Well, good evening. Greetings from my family. We're spread out all over the place today. My daughter is in Calgary. She flies out to go back to Uruguay in just a couple days. My wife and son are in Salto right now. They just finished their church service a little while ago, and here I am. So I'm Marco Paulician, for those of you who don't know me. I'm grateful to be here. I'm very thankful for what God's doing. My wife actually put together that video. She is a very special sweet lady. So I feel sorry for you that you can't see her tonight. You're only going to get me. And the same thing with my kids. I'm really proud of them. I really feel they're more the missionaries than I am. My dad was born in Uruguay. My mom was born in Argentina. So I grew up speaking some Spanish. So in that way, they're really the missionaries. So I'm proud of them. They're good people. So thank you very much for what you've done for us. in helping us get there. I went to the college here. I went here on purpose. Some of you are from other places. Some of you were born here. I chose to come here. And I met Brian Booth. before I ever met Pastor Sullivan. And I was upstairs and I asked him, why did you come here? And he said, because of what comes over that pulpit. And so praise the Lord for a church that's faithful, and for a pastor and people who will stick by the stuff, and for a college that teaches the right stuff. I mean, what else is there? Right? So I'm praising the Lord for being able to be here with you. We've been in Uruguay since 2018. I praise the Lord I got there before COVID. That would have been miserable trying to figure out and venture out again and nobody knew what they were doing in any government. So even when we were down there, but at least once we were down there, we were stuck, which was good, which is where we wanted to be. So we praise the Lord for that. It was, they had mandates there just like here. They had early on, I mean just like everyone, they were very fearful. So they had police and military going down the streets making sure people aren't congregating. So it was pretty, it was intense at first. After time went on, the president we have now there is actually pretty good. What he did was one of his ministers sat down with the head of all evangelical churches and the Catholic bishop, and they actually tried to figure out a way, how were you guys going to have church again? So I don't know of another government in the world that did that. And so we had pages of mandates to fulfill, but we could have church. And so we did that with all the weird things that they insist that you have. which some of us were doing already. I was washing my hands before it was cool. The government had their things they wanted us to do and we did that. So my wife wishes she could be here. I'm sure you do too. My son is 22. My daughter is 20. They're good. They're studying. My daughter and son will graduate from the music conservatory down there this year. My daughter teaches music. My son teaches English, so does my wife. And it's been a good opportunity. And my son also teaches Taekwondo down there. So we praise the Lord for that. We're also Uruguayan citizens, so that made it easier. We're in a northern city in Uruguay called Salto, and I can actually see Argentina from where I live. We weren't able to go there because of the mandates, but recently things have opened up. We're about 200 kilometers from Brazil. If we were to go north, and I've preached in some of those border cities, they speak Portuguese over there, they speak Spanish in Uruguay, so we get a little bit of that. It's a very European country. It's different than a lot of other Latin American countries. A lot of Spaniards, a lot of Italian people. So that's what it's like. You get a lot of Italian gestures and that sort of thing. It's a dark place. They say that 2% or under 2% are born-again evangelicals. So, it is a dark place as far as the Gospel is concerned. It's the least evangelistic, least evangelized, rather, country in the Western Hemisphere. About 44% of the population doesn't claim any religion, so agnostic, atheist. About as many people are Catholic, but even those folks are pretty nominal. So it's a very kind of lackadaisical when it comes to spiritual things. The fastest going religion is this Macumbe religion, and what they do There's several versions of it, but mostly it's Spiritism, and some of them mix in Catholicism in with it. And where we live, it's kind of a dark thing. They'll have blood baptisms, they'll have blood sacrifices there, and they have some kind of manifestations. And I called my pastor once, because one lady called and wanted me to visit her brother. But the house he was living in, they do these rituals and they have these manifestations. And she'd called another pastor who got scared and left. And so I asked, well, what should I do? And the pastor basically told me, well, if... I mean, we're in the soul business. If we're scared of the devil, we should do something else, right? So, praise the Lord, we've been able to save some people out of that. Some of the young people. That little girl, Jessica, she comes to church. And her uncle is one of the priests of this movement. It's bizarre. It is very bizarre. And anyway, he told her uncle, I'm not, I'm not coming here anymore. I'm a Christian now. And so I just praise the Lord for being able to affect a really dark place. Uruguay is very secular. It's always been that way. There's always been a strong separation of church and state. And so they pride themselves on being very progressive. It was the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. The first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana. It