- Well, good morning. It's good to see all of you in this room, down in our lower gathering area, those that are worshiping with us online. Welcome. We are in the midst of a study of the book of Acts called "Witness," and it is the continuing story about the life, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how the Holy Spirit came upon a group of believers and began to grow the church, calling people to put their faith and their trust in Christ and Christ alone. We landed in Acts chapter one, where Jesus had been teaching His disciples. He, right before He ascended to heaven, He gave them the verse that's found in chapter one, verse eight, and He said that, "You are to go to Jerusalem, remain there, and then the Holy Spirit is gonna come upon you, and you will be my witnesses by way of the power of the Holy Spirit." And He named these sections. Jerusalem, Judea, Sumeria, and to the ends of the earth. In other words, it was the Holy Spirit that was going to empower them to take the message, the Gospel to the rest of the world. Now, we're gonna be centrally focusing on Jerusalem today and over the next couple of weeks, but we're gonna gradually see this mapped out through the book of Acts. And today, we're going to encounter what takes place in chapter four. The Holy Spirit came in Acts chapter two, and it was an incredible event. 3,000 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ as a result of Peter communicating the message, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, 50-plus days after the crucifixion and resurrection, Peter walks up onto the Temple Mount and he heals a cripple, a guy who, we find out today, who hasn't walked for 40 years. He was born with legs that didn't work, and as a result of that, there was this massive crowd that gathered up on the Temple Mount. Well, once again, Peter communicates the message of Jesus Christ, and people give their lives to him. And then we land in chapter four, and we encounter a situation that occurs that I believe allows us to see ourselves in this story. And we're going to begin to take a look at what it means to respond to opposition, because here's how it begins. So I want you to take your Bibles out, and I want you to turn, if you haven't already, to Acts chapter four, and locate verse one. Use your phone, your iPad, the Bible you brought in here, grab the Bible in front of you. I want everybody opening up this section. We're gonna read this story together, and we're gonna talk about this subject. What does it mean to actually respond to opposition? Now, it's great timing, because on November the 7th is what we're gonna refer to and what other churches are referring to nationally as the Sunday that we are called to pray for the persecuted church, and here's what we've done for you, for those of you that are here at Rock Point. I want you to go out after this service, not during my message, of course, and go out into the gathering area to the family resource center, and we've provided for you this booklet called "A Global Prayer Guide." It is designed to help you, over this next year, pray for those regions of our world where Christians are being persecuted for their faith. It's from the Voice of the Martyrs. All the information's on the back if you want to go any farther, but go pick that up, and we're gonna be doing that together over this next year, and then we'll take some time on November the 7th to pray for the persecuted church as well. Well, let's go to the Lord before we open up His Word together. Lord, thank you for the power of your Word. Give us eyes now to see your truth, and hearts that are willing to obey, and Lord, I just want to pause at this time, and for those of us that are our attenders here, regulars at Rock Point, Father, you have allowed us to participate in raising money that will go to the oral recording of your Word, that will change lives in countries where believers are being persecuted for their faith. And Father, you know, because you have enabled many of us to give towards this end, so people can have the word of God in their oral language and perhaps come to Christ. And we're sending out today Paul and Roxanne, and many of us know who they are. I don't even need to mention their last name. Give them safety, Lord, as they embark on this multiple-week journey of helping individuals find hope in Christ. Thank you, Father, for the power of your Word and how it changes us from within. Teach us what you want this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now, as we look down here at verse one, let me begin reading. "And as they were speaking," the they as Peter and John, who were on the Temple Mount, probably the guy that got healed, too. He probably has something to say. So, "As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." The Sadducees are the aristocracy. This was the group that the priests came from. The high priest was from this group. They had political connection and power and money with Rome, but what you need to know is they only held to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, and they didn't believe in the resurrection, okay? They didn't believe in spirits. They didn't believe in demons. They didn't believe in the resurrection. So they're annoyed that Peter and John are up on the Temple Mount, communicating the Christ is alive and proclaiming Him as Savior and Lord. So they were annoyed by this. Verse three, "And they arrested them and they put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening." It