The Power of a Voice | Doug Sauder | 2 Timothy 3

You know, it's a lot easier to talk the talk than it is to walk the walk. Anybody can memorize the verse, love your neighbor as yourself, but try it for a day. It's really hard. And Paul says, you know. You know my way of life, my purpose, my clear calling. You know my faith, my patience, my love. You've seen all these things. You've observed them. And to be a Christian means you have to learn how to sacrifice. And you have to learn how to suffer without giving up. Happy Mother's Day, everyone. We wanna invite you to stand if you're able. We're gonna ask Him to fill us with joy as we sing to Him this morning. Join with me. ♪ We worship the God who was ♪ ♪ We worship the God who is ♪ ♪ We worship the God who evermore will be ♪ ♪ He opened the prison doors ♪ ♪ He parted the raging sea ♪ ♪ My God, He holds the victory ♪ Let's put our hands together. ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out Your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is surely in this place ♪

♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out Your praise ♪ ♪ Oh, we shout out Your praise ♪ We sing. ♪ We sing to the God who heals ♪ ♪ We sing to the God who saves ♪ ♪ We sing to the God who always takes away ♪ ♪ Cause He hung up on that cross ♪ ♪ And He rose up from that grave ♪ ♪ Our God's still rolling stones away ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord today ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out Your praise ♪ ♪ There's joy in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is surely in this place ♪ ♪ And we won't be quiet, we shout out Your praise ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what Heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise You, we praise You ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what Heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise You, we praise You ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what Heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise You, we praise You ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪

♪ This is what Heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise You, we praise You ♪ ♪ We'll see You break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ Fear cannot survive when we praise You ♪ ♪ The God of breakthroughs on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lives in our heart ♪ ♪ With all creation cry God we praise You ♪ ♪ We'll see You break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ Fear cannot survive when we praise You ♪ ♪ The God of breakthroughs on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lives in our heart ♪ ♪ With all creation cry God we praise You ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We praise You, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We praise You, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We praise You, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Amen. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms here today. I am a first time expecting mom. Woo! Thank you. For those who don't know, this is my husband on the keys. Yeah! We are so excited and so nervous. And we've been learning so much on this pregnancy journey. I have been learning about foods to eat and avoid and ingredients. And I felt recently the Holy Spirit.

Speaking to me through some of these experiences, I felt him say, yes, the things that you're putting in your body are important, but it's also about something bigger, that you as a mom now, you are called to protect your baby from potential harm, not just physically though, spiritually too. We know that Proverbs 14 one says that a wise woman builds her home, and that is the call God has placed on us moms to build up our families, to raise our kids, to know and love Jesus, and to wage war against the enemy who is fighting for their souls. Isn't it incredible that moms get to do that? Thank you moms, we thank you. But I don't know about the seasoned moms in the room, but the thought of raising up this next generation to know and love Jesus is terrifying. I am sitting with the weight of that realization, especially because we know that we can't protect our kids from everything, but we can call upon the name of the one who can, and that's Jesus. And in this moment, we are gonna sing about that. We're gonna be led by a team of moms and their daughters to call upon the name of Jesus. Let's worship together. ♪ I pray into the atmosphere ♪ ♪ Spirit of God, you're here ♪ ♪ You have all authority ♪ ♪ I pray over my heart, I pray for all of you ♪

♪ All authority ♪ ♪ I pray over my heart and mind ♪ ♪ I'm healed by your stripes, your blood declares that I am free ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray ♪ ♪ Calling on the power of heaven, I proclaim ♪ ♪ Every weapon formed against me, must break ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I draw from my land boundary line ♪ ♪ The enemy has no right to come near my family ♪ ♪ No king could ever undo God's hand, no matter the circumstance ♪ ♪ The cross has sealed my destiny ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray ♪ ♪ Calling on the power of heaven, I proclaim ♪ ♪ Every weapon formed against me, must break ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I know all the power of fear and darkness must fall ♪ ♪ Every key to every victory, I hold ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ Under the frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ The blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I'm protected on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ On the doorframe of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I'm protected on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I pray, calling on the power of heaven ♪ ♪ I pray ♪

♪ Every weapon formed against me must fade ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I know all the power of fear and darkness must know ♪ ♪ Every key to every victory I hold ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ Come on, let's continue to exalt the name of Jesus in this place, the only name that is worthy. ♪ Jesus, you alone are worthy of all praise ♪ ♪ We exalt your name, Jesus ♪ Sing, death could not. ♪ And death could not hold you ♪ ♪ The veil tore before you ♪ ♪ You silenced the bolts of sin and grace ♪ ♪ The heavens are roaring the praise of your glory ♪ ♪ For you are raised to life again ♪ ♪ You have no rival, you have no equal ♪ ♪ Now and forever, God, you reign ♪ ♪ Yours is the kingdom, yours is the glory ♪ ♪ Yours is the name above all names ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, what a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my King ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, and nothing can stand against ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ You have no rival, you have no equal ♪ ♪ Now and forever, God, you reign ♪ ♪ Yours is the kingdom, yours is the glory ♪ ♪ Yours is the name above all names ♪