was the second country in Latin America to legalize abortion. And so what are the results of an ideology like that? You have the highest suicide rates on the continent. You have the second, I believe, the highest suicide rates for seniors in the world. They're actually battling over and debating over euthanasia laws right now, but there's actually, praise the Lord, there's some sensible people who are saying, instead of pushing forward with euthanasia, how about we fix the medical system? Instead of killing people, how about we help people? And so I praise the Lord, there's some sense amongst that, but it's a different culture in that sense. Psychology is big in the sense that it's not weird for someone to go to a psychologist. They'll just as quickly go to a psychologist as a regular doctor. there's not a lot of hope there either. And so that's the results of that and those are some of the people we're trying to help and deal with. And so we serve in Salto. We started basically in our living room and it just kind of grew from there and we praise the Lord for what what God's doing, and I'm grateful for my wife for making that. The first couple times I saw that, I started crying because I don't know about you. Somebody asked me this week, what's your biggest challenge in the ministry, your biggest challenge ministering there? And I had to think about that, and I would say it's me because sometimes I would think, what on earth am I doing here? What's going on? Because there's things you'd like to see and you're not seeing them. And sometimes I can get some tunnel vision. And so just seeing that helped me because God's doing a work and some good friends are up there. One of my best friends is a 70-year-old man. He was a drunk his whole life, and he accepted Jesus. And you saw him on there, his name's Felipe. And he just recently had his leg amputated. And if you can imagine, a man who lived like a drunk his whole life doesn't have much for friends. And so he's my friend. So I love him. And I praise the Lord that I can go back there. God's good, isn't He? So, excuse me for a minute. We're going to go through the book of Acts a little bit. Acts chapter 20. One thing that's really impressed me, probably more than anything in the last few months, is just looking at the Apostle Paul. And of course, a lot of missionaries do that. But what impresses me about him is the fact that he preached so differently to different groups of people. He was a real master and a real student of people. And he was very mindful. Sometimes when I read some of the things he said, because the only place we see his speeches or sermons transcribed are in the Book of Acts. There's ten of them. There's two really short ones. So there's basically eight sermons or speeches of the book of the Apostle Paul written in the Bible. And in every single one, he's very specific. And I look at it and I sometimes think, wow, that guy is so wise in how he said. Another thing I found fascinating is that every single time the Apostle Paul preached, He preached the gospel. He always preached Jesus and the resurrection. He always preached that. And it didn't matter his topic, because sometimes he was rebuking people for not following Jesus, like he did in Rome. Sometimes he was encouraging folks, like we'll read here in Acts chapter 20, For your interest, that's the only time he preaches to Christians. We have transcribed that he preaches to Christians in the Book of Acts. Every other time, he's preaching to lost folks or a mixed crowd. I think that tells me something about what First Christianity was like and how I need to be. I need to be concerned. We need to have church. We absolutely need it. But the reason we need it is to prepare ourselves so we can tell others about Christ. That's what First Century Christianity was like. I'll just say one other thing about Uruguay. I just started doing something a few months ago, and it's been fantastic. You know, like all pastors, all missionaries, you want to do the Lord's will, I got like a gazebo tent. It's a portable unit, I can pop it up, and I've gone to some of the markets. They've got these big vegetable flea markets, and the one they have in Salto is huge. They actually have one of the biggest in the country. So I get to go there, and I got permission to go set this up, and I hand out tracts and talk to people about Jesus there. And I go to another one on Saturday. So every week I go out a couple times, and it's been fantastic because I get to talk to people that would never come to my church. One of the very first weeks I was out there, I was handing out a tract to one fellow, and like some people say, I'm an atheist, I don't want one. I said, that's okay, if you're an atheist, it doesn't mean you can't read here. And this will help you. And so I talked with him for a while, and he talked with me, and he said, you know, everybody here is here for money. I said, well, I'm not here for money. I mean, it's a market, obviously, you know, most everybody else is. But I'm not here for money, I'm here because the most important thing I could do is tell other people about Jesus. And so he said to me, well, finally, I met somebody crazier than I am. And so he left, but you know what? He looks for me every single week. And the week before I came, he hugged me. And so I really think that's the key. He knows I care for him. And I think it shouldn't bother you too much if an atheist calls you crazy. You think he's crazy. Why shouldn't he think you're crazy? You just love him, and you tell him about the Lord Jesus, and I just praise the Lord for that. God's so good in allowing me to do that, and just opening that opportunity, and showing me that that works. So