Our Faith Must Be Tested

Well, brethren, I want to be able to cover in the time remaining. We'll still get out what I hope to be a normal time. I'll mention that to you, but I want to cover something that I hope can be helpful to us. Because, again, I know that this is a trying time, and it's something that we need to be able to receive strength from the Word of God. That's actually what helps me more than anything.

I want, and I ask God to give me, the Spirit of God. But I want to be able to rely on the Word of God, on what it says and on what it tells me is going on in my Christian life. And I hope that that can also be encouraging and uplifting to you. In Peter 1, we see that Peter makes some statements here that I think could be very applicable to our situation today. How it is that we, as Christians, as members of the United Church of God, how we are being tried. Here it talks about this. Peter starts out and says, he's talking to those who have been chosen, and who have been, this is in verse 2, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood. Now, that's the way Peter relates to people that God calls, that God was working with at that time and, of course, down through the ages and all of us today. Now, this is a description of the way we are. And in verse 3, he says, "...bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because by His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead." Now, we all have been extended mercy. We all have been granted of perception of the future, a knowledge of the hope of Christ's return and establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth. That is what we all have been granted in a very merciful way. And he says that we've been given this hope, and we have been, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you who are being protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The theory talks about ultimately having salvation because we have been brought to God, we've been brought to a recognition of His working in our lives, and yet then we are going to be living a life thereafter that's characterized by a life of faith. That's the type of life we live. We live a life of faith.

And he goes on to say in verse 6, And this, you rejoice, even if now, for a little while, you have had to suffer various trials. He says, right now, in the sense we grieve certain of the problems and difficulties that we as an organization face.

But if we see those as a trial, we see those as being something that He allows us to go through, He asks us to rejoice. Even if now, for a little while, you have had various trials so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, is tested by fire.

It may be found to result in praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ is revealed. And so, God is working with us. He is living in us. That's what He tells us. He wants to live in us. He wants through the Holy Spirit to help us grow in the mind of Christ. He wants us to be cultivating more and more of the nature of God. He wants us to move away from what we see as the things that are described as works of our flesh and become more attuned to the mind of God, more attuned to the way that God is wanting us to live.

And of course, all of that is achieved. All of that is accomplished through what? Is it my effort? Well, I do have to put forth some effort. If I'm going to pray, I've got to kind of set aside time and focus my thinking. I've got to do that. If I'm going to study the Bible, then I've got to sit down and read it. If I'm going to go help someone else come to church or be a part of an activity, or if I'm going to prepare something, we have to think about that. We have to focus on that.

And yet, ultimately, the power that is behind the growing that I am going to do is Jesus Christ. He's the one that I'm asking for help. He's the one that I pray in His name, as we all do, where we know that we're told to do so. And yet, it says in verse 8, although we've never seen Him. We haven't physically seen Him. We love Him. We love Him because of what He's done for us, for the connection that we have with Him.

And that, of course, should be a reason why we're a part of a church of any kind, and especially the church of God, because of the forgiveness and mercy that Jesus Christ has extended to us. But He says, although we've not seen Him, we love Him. And even though we do not see Him now, you believe in Him. And you rejoice with an indescribable and joyous joy, or glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome, the outcome of your faith, which is the salvation of your souls.

To here it talks about our connection to Jesus Christ. And brethren, this is talking about an individual and personal connection that only you can cultivate by asking for it. Here it says, you haven't seen Him, but you love Him. And you don't see Him now, but you believe in Him. And certainly all of us believe and have proved the existence of Jesus Christ as far as a physical being here on this earth. And yet we believe in Him when we rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because He's the one who is leading us. He's the one who is leading me and you to the outcome of our faith, and that is salvation.

He's the one who leads us to salvation. He guides us and directs us in that way. And so I go through this section mostly to just point out how the trying of our faith is important. It's a necessary part of the process, and we need to recognize that. And He points out that, well, even though that's difficult and that does cause us to be saddened, He does tell us to look beyond that because there is reason to rejoice, knowing what God is doing, knowing how God is purifying us.

