I wanna introduce this morning what our theme as a whole is, but to get there, I'm gonna do a slight rehearsal of the past, because we've had now, this is a year, we're going into year seven. This is year seven. And we've had a theme for each year, which is, Not that we only focus in that year on those things, but it is the year we put a high emphasis on that particular thought, and it's to be added into the things that we continue to focus on as a church. And so I'm gonna give a little bit of a background of where we started to where we are now with each year, but you got that ready? So, go ahead and put the first one, we'll just go. And our first year, we put our theme for 2019, the theme was All to the Glory of God, because everything that we do as a church, as a body, together for the cause of Christ, has to have one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to be all to the glory of God. No individual has the right to take the glory belonging to God. Now, he uses people to accomplish the task, but the only way we accomplish it is by his strength and his power. Brother Butch talked about that. He was stepping all over stuff that I was going to this morning, and I just about stopped him in Sunday school and said, you're done. If we're gonna do anything, we might be the tool that God uses. I don't mean that in a bad way. We are a vessel, we are a tool, we are vessels under honor when we allow him to use us as he desires for his glory. But it's all for that purpose. So 2019, we started with the main foundational focus of all to the glory of God. Everything is the glory of God. In 2020, Our theme and focus was seeing the invisible. Not everything you want to see within the body of Christ, within the church or ministries you're a part of are immediately visible. There are some things that are unseen and yet you have vision to look forward and see what could be. If we get stuck in seeing what is, especially if what is is discouraging, you don't go very far that way. But if you can take what is and look beyond to what can be, then you can focus on seeing the invisible. And there are those in the Bible, the Bible that God talked about, laid out for us, that they did what they did seeing that invisible, the one who is invisible, the one who orchestrates, maybe not be able to see him with our physical eyes, but we can see him spiritually moving and working, and it may not be what we're looking for now that is visible, but if we have our eyes in a spiritual sense looking forward, we can have vision to see the invisible that's possible with God. So in 2021, by the way, y'all remember what happened in 2020? There was a lot that became invisible. Little did we know that seeing the invisible became a reality because you walked in here on a Sunday morning, invisible. Yes, we did some live streaming at times because there was sickness going around. We went out in the parking lot and though I could see cars, I could not see people. And with some of you, that was a blessing. No, I'm picking, I'm picking. But people were like, ooh, he actually said that. I'm joking. Breathe. Breathe. I know, yeah. So they had to see me. I was standing there. But as a whole, we didn't know what 2020 held. And as a whole, many places closed their doors because when it became a non-physical visibility, there was, and again, I'm not being accusative, but it is the evidence of what happened. Many places did not survive because they lived on the visible and not on the vision of what could be with God's help. Little did we know that that's what was coming, but that's what the Lord prepared us for, to see beyond what was visible to what God could still do in spite of the problems. Then 2021. Our goal and our focus for 2021 was being fashioned for service. Things were starting to kick back in and it was time to get back in the ministry side of it and being vessels that God could use and working together knowing that we were not fashioned to sit, soak, and sour. We were fashioned to serve. God desires to use the vessels. He wants to cleanse and purify every vessel that it may be fit for the master's use. He has a plan. He has a desire for every single person. And he wants to use your life in a way that will not only accomplish the cause of the gospel, but will go back to the very first year, bring him honor and glory through it all. but we have to be servants fashioned for service. And so our focus in 2021 was getting back in the mindset, we can see God do the invisible, but we have got to be willing to be used in service for the invisible to become a reality. And then we went into 2022, And 2022 was our anniversary year. That was the year Bethel Baptist Church celebrated 150 years old. And began to look and I honestly was like a goose in a hailstorm. I didn't know which way I was flying. I thought about who do I call and ask, how did y'all celebrate your 150th? You do know that's a great rarity. There's a lot of churches you can call about, you know, a 25 year, a 50 year, some a 75, a few, maybe a hundred, but there's very, very few that have survived, especially when you look at the ups and downs of the history of Bethel Baptist Church. There are very few that are