this morning already I'm thankful for thankful for what he's done in my life in this church I mean when you stop and think about what we've experienced here in a small relatively small church that was 18 18 baptisms this year And that's truly amazing to see God. You know, sometimes we wonder in a troubled world and in troubled times if God is kind of absent, but we see his glory so often and we experience it in sometimes small ways and sometimes big ways. I want you to think this morning as we go into this message. You know, it's been a great weekend for me. Friday night we had 24 of our men here from Freedom come out to First Baptist Church to worship together and to kick off our men's ministry. And so if you were a part of that Friday, thank you. And if you weren't able to be, but you are, Now, considering maybe joining that men's ministry, please know that it's not too late for that. We'll be kicking that off in September, and I'll be talking more about it, but I was just really encouraged to see that, and I'm praying for you ladies, because I know that God is already speaking to one of you about starting a woman's ministry. I don't know who it is, and I'm sure you're fighting it right now, as we often do, but You're going to give in, I have no doubt, and you're going to start that women's ministry. So if I'm speaking to you this morning, God's already told me that, and I just am confident that you're going to eventually commit to that service. So I'm excited to see what God does there. But we talk about God being a big God, and obviously he is. We say things like, we serve a big God, God is much bigger than our problems. We use those kind of words when we describe God. We sing songs like, How Great Thou Art, which I had Jeff do this morning for that reason, and How Great Is Our God is one of the praise songs I think that Marcus has done. King Solomon even said, But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built. So all throughout the Scriptures and in our songs, in our language, we talk about God in His immensity, in His majesty, in how big that He actually is. But my title today is, A Big God Over Little Things. Because as much as God is big and grand in the scheme of things, He's very much concerned about the small and minute details of things. So turn with me this morning, Mark chapter 6, This will be the last message in the sixth chapter of Mark. We spent some time looking at a lot of different things that occurred in this chapter. Mark chapter 6 verse 30 is where we'll be, just to kind of give you a summary if you weren't with us or if you don't remember. It started out in Mark chapter 6. He went home. He went back to Nazareth. And as he was there, he was trying to preach. He was trying to do many miracles there. But, guess what happens? Unbelief. Remember? It says he couldn't do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. And so we're encountered with that right off the bat in chapter 6. Then we moved into the story last week of Herod, and we saw his troubled conscience, and we saw that it was ultimately his conscience becoming more and more hardened towards the things of God that eventually led him into a state of eternal unbelief. And now today, we're going to see another situation where Jesus puts people in a position to exercise faith and they respond in unbelief. And that's really the theme of this chapter is you have the Messiah, this great big God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you ever could think or ask, and yet people respond to His presence and to His call with unbelief. Sound familiar? Because we all do it. We've all done it. Most of you will be familiar with this story. It's the only miracle other than the resurrection that you will see in every one of the Gospel accounts. It is the feeding of the 5,000. The multiplying of the fishes and the loaves. So look with me this morning. Mark chapter 6, verse 30. Let's go to the Lord in prayer before we start. Father, we thank you today for the opportunity to open your word and to see that God, in all of the bigness that is you, God, all of the grandeur and the majesty of the things that you've created, the oceans, the Grand Canyon, the universe, God, we look at those things and we feel so small and insignificant, yet you are God of all things, the smallest detail, every grain of sand, every hair on our head, every sparrow that falls, you have counted and numbered. And so Lord, help us today to realize that we're not insignificant in your sight, that we're not unimportant, that the small details in our lives that we're going through that may seem not worthy to bring to you, you care about. And God, most of all, that even though we may feel inadequate to serve and too small to be used, God, in your hands, you can do great things through us. So help us, Father, to hear your call today, to respond to whatever it is that you are pulling at us to do, whether it's to surrender our lives to you as Lord and Savior, whether it is to join in this body, to serve, whether it is to follow you in baptism, whether it is to rededicate our lives, God. You know each heart and each life, and so have your way. May you increase and may I decrease so that you would receive glory from everything we do here today. In Jesus' name, amen. We start out in verse 30 of chapter 6. with the apostles, it says, returning to Jesus. We hadn't talked about this in chapter 6, but He had sent them out, two by two, to go out and they were casting out demons and preaching the Word of God. And now we see them coming back, it says. They returned to Jesus and they were telling Him, All that they had done and taught, they were excited. They had just went out on a ministry tour, very successful, demons cast out, people becoming believers. They come back and they want to share all