I'll be mentioning Cyrus, who was the king of Persia, and the Lord used Cyrus, though he was a wicked man, used him so that Israel could go back to the land and even help fund the rebuilding of the temple. And it's probably with that in view that Psalm 126 is written. and this is page 613 if you're using your blue pew bibles. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing shall, and the emphasis here in the original is shall doubtless, shall surely, shall indeed, shall most definitely come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1, page 1177 in your pew Bibles. This is Paul as the Apostle Paul is writing to this young minister who was his intern, we would say. And now he's giving very specific directions about what's to happen in worship. And he says, first of all then, 1 Timothy 2 and verse 1, page 1,177, first of all, that could be above all else. Then I urge that supplications, which is a specific prayer request, prayers, which is a more general prayer request, intercessions, you're praying for things people ask you to pray for, and thanksgivings be made for all people. And that's by the order of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords through the Apostle Paul. And then page 1170 in your pew Bible or the Book of Colossians. Colossae was in the modern-day Turkey, then Asia Minor. Colossians chapter 3 and verses 12 to 15, this is page 1170 in your Pew Bible. Colossians 3, 12 to 15, put on then, and keep putting on is the idea, keep dressing yourself in, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." Then chapter 4 and verse 2. just so you don't miss the point here, Colossians 4 and verse 2, same page, continues steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the word of our God does stand forever, to which you respond by saying together, hallelujah and thanks be to God. Our Lord, we give you praise and we tell your mighty deeds. You are the God who has chosen in Zion to dwell. Lord, we also sing of him to whom justice and vengeance belong, who visits the lowly and overthrows wrong. And Lord is not a small part of the message this morning. We pray that we would rejoice in the way you are visiting the lowly, overthrowing wrong, and giving the justice for which we have prayed, and showing your mighty deeds. We pray in the mighty name of that one who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jesus Christ, confirming that we desire to be heard as we say together, amen. Please be seated. Turning your Bibles to be the middle of your Bibles, Psalm 92. So if you're using your pew Bibles and you're not quite sure where it is, just go right to the middle and you'll be in the area of the Psalms, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalm 92. And while I'm only going to read part of Psalm 92, I strongly suggest that you read all of it today. It was the one we're supposed to use for preparation for worship, but I think you'll find far more even than we'll be extracting from the first part of the psalm and the message today. Psalm 92 and verses 1 through 5. This is a psalm, a song for the Sabbath, what we would know of as the Lord's Day today. It's meant especially for worship. It's good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands I sing for joy thus far the reading of the word of the living God. One of our Haven inmates, who has been a blessing to us, though most of you have never met him, is Arthur Tomlinson. Arthur is the one from whose letters we get the Haven heart to heart. We have a little intermission there. Arthur's been ill with the flu, and we're a little bit behind in Haven heart to heart. But those devotional messages come not only from his pen, but from the heart of a man that God wonderfully saved by his grace when he was incarcerated some years ago. And you talk about a man that knows about the grace of God and Arthur Tomlinson does. And Arthur is known for asking very penetrating questions. And one evening on the phone on a Wednesday night when he called, he said, Bill, what do you think the main mark of a gospel-centered life is? That's not the usual thing you talk about when you're at Walmart or stop and shop, right? What do you think the main mark of a gospel-centered life is? And of course they said, well, it's to boast in Christ. And he says, yeah, that's kind of a given. But he said, Bill, I suggest that it's thankfulness. It's interesting that the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1 in verse 21, it's kind of an aside, but it's a pregnant aside. When he talks about how people don't glorify God as God, he says, neither were they thankful. You want a really, really scary thought? It's the last day. When all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, Christ is there. He's God. And we're all to give an account to Him. Now, how you parse that is an interesting question, but at least an account for our lives. Could you imagine being before the God who gave you every single breath, who gave you every penny in your pocket? who gave you every morsel of food that you eat, who caused your body to work such that you could digest that food, who gave you the bodily system so that you could see, so that you can hear, so that you can walk, so you can talk. And every moment, every moment, there's a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ who upholds all things by his powerful word. Every moment, from your conception till the separation of your soul from your body called death, are you giving an account? And there's not been one word of thanks to God for what he's given. I would suggest to you, you would consign yourself to a billion hells for consummate ungratefulness. Neither were they thankful. The mark of a gospel-centered life is Thanksgiving, and I think Arthur had it right. A big part of our lives is Thanksgiving, and we learned