was three o'clock on. "But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000." Now, just to put this in perspective, he says the men were about 5,000, so if you add women, it's doubled, that's 10. Throw a couple kids students in there who can believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord, and you could be, you know, over 10,000. Add in the 3,000 souls that are mentioned in chapter two, as a result of Peter's message, and you're over 13,000 people. So from chapter one, 120 believers, to chapter four, the church has absolutely exploded. It's over 13,000 people here, and they're arrested because of their faith in Jesus Christ. When we consider this issue of how we respond to opposition, we are to expect opposition for an obedient life. Now, I use the word opposition and not persecution, and I did that intentionally. Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group because of their religious faith or their lack thereof, and it doesn't have to just be Christianity, okay? It can still be classified as persecution. However, what I would say is this, that most of what, most is the key word, most of what we experience in our culture and our setting would be considered opposition, not necessarily persecution, okay? At least from our vantage point. However, I think that's changing. I think you are seeing some clear cut cases where it has moved into the area of persecution, and that will become clear as we work our way through our time today. My point here is, expect it's gonna happen, okay? Jesus said in John 15:18 that if you are a follower, the world hated him, the world's gonna hate you, that persecution is going to come. And depending on the country that you live in and how it's been influenced by Judeo-Christian values will determine the level of persecution that you experience as a follower of Jesus Christ within that culture. I think for many of us, we would probably say that the variety of things that happen to followers of Christ or individuals who seek to practice their faith, they experience slander, rejection, perhaps it's mockery, financial loss. We're seeing the silencing of a voice today for those that hold to Christian values, and I think we're beginning to see this. You know, as the church is established throughout the book of Acts, you're gonna see wave after wave of persecution. So it's just beginning now. You'll see that unpacked, and emperors, rulers, government officials have tried to silence the church. They don't want the message to go out. In our culture, it started with academics, and now we're beginning to see it take place in so many different ways, but believers are tortured within the book and have been throughout the years. Nero began a ton of this back in the first century, where he did some unimaginable kinds of things. You land with another emperor by the name of Diocletian, who actually thought that he obliterated the church and believers, and he stamped on a coin these words at one point. "The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the Roman gods is restored." It's on a Roman coin. Boy, was he wrong. And the same thing is true today. You travel into China, North Korea. The church has absolutely exploded. As a matter of fact, the fastest growing part of the church right now is taking place in the country of Iran, and the reason is because God grows His church through persecution. It's growing faster and faster because of it. We tend to lose perspective. We think that, you know, in the midst of it all, we forget that that God is on the move, and it's not about what country's in power. It's about the country that God allows to be in power so that He can grow His church. He moves in different ways, and while you travel around the ancient world and you see Rome, you know, this empire of Rome in ruins, you see that the church has become a global movement. And throughout Acts, in spite of the opposition, the church grew. There's a great quote written by Tertullian, who was one of the ancient church fathers. Now, keep in mind, he wrote 200 years after Acts 2 and Pentecost. 200 years after Acts 2. We already know by Acts 4, you've got 13,000-plus believers. Here's what he wrote 200 years after Acts 2. "We have filled every place among you." He's talking about Christians. He was an ancient church father. "We filled every place among you, cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, the very camp, tribes, companies, palaces, the senate, the forum." That's the Roman government, got believers in Roman government now. And he says, "We have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods." The church absolutely exploded even in the midst of the persecution that comes. So expect it, yes, but we respond to opposition by remembering it's often through opposition that Jesus grows His church. And that's what happens. Jesus gave a promise. "The gates of hell will not prevail against my church." It's in Matthew chapter 16. When you look at the country of Afghanistan, it's a great example for us to consider today. Yes, what is happening there is absolutely heart-wrenching. Lynette and I have been most concerned about what is taking place with believers, those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Many of them declared their allegiance to Christ before the fall of Afghanistan, so they're marked by the Taliban, and they're being forced to go underground, and many of them have already lost their lives and will continue to do so. We heard the story of a woman who was in