God bless you. Thank you, guys, for the good hard work you're about to get involved with there. All right. I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles, please, and turn to Mark chapter 6. We're going to be looking at verses 32 through 44. We're going to figure out a little bit about what Jesus is trying to do here. Let's give a little background here before we get started deeply in this. Jesus had sent the disciples out. He had sent them out with his power. He had told them, I'm giving you my power over demons, over sicknesses, illnesses. I'm going to give you power to represent the kingdom of God. I'm going to have you teach. I'm going to do this. Now, I'm not going with you. You're going out in twos. I don't want you to take anything that gives you security. You don't need that. Let God be your security. I'm not asking you to make appointments and reservations in some place to stay where you go. I'm just asking you to go to a village. When you get to that village, find someone there who will put you up, who will take care of you. And when you find that person, you stay there. And as long as they're peaceful and let you stay there, then you stay there. Whatever God shows you to do, you do that. Now they had come back very excited. When they came back excited, it's because so much had been done. They had been used by God. It had been a powerful, powerful time for them. And Jesus, recognizing their true need, and I'll share with you what I believe that need was, called them aside to a deserted place. They were supposed to go someplace and rest. They were going to be spending private time with the Lord Jesus Christ. He would let them tell him all the things that had been done. He was hard recognized that things had been done there. He knew things had been done. That's why he sent them out there. Now, just as a way of encouragement, you have been sent too. Those of you who are in VBS, this is an immediate thing you can see. You've been sent for this. Let God work through you. You depend completely upon Him for that, all right? Now, as they've gone out to do this, we picked up in verse 32, so they departed to a desert place in the boat by themselves. So this wasn't just their walking someplace else. They're taking a boat and headed someplace else. And it's going to be a deserted place. In other words, deserted, not civilized, not heavily populated. There's just going to be them and Jesus. Can I ask you something? Have you ever wanted to have a time with just you and Jesus? There are several times that I've taken time just to be with me and Jesus. And it was a fantastic time. I went to one which I thought was going to be a retreat. That's what they said it was going to be. It was going to be a men's retreat. And when I got there, they simply said, here's a list of books. There was a table there. It had a bunch of books on it. And said, this is the last time you'll be speaking to each other this weekend. You're not to speak to anyone else this weekend until we tell you to. You can choose any of these books. You can go back to your room and read the Bible. You can do whatever you want. If you want to go to bed, you can go to bed. But this will be it. This is the last for you. We got up the next morning to breakfast. Nobody could talk to each other. Couldn't say anything to anyone. No one gave a delivery. No one gave a special message. We ate breakfast. Then we were told, Walk out here in the camp, find a place, sit down, read, listen to the Lord. I said, what kind of retreat is this? You know, we ought to at least be getting something besides breakfast and lunch and dinner. I sat out under a tree wondering, what am I supposed to do now? I began to read. Bible, book, Bible, book. Boy, sure would be nice to talk to someone. Nobody. I'm going to tell you, by the end of that weekend, it was one of the most refreshing weekends I ever had. Because I did, after a while, cut loose from the things that were holding me down. And I actually got to listen to Jesus. It was good. Extremely good. And the next time they had one, can you think of somebody who might have been looking forward to it? And I found from that that I can have those little mini retreats all the time. You can go away. So I can just imagine how the disciples felt as they looked forward to this time they get to spend with Jesus. And as they're rowing in that boat, looking over on the seashore, what is that? What? Is that people? it that is they're getting closer now and people are all over the place I'm gonna ask you do you suppose it was any level of disappointment as that boat is landing and there is a multitude of people there again do you suppose they thought now Jesus this is the time you promise we get to be with you So here's what we're going to ask you to do. Tell these people, go home. Meet us next Tuesday. But just go home. We're tired. We don't want to see people anymore. We're going to get to be with Jesus by ourselves. We can ask him about the parables. We can ask him about this. We can ask him about that. It's our great time to be alone. I think Jesus saw in them There was not just the need to rest like you would normally rest. But there was a need to rest to understand who He is. Because let me just say this. There's a risk of taking undeserved credit. And here's what I mean by that. You just came from a grand revival. And all kinds of things were working out wonderfully. People were praying, people were doing all kinds of things, people were looking at the kingdom of God, a revival had broken out, and there is a tendency to think, look what I did. It was at the School of the Ozarks in 1970, I think this was. It may have been spring of 71. But some peculiar thing began to take place. We had curfew on the campus, and the curfew was at 1030. 