Jesus Is Lord of All First B Jackson 2023-08-06 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Good morning, everybody. I just heard a raise back. It's really nice to be back. We're gonna stand and sing. I am mostly back. I'll say that. We crossed depending on where we were on the trip, we were seven, eight, or nine hours different from y'all. And my brain will show up sometime around Tuesday, I hope. You know? But we, Tanya and Pascal and I, were able to be a part of an organization taking donated four wheel drive vehicles from Edinburgh, Scotland through England on a ferry to Amsterdam and then driving them into the Ukraine to be used on the front lines as ambulances. It's a it's a difficult situation, but it was really a blessing to be able to be a part of that. And then, after coming back across out of the country, we spent three days there, after coming out of the country, to be able to just kind of spend some time together. And now, we're back. I missed you all. I love you dearly. Would you sing with us as we start up and just sing, I'll fly away. To a home on God's Leicester Shore. I'll fly away. I'll fly away, oh glory. Gone, I'll fly away. Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away. How about we sing count your blessing? This is Carl read something in the first service this morning from Thessalonians about be thankful. In the midst of all circumstances, we can be grateful. Right? Be thankful for this is God's will concerning you in Christ Jesus. How many of y'all have ever prayed? Lord, show me your will. Yeah. His will for you in Christ Jesus. No doubt about it is that you would be grateful in the midst of the circumstances he's placed you in and he'll direct you from there. Count your blessings. Here we are. When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed when you are discouraged thinking all is lost count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord have done count your blessing name them one by one count your blessings see what God have done count your blessings name them one by one count your many blessings see what God have done Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the crossing, baby, you are called to there? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, and you will be singing as the days go by. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done. When you look at others with their lands and gold think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold count your many blessings money cannot buy your reward in heaven or your home on high count your blessings name them one by one count your blessings see what God count your blessings name them one by one count your many blessings see what God have done on the last so amid the conflict whether great or small do not be discouraged God is over count your many blessings angels will attend Amen. Blessings, see what God Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements to make and I, like I said, I'm just getting back so we will discover these together. Monday nights at first be the norm is to be here, not tomorrow night. Tomorrow night, we're doing Monday night at the Hootenanny out at Dornings. So, Carl has invited the band, he's printed up the music, and he is gonna go try to sign up early. So, if you wanna be a part of now, the Hootenanny can be anything. Have you all been before? Right? You get all kinds of stuff from Appalachian murder ballads all the way through Glory Glory Hallelujah and a bad rendition of a Neil Diamond song. You can have anything at the Hootenanny. But we're gonna be there representing first b, I guess. So Carl Clemmer and the orchestra. Whoever shows up will be out there playing probably a couple of songs at the Hootenanny. 05:30 ish tomorrow, if you wanna get there early for a seat. First BBQ. The first BBQ, we've had a couple of these already. The next one will be August 27. So the August 27 between services, games, food and fellowship out here on the lawn. That'll be fun. There is a commit a kitchen commission. A kitchen committee that is forming. Look at that, minimal commitment required. If you wanna be a part of that, please contact Nancy T, Nancy Toracciano. That's her number, (307) 699-9789. If you wanna be a part of the kitchen committee that's forming. If you have been missing anything, a good place to look for is check the lost and found here. So if you have lost a winter coat, you might not be thinking you need it right now, but hey, it's August. Right? You if you're doing your quiet time and you think something's missing and you figure out, it's your Bible. In the back of the sanctuary, back there, next to the couch, there's a big pile of stuff. If you would check it out, you might find something that's either yours or something you like to take home. We'd like for it to go away from here. So giving season for old bills is August 11 through September 15. So we're right on the beginning side of that time. You all know that the Benevolence Fund here at First B, you can give the Benevolence Fund any time of the year if you want to. And that's the fund that we use when people need a tank of gas or they need a night they didn't know what it was like here. They've been offered a job and got here and the job didn't materialize