I'm going to read for you here in a moment our passage. But there is so much in 2 John that I just can't wait to share with you, and it is a challenge to know things about a book and not share it with you. Today, I already told you the question we're going to look at is, why is there such a joy found in watching others walk in truth? Later on in the book, Lord willing, we'll look at, does truth and love have a codependent relationship? Many times people put truth and love against each other, and that's not the case at all. And what are some reasonable expectations for house guests? You know, we have more doors to our home than we've ever had before. If you don't know what I'm talking about, show up in a few weeks, all right? We'll look at that. We have more influences coming into our home, and what are some things that the Bible would tell us that ought to be a safeguard? And how do we watch our steps as we desire to walk in truth and love? How do we make this personal? That and maybe more questions we'll look at in 2 John. But before I read to you 2 John, I'm going to read the first four verses. But before I do, I want to talk to you about who the author is and the audience and the attitude or tone. For Greg, I'll say attitude because alliteration is next to godliness, he told me, all right? And so, who wrote it? Who's he writing it to? And then what is the tone or what is that we have from it? And that's something that you're going to get as you read it and understand it and you sit down with the author and hear him speak. So this is written towards the end of the first century. These are dark days for Christianity. There's Christians who are being threatened. It was fearful. Rome was clamping down upon Christianity. Nero, who had blamed Christians for economic problems in society, had executed Paul before this time. Paul, the one, if you will, a poster child for Christianity, had been executed. And so people lived in fear, but that was also a time of a purification in the church. It brought Christians closer to God, which always happens during times of persecution. When it means something to be Christian, it brings a purifying effect upon the church. And so when we read, we have some questions. So we'll put this slide up here, 1 John chapter number verses 1 through 4, and we get to this here, and it says, The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth." And I have to stop there before I get to these other statements about the truth that we're going to look at today and see how these statements about truth are causes of rejoicing for us when we watch other people walk in truth. But the very first verse, the best way to do Bible study is to ask questions of the text, right? If you don't understand something, it's better to read a few verses in the morning and to understand what you're reading than it is to read many chapters and skip over questions. And so we have questions here. The first one is, who is the elder? And so that's easy enough. It's at the top of your book. It says 2 John. It's a John, right? John wrote this book. And the language of 1 and 2 and 3 John, it will remind you of the language of the book of John, John of Zebedee, one of the disciples of Jesus, one of those original twelve. It's undisputed, primarily among Bible scholarship, that it was John that wrote this, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one that laid his head upon the chest of Christ, the one that Jesus entrusts his mother's care to. And he refers to himself as the elder here. not the office, I believe, but the age. He's in his mid-90s, all right? None of us are arguing that mid-90s is elderly, all right? So he's the elder. So many of his friends, Dr. Sisk would often say, I've lived so long, many of my friends wonder if I'm ever going to make it to heaven, all right? They went on before him. That's the way John is. So many of his friends have died a martyr's death by now, even decades ago, some of them And many of you, like myself, grew up around more senior citizens, more senior saints in your life than you do. You know, the reason now you don't have more older people around you is you are the older people, right? And when you're little, everybody's older. And then as you get older, you realize, you know, that really isn't that old, but I, if you think I struggle today, and I certainly do communicating, but my first 100 messages were at a senior citizens at Brent Haven Community Center where I preached, and I loved my time around older people. First time I read through a book of the Bible was I read every chapter on a Sunday to this lady, Verbal Collins, and when I got to the end of Matthew, I said, we're done, and she said, no, Sonny, we have a lot more books to go through, all right? And I appreciate that, and I tell you that because they add something into our lives, and some of us miss that a whole lot, and we look for that. In 2 John, we're going to get that. Read the book of 2 John with the words of an elderly, older person that had seen some stuff, who had lived some stuff. We know by this time it appears that he's limited by travel. At the end of the book, he's going to say, I really wish I could say this to you face to face. He's just not at a position where he gets to do that. There's a story that's told outside of Scriptures, but according to history, Jerome and others tell this, but they would bring John back to the church there in Ephesus that he had pastored, and they'd bring him in on a stretcher, and they would stand him up, and his message would be this, little children love one another. And they would say, do you have anything else you want to say? And he would say, little children love one another. They would say, why is that the message that you'd want to share? And he said, because it is the Lord's command, and if this