I must say, all kidding aside, it is a privilege to address you. It's usually every other year, and I'm just so grateful to be invited back again with you this time. Tonight we have the theme, From Bondage to Freedom. I'd like to take a slightly different approach to these chapters than has been taken with the other so cool, because there's really two sections in Chapter 5. There's really one read in Chapter 6. And if you have a Bible, whether on your phone or just a paper Bible, it'd be really helpful, because to read through it, a lot of it is not going to work. You're going to need the time to just digest it. While you're getting to Nehemiah 5, let me just explain the approach to it. And you're going to notice we're going to go from the wall to some pretty dicey situations happening inside Jerusalem, both with attacks from the now and with attacks from the then, which were really devastating. So that'll be from verses 1 to 13 of chapter 5. We'll look at the setting in each of these three sections. And then thirdly, we're going to go from the issues to the principles. I'm a big fan of Bethel and principles. So it's like, OK, we've read that part. It's fair. We get what's going on. We try to draw out what are the issues happening. But what can we learn from that section for ourselves? What principles should we draw out of it? I mean, maybe you're getting a sense already that every speaker's trying to bring this rather remote history to today. And that's quite a challenge. I don't know if we ever prepared a speech or a topic or something. You have to take something quite different. In the first part of chapter 5, you have what we would call an internal struggle. And it's the first one of its kind. We've heard about Sambalach. We've heard about Tobiah. We've heard about G-dgeshem, all these people outside mocking, making fun. Now we've got trouble inside the walls of Jerusalem. What must happen? In a nutshell, the poor Jews Harvest Jews were crying out to Nehemiah for help. He'd say, from whom? Well, from the wealthy Jews who were taking advantage of him. I'll explain just what was happening. There's a number of issues that were going on. get to. So the poor Jews, being poor and having no way to really earn money, they mortgaged their lands. They mortgaged their houses. They mortgaged their venues. They didn't have anything else to mortgage. For those of you who maybe never dealt with mortgages, you're basically saying, you can take my house if I can borrow money from you. But you have nothing to repay. You're in hot water. And they cried out to Nehemiah. We don't know what to do anymore. Just because they were living in Jerusalem, they still had to pay taxes to the king. They had no money for that. So now they were borrowing money in order to pay their taxes. Well, that's a hole from which you don't get out of either. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, the Jews were charging interest to each other. And the Law of Moses forbid Jews from charging interest to each other. And Christians today kind of honor that still. You know, it's okay for banks to charge interest, for us to do business dealings where interest is involved. But when you're helping out a Christian, We want to be like the Lord, just us. So there was that. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the poor Jews got so poor they had nothing left to mortgage. So now they start sending their sons and daughters to the rich Jews as servants. Now that was allowed under the law of Moses. But typically what would happen is a bunch of family members would band together, they'd come up without money, and they'd redeem their sons or daughters or relatives out of in the houses of the rich and serving them. So they cried to Nehemiah for help. And we're going to see what Nehemiah does with that in just a second. But that's the setting. What are the issues? Well, imagine this was a tough spot. No resources, hardly enough money. That was the family member who, with cash in hand, would buy their relatives out of bondage. There was no redeemer. They were in a debt they couldn't pay. They cried Nehemiah. No, that's the first issue. No resources, no redeemer. Nehemiah reacts as we can imagine. You're getting to know this man from other presentations. He was outraged. And there is a place for what the Scriptures call righteous anger. Here were, we would say in today's language, Christians doing in Christians. And he was incensed. Look at verse 7 for a second. I consulted with myself. That's a beautiful thought. Instead of just like blowing up and flirting out and just, you know, going to town with these people, he just sat and thought and knowing he might be doing what he most likely prayed for. What am I doing? Then we read, he revealed the others and the truths about these things. And he also did something. We find later in the New Testament, he brings witnesses. it's Then he says to them something that's really key, and we're going to come back to that later. Verse 9. Oh, I'm sorry. Verse 8. We redeemed, he's saying to these leaders, back in the day when our relatives were sold to the Gentiles, do you remember us banding together and buying them out of servitude? And now you're putting your that spot voluntarily. In other words, what you just did was done. Verse 9, he says, walk ye not in the fear of God. And then listen to this, because of the reproach of heathen are enemies. In other words, in today's