1030, you were to be in your room, or at least in the dorm, and pretty well by 11 o'clock when it lights out. I noticed that on my way back to, you know, I always wanted to be back early, Misty Scharr over her dorm, I didn't rush back. If I got in at 1030, that was pretty good. I felt good about that. I happened to notice the chapel lights were still on. What's that? So I stop in at the chapel, look around there. There's a bunch of kids in there praying. thought to tell him you know this is 1030 man you guys are gonna get busted here you better get out of here they told me we've already talked it over it's it's alright so I went back to my dorm that happened the second night matter of fact they were still there in the morning when I went to breakfast they were still there at noon And they continue to be there. Only now, it wasn't just the six or seven that had been, there's 23. Then there's 30. Then there's 50. And the place is filling up. And security is saying, nah, we've been told we don't have to worry about them, that 1030's not a problem. If they need to be there a little bit longer, they sure can. They did. Kids in short, a revival broke out on that campus. And people were knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Now, I'll tell you the sad part. There was one young man. He and his sister had been in the Christian group that had been praying on that first night. They prayed, and others started praying with them. And he took undeserved credit for the work of God. He pulled me aside and he said, I don't know what to do with what I've done here. I've got this whole thing going. How do I keep this revival going? I said, well, Johnny, for one thing, if you're the one that's got it going, nothing. You just let it ride. Let God take care of the thing. Yeah, but I'm in charge. You know, I said, no. If you're in charge, we're all in trouble. He said, no, I mean it, you know, it started because of me. I said, no, Johnny, don't do this. Can I tell you, within a few days, he was gone. Everything that had been there was gone because he took undeserved credit. Now, there's a risk in doing that. There's a risk in thinking that because demons were cast out in your name, because this happened and these people got saved, and here grandma was walking, hadn't been walking before, she's healed, there was all kinds of things going on, there is a real risk that you're going to take some credit for that happening. After all, you're the vessel through whom that worked. It might be because of you. Why did God choose me? Isn't it because I'm a special person? Why did Jesus choose me? Isn't it because I'm a special person? There are things in me that can be seen. There are things that, obviously, even I hadn't seen them before, but now I understand them. I'm a pretty special person. There is that risk. And unless you've ever been involved in something like that, you're going to say, no one would ever do that. That just tells me you haven't been involved in that kind of thing yet. When you do get involved with that, when you see power that's way beyond you, that's some supernatural work that's going, you can get pretty wrapped up in it. So let me say the first thing. How could you have a risk of undeserved credit? The first thing, thoughtlessness. Thoughtlessness. busy without thought. You're getting the work done. You're using Jesus' name. Everything is going on, but you're forgetting that it's through you Jesus is doing the work. It's not you. It's Jesus that's doing the work. And He's teaching them this principle because He's going to leave one day. And when He leaves on that day, they're going to be working that way all the time. He's not going to be there for them to have a rest with. They're going to have to learn to rest without Him there. They're going to have to do this work without Him there. So it's time to get thoughtless. Let me share with you why I think thoughtlessness was a big part of it. What's going to happen next is going to be the Lord Jesus Christ feeding 5,000 people. I want you to look with me over at verse 40, I'm sorry, verse, let me get it. Verse 52. Would you look at verse 52 of Mark 6. Verse 52 it says, For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened. This is the disciples. These are the people who had just done this great work in Jesus' name. These are the disciples who handed out all this bread and fish that Jesus gave. This is the disciples who have been walking with Jesus for about two years now. And they hadn't considered the loaves. They hadn't understood it. How did you not understand? I think it's because they were thoughtless. Not thinking their way through. What's really happening here? Let me go to the second thing. They were entangled in the wonder of it all. When you're involved in some busy activity like that, something that is really supernatural, it's easy to get wrapped up in it. It's easy to think, I don't want to do anything else. Just let me do this. I want to do this all the time. I want to pray all the time. I want to see a revival all the time. I want to witness all the time. This is an exciting thing. It's easy to get entangled in it. And they had a desire to keep it happening without thinking the reason for it. They were focusing on the gift, not the giver. Focusing on the gift, not the giver. When they came back to explain to Jesus all the wonderful things that had happened, Matthew tells us that Jesus said, yes, that is good. They told him that demons are cast out. They said, yes, that's good. However, don't rejoice because of that. Don't rejoice simply at the work you've seen done. but rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's what you need to be happy about. God has given you everlasting life, not simply that work has been done. What do you think? Look with me at chapter 6. It says here, verse 33, Once again, I'm wondering if the disciples looked at that and