read aloud as the second passage, Jesus healing the demon-possessed man
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs.
3 He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains,
4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him.
5 Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him,
7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
8 For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 He asked him, “What is your name?” He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
10 He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding.
12 All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”
13 At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came to see what it was that had happened.
15 They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.
16 Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs.
17 They began to beg him to depart from their region.
18 As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him.
19 He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.”
20 He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.
quoted to show the crowd's amazement at Jesus teaching with real authority
27 They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Carl walked the group through two back-to-back stories in Mark: Jesus calming a storm on the lake, and Jesus healing a man living among tombs who was possessed by a legion of demons. Both stories kept turning up the same theme: the authority Jesus carries, and the fear that shows up in the people around him even after they see it. The conversation that followed brought in personal stories, a psalm, and some honest reflection on what faith actually is.
What was said
Carl opened by noting that authority is a drumbeat running through the gospel of Mark from the very first chapter. The crowds said Jesus taught with real authority. The sick were healed at his word. Demons obeyed him. Carl said he could not think of any spiritual figure in history who carries that kind of authority, and that Matthew 28, where Jesus says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him, is not a figure of speech. The miracles in Mark are the evidence.
The storm account set up a question Carl kept returning to. The disciples woke Jesus in a panic, essentially asking whether he even cared that they were about to drown. After he stilled the wind and the waves, Jesus turned it back on them: why are you afraid, do you still have no faith? Carl said that question is not just a rebuke. It is also a window into what faith actually looks like.
Carl was careful to say that faith is not something a person works up on their own. He called it a gift, God's divine persuasion in a person. The role believers play, he said, is to yield. He described it as putting your will in neutral and letting yourself be persuaded by God's will. As that yielding happens, the Lord grows more faith. The problem, he said, is that people often try to muster faith by their own effort while God is simply asking them to keep their eyes on him.
The demon-possessed man brought a different angle on fear. The townspeople had spent years being terrified of this man, and they responded to his healing not with relief but with more fear, and then asked Jesus to leave. Carl said he was not entirely sure what was behind their reaction, whether it was awe at Jesus' power or worry about losing more livestock, but he noted the contrast with the healed man himself. The man was not afraid of Jesus at all. He begged to go with him.
Carl pointed to what Jesus said when he turned the man away. He did not send him to a ministry program. He said go home to your family and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been. Carl said that mercy is the word he kept coming back to. Jesus has real authority, and he uses it with mercy. That mercy, Carl said, was what melted the man's fear away and sent him through the surrounding towns telling his story.
During the open conversation, several people added to what Carl had started. Nick said the story reminded him that no one is beyond Jesus' reach, and that it was an encouragement to keep praying for people who seem unreachable. Another man shared that he has experienced Jesus' authority in the middle of the night when anxiety wakes him, and that praying in those moments brings a real sense of presence and calm. Someone else brought up Psalm 34 and its line about seeking the Lord and being delivered from all fear. And toward the end, a voice in the group observed that Jesus sometimes tells people to follow him and sometimes tells them to go home, sometimes to stay quiet and sometimes to tell everyone, and that trusting him means not needing to understand why.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Carl said that Jesus' authority is an 'undeniable theme' running through Mark, showing up over and over. Where have you personally seen or felt that authority, either in scripture or in your own life?
The disciples had just watched Jesus calm a storm, and he still asked them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?' Why do you think fear can hang on even after we have seen God work?
Hello, everybody. Welcome to another Monday night. It's good to see you. And also, a big thank you to Felix in Guadalupe for such a great you guys do such a great job. It just makes for a wonderful Monday night when he cooks.
So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we're making our way through the book of Mark, the gospel of Mark right now. It's conversation style, so keep that in mind toward the end if there's a little verse, word of encouragement.
It's always great to hear from one another. Before we get there, shall we worship in song together? Only king forever. The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever.
Let's sing of it. God, we do lift you high because you so deserve our worship and our praise and our adoration. And, Lord, as we get into the word tonight, may it give us even more reason to praise you, to to to truly just to pour out our hearts to you and to trust you even more. Amen. Lord, as we open the word this evening, I I do pray that you would instill more trust in in us as as we read and your scripture comes to life.
Thank you, God, for your mercy that you extend to us every day. Each and every each and every single day, God, thank you for the mercy that you've given us today. And tomorrow when we wake up, you're gonna give us mercy for tomorrow. But we're we're living right here right now. And so whatever you put in front of us, lord, help us to accept with gratitude and thankfulness.
