Amen. Guys, can y'all turn me up a little bit, or are we about maxed out on this thing? We maxed out. I'll tell you what, let's do this. Actually, can y'all hear me okay? Yeah, all right, we're good, we're good. Mark chapter number six. I'm about equal to behind these speakers, so I don't know how I sound out there, so you guys just use your own discernment, okay? That's up a little high. There, back me off, there we go. Mark chapter number six. When you get to Mark chapter 6, if you'll stand in honor and reverence of the Word of God. I remind our church from time to time, the reason we stand when we openly proclaim the Scripture is a tradition. We find it in the book of Ezra. And you're nor right nor wrong if a preacher does different things. I just do it. It was a practice they did in the Old Testament. And I like to do it here. I believe it just signifies that we give the Bible preeminence in our church. And we believe it's the most important aspect of the service. Mark chapter number 6, verse number 1, the Bible says this, And he went out from thence, and came into his own country, We would know that to be Nazareth. And his disciples followed him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? Or if I could say it in our terms today, where in the world did he get the power to do what he's doing? the Bible says, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence or where hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? and they were offended at Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and he healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. Now when you find that Jesus marveled, there's going to be two places in the Bible. He's going to marvel at a Roman centurion because he tells him, there is no greater faith in Israel except that I've sown you. So in other words, we can say it like this, in a place where there shouldn't have been no faith, you're a Roman, you're a Gentile, I found faith. And he marveled. And then he comes to his own family, a place where there should have been faith, but there was no faith. And he marveled. My question for us today is this, and this has nothing to do with my message, but while I'm here, I'm going to say this. What does Jesus marvel at with you? Your lack of faith or your great faith? Let's continue reading. The Bible says this, and he went around about the villages teaching. Lord, we love you. Lord, I'm so thankful to be back in your house. God, I ask that you'd help us now as we preach. Lord, I ask God that you would, Lord, just get me behind the cross. God, fill me. Lord, with Your Spirit, help me to yield to You, and God, that I would not lean upon my own understanding, but Lord, that I would trust You, and God, if there's something that I should not say today, God, that You'd prompt my heart and my mind, and Lord, I ask God that You'd give me liberty, give me authority, Lord, to preach what thus saith the Lord, and God, that Your Bible, Lord, Your Word would do what only it can do. Lord, we'll praise You for it. In Your name we pray. Amen. You can be seated. Thank you for standing. How many of you know this? Sometimes we have children that ask difficult questions. Y'all ever had a child ask you a difficult question? Mine have. And there are times, to be honest with you, I don't know how to answer them. But they ask good questions, they ask difficult questions. And one day, a young girl asked her parents, she asked them, where do human beings come from? It's funny, me and my family, we was in Raleigh yesterday, and we were at the Museum of Natural History, and I'm gonna pick on my son, but we got to the section that had to do with human origin, and the first thing that pops up is 65 billion years ago, and every museum tells you different, every science book tells you different, and the first thing that come out of my son's mouth, I said, daddy, that's dumb, isn't it? And I said, yes, son, that's real dumb. I said, it's real dumb. So we know where we come from, God tells us. But this young girl asked her mom and asked her daddy, where do human beings come from? And she asked her mom, and her mother said, well, she said God created Adam and Eve, and Adam and Eve had children, and their children had children, and eventually that's how we got here. However, the girl was not fully satisfied with the answer that her mom gave, so she goes to dad. I mean, y'all have kids like that. When they don't get something sufficient from one parent, they're going to go to the other parent. So she goes to her father and she asks dad, she says, Dad, where do people come from? The father answered a bit differently than the mother. Well, a long, long time ago, there were monkeys. Those monkeys evolved and over millions and billions of years, those monkeys became human beings. Getting one answer from her mother and one answer from her father, obviously this girl was confused, so she goes back to mom. Mom, you said that God created us. And Dad said that we evolved from monkeys. So who was right? A big smile come over the mother's face, and this is what she said. Sweetheart, it's very, very simple. Your father was explaining his side of the family, and I was explaining mine. Kids are interesting. You know, when it comes to the family, D.L. Moody said this, he said, a man ought to live so that everybody knows he's a Christian. And most of all, his family ought to know that he's a Christian. Because of sin, families, how many of you agree with me? Families have issues. Families have problems. Families have quarrels, fightings. And they sometimes hinder us from being the proper example that