even today that our own doctrinal standard to which we would adhere in accordance with the scriptures says there are to be thanksgivings upon special occasions, which probably means special thanksgiving upon special occasions, because we're always to be thankful to the Lord. And this week, this past week, was one of those weeks. We were, and John and Mary, we missed you both last week. But Lou and Donna and Gabby, who's not here, what a blessing that even when our own accompanist, our inimitable accompanist could not be here, that the Lord provided someone else to assist us in our worship and also promoting the fellowship of the saints that we have. We're not independents, folks. We're part of a larger body, and we have concentric circles, but the nearest one's a Presbyterian. Praise the Lord, we had that privilege last week. And there was something, I was sitting up here at the front, there was something very electric about our worship last week, and Pastor David's sermon about the gospel, our Sunday school class. I mean, it was really quite a Lord's Day. And so we kind of launched on that Sunday. What I want to deal with this week though is three waves that came in after that, a couple on Monday, and then another that came in very late Tuesday night. And if we're to have special thanks on special occasions, this is really a week for it. And I don't put any pages for notes. In fact, I don't want you to take notes. I just want you to soak this in. I'll try to make it memorable so you don't fall asleep. But what I want you to do is be with me now as you think of you're on a beach, and it's the Lord's Beach, and there's three beautiful waves that come in full of things that should make you thankful. Wave number one came in early on Monday morning. And you'll notice how the scriptures couple together prayer and thanksgiving. Why? Well, you pray for things, and there's something called the return of prayers, God answers prayer, and we're meant to thank the Lord for things, right? So prayer and thanksgiving together. And we and so many others had prayed for the release of hostages in Gaza, wherever they were, We've prayed for a ceasefire in the Middle East. We're concerned for the Middle East in so many ways, because you see the conflict again of Jew and Gentile, and it's a conflict that will only really be resolved by the Gospel, but at least in an external way, we've prayed for peace. Monday morning, the announcement of a ceasefire, and the beginning of the release of hostages. What a way to wake up on a Monday morning. Thank you, Lord. And then a particular interest to those of us who are Orthodox Presbyterians, We have an offering in November about which we pray regularly called the Thank Offering and it's a way of augmenting the giving that comes to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church every year and it's a very important giving because it supports our combined efforts of home missions and foreign missions and Christian education about which we pray regularly. And it had been just a couple weeks earlier that we had had as our guest at our Zoom prayer meeting, Al Tricarico, who's our Home Mission's Associate General Secretary. He works with Jeremiah Montgomery in overseeing church planting work, like the Haven, in different parts of the United States. And it was a very rich, very intense prayer meeting. Because as Al Tricarico mentioned, he said, this is unprecedented. We have so many requests for church planters. I'm hoping there'll be another one from Long Island in about a year. We have so many requests for church planters. And we have church planters that want to serve, although we always need more. But even though we have reserves, it's going to stretch them way beyond. And we and others had prayed that the Lord would provide funding Not only for that need, but for increasing, you know, the economy affects churches, folks. The inflation rates have affected that, and so it affects, does affect cost of home missions work, and home missionaries, and publication costs for, even I'm struck with how much that's gone up. And we have a publishing company, and foreign missions, imagine how much that costs. And he said, please pray for a generous outpouring at the thank offering. And so Monday morning, As I mentioned at the prayer meeting, we got word that the giving to the thank offering last year, and they have a couple of other weeks that they allow it to come in the new year, while there was a goal of $1,600,000, There was over $1,855,000 given just for the thank offering, augmenting giving, which stunned everyone, of almost $6 million for worldwide outreach. And so now there's not more than enough, but there's enough. for all of these church planters to go out into the world. So see, prayer and thanksgiving, and it was, I guess, because we benefited as a mission church, and as a church planter, I benefited. I feel particularly warm toward that. But what a blessing that that came, especially at a time economically where giving has gone down to many charitable organizations. So that was Monday, Monday morning. And then Monday at midday, and I really don't need my notes, I've been working all this, I'll find out where it is at one point, but Monday at midday. And it was the inauguration of a new president. Now, I don't want to be misunderstood in anything I'm going to say right now. God is not a Republican and God is not a Democrat. God uses people of all different political persuasions to accomplish his purposes. And we must never, ever forget that. And we must never equate any political candidate with a Messiah. And don't say people won't do that, because they will. So we're not talking about party. We're not talking about politicians. But brothers and sisters, there are policies. and there are principles. And policies and principles, regardless of party, can either line up with or work contrary to what the Word of God says, even for the restraint of iniquity in a culture. Now this is a vast topic. But please don't say that the Word of God doesn't want us to speak to political issues. How you fund medical care? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. The Bible doesn't really speak to it. Do you help people in retirement? How do you do it? The Bible doesn't speak to that issue, at least specifically for the government. Tariffs or no tariffs? I have personal views on it. The Bible doesn't speak to it. And neither should any minister speak to that. But there are other issues where the Word of God speaks very clearly. particularly in those things that God has ordained for people as people, what we call creation ordinances. We'll mention some of them in a moment. And when any party, any politician, opposes those creation ordinances, or promotes platforms that do the same, the Commonwealth, society, is endangered. irrespective of party. That, in many ways, was the course that our nation was pursuing over the last four years, under whoever was leading our government. And you're well aware, as information comes out, and there'll be more of it, that it probably was not the previous president who was pulling the strings in this culture. There were vested interests that had their own personal desires that they were going to see done. And I assure you that if many of those had gone forward, we would be among the category that the Old Testament speaks of, of nations that vomited out their inhabitants. That's how serious some of these issues are. So I'm not talking about a party, and I'm not talking about a platform, I'm not talking about, but I'm talking about policy. Politicians. Midday on Monday I reflected on the Old Testament character Cyrus. And I think in many ways the current president is very much like Cyrus. Cyrus led the Persian government. Very interesting figure, incidentally. He's regarded in history as probably one of the most effective government administrators. He was not a good guy, but he was an excellent administrator. And he was a tremendous politician. He knew how to reach out to different groups. And among them, he reached out to the exiled Jews who were in, previously, Babylon. they were in exile. Not only did Cyrus, who was not a good guy, not only did Cyrus work so that the Jews could go back to the land and he helped fund them, God called Cyrus not only my servant, he called him my shepherd. God used that, as you want to do, aren't you thankful that God uses crooked sticks to cut straight paths? He uses crooked sticks, and we all are that, to cut straight paths. And I think that on Monday at noon, there was a Cyrus that was inaugurated. Not necessarily a good man. Definitely a good administrator. Definitely a good politician. And I suggest to you in specific ways a shepherd. Wave number two began actually a little bit before noon. The inauguration in that hour was not really the highlight for me, although it was fascinating, especially Carrie Underwood singing America the Beautiful with no musical accompaniment. Wow. It was what happened about two minutes of 12 that I think was the highlight of that day. Franklin Graham is recognized as a religious leader Who is truly one who is as the Bible puts it? He is one who has nothing against him. He's must be he's pure. He's a good man. He's not scandal-ridden his organization Samaritan's Purse very highly rated one of the reasons we're allowed to support it. It's very highly rated for its integrity And it was a blessing that that man was chosen to lead the inaugural prayer And I urge you to listen to that and make that your prayer. It was beautifully done, magnificently done. But the high point of it was this. At the very end, without embarrassment, he prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen. And brothers and sisters, that doesn't make us a Christian nation. But at least for a moment, it made us do exactly what the scripture says will be done. Before him, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that he's Lord. You see that, folks? It's something for which you say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And then on that day, some of the events, it's tragic. But you have to have an executive order declaring the fact that there's just two genders, male and female. And I guarantee you, and we probably won't be around to see it, but in 25 years, people are going to look back on this and say, are you kidding? You needed an executive order to say men are male and female. Yeah, we did. We did. A statement, quite frankly, that represents, as an executive order, the Lord himself, who, in the beginning, made them male and female. And the systematic, organized attempt to try to erode that would have, and will, if it's pursued, it will have a way of destroying a culture like nothing else. Thank you, Lord. for an executive order declaring your own order. The whole issue of how you deal with immigration is a very difficult one. And it's one of those where, in the scriptures, we are to be lovers of the stranger. And quite frankly, most of us, in one way or another, if you go back far enough, come from immigrant backgrounds. And so we appreciate a nation that received immigrants, as you read in the Statue of Liberty, giving your tired, your poor, your hungry masses yearning to be free. That's not the same as allowing gangs and criminals and all kinds of nefarious individuals into a country without being vetted. And that's not a political position, folks. The magistrate is given the sword as a way to restrain any evil, not to encourage it, as had been done over the past few years. We're told to live peaceable and godly lives in all reverence. You don't live a peaceable, let alone godly life. if in your