As we peer into the shadow of our own experiences, Groundhog Day whimsically reminds us that whether spring comes early or not, the warmth of community within the church is a constant. This episode is steeped in the heartwarming narratives and deep reflections about the essence of "we" over the isolated "I" in our faith walk. Together, we traverse the ancient paths of the letter of James, finding timeless wisdom that encourages believers to seek strength in unity, particularly when facing the inevitable distances and difficulties life throws our way.
Navigating through the shared struggles and celebrations of our spiritual family, we realize that perseverance and collaboration aren't just buzzwords; they're lifelines. We unpack how the early church, with its own set of challenges, was called to stand united, a call that reverberates through the ages to our modern communities. From coaching a spirited children's basketball team to tackling the complexities of church split by denominational lines, this conversation shines a light on the power of collective action and the transformative outcomes that emerge when we choose to bear each other's burdens.
In this gathering of hearts and minds, we also highlight the pivotal role of community groups within the church, where the transition from individualism to a collective spirit flourishes. The poignant tale of an anonymous giver's two nickels becomes our reminder of why the church exists—to ensure that no soul is left out or feels forgotten by God. With practical insights and stirring metaphors, we explore how we can support one another in a way that spreads the load evenly, ensuring that all members can lean on a robust, supportive network. By the end of our journey together, you'll be inspired to shift from the solitary "me" to the empowering "we," and join hands in prayer, support, and fortification of our shared faith.
As we peer into the shadow of our own experiences, Groundhog Day whimsically reminds us that whether spring comes early or not, the warmth of community within the church is a constant. This episode is steeped in the heartwarming narratives and deep reflections about the essence of "we" over the isolated "I" in our faith walk. Together, we traverse the ancient paths of the letter of James, finding timeless wisdom that encourages believers to seek strength in unity, particularly when facing the inevitable distances and difficulties life throws our way.
Navigating through the shared struggles and celebrations of our spiritual family, we realize that perseverance and collaboration aren't just buzzwords; they're lifelines. We unpack how the early church, with its own set of challenges, was called to stand united, a call that reverberates through the ages to our modern communities. From coaching a spirited children's basketball team to tackling the complexities of church split by denominational lines, this conversation shines a light on the power of collective action and the transformative outcomes that emerge when we choose to bear each other's burdens.
In this gathering of hearts and minds, we also highlight the pivotal role of community groups within the church, where the transition from individualism to a collective spirit flourishes. The poignant tale of an anonymous giver's two nickels becomes our reminder of why the church exists—to ensure that no soul is left out or feels forgotten by God. With practical insights and stirring metaphors, we explore how we can support one another in a way that spreads the load evenly, ensuring that all members can lean on a robust, supportive network. By the end of our journey together, you'll be inspired to shift from the solitary "me" to the empowering "we," and join hands in prayer, support, and fortification of our shared faith.
Speaker 1:
Guess the groundhog didn't see his shadow. So what does that mean? An early spring? Does anyone know if that's true? Because I feel like. I feel like it's not. So I will say the funniest thing that happened.
Speaker 1:
I Was watching Like a video clip from the thing and you can tell the groundhogs had enough of just people bothering it, right, I mean it's. It's like clearly it's an animal in distress and so the guy has someone hold it up to his ear so he can hear what he has to say. In a bid. Him and I was like you go groundhog, like like I'd bite someone too. They were like just wouldn't leave me alone, like I'm trying to sleep, mind my business, and you people Expect me to tell you whether or not the forecast is gonna be better. See, I thought that was hilarious. I just wonder next year if they're gonna like hold him further away, I mean like when he's talking to him. I don't know. I hope everyone has a good having a good morning.
Speaker 1:
We just finished up our Series called whatever it takes. We were looking in a couple different events in the life of Jesus. That that I think we're really significant and really the focus is just on how people, how people respond to a genuine interaction with Jesus when they encounter him, and I think we see that a lot of times, even today. So the next four weeks, the series is gonna be called connect and and it's gonna be so. The taglining is. The tagline is moving from me to we. I Was given some good advice a couple months ago.
