Well, as some of you know, based off of last week, Pastor Ray has been out on vacation again this last week, and so he will not be preaching for us this morning. So I have the privilege of introducing our speaker to you, and I need to do that by way of a little story. So several years ago, I had this pastor who's going to be preaching for us. I keep trying to tell me, hey, I know this girl that you should meet. I have another pastor friend that he's over in Visalia, and he's got some young ladies in his church, and I think you really would like to meet them. And at that time, I was doing a lot of classes with Pastor Rich Jones from Tulare, and benefited a ton from these classes. But it seemed like when we'd have these classes, every once in a while, not super often, he would just remind me, hey, still have this young lady I think you should meet. Well, long story short, he and the pastor over in Visalia, a guy named Tim Allen, introduced Taylor and I to each other, and so the rest is history on that front. So this morning I have the privilege of introducing you to Rich Jones, senior pastor at Tulare-Evie Free Church, though he is trying to get out of full-time lead pastor work, and their church is in the process of trying to hire somebody else, and I don't want to steal his thunder, but A few months back, he was really sick with this virus and didn't know if Rich would be able to pull through this. But I'm sure it was the Italian in him and some of Sue punching him in the ribs saying, you better not give up. But I think this will be his first time preaching, right, Rich, since he's had the virus. So will you join me in welcoming this morning Rich Jones from Toledo UB Free. Thank you, Jim. That was a very gracious introduction. I appreciate that. Ray was going on vacation, so he asked if I knew anybody to preach. And I said, I might be able to do it if your church would not be offended by my youth. And he said, I think it'd be OK. So this is my first time preaching. I was very sick with COVID and was not sure. That was how the Lord was calling me home. But I think he left me here because I have a lot more work to do to get some more treasures in heaven. I was running a little bit low, so I'm here. It's hard when you come in just to preach one time in a church, because what is it that the church is thinking of? I know Ray's been doing a series on Daniel. I know Tim preached out of Hebrews last week. And so what I'm going to bring to you is a Christian brother talking to his Christian family. One of the privileges I've had is being a coach also as part of my ministry on the high school campuses where I have ministered. And so for 20 years, I was a high school coach. And then I retired from coaching football. But then my daughter is the PE teacher at Tulare Union, and she also does girls cross country and track. And so she asked if I'd come out of retirement. So for the last couple of years, I've been out there with the girls. And as I've been out there, I try to listen. I really do. I try to listen to what people are saying, because I'm looking for ways that I might be able to impact them for Jesus. as I've been listening to them, that's what's brought about the message that I'm going to bring to you this morning. When I first gave my life to Christ, the church that I started attending, they immediately put me in a you can witness class. And so in there they exposed me to the four spiritual laws. So we had to learn Some of you who are older like me probably remember that, the four spiritual laws, and so we had to learn how to present that, and then at the end you would help somebody receive Christ. Later on they taught me Billy Graham's steps of peace with God, and then later on through the Navigators I learned how to fly my flag for Jesus, and then I took classes and seminars, and I went to seminary, and I majored where I could major in apologetics, and knowing how to share my faith and defend my faith. In fact, in our denomination, the Evangelical Free Church, we offered for a period of time a training network that was called T-Net, and it was to teach people how to live out their faith in the church structure the church in such a way, so they had different tracks. For two years I was an evangelism track apprentice, and then for two years I taught the track on evangelism. And I'm very thankful for all those things, all those exposures, because as we've just been singing about, hopefully, because I have a hunger for Jesus, I know Jesus is calling his sheep to himself, I want to be used by Jesus to help people come to know him. And so that's why I spent all this time trying to learn on how to share my faith and defend my faith. And many of you have probably done the same thing. But sometimes in our classes, we teach some funny things, and we really do. A Scottish theologian, Sinclair Ferguson, remarks about his first exposure to evangelism training. He writes this, I owned my first evangelism manual when I was 16. I think I can still remember how it began. by reassuring me that I could witness to anybody. Thus the first page told me that I could even open up a conversation with a man who was casually walking his dog. Do you know how to do that, he asked. You go up to him and say, excuse me sir, but that is a fine dog you have. Did you know that dog is God spelled backwards? That's quite the approach, isn't it? That's quite the approach. Well, Ferguson goes on to write, but apart from other considerations, techniques like this are contrived and unnatural. In the early church, and here's where I want to take us this morning, it was Christians who were being asked questions. Their lives demanded explanation. Why were they so different? So they were asked questions. And that's what I want to point us to