Well, good morning, everyone and happy New Year. I hope you're doing well. If you are new here, and what I mean by new here is maybe you've come a couple of times today may be your first time. Whichever the case may be, we're so especially excited that you are here today. We would love to get to know you a little bit better.

Outside to my left, your right is our connection Center. We'll have some team members out there that would love to give you a small gift. It's not a Tesla, it's a coffee cup. But it still delivers some joy. So we'd love for you to stop by, pick that up.

We just want to get to know you a little bit better. We're not going to hound you, we're not going to show up at your doorstep. We just want to be able to meet you. So a lot of good things going on in the life of our church today. Want to remind you of a couple of things over the last few weeks.

Last Sunday we met and we affirmed our vision spending plan for the next year. And these packets are out, just scattered in the lobby. If your family didn't take one, you need to take one of these and put it in your house so you can look back at it, but also be praying for it because it has in there what we hope to see next year by increasing our engagement of inviting others in our leadership endeavors. And of course, as we see the ministry center take root and we begin some construction down there and all the things that are going to come about is that we'd love for this to be a reminder for you and your family to be praying in that though I want to take a moment to thank three people in the room. As you know, we affirmed some new people coming onto our administrative team.

That that meant that there were three that are stepping out after they have served for the last three through actually through some of these guys, through the interim, our own Steve Payson and Lou Bellamy and Brian Aiken. And I would love for us all to thank them this morning for the service on our administration team. Thank you, guys.

So in a few minutes we're going to be praying. But our new members that we affirmed last week is Cindy Matthews, of course, Guy Griswold. I didn't see him this morning. No one's picked on me yet. Guy's not here, so I haven't been picked on yet.

And Michael Jameson, who will also be serving as our chair. So be praying for them as well. Also in the lobby last week and this week are These. This is a text of the Book of Philippians. One page has the text and the other page has a place for notes.

And I hope that you grabbed one last week. If you didn't, there's still a few more out here on the table in the Connection Center. Some of you don't like writing in your Bible, and that's okay. But you can draw pictures in this. You can put tape in this.

You can use colored markers. You can even diagram sentences.

Fred, you didn't laugh this time, okay? He said amen. So. But really, for the next two months, we're going to be studying the book of Philippians. By the time we get through, you will have read the book of Philippians.

I hope you dissect it, but you ingest it. The word joy and rejoice is scattered throughout the entire book. And we hope that as we start a new year, that we can start off on the right foot, praising Jesus for what he's done, but also getting in the mindset of having. Having joy this morning. We're blessed.

We've been blessed for a few weeks now to have Tammy and Will and their family here from Nicaragua. Guys, put your hand up. I know y'all, some of you've got to speak to them, but they've been here with us. Kenneth, of course, over here on the piano. And little Tammy, she's already sang for us.

But, guys, listen, I'm telling you, I could spend the next few hours telling you about how excited I am about what God is doing in Nicaragua. But here's what's going to be good. You, you get to hear Will preach today. And when you hear him preach, you're going to be just as excited about what God's going to be doing in Nicaragua. So I want to invite you to stand with me.

And I want you to extend your hands toward Will and Tammy and the family. And we want to pray for them. We're going to be sad when they go back home, but I don't think they're going to miss the cold. They're going back to 80 something degrees, and I don't think it's broke 50 since they've been here. But let's pray for them and let's pray for this new year.

Father, we thank you so much for Will and Tammy, Tamarita, for Willito and for Kenneth. But Lord, mostly Lord, we thank you for what you're doing in their lives and what you're doing in Nicaragua. And we can't wait, Lord, to continue seeing what it is that you're going to do. So we pray a blessing over them, Lord, we pray you touch them as they get ready to head back home in a few days. Lord, we pray you protect them, but also, Lord, we pray you anoint them for the work that they're doing and the doors that you've opened.