language, he's saying, don't you know that these enemies of ours are watching? They're seeing all this and thinking, oh, this is great. They come out of captivity. God gives them this deliverance. They're building this fine temple. And they're enslaving each other. He goes, don't you fear God? Set an example to the people around us. And then, basically, Nehemiah rounds out his discussion, verse 10, by saying, I could have did what you did. I could have got servants for myself from our people. I didn't do it. Then, finally, in verse 11, he gives him the bottom line. He says, This is the life of Jesus. taken captive by him at his will. When I hear that verse in the New Testament, I picture a dog on a leash with a collar. Satan's on here, and here, and here, and this way, and that way. That's how Scripture describes our culture. We're like that dog who follows Satan wherever he takes us, not even realizing we've got a collar on. You know, those of you who have dogs, or whatever, so I can't get out of this. I don't know what to do with this. It's kind of like being in a room, there's only one way out of it. Thank God there was one. Second application to us, who should care about people around you? I know that sounds a bit off, but here we are at Christian Camp. You got your best bud sitting next to you, of course I care. You know, we look out for each other. But who do you care enough to actually talk into their life when they need you to? You know, camp counselors, camp directors, they should be like the last people you're talking to I don't want to fall out of good graces with them. I want them to like me. So, just one of those applications. Are you generous? If I ask your friend, is that person generous? Are you generous with your money? Are you generous with your time? Are you generous with service? They do things for people that you don't have to, that you're not obligated to. Could any non-churched person tell that you're a Christian by your generosity? by how much you do for people without even expecting anything. By how you spend your money, by how you spend your time, by what you do in every day life. And then finally, personal motivation. You know what it's like to praise God? You remember at the end of that story that people were praising God because they were redeemed? If you've been delivered, if you're sitting here as a believer, be the most enjoyable thing on Earth. He's talking about his son, so that's the app. A picture, you know, as I was thinking about an angry face of Christ, it's pretty hard to imagine. The great men, the captains, the kings, the mighty men, they want to hide from the face of him that sits on the throne. Imagine what that look must be that these guys who are the man's men are cowering in fear, wishing to be buried under a mountain rather than to look at that face. I'm sure that's not a smiling face, it's a face of judgment. What face do you use? What face do I use? And we are not trusting Him. Day by day, God is angry with you, too. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides with him. That means it's resting the whole time. But I want us to see Christ as way greater than that. Let's look at the contrast in rapid fashion. What can Nehemiah do about the death? He can only appeal to the rulers. Christ comes along and says, Heal. In fact, that beautiful cry on the cross, when it is finished, if it was a Greek speaking person doing that, he would hear, Heal, Heal. That's good news. The world is watching. Jesus does one way better. He empowers us to live in a way that the Gentiles don't see. The world is watching. What are you going to do? You shouldn't be acting this way, but make a change. Jesus comes along. That's the first section. The next section is called generous provision. Now we're talking verses 14-19, short section. That's the setting. Chapter 5, we're going to see in this section how Nehemiah, hear this well, he gave up some of his own rights out of love for those in need. So in other words, Nehemiah didn't just talk the talk, tell the rulers what they should do. He also walked the walk. He was an example of generosity himself. And at the end of the chapter, this wearied man seems issues, Nehemiah was entitled to a salary. I mean, when the king sent him, yeah, he got timber and this and that, but he also had a salary, because he was made, quote, by the governor. Now, where do you think the money came from? To be a governor. The king wasn't going to afford it. You got to collect it from the people you're over. Well, guess what? These people already didn't have taxes. They didn't have the tax money to pay the king. How are they going to pay the governor? And he's a fellow Jew. You know what Nehemiah did? What did he do? He didn't pay him. The former governors, the scribes tell us, they took food, they took money. Even their servants started bossing the people around. to add to their burden. And it wasn't just for their sake. He said, God's watching how I'm dealing with this stuff. And I'm certainly not going to add to my own people's grief. And so he says, forgive myself. Then, this is so neat. So you're getting this picture of this really, like, really great guy, strong man, man of grace. You're sitting here, sort of watching everything happen. So there they are building the wall of Jerusalem, broken down years before. Instead of ruling over the people, he's serving them. uh... 150. Now, when you're, I remember when my