neighborhoods are gangs who believe they have a right to take over your house and harm you. We pray there won't be excesses in rounding up criminals who are not to be here and sending them back to their countries. That's a legitimate exercise of the sword. And had that not been stopped, who knows what would have happened and what will happen in many places where that's tolerated. So that was also something for which we say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And you pray. You pray, again, for protection of people who are innocent. Are there going to be mistakes? Are there going to be abuses of power? Yes, there will be. But the principle is not thrown out by bad practice at points, OK? So that's another one that's so important. At the time that President Trump was inaugurated, though we weren't aware of this at the time, this is amazing, the Department of Health and Human Services that's supposed to promote and protect the health of our country. The order was to take down the webpage that provided information for women to know how to abort their children, which is killing a child, which is infanticide. And while there was not a platform, as we wish there had been, in that party that stood against infanticide, there was a statement made that we're not going to promote this. And it was specifically for, in the Old Testament, the nations that sacrificed their little children for their own prosperity's sake. It was of those nations, God said, the nation vomits out their inhabitants. Thank you, Lord. And brothers and sisters, God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, no pleasure in the death of anyone. And it's not a sign, please don't call it a sign, But I do think it's symbolic that at just about the time the man who would be inaugurated as the new president took his seat, the Lord took the life of a woman who'd led Planned Parenthood for many years and presided over the death of millions of children. Sign, no, don't call it a sign. But I couldn't get away from the idea that this was God saying, there's at least a reprieve to a generation of death and the beginning of, I hope, a little more respect for life. Thank you, Lord. And we pray continually for the changes that will come so that people will see what they ought to see from sonograms. We're not dealing with fetal tissue. You're dealing with a human being. And so we pray that in the course of human events, as we go on, that people see the obvious from sonograms. You're not dealing with fetal tissue. You're not dealing with a mass of cells. You're dealing with the termination of a human life. Anyway. Now let me just make one other comment about religion, but then there's many other things. And again, there's many others politically. You may say, thank you, Lord, and pray about things. I can't speak to them in the pulpit because the Bible doesn't speak to them. But politically, I think many of you will be pleased. Let me just comment on DEI for a moment. This is a bugbear for me as a pastor. Diversity, equity, inclusion. When the Christian church is not doing what it ought to be doing and being what it ought to be, the state will counterfeit that good thing and try to put it in the civil realm. Maybe that's the best construction you can put on it, but that is at least what's in view with DEI diversity, equity, and inclusion. Brothers and sisters, DEI needs to be in the church. In this sense, diversity, the whole idea that evangelicals promoted for many years, the homogeneous people principle. People don't like to be with those that are different than they are. So appeal in your church plant to just one particular niche. Uh-uh. Diversity. We may not say it, but we really make sure that we favor the people in our midst that have got a lot of money because we can't do what we do without their money. Damn that. Equity. Poor, rich, black, white, slave, free. Brothers and sisters in Christ. inclusion, no second-class citizens in the church. One of the things the younger generation is looking for, I'll refer to this in the Sunday school class in a different context, younger generation quite frankly is kind of tired of just hearing us talk. They want to see it. They want to see it worked out. legitimate DEI in the church. the way it's meant to be by the gospel. See, the gospel does, folks, the gospel does what the civil government can't do, the gospel does what the United Nations can't do, okay, the gospel does what no political party can do. All right, so that's some of those things. Thank you, thank you, Lord. And we do need to pray, and we need to pray that there not be government overreach. Our president has a lot of power, a lot of authority. And power can corrupt, and power can corrupt absolutely, so we pray. Let that not happen. We pray for courts. There will be a lot of constitutional challenges to things. That's always the case. Pray that courts judge righteous judgment in what's done. And then above all this, pray that God change human hearts so that they resonate with these kinds of things Not first because it's from a politician, but because it comes from grace. Grace making new hearts. But Monday, praise the Lord. And thank you, thank you Lord. Well those are two waves. The huge wave came in Tuesday night. I've got to be careful how I say this, or I could get charged before my presbytery, and I think I could defend myself. But brothers and sisters, I do believe that the relationship of a pastor and his people, when a pastor loves his people and gives himself to his people, there is something that's almost like a mental telepathy. I don't know how to describe it, but it comes. It was Tuesday night at 10.55, and let me give you some background to Tuesday night at 10.55. Back almost eight years ago, I think it's eight years ago this March, Then, Pastor Jonathan Shishko and