pray for us that we'll be able to go take your Bibles if you would and turn to 1 Peter chapter 3 and while you're finding that let me say that as a grandparent I have to say that Amy, our granddaughter, participated in a tournament, regional tournament, in Fort Wayne Friday and Saturday. She's on Genesis' team. I think this is her last year, maybe. She's played several years. And there were, I don't know how many teams, 60? Okay, well, she's kind of, okay. From a tri-state or many-state area. And their team, Genesis, and some of our Your families have had children played on that same team. Their team won the tournament, and that's quite an accomplishment, really had some good competition. So I want to just congratulate Amy and anybody else that may be affiliated with the Genesis team. Okay, 1 Peter chapter three. I had not planned to preach this message. As you might have noted in the bulletin, the message title is Giving Gleefully. And I thought to conclude the week in which we had faith promise, I would preach another message on giving gleefully, this is a different message than I planned to preach. And by the way, I preached this this morning, if you by chance might have seen it on YouTube, I doubt that it happened, but anyway, at Pleasant View Baptist in Noblesville. I hadn't planned to preach it there either, but the Lord just directed me here, and I'm sure for a purpose. And so I think I, want to preach the same message again this evening for you folks, because it's a message I need, I think we all need, as most messages are, but anyway. You know, when years ago, and probably most of you aren't young enough to remember this, but there was a chorus or a song, it went something like, the thigh bones connected to the hip bone, the hip bones connected to the back bone, the back bones connected to the neck bone, And then I forget the last part of that, and that's fine. Probably no big deal that I forgot it. But anyway, a little jiggle or a little course just about how everything is connected. Well, so it is in the body of Christ. We're all members of his body. He's the head of the church, and we are members, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12. So we are a connected bunch of people. I like one of the, on the screen, it said connected, we're connected. Connected in fellowship and service. And that's kind of the text tonight I want to talk about. In fact, I Peter chapter three, notice verse eight. Finally, be you all of one mind, having compassion of one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, Be courteous. Peter is kind of wrapping up a section here in 1 Peter. Both of his epistles are addressed to strangers scattered abroad. These people were first century believers. Because of persecution that came to the church of Jerusalem, that massive body, that thousands were saved initially in just a few days after Peter preached the Day of Pentecost. Persecution came, Acts chapter 1 says they were scattered abroad, most of them, and many of them were persecuted. In fact, later on in this epistle, Peter is going to prepare them for the persecution that they are having or that they should expect to have soon. But before that notice in chapter 2 verse 11 he says submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Then in verse 18 of the same chapter he says servants be subject to your masters with all fear. Chapter 3 verse 1 he says likewise you wives be in subjection to your own husbands. And then in verse 7 he says likewise you husbands dwell with your wives according to knowledge. So it has something to say to different groups of the church. And this verse, verse eight, is just kind of a transition, as he says, finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another. So that's my text this evening. I'm gonna just deal with each one of those Phrases, be all of one mind. Secondly, have compassion, one of another. Thirdly, love as brethren. Fourth, be pitiful. And then finally, be courteous. First of all, he says, be of one mind. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, what is called that is kingdom platform, Matthew chapters 6, 7, and 8. Luke has his version of it. In Luke chapter 6 he says, one of the things Jesus said was, as you would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them. We call it the golden rule. Treat others as you would have them treat you. That's kind of what this verse is compacted into one statement. As you would have others treat you, be willing to treat them the same way. And notice he says, be all of one mind. That's quite a statement, and when you think about it, and most of us have been involved in local churches long enough to know that that's the goal of every church, to have a one-mindedness. And Blessed is a church that is one-minded. I believe this church is. I believe the one in Nobles that I spoke to is. But I know that it's not always the case with all churches. Sometimes there is gut-wrenching division and head-knocking differences in bodies. In fact, when Paul wrote to probably the model church of the New Testament at Philippi, a church he founded, in the second chapter he says, I beseech Judas and Syntoche to be of the same mind, or be one mind. So there were a couple of churches in the model church where there were a couple of ladies that were, maybe they were arguing over the, not the color of the carpet, but something that major, some issue that they couldn't see. And that's not unusual. We have, I was thinking in the course of my ministry, I probably, I've