favorite hymn because I'm going to ask for y'all's input on the next couple of songs. So we'll start out with 243 and then I'll ask a song from y'all. I am resolved no longer to linger charmed by the world's delight. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to thee. On the second and then the last. I am resolved to go to the Savior, leaving my sin and strife. He is the true one. He is the just one. He hath the words of life. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to thee. I am resolved to enter the kingdom, leaving the paths of sin. Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, will I enter in I will hasten to him hasten so glad and free Jesus greatest highest I will come to thee amen should I have my notes ready here how you doing this evening Well, I'm glad at least a couple of you are doing all right. I've been anxious to pass this on to you, the offering this morning for the Soldier's Bible totaled to, at this point, there may be more come in. Of that $5,500, Metropolitan is given $2,018.25 towards that project. So praise the Lord for that, thankful for for each of you and your giving towards that project. I know somebody will probably beat me to it, and that's okay, but I can't wait to let Brother Matt know all about that as well. And you know, we were so thankful that Ethan was back in the service this morning. Putting it on Facebook already. So glad that Ethan was back in the service this morning. Guess where he is this evening? He's up there in the video booth, and so we're thankful for God's mercy, long as he behaves himself and is careful. And don't anybody give him a chest cold. We don't want him going home coughing. All right. Well, it's great. We're going to take a couple of minutes. We're looking forward to Brother Gibbs being with us this evening and what the Lord's given him for us. But let's take a couple of minutes and welcome our visitors tonight. Every promise in the book is mine. Every chapter, every verse, every line. All the blessings of his love divine. Every promise in the book is mine. Every promise in the book is mine. Every chapter, every verse, every line. Every promise in the book is mine. Every chapter, every verse, every line. God of blessings and of his love divine. Every promise in the book is mine. Wonderful. You may return back to your seats and remain standing. And I need a song. Yes, sir. 355. Is that what I think it is? It is. Is your name David Martin? David Martin always asks for that song. All right, let's sing that, Wonderful Grace of Jesus. Now, y'all gonna have to sing out, because when I croak on that high part, you need to cover that, okay? Sing it with me. ♪ Wonderful grace of Jesus ♪ Greater than all my sin ♪ How shall my tongue describe it ♪ Where shall this praise begin Taking away my burden Setting my spirit free For the wonderful grace of Jesus Reaches me Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus Deeper than the mighty rolling sea Broader than the mountain ♪ All sufficient grace for even me ♪ ♪ Broader than the scope of my transgressions seen yet ♪ ♪ Greater far than all my sin and shame ♪ ♪ O magnify the precious name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Praise his name ♪ Amen. Let's sing the last. Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled. By its transforming power, make him your dear child. Purchasing peace and heaven, for all eternity, and the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonderful the majestic grace of Jesus, Deeper than the mighty rolling sea, Higher than the mountain, Sparkling like a fountain, All-sufficient grace for even me. Man, you may be seated. Though the world will say that God's not real, though they say that Jesus is dead, though they call death his name, I believe in Jesus Christ, and beyond can't say. I believe in God, and He rose up from the grave. I believe this word is true, and thanks to her foundation, I believe this precious blood can bring salvation. In a day when Satan seems to win, in a day when men fall away, fall away, in this time of confusion and war, disillusion, as Christians we must all say, I believe that Jesus lives and He alone can save. I believe He's blood and died and He rose up from the grave. I believe His word is true and makes a firm foundation. I believe His precious blood can bring salvation. I believe that Jesus lives, and He alone can save. I believe He died and died, and He rose up from the grave. I believe His word is true, and His name's a firm foundation, I believe. All right, I need another song. 502. You gotta be quick. 502. Let's stand one more time if you would. By the way, if I don't know this, you have to lead it. Don't worry, I know it. died he for me who caused his pain for me who him to death pursued amazing love how can it be That thou, my God, should stifle. How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Man, let's sing the last. Long my imprisoned spirit lain. Fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening rain. I woke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. Amazing love, how can it be? that thou, my God, shouldst die for me. And maybe she did. All right, gentlemen, if you'll take your places, we'll get ready to receive this evening's offering. We'll go over a few quick announcements right quick. We're going to have Brother David Gibbs tonight speaking for us, looking forward to hearing from you tonight, sir. Ladies' activity this Saturday, they're going to the Civil War Museum, Texas Civil War Museum, right over here around the corner, just over here toward White Settlement, should I say. Five dollars each for the ticket. They're gonna be leaving at 10 o'clock. They will eat lunch somewhere, don't know where, to be determined. Miss Marcia's got plans or she's gonna take suggestions I don't know, she might bring a carrot and split it 27 ways. We'll see when you get there. Next Sunday is the 5th Sunday. I'm excited about 5th Sundays in general because we get to eat. This one I'm particularly excited about. Well, it's potluck Everybody brings all the good stuff. So the church is not going to be providing the meat everybody bring two dishes in a and a dessert, please and look forward to that the ladies brunch on the on the Seventh has been moved up to the first the one that's on the crack over in Cracker Barrel on 35 and 820 moved up one week because of labor day and everything so let's see what else we need to talk about here the ladies retreat is right around the corner our ladies retreat retreats right around the corner and it's gonna be on the 26th if you would like to help out see miss Marsha let's see brother Matt of course we've been sending him Gatorade over there we heard a from the preacher this morning on the Bibles and everything. So he would probably still like some more of it if you can. And if you send some over to him, put a note in it with him. Encourage him. I think Brother Ronnie said this morning he had trouble finding it. He had to go all the way to Academy to find some. And so I don't know. Maybe the Gatorade is sinking in in the summer. That's all they need to make. I don't know. it's all that yeah, it's all been shipped to Afghanistan so that's quite possible and our mission conference is right around the corner folks so be praying about that so let's just start praying about it, let's just start it right there so let's pray. Lord thank you so much for us today, thank you for everything you've given us today Lord, thank you for a wonderful message this morning. Lord right now we're asking you to be at the offering we're about to receive bit the gift and the giver, Lord, and be of Brother Gibbs as he comes tonight and presents to us tonight, Lord. Lord, give him the word you want him to say and hide him behind the cross, Lord, but please prepare our hearts and as he sings in your name, amen. Amen. Thank you, ladies. Thank you, ladies. I'm sorry. In my darkness Jesus found me, Touched my eyes and made me see. Broke sin's chains that long had bound me, Gave me life and liberty. O glorious love of Christ, my Lord divine, that made Him stoop to save a soul like mine, through all my days and then in heaven above. My song will silence never, I'll worship Him forever, And praise Him for His glorious love. Oh, amazing truth to ponder, He whom angel hosts attend, Lord of heaven, God's Son, what wonder! He became the sinner's friend. O glorious love of Christ, my Lord divine, That made Him stoop to save a soul like mine! Through all my days and then in heaven above. My song will silence