♪ What a powerful name it is, what a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my King ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, and nothing can stand against ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus ♪ Come on, give Him a shout of praise. Hallelujah. What a beautiful reminder that Jesus is truly the most powerful name, amen? And today we wanna honor the quiet, faithful prayers of the moms in this room. I want you to take a look at this video and hear the prayers that we've prayed over our kids. You may be seated. Please leave your message after the tone. I pray you always feel loved, fully known, still chosen. That you would love without fear, that peace would come to those who love you. I pray that you would love without fear, that peace would come to those who love you. I pray that you would love without fear, that peace would quiet your doubts. I pray that you would walk in confidence, even when the path isn't clear. I pray you'd rise again when you fall and extend your self-grace just as God does. I pray you'd never feel alone, that He would comfort you always. I pray you see all the beauty in your life, even in the hard moments. My sons, my prayer for you is that each day you feel, see, and know the depth of my love for you. I pray you'd never doubt how deeply I love you, and that you know that you're fearfully

and wonderfully made, amen, amen, amen, amen. Happy Mother's Day. We want to honor all the prayers that all the moms in this house have prayed for us, and we want to honor you by celebrating and praying for you. So I'm going to ask for all of the brand new moms, and the expectant moms, and the moms who are raising littles, and the moms who are raising teenagers, God bless you, and the moms who are raising adult children, and the grandmas, and the foster moms, and the adoptive moms, and the spiritual moms, just to stand, and we want to just honor you in this moment and celebrate your life and celebrate your sacrifice. We are who we are because of all that you have done for us. Come on, church, let's give it up for the moms of this house. We are grateful for you. And we probably have no idea how hard it is to be a mom, but we wanted to let you know that we love you, and we're going to pray for you right now. So let's just take a moment, and let's pray for the moms of this house. Father, we come to you in Jesus' name, and we thank you for our moms, for the words that have spoken into our lives, for their examples, for all those things that we can't see, every tear, every silent prayer, all the extra work that doesn't earn applause, or recognition, or title that you see. God, we want to acknowledge those moments of sacrifice, those moments of investment, those moments of just selflessness, of serving everyone else, and God, we pray that you would see and that you would bless and honor the women of this house. And God, that you would take every spiritual mom that's invested in children that aren't even part of her family, and this beautiful investment of what happens in a church family like this. God, we pray your grace and your blessing over them, and so, Father, we thank you for our moms. We thank you for every mom here, and we pray that in the day to come, in the weeks and months and years to come, that they would feel your presence in a powerful way, and so we bless them now, in Jesus' name, amen.

One more time, let's give it up for the moms of this house. We love you, and we honor you today. And we want to sing one more song. This is a song we want to sing over you, because we know that in every season of life and every up and down, wherever this Mother's Day finds you, there's no one who's going to care for your soul like Jesus, and so let this song not just be something we listen to, but something we receive in our hearts. If my heart could tell a story, if my life could sing a song. If I have a testimony, if I have anything at all. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. His faithful hand has held me all this way. And when I'm old and gray, He will hold me. ♪ All my days are numbered on the earth ♪ ♪ Let it be known in you alone ♪ ♪ My joy was found ♪ ♪ My joy was found ♪ ♪ Let the children tell their children ♪ ♪ Let this be their memory ♪ ♪ That all my treasure was in heaven ♪ ♪ And you were everything to me ♪ ♪ Cause no one ever cared for me like Jesus ♪ ♪ His faithful hand has held me all this way ♪ ♪ And when I'm old and gray and all my days are numbered ♪ ♪ On the earth, let it be known in you alone ♪ ♪ No one ever cared for me like Jesus ♪ ♪ His faithful hand has held me all this way ♪ ♪ And when I'm old and gray and all my days are numbered ♪ ♪ On the earth, let it be known in you alone ♪ ♪ My joy was found ♪ ♪ In you alone ♪

♪ My joy was found in you alone ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ So in a world of a thousand voices, how do you know what voice to listen to? I mean, just this week. Hey, Doug, you gotta read this article. Hey, Doug, you gotta watch this podcast. Hey, here's something that you should do, or this is a certain way you should think, or this is a certain behavior or tone you should adopt. And in all those voices, like, how do you know which ones are gonna lead to life and which ones are not? And that's an important question because all of us have a goal or dream for our life. All of us want to lay our head down on our pillow at night and feel content with our life and good in our relationships and fulfilled in the calling that we have to know why we're on the planet and to live the good life that Jesus invites us to. And there's a book smack dab in the middle of your Bible called the book of Proverbs. It's the book of wisdom. And in the book of wisdom in chapter one, well, there's all these different voices saying, hey, come and follow me and let's do this. And all the voices sound really good, but most of those voices lead to dead ends or lead to destruction.

But there's a woman who's speaking in Proverbs chapter one. She's also speaking in Proverbs chapter eight. She's a woman who sounds a lot like a mom. She's on the street corner and here's what she's crying. Out in the open, wisdom calls aloud. She raises her voice in the public square. Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is personified as a woman, like a mom who's trying to give advice to people who are going in a certain direction. And right now it seems like it's going really well, but she knows where that's gonna lead. And she says, wait, I'm gonna cry out. Think about where you're going and who you're going with and who you're following and the power of her voice. If you listen to that voice, will lead you to the life you've always wanted. There's something about a mom's voice. And as we pick up in second Timothy chapter three, well, Timothy has just been warned by Paul that all these voices of people that are trying to influence him and the church, people who are lovers of themselves more than the lovers of God, people who have a form of godliness, but deny the power of that, that those people sound and look really good, but they're on the path to foolishness and destruction. And so he now is gonna pivot and say, Timothy, I want you to think about which voices you listen to.

That brings us to verse 10 of chapter three. He says, you, however, you know all about my teaching and my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecution, suffering, what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Paul's saying to Timothy, with a sense of urgency, it's his last letter. Timothy, listen to the right voices. There are all these voices over here that look and sound really good, but they're gonna lead to destruction and dead end, but there are certain voices you should listen to. Maybe I can simplify it this way. Pick your role models wisely. And so Paul simply says to Timothy, you know my life. In fact, at this point,

Paul has known Timothy for 20 years, and he talks about the origin story. He wants to bring Timothy back to his own origin story, because if you know who you are, then you'll know what to do. Hey, Timothy, you remember, you don't know just my teaching, but you also know my way of life, and you know the endurance that I had to go through in Lystra. If you remember the story in Acts chapter 14, Paul shows up at Lystra on his first missionary tour with Barnabas. They heal a man who's lame. Everyone in the city comes out. It's a miracle, and then the crowd turns, and they stone Paul and leave him for dead. Paul, on the ground, gets up and walks back into the city. I'm not sure if Timothy saw the healing. I'm not sure if he saw Paul get back up and walk into the city, but Paul's like, you remember my life. You remember when we first met. I'm not just a person who's talking the talk, but I'm also walking the walk, and I've given you an example as a spiritual father. You know, it's a lot easier to talk the talk than it is to walk the walk. Anybody can memorize the verse, "'Love your neighbor as yourself, but try it for a day.'"