Speaker 1:
Someone came up to me after one of my sermons and they said to me and Whenever you're preaching, you, you use a lot of I statements. They're not wrong and and I understand that I think some of that I kind of pull things from my own life, but I think what they were and they clarified is when they're talking about, when we're talking about the church and things of the church, I use a lot of I statements like this is my church or this is my idea and in the truth, is is, that's not how it's supposed to be it. It's. This is a we thing. We are in this together. We are a community of believers. So what affects me affects you and what affects you affects me. That that's how the church is supposed to function. That that's one of the reasons why the church is so unique is Because we have a bunch of different people from a bunch of different backgrounds, who are in different stages of their life, and I know that I've talked about this before.
Speaker 1:
The generational gap in the church today is larger than it's ever been four to five generations deep. So you have all these people at different stages in their life and we come together Collectively under the Lordship of Jesus, and we do life together and we try to figure out how to be better at being weak, and it doesn't mean we don't butt heads. It doesn't mean we're always on the same page, because we're not, but what it means is that when I fall down, you pick me up, and when you fall down, I pick you up. That's how it's supposed to be, that that's how the church Was designed, and so we're gonna look today at the letter of James, and James is is dealing with a church, with churches, early Christians that have been scattered. His letter is specifically written to those who've experienced Either they've lost the temple or they've been. They've lost family relationships as they chose to follow Christ. They were separated from some what they would consider valuable Communities in their life, and and so James is writing to them and and reminding them to hold fast, to stand true, but ultimately to come together and to stay focused on why you're here.
Speaker 1:
So, before we dive any deeper, I'm gonna ask you is always just to take a minute, just to quiet yourselves and then pray, and then I'll pray you, god, thank you so much for who you are, thank you for the fact that you love us the way that you do. I pray, as always, that this message is it's always you speaking and less of me. That it's your words. Gotta, pray for protection on those who are hearing and hearing online that they understand that this is your truth being taught. And, god, I pray that there's anything, any words, any thoughts that don't need to be spoken. God, you stop me in my tracks, because our goal is to understand more of what it is to look like a community of faith and believers, and you give us the greatest example of that. May we lean on your word, your wisdom, your understanding to become the best community that we can be. God, we love you. We thank you, amen.
Speaker 1:
You know there was something weird that happened a couple years ago and, as I share this information with you, it's not to knock on the church that we were part of, because that's not my intention, but sometimes, when you come into a church and you start working as a minister, and there's this there's interesting thing that happens that, like, everyone wants to be your friend and that's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong but everyone wants to know the minister, everyone wants to spend time in their home and this just kind of naturally happens. And so when you're in student ministry it happens even more, because you want to try to get into the home of students and build relationships with their parents and help the parents understand that. This is my goal is to help your kids know more about Jesus, but I need you to do it. And so we were at a church in Columbus for about four years and when we left we still lived in the same house that we lived in, which was about 10 minutes away from the church. And so we left and for the first couple of months after we left, like, we were still getting phone calls and people were checking in on us.
Speaker 1:
And then six months go by and there was less interaction. And then a year goes by and, mind you, we're still about 10 minutes away from these same people that we had built relationships with for four years. So about a year goes by and I think, maybe a handful of people, people talk to us and I say that because one that hurts as someone who had invested in the lives of, I think, hours, if not more, into the lives of families, when you still live 10 minutes away and you feel like they forgot that you even exist. It was weird. And listen, I I say this but I also have to admit that it's not like Danny and I were great at staying in touch either. I mean, there's a part of that that's my fault and I know that.
Speaker 1:
And once again, if any of them come across this, I'm not dogging them or trying to put them down. What I'm saying is you have this community of believers that for four years you're kind of all rallied together and then someone leaves and you don't talk to them anymore. And it's such a weird thing, because I would venture to say that everyone who's ever been part of a church has had a similar experience. You left the church. Maybe you didn't go to any church, but you left the church and you feel like the church never cared, or you moved from one church to the next and you lost contact, and it's so weird. But part of that, I think is because we have it in our minds that, yes, each church individually operates as its own community, but you and I are part of the larger community of faith that is in Jesus. So my brothers and sisters and other churches, those who are believers, are part of my family. We're connected together under the sole purpose and I love what Cody had to say of seeing the kingdom of God lived out here and now.