always had deacons meeting once a month, so in 48 or 49 years, I think I probably had 2,000 deacons meetings. So it's not only women that don't see eye to eye. I can tell you from experience that sometimes it's men, and sometimes it's deacons even. But that doesn't mean we didn't have unity. Unity doesn't mean unanimity. It means a oneness of one mind. We all have come to the place where we're seeking God's will. We may have different opinions. We all come from different backgrounds, Experiences, different education, different cultures. I grew up in southeast Iowa, Ellen in western North Carolina. A different, kind of a different culture, but we've always had one mind, unity. Even though we've never, we've sometimes not had unanimity. She usually wins, by the way, except on major, major things. And we always, we agree. But anyway, you know what that's like. In the early church again, right after the day of Pentecost, they had not only unity, they probably had unanimity for a few days. It says in Acts chapter two, verse 44, this early church that continues steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. But then two verses down it says, and all that believed were together and had all things in common. All things common. Can you imagine? In fact, it says further, they sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. Boy, that is some unity. It didn't last long, because in chapter five we see where Ananias and Sapphira sold their possessions, but kept back a part that they didn't tell any about, brought what could be seen to the apostles, said, here's our possessions. Well, they lied, and you know what happened to them. While Sapphira was on a shopping spree, Ananias was smitten dead, and when she came back, She was too, so that was the end of Christian communism pretty quickly. But anyway, there should be a time when we are all of one mind. How do you have one mind? Well, I think the key is what Paul said about our Savior. He humbled himself. He said, have the same mind of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, humble himself and became obedient, even unto the death of the cross. That's the mind of Christ. He said, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you. Well, the first characteristic about his mind was he humbled himself. God in the flesh, the God man, humbled himself. made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of a man. Wow, what humility. So if we're gonna have one mind, as it says here in 1 Peter 3, be all of one mind, we need the mind of Christ. Not all together in unanimity, necessarily, we have different opinions, that's okay, that's human, that's to be expected. But our main, our mind is focused on what is God's will? What is the will of God? That's what I want. I may have my own opinion, but I want the Lord's will to be done in any issue, any matter that comes up in our home, our church, school, wherever, wherever we have anything to do with anybody. So that is number one. By the way, I read about flocks of geese who fly in formation. You've all seen them. sometimes this time of the year. And there's usually a lead, one out in the point, others behind, and it is said that when one is lagging behind, all the geese start honking. So if you hear a bunch of geese honking above, you see them, probably they're trying to tell that lagger to get with it, get in formation, fly with the rest of us. Well, we don't have a honking crew, but we have the Holy Spirit within us who will convict us if we're not of one mind with the body of Christ. Secondly, by the way, before I go to the second point, somebody said concerning this, nothing will get the attention of the world more as soon as this, when they see a body of believers, one-minded to serve God, to please God, to have his spirit leading, to have the Lord Jesus magnified, that gets the attention of the world. Now also when we're divided, it gets the attention of the world too, but not in a good way, but this we want to do. Secondly, have compassion. Notice it says in verse eight, have compassion. Having compassion one of another, it's so easy to shut up our bowels of mercy toward those who are suffering in our midst. We get so comfortable with our own routine. And so, We just need to be reminded of this admonition, have compassion. By the way, our Savior is one who set the example. The Bible says concerning Jesus, Matthew 14, 14, and Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them and he healed the sick. Matthew 20, verse 34, Jesus had compassion on them. Who? Two blind men sitting by the wayside near Jericho. He could have walked on by, as we might have, but he didn't. It says he had compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight. Mark 9.22, Pastor, Stedman, Brother Stedman preached on this passage this week, I think, he said, concerning the father who had a son plagued by a demon possession. Son would just throw himself into water, fire, anything, just could not control him since he was a child. Peter, James, and John up on the Mount, transfiguration with Jesus, the nine apostles down below couldn't help the man, couldn't help the boy. But when Jesus came down, the man saw Jesus and said, if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus, you know, did not turn them away. He had compassion and healed the boy on the spot. Luke 7, 13, and when the Lord saw her, that is the widow of Nain in the funeral procession of her son, when Jesus saw her, He had compassion on her and said unto her, weep not. And