Which Side of the Cross - Lesson 20

We are in lesson 20, I believe, and Mike got through question 5. So we are starting on question 6, and this is for those on tape, which side of the cross do you live on? And again, lesson 20, beginning with question 6. And in question six, in Romans 10, 17, there's an article, The Faith, which does the faith, what does the faith mean here? So I want to go just as a backup and go through from Romans 10, verses 6 through 17 to get the context of this. There's a lot pointing to faith. And again, this part of the class that we're in is the last third of the class, which is focusing on faith. And again, I want to reiterate, the more I've studied it, everything comes down to faith. Even thinking about grace, salvation, everything relies upon faith. Believing in what God said. From salvation, you've been saved by grace through Faith. Salvation.

You have to believe. And we'll get into a little bit about the simple, the basic gospel. Understanding grace even and believing that. You have to believe it. You have to have faith in what God says about grace. So the bedrock of all this is faith. So it's very important that we understand faith. And again, I've gone through, I think I've told you, I have 15, 20 pages of notes and just going over faith and what the scripture has for us. And it's if we simply believe it, and it all comes down to faith. Do you believe what he says in his word? And so it's real critical that we understand this. Let's go through Romans 10, 6 through 17. I'll read it and then we'll go through and address the question.

Beginning in verse 6, Romans 10, But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down. Or, Who will descend into the abyss? That is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say?

The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

For the scripture says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him. For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. However, they did not all heed the good news.

For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? in verse 17. So, faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. So, in verses 6 through 16, we have many references to faith. So, what is the difference about the use in verse 17? So, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

The funny thing is, this question says the definite article, THE. All the translations I looked at, and I use the NASB, don't put the faith in there. However, when you go back to the Greek text, it is there. It's the he, H-E-E, is the Greek word the. It's a definite article.

I don't know why all the translations don't say that, but in verse 17, it says the faith. So, kind of give it away that This is different in that this is talking about the faith. So what's different about that? Nothing. It just has the in front of it, right? The.

It's really saying that the, basically the real, true faith encompasses everything you have learned about God. As opposed to the fake faith? The real faith. I'm trying to get what that means. Yeah, me too. So what aspect of the biblical faith is talking about here? It says the faith. So is that talking about the essence of faith? Or is it talking about personal faith?

The essence, I guess. What was that? The essence. The essence? Okay, we have one vote for essence. It's talking about personal faith? We're talking about both, essence and personal. And you know what? Essence being what? We've been through this. Essence is... describes the essence. Don't just put in real, you're good. That's all the things of God. Okay?

And then what's personal faith? Well, that's what we all gravitate to at the beginning of this class. That's what we all jump to immediately. Now you can't answer what personal faith is. What is personal faith? Whether I believe it or not. Yeah, it's your own belief in what God has said.

Okay, so, let's go back to this. So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of faith, or excuse me, about hearing by the word of Christ. Okay? So, we have a vote for Essence. It seems like it's really personal, but when it has an article, I feel like... I mean, if I were just to read this without the, I would assume it's personal. Okay. But you're saying it has the, so I'm like, okay, it's probably... Any other votes here?

It's like, if it says, The Lord, that means Jehovah. Or The God, that means Jehovah. Or The Law. The The is the frightening part, huh? So, but you just reading it, you think it's personal. It sounds like it, because it comes from hearing. Any others? The specific. The response. The specific. Generally?

No. Would you say it's the faith that's revealed to us in Paul's teachings? Okay. It could be faith in all that God has revealed to us. Okay. But I don't know. It seems like in the context it's what we're learning through what God has revealed to Paul. Yeah. I don't know. Well, and the thing is the definite article. So, it's in the Greek, but none of the translations put it in there. I went through a bunch of them, NIV, the King James, all those. None of them put it in there.

