Please take your Bible and turn with me to 1st John. 1st John, chapter 2. And this afternoon we will look from verse 12 to verse 14. 1st John, chapter 2, verse 12 to verse 14. I'll begin reading in verse 12. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. Let us pray. Father, we bow before you once again. You are the great God. You are the true and living God. You are the one who loved your people with an everlasting love. From before the foundations of the earth, you chose us in him. We rejoice in Jesus, the Savior, the beloved sinless son of God that was sent down to this earth to save sinners such as us. And so this afternoon, as we look to your word, may we hear from you. Lord, I need help. I need your enablement. I need your blessing to be able to preach. And we all need your blessing to be able to hear. And so, Lord, give us ears to hear. Lord, give me a mouth to preach. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer. And it's only through Jesus that I ask this blessing now. Amen. As we look here, I want you to be thinking about this phrase, the family of God. The family of God. So John's language sounds like he's writing to family. As you look through the letter, you'll see little children, fathers, young men, particularly in this place, we see little children, fathers, young men. Sounds like he's writing to a family. John MacArthur reminds us that only two families exist from God's perspective. Only two families exist from God's perspective, the children of God and the children of Satan. Oh, how sweet it is to be in the family of God. And John writes to give these believers confidence and assurance that they are in the family of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. He says in chapter 5 verse 13, all people who are in fellowship with God through Salvation obtained by Christ, everyone that's in fellowship, spiritual relationship with God are in the family of God. And so we think beginning, we're beginning to think about the family of God, but last week we learned that a mark of a person in the family of God is love toward the brother. It says if you have hatred toward the brother, you're in darkness. You're not in the light, you're not in fellowship with God. And so Christians, we would be helped to love one another if we thought more about the fact that we are together in the family of God. You know, family is a strong bond. We think about the biological family. They stick together through thick and thin. If there's one that, if there's no one else that'll help you, it should be your biological family. But how much more The brothers and sisters, the family of God that gathers all over this earth, all over the Lord's world, His people are gathered together as the family of God. We are commanded to love the brethren while we would be helped in our love if we would consider and remember that we are in a family. We are in a family together. Tricia and I have been greatly blessed by you, our family, our home church these last weeks. We thank you for your prayers for us and your words of encouragement. We ask that you would continue to do that. Let's think and meditate upon the family of God. We know that it is evidence that you know the Lord if you love your brother. We know that Jesus said by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And so the family of God is certainly the tone that John takes throughout the letter, but specifically in this place, we see little children, fathers and young men, children coming up. And so there is a little bit of a change in the language of the family language. We see that fathers and young men are included. And so a question to consider is, why is he making this distinction? Why does he bring this out? Do these labels identify the youngest, the middle-aged, and the older people in the family of God? Or do these labels identify different levels of spiritual maturity? Some questions to consider. But whatever, as we look at this passage, let us think overall about the family of God. I was considering the Bible's teaching on the family of God and I thought of two questions. First, what is true for all, every person in the family of God? What is true for every person in the family of God? As I give you a moment to think, you're probably already thinking of some things that are true for everyone in the family of God. But then the second question is, you know, if you think about family, you've got little ones and older ones and the most mature ones. In the family, there's growth that's an expectation within a family. So in the family of God, how do we grow up? in the family of God. How do we grow up? Now there are some things that are true about every one of us that have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, every one of us who have depended upon Him for the forgiveness of our sin, every one of us who has repented of our sin, we've begun to turn away from our sin and turn to Jesus as our Savior. There are some things that are true for every person in that state, but there is an expectation of growing up in the family of God. And so, how do we grow up in the family of God? We will look here at these verses, we'll look through them, and that will certainly begin our meditation and reflection upon the family of God and those two questions, but we would need to look to other parts of the Bible to get a more full answer. So I'll begin with that first question, what is true for all in the family of God? And look there at verse 12, 1 John 2, verse 12, I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His namesake. I'm writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. Is this true for everyone in the family of God? We see that the little children are being addressed, but yes, everyone in the family of God has their sins forgiven. There's no question about it. For if your sins are not forgiven, then that means that the guilt and the condemnation and the right punishment that is coming eternally toward you for your sin would still be upon you. There's no forgiveness there. But everyone in the family of God has been forgiven. This is necessary for a person to experience eternal life. If you have any hope of eternal life and living forever, then you must be forgiven of your sins. And Jesus said in John 8, 24, I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. Jesus said, unless you believe upon Me as the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ, then you will die in your sins. So we know that everyone must be forgiven of their sins. We know that the Apostle Peter spoke about forgiveness of sins on that day of Pentecost. Well, he spoke about Jesus, certainly, and he proclaimed Jesus, and it says, when the crowd heard this, they were cut to the heart. So the truth about Jesus came into their ears, and it went deeper than the ears and deeper than the brain. It went all the way into their heart, and it made a cutting action. They were cut to the heart. They were convicted of their sin and rejection and rebellion of Him. And they had something to say then. They said, Brothers, what shall we do? When we hear about Jesus and how we have rebelled against Him, this is the proper biblical response. What can I do? I need help. What is the help? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What is true about for everyone in the family of God? Everyone in the family of God has been forgiven of their sins. Paul wrote to the church at Colossae and he wrote about entering the kingdom of Jesus and about receiving forgiveness of sins. He says in Colossians chapter 1 verses 13 and 14, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness. delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. We've been put in the kingdom of Jesus in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And so we also, if we reflect on the Old Testament, we think about the fact that sin was serious. It was so serious that a multitude of animals were slain. temporarily atone for these people's sins. Year by year it must take place. The Day of Atonement was a yearly requirement. And so the writer of Hebrews would say, indeed under the law almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And we find out the fulfillment of the shedding of blood and the fulfillment of forgiveness of sins in the New Testament will be by Jesus' own blood being poured out for the forgiveness of sins. And not a temporary satisfaction, not a temporary putting away of the wrath of God from the people, but an eternal salvation by this blood. And so when Jesus, that night he was betrayed, he took the cup. And you think with me, family of God, and as Jesus there was sitting around with those that are to inherit the kingdom of heaven and he took a cup and he gave thanks and he said, drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant. which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Every single one of us in here that's trusting in Jesus has been forgiven of our sins. This is one thing that is true for all of us. Everyone in the family of God is forgiven of their sins by the precious blood of Jesus. And also, we've got to consider when he writes to the little children there in verse 12, because your sins are forgiven, he's writing, reminding them, talking to them about what position that they're in, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. That's also true for everybody in the family of God. Our salvation is not just for us. You know, we've not been saved so that we can be made much of. We've been saved that we would make much of His name for His name's sake. Ephesians chapter 1, you should sometime go back and regularly, I would say Ephesians chapter 1 should be read, because this is to the praise of His glorious grace. Several times it's repeated, according to the counsel of His own will, to the praise of His glorious grace. You see, our salvation is for Him. Certainly we get the most privileged and blessed position, but the salvation doesn't stop with benefits for us. Our salvation is ultimately so that we can praise Him aright. He has loved us as a treasured possession. Indeed, God has great love toward His people. And at the same time, God has great love for his own namesake. He is most glorious. He is most lovely. He is the most worthy of praise. And so our salvation, every one of us has been saved for his namesake. These are things to remember in the family of God. And then also as we look at 1 John 2, I'll read to you a portion of verse 13 and portion of verse 14. The first part of verse 13, I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. And then down at the end of 13, I write to you, children, because you know the Father. Verse 14, I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. Now, you know the questions that I'm going to ask. Do only the fathers in the family of God know the eternally existent God? Do only the children know God the Father? These are obvious answers. No, everyone in the family of God knows the Lord. And why would I say that? I would say that because God gave us a picture of this new covenant in Jeremiah 31. And he said, this covenant I will make with Israel after those days declare is the Lord I will put my law in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother saying, know the Lord, because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more. All will know the Lord. Everyone in the family of God knows the Lord, not just everyone is forgiven of their sins, not just everyone is saved for His name's sake, but everyone in the family of God knows the Lord. Jesus said that His sheep know Him. He said that I'm the good shepherd, I know my own and my own know me. So there is a knowing of the Lord that is true for every one of us that has trusted in Jesus. John writes that all the family of God might have evidence that they know the Lord. Chapter 2 verse 3, Chapter 2, verse 3 of 1 John, By this we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. And as you continue to read through the letter, meditate on this letter yourself, you will see other ways that God has given us that we might know that we know Him. And so everyone in the family of God knows the Lord. And then, what else is universally true? Well, look at the middle of verse 13. The middle of verse 13. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. And then the end of verse 14. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Have only the young men of the family of God overcome or been victorious? Well, we know that Jesus has overcome. He said in John 16, 33, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Jesus has overcome. And all that believe upon Jesus have overcome as well. Flip over to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5 verses 4 and 5. 