alone is done, it is enough. As we get older, the lesser things in our lives become smaller, and we zone in on the things that really matter. I don't know if that story about him is true, but it's in the nature of what we read in the Scriptures, which is truth and love. love, and truth continually in 2 John. One of the disciples of Jesus, now in his mid-90s, is going to give us a little short book that is going to show us this beautiful relationship between truth and love, and our hearts will just explode with a greater appreciation for what truth does for our lives. So that's the first one. That's the easy one, right? Now, the next one here is this elect lady and her children. And so, we have examples in the Bible, Luke and Acts has a letter written to Theophilus, and then Philemon, I Timothy, Titus, those are letters written to a person. So, it would not be out of character for us to have a book for him to have written it to a mother of children. And so, here we could, but I don't believe that we do have that, the application would be the same. What I believe is happening here And what most seem to believe here is that John is writing a letter to a local church. He's referring to a lake lady in a metaphorical sense, speaking about the church. And there's different things in the text that would give that, like he tells, he says, we should love one another, and that would be more fitting of a church than it is of an individual lady. And then also when it speaks about her children, at the end of it, it says, say hi to your mom and them. Some of you are looking at your Bible, it doesn't say that, all right? I want you to you. We had a Russian group in some months ago, and they said that was a common practice at the beginning of a service. Are there any greetings from other churches? And that's super cool, right, that they would stand up and they'd say, we're from Church Zone, so we send our greetings. That appears to be what's happening here. Dr. Sisk, that I've already mentioned because he is my oldest friend in life, and he tells me there was a time a bunch of us were gathered around and somebody asked him the question. They said, Dr. Sisk, he was in his mid-80s, Jeff, you probably remember this. They said, how do I make sure that I'm as sharp as you when I'm your age? And without hesitation, he looked at him and says, son, what makes you think you're as sharp as me right now, all right? And that's the case. And so even though I've told you that John is elderly, I don't want you to think that he's not sharp, but also more than that, it's through the work of the Holy Spirit that He's going to give us the words that we have here today. So that's audience and that's the author, but then we get to kind of the tone, and I just want to tell you that I've experienced this great joy as I've looked at this passage together. Yes, there's a warning, but there's just such great joy in that tone That elderly tone, I've seen some things, I've lived some things, and I want to tell you, love the truth. Love the people around you. Now, watch out for those people over there. Watch out for those lies, but love the truth. And I wish I could just embrace you right now. Some of you know that tone because you had that in your life. You've had somebody to speak in that loving way towards you. They loved you too much to not share the truth with you, right? And we see that. There is no love unless there is the expression of truth, and truth when it comes will always be felt as it will always be loving. And so that's our tone that we are looking at together. So hear that love in the truth, know that you're known by the truth. and we'll continue in that. So John, 2 John chapter number 4, the first statement here is, I rejoice greatly that I found thy children walking in truth as we have received the commandment from the Father. That's if you, yeah, if you'll bring, just keep that one up if you will, all right? And so, That's our passage there that we want to look at. I rejoice greatly that I have found the children walking in truth. And that's the moment that I just wanted to live in in this passage for a little bit. This is a moment that I've been thinking about so much over this last week together. And before I get on to four reasons that we rejoice when we see other people walk in truth, I just want to talk about rejoicing for a moment. It's a word that ought to be common among us as believers, but outside of us, it's not a word that you probably hear very often. And so I want to help you with this. John, the author of this book, wrote in the book of the gospel according to John, he writes about something he saw when he was in his probably his mid-20s, maybe his early 20s. And that's the story of this woman at the well that Jesus will meet. And that story has shaped my worldview. It helps me consider what is it that God really desires of us. Let me read this quote to you. Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy. There is no man who does not desire this, and each one desires it with such an earnestness that he prefers it to all other things. Whoever, in fact, desires other things, desires them for this end alone. Without exception, we all long for happiness. All agree that they want to be happy. They may all search for it in different ways, but all try their hardest to reach the same goal, and that is joy. a day in John when Jesus will sit down beside that woman at the well, John chapter number four. He sits down with that woman at the well and he sees her completely. And I would remind you that even though your sin would not be the same maybe as that woman, if Jesus was to sit down at a well with you, he would see to your heart and he would see the ways in which you are seeking joy outside of him and he would have a conversation with you. And so this underlying