Why? Well, maybe I'll see what that Mike puts the question together, but I think it's because it is personal. And they left it out, I think, because of being the faith typically is the all-encompassing of And I think they left it out because this is personal. Because there's a response on the part of man here. It's hearing. So this is personal. So after I read the question, I started going through it and it's like, well, none of them put it in, but it's personal. after studying it and looking at it, that's why I think they left it out.

So it wasn't the faith. It's the response of man. He hears the word and it says the faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I believe in this passage of the scripture it's talking about personal faith because there's a little preposition there which says the faith comes out of hearing. So in some of the translations comes out of or by hearing. So that's a personal attribute so it's not the faith even though the definite article is there.

So somewhat misleading question. He's not paying attention. Oh he is listening. So what are you hearing? What? What are you hearing? You're hearing the faith. And the last part of that is hearing by the word of Christ. So it's his word. So it's believing or faith in his word. But it's the personal aspect. You're hearing it and acting upon it. It's your personal faith of believing in what Christ said, or what is said of Christ in the word. So it is a personal.

You are right. You read it right, and I believe that's what it is. The thee is there in the Greek, but it's not in most translations, and I believe that's the reason why. What does the thee refer to? The article is before faith. I think it refers to the specific message of the gospel of salvation.

But this is your personal hearing of it. The hearing of what specific composite of faith, just the salvation part. It's the last half, which is the word of Christ. The back part of this is what the faith is. and hearing by the word of Christ. It's his words. The passage talks about salvation. Having a definite article in front of faith refers to what part of the whole composite of the gospel is he referring to? He's referring to the salvation part, so he's identifying it specifically for that.

Yeah. And so his personal But it's not THE faith being the all-encompassing. It's one aspect, typically, or in this section, which is about salvation, which I think here is correct. This is all about salvation, those who hear, who believe, and it's talking about that aspect of faith, not of all the things of God. So, it's not that aspect.

So, that's why I think it's more in the aspect and actually I looked in Hal's stuff. That's what he was saying on this one too. After I studied it, I looked back on some of his stuff and it was about the personal side. So, if we look at a couple of different ones, Hebrews 12, 2. So, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. So in this one, in the Romans passage, I think this one is about personal. In this one, I think this is where we talk about both of them. He's the author and perfecter. The author being the faith, the essence, and then the perfecter. He's the one who works that faith out. He's the perfecter of faith. So I think in that instance, it's both.

Where in the Romans, it's only talking about the personal side, because hearing, hearing comes by. So I think that's the difference. And also, as Mike says, only on the salvation part of the Romans. So a little bit different, a little kind of kind of myopically looking at this a little bit, but it's again I think there's times where it refers to the essence and personal, which I think is in the Hebrews 12 too, because you have both, he's the originator of the faith and in the case of personal faith he's the leader or the perfecter of it.

So I think you have two of them. Yes, you look concerned. So I understand in essence, we've gone through that enough to clear my mind. I understand the personal faith in principle. So with the faith, I mean I understand it could be the all-encompassing, but can the faith be... An aspect. An aspect that, and then like in this case, it was narrowed down to being about the gospel message. Yes. Which obviously includes the personal part. Right.

But it's still the faith is still... the third one listed up there, right? It's just that particular one, and then the one you just gave us encompassed maybe one and two, but it's still the faith. Yeah, the faith is, I think the faith can be the all-encompassing, everything. But it can also be narrowed down. It can be narrowed down, right. Okay, that's what I wanted to make sure I had right in my mind. Yeah, and then like I said, some of them are, it's the essence, which he's the author of, which is the Hebrews, Lev.

1. But then, yeah, the personal faith. But, yeah, the faith that we talk about can encompass everything, or in this case, an error, which is just on the salvation. Clear as mud? Okay. Question 7.

Who are the heralds of the Gospel? How do they get their responsibility to preach? So, if we look at Romans, read Romans 10, 14, and 15. How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him who they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. So who brings or heralds the gospel message? Facebook. and all who believe because of what they've taught and teachers like you guys that teaches us.

