Help us have a good time tonight and give us something to carry on. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. If you notice here in verse 9 in our text here, it says, And when he was departed thence, of course, that's after we preach what we preached this morning about you got to eat. It says he went into their synagogue. So I'm looking at this thing here, and I know it's a Jewish place of worship, but I look at the synagogue there, and I'm reminded how the Lord has visited our house, our place of worship, time and time again. and I'm still excited about it. And I got to thinking how important is, I read this text here, verses 9 to 015 there, and I got to thinking how important it is why the Lord should be in the house, in the house. And so I kind of proposed this statement why we need him in the house here, why we need the Lord Jesus Christ in the house. And this is real simple. This is nothing deep or theological. I suppose it might have a theological overtone to it. But can I just be just honest with you tonight as we go through this text, point out a couple things. I'll see here in verse 10 the reason we need Jesus Christ in the house. And of course, we're just kind of springboarding off the fact that Jesus Christ was in route to the synagogue. So this is the church house here. This is the place where we meet. This is the place where hopefully we get fed and hopefully have the right spirit to get what we need. And a lot of times I believe why we come to church is to solidify the things that we've been talking to the Lord about during the week. I've heard many people say in days gone by how they've been dealing with the Lord on something and something in the preaching, which I didn't even intend to, did something to either confirm or nix what they were going to do. But I say here this evening why we need Him in the house is first of all found in verse 10, and I'm just going to say it like this, we need Jesus Christ in this house because there are sick folk in the house. there are sick folk in the house. The Bible says in verse 10, and behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. I don't think we can never forget that we've said it many times that the church house is a hospital for sinners and it's not a museum for saints. If we ever lose that aspect, if we ever lose that thought process, I believe we'll be well on our way to creating something out of local church which the Lord had never intended it to be. and the Lord never intended it to be footlong Sunday and hot dog Wednesday and apple pie Friday. I'm not saying you can't do, you have individual liberties and if we wanted to get together and have dinner on the ground, it'd be great. But I believe what you're looking at today for the most part in Christianity, you're finding a bunch of, if you want to call it fundamental, even Bible so-called believing churches, and they've turned the local church into something that is not anymore. And that's why I think we need him in the house, because there are still sick folk in the house. We see here a man with a withered hand. And just practically speaking, can I say that we have people with hand problems. Take your Bible and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. There are sick folk in the church house. and you might be healthy one minute, but all it takes is just a couple seconds during the day, and it seems many times you catch something, don't you? You can be clipping along at a good pace, you have joy unspeakable and full of glory, and for whatever reason, you fall prey to whatever it is the devil threw at you, and next thing you know, you got a fever or something spiritually, and you're not feeling too good. A lot of times, that things can only be cured through prayer, Bible reading, and a lot of times, going to the church house. if you look at first corinthians chapter four twelve i see we've got in our society we've got a people hand problems and uh... i'll say this uh... It's a withered work ethic, a withered work ethic. Now, 1 Corinthians 4, 12, Paul's talking about it, and he says here, and labor working with our own hands, being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer. You say, what does that have to do with anything? You know, one of the problems in today's society, as we know, and we'll address it, is there's no more work ethic. It's gone, it's shot. People don't know how to work, and you got two sides of that thing. You have the side that doesn't know how to work, and then you have the side that works all the time. One fellow said, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Might make Jack a dull boy, but also might pay his bills. But you run the risk if you work too hard and you work too much, you get self-righteous because you think you've done it all with your own hands. But Paul said he was one to labor and he worked with his own hands. And I see here not only we've got sick people in the home, in the church house, but you've got some hand problems. It's a withered work ethic. And Paul says you cure that by working with your own hands. Look at Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. We need the presence of God in this place continually. And I'm not talking about looking for a feeling either. And when the feeling comes, it's great. I don't kick at that. But I don't come to church looking for a feeling, but I sure enjoy it when he shows up. 428, Paul says, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, the thing which is good. You know how you cure a withered work ethic? You make somebody work. You teach them how to work with their hands. Now we've got a generation