Amen. You can have a seat here. Here we go. Gospel according to Mark. Tonight, we're in chapter four verse 35 through chapter five verse 20.
This is where Jesus calms the storm and he heals a demon possessed man. Am I transmitting okay, or is it a little bit a little reverby? It sounds okay? Okay. I would just don't want it to be distracting.
So I wanna share a few thoughts, but I would really like to hear yours as well as we make our way through this story. And my hope is always that we will leave this place feeling a little more encouraged than when we arrived and a little more confident too and full of faith. So here's what it says. This is when Jesus calms the storm. And Blake will track with me here, but words will be on the screen, and let's just take it in.
Lord, help us. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross to the other side of the lake. And so they took Jesus in the boat, and they started out leaving the crowds behind. Although other boats followed, but soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat and it began to fill with water.
Wow. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up shouting, teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown? When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence. Be still.
Suddenly, wind stopped. There was a great calm. And then he asked them, why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? The disciples were absolutely terrified.
Who is this man? They asked each other. Even the wind and waves obey him. So that closes out chapter four. Now on to chapter five verses one.
This is where Jesus heals the demon possessed man. So the story continues. So they arrive the other side of the lake after the storm. Jesus calms the storm. They arrived the other side in the region of the the Gerasenes Gerasenes.
When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained even with a chain. Are you getting this picture here? This is like we've we've seen demon possession here, demonic stuff going on in Mark, but this is like a whole another level. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrist and he smashed the shackles, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Day and night, he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. This is serious. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, and he ran to meet up. Can you imagine this man running toward you? But what does this man do?
He bowed before Jesus, and with a shriek, he screamed, why are you interfering with me? Jesus, son of the most high God. Okay. This is interesting. This is the third time in Mark that Mark's mentioned demons addressing Jesus as the son of the most high God.
The third time. In the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me, he says to Jesus. For Jesus had already said to the spirit, come out of the man and the evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded, what's your name? And he replied, my name is Legion because there are many of us inside of this man.
And then the evil spirit begged him again and again not to send him into some distant place. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. Send us into those pigs, the spirits begged. Let us enter them. And so Jesus gave them permission.
The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside in the lake and drowned in the water. Real quick story. I I lived in a rural town in Minnesota, and, one of my good friends was Gordy Nelson, and he was a pig farmer. I don't think he ever really liked this story at all. Verse 14.
The the herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what happened. A lar a crowd soon gathered around Jesus. Catch this. They saw the man who'd been possessed by the legion of demons.
He was sitting there fully clothed, and he was perfectly sane. But look. Catch this. And they were all afraid. Interesting.
Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon possessed man and the pigs. Verse 17. And the crowds began pleading with Jesus to go away. Leave them alone. And Jesus was getting into the boat.
The man who was demon possessed begged to go with him, but Jesus said, no. Go to your family and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful how merciful he's been. And so the man started off to visit the 10 towns of that region, and he began to proclaim the great things that Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed at what he told them. So I'm gonna stop there for now. I would like to pray first, and then, let's let's just chew on this a bit more.
God, you are actively showing us every time we open the word, you are actively show us and showing us in every story the good news of your love and forgiveness. And in this case, your mercy. God, may may we see it again with a fresh perspective. And also, Lord, would would it cause us to consider our our own reaction to your love, your forgiveness, your power, your authority? Would you?
Would you, Lord? Just show us what you would like for us to hear tonight. In Jesus' name. Amen. So I just have a a couple observations here.
And and one of them is this. One thing that absolutely amazes me about Jesus is his authority. It's this undeniable theme in Mark, and it's coming up over and over and over again, and I can't escape it. Right out of the gate in chapter one, it says, the people were amazed at his teaching for he taught with real authority. Authority.
Real power. Real weight. Real influence. That's the authority. And the miracles the miracles are are the evidence.
Casting out demons saying, be quiet. Come out of this man. This was another case right here. And at his word, evil spirits obey him. That's that's authority.
And then healing this let's see if I can if I can find it here. It's Mark one forty one forty two. That's it. Right there. Healing the sick like the man with leprosy.
Moved with compassion. I love that. That's one of my favorite part because that's who Jesus is. He's full of compassion and mercy. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched this man with leprosy.
You think anybody else was want willing to touch this man? No. You think about these people that Jesus healed. They're isolated. The man in the tombs, this leper, alone.
Jesus reached out and he touched him. I'm willing. Be healed. And at his word, just as he said, instantly the the leprosy disappeared. The paralyzed man.