God has called us to be. And sometimes it hinders us from properly ministering to our families the way that we should. You realize that Jesus faced that same thing. In our text, Jesus faced the same issue with His family. I don't know about you, and you don't have to raise your hand because maybe some of your family's in here, but you felt like you struggle in ministering to your loved ones and maybe those who ain't even in your immediate family, maybe about your relatives. those distant family members you struggle on trying to witness and trying to love and trying to minister to them. I don't know about you, but I find that sometimes difficult to really love and to minister and to serve them the way that we should. Maybe you have adult parents and you're trying to love and minister to them. Maybe you've got adult children that are away from the Lord. Maybe you have siblings that live, they're grown and they're outside of the home and maybe you struggle with loving and ministering to them the way that you should. Because let's just be honest, your heart is right. You want them to serve God. You want them to do things that are right. But sometimes we just struggle in doing that very thing. And you find yourself in a battle. You know that you love them and you want them to serve God, but yet you try to minister them and you're seeing that there's just very little effect. But can I tell you this morning, don't be dismayed. I find it interesting, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Mark is going to let us in on the fact that Jesus faced the same thing with His own kinfolk. And I want you to look with me in verse number 4. Jesus is going to make a declaration to us. He's going to let us know something. This is what He's going to say. Verse 4, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, now watch this, and among his own kin and in his own house. His own kin and in his house. That word honor means to think little of. And you know what He's telling us today? You'll be effective in a lot of places. But let me tell you where there's a lot of times difficulty. It's among your kin. I want to preach to you this word on this thought without honor in the family. Without honor in the family. I want to give you some keys to effectively minister to your family. keys that I find in the text that'll help us minister to our family, whether it be immediate, whether it be distant relationships, but I want to give you a couple practical things this morning. Number one, if I'm going to effectively minister to my relatives, number one, we find that Jesus prioritized His home. He prioritized His home. Look with me in verse number 6, the Bible says this, And He went out from thence, and came into His own country. Now, I mentioned earlier that when the Bible says His own country, you can compare the Gospels, you'll know that this is Nazareth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in Nazareth. This is the place where he was established, where he grew up. In fact, most of you know this, that the Bible is silent for about 95% of Jesus' life. We know nothing about it. We know a little bit about His birth. We get a glimpse of His childhood. Just a small window. And then for 30 some years, we don't know anything about what Jesus did. Then we are introduced to His public ministry at about the age of 30 years old. So what happened in these 30 years? Well, I'm going to be silent with the Bible. I don't have a clue. But what I do know is this. He spent the majority of that time in Nazareth. This is where He grew up. This is where He had friends. This is where he had family. Look in verse number 3. We see that they're telling him, according to verse 3, he has half-brothers, he has half-sisters. You know that Mary and Joseph had children after Jesus. Jesus had no father but the Heavenly Father. But he has family here. They have the same mother, Mary. We see during this time of the silent years of Christ that He was taught a trade. The Bible tells us that these men, they say something like this, is this not a carpenter? They recognized and they understood, hey, there was a time in the life of Jesus where He was a carpenter. That doesn't mean that He strictly worked with wood, but it means that He was simply a builder. They asked Him, is this not a carpenter? And we see that during this time, He grew up here and people recognized Him for what He used to be. Jesus would go on and enter into His public ministry to fulfill His role as the Messiah. He would consummate everything that the Father wanted Him to do by submitting to the Father. And He would enter into that ministry. The Bible says He would set His face to Jerusalem to go to the cross and die. He would begin His ministry. But what we need to understand this morning is this. Jesus specifically and purposely schedules a meeting where His relatives are. We need to understand this, church, that Jesus never goes anywhere by accident. If you're not careful, you'll get this idea, well, Jesus is just walking through and He decides to swing by His neighborhood. That's not the case. Remember, Jesus said this, I must needs go to Samaria. He didn't have to go that way. That was out of His way. But He knew this, I've got a divine appointment. There's going to be a woman at the well, and I have something to say to her. Jesus never goes anywhere by accident. He specifically and purposefully has a scheduled appointment with His family members. I don't know about y'all. I have a bad trait of this. I let my little light shine. And I'm not talking about, well, hopefully my Christian light shines, but my gas light