missionaries often look to the Apostle Paul, and I won't spend too much time here because I'm, you know what, I was blessed with the music. Man, that did my heart good. If I left right after the singing, I'd be okay. That did my heart good. You sometimes don't realize what you have until you're gone, so I hope you, I certainly enjoy it. I can usually have an altar call right after the singing. We'll get to the Bible here. So we're going to read Acts chapter 20. We're going to read Paul preaching. And this is, like I said, the only transcribed message of the Apostle Paul to other believers. The rest of the time he's preaching to a mostly lost crowd. And I think it's important, over the last couple years, people didn't know, there was no manual on what to do now that there's mandates, you know, nobody dealt with this before, missionaries, pastors, and so what was absolutely necessary is for God's people to get a hold of God and say, God, what do I do here? And so I hope I did that, I hope you did that, but one thing that's encouraged me also is that most Christians weren't scared. The world was scared. Wow, was the world scared. But most Christians weren't. I just praise the Lord for that. That was one thing that encouraged me there. So praise the Lord for that. So I praise the Lord for a church that's stuck by the stuff. Charles Spurgeon, I understand, he had dozens and dozens of ministries. The number that sticks out in my head is 60. I may have that number wrong, but he had all kinds of ministries. And the reason I bring him up is because everything he did, he had all kinds of ministries. He liked flowers, and he actually had a ministry where he had ladies from his church come to his house, cut flowers, so they could bring those flowers to shut-ins and share the gospel with them. And so, everything he did revolved around the Gospels. I think he was a great example in that way. He had all kinds of ministries, but everything, first and foremost, he had orphanages, and they say that not a single child left that orphanage without being saved. He had ministries so that preachers could get books. He had ministries to get literature out into the lost people. He often would tell, his church would be packed, and people would have to get tickets to come in, and sometimes he would tell his church people, I don't want you to come to church this Sunday. Because I want to get some lost people in here. Can you imagine your pastor telling you that? And he would say that to people. He'd say, I don't want you to come this Sunday. You've heard it. I want other people to come. And so he'd actually organize his meetings that way. This is a man who died long ago, but what I'm saying is everything to him revolved around the gospel. Jesus Christ shed his blood, he died for me, he paid the ultimate price, and I can be saved and you can be saved if we would just trust and get a hold of that. But Paul related everything to that because it's not just saving me from hell, it's the daily living. Lord, what do I do? That death, burial, and resurrection gives me power so that I can live for him as well. And so I just praise the Lord for that. So let's read Acts chapter 20. We'll read verses 16 to 38. He preached to the elders at Miletus. 20, 16 to 38. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, in how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. But I have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous woes enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance amongst all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel, Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. So this is Paul's most emotional message we have transcribed. I mean, these are his friends, these are people either he or Timothy ordained. And it's interesting, it says that he was on his way to Jerusalem, he wanted to make that feast in Jerusalem, and he didn't even go into Ephesus, he called them to to Miletus, and I think that's interesting. You know, Christians are pretty hospitable. You guys have been very, I haven't been here for a while, and I thought, you know, what's that gonna be like? A lot of new faces. People have been very gracious. You know, Christians are hospitable people, gracious people, and I think Paul knew that, and he said, you know, if I go into Ephesus, someone's gonna invite me over. I'm gonna sit down, and they're gonna wanna visit with me, and they're gonna want me to eat, and why don't you just stay the night since it's late? But he really wanted to make it to Ephesus. So he said, why don't you come to Miletus and meet me there at the port? And so Paul was determined to get to Jerusalem, to Pentecost. That's what it says in those first verses. So I've got four points tonight I'll go through quickly. He reminded them about his past in the first three verses, 18 to 21. In the next few verses he revealed the future, that's 22 to 25. And then he reprimanded false doctrine in 26 to 31. And then he relinquished pride in verses 32 to 36. And just four short points. Paul is not someone who reveled in talking about himself. When he gave his testimony, it was for the purpose of helping people. And he was telling them, remember what it was like, and remember how I ministered among you in those first few verses. He was a good testimony, and he was saying, like I worked, I'd like you to do the same thing. I'd like you to pattern your ministry. I think it wouldn't be a bad thing for you if you worked like I worked. And so he reminded them about his past. He was showing those Christians his example, those other preachers his example. And he braved danger. He cared. He was humble. I mean, he was sure humble. He was a very well-trained man. He had an excellent