WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:28.160 All right, well, what we're gonna do this morning, you're in the Beatitudes, and uh we're gonna talk about one of them in Matthew chapter 5, verse 7, and then we're gonna look at something in the book of Mark. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:42.960 But I want to start out and say, you know, all of us have had the experience of like seeing something or experiencing something that we can't help but want to share with other people when we see it or experience it. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:58.079 It might be a movie that you've seen, like you've seen like some fantastic movie, and I'm gonna like want to share with other people about what it was, or it might be a book that you've read and I want to share with it, or a restaurant, like uh in Santa Cruz where I live, you know, on the wharf, there's a new restaurant. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.840 It's like two years old called Mackay. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.759 It's like a Hawaiian restaurant at the end, and I'm always saying, you've got to check out Macai. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 And a lot of it's the interior design, and there's a if you ever go there, I'm recommending it. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.000 Like, you know, let's say I get excited about a restaurant. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.560 And you sit on the, there's a thing that just spins around. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.079 You're in your table, you don't even know, you're going around like spinning you around. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:17.840 And so it's like, there's things like that. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.519 They're like, I want to tell people about this. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:20.480 It's a fun thing. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:26.799 Or it could be like a TikTok video that you see, like, oh, look at this, and you end up messaging and sending it off to people. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:31.680 There's things that we experience that we want to share with other people. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:37.439 I was down the beach once, and it was probably about like where that guitar is, about that far away. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:45.439 And it was a sunset, so you're like walking around, and all of a sudden, some lady, like about that far away, goes, like, hey, and I'm like, huh? 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.920 And she's looking at me and she's like, Do you see it? 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:48.799 And I'm like, what? 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:53.280 And she comes like walking over fast, and then she keeps like hitting my shoulder. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:56.079 She's I'm very introverted, so she's like hitting my shoulder. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:56.799 I'm like, what? 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:58.799 It's like there's a whale, there's a whale. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:12.400 And I'm like, oh yeah, okay, you know, but it was, I found it so intriguing that because she was by herself, she saw this whale and she had to tell somebody else, this total stranger on the beach, like, look at the whale, right? 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:18.879 So it is in us that when we experience something, we want to share it with others, right? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:58.560 Now, if you're a Christian in this room, and I know in churches there's those that are, it's wonderful a church like this, there's people that may be exploring faith in your here, but if you're a Christian in this room, um, we have the opportunity of sharing like something that is the most like important, life-giving, transformational, paramount, catastrophically changing us, profound, monumental, eventful, eternal, infinite, everlasting, continuing forever and ever thing that somebody could ever experience, and that is when we understand and experience the mercy of God, it's like we gotta, we want to tell people. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:08.800 Now, um this morning I'm gonna talk about sharing the mercy of God with others, but it's not gonna be a typical sort of like here's what you do. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.080 I'm gonna look at this a little differently and you'll see. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:24.719 Um, because it should be something that when we understand God's mercy, that we just can't help but feel like I really want others to know about this and experience his mercy as well. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:30.000 So let's start out and we're gonna look at the verse, Matthew chapter 5, verse 7, because you're going through the Beatitudes. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.879 I'm gonna start there and then take us into a story with Jesus. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:40.719 And Matthew 5, verse 7, it says, Blessed are the merciful, for they should will be shown mercy. 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.400 All right, experiencing mercy, blessed are the merciful who experience it. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:51.520 You know, this word mercy, when we say it, the word mercy, it's up on the screen. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:59.199 It means to have compassion or to show pity to another who is in deep need. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:11.360 Um it could be, like, for example, a judge might show mercy on a criminal offender who is granting a more lenient punishment than they may deserve. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:19.759 And so there's that sense of the judge has mercy and maybe makes the punishment not as severe as it could be. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:45.199 Now, for me and for those that are Christians in this room, it's kind of like we experience his mercy by, I think, I'm gonna share a little bit of my story in a couple minutes, but it's like experiencing that sense of like, oh, I know when I have gone against God's guidance, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes intentionally, if I sin and then I think of God and realize his mercy. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:57.600 Thank you, God, that you're merciful, God, and through Jesus I'm forgiven, and there's grace and there's second chances, and there's no shame, and just like constantly thinking of like his mercy. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:15.680 Then what I also want to look at and talk about here is the sense of I want to jump into the one of the most important ways that those who follow Jesus experience mercy, and that is our salvation is due to God's mercy. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:36.240 And if we are a Christian, like our salvation, which means we're forgiven, God's Spirit indwells in us through our faith and what Jesus did on the cross, he took our sin, he rose again from the dead, God's Spirit is in us to help us live this life, and then one day for all of eternity we will be with him, right? 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.079 Like all of eternity. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:52.639 And it's through his mercy, and the scriptures say, like in Titus chapter 3, verse 5, it says, He saved us not because of the righteous things that we have done or had done, but because of his mercy. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:06:05.600 In 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3, it says, In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.959 This mercy that we receive through Jesus. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:20.800 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15 and 17, a guy named Paul, who was before he encountered Jesus and then believed in him and put faith in him, he was having Christians killed. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.360 So that's why he says some of the words here. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.600 He says, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.800 This is what he says, of whom I am the worst. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:59.519 But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive not just a good life here, but eternal life beginning here and for all of eternity beyond when we're when we pass on from this life, we are with him in heaven for all of eternity. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.560 It's like this mercy is eternal. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:16.639 All the times that if you're a Christian in this room, that you have sinned against God, like I don't like bringing that up, but we have to bring it up because then it's just like we have mercy, mercy, forgiveness, grace, no shame, no condemnation. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:24.560 It's just like thank I as I'm thinking of myself right now, because I know myself, thank you, God, for your mercy. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.279 And here's what I want to say. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:40.879 When we understand his mercy that is granted to us, we then can't help but want others to experience it too. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:41.759 Right? 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:42.879 It really is. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:52.800 If we can get excited about seeing a movie, a restaurant, a TikTok video, and have that burden to like, I want to show you this. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:08:01.519 Certainly, if we understand his mercy, there should be a natural desire for us to say, I gotta tell you about this. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:03.439 You have to hear about this. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:20.800 And to show this, an example, I want to go to a story in the book of Mark in the New Testament of someone of some friends who wanted someone that was in need to experience the mercy of Jesus. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:33.279 Um, in Mark chapter 2, verses 1 through 7, we're gonna look at that, is that Jesus was on the scene, like kind of new in his public ministry, and he was healing people. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:38.000 The healing was so that people could have that his message was verified. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.240 Like he is not just saying words. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.879 Look, God is with him, and he is God in the flesh. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:09:02.159 He is doing these miracles, verifying his message, and then he was having teaching that was so contradictory to some of the teaching back then, and there are crowds that were following him, and he they heard they were just healing, so they would want to bring people or go there to experience healing, possibly. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:03.759 So let's read what's going on. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:14.480 It says, A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, that's a fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, the people heard that he had come home. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:20.720 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:22.559 Like, not even outside the door. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:22.799 Right? 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.879 It was like, we're hearing us, they're packing out to see Jesus here. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.200 And he preached the word to them. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.000 So he's speaking, he's teaching. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:38.960 Some man came bringing to him a paralyzed man carried by four of them. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:45.840 Now, going back into that cultural world, like we have to just try to always place yourself when you're reading scripture. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.039 What was that world like? 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:48.000 What was going on? 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.000 You know, unlike today, like back then, no wheelchairs. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.240 They didn't have something in place or designed for that. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:02.720 Um, when somebody was paralyzed or couldn't use their legs, they would lay on mats. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:13.200 We see this at other times with beggars, and a mat could have been, not the same material, but a mat would have been something that they would lay down on like this. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:22.240 Often in New Testament time uh homes, they actually would roll up mats and then you'd sleep on them on the floor because then have beds like we think of them today. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:27.600 But so they carried someone on this on a mat that was something like this. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:43.679 And what I would like to do is uh because I would like to say, like, let's visually think about this even more, um, we have four people who are gonna come on up here, five, and we're gonna have some folks like uh show us what this may have been like at that time period. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.320 So come on up, who's being part of this? 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:48.399 And will you take this mat? 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:52.639 All right, here we go. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:05.600 All right, and the uh and um your name on the mat is Calvin is in the mat. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.840 And be careful now, because we're gonna do is now picture this. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.799 Four people carrying a person. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:19.360 Now don't drop him, don't bonk his head into a chair because they're like, hey, the speaker may just do this, like no. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:26.879 Um just like as I'm talking, picture that these four people carried someone that they cared for. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.960 And we don't know that scriptures doesn't say did they carry him a quarter mile? 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.879 Did they carry him a couple of miles? 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.480 Like, we don't know. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:47.440 But what we know is they were taking effort because they cared about their friend to carry his mat and with this person on a mat around the room. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:51.919 I'm sorry, not around the room, around the villages to bring him to Jesus. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.080 Um, I'm gonna get a picture of this because it's so interesting. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.960 Okay, there we go, let's see. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:04.080 All right. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:12.320 Um thank you, Calvin, and thank you, the four friends of Calvin, that are carrying him around. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:21.759 Now, as this was going, there's a photo up, it's a recreation of what this may have looked like at the time. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:30.399 Like, you know, because they have archaeology and people understand New Testament architecture, and so it's likely looked something like this. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:34.159 This would actually be Capernaum, and what this would have looked like. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.679 And you can see the architecture of these homes, they're flat roofs. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.519 Um, you can see on the top of some of them, they were laying out fish to dry up. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:50.559 They had usually stairs that were going up, but this is what it most likely, and you can see a door there, like say to the next to the uh stairs there. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:13:05.759 Now just imagine, so Jesus is inside one of these units, and there's probably a crowd that's filling up the kind of like that courtyard there, and so like he's inside, and it says there's so many people that they couldn't get in. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:16.080 So again, we don't know how long they traveled, what was there, but these four Pete men had such care that they brought him on a mat there. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:23.759 And some, as they brought him here, I want you to ask um a couple of questions here. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.559 Because let me ask you this. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:37.919 Uh, for those that who are Christians here, somewhere along the line, someone carried your mat to introduce you to Jesus or bring you to Jesus. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.159 Most likely it would have been several people. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:14:22.159 Like it could have been, it could have been a mom, a dad, it could have been a friend who brought you to a youth group or something, like it might have been a little grandma or a grandpa, like it might have been a series of conversations, Sunday school or something, like and it might have been a series of your mat being carried to eventually, in all likelihood, there's probably some point, not all of you, but you can identify like I'm now putting my faith in Jesus, I'm I'm understanding his mercy, and there is probably other people involved in carrying you along the way for that decision to happen. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:31.120 And as I was thinking about this with myself in my life, I was going back to like I was not raised, I grew up in Paramus, New Jersey. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:44.080 It's a town, suburban town right outside of New York City, and my parents were great folks and parents, they they didn't have beliefs, they would have said there's God, and I never questioned it was the God or not, I didn't think about it much. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:50.559 But I remember the first time I was ever like had, you could say, somebody start carrying my mat. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:15:08.080 And that was when I was in a uh Paramis Park shopping mall with my buddy Ralph, and we were there, I think we're in eighth grade, and a guy, he looked like Daniel Boone to me, came up, and I found him trying to have a picture of him, but I'm like, what's Daniel Boone? 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:12.879 So, like, we have a picture of Daniel Boone up here, and he was actually wearing like a fringe jacket. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.679 He kind of looked like that without the raccoon hat. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:20.639 But I wanted to elaborate, he didn't carry a gun, he had a Bible, so I'm like, I put a Bible there instead, right? 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:29.120 So, like, this guy walks up to me and Ralph in the shopping mall, and I remember he goes, I remember this really clearly, do you know Jesus? 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:33.360 And I'm like, it was such an odd question because I'm like, how do I know Jesus? 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:37.279 Like, that's asking me, do I know Abraham Lincoln or do I know George Washington or something? 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.840 It made no sense for him to ask me that question. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:53.919 And he had a little Bible, and I remember he's like, Well, let me tell you, and he I don't know what he said, but I remember he was reading from the scriptures, and then he actually prayed, and I'm like, wow, that was like such an interesting thing, and then that was it. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:54.879 And he was gone. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.159 Daniel Boone left. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.840 And I just went on my life and didn't think about it much. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:09.039 But I remember Daniel Boone talked to me about Jesus as somebody that was like living almost, like I should know him, not a historical person that died. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:24.399 Then in college, I went to Colorado State University, and while I'm at Colorado State, if you go to, you know, if you go to school, like normally the first day or two they'll have tables set up and like you know, the school clubs, you know, show their what they can what they have. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:26.559 And there was one, look, like, so there's a girl. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.080 I just found this randomly. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:34.000 I typed in like, you know, tables at college, and I put the Bible in that one too, because that was there. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:46.799 Um but there is a a Christian club, like they remember the square dance club, then there was the Christian club, and um, and I they had like little pamphlets out, and so I'm just like walking around and I just picked, I'm like, thank you. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.159 And I didn't talk to her at all. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:58.879 I just picked up the little pamphlet, and I walked over, sat in a planter, and I remember this pamphlet because it said something like, Jesus is the only way, or something with Jesus the only way. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:01.519 And I'm like, this is what Christians believe? 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:07.359 Like, I had no idea that any Christian ever claimed like Jesus is the only way to God. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:15.680 And you know, I had a couple of Bible verses, and I'm reading this thing, and then looking over at the table, and I'm just like, uh, is that what she believes? 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:19.680 I'm like, well, we're in Colorado, but is this just like suburban Colorado? 