I wanted to share a story with you, though. We've heard some beautiful stories from Germany. That was so touching, I'm sure it was to you as well as to me. This is a story that I share often. It's my favorite story that I've ever received. But the reason I share it so often is because when I titled it originally I called it impossible evangelism because I find and you do too that there are certain people that we have a very hard time imagining that they would ever get saved and such as the couple that is told in this story and God has not only saved them but many other people as a result of their gospel witness. Let me tell you the story of Taza and Kathy. They live in Vinalhaven, Maine. It's a tiny island. There are only 1,600 people on the island, and the only way you can get there is through a ferry. So it's very, very small, but you know, it's also, from what they tell me, it's a very wicked place. There's just sand runs rampant there. Taza, you'll see his picture up there, Taza was raised in a very dysfunctional home, and even though he hated the alcohol that permeated his home, at the age of 12, Taza became an alcoholic. He had an older half-brother whose name is Wayne, and at the age of six, Wayne was rescued from the home, and he was raised by his godly grandmother and his aunt. They led him to Christ, and he became a member of a very strong church in New Hampshire. However, Wayne was bitter, so bitter that he would not even speak the name of those people. And two of those people were Taza and Kathy. So back on the island, Taza, one day Taza was out lobster fishing. I can't say it, maybe there's somebody in here who can, but you know, they don't like those R's. And as he was fishing, a horrible storm came up, and this is a man that fishes every day of his life, and he was afraid. He prayed the first prayer he had ever prayed in his life. It went something like this, God, if you'll get me out of this storm, and you'll help my wife Kathy come, well, I forgot to tell you, Kathy had threatened to leave him. So he had gotten her into a rehab facility, so he said, If you'll get me out of this storm and you'll help me get my wife Kathy back, I'll go to church." Well, God did deliver him from that storm, but he actually totally forgot about the prayer. But you know, God did not forget that prayer. He had helped Kathy to get into a rehab facility. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol. She was bulimic. She was anorexic. But there in that rehab facility she sobered up and she started reading self-help books. She was able to get out of the rehab facility and there in her home she would light little candles all over her room and she would read these self-help books and she would feel good until she closed the covers of those books, and into her heart would creep that emptiness that she could not seem to get rid of. So one day, she said to her 16-year-old daughter, she said, I'd like to start reading the Bible. Well, that was a shock. They didn't even own a Bible. But a few days later, the daughter returned. She came home from basketball camp and she plopped a Bible down on the kitchen table. And Kathy said, where did you get that Bible? And she said, I stole it from the hotel. So Kathy began to read the stolen Bible. And she says she did not understand everything in it, but she knew it was different than those self-help books. Well, I don't have time to tell you all the story, but through a miracle, God softened Wayne's heart, the older half-brother. And he decided that he wanted to reach out to his family, and he started with Taza and Kathy. And he invited them to come visit his church in New Hampshire. They had never been to church. Just hearing her story of what it was like to walk into church for the very first time was very comical. But you know, the day that they went to that church, it's pastored by a man named Matt Fagan there in New Hampshire. And God led him to preach from the gospel of John. And Kathy got in the car afterwards because the Bible had come alive to her. She says to Taza, we've got to go home and we've got to get baptized. The only problem is they weren't saved. Wayne understood that. And so Wayne took a trip to Vinalhaven and on a Sunday morning he decided to give them the gospel. And he started by sharing his story of how God had rescued him from sin. Well, as he's telling the story, Kathy's a very spunky person. She stops her foot. She says, well, why can't we just pray that prayer right now? Wayne was shocked. He said, well, actually you can. And so there he led them both in prayer and they both put their faith in Jesus Christ. And then Wayne had found a little tiny church there on the island and they went for the first time to this church. And as they went in, it's kind of funny because they're telling the story of how they trusted Christ. Well, Kathy had quite a reputation on this little tiny island. The pastor's wife, whom we've never met, wanted to make sure that Kathy really understood salvation. She had a copy of the exchange Bible study, that four-lesson Bible study, and invited Kathy to do it with her. Well, Kathy invited her 16-year-old daughter, the thief, to do the Bible study. person that Kathy was able to lead to Christ. You're going to see another picture up on the screen. And Jeff and I sat with Kathy in New Hampshire over dinner. And she's shared story after story of people that she has led to Christ. She just invites them to do a Bible study. They sit and do the Bible study. She's probably led by this time, I