Jesus heals this guy physically and spiritually, an even deeper need. So I'll prove to you the son of man has authority, there's the word again, on earth to forgive sins. Stand up. Pick up your mat. Go home.
At his word just as Jesus said. The guy jumps up. He grabs his mat, and he walks out. All to say, and I know I'm stating the obvious here, Jesus has authority. It's just it is blowing my mind in Mark right now.
He has a he has authority over sin. He has authority over sickness. He has authority over death. We're gonna see that in the next chapter when he raises a little girl to life. He has a the authority over demons, like real spiritual forces of dark and evil.
They exist, and Jesus has authority over it. These evil spirits are falling before him going, don't torture us, please. We know who you are. You're the holy one of God. I mean, who carries this kind of authority?
Can you think of any spiritual figure that carries this kind of authority? I cannot think of one. Not like this. And now in chapter four over nature, all Jesus has to do is say the word, silence, be still. And the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.
This is incredible. This is absolutely amazing. For me, this is shedding new light, and I just wanna point this out because this is what spoke to me, and I would like to know what what speaks to you as well. But for me, this is shedding new light. When Jesus says in Matthew 28, I have been given all authority on heaven and earth.
He's not messing around here. That is an absolutely true statement. He really means all authority on heaven and earth belongs to him, belongs to Jesus. At his word, the sick are healed, the dead are raised, sins are forgiven, wind and the waves obey him. And I'm sure you've heard it preached before.
I'm sure we all have. If Jesus could calm the storm at sea, he can calm the storm in me. It might sound cliche, but this is true. It it is so true. And not just because I said so, but because we see so, we hear so.
We see the evidence in scripture. But you know what? We also see this the evidence in our own lives. When we call out in faith, Jesus is able to calm those storms in our lives. No doubt about it.
So, again, just I I wanted to to make that that point, that little observation. Jesus really does have authority, and he has authority to give us peace in whatever storms we're facing. So a little life application there as well. Another observation I wanna point out here, let's see if I can do this. There it is, I think.
The reactions. This stood out to me. The reactions of the the witnesses in both miracles. Now this might sound negative, but there is a great lesson here. I promise.
I promise. Specifically, the reaction of fear. Okay? We see it in both stories. It is so human, and it's so relatable.
Like the disciples in the boat shouting, teacher, don't you even care? And we're gonna drive. Have you ever prayed that before? God, do you even care right now? Are you even are you even paying attention?
Are you sleeping on the job, or what's going on? Do do you see my plight? Do you do you do you even care? And even after, check this out, even after Jesus calmed the storm, he asked them, why are you afraid? Like, what do you what did you just see here?
Why are you still afraid? Do you still have no faith? Do you still have no faith? Do you still have no belief, trust, confidence? Do you still have no God's divine persuasion in you?
And that's exactly what faith is. Let me just try there it is. This is this is what faith is. It is always a gift from God. K?
It is never something that can be produced by us. So sometimes I feel like just things just get thrown away. We just need to have more faith. And it and it kinda hurts me to hear that sometimes because faith is a gift from God. It's not something that we just produce on our own.
It's distinct from human belief, but it does involve it. Like, we do play a role in faith. No doubt about it. We play a role in faith, and that role in faith is to yield to him. Does that make sense?
That's our role. Like the disciples, their role in that boat was just to yield. Just let Jesus do his thing and believe in in him. Be confident in him. Okay?
Jesus, you calm the storm. I believe you. My fear is beginning to fade now because I trust you. Does that make sense? There's the yielding.
We put our will in neutral, and then we're persuaded by his will. That's faith. And then when we do that, the Lord births more faith and more faith and more faith, and it grows and it grows and it grows. But there's that yielding on our part to go, God, I'm gonna trust you. I believe you.
I don't understand fully, but I'm gonna trust as much as I can understand. I'm going to trust you. And as I do, you're going to birth more faith into me. That's that's my understanding of faith. And that's what Jesus is looking for in his disciples, and that's what he's looking for in us, a yielded will that's just persuaded by his.
I feel like sometimes we're trying so hard to muster up faith on our own, and God's just going, would you look at me? Would you keep your eyes on on me? Rather than you're trying to to work up this faith on your own? Just just look at me. And that's what I love about the gospel.
We we just get to look at him. We get to see him working. I love it. So we see that reaction of fear on the other side of the lake too even after Jesus heals that demon possessed man. And the man sitting there, he is perfectly, sane.