It's really hard, and Paul says, you know. You know my way of life, my purpose, my clear calling. You know my faith, my patience, my love. You've seen all these things. You've observed them, and to be a Christian means you have to learn how to sacrifice, and you have to learn how to suffer without giving up. And Timothy needed this voice in his life because, well, we don't read much about his dad. We only know his dad was a Greek. His dad was not very involved in his life, and so Paul became sort of a spiritual father to Timothy. And so part of Paul's speaking into Timothy's life is to say, this is your origin story. You had a mom and grandma who were full of faith, and I became like a spiritual father for you, and this is just an encouragement for every single mom who's here, and you're like, you know, I don't know. There's not a father figure in my son's life. This church is filled with father figures who wanna speak into the lives of your sons and daughters, and Timothy becomes one of the greatest leaders of the early church, even in the absence of a biological father who's involved in his life. So keep on praying and looking for those men who will invest in your kids because the church is the family of God, and God has good, good plans for you and your kids. And that's just something I wanna say

to every single parent here because it is true, not just in the history of the Bible, but in this church. And then Paul says to Timothy, you wanna listen to the right voice, and you've known me for 20 years, but I wanna take you back even further. In verse 15, from infancy, you learned the Scriptures. You grew up in a family where there was never a time you didn't know the Bible. There was never a time where you didn't hear your mom's prayers over you. From the very beginning, it was your mother and grandmother who instilled this deep faith in God in you, and we see this in the first chapter of this letter where Paul says, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also. That it is a mother's voice that has a particular shaping form in the lives of sons and daughters. On this Mother's Day, I wanna just talk a little bit about that formative voice of a mom in our lives. The book of Proverbs, this woman crying out in the street, wisdom. Well, here's what Proverbs also says about the power of a mom's instruction. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

They are like a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Think about this, the most valuable things your mom ever taught you. It's like a beautiful necklace. You wear it around your neck, and every time you look in the mirror, you'll see it. It's one of the first things you'll see, that piece of jewelry that reminds you, oh, that's beautiful. That makes this whole outfit go, and it's something that has sentimental value. And the book of Proverbs says, when you embrace your mother's teaching, when you embrace the wisdom she taught you, it's like this beautiful necklace that you wear around your neck, because there's something. about a mom's voice. So I wanna ask you to go back to some core memories in your life. Anybody, when you go back to your core memory, can you hear the voice of your mom and what she used to say when you were little, when you were growing up? I remember my mom calling me Douglas. Very few people call me Douglas. My mom calls me Douglas. And I distinctly remember the way she used to wake me up. She used to walk in my room and she'd say, Douglas, time to rise and shine.

And you know, when you're little, you love that, and then when you're a teenager, you're kind of annoyed. But it's amazing, just that phrase, rise and shine, how you don't think about it at the time, but how it can change the way you wake up for the rest of your life if it gets deep into your soul. You see, today, when I wake up, deep in my mind and my heart, I can still hear my mom saying, Doug, Douglas, it's time to rise and shine. It's a new day, it's new opportunities. You're shining the light of Jesus, so go be the change the world needs. Rise and shine. Think about it, one of the most powerful voices is the first voice you hear or the last voice you hear. And my wife and I, we're about to be grandparents in just a few months, we're so excited. A little baby girl named Callie Mae, and as we're waiting for our granddaughter to be born, my wife's already buying stuff on Amazon, stuff's showing up, I'm like, the baby's not even here yet, what are you doing? But you know the first gift that she bought for Callie Mae was a book. Because she understands the power of a mom's, or now a grandma's voice, that when you read stories to kids, you shape their sense of identity, their sense of purpose. You speak into their life in a way that no one else can speak, and she understands that.

And listen, my mom also knew the difference between me and my brother, because every time we would go out, she would say to my brother Seth, hey Seth, have fun, hey Doug, be good. And I always wondered why she said that. And now I know. Because moms, you know, some of your kids need to know to loosen up and have fun and just be themselves, and some need to behave and not wreck the place. And moms have that way to speak into the lives of those they are raising. God has given us this gift. And these wise words, if we think about them, they can shape our future. And Paul's saying to Timothy, all those words that your mom and grandma spoke to you, they are still shaping you today. I think of my own wife. I think of the way, like my mom and her mom before her, there was always an open table. When I was growing up, when my wife was growing up, their families opened up their homes to people traveling. You could stay overnight. If I brought five kids home, my mom always had food for them, and if you took your shirt off and put it on the floor, it was gonna be washed and pressed before dinner and dessert was over because my mom would care and show that type of caring,

and so would my wife's mom. And so I watched my wife and I, when we were first married, adopt all of those things that she learned. And so in the first couple years of our marriage, we took in a foreign exchange student. We were youth leaders, and there were always kids at our house. And then we took in kids in foster care. We adopted some children in our life, and my wife always had room and love for people, maybe who weren't born from her body, but she cared for in this deep way. And when our son Jordan died, I watched my wife spend three months in the hospital every single day, loving on our son and loving on the nurses and caring for him at home, and I watched this deep, sacrificial life of giving herself away. She had a master's degree. She had got a job in so many different ways, and she gave all that up to raise three sons of thunder. Love on all these kids who came through our home. And these are the type of moments where you don't get a title or a plaque, but there's this great legacy that impacts the life of all the people who see that. And moms, you have that powerful voice in the life of your kids. Proverbs says it this way. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Your voice has power, particular power to shape.

