parenting role in a marriage, the mother and the father and how Paul incorporates their respective roles and what they accomplish, what they do in parenting and applies it to his ministry to the Thessalonians and I believe by extension that that's the way he functioned wherever he went in the ancient world in his missionary endeavors. I use the word missionary because that's basically the term that we're most familiar with is the word missionary. But actually, it is the more correct biblical concept is the ministry role of an evangelist. Because what a pastor does, an evangelist is supposed to do. And that's Ephesians chapter 4. Evangelists in the ancient world didn't go into communities or into churches and hold a series of meetings and then take off and go to another. church or another community and hold a series of meetings there or to hold camp meetings. I'm not saying in and of itself that that's necessarily wrong, although in its application sometimes it is wrong. The way it's been done and handled in recent church history is not a good example. But the evangelist in the ancient world was was what we think of as a missionary today. He goes into a community, an area, maybe it's a virgin area, no believers there. He begins an effort to evangelize, to get to know the people and in our world today, get to know the language and establish a rapport with the people. And eventually believers come to faith in Christ and he takes them and builds them up in the most holy faith. He has to establish them in the truth before he moves on to another territory or another effort. So I see it in that light. This morning it takes us then to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, I'm sorry, chapter 2 verses 7 through 12. This actually, verses 1 through 12, probably should have been dealt with in a whole section, but it gives me more time to devote to the matters in the text, hopefully not glossing over what is important to us in our understanding. Keeping in mind as this epistle closed, he demanded that this epistle be read before the people so that everyone would get a hearing of this letter. And I believe that that basically was what happened in the ancient world too, that when these letters were written, the elders or one of the elders would stand up and read it before the assembly. No printing presses back then. Everything basically was hand copied. A lot different than we know today because print material is so available in so many realms. Follow along as I read verses 7 through 12. But we were gentle among you. just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. And there's the connection to Mother's Day. So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you had become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil. For laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preach to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how devotedly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father, here's the other parent, father and mother are involved in the expression of the Apostles' ministry to these saints when he came, well initially they weren't saints, they were unbelievers, they were pagans, so to speak, and they came to faith in Christ. And the Apostles' ministry as it was with a gentle mother, her nursing care, and a father, who exhorts, who stimulates, who tries to move his children on to maturity. And then finally, verse 12, that you should walk worthy of God, who called you into his own kingdom and glory. Join me in prayer as we seek God's blessing upon his word and the exposition of it. Father in heaven, it is with gratitude this very day that we have access to your presence. Ancient Israel, until the cross, until the veil was rent in twain, and even the priest did not have access to God, just the high priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement. But when that veil was rent in twain, It opened up access to God for all the saints of God directly. It's not just a picture, it's a reality that we all enjoy because of the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest. after the order of Melchizedek. Bless your word, edify it, sanctify it to our hearts, empower it, make it alive to our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen. I personally believe if if me included, if pastors were to derive a course in pastoral care, I think this would be, for my consideration, a primary text, not to exclude what we call the pastoral epistles. But this gives us a window into how Paul ministered in the ancient world. He didn't come in like an angry bull. in an arena and tried to attack the people there. He came in gently, carefully, softly, so to speak, and approached the people with loving care. I have seen in the years I've been in ministry, a lot of different pastoral styles. But tragically in In my exposure and in my observation, a lot of pastors believe that their role is as a dictator. They run the show, they call all of the shots, so to speak, as they come in. And they try to ramrod things through. Maybe I have on occasion tried, I try not to because I don't think that's the pattern in scripture is to try to ramrod even the gospel through. We were talking about that in Sunday school with Nicodemus interaction with the Lord Jesus Christ and how gentle The Lord Jesus was with Nicodemus in presenting him the truth of the gospel, the need of the new birth, and the lifting up of the Son of Man, just like the