you know what he did? He spoke the words and the young man got up out of the beer, the casket, and Jesus broke up a funeral procession as he did at other times. So just his compassion. He was three days and three nights teaching the multitudes and the disciples said, we gotta send them home. And Jesus said, we can't send these people home. They haven't eaten for three days. He said, I will not send them home away fasting lest they faint in the way. And you know, he fed the multitude because of his compassion. Mark 141, and Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, the leper. said to him, Be thou clean. Well, I don't need to read any more verses about Jesus. In fact, Hebrews 4.15 says, We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points, that is, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the temptation, Matthew chapter 4. We're tempted in every one of those three areas, in all points, tempted like as we. He knows how we feel. He knows how we feel. He can be touched with the feelings, and he has compassion on us. If you have compassion on people, you will not be judgmental. Doesn't mean you will never judge righteous judgment, but you will not be looking for things to pick at. If you have compassion on people, you will, pray earnestly, and you will give generously, and you will realize that, hey, in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 1, or not verse 1, Verse four, it says, we believers have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. We are part of a body. We all, brothers and sisters, have an inheritance in heaven. We have the same father in heaven. We have the same savior. We're brought by the Holy Spirit. Why would we not want to look with compassion upon those who are of our number and those who are not of our number too. Thirdly, love as brethren. He says, love as brethren. This is a great admonition and I'm not going to dwell much upon it because we all know that Jesus said, this is how people will know you're my disciples, if you have love one toward another. So much said about it, the great commandment. The royal law, as James says, love as brethren. We love as brethren. We understand that as brethren, as I said, the inheritance through Peter 1.1, we share a common bond in Christ. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we stick together. We stick up for each other. We pray for one another. We pull for one another. We defend one another. We would fight one for the other. I mean in the good sense. Fight the good fight of faith. Because we have love one for another. I hope that if there's any strain of pride in your heart or bitterness or unloveliness towards some person that you can think of, You'll just bow your head in heart and say, oh, God, forgive me. I want your love to flow through my heart to this person that I'm having a hard time loving. I want you to love that person through me. It will work. There's no reason why you can't love any person that walks up. And I know some people have offended you and have offended God's people, and are offending God's people, mercilessly. It might take a little more grace for you to pray that prayer, but it works. God so loved the world. Why were you a sinner as Christ died for us? We can love all of his people. And sometimes love is tough, I understand that. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. We still love people, though we may have to, you know, we were reading up at Pleasant View this morning, Pastor Huffan begins the morning with a scripture passage that he reads. Sometimes I give him a cue if I'm preaching as to what to read, but I didn't today. I chose to read 2 Corinthians chapter 12, There's several verses in it. But he got down to, let me think of the verse here, about verse 12. Paul is kind of defending his apostleship. He'd been criticized, especially by the Church of Corinth, one of those churches that was not one of the perfect churches, not a model church. They were reset with division, deep division, as you read. And they were, even some of them were questioning Paul's motives. And Paul said in verse three of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I think it is, I'm sorry. He said, I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity in Christ. So he was concerned about him. So he talks about He says, I have not been chargeable to you for anything. I have robbed other churches so that I can minister to you. Robbed. He said, the church at Philippi, although he didn't, he said, he said, anything that I had lacking, the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. So he said, that would be Philippi, the model church. And so he was pretty blunt, pretty straightforward. But then in verse 12, he said, but what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion. That is, desire occasion to criticize me unjustly. That wherein they glory, they may be found. And then he talks about false apostles and Satan's emissaries. Satan himself transformed it. So he was very strong in that area. And there are times when, and I'm sure he would say he loved those people, but he had to take it strong. So love the brethren. Number four in our text tonight, number four is be pitiful. Be pitiful. What's he mean by that? Well, it means, as you probably know, be full of pity. He's already talked about compassion, but I think pity is just, Another, just a step further, be good-hearted would be another way to put it. Not quick to cut off, as we've seen here. Sometimes you have to. Not callous to