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:27.119 And you know, if she was in Thailand and going to school there, would she be giving out the brochure for Buddhism or or something? 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:35.920 But it got me like puzzled because I never thought that Christians thought they were the only way or Jesus was the only way to God. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.359 And I couldn't shake it. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:38.559 It was kind of like, huh. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.000 And I had nobody asking me to go to any meetings or nothing. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:48.240 But that table girl had a little pamphlet, and I took it and it started making me think a little bit. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:56.240 Then um I actually went, it bothered me so much thinking that Christians said they they're the only way that they think that Jesus is the only way to God. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:18.079 I went and I got a Bible, went down to a bookstore, and I got a Bible and got this Bible, and then I got some other kind of book about the Bible, and then I got a book about world religions, and I started reading this stuff, and then one day I come home from uh uh from school, and my friends uh and the girl I was dating at the time, like were they in the living room, and it all gets quiet when I walk in. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:19.119 And I'm like, what? 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:20.720 Like, you know, like are they talking about you? 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:21.759 Like, what, what? 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:23.759 And they're like, we're getting worried. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:24.799 I'm like, what? 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.960 You have a Bible and we're wondering about I'm like, what do you mean? 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:35.599 And they started saying they were concerned because they were afraid I was gonna become a Christian. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:37.680 And then they started saying things. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:48.319 Like at the time, there were a lot of television scandals, tele TV scandals going on with television evangelists, and they raised up like that's kind of how these Christians are. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:19:03.680 And then there was also a big at the time fascination, which about the end times, like the apocalypse, and all this is gonna happen, and antichrist and all these things, like, you know, all this is good things to study, but it's kind of like the highlighted so that even non-Christians were hearing that this Christians what Christians are into. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:09.279 I remember the girl I was dating, she said something like, You're gonna you're gonna lose all your creativity, they're not creative. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.400 And then one raised up, like, yeah, it's like a cult. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:17.839 They believe in somebody who died and came back to life, and we don't want you to join a cult. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:24.799 Now, what I remember was thinking like, people in cults don't know they're in cults, right? 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:29.759 And like, well, how do I know I'm not getting in a cult if I start believing this stuff? 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:38.240 And so that actually interesting conversation led me to like want to study more because I'm like, how do I know this stuff's real? 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:45.680 So go ahead, I'm tracking forward, is the when I graduated school, I was playing drums in a punk rock and rockabilly band. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:50.240 We moved to London, England for a year, and we're in England, and I had my little Bible. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:09.920 I was still, I couldn't, again, I couldn't shake it, and I'm reading it, and I'm walking by a lunch, I was doing different jobs, and there's a sandwich board handwritten outside of a little tiny church building, uh squished between two big office buildings, and it said, like, Bible study inside today, lunchtime, free or something, and it was handwritten. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:14.240 I'm like, oh, I've got a Bible in my pocket, and I'll uh I'll think I'll what is this? 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:21.759 So I open the door and I go in, and um uh here is who I saw. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:32.319 And um he was a guy, and um, and he's there's three elderly people, and he looks up and I was gonna go like, oops, yes, wrong room, you know, like I was gonna leave. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.440 And he looks at me and goes, like, here for the study. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:39.119 And if he didn't say that, I would have been like, sorry, and I would have split. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:58.000 But because he was so kind, I'm like, okay, I sat down, and then he had a uh, and he had like three other elderly people there, and he had like a um uh what is it called, a camping canister, you know, like of something in it, and he had a top, and then he pours something into a cup and he hands it to me, and he goes, like, Ovaltine. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.319 And I'm like, oh, like what is this? 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.200 And he says, Ovaltine, and then um uh and then I drink it, I was nervous. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:08.000 I'm like black black black black drank it so fast, right? 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:19.920 And then I put it down, and then he's looking at his friends like uh, like we got him, like a little, and then he pours me another one, and I'm not kidding, I'm like, oh my gosh, what if this is a cult? 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:29.440 And they just put something in my drink, and my friends were right, and I'm gonna wake up in the basement chained up with elderly people poking me with sticks or something. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.839 Like, I didn't know what to think. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.480 Um, but here's what I do know. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.680 What they ended up doing was they took time and they started answering my questions. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.519 And they never judged me for my hair. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:49.359 At that time, it was like three times higher, and they and they they cared that I know Jesus and understand mercy and about self. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:56.400 And they were and they brought me down to the basement like after on I started going on Sundays, but they were to have like lunch together. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:03.440 There's like 20 people in this elderly church, and and the grand There were all like bringing me sandwiches, right? 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.559 And so they'd be like, Eat my sandwich, Dan, eat mine. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.519 And I'll be like, and I'll have like a whole bag of these sandwiches. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.359 I'm like, this is great, you know. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:12.559 Have these moments. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:30.960 I'm gonna be asking, like, to think of yours was when I was in the band, we're down, we're in a mall outside area, and we're walking along, and we're playing at a club later that night, and right in the middle of this outdoor mall was this group, like go back a slide, I think it's the one before, and like there's I put Bibles in their hands. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:32.559 I just I found some stock image. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:42.319 I just stuck there because they were like singing, I don't know what, kind of like it sounded like commercial jingles to me at the time, but it was like Christian songs, and they're all happy and they're singing. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.880 And I stopped because I was you know in this exploration time and I'm looking at them, and I'm like, huh. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:50.880 And then the girl with the tambourine, I put it actually, you can see it's kind of floating in the air. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:59.119 I took a tambourine and put it up there for the uh to there's a tambourine girl, and then she goes, like, um uh are you a Christian? 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:05.279 And I'm like, no, you know, I I don't go to a church and I I don't, you know, so I don't really talk to God. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:09.519 Or I said something, and she's like, you don't have to be in a building to talk with God, you know? 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.119 You can talk to him anywhere. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:14.000 And then she starts still playing, and I'm like, all right. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:15.279 And then I just kept walking. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:17.200 I had to catch up with my friends. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:21.680 But that was the first time I ever heard, kind of like, oh, you can talk to God anywhere? 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.440 I thought you had to go to like these meetings and the Pope and stuff. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:26.799 Like, I didn't really know. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:33.039 And I could say, like, for a moment, like, she helped me, because these are these moments I'm thinking. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:50.319 So, what I want to just share is these little tiny experiences in many ways are like those four guys were carrying Jesus, I'm sorry, carrying their friend to go experience Jesus and meet him and hopefully receive his mercy. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:53.920 And these people were helping me. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.519 You know, the tambourine girl carried my mat a little bit. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:05.200 I didn't know, she probably didn't even realize that was happening, but I remember this years and years and decades later, I remember what she said. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.200 Just a sentence or two. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.839 I remember the the table girl. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.000 I don't know her name, we didn't even talk. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:20.000 But she had a little pamphlet, and the effort she put out carried my mat a little bit to understand the mercy of Jesus later. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.640 Um, you know, there was Billy Graham. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:32.400 I remember like as I was getting interested, I he was on TV, and for those that don't know him, he was like this big TV evangelist in the you know six 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:35.440 He died about five or six or seven or eight years ago. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:39.519 But he was really well known, and and he was on TV talking about Jesus. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:44.480 And I remember I was like so I got, I can still remember there, because like, oh, who's this guy? 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.240 And I think I got like three inches. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.559 I was like really close to the TV watching. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:51.279 I don't know why I got so close, but I was like interested. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:25:15.920 And then I think now about like not just him, but all the people that paid for the meeting to happen and the camera people that were working behind the scenes filming it, so that then it could be on TV, and then all the volunteers in these meetings, and boy, there's a lot of people involved, and in many ways, they were carrying my mat a little bit to hear more about God's mercy through what was coming through the TV. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:20.400 And so, like in your life, I'm gonna ask you this directly. 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:27.519 You know, there are people who have carried your mat towards Jesus in different ways. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:31.839 Uh, and I'm gonna actually ask you for their names in a few moments. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:39.359 But let's go back now to the story of what happened with Jesus and these four fellows that were carrying the mat. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:57.759 It says in verse 4, when they brought the fellow on the mat to the house, it says they could not, since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, like the crowd was so big outside, and I do wonder, you know, it's like no one seemed to want to help. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:04.160 I don't know, they must have been like, well, we're here for our needs, and they're here's somebody that's obviously paralyzed being called. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:06.720 Like they didn't say, like, oh, come on in, let's make room for you. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:13.039 Everybody's so consumed with what they were, and but their friends then said, We're not gonna give up. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:14.480 No one's letting us buy. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:16.640 Um, we have a paralyzed person. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:22.000 And so, like, you know, thinking of that photograph, they probably looks like they went up the stairs. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:34.240 And this, if this was a common um, like kind of a built home, they went up the stairs and went on the roof, and they said, We are going to have our friend get to Jesus somehow. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:44.960 And so, what they then did was, you know, probably on that, go to that photograph, like probably on the photo, you can see how like they probably go back to the the outdoor one thing. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:49.359 Yeah, they went probably like there's a big crowd, they somehow knew like that stairway of some sort. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:57.200 They went up on the roof with him, like picture them, like probably like we don't want to drop him, like getting up to the top, and then they're not gonna give up. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.400 They're like, we gotta get him to Jesus. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.160 So they're carrying his mat. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:21.359 And even when they came up to this obstacle of a crowd, they're like, we gotta get him in, and then they they went up, it says, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it, and they somehow figured out like we're gonna lower the mat down that uh that the man was lying on. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:41.200 You know, and I found this uh artist illustration, you know, it's like kind of trying to picture what it would look like, you know, because at that time flat roofs in that day were made of beams with tiles in between them that had been covered with thatch and earth, and it was quite a project then for them to tear up that roof. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:51.440 But these men, think of this, they would not get dissuaded from the goal of helping their friend on the mat get to Jesus. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:53.359 And they actually like dug through. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:28:04.000 I keep wondering, like, were they afraid, like, boy, they're gonna get so mad at us for ripping up the roof, or they're gonna charge us money, or we're gonna have to pay for this, or someone like they didn't care. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:20.799 They cared that they were gonna keep carrying that mat and even lowering it down so this person would have an encounter with Jesus because they wanted her friend to experience his mercy and heal him. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:25.200 They didn't realize what else Jesus was going to be merciful about. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:34.160 And so I'm asking, and I'm gonna ask again, like, who in your life would you say you're carrying their mat? 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.680 Where are you carrying people's mats in your life? 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:46.559 And I'm not talking about going out downtown somewhere and holding up a sign and preaching or so. 00:28:46.799 --> 00:29:03.039 I'm just talking about table girl, tambourine girl, um being aware of like that possibly a small little action might be part of carrying somebody's mat that you don't have no idea. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:21.039 I can tell you like that tambourine girl, that table girl, you know, they had they probably have no idea that what they said, you know, was actually really impactful for me standing up in front of a group all a couple of decades later talking about that, they have no idea. 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:30.000 But what they said and their experience of just being there to carry a mat a little bit made a huge difference. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:34.880 And these experiences you have all the time. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:43.440 And you see, we are, if you're a follower of Jesus in this room, we are called in to actually be part of mat carrying. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:58.400 Look at verse 5, because when Jesus then, they lower their friend down on the mat, in verse 5, he's then saying, when Jesus saw, not the guys on the mat's faith, look what it says, their faith. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:29:59.839 All of them. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:10.640 So, in other words, he's saying he saw the faith of those that were carrying their friend as well. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.279 There was involvement. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.160 And he said then, it's really great, like so. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:24.400 He starts out not with, I will have mercy on you and I will heal you from the from your paralyzed uh situation. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:28.559 He did do that, but look what he starts out first with the more important thing. 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:31.839 He says, Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:37.279 And to think of him saying that, son, your sins are forgiven. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:54.079 One for the guy in the mat, it would have been like, I, my sins, like, wait a minute, that's the temple sacrifice, and and and only God can forgive sins, and I and I'm and I'm worthy of a person, and this person's telling my sins are forgiven, like, mercy. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.400 It must have been this feeling of like, what? 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:59.599 That's crazy to think about that you're forgiving my sins. 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:01.680 Only God can forgive sins. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:17.839 And this sense of like mercy being brought to this person for being like forgiven and reconciled and cleansed, like being cleansed to have a relationship with God through the words of Jesus to him. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:25.039 And then we see, like, and it says again, Jesus saw their faith, but not just the paralytics. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:32.559 One person's faith can help bringing knowledge of God's mercy and blessing to another. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:40.960 It's like there's we're all part of someone else experiencing and understanding God's mercy to put faith in him. 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:42.960 And it's really interesting. 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:44.160 I have time to get into this. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:51.599 I could speak on this part for an hour, but it's when you look at this, it's like Jesus saw their faith, and you just get a little glimpse of Jesus. 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:57.039 Remember, he's just at the beginning part of his ministry, and he hasn't revealed yet who he is, right? 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:14.640 And the resurrection and the cross didn't happen yet, so they're like just starting to figure him out, and he's little by little sharing who he is to people, and then Jesus could read their hearts and their minds, it says in chapter 2, verse 8, and then he could look to see like, are they having faith or just going to motions? 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.559 Like, nope, they actually have faith. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:19.839 They're having faith in what they knew of him to bring there. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:25.039 So there was action that resulted because of their faith. 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:32.720 And if we have faith in Jesus, those that are Christians, like, are we taking action at all on our faith? 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:42.640 Are we waking up in the day, you know, and just in the little things of like, how can I maybe be part of carrying somebody's mat today? 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:47.119 It might even not be a verbal thing you're saying. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:56.400 You know, it could be a way of being kind to someone at your workplace, um, choosing not to spread gossip about somebody. 00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:02.400 If somebody's hurting, maybe you, and if they know you're a Christian, even just offered to say a prayer for them. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:11.440 When I was, after I became a Christian, I was working over off the Alameda in a in a office there, and I was doing landscape architecture and urban planning, and I was drafting things. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:22.000 And I remember like I was excited about my faith and I believed, and I remember when there was one guy that was hurting all the time, I was taking little yellow stickies and putting verses on them and then putting them up behind his desk. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:23.920 Like, I'm like, I want to do something. 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:26.319 Like I didn't realize I was kind of carrying this mat. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:31.279 Um, there's another guy that was um like I remember he was leaving, and we talk about faith. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:40.880 He was my age, we were both younger at the time, and and then he was moving, and I went and got him a Bible, and I put it in his Volkswagen, Volkswagen, I put it in that Volkswagen on the day he was leaving. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:49.759 So he's gonna get a Bible from me, like you know, and I just remember like I don't know these little things that we can be doing to help carry someone's map. 00:33:49.839 --> 00:34:01.359 But you see, Jesus here, and when he says, son, your sins are forgiven, he is then saying basically what happens, the teachers of the law, in verse 6, it says, Who does this fellow think he's talking about? 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:02.640 What is he talking like that? 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:03.839 He's blaspheming. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:06.559 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:14.880 And that's who Jesus was: God in the flesh, making himself known with the ability to forgive sin. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:23.920 Again, we could speak an hour just on that amazing thing that was going on there that became more and more clear as time went on of who Jesus really was. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:29.840 Then in verse 10, it says, So he said to the man, I tell you, get up now. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:33.519 Your sins are forgiven, take up your mat and go home. 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:38.079 And then he got up, took his mat, and he walked out in full view of all of them. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:39.199 He was healed. 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:44.079 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:46.159 Now, not everybody gets healed. 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:51.360 Jesus didn't, you know, there's so many people, um, we don't see all the records that just went on healing. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:54.719 There's people in this day and age who that they don't get healed. 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:55.840 Some do and some don't. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:57.760 It's a mystery of why. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:02.639 But in this case, this person was healed and they were amazed at it. 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:09.039 Now, I'm sure when they went home, do you think those four folks were just going like, hey, honey, I'm home, right? 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:11.519 Or they'd have been, you gotta hear what happened today. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:20.320 Would they keep it, you know, they they they must have been like excited and to share and and this the Holy Spirit wanted us to know this story. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.880 2,000 years later, we're talking about it. 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:33.119 And so, my question again, I'm gonna wrap this up here, but if you're a Christian, think of who were the ones that carried your mat. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:37.360 Um carried your mat? 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:42.559 On your seats, there's three by five cards, and I want you to do something with these. 00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:46.159 Take the pen, and on your seats, there's a three by five card. 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:49.199 And what I'm gonna do is ask you two things. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:54.480 I'm gonna have you draw on one side and then the other of these three by five cards. 00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:00.000 And the first is will you draw on one side? 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:07.679 Actually, on one side, will you write out who can you think of that was part of here this morning? 00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:12.079 Um, if you go up to the go show mine, the big one up on the screen, I have the two up there. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:14.320 On the right, like I wrote, here's mine. 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:16.480 Stuart Allen and the grandmas. 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:19.360 They carried my mat for a little bit. 00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:21.840 That table girl, she carried my mat. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:24.400 They didn't even know they carried, she has no idea she carried my mat. 00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:25.519 Be so funny. 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:27.280 You know, all these years later I'm talking about her. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:32.639 Uh the tambourine girl carried my mat with just a few sentences and then it was over. 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.079 But she carried my mat in helping me move along. 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:38.400 Daniel Boone, he carried my mat. 00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:44.559 Like uh then I have Billy Graham, but I wrote not just Billy Graham, I wrote the donors, the camera people, the volunteers. 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:46.400 There's a lot involved in that. 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:56.400 Write on this card the names of who you remember were part of carrying your mat so that when you experience the mercy of Jesus. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:03.920 Then flip over the card and draw a little mat on it, like I did up here on the left. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:06.880 I drew kind of a little mat and then I put some names. 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.880 And write on or want to carry. 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:14.480 Maybe you haven't taken any steps yet to carry, but you want to. 00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:18.000 And you know, on mine I wrote a guy named Kyle. 00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:21.679 And I can talk about Kyle, like if he's watching this somehow, he's one of my barbers. 00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:25.039 I have two barbers in Watsonville, California, where I live. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:32.960 And Kyle isn't a Christian, and he's we got, you know, because when you're going there time and time again, we get talking, and what do you do for a living? 