on the survival list of having that high of a peak to that low of a valley of things that have happened several times, and yet God still protected the ministry in order to keep moving forward. And I began to pray and looking like, Lord, what in the world do we focus on? How do we do this? I am in completely unknown territory on this one. And the thought I believe from the Lord honestly just came and that is you don't get where you're going, you don't get where you are unless you stay the course. And you don't go further unless you stick with it. And so the theme for 2022 was just stay the course. That which has gotten us this far, The one which has brought us this far is the one we stay with. The book that has brought us and taught us and guided this far is worth just sticking with. No sense of changing. Why do I need to change? It hadn't failed me. Why do I need to change the one I follow? He hasn't failed me. Why does the church need to change its focus of missions to something else? Getting the gospel around the world has never been a failing focus. So 150 years of existence happened because individuals stayed the course. And if the Lord doesn't return another 150, it's only going to happen by God's people staying the course. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. So we stick with it. Then last year, with staying the course, and I had a great burden that you may not always get to see the harvest, but the child of God is told to sow the seed. You may not always get to see the beautiful white fields and go in and do the reaping and have all the rejoicing, but somebody's gotta plow up the fallow ground and somebody's gotta go out and plant the seed and then somebody's gotta go behind and do the watering and the nurturing because you never get to a harvest unless you do the first things. And it doesn't take much to sow a seed. I was going back and listening to a little bit about the introduction for each year, and I went back and heard a really good preacher preaching. I'm joking again, all right? But I was listening to reminding myself what it was that I had presented. And one of the things that we focused on in 2023 was the fact that the sower in the Bible was not necessarily one that would do what you're seeing there and putting each individual seed down. The picture of a sower is one who had a bag and they cast They just, they cast it. And some fell on rocky, stony grounds. Some fell by the wayside. Some fell in thorns. And there's a whole picture of all that took place. But it wasn't the responsibility of the sower to figure out all the best places to put the seed. His job was just to get it out there. And the word of God will not return void one way or the other. One way or the other, it gives those that have had a chance to receive truth, it has given them a moment of now being without excuse. We have done our job. We have cast the seed. We have done our best. You don't always know what that track that you hand out, you don't always know what it accomplishes. You don't know what it might do. My dad's told several stories of this account and other preachers have as well of individuals that have showed up years and years and years later after receiving a track and what happened was they were in no mood for one when they got one somebody just gave it to them and they normally would just throw it down but for some reason that time they just weren't thinking about it stuck it in their pocket they got home next thing you know after they got home they're like they're emptying their pockets out like oh huh What's that? So they toss it over in a drawer somewhere. Years down the road, their life's falling apart. They don't know what's going on. They're pulling things out and packing some stuff up because everything's in turmoil and they don't know what to do, but they're having to pack stuff. All of a sudden, there pops out that track. Maybe it's one that says, lost hope. Maybe one that says, having trouble finding your way? Just a little statement, all of a sudden it caught their eye, and they turn it over, they begin to go through it and read and begin to realize that their problem is a sin condition, and there's a solution through a Savior who died for them, and there's an opportunity for them to receive that solution of this sin problem, and they realize this is what I need. And that tract they received years ago that got shoved away just so happened to pop up. Seemingly an insignificant, useless seed that got shoved away happened to just pop up at the right time. What a coincidence. No, the Lord knew what he was doing. And when they were tender and when they were needy, truth was present because someone sowed the seed. And so our focus in 2023 was sow the seed. Just get it out there. Share it with somebody. By the way, that's going to fall in line with today as well. And then last year, our focus was for such a time. Little did we know, and I'll just be honest, I was listening to 2024's message, like today, and I was looking at my notes of the list of things that I put down that we saw accomplished and what God did in 2023. And I'll be honest with you, I was looking and thinking, I need to make a list this time. By the