and so they're broke. Whenever someone comes in and they're in need, we're able to say yes because we have a fund for that, benevolence fund that you all have provided for. Now, during the old bills giving season, if you give to that fund through old bills, then every dollar in usually comes out at about a dollar 50 coming out of there. So it's a way to amplify your giving. So whether you're given to the Compass Women's Care Center or you're given to the Good Samaritan Mission or there are 300 other organizations in town that are charitable and can receive through old bills, the one we use here, the one we use the money for here is the Benevolence fund. So if you want to do that, that giving season is upcoming. And you can go on a link on our website when the time comes. If you want to sign up for church emails, announcement emails, and kind of the old paper church bulletin style, but it's digital. We'll send you those if you'll let us know that you need it. You can go to firstbjackson.org and sign up, or you can just let one of us know and we'll put you on the list. And I think that might be the last announcement. But Nick. Oh, Nick. And the directories. Raise your hand if you want a directory and he will hand those out while the getting is good. And if he runs out, we'll print more. Okay? Anything else? Is there something that I'm forgetting? I feel like there's something I'm forgetting. Diane? Anything? Nothing? All right. So I'm I'm I see that hand standing up front and seeing so many people raising their hands. Feel like every head bowed and every eye closed. We're gonna do something here. But would you stand and we'll get to his eyes on the sparrow. I'm glad to be back and I'm glad to be with you this morning. Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. His high is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free for his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. And I know he watches me. I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free for his eyes on Jesus is lord of all. I am I am blessed to be a part of what's going on here for the last eleven years, and I'm I'm a text based guy. I have text makes a big difference in my life, like reading stuff, being able to expose it, and see what's there, squeeze the juice out of it, and spread that. And to hear stuff in English, I take it in. To hear stuff in Spanish, I take it in. And here, I hear a lot of English and Spanish. To be surrounded for the last three weeks, for the most part, with languages I know nothing about. Nothing about. I was overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus is lord of all of this. There's not any stroke that's ever been made that he didn't understand exactly what it meant. Not one jot or tittle from the law will ever be moved. And I I see Hebrew and go, good grief, how does anybody understand that? Or Ukrainian and I go, they borrowed symbols from everybody. And I don't know what any of them sound like or mean. And I'm just amazed by the fact that Jesus is Lord of all. That's been something that my heart's just been going over and over today. We'll have a missionary speaking today. I'll let him introduce himself, but I I just wanna when you hear of what God is doing through him, through the ministries of Pardo, when you hear all these different place names or people names and you just go, Jesus is Lord of all. Like, he is totally going ahead of us into every little uttermost part. So would you sing this one and and we'll Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm a invite the ushers to come forward. We went to a time of offering the worship through giving and would you just pray with me there? God, I'm overwhelmed by how you are lord of all. Lord, not everybody knows that. Would you help us be a part of letting everyone know that? I've quit my struggles contentment at last. That's a great thing to sing about. That's a great thing, Lord, to have it be true. That happens to be the case when we realize that you are the Lord of all of our past. Your love redeems and it brings about goodness, lord. That we rise. There's beauty from the ashes. God, I'm I'm amazed by you. And I pray, Lord, that you would do your will and your way among us this morning as we take up this offering right now for the general fund, Lord. As we do that, just for the normal offering that's normally given each Sunday for this church, I pray, Lord, that we'd be thinking about what it is that you would have us do to advance your gospel. In Jesus' name, Lord. Also, at the end of the service, when we take up another offering, Lord, it's not because not enough went in the plate. We wanna be specifically a blessing to Norris and the ministry that he and his wife and family are a part of. So God, would you do your will and your way among us this morning, right now in our in our committing to you our time, our resources, our thoughts, our conversations. Every breath that we breathe, Lord, would you bless the financial statement of this church to be able to do your good work. I pray, Lord, that you'd do it all. The same power that raised Jesus from the grave, that we'd be an active part of what's going on, the solution, Lord, and not the problem. In Jesus' name. Amen. Come come on up, Norris. I