Who Are My People? | Pastor Tammie Floyd

Hey, well, welcome to church, everybody. If you're visiting for the first time, we want to say a special welcome to you. Come on, church. Let's put our hands together and welcome anybody here for the first time, maybe the first time in a long time. Maybe you're looking for a home church. You're done looking. Here it is. Welcome to Gateway. We're so glad you're a part of the family. Can I get a better amen? Come on, no longer need to look. We're glad you're here. And I do want to say hello to our online family and everyone that's joining us there. We're grateful to have you as a part of what God's doing here at Gateway and want to let everybody know, you don't want to miss this. This week is marriage night, everybody. And if you have not registered yet, make sure you get registered. And I know some of you are thinking, well, we just did this in the fall, don't really need it again. Well, your spouse emailed in and said, you really do need it. I'm kidding, it didn't happen. But this will be the only one this year. We're kind of resetting the calendar to have this land more in the early part of the year. So there won't be another one until next year.

So if you're married, engaged, heading towards engagement and want to get a head start, it's a great thing to be a part of. So get registered for that. It's going to be a fantastic night. Some good friends of ours, Jimmy and Irene Rollins are going to be with us and they have such a powerful story you don't want to miss. And God has taught them a whole lot that I think will help us just have stronger, more fruitful, more God-honoring marriages. And so look forward to seeing their Tammy and I'll be there. And so it's going to be a great night. And today we're continuing the series. It's complicated. Has this been helping any these past two weeks? Has it helped in our relationships? Good. Some of you, some of you are like, man, not really. It's because you're not a note taker. That's the problem. I'm kidding. So today we're in week three of it. And I'm so excited because my favorite preacher, my wife, is bringing the word today. Hey, so will you show some love, Pastor Tammy Floyd, as she brings the word of God this week. I love you. Hi. Hi. Good morning, family.

You're so kind. You can have a seat. I'm so happy to be with you today. I love the church. There is no better place to gather with other believers and to worship our God. And I'm grateful for the freedom as a country that we have. I hope that you, too, never take it for granted. But we're in this series right now called It's Complicated. And today, I have the privilege of talking about relationships when it comes to friendships. Anybody in the house have a friend or two? Okay, a few of you. Any of you wish you had a friend or two? Maybe a few more or maybe a friend or two less, right? We're going to look into God's word and navigate a little bit because God's design is actually community. In the very beginning, he created man and then he said, you know what, it's not good for man to be alone. So he created a companion for him. And we were designed to live in community with one another. So we're going to look at our theme verse very quickly. It's Colossians 3, 12 through 14. It'll be on the screen for you. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. So what we're learning is that life is complicated. It's full of ups, it's full of downs, but God's design is for us to live in unity and the enemy would love for nothing else than for us to live in disunity. So we're going to talk today about the gift of friendship and how God desires for it in our lives to be healthy and not dysfunctional, as long as it depends on us and our abilities. So let's pray together really quickly this morning. God, we love you and we're so grateful for your kindness, for your grace, and for your mercy. Thank you for the word of God that is a guidebook for our lives. Jesus, I pray this morning that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable unto you, my God, my King, and my creator and my friend. May we leave here different today, changed by the power of your word. We ask it. In Jesus name, amen, amen. So I wanted to start today by sharing a story with you that I found on the internet, which totally means it must be true. So the following is from the US government Peace Corps manual for its volunteers who work in the Amazon jungle. It tells you what to do in case you are attacked

by an anaconda, okay? So here we go, 10 easy steps. I'm gonna go through them fast, so just listen. I'm giving you permission for one moment not to take notes, okay? Just for this minute though. Number one is this, if an anaconda attacks you, do not run. The snake is faster than you are. We don't know each other very well yet, but I'm already in the presence of Jesus before step one. Because there is no way I'm gonna stand there and let a snake come towards me. Number two, lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides, your legs tight against one another. Number three, tuck in your chin. Number four, the snake will come and begin to nudge and climb over your body. Number five, do not panic. Number six, after the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from the feet and always from the end. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Once again, do not panic. Number seven, the snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time. Number eight, when the snake has reached your knees,

slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife, and very gently slide it into the side of the snake's mouth, between the edge of its mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upward, severing the snake's head. Number nine, be sure you have your knife. And number 10, be sure your knife is sharp. Now, I don't know if this is funny or factual, but what I know is this. Whether it's an anaconda or something else in your life, we need to be prepared. And when it comes to relationships, it's gonna help our relationships be healthy and go further when we prepare in advance those we're going to allow into our lives. Now, I want you to think about friendships in three different circles. You have your outer circle, you have your inner circle, and you have your core, the center, okay? I like to think of it like this. You have the living room. That's where many people can fit. These are probably your acquaintances, people you know of, but don't necessarily do life with. Then you have your kitchen, your inner circle. You can fit a little less people in there, but you probably do every day with them. Students, maybe they're in your classes, maybe it's someone that you work with,

but then you have your core. And I like to call this my pantry because a pantry is small, and this is the place I wanna go inside, bring my people, hide, and eat snacks. Your pantry friends. So this morning, we're gonna talk about our core friends, our pantry friends. Maybe for some of you, you'd like to hear it phrased as your golf cart friends, all right, or your tree stand friends. It's a space where it's not very large. It can only fit a few people, but these are the ones that you're gonna pull in close and allow to influence your lives. You know, the Bible is full of stories to help us live this life. It was the kindness of God to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit and also to give us the gift of the written word. So we can turn to God's word and find truths to help us in our every day. So specifically today, I wanna talk about the story of Job. Maybe some of you have heard about him before. The book is found in the Old Testament. It's only 42 chapters, but it's a story about a man who finds himself in a pretty terrible position, and he has some friends that show up,

and they do some really great things, and they do some pretty terrible things. So I wanna start by just explaining a little bit about Job. He was a man who lived in the land of Uz. He was honest, completely devoted to God, and hated evil. He had seven sons, three daughters, tons of livestock, camels, donkeys, oxen, sheep, and a huge staff of servants. He was very wealthy and was known as one of the most influential men of the East. So this is Job. This gives you an idea of who Job is. If you're taking notes this morning, I want you to write this down. And if you're not taking notes this morning, I want you to write it down. The title of today's message is, Who Are My People? So let's look into the scriptures, Job chapter one, verses six through 12. One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan, who was the designated accuser and continues to be, by the way, came along with them. God singled out Satan and said, what have you been up to? And Satan answered God, going here and there, checking things out on the earth. And God said to Satan, have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him. He's honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil. Satan retorted, so do you think Job does all that

out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good. You pamper him like a pet. Make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions. Bless everything he does. He can't lose. But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what. So God replied, we'll see. Go ahead, do what you want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him. Then Satan left the presence of God. I want us to notice first as we dive into Job's story is that God did not do these things to Job. God allowed Satan to do these things to Job. You see, sometimes there's times in our lives where the Lord will use a test to strengthen our faith. And sometimes it takes a test in our lives, a trial in our life to help strengthen the faith muscles that we have as we place our faith in Jesus and we travel with him. You know, James 1 says, to count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, many kinds, there it is. Count it joy when you face a trial because it's the testing of your faith that produces what? Perseverance, steadfastness.

You know, a lens that might help you today is that God tests those that he can trust. So if you're feeling tested today, maybe it's because God has something he wants to do in your life and he knows that he can trust you in the midst of the hard. Nothing is wasted in the hands of our Father, nothing at all. I don't really go to the gym, but once I did. There actually was a time in my life I went to the gym pretty frequently, but they have these things in there called weights and weights are supposed to help you become stronger, right? But you can't become stronger without the weight of a weight it's the same thought. Sometimes we have to have weight on our lives to help us to become stronger in our faith journey with the Lord and our ability to know that we can trust him. So let's continue with the story. So Job has lost everything. Satan follows through with what he said he was gonna do. The camels, donkeys, oxen were all stolen. Most of his servants were killed in the attack. The sheep were struck by lightning. A tornado came and flattened the house his sons and daughters were in and none of them survived. In a moment, Job had lost it all. But as we continue, we see that Job's response to what he lost was worship.