1 John 5 verses 4 and 5. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? You see, it's very clear that everyone that has believed on Jesus has overcome. That's true of every Christian. These are good news. This is good news. And as we think about a family, we can think about us. We are one in Jesus Christ, one. And I hope that we will be even more unified in the truth and more unified in the revelation of God's son and the revelation of God's word. I hope that we have unity of doctrine. We are one. We're a family of God. Everyone in the family of God has been forgiven of their sins. Everyone in the family of God knows the Lord and everyone in the family of God is overcome. But we need to be honest. Are we always victorious in overcoming the world and the evil one? Are we always? victorious. Actually, we are defeated when we submit to the temptations of the devil. Or if we submit to the temptations of the flesh, we are overcome. So in what way have we all overcome? In what way have we all but trust in Jesus overcome? Well, it must be an eternal victory. It must be something past this life. It must mean that everyone in the family of God will inherit eternal life. All that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, that word saved can be taken in more than one sense. We know that we are saved, we're being saved, and ultimately we will be saved. I'm looking forward to the day when the salvation is full and complete. We're certainly in a battle here and now. The overcoming that all of us have experienced is ultimately an eternal one. For it is the will of my Father, Jesus says, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. So that's the overcoming that all of us will experience ultimately, that we can be assured of. We all have overcome in the family of God because we will inherit eternal life. That is true. And we should not let 1 John chapter 2 verses 12 through 14 divide us. For we are all in the family of God and there are many things that are true for all of us. We should rejoice that we are one in Jesus. No question about it. But we need to consider The fact that we must be growing up into the family of God. We must be growing up. We cannot be content to stay where we are. For the trajectory, the direction that the Christian is taking in the family of God is growth. And so growing up in the family of God, what does it look like to grow up in the family of God? Well, we can see as we look back to part of verse 14, 1 John 2, verse 14. Let's look at this part that it does identify a difference among us. I write to you, this is the second part of verse 14, I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, young man, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. Not every member of the family of God is as strong as they should be. Not every member of the family of God is as strong as they should be. Maybe I could say that none of us are as strong as we could be, but certainly some of us are not as strong as we should be. What makes us strong by God's way of measuring strength? Do we need to all join the gym tomorrow? I'm sure most of you are already members of the gym. Do we need to go and pump iron to become strong? No. God's way of measuring strength is if the Word of God abides in us. If the Word of God, you see it right there, 1 John 2 verse 14, that second half, I write to you young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you. Only the strength can be attributed to the abiding in the Word of God. If we are strong, then we can overcome the temptations of the evil one. It says it there at the end of the verse, and you have overcome the evil one. So these daily overcomings, these daily victories in the walk with the Lord are enabled much, much better as we are strong in the Word of God. The importance of the Word of God for the Christian cannot be stressed enough. I would think, at least I feel like it, I'm sure those that hear me would feel like it, I'm a broken record. I say this over and over and over again. Do you read the Bible? Someone is trying to think of a real good answer for that and thinking about all of their critical study of the scriptures as I ask the question about their relationship with God through his word. And you know what I really mean? Do you open up this book and read it every day? Just read it. I think God can do and does powerful things by simply reading this Word over and over again. The importance of the Word of God can't be stressed enough. You and I would be much stronger if we believed in the sufficiency of Scripture. The sufficiency of scripture, this scripture, this book is what God has given us for all of life. Well, the 1689 puts it this way. Holy scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Everything we need for this life and the next is in this book. And the young men, John says, are strong. And the young men, the Word of God is abiding in them. And the young men are overcoming these daily temptations of the evil one. Abiding in the Word of God gives growth. We're talking about how do we grow up in the family of God. We don't want to stay babies. We love babies. We love toddlers. We love when they start to talk. But how much better is the conversation when you can communicate more clearly? How much better is it when maturity happens, when the parent gets to send out the child as a fully functioning person into the world to live for the glory of God? That's the reward of all their labors and their travail and bringing them up. In the Lord, and when he send them out to live for the Lord, what a blessing. This is the goal. Growth and maturity is what all of us should think of. And I'm speaking to the oldest of the youngest Christian in this room. Growth is the goal. And the word of God gives growth. And so. Abiding in the Word of God makes us strong. I hope that you have the most peaceful life that anyone has on this earth. I really do hope you have that. I would not want unrest to be upon you. But the reality is there is always a battle nearby. You say, well, I live in these free United States of America. I'm not talking about a physical battle. I'm talking about a spiritual battle. Regardless of where you are in this world, there is an adversary to the Lord. He is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Satan is seeking