I want you to think about it. What will it take for you to find true satisfaction in this life? What's the purpose of life? Wherein lies the secret of true happiness? Now, if in your mind you're thinking something along the lines of, well, fortune and fame and fun would be nice, or winning the lottery, lots of laughter and lots of friends would be good, well you might find yourself surprised with today's text. Jesus would have you know that you will never find true satisfaction, true contentment in the things of this world. And I think even a nominal survey of the life of Solomon would surely show us that. We're talking about the wealthiest man who lived in his day. I mean, making kings look like paupers, and the wisest man of his day, or for that matter, any day outside of Christ. And yet, certainly the Scriptures demonstrate that he was also one of the most miserable men in his day as well. I mean, the guy had fame, the guy had a fortune. every material benefit, he had a thousand women at his beck and call, 700 wives, 300 concubines, and he withheld himself from nothing that this world had to offer. He overdosed on everything he could in hopes of finding meaning and fulfillment and happiness. And he says of himself that whatever his eyes desired, he refused to refrain himself from those things. And then he said, then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor in which I had toiled, and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. Translation, it was meaningless. It did nothing for me inwardly, and it did not satisfy me beyond the moment. temporarily. We have this false notion that true happiness is out there somewhere. We just haven't found it yet. We just need a little more money, a little more power, or a little more notoriety, then we'll be happy. But here's what we need to really allow to sink into our hearts. You've heard me say it before. Listen, the flesh is never satisfied. It's always hungering for just a little bit more, and that's what the scriptures are talking about when they say hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of a man are never satisfied. 700 wives, 300 concubines. This seems a bit excessive, doesn't it? But you know what that screams in this day to this age of quick and easy divorce? Drop this relationship, pursue another person. Listen, guys, if you cannot be content with one woman, believe me when I tell you a thousand won't satisfy you. That's the bottom line. The problem isn't your spouse. It's in you. The flesh is never satisfied. And that's what Jesus was talking about when he said to the woman at the well, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. You can drink of the waters of fame. You can drink of the waters of fortune, the waters of excessive relationships, trying to get your fill. But you'll thirst again. It's not until you come to Christ and receive the gift of everlasting life. It's not until you drink deep of the waters of salvation that you will find true contentment and satisfaction. Satisfaction is not found in the things of this world, but in Christ alone. But here's the deal. You have to recognize your need. You have to realize your own spiritually wretched condition. And until you do, you won't cry out to God. You won't seek what Jesus has to offer. And that's why Jesus pronounces the blessing on those who will realize and recognize their need. And we'll get to that in a few minutes. For now, notice with me, beginning in verse 12 of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we read this. Now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose twelve whom he also named apostles. Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor." We'll stop there at the appointing of the apostles. Just a few things we want to draw out of this section and then we'll move on. It's kind of interesting for me to think through the fact that though we really don't know much about most of these guys, in reality we really know virtually nothing about a few of the guys, most of the guys other than their name. Their fame is reserved for heaven. And, you know, the Bible talks about their names inscribed on the foundations of the city. I mean, read the book of Revelation, the rewards these guys will acquire or receive. And that's kind of encouraging to me to think that if an apostle can be virtually unknown and still receive a great reward. That tells me that heaven rewards me not according to the way history records my great accomplishments. You know, the things that I've accomplished, the way I've left my mark. God doesn't really ask me to set the bar by accomplishing incredible things. He simply asks me to be faithful with that which He's entrusted to me. God is looking, not for fame, but for faithfulness from us. He'll take it from there. If you're faithful in what He's entrusted to you, you will be rewarded to the one who walks in the limelight, who receives all the fame and the accolades, who was faithful to God in what he or she did as well. It's not so much what we're called to do as it is our faithfulness to do it. God never said, Jesus never said, Well done, good and famous servant. Did he say that? No. Good and faithful servant. And basically, as it pertains to this list of servants