belief that right or wrong, what brings us happiness, what will satisfy our deepest desires, determine the life that we live. So what would be true about the woman at the well and true of anybody that sits down with Jesus is even though the different pursuits of joy would be different, He would know that everybody is pursuing joy and happiness. And it's in the pursuit of it that we either know God greater or we pursue lesser things in life. We'll put this slide up, and I want to say it like this, concerning the woman at the well, this quote here, or this statement. We don't just need to know the truth, but to embrace it until we feel what we're dying to feel, which is love. And this will lead to rejoicing in our lives. This woman that day, she wanted to have a conversation about where do we worship and all this. She had a theological discussion, but Jesus communicates the truth in such a way that she feels fully satisfied in all that she is looking for. And we find in this story that it leads to rejoicing. Jesus will say in verses 13 and 14 of John 4, he says that what you're coming for is just this well that would not satisfy, but I offer you a well of water springing up into everlasting life. That's what He offered her that day. And I don't know that woman, that Samaritan woman's understanding of Scriptures. It appears she had some from the discussion, but was she aware in Jeremiah about the twofold sin that all of us deal with, that one where we've committed two evils against the Lord, we have forsaken that fountain of living water, and we have hewn for ourselves, we've dug our own wells, these broken cisterns which can be dirty and polluted, but that spring of water, there's a contrast there. Jesus is good with His words, right? Jesus says words and they matter, and so He's saying, I'm offering you a spring that will come up that you can't mess up, that you can't pollute. I'm offering you a good news that surpasses all other bad news in your life. And when this woman, it's not just a small detail, but at the end of the story, it tells of this woman who gets that in her life, she leaves, and it says that she left that pot behind when she leaves rejoicing. She found something. And so that's what I want to talk to you about here just for a moment, about this stream of water, this cause of rejoicing, all right? And so I'm going to give you a list here, all right, of the different things. With that, you don't feel like you need to find each of those verses. We'll just look at the list here of the stream of water of rejoicing here. So there's five of them here, the first one being life eternal. In Luke 10, 20, it says, notwithstanding In this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." So that's a stream of water, rejoicing that is there. The next one is that God is near to us. In Philippians 4 it says, rejoicing the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. God hears and answers our prayers, John 16, 24. It says, "'Hitherto you've asked nothing in my name. Ask and you shall receive it, that your joy may be full.'" Scriptures, Psalm 19, 8, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, His faithfulness. Jeremiah 15, 16, joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I'm called by the name, O Lord, God of hosts. then another one here, and I could go on and on, and the list is much bigger than I even have to go on the screen here. But eternal life, God is near, God responds, the gift of Scripture, His faithfulness. But the one that we're looking at here today is, I rejoice greatly that I found thy children walking in truth. Seeing other people walk in truth is a great cause of rejoicing. That is that streaming water that can come out of you, and we need to rejoice. It isn't just something that feels good on a Sunday morning, but honestly, a lack of rejoicing over the things that God gives us to rejoice in is going to leave us looking for pleasures of this world that will not satisfy, but will only cause greater problems for us. And so, here we are, we look at them. Let me show you the first one here. The first one here, those who walk in the truth are able to experience true love. In our passage, it says, whom I love in the truth. Those that walk in the truth are able to experience true love. Every one of us in here, certainly parents, but all of us that are good friends, we want our friends and our kids experience great love. true love, right? They go through life and they experience that, and they're never going to know true love if they never know truth. So many people never experience real love because they never experience any kind of real truth. And so I rejoice when I see you walk in truth I rejoice when I see my children walk in truth because I know that if they walk in truth, they're gonna experience love the way in which God had designed for them to do that. We experience love that's defined by truth. This word love that we use, it gets thrown around different ways in our culture, right? You love football, you love barbecue, you love your home. Well, it depends on how they're playing, it depends who made it, it depends on some conditions, right? There's things that we love in this world that are based on conditions, there's factors. But the Bible here speaks about a love that is based upon an unchanging truth. So it needs a qualifier here, not the kind of love that you would just want to define to it. Because if I just say love, every one of you would apply a different type of definition to it. But I wanted you to know about love in the truth. that is more than natural, it's supernatural from God. Love and the truth has some wonderful companions that come along with it. When you find this type of love that is only possible through truth, you're going to find some things. That's verse 3, grace be with