this morning. And I'm going to be like the Puritans. The Puritans were able to take one verse, and they were able to preach for years just on one verse. In fact, Robert Traill took one word, and he wrote a 700-page tome about it. I hope not to do that. But well, if you're true with me, it's 1 Peter 3, verse 15. It's a verse that, again, when we go through the navigator training, you have to memorize it. You realize that 1 Peter was written to a group of people who are being persecuted for their faith. They are struggling. And Peter's trying to encourage them in the midst of that to remember that they have been born by God into a living hope through an inheritance that's kept for them up in heaven. That's imperishable, it's undefiled, it will never go away. yet they still might have to suffer while they are here. And so in the midst of that Peter is telling them to be strong. And so in chapter 3 verse 15 Peter says, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason, for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect." And all my training was about me asking people questions. And I still think that's very important. But notice what Peter is saying, that there's something about these believers that's making people come and ask them about the hope that they have within them. Obviously the hope that they have within them is causing something to be different about them, about the way they live, about the way they approach life, about the way they talk, about the way they gather, the things that they pursue. There's something different that's causing such a stir that people are saying, hey, tell me about why your life is being lived like that. When's the last time you've had people come up to you and ask you about the hope that's in your life? That they see this living hope that's been given to us, graced by God in you, that's so transforming your life that people are asking you and asking me, hey Rich, what's going on? You don't respond to certain situations like the people around me. You seem to be doing things different. Why is that? The Apostle Paul in chapter 1 verses 3 through 5 of Colossians wrote these words, We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. And here's the reason why. Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. The hope laid up for you in heaven. There's something about our hope, there's something about where we place our eyes, where we place our perspective, something that empowers us to live. And what scripture tells us is that our hope is in the new heavens and earth. The earth is where our hope is. We recognize it. Peter even addresses this book to what? Aliens and exiles. We recognize that our citizenship is where? It's in heaven. That's where our hope lies, not in this earth. We recognize about this earth that's very fractured, isn't it? If you don't think it's fractured, as soon as you leave here, go drive on the road. It's very fractured. We just spent just the recent weeks celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection. At funerals and memorials that us pastors are graced to conduct, we use words like this, John 11, 25, 26, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? We share that to provide comfort. But notice where we're directing their attention. It's to the hope that's already theirs, undefiled, unfading, that's theirs in heaven because of what Christ has done. We also share these words. Let not your hearts be troubled. Why shouldn't your hearts be troubled? Jesus says, don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go, notice, I go and what? Prepare a place for you. And if I go and I prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that you, that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This caused commentator Edmund Clowney to write these words. Our hope is anchored in the past. Jesus rose. Our hope remains in the present. Jesus lives. Our hope is completed in the future. Jesus is coming. And holding on to that hope then dictates the way that we live. It dictates where we find our joy, where we put our energy, where we put our trust, what it is that we dream about and think about. In fact, the Apostle Paul, he understood so well that Jesus is not only the price for our salvation, Jesus is the prize of our salvation. And so Paul writes about himself and again back in Philippians chapter 3 verse 8, I count everything as loss, why? because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. There is no greater prize. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." Now notice how that will change the way that we live. The price is already ours in Christ. We have everything. He's the all-surpassing treasure. Remember Jesus, he told the parable, the man finds a pearl, a treasure in a field. What does he do? He goes and he buys that field. Why? Because he understands that the treasure is there and he wants it. Our treasure is Christ. We just celebrated that in the resurrection. We already have that. And he's up in heaven preparing a place for us. And he's telling us that that's where our hope resides. And the early Christians understood that, even in the midst of persecution. Thomas Chalmers, he was a Scottish preacher from the 19th century, and he preached a powerful sermon based on 1 John 2.15. And he entitled it, the expulsive, notice this, the expulsive power of a new affection. Don't you like that title? The expulsive power. That power that's going to change what we feel, and how we approach things, and how we think about things. And he writes these wonderful words. Our problem is that naturally our lives are guided and controlled by a love for the world. And what can we do? Resolve to do better? Try to convince ourselves that the world is not really so alluring after