way, I always tell myself I'm gonna make a list as the year goes along. Guess what I don't do? Make a list. I make a mental list, and y'all know how well that works for me. But, I was looking at that list, and then I'm thinking back over 2024, and not that God hasn't done some miraculous and wonderful things in 2024, but I can't remember them. You say, preacher, that's horrible. No, no, no, no, no, I'm getting somewhere. Here it is. Little did we know, little did I know that, because I battled over what 2024's focus should be, and I wasn't sure. I battled over this year's focus for a while, and I wasn't sure. But when I finally landed on this is what God, for such a time, I don't know what's gonna happen. There's gonna be turmoil come November, I know that much, and all the way leading up, just because it always is an election year, regardless, I just don't like it. but there's gonna be issues, there's gonna be turmoil. We don't know what we're gonna face. We don't know what all's ahead of us. Every year has ups and downs, but 2024, going into it, honestly, I really believed we were probably gonna see the Lord come back in 2024 because it was that wacky. I'm glad I didn't make a prediction, all right? There have been preachers that made that mistake. You can't do that about the, return of Christ when it comes to the rapture. But for such a time was a focus of we might look and say, why us? Why our generation? Why now? Why do we have to be the ones to face all of this? Why do we gotta be the ones to go through COVID and try to figure out how to be the church in COVID? Why don't we have something to look back on and say, oh, well, there's a roadmap of how to do this. There was no roadmap. I talked to several older pastors, some that weren't even, Pastor Schmidt was one of them, and he at times said, he's a preacher, I'll just be honest with you, I don't envy what y'all, what pastors today are dealing with and the fact of y'all have a responsibility that no one in our generation coming up, that when I was a pastor and all my pastor friends, we did not deal with this level. of an issue to have to figure out how do we move ministries forward when it feels like the wall against it has been built so high and so wide you can't go over and you can't go around. What do you do? I said, thanks, appreciate that. I'm like, you got any suggestions? Nope. I'm like, thanks, okay. But we didn't know what 2024 was gonna hold. I can tell you right now. We started 2024, and we told this Ms. Patsy yesterday, we started 2024 with more staff help here at Bethel Baptist Church than I've ever had since I've been here. We ended 2024 with less staff help than I've ever had since being here. I did not expect that. I was not seeing that. Boy, we started 2024, and though I felt like maybe this year is gonna be kind of a doozy of a year, I was not anticipating that the hit was gonna come from some areas it came from. I'm like, wow! And as a whole, for me as your pastor, let me tell you, 2024 is almost like a blur. I can think back hard and I can remember some good things. Boy, the Lord did some wonderful things for us in 2024. But I look back sometimes and there are some, I'm like, I just, I can't put my hand on, I just can't grab a hold like I did for 2023. I could see all these wonderful things that God did. 2024, it feels like it never happened for me. And you say, that's horrible, preacher. I know, I'm awful. But as a whole, we are still here for a purpose. We are here for such a time. God chose this generation, chose us as his desired vessels for such a time. And so we looked, and I'll just throw these at you very quickly. The message itself is very short. Let me just give you these. We had 12 months. I'm planning on, Lord willing, if he'll allow me, I'm planning on doing the same thing this year to a degree with our focus. But we had 12 months and we had 12 main focuses to go along with for such a time. And here they are very quickly. January, we looked at faith for such a time. February, we looked at needing compassion for such a time. March, we looked at needing commitment for such a time. April, we looked at renewal. You cannot make it unless you let God refill you. If you only give out, give out, give out, you will give out completely. You have to allow God to renew you. In May, we looked at brokenness. If you're not willing to let God break you, by the way, The precious spikenard, this precious ointment that was poured out for worship to Jesus as his feet were washed with it, it could never have been done unless the vessel was willing to be broken. And unless we're willing to be broken as God desires to break us, listen, every time that he breaks, he's not breaking to hurt, he's breaking to mold, to soften, to make us moldable for his purpose. The way I'm shaped may not be the shape God wants me to be in for his purpose, so he might need to reshape me. And he might have to go ahead and do some tough things in my life to teach me. I've got to be willing to be broken by His will for His purpose to be molded for His plan. In June, we looked at courage. If you're going to make it in such a time as this, you better have some courage. Then we dealt with one that