Well, if you remember, the latest wave of storms started a couple of months ago with Tropical Storm Debbie. In fact, if you recall, we canceled the evening service that Sunday because we saw the weather coming in and we had the morning service. And we decided the evening service, we would just not have people come back out. And that turned out to be a good decision because we had some very bad weather. And I was supposed to preach that night. So I had a message already and then I didn't get to preach it. And then this week when the storm was coming in, Steve and I were talking and obviously the church offices were closed. There were impacts for everyone. And so he said, it'll be harder for me to be able to study on a regular basis. Could you preach on Sunday night? And I thought, perfect. The last time there was a storm, I was ready. Now there's a storm and I get the opportunity. So it's timely and it's appropriate. Because what I had determined to preach on a few months ago had to do with our hope, but it's the certainty of our hope, the idea of our assurance. One of the things that's interesting as we've gone through what seems like storm after storm after storm is the uncertainty. Pastor Steve alluded to it this morning. I've watched the weather more in the last two weeks, three weeks, two months than I have in my entire life. If you're like me, every day you're looking at the National Hurricane Center, where's it going to go? Is it coming our way? Are we going to get hit by it? How much rains are going to be? When are the winds going to get here? And there's a reason we're looking at those things because it impacts our life. Do we have to evacuate? Do we close down ministries and our business is going to close? Do we board up our homes? What makes it challenging is that, and we've heard meteorologists say it, no matter all the scientific and technology and everything else, at the end of the day, they don't really know until it gets here. There's an uncertainty that causes many of us great angst. In fact, that's really what is permeating American society right now. There's a lot of anxiety and worry. I don't doubt because the fact that we don't know. If I were to ask you to be honest, there are some of us in this room that are nervous about the election because we don't know the outcome. Every day you look at the newspaper and one person's winning, then the other person's winning, and what's going to happen? In fact, I think all of the uncertainty has created an epidemic in America. The experts tell us that anxiety and worry are increasing year over year. There are surveys you could look at that say Americans are increasingly anxious, and the reality is we're anxious because we don't know what tomorrow holds. Now it's interesting because this is not new. Jesus talked about this 2,000 years ago when he said in Matthew 6, 25, for this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Jesus needed to say that because human nature is we worry. Uncertainty is difficult. We don't know what's going to be, and so we fret and are concerned. Now for the world, that's a little bit understandable. I've thought many times, and I'm probably like you, when these storms are hitting and I'm standing on my front porch and I'm watching the water rising and I'm watching the wind blowing, I honestly think, I don't know how unbelievers do this. Because I have that sure and steady anchor that we were singing about. I know that whatever happens, I have hope. But most of the world around us doesn't. That's why the Gideons exist. That's why we proclaim the gospel. But for believers, we're supposed to be different. Jesus is the one who gave the command in Matthew 6, 34. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself, will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. The reality is, as long as we live, there are going to be things we don't know, which is every day, all the time. And if we're not careful, we can fall into the patterns of the world. America is anxious right now. We've got to be careful. The church shouldn't be anxious, but we can be. And yet Philippians 4, 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And if I continue on, it talks about the peace that passes all understanding. And so as we go through storms and moments like this, for some of us, it's an encouraging time to see our faith lived out. But for others, the anxiety and worry gets closer to home. Unfortunately, there are many Christians that don't have the hope of that sure and steady anchor. They're concerned and they don't know, and so they don't have the same hope that they should have. And while they should be anxious for nothing, they become anxious for far too many things. And so we're going to be talking tonight about that issue of assurance, because every one of us, if you know Jesus Christ, you should have assurance. 1 John 5.13 is very clear. John wrote this short letter and he tells us why he wrote the letter. He said that these things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. No believer should ever have to worry about whether they have that hope. So how do we know? And that's really the topic tonight. There are many passages of scripture that address that issue, but I recently have been teaching. Over the last couple years, I was teaching a lot out of 2 Peter. So I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles tonight to 2 Peter chapter 1, and we're going to look at two short verses, verses 10 and 11. And we're really going to be talking about our assurance And if any of you struggle with assurance, I hope tonight's teaching will encourage you. And if some of you have a false hope, I hope the Lord will convict you. Now, Peter's short book was very timely, and I originally started teaching through the book because I saw so many parallels to where we are in American culture. The churches that Peter were writing to were dealing with false teachers, and they were dealing with difficult times. The believers were struggling and hurting, and Peter wanted to encourage them, and he wanted to exhort them to protect them against