He fell to the ground and he said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You know, Job had an understanding that everything that had been given to him was a gift from God himself. So in the midst of his loss, he found himself praising God for who he still was. I pray as a church that that is the posture that we can find ourselves in. That no matter what happens, blessed be the name of the Lord. So again, Satan comes to God. And again, God says, have you considered my servant Job? You tried once to destroy him and his integrity remained strong. So Satan responds with, let me affect him physically and surely he will curse you. So Satan left the presence of God and afflicted Job with painful sores from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Job sat and scraped at his sores while his wife told him to curse God. But Job chose to not curse God and remained faithful to him. You know, I find it kind of interesting that the only thing that wasn't taken from Job was his nagging wife. of all the things. You know, to my ladies in the house that are married, remember, I'm your friend.

But the book of Proverbs, I'll give you the address, so maybe you can highlight it. Chapter 27, verse 15, says a nagging wife is like water going drip, drip, drip from a leaking roof on a rainy day. A nagging wife is like a relentless annoyance. Now, I'm not saying that this scripture spoke to me personally. I mean, my husband's never experienced such a thing. Okay, maybe I was totally convicted. And husbands, let your wives figure this out, or gently say, hey, remember that scripture we heard on Sunday? Choose wisely, that's all I can say about that. Choose wisely. Okay. But no matter what his wife told him, Job chose to still trust God. I wanna take the next few minutes this morning and look at some practical ways that we can consider and evaluate the people that we are bringing into our pantry. Those that we are bringing in close, because those that we allow into the core of our lives will influence our decisions, it'll influence our living, and it will ultimately influence the legacy of our lives. So after all this happens, Job's friends show up. Let's look at Job chapter two, 11 through 13. Three of Job's friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country.

Eliphaz from Taman, Bildad from Shuhua, Zophar from Namath. And they went together to Job to keep him company and to comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn't believe what they saw. They hardly recognized him. They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat down with him on the ground, seven days and nights. They sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt and how deeply he was suffering. As we consider the friends in our pantry, the first thought today is this. Number one, care for your people. Let's look at a few ways that Job's friends cared well for their friend in his deepest pain. Number one, they heard what had happened, they paid attention, and they showed up. I don't know how the means of communication worked back then, but for today, they didn't send a text, they didn't pick up the phone, they got on their donkeys, they made a very long journey, and they showed up for their friend. Number two, they made it a priority. They stopped whatever it was they were doing, and they went to check on him. Number three, they responded with an appropriate response. It was tradition during this time to tear your clothes

and put dust and ashes on your head when you were grieving and full of sorrow, and they were empathetic to the situation. They followed their friend's lead. They didn't show up and try to bake bread or sit down and try to have a conversation. How are you feeling? What's going on? Why do you think this happened? They just showed up and followed the lead of Job. Number four, they sat down with him. They were still. And number five, they didn't say anything for seven days and seven nights. This is why Job's friends were guys. I mean, there's no way. I just, there's nothing left to say that I could be silent for seven days and seven nights. Right? But they did. They said nothing. You know, sometimes the very best thing you can do for your friend is to show up and shut up. Just show up and shut up. And I know that's not the best thing to do. But I know that's not the best thing to do. And I know that's not the best thing to do. Just show up. Don't say a word. Show empathy by your actions.