And I have to say, brethren, I want to just point out, I think this is the way I look at it. This is certainly something that I at least find in my own life. We live in an age where there's instant communication. We all know that, not only by phones, but by mail and email and internet and whatever. Whatever all the stuff is, I don't even know what it all is. I'm not very internet savvy. I know what it is. I kind of use it a little.

But I also know that over the past numerous months there's been a great deal of internet activity that has spread information far and wide that has just scrambled my brain to the point to where it's very difficult to try to even isolate a question from an answer. And I only point this out because with all the internet activity, it's almost like it used to be with TV.

Of course, most of us, I guess, have grown up with some form of TV. At least I have, anyway. I guess I should say, being about 60, I remember as a kid, we had a black and white TV. We had there at the farm home where I was growing up, a black and white TV. It worked. Not very well. But it worked. If you got any channels, you had to have an antenna on top of the house. Usually that didn't work or it would get blown around and you'd have to go back up and change. It was not great. But most of us are living in a time, and of course I'm not familiar with the top-notch TVs today.

My boys tell me what they are and I'm saying, well, this one's still working. And they're saying, yeah, but dad, that won't do this and that won't do that. Well, I know, but I can't even figure out the remote anyway. Like with TV, as we have over the decades known, TV is a good tool. There are a lot of things that you might benefit from if you have a TV, and I have a TV on much of the time.

Some of the things we have on there right now are the news channel, and that's okay as far as just keeping up with what's going on. Other things I like to watch games, whatever kind. I certainly want to see the Chiefs. They're playing now that they're winning. But TV can be useful. I'm not sure exactly how to do all of it, but I'm sure you can get lots of stuff.

Lots of stuff that would be bad, that would be unhelpful, that would be destructive, that could be hurtful to me.

In a sense, I think that the Internet, to me, clearly has a good use, and it is one that we use from the standpoint of the Church. We use that from the standpoint of the preaching of the Gospel. We are trying to do that in different ways. We're trying to do that in order to achieve reaching out to the world. But then there also is a great deal of bad stuff that you can so easily and readily get. Again, I think that because of that kind of instant accessibility, it's almost impossible for me to keep up with things. And I know that it does cause me to get...it's a diversion. It gets my eyes off of where I want my eyes to be. It gets my eyes off of the fact that Jesus Christ is head of the Church. That's what...just being distracted all the time doesn't allow me to be focused as much as I would like to be. And I believe that that, too, is a part of the faith that God wants us to live with. See, He has set us in a position to live by faith. That's what we are doing. That's what you do and what I do every day. We do that all the time. And I want to focus in connection with this on what we read here in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews is, of course, a place that you would probably turn if you wanted to talk about... if you wanted to preach about the subject of faith. One of the chapters in Hebrews is the faith chapter. Hebrews 11 is a chapter about many different people. I think all of them in the Old Testament. Maybe one or two that are not, but most all of them in the Old Testament. Who all were living by faith through the difficulties and stresses that they were going through.

And yet, I don't want to go through all of that today, and we're not going to take time to do that. But I do want to back up a little, because here in chapter 10, we have an encouragement. We have an encouragement that's extended to us. And here, originally, it was written by Paul, I believe, as the author of Hebrews. He was writing to people who were very familiar with the Old Testament, very familiar with the law, they were Jewish of origin, they were very familiar with things, and yet they had now come into the church. They had come into the Church of God. They had now a different form. And really, when you read through the book of Hebrews, it is a holding up to these people who were very familiar with the Bible at that point, the Old Testament. And they were obedient, quite stringent sometimes, obedient. But what they had been taught and told was that Jesus Christ is now what you want to focus on, that you want to understand how much He is involved in the work of the Church, how much He is involved in your life. And of course, here in chapter 10, and this section that I want to start on in chapter 10, verse 19, it is actually a call to them to persevere. The author is encouraging people to persevere in their Christian calling and in their Christian life. He says, therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that He opened through the curtain, and since we have a great High Priest over the house of God. See, this is what He had been talking to them about all through the book. He had been talking to them about how important Jesus Christ is, how important His involvement in their life, individually, how important that is. He says, because we have that, in verse 22, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For He who has promised is faithful.