pedigree. I mean, this was important. He could speak five languages. And yet, he was mistreated by some of the basest people. And he took it. What a humble man. And so, looking at that, he said, you've seen my life. I want you to do that. I praise the Lord that I have had a good example in the ministry in that. There's some things you learn in your doctrinal classes, and then there's some things you learn from your pastor. And I just praise the Lord for that. I'm thinking about some of those now. He clearly gave them the gospel as well. That was his example. And so, I mean, the first point, Paul is encouraging these preachers, these Christians, to follow his example. Do you follow the Lord's example? Do you follow your pastor's example? This is the one message we have of Paul to Christians. I think it's pretty important. He knew he was going to die. I think it's pretty poignant. I think it's very applicable. Is your example worth following? Could other people get saved, get right with God from seeing what you do? And that's our first point. How was your example? The second one is he revealed his future, then God gave him an inkling of what God would have him to do. And the thing I find fascinating is we read the Bible, we know front to back what happens in each story, and it sometimes doesn't dawn on us, Paul right here says, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there." He had some idea what God was going to do in his life. He knew it included suffering, but he didn't know. And in the midst of uncertainty, he could trust God. He could sing in a dungeon. I mean, we all know that story, but it'd be a lot easier to sing if you knew that, okay, yeah, there's an earthquake coming. Let's get started. Let's sing our songs. He didn't know that. I don't think he knew that. And here he's saying, I know I'm going to suffer. I don't know what it's going to look like. But I trust God anyway. Because I'm following the best way I know how. I don't have a Bible verse that says Marco Paulician. It says Salto Uruguay. But the best way I know how, God's led me there. And I'll hold on to that. I need to, right? Sometimes that's all you have. You better be able to hold on to that. And Paul knew that. And Paul could hold on to that. And Paul said, yeah, this is suffering. But that doesn't mean I can't have joy too. That's weird, isn't it? Isn't that totally, totally unusual? Man, that is totally against my mind. How can you suffer and be joyful? I can imagine suffering one day and just thinking, you know, tomorrow will be better. He suffered while he had joy. Wow. I've got a lot of growing to do. So he knew his future and he was prepared to pay any price for Christ and he knew that suffering was part of his future and so Paul also said in Romans 8 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us he also said this is a this is almost a dark verse but it helps me it's a bit of helped me if in this life only we have hope in Christ we have are of all men most miserable we shouldn't live for just What's here down below? And Paul, that was Paul's life. He lived for greater things than these things. And that's how he could have joy and certainty. And he could look at kings in the face and with certainty just tell them about Jesus. Because he knew he was doing exactly what he needed to be doing. And so what is God's will for you? You know, God doesn't want confused children. He wants you to be sure about things. And He wants you to seek His face until you are sure. The next thing Paul did in verse 26-31 is he reprimanded false doctrine. We need to walk with God. We need to be Bible people. The Lord Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth. I've been in churches that are unfriendly, but they're really solid on the book. That shouldn't be that way. And I've been in churches. I didn't grow up an independent Baptist. I went to an ecumenical church that the people didn't know their Bible. But they sure were kind people. But it shouldn't be that way either. But Jesus Christ was both. He was full of grace. Jesus Christ was kind, wasn't he? He was loving, wasn't he? But with all reverence, he was a straight shooter too. He didn't pull any punches. He'd say it how it is. No, he'd say it loving, and like our pastor said, it's not compromise if you give medicine in doses, or his pastors told him to. But he was both, and we need to be both as well. And so Paul very much was reprimanding false doctrine. He said, there's gonna be wolves among you. And even then he makes reference in verse 26, he's pure of the blood of all men. I think he's making reference to Ezekiel 33, when God is talking to him about being a watchman. And I believe that. I know that passage in Ezekiel is talking specifically to God, to that prophet, but I think we're responsible for our neighbors. I think I'm responsible for my family, you know, as much as lieth in me. And I think God will hold us accountable for what we don't share. I mean, what else is there? I mean, Paul's life here, he's telling them, you've seen my example, give the gospel. So he's saying he's free from the blood of all men, but that's not only in respect to salvation, it's in respect to staying by the stuff. Canadian pastors recently are emailing and debating back and forth over some separation issues. We've got to be Bible people. We've got to stick by the stuff. There's been a lot of, there's enough people, you probably, if you've been here in church for more than a few years, you could probably say, you know what, that person should be sitting there. There's probably a few people you could think of like that. Don't be like that. Don't let this church be like that. Paul was saying that. There are going to be wolves, whether