And please take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 is where we will be spending some of our time. We have a little bit of Ground to cover, not too much, but that's okay, because it seems like we're always covering a lot of ground. But I was looking at this passage of scripture, and then in Acts, the book of Acts, the study book that we've been going through, we're on page 191, 191. And so when I was looking at this, and we talked about, Dad and I talked about me covering this portion of scripture. I didn't think there would be a lot to go over, but as you get studying it, and you begin to look at it, there's a lot of stuff that we can, truths that we can learn. And so we stopped at Acts chapter 20, and verse four, and so we'll continue, and we'll just cover this passage, Acts chapter 20, from verse four to 12. So if you're there, we'll begin reading Acts chapter 20, verse four. It says, and there accompanied him into Asia, Sophitar of Berea, And of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus, and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus, and Asia, and Tychicus, and Trophimus, these going before tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep, We'll keep an eye out for that, amen. And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead. And Paul went down and fell on him and embracing him said, trouble not yourselves for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. Lord, I pray that you would just meet with us here this evening. Lord, as we look into your word, I pray that you would just guide us. And Lord, just give us wisdom to apply what you would have us this evening, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. So as we look at this evening, Page 191 in our Acts book, we see that Paul's co-workers, number one, just the bottom third of the page, we have the main heading, Paul stops at Troas, and then we have Paul's co-workers. And so we're going to look at who were the men mentioned in Acts chapter 20, verse 4. And so one thing we notice as we go through the New Testament and we look through the Bible in general, there are so many different personalities that we see at work and we see at play. And sometimes I think in the Christian life, We get an idea of what a Christian should be, the ideal Christian should be, and characteristics of who we think they should be. And we think, you know, no one's a good Christian unless they fit that mold. They fit a certain personality type, and we can build those things in our mind, but as we look through the Bible, God used various personalities and various people, leadership styles and so on, to get his work accomplished. And that's one thing we have to be careful as we go into the ministry and we live this thing called the Christian life, that we follow truth and we follow those who God have placed in our life, not based upon personalities, not based upon whether we like the way they come across or not, but just understanding that there are different people that God uses throughout our life, and he wants to use them to accomplish his work. And just think about that, if everyone was like you. What kind of world would it be? If the church was just made up of a certain type of people, and if you fit these characteristics and this personality, then that's the only people that should come to church. And you say, well, that's ridiculous. Well, how often do we think that in our own mind when we are looking at who God uses, and we have to get past some of that thinking and get a proper view and understand that God uses different people. God uses different personalities, and he wants to use you. Sometimes we get that false sense of humility, oh, God could never use me, and oh, you know, who am I to be used of God, and we get that. Understand, God wants to use us. God wants to use everyone in this room who is saved. And if you're not saved, he wants you saved. And then as you are saved and you grow, God wants to use you. And he wants to use your specific personality and the specific gifts and talents that you have. God wants to use you. And so in Acts chapter 20, we see Paul had some coworkers. And understand that that the Christian life isn't a Lone Ranger deal. It isn't just go at it yourself and hope for the best. God has placed us into the church. God has placed us into the body so that we can help each other and that we can grow with each other and then reach out and win others and be effective and be a clear representation of Jesus Christ in this world. That's what God wants to do. Even though we look at Paul's life and we've been looking how God has used him throughout the book of Acts and how he was saved and his background and then how he was surrendered to the Lord, we see that God brought other people into his life to help him and to really further the cause of Christ. And that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. getting the gospel out there, reaching others with the gospel, and strengthening other believers so that we can grow and that we can glorify God in our lives. And so Paul, he had so much talent, he had so much education, but yet we see God used other people to help him accomplish God's will for his life. And that's one thing we need to understand is that God is gonna bring others into your life to help us grow and to move forward and we can't go it alone. We can't go it alone. This thing called the Christian