And it says they were all afraid, and I'm going, why? Are you afraid? Weren't you afraid of him before? Why are you afraid of him now? And I'm not exactly sure why they were afraid.
Maybe be because of Jesus' supernatural power, just just being in awe of of, like, who is this guy? You know, we we we kind of knew what to do. We we shackled him, and we put him we shooed this guy away and put him in a you know, that kinda now what do we do? Jesus. Who what do we do with this guy?
Or maybe they were afraid that they were gonna lose more livestock or business. I I mean, who knows? I don't really know. But I do know that fear is a real thing. I also know that when that man encountered Jesus, had a real encounter with Jesus, and he was healed by him, he wasn't afraid anymore.
In fact, he begged to go Jesus to to go with Jesus. You don't beg to go with somebody if you're afraid of them. He he wanted to be with Jesus. There was something about Jesus that obviously gave him peace and purpose. He wanted to go, but the town was like, you can't be here.
And that's sad, but that's the way it was. So what did Jesus do? He sent this man back into the town to be a witness. It is, isn't it? Go to your family.
Tell them everything the Lord's done for you and and how merciful. I love that word. There it is again. How merciful he's been because that was a true act of mercy. With the authority that Jesus has, he shows mercy.
Isn't that great? Like, how many authority figures can you think of right now? And and what is their character like? Just in your mind, can you picture authority figures that right right now? And what are what is their personality truly like?
How unselfish is this right here? How merciful and loving and forgiving that Jesus is. It I'm telling you. It's just this is blowing my mind. It's awesome how Jesus had mercy on that man, and that mercy that Jesus showed, it melted that man's fears away.
So much so, he went those surrounding towns. He shared his story, and the good news about Jesus spread. It's beautiful. So I'm gonna end there. But, again, just two two takeaways from Carl tonight.
Okay? Number one, Jesus' authority. I'm seeing it in a new light, how it reveals the good news of God's kingdom on every page. Jesus came. He said, I've good I'm bringing the the good news.
This is the good news right here. Jesus' authority. He's revealing it. I'm also challenged I'm also challenged in a good way by this story, by the questions that that Jesus asked his disciples. Why are you afraid?
Do you still have no faith? Now I think there's a little rebuke there, but there's also an encouraging reminder to us that faith is always a gift from God. It isn't something we can produce on our own. It is God's divine persuasion in us as we yield to him, when we put our will in neutral and we're persuaded by his. And as we do, the Lord burns more faith and more faith and more faith.
So there are a couple of thoughts from me. I would love to hear yours too. If there is anything in these two miracles that grabbed your attention, and they don't have to be mine. They can be something that I missed here. But would you please feel free to share it?
And then, I I do wanna pray one more time, though, before we before we converse a bit. So, God, what a gift. Truly, what a gift the gospel is to us that we get to open it. We get to read it. We get to ponder We get to apply it.
And, God, I do ask you for your blessing, on on this conversation, but, Lord, also as we leave, as we go out and do what we do, that we would do what we do in your name and with more trust and with more faith and understanding the authority that you have and to call on you and to look to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright. Would anybody be willing? Anybody will be willing to to share?
You don't have to. You don't have to, but I'd love to hear from you.
Yeah. Testing some stuff out here, sorry. Check, check, check. Checkmate.
Checkmate for running this site. Checkity raggedy.
We need grace. How about that? Check. Check. Check.
I'll just let folks know if you're watching online, we we might not have mics working, but but we'll still have Yeah.
Check. You can hear me? Ah, good. Okay. So for me, like, I I love the the point that faith we that we don't produce faith, that's that's from God.
Mhmm. But I also love that that he goes to those people that are unreachable and and that we should continue to pray for them. That that just means a lot. You you see somebody on the street or somebody you've been praying for for a hundred years or whatever like that, and you you wanna give up on them, that God's still capable, that he's still there. There's a a place and a time, and it may involve some pigs getting involved.
I just love that nobody's beyond his his capabilities. So we can keep praying for your enemies, keep praying for the ones that you love and everybody in between. And I think that's, I don't know, just a remarkable sense of mercy from Jesus in those moments. Amen. I
agree. I
agree. Else?
Yeah. Please. When you, mentioned a little bit about the gentleman that he was among graves and stuff like that, remind me of stories when I was a child. In the Orthodox religion, two two days before Easter, we have a midnight mass or worship service. And the kids well, first, before I say that, so some of the Orthodox churches are placed right in the middle of the graves.