To hear He's admonishing them, He's encouraging them, He's reaching out to them, He's calling them to be persevering in their lives. He says, let us hold fast to the confession of our faith without wavering. Why? Well, because He who is promising us, He's the one who has the promises, and that, of course, is God, it is Jesus Christ. He has the promises, He is faithful. Now, we want to be faithful, and we try to be faithful in many different, maybe, aspects of our lives, in our commitments at church, but ultimately, the one who's really faithful is Jesus Christ. He never walks off the job, He always is aware, He's always working in our lives, in our hearts, and in our minds.

And He says in verse 24, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. That's what we want among the entirety of the congregation. We want to be able to share the love of God. We want to promote and encourage one another to have love and to have good deeds. Not neglecting to meet together, as the manner of some is, but encouraging or exhorting one another. Exhorting one another, and all the more as we see the day approaching. See, that's directly what God tells us to do. He tells us to be pulling together, to be looking to the one who is really faithful and who can provide faith in us, who can cause our faith to grow. As we look to Jesus Christ, He says, I want you to consider how you can help one another, how you can encourage and exhort one another, how you can in so doing achieve the work that the church has to do. Remember in verse 32, it says, recall from earlier days, after you've been enlightened, you also endured a hard struggle with suffering, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution and sometimes being partners with those so treated. He says, after you've been enlightened, and we appreciate the fact that God has enlightened us, that He has brought us to an awareness of our need to respond and obey Him, to obey Him, obey His law, to love Him and to live a life of faith, you've endured a hard struggle with suffering. And in verse 34, He says, for you have compassion for those who were in prison, you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possess something better and more lasting. See, brethren, that's what we have. We have a knowledge of the future, we have a knowledge of the Kingdom of God, we have an appreciation of the hope that God has given us, and all of that comes to us through Jesus Christ.

And so He says in verse 35, do not therefore abandon that confidence of yours. He says, you've been given the power of God, you've been given the Holy Spirit, you've been connected to Jesus Christ. Be encouraged by that. Don't abandon that confidence of yours. It brings a great reward if you need endurance, for you do need endurance. Verse 36, for you need endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what has been promised. For it says, yet in a little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay, but my righteous or just ones, the just shall live by faith. We're going to have to live by faith. Many of you have gone through extreme trials, some of which I'm aware of, some of which I know about, and many of which I don't. But I know at that point in your life, you're sure you were reminded, the just are going to have to live by faith. And so he goes ahead to say, my soul takes no pleasure, anyone who shrinks back, but we are not among those who shrink back, but among those who have faith, who have belief, and then will be saved, or have salvation. We're looking forward to that, and I think appreciating that, being able to be thankful for that. And here in chapter 11, it says in verse 2, Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. So he goes through, he calls them to persevere. He tells them, you know, you need to be consistent, you need to persevere. He encourages them in the things that they've been doing. He goes on to then start highlighting all these faith examples. He says, by faith our ancestors received approval. And then in verse 6, he says, without faith, it's impossible to please God, for whoever would approach God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

So brethren, our responsibility is to live by faith. Our responsibility is to be those who are the just and who live by faith and who understand faith as a way of life. And who understand that we have a hope in front of us and before us that is just incredible. It's remarkable. And we want to respond to this call to persevere. The second thing I want to focus on is over in the book of Colossians. In the book of Colossians, I think it's encouraging to me to read through this because here in Colossians 1, it points out the vast and the awesome power that Jesus Christ has. We are appreciative of His sacrifice for our sins. We're appreciative of the way that He has reached down and called us, or God has drawn us. Actually, when you read John 6, it talks about God drawing us to Jesus Christ. That's what it says.