you, mercy and peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace. What do you want to be the defining characteristics of your relationship? If you were to say, what kind of life do I want for my children? What kind of life do I want for myself? What kind of relationships do I want to experience? Well, I would tell you these words, grace, peace, and love from the Father and from the Son are the kind of things that you want to define your relationships. And so John is telling us here that love plus truth equals an environment where grace, mercy, and peace will be with us. And so this is what I say about this first thing here. is that those who walk in truth are able to experience true love, which means when I see other people walking in truth, I rejoice because I know that they are going to experience true love, and that causes me to rejoice, which also tells me that when people aren't walking in truth, then they're not gonna experience true love, and they're gonna have to stop at well after well, just like that woman, because they're never going to find it outside of him. The second thing I wanna show you here is this. those who walk in truth get to know others who walk in truth. Simple thought, same verse there in verse number 1. And so it says here that, "...whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth." And so he's giving a greeting I love you guys in the truth, but I'm not only greeting you, but I'm greeting all those people that I've got to know as a result of the truth. I look out here today, and I cannot imagine my life without meeting all of you. I can't imagine what it was like to live without knowing also all those that have known the truth. You experience that. It is so wonderful. And so there's a knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus Christ, that produces this deep bond of love between all those that share it. Jesus, when questioned in Matthew chapter number 12 and verse 50, and they said, hey, your family's here, and He tells them, my brother and sisters are those that do the Father's will. Watching others in faithfulness reminds us that we're not alone in this journey, and it gives us strength to continue. I see people walking in truth, I rejoice because I know they won't walk alone. Wherever they're at, if you walk in truth, you're not gonna be alone. God's gonna bring people alongside of you that are also walking in truth. Last week, a few of us were in Connecticut at a church, and we just got to rejoice in them and what God had been doing there. And God is working in New England. I know some of us Southerners don't believe that, but it certainly is the case. And where the gospel's being preached, God's building His churches. And there's a family that we had known for some time, They were in a church, and the church was struggling to keep their doors open. And when the pastor went there, the candidate, he said, why are you in this church? And he said, I wouldn't go here, you know, as he was candidating. Probably not the thing you say when you're candidating the pastor at a church. And he said that to this couple, and they just said, we just feel that God wants a church in this community, and we're not ready to leave. We're just waiting. And so last Sunday, We've seen 15 people baptized. There's about 1,500 people worshiping the Lord. And I just got this glimpse where I looked at Miss Hunt, and I just thought, God has brought in your life all these things that you had prayed for. I was just so happy for her. We haven't had many conversations, but there was a moment, there was just this bond where I said, I'm walking in the truth with you. And as you've walked in the truth, I just wanna rejoice in what God has done. Those are special moments. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Some of you have no idea why I'm getting emotional right now, but I want to tell you that when you walk in truth, God will bring people beside you that are walking in truth, and that relationship is stronger than anything else this world has to offer. And the friendships in truth, they inspire us, and they motivate us on our walk. We're told to consider one another, think about one another, and we should provoke one another on the walk. As we're getting tired and we keep going, you doing right and serving the God motivates me. The Bible has many warnings that we will see about those that despise His Word. Psalm 1, don't walk or sit or stand with those that don't love Him, that mock Him. But the Bible also tells us, speaks of great joy of friendship in the truth. And this is one of those books that does that. The psalmist would tell us, behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is good, it's the right thing to do. It is pleasant, it's something that brings us great joy. Where those two things come together is where we want to spend our lives. The things that are good for us, given to us by God, they are the things that are going to give us great treasure. And so when I see people walking in truth, I rejoice because I know that they're going to meet some wonderful people on their path. Parents, we want our kids walking the truth, because as they walk in the truth, God will bring other truth walkers beside them, all right? And we can rejoice in that. Number three, the path to truth comes to us from our heavenly Father. In verse 4, it says, I rejoice greatly that I found thy children walking in truth, as we have received commandment from the Father. Not just any truth. We live in a day where people believe that truth is like you can get it anywhere. You can get it on Timu, or you can get it on Facebook Marketplace, or you can get it anywhere you want. There's off versions of truth, and that's not the case. There is no generic version of the truth. There's just the truth. It doesn't belong to us. We