Speaker 1:
But we isolate ourselves and we think that and we convince ourselves that people hate me. Or you have people that don't go to church at all and they're like well, I don't really need the church. I said, I'll say it Do I die, you, do you do? Or one of the saddest things that I hear from people in the church today is when you have someone who's part of a family of believers and they can tell you man, I feel really lonely and that just rips my heart out, because in my mind, all I can think is how do you, how can you feel lonely? And I think the answer is because sometimes I think we don't engage each other like we should. I don't think we focus enough on the community side of things, the we side of it. So, james, starting in James.
Speaker 1:
One has this conversation with the church and he's writing this letter to the churches that have been. He mentions the 12 tribes that have been exiled and if you were Jewish you understood that he's kind of doing like a call back to the original tribes that once they were kind of thrown off, they've been captivity, they were separated from each other. They were separated right, they were broken apart. But he's in this case, in this letter, he is specifically speaking to those who are now new believers in Christ, because these new believers have decided to follow Jesus and the world, their communities, their families, have not responded well. A lot of them have been excommunicated, a lot of them no longer go to the temple, a lot of them have been disowned. So he writes a letter and he offers them encouragement, starting in James one. He said James is serving in God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So the 12 tribes scattered among the nations, greetings, consider pure joy.
Speaker 1:
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kind, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault, and will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe in, not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double minded, unstable and all they do. Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position, but the rich should take pride in their humiliation, since they will pass away like a wildflower, for the sun rises with scorching heat and withers, the plant, its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres on a trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love them.
Speaker 1:
So once again, james is addressing these early believers and he's offering some encouragement and he's saying listen, I understand you're feeling tempted. They had a problem among these believers. Between the rich and the poor there wasn't really much shared wealth. People who had a lot of money were somewhat arrogant and those who were poor felt like they like. How could God use me and James is like listen, no, take pride in those things, but be encouraged that as things come, as trials happen, that if you can persevere then you will receive everything God has for you. And so the question is is how does one persevere? And just for a moment, put yourself in their shoes. They've chosen to follow Jesus, they've probably lost access to the synagogue, they've probably been written off by friends and family and all of a sudden they find themselves in these little house churches, surrounded by people who have also decided to follow Jesus. That was the landscape of the time. They were spread out, they were scattered, and so one of the things that when James was talking about perseverance, he talks a lot about as we go through the rest of this letter, about the importance of kind of leaning on each other, that community, that encouragement that I know that you feel like you just want to give up, but if you guys can come together, if you can stay focused and Paul writes this as well and several of his letters that the idea is that church, these early communities of believers, are supposed to function together as one unit so that when trials come, you can persevere.
Speaker 1:
When temptation comes your way, you can persevere when someone has a need. Right, he mentions rich and poor when someone has a need. The idea behind the early church community was that as things happen to me, they happen to you, and you and I are supposed to be this like really tight knit family unit, that if I need help, if I need something that I don't have, that you can offer that to me. Paul says in Ephesians 4, verses 4 through 7, there is one body and one spirit, just as you recall the one hope when we were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who's, overall and through all and in all. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Paul is saying listen you, there is one God, there is one thing that combines and unites every single one of us and under the Lordship of Christ, you and I are called to be one. You know, the thing that drives me insane is that there's so many denominations in this country and the church is out of control. It is not supposed to be like that. Thank you for watching.
Speaker 1:
God did not start this movement of the church and then say, all right, separate. The idea was that we were supposed to work together, but human our humanness and our pride, and you can name it but we've separated ourselves to the fact that churches in the same area don't even work together anymore. I think I've said this before, but I did a study about 10 years ago of the area and within 25 miles of this area there's 127 different churches. There doesn't need to be that many churches. There's no reason why we shouldn't be working together, other than our humanity gets in the way. And I see it. And you have these self-proclaimed scholars who say this and this scholar says that, and everyone has an opinion. None of us are working together in the world, falling apart around us, and all we can do is fight from the inside out. And that's not just our church, that's not just the church, but I see it in every church that I've ever been part of. There's always this internal struggle to make this about me. But it's not. It was never meant to be about me. It was always meant to be about God. Everything we do is about furthering his kingdom, and I can tell you that we can do that a whole lot better if we're doing it together.