Iraq, who came to Christ, and during the 20 years of freedom, she moved into Afghanistan and became part of the Christian movement in Afghanistan. Now, oftentimes, we look at what has happened, and it is, it's an incredible tragedy, but let me give you a different perspective on the country of Afghanistan. Yes, what happened on 9/11 was awful, okay? It was definitely, you know, evil at work, and yet God allowed that to happen and allowed for 20 years of freedom in Afghanistan, in order for individuals like this woman to become part of the movement, so Christians would spread throughout the country. So that now that freedom has been removed, the church is, yes, going underground, but there are believers all over that country, and in the midst of the loss of freedom, which we think is tragic, God says, "I've allowed it to grow my church, because there's many there that are called by my name." See, that's the kind of perspective we have to have when we start looking at this subject of opposition and persecution. So now look at verse five. "On the next day," they didn't get much sleep that night, "their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem." This is probably the ruling council called the Sanhedrin, about 71, the high priest and Pharisees and the Sadducees that didn't believe in the resurrection, you know, they gather, and they, I'll just put it this way. They've assumed power over the Jewish people, and the Sadducees have this nice arrangement, which is probably due to money with the Romans. But anyway, they're the ruling council. And then it says, "With Annas the High Priest and Caiaphas, John and Alexander," we don't know much about him, "and all who were of the high priestly family." Now, just so you know, 'cause sometimes there's a question that pops up in some of you that have read other parts of the New Testament, if you read in the Gospel accounts, it's Caiaphas who's named as the high priest who was overseeing the trial to Jesus. Well, that was, you know, 50-plus days ago, so why is he saying that Annas is the high priest? Well, the reason for this is that Caiaphas is the son-in-law of Annas, okay? And when you were a high priest, according to Mosaic law, it was a lifetime appointment, but the Romans didn't like that, so every year, they put in power another high priest. So Annas is considered still the high priest by the people, but the Romans put Caiaphas in charge, and so he's referred to in the Gospel accounts as the high priest who oversaw the trial. And it says here, "And when they had set them in their midst." Now, the them is important. "They inquired." The them is Peter and John, and this guy that was healed, okay? He's standing in front of them, and then, you know, they want him to sit down so they can explain everything, but it says, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" They want to find out what's happened here. "And then Peter, filled," notice that, "filled with the Holy Spirit." It ties you back into what we started with, with they're gonna receive power to communicate Christ. And said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today, concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth," notice this, "whom you crucified," 'cause this is the council that did it, "whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him," the resurrected Lord Jesus, "by Him, this man standing before you is well," okay? So a very interesting part of the story here. You need to know this is Peter's fourth message since we started the book. This is a different Peter. Peter denied the Lord. Peter was restored. Peter was now given power. He's doing things he had never done before, and he comes to these guys and he says, "If we're on trial today because we've done something good." Okay, so you can kind of sense the irony. I think he's suspicious. I think he's saying, "Look, if we're really on trial for doing something good, which I don't really think it's the case, because you Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection and you already threw us in jail because we're communicating that Jesus is alive, okay? But if we are here to examine this," and then he uses it as a platform to communicate Christ again in front of the very group that supposedly, but it was illegal, convicted Jesus and send Him off to Pilate to get crucified, and he's saying, "This is the Jesus that healed this guy. This is the power behind it." Now, yes, there's irony there, but I want you to see something here as well. In Deuteronomy chapter 13, verses one through five, the Jewish people were commanded in the fifth book of the Old Testament to examine a miracle when it happened and the teaching of the person who performed the miracle, and the reason they were to do this was to make sure that the teaching was legitimate and doctrinally sound. If it wasn't, they were supposed to stone the person. If it was, they were supposed to follow it. So when they're brought before this council, the Jewish people were to examine someone who performed a miracle to make sure that the teaching that followed it was legit. However, these guys had false pretense. They were using a quote-unquote regulation or law on the books to actually not really be concerned about the miracle, but to go after these guys and to shut down their message, and that is where we find our story today in this story, because I could stand before you and give you situation after situation after situation where we are beginning to see, and that's why I wanted to do