Keep going, keep growing

Visit our website
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hi, welcome to the Vine Life Church podcast. Oh Jesus Christ. Oh we can't spend his missions for the hearts are awake. And if we can help you in any way, reach out to us of VineLife.com. For now, here's a short sermon from last week in the Vine Life. Again, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Alright, well, something fun has occurred this week because if you've been around for a while, you know we've been reading through the New Testament together since January, and we will finish up in December, and we are going book by book. And it just so happened that this week we started and ended one entire book. How cool is that? Like my personality just happens to just love the order of that. So we're gonna be digging in to 1 Thessalonians. Um and we're gonna be pulling out from it two questions that I really believe that we have to be able to answer in order to remain faithful and true to the end, right? How many of you, since you have given your heart to Jesus, since you said, Jesus, I'm gonna follow after you with everything? How many of you raise your hand if since that time somebody else you know that professed that they loved Jesus were in pursuit of him, something happened and they've gone off course and they're no longer interested in things about Jesus and are no longer pursuing that relationship. Raise your hand if that's look around the room, you guys. Keep your hand raised if you can say that you've seen that happen to more than one person. Yeah, me too. And it's sad and devastating because none of us get into a relationship with Jesus thinking that there's ever gonna come a time when we're gonna pull out, right? That's not our heart intention. We think we're gonna make it to the end, but apparently, as we can see as we look around the room, we all know that that's not the case for everybody. And so we have to be doing things and putting our heart posture and our mind in a place that's gonna help us faithfully finish our race. We all want to come to the end of whether it's our life or Jesus appearing, whichever happens first. But when we see him face to face, we all want to hear him say, I know you. Come here, right? So I believe undergirding this whole book of 1 Thessalonians, there are two questions that will help us, if we can answer them thoughtfully and with some purpose and intent behind them, that will help us finish our race well. But before we get into those questions, let's get a little context for what's happening here in 1 Thessalonians. Who wrote it, who is it being written to, and why, okay? So it's actually authored by three men: Paul, Silas, and Timothy. And we know from what we've been studying, and if you've read the Bible, uh, the New Testament much, we know of Paul. He wasn't a disciple that was with Jesus when Jesus was alive, but he has an encounter with the risen Jesus that changed completely the trajectory of his life. And he has made it his mission, his calling to spread the message of Jesus. And the the disciples that had been with Jesus and walked with him, um I feel like I'm running into that as I'm wanting to pace back and forth. Sorry. The disciples that had been with Jesus recognized the calling, the anointing, the gifting on Paul. And so they lay hands on him, pray for him, and bless him, and begin to send him out on trips. And Paul takes others with him. And the purpose is to move the message of Christ beyond where they were, so that every person, man and woman, child, can know of what Jesus did by dying on the cross and raising again, right? So at this point, Paul has done uh he's gone out twice. This is his second time that he's gone out. And he is sent, he goes to the area of Macedonia because he has this dream where this man appears in a vision saying, Come to Macedonia. So he goes off, and in Acts 17, 4, we hear this whole story of how this church in Thessalonica is born. Paul comes into the city, much like he always does, he goes into the synagogue to address the Jews first. He's there for three days teaching in the synagogue. And it says that a lot of people come into faith with Jesus. Jews, and then it talks about Greeks and prominent women. I love that part, that little note. Uh so a lot of people are hearing Paul's words and are being um drawn into Jesus, the person of Jesus, and giving their life over to them. Well, the Jewish religious leaders, it says in Acts, uh got jealous, they didn't like it, they felt threatened, whatever. We don't really know their motive, but they whip up this mob of people to um basically threaten and kind of attack Paul and the rest of the people that were with him. And so these believers in Thessalonica say, You guys need to go. We love you, but we want you to be safe. So they they send them out in the covering of night and off they go and share the gospel in other locations. But Paul, we've we've seen as we've read many of his letters to other churches, that he has this fatherly care and concern over the people that he brings into relationship. He doesn't just go somewhere, tell people about Jesus, and then disconnect his heart and his mind and thoughts from them and just hope for the best, but he's very much concerned, and we often see him going back to those places and helping and training them and being involved with their life. And for whatever reason, he is not able to get there