Have you ever been intimidated into silence? We're doing a series right now on Job and the fact that God wants us to grow deeper in our faith and stronger in our faith. I can remember back in a time as a teenager, I had accepted Christ as my Savior. So much appreciate having the War of Special Forces here this week and the blessing that's gonna be. And I remember I did believe in Jesus. I had accepted Jesus as my Savior. But I wasn't strong in my faith. I was not reading my Bible daily. I wasn't sustaining a growing faith. And so at that point, I grew up here in the middle of Michigan. We did not have Calvary Baptist Academy. I was attending a public school. And I would have to say that surrounded by many unbelievers, I believed, but I wasn't verbal about my belief. I wouldn't speak up for my faith. I wouldn't stand up for my faith. I had a weak faith. A faith that needed a lot of growing and maturing, and I'm sure that's forever true as long as we live on this earth. But I would like to ask you, just think about it for a minute. How would God describe your faith? We're at this point in your journey. We're all in a journey. Hopefully many here have come to trust Christ as Savior. We've been born into God's family. But then we're a work in progress, grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus. How would God describe your faith at this point in your journey? Would he describe you as a person who is willing to stand up for what is right and to oppose what is wrong? Are you intimidated by the evil around you to the point of silence, of just, I'll be here and I'll believe what I believe, but I'm not gonna be verbal about it or outward about it. It's easy to fall into that. I know I have fallen into that in my own life. Now the wonderful thing that God could say about Job in Job chapter 1 verse 8, we looked at that last week, was this. God said unto Satan, as they were discussing the spiritual faith of Job, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect, the word means blameless, he wasn't sinless, but he was committed. He was a blameless and upright man. He would stand for what was right. And one that fears or reverences, reveres, he respects God. There's a genuine depth of faith there. And he eschews or avoids, he turns away, he rejects evil. So he would stand for what was right, and he would stand against what was wrong. And isn't it interesting that of all the people on earth, in this discussion, God brings up Job. For these qualities, someone whose faith had matured to the point he wasn't intimidated by the evil around him in the world. He would stand for what's right and he would stand against what was wrong. Great example. Just some major moral issues that to me are not political issues. They're moral, biblical issues that are forefront in our culture right now. Caused me today in this series on Job to take that principle from Job's life that he would stand for what was right and against what was wrong. to bring something to you that's near and dear on my heart, and I think we all need to be much in prayer about these issues that we're going to address today. I'd like you to take your Bible and turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 17, a familiar passage, and we're going to just take a look at the great need in our state and nation right at this time in history. And we're going to look for a moment at the life of David, the shepherd boy. He also, like Job, stood for the right and he opposed the wrong in a very dramatic setting that most of us know about. But let's just review it again together in our minds today. When you love something deeply, you're willing to fight for it. You're willing to die for it if you truly love with all your heart and soul. David loved the sheep, which were committed to his care as a shepherd. And God is looking for character that will be faithful with whatever God entrusts to us. And David was faithful. You remember the story that he's watching over the sheep and one day a bear comes to attack the sheep and have lamb stew, you know? And David says, that bear's huge and it's powerful, but it's my responsibility. And he jumped in and killed the bear. God gave him the power to overcome that bear. Another time he was watching the sheep, and a lion came in to have a lamb chopped. And again, David didn't run away. He didn't avoid the danger. He ran to the danger. And again, God gave him the strength. God had called him to be the shepherd. God gave him the power to overcome the lion. He killed the lion. Well, we come to a setting then in 1 Samuel chapter 17, where the whole nation of Israel was facing a giant sized enemy, literally. And so look with me at 1 Samuel chapter 17 verse 4, and there went out a champion of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits in a span. That is nine feet, nine inches. Do you think this guy would have made it in the NBA? I mean, he would have been recruited by everybody. Well, the Bible tells us here that he had a helmet of brass, verse 5, he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of just this metal armor was 125 pounds. So this guy was huge, he was massive, he was strong. He had greaves of brass upon his legs, a target of brass between his shoulders. The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels. That's 15 pounds, just the head of the spear. The strength to be able to handle these size weapons. He stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, said unto them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants of Tassal? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. If I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. The Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. So here's Goliath. He's a pagan. He does not believe in the God of creation. He does not believe in the God of the Bible or Scripture. He mocks David. In the deeper context, he mocks David's God, he mocks the values and everything that David stands for, and he's committed to use his strength, which was great, his power, to destroy the people of God. There's nothing new in the world. Satan is at work and alive, he is a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. We'll notice that many were dismayed and fearful, verse 11. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid." Again, have you ever felt intimidated? Do you ever feel in this world, when you watch the news and hear the things going on, just kind of overwhelmed by the evil in the world? I mean, it's so rampant. And the Bible said this would happen. The Bible said the last days between Christ's first and second coming would be perilous times. The things would grow worse and worse. And we wish it weren't so, but God sees the whole picture. And he's already told us how it all comes out. But we're in the middle of history as it is being unfolded. And so it is, Satan would love to use intimidation. He'd love to use fear to paralyze you. and me, our churches, our ministries that are God-honoring. He would love to just intimidate us into inaction. Fear that's his goal. He would love to do that. But the truth is that God is far greater than Satan God defeated Satan at the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb when sins debt for our sin was paid by the blood of Jesus Satan is now a defeated foe. We have a risen Christ Satan still roars he destroys where he can but believers in Jesus have a choice and We have a choice to put on the whole armor of God. We don't have to live in fear and allow ourselves to be intimidated. We can live in faith, trusting God, His presence, His promises, His purposes, His power in our life. And so it is, David saw a great cause. Look back at verse 29, and David said, what have I now done? Is there not a cause? Notice this, that David, as a young man, saw what a lot of the older men around him didn't see. The whole army of soldiers of Israel were paralyzed in fear. This went on for days, this intimidation. Nobody was gonna take up that challenge until the shepherd boy shows up to visit his brothers, hears the intimidating words and says, wait a minute, we shouldn't fear Goliath, God is greater. So the young man looked at it through eyes of faith. But everybody else was pretty well paralyzed and intimidated. And so it is, there's a cause that's bigger than us, more important than our very life. There is the glory of God that is at stake. And there's the cause of God's word and God's truth going forth in our world. And David saw it. It was clear, coming from the shepherd fields, where he spent time worshiping and praising God and writing Psalm 23 and other passages, he had a big God. His faith had grown strong. And thank God that it had. Well, David by faith then spoke up, and he stood up, and he acted. Notice as we read through the passage, and we won't read all the verses, but in the text here, you can go back and read all the details, David used the tried and true weapons in his life. They tried to put Saul's armor on him, and that didn't fit. But he knew how to use a slingshot. And if any of you have ever seen the kind of slingshot they use that they hurl about, that thing is an amazing weapon. And with the right kind of stone that's aerodynamic, that weapon of a slingshot can hurl a stone up to 100 miles an hour, the velocity and force of a .44 Magnum. And so it was, you know the story, David ran toward the enemy, not from him. And he let that stone go, and God directed it, and that stone hit him right in the forehead. And it was the last thing that ever entered his mind. Think about that. I mean, you know what happened. I've told you some of the story. It's a true story. I have witnesses. But a few years ago, we were out deer hunting, and I took a shot, a long shot, with the crossbow at a big buck, biggest one I'd seen. And man, I heard a thud. And we finally figured it out afterwards. What had happened was that way out there, a long way, He heard the noise and he ducked his head and turned back toward me. I was shooting at his shoulder. And I don't usually hit what I aim for, but boy this time, praise God, it was like David and Goliath. It was right where it was supposed to be. He turned his head right into that arrow. and that arrow sunk straight into his forehead and that deer went down now i mean it was over and that's exactly what happened to goliath god did that god did an amazing thing that day well our god is a great god he can do great things today in spite of the giants around us and verse 51 tells us that david ran stood upon the Philistine, took his sword, Goliath's sword, drew it out of the sheath, slew him, cut off his head. Well, what happened then? The Philistines saw their champion was dead, and they fled. The battle was over. The victory was