And if I ask you to close your eyes and think about a time where someone spoke a word over you that felt like death, well, I think everyone can think of a moment where someone used words to deceive them, someone used words to humiliate them or put them down. I can remember particular moments in my life where people did that to me. If I think long enough, it's still one of those moments like, oh, that was like one of the worst moments of my life. But I think all of us can also remember moments where people. looked us in the eyes and spoke these words of life that helped us understand, wait, I could do this? Wait, someone believes in me? Wait, you see this in me? I don't see it in myself. And we rise to that occasion. And this again is the power of a voice, in particular, a mom's voice. And in verse 14, Paul says, it wasn't just the words that they spoke to you, it was the way that they lived. He says in verse 14, I want you to continue in what you've learned and become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it. It wasn't just the words they spoke, it was the life they lived. You should be convinced of this because you saw the way your mom

and your grandma lived their life. Again, that open home, that open table, the way they sacrificially served. I remember when my brother and I and some group of friends began to go feed homeless people in a park. We were brand new Christians and we needed like 50, 60 bags of packed with sandwiches and food. And sometimes we would get pizza and who was the one always packing the bags and picking up the pizzas and all the food? Mom. Hey mom, you wanna join the ministry? We didn't even really ask her. She just sort of kicked in because she knew we needed help. Moms, you just know when we need help, right? You just know, oh, these kids need help. And Paul says, you should be convinced of this because you know the people you learned it from, you know their life because most of life is not taught, it's caught, you see it, you watch it. What does it mean to be a selfless servant? What does it mean to answer the phone at 2 a.m. when no one else will answer and be that voice who's ready to listen and pray and give advice? That's usually a mom, right? Can we thank God for our moms one more time?

Listen, being a mom is difficult. And so yesterday when we sat down, my wife and I with our oldest son, we went out to breakfast and just had a conversation. We were like, okay, so what are some of your core memories of mom, like the things she used to say or do that shaped you? And when Jackson, he would say, mom, the way she looked at me and spoke to me instilled in me this confidence that even though I felt like I was here, I could be here. But she also had that look that instilled in me humility. It's not all about me. It's not I'm the best of the best of the best. It's God has given me gifts, but I want to carry that in a sense of humility. And he described how her voice has shaped his life. And now 28 years old, he's at his job and he's in a situation where he's starting to say something and this little voice, he said, this little voice in my head is like, speak the truth in love. Mom would say, it's the way you say it. So say it in love. And that's the power of a mom's example and the mom's words and the life of her kids in decades following childhood. And all of us can have those moments. Paul says to Timothy, these are the people that you've learned from

and you've developed these convictions. And so the question is, do you have a core memory of your mom? The words that she said, the way that she lived. Have those words shaped you? Are those convictions now in you? And well, if your mom is still alive, will you tell her that today? Now some of you might say, well, my mom's not a Christian, but I want to say your mom still taught you something. What good, if she wasn't a follower of Jesus, could you say, mom, you instilled this in me. I watched this in your life and I just want to honor you today. And then maybe you shoot her a text or as you have a dinner tonight, you share those words with her. Be intentional this Mother's Day to speak words of life over those moms and spiritual moms in your life. But Timothy's mom taught him the word of God. And if you've raised in a family where the word of God was taught, you are a blessed person. Most people don't have that experience. But there was a man named Charles Spurgeon. He was this very well-known pastor. And he shared and recounted this story about a prayer that his mom prayed that brought great conviction. Eliza Spurgeon, she prayed this. Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins,

it will not be from ignorance that they perish. And my soul must bear a swift witness against them on the day of judgment, if they lay not hold of Christ. Charles Spurgeon's like, wait, my mom is like, if my son doesn't follow Jesus for all the word of God I taught him and modeled for him, I'm not gonna be standing next to him. I'm gonna stand next to Jesus pointing him. Think about that. Eliza Spurgeon had 17 children. Only eight of them lived past infancy in a time where child mortality was high. And she daily taught every one of her kids the Bible. And so there was an idea, I'm not my kids' saviors. My job is to teach them God's word and let that word take a deep root in their soul. And so if they rebel and they go their own way, I'm gonna stand with Jesus and say, they know better. I'm not gonna stand with him and say, well, he didn't know. And listen, my mom knows something about that. She taught me the word. of God, my brother, the word of God from childhood. But when we were teenagers, we rebelled hard and fast against God. We didn't want anything to do with God or church or Jesus or the Bible. And I know there was a season of time, my mom and dad watched their two sons do their own thing. And I know there was a lot of tears and quiet and fervent prayers for us.

And by the grace of God, neither me nor my brother could outrun the prayers of our mom and our grandma by the grace of God, right? We're here today because they prayed. And so if you have a prodigal today and Mother's Day is hard for you because the child you raised in the word is far away, I want you to think of those prayers that so many of us have experienced that brought the prodigal back to their senses and brought them to repentance. Because that is the grace of God in the life of every mom, of every prodigal son. Now, I know that for some people, Mother's Day is this really mixed feeling. For Mother's Day, it's hard because maybe you've always wanted children, but you don't have children or maybe your mother's passed away. And so just the memory of mom is hard and difficult at this time. And maybe for some people, it's like, I never really had a present mom in my life. And so I don't know how to feel. It's great that you had a mom who prayed for you and read the Bible. It's great that Timothy had that. That's all great, but I don't have that. And sometimes that can leave us to this place of look paralysis where we just like,

we feel bad for ourselves. And we just don't wanna think about Mother's Day. And it struck me as I was thinking about Paul and his relationship with Timothy and all these things that in all of Paul's writings and all of his stories, and Paul told his origin story constantly, he never mentioned his mother or his father. And what kind of person speaks so much about mothers and fathers and never mentions their own mom or their own dad? Was it that his mom and dad died at a young age and he never really knew them? Was it that they just weren't present in his life? Maybe when he became a Christian, they completely rejected and disowned him. I don't really know, but it's odd to me that Paul never mentions his mom or his dad. And then I was reading through the book of Romans and I came to the last chapter in this really obscure sentence that Paul found a mom in the family of God, in the church of Rome. The apostle Paul actually describes a woman who became like a mom to him. Here's the sentence, he says, a great Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother who has been a mother to me too. Can you imagine being the woman who becomes like the spiritual mom of the apostle Paul? She's from Rome, so I'm assuming she's Italian.