I mean, as soon as you get out of the the the church, the building, graves everywhere everywhere surround the church. And some some churches are far away from the cemetery or something like that. But anyway, in in our in my case, in my town, you would go out of the the the building and the graves would be all around the the the church. And I remember in those in in those services, the kids would go outside and play hide and seek among the graves. And I'm telling you, at one point someone would come and reach, touch your leg, and just to scare you, you almost die over there.
It was so scary. So I can tell you, when you said, can you imagine that picture? How terrified it could have been for someone to see him walking among graves and stuff like that? And isn't that beautiful just as Nick said, and I don't wanna repeat what he said, but it's beautiful that Jesus, no matter where you are in life, he would always extend his hand towards you as loving and kind savior. That's one thing.
Second thing that I really like first of all, thank you for preaching so beautiful. I love it. The second thing that came in my mind was Jesus' authority. I sometimes, it happens to me, I I woke up, I don't know, 1AM, 2AM, 2AM in the morning, probably after a dream sometimes worth overthinking. And I feel my my chest like out of the blue.
And then immediately, I pray like this. Dear Lord Jesus, I know you are right here next to me. Why? Why am I feeling this, Lord? Why is this type of feeling?
And then after I pray in sincerity, sometimes crying. But when I pray that, I can feel his presence saying, my child, I'm right here. I'm with you. You know I love you. I have plans for you.
You just keep on going. Jesus' authority, it it's real. I've experienced in my life. It's it's it's working. And then, and I I just wanna do this, while you were preaching, I had in mind to pray.
And I wanna say, you know, sometimes we pray that little prayer when we say, Jesus, I invite you in my heart. You heard that. Right? This time I wanna pray like this. Jesus, I want you to be my friend.
Seriously. So let me pray. Heavenly father, thank you for this day. Thank you for this time that we have here together as a as a family in Christ, Lord. I felt this through the Holy Spirit just to pray this.
Lord, would you please be my good friend in good times and bad times, Lord? And help me to trust you, not to fear, Lord. Because I I know those feelings comes at time, Lord. And sometimes we can I can control them? Sometimes I can't.
But, Lord, as soon as I reach and I ask you in humility, you are right here right by my side of me. So, Lord, please be my friend for the rest of my life, and please be our friends here for the rest of our lives. In your precious name, Lord, we love you, Jesus. Amen. Amen.
Thank you, my friend. Yeah.
Any others? Any others?
I've got a psalm that I've been thinking about it a little bit today already, and then it kinda came up during during this. But sometimes we hit places where we we don't wanna go, don't wanna do. And Psalm 34. I think it's Psalm 34 as taste and see the Lord is good. Scott Eichen's church, that's their motto or their verse.
You know? And they start at 03:48 in the afternoon because of that. But I I like Psalm 34. It starts off like this. I will bless the Lord at all times.
There are times where we can be so eaten up with what we're afraid of or what we don't wanna do, and it just starts off. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord alone. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. And then it gets into a song that we sing sometimes here. I sought the Lord and he heard me, and he delivered me from all of my fears. They looked to him and they were radiant.
It's, the people who were exalting with him. Right? He's he sought the Lord, deliver him from all his fears, but then it says, and then they, these other folks, looked to him and they were radiant and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of Lord encamps all around those who fear him, revere him, and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good and blessed is the one who trust in him. Amen.
Should we close in a song?
I think
I've got a different one I wanna sing.
One thing I think is interesting is sometimes Jesus performs a miracle and he's like, go and tell nobody. Sometimes he's like, go tell everybody. Sometimes he's like, drop your whole life and follow me. And sometimes he's like, no. Go home to your family.
And just looking into the different stories, it's hard to understand the reason why and when those. And it makes you talked a lot about faith, Carl, tonight, and I was thinking of just that classic Proverbs three, five, and six. Just just trust he has his reasons, and I don't need to I don't need to understand why this one gets to go home and that one has to drop his whole life and follow him. This one has to keep a secret, and the next one has to tell everybody. I don't have to understand it.
But can just trust that there's probably a reason for that.
So we're saying Jesus paid it all? I think the lyrics are fitting for this one. I hear the savior say, I strang against my disco. Miss Lord, thank you for this evening. Truly, thank you for thank you for your mercy, for your power, for your authority, for your forgiveness.
Lord, may we be carrying these things throughout the work throughout the week. And Lord, would you increase our faith as we yield our will to you? May you experience God's peace which exceeds anything that we can understand or a peace that passes understanding. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live, as we live in Christ Jesus. Amen.