shines a lot. And I'm kind of one of those guys that pushes it. My wife, she's my helpmate. She balances me out. She lets me know every gas station that we've passed. And I don't know about how y'all do things when I'm on the interstate. Y'all know there's big blue signs that tells you the gas stations when you pull off. And I get gas based on convenience. In other words, if that gas station is four miles off the interstate, I'm not going there. I want one that's like the point one, and it's on the same side of the interstate. So when I pull out, I'm right there at that ramp to get back on the interstate. Y'all know what I'm talking about? I base getting gas on convenience for me. Sometimes it may be a spare the moment thing, but that's not how Jesus operated. Jesus had a specific appointment on purpose to meet with His kin, with His family, with His close friends. In other words, Jesus didn't say, well, I'm going to go here because it's on the way to somewhere else, or I'm going to go to this village because it's convenient for me. No, in fact, you study Nazareth, the average person wouldn't go to this small little village. Nazareth was a small little town about 55 miles north of Jerusalem. And most people, when they talked about Nazareth, they had a very low view of Nazareth. That's why Nathanael would tell Jesus, can anything good come out of Nazareth? It was a low country, low esteem. There wasn't anything writing home about it if that makes sense. But we understand that Jesus always goes to a place with a divine purpose. Always. And today, this place is Nazareth, His own country. Why does He go there? Well, we know this, His family's there. His relatives are there. His childhood friends are there. You ever bring your kids around somewhere, you have relatives or friends and say, man, look how they've grown up, look how they've changed. Jesus is coming back to His own country. However, we need to understand at this point that this is not the first and only time He comes to Nazareth. You go to Luke 4, He's going to go there and He's going to let them know, hey, I am the Messiah. In fact, they don't take it so well. They don't take it so well to the fact that they try to lead Him up to a cliff and throw Him off head first and try to murder Him. And you think you've got family problems. Jesus had some issues with His family. But I find it interesting that He goes back. You know, most of us, we'd say, well, they hurt me. They did that to me. I'm not going back to them. Look how they treated me. You come to Mark chapter number 6. Watch this. Here's the neat thing. You already see the other side of the story. They're going to reject Him again. Jesus, knowing that, still goes. He's setting an example. He's going to come back to Nazareth. Now, we all have relative problems. But I don't think many of us, now don't raise your hand when I say this, but I don't think many of us could say the people in my hometown have tried to, some of my family members have tried to murder me. They tried to throw me off a cliff at first. Now if that's you, just don't raise your hand, okay? But probably the majority of us would say, yeah, preacher, I've got family problems, but it ain't that bad. That's what Jesus faced. Knowing how they feel about him, Jesus makes another appointment to go back. And that's where we're at in our text. And he's going to minister to the people that rejected him. You say, preacher, why did he do that? Because he prioritized his home. He didn't give up on him. He goes back to him. He says, I've got an appointment with them. I'm still going to love them. I'm still going to minister to them. Jesus is setting the example of prioritizing His home country. And He's demonstrating to us that we should never give up on our family regardless of what they've done or how they feel. You should listen to this one. This will help you. Some of you are ready to give up on your family. Jesus, I'm going back. They tried to kill me. I'm going to go back. I know they're going to reject me again, but I'm going to go back. Some of us, so many times, we write off our distant family because of one small thing. But here we find Jesus is coming back to them. Jesus doesn't give up on them. Jesus returns to them. That's what His countrymen, His kinfolk, they wanted to kill Him, but yet He returns. Can I ask you a question? Don't raise your hand. How many have had family that have treated you poorly? Just think in your mind. How many have had family that's treated you poorly? Maybe it's not in your immediate home. Maybe it's your relatives, people that's outside of your home. They've treated you not fairly. You're ready to give up, you're tired, you're ready to throw in the towel. Can I tell you this? That Jesus didn't give up on his family so quickly. Jesus didn't throw in the towel so quickly. Just as Jesus knew everything and every decision His family would make, God has placed you in your family. Listen to me. He's placed you in your family knowing all the dirty details. And He's placed you there for such a time as this. God don't make mistakes. He knew that you would be where you're at. Remember, He doesn't do things without purpose. He doesn't go places without reason. And He's put you there for a specific reason. A specific purpose. He's got you right where He wants you. He's placed you there to be a light, to be an example. And when everybody else has given up, that you would be like Christ. Returning time. And time again, when everybody else is giving up on your family member, when everybody else says there's no hope, when society says they're gone, when