That's just us. You can't do it? I can't read. You can't read. So who are the heralds or who brings forth the gospel? Just the ones that are sent. And who is sent? Pardon? Who is sent? Who? Are there specific people? We are all in that position. We are all in that, yes. And so we are all the heralds or the ones who share the gospel. So it's not just, I mean the apostles beginning as the church was being formulated, but we all who hear the word will be the herald or the one who bring the gospel. And how will they hear without a preacher? So it's only a preacher? No. No. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. So if you share the gospel with somebody, aren't you a heralder of the gospel?

One who brings forth, who is represented in this verse? Yes. All of us are. So, every believer is heritable, whether verbally or otherwise. And I think this is one of those ones, I think I've told you, there's one song, I think it's a Bruce Carroll song, that states, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.

And I think Mike has said sometimes, we may be the only gospel that people see. we are the only people who will bring the word to somebody. And if you look at 2 Corinthians 2 and 3, you are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. What verse was that? 2 Corinthians 3, verses 2 and 3.

So again, I think we bring it verbally. When we say we're a witness of that, ultimately you have to get the word of salvation and what it means through Christ and all that. But a lot of times it's our life that is the one that may draw somebody. We are tablets on human hearts. That's us. We are the ones who, somebody may look, you're different.

I mean, I know that, and I know this from on the drill rig, I'm definitely different than a lot of the drill hands in that. And after a while, they know, you know, One, they stop swearing like sailors or whatever, because I don't respond to that. And they know something's different. I've had lots of conversations with lots of drillers and drillers' hands and stuff, because there's something different. I don't engage in the way they do, and there's something different. And I've had great conversations with people, because you're different. You're the human tablet.

And so, we're the ones who may draw somebody just by manifesting Christ. And that's what it says here. It's not only, you know, do you go out like the guy on Coors shouting the gospel on top of a stool or something, you know, screaming the gospel. You may also bring somebody just by the way you live and draw people to you or to the Word because people know something's different about you. And that's what I think these verses are saying. Your letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.

So every believer is responsible for manifesting the gospel. And it may be just through your life that people are drawn to you and ask you what's different, why you... And that gives you the ability to share forth the gospel. So, again, the question is who are the heralders of the gospel? We all are. All who are in Him will be the heralders of the gospel. Any questions? Alright, question eight.

When the gospel is proclaimed to an unbeliever, does it force a response from them, and why? So, what I looked at is just the gospel message. So what is the gospel message? Since you're all bearers of the gospel message, what is the gospel message? You had it? Just a little short on the... And what is the gospel? All you who are heralders of the gospel, what is the gospel? That Jesus died and was married and rose again.

Thank you. Very simple. And that is in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4. Three and four. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Pretty simple. That's the basic gospel message. So, where did that message come from?

A reality. I mean, it happened. It's a fact. It's a fact. So, where did you learn that? The Bible. His word. The Holy Spirit makes it real. But from God's Word, you get this. You know, that's like in Romans 1, when you hear about, in Romans 1, it says about, and this is where we always get into it, about seeing when my scuba dive, he's released me a little bit on it, or got me a little less on that, about when scuba diving, and I see God's creation, and it's marvelous. God could have made it black and white, everything just black and white and ugly, but He made some things beautiful. scuba diving, see wonderful things. And I see his creation there.

But what, and in Romans 1, what does it say? It says about all creation reveals him. So what does that, what does that, does that reveal anything about Christ? No. No. What does it reveal? His power and existence. There is a God and he's powerful. He created all this. Yeah. But do you know anything about Christ in that? No. No. Again, we can learn that there is a God. Everybody in a citizen of Romans 1, everybody knows in their heart that there is a God based on creation. But we don't know anything. So we have to go to his word about learning about Christ.

So, when we look at it too, did the Old Testament say anything about Christ? Yeah. Yes? There's prophecies about it, yeah. Lots pointed to Christ. The Old Testament pointed to Christ in Christ's life. Their death, burial, and resurrection. Isaiah 53, and his resurrection. And Paul's epistles that detail our identification with Christ. It's all from God's Word.