God, again, we could spend hours talking about what's going on, Lord, we're just humbled that we get to have a little part in that. So touch them as we start this new year, Lord, we pray for the new members on our admin team, for our new deacons, for new leaders. But Lord, we're praying, God, that we can see a harvest, not just a few professions, Lord, we want to see a harvest of souls, Lord. We're after that 27,000 that's just here in our back door. But, Lord, thankful that we even get to go all around the world, that we get to see your hand at work.

So, Lord, I pray you use us and touch us in Jesus name. And everybody said, good morning. God bless you all. Well, I feel privileged to be here this morning and I'm glad that Pastor Jamie invited me, you know, to preach. It's a big privilege, you know, and I'd like you to stand up, you know, and open your book, your Bible.

And we're going to go to the book of Philippians, chapter one.

You have it. Chapter one, verse one through 11. Let's read. Paul and Timothy Bond, servants of Christ Jesus, to all of the saints in Christ who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in view of your participation in the Gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me, for God is my witness. How I long for you all, with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to The glory and praise of God.

Let's be praying. Father Celestial. Te alabamos, Te vendecimos. Gracias, Senor. Portonerno.

Lord, I ask, I pray this morning that your Holy Spirit is with us this morning, teaching us. And I just pray, Lord, that you can use me, Lord, so I can deliver the message that you have for this group of people, Lord, you know the word that they need, and that's what you're bringing this morning, Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

All right, here we are.

The book of Philippians. It's a book that I like a lot, you know, because. And I know that the Lord, you know, put this in brother Jamie's heart, you know, to start the series, because I think it's something that the church is needing today. You know, the church is needing the joy of the Lord. And Philippians Paul talks a lot about the joy of the Lord, you know, having the joy of the lord.

And as 2024 you know, went by, you know, and it says goodbye, he says, sayonara. You know, we know that we just lived a time, you know, a period of time that we called Christmas, you know, and in many occasions, you know, in Christmas, we have a lot of events, like gathering together with families, getting ready for presents, going to Walmart, going anywhere, you know, to get presents for the kids, for our grandchildren, for our dears. We get together with relatives, family, and there are times of happiness because we say, oh, long time no see. And then you finally see the people that you love, but then they have to leave and continue with their lives because life has to continue. And as life is passing by, we realize also that those moments are temporary, and we call that happiness.

So happiness can go and come, go and come, and we're going to have a lot of events of that in our life, but the joy of the Lord remains in our life. Amen. So I'm going to start saying this morning that when you are saved into the salvation package, it's got to come the joy of the Lord. So salvation brings joy. If you're saved this morning, you know what I'm talking about, because you have the joy of the Lord.

But what does it have to do, the joy of the Lord with this? Why do I need the joy of the Lord? Well, let me tell you this Christian life, you know, I compare Christian life to the story of Exodus in the Old Testament. You know, the story of Exodus has three. Three times, you know, Egypt, Then you have the desert, and then you have the promised land.

While you still don't know the Lord. You are in Egypt and Egypt represents being slave, being blind, working in darkness. No hope, no faith. You don't know where to go, you know what path to take. But the word of God says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

So in some way we all praise God for those that were born in a Christian home, you know, because they didn't have to taste this world. And believe me, there's nothing you're missing, you know. But for those who, the Lord, you know, got you out of the miry clay, you know, and set your foot on the rock, they know what I'm talking about, you know. And so the Lord, you know, had mercy on us and they, he just saved us, you know, and that salvation, you know, he put joy in our lives. Amen.

I'm going to ask you to give me some Amen because I don't want to feel lonely here.

All right? So then the Lord took us, you know, from, from our sin, sinful life, and he brought us to the desert. But let me tell you, let me start saying this. The desert is not our final destination.

It's not about taking us out of Egypt and then, oh, we'll be alright because we're going to the desert. So the desert is your life, is the life that you're walking now. Okay? The desert is not the final destination. You're going to a better place.

How many of you know that this life that you're temporarily living is not your final destination? This is not your home. The home that you have here in Toco and the surrounding areas, it's not your final destination. You're living here temporarily. The Lord is preparing you some beautiful homes up in heaven.

And that's our hope and that's our joy. Because we're going up there. Amen.