What does an Italian mom do? Hey, let me feed you, are you hungry? Paul, you look tired, you should rest. Paul, you look cold, here's a coat. Hey, let me make you some more pasta. I know you're writing an important letter. I know you're doing important work. Maybe you're on house arrest, the guards aren't treating you well, but I wanna make sure you are seen and known and loved and doted on. This is how I imagine this mom being a mother to Paul, which makes me curious. Maybe you didn't have a mom or a present mom or a mom who is a Christian, but has God brought a spiritual mom into your life? A mom who would say the things you wished a mom would say to you. I see this in you. I see this great gift in you. A mom who would correct you. Oh, I don't know. I don't think he's the one for you. I don't think she's the one for you. Hey, have you ever thought about pursuing that dream? Whatever that is, the person who says, I pray for you every day. And I'm grateful to God for a mother-in-law who prays for me every day and sends me texts and notes of encouragement

and looks me in the eye and says these words of me. I'm grateful for the moms in this house who pray for me and love me. You've made me a better person because of your prayers and love and attention and affection. This place is filled with spiritual moms who do this on a regular basis. And I guess my question is, how will you honor those spiritual moms today? Will you send them a text? Will you send them flowers? Will you invite them over? Will you thank them for their investment in your life? Because Paul takes the time to say to this woman in this Roman church, I thank God when I remember you. And I wanna tell you about one of those spiritual moms in this house. Her name is Ava. My wife and I met Ava 28 years ago when she was a social worker at an adoption agency and she handed Jackson, this little baby to us and he became our son. knew that she was a Christian and the way that she did what she did was just so beautiful. And when we started a ministry here called Four Kids, we'll tell more of that story next weekend, she was hired on as a staff, as our adoption coordinator.

We worked together for years and then a few years back after 49 years of marriage, her husband died. In the following year, her daughter, Judith, who is 49 years old, died by suicide because she was battling mental health issues that were stronger than her ability to resist. And now Ava is despondent. This woman who served her husband, her kids, her church, and she's trying to process this grief. And Mother's Day is the hardest day of all for her. And then she hears about a ministry called Grief Share where Christians gather together every Saturday at three o'clock right over here. And they process the loss of their husband or wife or children, loved ones in their family, and they find healing and hope. And she talks about this conversation as this sacred privilege that brought healing to her. And then all of a sudden she thought, maybe this is my purpose. Maybe for all that I've gone through and all that other people have invested in me, now I can do this for other people. And all those skills of being a social worker are now turned toward people in pain because the church is not a place where we stuff our emotions and say, praise the Lord, everything's good. No, it's where we say, this is how I'm actually feeling. Like God doesn't care, doesn't see.

And in a safe environment where all those emotions can be shared, real healing can take place. And my wife and I, we actually sat in one of those groups a year or two ago as parents who have lost a son. We sat with other parents who have lost children. And it's hard to describe the level of emotion and connection and healing that happens when Christians suffer together, but it was powerful. We walked away from that and said, that is one of the most powerful ministries we've seen in this church. And so I just, I wanna encourage you, if you've lost a loved one and you're here and you're like, you know, all these things about family just trigger me and there's so much unprocessed grief in my life. Well, Grief Share starts again in two weeks. I'll encourage you, it's in the QR code, sign up for it and walk down that road because when Ava talks about this journey, she says, you know, I've experienced post-traumatic growth. I was like, wait, I've heard of post-traumatic stress disorder where the brokenness of life disorients you so much that it's hard to live life. Now she says, yeah, that's part of it. But what you find in Christ is the chance to go through trauma and to grow as a person and experience that you are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. And that's the voice of a spiritual mom who doesn't just talk it, but she walks it

and she walks other people through it. And so I just wanna honor all the women like Ava in this place who've walked through their own personal pain and are helping walk other people through it. This is what God made you to do, to redeem the pain of brokenness and to help other people in the name of Jesus. And so can we celebrate the spiritual moms in this place who do that in so many ways? And if you've never thought about how you might do that, I wanna encourage you, go talk to Ava. You might discover this powerful calling in your life. And so in the world of a thousand voices, Paul says to Timothy, you have an origin story that matters. You've seen my life, my example. You've seen your mom, your grandma. You've seen us go through suffering. You've seen us go through sacrifice and we're still standing. And then he says in verse 16, all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And you can summarize that this way. Let God's word be the loudest voice in your life. Be careful who you listen to, listen to the right voices. But the one voice you always want to be, the loudest voice in your head, in your life is God's word. And notice he says all scripture.