would say 15 to 20 people to Jesus and all of these women. That you see up on the screen, Kathy has led to Christ. And the person that's actually in the very front of the screen is the 16-year-old daughter. She's no longer 16. And she has led people to Christ. So what Kathy does that we just so love is she leads people to Christ. She disciples them, which is what she's doing right here on the screen. The next book she did with these same ladies was Giving the Exchange, which is just teaching them how to share their faith. And I don't know about you, but I have been so inspired just by her story of realizing that this is a woman that nobody had hoped for, but there is no one who is too hard for our God. Amen. Thank you, Anna. Take your Bibles tonight and turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2, we'll look at verses 1 through 7. 1 Timothy chapter 2, we'll be looking at verses 1 through 7. And I want to start this evening with our missions moment. And I mentioned J.O. Frazier last night. J.O. Frazier was the pioneer missionary to the Lisu tribe in southwest China and northern Burma. As a young missionary with China Inland Mission in the early 1900s, he preached Christ for several years in the far-flung mountains of the villages of the Lisu people and frankly had very little results to show and the few converts that he did have all return to demonism and the drunkenness that often these folks fell into. And he found himself attacked with severe depression, despair. At one point, he literally asked God if he would take his life. He almost gave up. But breakthrough finally occurred when two things happened. Number one, and these are his own words, the spirit of God enabled him with what he called the prayer of faith for several hundred Lisu families to come to Christ. So number one, he sensed God giving him liberty to pray for those things. And then number two, he and his mother succeeded, she was back in London where he came from, succeeded in forming a prayer support group of eight to ten Christians and they, from back home, to begin to back up his work in ongoing prayer. His wife, Frasier's wife, later wrote about the difference that this prayer effort made in Frasier's work. She's quoting now, he described to me how in his early years he had been all but defeated by the forces of darkness arrayed against him. He came to the place where he asked God to take his life rather than to allow him to labor on with no results. He would then tell me of the prayer forces that took up the burden at home and the tremendous lifting of the cloud over his soul. We talked last night about how our missionaries need us to bear them up. and the gift of faith that was given to him, and how God seems suddenly to step in, drive back the forces of darkness, and take the field. And if you know anything about Frasier's ministry, he did see about 100 Lisu families come to Christ early in that portion of his ministry, and today there are thousands of Lisu who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. Frazier himself said, we work best when we work on our knees. I'm feeling more and more that it is, after all, just the prayer of God's people that call down blessings upon his work, whether they are directly engaged in that work or not. Paul may plant, or Apollos may water, but it is God who gives the increase, and this increase can be brought down from heaven by believing prayer, whether offered up in China or in England. If this is so, This is still quoting from him. Then Christians at home can do as much for foreign missions as those who are actually on the field. And he closed with the quote that we looked at last night. I believe it will only be known on the last day how much has been accomplished in the missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home. You and I were talking earlier today about the fact that we're not going to know all that happens in this world until we get to heaven. And I just want to encourage all of us to genuinely believe that God wants to use us. Hudson Taylor said it this way, it is impossible to move, or excuse me, it is possible to move men through God by prayer alone. I'll read that again. It is possible to move men through God by prayer alone. Ian Bounds said, before we plead with men about God, we must plead with God about men. And Billy Graham said, to get nations back on their feet, we must first get on our knees. This is a quote by someone you might know. His name is Jeff Musgrave. I just threw my own in here, OK? You and I cannot change anyone, but God can. So our only hope in impacting the world with the gospel is to plead with the one who can. And so tonight I want us to look together at this passage from 1 Timothy chapter two. It was at a missions conference that I first heard this passage preached in a missionary context. And I thought to myself, I'm going to preach that at a missions conference someday, and so here I am. Three things we're going to see from this passage. Number one, the call to prayer. Number two, the purpose of prayer. And number three, the urgency to pray. By the way, this is not the sermon I heard. This is just the idea that that sermon gave me, so I didn't copy him totally. Just copied the idea. So this passage we are all familiar with, the call to pray, verses one and two, and we see in verse one the priority of prayer. I exhort therefore that first of all, and I just think it's important for us to recognize that prayer must be our first priority, our first step. Hudson Taylor told Jonathan