serpent in the wilderness was lifted up, that everyone who believes might turn to him. He was very gentle. Sometimes he was more firm, as with the rich young ruler. Sell all your goods and give them to the poor. that type of thing. Each encounter had a different approach to it. Jesus was very gentle with his audiences. There was a political philosopher in The 16th century, his name was Niccolo Machiavelli. And from that becomes a Machiavellian approach to politics. There is a website or there is a site on YouTube called the School of Life. And in the School of Life, they put forth an overview of Machiavelli. And he believed in the political realm. that political leaders needed to be what he called ruthless and tyrannical, not empathetic or just. And that is fair. In that book, he wrote The Prince. It's a short manual of advice for princes on how to finish, how not to finish last. And it's the philosophy that you use every and any means to accomplish an end. And you learn your political philosophy of how to rule and how to govern from tyrants. That's the way he approached it. Machiavelli knew that there were counterproductive to his philosophy obsessions with acting nicely. He said the West was brought up on the Christian story of Jesus of Nazareth, which is true. He was the very nice man from Galilee who always treated people well. Machiavelli, the upshot of his philosophy was he believed that Jesus Christ was a loser, a loser. But when you think of the Apostle Paul and his ministry in the ancient world, if this was his approach regularly as he went into the communities on his first missionary journey into Galatia, And then on his second missionary journey, visited the churches, Galatia, and then he went into Greece, into Macedonia initially, and then down into Achaia. His approach was this approach that we see in this text of scripture. Now, it deals with and expands on and fleshes out, in my opinion, with what he mentioned in the first chapter of this book, the message and the men themselves, and that is those who minister. which comprise basically the missionary endeavor. The men who are sent out are sent out with a message and they're on a mission to share or explain that message to others. And what we saw last week in the first six verses of this text of scripture was the importance of clarity, the clarity of the message. Notice what he wrote. Initially, verse 80 says, for from you, this is a previous chapter, from you the word of the Lord sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. And that is the word that they preached to him. Verse five, backing up, our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit in much assurance. And then he develops how that message that he presented was very pure, very clean, very wholesome, and very true. The problem in church history and the problem in Israel's history has always been a distortion of truth. That happened in the fall of man, where Satan appears to Eve and distorts the truth ever so subtly. And that's all it takes is a subtle change to distort the message, to make it unclear and therefore make it untrue. Sometimes we have to sort through things. I'm not always sure that growing up that I always received a clear presentation of the gospel. I'm sure he wasn't. But I've attempted in my ministry and in my life to have clarity on that issue. Look at verse 3 of our chapter, verse 2, he says, For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, the idea is impurity, nor was it in deceit. no alteration, there's no manufacturing, there's no manipulating of the message that we presented. And now in the text we have here, we're dealing with the men accompanying with the message. But Paul was always concerned, that's what the whole letter of the Galatian Epistle is about, is the clarity of the gospel. If we declare unto you any other gospel, We are accursed. We have to have clarity on that point. Or conversions, therefore, are suspect. My own thinking after Paul's conversion immediately, the lights went on for him because in Damascus he began Before his conversion, he did not recognize Christ as Messiah, but then immediately upon conversion, as he preached in Damascus, he preached that Jesus is Messiah. He got clarity, but he got further clarity as he moved along in his thinking. And I thank God, I don't know how often, but I am so thankful for the Apostle Paul. Because he's a clear writer. He sets forth the truth with clarity. It's a similar problem, not the same, but he had a similar problem in the community of Corinth. The first four chapters of Corinthians deal with divisions in the church. And they were divided around personalities. Some say, I'm a Peter. Some say, I'm a Paul. Some say, I am of Apollos. And some say, well, I follow Christ, these superior people. And the way he cuts through all of the waste of that thinking is to first of all deal with the message, the message. And he states quite emphatically and clearly in the first chapter of that, for the preaching of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. Chapter two, he says the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God, Neither does he know them, for they're spiritually discerned. He can't understand them. So it's a message to the unbelieving, a message of foolishness. But to the Christian, it is the wisdom of God and the power of God. And he wanted his listeners to understand, no matter who ministers to you, whether it's