thought, oh no, another bunch of people coming around. Please, Jesus, send them away. Look. verse 34 and Jesus when he came out that's come out of the boat saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them for they were like sheep not having a shepherd so he began to teach them many things now I call this caught in the compassion of Christ instead of getting to have that deserted place rest they were going to have a When they get out of the boat, Jesus is loaded with compassion. Did they know he might do that? Yes. How many times have they watched him do that? How many times have they seen Jesus, with his compassion, get caught up with it and give himself fully to them? There were so many people coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat. They didn't have time to do anything. They didn't have time to stop. All these people coming and Jesus having compassion on them. They got caught in the compassion of Christ. What did he see? Jesus saw people like sheep without a shepherd. He saw people that were hungry, they had no direction, no guidance, they were needy, they were devalued, they were without purpose, they were impulsive. All they knew that Jesus was the solution to a problem in some way or another. And they had a problem, let's go find Jesus. If Jesus can just solve the problem. Can I say, they're not looking for him for the right reason, they're looking for him for their reason. The disciples are in the same place. They're not recognizing who Jesus truly is. How do I know that? They hadn't understood the loaves. They're not understanding who Jesus really is. He's got to take the time, and that's why I entitled this part Interrupted Rest or Part of the Training. He had sent them out to be trained without Him. Now they've come back. Things worked. Are they going to understand who He is? Or are they just going to get caught up in the work? So Jesus has got to teach them. I believe this is still part of the training. Their rest was not interrupted. They're getting to see Jesus one more time. Jesus explained who He really is. So let's take a look at who He is. Number two in your outline, who He is. He is God as described in the Old Testament. Moses wanted to say, who are you? Could you let me see you? And God says, no, I can't do that, but I can let you see my glory. So you get in this rock, I'll cover you up right there, and then I'll walk right past you. And as he walked right past him, he proclaimed his name. The Lord, the Lord God, full of mercy and of compassion, full of love, full of mercy for thousands of them that fear him, not clearing the guilty. And on he went, explaining who he is. When Jeremiah says, but could I just know more about you? He says to Jeremiah, don't let the mighty brag in their might. Don't let the wise guy brag in his wisdom. If anybody brags, let him brag in this, that I know you, the one true God, full of mercy, full of compassion, It was God who was always full of mercy and compassion. How come he didn't strike Israel dead in the wilderness? How come he didn't strike them dead when every time they complained or got some other thing when they got to the promised land? Started worshiping other gods when in the promised land. Why didn't he wipe them out? Why did he take 400 years to figure that out? Because he's full of mercy and full of compassion. What would show who Jesus is more than mercy and compassion? So Jesus gets out of the boat, and like the person he really is, he sees the people. They're like sheep scattered with no shepherd. They're hungry. They're without direction. What else is he going to do? And he drew those people in and starts teaching them. And I'm wondering myself, how many disciples said, here we go again. He's doing it again. He won't even watch what time it is. When are we going to get to have that time alone? When's it going to be our time? And they're just watching him day in, day out. He would not leave these people to wander aimlessly. He would meet their needs. He had yet another lesson to teach his disciples about who he really is. You see, the secret of the Christian life is not in deeds. Deeds come because you know who he is. It comes because of your trust in who this person is. Look, kids, our whole church has to depend on the Holy Spirit. That's our life. It's not in our habitual way of doing things. If you try to run VBS because you know how to run VBS, you're missing the point. VBS is a divine appointment between you and God in which God's planning to teach you a lesson as much as He is the kids. He wants you engaged in knowing who He is. As I was trying to explain to him in Sunday school, look, you bring that many people together in an unrehearsed activity, you can pretty well bet there might be a couple of chaotic things happen. There might be some things that just don't look organized. The schedule doesn't always fit. Not everything that's on the schedule works out at exactly 1015. It might be 1017. Could be 1020. Can I tell you, if that's happening to you, could you just stop for a minute? Take a good deep breath. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that I get to participate with you in this great work. Thank you that you're the one who brings order out of chaos. So I'm gonna watch you work this out. This is gonna work just fine. Thank you for the privilege of being with these kids. Turn to the kids and love them. Have compassion on them. Jesus to them. Is that fair enough? All right. He can turn away from them. He saw those people and he had compassion on them. He could not turn away. He would not turn away. And the disciples already knew that. It's kind of like Jonah. Remember, Jonah was, no, I don't want to go to Nineveh. No, I don't want to go to Nineveh. And when he does go to Nineveh, because God helps him understand the motivation that's got to change, when he does finally get there, he goes and preaches like he's supposed to, gets it done, sits on a hillside and says, kill them, God. And when God doesn't kill him, what does he say? See? I told you. I knew that's what you would do. You're always merciful. Instead of killing these guys, you're showing them mercy. Kids, have compassion. You know that's what he's like. So just have compassion. Let me go on further. Would they be filled with the same compassion? Would they be overwhelmed with that, too, and just jump right in with this thing? Would they be annoyed that their proposed rest would be delayed? Would they pay attention and learn or just watch their master do some more work? Because that's what he does. Here is the is it in ring two of this circus that goes on that Jesus is doing something. We're just going to watch him work. What is it? Were they still in union with him or were they disengaged since their task was over? Won't you stop and think with me just for a moment? When God fills you with His Spirit, when God gives you the authority to work in His name, when are you off the clock? You're always on. The power that you had to do that particular task is yours all the time. Let me go further. I've got some more to say about that in a minute. The pragmatic disciples interrupt his work. The pragmatic disciples interrupt his work. That means they're very practical. So, they have to interrupt Jesus because, you know, Jesus has got this bad habit. He just doesn't understand time. He doesn't understand when to say no. He doesn't understand when to say quit. So the disciples, in verse 35, when the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him and said, this is a deserted place. Duh! Where did Jesus say he's going? They're in a deserted place. So guess what? Jesus, who's full of compassion, lost sight of where they're at. The Son of God can't figure out this is a deserted place. So the pragmatic disciples have to remind him. And already the hour is late. Why? Because Jesus doesn't understand time. The one who said, let there be day, let there be night, just doesn't get it when it's day or night. So the disciples have to help Jesus out. You ever been there before? Yes. How many times have we decided Jesus' timing is just not real good. I need to remind him I needed that yesterday. What's the matter with you Jesus? Mary and Martha knew that. What's the matter with you? Why didn't you make it when my brother was sick? They go on. Send them away. that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat." Does Jesus know they have nothing to eat? Does Jesus know that these people need to be sent away? The one who has compassion on these people. Does he not know they need to be sent away? So what does Jesus answer? But he answered and said to them, you give them something to eat. Has Jesus ever done you that way before? Put you in a place where you're thinking, you need to tell him how to answer this prayer. I just prayed this prayer and he's saying, I put it right in front of you. You're gonna eat it there or not? And you have to remind him, well, just send them away. Well, you give them something to eat. And they said, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? Do you want us to take all the money we got and go buy that? It's not even going to be enough for them. So the pragmatic disciples may not be as pragmatic as you think. They may not have looked everything over. Look and see what I mean. But he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. Oh, hadn't thought of that. You suppose any of these people brought bread along with them? You suppose the people understood they were in trouble? And when they found out, they said, five and two fish. So he gives them some more orders. Now let me just go on with you. Let's go over to page two, all right? Joining Jesus and missing the point. Outthinking the busy Jesus. Send the people away. We're supposed to have some privacy here. So that would be a good reason to send the people away, wouldn't it? Supposed to be us and you. So send them away. There's a problem, Jesus. Are you figuring out it's supposed to be us? And they're in the middle of the us. All right, get them out of here. Appealing to Christ for their immediate need. Reflections of the wilderness travels. They need something to eat. Doesn't it take you back to the Exodus again? How am I gonna feed all these people? They gotta have something to eat, okay? When Jesus answered, you give them something to eat, did he not just authorize them to do the same work he had done? but they were not on the clock now. You understand what I'm saying? Had he not just authorized them to take care of people and their problems? Had they not just come back victorious? Could they not, while Jesus is having compassion on people, talk among themselves and say, let's ask the Father and let's go ahead and get food for these people? They hadn't even looked for resources, kids, because they were being thoughtless. We don't want to be thoughtless people. Watch every event that's going on. Can I tell you this? Nothing's happening in your life by accident. The things that are happening in your life are a part of the overall training program of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's teaching you. He's training you every moment how to know who He is, how to depend on Him, what faith means, how to apply faith every moment of your life, even this moment right now. they didn't get that this was part of the training. They're not on the clock. So they didn't think about how they might feed people. They're thinking about how Jesus might feed people. All right. They're thinking let's let Jesus do this. All right. Let me go further. Jesus tells them to check your resources. They did that, but they came up woefully short. Then Jesus says, get organized, says the one who's the author