now, the only work they know how to do is with their thumbs. They know how to scroll. Look at Proverbs 21-25. You'll see the generation we're talking about. Proverbs 21-25. The reason we need Jesus Christ in this church house is because we've got sick folk in the church. And you might be, like I said, healthy one minute, but many times you're sick the next. You don't always come to church healthy. Proverbs chapter 21, look at verse 25. The Bible says, "...the desire of the sloth will killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor." There you go. That describes the generation we live in right now. The generation, of course, now, if we just call it what it is, they're techies, all right? And if you make your money by being a tech, praise the Lord by it. But the Bible says a slothful man, he refuseth to labor. Look at Proverbs 31, over just a couple more. Proverbs 31, you know the only way that you're gonna get that fixed is by keeping the Lord Jesus Christ in this house and just begging God that He would just revive some of our hearts and some of our folks' hearts here and they get a hold and their lives change and then they can raise some kids or be an influence to their grandkids and raise up the next generation that knows how to work. You say, well, we're in Laodicea, it ain't gonna happen. You really think that? Well, how come some of you all turned out? Is it because we're laying to see it? No, because your parents took an interest in you. Proverbs chapter 31, of course, talking about the Proverbs 31 woman. Look at verse 13. The Bible says here in verse 13, "...she seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." And of course, everyone just throws this on the ladies, and that's fine, I have no problem. It's talking about, you know, the, what do you call it, the... Oh, what's the woman I... I just totally lost my train of thought. Virtuous woman, thank you very much. I appreciate that conscience. But it's all the virtuous woman, but if you're saved, you're the bride of Christ, aren't you? So you can take this thing and apply it to you. All right, so not just a woman needs to do this thing, but if you're a child of God, this will apply to you. Look at 13. It says, she seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. We have sick people in the church, and they've got a withered work ethic. I can't even say it, a withered work ethic. And one of the reasons we need the Lord Jesus Christ in the house is because we're still sick, but we still need some men. How about 1 Timothy 2? 1 Timothy 2. Jesus Christ is still the answer to people that are sick. All through the Gospels you see Jesus Christ healing people wherever He went. You know where Jesus Christ heals spiritually now? Yes, I know He can heal spiritually in a moment when you spend time with Him. A lot of healing goes on at the church house. 1 Timothy chapter 2, 2 verse 8. I'm not ready to give up on the church yet. First Timothy 2.8, Paul says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. You know what I see here? We've got a lot of sick people in the church house, and here I see a withered prayer life, a withered prayer life. You see that? Holy hands, lifting up holy hands, that's like this. You say, that's corny. I know it's corny, it's the Bible. You will not fall asleep if you lift your hands up when you pray. Matter of fact, you'll get an ache right about back here. And if you try to get serious about that thing and go crazy on it, you won't be able to hardly lift your hands up the next day. Go to Hebrews chapter 12. Our hands, they're not lifted up anymore. Our prayer life's shot. That's why we need the presence of God in the house. Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse 12, 12-12. 12.12 the Bible says, Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. It's talking about your prayer life. You know what happens when you get backwards on the Lord, when you get sick, when you get depressed? You stop praying. You stop praying. You stop doing the things that you know you should. And Paul says, Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down. Why are they hanging down? You're sick, you're depressed, you're frustrated. How about James chapter 4? That's talking about a withered prayer life. There are sick folk in the church and we need the presence of God. Only the Lord can come by and heal that thing. James chapter 4. We've got a withered work ethic. We've got a withered prayer life. And here in James chapter 4, Old brother James says, cleanse your hands, you sinners. I mean, when you're a kid, your mother, if she was smart, she wouldn't let you come to the dinner table with dirty hands. She'd say, show them. And you go like this. And she'd say, flip them. And you go like that. And she'd go like that. Go back and do it again. Maybe it was just me. I talked to my mother today. And I said, are these illustrations bothering you? She said, no, they're hilarious, because probably half the people don't even believe how true they are, she said. So cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you devil of mine. I see a withered personal life here. A withered personal life. A lot of things we do with our hands during the week, we got no business doing. A withered personal life. There are sick people. There are sick people in the house of God, and we need the presence of God in this church continually. We need the presence of God in this house. Why? We need healing. We need healing. Why? There are sick people. There are sick folks in the house here. Look at Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs chapter 6. Reading a book