this information with Jesus. And verse 31 says, He said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going and they had no leisure. even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. And this isn't part of the message, but I would like to point out that there are always times in your spiritual life, even when things are going good and you want to see the momentum continue, where the best thing you can do is take a break and rest. Because busyness can be the biggest hindrance to your ministry that you will ever face. Because when you become fatigued, it's easy for sin to catch hold of you. It's easy for doubts to creep in. It's easy for just all kinds of emotions to run the gamut on you. So Jesus always gives us an example in His own life and with the disciples. He wasn't afraid to pull them away. He wasn't afraid to get them to a place of rest where they could just recharge their batteries. And so always keep that in mind. It's important for you, even in all of your busyness, even in all of the good things that come through serving, to take time for personal rest and refreshing with the Lord. You need that. We all need that. But that's another message in and of itself. I want to look at verse 34 today, where we'll pick up. He goes across in this boat. And he just wants to rest. He just wants to give the disciples time to sit down, collect their thoughts, grab a bite to eat. And look at verse 33. It says, Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. This is about an eight-mile jog. halfway around the Sea of Galilee. And they were in such a hurry. Now, we know that probably their motives were not completely pure. They wanted miracles, they wanted healing, they wanted Jesus to do mighty works among them. I won't go so far as to say that they were running around that lake just to be with Jesus necessarily. But they still had a desire to get to Him. And you know, we won't sometimes drive three blocks in the rain to come to church. And these guys were willing to run around the lake eight miles and ran so fast that they beat them there to wait on him. And so it goes back to your heart. Where is it? If you really want to be with Christ, you'll make the effort to get to where he's going to be, whether that's church, youth activities, children activities, men's meetings. At some point, you've got to ask yourself, is Jesus important enough for me to take the effort, whatever it is, to get into his presence? Because just sitting around and hoping that he's always going to show up and manifest isn't always enough. You have got to take that step to go. And when you take that step, he's already there waiting. But he wants you, again, to exercise the faith to go. And Jesus, they arrive on verse 34, he goes ashore, it says, and he saw a great crowd And He had compassion on them. Isn't that like our Lord? Isn't that just like Him? He sees this great crowd. He could have said, man, all I want is a break. All I want is to just sit down and eat and rest. We all feel like that. I've felt like that. You know, I'll be trying to sit down and someone will call and I'll think, I just need to rest, you know? But the Lord, in all of His care and love, He always put people before Himself. And He has compassion. You maybe said something like, I love you from the bottom of my heart, from the deepest part that is in me. That's what that word carries with it. It's the deepest sense of compassion and love. He looks at these people and there's no bitterness, there's no self-seeking in Himself. He has compassion on them. And may I tell you this morning that every one of you in this room, as He looks upon you, He has compassion for you. No matter what you've done, where you're at, how far you've strayed, the Lord looks upon you and offers compassion for your plight. If you'll recognize that and turn to Him, there is no doubt coming a day of judgment. If you stay in your sin, if you reject the Lord Jesus, you'll face Him one day as judge. The compassion will be passed and you will be found guilty eternally. But today, the Bible says, is the day of salvation. And as He speaks to your heart, as He convicts you of sin, as He draws you through the Holy Spirit, He is showing you the utmost love and compassion. As a sinner in desperate need of grace, He could easily have turned His back upon humanity and wiped us out long ago. but it was His grace that sent Christ to the cross. And it's His grace that continues to call sinners to repent and believe. And he looks at this crowd, it says in verse 34, and he has compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Now let me say this, the Bible talks a lot about us being sheep and the shepherd. The most beloved, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And all through the Bible, we see that terminology being used. And may I say to you this morning that if God calls us sheep, and He is our shepherd, without a shepherd this morning, you're in big trouble. There's no coincidence that God uses that language. He doesn't call us lions or some strong beast. We're sheep. And that's not really a good thing for us without Christ. Let me give you a couple of things about sheep that you may or may not know as I studied and read a little bit about this. Number one, sheep do dumb things. Sheep do dumb things because they're just not very smart. And I'm not belittling anybody on an intellectual level. That's not to say that everybody that's a follower of Christ intellectually has no sense. I'm saying our moral compass, the direction that we take in life, and especially towards spiritual things, is nowhere near where it should be. And as a result, we are constantly making bad choices, dumb decisions, and sinful moves in our life because sheep do dumb things. Let me read you, this is an actual news story that I found about sheep. I'm not sure the country exactly, oh it's near eastern Turkey. It said, hundreds of sheep followed their leader off a cliff in eastern Turkey, plunging to their deaths this week while shepherds looked on in dismay. 