this. I think we have to prepare ourselves for the days to come, where we are seeing regulations, we are seeing things that are supposedly on the books used by individuals, doesn't matter who they are, where they are, but people in power, to actually use that with false pretenses to do what? To shut down our message and how we practice our faith. I know of one specific instance. I actually gained permission to use specifics, but I won't use all of the specifics. I have a friend right now, a very good friend who is helping hundreds, if not thousands of individuals in the midst of what they're going through with the pandemic and elsewhere, to help them understand how to live life from a biblical worldview, with biblical principles, a biblical perspective, and because of their Christian beliefs, they are being targeted by our state under regulations, not because they violated anything, but because of their Christian beliefs in Jesus Christ. It's happening and it's gonna continue to happen, and you have to be aware of it, and that's why I wanted us to see this, because I think we see ourselves in this story. I don't have a gun held to my head right now. It may happen, I don't know, but what we do see is our story beginning to emerge in the midst of all of this. Well, let's continue on, because he says in verse 11, "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone." What's he referring to? Well, they're examining him, and so Peter goes back to the Old Testament and he actually is quoting from Psalm 118:22, and as often the case, David in this instance is writing about probably the rejection of Israel by the other nations, but the Holy Spirit who inspired him has a greater truth that that passage is pointing to, and the greater truth is that by way of the Holy Spirit, that's a prophetic statement about Jesus Christ being rejected by the nation. Jesus Himself referred to that same passage, and so Peter learned from Him and says, "Look, Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. He's the capstone. From Him, the entire church has developed. He's part of that foundation. He is the foundation. He's the cornerstone. By confessing him as Savior and Lord, the church is born." That's his entire point here, and then we get to verse 12, which is a very powerful statement, and he says, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." He says Christ is the only way, and when we respond to opposition and/or persecution, we are encouraged to speak the truth and not back down. Peter doesn't. Right now, he's standing in front of the same group, as I've already said, that crucified Christ. This is a different Peter. Now, notice what happens in verse 13. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were," notice, "uneducated, common men, they were astonished." Now, this does not mean that they were illiterate. It means that they were not trained in their rabbinic tradition, okay? They weren't from the Ivy League school. They weren't from Harvard, okay? And then notice this phrase. "And they recognized that they had been with Jesus." What a powerful statement. When we respond to opposition and persecution, we are encouraged to spend time with Jesus. These were common, ordinary people like you and like me, who were doing extraordinary things. Why? Because it was by way of the power of the Holy Spirit. This didn't happen because of their own talents and their own skills, and therefore it points to God and not Peter and not John, okay? Now, the guy is right there who got healed, okay? That's kind of unmistakable. We're gonna find out just a little bit, 40 years of his life, he's never walked. His legs couldn't work at all, and he's tapping his foot and he's trying his new legs out. I mean, there's just no way they can deny this one, but the focus was on God, and the leaders could not deny that they had been with Jesus. They saw it. They recognized it, and it really comes to this question. When people interact with you in life, when they interact with you in the midst of a very dark world right now, when they interact with you, how you respond to all these kinds of things. Here's the question I want you to consider this morning. Can they recognize that you have been with Jesus? Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 2:14 and 15. He says, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us into triumphal procession, and through us," notice that, "spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we," as followers of Christ, "are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved," but notice this, "and among those who are perishing." Are you the fragrance of Christ? Can people recognize that you are a person that has spent time with Jesus by how you live? Is that the fragrance that comes out? You know, I love to grill, okay? It's my disappointment about things getting really cold, but you can still do it. It's just more difficult, and I don't like gas grills. I mean, I like it, okay? But it's not the same. I like charcoal grills, okay? So I like charcoaled meat. I like smoking meat, and when that happens, I like to be out there with it. I spend hours out there. I'm smelling it. The smoke gets all over me, so that wherever I go from that point on, what happens? I have the aroma of smoke, and isn't it wonderful, okay? All right. You spend time with Jesus, and that should be the aroma of your life. If someone were to we evaluate your life in this season, in this dark world, in the midst of opposition, in the midst of persecution