life, this thing called life, God has given us people to help us grow. And we shouldn't push them away, we should embrace that fact and we should be open and we should be humble enough to let God bring other people into our lives to help us grow. And so as we look at Paul's life, he had co-workers, he had men that helped him accomplish God's will for his life, and in turn, he helped them accomplish God's will for their life. And so we're going to look at some of the men mentioned in Acts 20. Aristarchus, he was a member of the church at Thessalonica in Acts chapter 27, verse 2. We'll see him as we continue through the book of Acts. And he was caught with Gaius by a mob at Ephesus and taken to the theater in Acts chapter 19. We saw that last week. He accompanied Paul to Asia in Acts chapter 20, verse 4. We read that. He was a fellow prisoner at Rome. And just one of the things that would that would help us is just looking at these names that are mentioned and getting the meaning behind those names. And many times, we've heard this before, but many times parents would study their children and look at their characteristics as they would grow and then they would give them a permanent name. And so, not so in today's society, we just name the kid and hopefully they match up, you know. I think I would, if we still practice, I would probably change a few of my kids' names just based upon characteristics. Amen? But we won't do that. They have their names settled. But when we think of a name like Aristarchus, what does that mean? Well, it means an excellent ruler. An excellent ruler. And one of the things I think that would help us see the different personalities that God used is if we would go back and we would study their names and we would look at the characteristics behind those names. And so that was interesting and I didn't take the Time to go through all of these, but on page 191, Gaius means to rejoice. He was of the church at Derby, and he is mentioned four other times in Acts chapter 19, Romans 16, verse 23, and 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and then John called him the well-beloved in John chapter 3 or a third John and so we see that you know there is an excellent ruler and then you look at a man like Gaius he was probably one of those that was happy and he was he was a joy to be around and he was an encouragement So there you have an excellent ruler, one that was probably had things so, so, so, you know, this had to be in order, and that had to be in order, and everything was just laid out properly, and then you have those carefree personalities that are just a joy and encouragement to be around, and you may have people going through your mind right now, they may not be the most organized, they may not, you know, Yeah, and you just, they have a personality that draws people to them. And you just see that throughout the scripture. And so Aristarchus was an excellent ruler and Gaius was, his name meant to rejoice. And I'm sure he encouraged Paul and he was beloved of the other believers. And then you have secundus, all right, secundus. And by that, it means second. It means second. And so he was probably a man that was there to help and to just fill in wherever he needed to be and wherever the Apostle Paul needed him to help, that's where he flourished. And that's not a bad thing. There needs to be those that you have some that are, say, you have Sunday school teachers who are the main teachers, and then they have helpers that help them. And same with pastors, there's senior pastors and then there's those that are under them and help them as assistants. And it's not a demeaning thing to be second. It's not. If that's where God wants you to be, that's where you're gonna flourish. And that's what we should focus on. What does God want from us? And so, as we just do a quick study of those names, Sopitar, one who defends his father, or one who saved his father, we understand that You say, can it really be? But one who defends his father, he was a member of the church at Berea, and he was probably the same man mentioned in Romans chapter 16, who is called Sosipatar, alright? And so I'll let you study some of those out, alright? There was one thing I wanted to look at, but that's okay, we'll move on. All right, and then you have Tychicus, or Tychicus, and then you have all those different passages where he was mentioned and he helped Paul. And then you have Trophimus. Trophimus, he was with Paul when he was attacked by the Jews in Jerusalem, and that is coming up in Acts chapter 21. And so we see here, Trophimus, he means fit for nourishment, all right, or well-educated, well-educated. And so sometimes we look down on education or, you know, we're like the ruler that said, much learning doth make me mad. And we kind of downplay education, but God, we just see the different people that God used to help Paul spread the gospel. And it doesn't matter where we find ourselves, what kind of personality we are, we should see, We should every day ask God, Lord, how do you want me to help spread the gospel? Lord, if it means being second to someone, maybe just being a prayer partner, or if you want me to give a verbal witness, Lord, give me boldness to do that. Wherever we find ourselves every day, we should be seeking to fulfill the will of God. and spread the gospel. And those who are in full-time ministry, let me just encourage you