And of course, we come to see He is the bread of life. We come to see He is the source of the living water. We come to see He's the one who makes our spiritual life what it is. And so I think it's exciting to see here in Colossians 1 a little more about how awesome, how powerful He is.

Here in Colossians 1, verse 4, we have heard of your faith in Jesus Christ, and we have heard of the love that you have for all the saints. See, these are things that we want to be examples of. We want to be examples of faith in Jesus Christ and having love for one another.

Down in verse 9, He says, for this reason, since today we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you, and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives that are worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

Brethren, that's what we all want to do. We all want to grow in the knowledge of God.

We want to be able to, and I think we should be able to come to services and peace and cooperation, in being able to think about the knowledge of God, to think about how wonderful God is, how awesome our Savior and Lord is, how much they are able to infuse us with power that is far beyond anything we have. And He's the one who then enables us to overcome. He's the one who enables us to live a life of love and service. He's the one who enables us to have a confidence that as we die, because ultimately all of us will, if Christ doesn't return, as we die we should have no fear of death. I mean, what He has offered and what He promises is sure. It's absolutely sure. So we have much to look forward to. But here, He says in verse 11, and this is a remarkable verse that I don't know that I focused on too much up to this point, but it really stood out to me today. Verse 11, May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience while joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints and the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, in whom we have the forgiveness of sin. See, that's the transition that God has made possible for us. That's what He has done. Verse 11 says, May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power. Now, how powerful is Jesus Christ? Well, it goes on to say, verse 15, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, and Him, for in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all things have been created through Him and for Him. Now, how powerful is Jesus Christ? He's the one through whom everything was created, things that we see, the world. And, of course, brethren, I think it's great to... some of you may have gotten up at 2 in the morning the other night to watch the full moon disappear.

I didn't. I watched it in about five seconds on TV. The next day, you know that or probably saw that an eclipse occurred, and I think it's a long, long time when it will occur in this similar way. But utterly remarkable. They had a great big, and I think the moon was really full that night, and to be able to see it gradually become dark, be fully darkened, and then move on to where it once again opens up to the bright, beautiful light from the sun. The earth was blocking that. You know, that type of intricacy, that type of complexity, that's really a pretty simple thing as you look at it and you know exactly what's happening, but see, who put all that in place where that works that way? Well, God did. Jesus Christ did. He's the one who ordered the universe, and not just the things that we see around us here on this planet because we are familiar with just the stuff we see, usually.

But you know, at least we are told as they send telescopes and other camera imagery, or whatever they do to take pictures out there in the universe, you know, that our little solar system, which is our planets that circle the sun, our little solar system is just a speck. It's almost like a grain of sand on any coast. And that little teeny tiny speck is only a minute part of a much greater galaxy.

And then beyond that, this tiny little galaxy is a much greater universe. It's really mind-boggling when you think about how great the creation of God is. And that's just kind of what we can see. What God is doing with that or what God is preparing to do for that. We're all looking forward to learning.

We'll find out eventually. God will probably tell us.

But see, we want to recognize that Jesus Christ was the one who created these things visible and invisible. And of course, the angelic realm is invisible as far as we know, angels or fallen angels.

That whole concept is something that we study about and we're familiar with. And we want to be aware of that because that, of course, is an influence on the work that is done on the earth today, the work that is done by the church today. And so we want to be aware of that, but Jesus Christ rules over all of that. He rules over it. He created it and rules over it.

And it says, verse 17, He Himself is before all things and He in Him all things hold together.

I think that's an awesome thing to realize that He's the one who keeps things together. He's the one that keeps the moon from flying off, you know, to circle some other planet. You know, He's the one who holds these things together. He's the one that's designed it this way. And in verse 18, it also says, just in connection with all these other unbelievably fabulous things, verse 18, He is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything, for in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether in earth or heaven, making peace through the blood of His cross. See, this is the King that we worship. This is the ruler that we pray for, that He will come back to the earth. We want Him to return. We see what the end of the book says. Jesus is going to return in glory. He's going to return and establish a kingdom of God.