all? No. That is altogether incompetent and ineffectual. For nobody can dispose the heart of an old affection. but by the expulsive power of a new one. We will only change what we love when something proves itself to be more desirable to us than what we already love. I will then always love sin and the world until I truly sense that Christ is better." It's not just something that we say, it's something that empowers us to live. And so it changes the way that we talk. It changes the way that we think about others and approach others. It changes the way that we analyze what's taking place all around us, that we recognize that Christ is our price, and as our price, he is gifting us with a new heaven and a new earth. Until that time, we're called to remain faithful to him while we are here. Paul said, for I consider the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed at us. And now it used to be, when I first became a believer, it used to be that people talked about heaven a lot. I don't hear too many people talking about too much anymore. It's almost like we've gotten so fixated here on earth. Remember that old saying, you know, that person is too heavily minded to be any earthly good. Remember that? That's hogwash. You can never be too heavily minded. When you're too heavily minded, when you're heavily minded, what are you thinking about? You're thinking about your prize, Jesus Christ. And if you think about your prize, Jesus Christ, you're thinking about what brings honor and glory to your prize, Jesus Christ. His living a life that points towards Him. You can never be too heavily minded. Never. St. Clint Firth, remember, said that our lives need to be lived just like the early church, that they demand an explanation. Having Christ as our treasure and knowing Him. Because I know that you guys are a church that reads God's Word, you're very familiar with the story in Hebrews 10, 32 through 34, where it talks about how understanding, having this hope that drives us, lives itself out. In there, it's recorded for us, it says, but recall the former days, when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. Why? Since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. You see how they lived? See, some of the members of the church were being arrested. They had a choice. They can go underground or they can go minister to those brothers and sisters knowing that it might cost them something. And they're willing to have it cost them something because they knew they had a better possession that was coming. It's another way of saying the living hope. It's another way of saying the new heavens and earth. It's another way of saying with Christ for all eternity. They were willing to take that chance. It certainly would have caused people to ask questions, wouldn't it? Why are you doing that? Why are you doing that? You don't have to. You realize if you go visit them, you could be arrested. You realize if you go visit them, they could take your property. Questions were being asked of them. But why were they doing that? And then we're right back to what Peter's saying. Always be prepared to give an answer for those who ask you for the hope that you have within you. Let me share with you a little story. Sometimes we don't share stories about pastors. I think pastors, we got it all figured out. If you know us very well, you know right away we don't have it figured out. We're trying. Well, let me share with you about two pastors. And you tell me, there's something amiss in this story. You tell me what it is. It says, two men left home to plant a church. So we've got two men, they're leaving their house, they're leaving their home to plant a church in a city of need. The first one to arrive dreamed of a city reached for Jesus with the gospel. Through the first pastor, people came to know Jesus. Believers gathered and a community of Jesus followers was born. It was a slow work, but it was happening. His prayers were being answered. In time, he began to meet with the second one, and at the time, a church planter. So the first planter has been making progress. People are coming to know Christ. The church is growing. The second one had come, and he's struggling. So the first one is helping the second one. So to encourage the second pastor in his fledgling work, the old-timer and newcomer prayed for Jesus to reach the city. And through the newcomer, people came to know Jesus. Isn't that what they prayed for? They both prayed for it. Believers gathered and a community of Jesus followers was born. Ten years later, the one who had come first serves a pastor of an ordinary church. Its 200 plus members demonstrate the love of Jesus in ways that did not exist there ten years earlier. The newcomer who came second, pastors at Epic Church. Its thousands of members on multiple sites around the city demonstrate the love of Jesus in ways that did not exist there ten years earlier. The prayers of both men were answered. So why then is one of them sad? Why is one of them sad? Their prayer was that Jesus would be made known. God is using them to make Jesus known. But the one pastor is sad, because he sees he only has a church of 200 people in his mind, versus the pastor who has an epic church of thousands of people. He feels like he's a failure. And yet, what he prayed for, the Lord very graciously had answered. I bring that up because that's what sometimes happens to us With the gospel of Jesus, we have everything that we'd ever want, and yet we live sometimes like it's not enough. This pastor, the first pastor, had mixed together his love for Jesus, and I don't doubt he was a wonderful man, but he mixed it in with desiring significance and prestige in this world. and he wasn't getting that. He took his eyes off the prize that