won. God used David. When others were frozen in their place, David, by faith, spoke up, stood up, and acted. Now here's some truths then that I want us to take home by practical application for our day in our culture. Number one, we see it in the passage we've just looked at. Believers love, stand up and speak up for what's right. That's what God wants us to do. And we are called to oppose, stand up and speak up against what's wrong. And as we study our Bible, all these things were written for our admonition. We see this lesson over and over through the lives of others that God used. Job spoke up against his critics who misjudged him, and we'll see that further as we study the book of Job. Abraham, when pagans abducted his nephew and their families and everything they had, he went after the enemies and recovered all. David, of course, took on the giant. Jesus took the worst that Satan could throw at him. The beatings, the pain, the crucifixion, the death on the cross as he suffered for our sins. And the Father accepted the sacrifice Jesus made, raised Jesus from the grave, and He now has all authority in heaven and in earth. And so He has the power not only to forgive sin, but guarantee us a home in heaven if we repent and receive Him as Savior. He has the power to give us, through inspired scripture, a clear knowledge of the future, of what will happen, that He will rule, and we will rule and reign with Him on this earth for a thousand years. that he will then create a new heaven and a new earth and we will forever be with the Lord. We know how it all comes out. And so Jesus conquered. The apostles conquered. They stood against false teachers. They stood for the true gospel. They stood against the enemies. Many of them died for their faith, and they went immediately to be with Jesus, like Stephen the first martyr, who said, I see Jesus standing at the Father's right hand. And he went to be with Jesus. And they're awaiting that day when Christ will return as promised to rule and to reign on this earth in righteousness. I think of how in the Bible, Over and over, people of faith stood up, spoke up in the power of God, and God gave victory. We are on the winning side. Meanwhile, we live in a fallen world, where in the sovereignty of God, He has allowed a time for people to make choices. And yes, Satan is on a leash, and he takes every advantage to go as far as he possibly can. And we have, then, a responsibility, like David, to stand up and speak up and act in faith. Ephesians 5.11 says this, writing to all the believers, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. You see, we're not just to be neutral. We're not just to be spectators and watch the world go to hell. The Bible says when you see wrong, stand against it. Reprove that which is wrong. Now, yes, it must be done in love. Yes, it's not to be done in a pharisaical Mindset or attitude that we're better than anyone else. We're all sinners deserving of hell. How are you doing? I love the answer better than I deserve I'm doing better than I deserve every day. I have breath. I'm doing better than I deserve Thank God for grace, but we are called to be Light and salt in the world the second great truth. I want you to see is this that a great evil is disguised and promoted as good in our culture and and even in the upcoming election. And what is that great evil? It's the murdering of babies in their mother's womb. It's a terrible evil. And to think that our culture at this point, masses of people see no problem with that. They've been educated, they've been indoctrinated, they've heard one side of the issue. They haven't even really stopped to think through what they've been taught. We try to challenge each other here. Search the scriptures. Everything you hear. Everything you hear from this pulpit. Check it out. Think it through. Go back to the Bible. The authority is not the pastor and the pulpit. It's the scriptures. If the pastor follows the scriptures, then you support the pastor. But it's God who is true. Let God be true and every man a liar. And so it is a pro-death attack on God, the family, and the very image of God. has come into great acceptance in our culture. It's packaged today in positive terms, like pro-choice, like a woman's right to control her own body. That all sounds just, what could be wrong with that? The deception is in the reality that God is the creator and the designer. And He is the final judge of all people created. Every person will give account to God and they won't account on their own judgment set of rules. They'll account on God's judgment and His moral character which doesn't change. And as you know, as we've taught here from the scripture, and you many have gone to the Bible to check it out for yourself, God has established that sexual intimacy be exclusive to a one-man, one-woman relationship. So let me urge you, live in contrast to your culture. Get married. Stick with it. Lifelong, have a lifelong partner. Get a job. Work hard. Become part of a Bible-believing church. Raise godly kids. Boy, you'll be different. You'll be different than the culture in which you live. And this culture needs different. It needs godly different. And so it is realized, according to the Bible, that once a pregnancy occurs, there's not one life involved now. There's two lives. There's not one person involved. There's two persons. There's