don't have our own personal rendition of it. But here, it's making sure you know the walking and the truth. What is the truth? As you have received as a commandment from the Father. that truth comes to us from God. So those we find walking in truth are following the path that God has created for us. He says, that I found. That's past tense. So evidently John is around town somewhere and he encounters some members of this church, the children of that elect lady, and when he does, he sees them and he observes their behavior. Recently, Stephanie and I had somebody come up to us and tell us how they were witnessing. They were a young teenager, and they were given one of those done books, Bo, and they had shared it with them. And they said, we told this teenager that you ought to find some Christians at your school. And this lady told us with tears in her eyes, she said, that kid came back to me the next week and said, I met this boy named Thatcher, and he was really Nice to me. Do you know what that does? To see your kids walk in the truth? It causes rejoicing. You know what rejoicing in my heart does? It caused me to not go seeking other forms of pleasure because my heart is too full for any of that. We see them walking in truth. And he says that. In some ways, it's a backhanded compliment because he says, we've heard some of you walking. It's the same. We've heard about some of you walking in truth, which doesn't mean that all of us have. I mean, some of them may have not been doing that. Not everyone is following those commandments. But time and time again in Scripture, when people ask to follow Jesus, He asks them, are you ready to follow the Father's commands? And that's how He demonstrates the love to them. The greatest commandment the Father gives is that we believe on the Son. Here, He found some people that were walking in a manner that was agreeable to the gospel, that was fitting of those that knew the gospel. First John 3.23, same author, the book before us said this, and this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. Since faith and love go together, this kind of decision is seen as obedience to a single command. We believe in the truth, and that creates love in our lives. So when I see people walking in truth, I know that they're following the path given by our Father and walked by His Son. I rejoice in it. I'm so grateful for it. I'm just so grateful for it in here. I'm gonna walk through every one of you by name here in a second. Just tell, no, I'm just kidding. Don't have the time for that, but I believe I could, and I'm grateful for it. As you walk in the truth, it's a great cause of rejoicing. Take time. What does it say? Take time and smell the flowers. I don't have time for that, but I do have time to stop and to look out here and say, there's some friends in here, some people that love the truth. And because of that, it's created a special love, but also it means that they are going to experience these things that God has for them. And then lastly here, those who walk in truth demonstrate the eternal abiding presence of truth in their lives. Verse 2 says, for the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, he shall be with us forever. Our walk testifies that the truth has found a home in us. Now, when you walk in the truth, it shows that not only are you united in the truth, but we're indwelt by the truth. Truth may be said to have taken up a permanent dwelling in our hearts for all those that love Jesus. So, if you would ask Jesus and the disciples in that day, how will people know that you're a disciple, a follower of me? And he would say that your walk is expressed in love for one another and truth, that the truth abides in you and it's lived out in our lives in a love for one another. You know, I told you that list earlier of different ways in which we rejoice in our lives, from rejoice about the Scripture given to us, rejoice in that He hears and answers prayer. Then we rejoice in seeing people walk in truth, and that's a sound of a stream in our lives that ought to be constantly playing. And one time, I thought it was a good idea. I like the sound of a fire, so I thought that would be a good idea. It's not a good idea, people. If that's your sound machine, get something different, all right? You don't need to be listening to a fire when you go to bed. It would be dangerous, all right? We have different sounds. You need a sound machine in your life for this wonderful stream of things that cause rejoicing. And I have just a playlist in my head of things that cause rejoicing. But one of them that I pray that just stays in there, Last Friday morning, we're with Greg and Grace in Connecticut. He wakes us up in the middle of the night. It takes me a moment to gather what he's saying. It's just, it's overwhelming. Lamar, so young in life and unexpected, but as we're there and they're trying to figure out things, Greg sits down and he says, my dad was ready for this. my dad had prepared me for this. It wasn't a rejoicing like you might expect of hands in the air and a worship service. It was just this confident faith that a young brother in Christ had because his dad had walked in truth And he said, that walk that my dad had, it means that there's something that was abiding in him that was eternal. And so when I see people walking in truth, I know that the love of God that abides in them today will be with them a thousand years from now. That brings me a great cause of rejoicing. It gave me great hope. And dads, let me just talk to you here for a second. There's a lot of things that we ought to do to prepare our family, but none of us had to go looking around Bibles when Lamar was little for some kind of inscription of when he became a believer. Nobody had to call a church and see if he made a decision at Vacation