that has already started, it's beginning, would they be able to acknowledge and recognize there's something different because they've been with Jesus? As you have conversations in your neighborhood, as you treat family members, would people be able to say, "They've been with Jesus?" Could they recognize that there's definitely something different about you? When people look at Rock Point Church, would they be saying, "Why do they love like that? Why do they serve like that? Why are they different?" And we have an opportunity to say, "Well, it's because we've been with Jesus, and he's changed our life." Verse 14, "But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them." He's probably tapping dancing. I don't know what, but I would have been trying new legs out, if I were him. "They had nothing to say in opposition." They couldn't deny it. "But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, "What shall we do with these guys, with these men, for that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we can't deny it. But in order that it may spread no further." See, that was their intent. "May spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone," and they couldn't even say the name of Jesus, "in this name." And so Luke adds this statement. He said, "So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus," so we knew who we were talking about. "But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather to God," don't you love this? "You must judge, for we cannot speak of what we have seen and heard." He really says, "Is it about obeying you or is it about obeying God? We're going to obey God. We're not going to obey you." "And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people." See, they saw the mass. They saw 13,000-plus people. These were really good politicians, okay? Enough said. "For all were praising God for what had happened, for the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old." So let me ask the question. How can people tell that you've been with Jesus? Well, I think from the passage, we boldly share our faith. That's the result. You're with Jesus. You boldly share your faith. Acts 4:12, Peter says there is no other way to God. It is through Christ and Christ alone, and he stands by that statement. Chapter 19, verse four, or chapter four, verses 19 and 20, he says, "Look, if it's about obeying you or obeying God, we're going to obey God. That's where we're going. We will pledge our allegiance to Him." They were boldly sharing their faith, and here's the other evidence of time with Jesus, is it's because our lives have been transformed. Isn't that so true? They're connected. The reason why I will boldly share my faith is because Jesus Christ has changed me and transformed me, and I have a story to tell. Peter wasn't the old Peter anymore. He didn't grab a sword, as he did in the garden when Jesus was arrested, and cut off one of these guards' ears. This is the same group that arrested Him, the temple guard in the garden. Now, personally, I think Peter was a bad swordsman. He was aiming for the guy's head and he just got his ear, but this was not the same Peter. He denied Jesus because of a servant girl accused him, and now he's standing in front of the same council that tried Jesus, and he knows it, and yet he has boldness like he's never had before. He wasn't fighting and he wasn't in hiding. He was communicating boldly, because his life had been transformed. Here's Paul's perspective in the midst of persecution. He says in Romans 8:29, "For those whom he," God, "foreknew he also predestined to," what? To be conformed to the image of his Son." His goal for you is to transform you, so that in the midst of the trials and the difficulties and the struggles of life, the opposition and the persecution, the transformation inside of you, are you willing to allow people into your world to see the failures, the difficulties, the struggles that you've had, so that now when they see how you respond, they can tell you really have been with Jesus? Ordinary people who fail that have been transformed by the Spirit of God, so that they will know that Jesus Christ is real. Well, how do we know when people have spent time with Jesus? Well, it's oftentimes rewarded with opposition. Now, that's interesting. How many times do we go through life? Have you ever thought this? Well, I'm following God. I'm walking with Him, and it's kind of in the back of your mind, are you like me? It's kind of in the back of your mind as you're like, I'm doing everything I should do, and therefore life should get better, not worse, but it doesn't get better, at least from my perspective. We're oftentimes rewarded with opposition and persecution at times. And so the issue is, how do you define better? How do you define good? We sang a song about God's goodness. Well, what does it mean for God to be good to me? What is the goal? You know, many of us in our culture, quite frankly, we've bought into the American dream. You have and I have. Life getting better, the nice house, the great financial stuff, whatever that might be. I hate to be bad news for you today, but the American dream is not Christianity. It never has been. It never will be, and quite frankly, if you start getting your satisfaction from all of that stuff of life, you're not getting your joy and satisfaction from the Lord, and what oftentimes happens is God, as His children, brings us through opposition, persecution, trials, and difficulties, to strip away the counterfeits