society says they're too addicted, they're too far gone, they're just away, can I tell you there ought to be some godly family members that say, you may have given up, and you may have given up, but honey, I'm not giving up. God's got me right here for a reason. I'm going to keep loving them. I'm going to return to them. I'm going to help them. And I'm going to minister to them. God's got you right where He needs you. Don't give up. But preacher, you don't understand what they've X, Y, or Zed to me. It don't matter. I tried to kill him. Preacher, they hurt me. It doesn't matter. God knew that you could handle the hurt. God knew that you could be a steward of that pain. And that you, that through Him, that He could take it and get glory for it. That they would realize what they've done to you. But yet, you give it to the Lord and you come back and you forgive them. You're being a light. You're being an example. Jesus didn't give up on His family. He returns to them. He prioritizes His home. Number two, keys to effectively ministering our family. Don't give up on them. Prioritize your home. But number two, you must accept the fact. You must accept the fact that you may be an outcast. You must accept the fact that you may be an outcast. Look with me in verse number 4. Jesus tells us this. He's telling you that this morning. But Jesus said unto him, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. When Jesus says without honor, that means very low esteem. It means that they thought very little of me. They don't think of me the way that other people think of me. Without honor means they thought very little of Jesus. Why? You say, Preacher, why did they think very little of Jesus? Well, the text tells us. Verse number 3, they knew his past. Verse number 3, he says he's a carpenter. Now listen, Jesus didn't have a sinful past, but they just understood that he was a common ear. He was a common man. He was a tradesman. They knew his past. And they could not get over the fact that this was just a normal person, and now He's coming to our town claiming that He's the Messiah. He stood up in the synagogue saying that He is God. They struggled with that because of what they'd known Him for. Can I tell you that's exactly why your family is going to struggle with you? They grew up with you. They know your past, and it is a sinful past. They knew the things that you used to do. They knew all the trouble you used to get into. They knew what used to come out of your mouth. And now you're saying that you're a Christian? Who are you to tell me that you're saying a son of God? Who are you to tell me that you're a child of God? It'll cause them to stumble. They'll get offended. That word offended means it's a stumbling block. They did it to Christ. Jesus said, you're a prophet without honor. Therefore, your family will stumble of you. Now, it may not be openly, but you've become a secret outcast in your family. You'll notice they may not act the way they act around everybody else, but when it comes to you, it's different. You'll notice you may not be invited to specific things. You'll notice everybody gets weird when they get around you. I'm talking about if you have a lost family that lives for the world. You'll feel distant. Y'all get what I'm saying this morning? Jesus says you're going to be without honor. When you get around your family, your kinfolk, you're going to be without honor. They're going to think low of you. They're going to have little esteem for you. When there's family reunions and family functions, you may not be the first person that gets invited. You'll notice that there's awkward tension between your loved ones. Y'all ever felt that? You know what I love about coming to church? I don't have that here. I don't got awkward tension here. But I've noticed when I get around some lost loved ones of mine, I can feel it. I can feel that tension. And it doesn't feel good, just to be honest with you. Because in my heart, I love them, and I want them to do right, and I'm praying for them, and they know where I stand on things. And there's always that tension that's there. You're secretly, you're an outcast. You're living in your family without honor. Jesus said this, He said, when you get around your country folk, your kinfolk, you're going to be an outcast. But can I tell you this? It's going to help you going into that knowing that. If you're not fitting in with your lost family, FYI, that's a good thing. You shouldn't be fitting in with them. And listen, we're not giving up on them. We're going to love them and minister to them. you shouldn't blend in with some of the wicked stuff your family gets involved in. And I know nobody's business this morning. I only know my business. But if the shoe fits, wear it. If it helps you, wear it. Jesus says you're going to be without honor. You're going to be somewhat of an outcast within your family. If you're going to effectively minister to your family, close friends and relatives, just accept it that you might be what we've called the black sheep. You won't fit in. You'll be treated differently. And when you learn this principle that Jesus is teaching us this morning, it will help you not sit and wonder, why do I get treated the way that I get treated? Jesus says, this is because of me. They hate you because they hate me. That is why you're going through what you're going through. It has nothing to do with you, but it has everything to do with me. An outcast. But here's what I've found. I promise you this, when tragedy strikes, when these lives wind down, when things go wrong, there's going to be one person