right now about the dangers of social media. And it's a pretty good read. I like it because it's got statistics in it. I like history, I like stats, all that stuff, blah, blah, blah, whatever. You see here in Proverbs 6, verse 17, Solomon describes hands that shed innocent blood. You see that? There are a lot of sick people in church house. You know what they're doing with their hands during the week? Their hands are shedding innocent blood. You say, how so? Are they killing people? No, they're killing their character. Character assassination. They're posting this, they're emailing that, they're tweeting that. They're destroying them with their hands. There we go. I think you're an idiot. Okay, well I think you're an idiot too. And on and on goes the social media nightmare. But Proverbs 6.17 talks about hands that shed innocent blood. How about Revelation 9? Revelation 9.20. Just a couple things here tonight. Why we need the Lord in this house. We need the Lord in this house more than you need a good job. Now you need a good job. You need to pay your bills. But in the long run, if you're going to pick between the two, I'd pick to see the Lord show up in the house every day and worry about this, and worry about paying the bill, and worry about how it's all going to work out, but yet have the promise that God's going to show up on a continual basis. Revelation 9.20, it says, you see in the middle of that verse, "...yet repented not of the works of their hands." I know what the context of that is, but you know what Christians are guilty of during the week? You know why they're guilty? They're sick. They're sick. They're sick folks. They don't repent of the works of their hands. Not only are there sick folks in the house, but the second reason I see here, if you go back to Matthew chapter 12, while I believe we need Jesus Christ's presence in this house more than ever before, we shouldn't be just satisfied that we've had a good run for the last couple years. I don't even think we've begun to start. I don't think we've hardly got off the ground yet. And don't forget that the devil is so creative, the devil is so interested also in your growth, that the closer you desire to get to Jesus Christ, that he's going to be right there beside you, not only planting doubt, but trying to plant subterfuge, to get you off the track, and he's gonna try to stir up trouble where you least expect it, where you're not paying attention. And I believe that's probably where the whole thing is at today with all of us here in the house, that the devil just wants to create subterfuge, he wants to create distractions that catch you off guard. So I believe we need the presence of God in the church house more than ever before, because there's sick pulp that are a mess, but not only that, but number two, because there's religious folk that are a mess. Now in verse 10 of Matthew chapter 12, you see the they. It says, Behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they, you see the they? If you look down to 14, the they are the Pharisees. So the context of the they is the Pharisees. You see that? They asked him that they might accuse him. Interesting, isn't it? So here in our passage we have the religious leaders were an absolute mess. And the sole reason that they asked was so that they could accuse Him. Can you just stop and process that? Many times I believe we're so familiar with the Bible we forget what we're even reading. The only reason they opened their cotton-picking mouth was to accuse Jesus Christ. Now that's crazy. How in the world has it come to that? In chapter 11, verse 26, we know that the folks that follow Jesus Christ are first called Christians at Antioch. And many times, those of us raised right, and we should be living right, if we're just honest with ourselves, we're just a mess. We're a mess. You know why we need the presence of God in this house? Because those of us who know better, those of us who are raised right, those of us who should be living right, many times we're the mess. We don't have a withered hand. Maybe our prayer life, we suppose it's intact, and our Bible reading is intact and all that, but religiously we're just a mess. You say, how so? Well, let me ask you this. Imagine someone asking a question for the sole purpose of accusing someone of doing wrong. You've never done that before, have you? Of course not. Let me say this, the Pharisees were in every way superior. We're not criticizing the Pharisees. We're not criticizing the Pharisees for being smart. We're not criticizing the Pharisees for being spiritual. They were in every aspect superior in knowledge, superior in piety, superior in training, but up shows the Lord Jesus Christ in this passage here in Matthew chapter 12, and what gets them is jealousy and envy. What gets them is jealousy and envy. Just like the religious people, church people often get jealous if they think someone else is getting the spotlight they deserve. Let that settle for a minute. Just like the religious people, church folk, even here, get jealous if they think someone else is getting the spotlight. And I could just sum it up to say jealousy and envy will kill our own people. That's why we need Jesus Christ in the house. Because when Jesus Christ is in the house, then He's the one getting lifted up. And I suppose you won't get envious and jealous of Him. Help yourself. But when Jesus Christ is lifted up, everyone makes a big deal about Him. And we ain't got to worry about sister so-and-so or brother so-and-so. Are they still mad at us or that? Why? Because Jesus Christ is in the house, we're making a big deal out of