the misery of other people. Not insulated. Sometimes it's so, especially for me, I'm retired, and not out and around as much as I used to be, and I can't be, I'd love to be sometimes, but anyway, it would be, it is easy for me if I would want to, and I don't want to, just to insulate myself from people, from problems, because everybody has some. I don't wanna do that, I never want to do it, but if I let my heart get to where I'm not, I don't reach out to those in pity that are having crises in their lives, then I would do that. James said in James 5, verse 11, the Lord is pitiful and of tender mercy. The Lord Jesus is pitiful, full of pity. I know that Jesus, who, by the way, was not taken surprise by what happened in Western North Carolina, and Georgia, and Tennessee, and other places the last few days. And by the way, it crushed our hearts. I think I'm speaking for all of you. It crushed our hearts. It does still, to think of it. I thought of Phyllis Hensley that used to sit over there. Her favorite verse was Nahum 1.7. She's not in this church any longer, but we still hear from her sometimes. Nahum 1.7, but before verse seven it said, the mountains quake at him. The hills melt. The earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwells therein. Who can stand before his indignation? abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and rocks are thrown down by Him." Yes, we've seen it. Rocks, boulders, by the power of, not Mother Nature, but by God's power. He's the one that created all of this. I'm not saying He poured this out on any North Carolina, Georgia, but He created it all and because of sin the whole creation is groaning right even at this moment and I think it's part of that groaning process. But anyway, verse 7, the Lord is good, amen, a stronghold in the day of trouble and He knoweth them that trust in Him. That's Phyllis' verse. The Lord is good, don't doubt it, Don't be overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed, but when I am, I've got to come back to this truth. God is good. God's going to get the glory. We are heartbroken for these dear people. And by the way, some of them are close to where Ellen grew up. Her sister lived in Asheville most of her life, more than that. It was her married life. Wilkes County, where Ellen's from, escaped the brunt of it. But Dr. Peterson, many of you know, went down to Asheville before the storm hit to see his mother, who was in a hospital there. And he was there during most all of this until just maybe a couple of days ago. I've asked him to share with you a testimony of what he saw because he saw it firsthand the way we have. We've seen pictures. But brother, Dr. Peterson, you come and just share with us. So that our hearts, I don't want our hearts to become calloused or insulated. I want you to hear it. I want to sit here because I want to fall on my face and say, oh God, how can I help? I have so much, and there are people there that have nothing. Dr. Peterson, take your time. Thank you, Pastor. It's good to be back at church, at Thompson Road Baptist Church. Pastor asked me this afternoon if I would kind of share my testimony of what I saw, what I felt, and I said I would be glad to share. Let me give you a little background just so you kind of understand what got me there. My mother has lived in Charlotte pretty much her entire life. About six weeks ago, we moved her to assisted living in Asheville, North Carolina, beautiful town. My sister lives high up in a mountain right in Asheville. So we thought it'd be better to have her there. My sister kind of keep an eye. And about six weeks ago, we got her into assisted living. She did fine, but about three weeks ago, developed a cough, diagnosed with pneumonia and asthma, so we had to put her in the ICU. At that point, Lorenda and I changed our schedule. We drove down, spent three days with her. My mother stabilized. We got her into the hospital, the regular room. We flew back. I decided with my sister, coming trip to Germany, needed to pack, had a lot of issues, so we prayed about it and I said, I just need to get off work and take care of my mom. So I flew back and was able to spend about a week sleeping in the hospital bed, being there with my mother, encouraging her, talking to the staff, living the life of a son, not a doctor, but living as a son. It was a blessing to be able to talk about the Lord and Jesus with my mother. And the Lord gave me that. Friday morning, well Thursday night, I kissed my mother goodbye and I said, I'm going to the hotel. I will be back tomorrow morning about eight o'clock. I typically don't travel a ton, but when I travel, I don't carry money. I use a credit card. My wife was not there, so I was either going to rent a car, but typically I would just Uber. It's not that expensive. So I said, I'm going to take an Uber, and I'll be back to see you in the morning. I knew the storm was coming. It was on the news. They said, hey, have some extra blankets. Have some cash on hand just in case you need it. It's going to be a lot of rain and really gusts of wind, so keep an eye out. So about 3 a.m. I heard the wind, heard the rain. I got up, got some coffee. The power was on about 9 or 10 that morning, which is a Friday. It started slowing up. It got sunshiny. I talked to Lorenda. The hotel did not have any rooms they could extend my stay, so Lorenda made me a reservation up the road at another hotel. And then I started losing my signal. And I said, my phone's broken. But then everyone was losing