that we are sinking our teeth into, trying to find satisfaction for our soul. Why? So that we'll buy into a greater dream, a bigger dream whereby we're living for His glory and His good as He defines it, which is what? To be conformed to the image of Jesus. That's His good. That's His will for your life, to grow His church. That's His will for our life as a church, and to live for His glory, not necessarily our comfort. God is after something more, and He uses opposition and trials and difficulties oftentimes in our world, in a very dark world, why? So that through you, through you, He will live His light and you will shine His light to a lost world. I mean, oftentimes, we do what? We go into our prayer time asking for God to remove the trials, the difficulties, the opposition, the persecution. We're asking Him to remove the very thing that He wants in our life, so that in the midst of those dark times, He will shine His presence through ordinary people in extraordinary ways. That's the perspective He's after, and it is evident that those that have spent time with Jesus, well, they know the Word and they speak the truth. Isn't it fascinating that Peter quotes from several passages in the Old Testament. Acts 2, Acts 3, Acts 4. He's standing in, really in front of a bunch of Harvard grads, and he's actually schooling them on connections about the Messiah in the Old Testament that they've not seen before. He knows the Word. Jesus Christ has changed his life. In John 15, he heard over and over and over again, "Abide with me, abide with me, abide with me, because apart from me, you can do absolutely nothing." And then in John 15:10, Jesus says, "What does it mean to abide with me? It means to obey everything I'm commanding you. That means you have to know the truth and you have to live the truth and you speak the truth, and when you do this, you are abiding with me." Everything we need to know about God, life, how to live is found in this book. It describes how we are to think and act, and in the midst of opposition, in the midst of persecution, one of the key nuggets this morning is you have to drive deeper with Jesus through His Word. That's where you have to go. He has to be what satisfies your soul. You've got to abide with Him. This is an autographed copy of how God wants you to live your life in the midst of opposition and difficulties and persecution, which is coming in the days ahead. So we have to, as a church, embrace what's happening. Peter later on in 1 Peter chapter two, verse two, here's what he says. "Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk." Long for it, crave it, get into it. Do you know who he's writing to? He's writing to a group of persecuted saints in this book, exactly what he experienced here. It's just coming out of his life. "So that by it you may grow up into salvation." So that by it, you may understand the trials and difficulties and persecution and opposition from God's perspective, not your own. So that by it you'll understand what it means to define good. So that by it you'll understand that it means to live for God's glory, and not just your comfort, so that in a dark world, we can shine who Jesus Christ really is, which is exactly what Peter demonstrated in Acts 4. So if I were to look at your life today, would I, would others be able to conclude that you've been with Jesus? Yeah, they live with Jesus, they spend time with Jesus, and they really know Him. You know, to be a witness, you have to know Jesus, and if you don't spend time with Jesus, you're not gonna be a very good witness. So how does that happen? Well, it happens the moment you commit your life to Christ. That's how you become a witness, because then He begins the process of transforming you, so you can tell others of your commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord. It happens, as we said last week, there's repentance. You change your mind about your sin, yourself, the Savior, and you turn and you trust Christ as the one who died for your sin and rose from the grave, and then there is this commitment to allowing Him as King, to be King of your life, every area, so you're spending time with Him, you're walking with Him, and you're allowing Him to transform you, so that people can tell that you've been with Jesus. Would you close your eyes, bow your heads. Let's pray together. Lord, it's in this quiet moment that we come into your presence, and Father, perhaps there's someone that is watching online, here in this building, Lord, who's never committed their life to you as Savior and Lord, and you know who you are. I pray today that you would sense the drawing of God's Holy Spirit in your life, that you will finally surrender your will to Jesus, and that you will confess that you are a sinner, you need saving and forgiveness, and you will turn to Jesus as the Son of God, believing He died on the cross for your sin as payment for your sin, and arose from the grave so that you might have a relationship with a God who loves you. And Lord, for those of us that have made that choice, we take today to stop and pause and reflect on this issue, on this question, does our life reflect that we have met with you, and recommit to spending time with you in your Word, so that in the midst of a very dark world right now, and one that might even get even darker, we know that you will grow your church, because you will grow us to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ to all we meet. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.