And in the previous verse, he says the sacred scriptures. So the sacred scriptures are how Timothy was raised. That's the Old Testament books of the Bible, Genesis to Malachi, how they talked about how God created the world, how sin entered the world, how the prophets and the kings talked about a Messiah that would come, that would bring redemption. And so he was raised in the sacred scriptures. But then he says in verse 16, but all scripture is God breathed. Now he's talking about the New Testament scriptures work, which were becoming on the scene during this time. Matthew, Mark, Luke, writing their gospel stories. And so he says, these words weren't just made up by people. They're not just biographies and history lessons and poetry. These words were breathed by God himself. And they're useful for every part of life. your life, to train you, to correct you, to encourage you, to rebuke you, that the Bible has a way to help you in every area of your life. Peter would say it this way. "'Above all, you must understand "'that no prophecy of Scripture came about "'by a prophet's own interpretation of things. "'For prophecy never had its origin in human will, "'but prophets, though human, spoke from God "'as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.'" You see, people will often say, wasn't this just written by people, so how do we trust it?

If they're speaking for God, it's faulty, but if God's speaking to them, then it's divine. And so, what is unique about the Bible? And I would always, during my rebellious period, say the Bible's just a fairy tale and a fable that Christians made up because they can't live in the real world. They need a crutch, an emotional crutch, to get through the hard times of life. And I would talk about all the contradictions that were in the Bible, but I never looked them up to see if it was true. I just parroted what other people like me were saying. But if you're gonna be a skeptic, be an honest skeptic. Don't be a lazy skeptic and do the work. And I wanted to show you just a picture of how unique the Bible is in all the books that have ever been written, in all the sacred texts of all the religions. There's something unique about the Bible, and I'm gonna show it to you in this graph. This is a graph that shows every connection in the Bible from Genesis at the beginning all the way to Revelation at the end. The Bible is not a book that was written by one person, but written by over 40 authors. 66 books written by over 40 authors in three different languages, in three different continents. Most of the people who wrote and contributed to the Bible never met all the other ones.

And yet it tells a singular story. These rainbow-looking things are connections. 63,779 cross-references. That means as Genesis talks about a prophecy and you see it then in the book of Matthew, you see those connections. As certain scriptures are shared here and then referenced here, you see these connections with people who had never met. And once you look at it in that way, you can never unsee the miracle that the Bible is. Every prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, all of them telling one continuous story. And Paul says, this is God breathe. And so if you're gonna listen to a voice, if you're gonna trust only one voice in your life, my suggestion, trust God's word, right? I mean, mom, dad, if you can only teach your kids one thing is, hey, don't even believe what I say, believe what God says. And it's interesting that the Bible is called of itself, God breathe, and the spirit of God is called the breath of God, the pneuma of God. And if you have the spirit of God and the word of God, and that's all you have, it'll be more than enough for your life as you invite God's spirit, God show me what this word means and help me to obey. Well, if that's the loudest voice in your head, then you will live a blessed life.

Timothy and his mother and grandmother believed not just the old covenant, the promises to Abraham, but the new covenant and the relationship that the Bible shows that we can have with Jesus. And if you wanna know the value of the Bible, well, Psalm 19 says, and this is especially for the young people in the room. If you're in middle school or high school, I want you to listen up for a second. If you read the Bible, and if you put your trust in the wisdom of the Bible and the author of the Bible, here's what the promise is in Psalm 19. The Bible will revive your soul. If your soul is tired or discouraged or you're depressed or anxious, the Bible can bring revival to your soul. It will make wise the simple. You need wisdom for decisions? The Bible makes the simple wise. It gives joy to your heart. It gives light to your eyes. It endures forever. And in keeping these words, there is great reward. This is not an ordinary book. This is the wisdom that God breathed for us to know Jesus and to know how we can live for him. And Timothy was taught these scriptures as a young person and he embraced them in his life.

Now, chapter four, here's where Paul concludes this thought. He says, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing in kingdom, I give you this charge. Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct and rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction, for the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itchy ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of. of your ministry. You can see the urgency in Paul. He knows he's writing the last few sentences that he'll ever write in his entire life. This is the last chapter of the last letter, and he wants to make sure he imparts this to Timothy as the one who's gonna take the gospel to the next generation. And so he's saying this simple, singular thing to Timothy. Learn to use your voice for God. Everyone knows how to use their voice,

but how do you use it for God? How do you speak for God? So he goes, I give you this charge, Timothy. I want you to preach the word. I want you to correct. I want you to encourage. I want you to rebuke, and I want you to do it in season, out of season, whether you feel like it or not, whether you feel prepared or not. It's not like, you know, Timothy preached the word on Sundays, and on Mondays, your day off, if someone asked you about Jesus, just say, hey, it's my day off. I'll talk to you tomorrow. No, you don't have a day off. You want to be prepared to give an answer to the hope that you have in you, no matter when people ask, no matter if they're antagonist when they ask, or sincere when they ask, you want to be ready at all times to use your voice. And that's something you have to learn to do. And so all through these letters that Paul is writing Timothy, his spiritual son, you'll see him encourage him. God hasn't given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And you've been given a deposit,

so you need to guard the deposit, what your mom and grandma taught you, what you've watched me model. And you've been given a gift, the elders laid hands on you, so fan that gift into flame. Don't just let the gift stay dormant in you, like you have a life, this is what I see in you. So take it, carpe diem, seize the day, live for Jesus. You only have one life to live. This is the tone and posture of what he is saying. And says, Timothy, I want you to discharge every duty of your ministry. There's all kinds of things that you have been called to do. Use all your gifts in all your relationships and watch God work. And what does an evangelist do? You're a voice to tell people, get ready. Jesus is coming back. Get ready, you're gonna die one day and stand before God and be judged. Get ready. The voice of a preacher and evangelist is to tell people the good news, that though their sins have separated them from God and a judgment's coming, that God has made a way for them, not just to avoid the judgment, but to experience eternal life. The adoption as a son or daughter of God for all eternity. This is the invitation all Christians have