Peter, whether it's Apollos, whether it's me or Whether it's Christ. We're not divided on this message. The message is the same. And Paul says, some sow, some water. But God gives the increase. There's no other foundation that a man can build on, and that is Christ Jesus and the truth about him contained in the gospel. The second thing he deals with in those first four chapters is the men themselves. And he assures his readers that they are not in competition with one another. Therefore, they should not be competing in their loyalties, which cause division in the assembly. Because all of these men were on the same page with the gospel. And here he establishes again his philosophy of ministry. It's one of the most beautiful, beautiful explanations of his philosophy of ministry. Now keep in mind that in our text we have verse divisions and we have chapter divisions, but they might not necessarily be correct. In some instances they're very arbitrary. And sometimes we lose the continuity of thought. Some translations believe that the last clause in verse six ought to be connected, and they do. Instead of translating it along with verse six, they translate it in verse seven. The NET does that, the New English Translation. Because there is that contrasting conjunction. And he says, when we might have made demands, And the word there means been burdensome, or demands, place onerous responsibilities and conditions and obligations on you as apostles. And he could do that. I mean, as an apostle, he had that authority. He didn't do that. He didn't see his role as apostle to come in with a baseball bat and start beating up on people. No, and that's why you have the contrasting conjunction. But instead of being onerous as apostles of Christ, demanding, we were gentle. We were gentle. among you." The affection of a mother, the role of a mother, that role of parenting is seen then in verse 7 in his affectionate care for them, the care of a mother for a child. And he compares it to a nursing, a wet nurse. In the ancient world, Those who were educated Romans and who could afford it would hire wet nurses. We would think of it in terms of a nanny today. That first of all, she would educate or teach the young children. But the most important trait, according to one author, however, was their gentleness. What they were looking for in a nurse to care for their children was the quality of gentleness. And may I remind you that that is one of the fruit, or one of the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, looking at it singularly. It's comprised of nine components, and one of them is gentleness. Gentleness. The church is a family. And on some level, it needs to be viewed that way. And Paul approaches his ministry as a mother. It's, you know, tying it in here to Mother's Day here. Someone wrote, when children have questions about their Heavenly Father, their first instinct is to ask their mothers. And in support of that, Barna Research detailed some of the gap between moms and dad when it comes to the aspect of faith formation in the family. Now think about it with me for a moment. Practicing Christians, I would take by that devoted Christians, mature Christians were asked the question, whose faith influenced you? Was it mom or was it dad? Was it mom or was it dad? And the response was 68%, a good two-thirds majority mother. That's not to say it's always the case, but fathers came in 46%. Further, it says, practicing Christian teens were asked, which parent offers spiritual guidance? First class is praying together. Mother, 63%. Father, 53%. Discussing God. Mother, 70%. Father, 56%. Discussing the Bible. Mother, 71%. Father, 50%. Responding to faith questions, mother's 72, father's 56. Encouraging church attendance, 79% mother. Tell me the mother doesn't have a role, a powerful role on the lives of her children. She is probably with them more hours of the day. than the father is who's at work, especially in those formative years, up to five years old. I remember when I started school in kindergarten, I was five years old, up there in Flint, Michigan. But in actuality, I don't know if I can put a percentage on that. Usually Barn is pretty close, but you could get the picture that mothers, and he gives first press here to mothers, and his role as a nursing mother cares. I like what Pastor Brian Chappell said one day in his book, Grace at Work. He said, my musician wife, Kathy, Talks about a time when she was changing a particularly yucky diaper. Now, all of you moms know that. On one of the children, and she said to a friend standing by her, quote, these hands have played Mozart. She was a musician. The friend replied, maybe these hands are diapering the next Mozart. Clearly you get the impression that raising children are more important than playing Mozart. The affectionate care, that's what you see in this text. We were gentle among you just as. In other words, he's using a simile here. This is how his gentleness expresses itself. As a nursing, now you notice mother is italicized, but it's implied, I think, in the text. Because even a wet nurse cannot provide the care for a child that a mother can directly. And I think clearly it denotes that, that it is the mother who cherishes her own children, unlike anybody else can. So it's not only affectionate care, but it's also self-sacrificial, verse 8, endearment, so affectionately longing for you. Affectionately longing for you. That word affectionately