never, I'll worship Him forever, And praise Him for His glorious love. and praise Him for His glorious love, and praise Him for His glorious love. Well, normally I would have introduced the Custers before, but I'm going to do a few introductions instead. You know, it's interesting, Brother and Sister Custer, Pastor Mike Custer from Bible Baptist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It's great to have them with us today and I sure appreciate that song. Such a beautiful song and beautifully done as well. And you know, it's something I've been trying for three years. get Erlene a little closer to the front. Brother Custer managed them one day. I've got to talk to him and figure out how they're nice to you, she said. And it's been a great day. Brother Marshall, correct? And from Dearborn, is it Dearborn Baptist Church? Van Boren Baptist Church, excuse me. They were with us this morning, this evening. And then tonight Ken Black and his dear wife from Pueblo, Colorado came in. And Brother Chick and his wife and son are on the back row. We got a lot of visitors today and weren't expecting them, those pastors. But that's good. We also have Brother David gives a third with us and we've been looking forward to this for, for ever since we was able to put this meeting together and just ask you to pray for him as he comes, speaks whatever the Lord lays on your heart, brother. It's, it's a, your pulpit. How many have already been blessed like I have with that incredible music? I tell you, if music like that doesn't fire you up a little bit, how many figured out your wood is really wet? Okay, I mean, it is possible you died and forgot to fall over. Okay, that can happen. If you're looking at somebody and you're wondering if they're breathing, give them a pinch, but we are certainly thrilled that you are here. As your pastor said, I'm an attorney, and I represent the ministry called the National Center for Life and Liberty. Now, before you go, whoa, long name. Okay, just remember N-C-double-L. How many in the college sports world have heard of the NCAA? That's the Collegiate Sports Authority. Well, we're the National Center for Life and Liberty, and we are really doing three things across the country. Number one, we are litigating cases. We defend churches like this one. And by the way, how many are happy your church isn't sued right now? And that's a blessing. and that we are honored to stand. I know a number of pastors are here tonight. Many of them are friends and folks that we serve and represent. But one of our goals is to defend and protect ministries. I'm a trial attorney. We go to court, we pick juries. We handle cases on appeal. We even end up with some cases that work their way up to the United States Supreme Court. Last year we were there and kind of an interesting case The issue before the Supreme Court was is the name Jesus still? constitutional in America If it's uttered in a public prayer or by government official public employee now Please understand, when you're at the Supreme Court, I realize we're here in Fort Worth, we're a long way from D.C., but if you ever visit, the Supreme Court is impressive. The building itself is rather grand, but the courtroom is pretty small. If you go inside and look at it, it looks kind of like a little high school gym or a theater. It's not very big, and they got big drapes in the back and a little stage, and it's old-timey. There is not, for example, any cameras, any cell phones, no iPads, no computers. Even the attorneys are limited to pads and paper. And the networks, for example, CNN, Fox, the others that are there, they get a chair off to the side. All their equipment is out front. So it's kind of got an old-timey feel. And they bring out the nine justices from the back, and they are appointed for life. So you have to realize some of them are very, very old. Walkers, wheelchairs, life support, oxygen, whatever it takes, they prop them across the front. And then it's about at this height where they're sitting and the attorneys are close. They're just kind of probably right in that second row there. And you start dialoguing pretty quickly because the justices don't really let a lot of time go by till they jump in and start asking their questions. And they quickly figured out that number one, our founding fathers prayed. And by the way, how many believe they did pray? And they prayed in the name of Jesus. And they wrote the First Amendment. So it kind of just makes sense that they weren't trying to stop what they themselves were doing. But then Chief Justice Roberts turned to Justice Scalia. They sit by each other because of seniority. And he made a very telling comment. He said, but our nation has changed a lot since then. And by the way, how many believe our nation has changed a lot since then? And they began to talk about the Baha'i and the minority religions, the atheists and others, and how do we not offend them with this message of Jesus, this offensive thought that there's only one way to heaven? By the way, how many believe there is only one way to heaven? and they began to debate. Even one of our Supreme Court justices coming out in that hearing and saying he himself identifies as an atheist. And so as these arguments are going back and forth, if you look straight up, etched in the stone over where they are sitting, is Moses and the Ten Commandments. And I thought, Moses is watching while we're arguing about Jesus. Now, some of you may be following the news. It's the town of Greece case out of New York. It was a national case. We were representing seven different governmental jurisdictions, but the Supreme Court ruled five to four in favor of the prayers. How many are glad they got that ruling right? But there's a little bad news in that. I already said it. It was five to four. now you have to be real good with math okay and if you're struggling that's one vote i mean one justice flips and all the sudden you have a complete reversing and if you think about the insanity of this there are four united states supreme court justices appointed for life that believe the name jesus should be constitutionally from any reference. And we're not talking about sermons being preached with government dollars. We're talking about a prayer that says, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. And that they would say that would not be allowed. So those are the kind of cases that we litigate. Some folks remember back, we did a case, the Terry Schiavo case, about 10 years ago. How many remember that case? That case caught a lot of media. uh... and it was a case it's kind of report right now in the news uh... partly because of the presidential race uh... and we figured out everybody in the world is running for president okay i mean it if donald trump can lead the polls on the way anybody could take a shot on i think your pastor on a for his head and I mean, everybody else is in. I mean, why not? But the reality is, Jeb Bush was the governor during that time. And that case back 10 years ago really is kind of a case that's been misportrayed by the media. How many figured out the secular media never gives you the whole story? And lots of people say that girl was dead, she was on life support, what happened? But I would just tell you, being in the room with Terri Schiavo, she was as alive as anybody sitting here. She wasn't sick, she didn't have cancer, Alzheimer's, no disease that was gonna end her life. And then number three, she just needed food and water to stay alive. Now a little Sunday night survey, how many of you need food and water? May I see your hand please? If you don't, that's basic human nourishment. You can't go but six or seven days without some type of hydration. And what they did in that case, they took away the food and water from Terry. You know what happened. She went 13 days, I think demonstrating some will to live, and ultimately died of the dehydration and starvation on March 31st of 2005. And interesting in that case, if Terry Schiavo had been a convicted killer, The Supreme Court would have stopped it because it was cruel and unusual punishment. You can't let anybody suffer if the government kills them. So why did the government let this happen? Well, the reason why is Terry Schiavo didn't kill anybody. How many believe there's some inequity in our legal system? But those are the kind of cases that we litigate in the public interest. We defend churches. We defend families. Some of you home educate. Some of you have your kids in a public school, private school. We're honored to help defend your rights. The workplaces of our nation, I think most of you have noticed the LGBT, now it's Q. They keep adding letters quicker than we can keep up. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, now questioning. People wonder what they are. in Texas. We work on public policy. Now what that means is we are your voice in Austin and in Washington, D.C. And how many believe Washington, D.C. needs some help right now? Okay, and I mean we're before the Congress weekly. We have staff there that go in and they meet with the aides and the staff and the congressmen. And when I meet with them, a lot of times what we're trying to do is be your voice. I will have Speaker of the House John Boehner say things like, David, what are the people in the churches saying? And we are able to explain to them, not just faith and family issues, but how many believe the congressmen need to be grounded in the real world a little bit. Some of them have forgotten what it is to walk into a Walmart or have a job. And by the way, and how many believe some of them should be sent home and get a real job? And so we try to keep them grounded on these issues and be your voice in the Capitol. And then number three, we try to be a voice in the culture. We do that in a lot of different ways. Media, we do some Fox News and Moody Radio, other outlets. We are honored, certainly, to be in your church. Appreciate your pastor's gracious invitation. We do seminars. Some of the men here attended our seminars last year. We trained over 2,000 pastors and ministry leaders. And the goal of the seminars is to help avoid legal problems. How many like the doctor that can keep you off the operating table? And so what we try to do is help give good information. And by the way, this is real practical. How many understand there's a smart way and a stupid way to do everything? And in ministry, how many believe sometimes we've done things not so smart? Now, I don't think that's a good testimony. How do you believe if you do it for Jesus, it ought to be excellent? And so I always tell folks, we want maximum ministry. I mean, if somebody says, how do I avoid all liability? You know how you avoid all liability? You're dead and you do nothing. Okay, at that point, you're not gonna be liable, you're dead, okay? And how many believe our churches need to be alive and doing everything God's called them to do? So we want maximum ministry, but then we wanna do it with minimum liability. We wanna do it the smart way. And how many believe if a child is safe anywhere, he should be safe at church? And so we stand with churches helping provide information, seminar materials. We partner with churches like this one to make sure that you're protected and doing things in a smart way. And whether it's church security, how many believe it's sad that churches are coming under more attack in our country? You know, there's about a shooting once a week in a church now in the United States of America. And please understand, I don't want you to be fearful, but how many figured out we're in a more violent society where people don't respect the Word of God like they once did. And they certainly don't respect the church house like they once did. And so we're in a society where these things are increasing, and so certainly a joy to be here tonight at the very end of the service. You're gonna have an opportunity to get our newsletter. We put out a monthly newsletter where you can stay connected. We have some books and resources I'll mention to you. But I thought tonight I'd just kind of give you maybe just a little expanded snapshot of what's happening in America, some of the cases and issues that are going on. And then from the word of God, how many believe there's some answers for America as well? and some things that we need to realize. And sometimes when I talk about what's going on, people get a little sick to their stomach, they get a little irritated, they get a little depressed. And before I do that, can I tell you, I've read the back of the book and we win. How many are happy about that? And so while there's evil and there's decadence and there's things in our society that break our hearts, how many rejoice that none of that catches God by surprise? You say, well, David, why do they hate Jesus so much? I mean, I don't hear them taking Muslims to court. I don't hear them taking these other religions. Why is Jesus before the Supreme Court? You know, it's very interesting. You hear it in the oral arguments. You read it in the briefs. You hear it in their experts. They're just mad that Jesus said there is only one way to heaven. Now, easy question for a Sunday night crowd. How many believe there is only one way to heaven? That is through Jesus Christ. Matter of fact, the Bible's real clear, no man. Now, I'm gonna expand it gently, but correctly. No man, no woman, no child, nobody comes to the Father, but by me, referring to himself as the Son of God. And you know what, that exclusivity, the fact that there is but one way to heaven has become counterculture in America. I mean, if we were to say, Jesus is a way. You know, he's not the only way, he's a way, he's a choice. You could have the Buddhist way, the Muslim way, the atheist way, and you could have the Jesus way. If we were to just say he's an option, they wouldn't like it, they would be not friendly to it, but they would be more tolerant of the fact that we would allow it as just a choice. But how many understand when you say Jesus is the only way, what they don't like is the conviction of that statement. Because if you say Jesus is the only way, and they say, well, we don't believe in Jesus, how many understand what you've really said then is you face a Christless eternity, you face the jeopardy of hell, you face these consequences. And people in America hate that message. We have kids that come to church and get saved. And by the way, how many are delighted when kids get saved to church? And they go home and do what we tell them to do. They go to their unsaved mama and they say, mama, I'm going to heaven when I die. And the unsaved mama looks down and says, I am too. The little child looks up and says, no, you're not. And the mama says, what are you talking about? Well, mama, you gotta trust Jesus, you gotta be born again, you gotta ask him in your heart. And it used to be parents would understand if you sent your child to a Baptist church, they might hear about Jesus. I understand the parents of today are a little more confused. They think it's a daycare, social club, just an outreach. Well, who told you that? Well, the church did. And some of these mamas go get lawyers. And are you ready for what they'll say? They'll say you injured my kid, you ruined him. They'll even sometimes use that scary abused word. You hurt my kid because you told him he was gonna die and burn forever unless he became like you people. Now we don't say it that way, but how many believe they can twist it a little bit? Now we're winning those cases. How many are glad we're winning those cases? But it's heartbreaking that they're even being brought. And there is a full out assault on the gospel and Jesus Christ in our culture. You don't have to watch a lot of news, but how many figured out marriage is under attack? And it's the redefinition of marriage. And by the way, how many believe God had a pretty good definition back in Genesis chapter one? Don't let anybody confuse it. Sometimes folks go, you know, the Bible, it has polygamy, and it had adultery, it had incest, it had all these things in it. Absolutely, after sin entered into the world. How many believe in Genesis 1, before sin entered into the world, God put the model together. He said, this is what I want, this is the best. And you know, American law always patterned after God's very best. But now our Supreme Court has redefined this. I remind you of something. Back in 2003, that's only 12 years ago, homosexuality was a crime in the state of Texas. You could actually be arrested or go to jail. Now, 12 years later, you say, how did they get so far down the road? Well, you know what the homosexual rights movement rests upon? It rests upon Roe versus Wade. The homosexuals took a case out of Texas and they said, you know what, if a woman can abort her baby and be protected, we should have our rights too. And you know what the Supreme Court did? They expanded this basically sexual freedom right in our country and they said, yes, we will give you full constitutional protection just like we do with abortion. How