. You believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe. It's okay, it's all good. No, he has nothing like that. He is expounding on scriptures. He's answering, he's opening up the word. He's giving explanations, answering questions, back and forth, giving and taking for what purpose? To tell them about Jesus. Every opportunity he had, every Sabbath, he tried to persuade Jews and Greeks, showing from the word, so this reasoning is the mind, right? This is a faith that you have to understand. You aren't going to just feel your way into becoming a Christian. You have to understand the claims of the gospel, Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and that it was a substitutionary sacrifice. It wasn't for any sins he committed, but it was for us. But he won't force your decision. You have to hear the good news, believe it, evidenced by repentance, turning away from sin and turning to Jesus as your Lord. Not being the master of your life anymore, giving that over to Jesus. Everyone has to do that. It has to be heard, it has to be believed, and it has to be acted on. Repent. These are this this it's it's you you you you it's not about an emotional thing. I just get really agitated when people say that's just you know about you know about feelings and and it's just for weak people. No, it's not. This is logical. This is a faith you can trust because it's based on a historical event. The tomb was empty. He is not here, the angels told the women and the disciples, and then Jesus showed up, peace be unto you. He it's either all true or it's all a lie, and let's just stop playing games. The reason why this continued on because the body could not be found. Jesus raised with a glorified body. He reasoned, but it wasn't just about engaging the mind. What was the second time, second thing he did? Say it louder. Persuaded. And that's listen, that's from the heart. That's to seek to convince, to urge, to win someone over to the truth. We find this term used multiple times in Acts, persuading. Look, Paul is not dispassionate, he's not indifferent to their decision. He's not saying, all right, I'm just gonna dis I'm just teaching my lecture and I'm gonna go off the stage. No, he was passionate. I want you to believe. What else? You got any more questions? I know you got some more questions. No? Well, come see me. Look, I'll be with Aquila and Priscilla. You need to come on over tomorrow, I'll be there tomorrow. He wanted them to believe. He wasn't casual about it. He was he was passionate for them to understand it. This isn't, you know, some kind of mental persuasion or whatever. He wants them to understand. It's not just as he wants them to understand it, he's trying to persuade them to follow Jesus. Not just say, well, I can see where that's coming from. No, believe yourself. You have to believe the gospel is true. You have to know it with your mind. And then also you have to be persuaded because you're going to give an account. But here is Paul doing ministry in a hard place. He's doing ministry in a hard place because God met him in a hard place. He is in Corinth telling the good news of Jesus Christ, calling people to righteous living, telling them Jesus is the only way. He's doing it all because the Lord has given him the capacity, open doors. God meets us right where we are. Nothing glamorous, just faithfulness. I mean, you understand you don't have to be glamorous. You don't have to look good to be faithful. Just be faithful. You don't have to bring your A game. Just be faithful. Show up. Paul showed up every Sabbath. His rhythm worked during the week, went to went to the synagogue on Sabbath. Here's the the Kingdom Truth Church. God orchestrates every moment of every life. Every moment of every life. Every moment of every life. Pause and think how intelligent God must be. To know every thought that every human being is thinking right now. To know every plan you've ever planned, whether you executed it or not. All of it. And he provides his people with what they need to be his witnesses right where they are. Never ever think to yourself that your hard place is too hard for you to share Jesus and what God has done in your life. Did y'all hear that? Don't ever think your situation, your hard place is too hard to tell somebody about the goodness of God. At your worst condition, you may be at the worst season of your life, God's still been good to you. And your cat, your cup is never half empty, it's always full. That's how good God has been to every one of us. And every moment he orchestrates and puts together, we saw it last week when we were in chapter 17, verses 26 and 27. And I'm going to read this from the NLT, the New Living Translation. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. Even the nations that have risen and fallen, God's plan. And every individual within every nation, he's got his eye on you and has never taken it off. Never assume that a difficult place is a wasted place. He makes his grace available every moment, and we have every opportunity to let people know. I'm gonna leave you with this, church. The life application. The kingdom truth is doctrine, truth. God orchestrates every moment, that's his providence, but the kingdom life principle, the life application is this. Our culture idolizes control. We've been taught to worship it from childhood, recognize it, repent of it, and trust the providential care of God. Control can become an idol. You can seek it, pursue it, think about it. We've been given, told it from since the time we were little. You want to get all the education you can, get all the training you can so you can chart your own course. You want to be an entrepreneur so no one can tell you what to do. Anyone who's an entrepreneur will tell you that's a lie. We're told you want more control over your destiny. Well, look, if you can get the corner office, tell everyone else what to do, all of that, you understand you are never free of God's control. God can always redirect. Don't make control an idol in your life. Because God always can overrule. He always has that authority. The moment you fall in love with control, look, the best thing God can do is take the wheel from you. Humble us. Teach us that he's in control. Recognize it when it pops up. If I had this, I would have control. No, always say, God, I'm glad you're in control. I'm glad you're working everything together for good. I'm glad, Lord, that that when I wasn't right, you were always right. Proverbs 16, 9 tells us the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes or orders their steps. He's always ordering our steps. He is the one that is in control. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Many of us understand disruption. We understand transition. We understand different seasons of life. We know the limitations of these different seasons. We've seen people come, we've seen people go. All of that. Understand there's a God who is in control of it all. And every hard place you find yourself, God has already been there waiting for you. Isn't that a comfort? Isn't that, and the thing is, there are so many times we don't even acknowledge it. Sometimes we don't even think about it. Sometimes we would have a situation like Paul bumping into about Priscilla and Aquila and just think, you know what? That was just happenstance. That was just a fluke. There are no flukes. God is always working. He's always shaping. He's always directing. Again. God does not abandon his children to hardly. God gave him a workbench. Before he even collected disciples around him, he gave him a brother and sister in the Lord to encourage him. Even if he hadn't asked for it yet, God knew what he needed. He will do the same in our lives. The question isn't what am I losing? The question is, what are you positioning me for? Why did you give me this platform, Lord? Why this season? Why this time? Why this place? What do you want me to do here? Because I know, Lord, I'm not here by accident. I might be here because of my own stupid mistakes, but I know, Lord, you are too smart a God to have brought me here for no reason. You didn't allow me to get to this place without a plan. God, by your grace, show me. Maybe what you think is the end isn't the ending. Maybe what you know you're you're you're trying to get to retirement, but you know what? You never retire from God's army. You never retire from God's work. You just get redeployed. Yes, their job changes. There are disruptions. That just means he's given you another platform. He's there. He's faithful. Entered. However good someone may have been in your life and showed you unconditional love and provided and everything else. There's no one who cares for your soul like the Lord. People who have come into your life and have been a blessing in your life, they have been sent by God. Give thanks to God for that. And this is Mother's Day. So you get to think about your mothers, your moms, and you appreciate. You know, the older you get, the more you appreciate your parents. I want to apologize. But I understand now that love and I appreciate it. And I understand if that's how they love me. Oh, my the love of my Heavenly Father. So as you're giving thanks to God for the mother, grandmother, other mothers in your life, make sure you give thanks to God. Because He's the source of all encouragement. He's the one who providentially puts people in our lives. You're not in your family by an accident. Even all of that is God's plan. And God is good. Will you trust Him even in the hard places? Lord, thank you for always being there for us. In season, out of season, you're there. Thank you, Lord, for the challenges. Thank you, Lord, for even the time in which we live. We are here for such a time as this. Help us to live faithfully. Lord, help us to say thank you. And the little things that happen in life, help us to understand there are no accidents, near misses, or anything else. You are on the throne and you're working all things according to your plan. All for your glory. We love you, we thank you in the name of Jesus saints. Let us say amen. Amen. Maybe you're here today and you haven't started your walk with God. You know you're a sinner. You know that you are in need of grace. You know you can't fix yourself. You know Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that was buried and rose again the third day. You just haven't made him your choice. Can I encourage you to do it today? There's no reason to delay. Run to the Father. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Don't think to yourself, I'm just gonna give myself right first. You can't. That's why Jesus came. The scripture says, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If you've never given your heart to Jesus, if you've never made him Lord, if you've never confessed him, I encourage you to come as our prayer team assembles right up here at the front and just say, Today I want to be saved. I'm gonna give my life to Jesus. Young, old, it doesn't matter. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus has done it all. He paid the price. Don't miss out. This offer won't always be available. Because God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through Jesus. Make him Lord today, but there will be a point every knee will bow. So I encourage you to make that today. If you're here and you've already made Jesus your choice, you've already given your life to Christ, and you desire to be baptized as a sign, a symbol of that decision that you made. We got the pool ready, change of clothes, everything else. It's symbolic. It shows, demonstrates how the old person, the old you died when you gave your life to Christ. You came up washed, new, new creation. It's a testimony. What a wonderful testimony you can make. We got everything you need, just looking for you. You can come to the front and just share that with a member of the prayer team. I want to be baptized today. And lastly, if you need prayer, if you need somebody to pray along with you, for you, or for somebody else, we're here for that too. Because our God hears and answers prayer.