and be with him, and he's concerned. And so Paul, Silas, and Timothy all decide hey, let's send Timothy. So Timothy goes to this community of young believers, not necessarily in age, but as far as this community of people gathering together and becoming a family of God together, they're young. It's only been about two years. And he sees them and is with them and realizes that they're doing really well. They're keeping the faith, they're loving one another, and they're keeping the gospel moving out beyond just them. And so Timothy comes back and gives this report to Paul, and he also brings with him some questions that they had as a as a community because they're under great persecution. The religious leaders that whipped up the mob, it doesn't stop. There's great persecution for this church in Thessalonica and the believers there. Their lives are on the line. And Paul is very much wanting to encourage them, and they have a lot of questions about well, what is happening to the to the people that die before Jesus comes back? And so Timothy brings back all these questions and brings the report. Okay? And so this is the motivation for Paul sitting down and penning this letter to the church in Thessalonica. And he's got input from Timothy and Silas. And so all three of these men are addressing this church. And just for reference, this is about um 20 years after Jesus has raised from the dead. So we're looking around A.D. 50, 51 is the time frame. So when I'm reading this book, you can kind of see some things that are motivating Paul and Silas and Timothy and what they're it's almost like the lens through which they're looking at this church, right? And we see that Paul says that their faith, I think I have this one, 1 Thessalonians 1, 7 through 8, he tells them that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaea, for not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaea, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. So here Paul is commending them for their faithfulness, that not only have they embraced the gospel and it's and it's real in their own life, but it's going forth and people everywhere, not just where they are, are hearing of their faith in Jesus. But then when we get down to 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Paul here, after just a few pages before commending them for their faith, he says that he really wants to be able to be with them personally. He wants to come and see them and be among them, look into their eyes because he's wanting to supply what is lacking in their faith. Paul believes that there is something to one believer being with another believer in person, knowing their story, knowing their life, being really intimate with their struggles, and that when you do that, it bolsters the other person's faith. And so he is motivated, and even though they're doing great and their faith is looking beautiful, he still wants to bring them to greater fullness in their faith, to bring them to greater maturity. He's not satisfied with just that. So everything that Paul is saying, you can you can hear his desire to increase their faith, to keep hope alive. And I think it's because this is a vulnerable church. They're young and as far as how long that they've been walking together, right? So that alone would be easy for them to give up on each other or pull away, right? But then in addition to that, they have all this persecution and they're watching people from their community die for their faith. And it would be easy to give up and to lose sight. But Paul wants them to remain to the end. And so when they're coming and they're asking these questions of, hey, the people who have died among us, did they die in vain? And Paul is saying, No, no one who dies before Jesus comes back will die in vain, because we have a hope that he is returning. And so everything that he's saying, you can you can feel this heart cry of wanting them to know the hope and to hold on to the hope and to persevere and make it to the end and to not give up. And he keeps expanding their understanding to say it's not just about here and now, but we have an eternal story that we're part of, and so he keeps pushing them to keep eternity in mind and the bigger picture. And I don't know, I mean, the craziness that's gone on in the last two years, and seeing what to me feels like a shift in our culture towards Christianity and the things of Jesus and what he stands for, that it just feels like there's more hostility and less favor there, you know, in a general sense. And then watching what's happening right now in Afghanistan, as I was preparing this message, I was reminded of a conversation that I had with a friend of mine a few years ago. She has young children, in fact, her oldest just entered kindergarten. So the time that we're talking about this, her kids were really tiny. And we had been talking about some of the things that I was mentioning, just the ways that we're seeing persecution ramping up globally, you know. And she was saying that given that, the idea of persecution, even all of the natural disasters that are happening, she doesn't take it for granted that she's always going to be able to be with her kids. We just don't know what the future is gonna hold. We don't know. So she purposes in her heart to think through, okay, if my children were ever, for whatever reason, persecution, natural disaster, or if I die, you know, before they're raised, if