that's here before us in the Scripture, we have a couple sets of brothers, some business partners, a tax collector who had worked for Rome and a zealot who had hated Rome, which I'm sure they had some interesting conversations, and a trader. But really, outside of Peter, James, John, and Judas, that is Iscariot, we don't know very much about the rest of them at all. I mean, perhaps a little bit here and there concerning a couple of them, but what did James the son of Alphaeus do? What does the scripture read of the missionary journeys of Thomas? I mean, you know, it's just, we don't know. What's the difference between a disciple and an apostle? He's talking to his disciples and from them he appoints apostles. Well, most of you know a disciple is a learner, one who would follow his teacher. There is an element of personal attachment behind the word disciple. It goes beyond student, like we would think today, teacher and student, where there's not really a personal attachment. A disciple has a personal attachment. And so, a learner is really what the disciple is. The idea behind the word apostle is that of an ambassador. One who has a message from another who has sent them, and they come representing both the power and the person of the individual whom they represent. Okay? Now, what we need to see in this section is this. First thing, Jesus communes with God, then he calls his apostles. He communes, then he calls. He prays, then he appoints them a position. And he doesn't pray just a little bit. Man, I mean, he prays all night long. Why? Well, Because those whom he would appoint would be pivotal in the establishing of the foundation of the church throughout the entire world for all time. I mean, this is what we might consider a significant decision that he was faced with. And so he did not leave it to democracy. He wasn't concerned for who the most charismatic person in the group may be. He wasn't thinking of who the most popular individual was. He was seeking the heart of God. And I have discovered that God rarely picks the popular. the most influential or the slam-dunk decision in the group. Remember these words, 1 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 7, For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. You might reference 1 Corinthians chapter one, verses 26 through 31. It's there we have the New Testament parallel where we read that, well you see your calling brethren, not many wise according to this world, not many mighty, you know, it's not the strong, but God chooses the weak things and the foolish things, the despised, the things which are not to really, the things which are not to, anybody know it? Confound those which are, thank you. That as it is written, you know, that no flesh should glory in His sight, but that as it is written, let he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. And so, you kind of get the idea. Here's the application for you and me. When we have a significant decision to make, we do well to marinate and to saturate that decision in prayer. We do well to seek the Lord with our whole heart that we might get a grip on his heart as it pertains to the matter. That's what Jesus did and that's what we're to do as well. Now look at verse 17. We read here, and he came down with them, that is off the hillside or the mountainside, and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits, and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. The idea being communicated here is that people were traveling great distances now to see Him and receive some sort of touch from Him. If you were, I'm not encouraging you to at least in this moment, but if you were to look at one of your maps that's probably in the back of your Bible, you will discover Tyre and Sidon way up in the north and over to the east, at the sea coast there, as to where Judea and Jerusalem are much farther south. And the point is this, the fame of Jesus is spreading in a significant manner. And you can sort of, you know, people are traveling from everywhere to hear Him be healed. by him, and you can sort of see this scene in your mind. After being up on the mountain all night praying, after appointing his apostles out of his disciples, he comes down into the plain on a level place, we read, and we find the familiar scene of multitudes of people waiting for him. And they're seeking two things from him, number one, to hear Him, and number two, to be healed by Him. They were looking to hear Him teach, and they were wanting to receive His touch upon their lives. Not only in a physical way, but there were those with spiritual needs as well, who were being tormented by demonic entities, being possessed and all. And we read that power went out from Him and healed them all. And so, not only did Jesus have the power of God in Him, But the power of God went out from him to minister to and meet people's needs. Here's what I want you to see. Many were there to be served. but Jesus was there in order to serve. And I point that out because it seems to me that we, like these people, are all too eager to want the power of God in us to somehow help us, but really I wonder how many of us really long for the power of God to go out from us and touch the lives of those