And so but while we're here, your Christian life, while we're walking in the desert, okay, you're going hungry, then you're going thirsty.

Anxiety may knock on your door, Depression may knock on your door.

You have to face difficulties, you know, in the desert, which represents our Christian life, you know that. Who wants to be in the desert? No one. Never been at the desert. But I've heard and I read that the desert is a hot place during the day and it's a cold place at night.

And there's nothing, there's no water, there's nothing in there. But the Lord was leading the Hebrew People, the people that got the Lord gave them freedom through the desert. And that's exactly where we're walking on right now. We're walking on the desert. Life is a desert.

You have to face all these difficulties.

But guess what? The people went hungry. And what happened? The Lord provided bread, the people went thirsty. And guess what?

The Lord provided water. Hey, it was sunny. It was very hot. And the Lord provided a big cloud. And they were like, oh, this is just cool.

You know that being cold might kill you, you know. I know what being cold this December was. Yeah. I'm used to being in a range of 100 and 110 degrees every day. So I've been very cold.

I can't imagine what it's like to be in the desert, in the desert, but it was cold at night. And guess what the Lord did. He put a fire, a column of fire. And this doesn't mean that, oh, warm, I'm going to get warm. The fire was protecting the people, you know, from, from wild animals, poisoning animals.

And what. That's exactly what the Lord is doing in your life. You know, all these things are going to come to your life difficulties. The economy is going to try to strike you. The economy never gets well.

You always say, oh, it's going worse. Oh, this prices on food is going up every day. Only God can make America great. Only God.

And let me tell you this. So life as you know and as Paul knew it, in spite of all of this, you know, he had the joy of the Lord. He knew that in second second Timothy, chapter four, verse seven, he says, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.

So he. He understand that Christian life, that following Jesus is not happiness all the time, you know, and you understand that this is a. It's a battle. This is a fight. How many of you know that when you receive Jesus in your heart, you started a spiritual war?

Yes. Because the devil will not want you to come to church. He doesn't want you to raise your hands and praise him. He doesn't want you to go into your room, bend your knees and start praying to God. He doesn't want that.

In a little while you will know why.

So Ephesians 6:12, it says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. You see, he continues saying, you know, it's not about being just in peace, you know, and of course the Lord is going to give Us, that peace that surpasses all understanding. We have peace in the Lord, but it's not about just not going through difficulties. The Lord himself also said, you know, in John 16:33, he says these things, I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world, ye shall have tribulation.

But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So it's like. Like if. If you're going on a trip, you know, and I tell you, you know, when you go there by the. I don't know what, what road here?

Rose Lane, you know, this corner, you're going to have a flat tire. But I'll tell you what, it'll be right that place, you know, and you're going to have a flat tire. You have to be ready for that because you're going to have a flat tire. So the Lord is telling us in his word that we're going to have troubles, we're going to face difficulties. And he said, the Lord, I'm warning you for you to have peace, for you to know that this is going to happen.

So when troubles and difficulties show up, don't pretend like you didn't know. Don't pretend that. Oh, nobody told me that being Christian is about facing difficulties, too. Because the Lord is telling you, if you want to follow him, you. You gotta carry your cross every day.

It's not about just being happy and no problem. Oh, my economy is. Well. But you know what, what the joy is all about? It's about trusting God.

It's about saying the Lord, you know, Lord, you. You. You told me that I was gonna have difficulties, I was going to face. How many of you. You know what divorce is?

You don't want to get divorced. You don't want your kids, you know, to get in trouble. But we have to face all those things in our lives. And if we ain't got the joy of the Lord, Let me tell you this. If we don't have the joy of the Lord, we're not going to be able to make it.

Yes, we need the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is I compare it to the gasoline that you put in your car. I don't care if you have the nicest car in the United States. I mean, moved by gas. If you don't put gas on that vehicle, you're not going nowhere.

Yeah. So you need the joy of the Lord. Because our final destination. Remember that our final destination is not just coming to Ebenezer Baptist Church. This is temporary.