he already possesses, Jesus. He took his eyes off the living hope that's already secured for them in heaven. And instead of living for what he has in heaven, his eyes drifted back here to earth. And as he looked at what his other friend had, he said, I don't have what he has. I'm missing out on something. I need more. I want more. I want to be recognized as more, for more. We might use different language, but sometimes aren't we just like that? You remember when you first gave your life to Jesus, you said this, the most important thing in my life is living for Jesus. And nobody can stop you from doing that. And yet then we all get tied up with other things. That we want this. We want people to see us like this. And instead of living for the living hope that's already up for ours in heaven, we then develop the same type of outlook that those who don't know Christ have. We live for some of the same things. We live for I, me, my, and mine. Listen to these biting words from the other John Piper. But John, if you wrote this, that's great, you know. They're biting words, but listen to these words. The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. Name three. The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading scripture, and the other half singing about their pleasures in God, all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending 10 minutes reading scripture, and then half of their day making money, and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spent it on. Where is the person, Piper asked, where is the person whose heart is so passionately loved with the promised glory of heaven that he feels like an exile and sojourner on the earth? Where is that person? Where is the person who has so tasted the beauty of the age to come that the diamonds of the world look like trinkets and the entertainment of the world is empty and the moral causes of the world are too small because they have no view to eternity? Only one thing satisfies the heart whose treasure is in heaven, doing the works of heaven. So maybe you're asking, okay, Pastor Rich, we're listening to you say that, but how does that go back to what you're talking about, about witnessing? Well, I'm concerned for myself, my congregation, and for other Christians, that too few people are asking us about the hope that we have within us, because we're not living lives that are based upon that hope. We are still struggling to live for I, me, my, and mine. And maybe too much of the worldly value system resides within us that makes us so there's really nothing about our lives that's too different. Oh, we might do the outward religious thing. We go to church. We might even wear a band. It says WW, what would Jesus do on there? But when it comes to living different than the world. Let me be a little more pointed, if I can, before you chase me out of here. What would it be like if our witness revolved just around these two things? Just let me give you two. Because I'm thinking about it while I'm on school. And I do have a Facebook account. I don't hardly post anything. I'm only on there because it's a way for me to stalk the people of my church. I see what they're doing. That's why I'm on there. But two things. They're both from the book of Philippians. Okay, Philippians 2, 14 and 15 says this, do all things without grumbling, with grumbling or complaining or disputing, notice this, do all things without grumbling, complaining or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, and then I like this, among whom you shine as lights in the world. The second one would be Philippians 2.3, do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourself. So let me make that a little more practical. I'm on the campus. I'm trying to be a light. I recognize that Jesus has let my light so shine before others that they see my good deeds and praise him in heaven. So I'm trying to teach a different. I'm trying to use my age as an advantage. All right, with the kids out there. I say, hey listen, I tell them, I'm a grandpa. I've got five grandchildren and I kind of live a life as a grandpa. And I said, and that means this, I won't yell at you as your coach. You're not going to find me yelling at you. In fact, as a grandpa, I'll let you do almost anything that you want. But here's the thing, I can make you a better athlete by showing you some things to do. It means I got to put you in some situations that are going to be painful and you have to push yourself. Or like a grandpa, you can just do nothing and I'll still love you and smile so the option and the choice is yours. So that's one of the ways that I start with them. So I've made a conscious decision that I really am going to treat them like a grandpa. So I don't yell at them. I don't do anything to try to discourage them. I'm not thinking that I'm trying to find my significance as a coach, whether they do good or don't do good. I want them to know that they are loved and that they are cared for. And so I tell them all the time, how many of you guys just enjoy running? I do, coach. Great. So it doesn't matter where you finish. because you're already getting the desire of your heart. You get to run. I can't run. I would love to be able to run. I'd love to show you how to get out of the starting blocks, but once I get down there, somebody's got to help me up. You guys get to get down on the blocks and get up. One of the areas I'm responsible for is the high jump. So after I showed them my three-inch vertical leap, I said, we're going to try to do something a little different. So they are, Coach, can you show us how to do that? I said, I would love to show you how to do it. I really would, but I can't show you how to do it. I can coach you in how to do it, especially when I'm trying to teach