in need around us. There are people all around you, all around me, every day, who need to hear God's Word, who need to receive the healing touch of Jesus Christ upon their lives. They're afflicted by various ailments and diseases. Those of you that come out on the midweeks, you know a couple weeks ago we were talking about the disease of of bitterness and unforgiveness. We were speaking of the ailments of lust and addiction. We spoke of the debilitating disease of depression, and how Christ was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. How that the chastisement for our peace was placed upon Him, and it's by His stripes that we are healed. Jesus wants to touch your life and take those things from you. He desires that you hear Him, and He wants to heal you if you'll simply, well, notice, press in on Him that you might just, let's just say, get in touch with Him, okay? These people were purposed to get in touch with Jesus. We read that the whole multitude, did you see the words, sought to touch Him. I want you to understand that there's a certain amount of Passion and persistence behind that word sought. There's a purposed resolve to try and make something happen in that word. They wanted to get close to Jesus because if they touched him, power would go out from him. Listen, they would be changed. You understand what I'm saying? They were passionately pressing in on Jesus because if they could get in touch with Him, He would change them. Okay, here's the question. Listen, how passionate are we really about pursuing Christ? How desperately do you really want to be in touch with Him? Because if you are persistent in it, if I am passionate about it, Jesus will change our lives. We'll experience His power and something in us will change. Many have what we might refer to as a casual pursuit of Christ. But few have a strong passion to seek the Lord in truth. He was sending a signal to those apostles, His disciples, those who were with Him, who came down the mountain alongside Him, and to you and to me as well, that we have a purpose here, and it's to share His love and His power with those who need to hear Him and receive healing in Him. That was the message. That was the signal He was sending them as the multitudes were pressing in on Him. Listen, guys, there is a purpose to you being here. There's a reason I've appointed you. A purpose behind my calling you and empowering you is because people need to hear my word and receive healing in me through what I want to do in you. Beginning in verse 20, we come to Luke's passage that resembles Matthew's gospel, chapters 5 through 7, in the portion of Matthew's gospel that's frequently referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. But it seems to me that contrary to what some believe, I don't really think this is simply an edited version of that same message, but rather it's a similar message spoken by Jesus at a different time for a number of different reasons. One of which is that Matthew's gospel is very clear that he's teaching on the hillside. Here it's very clear he stood on a level place. In Matthew's gospel he points out the blessings. Here we read of woes as well. And it would not, and that's just a couple, there are more, but it would not be uncommon. Jesus was an itinerant preacher, he would travel around and share the word of God and the ways of God and all of that. It wouldn't be uncommon at all for him to repeat himself when speaking to different crowd on the same topic. or even remind the same crowd of a pertinent issue if it pertained to the kingdom. Even as Peter said, when he said, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. You might know it, you might be established even in it, but it's still good for you and for me to be reminded of it if it pertains to the word of God, or the heart of God, or the ways of God. As for the Beatitudes, people wonder why they're called Beatitudes occasionally. And really the simplest explanation is this, these are the attitudes that ought be in your life as a believer. And I should point out that neither the Beatitudes nor anything found in this message constitutes the gospel message. And following the Sermon on the Mount, is not a recipe for salvation. It's not how I'm to live if I want God to save me. I am saved by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on my behalf and nothing else. Okay? It is, however, a proper perspective or a proper understanding in the life of the believer and how the life of Christ goes on display in the life of the believer. Now, of course, some of these things will be stirring in you prior to coming to Christ, showing you your need for Christ, but then there will also be attitudes that are maintained in us throughout our walk and relationship with Christ as well. One has said this, Jesus' beatitudes pierce to the heart of human values and force us to ask the basic questions we find so easy to ignore. What is life all about for me? What moves me? What determines my choices? What makes me glad or sad? Am I controlled by my needs? Struggling as the pagans do to make sure I have enough? Am I controlled by pleasure? Satisfied with the laughter and distraction I can find in amusements? Am I controlled by a desire for