Our final destination is not having the nicest house in Tocoa in Georgia. Our final destination is not to have the best work ever, not to have a big amount of money in the bank. That's not the final destination. That's something that the Lord is providing for you, for the trip, for the journey. Because the Lord, the Bible says he knows what you need.

He knows exactly what you need. And so saying this, I go to the point number two. And we said in the point number one that salvation brings joy. And I dare to say that if you're not experiencing the joy of the Lord, maybe you're not saved. Because joy comes with salvation.

The Lord gives you the joy once you're saved, once he had come to your heart, he says, here, here's the fuel. You need it, take it.

Point number two, it says, you and me need the joy of the Lord to reach the goal, to get to heaven, to go through this desert, to go through this life full of difficulties. We need the joy of the Lord And David in the Psalm 15, verse 12, David, you know, a man, how the Bible calls it, a man after the Lord's heart, probably somebody like you and me. David is most of his time, you know, he's a weak man, you know, he's always probably he's got some sins, you know, and. And he realizes that these sins gets him away from, from God. And I'm talking about David.

David is not just a simple human. David is a king. You know, David did not lack anything, nothing. He hided everything. He could have everything he wanted, probably you.

And I couldn't say that, you know, I had lacked everything.

But now that I have the joy of the Lord, you know, I lack nothing because he's my pastor. Amen. So, but David being a king, you know, apparently something is missing in his life, you know, it seems that some of his sins, you know, is getting him away from the Lord. And then he said, you know, in the Psalm 51:12, he says, Lord, restore, Lord, restore. I don't have that.

I'm missing your joy. He says, restore the joy of your salvation to me. It might be a word that the Lord is asking you to pray today. Restore the joy of your salvation, Lord, to me. I need it.

And In Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 10, it says, Then he said to them, go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared. Since today is hold it to our Lord. And here what it says, do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is my strength. You see, we need the joy of the Lord. You want the strength that comes from God, you need the joy of the Lord because his joy is our strength.

You can go nowhere if you don't have the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is your fuel to keep going. And I pray that this 20, 25, you know, you start with the right foot, you know, if you don't have. You don't know what I'm talking about. It means, it might be that you need to ask the Lord, you know, to restore the joy you know in your life, his joy.

And so this joy that we're talking about, that comes from God, you cannot, like I said before, you know, you cannot find it in celebrations because that's temporary. You know, the joy of the Lord remains always. And. But the Bible says the place where we can find the joy of the Lord. And it says that in Psalm 16:11, point number three, the source of that joy is the very presence of the Lord.

Amen. Did you hear that? The source of that joy is the very presence of the Lord.

And in Psalm 16:11, it says, David says, you reveal the path of life to me. In your presence is abundant joy. Where? Where is it is abundant joy in his presence? He says, in your presence, Lord, there is only one source you know, you can go to.

There is only one place you can find the joy of the Lord, and it's not anywhere. It's just right in his presence. And the Lord teaches us how, in what way we can get, you know, how we can get into that presence. And he's not saying, oh, I just lifted my hands and I was in the presence of the Lord. Okay, listen to what the Bible says.

I mean, yes, you can get into the presence by having some quiet time being at the church, but listen to what the Lord says in his word. He says, Matthew 6, I mean, chapter 6, verse 5 through 6. And he says, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly, I tell you, the Lord is talking, speaking. They have their reward.

But when you pray, and this is the word that the Lord is speaking this morning when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret will reward you. Amen. So he says, when you pray, where do you have to go? To the corners, to the market. Where?

And I'll tell you something else. I'm going to read through a quick Matthew, chapter 1, verse 24 and 25. In the English Standard Version, it says, but knew her not. I'm talking about Joseph, Joseph and Mary. It says, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name Jesus.

I underlined the word knew, which is the past tense of the verb know. Okay? He knew her not. Then in the King James Version, it says a similar thing. It says, and knew her not till she had brought forth her first son.

It's using the same verb in past tense. But then listen to this very carefully, Christians. And the Christian Standard Bible is clarifying what the word to know means. And it says, but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son and named him Jesus.