many believe one bad case leads to more bad cases? And so we're watching where marriage is now being redefined in bizarre ways. And I will just tell you this, again, the redefinitions have only begun. Because they have divided procreation, having children, with sexual activity, with gender identity, and with marriage. So there's like four little boxes, people kind of jump into little pieces of all of it. So, you know, Bruce Jenner goes on TV, and he's a conflicted cross-dresser married to a woman, and 16 million people tune in. and he gets the biggest twitter account the world and so the law is trying to figure out in this morally confused mixed-up world how does all the stuff fall together you know what's going to stop polygamy the answer is nothing what's going to stop uh... family marriage a a very wealthy father wants to pass the business to a son and they both have girlfriends on the side in and how many figured out the moral bankruptcy of america is playing out in these marriage cases people are doing what's right in their own eyes as opposed to what the Word of God teaches. Marriage is under attack. I would also tell you parental rights are under attack. Give you an example, California. Any kid from kindergarten up through the 12th grade can walk into a California public school and decide whether they're a boy or a girl that day. They just make the declaration. They don't have to get a parental note. They don't have to get any doctor's note. They just go in. So little seventh grade boy walks in and says, today I'm a girl. Now get ready for this. With his declaration, he gets his girl name, girl's clothes, girl's showers, girl locker room, girl's sports teams. He's a girl because it's his right. It's gender identity right. You can self-declare. You don't have to be what God made you. And by the way, how many believe God gave you a gender at birth? So it's kind of a rebellion against what God made me. Boy, I don't wanna be boy, I wanna be girl. And so they can just do this stuff. And by the way, they don't even have to stay. They can flip back and forth. They say, well, praise God we're in Texas, not in California. But let me just warn you, all the textbooks get written to California standards. Common Core, other things come out across the nation. Teachers are being told, you know, you can't stress out the children. So let me explain. If you were to say, boys sit over here and girls sit over there, you've stressed out the children. Now why have you done this? Because you're imposing your viewpoint of what is a boy and what is a girl on these poor little critters. And what you're supposed to do is let them decide for themselves. So what you're supposed to say is if you like blue, sit over here. If you like pink, sit over here. Okay, so a little boy goes, I like pink. He's over there with the girls, okay. Little girl, I like blue. She's over there with the boys. But it's their choice, okay. They make the decisions and there's just no pressure. And even some of these educators are saying, you know, the kids need to experiment and figure out. So there should be cross-dressing days. You know, let all the little boys feel what it's like to be a girl so they better understand. If that taps into who and what they are, then that will let them express the gender that they're intended to be. Now, besides being morally bankrupt, how many believe that's just bizarre educational policy? And that's the United States of America today. I got to let you know something. I grew up in a little different era. Some of you did too. How many remember when people not your parents could spank you? How many remember those days? Some of the young people are like, what? That happened? How many believe that happened? Oh, OK, because it sure happened to me. Neighbors spanked. Schools spanked. Churches spanked. Let's be honest. Total strangers would smack you at the store. I mean, you'd be sitting there and whack. Your mother would go, thank you. He needed that. I mean, it was a child-beating frenzy. We never knew where that next smack was coming. And by the way, if your parents ever spanked you by mistake, did they apologize? Nope, they had clever lines back then. I'm just getting you for something you got away with before I didn't know about. And it was like there's like this little beating bank account that had to stay full. And by the way, if I got spanked by somebody, not my parents, I had one prayer in life. That prayer was that my parents wouldn't find out. Because I would explain to my mother how my civil rights had been violated. And she'd re-violate my rights. It never worked for me ever. But, you know, we're in a society right now where that fundamental right, as our Supreme Court has called it, of moms and dads to direct and control the upbringing of the children is coming under huge assault and allowing the children to decide for themselves. Without teacher, without pastor, without parent imposing a viewpoint, that is what is being pushed through our schools and out through our psychological and other institutions. Give you another area that's under some attack in our country right now, and it's probably our most fundamental right. It's our right to life. You say, well, David, I'm sitting here tonight. I don't feel like I'm in eminent jeopardy, but let me just give you a couple thoughts to think about. How many have noticed that our government has taken over healthcare? Okay, and you like it, not like it. But I mean, the reality is, you know, it's pretty much Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. They're kind of filling in the gaps. I mean, you know, there was always Medicare, Medicaid, different things. And so now all of a sudden, the government's more involved. Number two, how many have noticed the government is broke? Okay, so now let's just walk through this. The government's taking in about two trillion. And that's annually. How many believe that's a lot of money? but they're spending a little over three trillion. How many figured out that's more? Okay, now you don't have to be good with math. Three trillion over two trillion, that's a one-third deficit. Now you know your church can't do that. You know your businesses can't do that. You know your homes can't do that. I mean, you might be able to go a month or two, you run some credit cards up, you can have some temporary short-term deficits, but if you just keep going, a third deficit year after year, you're gonna run out of money. You will crash. The only reason why the United States is able to do it is we have this incredible borrowing power. And we're leveraging the future. By the way, how many believe we're dumping a debt on future generations that they're never gonna be able to pay for stuff they never got? Okay, I mean, we're spending the money today, like it or not, and we're handing it down to them, which would almost be borderline immoral if you really think about that. But here you got a government taking over healthcare with no money. Now what do you have to do? Well, it's real simple. If you got something expensive and you got to do it and you don't have any cash, you have to ration care. You have to limit what you can provide to the people. Then you got one other issue. How many understand what it means when you say there's a conflict of interest? If we keep grandma alive, don't we have to pay her Social Security every month for as long as she's alive? So if we kill her, we also save the surgery costs and all the social security costs. which helps reduce the debt. So, you know, grandma's 75, she needs heart surgery, well that's gonna cost a quarter million dollars, then she's gonna need rehab, that's gonna cost another 100,000 a year, plus then we gotta pay her 1,500 a month every month, and so you add up all the money and say, grandma, living another five years is gonna cost a half million, three quarters of a million dollars, and all of a sudden, people start making the decisions that it's just not worth it. And how many figured out, once you start playing God with other people's lives, you have taken away the freedom of the people? Founding fathers understood that. I mean, they came from a government where the king could say, off with your head. How many believe that's not a good day for you? Why? The government, the king, just said, you die. Founding fathers said, you know, that's not a real good system because we don't have any freedom. So if we're gonna have free speech, freedom of religion, right to defend ourselves, all these other things, it doesn't start with liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What does it start with? Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And if you do not protect innocent life, how many understand you have no other liberty? We did a case a year ago up in New York. I'll just illustrate it for you. It's kind of a Terry Schiavo type case. And we won the case. The girl's still alive today. Kind of an interesting dynamic how all that worked. But I'm just sharing with you what New York law has done. So this is like if you want to go kill a relative, number one, any relative. Now stop right there. How many have at least one nutty relative in your family? May I see your hand, please? How many of you are the nutty relative? Okay, you're married. No, don't. But I mean, it used to be kids or spouses or people that were, you know, what shall we say, you know, interested in keeping you alive. Now cousin this, step that, anybody can go to court. So if you can find a bloodline, you can go kill grandma. So any relative. Number two, the old legal standard. You had to be really sick, it was kind of a medical, you had to be viewed as terminal, multiple doctors had to sign, all of this had to be in place. The new standard is they don't think grandma's gonna get any better. Now how many believe that's pretty subjective? Now, don't hurt any of your church members' feelings, but look around this auditorium. You can see some people that don't look like they're gonna get any better in that life. I mean, we're all deteriorating at some level. I mean, grandma's lying there. She doesn't look well. I don't think she's gonna get better. Kill her. I mean, that's the new standard. Any relative, don't think they're gonna get better. And then number three, the defaults. It used to be, when in doubt, keep them alive. The new default, when in doubt, let them go. And they say it's just too expensive. That unless Grandma has it in writing that she absolutely wants to live, of course we know there's no quality of life. And so this pro-death movement is sweeping through our courts and through the laws of our nation. I would tell you that our lives are not being protected like they once were. You say, David, you've churned me up. You got me worked up, you've got me a little upset. What can I do? How can we make a difference? How can our church make a difference? Turn in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Acts. I'm gonna show you one verse. But while you're turning to the book of Acts, and you can kind of land on chapter four, because the verse is in chapter four, and I'm not gonna quite read it to you yet, I want to set the stage for the verse. The verse is a prayer. Now, it's a prayer the early church prayed. Now let's talk about the early church, a group of people that brought the gospel to the world. The scripture says they literally turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ. And by the way, we sit here mostly Gentile, but if some of you are sitting here with a Jewish heritage, it really doesn't matter. You owe the fact that you have heard about Jesus to these people. These are people that under incredibly difficult circumstances were faithful with the message of Jesus and they took it to the world and we have it today because of what they did. But I think sometimes, we sterilize, we clean it up, we don't quite understand what they were facing when they did this. How many remember back in vacation Bible school, the old flannel graphs? How many remember those good old days? I mean, pre-PowerPoint. You know, and I mean, the characters, they all look good, they all have trim beards, nice little robes. I mean, it's just very clean. And I don't think we quite comprehend the incredible hardship that these people went through to give us the gospel. Number one, economically, these people struggled. Here was the problem. You named the name of Jesus, your family would shun or cut you out. You say, well, that's sad. You wouldn't have a place to go at the holidays. No, this was more than just a place to go or fellowship. This was, for most people, their employment. This was all the work they had amassed. This was all that most businesses were run as family concerns, farms and other manufacturing. This was all your retirement. This was all your healthcare. You name the name of Jesus, you were instantaneously unemployed and immediately impoverished of everything you'd worked for your whole life. So naming the name of Jesus for many of these people cost them everything economically, and they literally had to start over with whatever they could walk away with in their hands. And then to add to the difficulty, the barterers, the traders, the people in the community would refuse to do business with them. So, for example, this afternoon, you walk into a Walmart, you go to a restaurant, and they say, we refuse to seat you, we will not take your cash, we will not take your credit card, leave the building because you're a Christian. Many of these Christians were just isolated, where nobody would even work with them, even if they had a way to pay for things. That's why in the scriptures, you'll see where it says that they pooled, or they combined all things common. That wasn't so much a socialism that they were trying to create, it was survival. They would say, what do you have? I have this, you have that. And they created almost a little sub-economy just to survive. Nobody else would trade with them. Being quite candid, there were no prosperity preachers in the early church. Because the minute you named the name of Christ, it was almost a ticket to poverty. And they understood the incredible sacrifice that they had to make economically. But then number two, their government turned on them. Now, we would call it hate speech or some type of governmental persecution, but they would call it more like traitorship or disloyalty. And what they would say to these Christians is, you cannot be loyal to King Jesus and be loyal to, and they would fill in the blank, the emperor, the magistrate, the governor, the ruling authority. And they'd bring a Christian in and they'd say, deny Jesus and give your loyalty to the magistrate. And the Christian would say, I am loyal to the magistrate, but I cannot deny Jesus. And with that statement, they would be viewed as traitors, they would convict themselves, and they would literally throw them in jail. Now, the jails, no air conditioning, no cable TV, not like America today. Okay, these jails are rough. They're outdoors, most of them. Fields, caves, pits, holes they dig out in the ground. And guards would kind of cordon them off. But one of the problems with the jails, no food service. It was a family responsibility. How many see the double problem? The families cut them off. They just got stuck in jail. So for many of these Christians, their sentences were not very long. because they would literally die of dehydration, starvation, sometimes animals would get them, because again, they weren't always barricaded from the elements. But literally many of them would be in jail a matter of weeks and they would be killed because there was no one bringing them food. It was kind of designed to punish your family. You have a loved one in jail, you have to bring them something to eat. And these Christians had no one who cared whether they lived or died. So they suffered economically, their government turned on them. But quite candidly, the whole society turned on them. You really see this illustrated the best in the martyrdoms, the big public events. And again, that's a term that gets sterilized, it gets cleaned up. When you hear the word martyr, we don't use that today, so it's hard to grasp what it meant. These were public murders for entertainment value. I mean, it was reality TV, but it was reality. fill the Coliseum up, and these people would come, and the people that were hated so were the Christians. And there were parts of this beyond just the massacre that would occur on the floor of the Coliseum where the actual death would occur, but what they would do to make it more perverse is they would put the family members up where you could watch the reactions. So if you got bored with what was going on on the floor, you could look over and see the mothers or see the fathers as they would watch their children or others be killed. And again, it was all designed for entertainment value. So you've been to the zoo, a sleepy, well-fed lion can be kind of dull to watch. Well, they didn't put those kind of animals out there. There were people that would