wealth? Satisfied to see my cash and credit grow? Am I controlled by a need to be liked and admired? Jesus said, how miserable for you. You might better be hungry, poor, weeping and hated, for then at least you might turn from these empty things to me to find out what life is really all about. Jesus' words jolted the men of his day, and they ought to jolt you and me too." I thought that was a good little commentary on this particular portion. With that, let's read verses 20-26, and we'll come back and consider it just a little bit. We read, then, he lifted up his eyes toward his disciples and said, blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. And blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. And blessed are you when men hate you and they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed your reward is great in heaven. For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. And woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." Now, this isn't speaking about wanting to have a good name as Paul exhorts those who would be in leadership having a good name in the church and out of the church. This is in regard to the false prophets, those who will give people what they want to hear to receive the accolades from the people, the scratching of the itching ears, if you will. And really these last few verses read a lot like the opening of James chapter 5. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if James was thinking of this when he penned that portion of his letter. But people then were just really like we are today, thinking that happiness comes from all the material possessions I could possibly acquire, or holding a position of power, or enjoying the pleasures and the popularity that only money can buy. You can sort of imagine how shocked they must have been when Jesus dropped this bomb. I mean, we've heard it over and over. They hadn't heard it up to this point, and it exploded in such a way as to leave them struggling to apprehend the fact that the true secret to happiness would be found in just the opposite of what they had always thought and pursued. Jesus is saying, listen, it's not a change in circumstances that we need, going from poor to rich, or unpopular to very popular, no. He says it's not a change in circumstance that we need, it's a new outlook on and understanding of life that comes from a change in my relationship to God. Okay? Again, we note Jesus was speaking to his disciples in verse 20. He lifted his eyes toward his disciples. This was not an evangelical message, though it's good for unbelievers to hear it. He wasn't calling them to repentance through this, but rather he was seeking to encourage those guys, those gals who had forsaken all to follow him. Later on, Peter will even ask him, Lord, we've left everything for you. I mean, what do we have, you know? And so, he's seeking to encourage those who have forsaken all to follow him. Now, I should also point out that Jesus was not in any way glorifying material poverty. Though it would seem as though God does have a soft spot, if you will, for the destitute or those who are poverty stricken, none of which we really are in reality. But the Bible nowhere indicates that poverty is a sign of spirituality or a guarantee into His kingdom. If you look at the Beatitudes and correlate them with those that he spoke in Matthew's Gospel, you read where Jesus said this, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And really the bottom line here is that the blessing will come to the one who will number one, recognize and realize their need, and that number two, their need is greater, they recognize their need is greater than their own potential or ability to meet. Okay? The blessing is reserved for the person who realizes that apart from God moving in their lives, somehow intervening in their situation, they are destined for destruction. Now when you qualify those thoughts spiritually, as Jesus said in John 6 and 63, that the words I speak are spirit, then you're talking, really what Jesus is talking about, is a confession from the heart of one's own sinfulness and rebellion, a recognition that he or she is without any moral virtues adequate to commend them to God. Jesus says here that the one who will recognize that they're poverty stricken of spirit, which I might add, results in a deep inner humility whereby I'm willing to cast myself completely upon the mercies of God and beg for his forgiveness. And that's the word Jesus uses here when he says, blessed are you poor. The word poor isn't like, you know, those that are kind of going through a rough spot. No, it's those who have absolutely nothing and will get absolutely nothing apart from begging for it and the gracious handout of another. Okay? And so, God is saying, when you recognize, Jesus is saying, when you recognize that spiritually you have nothing and can acquire nothing apart from the gracious mercy of God giving it to you, well, once you're in that place and you're willing, in reality, to beg, to cast yourself upon His mercy for His forgiveness, you'll be rewarded. God will give you the kingdom. You will receive the kingdom of God. So apart from absolute bankruptcy of spirit, you and I will not see the