their signal. And then power went out, generators kicked on. water didn't work, sanitation didn't work, my phone didn't work. So I said, well, you know, of course I prayed and I said, I'm not really worried. So I said, well, let me go to this other hotel. So I get my suitcase and I walk up the road with a suitcase and that's a funny sight, but I wasn't too worried. I, you know, there's been worse things happen. So after a little while, I got to the hotel. They had a generator. They had some power. There were people lining up. People had started to come, families coming. because the interstates were blocked, there were lines, they were stuck on the interstate for five to six hours, so they needed a place to stay. Luckily, they had printed reservations that my wife had made, so I had a room, room keys worked, they gave me my room key, and I went up to my room, it was about six o'clock, bottled water, no food, I said, I think I'll just go to bed. So, got up about 3.30, four o'clock, And I said, I got to get to the hospital. So I went downstairs. It was quiet. I just asked the lady, which way is Mission Hospital? And she says, why? I said, well, I just need to walk there. Uber didn't work. The phones didn't work. Their phones didn't work. I was stuck. At this point, I got a little nervous, because I said, what am I going to do? And I just said, well, I'm just going to walk. I don't care where it is. She said, sir, you're not going to walk. You've got to go across the interstate. It's flooded. There's no way you're going to do it. A man came down. He had a car. He said, I'm checking out. I've got to get to the airport. I talked to him. I said, can I bum a ride? He said, sure. I said, if I can get to the airport, there'll be internet there. Got to the airport about 5 AM, nothing. There were just people walking around with their suitcases stuck. Again, no water, nothing. So it was about 7 30 in the morning. That gentleman had left. And that was about the lowest I've been in my life. I had no money. I was hungry. I was thirsty. They had bottled water. There were no vending machines. Nothing was open. I asked the police. I said, can you check my mother, let her know I'm OK? Can you get a hold of my wife? He said, sir, we're stuck. Our emergency phones don't work. All my microphone does is connect. So at that point, I felt hard, I felt tough, but I prayed to the Lord. And I knew, I said, Lord, I know you're going to take care of me. I was confident. When you draw near to the Lord, he will draw near to you. So I sat down, found a charge the Lord gave me. I charged my iPhone, even though it didn't work. And we started talking to people. And I started talking to people. I said, how are you doing? How is your family? And we shared stories, and it was good. And when you talk to a person who's not a Christian or who doesn't believe in God, and you say, hey, what's your name, can I pray for you? They say, please do, thank you. I think that's one way we can have the Lord touch them and have them start thinking about the Lord. So I was good and I would always stop and make sure I pray for them right there to myself. But I was praying for the Lord, just praying to the Lord and asking the Lord just to guide me and I had good confidence. And the first point I wanted to make to y'all is about answered prayer. because I had confidence. And I think we all as Christians understand God is going to answer our prayer. Now, I was hoping for two minutes from when I pray, but it may be that day, it may be a week. I know God is going to answer my prayer in the way that's best for me. So I had a peace. Even though I was sad and hungry, I knew God would answer. And let me just tell you, praise the Lord, God answered my prayers. There was no cell phone service, but about 3.30 or 4, there was a man talking on his phone, and I went, oh my goodness, and people started to crowd around him. And he had Verizon, and he had a spot of about probably 20 yards where he had signal. And the Lord allowed him to have a kind heart, and he yelled people, come here, I've got a phone, who needs to use it? And I went up and I was able to contact my wife, who was just wonderful and we talked and she was reassured. And I made that call and was able to also find out that Parker Nye, who is in Greenville, had already contacted his parents and my wife about saying, I'm gonna go up and get Dr. Peterson before anyone even asked that I needed help. So we were able to kind of have him help me, and I'll tell you about that in one second. But I sat back, and I thanked the Lord. I said, Lord, thank you. That's an answer to prayer, and that helps me. And that just reassured me. And then about 30 minutes, 40 minutes later, the airport comes up with food. They have sandwiches, water. So I was fed. I felt confident. I felt good. And then Parker and I made his way up that day after about two and a half hours and he, bad roads, what not, he came up and he was like a sight for sore eyes. I wanted to kiss him on the cheek but I didn't because he wouldn't have appreciated that. But he was able to take me back to my motel, and I was able just to grab some medicines, something for my mother that she wanted, and I wasn't thinking to get all my stuff and check out, but he was able to do that, brought me back to the hospital, dropped me off, and that was just such a blessing from the Lord. I was able to be with my mother. From that point on, I was at the hospital for most of the time. And I had been there a week, 10 days before, and