Just being there in itself is gonna speak louder than words ever could. They were just present. And you know, there's gonna be times in your life when you are gonna need your friends and your friends are going to need you. Ecclesiastes four, verse nine through 10 says this. Two people are better off than one for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. You know, if you're not familiar with our family, we have four children. Our oldest, Owen, is 19. Faith is 16. And then we took a long break. Same husband. Abigail is nine years old and Jonas is seven. And we adopted Jonas at five days old. He came to our doorstep like a stork on a porch, literally in a car seat. And I always wanna take a minute and honor his birth mom for her bravery and for her courage and her willingness to make a very difficult choice, to give him a life that she didn't feel like she could give him herself. Would you help me honor her today? Thank you. We're so grateful for her. And Jonas was a tiny baby, he's like six pounds,

eight ounces, which is probably average, but we have large children in our house, by we, I mean me. These babies were 10 plus. Our Abigail was 11 pounds at birth. I know. I should have a medal, right? I feel like it, thank you, thank you. But we knew we weren't finished after Abigail, but I was, so that led us to pray about adoption, and so this is the deal. Big babies, they eat and they sleep, and it's amazing. But tiny babies, they hungry. They cry a lot, they wanna be fed. Jonas wanted to be fed every three hours, and those first few months of his life were a lot on our family. Abigail was barely two years old. We were barely making it. My friend Allie called me one day. She knew how tired I was, and she said, I'm coming over so you can take a nap. I said, glory be to God. This is the kind of friend I need in my life. She came to my house, she held baby Jonas, I took a nap. I woke up, my laundry was done, my kitchen was clean. Jonas had been fed and cared for. And this is the type of friendship I'm talking about. This is the way that we can be friends to those that are closest to us, is to just see what's going on,

show up, and do all that you know to do to help make it better, right? Not only the ones that you're receiving into your life, but also what you are being into someone else's life. You know, even Jesus had community. He had his large following of about 70, then he had the famous 12, but then he also had three, Peter, James, and John. I would call these his pantry friends, his golf cart friends. These were the ones he pulled close, maybe they needed the most attention, I don't know, but they were the ones that were with him during the deepest pain of his life on earth. The pantry friends, the community, God's design for our lives is community. Now, unfortunately, Job's friends did speak up after those seven days, and for the next 24 chapters of the book of Job, they went on and on with their comments and their opinions about Job's life and why he was facing what he was facing. They had wrong facts, reasonings why God would punish him, deciding that it must be because Job had done something wrong, encouraging him to repent so that God would bless him again. It was so bad that God called out these friends towards the end of the book of Job and said, I am angry with you. Listen, it is a bad day when God says that he is angry with you, but he did.

He said, I am angry with you because you have not spoken of me what is right. In the midst of trying to care for their friends, their friend Job, they allowed their own opinions and their own feelings to override the truth of who God was, and if we're not careful, we will allow our opinions to become idols, and we will begin to forget the truth of who God is. So the friends kept going on and on, and Job just had to hear it. The next point I wanna see today is this, number two, clarify your people. We're gonna clarify the type of people that we are allowing to be in the core or in the pantry of our lives. Who am I letting into my pantry, and what is the dialogue of the conversations or the interactions that we share together? Proverbs 13, 20 says, become wise by walking with the wise. Hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. Proverbs 22, 24 through 25 says, don't hang out with angry people. Don't keep company with hotheads. Bad temper is contagious. Don't get infected. You know, the best way to evaluate your pantry friends is to think about it. So I want you to take a minute and think about your two to three, maybe four closest friends. I'm gonna ask you a few questions,

and I just want you today to evaluate those that you've pulled in close to your life. Are they kind? Do they believe in you? Do they love Jesus? Do they encourage your walk with God? Or are they negative? Do they start gossip? Do they pressure you into making decisions that you are not comfortable with? Now, what about you? As you are being a friend to them, are you kind? Do you believe in others? Are you encouraging? Do you speak life or do you feed negativity? You know, in case you haven't heard it yet or haven't heard it in a while, you were created on purpose for a great purpose. There is an assignment that God has on your life and you will be influenced by those you allow in. And this is why it is so crucial that you evaluate the friends that you bring into your pantry. You know, your thinking drives your living, but those you live out your life with, it does drive your destiny. And thank God that the past failures that we have maybe had do not define our future. Because of Jesus and the cross and the forgiveness of sins, what we've done in the past doesn't have to be final.