I had made a trip up to Napanoc, where our brother Arthur Tomlinson is now. A prison. Why do we do that? Well, I was a regional home missionary at the time, and Margaret and I were worshipping in Queens, where our son Jonathan was pastor at the time. And a black lady was there, and she was sitting at the front. And you know, Margaret and I, I think sometime we got maybe our skin colored and quite right. You know, we love to be with our black brothers and sisters. We love amening and hallelujah, and we enjoy it in an orderly way, of course, as Presbyterians. And the black lady was there. We sat with her and got to know her after worship. And I said, what's your name? My name's Kim. And what brought you to Reformation Press? And she said, oh, my husband told me to come to Reformation Presbyterian. Okay, that's fine. And how did your husband hear about Reformation Presbyterian Church? Well, she says, my husband listens to the radio a lot, and he heard this preacher whose last name is Shishko doing a radio program. And he said, you really ought to go to this church that's pastored by this guy. Shishko is not a common name, so you can check it rather quickly. And she said, I live in Fresh Meadows, and I looked up and lo and behold, there's this Shishko who's pastoring this church in Queens. So I came here today. I said, oh, that's quite interesting. And she said, my husband said, that's really, we ought to go to church. Of course, by this time, I'm wondering where the husband is. And I said, oh, that's interesting. And I said, I think the one your husband was listening to is the father. of the one you heard preach this morning, namely me. Oh, and she says, oh, you're a shishko too. And so we talked about the radio program, A Visit to the Pastor's Study, which was part of my work as regional home missionary, and I heard all about how her husband had listened to this program that came on every Saturday at 12 o'clock, and urged other people to listen to it, and so on, and so on, and so on. My husband, my husband, my husband. So finally, I popped the question. Oh, curiosity, where's your husband? Oh, he's in prison. Well, you know, as a pastor, nothing shocks you anymore. Oh, that's interesting. And we got to know him. Anyway, that's what began ministry to Darren Emanuel. And the first time we went up to visit him, then he was at the prison where Arthur Tomlinson is, and that's how Arthur heard about us, which is another story. And in God's amazing providence, in his thank you, Lord, I find that the chaplain for Darren, was a man who had graduated from the same seminary that I had attended, a Korean man. And he said, oh, you're Pastor Shishko. He said, I took one of your classes. It was actually another situation there at the seminary. But he said, I remember you. And so that was cool. A man with Reformed convictions, Presbyterian, was ministering to Darren Emanuel. And Jonathan was meeting with him, and I did. And the chaplain took me aside. This is very important. He said, you know, in prisons there's a revival in every prison. There's a lot of phonies. I've done enough work in prisons that you don't have to convince me. He said, this man is not a phony. Darren Emanuel is the genuine art. That's what got us on the way to Darren being received into membership at Reformation Presbyterian Church in Queens. We followed a pattern of another OPC that works with inmates. And then eventually transferring here because Jonathan had moved on and I was Darren's pastor. And you know about Darren, really, right from the beginning. We prayed for him, and we've prayed for him regularly, prayed for his wife, Kim. And for all I know, Kim, you're probably watching this. Two and a half years ago, Darren comes up for parole. Darren's crime was a crime of passion. He turned himself in, didn't have to have a warrant for his arrest, he turned himself in. He was told by the judge that he had to serve 20 years minimum, but on good behavior he could be released. His behavior has been without spot. Not only in prison did God take the formal Christian background Darren had had from the Roman Catholic Church and turn it into a vibrant, genuine faith in Christ. But God formed a man of meekness, of gentleness, of patience, of kindness, such that, and this is a story in itself, he became the poster child, not only for the prison in Nappanoag, but where he is now in Fishkill, in the Fishkill Correctional Facility. He's a model prisoner, which is probably one of the reasons he wasn't released two and a half years ago, and why he wasn't released a year and a half ago, why he wasn't released a year ago. I have to admit, brothers and sisters, my faith, I didn't know what to say to Kim and Darren. We wanted him to be released. He should be released. You give him the reasons for that. He's got a wife. He's got a mother-in-law who's in her mid-90s, late 90s. And Darren is a man of principle and wants to care for his wife and his mother. Also a very gifted guy. We want to use his gifts. And I confess that I was so encouraged that he would get released. You think, wow, we work on the parole packet, we have help for this, and there's no reason why he shouldn't be released on parole, but he wasn't. And it was devastating for all of us. Early January, Darren has another meeting with the parole board. And none of us wanted to say very much because we didn't want to get our hopes up and be devastated. Thank the Lord we had a legal team. I hope you get to meet them as time goes on to help. Our officers worked on and revised and revised and revised the parole release packet that would help. We tried to do everything we could. Darren met with the parole board. It would actually be three weeks from this coming Tuesday. How did it go? Darren's exact words when we spoke the Friday afterwards, Bill, if I'm released, it'll