kingdom of God. Poverty of spirit is an absolute prerequisite. Apart from it, I will not see my need, therefore I will not be saved. I won't see the need to be saved. It happens, this poverty of spirit happens really as a result of seeing God for who he truly is and are just responding to the work of the Holy Spirit upon my heart. Poverty of spirit cannot be artificially induced through self-hatred or whatever the case may be. That's not what it is. And only God knows when it's genuine, or I should say God does know your heart when it's genuine. You might just read it or jot it down, look at it later, Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 14, to see the difference between a facade and the genuine article with regard to poverty of spirit. And to put plainly, it's the polar opposite of pride, okay? I might also add that it's not something that only begins my journey in Christ, but it abides throughout my journey in Christ. It's always before me, it's always before you. You realize, as Jesus said, apart from me, you can do nothing. There's nothing of any, like as Paul said, in me that is in my flesh, there's nothing good that dwells. Anything, apart from Jesus, you know, we're utterly and always dependent upon him. That's poverty of spirit. True poverty of spirit will result in a few things. In brief, they are these. Number one, a hunger for more of Christ in your life. Number two, a brokenness over sin in your life. And number three, an isolation or a segregation from the world. The world will hate you. Look at verse 21. Jesus said, blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. And blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. And blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy." How many of you have really... I thought about that and rejoiced over that when you've been lied about or reviled or excluded, you know, because you love the Lord, man. I mean, he says, man, you should really think about it and dig on it because your reward is great in heaven for in like manner the fathers did to the prophets. As we consider verse 21 again, nowhere in scripture does God equate physical hunger with spirituality. So I think that we're safe to see Jesus' words here in the same light as Matthew chapter five and verse six when he said, blessed are you who hunger, or blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. You know, what does it mean to hunger or thirst after righteousness? Well, in brief, you're thirsting for the person of God and the precepts of God. Man, you want to know Christ more intimately. You want to walk in the ways and the will of God wholeheartedly. You want to obey the word of God. You know, Jesus says here, listen, if that's your heart's desire, I'm going to honor that. I'm going to meet you in that place. I'm going to satisfy your hunger to know me more. Of course, the more you hunger after the things of God, the more innately aware of your own sinful condition you become as you draw near to Him and realize the holiness that's innate within Him. You're going to be more acutely aware of the ramifications of sin all around you as you watch the news or you read the newspaper or whatever. And the things in your life and that are in this world that put Christ upon the cross, they're a heavy reality to your heart. Jesus says, blessed are you who weep now. Those who have heartache and heartbreak because of these things for you shall laugh. In other words, comfort will come your way. Now, what is the result of Someone who realizes their own poverty of spirit, walks in deep humility, hungers after Christ, mourns over sin, longs for righteousness to be the dominant thing in their life and in this world. Now you would think someone who walks in humility, who wants righteousness genuinely, I mean, who weeps because of sin in humanity, Nobel Peace Prize maybe? No. Men hate you. They exclude you. They revile and speak evil of you, lie about you. Why? Well, because the light that shines from your life reveals the deeds of darkness done in theirs. People don't like that. John chapter three and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed when you are hated. Not because you're being weird or up in people's face or whatever the case may be, but for Christ's sake, Jesus says, take heart. You are in good company and your reward will be great. The prophets were treated the same way. Look at verse 24. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. And woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. And woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false. Now, of course, we need to realize, as far as verse 24 is concerned, that no more than poverty commends a man to God, does riches condemn a man before God. Okay? Now, it's true that the Bible condemns the love of money. That is, making money, you're God. You cannot serve God and mammon, or God and money. You will love one, hate the other, serve one, and despise the other. The meaning of life cannot be summed up in a bank account or on a balance sheet. That's the idea. The idea here is being self-satisfied. Seeing or sensing no need for divine intervention, because you have everything you need. You know? You're comforted now. You've got it good. Why