they're calling, and it's you. When this world, in our discipleship class, we were talking about that crazy Chinese balloon. Y'all know what I'm talking about? Don't pretend like you don't know, you know what I'm talking about. You know, everybody's losing their mind. And I'm not here to scare you, but I heard the general of the Air Force say we'll probably be at war with China in 2025. Expect it. In this world ye shall have tribulation. But here's what I know, that God is the same yesterday, the same today, and the same forevermore. He's not off His throne. He's not impeached off His throne. He didn't step off the throne, but my God is still in control. And listen, the God that's still in control is in the control of my life. And listen, we can rest assured in the fact that God still knows tomorrow. except the fact. And when tragedy strikes, when life winds down in the oldness of age, there'll be one person they look to. The person who consistently stood for truth. That's why it's so important you cannot compromise your position. There's some things you can't get involved in with your family because you'll have to compromise in doing so. But when you stay on truth, when things get crazy, They're going to wonder why you're still happy. Why do you still have joy? Why are you still faithful? Why are you still consistent? And you better mark it down. Your phone's going to ring. Colton, can I ask you a question? Colton, you back there. Are you able to mute where this is not going into the live stream for a second? Do you have that capability? Y'all just bear with me for a second. There's something I want to say, but I don't want to go out live stream. Do you have that? No. I'll do this. I'll tell you what, kill every single microphone. Can you do that? You may be an outcast. You may be rejected. Can I show you one thing really quick? I want to show you this. Look with me in verse number 3. Now, some of you in here, You probably know the Bible better than I do, but this is based on what I studied, and if this is wrong, I'll apologize for it, but this is what I found. Verse number 3, they said, This is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph, and of Judah. Now, I want you to notice that word, Judah, that half-brother of Jesus, Judah. So they're focusing on His humanity, not His deity, okay? They say, is this not the half-brother of Judah? Now, you don't have to go there. You can write it down and look at it later. But in John 7, verse 5, the Bible says this, For neither did His brethren believe in Him. In other words, His half-brothers did not believe that their brother Jesus was the Messiah. That would include Judah. But now I believe that this Judah, the half-brother of Jesus, is the author of the book of Jude. Now I want you to... So let me just sum this up. You've got a half-brother of Jesus. He's not the Messiah. They rejected Him. Little honor. Low esteem. You're an outcast. The book of John says that the brother didn't believe in Him. But now I want you to hold your spot and go to Jude. I want you to go to the book of Jude. Would you do that for me? Second to last book of the Bible. Go to Revelation, then back up one book. I want you to look with me, Jude chapter 21, or excuse me, verse 21. There are no chapters in Jude. Jude 21, keep yourselves, the love of God, looking for the mercy, I want you to notice what he calls his brother, of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion making a difference. and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by flesh. Now unto Him, He's talking about His brother, unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God. He's not talking about the Father. He's talking about His half-brother. Jesus, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever. Amen. You hear what he's saying about his brother? It's not what he said in Mark chapter number 6. He was a carpenter. I grew up with you. We used to play Hot Wheels in the dirt in the backyard. You're just a carpenter. But you get to the end of Jude's life, you know what he's saying? Glory. Power. Dominion. In fact, Jude didn't even call himself the brother in the opening verse because he didn't want the glory. He says, I'm a servant. He didn't even say I'm the brother. I'm his servant. Can I tell you this? You may be an outcast now. Stick with the stuff. Don't compromise. Can I give you one more if y'all permit me? Lastly, I'll make it short. If you're going to effectively minister to our family, prioritize your home. Don't give up on them. Listen, you got relatives right now, don't give up on them. Don't give up. Some of you right now, you're just ready to throw in the towel. You say, preacher, I don't know why they're doing it. Listen, just don't give up. If you've got Jesus Christ who never gave up on you, don't give up on your family. Understand, well, if we're going to do this thing, I may be an outcast. That's okay. Because I promise you this, there may come a day when that phone may be ringing. And all that effort that you put in will be worth it with that one phone call. Lastly, keys to effectively minister to our family. Never give up except you'll be an outcast. Number three, you must keep doing what God has called you to do. You must keep doing what God has called you to do. Look with me, verse number six. Go back to Mark if you're not there. Mark 6. Mark 6, verse 6. How many of y'all believe in every word of the Bible is God's Word? Would you raise your hand please? Every single word, every phrase, every comma, period, semicolon, colon. Nothing is in here by accident. Watch what Jesus does. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Now watch this. And continuation of events. He went round about the villages teaching. You know what Jesus didn't do? Well, my family rejected me. I don't got no good godly heritage. My brothers don't even believe in who I am. I'm just going to go back and waller. You know what the Bible tells you? He brushed it off. Well, if you ain't going to believe in me, I'm going to go around some other villages. I've got other divine appointments with some villages near here. Can I talk to those who don't have a godly heritage for a minute? You don't got a daddy that loves the Lord. You don't got a mama that loves the Lord. You don't got family that loves the Lord. And it's by the grace of God you're sitting in here this morning. And by the grace of God you're listening to me. Just because you don't have a mom and daddy or a godly heart should not prevent you from doing what God has called you to do. And when you get discouraged at your family because they're not... Listen, just keep going. Just keep living. Just keep serving God. Just keep doing what God has called you to do. Don't quit. There are so many people that quit because of their family. Can I tell you, that ought to be the reason you don't quit. That you keep going. Keys to effectively ministering to your family. Miss Lisa, if you'll help me out. I've told you this story, but I want to remind you of the story. I just want to remind you because it plays true to what we just saw in the text. I've got a full commentary set in my office by J. Vernon McGee. And if you open up the first one, it's Genesis all the way to Revelation. And if you open up every single one of them, it's got this lady's name in it, Adrena Palmer. I've told this story before, you may remember it. Adrena Palmer. Mrs. Palmer was an elderly lady, the church where me and my wife grew up, where we met, where we got married. where her kids grew up at, she was an older lady. She always, she sat right there where you would sit Hudson. Second row, you come in to the right, second row. Every time the doors were open, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, revival, special meetings, she was always there. I never knew that Ms. Palmer was married. As a young man growing up, you just don't really ask questions. You just assume things. I just thought she was a widow because she came by herself. Little did I know that she had a husband who was lost. Glenn Palmer. And finally, towards the end of Ms. Palmer's life, she'd always raise her hand. It was a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Preacher, would the church pray for my husband Glenn? He's not saved. Every Wednesday night, Glenn was on our prayer bulletin, just like we have prayer bulletin here. We pray for him. Ms. Palmer ended up moving away because her husband moved. Come to find out, Ms. Palmer passed away. And to be honest with you, church, and I want to make sure I get all my facts right, I don't know how I found out about this, but I just remember, and my wife can attest to it. Come to find out that Glenn Palmer got saved days after his wife's funeral. He watched his wife live, go to church, live the godly life. She was faithful in praying. Her testimony is what pointed him to Jesus Christ. Here's the neat thing, both of them are in heaven now together. That's why you can't give up on your family. Even after you're gone, listen, you're leaving behind a legacy that may outlast your life. If you live a godly life, there's things that are going to be done from you that will impact. And you know what? When my babies come by the casket of their daddy, and my relatives, I want them to look at the shell of a man and say, he didn't quit. He didn't give up. He loved God. He didn't compromise. I didn't understand it then, but I understand it now. I want what he has. So the preacher gets up, talks about how that person loved the Lord, loved God. Don't gotta lie about it. Can I tell you, don't give up on your family. Keep going. Don't give in. Don't quit. Prioritize them. Other people, listen, and I'm not trying to be rude or anything, church. Please understand me. We have a church bulletin here, and you've got loved ones that we prayed for. But here's what I know, Hook, right before Miss Nancy passed away, we prayed for Miss Nancy, didn't we, church? Amen? But I know this, there ain't nobody prayed for her like Brother Hook prayed for her. You say, why is that? Because she's family. Praise the Lord, she's in heaven now. But what I'm saying is this, when ain't nobody else going to be praying, you ought to pray. When everybody else is giving up, you don't give up. When everybody else has quit, you don't quit. God has got you there for a specific reason and a specific purpose. Be a good steward of it. I want you to stand to your feet, bow your head and close your eyes. Here's what I want to do. If you've got family, That you say, preacher, I don't want to give up on them. Here's what I encourage you to do. Why don't you just find you a spot on the old-fashioned altar. Cry out to the Lord. Let the Lord know. Bring their name up before the throne. Can I tell you that God can help them? And that you would be the family member that God has called you to be. You say, preacher, I've got family that need the Lord. They may not be saved. Maybe they're not living right. God, would you help me to be the example that I need to be? That I'd be a good steward of what you've given me? That they would come to know Christ. Their life would get right. You do business with the Lord, as Brother Travis sings. In times like these, you need a Savior.