You know, we can't alter the past, but we can bring our past to the altar. Receive forgiveness and do better, do different moving forward. This isn't about being judgmental though. This is about being intentional, being intentional about those that you're gonna bring in close. You know, God calls us to be the salt and the light of the earth. I love how Matthew chapter five says that you have a God flavor that needs to be in the earth for everything that God has to be accomplished, to be accomplished. So because of that, you've gotta protect what you're bringing in close to your every day. You know, Jesus gave time and attention to all kinds of people, but in order to be in his circle, his close friends, you had to follow him. And students, especially for you today, maybe that's a really good thing for you to think about. For those that you're bringing in close to influence your life, do they follow Jesus? That's probably and should be the number one thing as you are growing up and you're making really big decisions about your life. And adults, I just wanna remind us about that too. Again, we're the salt and light. Our faith is personal, but it should not be private.

We should be going public with our faith, with the goodness of God, all he's done in our life, our testimony. But when it comes to being influenced, we've gotta be really guarded and really careful. So the friends speak up, they go on and on, and Job finally has had enough and he speaks up. Job chapter 16, one through five. Then Job defended himself. I've had all I can take of you. Okay, I paraphrase that. I've had all I can take of your talk. What a bunch of miserable comforters. Is there no end to your windbag speeches? What's your problem that you go on and on like this? If you were in my shoes, I could talk just like you. I could put together a terrific tirade and really let you have it. But I'd never do that. I'd console and comfort you, make things better, not worse. The third thought today is this, check your people. Check your people. In the words of Ice Cube, you better check yourself before you... Okay, my 1900s friends, there you are. If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, just don't worry about it. I don't know enough of Ice Cube's music that I would encourage you to go listen to it. So just check yourself before you wreck yourself

because those in your life will affect your decisions, your thinking, all of it. You know, my sister got married a few days ago and it was a beautiful ceremony. I'm so excited for her and her new husband, my new brother-in-law. And I noticed something when I was at the wedding. I was thinking about the message and I was like, you know, there's people, my sister's name is Hannah, and I thought there's people in Hannah's life that didn't get invited to the wedding. Doesn't mean she didn't like them necessarily, but this was like, you know, the day, the one day of her life she's been waiting and praying for for a long time. So that would be like her outer circle. But then there were friends that did get invited and friends that were out on the dance floor. And these were the ones that she was comfortable with, that maybe some of them knew each other. I would call that her inner circle, but then she had her bridesmaids and we were the ones helping her out that weekend, doing anything that she needed. We were her pantry friends. And you know, my sister was most likely transparent with her dance floor friends, like being honest and being herself and being present, but my sister was very vulnerable with her bridesmaids, letting us know the things that she needed,

letting us know the things that maybe needed to be fixed. And I think it's important that we understand the difference between transparency and vulnerability. So transparency is defined as being honest and without anything to hide, but vulnerability is the state of being open to injury or attack. And it is also the gateway to deep connection. The word vulnerability originates from the Latin word wound. And when it comes to checking our people, this is a vulnerable state, a thing that you could say something that could hurt somebody, but it could be to their benefit. Proverbs 27, six says the wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. You know, an enemy multiplies kisses. That means that I like kisses from my husband. I've been kissing him for 25 years, 26 years, a long time. That's so nice. It's Valentine's weekend. So I feel like I can talk about that, but I'm gonna leave it there. That's the end of the conversation. But it feels good to hear what you want to hear. It doesn't feel great when your friend calls something out that kind of feels a little like, oh, I didn't really want to hear that from you, or that feels a little bit painful. A wound is painful, it hurts, it doesn't feel great, but a good friend will tell you the truth,