then I was there for this past week. And the hospital staff pretty much spent the night there. There was no sanitation. You could not flush commodes. There was bottled water only, and when that was running out, they had buckets of water that staff was bringing in from trucks that were able to drive there to get through. The generator worked for two days, then they got power, which was wonderful. There was no food service. The hospital provided bagels and yogurt and just packaged goods, which was a blessing. I had no money. and I will not, I'm gonna always have 20 or 30 bucks with me from now on. But I was struggling with the money and I prayed to the Lord. I just said, Lord, you know. Take, show me and just take care of me. And I trusted the Lord. I knew the Lord was going to take care of me. And about 11 o'clock at night and all the ATMs were broken. There was no electricity. There was nothing. The generators didn't work. I was talking to the respiratory therapist and she said, we talked about that. And she said, oh yeah, I was able to get money downstairs about 30 minutes ago. And I said, what? And she said, yeah, there's an ATM working. I said, excuse me. I went down there. I went down there, and it was working. I got some money. I called my wife, because my cell phone was working. And I told her, and we about cried together. And she said, Brenda told me, go back and get some more. So which was probably smart. So I was able to get some more money. And then I went back upstairs, and I just praised God. God was actively reaching out to me when I needed him. And I just said, I was just so thankful. But the suffering that I saw was secondary. The people I would get up in the morning and go downstairs and just walk around, and the staff was somber. The staff was sad. About 90% of people I asked, hey, how are you doing today? Did you have any damage? They had damage. Most people said, oh, it wasn't bad. I just had a tree limb break through my roof. Or my car just got tipped over. Some people said, my home was ruined. My home was flooded. I have nothing. And I said, you're at work? And they said, that's all I've got. And those people, God, my heart just went out for them. And I said, what is your name? May I pray for you? And 100%, please do. I need it. And the staff was wonderful. I think we all realized that we're flesh, we can prepare, but you know what, we have to be ready. And it really, it really showed me that that things can change in a second. And that's why we always need to be thankful. We always need to be aware of the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit guides us. And as Pastor has said, there's suffering, there's need, and just touching someone on the shoulder or asking them how they're doing can make a big difference to somebody. And that's one thing the Lord showed me again. In my practice, I am blessed to see people every day to talk about Jesus if it's the right time, to lay a hand on someone and say, how can I help? God's given me the best profession in the world. But I think in times outside of the office, he showed me how I can do a better job. And I thank God for the time he gave me in Asheville. I thank God for the time he gave me in Asheville. So the suffering is real. They need our prayers. We got, the last day I was there, water came back on. I can't imagine sewage that is just really bad, but I think that's getting better. So Asheville's coming around, but they do need our prayers. And I just, I echo what Pastor Sloot said. I finally want to talk about our church family. Forgive me. I have always enjoyed Sunday school because it's small group. And it's a time we can build bonds to serve one another, to help one another, to solve problems with one another, and to encourage one another. And I think the Lord, that's one of the wonderful, I mean, church, we're here to worship Jesus Christ, but we're also here to help one another and to be fortresses with each other to help and build people up. And when I was at my lowest at the airport, I knew that I had people praying for me, and I thank you. I thank you for that. And I prayed for y'all while I was there. And again, I was able to call Parker Nye, I thank him. The Nyes, Dale Nye, Marty, thank you. The Marxes, What they contacted my wife and they talked. Kyle and Alexa drove from Bob Jones just a day or two after, maybe three days after, through the detours and stuff and brought me a huge care package of shirt, a couple t-shirts and some boxers and some food. I hadn't had coffee in seven, six days. Terrible headache the first day from withdrawal, but then I got used to it. But I sucked down that coffee and Kyle was smiling because he knows how much I like coffee. But they came and they said, what can we do for you? And I about cried. I just said, thank you all very much. It's hard for me to accept people helping me. Lorinda said, let them help you. And I did. And it was wonderful. They met every need I had. And they were safe to get back. And I just want to just to thank the Marxists for that. Bob Abbott, I was trying to get help. I needed to get transportation. I had Bob Abbott send me a list of just churches in the area because I said, you know, I can find a Baptist church, knock on the door, and just ask for help, and I'm sure they will help me. I couldn't find one near. I couldn't walk to one. Finally, I said, hey, Pastor sloots and mrs. Sloots. I was able to call them within about five minutes They were able to set me up with a friend of mrs. Sloots his