false teachers, but he wanted to encourage them. And we have so many things that we need encouragement about. I saw 2 Peter as a natural thing for us in this time in American history to be going through. And so I'm going to briefly go through verses 1 to 9. I've actually preached on them. You can find sermons on them. But I'm going to summarize it because it really sets the stage for what we're going to focus on tonight. The first four verses are just a great promise, and most of these verses we'll read later. But the first four verses are great promises and reminders of God's work in saving us. It's all about the Lord. What God did, the initiative He took. God did it, and He didn't just save us and walk away. He gives us everything we need for life and godliness. We have all the tools to do what He calls us to do. He gives us promises of His Word so that we can navigate this difficult, fallen world. And because of that, God expects something from us. Verses 5 through 7 is just an exhortation to righteous living. We're not supposed to be spectators or lazy. We're supposed to grow in moral excellence and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love. God's given us all we need and now we have to act on it. We have to be doers of the word as James tells us. And verses 8 and 9 really just show the outcome of all of this. And there really are two results. If you claim to be a Christian, one of two things is going to happen in your life. You're either going to bear fruit or you're blinded and deceived. I'm going to read verses 8 and 9. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins." And this really tees up what we're going to be talking about. Because all of those great promises that we sing about are encapsulated in those few verses of what Peter's talking about, that God loves us, and He chose us, and He called us, and He's provided us all these things, and so we're supposed to respond in faith, and you either do or you prove yourself to be blind. It was Jesus who said in Matthew 7.21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. So this is what we're going to be talking about tonight. And what Peter gave out those two choices, and he said, you're either going to be fruitful, summarizing verse 8, or you're blinded and deceived, leads to his exhortation in verses 10 and 11. So follow as I read 2 Peter 1, verses 10 and 11. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Now as we go through this, I believe these are relatively easy to understand. There's a couple of things that could be confusing if they're not thought through. But it deals with this issue of assurance. God's calling you and God's choosing you. And so for our purposes of study, just to guide us along as we go through these two verses, we're going to see the promises of our assurance. The promises of our assurance. And the first is this, assurance is obtainable. Assurance is obtainable. I said that from the first John, but also Peter is saying that. He says, therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. He says, therefore, and it's tied into all the things that he's already said, that we're supposed to be fruitful and producing fruit in our lives and increasing in godliness, but it's possible that some are deceived. He doesn't want that to be the case. But because of the fact that some are deceived, he says, therefore, brethren, he loves these people, they're his brothers, he cares about them, he wants the best for them, and so he says, be all the more diligent be all the more diligent. He used similar language earlier, but this is an idea that we have to work. Every commentator I read noted that there is an urgency in this. This isn't something to put off until later. He's saying you should be doing this now. Today, working as hard as possible, being zealous, being diligent. being all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. It's another way of saying, be certain that you are in the faith. Make certain is really confirmation. In a legal sense, the word was originally used of establishing a document as genuine. Here, Peter's talking about something more important. It's whether we are truly saved. Now, what's interesting is Peter is talking about the sovereign work of God, about His calling and choosing you. And this is what he emphasized in the first four verses of the letter. I'm going to go back and read those verses. But he said this, Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, so that you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Over and over he's highlighting what God did. God gave the gift. God is the one who grants it. God is the one who calls us. So we're the most to make certain that we have been called. We're supposed to make certain that God has chosen us. God is the one who does the work. The Apostle Paul highlighted this in 2 Timothy 1, 8 and 9. He said, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me as prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. There are many other verses that say the same thing. So we're supposed to make certain, we're supposed to know that God has called us, but the evidence comes from our own lives. And this is where it gets personal for us. I can't tell whether God has called and chosen you. You have to evaluate your own life. This isn't a command for the pastors to investigate the sheep. This is a command to all of us to look in the mirror and honestly make certain that we have that hope. Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. You need to know this. This is our hope. It's phrased in such a way that this is every individual that has to do this. No one can do it for you. Yet explicit in the exhortation, He wouldn't tell us to do something that was impossible. We can know. Now here's the challenge for us. How do you know? The Bible makes it clear. It's not hard to see, but this is where some people get tripped up on a few things. The genuine proof of our salvation is in our lived lives, our response to the gospel. Again, this is throughout the Scriptures, throughout the New Testament, but in 1 John 5, 1-3, the Apostle says this, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. But we know this, that we love the children of God. How do we know that? When we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Now John didn't think this up on his own. He was repeating what he had learned from Jesus Himself. John 14, 15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. It's a forgotten part at times of the Great Commission. Yes, we go. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But verse 20 is a part of the Great Commission, teaching them to observe, not to know, but to live out, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And here's where people can get confused in this. Our assurance is based on how we live our lives, our obedience. And for some people, they get confused and they say, wait a minute, if it has anything to do with how I live, then it must be works. And that can't be the case, but that's a misunderstanding. The gospel is clear that you're not saved by works. Don't mishear me or misunderstand anything I say. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. And remember, Peter was saying that over and over. God granted to us. God called us. God did all these things. But what happens is when we have believed, when we have responded, When we have been saved by grace, then we have to do something. It doesn't earn us our salvation, but it's the fruit of our salvation. I remember when I was first saved, this was not confusing, but it was confusing. Why? Because there were some people that insisted that you didn't have to do anything. You didn't have to obey after you became a believer. Did you pray a prayer? Then don't doubt it. You prayed a prayer. I lived in that deception probably for close to 10 years, maybe more, because I prayed a prayer as a high school student. And then I lived wickedly for 10 years with no thought of God. But I remember somebody telling me, did you pray? Yeah, that was it. OK, that's not what the Bible says. Yes, we have to believe, but we also have to live out our faith. Yes, believing is all you need to be saved. But if you've been genuinely saved, all that's in your life is not just a remembrance of a belief one time. Because not all belief is the same. James 2.19 says this, You believe that God is one, you do well. The demons also believe and shudder. It's not the acknowledgement of God, it's the recognition from the inside out that you've been transformed and you're a new creature in Christ. And so if you love Him, you will keep His commandments. So I believe with all my heart that if you believe that the Scriptures define belief, you're saved. That's the promise of the Word of God. That's how I was saved. And our salvation does not in any way depend on our works. I've already read Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. Couldn't be more clear. I'm not saying anything else. Peter is not contradicting that. But I also believe, because God says it so, that true belief results in action. You can't just stop at Ephesians 2.8 and 9 because there's Ephesians 2.10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. We are saved to do good works. So nothing we do before our moment of conversion earns any merit with God, but once we're saved and we're in His kingdom, our lives are different, and we have to be about His business. So how do you know if you love Jesus? It's really simple. Do you have any fruit in your life that you've been obeying Jesus? He says, if you love Me, do you keep My commandments? You will keep My commandments, rather. Again, I'm not going to read it, but you can go look at James 1, 21 to 25. And it's all about this thing, proving yourselves doers of the word. Now, I can't remember the exact date. I think it was in February of 2007, but I came to Lakeside and I stood in this pulpit in the evening service and I preached a sermon when I was candidating here. And I preached on that text. And I was just emphasizing the same things that I've emphasized tonight. And I emphasized it because it's all throughout the scriptures. It's what Jesus said. It's what James said. It's what Peter says. It's what Paul says. On and on it goes. And so I preached that and I'll never forget. Someone came up to me afterwards and at that point I didn't know anybody here. I knew Steve. We'd had dinner with Steve and Michelle. I knew some of the elders. The very first person walked from back over in that corner walked up to me And after I said some of the same things I've said tonight, he came up to me and he said, so if I'm understanding you correctly, you're preaching a work salvation. He was accusing me of heresy. Now the elder said they've never seen him before and they never saw him again, so I assume Satan sent him to destroy my confidence. But the reality is, how we live is the measure of whether we've been converted. Now certainly someone who dies on their deathbed like the thief on the cross and has no opportunity to do anything is no less saved than somebody who's been a believer for 50 years. But when you're saved, it's supposed to result in work. Now does any of us obey perfectly? Of course not. Do we struggle? Of course we do. That's why we have the promise of God that if we confess our sins, He's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But the reality is the trajectory of our life should be that we bear fruit because that's what the scriptures say. So if you want to make certain of God's calling you and choosing you, you've got to look in the mirror and say, am I a doer of the word or merely a hearer who's deceiving myself? So the question is, what's the trajectory of your life? I can look at when I prayed a prayer because somebody told me to pray a prayer and for 10 years there was no fruit at all. No conviction of the Holy Spirit, no nothing. I just lived my life. And then I can look at after I called myself rededicating, but when I think I was born again and my life changed radically. Are you growing in the obedience to the characteristics laid out in 1 Peter 5-7? If you're not, you can't make certain of God's calling and choosing you. You've got