400 sheep fell 15 meters to their deaths in a ravine in Van province near Iran. But they broke the fall of the other 1,100 animals who did survive. Shepherds from a nearby village neglected the flock while eating breakfast, leaving the sheep to roam. The loss to local farmers was estimated at $74,000. You see one sheep strayed away, and the other 1,499 followed right off the cliff with him. They all went down, one after another, because sheep do dumb things. And number two, sheep are directionless. Left alone, they will stray and wander and go the wrong path. We sing in one of our older hymns that we do, one of the verses is, prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Those words still ring true today even though they were written, what Jeff, maybe 250 years ago or more. We are prone to wander because we are all like sheep, have gone astray, and every one of us has turned to his own way, Isaiah says. And number three, sheep are defenseless. They're defenseless. If you put a sheep in the wild, it's breakfast. Period. You know, it can't fight. It's slow and awkward. It can't run. It's not very intimidating. It's just done. And we in the world without Christ are sitting ducks. I mean, sin has its way with us. Temptations are too strong for us to overcome. We are pulled constantly in different directions. And most of all, we are without hope eternally if the shepherd of our souls is not there. And so sheep are in a bad place, and the Lord looks at these people with compassion, because He sees them in that plight. He sees them as sheep, wandering, defenseless, directionless, and He has compassion. He wants to be their shepherd. He wants to lead them in green pastures, so to speak. John 10-11, he said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He's laid down his life on the cross for any and everyone that will come to him. Is he your shepherd today? Are you following him? He saw this crowd, it says, and he wanted to provide. But like I said before, you're going to see an encounter here. an opportunity to exercise faith, and a response from the disciples of unbelief. Look with me at verse 35 and 36. They show up, he has compassion, he starts to teach them many things, it says. In verse 35 it says, when it grew late, here come the disciples. They come to him and said, this is a desolate place and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. Here we have the disciples. Now remember, they had just come back on a great ministry tour that was very successful. They had seen Jesus do every type of miracle imaginable, from calming the storms to healing the lepers. I mean, you name it, raising the dead. They had seen all this. So there was no denying that Christ was able. He was a big God. Right? I mean, there was no denying it at this point. And not only that, but He had sent them out with the same power upon them to cast out demons, to heal the sick, to preach the Word. They had experienced His power through themselves. And yet here we see them, they're hungry, They're tired. They're probably looking for some shelter, too. It's out in the middle of a desolate place, you know, and they're probably thinking, it's getting dark. We'd rather lay down somewhere comfortable. It's a lot of uncertainty facing where they're going to go that night. They're probably irritated and agitated at what's going on. And they say, let's move these people on. Let's, you know, take care of ourselves a little bit. We were supposed to rest. We were supposed to get a nap in this morning, Jesus. It didn't happen. We're tired. You know, let's think about us a little bit here. And I want to ask you some questions this morning to think about. Do you ever look at circumstances in your life and become afraid or filled with doubt? Do you look at family members and wonder if they'll ever be saved? Are you ever afraid to answer the phone because it might be another bill collector? Do you ever think about your life and wonder how many days you may have left? Do you ever look at the condition of the world and become fearful and wondering how it will turn out? What I'm asking you this morning is basically do you have fears? And the answer is yes. The answer is absolutely yes. We all have seasons of doubt. We all have fears that we face. But the question is really not do we have those things, but how do we respond when they come? Faith has got to be in the right object, or it means nothing. We've talked about that at length, not just in this series, but we just got done several messages about faith. And we've talked at length that your faith If it's not in Christ, it's sinking sand. If you're putting your faith in the church, your spouse, your pastor, anybody else, they are going to fail you. Then you're going to get upset at them, you're going to get agitated, and you should have saw it coming all along because your faith was in the wrong place to begin with. The only all-sufficient, solid, firm foundation to place your faith in is Christ alone. All other ground is sinking sand. That's not just the song, it's the truth. You have got to place your faith in Christ. Anything else leads to doubt. And we see that today. The disciples are going to look around at this situation, this circumstance and say, impossible, no way it can be handled. Let's just send them on and let them fend for themselves. And we do the same thing. We look at our situation, we look at our circumstances, and at times they're overwhelming, they're way too big for us to handle, and we forget about the great big God that's been with us, that's never left or forsaken us, that's always with us, that's done countless things in our lives in the past, but this time, it's too big for Him. This time, he can't handle it. This time, we're going to fall. This time, we're going to sink. Because doubt comes in, our faith is removed from Christ, our eyes are drawn to our circumstance, and it looks like it is overwhelming and impossible. And that's when doubt takes hold of us. But Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 and 7, the apostle Paul says, do not be anxious or do not worry about anything. That pretty much covers everything. But in everything He says by prayer, so don't panic, pray first of all. Don't panic, pray. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Thankful not only for what God's done in the past for you, but faith looks ahead and thanks God for what He's going to do. You know, I thank God when I come in here on Sunday morning for what He's going to do before I ever get up here. Because I'm expecting God to do something. Do you expect God to do things? Not because He's at your beck and call whenever you ask, but because He is able to do. Because He is able to do what you ask in faith, if you believe. If you believe, all things are possible to him that believeth, Jesus said. And so do you expect Him, Paul says, to ask By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God." And listen what happens. The peace of God. The peace of God. You can't be anxious and worried when God's peace is surrounding you. When it covers you, it's just a calm. It's just a calm. He says, the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And now here's where you're already thinking. Your mind's already going, your flesh is already responding to what I just said. You don't know my problems. Right? Isn't that what people say? And I'm not downplaying the seriousness of your situations. I'm not saying, you know, just blow it off, just suck it up, because, you know, God will get you through it. If God brought you to it, He'll get you through it. I'm not saying, you know, that your situations and your problems aren't warranted. And I'm not downplaying the seriousness of some of the things that you are facing in your lives. By no means would I belittle that. But what I am saying is you'll make objections in your life to ever even trusting God because you want to hold on to that problem as being bigger than Him. And your flesh will wrestle with you on that. And the devil loves to get you defeated to where you don't trust him. Your fears become so big. Think about when the spies went into the Promised Land, right? They were there and they were going to go in and spy out the land. And Joshua and Caleb came back and they said, we can do it. We can take it. God has promised us this land. We are going to go in. We are going to defeat these Canaanites and Amorites and all the other people there. And we're going to take the land that God has promised us. And what did the other ten say? They said they came back with a bad report and stirred up the people against Joshua and Caleb. They said, there's giants in the land. There are giants in the land and we are like grasshoppers. That was what they said. And they will squish us and crush us if we try to go in. And the people believed that account. They didn't take heart and remember that God had already given it to them. He had already laid it out. All they had to do was go. But they were afraid. And they reasoned and said, this is impossible. And their fear kept them from entering into the land that God had given them. And your fear and your doubts and your focus on circumstances will keep you from allowing God to work in the ways that He wants to do in your life. And here is where the test of faith really comes in. Look at verse 37 as Jesus goes on, speaks to them. In John's account, when we see, if we were to take all four of these accounts in the Gospels and lay them out, you'd get a big, you kind of fill in the details. Each author gives you a little bit of specific details. He looks at it from a different angle. So we know that this is Philip from John's account that is communicating here with Jesus. It doesn't say that in Mark. But in verse 37 it says, He answered them, You give them something to eat. You see that? 5,000. This is 5,000 men, mind you. Not people, men. Women and children above and beyond that. Some estimates as high as 20,000. Alright? That's how many people are standing here. And Jesus says, we're not going to send them away. Feed them. Feed them. That is a place that Jesus brought them to to exercise faith. And he's going to do that in your lives also. And maybe he's doing it now, maybe he's been doing it. He's going to bring you into places where you're not able. He's going to put you in situations that you can't handle. And he's going to say, go. He's going to say, do. And that's your opportunity. to see where your faith is. Is your faith in the great big God that's always seen you through? Or do you do what the disciples do? Look at this. Give them something to eat. And they said to him, this is sarcastic, if you can picture them speaking, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? A denarii was an average worker's day's wages. So that's eight months salary. He said, if we had enough money for eight months worth of working, we couldn't provide enough food for a crowd like this. Are you crazy? Jesus. Do you recognize, do you realize what you just said? And then he asked him again, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found, they find a small boy, and he has five loaves. Now, when I say loaves, it's more about the size of a biscuit, all right? That's basically what he's got, five biscuits and two sardines, to put it in perspective. Not that it would matter if it was big loaves of bread and two catfish like Jason