Okay, well, these are unusual days, are they not? They really are, most, most unusual days. I took a walk outside this afternoon praying for tonight's gathering, and was asking the Lord to do something special in our midst, and I just told him, I said, Lord, no one knows what you're doing, but we don't have to know what you're doing, to feel secure. And as Rudy just prayed, God is sovereign. He is overseeing everything. He's overseeing all things. And we find comfort and find rest in that truth. I'd be miserable if I didn't know that makes you really wonder. In a world that is erratic and fearful and concerned, and they think the answer is don't get upset when they think the answer is in a political party. One way or the other, and it's not, never has been. They think the answer is in science. Oh, man, we got science. Science is back, and yes, okay. Okay, I'm grateful for whatever research and things can be done. The answer is in people turning to Jesus Christ. Does that eliminate sickness and illness? Well, no, we all know that's not the case. but it does bring the addition of peace in the midst of unusual days, unusual storms that we live in. Well, I had a message to proclaim for tonight because of the desire to get the gospel out to anyone who didn't know the Lord. Let me just encourage you tonight to continue to be faithful to invite be faithful to come to your church. I express my gratitude to Pastor Ramler this afternoon when we talked on the phone for the opportunity to have been here. And I'm grateful for the chance to be back here at People's Baptist. And I'm certainly sorry that he and other members of the staff have have gotten under the weather, although it's based on what he was saying, it's not a major sickness, but just enough to make them need to stay home and get tested and be quarantined and that sort of thing. And so, you know, I'm quite concerned for all that as you are as well, but I'm so grateful. Just been a very unusual week. Lynn and I travel across the country and And uniquely enough, we cross state lines. And one state, it's almost like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't care about masks. We don't care. Just come on in. And people are hugging and shaking hands and carrying on. And it's like, really? And then next week, there's kind of a moderate approach. And then next week is a little bit more strong approach. And I think it's based upon things that are going on in that area, obviously so. And I understand that, I truly do. The fact is, I discovered when I was battling cancer, and I came away with this phrase. It's not the most astounding phrase in the world, but it goes in line with the idea that God is sovereign. Not the idea, the truth that God is sovereign and overseeing. It's this right here. I am in his hands. Bottom line. And so are you. We're in his hands. That doesn't mean I'm to be reckless. Doesn't mean I'm to be carefree and careless with my life. And so I can do anything I want to drive like a maniac on the highway and say, well, I'm in his hands. I'm here for as long as he wants me here and that sort of thing. Well, that's true. But the fact is, I recognize that no matter what comes my way, I don't need to be anxious about it. And if I can, this is just my thought to God's people tonight. If you find yourself getting anxious and worried at times fearful. It was Jesus who said in his wonderful, masterful sermon that we call the Sermon on the Mount. He said, take no thought for tomorrow. What was he saying? He was saying, don't let tomorrow's concerns become a cloud hanging over you today. Take no thought. It was his way of saying, don't be anxious. Don't be nervous. He says, and don't take no thought for what you're going to eat. You know, in the day in which Jesus said that, people didn't have refrigeration and storage of products, and they pretty much had to go get food every day that they were going to eat that day and to take care of themselves that particular day. He said, he goes, don't fret over what you're going to eat. Take no thought over your body frame. He was saying, because you're worrying will not change anything. He said, you'll not add a cubit to your stature. Now, I do believe he was also saying, don't worry about your future. He was saying, you'll be here for as long as I have you here. That adding a cubit to your stature, a cubit was a distance of about 18 inches. Nobody says, boy, I wish I could just shoot up 18 inches, unless you're and you want to play basketball, but for the most part, I mean, nobody wants to shoot up 18 inches. What he was talking about was the length of your life. And he says, don't worry about the length of your life, because it's in your father's hands. He knows what you have need of, even before you ask. So I hope that you won't be anxious. You say, no, we're not. I trust that you're not. Again, I trust that you're not. Hope that you're wise. careful about things, but at the same time not to be anxious. Well, I say again, thank you for being here. Many of you have not missed a night, ladies' night, men's night and the rest of the nights. I thank you for that. It's