to get behind them in prayer, and to uphold them, because the weight is great, and we see the burden that Paul had, and just the desire that he had to fulfill God's will for his life, and spreading the gospel, and starting churches. It was a great need, and the need hasn't lessened today. There's a great need today, and wherever we can help, and be co-laborers together with Christ. We need to focus on that. And don't let your shy personality hold you back from helping spread the gospel and helping those that are moving forward for the Lord. And in turn, you will be moving forward. And so, Trophimus, his name means well-educated, and he was with Paul when he was attacked. Trophimus is also mentioned in Paul's last epistle in 2 Timothy 4, verse 20, where it is said that he was left at Miletim, or Miletus, sick. All right, and so we see that even As you serve God and you move forward, you'll have health difficulties. You'll get the flu, but this gives more indication that it was a more serious illness that had taken him. And so he couldn't continue on in his journey. He had to wait there and get better. And that's one thing we need to understand, that we do have the flesh that we're dealing with, and there are gonna be times that we will get sick and have those difficulties. But Paul had many workers, Paul had many coworkers, people that would help him move forward. And I'm just gonna go through, the list here on page 192, and I would encourage you to study these out and to just look at their lives and trace them through the New Testament and see how God used them. Some don't, there's not a whole lot of information given throughout the scriptures, but yet God saw fit to record them in the scriptures. And I believe that it would help us as we move forward. But you have, Paul had many other coworkers, let her be, Apollos, he was a mighty Jewish preacher who often worked with Paul. You have Archippus, who was called a fellow soldier by Paul. Later, he was challenged to fulfill his ministry. And let's go to Colossians chapter four, Colossians chapter four, verse 17. Colossians chapter four, and here is the Apostle Paul just encouraging the believers in Colossians. He says in verse 17, and say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. Fulfill it, and so to accomplish it, do everything that God wants you to do. Hey, take heed, and we see the encouragement that Paul was giving to Archippus. Then we have Artemis, he was mentioned in In Titus chapter 3 verse 12, he was one of the men that Paul was planning to send to Crete to take the place of Titus. Then you have Barnabas. He accompanied Paul in the first missionary journey in Acts chapter 13. And then we have Demas. He was a helper of Paul at Rome. If you look at Colossians chapter 4 verse 14, Colossians chapter 4 verse 14, it says, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. And so we see here that Demas at one point in time, he was a faithful servant, he was a minister, and he was a helper of Paul. And then we see, let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10. And really, this should be a warning to all of us. And just a lesson in verse 10 of 2 Timothy 4, it says, hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica, Cretans to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. And so Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. And that should be a warning for us to guard our heart and to keep our focus because there's so many things that are out there to distract us. And as we move later on in this lesson, Lord willing, if the time slows down, which probably won't, but we'll look at putting God first and how we need to put God first. And if we focus on the wrong things and we focus on the things of this world and the cares of this world, if we're not careful, we're gonna let those pressures dictate how we live our life. And if we're not careful, we'll find ourselves loving the world and leaving the things of God behind. and really being a hindrance to the cause of Christ. And so Demas was a helper, but he left the ministry because of love for the world. And so we need to understand that, yes, even in Paul's day, when Paul had people helping him, that there were those who dropped out. There were those who were not faithful. There were those that forsook the call of God on their life. And one thing I was thinking about this afternoon as I was looking over this and meditating on it, that sometimes we find ourselves being shocked by those who drop out, by those who maybe leave church or those who don't continue on in the Word of God. I find myself shocked like that as well, but sometimes I think it's really not a shock if we would study the Word of God and we would see examples throughout the Word of God that even Paul had those who were not faithful who betrayed and forsook him. That, I believe, would help us if we became more biblically literate, and we would know what the word of God says, and we would study the word of God, because then those things happen to us, but then we would see, hey, those things happen throughout scripture, and they shouldn't surprise us. It saddens us, and it hurts us, but it shouldn't surprise us. There are those that will drop out. There are those that won't continue on. And Demas was one of those, and it should be a warning to all of us. And so, as we continue on here, Epaphras, he was a member of the Church of Colossae, and