One of the ones I always like to look at, and some of the friends who tend to be law-based always quote this to me. No, the law is good and we need to follow it. Galatians 3.24, therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. Is that correct? They always leave out the next verse. Because they always love the law. The law points us to Christ. That's what's great. We need the law. Verse 25, But now faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So the law is not in effect for us. So those who are law based love verse 24 but don't like verse 25 because it says we are no longer under the law.

Also, as we pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, Paul presents the gospel. So, for I delivered to you, so he delivered it, of first importance that what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, again, it pointed to Christ, and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Again, so everything pointed to Christ, Christ came, and then Paul explains all about who we are in Christ. So the gospel message comes from God, is detailed in his word, now it is presented to an unbeliever.

So what happens now? Which is what the question was. So, an unbeliever hears the word. What happens? He either believes it or doesn't believe it. There's only two choices. There's no middle ground. There's no yellow line that you can go on and stand on. You either believe it or you don't.

And that's really what, when you look at it, the only thing for every human, every human, is the one question. Do you believe Christ as the Son of God died for you, was buried and resurrected, or not? That's the only question of any importance to every human being that is ever born. Everything else is, I don't want to say superficial, but that's the only question every human being has to have an answer, positive or negative. Think of any other question. in life? Does it matter when weighed against the option of who Christ is? Do you believe it or not? Is there any other question in life that's more important than that or has any greater effect than that?

There's nothing. So that's what all humanity comes down to that question. Do you believe or not? So every believer has to have that decision. An unbeliever has to make the decision, do you believe or not? And that's the only question of importance to every human being that's ever born.

Like I said, think of any other question that has the importance of that, or supersedes that in importance. So, you know, we go through all this life and all these great and grand decisions we make and all those different things. What house am I going to buy? Where are my kids going to go to school?

The only question of supreme importance is, who is Christ? Do you believe it or not? All the others are secondary to that. The unbeliever only has two choices, believe or not believe. In essence, there's really only one question that every living human being has to make. So, why doesn't everybody believe? Well, I think sometimes it's not explained clearly. That's one reason, possibly. Others?

It's just a choice. They already traded the truth for a lie and sometimes they choose to stick with that. Yeah, he gave us a will to answer this one question. That's why he gave us a will, to answer this one question. And you have the choice. And so, when you think about it, it's not a rational decision to deny this truth. Because it has eternal consequences.

You know, I think, you know, I was thinking about this coming in this morning, and just how this world is getting out of round more, it seems like. Just the stress is the, personally, I have my biases. Social media and all these things, I think, are expediting this. In fact, actually, did you hear that guy, the guy who created Facebook?

He said he knew it would hurt kids and he knew why he was doing this. The curators, in an interview, he admitted that he was doing this and it was to exploit vulnerabilities of young people. He admitted that. It would create addictions. It would create addictions, mess with their minds. He admitted that. The money is more important. Exactly. That's what he said. Yeah, he said this. I was astounded that he said that. He's made his billion, so he's free and clear to go and say what he wants now. I just think there's a lot of things that are being expedited, I think.

I think of it, and what the gospel message is, Out of all this turmoil, why do unbelievers deny it? They think it's foolishness. Which is 1 Corinthians 1.18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. Now the question is, did the gospel message seem foolish to you at first? Remember back? Can you remember back that far for some of you? Maybe as far back? Did it seem foolish to you? I mean, I was a kid, so no, not really. Not me, this is not just an honest question, I'm just curious. To me it was.

I thought, one of the first times I got the gospel message to me, I was on a flight back from seeing somebody down in Alabama coming back up I was kind of just sad about things and this guy button-holed me for three hours on the flight or two and a half hours on a flight and would not let me go with the gospel. I wanted to punch his lights out. I was like you know and there ain't a lot of places you can go on a plane when I'm on the window side and he's on the outside you know for three hours he just would not let me go I thought You're crazy. Get off of me."