not one body. There are two bodies involved. And so it is think it through. Think it through. God creates each person in His own image. Genesis 127. God created in His own image. In the image or likeness of God created He Him. Male and female created He them. You'll notice again, not 20 genders, two genders, male and female. That's how God designed. And the Bible tells us that each person then, male or female, we are created by God in His image and we have great value. We have great worth in spite of the fact that sin has come in and depravity is real. We're creating the image of God. That's a wonderful thing. Now think with me of what the psalmist said about this in Inspired Scripture, Psalm 139, 13. For you, God, has possessed, you have formed my reins, my innermost part. You covered me, you knit me together in my mother's womb. Think on it then, that abortion is an attack on the work of God. Verse 14, I will praise you, I will thank you. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous, wonderful are your works, and that my soul knows very well. I was so privileged to be there for the birth of all four of our sons. And I'll tell you what, at each birth, I walked out of there saying, how could someone not believe in God? the miracle of life, the miracle of a birth of a person created in the image of God, how only God could do this. And of all God's creation, the uniqueness of mankind, that mankind from Adam and Eve It's the image of God that is being reproduced and it's a miracle. It's a miracle from God. And I just thank God that we have this gift of life. And so it is, I think of the fact that as I was there for each of our son's birth and I went out of there praising God and just saying, God, you are awesome. And I know you exist. And the fact that you could design all of this. The Bible's description then of the spiritual heart of mankind affected by sin being so depraved that we would kill our own. It's hard to fathom that it could come to that point in a culture where an increasing number of people buy that lie. And they see, they don't see through it. To think of killing a person with human flesh. What kind of flesh do you think that baby in the womb has? That's human flesh. That's human blood. That's human life that's being destroyed. It shows the depth of depravity. You see, personhood is defined by God, not by a court. It's not a court that decides when that conception becomes a person. God's already defined that in the Bible. Listen to Jeremiah 1.5. God's speaking here of Jeremiah. Before I formed thee. Who formed Jeremiah? God. In the belly. in the womb i knew thee before thou came as forth out of the womb i sanctified thee ordained thee a prophet unto the nations see before you were ever conceived and once you were conceived god speaks of you as a person as an individual he determines personhood by creation just because courts once deemed in the history of america black people as non-persons didn't make them non-persons The courts were wrong. They got it wrong. Just because Hitler ruled that Jews were non-persons who should be destroyed and exterminated didn't make it right. It was wrong. He got it wrong. And so it is just because today a judge may rule or a court may rule or even a state may vote that it's legal to kill babies in their mother's womb, it does not make it morally right in God's eyes. And there will be an accounting to God. And so it is, let God be true in every man and liar. God is eternally true. He is righteous. All people will stand before His judgment bar. All people will give account to Him. Truth is based on the unchanging moral character of God. And so it is, God reveals His character to us in the scriptures, that He's holy, that He loves life, that He creates life. And he teaches us in the words and person of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. I was reading in my devotions this last week, Ecclesiastes 11, 5. Do you not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child? Did you catch that? A pregnant woman is not with a mass of tissue. She's with child, that's a child. And so it is, we need to see that Jesus speaks of the danger of in any way harming a child. Luke 17, one, he spoke to the disciples, it's impossible, but the offenses will come, but woe to him, judgment to him through whom they will come. It were better for him that a millstone were hanging about his neck and he's cast into the sea, then he should offend one of these little ones. The shedding of blood, apart from self-defense and capital punishments, which are both covered in the Scriptures, is murder. The Bible commands in the Ten Commandments, thou shalt do no murder. That's God's moral law. Genesis 9, 6 says, whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God may he man. And so in abortion, sheds Human blood of a person created by God in the image of God from conception. The sin is so grievous it deserves death to the perpetrator. Paul, the apostle, deserved death. He was there, part of it, when they stoned Stephen. He deserved to die, but praise God, he repented and received Jesus, and God forgave him and saved him and gave him eternal life. And so we all deserve death. We all deserve eternal death in hell, separated from God, but the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember then that that gift must be personally received. And so settle