will do a little more introducing. So the church has been supportive of Norris and the ministry that he's a part of. I'll let him tell you more about that. Since before I got here, so I feel like y'all know him better than you know me. I realized after the first service that's not true. Yeah. But we love you, brother. I'm glad to hear from you and what God's doing through your ministry but you take it over. Amen. Amen. Thank you. I'm just delighted to be here again. My girlfriend, Lori, and I, we have been coming here for a spell. Some of you may remember there used to be a cherry booth on the side of the road. Anybody remember buying cherries from the cherry booth right back there? That was our kids selling cherries to go to college. Jackson Hole funded my kids' college education by buying cherries, peaches, and apricots that they would bring from the Wenatchee Valley where we live. And then my big sister, Lane, and my big brother, Norris, they live here and with that's who we've been staying with for the last few days and visiting over these years and thank God for them. Thank God for our family and that we get to do things together still. So let me pray for us as we begin. Father, we are so grateful to be in your presence moment by moment and the reality of your presence in every moment of our life, every moment of our existence. We thank you for that, for that truth. And so we just assign your angels to this place again. Just keep all the enemy's voices out. Only the voices of the Trinity can be heard here today. And so, Lord, would you just take over and speak and guide. In Jesus' name, amen. So Laurie and I have been missionaries now for, forty years. We started 1983, and it's been a it's been an amazing journey, and we're gonna continue on. We're married now forty three years. We have four married children, 10 grandchildren, and yeah, just just blessed. Lots of cousins and nephews and anyway. But we've been coming here for a spell and the church has supported us and I got to be with the missions committee this morning and it's just one of the greatest memories I have of this place is sitting in that office down there, praying with these precious men and women, knowing that we're prayed for every week and on Wednesdays. And I've had people come up and say, yeah, we we pray for you and your family every week. And, you know, I travel a lot, and just knowing that brings me encouragement. It brings me power to know that I'm being prayed for, that my family's being prayed for while I travel, and that the people that we are serving. We started traveling over to The Middle East in 2003. I made my first trip to Beirut. The mission that I'm a part of is called Novo, n o v o, novo.org if you wanted to go to Novo's website. But the organizations that we have started in these other nations, all we start NGOs over there. So it's all local, national leadership, their boards, the people, it's all from there. So the the mission organization or the NGO in The Middle East is called NEO, Near East Organization. And they're now serving across a huge expanse of country. In fact, we're into Europe now. And I'll tell I'll I'll get ahead of myself. And then the one we have in Nigeria is called HTL, Healing and Transforming Leaders, all led by Nigerians. And then in Uganda, it's Eva Missions. And so my job, my role has been over these years, the Holy Spirit has really helped me to find these men and women that God has been preparing because I the what he was telling me when I started out going overseas is I already know the people I want you to meet. And you're not gonna be able to build relationships with everyone. So I want you to listen to me and find these men and women. And that's how I met Nadim Costa. You've heard his name before. That was in 2003. We had our first time together. And I was just there in March, so twenty years later, and Nadim and I were sitting there in Beirut, what started out with him and I praying for the nations, praying for that area, praying for other men and women. We now had 25 nations represented from around The Middle East and other places, over 200 leaders there. And in April, we crossed over a million new followers of Jesus across that part of the world, all through ordinary men and women. No experts, just ordinary folks who have learned how to hear from God themselves, learned who they are in Christ, learned how to do discovery Bible studies, and start these groups house to house to house across these regions. Doing the same thing in Nigeria. We have, I think, 4,000 groups there now across that nation all led by Nigerians. The the I was recently in India. I really believe a a movement's gonna break out there. Nepal was there this last year. And another place that's emerging is actually Roatan, Honduras, the island of Roatan. I think God has raised up a guy there. So we are now and I made this announcement first service, and I don't know how many might respond, but I'm going to back to Uganda in September, and we'd like to have a representative or two or maybe three even from first b so you could come and see. And it wouldn't just be me coming give you a report, you could come back and just like your pastor's coming back, he can give you a report of all the things that he's seeing. And