is called our dear fellow servant. And he was imprisoned with Paul in Rome, and that's really all we are. We're servants. The Bible tells us, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Amen. He took upon him the form of a servant. And that's how we need to be. Everything we do as we approach coming to church, we should understand, yes, we're coming here to get spiritually fed. We're coming here to grow in our faith. And that should be our focus. But we should never lose sight of the fact that as we come together and we meet here, that we are here to serve each other. and to help each other grow and to edify. And that word edify means to build up and to build each other up. And so when we come to church in our fellowship time, we should be focused on how can I be a blessing? How can I help others grow? And so that's, Epaphras was one of those. He was a dear fellow servant. And then Epaphroditus, he was a member of the church at Philippi. And then you have Erastus, and he was sent from Ephesus to Macedonia with Timothy. And then you have John Mark. Yes, he dropped out. Yes, he moved on, but yet he was reinstated and God used him. And then you have, we have quite the, right up on Luke. And then you have Anesimus. He was a runaway slave who Paul led to Christ in Rome. He became a useful co-worker with Paul. He is called a faithful and beloved brother. And then you have Silas. He accompanied Paul on the second missionary journey. And he was also mentioned as Silvanus. And so just as we, you have Timotheus, as we go to page number 194, and then you have Titus. He was mentioned 14 times and was the recipient of Paul's epistle to Titus. And so you have all those scriptures. We won't take the time. You have Zenos, he was a lawyer and fellow worker with Paul. And we see him in Titus chapter three, verse 13. And you say, can God use a lawyer? Yes, he can, amen. We have the word of God on it. And so, I just wanted to draw out the fact in those first couple pages that those are not just names. Those were people that God used, and you had God using a lawyer, God using a Pharisee like the Apostle Paul, and then you have God using Onesimus, who was a slave, and just different people. You had God using the disciples that came from different backgrounds, and it doesn't matter where we find ourselves socially, God wants to use us. and we need to be usable, and we need to be surrendered, and we may not understand why God wants to use us, but we need to be submitted to Him. And just those different names, I got an encouragement out of it, how that God can use anybody. God can use anybody. It doesn't matter if we're educated or not, or we come from a wealthy social status, if you will. God can use anyone, and we just need to be submitted. These men were submitted to him, and we're committed to helping Paul spread the gospel. And so what are some of the lessons? Some of the, what are some of the lessons? Some of the men worked with Paul throughout the course of his ministry. Such as Timothy, Luke, Silas, Titus, Erastus, Silas, Titicus, Trophimus. And so we find those men being used all the way through the Apostle Paul's life. But then other men helped him on a temporary basis. An example is Epaphroditus who brought the offering from Philippi to Paul. in Rome, and so we see that sometimes throughout the Christian life, there are those in our life that seem to have always been there. You know, I was only three when we came up and the church was started, and there just seems to be those that have always been, right? All right, they've always been there. I mean, and they've helped. And they've helped in the ministry here and they've been a blessing. And then there are those that have helped for a short time and then maybe God moved them or they moved on. And we see that sometimes you have those people that God uses just for a short time and then moves them on. And it's his business, and it's a great thing, but we should never take for granted those that are here, and that have been here for a long time, and that seem that, for lack of a better term, they're just part of the furniture, because they're always here. And we should never take each other for granted, because God has placed you and me in our lives to help us grow. and we should be seeking to help others grow. And so some men worked with Paul throughout the course of his ministry, and others were there just for a short time. And so each, number two, each worker was a member of one particular church. The Bible teaches church membership and accountability to one church. For example, if Epaphroditus was a member of the church at Philippi, And Epaphras was a member of the church at Colossae. And the men who ministered with Paul were appointed to this work by their churches. And so God's plan today is to work through the local church. You see that example throughout the Gospels. He gave the Great Commission to the church, the called-out assembly, the ecclesia there, and then throughout the Book of Acts, you see the apostles working through and establishing churches to spread the gospel because this is God's plan. This isn't a man-made organization. This is God's plan. The church is God's plan. And so we should never take that for granted. And so number three, the churches work together for the glory of Christ. The churches work together for the glory of Christ. And this is important to understand. This