of order, who brings order out of chaos. Now the miracle takes place, right? He tells them, then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. They sat down in ranks in hundreds and fifties. Kids, we want to do everything we do in order. everything we do try to do it in order keep it just as orderly as you possibly can so he gathers the resources to himself they sat down on the ranks he did all that verse 41 says when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to a disciple to set before them and the two fish he divided among them all so they all ate and were filled So let's get this. Here is the principle Jesus is laying down for the disciples. You've been authorized. You have my power. So here's what I'm going to tell you to do. Gather up your resources. Go see what you've got. Secondly, get organized. Get yourself organized the way it's supposed to be. Then go with this. Jesus takes those resources he has to himself. Now they're gonna watch. What's he gonna do with five loaves and two fish? He looks to the Father. Now I want you to notice this. Whenever I say, let's pray, what are you going to do? You close your eyes and bow your head, right? Safety team, I'm gonna ask that you do this. Don't bow your head, don't close your eyes, look around, okay? I need to know that you know something's going on. Remember, how did God tell Gideon to choose his army? If they bent their head down, don't take that one. Look for the ones who keep their eyes open, looking all the time. Now I want you to notice this. When Jesus is going to pray to the Father, He does not close His eyes and bow His head. Look, that's not a sanctified position. That's not the position for prayer. When you are bowing your head and closing your eyes, think about it in a minute. Why would you do that? If your Father is getting on to you, Are you looking him in the eyes or looking down? You, I told you to take the trash out. You didn't take the trash out. If at all possible, you're looking down. Why? Because you're ashamed to look. If you're confessing sin, head bowed, eyes closed, is a really proper position. Why? Because I'm humbled. Every time you're humbled, face down is a good place to be. if you're really humbled and realize you're in the presence of God, on your face is the place to be. But here, several times, Jesus stopped and looked up to heaven. Why? He was grateful. He was grateful. Is it okay to look up to heaven? Yes. Can you actually pray and look up? Yes. And you should. Jesus is looking up to his Father. He's thanking the Father for the food they're about to eat. He's blessing that food. He breaks the food and just keeps breaking it. He hands it to the disciples for distribution. There is always more food when they return for more. Now, just think your way through that just for a moment. They're watching him take loaves of bread and break it. Pass it out. They're taken away, and he's still breaking bread. He just keeps breaking bread. Where are those loaves coming from? Because he just keeps breaking bread. And he takes the fish and breaks them. And they just keep coming. Now, this is important for creation. I know I probably told you this before, but I don't know if I explained it well or not. Jesus is creating food with the appearance of age. Jesus is creating food with the appearance of age. After the first five loaves and two fish, all other food was food that had bypassed all the natural processes and yet appeared as mature as the original loaves and fish. All of it was filling and satisfying. Think that over, okay? Now, this is about creation. How old is the first tree? If you looked inside its rings, how old would it be? If you looked at the rocks, how old are the rocks? They may be minutes old. How do they appear? Years old. The water is just created. How old is that water? Are you seeing where we're coming from? There's the appearance of age when Adam and Eve are created. How old are they? Minutes. But they have the appearance of adults. They didn't go through any of the natural processes. You see, that's how the Creator does it. That's how God does it. Jesus is taking bread and breaking it. And as you get to loaf number six, he's breaking it too. Only it's food that has the appearance of age that never was a seed, never was a plant, never was a head of wheat, never was harvested, never was it ... what do you call that when you throw it up in the air and all that? Never was it ground into flour. Never was it kneaded with oil. Never was it put into an oven and baked anyplace. Yet, I'm telling you, it was just as satisfying as what the rest of it had been. Just as filling. People went away fully satisfied. Now, what was the lesson? Fellas, you missed the lesson about the work I just gave you to do. You got all excited about the work. You got excited about the results. But you missed the point of who gave you the results. How are you casting out demons? You're not over the demons. God is over the demons. They wouldn't listen to you. They've never listened to you. Because you're lesser than them. But they sure will listen to God. So when you cast them out, who cast them out? God did. Are you seeing where we're coming from? When people were healed, how did it happen? You missed it. You're talking about the healing. You're talking about the result. You're talking ... That's not what you should be thinking about. You have now been working with God working through you. What you have just seen is God Himself creating the sixth loaf of bread. The appearance of age. That thing's already completed. You just saw God create. You just saw Genesis 1 fulfilled in your face. Did you get it? And they didn't. Why? Their hearts were hardened. Why? They were thoughtless. They didn't think about who did this work. Kids, if there's an application, a lesson for us, let me just say, here's the first