Him. Revelation 12.10, you probably know the verse before, but interesting enough these Pharisees, they were bent on doing one thing, making accusations against the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've reminded us of this many times before, but it behooves us to look at it. In 12.10, Revelation 12.10, The Bible says, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Now isn't that interesting? When we begin to accuse, no matter how small the charge we lay against our brother or sister, do you realize we then take up the very mantle of the devil? I wonder how many Christians this week were guilty of taking up the mantle of the devil. No one would say, well, yes, I took up the mantle of the devil between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and you can take it from 7 to 8. But when you begin to accuse individuals of things, no matter how small the charge is, no matter how truthful you think the charge is, you then become guilty of taking up the mantle of the devil as you know he doesn't need any help. Look at Job chapter 5 real quick here, give you a couple things on jealousy and envy. Now this stuff is real and some of you are dealing with it right now, even if you don't think you are, you are. Job chapter 5 verse 2, I don't say that like you are, I'm just saying it's what is happening is that stuff settles real low. And at the least time you ever expect it would surface, the devil has someone cross you in such a way and all of a sudden you're on fire. Like you stuck your foot in an anthill full of fire ants. And you're mad. Why? You're jealous. You're envious. Look at Job 5.2. Job said, Eliaphaz says, for wrath killeth the foolish man. True story there, a lot of men have lost their temper and got killed and shot over the thing. And envy slayeth the silly one. Envy slayeth the silly one. Envy is very destructive. How about Proverbs 14.30? Proverbs 14.30, while you may not know it and you may not see it, envy will rot you from the inside out. When you are envious and jealous of things, it rots you. And Proverbs says emphatically in Proverbs 14, 30, Envy is the rottenness of the bones. I couldn't tell you how many Christians that I've known of in the past and have run into that were envious that the Lord was blessing somebody and now you say... See, all you have to do is say the name of somebody the Lord is blessing around that individual and they're upset. It's kind of like Stephen said in Acts 7 that the patriarchs moved with envy and so forth. That's the reason they did to Joseph what they did. And back in Genesis it says they hated him and they couldn't even speak a word peaceably to him. So when it gets to the point where you say, you hear someone's name mentioned, and I know there's some dubious characters in church history and dubious characters in this county when you say certain names that certain people say certain things, but I mean, envious of what they've done, envious of the power, the control that they have, but jealousy is killing our church people, envious killing our church people. How about one more Proverbs 27? Proverbs 27. Bible says, Solomon says, but who was able to stand before envy? Well, Joseph couldn't. Who was able to stand before envy? Jesus couldn't. Bible says it was for envy that they delivered him up. Why? Jesus Christ had the real deal. You know why we need the presence of God in this house? Because there's religious people in here that are a mess. We need Jesus Christ because we often come across, like we know what we're doing, just like the Pharisees, and we need the Lord Jesus Christ. We need the Lord in our homes because there are sick folk in the house with hand problems, and because there's religious folks in the house with heart problems. But not only that, number three, the reason we need Jesus Christ's presence in this house is because only Jesus can help restore us. Only Jesus can help restore us. If you look at verse 13 back at our text in Matthew, Chapter 12 and verse 13, the Bible says, Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. I don't know if you ever just thought about those four words, commanding such authority, commanding such power. I mean, just stretch forth thine hand. The Bible says, And he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, like as the other. Christian, why I believe we must have the Lord in this house is simply because only He can restore us. Only Jesus can restore our withered hand problems. Only Jesus can restore our withered heart problems. And only Jesus can repair and restore our withered homes. I know many of us probably think our home is in good repair, but if we were to take a good look inside, many of our homes are withering, and many of them are in need of repair. You know, the more I think about it, Jesus Christ is the only one I know that's in the restoring business. He's in the restoration business. Why is it, you think, that many Christians that have done wrong and been found out publicly, you ever wonder why they never get restored? I've often wondered, and I can't blame every church, but a lot of times I believe why maybe some individuals couldn't get restored is because the presence of God wasn't in the house. If you look in verse 12, he tells the Pharisees that men are much more better than sheep. Now that's a real profound statement. You say, why? Because as a man we often treat each other like animals. And Jesus Christ says that man's much better than sheep. Just like if we're supposed to be the bride of Christ, why in the world do we treat each other the way we do? You say, why do you even say that? Well, if we're members