He's going to have with Him those who are called and chosen and faithful, those who are full of faith, those who desire to look to Him and to His power and His authority in dealing with us as human beings. I think it's fascinating to be able to focus on how vastly powerful Jesus Christ is, how much He is able to do.

I'm afraid I probably have not asked Him enough to help me or others. I think that there's far more power there. There's more capacity there than I have really thought about.

Maybe I can stimulate you to think about that and to realize just how awesome He is. It goes on to say, we were once cut off, but now we're reconciled in verse 21 and 22.

We've been reconciled in His fleshly body through death so as to present you, because of what He's done for us, because of the purchase price, and because of the commitment, the devotion that we extend to God, to Jesus Christ in this case.

It says He wants to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him, provided in verse 23 that you continue securely, established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under Heaven.

And I, Paul, am a servant of that Gospel. Here we're talking about the great God, Jesus, who is the head of the church. It mentions, among all the other wonderful, awesome things He's done, it talks about Him. He's also the head of the church.

And so, He points out that He wants us to continue securely established and to be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ. I think it's important for us to do, I think it's significant that we keep that in mind as a member of the church, and that we are actually, with our heart, praying for Christ to help us be able to do the work that we do.

So much want to do. I can do a certain amount, and you can do a certain amount. All of us can do a little bit. Together, unitedly, we can do a lot more. But if we're really appealing to God, if we're appealing to Jesus Christ as our head to inspire and to multiply even the things that we are able to do, then I think we'll find that that is clearly a way that He wants us to be able to do the work that has to be done before He's going to intervene in world affairs. The last thing I'll mention is also over here in chapter 3. It actually is here in Colossians 3. It's actually written as a direction for us to be as church members.

The church at Colossae was one that Paul had been initially involved in helping bring those people to a knowledge and awareness of God and of their need for Christ. And he was very concerned about them. He was concerned about how they were living. He was concerned about certain things that he wanted to help them with. And here in chapter 3, he talks about the life that they are living in Christ. And then in verse 12, he says, God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourself with compassion. Now here he points out what it is that He wants us to pursue, what it is that He wants us to reflect, how it is that He wants us to be toward one another.

Now it is. We can actually be united and pulling together in order to achieve a far greater mission than we might ever imagine. Clothe yourself with compassion and kindness and humility and meekness and patience. Bear with one another. And if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other just as the Lord has forgiven you so you also must forgive.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love. There is one thing we want to exemplify, certainly we want to share with and have toward one another. He says to clothe yourself with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

That's what we want. That's what we want to live up to. And as we do that, we have to individually be pursuing that and then sharing that in order to work together. And He goes on to say, let in verse 15, the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. We want the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts.

I want that. I want that for you. I want everyone who wishes to make up the United Church of God. I want us all to see that as a high calling, a high goal, a high aspect of our ability to have a setting where we can really do a work that God is guiding and directing and blessing.

He says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts so that indeed, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and with gratitude in your hearts, sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs to God.

That's what we've been doing today and what we will do at the close of our service. I thank Mr. Keener for putting together here today, and I'm glad that Mrs. Hamill was able to play the piano, because that is a big help to us to be able to have that kind of thing. That's what we working together are able to achieve. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through Him.

These are aspects of living by faith that I think about and I hope are helpful to you, because studying the Word of God is what helps us to be able to see, be able to know how it is that He wants us to live, and how it is that He wants us to work together in peace. I wanted to be able to pass those on to you. As I conclude this sermon today, I certainly want to appeal to all of you to recognize how much we need each other, recognize how much we can help each other, and how much we have been called by God to look to Jesus Christ, to look to Him in providing our walking faith, in leading and guiding the church, and clearly, in being able to have the peace, being able to have the peace and the love that really comes from Him.