one. Think. Think. Think beyond what's happening. Think well enough to recognize that for better or worse, good or bad, the thing that's happening with you right now is coming from Almighty God. How does God want you to respond to it? Think beyond what's happening. Don't question Jesus. Please don't treat Jesus like he's one of us. He is one of us, but a little bit more than us. Can you agree to that? What do you mean by don't question Jesus? Don't treat Jesus as if he made a mistake in answering your prayer. Don't question Jesus if you think he doesn't understand time. Don't question Jesus if you think he doesn't understand the circumstances you're in. You're not having to tell him your circumstances. You're telling him what your concern is in that circumstance, and you're confessing sometimes as sin. Would you forgive me for my anxiety? I'm actually acting anxious about this. Please forgive me for that. I know you're in charge of this and you have this. So I'm going to ask you, please forgive my anxiety in this. Trust, I want to trust you in it completely. Don't question Jesus and don't panic. Practice orderliness. When you see things are starting to go chaotically, you get it back in order just as quickly as you can. And do it by faith. Lord Jesus, you're the one who is orderly, so I'm gonna ask you to do this by faith. Please put this back in order. And finally, trust Him. Just plain trust Him. He probably knows how to feed those 5,000 people. Well, more than that, obviously, there's 5,000 men. He probably knows how to feed them. He probably knows what time of day it is. He probably knows whether you need to send them away or keep them around. He might know that you're the one that needs to learn a lesson, not them. So always be ready to learn. Let humility be what guides you. Let's be ready to be the people who learn everything we need to learn and see it because God is God. Father, thank you so much that Jesus Christ is Lord. Thank you for the things you're working in us and the way you're working them. Forgive us when we question you, when we have doubts about you, when we are sure you just don't understand how serious our problem is. Forgive us of that. Guide us through this. Please, if there's anyone here today, Father, that doesn't know Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, please don't let them leave without Him. Let them know that Christ died for them, that Christ dying for them, they have everlasting life and forgiveness fully and completely. Let them come to you in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. Let's stand together. We're going to be singing a song that we introduced last month, Christ Our Wisdom. Trust our wisdom, we are humbled when you hide your ways from us. You have purposes unnumbered, each one good and glorious. Help us trust when we grow weary. Free us from our anxious thoughts. Give us grace to see more clearly you are God and we are not. Christ our wisdom, be our gladness when we fail to understand. You ordain all joy and sadness to fulfill your perfect plan. Help us know you rule with power over every raging flood. In our most uncertain hour, you are God and we are loved. Christ our wisdom we will follow, though the way ahead is vale. As we journey through the shadows, grant us faith where sight has failed. Help us cling to your commandments, strengthened by your faithful word. We will never be abandoned. You are God and we are yours. ♪ Christ our wisdom we adore you ♪ For the beauty of the cross ♪ Once in foolishness we scorned you ♪ But your blood has ransomed us ♪ Help us sing the endless mercies ♪ Of your humble heart to save ♪ Christ our wisdom, Christ our glory Great song team. I appreciate that very much. Good song. We live in an anxious world, one that's just full of all kinds of pressures that go on every kind of direction. Jesus Christ is not anxious. He has great timing. He has great compassion. He has great mercy. And if you're one of those who is all concerned about things and how they're happening and so forth, I'm going to ask you today, put your trust in Christ. Put your trust in Christ. He knows what He's doing, and He knows how to take care of your particular need. There isn't a need you have He doesn't know how to take care of. He went through every kind of need that you possibly have, and He's already passed it. He's given a great victory to the Father in that. So please put your trust in Him. If today you've never trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there's a simple thing to this. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. God's given His Son for you. He's loved this whole of creation, and He's redeeming this whole of creation. He's redeeming you. You're a part of that creation. So put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ this day, right where you're seated, right where you stand. If you go away and think about it this afternoon, then do it right there. Don't wait for some elaborate ceremony to take place. It doesn't have to be. It's just simply you putting your trust and confidence that He is the Son of God who gave Himself for you, all right? We have, I think there's child protection, Larry? Last one. You've got to get it tonight, kids. You've got to have your child protection. All right? And then... There we go. All right. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you so much that Jesus Christ truly is Lord. Teach us about yourself, Lord. We know that our life depends upon you, a real person. not upon our deeds, not upon our actions or lack of them, not upon our confession of sin, but upon you. So teach us how to walk in your spirit. Thank you now as you dismiss us. Please once again, bless all the VBS preparations that will be going on and the VBS week we're going to have for Christ's sake. Amen. God bless you. We'll see you another time.