longing for you is from a Greek word that means to desire, to long for. It is especially the longing of love. As one lexicographer defined it, the longing of love. affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, and I think that he uses gospel of God in the sense that this gospel finds its source or its origin in God. It is his gospel, because it originated from him it is his solution for man's dilemma man's dilemma of sin looking at the text again To impart to you, the word impart is an intensification of the form to give. We imparted deliberately and intently. This is what we delivered to you. Man's solution is not political, it's not educational, it's not governmental. The solution to man's need is the gospel of God, right? The gospel of God is the only solution for man's real dilemma, and Paul was careful in delivering it to his listeners. And here he puts a little addenda, well pleased in part to you, Not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives. Our own lives. That word there, lives, is from the Greek word psuche. It's a word that's the prefix in psychology, and that is the study of man's inner being, the study of his souls. And in some context in scripture, it is translated lives, and that is the life force. But it's more inclusive than just the life force. Look with me at a text of scripture found in Luke's Gospel, chapter 12. Luke's Gospel, the 12th chapter. Verse 13 and following, Jesus tells a story in response to someone who wanted Christ to arbitrate the family inheritance. Verse 13, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said, Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you. And he said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life, verse 15, does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. Then he spoke a parable to them, saying, the ground of a certain man, rich man, yielded plentifully. He thought within himself, saying, what shall I do since I have no room in to store my crops? So he said, I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater. Then I will store all my crops and my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, fool, This night your soul will be required of you. That's the word, Greek word, psuche. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. That word, psuche, it's his life. and all that is entailed in life. There's another text of scripture. 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verse 16. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives, the word sukkeh, For the brethren, whoever has this world's goods, the word world is not kosmos, it is the Greek word bios, has this life's goods. And so he's equating here as part of what life is and what supplies life is what we possess. We also ought to lay down our sukkah for the brethren, whoever has this world's goods. So it's not just the immaterial man, it's all that comprises what keeps the immaterial man alive and vibrant, and that is his possessions. But he wants his readers to understand that that's not what life is all about. And so he makes this application. Whoever has this world's goods sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God dwell in him? In other words, that which is part of his life subsistence, he is, what sustains his soul is to be distributed and given to others. not coveted, not being greedy, not being stingy with them. And I think that's how Paul is using that term here in our text. We not only gave you the gospel of God, which is really the most important part of the delivery, but we also gave our own lives, our souls, and all that was involved in them. And how did he do that? He explains in verse 9, and that takes us into that element of paternal or fatherly. He says for you remember. Now let me point out from last week that there were markers in the text that diverted his audience as they were listening to this being read. to reflect back on his ministry and verify in their minds the truth and reality. And they were these markers, verse 1, he says, you yourselves know, brethren that are coming to you was not in vain. In other words, what I'm saying here is something that you know. You can verify it, memory and experience. And then again in verse 2 he says, we were spitefully treated at Philippi as you know. And again in verse 5, for neither at any time did we use flattering words. You know that. You can verify what I'm writing here is true. You can't contradict it, is what he is saying. There was no way that he could bamboozle his readers. on the type of ministry he had and the message that he delivered. And then in verse 5 again he uses that phrase, neither at any time did we use flattering words as you know. One of the things when I'm studying scripture that I look for is repetition. Because repetition is there for emphasis and it's there to direct our understanding. So now he uses similar markers. In verse 9 he says, For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil. And then in verse 10 he says, You are witnesses, eyewitnesses, verbal witnesses. You heard. You can verify. And then again in verse 11 he says, as you know, as you know. Six times he repeats these phrases or similar phrases and calls their attention back to his ministry, knowing what he's writing here is absolutely on the mark. I'm sure that there would have been new members since Paul left that community. And so when they received this letter, the people themselves could verify what Paul is writing. Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. And so he says, and I think that it picks up that giving of their own lives. For you remember brethren, our labor and toil, and I believe he's talking about physical toil, for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you. He was a tent maker. It was his particular philosophy of ministry not to burden the people financially. at all. He wanted them to understand, Romans 9 is clear on that. He wanted them to understand that the gospel was free. There was no financial attachments to it. And so he labored that way. He's not saying that that's necessarily the case with everybody. But with himself and in his evangelistic ministries, in order to keep the purity of the gospel, he toiled in labor, making tents or, as some suggest, also leather goods to be sold in the marketplace. You are witnesses to that. You remember it. For laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached the gospel of Christ, or the gospel of God. Again repeating what he had said in verse 8, the gospel of God. That's what we gave to you. So the lifestyle surrounding Paul's ministry was unique, and it helped, I think, establish in the ancient world, unlike the philosophers, the roaming philosophers who went around, they would expect some type of remuneration. And it flies in the face of this whole prosperity gospel movement that has infected our country. Or they steal money by deceit from God's people, the goodwill of God's people. And they take widows' mites and spend them on airplanes and on Bentleys and Mercedes-Benz and Cadillacs. Back when I pastored in the town, you knew who the Pentecostal preacher was in the town because he drove a Cadillac and a Lincoln Continental. It's not to say that in and of themselves that's wrong, but it was beyond my budget as a father back in that time. Verse 9, in that paternal care of the father, his service was pro bono. You know what that means. without pay, without remuneration. And his decorum, it was verifiably impeccable. Look at verse 10, you are witnesses, again using that marker again to call upon their recollection so they can verify it. You are witnesses and God also how devotedly could be translated wholly and justly and blamelessly, we behaved ourselves among you who believe. You know that as we roamed around in the community, as we were part of your development, you know as witnesses. This is the reality. We were holy, we were fair, and we were impeccable. Not to say he wasn't a sinner, but it's a similar concept that is used for the qualifications for an elder and also a deacon or a bishop. It's that his life must be blameless. Blameless. And they were. They were. So it was verifiably, they were witnesses to the fact, to his decorum, that's how he lived. Piously, is what that word means. Righteously. And without blame. We behaved ourselves among you who believe. As you know, verse 11 and 12 here, here's where he brings in that element of paternal responsibility. He practiced it. Practiced the role of a father. We exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children. These first two words, at least they're corollaries. are used in Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter two, where he opens chapter two with these words, therefore, if there is any consolation or encouragement or exhortation, it could be in Christ, if any comfort. And that's the second where he uses both of these words so that it feels a familiarity to it. in this letter to the Philippians as to the way Paul conducted himself even here at Philippi as a father, exhorting. That's what a father does. He works with his children to move them on to maturity. I was listening to Paul Washer, a little reel, a little short clip of him the other day. He says, as I go across the Western world into Europe, into Africa, he says, I meet 13 years, 14 year old, 15 year old, 16 year olds who are men in maturity. But he says, I come back to the United States and I have to deal with 35 year old boys. 35 year old boys. I thought, wow, that's quite an indictment to the society in which we live that we coddled it, but it's because we feminized masculinity. We describe it as toxic. And Paul, when he came, he impels these believers on by exhorting them as a father would exhort his son and his children. comforted them, console, the word could be translated console, and then he charged them. Actually the word, the Greek word there is materios, which means a witness, a martyr, we get the word martyr from it, but it can also have the nuance of meaning imploring, imploring someone, And so all of these things, he's not going to leave them in infancy. It's bringing them along to maturity. And then its purpose of all of this, summarizing it all, he says that in order that it's a result that you would walk worthy. This is kind of a signature word in some of his other epistles. The word worthy. Romans he says, 16 verse 2, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints. It's the Greek word axios. From what we get to word axiom, which is a self-evident truth. And so if it's a self-evident truth, An axiom is it's worthy of acceptance and belief. Your life, my life, is to be worthy of the gospel and worthy of the Christ. It is to measure up to who Christ is. Ephesians 4 verse 1, he says, Therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. To the Philippians, he writes, only