them how to get this bend in their back and get their body over the bar, you know. How do you do that, coach? Oh, gosh, oh! Well, not like that. But I'm trying to. And through that, because I'm trying to love them, I purposefully ask them questions about their lives. So I had one of my girls, she was really sad one day, and I said, what's wrong? So she goes, my boyfriend and I broke up. I said, well, tell me about it. So she started crying. So I let her tell me about the situation. So I just listened. I just listened to see why that relationship with her boyfriend was so important, why it caused her such angst. And I just said, you know, I'm sorry. You're having to go through that in life. There's nothing we can do really to escape pain. And relationships are very complicated. So we carried on this conversation. Well, I got to know her boyfriend. And he was a really nice guy. And I didn't do the Tim and the Taylor thing. But I got to see them talk, and now they're back together as boyfriend and girlfriend. And I get to talk to them in that way. Well, while I'm out there, I get to hear a lot of the other coaches. And so they're talking about things that are taking place in our culture right now. Mask, no mask. Get vaccinated, don't get vaccinated. Trump lovers, Trump haters. I mean, they're out there. Everybody's got an opinion about something, don't they? As I'm listening, I know some of these claim the name of Jesus, and it grieves me when I hear them engage in conversation that those who don't know Christ would engage in. When I hear them say, oh, man, if anybody likes Trump, that guy's an idiot. Well, what makes him an idiot? Remember, if I'm doing nothing out of self-submission or vacancy, but in humility, consider others better than myself, then I'm going to find out why that person really liked Trump, right? There's something that calls me. Somebody says, I love Trump. I'm going to find out why does that person really love Trump? I watch on Facebook, besides hearing out there, the way that Christians sometimes are not very graceful towards one another. How easy it is to follow the trap. You're an idiot. You're stupid. You can't even call yourself a Christian if you do that or believe like that. You see, if we were practicing like Philippians 2, 14-15, in verse 3, we wouldn't do it quite like that. We would still engage in conversation. We'd still be just as passionate. But we're trying to love our neighbor like we love ourselves. So we're going to listen to them. We're going to try to figure out why they're saying what they're saying. It's OK to put a little pebble in somebody's shoe to think something different. But I think for us, because we died to ourselves and we're learning what that is all the time, that we are those who recognize that we could be wrong about something unless it's exactly stated in God's Word. That my opinion about something, even if I think it's very informed, is just my opinion. And somebody can have a different opinion. So how do I show my love for that person? And how do I do it when somebody else comes and starts talking about that person, and they're making fun of that person, how do I make sure that I don't engage in that same type of activity? Even if I think what that person believes is wrong. You see, you and I have opportunities to live our lives in such a way that people are going to begin asking, hey, hey, hey, I notice that you don't engage in the gossip that's taking place around here. How come? Hey, I notice that you always seem to be friendly to everybody, even the guy that's the idiot or the gal that we think she doesn't know what she's talking about. You're always kind to them. Why is that? See, the church in America, the believers in America, yes, need to learn how to share their faith and how to answer questions about their faith, but they need to learn how to live out their faith and to live it in such a way. How many of us are willing to deny ourselves things for the sake of the kingdom? I mean, seriously, how many of us are willing to live a lower standard of life so that we have more finances in our hands to give to help the gospel go forth? A lot of times, if somebody asks you, say, listen, I know that you work at school, and I know they pay this much, but you live in this level of house. Why is that? You see, they're asking us questions. But if we're living just like the world, pursuing the same value systems of the world, nobody's going to ask us much about anything. especially about what we're doing for Christ. And so that's what I'm out there seeing. That's what I'm out there thinking about. Sure, I can answer. I can say, hey, do you know dog is God spelled backwards? I can do that. But I also want to live my life in such a way that they're asking me questions. And so now the girls, I've been with them for about six months. Now the girls are starting to ask me, hey, Jones, they call me Jones. Jones, what do you do for a living? Now I'm all, well tell him, hey, I'm a pastor. No, you're not. No, I really am. No, you're not. Okay, I have to tell my daughter. Tell him, honey, what do I do for a living? No, he is a pastor. You are a pastor? I am. I'm a pastor. I'm a pastor because I love Jesus Christ and I want to see people grow in their wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And I'm out here, and I can tell them that once they ask me a question. I'm out here because I love Jesus Christ. I love Jesus Christ more than I love track. I love Jesus Christ more than I like cross country. I definitely love Jesus Christ more than I do high jump. But I'm out there for Jesus. I realize that's That's who I represent. And I realize that I'm an alien in exile here. I don't expect this world to function very well. It's fractured. It's