we were separated and they were not able to be with me and be influenced by me, what are the three things that I really, really, really want them to know that they know, that they know, that they know? And for her, the three things are she wants her kids to know that they can hear God's voice. And she wants them to know that they are not alone, that God is with them, and because he is with them, that they do not have to be afraid. And so constantly she is teaching and instilling and doing things to reiterate those three truths. So if they ever were separated from her, they would know I can hear God's voice. I don't need to be afraid because God is with me. And when I look at 1 Thessalonians, I feel like Paul and Silas and Timothy are very much like my friend. They're looking at this young, vulnerable church that's experiencing all kinds of very real persecution, very much like what the church in Afghanistan is experiencing. And they're saying, what do we want them to know that they know that they know? Okay? So with that, let's look at what are those two questions that I feel like we can pose for ourselves based on what Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians. So 1 Thessalonians 3.19, Paul says, for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Isn't that amazing that Paul is saying here, hey, church in Thessalonica, you are my joy, you are my glory, you are my prize. That word crown, when you look at it in the original text, it's talking about the wreath that they would give to men and women that would compete in sporting events. That was the prize, that was the trophy. Paul is saying, you are my trophy, you are my reward. And this is very similar to what he would say to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 1, 17, 18. He says, God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may he give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Did you catch that? He wants them to know what the hope is of their calling, and he wants them to understand that their inheritance is in each other. We are all Christ's inheritance, and we share inheritance in each other. So I want you to look around the room. These are your treasures. Each one of you are my reward. You're my inheritance. And what I think Paul is wanting people to understand is that we are worth investing in each other. If you're gonna spend your time and your effort and your energy, you can spend it on each other, and that's not a loss. That is your gain. And we live in a world that wants to make us fill our time, our energy, our efforts into ourselves and to anything else. Self-preserve. And now we're, you know, we're in this whole huddle up thing, right? But I'm telling you, the kingdom way is investing in each other. And Paul is showing us that it's not just about like from a distance. I mean, think about it, right? It wasn't like going for them to do a little trip was just hopping in the car and meeting up at a coffee shop, you know. It was a big deal for them to pack up their stuff and go and travel. I mean, people would be attacked, they would lose their life, they didn't have the the medicines and things, so you know, it it was it could be life or death to make a big trip, like what Paul was doing. And yet, it is his deep desire to be with them. And when he can't be with them, it's not enough for him to say, I'm just gonna send a letter. They send Timothy. There was something to Paul's understanding of the Kingdom Way that said, it's important for us to be with people, face to face, eye to eye, living together. So my question for us this morning is who are we investing in? Paul had great clarity of who his investment was. And if you even look at the the authors that were writing this letter, there was a group of three men that were intimate with each other and and knew each other's story and were ministering together and traveling together. So who are you investing in? And who's investing in you? It's not healthy for us to just have a one-way thing going all the time, you know, to always be pouring out. And sometimes when we ask that question, people will say, Well, you know, C.S. Lewis is pouring into me. Or, you know, fill in the blank. And we live in an amazing time where we have so many resources and ways that we can encourage ourselves and build ourselves up in the faith by listening to podcasts, reading books. We have so many sermons, so many amazing people are alive today that have great revelation, and we have access to people who have already passed away. And I'm not in any way saying, don't keep doing that. I wish you would do it more, actually. But C.S. Lewis does not replace a friend that knows your story, that knows what you're needing prayer for, that knows the promises that God has spoken over your life and is contending with you. And when you're having a low moment and you feel like throwing in the towel, they remind you who you are. We need that. And I think that Paul knew that, and that is why he was so motivated to be with them. We need people that are bolstering our faith if we're gonna make it to the end. We were never intended to do this thing on our own. I love Sunday morning, I love this gathering, but you sitting there just staring at me and maybe saying some things like, you know, every once in a while, like, yeah, whatever, laughing. I mean, that's great. But we're not really, you know, I'm not with you. Like, I much rather the times where