conduct, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. He places a standard up there to which their lives are to conform. To the Colossians, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing. John writes and uses this concept, who have borne witness of your love before the church, This is in third John, if you send them forth on their journey in a worthy manner of God. A manner worthy of God, that is commensurate with who the people they represent, or the person they represent, and that is God himself. I hasten on, maybe I belabored the point too much, I don't know. But it is an important concept, Paul's philosophy of ministry. His message must be distinct and clear. No alteration, no fudging, no trying to hide it. And the men themselves that are presenting it must be men of integrity. Yeah, that's right. So I think what he's saying here, as I suggest, is that the care of the saints takes dominance over one's personal welfare. Paul set aside his own concerns for the welfare of these people at Thessalonica. And that's the way it was wherever he went. Self-sacrificial love toward these people. I like what one writer said. Jane Francisco wrote The Magic of Family. Now, this is written in a secular publication, Good Housekeeping. She said, mom and dad understandably experience a great deal of worry and uncertainty. When choosing a parenting style, a recent article written by this lady, Jane Francisco. She offered this advice, and I think it's good. She says, when my son was a toddler, I struggled with the concept of discipline, how to know what was too much or not enough. She says, so I called up my dad. He was a teacher for decades. And I asked him what parenting style he thought yielded the most well-adjusted kids. His answer was simple. You can't really go wrong as long as A, your child clearly understands that they are loved unconditionally and B, your approach to discipline is consistent, regardless of how strict or not you are. The takeaway, she said, was I probably won't mess my kid too badly as long as I deliver love and consistency. I suggest to you that's what Paul did. He was affectionate and gentle toward this assembly as a mom. Moms, you're to be commended for the way you've raised your children, for your affection and love. Men, you're to be commended, too, as you exhort and encourage your children. Don't let them just have free hand. You are to develop them not into boys, 35-year-old boys, but into men so that when they leave the proverbial nest they can function on their own. And when Paul left the nest of this assembly and had to go down further south to Achaia, And this assembly, for the short time he was there, that he was able to develop leadership in that assembly, he instructed these people in the way a church is to function. I'm not sure I could live, or I do live up to the ideal of the Apostle Paul. I wish I could say on every front and every hand, but one thing I found in ministry, if you go into an existing church where there are already saints there, a lot of times they have been established or set in concrete in their own ways. and in their own traditions, and it's difficult. And they're setting their ways in their own understanding. It's the guy who first establishes the assembly and sets their doctrinal framework and constitutes that church. that speaks to the success of that church to future pastorates. It's not easy. I've gone into situations where the church is split and it's all, not all, but primarily in response to objections to the preaching of God's Word and the message contained. My favorite book in the New Testament is Paul's letter to the Romans. It's one of the most beautiful expressions of the clarity of what the gospel is. But invariably, in preaching Romans, it's gotten me into trouble. And I don't try to be belligerent. I don't try to beat people on the head with a baseball bat. But it upsets people. It upsets people. All I'm trying to do is be fair with the word, but they've heard a different message. They were raised in a different tradition. I was raised in a different tradition myself. But God gives clarity to us in the gospel. And that's what he presented. It's the gospel of God. I just pray that I'm faithful. That's all. I'm going to be faithful to the word, faithful to the text of scripture. That's it. If I'm wrong there, I'm wrong, and I influence people the wrong way. But if it's in the word, you need to embrace it. We can have a discussion about it. But it's true. It's true. Let's pray. Father, I thank you this morning that someone preached the Gospel to me. I'd heard the Word of God. I've heard messages throughout my life being raised in a Christian home. I'm thankful for that. But it wasn't until I received clarity on the Gospel that my life was changed. Oh God, if there's ever a revival, if there's ever a reformation, it centers in the gospel. And in our day and age, if there's going to be a spiritual awakening, we need clarity there and understanding. Thank you that Paul was clear to these believers. Thank you that his life demonstrated consistency of character. We bless and thank you for that. I reflect through my life and think of all the mentors that I've had in my life, in Bible college, in seminary, and fellow pastors. And they've all been instrumental. in some way or another giving me clarity and keeping me straight, keeping me on that narrow road that leads to heaven. Keep us on that. Keep us clear in our thinking. In Jesus' name, Amen.