they're inside, whether they're outside. You just stick by the stuff. Be mindful of it. Don't be scared of it. Stand up to it. And you can do it lovingly. Any attack, and I believe this, I believe any attack on any doctrine of the Bible ultimately is an attack on salvation. So I don't think, you know, there was a very smart man, I think about over a thousand years ago, or about a thousand years ago, named Augustine, and he said, in non-essentials, liberty, in essentials, unity, and in all things, charity. He's a really smart man, but he was wrong in that, because the ecumenicals like that quote, by the way. There's something wrong with that quote, because are you going to decide what's essential? Are you going to tell me that part of the Bible is not important? Who are you? Who am I to say that? And so, we need to be people who stick by the stuff. And there may be other, it doesn't mean that we're the only Christians in the world, but we want to be right with God. We want God to bless what we're doing. We want to look Him in the face when we're done. Paul had a debt and a responsibility. He said in Romans 1, 14 and 50, I'm a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you there at Rome also. I just marvel at how close he was to the Lord to relate everything to the gospel. It didn't matter who he was talking to. If he was rebuking people, it had to do with the gospel. If he was encouraging people, it had to do with the gospel. If he was telling people that were totally ignorant of God, the God we know, he was telling them about the gospel. He was preaching in a synagogue, he related it to the gospel. So he just knew his God so much, everything had to do with Jesus. And I want to be that kind of Christian. I want you to be that kind of Christian. And the last thing is he relinquished pride. Paul wanted to live, that's verses 32 to 36, Paul wanted them to live for heaven, not earth. And he was proving that, wasn't he? He said in another chapter, what are you doing? Pardon me for paraphrasing and butchering the scriptures, but why are you breaking my heart? I'm ready to go suffer for Jesus in Jerusalem. And people can argue, theologians can argue whether he should or shouldn't have gone, but nobody can argue and say he wasn't surrendered to his Lord. He loved his Lord. And so he put down pride. I think the one hindrance, I really do, I think every hindrance I have in my Christian life, every hindrance a person has from getting saved, I think the root of all of it is pride. I really believe that. I think it all boils down to that. It looks different. Maybe some of the branches look different, but I think it all sprouts from that. And so the opposite of that, so how do you solve that? What's the cure for that? Is a dose of humility. And I think every sin in the Bible, What would have happened if Adam and Eve said, you know what? I don't, this serpent's kind of confusing. I'm gonna just trust the Lord anyway. If Cain would have said, you know what? Man, I've got this perfectly good produce, but I don't get it. But this is what God wanted and I trust him. And so I really think just that attitude of humility saying, you know, God's smarter than I am. And I don't get it, but I know he does, and I can trust him, and everything will turn out all right. I don't need to understand it. As I marvel at reading the scriptures, how many times it seems, well, we look at Paul, like this great giant of the faith, and he was, but it wasn't because, now, he was an amazing man. He spoke a lot of languages, very learned guy, but there's so many times I've been seeing in the scriptures where he said, where he just seemed totally surprised. And yet he was able to be confident when his world turned upside down. I mean, that would have been impressive. Wow. So I want to be that kind of Christian. He really abased pride. He wasn't a materialist. He worked hard. He worked hard enough to help himself, to help others. He loved Christians and they knew it. He lived sacrificially around them and he cried with them. And so just four points in closing. Be encouraged what God is doing. I think it's awesome that you guys were in the middle of your building when COVID happened, and you had the room to have meetings. I mean, that's pretty awesome. You didn't see that coming. And, you know, buildings are great, but I'm encouraged at what God's doing with the people here too, first and foremost. I mean, there's a lot of opportunity here. I look at the college, there's a lot of opportunity here. I was a little older when I went to the college. I mean, I look at everybody here. There's a lot of opportunity here. God's doing something. And so be encouraged in what God's doing. Because not everybody's doing what you guys are doing. I mean that. Next point is that you're gonna go through more trials. I mean, the last couple years were confusing for a lot of people. A lot of people got very emotional in one way or the other. But this is kind of an exciting time to be a Christian, because so many things are set up. The Lord Jesus Christ could be coming very soon. I mean, for a Christian, that's comforting, right? I mean, in the world, that's bad news. But the other thing it is for a Christian is that he's coming soon. I've got some work to do. Right? I've got neighbors, I've got friends, I've got work to do. And so that's, I often think about this, like, there's people you think about in the Bible, you wanna ask them questions, right? I mean, if we're here when the rapture comes, that's gonna be kinda cool, right? Like, people say to me, you were at the rapture? Yeah, I was at the rapture. You know, that's kinda fun, right? Like, this is an exciting time to be a Christian, potentially, he may