Bible School. Everybody that knew him knew that he loved Jesus. And so on that day, there was a son that with just a few words, he was able to rejoice because the truth was dwelling in his dad. And because of that, his dad will be with the truth for all eternity. So our review here. I rejoice when I see people walking in truth, one, because we know if they walk in truth, they're able to experience true love. They're not going to enjoy the love that God has for them in this world in relationships, most importantly with the Heavenly Father, if they reject the truth. Secondly, I rejoice because when you walk in truth, you get to know others who walk in the truth. It's a wonderful path. You may feel like you walk alone, but there are others that God at His timing will bring alongside of you. Stay on that path, all right? And the path to truth comes from us, from our Heavenly Father. Reminds you it's not doing right that puts us on the path. We enter into that path of obeying Him because He says, believe in the Son. And that's what He calls us to do. And those who walk in truth demonstrate an eternal abiding presence of truth in their lives. He gives comfort and hope and assurance that as you walk in the truth, that when you pass, that you are hidden in Him. So you and I, we live our lives for God's glory, but that doesn't mean that it's wrong that we want to live a life that causes other people to rejoice as we walk in the truth. Shane and I have lost our dads, and we were talking before the service, and Shane, I'll say this, man. I'll say, I want to live ultimately for the glory of God, but I don't think it's against God's nature or God's scripture for me to want to live a life that other people, when they see me walk out, they rejoice. I would like to make my dad proud. I like to live a life that would make people proud. And that's what John says, the way you're living, it makes me proud to see you walk in the truth. So let people know that. You're not taking anything away from that. So you walk for the glory of God, but it is making us so proud. Know some people who are walking in truth, you know what you need to do. You need to rejoice. Let me say that again. If you know that there's people that are walking in truth, one of that sustainable means of rejoicing in your life is to take time and to see that they're walking in truth and just rejoice. At the end of a hard week, when the numbers aren't coming together, when the calendar isn't coming together, and there's just a lot of things that aren't coming together, maybe your recipe for the meal didn't come together, everything's falling apart, you take a moment and say, I'm gonna rejoice right now, because I'm walking in truth, and those that I love are walking in truth. And as the woman at the well, you'll never experience love any greater or more personally than when you're rejoicing in truth. Rejoice in Jesus. Here in a moment we're going to sing, Man of Sorrows. He walked and He died and He rose again in truth. And all rejoicing starts there in the life of Jesus Christ, that He lived the perfect life, that He died for us. Church family, I want to call my Application for you today, and my invitation for you, is to find the great joy that is found in watching and helping other people walk in truth. It's a great thing. If you're struggling in your parenting, maybe reframe the way you're thinking about it. Are you helping your kids walk in truth? And if you are, rejoice in it. Is everything else going the way that it should? No. Maybe things aren't happening the way that you would like them to happen in your marriage and other relationships. And God gives us grace, but ask this, we're just going to walk in truth. That's all we can commit to. And at the end of the day, we're going to rejoice in that. Church family, I want to say thank you. you and here are a tremendous cause of rejoicing for me, because you walk in the truth and you know the truth. And a thousand years from now we will abide in the truth in the presence of our Savior. And if you don't know Him today, You don't know the truth. I want to invite you into the most loving relationship that you would ever know. It is available to you. And every Sunday morning at this time, we extend an invitation and say, let us show you from God's Word. Let us sit down at a well with you and let you see that that thing that you're searching for is never going to be found until you find the truth that is embodied by Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me? I'm gonna say a prayer to prayer, and then we're gonna spend some time singing as we leave here today. Heavenly Father, I want to just thank you, Father, for each one of these people. Lord, you know them by name. You know their stories. You know the day that they came into a relationship with you, and that every one of them in here, Lord, that as they walk in truth, Lord, you're telling us that they're a cause of rejoicing. And Father, as my brothers and sisters, they just take this moment and they get rid of some of the things in their life that have become distraction. They renew their commitment to rejoice in the things that are worthy of rejoicing. My Father, my prayer right now is for those in here that they don't have a time in which they have come to know the truth. I pray that the day would be the day of salvation. Father, you're so good. You're so loving. I want to thank you, Father, that in knowing the truth of Jesus Christ, I've experienced true love. Father, in knowing the truth, you've allowed me to meet some just absolutely wonderful people in life. And Father, the Holy Spirit now indwells that of a believer and has sealed us to that day of rejoicing. Father, your children, I pray you hear us now as we rejoice through song. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.