it just it just makes it fresher to have somebody from here go there to be able to see the scope of the work that we're doing in Uganda. And this is the newest work. And I met Faisal Katiengue when I went there my first trip about three and a half years ago, and we were meeting leaders. And I was asking Holy Spirit, so who is it? Who is it that I'm here to meet? And he kept turning my neck towards the driver of our car. This quiet guy didn't say much, former Muslim, and he now leads our team. And this team, in just three years, they have 820 groups, which is is about 16,000 people that are involved just in those discovery groups but they've also taken paths into the public schools. In this last year, they've trained over a 100,000 students in public schools on how to hear from God themselves and how to do discovery Bible study, and the teachers are now being trained as coaches. They're all becoming part of the team. And we now have schools knocking on our door saying, can you come to our school? Because guess what happens when kids start hearing from God? They change, and the schools get better. They start doing better. And so they want the same things in their schools. So I would love to have some people come, and you you would see the work that we have going on in the ghettos, in the banking industry, in the Islamic University. It's really an amazing group of young people. But not without persecution, just like we're having persecution everywhere. Is this one being streamed? It is. It is. Okay. So when I got here, the day I got here, we got I got a text from Nadim about one of our key leaders in a country I will not name who I was just with in March, and they came right into his house and kidnapped him, and he is we now think we know where he is. We still don't know how to get him out, but we know that God can do that, and we're praying that it happens. But one of the things that they have is his phone. I forgot to mention this in the first service, and it has all the names of the other people involved in in this country. So we're just praying. We that the phone wouldn't work, that the phone they can't get into it, you know, and they can't access all this information because it's it's really a high risk area. And so the kingdom of God spreads despite the attacks of the enemy, and the enemy continues to attack. And in in our work, we've had multiple women that have been tortured or raped. Their families killed, husbands killed, and and it happens on a regular basis. But every time the enemy pulls something like that, the kingdom of God advances. In the midst of the persecution, in the midst of the horror, I was sharing with the missions committee earlier. We have work amongst the Yazidi women. Do you guys remember that story of that ethnic, you know, push by ISIS to just just destroy these people and all of the thousands and thousands of Yazidi women that were taken and given to the soldiers. Well, we we have a work amongst the Yazidis. And when these women came back, many of them came with children that they had with those soldiers. And so the this is a it's a form of Islam, the Yazidis, but they believe in a few other things that makes them hated by everybody. So they were put into a place. They weren't allowed to come back to their homes because now they were tainted women. And we didn't know what to do. We didn't know how to get them back into their homes. And we had people there that were helping with the trauma, helping them to learn how to hear from Jesus in the midst of the hell on earth they were going through. And then one of their tribal elders who still Yazidi believes in all of this stuff, God gave him a vision that these women should be brought back home. And so God worked through that man in which he then spoke to the elders and then these women were are now back home, back with their families. And the work continues in all of these kinds of dark places. But it's not without cost. And you gotta be willing to pay the cost. And so one of the by the way, when do I gotta be done? Never. So when we do any kind of training anywhere in the world, we have to think about who's in the room. Right? And whatever we do, whatever we're training them, they have to be able to go and do it. Right? So we don't bring it. I never use PowerPoint. I don't bring workbooks. I don't I don't use my computer because what I've note and I I did when I first started, but what I noticed is people would come and say, oh, that was wonderful. That was wonderful. But they wouldn't do anything because the enemy is so tricky. He will use anything to help those people think, I can't do this. I need to have a computer, I guess, to go and do this or I need a workbook when many in the people in the room couldn't read or write anyway. So everything has to be done in a way that it can replicate across that city, that nation, that town, that school, whatever environment that we're in. So what we're seeing is that if we if we do that, then people start obeying. They actually start hearing from God and doing what he tells them to do. Because we're teaching them that when we really love God, we obey him, and we trust him for the smallest and every ordinary thing in our life. He becomes Lord just as we sang of all. Not just Lord of