not come for 100 years, but if this is it, I wanna be ready. Don't you want to be ready? So, very exciting time that way, regardless of what's going on. If the Lord gives us hundreds of years of liberty, or if not, it's exciting anyway. And so, do you love the Bible even when it's unpopular? I laugh because I don't care if an atheist calls me crazy. I remember, I used to work in a construction, the song Pastor Matt sang, he asked me what song I wanted to sing, I sang it because, to me, there's a story with it. I used to sing, I used to, we got a Bible study set up in a men's worker camp. And it was a man's camp. To where, the only room they'd give us, we had to go through a smoky hall where they had pinball machines and rock concerts a lot of the times and played poker. And there was a back room, we had church services there. And I loved that. We got to sing out loud with men. And we sang loud, and the walls were thin, and I don't doubt just as many people heard our preaching and singing outside of those walls and in those walls, because they're just those little ATCO trailers, right? And we drowned out some rock concerts more than a few times there, and I just praise the Lord for that. I laugh because I picked He Leadeth Me for a song and I let her rip because that's how our pastor did it. We sang loud because it's a men's camp and there's all kinds of noise outside. That's how we sang. I didn't even realize I was the only one singing. They didn't know the song. And so that was kind of a special song to me. It worked out okay and my pastor said, you realize you sang a solo? No, I had no idea. I was just letting her rip. And so I say that because in those places, I would often talk to construction workers. And while I'm talking to these men, and many of them were openly antagonistic with God, there's other guys a few steps away listening. And I know there's been plenty of times I was talking to one man, but a whole trailer is listening. And so are you prepared to love God and talk about God when it's unpopular? Would it be okay if somebody called you crazy for being a Christian? I think there's good people here prepared to suffer for the Lord, I know it. Are you prepared to suffer a little bit for Him, and just suffer a little bit of embarrassment maybe? He's not embarrassed of you. And so the last point, just in closing, are you surrendered? Paul certainly was. He knew, he wanted to know God's will, he found God's will, and he did it. So I'll just ask you to stand here, we'll have a short time of invitation, of meditation, in closing. How's God spoken to you? I'll just ask you to lower your heads and close your eyes. God's Word was spoken. We're in God's house. God's people are here. We have the promise that God's Spirit is here. And I don't doubt for a second that God's been speaking to people. So what has God spoken to you tonight? I don't doubt that there's people here who the Holy Spirit is just bringing something up to you. And maybe it's never happened to you before. Maybe something's coming to mind that has nothing to do with what I preached. But it just keeps coming to mind. You know, God sometimes speaks to us that way. God certainly speaks to us through His book. But God speaks to us through His Spirit. What is He trying to show you right now? Maybe there's a person that keeps coming to mind. Maybe there's a situation he's showing you. What does God want you to do? You know, he can be trusted. Paul knew that God could be trusted. And whatever God's showing you, why don't you just make that decision and say, you know, God, I'm going to fix that relationship. I'm going to take that decision. God, you've shown me this before. I know I need to do it. I'm going to take that step of faith. God, help me. Maybe there's something... I always pray before I preach, I want to be right with God. Don't you want to be clean? Has God shown you something? I say this with all respect, because I... Is God showing you something you need to repent of? I'm not talking about airing dirty laundry, but maybe God's saying to you, son, daughter, you've got to get right. You've got to put that aside. You've got to grow up. Is God saying that? Maybe the Lord is just saying to you, son, daughter, thank you for making that decision. Maybe you're in a place where you can think of God and say, my father, I'm good. I'm right with you. Thank you for that. How is God speaking to you? Maybe as I've been talking about the gospel and the saving gospel, maybe you said, I don't know how that applies to me. And Paul had to explain that to people. I think the gospel is simple enough. Children understand it, but sometimes an adult needs it explained. people in the Bible did. What does Jesus' death and resurrection have to do with me 2,000 years later? How can it save my soul? You know, there's a church just about full of people here who would love to show you that. Is there anybody who would like prayer for their soul or anybody here who would like to have a pastor talk to them or pray with them about salvation? If anyone's like that, if they just put up their hand quickly, I'd love to know that. I'd love to pray for you. Anybody like that? Is there anybody here who would say, you know, preacher, God spoke to me tonight. And I just want to surrender to what he showed me. I want to pray for you. Is there anybody here who would say that? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Why don't you just surrender? Praise the Lord for God working. Why don't you just surrender and say, God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for showing me. Thank you for that hand. Thank you. God, you've shown me this. Just give me the courage and strength to follow through. I love you.