been a great delight to be with the young people during the day in the chapels and then to have the opportunity to be here every night, for the most part every night, except for the ladies' night for me. It's been a great privilege and a great delight. Look forward to crossing paths with you again. The message that was going to be for tonight was from Luke chapter 12 in which the Lord Jesus tells a story about a farmer who saw that his farmland was going to bring forth an abundant harvest and he said, I'm going to tear down my barns and build bigger ones. And the Lord God came and he told the farmer, you're a fool. The statement is thou fool. The word thou was included by the transcribers and it basically God was just saying fool. Then he said, this night, your soul shall be required of thee. Which simply is a reminder to all of us that we are a body, need to take care of it, but you have a never dying soul. And he was saying, mister, you may have a lot of money because of your farm, you may have a lot of nice things, and you have a lot of plans for the future. But he said, tonight, you're going to die. This night, your soul is going to be required of you. then who shall those things be which you possessed? In other words, God was saying, you did not prepare for eternity. That was the message for tonight. Maybe someone that will look at this message online later on. I just simply will say to them and anyone else that's in the, if you're involved with telling someone how to know Christ, don't allow excuses to come along to keep you from being unprepared for eternity. Don't let that happen. Excuses like, you know, I'm good enough. Aren't there several ways to God? No. There's only one way. Only one way. If there were several ways, why would God the Father allow his son to die the horrible death on the cross of Calvary? Looks like to me, God would have just said, there are several ways to get to me. Find one of those other ways. Live a perfect, live a real good life. Be baptized. Give to good causes. I'm not going to let my son die. No, Jesus had to die. He had to pay for my sin and everyone's sins. Some people are puzzled as to how to get to heaven. Some people are too proud to admit that they need a savior. Well, there's not a person on planet Earth that's not a sinner. Nicest person in this area needs the Savior. You cannot be so good that you don't need to be saved. Nobody gets to that point. So pride, being puzzled or perplexed as to how to get to heaven. And then some people are procrastinators. They're saying, yeah, I know that. I know I'm going to do that one of these days. Just read a story today that back in 2004 a man from Austria was visiting Thailand and he was out by the beach enjoying the sunshine and the water. He had just seen a documentary on tsunamis and all of a sudden he saw the water from that beach area recoil back into the ocean. And he knew immediately what was going to happen. And frantically, immediately, he jumped up and started screaming to everybody on the beach, run for your life. Run for your life. It's a tsunami. Most people got up and left. But he said there was one lady sitting in her beach chair. And she said, ah, I'm OK. I want to watch it. And she didn't make it. How sad. Some people procrastinate, say, nah, yeah, you people who believe in Jesus, yeah, one of these days I'll get serious about it. And so I say to anyone listening, I say to any of us who have the opportunity to tell someone to be saved, we need to be just as frantic as that man. Come to Christ, it's for eternity's sake. Time is brief, time is short. Well, thank you for the time this week. And as Brother Rudy has just said, we're gonna just have a moment here and then I'll have a word of prayer with you if that's okay. And I didn't hear all the things you said there about if we're gonna do anything else. But after I pray, I suppose that you will be dismissed. Is that okay? I'll be out at my table. If there's anything there that you would like to pick up, let me know quickly because I need to wrap it up pretty soon, okay? Well, why don't we stand? Why don't we stand and we'll close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight and as we have already said in prayer, we're grateful that you are sovereign, you are truly in charge and we know that this did not take you off guard for what we're going through as a nation and what this area in particular is going through. But Lord, most of all, help us to see the urgent need to get the gospel to people. Thank you for those who invited friends and co-workers and others, relatives and friends to be here tonight, but they just weren't able to come. I pray, Lord, that somehow or another the gospel will be able to be presented to those people soon, and that they too will recognize the need to come to you as Savior. God, give us an urgency. Help us to see the shortness of time. May we not live in fear ourselves, but may we be faithful to proclaim the answer of the gospel. Thank you for God's people here at People's Baptist. Protect us as we go our separate ways. We ask it in your glorious name. Amen. God bless you.