even if it's painful. Notice though the scripture says the wound of a friend, not the wound of a social media follower, not the wound of someone else's opinion, the wound of a friend can be trusted. Now, this is not a free pass for you to go around correcting everyone in your path, all right? This is for someone that is close to you, has equity in your life, someone that you want the best for, and that's someone that wants the best for you. And I want to say for a minute that not every friendship can handle this type of vulnerability. And that is why it's really important that you are putting your friends in the right room. Maybe you have some pantry friends that have been in there for a long time, but maybe they need to be moved to the living room. Maybe they need to be moved to the front yard. You know, I don't know what your story is, but our hope and our prayer is that as you come into God's house every weekend, that you are inspired to grow in your relationship with Jesus. And when you grow with God and your friend doesn't, over time, you will outgrow your friend. And it doesn't mean that you're better, that you know it all. Again, we're talking about those friends that we pull in close to influence us. And sometimes we need to reevaluate,

who are those pantry friends, those golf cart friends, that maybe I need to put in a different place. Because listen, as I get older, and I'm sure some of you can agree, like, I don't have time. I don't have a lot of time anymore. So my friendships, my close friendships really, really, I can't think of the word all of a sudden. What they're made up of is quantity of time and not quality of time. Okay? It's actually, I need somebody that I can give quality time to in a short setting because I do not have the quantity of time. That's what I meant to say. Okay? It's not about quantity of time. It's about quality of time. Because my life is very full. My house is very full. We're part of this new, beautiful ministry. And sometimes those friends in the past, they needed more from me that I'm not able to give. And I still love them, but I have to put them in a different room now because I'm not able to maybe be the friend that they need me to be anymore. Or maybe they're not the type of friend that I need anymore either. And I wanna say, like,

maybe this part feels fun for you, which if it does, that's different. But maybe you like going around checking people and putting them in their place. But it's not just about that. It's also being willing to be checked yourself. So a few years ago, we were out to dinner with some friends, my husband and I, and I was in a spot where I had a relationship, a friendship that had recently not worked out. and there had been enough time, but I was just still wallowing in it. I was like, oh my goodness, I felt misunderstood, there wasn't closure, I didn't get to say my side, and now it's over, and I gave all this time to them, and you know, on and on, and I'd been talking about it for quite a while, and my friend looked at me across the table, and he looked right in my eyes, and he said, you need to get over it. I did not like that. But he was so right. It was enough. It was done. And I want to say to you today that you are more than one person. There is more to your life than one person, and sometimes we need to move on, and sometimes friendships are seasonal, and that is okay.

You can thank God for all that you shared together, and then move forward and hope for the best for them. And from that dinner date on, I did not think about this person again until just now. But I am, I'm over it. But I needed to be willing to let him say to me, enough, you need to be done talking about this. So be willing to check your friends, but also be willing to be checked yourself. Final thought this morning is claim your people. Maybe there's some of you here today, and you feel like, you know what? I don't have anyone in my life right now that I would put into a pantry circle situation, and you're feeling lonely, and you desire that, but you just feel like, I don't know where to get that. I want you to know that friendship takes effort, and friendship takes time. You know, those in my pantry, I've known for decades, and I've had some in my pantry that are now in other rooms, and that's okay too, but it takes the effort and the initiative of just taking a risk and trying, right? So my dad was a chaplain in the Air Force for 36 years. So I moved my whole life. Before I was 17 years old, we moved seven times. We lived in five states in two different countries, and my senior year of high school, we moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. Of course we did.