Okay? Do you understand where I'm coming from? The Lord says, but when you pray, go into where? Into your room. And when you get into your room, what else are you going to do?

Shut the door. And what are you going to do there? Pray to our Father. So when you are married and you go into the room with your spouse, with your wife, when you're with your husband, you go into your room to have to read the Bible, right? Yes.

And to pray the whole night praising the Lord. Glory to Jesus. And if you're not doing it, you have to do it. Yeah. You gotta do it.

So when you go in that room, you have intimacy. Right. With the Lord.

So now I'm going to read this.

That's Luke 13, verses 25 through 27. It says, once, when. Once the master of the house is risen, is risen up and hath shut the door. And ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you.

And this is again the same verb, listen. And the Lord is going to say, I know you not whence ye are. Then shall begin to say, we have eaten and drunken in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

So you see, it sounds like our churches, our churches are doing all these things. We're preaching, we're evangelizing, we're doing discipleship, we're having banquets. And it's okay. We can have all those things. It's okay.

But the Lord is also asking the church, you know, to get into the room, because it is in the room where the Lord gets to know you. And you may say, but I've heard that in order to Receive Jesus. You have to know him. Oh, yes, you've heard a lot about Jesus, you know, and who is Jesus? Oh, he's my Lord.

Maybe he's not, but you say, he's my Lord. He is God. I know a lot of things about God and it's good to know about God, but you need also to know. You need to know that God needs to know you. For in that day, he doesn't say to you, you don't have to knock on the door and say, lord, Lord.

And the Lord is going to tell you on that day. I know you not whence you are. You need the Lord to know you and he knows who you are.

And in order to do all of this, you need, we need, we all need the joy of the Lord. You know, I was sharing this morning that there was a guy in Nicaragua that he was just got saved.

And I know that when you are near to a guy that speaks very well, you know, talks about Bible very good, that might cause some, you might feel intimidated, you know, and this guy says, you know, oh, I got so much joy in my heart, you know, when I got saved. I just want everybody to know what Jesus did in my life. Have you ever felt that way? That you need to speak everybody and maybe you don't have the whole words. But you know what the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is going to lead you.

Maybe it's going to be sharing a testimony, maybe it's going to share what the Lord is doing in your life.

So I was saying that we need the joy of the Lord and that in this desert that we're going through, the devil is going to try to rob, to steal the joy from you.

And I'm going to dare to say something else, that the Lord, the joy of the Lord is our fuel, you know, our gasoline, our diesel, to keep going. And without it, there's nothing we can do. Look, what Psalm, Psalm chapter 5, verse. I mean Psalm chapter 51, verse 10 says. He says, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord. You know, I don't want to be cast away from your presence. We have to be in the presence of the Lord. You have to get into your room and have this intimacy with the Lord. Because it is in the intimacy with the Lord that you get the joy of the Lord.

Because it is in his presence that there's abundant joy. And restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. This is the David's Prayer, you know, he has it, everything. But something is missing in his life, you know, that he can live without it. And he says, lord, restore the joy.

Restore that joy and uphold with me with thy free spirit. Only when you have the joy of the Lord, you can do things for the Lord and listen what he says. I'm almost finishing. When I have the joy of the Lord, I am able, then I will. Then will I teach transgressors that would die away without the joy.

You can do it. You need the joy of the Lord. You need other people to be saved. You need the joy of the Lord. I was mentioning this morning that Pastor Jamie was sharing in 2024, that you cannot give something that you don't have.

You want to give hope, you're going to give joy. You got to be full of the joy of the Lord. And he says, only if you are full of the joy of the Lord, then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. That's the only way Ebenezer gets full of the joy of the Lord. And sinners will come to the Lord's feet.

They will be saved because you're full of the joy and people is watching you. That no matter the circumstances, your economy does not depend on the United States economy. That your economy depends on the Lord. That if you're going through difficult situations, the Lord is going to provide in the right time. He's going to provide the water, the, the bread, the cloud, the fire.