brother was 12, I don't think he actually told me, but his brother was, now that words out, our reputations are, you know, I'll let you interpret what's happened. Strangling in from Gentile lands. He says, I fed them too when they showed up at my doorstep. And you get a sense of what that took. Verse 18, what does it take to feed that crowd? He said, you know, oxen, sheep, you've got the list there. Wine was only served once a day. Okay, that's the issues. What about the principles? I mean, what do we get out of this? Number one, it's a well-rounded principle of scripture to deny my own rights. To give up something, I might actually need that title. Let's talk about fish and cherry. Back to that principle. it's And then on top of offerings, what they call free will offerings. So that's like going above and beyond and just giving a generosity or thanking God for something. So who knows what the percent actually is, but let's just pretend it's 10. Do you think New Testament Christians having a complete Bible, knowing the Savior by name, and all of the other blessings we have, 2,000 years of church, do you think we ought to be just a tad more generous than New Testament Christians? Do you think we have more to be thankful for? You think God gave us a little bit more than He gave to them? It totally balls me when we don't get at least as much as the Old Testament Jews. I'm not laying the rule of the law. I'm appealing to, like, we are New Testament people. We ought to be, like, generous to the max. And I'm going to make you a The company started out getting 10% of their corporate profits in charity. God blessed that company. That was a decision of the courts. God blessed that company so much that the next year they gave it to one more. Their profit margin was still higher than that person. They made more money. But I'm telling you So, what about the rest? Do we look at our money as our own? Do we look at it as lent by the Lord? Has it ever dawned on us that one day we stand before God is not to be justified by faith or not. If you look at Matthew 25, when did you visit me in prison? When did you see me when I was sick? When did you put clothes on me? Who was he talking about? People who were down and out. When did you do something for them? Because when you did it for them, Jesus said, Last section, doing great so far. Heads are mostly up. Eyes are mostly open. It's raining, but up. Last section, we're going to take Chapter 6 in one shot, because it's really about one thing. Setting. Chapter 6, now Nehemiah's facing a battle on two fronts. There's those same people out there who were troubling him from Chapter 1, and now you've got an interruption. I'll talk about the setting. It's so, like, ridiculous how these enemies deal with it. And what's wrong with it? They tried repeatedly to get Nehemiah to come out of this thing. It's like, let's have a talk. It's like, what? Let's have a... And Nehemiah knew they wanted to kill him. So, that's understanding. But they do it repeatedly. It's like, it's in four letters. Let's have a talk. No. Let's have a talk. No. It's like, okay, no means no. I'm coming. start to spread the worst. I'm doing a great work that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you? I don't know if anybody wants to come down. I'm doing a great work that I cannot come down. It almost sounds odd, but he wasn't saying he was Why would I trifle away my time? And the point is, Satan is persistent. Four times, same message. Four times, Nehemiah says, no. Then the slander, remember, you're a rebel, you want to be king. An open letter, what does that mean? Let's let everybody hear. Nehemiah, your boss, wants to be a king, rebel, getting profits. All of that, Nehemiah, his answer, verse 8, he made it all up. It's total baloney. All what you're saying is just, you're making it up out of your head. Verse 9 is really striking. You would think after that bold way of repulsing the enemy's attempts, this guy's standing strong. Verse 9 tells us something shocking. The cumulative effect of everything that's happened up to now has made him afraid. And you'd say, come on. Letters? Lies that you know aren't true? Why would that make them afraid? Have you ever had it where not one thing by itself, but stuff heaped together, one thing after another, after another, after another, and you're finally wore down? That's actually a lot like the Christian life. You know, you can die by a gash, you can die by a thousand little cuts, and Satan, if he can't get you with the sword, he'll get you with the knife. And we'll see how that works in our life real briefly in a second. What does he do with his spears? This is so precious. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. He wasn't concerned about his safety. This works God again. God's honor is on the line. Lord, help me. Then the slyest attempt of all. Remember I said, hide in the temple. We care about you. We don't want to see you killed by these good-for-nothings. Should such a man as I be, I will not go into the temple. What he's basically saying is, if I'm going to die, let me die, but I'm not going to sin. That's what he means. He's not saying, I'm such a guy, this is unworthy of me. He's basically saying, look, I'd rather die than offend the God who sent me. That's carnage. 52 days after they sent me. Now, mind you, Jerusalem today, Jerusalem today is bigger, way bigger than it was back then. You can still go to the old city. This is a wonder. 