to give to all people. And we wanna be the people who speak for God in this way. And the way we speak matters. So I wanna give you a vision for how the people of God are called to speak to their neighbors, their friends, their coworkers. Isaiah chapter 40, verse nine. You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout. Lift it up. Do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, here is your God. Think about the posture, people speaking for God. He's like, go to your city, go to the highest part of your city and say it like you mean it. Say it with joy and hope. God is here. God wants a relationship with you. He can give you forgiveness for your sins. You can find purpose for your life. Like that woman crying out in the street corners, you are the voice of wisdom at your workplace, at your gym, in your neighborhood, with your friends, with your family. Learn to use your voice. And what happens if we don't use our voice? Well, there's a moment where Jesus is riding into Jerusalem

and everyone's saying, Hosanna, and shouting at the top of the lungs, and the king has come and the pharisee is like, tell your disciples to shut up. And Jesus says, if my disciples shut up right now, the very rocks would cry out. Listen, we do not wanna be the generation of church where the rocks have to do our job. We wanna learn to use our voice. We wanna learn to say it with passion. Say it because we love the people we're talking to and we love the God who's given us this message. And sometimes when you do that, people are gonna look down on you. They're gonna make fun of you. Anybody ever try to share their faith and it didn't work? And you're like, I don't ever wanna do that again. Listen, that's part of it. That's why he says over and over, endure hardship, endure persecution. There are gonna be moments where you give people this really good news and they don't wanna hear it. I didn't always work at a church. I worked in the school system. And so when I would invite some of my coworkers to pray or I would share my faith with them, sometimes they would laugh at me, they would mock me, they would make fun of me. And it was interesting how maybe a year or two later when they're going through a crisis,

they would come and say, hey, can you pray for me, but not in front of people. That can happen. But honestly, that feeling of being rejected, an outsider and not being part of the in-crowd, I hated it. I was like, oh, I don't like that feeling. And it can make you wanna stop. But I wanna show you just a particular point in Peter and John's life where they had this moment. They heal a man at the gates and they preach a sermon, thousands of people come and now the authorities, the spiritual leaders, they've always looked up to, pull them in a side room in the book of Acts and say, we don't want you preaching about Jesus anymore. And if you do, we're gonna make you social outcasts. We're gonna beat you. We're gonna arrest you. We're gonna make your life miserable. Think about the intimidation of that moment. Their own spiritual fathers and heroes growing up are now threatening them and saying, not another word about Jesus. And Peter and John have this response. They don't argue, they don't yell back. They just say, listen, whatever you do with Jesus is between you and him. But then they say this, but as for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. This quiet confidence. Listen, you can beat us, you can arrest us,

you can threaten us, you can cancel us, but we are not gonna stop talking about what we've seen and what we've heard because Jesus saved our life and we still want him to save yours, right? I mean, it's a powerful picture. And so Paul says to Timothy, I want you to do this with patience because there is a time where people are gonna have these itching ears. They're gonna want you to say what they wanna say. And if you don't say it, they're gonna find other teachers who will itch their ears from the desires that they have. So patiently, carefully instruct. What does that mean, itching ears? I don't know if you know this or not, but you can get the Bible to say whatever you want it to say. You just got to find the person who says it. And I hear the craziest things that Christians say. Like, hey, pastor, you know, I know. I heard this guy on a podcast and he said, like, I don't have to live in a covenant marriage with my wife, I can express my sexuality in all these different ways. And actually there's a verse he showed me and it was really cool because now I don't feel any conviction about the way I'm living. What is that?

That's not an intellectual problem. That's I wanna live how I wanna live and I don't wanna feel guilty about it. So my ears are looking for someone who will tell me it's okay to live however I wanna live. There are people who wanna live in a racial prejudice, looking down on people who have different color of skin or speak a different language or from a different country, and they wanna feel okay about that. And you look hard enough. Actually, you don't have to look that hard these days, just pick up social media. And in a few moments, someone will take a Bible verse, they'll twist and say, you can look down on people because you're better than them. And here's a Bible verse that tells you how and why. Paul says, in the last days, people will have these desires. They're not intellectual issues, they're the way they want to live, that sinful tendency to do what they wanna do. And there will be teachers who tell them exactly what they wanna hear. And they're gonna be like, and there'll be teachers who tell them exactly what they wanna hear. And those people are all doomed for destruction because they changed the word of God. So keep your head in all situations. Don't go off and argue with people like that. Don't get so frustrated, you just give up.

Keep on in a steady way, enduring hardships, whatever happened, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Continue to point people to Jesus. And so when you experience persecution or isolation, when you feel the pull of all these weird doctrines and thoughts and people take the Bible and use it for whatever they want, let's submit ourselves to what the Bible says and obey it. It's God's word, breathe for us. It's not for us to edit or change or make what we want. That's not how the gospel works. He is God and we are not. And so we wanna be in glad submission to the good news of the gospel of Jesus, amen? Amen. And so, church, on this Mother's Day weekend, let's be people who listen to the right voices. Let's be people who we don't know what words to say. We find those words right here. We don't know what prayers to pray. We find those prayers right here. Let's be a church that doesn't just think about our own little life, but extends our lives to the people around us and create spiritual family. And let's learn to use our voice and speak into other people's lives so they can use their voices. It's hard to learn to use your voice for God, but that's part of what the church is. And Paul says that when we speak,

we're actually speaking for God. So right now, I'm speaking for God. And here's what Paul says about. Every time we speak for God. We are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, come back to God. And so right now I'm gonna speak for God. To anyone here who's far away from God, I'm gonna speak for God to you like it's God's mouth. He wants you to be reconciled to him. He sees that your sins have separated you from him. And today you are not here by accident. He wants to call you back into relationship with him. You're surrounded by people who were once far away from God. Some of us grew up in Christian homes, some of us didn't. Some of us live pristine lives. Some of us were in the deepest gutters of life, in the most broken states of life. Doesn't matter how you get to God, it's that you get to God, that you repair the relationship that you've broken by your own sin. That's why Jesus came and that's why Jesus died. And the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, today, if you do not harden his heart when you hear your voice, then you can't be saved. Because God has appointed one day for us to be saved and he calls the day today.