Speaker 1:
Griffin started playing basketball recently, made his first shot yesterday, which is really cool. But one of the things that's funny I coach kindergarten kids. It's like courting cats, man, it's really hard. But one of the things that and it's weird but not really is every time one of the kids touches the ball, the first thing they want to do is shoot. That is it. Every single one of them wants to shoot. Griffin, I am proud to say, is the anomaly he will pass forever and hardly ever shoots, which is good. But I also wish he would learn. Like I said, he made his first shot yesterday, but the natural instinct in basketball, for some reason with little kids, is I just want to make the basket. And I hear from the corner in the stands every time someone kids touch the ball, go shoot, johnny. I'm like shh, sit down, like first off. You weren't here when they asked for coaches, so you're wonderful. But I think that's the drive right.
Speaker 1:
But our goal is to teach these kids how to work together, to be a team right. And there was a. We had a shot yesterday. There was two passes and a shot and the kid made it and like the three of them were like a static and high-fiving. See how well that works If you guys can just do that. John Cooper and I and Chris Byers isn't here but a couple years ago we did the overnighter at the Milstop Center and we played a three-on-three tournament against three high school kids in basketball and we won. Won because him and Chris are phenomenal basketball players. I'm more like Shaq. I just stand there and help out. But the reason why our team won is because we played basketball the entire time. We played those high school kids. Every time they touched, all they wanted to do was shoot and they missed half their shots. And but that's how the church is. Sometimes we miss shots because we go at it alone. We're trying to do this by ourselves.
Speaker 1:
And Paul is saying and James is saying listen, these struggles come upon you and the idea that we're supposed to share in our struggles, james says at the beginning of his letter. He says consider pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the test of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James is saying to them and to us trials will come. You and I don't get to avoid them. That's life. Whether you're in the church or out of the church, trials will come.
Speaker 1:
But what James goes on to say and what Paul says several times is this is why being a part of a community of believers is so important Because we're supposed to share together in our struggles. As one falls, you lift them up. I love all the prayer groups that we have. There's so much prayer that's happening throughout the day for so many different things, and we pray for people that don't even go here, because that's the kind of people we want to be. Is that, even if you're not part of us, you can be. You're welcome here. You're welcome to be in this place. We're supposed to share our struggles together. Hebrews 10, 24 through 25.
Speaker 1:
Once again, another letter from Paul said let us consider how we may spur one another on toward loving good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching, your struggles are my struggles. That's how it's supposed to be. A genuine community, a healthy community, has to have a mindset shift from me to we. That's what makes this work. Without you, there is no church here. Without us coming together, there is no church, and that's to me, the church is one of the most beautiful things that I've ever been able to be a part of, because, as much as it has its struggles and I don't want to act like it doesn't when the church is working like it's supposed to, it changes lives, it changes communities, it offers hope. It gives so much more, and what I love about it is that we're all called to be part of that. Every single person here has a purpose. I can admit that I forget that sometimes.
Speaker 1:
I had a good friend of mine. Him and I have been reading through a book together and he's kind of been coaching me and he's someone that I can invite and he's it's no one here, so it's known that anyone would know. But this is the person who's been in my life for 20 some years. I would consider my mentor, and Sometimes I have conversations with him when I'm frustrated about things because I'm trying to figure it out, and so I was sharing an event the other day. Some of that happened.
Speaker 1:
That really kind of got to me and what I was looking for is I was looking for him to validate that I was right. That's what I wanted. I Wanted him to say to me yeah, I get it. You're right, that person's crazy. What he said to me and and it kind of it really hit me. He said aren't you called to shepherd them? He's like aren't you called to help them? Be okay, that's one of your primary functions is a knot. I Was like, yeah, he's like.