some, not just Lord when we're in church, he's Lord of all. And they begin to hear God's voice in their normal ordinary lives. He starts speaking to them about everything because he wants to speak about everything. He's interested in everything. He cares about every little thing you're doing, and he does for these people that are being trained. And when they finally realize that, that God thinks they are an important person. Even in their brokenness, even in their failures, God loves them. He sees them. He knows their name, and they become empowered to do things that you and I could never do in those places because we don't live there. And one of the early things that we say to them is you didn't get to choose your parents, your race, where you were born, where you grew up. This is what what God has for you. So who and why and where did God put you here for? And then God starts speaking to them about that, and they get set free to actually begin to obey. Because the freedom to obey is what the enemy wants us not to do. He wants us to believe we're not qualified. We can't go and do something because I'm a small broken person. But if when you let him read scripture, that's all God uses is small broken ordinary men and women, and he's and he's changes entire nations through that. So we just we actually spend a lot of time asking God questions and then waiting for him to answer. So I went to I was I'm I'm telling new stories. Is that okay? So so I was in India. Some of us have been here twice. Yeah. Some of you have been here twice. So I was in India, and I had never been there before. I'd only done any training with these people on Zoom. And the guy that was traveling with me who actually knew this leader, this Indian leader, he got stopped at the airport and sent home. He didn't get to come into the country. So they're receiving a total stranger, really. And I had no idea how many people were coming and I'd never been this is my first trip to India. We were in Hyderabad, which is in the southern part of India. So we get there and they have a lectern like this, right, and all these rows of chairs. And I go and my and all I did was mention it. I was kind of just talking to myself and I go, I hate that because that's just not my gig. And I said, and I look over and here's a conference room and it went, you know, like a conference table. I said, I had no idea how many were coming, but I said, man, what is it okay if we sit in there? There's actually an air conditioning unit in there and that would like that, you know, I was sweating. Well, because I'm the guest, they have to do what I say. I didn't know that either. So they start moving chairs, and literally, we were knee to knee. There were they there were people out in the other room. We were three deep in the room just like this, packed with and I'd never met any of these people before, and I just love environments like that. So they're trying to pass me a a cord to plug my computer in. I said, no. I I don't have I don't have any PowerPoint. And and they all had their, I I don't have any workbooks. I say, we really are gonna ask Jesus some questions, and he's gonna speak to you. Well, they hadn't done anything like that, but they were used to an American coming and telling what they needed to know. And I said, I don't know. I said, I'm a cherry farmer from Kashmir, Washington. I don't know what to do in India, but I know who does. So we just began to ask questions, very simple questions, and they began to hear themselves names that God was calling them, things that God liked about them. They began to share I said, now I want you to share with somebody next to you what you're most afraid of. Well, they don't do that. Admitting that you have a fear, admitting that you're weak. I don't know what Ray's gonna do that if I tell him that information. So they had fear, but I said, it's so you know, I want you to try it. And all of a sudden, they started talking about real things, praying about real things, and then hearing from God about real things, about that fear. Jesus began to speak to them right then about the fear that they were having. So we spent the whole morning with those kind of conversations and so so then I went, I'm praying. I mean, in my head, I'm saying, Jesus, I need to have I I need someone to ask me a question. So, like, five minutes later, this guy, he's he's only a few knees away from me. He he says, I have a question. He goes, we're doing pretty good with the lower caste system. You know, in India, they have, you know, all the caste. We're doing pretty good with the lower caste, but we're not really doing that good with the upper and middle caste system. He goes, what do you think we should do? Which was the perfect question. So I said, wouldn't it actually be kinda arrogant of me to actually think I know the answer to that question? I said, I don't know. I don't live here, but I know who knows the answer. And that's the only thing we had a little whiteboard up there, so I I wrote that question. God, what do you wanna do with the upper and middle how do you want us to move towards those people? I said, in in in the identity that Jesus just gave you, I want you to ask him that question. And let's see what he says to all of us. Let's see what he says to you. 10 people came up, heard the same passage of scripture. 