to wonder, am I one of those who would one day say, Lord, Lord, and be told, depart from me, I never knew you. So examine, is there evidence of the Spirit in your life? Is there evidence that you love God by obeying His commandments? Not perfectly. We all have that struggle that Paul described in Romans 7, 18, and 19. I won't read it, but you can go there. It's a familiar passage. He wants to do one thing, he doesn't want to do another, and yet he has that struggle. We all do. But is the trajectory of your life one of obedience? Assurance is obtainable, but you've got to evaluate your own life and how you respond to the gospel. That leads to the second promise of our assurance. Assurance leads to stability. Assurance is obtainable, and assurance leads to stability. Peter doesn't just tell us to do something, he tells us why we're supposed to do something. He says, Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you, for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Now again, we'll see. We've got to be careful with the words and how they're defined. But the reality is, he's saying that if we practice these things, in other words, if we're living out the commandments of the Lord, then we can have that assurance. That's how we know. Because it's done something to our hearts. It's not an empty belief. He says, for as long as you practice these things, and I think he's talking about the things that he said in verses five through seven, which described the Christian life. I'll read it. 2 Peter 1, five to seven. Now, for this very reason also, applying all diligence, again, that hard work effort, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. Similar words are found in the fruit of the Spirit. It's all the same. It's just this picture of our lives slowly being conformed to the image of Christ. And he's saying if that's the pattern of your life, there's a guaranteed result. If that's the pattern of your life, you're going to have that sure and steady anger. He says you will never stumble. And this is where I want to be careful because there's another passage in another scripture addressing a different issue that would look to be in conflict with what Peter says. Peter says, if you practice these things, if you've made certain about God's calling you and choosing you, then you'll never stumble. And yet, James chapter 3, the beginning of verse 2 says, for we all stumble in many ways. These are the kind of superficial contradictions that If you understand it, it's not a contradiction at all. But people cling to it and say the Bible contradicts itself. No, it doesn't. It never does. So which is it? That we'll never stumble or that we all stumble in many ways? Well, it's a very simple answer. It's both. It has to do with the word stumble though. The way Peter is using it, he has to do with the idea, will you fall away? Will you go away from the faith? Will you stop walking with the Lord? And he's saying to you, if you've made certain of your calling and choosing by the fact that you've diligently applied your energy to living out the faith, you practice these things, you'll never doubt. You'll never fall away. You'll never lose the confidence that ultimately comes from the Lord. James was talking about something different. He was just talking about the fact that even as believers, we sin. We have those kind of stumbles. It's a different terminology applied to the same thing. Actually, I said that in reverse, but either way, you understand. This daily sin that we're talking about is what James says, we all stumble, we all struggle. What Peter's talking about is something in our hearts, we won't fall away. He's reiterating the truth that he heard from Jesus. For whatever reason, there have been many times where I've read the Bible and I don't think about the connection of things. But Peter is teaching us things and I think, wait a minute, he heard that sermon from Jesus with slightly different words. Jesus said in John 10 verses 27 to 29, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. That's a great promise and when Peter says we'll never stumble, he's putting it in the context of that. We are in God's hands and it's proof that we are genuinely saved because there is spiritual fruit in our lives. But there are also warnings in Scripture of people who claim to be saved that aren't. Certainly, I've already alluded to Jesus' words, Lord, Lord, didn't we know you and depart from me? We only have to look at Judas Iscariot to see that people can play a game. They can go along with the crowd, but at the end of the day, their hearts have not been transformed. Peter is simply saying this, if we walk by the Spirit, if we continue to produce spiritual fruit, we have the assurance that we'll never fall away like Judas did. We'll never fall away, I'm not reading it, but in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 4 to 6, that deals with apostates. Now again, none of this means our salvation is dependent on ourselves. Don't misunderstand me. We're held by Jesus. But if we're obedient, then we have that hope. We have that security because we know God is doing a work in our lives. Again, every believer struggles with sin. In fact, Satan's an accuser of the brethren, in part because we are weak and we stumble. But if we repent of our sins, if we confess our sins, 1 John 1.9 says, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then we keep producing fruit for Him. The promise of Jude will be ours if we do what Peter says. Jude 24, now to him who is able to keep you from trembling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. That's what we have to look forward to, and that leads to our third and final point. The promises of our assurance. Assurance is obtainable, assurance leads to stability, and assurance brings future blessings. Now this one takes a little bit more careful study because even when you read it, it might jump out as saying something that it's not saying. But in context, it's a great hope to us. He says in verse 11, For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. So he's in essence saying