So that year I went to a small Christian school, and a lot of these kids had been together since kindergarten, and it was really hard to make friends. I got dropped off at school earlier than school started every day, and I was so afraid to put myself out there that I would go to the bathroom, and I would hide in a stall. And I would stay in there until classes started. I wouldn't answer questions in class. I volunteered in the office during lunch. I didn't make myself available. And you know, I thought about that years later, and was kind of feeling sad for myself, whatever, and then all of a sudden I was like, wait a minute. Who is gonna come in the bathroom, knock on the door, and say, hey, can I be your friend? Like, I wasn't putting myself out there to even be available to someone else. Proverbs 18, 24 says, a man who has friends must himself be friendly. In other words, I need to be friendly to have friends in my life. You know, I tell my kids in the mornings, dropping them off at school, not every day, but as much as I can, notice someone who may seem lonely today, and go up and introduce yourself, because sometimes it takes the strength of someone else to make you feel brave.

And maybe you feel like, I don't know how to find friends. This is a really big church, and I come every weekend, but it's, you know, shaking a hand isn't, don't worry. Today you can go and you can sign up for a small group, and it's how we make a really large church feel small. You can get into community. My small group starts on Tuesday. I'm so excited about it, because I'm new to Texas, and I need some Texas friends. And we've provided an opportunity for you today that you can go and sign up, and you can be put in a room where people are gonna believe the best for you. They're gonna want the best for you. They're gonna love the Lord. You're gonna have leaders that are gonna take time and care for you. And just maybe your pantry friend is one sign up away. If you go to a group and you feel like, I don't think this is the right group for me, you know, because sometimes not everybody gets along, and that's okay. Finish out the semester, give it some time, and then maybe try another small group the next semester. Make the effort and make the time because you will find yourself in life needing community and needing friendship to help navigate all that this life has in front of us. Let's finish up really quickly with what happened to Job. After 24 chapters of Job and his friends

going back and forth, God finally speaks up. He honors Job for not wavering in his faith. He accepts Job's prayer of forgiveness for his friends and he blesses Job with twice as much as he had before. And if we allow him to, I want you to know today that God will always use our pain for purpose. If we surrender our lives to him and say, God, our life is yours, I don't understand. He will use our pain for purpose when we let him. And even though God's design is community, his greatest design for you is to know the love and accept the Savior. And Jesus is the one who sticks closer than any friend you'll ever find. He's constant, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And maybe today for you, the best decision you can make is to come into relationship with Jesus himself. Will you bow your heads this morning and close your eyes with me? Just gonna say a prayer over you and then I'm gonna give you the opportunity to place your faith in Jesus today. If you've never fully surrendered your life to the Lord, you're gonna have an opportunity to do that this morning. But first I wanna pray for you in regards to friendship. God, we love you and we thank you for the gift of friendship. Father, I pray today for those who may be having feelings of loneliness. God, I pray that you would give them

the strength to be brave. Give them the strength to go out and to sign up for a small group today or to make that phone call and try to connect with someone this week over coffee. Lord, I pray that you would help them to be courageous in that. Lord, I pray that you'd also give them the courage to step out of any toxic relationships that they are in that are not benefiting the call of God on their lives. I pray peace for them today. And if you're here this morning and you've never placed your faith in Jesus and you would say, you know what? I wanna surrender my life today to him. I'm gonna count to three and when I do, you can just simply raise your hand up and I'm gonna lead you in what we call the prayer of salvation. And what that means is you're just gonna declare today that you wanna give your life to the Lord. You wanna fully surrender your life to him and no one's gonna be looking around. We're actually all gonna pray together with you because that's what we do here because we're a family. So if you're here today and you would say, I wanna surrender my life today to Jesus, on the count of three, you go ahead and raise your hand. One, two, three. Go ahead and keep it up.

Keep your hand up. I see your hands, so beautiful. God sees you most importantly. You can put your hand down. Church, would you pray this with me for the benefit of those praying this morning as well? Say, dear Jesus, today I declare that you are Lord. I believe in my heart that God raised you from the dead. Thank you for your forgiveness. I give you my past and I trust you with my future. Today, I surrender my life to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, I love you.