be a miracle. He said where we had to meet was a very cold room on a very cold day. I think it's cold here. It's colder when you go that far north. Metal bench, no coat. And he said my teeth were chattering. And I got called in to meet with the parole board. Thankfully, it was a different parole board. And he said, Bill, for 30 minutes I was grilled. One lady just made me go back over and over and over and over and over again to the crime. Was I really remorseful? Darren said, Bill, I didn't know what to say. I was that cold and numb. The other one spoke as if she herself were the victim. And all it brought back were the horrible thoughts of my crime. And then the other one actually was a black pastor. Didn't say anything. But he said, Bill, if I'm released, it's a miracle. Tuesday night, 10.55 PM. I'm in the process of texting Kim Emanuel. Have you heard anything about phone rings? And it's Kim. Bill. Darren's coming home on March 4th. He was released on her birthday. All I could say was, let me tell you folks, I shouted like a Pentecostal. Ask Margaret. I probably woke up our neighbors. I was that loud. My voice can get very loud. And all that, going to bed was hard to sleep. Woke up in the middle of the night, all I could think of was, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And then it was, Lord, what do we have to do when he gets out? But thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And that was the genesis of the sermon today. Because that's what this week has been, folks. Now, there's a lot coming up March 4th. However, remember, you pray and thank the Lord. I want to give you an example of, you can call this sadistic behavior or maladministration. There have been cases of men who've been released from prison, for all I know maybe women as well. They've got the letter saying parole. What's the parole date? And they are called back into the prison being told, oh, we made a mistake. That's not common. And we're going to work with the legal team to be sure that that kind of snafu doesn't come. But it isn't common. But brothers and sisters, we still need to pray that on March 4th, your birthday, we can proclaim liberty to captives. And as we've arranged, we're already making arrangements for people to be up in Kim's Fine with this family and Havenites who want to be there to celebrate when Darren gets out of prison, there's a diner nearby, we'll make arrangements for a lunch. But it's going to be a celebration, really, because God answered prayer, and it's thank you Lord. And then on March 9th, we're already planning a celebration here with, I hope, representatives of the Presbyterian, I hope representatives from Suffolk County, and of course Darren and Kim, and perhaps Kim's mom, she can make it. But that is going to be a real celebration. I'm probably going to be preaching on the prodigal son, who was in the far country, far country of New York state prisons. And he comes back to the house, and what do you do? You have a feast. And we're going to do the same. Thank you, Lord. See, brothers and sisters, and I'm not taking away from the book of Ephesians. This is not the book of Ephesians, and it's a topical message. But Psalm 92, it's good to give thanks to the Lord. The text, the text is here. Read it, listen to it again. In Psalm 92. It's good to give thanks to the Lord. To sing praise to your name, O Most High, as we've done and as we'll do. To declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night. And you've heard of this. To the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre, stringed instruments like a piano. For you, Lord, have made me glad by your work, at the works of your hands. I sing for joy. Do you? There are really special days like this in church life. And brothers and sisters, you can follow a church calendar or whatever, but you never take the place of just responding when God has given you waves and waves and waves of thank you, Lord, as he's done this week. Now, let me end this way. I want to remind you again of the seriousness of the last day when thanklessness, if it's the only sin, thanklessness is the sin by which we would consign ourselves to hell. Don't be in that category. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for my life. Thank you, Lord, that Jesus comes to give new life. Thank you that I'm in the midst of an environment where I hear about new life. Thank you for faith to believe in Christ, to turn from my sin and believe in him. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Is that your life? At the end of the day, that's the Christian life. Please don't be among those of whom it said, neither were they thankful. And my favorite illustration, I tried to get these magnets for all of you, but I did not succeed, but I'll still work on it. But my favorite magnet on our refrigerator, a little girl in front of her bed, And these are the words. Dear Lord, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's all. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord. We ask that you would work and provide, now that there are the funds, Provide the shepherds after your heart so that these funds will be used. Please preserve the ceasefire in the Middle East and may hostages continue to be released. Please continue, Lord, to work in the current administration. Protect them, save them, use them, we pray, to the end that their policies will line up with the principles and policies of your own word. And work in everything connected with our brother Darren's release from parole. Lord, may we And we know it's rare, but we pray that there would not be any snafus, that we might rejoice as he leaves the prison on March 4th and leaves the state property as a prodigal son in the far country of New York state prisons, who is returned to the house of his father. Thank you, Lord. Amen.