10 out of 40. And I said, I'd pay attention to that. Jesus seems to think that's kind of an important path. And then several got very similar things that that the Holy Spirit was speaking to them. I wasn't teaching them. Holy Spirit was speaking to them about what to do and how to go and start obeying what he told them to do. And things have just taken off, and I was just recently there, and I there was 350 in the room. And we did very similar things for for two days, just listening to God. And, you know, India's the largest nation in the world now, past China. It's got, I think, 1,300,000,000 people live there now. So a movement could take off really fast there. And these people are just deciding where they're gonna hear listen to God and obey. I said, you don't have to come back and check-in. You can actually trust Holy Spirit to speak to you guys in your little town. He cares about that place. He cares about what's going on there. As Ray said, when you go into these places, Jesus wasn't waiting for you to show up. He was already there. There's no place you can go where he hasn't been. And he's working and he's speaking. Well, one of the questions that we ask is, you know, what what are the kingdom results going to look like if the kingdom of God actually came into this space, into this town, into this home? Two young ladies and from the first service asked me about that. They said, so how do you how do you do that with scripture? How do you make it, like, real? I said, well, my wife and I, when we pray the prayer, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth. Well, right now, the earth isn't my responsibility, but our kitchen is. So if you pray at your kingdom come, your will be done in our kitchen, in our living room, on this drive to work. Well, I I can think about that. What would the kingdom of God look like in our kitchen right now in this conversation? So we ask those kinds of questions. What would the kingdom of God look like on earth right now in your town? And then what kind of kingdom leaders are gonna be needed to accomplish those kinds of kingdom results? Next question is what are the weapons of the kingdom that God has given us? So I ask that of you. What are the weapons? And if you don't like weapons, tools, what what what has he given us to use as kingdom leaders to accomplish these kingdom results? Brains. Pray praise. Brains. Oh, brains. Yes. Yeah. Brains. That's right. He's given us all brains. What else? What are the kingdom weapons that he's given us? Word. The word. Prayer. Prayer. The Holy Spirit. Praise. Yeah. Love. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Yeah. Praise. So we actually let all of that information come from them. These are the tools God's given us. So how do we use those? How do we use those to accomplish his purposes? Because I I have other weapons in mind that I wanna do to people who kidnap my friends. I don't wanna forgive them. I don't. Jesus tells me to. And I don't know I don't know how to do it, but Jesus does. He showed us the way. When he was getting his nails pounded into his hands, he said, father, forgive them right when they were doing it. So we we know from what God has been doing that these weapons actually expand the kingdom of God. So when they're persecuted and and I'm telling you, you do it you try to do a training on forgiveness when for for and you're in a room where maybe half the women have been raped. Their husbands have been killed, their daughter daughters and sons have been stolen from them. You got you just you just have to be quiet, and you let Holy Spirit do his work and bring the ability to forgive because we don't have it in our flesh. It's a spiritual weapon, but it begins to expand the kingdom of God in that place. So I'm gonna share a personal story about how that, then I have permission from my son-in-law to share this story because he's experiencing this. But when he got married to my daughter, years ago now, and he lied to me about the work that he had done on forgiving his father. He had his dad was really abusive, and, he assured me, oh, he'd done all that work. And but then after they got married, it you know, he he hadn't done the work. And he was he began to just abuse and wound my daughter, not not physically, but just, you know, how abuse can be and was just hurting her. And then our grandson was born, and he had a stroke when he was born. And a third of his brain died on his left side, so his little right hand doesn't work, and his right leg doesn't work well. But, you know, it took took David deeper into his lack of forgiveness, his lack of love, his ability to actually see God in the grief, and and he got worse. And he got and, of course, I got angrier and angrier. And, you know, and I I said these words to him. And even though they're true, they were not said in love. And I actually said to him one day, I said, David, you're now using your son, Abraham, as an excuse for poor behavior just like you use your dad, which was true, but it was it crushed him. And so I was praying. This is about a year and a half ago now, and, the Holy Spirit just said to me, Norris, would you shut up? And I kinda just startled. So what do