it in your heart that you personally have come to repent and believe, and now you continue to believe and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Now, think about it. Ronald Reagan pointed this out years ago. If you came on a car accident and you see these people unconscious in the car, just assume they're all dead. No. You immediately call the ambulance. You call for help. You do everything you can to preserve life. And there's a whole group of people out there that are going to fall on various spectrums where they think maybe an abortion would be acceptable. For many of us, that's never acceptable. But for some, they're going to see that differently. But we need to help people even out there who are in the middle to see what's going on is being used to tear our nation apart and take us away from God. When there's any doubt of life, what do you do? You'll work hard to preserve it. If there's any chance there's life there, you're going to protect it. You're going to defend it. We've got to get our thinking straightened out before God. And so it is the third truth I want you to see is that God gives parents, not government, the responsibility to train up, educate, and lead our children. We won't turn to the Old Testament passage in Deuteronomy 6, where God says, teach them to believe in God. Teach them to love God. Teach them by the way. Train them. God gives responsibility for children to parents. It's parents' responsibility. Yes, we can enlist others to help us, but it's our responsibility. We give account. for those decisions. The New Testament passage in Ephesians 4 says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. This is God-given authority structure. Honor your mother and father. It's the first commandment with a promise. God promises this, that if you will honor and obey your parents, it will be well with you. You will live long on the earth. You fathers, provoke not your children. Don't exasperate them to wrath or to resentment, but bring them up in the nurture, the discipline, and the instruction of the Lord. And so it is. I want you to look at your sermon notes. We've attached an attachment there today on the abortion amendment three. And we're going to be talking about that in a little bit. The November ballot allows for individuals, it's not limited to adults, to make their own decision on sexual matters. So this applies to children and youth. It puts authority then for birth control decisions, sterilization decisions, abortion decisions, sexual activity decisions, sexual identity decisions in the hands of the children rather than their parents. I believe for a whole bunch of people out there that are in the middle, this goes way past what people want. I think even in our culture, as far as we've gone away from God, I don't think parents want the government to take over their children. But that's what's happening. And so it is, this goes against God's word. It puts children, the Bible puts children under the protection and authority of their parents. The government wants to take that over. They belong to us. Foolishness, the Bible tells us in Proverbs, is bound in the heart of a child. Parents are lovingly teach and direct and correct. And as we do that, we lead children in the right way. were to be taught what's right and what's wrong from God's Word. Granting children then the authority to decide sex altering surgeries and practices that God defines as sexual immorality, it is absolutely wrong. And mark it down, and you're aware of it, but we need to be more alert to it, Many in education, not all, but many, many in government want to usurp the authority of the parents to lead their children, to direct them, and to teach them biblical values. And there's a desire of many, not all, in government to take over the authority of the children away from the parents. I would like to believe that most people in our nation still don't want that. And we need to appeal to that base. Principle number four I want you to see is this. Believers in God and the Bible then should love, stand up, and speak up for life, not the death of babies in the womb. We've put a sheet there in your notes called Fast Fact Abortion Sheet. And if you'll just glance at it, You'll see there on the front side that 61 million babies have been aborted in the U.S. since 1973. That's a tragedy. Now that the Supreme Court has thrown it back into the states, every state is having this battle of where will we set the boundaries in our state. Included in those notes are the facts that babies in the womb feel pain at 20 weeks and may well have the hard wiring at 13 weeks to feel excruciating pain of being ripped apart by an abortion. For every 30 to 40 couples waiting to adopt, for every one infant, that's how many couples are waiting for that one infant. Genetically, everything a person is and will ever be is present at the time of fertilization. Abortion then stops a beating heart. At eight weeks, all the body systems are present. Abortion then leaves families heartbroken. By destroying a large part of our next generation, we're destroying our own future. The last truth I want you to see is this, that God established government to punish evil and reward good. We won't go into depth, but Romans 13 talks about being subject to the government powers. God places government so there won't be chaos in the world. But