cannot be done on a wide scale today because of compromise and error in these last days. Even many Bible-believing churches have compromised with the world with things such as Christian rock and immodest dress. It is impossible for churches to work together unless they are like-minded in doctrine and practice. Amos 3.3, can two walk together lest they be agreed. But when churches are like-minded and can work together, more can be done for the cause of Christ in this manner. So we need to understand that we just, just because someone, I mentioned this, I may have mentioned this to the teen Sunday school, just because someone mentions that they're a Christian or says they're a Christian doesn't mean that they follow the Bible, that they follow Christ. That has become such a loose term today. And we need to make sure that we hold our biblical position strong and we stand on the word of God. And a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to someone and he said, another pastor, and he said, well, maybe we can get together and we can just go over things and see how we can reach people. And the problem was, I don't believe like he does. He's a Calvinist. And he told me straight out, yeah, I'm a Calvinist. And I have a problem with that doctrine. And we need to be discerning. And I said, well, you know, I'm probably not gonna sit down with you. I won't. Because we don't believe the same. And we need to be discerning. Just because someone says that they're Christian, it doesn't mean that we can yoke up with them. And we need to be discerning with that. And so, when we compromise, when we compromise, that brings confusion to the cause of Christ. because we say one thing, we say that we believe one doctrine and we yoke up with someone who doesn't hold to that doctrine and may hold to another doctrine, the lost world looks at that and says, which one is right? It confuses them, and it confuses weaker brothers and sisters in Christ, and people don't know which way to go. And that's where we need to be clear, and we need to be kind in our stand, but we need to stand. And we just can't yoke up with just anyone. And so, compromise leads to confusion. We need to make sure that we stand firm on the word of God. And so, number four, Paul trained the men who worked with him. In 2 Timothy 2, verse two, they learned doctrine through his teaching, and they learned practice from his example. They learned doctrine through his teaching, and they learned practice from his example. And that's one thing we need to do, even as fathers in our homes. We need to be teaching our own homes. We need to be in the word of God ourselves, and then imparting truth to our children, and then they need to see us living that out. They need to see that backed up in our daily life. What does Proverbs say? Hey, my son, give me thine heart, and then what? Observe my ways. And so not only do we need to be imparting truth, but we need to be that example even in our own homes, and then in our church, and then in our society, we need to be clear, and we need to be teaching others, and then they can look at us, and they say, hey, that matches up. Are we perfect? No. but we strive to move forward and we strive to do things right and biblically and we need to be seeking someone to help grow and we need to be, if you will, I'll use this word, mentoring others, those who are weak, trying to help them grow and trying to to help move them forward in their Christian life. And so that's what Paul did. Paul was always taking time to help others grow. And you see in the life of Timothy, just the fact that Paul took time to write two of those letters. We look at the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy, and we say, well, that's not a very big book compared to other scriptures. But let me ask you, when was the time you wrote a letter this long? You know, first Timothy, that would have taken some time and some care. And Paul was willing to stop and impart the truth, the wisdom that God had given him so that he could help Timothy. How much time do we take to help our own families grow? Do we take the time at all? And here Paul was wanting others to grow and he took the time. And so we need to take that time as well. They helped him start new churches and strengthen existing churches. For example, Titus was sent to Crete to organize the churches in Titus 1 verse 5. And then Timothy was sent to Ephesus to protect the church from false doctrine. Let's go to 1 Timothy since we're, I'm close there. 1 Timothy 1 verse 3, it says, And I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge them that they teach no other doctrine. And so these men were here to help And they were there to strengthen the churches. And that's what we need to do. We need to focus. Lord, how do you want me to help this church? How do you want me to help strengthen the believers and be a good testimony of the believer? And so they helped Paul start new churches. These were men of good Christian character and testimony. They are called faithful. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 21, Colossians chapter 1 verse 7. The exception was Demas who abandoned the ministry because he loved the world. But one thing that's not in your notes, but let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2, verse 7, it says, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. the husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding in all things." And so we need to look at some of these characteristics, and some of these characteristics of those faithful men are men who studied. Men who took the time and studied the Word of God and really sought to mine the depths of the riches of God's Word. And that's what we need to do as faithful men and just Christians in general. We need to study the Word of God. We need to study our Bibles more. I mean, the more I'm in ministry and you face different things in ministry, man, it just bears out the fact that, hey, I need to be in the Word of God more. And as I watch my children grow and they have questions, you know, I need to be in the Word of God more. It's one thing to just say, well, this is the way we've always done it. It's another thing to say, this is why we do it, because the Bible says so. And so we need to be able to give that answer, and we need to be studying. A mark of the faithful man is a man who studied, and then men who taught, and men who were disciplined in their life, and men of integrity. And so we need to ask ourselves, okay, am I one who studies? Am I one who can teach? And I'm not talking about Maybe standing up behind a pulpit or standing up in a Sunday school class. But I am talking about how you can drop alongside and you can share what God has taught you in the word. And you can teach others. And so, are you disciplined? It takes discipline to have a walk with God. Why? Because our flesh doesn't always want to walk with God. Our flesh is always gonna fight us. It takes discipline to say no to the world, to shut things out from the world, and that's a mark of being a faithful man, and that was just for free, as they say, but moving on. Paul at Troas, Paul at Troas in Acts chapter 20, verse six to 12, and time is flying by, all right? Paul at Troas. Acts chapter 20, I'll go back there real quick here. And I'll just bring out a fact and this will pretty much do it for this evening. Paul in Troas, verse 7 it says, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And so Paul at Troas, letter A, it was customary for the churches to meet on the first day of the week. This is the resurrection day. It is the first day of the new creation. And so one of the things I think we have missed in general Christianity, and if I'm not careful in my own life, I miss this quite a bit, and I've been going over a couple Sunday school lessons with the teens, but we need to get back to putting God first in our lives. We need to be putting God first in our life. And let's go to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. Familiar passage of scripture. Exodus chapter 20. It says in verse two, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And what do we find in Christianity? We are so quick to put other things in front of spiritual things. The spiritual things, the spiritual knowledge, we're so quick to crowd that out for the temporal things of this world. And it's really hindering us spiritually and it's holding us back. And so we need to be careful and we need to put God back in his proper place. God needs to be first in our life. God needs every day we get up, our flesh is going to jump at us and going to want us to do other things and the world is going to tell us we need to do other things, but we just need to stop and we need to remember the first commandment. Hey, thou should have no other gods before me. And so, what are those other gods? Matthew Henry says, makes a comment on this, defining other gods, it means to love, to desire, to delight in, or to expect any good from any sinful indulgence is prohibited. Equally, we are not to allow any person or created thing, however valuable or excellent, to rival God in our affections. All atheism, infidelity, and irreligion is opposition to God, an attempt to be independent of Him. The proud man is his own idol because he worships himself and expects others to do the same. The covetous man makes a god of his wealth, which he loves, depends upon, and expects happiness from him. And so, we need to get back to putting God first in our life. And one thing you see in Paul's life, above everything else, and those that helped him save Ademus, That's where Demas got in trouble is when he got his eyes on other things, but Paul and those around him focused on putting God first and what God wanted from them. And that's what we should be doing. Every day when we get up, and I know it's hard to do, and we got so many different things begging for our attention, but we need to put God first. above our job, above our family, we need to put God first in doing what He wants for our life. And so as we move forward and seek to do the will of God, it starts with putting God first. Putting God first. Colossians 1.18, what? That in all things He might have preeminence. What does that word preeminence mean? It means first place. We put God at the top. Is God at the top in our lives? Is God at the top in our lives? That's a principle we find throughout the Bible and throughout early church history. And that's why we meet on the first day of the week, Sunday, because it's giving God the very best. That's why we give God the tithe, the first fruits. because it's His, and He deserves it. That in all things, all things, He might have preeminence. Is God first in your life? That's where He should be, and that's where He wants to be, and that's where we should put Him.