That's wild when you think about the way that God works because all of us, we tend to procrastinate. I'll get my life together tomorrow. I'll go on a diet tomorrow. I'll get out of debt tomorrow. I'll do the right thing tomorrow. But God knows the lie of tomorrow. That's why he says there's only one day you'll get saved. There's only one day you'll get right. There's only one day your life will really change. That day is always called today. Today is May 10th, 2026. And for some people, this will be your rebirth day, your spiritual birthday, the beginning of a new origin story where Jesus comes in your life and forgives your sin and gives you a new identity. And you become a son of God, a daughter of God, and your destination is now heaven and not destruction. You're on the right path, not the wrong path. He's in control. You're not in control. He's the one that steadies your heart and gives you peace and a sense of forgiveness and not living in shame and brokenness and always looking in the mirror and not liking what you see. He's the only one that can do that, but that requires a decision, the decision to be reconciled to God. And the only way you can be reconciled to God

is not to go do more good deeds to undo your bad deeds. It's to humble yourself and get on your knees and say, God, I repent, I'm a sinner. I need a savior. Please forgive me. The beautiful thing about God is there's always a prayer way and there's always a promise. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, calls out for mercy will be saved. Doesn't matter how many things you've done or how long you've run. God's been waiting your whole life for this moment. And this decision is not a decision your mom can make for you or your dad or your grandma or your grandpa. Your kids can't make it for you. Your siblings can't make it for you. Your friends can't make it for you. The only person who can make this decision is you. And so this is the moment of decision. Over and over in the Bible, people are given a moment of decision. Will you walk toward God or will you walk away? And so here at Calvary, here's how we do it. We play a song and we invite you to stand up wherever you are in this auditorium and walk forward and stand at this altar and pray a very simple prayer. Nothing weird is gonna happen. You're just simply gonna say,

God, I open my heart and I invite you inside. I wanna follow you. I make this decision today to follow you, Jesus. And all I know is at that moment, God will forgive you. God will come into your life in a new way and he'll begin to do some things in your life that will blow your mind and expand your heart and change the trajectory of your life. And this is the invitation to life. And so if that's you right now, wherever you are, I'm gonna ask you to stand up and I'm gonna ask you to walk this way and we will celebrate with all of heaven as you come. If that's you, come now. He's waiting for you. ♪ Lord, I come, I confess ♪ ♪ Bowing here, I find my rest ♪ ♪ Without you, I'd fall apart ♪ ♪ You're the one that guides my heart ♪ ♪ Lord, I need you, oh, I need you ♪ ♪ Every hour, I need you ♪ ♪ My one defense, my righteousness, oh, God, how I need you ♪ ♪ Lord, I need you, oh, I need you ♪ I need you, oh I need you, every hour I need you, my one defense, my righteousness, oh God, how I need you. We are so honored to be part of this special moment for you as you pray this prayer. You're about to say the most powerful words that will ever come out of your mouth because the Bible says by your profession that you believe Jesus died for you and God raised him. By your confession that he is Lord. The Bible

says you're gonna be saved. So in a moment we're gonna pray this prayer and you're gonna experience the miracle of God. It's a beautiful thing to think about that God has known your whole life and known that for every path you've taken he would meet you here on May 10th 2026. This is the patience and kindness of God. And so before I pray this prayer I just want to make a simple, one more simple request. And one of the first sermons that Peter ever preached he talked about the patience and kindness of God and how he's waited, though we all deserve judgment and death, he's waited patiently kindly for us to come and he says and when people said well what what should we do? It says they were cut to the heart. They were feeling this sense of conviction, this sense of disorientation like they had walked into the moment feeling good but now all of a sudden they were unsettled in some way and Peter identified that's that's God speaking to you. That's the conviction of God's Spirit. And so if you're feeling this sense of like disorientation like I mean I feel like I don't know what to think or feel and I have these doubts and fears and I want to be in control and I want to go up there but I don't want to go up there because all these things are going on my life. This is this is God's fighting for your soul. He's wrestling with you and for you and all those prayers that have brought you to this place that are not an accident are all right this is love drawing you. And so we're not gonna sing another song. I'm not gonna preach another sermon but if you know like this I should be there then don't resist anymore. Today is your day. Just step into the aisle. You're already standing up and walk this way. We don't want you to miss this moment. That's you. Come on. There's room at the altar for you. Welcome to the family of God. We're glad you're here. This is a good Mother's Day. Glad you're here. So for you that have come and for those of you who are online in our VR campus room right now we want to just leave you in a simple prayer. So I'm gonna ask you just to say this out loud to God. He's listening right now and he will hear and

answer this prayer. This is the beautiful patience and kindness of God right? There's always room for one more. All right. Is that it? Just checking. All right. For those of you who are here, this is your moment. Just say this out loud after me. Say this to God. Lord God, I open my heart, and I invite you inside. Forgive my sin. Today I repent. Now fill me with your Spirit, and I will walk with you all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Guys, congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. So before you go back to your seats, I'm going to ask you for five more minutes. You made the most important decision of your life. I'm going to ask you to follow me and our crew over to those open doors right there where we're going to give you a Bible as a gift and have a quick conversation. Five minutes. Church, can we give them a hand

as they go this way? And church, let's respond now in a song of praise to our Savior Jesus, who is worthy of our praise. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear when the enemy comes here. On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the God of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. Must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know, all the power of fear and darkness. Must go, every key to every victory.

I hold, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Church, we're so glad that you joined us this morning. I wanna wish all the moms one last time a happy Mother's Day. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and we'll see you back next weekend. Bye now.