And yet, years later, after the Holy Spirit worked that word into me, it made sense. But initially, it was foolish. In fact, not only foolish, I was angry. So, I mean, I reflected this verse. But, the Holy Spirit, I think, continually works on people. And it's ultimately your choice to receive, to understand that. But the old man will fight it as long as he can. And it will make it foolish to you as long as he can. Because once you receive Christ, what happens to the old man?

Crucified. Of no power. I was going to say, I think that's one of the interesting things about of personal evangelism. That guy has no clue. All he knows is you were kicked off. And he doesn't know you later in life are teaching gospel to us. What I do, and this is the things that I... Mike talks about the guy who screams and yells at people at the Rockies. Pounding them with the gospel. This guy buttonhole me for whatever. I think, and this is my personal, based on that, is God in control of all things? Is He a sovereign God? Did He allow that? So was it a mistake that this guy button-holed me?

I say no. That got me today, as a believer, thinking about how I share the gospel with somebody. That guy who shouts down at the Rockies, does everybody receive the message in the same way? Did every one of us go to Sunday school class and get the same message and we check out the box and we say, okay, we're good. Did everybody come to know the Lord the same way? Does God use all different ways to get his message out? But the message is the same. The message is the same.

That's not the point. We talked about heralders of gospel. What I look at is, even though I think that's crazy, the guy shouting and doing that, but is there somebody who needs that? Is there one person? Is there a guy on a plane, not me, but another one who comes to know the Lord because that guy buttonholes him for two hours?

I think all this is allowed. This is also my thing about pointing the finger. That was wrong. I point the finger and there's three fingers pointing back at me. Was he working on me that day? I think so. Was he working on that guy? I think so. God uses all that. He allowed that to happen. So when I get critical about how somebody shares the gospel, it has to be the right message, the same message, But I'm not as critical as I was originally. Because I think God uses all different methods. And if you believe in a sovereign God, did he allow that to happen? And is he working on that guy?

I think so. So would you say that after that experience that you rejected the gospel? I thought it was foolish. I thought it was crazy. But Years later, I think back to that. He used that in my life. You know, one step further, I know a guy who used to work in New York. He had a friend who would go down at lunch every day, and there were just tons of people walking down the sidewalk. And he'd say, can I share the Gospel of Christ with you? And they would say, no, I'm not interested. He said, then go to hell. That shouldn't cause fear. How do you get away from me?

Yeah, I think. Could you tell me, you know, that's like the real extreme. I mean, he uses all things. Did he? I just had a thought. I mean, just looking at the question, does it force a response from them? It just kind of brings up the thought that. Regardless of the method, if somebody delivers the same message, that's the... Yeah. So, I'm just thinking about a person that says, you know, I'll think about it. What if it's just as polite and as kind as it could be? And you're like, okay, how would you understand when you think about it? What's that response?

It's still rejection. That's right. It's still rejection. And so the point is that when the message is heard, there is no neutral ground. Right. for a response. You don't believe and you're still not believing. Even if you've heard and are thinking about it. Right? Right. Oh no. There's no yellow line that you walk down saying, now think about it.

But a lot of times that can be overlooked in our efforts to communicate the gospel. We have to recognize that there is always a clear and a fact-O response as to where a person is. And we may not understand it only after Lord knows the heart of that person, but there is a yes or a no. There's no, I was in the process of thinking it through. You know, because that's no until it's yes. Yeah, it's either yes or no. There is no I'll think about it. I'll think about it is no. Right. And, you know, I just look back on how God worked in my life different things. And He was continually working in my life. I rejected on numerous occasions, but He, through the Holy Spirit, continually worked on me till I had to say yes.