52 days, and we're talking done. Gates, bars, locks, walls, the whole thing, finished. And they started with rubble. I mean, first they had to clean up the place, to get all the broken down walls out of the way, and then to build it. So, 52 days, done. But the devil didn't stop. Then several Jewish nobles, remember the guys who wouldn't put their neck to the work, we heard about them in Dr. Bilka's thing, the lazy good for nothings. Apparently they made a deal with Tobiah. trying to make him, one of their enemies, look good to Nehemiah. Hey, Tobiah's not a bad guy. Go out and talk with him. We know him. He's a friend of ours. He married into our family. And actually, Tobiah played it smart. He intermarried somehow with a Jewish gal who was somewhat famous. And so the letters kept coming. And Nehemiah kept saying no. And the chapter ends, just like that. Principles. OK, this one is really for you. I actually feel for your generation in this respect. The dangers of distractions. The dangers of distractions. Why talk with Nehemiah? Sure, to kill him. But the ultimate goal was we want this work stopped. What did Nehemiah do? He reminded himself, I'm busy with important things. Now, here's the catch. If you're going to tell me, we have a pastor. Look, there's so many distractions today. I would say, I get it. I know it. It's true. Here's the thing. The distractions to Nehemiah were many. Distractions, principle one, your identity. Distractions didn't move Nehemiah. Let's try slandering him. Let's trash his reputation. You know what? He could care less. He knew it was a lie. If you've got a good conscience before God, if you know you're not living in his sin, you can look anybody in the face. They can tell whatever lies they want about you. You know where you stand with God. Now, if you are living in sin, all bets are off. You're probably going to be afraid to believe. and then here's a the staff If you're going to try to be godly, sure. The screw-ups, the worldly types, they're going to razz you. You can figure on that. It really hurts when it comes from somebody you didn't expect. Family member, fellow church member. chum at school, at work, who professes to be a Christian, but gives you a hard time for being too radical. That really hurts. And let me comfort you. It happened to Jesus. One of his disciples said he didn't know him three times with oaths. The other one stabbed him in the back, more or less, sold him for 30 pieces of silver. Three of them fell asleep in his greatest hour need. He knows all about it. The good news is you're hurt. Won't last forever. Jesus brought him right into the fire of hell. And he came back out. Now the application, and with this I'm done. Let's talk about distractions. Nehemiah said, I'm doing a great work. Let me ask you this. Are you doing a great work? I mean a great work. Something that makes a difference. Let me put it another way. Have you ever made any connection in your head between what you're doing and the Kingdom of God? Is there any? Because here's the deal. If you don't have any conscious connection between what you're doing and serving God, you are more easily distracted. Why? Because if in your mind what you're doing isn't that important, everything else that may not be very important, all of a sudden becomes almost as important. To put it simpler, if I don't like my job, and as I drag myself to work, I don't think I'm doing much of anything, then every fiddle-faddle that comes along is going to be a distraction, because, hey, that's exciting, it's interesting, it's whatever, it's way better than work. So if you're not doing something great, if you don't have a connection to what you're doing in God and his kingdom, any distraction is going to suit you fine because it's better than what you got. Nehemiah went from cup builder of the king to wall builder. It didn't take a PhD. He wasn't a minister. But he was used by God big time, dealing with stones and mortar. and being a faithful man during. Will you do that? I don't know what you do for a living, or what you're doing over the summer, or whatever. Would you please ask God, how do I make that connection so that what I'm doing means something to you? Lord, to your kingdom, to people, in big ways, even if you dig in ditches, whatever. There's ways to make those connections. So if you're tired of living a life full of distractions, going nowhere, turn to Christ, who was never distracted. Not that there weren't distractions, there were plenty. He had his mind fixed. I've got to get this great work done. If you hold on to him, you're going to be that way too. If you can let him go, the sky's the limit. Your fickle heart will find one thing, the next thing, the next thing, and you'll get to the end of your life and say, what was that about? What did I actually accomplish that I could call great? Nothing. Not in the big scheme of things. image. That's the second application, image. You know, you guys aren't the only generation that cares about your image, what people think of you. We all did, you know, appearance, appreciated, accepted, liked, all that stuff. That's as old as the hills. But your generation, for good or for ill, has way more ways to face it. I mean, you look at the platforms, right? The technology, Facebook, Snapchat, all that stuff. So identity is now out there, right? You can be known by more people very easily. So you're more conscious of