to destroy those that would trust on Jesus. Are we ready to fight against the schemes of the devil? Are you ready? Temptation comes quickly, so we must be ready. Alexander McLaren, the exposition of Alexander McLaren as it relates to some of these verses, he had this comment that I thought was very helpful, a phrase. He said, it is no time, I'll paraphrase a little bit, it's no time to look for your weapons when sudden temptation comes upon you. Don't be digging around. We think about preparedness a lot in this church. We think about being ready to physically be at a defense. But spiritually, are we ready when the temptations come at a moment? We don't need to be bobbling around trying to figure out what spiritual truth might be able to strengthen us in this time of temptation. Alexander McLaren says we need to be ready, we need to have our defenses, this is what he says, familiar to you by devout meditation, frequent reflection, prayer, study of God's Word if it is going to be any use to us at all. You see the Word of God makes us strong and it gives us growth and this is what, this is really the statement I want you to hear. He said, I am afraid that about the last book in the world that loads of young men and women think of sitting down to read, and this is his qualification, sitting down to read systematically and connectedly he said, is the Bible. The last book that people, he says young men and women, I'd say all men and women, sit down and read systematically and connectedly. This book is not a book that we should just skip around in all the time, just go to our favorite part and decide to read there every day. We need to read it systematically and then we will begin to see the connection in the book. It will begin to come together, if you will. Of course, God has gifted the church with teachers and preachers that might help us in our connection, seeing the connectedness of the Word of God. But I want to encourage you, read this book systematically. Just read it over and over and over again and I believe that we will become much stronger. He says, Alexander McLaren says, you will read sermons and other religious books, you will read newspapers, pamphlets, novels, but the scripture in its entirety is a strange book to myriads of men who call themselves Christians. So they are weak. If you want to be strong, let the Word of God abide in your hearts. Now he lived from the year 1826 to 1910, so he's talking about reading sermons, he's talking about reading books, but we could also insert we like to watch sermons, we like to listen to sermons, we like to read blog posts, But do we like to read this book? That's the question. And the next question is, do we want to be strong? Because the reality is, is that strength comes from the Word of God. The Word of God gives growth. So, yes, there's some things that are true for all of us, but we have different levels of spiritual strength. And one reason that our different levels of spiritual strength exist is because of our relationship to the Word of God. the relationship that we have with God through his word. So we must mature by abiding in the word. And we must grow. We must grow. There are certainly things that to be a Christian you must understand. You must have a basic understanding of the gospel, the biblical teaching of salvation. Jesus is the only way to have fellowship with God. Jesus is the only advocate or help for sinners before a holy God who is just, and will punish every sin so Jesus is the only propitiation or covering or sin sacrifice that will satisfy the wrath of God. We must have a basic understanding of the gospel and we must confess our sins and we must repent of our sins and believe, trust on Jesus as Savior. And we also know that the saving love of God has been displayed by sending His Son to die in our place, in the place of the people of the family of God. So the family of God can indeed have eternal life. There is a basic knowledge of Jesus Christ that all believers have. But our knowing the Lord, our knowledge of the Lord will grow and should grow. as we abide in his word. The young men are strong because the word of God abides in them. Well, everyone knows the Lord, but I will have to say everyone doesn't know the Lord at exactly the same level. That's probably what John's bringing our attention to when he writes in different ways about knowing the Lord, particularly the fathers are pointed out. So we would say normally in the family, the father would be older, more mature. If we say this is I'm writing to you, fathers, verse 13, because you know Him who is from the beginning. Those that have been in the family of God the longest know the Lord. That's repeated again in verse 14. And also our obedience to the Lord will grow as we mature. Our overcoming of the evil one Um, the evil ones temptations as we grow and are made strong by the word of God, we will be able to overcome in an ever increasing measure by God's grace. And this is good news. We need to grow up and we know that God will ultimately bring completion. bring to completion the work that he's begun in us. The goal of Christian ministry is that all Christian, all believers will be made mature. God gave these apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, build up the body of Christ until we attain, reach a unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. We see that there is this growth in a family. particularly in the family of God. But the process of maturing can be a little messy. The process of maturing can be a little messy. Some children are not quite as easy to deal with in their maturing process. The growing up in the family can be a little messy and I would say at times I It can be a little messy in the family of God as well. Ephesians chapter 4, if you'll turn there with me. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Growth is the goal. There's many, many ways that we ought to be growing. Let's take a look and see how we ought to be growing in grace. We ought to be growing in the things of the Lord. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 25. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." So we ought to be growing in truthfulness. In the words of our mouth, there shouldn't be lies that come forth. Verse 26, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Only be angry in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord. This would be a righteous type anger. And also we should not have sinful anger. We should not let it stay around. Verse 27, give no opportunity to the devil. Don't give the devil a foothold, but as you remain angry. We're not to be angry people. We'll see down here in verse 31 that anger needs to be put away. Verse 28, let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. This is growth that needs to be taking place in the family of God. We need to be growing up in our labor, labor for the Lord and physical provision for ourself and family, depending on the position you have in this life. Our talk, verse 29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as for building up. We need to have gracious words as it fits the occasion. It may give grace to those who hear. Wow, can't you see the room for growth for you and I can see it for me. These demands upon the family of God, wow, what a family we're going to be as we really grow up in this. These words that God has given us, this truth to live out. Do not, verse 30, grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Don't grieve the guarantee. He's been given as a guarantee to us. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God. Don't grieve or hinder the Holy Spirit. Rather, walk by the Spirit. Verse 31, let all bitterness Wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. You see, it can be messy growing up. because we display these things that we're told to grow up and mature and to repent of and turn away from. We can be guilty of being unrighteously angry. We can be guilty of having corrupting talk. We can be guilty of not laboring as we ought. We can be guilty of hindering the Holy Spirit. We can be guilty of being bitter. We can be guilty of having slander toward another. You see, in verse 32, we're going to find out that as we grow in the family of God, we need to give grace to one another. That's what I see. Be kind to one another, verse 32. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, so fulfill the law of Christ. That's from Galatians 6, verses 1 and 2. As the family of God grows up together, we need to give grace to one another as we grow. I know that the applications are just, they're a multitude, but there are some things that are true for all of us, and then another thing that is true for all of us, but yet puts us at different levels is our growth in grace. We need to grow in grace and peace. Peter wrote about this, and we'll conclude by looking over at 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. I'm going to read a couple verses, but Peter is summing up what is true for all and what is necessary, the necessity of growth in the family of God. 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." So that's what's universally true, those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. And we know that faith is by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. And then verse 2, He prays that there be growth taking place and there be further maturity. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Grace and peace, what will the grace and peace be multiplied for the purpose of? This is for the increased knowledge of God among the brethren and for the increased knowledge of Jesus our Lord. So all Christians have a faith of equal standing. Everyone in the family of God is forgiven of their sins. Everyone in the family of God knows the Lord. Everyone in the family of God has overcome eternally. And what about the growth? For all Christians, it's necessary in grace and peace. Well, this happens by abiding in the Word of God. The Word of God gives growth. The family of God must grow. It must grow. We must see this. We must feel it. We must not want to stay in a position of being a babe in Christ. We want to grow in the things of the Lord, know Him more. That's what we want, to know Him more. And as we grow, As we grow, we must give grace to one another. We must give grace to one another as we grow. Now that is a meditation on the family of God as I work through 1 John 2, verses 12-14. And may God bless us as the family of God. May He bless us to understand what position He's put us in. And may He bless us to grow for His glory and for one another's good. Let's pray. Father, You know. You know Your intentions and Your design for Your church. And Lord, we thank you that you've revealed them to us in your word. We thank you that Jesus is shown to us to be the head of the church. We thank you that we can be the body, the bride of Jesus Christ. We thank you that we can be the family of God. What a great blessing. I do ask Lord that you would bless us to function as we ought. We don't want to be a dysfunctional family. We don't want to be an unbiblical family. Lord, we want to be one that walks with you according to your word and walks with one another according to your word. Lord, thank you that you have shown us these things from your word. Help us to meditate upon them as we deal with family matters in a moment. Lord, you know, you know what you would have for us. And I ask that you would open our eyes to the fact that we're in a family. May indeed we be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us. Oh, did we not all have and don't we have a mountain of sin against you? And yet you displayed your love at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. We thank you that Jesus died for us. Now may we live for you. I ask your blessings on each one here. There might be one that has not trusted on Jesus. They're not in the family. Let us be sobered up. Let us be serious, for no one would want to be separated from the family of God. No one would want to be in the child of the devil, as 1 John tells us in chapter 3. So Lord, may we see our own sin, and may we see Jesus as Savior. May we turn away, confess that sin, repent of that sin, and may we have faith, trust, and dependence upon Jesus for salvation. Lord, we thank you for your time of worship this day. We've gathered together around your word, we've sung praises, we've lifted up prayers, had fellowship. Lord, would you make us strong, make us strong that we might overcome, and so that your great name would be made much of even more and even more here and now through us. That's what we want, and it's through Jesus that we ask it. Amen.