everybody loved, consistency. July was dealing with consistency. Without consistency, we don't stick with it. You need to make a habit through consistency of those things which honor and glorify God. In August, we looked at conviction. It's one thing to have something you, oh, I believe it. No, are you convicted about it? Convictions push you beyond social norms and push you beyond what people call acceptable. Convictions are what you hold to when everybody else goal of the rope. We need convictions. In September, we need steadfastness. being steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for such a time as this. In October, we said we gotta have a purpose. If you're doing it just because, well, it's what we do, you won't last very long. You better have purpose, and it better be the right purpose, God's purpose. November, naturally, being Thanksgiving, we looked at gratitude. If you're not grateful, you will walk away. If you and I are not grateful to what the Lord has done, we will only see the things that he has not done for me. Gratefulness keeps my attitude in check. And then in December, we ended with passion. What you are passionate about, you accomplish. People are passionate about their football. They could be dying, sick in the bed, and when the game turns on, one way or another, they're watching it. Passionate. Many of you are passionate about your grandchildren. And if you have a chance, you'll drop everything and everybody to make sure you can be there for your grandchildren. Why? You're passionate about that. It's not a bad thing. Passion is what drives you and I. Are we passionate for the things of Christ? For such a time as this is gonna need people who are passionate for Christ. And that leads us into this year. If you had a bulletin, you saw that our theme for this year is making much of Jesus. We are in a timeframe now, I understand that in this timeframe that we live in, Jesus can be a trigger word for religious activity. There are a lot of people who know how to speak the name of Jesus, but it does not mean that they walk with Christ. People know how to speak the name of Jesus, but it does not mean that they're focusing on making much of who He is, and His holiness, and His goodness, and what He can accomplish in us. What He wants to do, and what John said, He must increase. I must decrease, but here's the thing. Many people know how to speak Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and it's just a spiritual word. People understand more spiritism than they understand spiritual walk with God. Now, I'm just hitting the nail on the head. But if we use Jesus as a way to sound spiritual, may I say that would even be a level of taking His name in vain. Vanity of vanity to use Jesus as a way for people to think that I'm super spiritual. There are people who will in an instant out of a habit or out of a tradition of mentality will speak the power of Jesus over something to claim healing. Or to claim, now don't get me wrong, there is power in the name of Jesus. But if we misuse that which is precious, we have abused that which has been afforded us. The name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, is not something to use so as to pull upon for my benefit. Making much of Jesus, we're gonna see in a moment, our focus out of Acts 5.42, is what the early, beginning, foundational New Testament church knew concerning the power of the name of Christ. Go with me to Acts 5.42. our key verse, and I'm gonna give you these two simple thoughts for our focus. Now, as a whole, even if you look at the pastor's pen, you're not gonna get our main focus for this month. I'm gonna share it to you, but as a whole, January's always a focus on the entirety of where we're headed with our thought, with our focus for the year. But we are going to give one specific element that we need to understand this morning concerning making much of Jesus. What is our focus in the month of January in making much of Jesus? It is a foundational area for every single one of us for the church today. So in Acts 5.42, it's very simple what it is that we are told. This is dealing with the New Testament church, the early beginnings of the church that Christ himself is the cornerstone of. He's not only the cornerstone, he is the author. Okay? It is not your church, it is not my church, it is Christ's church. It is God's church. So we look at this and here's what they understood and they showed it by their actions. Acts 542, and daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach, who? Jesus Christ. They were focused on making much out of who Jesus is. What did they share if they're sharing Jesus Christ? The only thing that you can share concerning Jesus Christ that makes any difference to any individual. The death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God. which is the gospel. but you cannot give the gospel without making much of Jesus. And you cannot make much of Jesus without giving the gospel. It is hand in hand, one equals the other. And now there are multiple other things that we can see concerning Jesus, and we'll be doing that on Sunday nights. For several Sunday nights down the road here, we're gonna be looking