your identity in a bigger scale than we were. We only were known by the people around us. You can be known literally worldwide. Now, here's the trick. as hard as it might be for you to sit here right now, tired, full, all that, and to connect your image with your identity. The connection is there. In other words, how I portray myself, what does that have to do with who I am? Did you ever ask yourself at the end of the day, who am I? Like, how do I really see myself? Or do I see myself how I want to be seen? So I cook up this image that I want people to believe I am, when you know full well that's not the case. I was amazed that the psychiatric people came up with a new disorder, and it's called the social media depressive disorder. You'd say, what's that? they've noticed that people keep putting positive things on like Facebook. I mean, you don't put pictures on when your hair looks like mine. You don't do that. And so everybody, my great vacation, my great friends, my great... And so let's just say you're not having a great life. And you're seeing page after page of smiling faces and exotic vacations and money coming out of people's ears. And you're sitting there like, I don't have a thing. Or if the image you put out there is fake, you're depressed because you're just putting on a show that doesn't mean a thing. So image and identity are a lot closely tied than you think, and it's really important. Now let me change the tune. If you're a believer, you learn my identity is Jesus Christ. That may sound like a hard couple of dots to connect, but they are essential to connect. And it goes like this, I belong to him. One of my favorite lines in all of scripture, the Song of Solomon, the last of three statements, I am my beloved's and his favor is toward me. So my identity is no longer, I'm the Christian. I'm his. I belong to him. I'm living for him. And what does that do for your image, for your identity? Now you're more concerned what does he think of you, rather than what does she or he think of you. And you know what that does? Here is the rock solid benefit of that. You are secure. You don't have to ride the waves of the latest trends and this and that to make sure you're in or out or whatever. You're solid. You're good to go. You can wear clothes even like mine and still be okay. What I'm trying to say is you don't have to do the rat race of trying to keep up with everything and portray. You're solid. You're safe. You're good. You can focus on what he wants you to do rather than who you are or what you look like. And that's huge. So if you're tired of all that stuff, get on board. There's an identity that beats all of that stuff. And it really affects your life. It changes your life dramatically. How you view your work, your position in this world, all of that stuff. So if you're living to please others, and there's a few of you who are doing that, You know, we're not as dumb as we look. We couldn't be. But we want you. We do. And it's so, like, sad. This one has to outdo that one, and this one has to impress that one. It's like, oh, come on. Like, so if I wear my hat a certain way, or if I, you know, break the rules just a little bit more, then maybe I'm a little more cool than he is. It's like, what a game, right? Let's graduate to something really huge. If you belong to Christ, you have tons of security. You'll never walk alone because you're given the biggest, best family on earth. Use them. Your best friend ever is always near, never far. That's his promise. And you don't have to focus on pleasing anybody but one person. That's simple. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's simple. You don't gotta please everybody. You please Him, you're good. And the ones who are trying to please Him, you're in. You're all together doing the same thing. That frees you up to build the wall. Fear. Who isn't afraid? Now, we hate to admit it, don't we? We want to hide it. We want to hide it from ourselves. But if you're not a believer, you know, deep down inside, you're going to hell. If you're careless about the things of God, if this merry-go-round life of yours keeps churning along like it is, one day the music stops. The horses don't go up and down anymore. You're done. And I know what some of you are doing, even though I don't know you personally. I had eight kids. They're all married except one. I get this stuff. we try to drown it out. We know that's what's happening, we know where we're going, we know we're on the wrong path, but we drowned it out. Music, sports, working out, whatever. Bury yourself in your work. There's a million ways to do it, but it's like, don't let me think about it. And Nehemiah went to God with his fears. So don't let fears paralyze you, bring them to God. He'll gladly help you out with them. The psalmist said, what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Associations, what's that about? Go hide in the temple, you'll be fine. I'm going to appeal to you this way, because the time is a shock to pieces. I'm sorry about that, Brother Roger. And you're talking about that following the rules and the timetables. And here I'm just trashing the whole thing, terrible. I'll make it quick. So, I'm going to appeal to the association thing this way. Whether you believe it or not, people around you think you're Christian. Now, we're so used to separating, like, believers and unbelievers, regenerate, unregenerate, we make those to think. The