you where we get together in a coffee shop, or you're coming over to my office and sitting on my couch and I'm hearing your story, we're crying together, we're praying. This is great, and we need to keep gathering because God does things in the in the mass meetings. But it's not sufficient in itself. We need people who are with us, that we know have our back, that we can call upon when we need prayer, that know our story, and will help us keep going. Because our society today, the Western world wants us to quit and to think that it's ridiculous what we believe, that we're stupid and idiotic. You've got to have people around you that are reminding you of the truth, that are laying hands on you and praying when you need bolstered. So, who are your people in this season? Who's coming around you? And who do you know that you know are intentionally the people that God's called you to? Because I tell you what, we are a busy people and we have so many distractions. And so if we don't have some clarity from the Lord about who he's asking us to intentionally invest in, it won't happen. Or it'll be so sporadic that I don't know that it'll be that impactful and meaningful because our time will get filled with stuff. I mean, can you guys believe that we're halfway through 2021 already? We've got to be intentional. We have to know who is God calling me to and who is investing in me. Okay, you guys doing all right? All right. Second question. I see Paul making a great appeal to the church in Thessalonica to grow, to keep growing. First he's saying, keep going, now he's saying keep growing. First Thessalonians 4 1. Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. He is urging them. You're doing it. You're doing the stuff, and that's good. But keep going more and more. Paul is urging them into the more and more. Don't get complacent, don't become satisfied with what you've known and where you are. Press in, keep growing. I like how the Passion Translation says it. And now, beloved brothers and sisters, since you have been mentored by us with respect to living for God and pleasing Him, I appeal to you in the name of the Lord Jesus with this request. Keep faithfully growing through our teaching even more and more. This is an urgency. Paul is looking at this vulnerable church facing persecution, and he's saying, you must keep pressing in for the more. You have to keep growing. So my question is then, okay, how do we do that? Is it something that just happens? Do we have any responsibility in it? And I'm going to tell you that Holy Spirit is responsible for all our growth. He wills us to want to do anything. But we have to partner with him in order for growth to happen. How many of you know of somebody that's walked with the Lord a long time? But when you're assessing their maturity and the things of the Spirit and their understanding and wisdom, and you're looking at the fruit of their life, you would say they're infantile, maybe, maybe teenager-ish. Yet, how many have you have seen somebody that's a young believer, maybe not in age, but just in the amount of time that they've walked with the Lord? And they just have so much wisdom. So our growth isn't dependent upon how long we've walked with Jesus or our age. I believe it's to how much we're surrendering, how much we're really willing to lay down and say, transform me, Holy Spirit, and whatever you're telling me to do, I'm in. I'm going to make the changes. So if we want to be able to not only keep going, but to keep growing, we have to have a plan. How many of you were here when um Andrew Aaronzeller was here? Okay, so he threw out this idea about getting up on the mountain and shouting, giving praise to Jesus and the halal, you know. So I'm like looking out the window at Long's Peak and I'm like, yeah, that would be awesome. We need to get people and get up there and do this. Had no idea that that's like the hardest, one of the hardest 14ers. I've never done a 14er. And although I'm thin, I have to admit I exercise is not a regular thing. So if I was like, hey guys, let's go after church today, climb that thing. We wouldn't even get up there before the day was out. Didn't he was telling me you have to get up at like two in the morning or something dumb like that. So I don't know if I'll do that, but like you guys would be really seriously concerned for me, right? If I'm like, after service, I'm climbing up long speak. Woo! No, if I want to do that, I have to have a plan set in place, right? I'd have to train, I'd have to understand about the trails and and and what I'd be facing and have the right gear and clothing and all of that. Well, it's the same in the spirit. If we want to have growth, then we have to have a plan. And it has to be measurable. Otherwise, it's just not gonna happen. Except maybe, you know, I mean, yes, there are moments when Holy Spirit comes in and just whoosh does things, and that's amazing. And I pray for those things. There's this amazing story, I don't know if you guys have heard it, but Azusa Street Revival. This is back in the early 1900s, group of African-American people just praying for God to send his spirit and for revival, and he showed up among them, and this map, you know, crazy things began to happen, and lots of people get saved, and then you can see missionary movements come out from that place. If you haven't researched or learned about that, I encourage you to read it. Read about it, it's fun. But