catches. It's not going to feed 20,000 people. Period. Alright, so no matter what, this isn't looking good for them. And so, they look at the situation, and rather than saying, Jesus, with you all things are possible, they say, hey, we've got no money, we've got five biscuits and two sardines, this is still impossible. It's still impossible for us. And anytime that we put our eyes on the things around us that seem impossible and forget about who we're following, our response is always the same. And I believe that some of you here today have been in that place, are in that place, and are struggling because God has put you somewhere and asked you to go and do something, and you're still saying, God, we don't have the means, we don't have the ability, we don't have the direction. And your unbelief is keeping you from remembering all the things that God's already done in your life. And just trusting Him one more time. And just following Him one more time. Listen to what Peter says. I have no doubt that Peter, as he wrote his letter, remembered a lot of the things that Jesus had done while he was here on earth with them. 2 Peter 1, verses 1-4. He says, "...Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith..." Alright? "...a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of equal standing with ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. So that's important right there. Let me just stop for a minute and point something out to you. The reason why there was so much doubt with the disciples and the reason why you doubt sometimes is when it really boils down to it, we lose sight of the fact that Jesus isn't just a man that we read about in stories. He is God in the flesh, God incarnate, the second member of the Trinity. He's not just some guy that came and did some miracles and taught good lessons and went back home. He is God. And Peter drives that home in his introduction. Do you see what he said there? We have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness, look at how he addresses Jesus, of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was no doubt any longer to Peter that this was not just a man. He was divine in his nature. He was the God-man, Jesus Christ. He says, May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Here it is again. His divine power. Not our strength. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. having escaped the corruption that is in this world because of sinful desire. He says that God's power is at work around you and in you, and it's conforming you to the very image of Christ so that you may have a divine nature, not that you're going to become gods, but that your nature is being transformed and changed so that you live a godly life like Christ whom you serve. That's the lesson that Peter learned. He learned dependence upon Christ. He saw the resurrected Lord. He experienced the power in His life. And he never ever again had to question or wonder if God was able, if God was for him, if God was with him. And some of you, some of us, need to recognize that in all of our struggles, God is working, God is powerful, God is able, and He's calling you to exercise faith. Not because He likes to watch you squirm, but because He wants you to trust Him. He just wants you to trust Him. And unbelief has been a continual battle for you, and it will continue to be until you recognize the God whom you serve, and who is able to carry you through. You can't do it. Of course they couldn't feed 20,000 people. Of course they couldn't. All He wanted them to see was who was standing there that could. And they didn't see it. And look what happens. Verse 39, as we close, it says, Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. Again, isn't it amazing? Psalm 23, He maketh them to lie down in green pastures. He sits them down here in the green grass. Verse 40, So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and two fish, he looked up at heaven, said a blessing, and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. The Greek there, The wording is He kept on breaking and He kept on giving. It didn't stop. As many times as they came back with an empty basket, He filled it back up over and over and over again as He does in our lives with His grace and His love and His mercy. He keeps on extending it. He keeps on giving it over and over again. And He divided the two fish among them. Look at this. When they all ate, and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and a fish." How many disciples were there that specifically followed him? Twelve. He took up twelve baskets. Do you think that was a coincidence? Or do you think maybe that was just a little reminder to drive home the point? They doubted him. He said, hey dummies, not only do I feed twenty thousand, but here's a care package for you to take home tonight and just kind of remember what I did, what I can do. And now, the funny thing is, we won't get there, but he's going to walk on water a little bit later, and they're still scared to death. And if you were to look down at verse 52 of chapter 6, it says, For they did not understand about the loaves, because their hearts were hardened. You see, they still, they still were struggling with it. So I'm not going to pretend today that you're going to leave here and never doubt again, and that you're always going to exercise faith. But I hope that this message will kind of be like that care package of the loaves that he sent home with him. And that will pop up in your mind when you get into those seasons of doubt where God calls you, puts you in places that are too much for you. And you want to doubt and you want to say impossible. I hope that that still small voice of the Holy Spirit says that with God all things are possible to him that believes. I hope you'll hear that and I