you mean? He said, you are aiding and abetting the enemy because what's coming out of your mouth carries weight because you are an authority over your daughter and your son-in-law and your grandchildren. And in James, it says, out of our mouth can come both blessing and cursing, and it ought not to be this way. And we began to see because we have been with people that can see in the spirit that the the demonic forces understand authority better than we do. So when I speak something in a curse over people I'm in authority over, I'm giving permission. So Laurie and I, we began to just confess, and I began to repent. I ask you, Lord, forgive me for cursing my son-in-law. And what's the opposite of cursing? Blessing. And so we began to bless him. And I said, bless his mind. I bless his heart. I bless because he wasn't speaking to me anymore, as you can imagine. And so I was trying to remove all the curses that I put on him by asking God to forgive me for what I had been doing in that curse spiritual realm. I wanted to break those curses off of him by forgiveness. I forgive David for hurting my daughter. I forgive him for hurting my son, my grandson, and my granddaughter. And I just kept speaking it, and and I have to be honest at twenty, thirty times a day because it was I was so full of rage over what he was doing and how he was treating my daughter. Months went by. No word from David. And then he calls me and said, are you home? I said, yeah. I can be. And he comes up to me and says, will you forgive me? I'm sorry. And he called his dad and asked his dad to forgive him, and his dad asked him to forgive him. Then his dad called his own daughters and asked them to forgive him for the abuse. And when I when it was all done, Jesus just so sweetly said to me, see, Norris, that's what I can do. If you actually use the weapons that I give you to love, to bless, to forgive over and over and over again. Love, bless, forgive. Not because they deserve it, because I'm asking you to do it. And when you do that, it releases something. It changes the room. Here's something we tell people, whoever forgives the most has the most power in any room. I don't care where you are. You wanna have power in a room? Forgive because the enemy has no answer to it. And when we forgive, even when I I I didn't want to. I I was I was right. Forgive. Changes the spirit. Even if they don't respond. And on Father's Day of this year, David gave his testimony at church. And you can go on you can go online and watch it. I can send you the link and he gave his testimony of what happened and he'll tell me, he goes, forgiveness is like magic. Changed everything and his own father flew out from Chicago and was there knowing what was gonna be said about him because David said, my dad abused me. But he looked right at him and said, but I forgive you. And now he knows his grandchildren for the first time. The power of forgiveness. It's a weapon of the kingdom of God to bless, to bless, to forgive, not because they deserve it because Jesus says, do it. Be like me in all of the ordinary parts of your life. And as in the first service, I know many of you have horror stories about your life and maybe you're in them right now. And I don't say this lightly because I I know that I don't know what you're feeling. Don't pretend to. When I sit in those rooms with people that have been brutalized, I don't even pretend to say, oh, I know what you're going through. I don't. And I don't know what you're going through, but I know Jesus knows. And I know he's there. He's always been there. He doesn't leave you. And so the the passage that I mentioned first service in Luke chapter 22 verses sixty one and sixty two, and it's the one gospel that says that right after Peter denied Jesus for the third time, it says, and Jesus looked directly at Peter. And Jesus at that time was getting his beard pulled out, getting slapped around. What did he want Peter to know in the moment, in real time, of Peter's arguably his greatest failure up to date of saying, I'll never deny you, and then he does. Watching his lord be brutalized, and Jesus looked directly at him. I still see you, Peter. I still love you. Don't let this failure define you. You still are the rock. That's who you are, not your failure. And so we ask people, if Jesus could do that real time to Peter, he can do it real time for you. Look him in the eyes. He's right there. I have this little thing that I say to my grandkids. I say, put your hands like this. So go ahead. Put your hands like this. I know you're not my grandkids. Put your hands up. It's okay to do it. Now you're I'm looking at you, but I can see my hands in my peripheral vision. And I said, that's how close Jesus is. You go right there. He's right there. He never is out of your sight. You're never out of his sight. My grandson Clayton was one of his other cousins was complaining about being lonely. And Clayton's eight, and he says to him, come on. You're never alone. You've never been in a smaller group than four your whole life. This is an eight year old telling like a four year old. Right? You, God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Okay? You're all you've never been in a smaller group than four your whole life, which is true. We were