at who is this Jesus. We're gonna be seeing some of that so that we can look and say, hey, here's something you can share to make much of Jesus. We're going to be doing that on Sunday evenings for several weeks to come. But as a whole, our goal is not to make much of Bethel Baptist Church. Not to make much of Pastor Decker. All I can say, please don't put me too high on a pedestal, it's a long ways down. It's not to make much of everything we do for everybody. Listen. I want to make sure that people know they are appreciated with what they do. I appreciate Brother Bob coming up and soldering and working on our pulpit. I still heard a hiss this morning, but we'll figure out what it is. But I appreciate him coming up and working and soldering and fixing the plug down here. I appreciate people who clean and help keep things up. Brother Bryant has been helping taking care of the sign for me. All right, he goes on the ladder. He's a lot younger. If he falls, he won't break as fast as I do. And so, but as a whole, I appreciate Brother Butch stepping up and here he is now involved and the school, that's the one area where we have seen an increase in staff. Hallelujah. moving forward and he and I working together, cleaning stuff out, boy, I'm appreciative of everybody that has pitched in and all those that have helped with so many different areas of ministry and I want you to know you're appreciated and I want you to know that your pastor does recognize those things. But here's the thing, if we do it for recognition and we don't do it to make much of him, we're doing it for the wrong reasons. He's all that matters. He's everything. Why do you go to church? Because of Him. Why do you wanna spend time with God's people? Because of Him. Why would you wanna sing, even if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, why would you wanna sing? Because of Him. Why would you wanna hand a track out? Because it tells of Him. Why do you wanna invest so much time in that religious-y stuff? It's not religion, it's not just religion, it's all about Him. He matters. He's the one, by the way, we will let each other down. I tell everybody that wants to join the church, listen, all I can tell you right now with 100% certainty is if you stick around long enough, one day I'm gonna disappoint you. Just go ahead and accept it now and it won't hurt so bad. One day I'm gonna let you down. But here's the thing, if I do, the only thing I ask is, you follow biblical protocols, and you come to me and say, preacher, I need to talk with you. Because it might be something I need to learn from. Or it might be something we need to clear up that was just a confusion, a mistake. But as a whole, here's the thing, I'm gonna let you down, you're gonna let me down, we're all gonna let each other down. But there's one who does not fail us. Another song we love to sing with the choir, Jesus Never Fails. It's about time we start making much of Jesus in all we do, in all we say. Our purpose we have to have is Him. He is our Savior. These are just three things, there's multiple, but He is our Savior, He is our fortress, and He is our foundation. Without Him we have nothing. You can come to church here preaching and leave just as empty as you were when you first got here. Get nothing out of it, get no encouragement, come in dead, leave deader. unless he's everything. And if he's everything to the preacher, and he's everything to every single member of the church, he's everything to every child of God in the church, he is everything to every one of us as a church, then when we come together, you cannot leave worse off than when you first came in, because when you come in and I come in, and we gather together, we serve together, we work together, we rejoice together, and it's all because of him, you can't leave discouraged. Because when he is magnified, he says, and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto myself. By the way, when our eyes are on all the discouragements, and you get your eyes on Him, it's amazing how it just draws you to Him. And everything else just kind of may still be there, but it's a lot. You ever notice that when you see things far away, they're so small? Anybody ever been in an airplane? You ever look down on the city when you're up in the airplane, and every little bitty ants all over the place? But if you actually went down in the city, it's huge, towering buildings. It's all about focus. When you're with him, the problems are still there, but they're a lot smaller because he's the focus. Making much of him makes all the difference. And here it is, okay, and I'm gonna give you this, we're done. I do have to say one thing that Brother Butch messed up for me this morning in Sunday school. He hit it, but I've already been talking about it, so I'm still gonna claim it as I was first. But here it is. The biggest problem for the church today falls in this line. There are two different ways to live being a Christian. You can live passively. or you can live actively. Passive Christianity is one that I'm just gonna live my life, do my thing, be who I'm supposed to be, and hopefully somebody will see something in me and maybe it'll encourage them. It's