Speaker 1:
So maybe that the question is not to what's wrong with them, but maybe the question is, what can we do better together? And and it really kind of is set with me, because I think that that's the point of where we're headed is we have to Stop making it about us so much. I think that's the default. Like I talk about how funny it is that these kids, they want to shoot all the time. But if I'm being honest, almost every time I would touch a basketball I would probably take a shot too, because my natural inclination is to make it about me. The church cannot work that way. It has to be us. Everyone has to be doing their part if we want to see any change, if you want to see any growth, if we want to see the community change, it's gonna take all of us. The Early church all they had was each other, these community of Christ followers. All they had was each other, that the rest of society was rejecting them, and and so they had to learn to share in their struggles. They had to learn to share compassion for each other.
Speaker 1:
James addresses this a little later in his letter, james 1 19, and says my dear brothers and sisters, take note of this Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word Planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. So James urges us to be good listeners into obey teachings. We've heard we can do this by practicing the following tips, and this is just some tips for how to be good listeners Play close to play close attention to the speaker's behavior in their body language, signal that you're following, along with visual cues. Avoid potential interruptions and do not evaluate the message and offer an opinion, and and.
Speaker 1:
So this is from an article About creative leadership called what is active listening, and the idea is that that you and I, as we work together, we we should be entertaining different thoughts and ideas. We should be willing to come together and discuss Things as they happen or when changes happen. We should look for an audience to try to help people understand. So we've got to work Together. We we've got to take care of each other. You know, I said it earlier, but when someone in our church Says I'm lonely, our response should be why are you lonely? I think that that should move us to action, to start asking the question why are they lonely? Why do they feel lonely? And how should we help that? How can we come together? How can we make people who are part of the family of God not feel like they're on their own? And I think the way, one of the ways we do that Is the community groups that we have.
Speaker 1:
Listen, I, I love Sunday morning, I love worshiping with all of you, but me standing up here is a one-sided conversation and I hope you're listening. But but I don't get. I don't, I don't have an opportunity to sit down and discuss with you what I've been wrestling with all week. You, you're more than welcome to raise your hand. I probably will engage you, but there are times when I I wish this was more of that kind of conversation that we could sit down and we could talk. We could talk through the series and and really that's why the community groups exist. So the different community groups we have actually have questions Every week that go along with the sermon that I'm preaching, and that's intentional. The purpose of that is so that these groups are discussing and we're all having kind of the same conversation. Right, we're all diving deeper in to the text of the week. We're we're all coming together and having the same common days conversation about scripture. Like that's the reason why they exist. I I can say that we're starting ours back up on Thursday and I love it because so many Wonderful conversations have come out of those groups, because you get a chance to to let people ask questions and you get a chance to for people to wrestle with the text. But here's the other side of that In those groups you find out what people are struggling with.
Speaker 1:
You find out how you can pray for people. You find out that someone might have a need that you can meet. Like it's just more than just. It's more than just a Bible study. It's it's these little families, it's these groups that are coming together and almost all of them share a meal. So if you're hungry you're probably gonna get fed. But but it's so important that these community groups exist and the reason why we have them, and so that people can go Further in the relationship with God. But they think, go further in the relationship with each other. We go from Me to we by joining a group of believers, and not that you can't you get that on Sunday morning. I'm not saying you can't, but I don't think you get it as fully as you can when you're part of a group. When you get together, you pray together, you do life together. I'm gonna share this with you.
Speaker 1:
I have no idea who wrote it, so I I couldn't ask permission for it, but it it hit me and several of us Last week. This was in the offering. I think this is Two nickels. This, dear God, this is all the money I have in my pocket. My, my family is in financial trouble. You know this, but this season shall pass. Here is my promise to continue doing work, your work, no matter what. Please multiply this so abundantly that I can bless the church that I'm part of. I give it all to you, amen.