that if we make certain about his calling us and choosing us, if we practice these things, if we are producing spiritual fruit, That's the this way. In this way, the entrance in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Now, here's where we have to be careful, because if you had a cursory reading in English, at least, you could misunderstand and say, well, wait a minute, this is the ticket to heaven. In fact, a lot of false apostate religions that go under the guise of Christianity teach this kind of perversion of the truth. And they'll say, this is the ticket, this is how you get there, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I won't read it again, but I'll reference it again, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. It's not by our works, it's by grace. So Peter is not talking about this is how you unlock the key, this is how you get into the secret door. He's not talking about that at all. What he's talking about is what happens when you get to the end of your life. He's talking about what happens when you die. When we get to heaven, we're not going to be punished for our sins. Yes, there'll be a judgment of believers. But in the reality of Isaiah 61 10 will be our reality. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will exult in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation. For he has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and a bride adorns herself with jewels. That is what we are now, but that's what we will be as well. Here's what Peter is essentially saying. It's not complicated. He's saying that if you walk in obedience, not only will you have assurance of your salvation, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. There's a reward for you in heaven. Again, I won't read all of these, but the reality is there comes a time when everybody stands before the Lord. Matthew 25, 31 to 34, I will read this one. But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then to those on His right, then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." This is what Peter is talking about. He's talking about that moment. that when you get to heaven, God will be there to greet you with a well done. The words of Jesus in a parable in Matthew 25, 21, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter in the joy of your master. That's what Peter's talking about when that becomes a reality for us. In this case, I think the New International Version states it perhaps more clearly. It says this, and it reads this way. It says, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what Peter's talking about. The imagery originally was of an Olympic victor coming back to his hometown. I have a memory as a kid when I was 12 years old, 1979. You can do the math. I'm older than a lot of people. But I remember we won the state championship in baseball, Little League. That was a big deal for you from Perry. There's not a lot going on there. And I'll never forget, we actually played the tournament in St. Pete. And when we got home, we're 12 years old, a sheriff and a fire truck met us at the county line. And they led us into town. and they led us to McDonald's. What better can you get for a kid at 12? Got to ride into town. And while that's a silly thing, there's a sense in which it was a big deal. People were proud of us and they were waiting for us. And when we got there, they welcomed us with all they had. Perry doesn't have much, but that was the best they could do. Imagine when we get to heaven. Peter's saying, look, if you live this out, If this is your life, if you have that assurance, if you work to make sure of that assurance, Jesus is going to be waiting. And He's going to welcome you with open arms. And you'll have everything that you ever dreamed of in abundance. Every believer should have that hope. Every believer can have that hope. I've talked to so many of you through these storms of different things that were going on. And some of you have had horrendous losses. I found out yesterday of a loss from Hurricane Helene that I didn't even connect with. And yet you can see in those people the hope because they're still trusting the Lord. They still cling to the Lord. They have that assurance that God has them in their hands. That's what God wants for all of us. And I pray you find that. Join me in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the work of Jesus Christ. Lord, there are so many things that cause us to grow weary. Lord, most of us are exhausted after this last week of concern. And Lord, we're supposed to be anxious for nothing. But in our weak moments, we are anxious. Many of us didn't get much sleep. Many of us have been doing a lot of work, Lord. But in the midst of it all, when we come here and we sing these songs about what you've done for us, that you're our anchor, that you're our hope, and we hear Pastor Steve's message about your sovereignty and that your care and love for us, and that in the midst of all that's going on, it's not haphazard and it's not accidental, that you're in sovereign control of everything. Lord, in those moments, if we know that we're your children, we have hope, we have assurance, we have comfort. I pray that every one of my brothers and sisters here has that hope. Lord, help them be certain of their calling and your choosing of them. But Lord, if there are some that have deceived themselves, then I pray that tonight you would open their eyes and that they would repent and believe the gospel. And Lord, I pray that if they do, They recognize their sinners before a holy God, and they recognize the only hope is if Jesus pays the penalty for their sin, which he did at Calvary with the blood he shed on the cross. Lord, if they believe, then I pray that you would help them live out the fruit of the Spirit so they could have this hope, so they can be certain, so they can live in the midst of the storms with assurance. Lord, we love you. We pray for all the things that we've prayed about this morning and this evening. And as we face this week, Lord, help us be lights for you. We ask it all in Jesus' name, amen.