sister in Asheville Who I called her out of the blue and within 25 minutes She had her Tacoma blue pickup truck in front of the hospital and said what can I do to help you? And she took me I checked out of my motel came back and I was able to really stay with my mother the entire time so I I just I want to encourage everyone here to have compassion, have the love of Christ for others. It's so easy when we're busy and we've got our own personal problems. But gosh, when you see people suffering, when you see people have loss, Christ wants us to touch them. And all it takes is 30 seconds or a minute, maybe, to say, hey, What can I do for you? How are you? Can I pray for you? And that makes a difference. It really does make a difference. And I just want to thank Thompson Robe Baptist Church. We have a great church here. We have a great body of Christ here. And I just want to thank you all and want to say that Jesus Christ died for me, I am thankful for that, and I want to be a better Christian. And I thank Him for the Holy Spirit guiding me in all that I do. Thank y'all. Well, that's priceless. Thank you so much. And I hope that you will always remember this. We are connected people, having the same mind, one to another. And when we see people hurting, and we should just wait till we see them, we should, as Doc said, ask them, is there anything I can do for you? Get plugged in. Well, my text is, I came to just about the end of it. The last thing is be courteous. And that's pretty fundamental. But I hope that that passage, that verse, you will just kind of highlight it in your Bible. It's such a practical, a wonderful admonition from the Apostle Peter, who by the way, before the crucifixion, took his sword out and cut somebody's ear off. And later on, a few years later, he said, be courteous, be courteous. And of course, Jesus was the epitome of courtesy when he was standing before Pilate One of the pilot's officers slapped him in the face with his palm of his hand because he didn't like the answer Jesus gave. When Jesus simply said to pilot's question, what do you believe? Are you a king? And what have you been teaching? And Jesus said, well, just ask the people I've been teaching. I haven't tried to do anything undercover. Go ask them. And he got slapped in the face. Peter later said, when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he was persecuted, he didn't threaten. He didn't come out with threats. Be courteous. I was driving up to Noblesville this morning and just coming off 465 onto 69 North, and immediately I saw one of those construction red barrels. You see them all the way on either side going up, but this was right smack in the middle of the highway. and it was standing straight, it wasn't lying down, it was standing right in the middle. I was going like 60 mile an hour probably, cars somewhat behind me, but I was able to swerve because there was nothing coming behind me immediately, swerve around it, and I don't know what happened to the cars coming behind me because there were more cars bunched up a little bit. Somebody, but I was thinking, you know, If I'd had to stop, slow down or stop, I might have had somebody blow their horn at me because we're so impatient. The deacon up at Pleasant View said this morning in a testimony before I preached to him, he said, we are living in such an angry age. People just get mad at anything. And you've seen it yourself. If somebody has to stop, like I saw at the intersection out here the other day, for some reason, and doesn't get started real quick, the car behind, young guy just squealed around him, burnt rubber, you know, for no reason, just because he was not courteous, not patient, not kind. I hope this lesson, and thank you, Dr. Peterson, for the testimony. Sure, we'll never forget it, and we appreciate you sharing your heart with us. Got something else to say? Yeah, there's the mic. I apologize. I cannot leave this testimony without mentioning Mike Fultz. You know, how did I get back home? Well, my mother was stable for transfer. She needed to get to physical therapy rehab after being in a hospital bed for two and a half weeks. So I really couldn't fly her myself home. I wasn't quite sure. You know, the nighs offered, you know, Lorinda said, do you want me to help? And Mike Fultz about two weeks ago had said, hey, do you need me to come down and help you with anything? And I said, no. So I called Mike Fultz and I said, Mike, what are you doing today? It's about nine o'clock. And he said, what do you need? And I says, well, I need a ride home. He said, I'll be there. He got his phone. He did work from his phone. He drove eight and a half hours, got there about 530. helped me get my mother in the car, and he turned right around and drove us back. And then I think he had one day at home, and then he and his wife drove to Washington, D.C. So I just want to thank Mike false publicly. I just I appreciate him, and I couldn't leave without sharing that with my church family. Yeah, sure. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this preaching today. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit. Oh, Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, our Savior. Oh, Lord, give us a more compassionate heart. Help us to meet the needs of others as you direct us and just, Lord, we just trust in thee. Please be with us as we go home. Please be with our pastor as he is away. Keep him safe and be with us. Keep us safe and help us to lead others to Jesus. In his name we pray, amen.