created for that relationship. Do we believe it? Do we believe that Jesus is there even when I fail him? He's not fickle like us. He's not going, come on, Norris. I'm done with you. Tired of your failures. He doesn't talk that way. I talk that way. Jesus doesn't. Look him in the eyes. Go to any memory in your life. He was there. Look him in the eyes. Talk to him. He wants to talk to you because he cares about you. All the little things you're doing, he's not bored with your life. He's not wishing you, can you do something important? These two young gals that we're talking to after the first service, one, she works at the rope, I don't know, the rope course. They have a rope course. I said, Jesus cares about rope courses. He's right there. Every person that comes up just asks Jesus, why is this person standing here? Take authority of your little space. Ask Jesus, what is it? Is there something you you want me to say? I said, how did Jesus know what to say to the woman at the well? Because he said, I only do and I only say what I hear the father telling me to do or say. And that was true when he was taking a bath. When he had to wash his hair, when he had to go to the bathroom, he he was still present. God doesn't leave us or forsake us ever. So through this, has God brought anybody to mind that he wants you to forgive? Because that'll free you. And I know Ray has taught about forgiveness, and I'm just asking you to think right now, and I'm gonna ask Jesus to bring to your mind. Right now, Lord, would you just bring to mind, to everyone here, is there anyone in their life that you want them to forgive again? And whatever you hear, whatever name come up, do it. Free yourself. Let yourself off the hook. And you may have to do it later today. It's okay. God won't be upset that you took it back on again. Forgive. Forgive. Bless. Forgive. We've seen it produce. So I'm just gonna pray for you right now and bless you. So thank you, Lord, that you showed us how to forgive those who hurt you. You showed us how to bless those who wronged you. Help us to be men and women that know how to do that because it set you apart. Self sacrificing other centered, unconditional love for our enemies. That's the bar you set for us. So help us, Lord. We can't do it without you, but with you, we can do it. So we love you, Jesus. Thank you for this morning. Amen. I'm I'm gonna ask for ushers, and one of our ushers got away. So if somebody else would fill that role, Carl, maybe. If y'all would, I I mentioned it during the prayer, but I didn't give you advance warning over it. For Novo Ministry, we are gonna take up a second offering today. So if you would, that's what we're gonna do during this last song. We'll we'll play and just do it during the last song. And I know you're seated. It's much easier to do offering while you're seated. But then as the plates pass by you, feel free to stand up and join in when we sing this last song. But I wanna pray a blessing too for you and for yours and for Nadim and for his name escaped me right. Feisal, but Feisal. So I've got one more thing to pray for. Emily and Andreas Feazer, when you were saying this, she went into her water broke yesterday. She went into labor and I just got pictures of Emily doing well and a healthy baby doing well. She comes to this service. She plays a cello. She sits right there normally, sings, sang last week while I was away or the last couple of weeks while was away. So, God, I just pray for that new little baby that's coming in, Lord, to this world. I pray that his parents would be so surrendered to you in their kitchen, in their lives, Lord, that it'd be so apparent to that little baby, that fresh newborn arriving just on time for this man in Uganda that has found himself in the midst of a movement. God, a normal, ordinary human being. Lord, we don't understand authority, but Lord, I'm amazed by it when we just take you seriously. You said all authority had been given to you. This the last thing you said before you send it. You said all authority had been given to you and in just that same way, I'm passing it along just as the father has sent me, I'm sending you. And you told us our great commission lord and it was as we are going that we would be baptized and then teaching but not just that. What are we teaching? Lord, we're teaching them to obey all that you've commanded us. Lord, I think sometimes we just forget how simple it is to listen to what you say and step right there into that. So, God, would you allow us the humble, willing, and obedient servants that are here gathered, Lord, that you just allow us. Show us what it is you'd have us to do. And the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available and propelling us forward. Show us your way, Lord, and allow us to walk in and ask your blessing on this offering as we take it up in this last song. Amen. Amen. And as a benediction today, I just pray that the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. As his face is shining upon you, may you be like a mirror and you just broadcast that peace to a world that is everything but peaceful. Lord God Almighty, would you superintend these lives of these that are gathered in your name and allow them to bless even to the uttermost parts. Amen.