It doesn't come from Me. For Me, I want to ask Him to infuse Me, to empower Me, to inspire Me, to give Me the nature of God, which I know that comes through the Holy Spirit. And of course, all of us want to reflect that. And so, I pray that you will certainly think about that. I want to conclude with a little section here in the book of Galatians. Because here in Galatians, another book that Paul wrote, and we'll probably go through other things that Paul has written, because he wrote a lot in the New Testament.

Much of it deals with churches. It deals with people in churches. It deals with problems that they can face. It deals with difficulties that they have to overcome. And it deals with instruction about what to do in order to either avoid those things, or to be able to live a life where you are just excited. You are joyful. You are uplifted. And that's what I want. But here in Galatians 5, he says in verse 16, to live by the Spirit.

Live by the Spirit, I say. Do not gratify the desires of the flesh, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other. They prevent you from doing what you want. See, that's his way of instructing. Of course, he's going to say, now these are the work of the flesh.

He's going to identify many of those. And he's also then going to contrast that with what I know are the values that I want. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. I'm sure all of you have those memorized as well. We don't even have to read them, but we do want to exemplify them. We do want to ask God to produce that fruit in our lives.

Sometimes, we have to focus on it and really ask for it, ask for specific things. Because, again, they're the fruit of the Spirit. They're the fruit that God is able to extend. I wonder if I don't even ask or if I don't even care. I've talked to a lot of people that I know are kind of church-related. They're a little bit religious. Maybe some of these would fit some of the people you know, or maybe even some relatives.

But I have talked to numerous people in the past who are not directly connected to the Church of God, and who I much more readily identify with. But I've talked to them about some of their beliefs, and of course, some of those are beliefs that maybe even we had in the past. And yet, absolutely rarely has the Holy Spirit ever been brought up. I don't directly bring it up, but I may talk with them about, well, what are you doing?

It has been very, very rare. I don't know whether that's your experience or not, but that is something that it seems unusual to me that people wouldn't be feeling that, well, I need to be led by the Spirit of God, because it's very clear that that's what all Christians ought to be led by the Spirit of God. But here, Paul contrasts these marvelous qualities of the fruit of the Spirit with the works of the flesh.

And of course, he mentions some rather what would appear to be heavy duty, fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery. He starts mentioning things that we identify as being sin. So, it's not just a work of the flesh, that's just out and out sin. That's totally against the law of God.

That is beyond. That's clearly wrong. But whenever you read further through the list, he says, these are also the work of the flesh. Enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension, factions, envy. These are all qualities that are listed as ones to get away from. Ones that don't allow us to thrive. Ones that actually pull us down. And wherever jealousy and envy thrives, there's going to be conflict. There's going to be deep distress. There's going to be a great deal of distress. So I think it's important, I think ultimately, that it just kind of runs into a competition. And that's not what we want. That's not what I want. I don't want that for you.

But I do want us to be reminded of what it says here in chapter 6. It says in verse 7, do not be deceived. God is not mocked for what you reap, that's what you'll sow. So we want to reap the fruit of the Spirit. We want to focus on that. We want to avoid the work of the flesh. It says, if you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh.

If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So he says, let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at hardest time if we do not give up. And so then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all. That's what we are asked to do. And he said especially, we want to work for the good of the household of faith.

The people who make up the people of God, who wish to have faith in God, who wish to look to Christ as the head of the church, Christ as the Savior of the body, Christ as the one who offers peace and who offers comfort and encouragement. He's the one who provides all of that. He's the one that we can ask for, and certainly he will not only hear, I believe he will answer our prayers and cause us to be able to draw together and to be able to thrive.

So those are the things I wanted to cover here this afternoon. Again, I love each and every one of you. I'm thankful to see you today. We will be meeting here next week, and so I hope to see all of you again. I know we'll have some others here at that time as well. But again, I know that we want to be looking to the source of power in order to stabilize and to settle us at this time.