Now take this to the area of us walking by faith now. So we're given, now we're not salvation. Now we've got more information about the walk that we live, and that's me. Do I believe this about my Christian life today? I'm thinking about it. That's my 15 pages of notes. Do we believe all this, what God has said in his word? And if you look at us with that scope in that respect, it's the same as the gospel message. The message continues on to who we are as believers, but I'm not pointing the finger at me. Exactly. That's like I said, my 15 pages of notes of all these things, what God has told us in the word, why don't we believe it? I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. I want to read what Newell says about what you're saying. It's really cool.

He says, faith is not trust. I read that and I thought, what is he talking about? Faith is relying on God's testimony concerning the person of Christ as his son and the work of Christ for us on the cross. After saving faith, the life of trust begins. Trust is always looking forward to what God will do, but faith sees what God says has been done and believes God's word, having the conviction that it's true, and true for ourselves. I thought that was kind of cool.

And that's why we do that same thing, and all the things he's told us about. And that's where I think our spiritual growth is. And we'll get to the last question, which is, has your definition of faith changed since we began the class? Yes, no? I hope so. I hope as you understand, I hope you understand the importance of faith and what Mike just read.

I think this is the cornerstone of all, again, from our beginning of salvation is through faith. You have to believe it. The first Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. You have to believe it. I think the critical part is, and we're almost out of time, so I'll go through a little bit. Hebrews 11, 1 and 2.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. We went through that. That's God. It's all about Him, not about us. And then Hebrews 12, 2. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. He's the author of it, and He's the perfecter of it. I could go there before faith. In Hebrews 12 too? The faith? Yeah, most translations drop some of those out, like the NSAB does and some others. I didn't look at that one in the Greek, but if it's there. And again, that's the all-encompassing or can be narrowed down. But personal faith is, this is kind of in summary, personal faith is born in maybe what Mike just read from Noel. Personal faith is born out of our union with Christ.

You can trust in His word as you trust in Him, have fellowship with Him, and understand our identification with Him. You have to trust Him. You have to know who is the one who gave us this word. It is that personal relationship with Him. As you grow in your relationship with Christ, you trust Him more. and all those things he's promised us as you trust him. It comes down to understanding who he is and trusting him. The veracity of the promise is based on the person who said it.

So, if you don't trust the person who said it, you're not going to trust what he said. And that's the thing that, you know, I think our spiritual growth is having that, John 17, that union with Christ, the intimacy with Him. As we grow in our intimacy with Him, I can trust Him. When He says something in His scripture, I don't go, I'll think about it later.

You know, that's, that's, you're kidding me. And I think a lot of times we do that. It's just too great. It's too much. That really can't be true. That's just too astronomical. What is salvation? Come on. You started out there. That's the most incredible thing ever.

I think it comes down to our union with Christ, our intimacy with Him. As we trust Him more, the one who said it, we can believe Him. It's just like any relationship that you have. The longer you're with a person, do you trust them more? As long as they're trustworthy, I guess. They're not lying to you and doing some things. It's even more important with Christ. As you know Him more, you trust Him more. It shouldn't be that way.

We should trust Him because of who He is. But I think our spiritual growth is our fellowship with Him. And as we fellowship with Him, we know who He is and we trust Him when He says things. Those magnificent things He's told us. And we believe it by faith.

We will start with Lesson 21 next week. Let's close. Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you again. Just as we talked about, you are sovereignly in control of all things. That gives us great peace and rest. Again, coupled with the fact that you have an eternal love for us. eternal end as we learn in scripture in Romans where we cannot be separated from your love no matter what no matter how crazy this world is no matter what comes at us what trials you allow your love can never be separated from us and we realize that you are an infinite God and we are a finite minded human and many times we are sometimes confused by your working but It is our trust, our faith in you as you work in our lives, again, that you love us. And it's to draw us to you and to have us glorify you. And again, we just thank you that you are sovereign. And again, as your scripture says, that you give us a peace that surpasses all understanding.

You guard our hearts. by the fact that you are sovereignly in control and you have an eternal love for us. We just thank you for that and rest in that. We just pray for Mike now as he gives the message. Just be with him and prepare our hearts to receive it. We thank you for this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.