Goforth when he was, by the way, Jonathan Goforth was with a different mission board than Hudson Taylor, and he was telling him, I'm trying to go into the Hunan area, and Hudson Taylor had been communicating with him that they had sent multiple missionaries to that area and they all had been stoned and kicked out of the area. And Hudson Taylor said this to him, if you are to go forward to Hunan, you must go forward on your knees. And of course, I don't know if you know the story of Jonathan Goforth, but God used him in a great way. They had several revivals break out in the area before his ministry was over. He used to say, I can always preach if I have a wall behind me. because he could back up and he could look at everybody and know who was going to throw rocks. But literally, he wouldn't try to preach if he didn't have a wall behind him because people would be able to throw stones from all around. Unbelievable difficulties, and yet God used him and saw great things. I think it's interesting. The book of Ephesians I think is a powerful book. It breaks up into two sections. You get the theological section in the beginning that is just masterful and it talks about God's sovereignty demonstrated in the resurrection power shown in the redemption of each soul converted and added to the church. And Paul closes that section before he moves into the practical section with these words. For this cause, because of the sovereign work of God in redeeming souls, for this cause I bow my knee unto our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named. that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might, I love those two words, strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith and that being rooted and grounded in love, I love those two words, rooted and grounded, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth And height, that's four-dimensional, not three-dimensional. That's far greater than you and I can imagine. To know the love of God which passes knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, amen. No wonder God tells us to make prayer a priority. Second thing we see here is the depth of this prayer. And it's interesting that he gives us here four different types of prayer. I exhort you that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. The word supplications means entreaties, and we could actually translate it to lack, meaning. that this prayer comes from sensing the need and pleading to God for it. I don't know about you, but I get the need all the time. And so that prayer that comes out of that overwhelming sense of need, that's supplication. And then the word prayer, it's a unique term for addressing God. In other words, all of these other words, you could give a supplication to a king, you could give thanks, but this particular prayer or word is uniquely paired with God. And it literally means worship and reverence. And I just want you to know that worship, we do that together in church when we sing. We do it more effectively when we listen to preaching and respond. But we do it every day when we bow before the Lord and receive from his hand those things he longs to give to us. And then the third word is the word intercessions, and it's the word petitions. This is interesting. It literally means to fall in with. And the idea is that you see need in someone else's life, and you join forces with them to pray for what they need. It is literally identifying with the needs of others and getting involved with their struggles through prayer. And then the last one is giving of thanks or thanksgiving. It's based on our expectations that stem from our faith slash confidence in the promises of God. So when you pray, Take those promises of God and carry them to God with you. God loves to be reminded of His Word because He loves us to trust His Word. And when we take those promises to Him, He loves to be able to see us asking based on the specific promises that He has given. And then the last one here, or this last one in giving of thanks. It's based on those promises. And frankly, here is something that you and I can constantly be thinking God about. So this is the confidence of the disciple maker. Here are things you can always be thankful for. Number one, I don't know about you, but I'd write these down because I like to find things that I want to be thankful for. Number one, the gospel has been provided by Jesus Christ's exchange for me. I am so glad that Jesus provided that exchange. That exchange is so beautiful. Number two, that I received the gospel, that God worked in my heart and moved me to the place, literally awakened me to the place where I trusted Christ. Number three, I am now privileged to share this same gospel with other people. Number four, God is calling people to himself. So these two are different. He gives me the privilege. He's calling people to himself. And then lastly, fifthly, God is going to reach some through me. And I believe that part of praying is thanking God for what he hasn't yet done, but we know he's going to do. And so I am thanking God. that the gospel is provided. I'm thanking God that I receive the gospel. I'm thanking God that he's given me the privilege to share the gospel. I'm thanking God that he's calling people to himself. And I'm thanking God that I know he's going to save some through me. And then number three, we see the breadth of this prayer. And notice that we are to be praying for all men. Notice here he says, I want you to be praying for all men, for kings, and for all those that