underneath sin. I expect it to be the way that it is. So I don't get too concerned when a political party goes in or out. Because I expect those who don't know Christ are not going to be making decisions that promote Christ. And I also know that our Lord Jesus said that He will never leave us. He's with us always, so no matter what transpires in this world, that's the promise, that's the hope that I hold on to. And that one day, and I thought it was gonna happen when I had COVID, I'm gonna be standing face to face with Him. And I hope I'm gonna hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I don't want to be like that joke, remember that guy that Moses was with him, and the guy died before he goes to heaven, and he sees and he gets there and there's clocks everywhere. And he said, what are all these clocks? And he says, the clocks represent how many times a person sins. So he says, you see that clock there for Abraham? It goes around us real slow, because you know Abraham's a good man. Elijah right there, it goes around real slow. So he starts telling about all these saints. And so he goes, oh, where's mine? He says, oh, we got it down in the basement. We're using it as a fan. I don't want to be that person. But I might be. I hope not. But just from a brother to my brother and sister, listen. I realize America's in trouble, has been for a long time, it really has. And if the church is going to carry out its role, then you and I got to remember that this world is not our home. We're only aliens and exiles, we're only passing through. We have a work to do while we're here. But this world is not our home, so we want to store up treasures where? In heaven, not here on earth. So we want to have a mindset that focuses on what's to come. One day you and I are going to have new bodies. I can't wait, can you? A new body that actually functions correctly. A new world in which we live, where there's not sin that hinders us anymore. Don't you look forward to that? I do, and that's what the Bible says. You have that. That hope has been gifted to us. by the Lord, because he gave us Jesus as our prize. So you guys that live here in Porterville, man, you have opportunities. Use that opportunity not only to share Christ, but live your life in such a way that people are asking you about your life, which points to Christ. One day when we're in heaven together, I'm not sure exactly how everything's going to work out there, you know, but maybe we'll be sitting on the back porch of one of our homes and we can tell some of the stories about how the other people are there in heaven and why. Because we lived our lives in such a way that God used them, opened up their hearts and minds to draw them unto himself. Can you think anything better? I can. Now again, as Tim mentioned earlier, you can leave here. I mean, you can go, eh, Tim, why'd you bring that guy over? My whole point is this. If you're hungry for Jesus, we want people to know Jesus. We want to proclaim Him. We want to tell others about Him. And we also want to live our life in such a way that it points to Him. So I just want to encourage you. If you're already doing that, praise God. But maybe you can get something out of here, you can take stock, say, hmm, is anybody asking me about the hope in my life? And if not, why not? What might I be doing that's hindering that? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal that, and then ask God to give you the grace and the strength you need to make some changes. Would you pray with me? Father, how many times have I been like that first pastor that I read the story? Sometimes I thought that I've been overlooked, not receiving the amount of pay I thought I should be paid, or the accolades that I thought that I wanted. When all those situations have occurred, Lord, I recognize that I was no longer living for you, but I was living for myself. If Jesus says, I'm called to love him more than life myself, that opportunity exists every moment of every day, not only for me, but for everyone in this room who knows Christ already. Nothing can hinder that. In fact, that should be our joy, whether we live in a nice home or do not, whether we have great vacations or we do not, whether we have extended education or we don't. The hope and the prize for us all is your son, Jesus. And I pray Heavenly Father that we would see Him as the all-surpassing treasure. That we would hold on to Him as the all-surpassing treasure. That would guide and direct the things that we do, the way that we think, the way that we speak. It would be all directed because we've been bought and purchased with the blood of Christ. Lord, I know in our church we pray this prayer that Paul recorded for us in Ephesians 3, that we would have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and deep and high is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, as something that's experienced, that we might be filled all the fullness of the measure of you. Lord, I pray that for the Hillside Evangelical Free Church. I pray for everyone who claims the name of Jesus, that your love, the love of Jesus, would so guide them and direct them, that they would see that there's nothing that this world offers that could ever compare to that. And so they would live their lives in such a way that it reflects that joy, that knowledge, that wonder. Lord, I pray for all of us that way. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to come here today. And again, Father, it's never about us. It's always about your son. And I pray again and thank you that he was not also the prize, but he was also the price of our salvation. May we never forget that. I pray and I'll ask this all in the precious and holy name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you.