hope you'll believe that. So as we close, here's the application. The Lord is enough. The Lord is enough because He can take little things and do miracles with it. And that's good news for you and I. That is good news for us. That little boy when he set out that morning with the little lunch that his mom had packed him had no idea that it was going to feed thousands. He had a little lunch in a pocket or in his bag, and it fed thousands. And when you get up in the morning and set off on your day, you have no idea what God may do with your life if you'll place it in His hand and let Him use you. If you'll just let Him use you, Your little faith can move mountains if you'll let Him. Your little testimony can be used to save souls. Your little praise can give Him glory. Your little abilities can do wonderful things for the Kingdom of God. But when He calls, you've got to exercise that faith. So Jeff, as you come this morning, I just want to ask you, have you placed yourself in the Savior's hands? Have you placed your soul, first of all, in His hands? Do you really believe that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father except by Him? Have you turned from your sins and seen Him as the only sufficient Savior? to cleanse you and wash you. That's the first step. And then have you been following Him? Have you placed yourself in His hands to serve, to live like Him, to walk like Him? If you haven't, why not make that step today as we stand and as we sing? What is God challenging you to do? What is He calling you to do? The first thing He's calling is just trust. That's it. I'll answer the question. Trust. Have you done that? ♪ Pass me not, O gentle Savior ♪ Hear my humble cry ♪ While all others Thou art calling ♪ Do not pass me by Do you hear Him this morning? Do you need Him this morning? Bible says whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved you need him Let me at a throne of mercy Find a sweet relief Kneeling there in deep contrition Help my unbecoming Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry, While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by. You need to come this morning. As God calls, as He moves. He won't pass you by if you'll take that step of faith. Is God calling you this morning? My first step is the hardest. Will you step out by faith? Do you feel Him this morning? He's in this room, no doubt. He's in this place. Bow your heads for a moment as those that are praying. You know, Jacob wrestled with the angel all night long in the Old Testament. And he said he got to a place and he said, surely the presence of the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. What a shame to sit in church under the conviction of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit and to leave and say, you know, I felt that, but I didn't even recognize it was God in that place. Don't leave here today with the same fears, the same doubts, the same burden, and most of all, the same lost soul that you came in with. I mean, I don't know how else to ask you, but what in the world is more important than Jesus to you. What is the barrier, what is the thing that you are clinging on to so desperately? Let me tell you this, whatever it is that's so important to you, make no mistake and no doubt about it, death will separate you from that one day. You will be cut off from every precious thing that you think that this world has that's so important to you. And you will stand bare and empty before God with nothing but your profession of faith in Christ or your rejection of Christ. That's all that's going to matter one day. Is it worth your soul? Do you need to come this morning? Do you need to just surrender? As we close, pass me not, O gentle Savior. You may be seated as we have so is praying still. Church, just pray for a moment. Church, just pray. Just pray where you're at. More than life to me Who am I on earth beside thee? Come in heaven but Thee Savior, Savior Hear my humble cry Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Well, we've got more good news to rejoice about. Little Luke here, about, what was it, a week or two now since he went, he went to a camp, and I think Lori was a little apprehensive at the time, being, you know, kind of young, and he'd never been away, but she decided to listen to the Lord's calling there and sent him, and Luke made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ while he's there. He comes this morning rejoicing in that and also wanting to follow in obedience in the Lord's baptism. So next Sunday, we'll see, we'll get a date on that. As always, I want to give you a chance to come around, hug on this family. It's been amazing to see the way that God has worked in all of your lives, and he has truly blessed you. I was able to do the funeral for Mildred about a month or so now, it's been, and you know, I told them and I still say it, I don't know that I've ever seen a family that large have so many believers in it. And that is truly something to rejoice about because you don't always see that. And so you've been immensely blessed. I know that you don't need me to tell you that, but it's truly a joy to see. So I just would like to present Luke this morning upon his profession of faith. He will follow in obedience and be baptized, but all those in favor, let me know him by saying amen. Amen. All right, brother. We love you guys. I'm so proud of you, and we'll get you a Bible picked out and everything, and we'll go forward as soon as you're ready. So let's stand to our feet this morning. If you get a chance to come around, love on them, let them know how happy you are. And it's just been a great day to be in the Lord's house. Come back tonight at 6 if you're able. We'd love to have you. And Brother Mike Jordan, do you mind to close us out this morning, please?