what is God's view of government? Verse 3, they're a ruler. They're not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do good and you'll have praise of the same. He is a minister. Government officials are servants of God for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. He bears not the sword. God gives capital punishment to government to hold society in line. He is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil or wrong. And so it is that God has placed government there to be for our good. Now, whatever Satan, God establishes Satan tries to destroy, right? So governments can become perverted. And we are so blessed to be in a government where we have a voice. We are allowed to speak up and to vote and to influence others. And we still have a measure of religious liberty and liberty of speech. Thank God for that. That's there because of Christian forefathers who are now being denounced and brought the great blessings that we enjoy and now we're trying to kill the roots that made the blessing. It's so sad and we need more than ever to stand up and speak up. So godly government will punish evil as defined by God. Our forefathers in this nation said that we are created by God. They put it right in our founding documents that this is to be a God-fearing nation. And our forefathers saw that the only hope for the nation to stay together is that there would be a faith in God. Well, believers have been involved in government throughout history, under all different kinds of government. Think about it in your Bible. Joseph, in Egypt, was given wisdom to store up the food, and he preserved the life of all the Israelites, plus many, many other people. So it was Esther, when a law was passed to kill all the Jews, she was used of God. to get a counter-law that preserved the Jews. Daniel was an advisor to kings in Babylon and Medo-Persia, and he led many Gentiles to faith in God. Paul used Roman law for the glory of God, and when he was going to be consigned to go to a place where he probably would have been killed, he appealed to go to Caesar, and it extended his life by many, many years where he wrote Scripture and served God. American government is representative and believers are to be light and salt. Remember that what Jesus said in Matthew 5? You're the salt of the earth. Salt preserves. We're to be a preserving influence. We are to speak up. We are to stand out. He said in verse 14, you're the light of the world. You set the light high. We're not to hide our light under a bushel. We're to speak out truth and build relationships with people and influence people toward that which is good and right. I recently was reminded that 4% of the world's population provides 95% of the funding for foreign missions and 95% of the world's Christian education. We need to grow worldwide missions. We need to grow Christian education. And someone recently challenged us, somebody will steward your nation, your state, your county, your city, your community, your children's education. Who's it going to be? You're going to leave it to somebody else to do that? Or are you going to do that and step up? Now, here's some action steps to close this as we look at how can we take action to speak up and stand up. Educate yourself on the moral issues, the matters being impacted by the upcoming elections. know what the proposals say, and know what candidates believe. In your notes we have no proposal three, a sheet entitled that, and it points out that this proposal is too confusing, it's a mess of confusing words, it's legalese, It's not by accident, the sponsors have written it to confuse voters about how extreme this proposal really is. So behind the innocent sounding words, there's a radical purpose that would wipe out 50 years of laws and regulations about abortion and replace them with one new rule. You know what the one new rule is? Anything goes. That's what proposal three will do. And our government does allow us in our churches to speak out on proposals. We can't endorse candidates, but we can speak out on truth. Praise God, we still have freedom of speech. Praise God. And so anything goes. You say, what goes if this passes? Here's what goes. Any kind of abortion, including partial birth abortion. Any time during pregnancy up to the moment before birth. Can you imagine that? A fully developed baby, you can kill it. It's unbelievable, it's barbaric. And yet that's what this is on the docket. Any woman at any age, even teenagers, getting an abortion without their parents knowing. It's too extreme, this amendment. All the laws that protect unborn children, even those protecting women getting an abortion, would be wiped out, including the ban on taxpayer funding of abortions. You're going to be paying for it. The law is requiring parental consent and informed consent. The law requiring abortion clinics to pass health and safety inspection. That all goes out the window with this amendment. Even the law saying only doctors can perform abortions, it would be repealed. At the top of it, the proposal includes 60 mistakes that would go into our state constitution. Just a little more history, July 28, Michigan Supreme Court added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's non-discriminatory policy. That's already the law in our state. On Mother's Day, May 8, the Attorney General said that if Roe versus Wade was