00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:34.880 And I get to kind of jump into it more quickly. 00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:50.480 Well, I'm part of a church and I do this, and and then we talk about his life, and we've talked about God and about grace and little by little, you know, and then eventually I bought him a Bible, and I brought a Bible in, I gave it to him, and he was like, oh, and he gave me a big hug. 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.800 Because he's never had a Bible before. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:56.639 Now he hasn't yet become a Christian, and I don't know if he ever will. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:17.280 But what I know is I'm carrying his mat a little bit right now, and maybe he's gonna, I might switch barbers, or maybe he calls me Padre because he knows I'm a like he uh a religious leader, and and I haven't gotten him something, he doesn't feel we haven't gotten to the depth of the conversation, but when I'm sitting there cutting my hair, I'm praying for him. 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:18.159 He doesn't know it. 00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:23.199 So if you're listening, um Beto, I'm I pray for you when you when you're cutting my hair. 00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:25.039 I wouldn't mind you knowing this, right? 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:31.840 So um, and so I'm just saying this, like, so I maybe I'm carrying his mat by just sitting there praying for him. 00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:43.679 You know, there's uh I wrote others down here, uh there's other names, and I gotta tell you, honestly, like I'm looking at one of these, I'm like, I am not carrying her mat well. 00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:48.800 And I'm feeling convicted because I have opportunities too, and I'm just not. 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:52.239 And I'm really feeling like, boy, Dan, people carry your mat. 00:38:52.800 --> 00:39:09.280 And maybe you need to think of some ways to just even be a blessing in a certain way so that she sees a good example of a Christian with all of some of the national news about the bad stuff happening to carry a mat. 00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:15.920 Um you may only have a small part in one, and then later someone else is gonna take it. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:23.199 I'll I'll close with this story and then Robbie, and then we can come up as we uh go into some more, finish up here. 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:25.519 Um, there's a guy named Evan at our church. 00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:30.400 I just we just talked to him, he became involved with our church, he was a UCSC student, University of Cal. 00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:35.039 And he, and the first time I met him, we had a little prayer group on our young adult ministry. 00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:36.639 He's like, I don't want to pray, I don't want to pray. 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:37.679 And I'm like, oh, okay. 00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:38.880 Like he said, I need to talk to you. 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:39.760 And he's like, I'm not a Christian. 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:41.280 I'm like, oh, that's wonderful, that's why I don't pray. 00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:42.320 I'm like, oh, it's fine. 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:48.000 And he stayed around, he got very involved in the church, and then he stayed for a couple years, and then he was moving down. 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:54.480 He never became a Christian, but I can tell you this on the night before he left, my friend Zach and I, we sat, went out to Denny's on Ocean Street. 00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:55.920 We were there at four o'clock in the morning. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:57.519 Because I'm like, I got one more time. 00:39:57.599 --> 00:39:59.440 I'm like, do you understand? 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:05.039 And I drew like, there's heaven, there's hell, and I know you've heard all of this in the gospel, and here's what it is. 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:07.039 Like, do you want to believe? 00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:13.679 And I remember feeling like, all right, uh, if something happens to him and he died, like, there's no way, like, damn, you didn't try to carry his mat. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:16.880 You didn't like, you know, but and then here's what happened. 00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:23.360 I get a text from him about two years after he moves away, and it's like, damn, um, I did it. 00:40:23.599 --> 00:40:25.920 I'm I now believe in God. 00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:27.599 And then I wrote, like, which God? 00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:29.599 Because I had to make sure, like, I didn't know. 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:33.119 And then he goes and he says, he's like, the Christian God, of course. 00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:45.119 And it turned out that we carried his mat here, then he moved down there, and then eventually he ended up going into a young adult ministry of another church because he was wanting to meet people too. 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:49.280 They picked up his mat and then they carried him. 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:58.800 And through them continuing the carrying him, the putting faith in Jesus, and then he got baptized about three, four weeks ago, and then I went down there and I was part of his baptism. 00:40:59.199 --> 00:41:03.840 And I carried, I had a part of carrying his mat, but then others carried his mat. 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:09.760 And it wasn't the pastors, it was just young adults in the church that see, we want to share mercy. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:10.719 Okay. 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:26.159 Lord, as I wrap up here and I pray, I just thank you right now for the names that were written of those who carried our mats so that we could experience your mercy. 00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:28.800 God, thank you for them. 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:30.800 I thank you for tambourine girl. 00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:36.880 I thank you for the table girl, I thank you for the grandmas and that elderly kind of smelly basement too. 00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:46.480 I thank you for the people in my life that carried my mat in little ways along the way until I finally understood your mercy and I put my faith in you. 00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:51.280 I I pray for those, I thank you that we're recognizing those that do. 00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:54.400 And now I pray for those that are written on there. 00:41:54.800 --> 00:42:00.079 God, help us know how we can be mat carriers and the little things. 00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:04.559 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:09.119 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:11.440 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:17.119 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.