called lifestyle evangelism, which there is the need for us to live our life according to the will of God so others can see. That is Romans 12, one and two, the whole point of being a living sacrifice, not for the Lord, he already knows what you are, it's for those who in this life can see you in your life. And therefore they look at you and what does your life, what does your body, what does your actions tell them about what you believe? That is a lifestyle scenario of living out what you say you believe. Passive Christianity is letting it just be that hoping that maybe I don't have to do much of anything but just be me for God is just do my walk do my thing be a good person and People will be encouraged to want to do something for God because of what they see that's wonderful But I don't have to speak up. I don't have to witness. I don't have to say anything I don't have to hand anything out. I don't have to do anything I'll just I'll just be an existence and somehow that's going to make a difference. That's called passive Christianity Active Christianity is when I've got something to share. You see, the church in Acts was not a passive Christianity church. They were an active Christianity church. Daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach. It didn't say they ceased not to sit there and look pretty. They cease not to teach and to preach actively. And who do they teach and preach? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Let me tell you about Christ. Let me show you who Christ is. Let me tell you what my God can do. Let me tell you how God has helped me through. Let me give you something that can tell you who matters more than anything else. Let me show you who you are and how unlovely you are in the eyes of everybody and how unlovely I am and yet one still loves you. Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me give you something about Jesus. Let me share to you Jesus, that's what they did. And by the way, the church grew by thousands. Why? Because they saw all these wonderful people just doing wonderful. No, no, because people were telling others about Jesus. And when they heard truth, some rejected, but many responded. And by thousands and by thousands, the church grew. And it wasn't just there. Paul then went all, read Acts. Paul went all throughout Macedonia. And Paul got to go through the parts of Asia. And Paul had every, we looked at this, every intent to go to Spain. And what was he taking, a vacation? No. What was he talking about? His learned philosophy in the temple? No. What was he taking with him? The message of Jesus Christ. He said, in the Old Testament, your prophets and all that you see in the books of the law, all these things that are presented, let me tell you who he is that they were talking about. His name is Jesus. Some of them hated him for it, but it didn't stop him. Some of them loved him for it, and it just encouraged them more. Making much of Jesus. And here's where I'm gonna close, and I'm not going to take you, write down this passage of scripture. Acts chapter 10. verse 21 through 27, and then verse 34 and 35. I'm not gonna turn there, I'm not gonna read it for sake of time, because time's up for this morning. But here is our focus for January. If we're gonna make much of Jesus, it's gonna have to be making much of Christ in the home. We have too little of Christ in the home. I could give you several examples of issues of people, not even, not here, and not that go to church here, but just several issues of different ones that I've dealt with and seen, and the issue really comes down to one core problem. kids were growing up in the home, and though they went to church, and though they knew all the churchy stuff, Christ was not made a big deal. Jesus, and again, I'm not a perfect picture of how to do it, okay? I'm not being braggadocious or pompous about it. I'm telling you, I fail like everybody else. I have failed, I have made a lot of things a lot more important in my home at times than Jesus. Not on purpose, but I can look back and say, ouch, what a failure. But we have children growing up and the next generation has less and less and less desire for the things of God. Why is it? Because Jesus is not made a big issue of in the home. Psalm 127.1 talks about that. You could write that verse down as well, but Psalm 127.1 says, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless things are centered around the Savior, the home can have a structure, but it'll be faulty. Because here's the thing, here's the vital key of the home. A home is only as strong as its foundation. A lot of homes are built on me. It's built on the parent. Can I just be honest with you? There's not a single parent or grandparent in here that if you looked in the mirror and were honest with yourself would say you are a strong enough foundation to be a sure foundation all the time for your home. Because you and I alone don't have it. We have moments and spurts, but we don't have it. Where does the strength to build a home that glorifies and honors God, where does the ability to build that home come from? The foundation of Jesus Christ. Marriage is not man and woman alone. It is man and woman