overturned, which it was, she would not enforce the law. In June of this year, the Attorney General stated Drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun. Later, she added a drag queen for every school. That's the agenda. That's the agenda. Now you're saying, what exactly is a drag queen? Well, it's usually a male who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female signifiers. It's often associated with gay men and gay culture. Do we need that in our schools? No. No. We don't need that in our schools. And so it is that, according to the Daily Mail, June 10th, Michigan Middle School, a Michigan middle school, hides transgender status of student from her parents as counselor warns teachers to only use a child's birth name and pronoun he during parent-teacher conferences. That's our state. That's right now. Our governor, Governor Whitmer, supports tax-funded abortion, late-term abortion, and supports abortion of underage girls without parental consent. We need to know what our leaders believe. We need to know. There's another document I've given you with the sermon notes under Do Not Support Confusing Abortion Amendment. And it points out that the following state laws are at risk if this is passed. Parental consent for abortion. Ban on school employees helping children have abortions. Laws requiring parental consent for medical treatment related to pregnancy, including sterilization and hormone therapy. These laws are all at risk. Screening for women being coerced to have abortion. Laws about health and safety requirements for abortion facilities. Requirements that only doctors perform abortions. Conscience protections for doctors, nurses who object to abortions. Also at risk is a ban on tax-funded abortions. The Michigan original laws against abortion and bans on statutory rape and incest are all at risk. There are about 80 million evangelicals professing believers in Christ and the Bible. Only 40 million vote. We as Christians need to vote. We need to be light and salt in many ways, but one way is to vote. So I encourage you, get registered to vote. It's not hard to be registered. Make sure you're registered. And then get involved, sharing the truth of the issues of the upcoming election and biblical principles. Build relationships with other people. Point other people to faith in Jesus, which is the ultimate answer. For the truth will set you free to know the one who is truth. I was so thrilled. One of our Calvary families, we were just talking here a week or so ago, they invited all their neighbors in their neighborhood to come over to their backyard for ice cream. And they're just building friendships. They're just building relationships. Getting to know people. How can we influence people we don't know? I was so thrilled to hear that. Pray for the new birth of individuals through faith in Jesus. Pray for revival in our hearts and homes and schools and churches. Now, I'd like to give you one more thing, and this is your option, but I did it when I was challenged with it here a week or so ago. Get out your phone real quick, if you've got a phone, and go to the alarms. You know how to do it. Most of you do. And I live by this thing too much. And then under alarms, I wanna encourage you, it's your choice, but I invite you, I did it, to set an alarm for noon every day, noon every day. So that's not a time I'm gonna get you up in the middle of the night. You're gonna be up noon every day. When that alarm goes off, you just click it off and then you send up a little prayer right then. God, I'm praying for our nation. Right now, I'm praying for the upcoming election. I'm praying that those who want to promote abortion and the murdering of babies in the womb, that their ideologies will be defeated. I'm praying for people to be saved. God, I'm praying for America. This should stab us to action, don't you think? We need to do something. We need to stand up and speak up. And I would encourage you right now, set that little alarm. Mine's going off once in a while. You know, I have to put the thing on silence to get through a meeting or whatever. But I love it when that little thing goes off, because then just right then I just say, yep, I'm going to pray right now. Just send up a little arrow prayer to heaven. Lord, will you defeat this proposal? Lord, will you protect? The little babies in the womb can't speak up for themselves. Help us to speak up. Help us to influence other people. Because even people who maybe don't believe everything we believe don't want, I pray God, all the things that that amendment will impact. Let's pray about this, folks. It looks like David and Goliath. You could be intimidated and I could be intimidated. We could stand back and say, let's do nothing. No, I think we should do something. I think we should do what we can while we can. And I just want to urge you, here we've got young people, we've got people of all different ages. I believe out of this family of believers of faith, God is calling forth Davids. God is calling forth Esthers. God is calling forth Marys and Marthas and John the Baptists, and people who will speak up for what's right, and stand up for what's right, and do it in love with wisdom and grace. But God help us that because we so love God, we oppose what's wrong, we stand for what's right, and we shine our light brightly till Jesus comes back.