there was a woman in the early days of that revival that did not know how to play piano, knew nothing of it, and one night in a meeting, the Holy Spirit just came upon her. She sat down at the piano and could play beautifully. And she was able to do it the rest of her life. So, you know, I will admit, I have prayed. Lord, do it again in me. That would be awesome to not have to put all the training and work. But you know what? Most of the people that sit down at the piano and lead people in worship have put in lots and lots of hours of work and training to get to the place where they could do that and where God's Spirit could come and anoint the skill and the training that they put in. So, yeah, let's pray for those miraculous moments, but let's plan and have strategy for how we're gonna grow. Because most of the time God does things in a slow, measured process, right? Amen. So, what is your plan then? Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5, 14 through 22. Paul says, We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. It all sounds good, doesn't it? But I mean, is that stuff just gonna happen? Abstaining from every form of evil. Every form of evil. So, what's your plan then? How are you for the remainder of 2021 planning to admonish the idle or encourage the faint-hearted? What's your plan for seeking good to everyone? Or praying without ceasing, testing prophecies, abstaining from every form of evil. Yes, God's spirit is gonna help us, but if we really want to grow and grow and grow and become a mature bride, a mature group of people, we have to have a plan. So what is the plan? Well, I have to be honest. This idea of how are we going to keep going and how are we going to keep growing is something that the elders and the leadership team have been thinking about for our our own lives. Because we know it's not easy to hold on to faith and to finish the race. And just because we're leaders doesn't mean that we're not susceptible to be taken out. We see it all the time, right? In horrific ways. Leaders getting waylaid and losing sight of what it's all about. So as we have reflected on this upcoming fall, starting in September and finishing out the year, we're thinking about okay, how are we gonna do this as a family of believers of Vine Life? How are we going to keep going and how are we going to keep growing? So we have an initiative, and this is the first time you guys are hearing it, and you'll hear it for the next few weeks. So I'm giving you a heads up so you can begin praying and really thoughtfully answering the questions of who am I investing in and what's my plan for growth. We're starting growth groups. Brilliant name, right? Fall 2021. So we're gonna have ways that you can um we'll have community groups and we're gonna have equipping groups. All right. So the big the big thrust of the community groups are a thing we're calling triads. So I don't expect you to meaningfully be able to connect with every single person in this room, right? That's unrealistic. But I'm asking you to be thinking about if you're an individual, who are my two? If I'm a couple, who are my two? And make a commitment to gather together for the remainder of 2021 six times. You can decide where you're gonna meet, how, all that stuff. But we're forming triads. And this is this is the people that you're saying, okay, I'm with you. For the remainder of 2021, we're gonna invest in each other. We're gonna work to bolster each other's faith. You're gonna be the people that I'm praying with and for, and we'll have we'll have stuff for you to do, those six times that you gather. We're gonna focus on one of our values here at Vine Life on the back wall. We have our values, presence family mission. We're gonna focus this um fall on presence. So you'll get together, we'll have scriptures for you guys to dig into and talk about, and be able to say, okay, what is that scripture saying to me and how am I being challenged by it? And then you can talk amongst each other and and have some somebody that knows, okay, this is how I think the Lord is asking me to actually like live this scripture or embody it. And then the next time you get back together, you know, you can talk about how is that going. And you can celebrate successes and and have support for things that have been hard and a struggle. Because we have victory in Jesus, but not all the time do we feel it, right? So we need people that can help us when we're not feeling very victorious. So those are triads. We're also gonna keep our prayer happening because God has told us that this is to be a house of prayer. So Mondays and Wednesdays at noon, we're still gonna gather here for prayer. Thursdays, every first and third Thursday in the evening, we're gonna gather for prayer. Then we have lots of equipping opportunities. Piper is part of the Colorado School of Worship, which is a group of pastors and leaders from all over the region. They've been doing this for a while, and this fall they're going to be meeting here and using the Lookout as one of their home bases. So if you have a desire to grow in worship leading, that would be a great equipping group to be a part of. Um, we also are gonna have emotionally healthy relationships again. So, how many of you took that last time? It was awesome, and so it was so good that we're gonna do it again. So you can sign up and be part of that. That is not about just marital relationships, but