with Christ at the center of it all. The home is only as strong as its foundation. And Christ, though accepted to be the cornerstone of the church, is not necessarily thought of as the cornerstone of the home. And that's where we're missing a vital key. And the last thing is this, a common misconception. You see it in Acts 10. In Acts 10, you use the story of Cornelius. a Gentile that was seeking for God and desired him. He had heard of the teachings of John the Baptist. He had heard about the one who was to come. He had heard and searched and seen and he is an outsider. He is a Gentile and he's not one that was seen as the one that the Messiah was sent to. And yet, he searched for God, and he was searching for truth, and God met with him and said, I want you to go sin for a man named, called Simon Peter. Here's where he is, here's where you find him. You send for him and tell him to come. And then God met with Peter and told Peter, through vision, I want you to go. And he showed him, you can go to those whom you think are unclean, but you don't call unclean, which I've called cleansed. In other words, don't you say who the gospel's for. I'm telling you who the gospel's for. Jesus died for all, not just for the Jew. And so Peter gets the message. He sees three Gentile men. He saw the vision three times. He sees three Gentile men and he realizes here are three unclean individuals who have come and God has told me they are here for me. So he goes with them just to find that Cornelius had gathered his friends. friends and family. He brought them into his house. Why? Because in his house, he was gonna make much of whatever it is that he was about to be taught. Now, he didn't know what it was. He didn't know what truth was coming. All he knew was God told him, you sinned for this man, this man is gonna be my messenger bringing you the truth you are searching for. And Cornelius is like, woohoo, yes, I'm gonna get it. By the way, I don't want it alone. Hey, you, you, you, you, you, you, get all your families. I want everybody that's related to me. I want all my friends. Every one of you are coming to my house. We're having a revival meeting. A what? Trust me, I don't know what it is, but it's gonna happen. I've got a special speaker coming, sent directly from God, and he is gonna come, and I've been told that he is going to give us truth that you might be curious about, but I'm longing for, and I'm not gonna get it alone. I wanna make sure that everyone I know is present to get a chance to hear it too. In Cornelius's house, much was made of who Jesus is. By the way, The first time the Holy Ghost of God fell upon Gentiles in power, as he did on the Jews, proving that Jesus not only died and was buried and rose again, the gospel's not just for the Jew, it's for the Gentile, but the promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of the child of God in the New Testament church age, that promise is not just for a select group, it's for all who will place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the comforter, the Holy Spirit, the teacher of truth is promised to indwell and live with and never depart every child of God. And at Cornelius's house, it became a reality for the Gentiles because he made much of Jesus. Passive or active Christianity. Here's the common misconception and I close with this. Here's what people think in today's church. They think strong churches make strong homes. Wrong answer. Don't put the responsibility on the collective church to fix the home. That's the world's way of it takes a village. No, it takes a God. And it takes a desire to make much of Jesus in the home. Here is the right view. Strong homes make strong churches. Strong homes make strong churches. churches and not talking about buildings, we're talking about people. What happens in the home will reflect in what we do as a church, not the other way around. When my commitment starts at home with Christ, it'll carry over with God's people when I get to come together with We will learn to be active as the church when we learn how to be active making much of Jesus in our home. If he doesn't mean enough to us as parents and grandparents to make a difference that's visible in the home, Why do we expect that our children and grandchildren are gonna grab a hold of a conviction of who God is and love Him and wanna serve Him when they're not seeing it consistently from those who lead them? Strong homes make a strong church. How are we doing in making much of Jesus? Let's start it at the home. We're gonna look every month at some different areas where we're gonna make much of Jesus. And we're gonna learn a little bit more about who is this Jesus. So you have some targeted things to share with people. But our goal this year, it's gonna be all about him. It's gotta be all about him. We're probably gonna see some great things happen with what we do for him, but it's still gonna have to be about him. It's not us. It's not Bethel Baptist Church. It's the God we serve. It's Jesus Christ who is our Savior. It is about Him. Have you heard who He is? Can I share Him with you? Making much of Jesus in 2025. And Father, we thank you so much that you've given us your...