world doesn't care about that stuff. The world still thinks that the US and Canada are Christian nations. They still see, and that's why they're like, what? What's all abortion, euthanasia, Christian? They're like, what is going on over there? Because they don't live here. So the world watching you at work, watching you at university, watching you with your friends, they don't care about whether you're regenerative or not. They don't even understand that. But you're a Christian in their mind. And here's the point about association. Everywhere you go, everybody you hang out with, everything you do has the word Christian stamped on it in the eyes of the world. Which means, when you're doing stuff you shouldn't be doing, going places you shouldn't be going, hanging out with people you shouldn't be hanging out with, you're dragging somebody's name right through the mud with you. And you can't change that. If you would walk up to, God forbid you do this, but if you walk up to the front of your church next Sunday and say, I renounce my baptism. I renounce my confession. I'm done with the whole business. Goodbye. You still can't erase your association. God put it there when you were a child. So wherever you, you know, there's an old expression, you can run from God, but you can't hide. So wherever you go, you're bringing his name and your reputation is tied to him. So you'll never be able to break that tie, but you could certainly trash his name by what you do. And you may say, well, Jesus hung out with harlots, tax collectors, weaklings. What about his reputation? You're totally right, he did. He did it to rescue them. He went in the sewer to pull them out. Is that what you're doing, or are you jumping in the sewer to join them? Big difference. Big difference. Stabbed in the back. Last principle, last application. I imagine a bunch of you know what it's like to be crossed by a friend. Somebody you really trusted. And that hurts like anything. Especially if it's somebody who professes grace, maybe sat at the same Lord's Supper table as you. That really hurts. And you might walk away from those experiences saying, who in the world can I trust? What could I do when somebody stabs me in the back like that? Well, as I mentioned before, Jesus Christ knows all about it. You can pray for your friend or your family member or whoever it is, but don't give up on the way of the Lord. He went through all that on purpose for sinners. He told us if we're going to follow Him, it's going to be the same thing. for us, so don't be surprised, but don't become disillusioned. Distractions, out. Focus on self-denial, eternal life, in. Image, do you want to go through life being a fake? Trying to create and recreate and prop up whatever image you're looking to fool people with, why bother? There's one image worth having, Christ. You don't have to fear fear anymore. You don't have to keep trying to drown out your fears with distractions and sins and sex and sport and all that stuff. You don't have to be paralyzed by your fears or governed by your fears. Christ will help you through them. Christ will clear them out. Nehemiah was not a self-made man. He was a man of God. Associations. I love my daughter, Lyd. Lydia is a social worker and used to work in an inner city program with all kinds of people. I loved a t-shirt she would wear, especially to family reunions. I'm chilling with my people. I love that. I'm chilling with my people. Who are you chilling with? Who are your people? Who are you hanging out with? Show me who you hang out with, I'll tell you who you are. Just like that. I'll tell you who you are. Some people say you are what you eat. I say you are who you hang with. Let me give you a heads up. The crowd that you hang with, unless something happens, is going to be the crowd you spend eternity with. You pick. Your choice. President Obama, interestingly enough, used the expression, I've got your back. If Nehemiah's taught us anything, don't trust your back to anybody. I'm not trying to be like, you know, diss all your friends and don't trust your folks. I'm not saying that. But there's only one person who never stabs you in the back. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He has your back like nobody else. And so, don't you turn around. and stab him in the back who would never stab you in the back. So that's it. Chapters 5 and 6. Read it. Get it. Live it. For Jesus' sake. Thank you. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we pray with gratefulness, gratitude, for the book of Nehemiah, but we're always drawn to somebody who stands way above that book and way above this man of God. Even though we admire Nehemiah, we love Jesus. For he is the ultimate, the one to live for, the one whose favor we need and want, the one who we should belong to and do. the one who we should never turn our backs on, for he has promised never to turn his back on those who look to him. And Lord, if we've got some young people sitting here who don't buy any of this, who are determined to keep propping up the same old, same old, we pray that by the end of this week they may have a change of thought, that they may walk away saying, what am I doing? Where am I going? And I don't want to take my friends down to that place with me. And so we pray for grace. We pray for the spirit of God to work. In Jesus' name, amen. I think because of the time, we're just going to not sing. So Uncle Roger, it's all yours.