any kind of relationship that you're in. And each time you have a different tool, there's eight classes, you'll get a different tool. So you'll walk away at the end with eight tools that will help you to be able to communicate healthy and in your relationships. But in addition to that, we have a lot of things in the prophetic. And you might say, why? Because right now we need a church. I mean, not just Vine Life, the church needs to be full of people that have confidence in hearing God's voice, and to have discernment that when other people are telling them that God is saying something, that they can say, Yep, I I can attest to that. That's that's the Lord, or no, that's garbage. And I'm tossing that because we saw in the last few years the way the church was tossed around because they didn't have a very mature understanding of how to weigh words, right? So Pastor Dee Dee is gonna put a tent out right in the parking lot by Lookout Road on Sunday mornings and offer prayer, offer prophetic words, help people interpret the dreams because I don't know if you realize, but people are dreaming that don't typically dream in this season, and they and God's talking to them and they need help with understanding what God is saying. And so she's gonna be gathering a team to go out and catch the cars that are driving by on Sunday morning. So if you want to be a part of that, then her group will um I think she's still working on a name, but there will be uh a group that's doing that on Mondays twice a month. The opposite of those Mondays, we're gonna have Reframing the Prophetic. For those of you that were here when my friend Christine Westhoff came, she took um theologians from around the globe and they put together a 12-week or a 12-session course that digs into the biblical foundations of the gift of prophecy, going from Genesis to Revelation for the purpose of making sure that we understand and are not enculturating. There's a lot of things that are going on in the prophetic that are we are influenced by our particular culture. If it doesn't hold up here, or I mean, if it doesn't hold up, you know, in Africa and then apply here as well, then something's off, right? Because truth is truth no matter where we're at in the world. So we're gonna have the first part of that course happening as well, and then we're also gonna be gathering together a few times in the fall for equipping in the prophetic, okay, because the reframing is a really in-depth biblical study, but we need to have places that are safe to practice, right? Where we can do self-evaluation and get peer feedback and practice in a safe environment. And so we're gonna do that, and it'll be fun, it'll be games and exercises, and but it will be good. So lots of ways that you can keep going in your faithfulness and help ensure that you are gonna make it to the end, being around others who are cheering you on. This is important, and lots of ways that you can plan and purpose your growth for this next fall. Okay? So you're we're gonna have sign-ups and hear more about that um in the coming weeks. But you can begin now to hold these questions before the Lord and really thoughtfully ask, God, who are you wanting me to invest in? So I I just pray as you leave today that you begin to let that question kind of marinate in your conversations with the Lord. God, who are you asking me to be really intentional with that I can invest in in this season? And then also asking, God, how do you want me to be intentionally purposing to grow for the remainder of 2021? And I believe God's going to show you, okay? So, all right, I'm going to bless us. We have landed the plane. Um, and I just want to pray over us. And then after I'm done praying, if you have anything that you are needing prayer for, you need somebody standing with you over for healing or anything at all. We'll have a team of people that will be down here in the front that would love to pray for you. Um, okay. So, Vine Life Church, I bless you to know the hope in which you are called, to know the inheritance in the saints. I bless you to run your race well and to finish strong. I bless the days ahead to be more fruitful than the past seasons. I bless you with people coming around you that know your story, that see you, that encourage you, that remind you of the words and the promises that God has spoken over you and will not let you lose sight. For Jesus through others to be by your side and have your back. And I bless you to keep growing. I bless every heart and every ear to be open to hear where God is leading you in this season. I press, I pray for clarity of mind and purpose. And we cast off confusion, we cast off hopelessness. Just bless you, God, to draw us into you and to each other. We want to be a family that loves in such a way that those that would look upon us would want to be apart. We love you, Jesus. And we thank you. We thank you that you are the one ultimately that keeps us going and strengthens us to finish the race. And we thank you, Lord, that it is your desire more than even ours that we would grow in maturity, that we would be a beautiful bride ready for your return. So we surrender to you and we give over our time, our schedule, our resources. It's yours, God. And I pray a blessing of revelation, even as people are thinking through their schedules and looking over their calendars. Make space, God. Make a way. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.