worry about tomorrow? A good commentary on this would be Luke chapter 16 verses 19 through 31. The warning here is that we're not to find our fulfillment in the things of this world. Listen. Listen. Material fullness can rob us of the awareness of our spiritual emptiness. That's what Jesus is saying. Material fullness can rob us of the awareness of our spiritual emptiness. It's like when Jesus said to the Pharisee, remember last week or so, a couple of weeks ago, when he said, listen, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He wasn't saying that Pharisees were not sinners, OK? but that they considered themselves righteous, therefore they didn't sense the need for a savior. They were self-sufficient. And the point here is that if you see yourself as self-sufficient now, if you're satisfied with the things of this world, then when you stand before God, it'll be too late. The day will come when you will be hungry, you will weep and wail throughout eternity, and nothing can be done for you then. Don't walk around with a false sense of eternal security because you got it good, you see. The good things you have in life may turn to be your misery throughout eternity. A man by the name of H. H. Farmer wrote that to Jesus, The terrible thing about having wrong values in life and pursuing wrong things is not that you're doomed to bitter disappointment, but that you're not. Not that you do not achieve what you want, but that you do. Jesus is trying to wake us up to a proper perspective. Don't seek satisfaction in the things of this world. You'll never find it. Find your contentment in Christ. Well, Lord, you've given us a lot today to think about and to kind of muse through. And I pray that you would help us to heed your word and think carefully through where it is that we're seeking to find contentment and satisfaction, what our values are, and what makes us tick, and what motivates us. And God, if we need an adjustment in our mindset, please, we just, we ask that you would impart to us a proper and eternal perspective. And I pray that you would use our lives as a means for people to hear your word and receive your healing touch upon their lives. Lord, help us to hunger for you all the more. And I don't know, while we're here and our heads are bowed, maybe you're one who, becoming disillusioned with the things of this life. And you're ready to enter into the healing waters of salvation today. And I want to give that opportunity to you. If God's dealing with you right where you're at, and you're realizing the fact is that you're a sinner, and you are absolutely unable in any way to commend yourself to God, But you want to cast yourself upon his mercy solely upon the basis of the work of Jesus Christ on your behalf. God, I have nothing to offer you, but I'm willing to receive what you have to offer me. Well, I want to give you a chance to do that. You realize this world has nothing to offer you. No matter how hard you try, you always thirst again. And it's your desire to have Jesus quench the thirst of the deepest recess of your heart. Let me encourage you to open your heart and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about joining a church. I'm not talking about just going to church or knowing about the Lord. I'm talking about have you had an encounter with Jesus Christ whereby He has changed your life and you know it. You are on that narrow path that leads to life. That you've fallen on your face and just said, Lord Jesus, here I am. If that's not you and it needs to be you, I want to pray for you. You know, I don't know everyone here, I don't know your story. Maybe we're all in love with the Lord, you know, or we're one in the Lord. Maybe not. And you want to receive that forgiveness, that wholeness of heart. Can I pray for you? If so, here's what I'm going to ask you to do. Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, but if God's dealing with you in that capacity, I want to pray for you and I'm going to ask you just to show me who you are just through simply raising your hand. I don't care who's around you or how old you are, how young you are, anything like that. I just want to know if God's dealing with you and he's knocking on the door of your heart and you're ready to open that door and say yes to Jesus Christ. If so, I want to pray for you. Does anyone want to say, yeah, Jeff, go ahead. I want you to pray for me because God's dealing with me and I need a real relationship with Jesus Christ, man. God's just speaking to your heart. Father, we're so thankful for your patience with us. and your willingness to extend an opportunity to us to enter in to the free gift of everlasting life. And God, we realize that though it was free, it was by no means cheap, that it cost you greatly. And we give you praise. And now we pray, Lord, that you would just have your way in our lives. and teach us the meaning of what it is to be set apart to you, to be available that we might be used by you. People might hear your word and receive your healing because of what you're doing in us. And I pray for this fellowship, God, that you would use us to make a difference in this community. To the glory of your name, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. you