specialize in torturing animals, taking them to the brink of starvation, messing with their heads, making them crazy, teaching them to twitch and jump and do crazy things that would be kind of fun to watch, but very dangerous. And those were the crazed animals that were set loose and almost like an obstacle course. They'd put trees and limbs and fences and they'd kind of create a activity, and then they would release the children, and they would watch as the children would be destroyed, and try to get the reactions of the parents. And then the women would be next, and they would be released, and the Christians disciplined themselves not to cry out. Because if the husbands were to jump up and scream or yell, the crowd would just cheer and go crazy and say, you don't have confidence in your God and your God won't save you now. And so the men would show great resolve in remaining very quiet and silent. And while internally they had to be dying and while they were shackled and there was nothing they could do, they would literally be helpless to watch their family destroyed before their eyes. And then the men were killed in a pecking order. They'd start with what we would call the new Christians, and they'd release them out, and then the more mature Christians, and the last to be killed. would be the one that we might call the senior pastor, and they might call him the missionary, or the elder, or the bishop, the man that was responsible for Jesus coming to that region. And they didn't just want him to have watched his family be killed, but they wanted him to understand every follower of Jesus that you brought to know him has been killed before your eyes, and that's where the society hated the gospel so much. Now, as we sit here tonight, how many rejoice it's not quite that bad yet in the United States of America? How many appreciate the fact we still have a lot of freedom? A lot of opportunity. Now, as you look around the globe, how many figured out some of our brothers and sisters don't have that same freedom? ISIS and others murdering families just for naming the name of Jesus. There's more violence in the world. But the early church faced this incredible persecution. Now look at what they prayed. Acts chapter 4 and verse 29. behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness, say that next word with me out loud, boldness, they may speak thy word. What an incredible prayer. Lord, Look at what's going on. They're killing us. They hate us. We're economically struggling. Behold the threatenings, but would you give us boldness? Say that word with me. Boldness to speak the truth of your word. How many believe we need a revival of boldness in the United States of America? Now, notice a couple of things. Number one, they didn't pray for the persecution to go away. They said, Lord, behold the threatenings. By the way, how many believe God's on the throne? God didn't sit in there wondering what the Congress is going to do, what the Supreme Court's going to do, what the president's going to do. He's God. And the early church said, Lord, you're in charge of all that. Lord, behold the threatenings. You know what they are. But what they did pray is what they could control. They said, would you grant, would you give us this boldness? And notice they didn't ask for boldness to render their own opinions. How many of you like me have decided there's enough opinions in the world already? And they didn't ask for the Fox News viewpoint, the Republican viewpoint. They didn't ask for even the leading preacher viewpoint. They said, would you give us boldness to speak the truth of the word of God? How many believe we need biblical boldness in this society? I believe, number one, we need more bold churches. Now, can I give you some good news? How many could use some good news? You're sitting in one. How many are happy about that? How many rejoice that you have a pastor that boldly declares the truth? I know some of the other men that are here and they pastor churches that are boldly declaring the truth. We need churches that are gonna boldly stand up for Jesus Christ in these darker days. Now, can I tell you the secret to a bold church? You have to be excited about your church being bold. You say, David, I'm not gonna be able to go to court. I'm not in the legislative process. I'm not gonna be down in Austin. You know what? You don't have to be. How many believe you could be excited about what this church is doing for Jesus Christ? You say, well, I'm here, and that certainly counts for something. But how do you know whether you're excited? I'll give you human excitement 101, three things. You talk about what you're excited about. Number two, you spend time on what you're excited about. And number three, you spend money on what you're excited about. Illustrate it this way. A fella takes up hunting. How many believe he will talk about it? He may lie and exaggerate, but he will talk, OK? I mean, I killed the animal. He doesn't tell you he hit it with the truck. It was dead when he got there. And then, by the way, time. He'll get up early on a cold day and go sit in some stand 4 or 5 in the morning. He can't get to Sunday school, but he can do that. And by the way, money, I mean, I need this $1,500 weapon to go shoot $4 birds. It just makes perfect sense. And you say, is there any sin in that? No, he's excited. He's just having a good time and he's excited about that. And by the way, ladies have grand babies, shopping trips, things they like. And you know, as human beings, God wired us to get excited about certain things. But can I now poke it back over to the church? How excited are you about the church? I mean, this week, are you gonna be telling people about the services, and the future, and the plans, and what you heard, and what's going on? Is there some energy? You know, the world out there will never get more excited than you are in here. And then your time, and you're here on Sunday night. I'm not preaching to the folks that have shown up, but can I warn you a little bit? Sometimes older people get tempted to skip out on church. And here's the temptation. I've heard it all, I've seen it all, I've done it all. I know where all the bodies are buried, because I buried most of them. I've just been there forever, David. They're not a verse you can pull out. I have an outline three times. And you know what? The reality is you might be right. You might know the Bible forwards and backwards. But here's the reality. How many understand we don't just go to church for what we get? How many believe you can be an example and encouragement to others? I'm going to believe there's some granddaughters looking to see if grandma's still in church. I believe there's some grandsons, see if granddad's still in church. And that faithfulness, and by the way, the Bible teaches that the older bless the younger, so your presence, I hope you get things, and I know you do, everybody does if you keep your heart right, but the reality is, even if there's not a lot of new truth for you, your presence is important. It shows excitement and it matters. And then money, I know this church supports, congratulations on what you did with the Mission Bible Project, other things, that's phenomenal. But can I just remind you what I view giving money to God is a lot like getting a Christmas present from your own kid. My daughter, Danielle, when she was little, she'd say, Daddy, I want to get you a present. And I'd say, Thank you, sweetie. And she'd go, Can I have some money? That's not how it works. And you know what I'd do, preacher? I'd peel out some money. I'd give that little critter some cash to go get me something. And you know what she'd do? She'd spend a bunch of that money on herself. She needed gum, a little earring, whatever she bought. And she'd take a portion of what I gave her, and she would buy me a present. And you know what? I love those gifts, and you've done it too with your kids and grandkids. But how many believe God's been too good to all of us? I mean, he gives you talents, he gives you ability, he gives you energy, he gives you open doors, and he says, would you give just a little bit back? And how many believe we should be excited about the privilege we have of supporting this church? We need this church to be bold like never before. You know, everybody here can be a hope-putter-inner, how many believe that's a good person? Or a hope-sucker-outer? How many believe that's not such a good person? And you know what, in church circles, sometimes people are like, well, I'm