are in authority. So here are the three groups of people that he, by the way, All men, sums up everybody, so there's no groups of people that are outside of this, okay? But when he says all men, I don't know what you think of, but I think of neighbors, coworkers, rioters, political opponents, terrorists, I don't know about you, but sometimes I forget about those people. I get so caught up in wanting to defeat them politically that I forget. I mean, the most important thing is they need the Lord. Secondly, for kings, the top leaders here and abroad. Now, you've got to remember this was written during the time of Nero. Just saying. I mean, I dare say that's as bad or worse than a leader you might be thinking of. I'm not even going to say words, OK, or names. Do you remember, this just struck me today, and I put it in my notes. Maybe I shouldn't have done this, but I did. Do you remember in, now I'm going to, not for, Fiddler on the Roof, all I could think of was the guy standing on the... Do you remember when someone asked the rabbi, Rabbi, is there a proper blessing for the Tsar? Do you remember that? And his answer is, God bless the Tsar and keep the Tsar. Far away from here. And I'm just saying that in our world, angst may be appropriate. I get it. I mean, I think we have to acknowledge it's appropriate for us to have angst about what's happening in our world. But the key is prayer, not just being disgruntled. Does that make sense? So God's answer to this angst is prayer. And sometimes I wonder if God wants me to pray that they will be defeated, okay? I mean, I'm not saying that everything is hunky-dory here. I recognize some people are bad people, they're going to stay bad people, and I get that. I don't believe that God wants us to How do I say this? I believe that God wants to save every person in the world. That's God's desire. But I also believe that it can be somewhat flippant for us in waxing eloquent. Lord, save everybody in the world right now. And I'm just saying, I believe that God wants us to be very, very real in our prayers, that we're praying for specific things that we believe that God is genuinely going to do. But I believe that God wants us to be praying. And the notice, he says, for all those who are in authority. So now I'm thinking he was already talking about these leaders. So who is who is it? These people that are in authority? Well, I actually believe it's probably the leaders in our church. It's probably the leaders within the circles of fundamentalism that you and I, I mean I think of the mission boards that are represented here tonight and those who are in charge of those mission boards and I have no doubt that God wants us to be praying for them. I have no doubt that God wants us to be praying for the leaders of conservative evangelicalism. I don't know if you watched what was happening out in California when they were closing down the churches of California. And John MacArthur stood up and said, we're not going to close our church. And man, the lawsuits and the stuff. And I actually believe it is very appropriate for us to be holding people like that up in prayer. Leaders at work, leaders in your community, leaders on the school board, and frankly, anyone who is directly affecting your life or the lives of those for whom you're praying. So, leaders. And then here are the requests of the prayer. This is interesting to me. That we would lead a quiet and peaceable life with all godliness and honesty. And I'm just thinking, boy, that doesn't sound much like emissions. I mean, that just sounds like living, I mean, I'll just tell you Jeff's dream life, okay? Living in the country, having a farm. I mean, you know, the breeze blows, the rain comes, the sun comes back out. I mean, this is what this sounds like to me. Let's just look at the words quiet, the absence of outside disturbances, peaceable, the absence of inside, internal disturbances, godliness, moral earnestness or respect, honest, moral gravitas that demands respect. And frankly, friends, I believe that when you put these four words together, stacked on one another, it is literally praying for the general environment favorable for evangelistic efforts. I think it's appropriate for us to pray God defeat the Taliban that is trying to squash the church right now. Give them peace. Give them quiet. Lord, raise up truth. Give them a genuine spirit of reverence. That's the word godliness there. And I think it's appropriate for us to pray that. I think it's appropriate for us to pray that here in our circumstances when we are finding things. So what is the purpose for this prayer? So we get the request. We get this peaceable, quiet life. Here comes the mission part. Are you ready for this? This is pretty cool stuff. Verses three and four, the Bible says, for it is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And going on to the next portion, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men. man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." You see, friends, the reason God wants us to be praying for quiet, peaceable, godliness and honesty in our culture, this general environment, this general societal culture of peace and quiet is so that we would have a environment that would be conducive for our evangelistic efforts, because God is not willing that any should perish, and He wants all to be saved, and He wants all of us to be giving the gospel. Notice this phrase, this is good and acceptable in the sight of our God. I think it's important for us to remember that prayer promotes spiritual health. It pleases God. Notice it says, God our Savior. And so here it's talking about Jesus Christ. Our prayer pleases God. And frankly, I just want you to know, Jesus Christ, the one who died for men, is pleased with these societal conditions that benefit gospel work. So that pleases Jesus when that happens. And that's why I believe it's important for us to pray it. Prayer promotes God's agenda to have all men saved. This is world evangelism, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Several things we see here. Number one, God's will is for all men to be saved. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And you and I, We need to be praying and living, aligning ourselves with God's agenda, which is the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. God wants all men to be saved. And then thirdly, or secondly here, that I want us to see from this particular phrase, he wants them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Salvation comes. from knowing Jesus, from knowing the truth. So when you and I give the gospel, I believe this firmly. The work of conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the disciple-maker is the work of making Jesus known. That's our job. I love this because it takes a lot of pressure off me. This is not about me. talking someone into it. It's not about me putting together the arguments in such a way that they're convinced. That's the Holy Spirit's job. He promises to convince the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. My job is to lift up his name. And Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. Our job is to help people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That comes by telling people truth. That's the reason I've written Bible studies. And I love this because I guarantee you, when you're talking to an atheist, it's gonna take more than one conversation. Praise the Lord, we have a story, and I don't know that Anna's gonna tell it this week, of she and I had the privilege of doing a Bible study with a man who was just, I wouldn't say sarcastically atheistic, but he was right there. I mean, very nice man. It was laughable to him that there was anything else. And it was through studying the truth of God's word through the exchange Bible study that he came to the knowledge of the truth and trusted Christ as Savior. So listen, God saves atheists. God saves homosexuals. God saves rebels. God saves people. John MacArthur said this, the goal of the church is to reach the world with the saving truth of God. History shows that the church has become content with itself and often neglectful of sinners. That statement, when I read it, really convicted me. Very, very pleased with the warmth of this church, with the excitement of this church for world missions. I just think it is awesome that you guys are giving yourself to this truth. But I wonder how many of us, when we hear that phrase, immediately say, oh, I wonder if I have neglected sinners. I mean, because we get so wrapped up in our Christian world and with all of our Christian contacts and we neglect sinners. He finishes the statement by saying the central function of the church on earth is to reach the lost. And that's not enough to just put out a shingle and have services. Our job is to go and our job is to pray. that all men would be saved. And then notice, not only do we see the purpose of this prayer, but notice the urgency of this prayer, verses five through seven, and we're done with this point. Verse five, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. The reason it is so urgent is because frankly, friends, as peaceful I'm being a little facetious, as Islam is, I mean that's kind of the word on the street, it's supposed to be peaceful, it doesn't save souls. And you can take any other religion, as sincere as Buddhists are, as urgent and worked up as Hindu are, There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Jesus is the only way. There's only one God. Jesus is uniquely qualified to be able to rescue us. I love this phrase, the man, Christ Jesus. It's almost a misnomer to say the man, Christ Jesus, because Jesus Christ is God, but he became man, and he became man so that he could be uniquely qualified to do what no one else could do. are at enmity with God. God is our enemy because we have made him so when we chose a path of sin and we need a mediator, we need someone who can reconcile us to himself and Jesus Christ in the context of talking about reconciliation teaches us about the exchange in which literally he died and took the wrath that we deserve so that he could give to us the righteous record of his own life so that we might be able to have a relationship with him. who gave himself a ransom for us all to be testified in due time. I think this is important for us to recognize. Jesus gave himself. He was a ransom. Sin comes with a price. We use this verse all the time to try to convince people of a problem. The wages of sin is death. But I want you to know something, the whole purpose of telling us that verse is just to let us know it's not just that God demands this penalty, it's just that that's what sin does. Sin creates death. Death, sin, every sin, death passed upon all men when sin entered into the world. Because all of us have sinned. The wages, the consequence, the reality of what happens to us is death. A price has to be paid. And Jesus Christ said, I will pay the price. I'll pay the ransom. I will be the one. And then notice this phrase, to be testified in due time. He's talking about witnesses. He's talking about people who will talk about what he has done. That's what he called us to. And then he says, in due time, and I just want you to know, we were talking about this tonight, whether Jesus comes quickly with the rapture, which I'm ready for, wouldn't it be nice? Or he tarries until I die. I've lived long enough to know It's gonna come before I'm ready. I mean, it's happening like that. Time is urgent. We don't have much time left. Therefore, because time is short, we must testify. And then, notice this last verse. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ. I lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. So, Jesus is literally here calling us to go in faith. Paul says, I am a preacher. I am an apostle. And everybody here says, I get it that I might supposed to be a preacher, not a very good one, but I certainly am not an apostle. And I just think when he used this word ordained, he was ordained. How many of you have been ordained? Okay, a few of you. Can I really ask, the fact is, every single one of you, all of us, because the word ordained just simply means to set in place. Now, what we do is we say there are certain people who we believe and we ordain them because we see evidence of it. We believe that they are called to leadership in the church. We're gonna set them in place in that leadership in the church. But the fact is that every single one of us have been set in place somewhere. And the place where you've been set is the place where God wants you to preach. and to be an apostle. Now, I get it, we're not apostles like he was an apostle, but the word apostle literally means to be sent out, and you and I have been sent out. God sent you where you are, and he wants you to be seeing yourself, as we read in Sunday School, as the Father sent me, so send I you. I am sending you to that place. The word preach literally means the herald who is vested with public authority. That's you and me. We saw Sunday morning that all authority has been given unto me. Go, therefore. You and I have been vested with the authority of that one who died for us, and he's called us to be his herald, literally to tell everybody, because it is the knowledge of the truth that saves people. And then Paul says, I want you to know I am telling truth. I speak the truth in Jesus Christ. I lie not. Paul, as a teacher, says, I am a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in verity. The word Gentiles here carries back to us this idea of world evangelism, world missions, the idea of in faith. He's doing two things here. He's helping us to see that, number one, We must go with an unwavering confidence in what we believe, but number two, he's talking about this body of truth that he has given to us to be able to teach to other people. I love this thought. God wants me to go in verity. And here's what I believe he's telling me. Look, it's really real. It's really true. When I read that, I thought of a quote that I saw watching The Truth Project by Dale Tackett. I don't know if you've ever seen it. It is a powerful worldview. And Dale Tackett, in the middle of The Truth Project, made a statement that has literally changed the way I think. Do we really believe that what we believe is really real? Because if Christians really believe what they believe is really real, we would change the world. Jesus is calling us to be truth-tellers, to be witnesses, to be teachers, and to recognize that all of that is accomplished with the first priority, which is prayer. There are three questions that I have for us tonight. When you pray, because I'm assuming that this crowd is a praying crowd, when you pray, What is the focus and the energy of your prayers? And I believe that Paul is calling for us that that would be worldwide evangelism. And then I have this question for you. What changes do you need to make in order to keep prayer the first priority in your life? And I don't know about you, but Anna and I find that it comes with schedule. We find that there's plenty of life to crowd it out of the way if we don't have a specific time. And then will you determine to build your life's work on dependence in God demonstrated through prayer. Father, thank you for the privilege that we have to join you in your work by calling the will of God down to earth. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And Lord, we are so thankful to be partners with you. You are the one who has to change people's lives. But you've given us the privilege, number one, to pray, and number two, to proclaim, so that people might know the knowledge of the truth. Lord, stir us up to be prayer warriors, and I pray that the prayers that this church prays would result in conversions, disciples made, and people added to the church. And we're going to thank you for what you've done. Lord, I just want to add to all of this. Our thanks for these 23 years of work done in Germany. What an encouragement to my heart tonight to hear that in East Germany, there is a church that is very close to being turned over to local people. Lord, what a gift. And what a blessing that this church has partnered with this couple for all of these years to accomplish that. Now Lord, we do pray as a church, Lord, please. Help Leo, and I can't remember the other man's name, to continue on. Lord, the evil one comes and snatches people away so quickly. Lord, please protect them, preserve them, build them. And Lord, we pray that this church would indeed go on and on for years and thrive beyond