of His body and yet we're also the bride of Christ, why don't we treat each other like a beautiful bride ready to get married? If someone come up and, I know we're limited in numbers, but if someone come up and tried to, God forbid, slap Sister Courtney around, I'm telling you what, you'd see a side of Brother Cole just develop instantly that you ain't ne'er seen. So why should not we have the same vehement wrath towards treating each other with decency and respect? Where do we develop the out-of-character syndrome? Well, many times because the presence of God is not in the house. And when the presence of God is in the house, that's when things are restored. Jesus Christ, as you see in verse 13, restores the withered man's hand. I was told a story about Preacher Lackey, Carl Lackey, I believe he's out of North Carolina. And he got this, I've probably told this illustration before, it's just so vivid, it sticks in my mind. I just can't get over it. Since there's only a couple here tonight, I might actually try this one day. But you just have to pretend like, oh, that's a really neat preacher. But he got this. dummy doll mannequin, full-size mannequin, beautiful shape and all that, and it had a wedding dress on it. I mean, it just looked real. He got to preaching that thing, and he was preaching on how we treat the brethren. He had a baseball bat underneath the pulpit. About halfway through, he took that baseball bat and started beating the fire out of that mannequin. The head went flying and arm went flying. He just stood there and beat that thing to just a pulp. And then he preached a message on how we treat one and how we treat the Bride of Christ. But only Jesus Christ can restore the withered hand, the withered heart, and the withered home. I believe we need Jesus in this house because He alone can restore what sin has destroyed, He alone can restore what sin has demolished, and He alone can restore what sin has decimated. You know, stop and think about it. Maybe some of us need to have our joy restored. Joy restored. Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can restore your joy. I was looking through the New Testament there, and I was interested at what I found when you look up a word, concordance, thank you, it starts with a C, but in the New Testament, like specifically in Acts, every time you find the place where the disciples were filled with joy, right after that comes a test. Every time you see joy, there comes a test. And a lot of people, they're full of joy and speakable and full of glory one minute, and the next time they fail the test, they fail the test. Something happens in their life and they lose their joy. But you know what? Some of us might in this house need our joy restored. Jesus can do that. You know, if you look in the New Testament, joy follows publishing the gospel and upsetting the community. Now I'm not talking about going out there and being a royal yahoo and all that and just making you the center focal point of everything and everything becomes about you. But when you go out, if you read in the New Testament there and Acts 13.52, joy follows the publishing of the gospel and a whole community getting upset at you. You know why some Christians are constantly joyless, if I can say it like that? Because they've never went out and given the gospel. They've never gone out to anyone and told anyone about the Lord, so therefore they've never even attempted to give anyone an opportunity to get upset with them. You say, well, I think there's a better way to do it. Well, apparently, apparently you think telekinetic pathway and all that stuff and just thinking good thoughts are it. But some of us in the house need our joy restored. I'm reminded what David said in Psalm 51, 12. He said, restore unto me the joy of my salvation. You know what? The Lord did. He did restore. Only Jesus Christ, that's why I believe we need His presence in this house. Some of us need just the simple comforts of life restored. But Jesus Christ can do that. Some of us tonight need restored from a spiritual fault. Look at Galatians 6, 1 real quick. Galatians 6, 1. Now everyone here tonight got faults. I know you think you don't, but you do. Everyone's got faults. They might not be sins, but they're definitely faults. Some of you got bad breath, you just need scope, that's it, amen, that's a fault. Some of you talk too much, you need to shut up every once in a while, that's a fault. It might not be a sin, but it's a fault. Galatians 6.1, Paul says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, You which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." There you go. Maybe some of us need to be restored. Restored why? We've got faults. A spiritual fault. And if we're going to be restored, it needs to be done in the spirit of meekness. Christian, why we need Jesus Christ in the house? Because number one, they're sick folks with withered hands, religious folks with withered hearts, and because only Jesus Christ can restore us. And I want you to see the final thing I want you to see tonight, real simple. The fourth and last thing, the reason we need Jesus Christ in this house is because if at any point in time he feels threatened, he'll withdraw himself from this place. Go back to Matthew 12. When you threaten the Lord, the Lord is such a gentleman. You know that? He's a perfect gentleman. The Lord will never insist on him being here if you don't want him here. Never. He never imposes. He never shows up when you don't want him to. If you don't want the Lord to show up, can I just tell you? He won't. Look at verse, oh, I want verse 14. After all this stuff goes on, verse 14 says, then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. Look at verse 15. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence. See, without His presence, without the presence of God, you see a group of people finding ways to get rid of Jesus. I'll say it again. Without the presence of God, you immediately see a group of people trying to find ways to get rid of Jesus. And you might say, well, how does that work in the church house? Well, you get rid of old-fashioned preaching. you get rid of the uncomfortable stuff. As I preached for one fellow up north one time, I preached, I don't even remember what I preached against, I probably preached against pride, anger, whatever, just stuff that you know we deal with on a daily basis, and he'd come back from vacation, he's a kind old soul, and he'd call, hey brother, thanks for preaching. You know, it's funny, I listened to the message, and he said, you know, none of my people have any of those problems you preached on. Are you kidding me, right? Surely, he was serious as a heart attack. He was serious as a nuclear bomb. He honestly thought that everything I preached on had no bearing for his people. Okay, well, that's the first church in a million miles when that stuff applies to you. But without his presence, you end up getting rid of the preaching. You end up getting rid of old time singing. I refuse to get rid of hymn books. Amen. I refuse to get rid of old times. You may not know this, but some of the people that are here today, you know why they came? Because we sing the old time hymns. Because, can I just say this? The draw is not my preaching. I'll tell you that right now. You might have a different opinion, but the draw never is the preaching. The draw becomes the emphasis is placed on old time worship. And I know there's people here that come here right now because we sing the old time hymns. You know how you can get rid of the Lord? Well, you start by getting rid of the altar. Stop having an altar call. Boy, don't you feel weird when you go to church and they don't have an altar call? You feel like, man, we forgot to brush our teeth. Yeah, you forget to wash behind your ears or other places. Yeah. But you get rid of the altar. How about this? You stop preaching about separation. There you go. Well, it's really not a big deal. Just do whatever you want. You get rid of old time holiness. You stop treating the women like sisters and you start getting a little bit more familiar with them. That's a way to drive the Lord out. How about this? You get rid of the mourners. There are some mourners in our church and they find the altar every time they can. You know what you do? You close that thing up, you get rid of the mourners. They'll go somewhere else and get fed. Now they held a council against him, how they might destroy him. Interesting enough, Jesus never forced himself on anyone. And if we don't beg his presence here, I want you to hear me now, I'm done. If we don't beg his presence here, if we don't make this place suitable for his visitation, I believe we run the risk of Jesus Christ withdrawing himself from this house. Time after time, if you'll just allow me just for one minute, we have the witness of history itself telling us that Jesus Christ has withdrawn himself from this address. Do we not think he wouldn't do it again? And for that terrifying thought, we need Jesus Christ in this house. We don't need a new building, we don't need a building program, we don't need ministries, we need His presence in this house, we need Holy Ghost filled preaching, and we need people that love God, whether they're sick or healthy. I don't know about you, but one of my biggest fears, my biggest fears, it used to be this whole thing about financial security until my mid-twenties, then I figured that was just a gas act. But one of my biggest fears is spiritual dryness, is spiritual barrenness. And I just got to thinking about that, I'd rather be pushing up dandelions and chickweed on the backside of cold creed off a late lost cemetery than to be spiritually dry. and to live my life without the presence of God, to live my life without seeing ever God show up in this house, and to live my life without ever seeing the Lord show up in my own house. I know we're few in number tonight, but I thought we'd just take a few minutes, have my wife come to the piano, and why don't we just thank the Lord, not only for His continual presence, but why don't we just ask Him to stay? do do you So, you Jesus Christ. Father, we do want to say thank you for being so good to us. Thank you for your many blessings. Lord, thank you how you've treated us so very specially here and how you've drawn us to your side. Father, how you've taught us how to love you better. How you've taught us how to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father, we thank You, Lord, for where You've stretched us, where You've grown us, where You've convicted us, where You've moved us to change, where You've given us grace, where we couldn't think we could go on anymore. Father, we sure are thankful for that. And so, Father, tonight we just ask, we beg of Thee that You continue to meet with us here. Father, we pray for all those who wanted to come but couldn't. Would you encourage their hearts? Would you please keep the young people safe as they might be getting ready to come into town? Father, would you just continue to undertake? Father, once again, we share our thank you that you love us and that you're so good to us. Be with us now as we leave, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, you're dismissed.