So the Lord is asking Ebenezer to trust him no matter the circumstances, no matter what. Amen. Diseases are going to come and the world is always talking about diseases, viruses. But the Lord, you know, has promised that he will be there in the day in a cloud, and he will be at night in a fire. So he is faithful.

You gotta trust him. If you ain't got the joy of the Lord, there's no way we can trust the Lord. So. And it says, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation. And my tongue shall sing aloud thy righteousness.

Only the joy of the Lord, you know, can produce in us, you know, wanting to praise him, wanting to worship him. If you and God, if you don't have the joy of the Lord, there's no way that you, you want to sing that you want to raise your hands, that you want to pass in front and, and just bow your knees and say, oh, Lord, you're my God, Lord, I love you, you're holy. There's no way you got to have that, that fuel. So in this morning, I just pray that the Lord this year, you know, fills you up with that fuel so you can go through 20, 25 with the joy of the Lord. And you can say, you may say, the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Maybe this day, you know, you can also pray, restore the joy of my salvation. So I'm going to invite Pastor Jamie.

God bless you.

Can we let Louil know one more time how much we love him?

For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. But as Will just shared with us, he cannot perfect what's not there. I think Will has issued a great challenge for all of us to maybe consider where we are in our life. And if we are continually stuck in the muck and the mire of life and just kind of sitting down it and expecting that God's going to come to me, it may be that God's calling you to get up and walk in the room and shut the door and have a conversation with him. So I'm going to invite you to stand with me at this time.

And there's five things I'm going to put in front of you, five next steps. You're going to hear these a lot, so you might memorize them over the next few weeks, but five things I believe this morning. Some of you may need to make a decision if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you leave here today and you say, if something happened to me, I really don't know where I'll end up, you know what? Today you can be sure.

And not only can you be sure, you can have joy about it. You can have the fuel that Will talked about, that will drive you forward, that will want you to proclaim the goodness of the Lord so that people will hear about his salvation. If you're here today and you don't know Jesus Christ and you're not sure, Fred's down here, Randy's down here, I'm down here. There's loads of people down here that will be more than willing to sit down and talk to you about what it means to become a Christian, to accept Jesus and to be saved. Maybe you're in this room and you've, for whatever reason, you've said, you know what?

I'm just not ready to be baptized. You know what? If you've accepted Jesus, then the world needs to know. Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. There's nothing to be ashamed of.

But it's the declaration that you've put your old life behind and you're living a new life. Number three, maybe you've been coming to Ebenezer for some time, but maybe because of whatever reason it may be, you just haven't made that decision to make this your home. The first step in membership at Ebenezer is to come to discover. But you can come down here this morning and express to want of us, hey, I want to become a member. And we could take down your name and get you signed up for the next class.

Or maybe you're here this morning and you say, you know what? I come to church, but I don't serve. Let us know how we can help you get connected in a way to serve. And the fifth one is you just need to pray. James wrote that if there's any sick among you, call the elders of the church together.

Anoint that man with oil or woman with oil. The prayer of a righteous will availeth much. If you're. If you're here today and you're just like, you know, I'm stuck and I just need to be prayed for. Come.

We're different from the world because we have come into a room and we have gathered ourselves together. Let's take advantage of the time that we have here today together and let's celebrate Jesus and connect with him. And so right now, as we sing, we're going to be down here. But whatever your step is, would you be willing today to make that decision and embrace it? Father, as we go into this time of prayer and reflection, I pray that you speak to us.

That if there's someone here today that doesn't know Jesus Christ, that they may come forward and declare Jesus to be Lord of their life and accept him and be saved. That if someone is, it's time for them, they say, you know what? It's time. I've held back too long. It's time to be baptized so that I can take that first public profession of obedience.

In what he said. I mean, Peter stood there and said, repent, believe and be baptized. Baptism doesn't save us, Lord. We know that. But it is the declaration to the world of new life.

Lord, whatever that decision is that needs to be made today, I pray that you'd give them the boldness and the courage to step forward. Lord, we love you. In Jesus name, amen.