Speaker 1:
Listen, I, eva, came up to me and she came across that and it just it baffled me because I have no idea this is. I don't know who they are, what I know that God does, but I know that this is the kind of faith that the Bible teaches us to have, that even if this is all I have, god, I'm gonna give it to you and then I hope you bless it so abundantly that you bless that I'm able to bless and give it back to you. And the reason I bring this up is because this is why we exist, because if we know who this is, especially if they're part of our family, then we trust that God can use us to bless them, to help them to come together to share in this burden. So, like I said, I don't know who this is, but I hope that you pray for them and I hope that and I know, I know that God will do exactly what is being asked. But but I just want us to understand this is why we have to work together, because we need each other. We, we are called to share in our struggles we are called to share and our burdens we are called to share. Community together. That that is why we are here.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes I'd give, yeah, sometimes I wish I had faith like this. I don't always, but, but this is why the church exists so that no one may be in need, so that no one may be lost, so that no one may experience separation from God, so that our families, our friends, our community may find hope in the darkest of darks, so that when there's a need that needs to be met, we meet it. And what I love about it is is it doesn't take much. Jesus did more with little than any of us ever have, but, but what he needs is he needs us to understand that you and I are working together. It's not about me. You and I are part of something much bigger and I love it. I can't do this without you. We can't do this without each other, and I know the world. The world links were crazy. I know they don't understand, but, man, we can help them, we can show them, we can teach them.
Speaker 1:
When, when everything else is falling apart, people should look at the church and think that's what I want and that's how it should be. When politics separate us blue states, red states, talking to Tommy, be you about football teams who you're rooting for listen I. There's so many things in this world divide us that can divide us. The one place that we should find unity is in the body of believers. You can't have community without unity doesn't work, and and the best part is is you and I get to show those around us what it's like to work together and to welcome them in, to be part of the family. That it's like. Paul says that, to find their purpose, every part of the body has a function. Every single person belongs. There's an African proverb that I'm sure you've heard I know that I've heard. So it takes a village to raise a child. It's a proverb that means an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. I think that proverb goes beyond children. I think you and I, as adults, need that same kind of environment, a place where we can grow and be challenged and we can be healthy.
Speaker 1:
This was from an architectural article that I was reading. It says what is the strongest geometric shape? It's the arc. It's the strongest structural shape In nature. The sphere is the strongest 3D shape. The reason being is that stress is distributed equally among the arc instead of concentrating only at one point. If our goal is creating community circles, then we are aiming for the strongest shape. We can build gathering groups based on locations, seasons of life so examples like stay-at-home moms, those caring for early parents, locations or different neighborhoods. We can base groups on situations so grief and loss, addiction, skills, career goals. It says consider what types of community groups might bless or injure your community. Turn your church building into a community group meeting center, whatever frequency is feasible. Train leaders to run the groups or to bring in the necessary trained professionals and invite church members to join alongside community members. The ideas work well in homes, libraries, community centers or coffee shops. And what I like about this whole article is it's talking about the strongest shape that we have, and the reason it's so strong is because it equally distributes the weight.
Speaker 1:
Our church as a community. We share each other's burdens. That's how we're supposed to be and if we do that well, we're stronger for it. But that means that we have to go from me to we. It's not easy Going from me to we has to be intentional.
Speaker 1:
So here's a challenge for you this week, as I start to wrap up Pay attention in your workplace, in your job, grocery store, family gatherings. Pay attention this week how many people talk about themselves. They make it about me or they use a lot of eye statements. I said I'm asking you the same thing for me. If you're catching me using a bunch of eye statements, call me on it, hold me accountable to that. I need that accountability in my life. But pay attention how many times people talk about themselves or they make it about them and then tell me how good or bad that turned out.
Speaker 1:
I've worked in the church and I've worked in the business world and I can tell you in both settings, whenever you focus on yourself too much, it does not work out. But when we who come together, when we take it upon ourselves to help, not only reach the loss and follow me, when we see this church as our church, when we see the church as a whole, the bigger picture, and we look at other believers and we're trying to help them as well other Christians. When we see the church as a whole, the bigger picture, and we look at other believers them as well, other Christians when we can see beyond me, it's gonna change everything. Jesus did the work, he made the sacrifice, he established his church and you and I get to be part of it. That's a beautiful thing, and I said it already I can't do this without you. We can't do it without each other. All right, let's pray.