just tired of the spirit, and you know what? We're gonna lose this country if we don't cherish the boldness of our churches, and say we want our church to be bold, and we're excited to shine bright in these ever-darker days. We need bold churches, but how many believe also number two, we need some bold individuals? You know, they talk about how the homosexuals are out of the closet. How many figured out lots of God's people have climbed in? And here's the deal. I want to go to heaven when I die because hell doesn't sound good, but I'm just not going to tell anybody about it. I'm going to live in the closet. And while we stay quiet, how many figured out the forces of evil have gotten louder in our culture? I'll give you a quick plan. We're almost done. My plan would reach Texas for Jesus. I'll go a little further. My plan would reach the United States for Jesus. I'll even go bigger. We could reach the world. You say, now, wait a minute, David. We're a pretty smart audience. You've got a plan to reach the whole world. How do we do it? If you made the decision tonight to reach one soul for Christ this year. I hope you do more, but just reach one soul for Christ this year. But then number two, you have to disciple that person. And by the way, how many believe that's the hard work? Gotta get in their life, gotta get to know them, gotta take them where they're at, bring them along. But you disciple that person well enough that they'll go reach a soul for Christ a year, and then you do it again. That's the plan. And you say, wait, let me get this straight. Reach the soul for Christ a year, disciple them well enough to go reach the soul for Christ a year, do it again. Yep, that's the plan. Now, some of you math type people, maybe there's a CPA or an engineer person, you go, hmm, that would begin to grow, one reaching one and two reaching two, and exponentially, to use a big word, it would expand. Get ready for this, not Texas, not the US, but the world in a little over 35 years. if you'd reach a soul for Christ a year and disciple them well enough to reach a soul for Christ a year. You say, David, that's pretty neat. I like that, but not gonna work. I'll tell you why. There's some folks in our church that have never done it, never will, they're just not gonna do it, so the plan won't work. Can I give you some good news? We don't need them. We just need you. And you're like, oh man, I just came on a Sunday night. Now you got the whole weight of the world on my shoulders. I got to reach everybody for Jesus. And you know, I'm not trying to put the weight of the world on you. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. But I am trying to inspire you that any person here could do it. A teenager could do it. And by the way, how many believe a teenager probably has? God, Terry's is coming, reasonable health, 35 years. Teenager could do it. Young parent could do it. Young grandparent could do it. You say, David, I'm a little older. I maybe don't have 35 years left. But you know, with every year I have left, I would do it. And could you imagine if tonight 100 people did it? And boy, if in the Dallas area, Fort Worth area, the Metroplex area, if we could get a few thousand people to do it, Maybe across the US, a few hundred thousand. Maybe around the world, a few million. We could trim years and decades off. But you know what it's going to take? It's going to take some folks that say, Lord, behold the threatenings. I don't know what you're going to face. By the way, how many believe you could have a family threatening around the corner? You could have a financial threatening. You could have a health threatening. You could have a government threatening. You could have something come your way that's just tough. Lord, Behold, you know that. But would you grant, would you give, and would you make this prayer your prayer? Put your pastor's name in there, put your church's name in, but put your own name. Would you give David this boldness to speak the truth of your word? I'm gonna encourage you right now that you take Acts 4.29 and make it your prayer this week, maybe this year. You say, how would I do that? Well, most of you have smartphones. Somebody figured out the phones are smarter than the people. And you know those phones have little programs. You can put it on your calendar, or you can put it in a little reminder thing. You don't even have to type out the whole verse. Just put Acts 4.29. And if you forget, look it up, and then you can remember what it is, okay? And set it to pop up. Maybe you're a morning prayer, maybe you're a noon prayer, maybe you're an evening prayer, but set it to pop up every day. All of a sudden, boom, on your phone, Acts 4.29. And when you get that, say, Lord, I don't know what I'm gonna face. I don't know what the threatenings might be. I don't know what's going on in our government, our culture, our world. But Lord, would you give me today boldness? Would you give me somebody I could reach? Would you let me be faithful with the word I know and let me boldly declare that truth? Let me be excited about my church. You say, I'm not a phone guy. Well, write it on a card, put it on your refrigerator, put it on your mirror. But just look at that once a day. And would you pray the same prayer the early church prayed? And by the way, how many believe God will hear those prayers? And how many believe you'll open your mind to the possibility? You know what? There's somebody at work I could tell about Jesus. You know, there's a family member I could talk to. There's somebody I could influence. There's somebody looking up to me. I could boldly declare the truth. of the word of God. Lord, behold the threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all, say the word one more time, boldness, we'd speak the truth of your word. Every head bowed, every eye closed. I'm gonna ask our piano player to come on up and just start softly begin playing and I'm just gonna ask a simple question tonight. It's to the Christians that are here. You know Jesus as your Savior. You don't wonder where you're going to spend your eternity. But my question is simply this. Would you take the Acts 429 challenge? Would you try to be more bold this week and month and year for Jesus Christ? Maybe you're even thinking of somebody you could share your faith with or try to reach. And maybe there's somebody that's newly saved, but they're not discipled. They're not really doing a whole lot. You could corral them into being productive soldiers for Jesus. You're here tonight and you say, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, David, would you slip up a hand anywhere in the building, just up and back down? Lots of hands. Now, I'm gonna ask you to do this, and I'm not trying to trick you or put any pressure on you, but if you're able, okay, if your back hurts, you've had surgery, you stay in your chair, you can pray right there. But if you're able and you raise your hand, I'm going to ask you to quietly slip out from where you're seated and just come to the altar and cement that decision in prayer. Don't hesitate. Don't delay. Just do what God would have you do. Just step out and come. Don't look what others are doing. Just do what God wants you to do. Lord, behold the threatenings. And would you give me that heaven-sent boldness? Would you let my children see a boldness in me? Would you shower on our pastor an extra dose of heaven-sent boldness? Would you help the other pastors that are here? Would you help me? Be bold for Jesus Christ. I don't know what threatenings you may face. I don't know what may happen in our society. We're watching America depart from what scripturally it was founded upon. But Lord, we see those threatenings. Would you give us boldness to speak the truth of your word? I'm gonna ask you to remain prayerful, and in just a moment, your pastor will come. Father, we bow before you tonight Lord, I just want to thank you for these ones that this altar tonight with be willing, Lord. Seek your face, Lord, for that boldness. As a pastor, Father, I ask you to help me as a leader amongst these precious folks that you'd be pleased. Oh, God, grant that boldness. Lord, you know our heart's desire. You know the prayer of this church to be the people that you want us to be. to be a lamp stand here on this hill for our Savior, for you. Lord, as our brothers shared tonight, Lord, we do not know what tomorrow holds, we don't know what's coming next week or next month, but we do know that we serve the great, almighty God of glory. We know that you're a God who's able to sustain, regardless of the threatenings, regardless of what may come our way. Father, may we, oh God, may we remain faithful. Lord, I so want to be an example to this church family. I've got a wife. I want to be an example to her and to our daughters, to our grandbabies. Lord, through this church, might we, oh God, might we receive from you the strength, the hope, the confidence to be a bold people for the glory of God. Lord, might we not be bragging, might we not be boastful, but might we be a lampstand to the city of Fort Worth. Might Fort Worth know there's a church out here that will stand for you regardless of the currents, regardless of the tides. that we will remain faithful to our God, to His Word, to the cause of Christ, that indeed, Father, we might be used to see precious souls brought to Jesus. Lord, I know that it's not gonna be Washington or Austin, but it's gonna be the Holy Spirit of God that changes hearts, changes the destiny, precious lives. Lord, this evening, thank you. Thank you for what we've heard. Thank you for the challenge, Lord. To us as a church and as a people of God, pray, Father, your blessing, your strength, your help. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Amen. Thank you, Brother Gibbs. Brother Gibbs is going to come back and tell us a little bit about what's on the table back there. who can read, would you raise your hand and let them hand these out to you, okay? So make it easy for them. About one per couple will get it to you. You don't have to give it to every adult. But as they hand these out, what I'd ask you to do is get a pen or pencil out. And we're gonna ask you to fill them out here in just a moment. We're gonna collect them right back up. And what you are committing to do is God helping you, number one, you will pray. And by the way, how many believe prayer moves the hand of God? And so we covet your prayers. We need your prayers. And then if you can, above and beyond your church support, be sure you put your ties, your offerings in your local church. But if you can help us a little bit financially, every dollar in the envelopes goes to the cases. And so it is a help to us as we battle and work on these cases across America. And so if you would fill these out in just a moment, we're gonna collect them right back up, and then I will be at the back table, and let me just mention a couple resources that are there. Number one, understanding the Constitution. How many believe one of the reasons why we're losing our liberties is we don't even know what they are anymore? And we did this book, it's brand new this year, updated with all the current cases. And I will tell you, you read this, you'll know more about the Constitution than most congressmen. Seven articles, 27 amendments, you will be fully updated. It's an easy read, but it's a good book. Certainly, if you're homeschooling or training your kids, important book for you to know. That book is on the back table. Then a book called God Had Other Plans, How I Overcame My Past with the One Who Holds My Future. This is a lady, found herself single, no college education, with a child in an abusive relationship, didn't know where to turn. Ends up becoming an executive vice president of a Fortune 100 company. You say, how did that happen? 15 things God showed her and inspirational, encouraging. Men like it, but it is geared towards the gals. And we ask $15 for each of these, but kind of a special $20 for these two together. And so if that interests you, those will be on the back table and I will sign them. And then also if you work in the public school or have any ministry in public school, we do have a book called Making Sense of Religion in America's Public Schools. This is written from different perspectives. pastor perspective, parent perspective, teacher perspective, board member perspective, all the cases, all the information. And so if you have any public school ministry, this book may interest you. It's on the back table. And again, all the proceeds from the table go 100% to the ministry. So if you write a check, you make it to the NCLL. If you do cash, obviously it goes to the ministry. We can do a credit card if that's a help to you. Let me introduce Attorney Scott Miller is here with me. Scott works in our Texas office and helps me litigate cases all across the nation. His wife Debbie is already at the back table, but you'll get to meet her as well. She works in our office as the office manager here in Flower Mound. And so you'll get to meet them and certainly welcome Scott's a very bright attorney. So if you've got any tough questions, I'll hand you off to him and you can handle it. But no, with all that, he and I will both be back there and look forward to fellowshipping with you. If you've got your envelopes filled out, do you have them filled out? Can you pass them to the aisles just quickly? And if I can recruit my young helpers again, my ushers, just grab them off the aisles, guys. I'm looking for those young fellas. There they are. There's one of them. Here's the other one. Oh, they're doing great. Thank you, man. You guys are excellent. I know it's youth usher night. So thank you for your help. And if you're sitting by a person that took an envelope and didn't fill it out, would you raise your hand so I can embarrass that person? No, we're not going to embarrass them. You know, it's always the youth pastor, you know what I mean? I know, but with all that, if you didn't get a chance to fill it out or you're still working on it, turn them in at the back table, but just turn them in quickly. We've discovered envelopes and Bibles never show up again. Okay. So, you know, ladies don't put it in your purse. The Lord himself wonders what you carry with you someday. So fill those out and we will collect them up. And let me just make a final comment or two. the attorney for your church. We will defend your church. Love and appreciate your pastor. By the way, how many appreciate your pastor? What a dear man of God. And certainly thrilled to watch. Very worthy of that. He's worthy of your prayers, your support, and your excitement for what God's doing here. And by the way, how many believe Fort Worth has moved to your church? I mean, you guys were in the country at one point and look now. And so lots of opportunities for this church to do great things. And so we're We're honored to help protect your church and to serve you. But if we can help your family, you say, I'm on my way to the hospital, do I sign these forms? I'm going in a workplace meeting, I'm dealing with an issue with my kids, I'm having a situation. We're just a phone call or an email away. We're right here in the Texas area, so you can call us at any point. And it's certainly our honor to stand with you. And then please don't do what I do. Have you ever left a church service, and you're about halfway home, and you can't quite remember what went on at church? I mean, there was a message, there was a verse, there was something, and you just, boy, that was good, but you just have an impression that it was good, and you're a hearer, but you're not really a doer. I've done it. I'm sure you've done it. Could I just encourage you not to lose Acts 429? I believe there's power in that prayer. I don't want you to do this vain repetition. I mean, you can chant at a wall. That doesn't mean anything. But I do want you to meaningfully say, you know what, Lord? Would you give me that boldness? How many believe if God's people get bold, we could change America? I mean, elections would be different, communities would be different, churches would be different, but would you please walk out of here and say, you know what, I may not remember that attorney's name, I may not remember a whole lot, but I remember Acts 429. And also, as you leave, we do have a prayer bookmark. I'd encourage everybody to pick one of these up, put it in your Bible, and you can contact us, and it's our joy to be here. Pastor, thank you for your grace. Honored to be your friend, and I turn the service to you, sir. Terrific. Make sure you stop by and visit with Brother Gibbs and other visitors. And it's been good. It's been a good day. Good evening. Let's stand together. Come sing the chorus or something here. We'll be dismissed. Thank you. Well, let's be dismissed with our chorus. Every promise in the book is mine. Every promise in the book is mine. Every chapter, every verse, every line. Every blessing of His word divine. Every promise in the book is mine. You are dismissed. Thank you.