The King & His Kingdom: #97- Just One Touch | Matthew 20:29-34

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey there. [00:00:06] Speaker B: If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker C: Hi, everybody. I can't speak for you, but man, oh, man. There's areas of my life because of the busyness, because of the responsibilities, because of the just all the things that come at us where if you're anything like me, at times I could just feel like I'm flying through life. And as a result, sometimes I miss out on God's presence. And one of the things that I believe that God wants to teach me in this season of my life, and I believe he wants to teach our church, is we talk about this fairly often. It's slowing down enough to become aware of his presence so that gratitude can start to bubble up inside of us. [00:01:23] Speaker A: I don't know if there's a more [00:01:24] Speaker C: pleasurable feeling in life than genuinely feeling grateful and thankful. Can I get an amen? Yeah. [00:01:31] Speaker A: Feeling grateful is awesome, is it not? And so one of the reasons why [00:01:35] Speaker C: we wanted to kind of just make some slight adjustments to our order of service to our liturgy, really, is to help gratitude rise up inside of you. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Many of you, like Eric said, you [00:01:45] Speaker C: guys, the generosity of our church, that's not like a weakness in our church. [00:01:49] Speaker A: So this isn't like a ploy to [00:01:51] Speaker C: get you to give more money. [00:01:53] Speaker A: If you're feeling that at all, I totally get it. [00:01:55] Speaker C: Church leaders have been really [00:01:58] Speaker A: haven't always [00:01:59] Speaker C: done the best job of being ethical when it comes to finances. [00:02:02] Speaker A: This is not that. [00:02:03] Speaker C: Okay. [00:02:04] Speaker A: If you have any trust issues or whatever, like, hey, I don't feel good about this. [00:02:07] Speaker C: Our heart is not to get your money. Our heart is to develop hearts that are responding to God's generosity by being generous. Cause Jesus was. And so taking intentional time. [00:02:16] Speaker A: Cause many of you, you give so faithfully and you've set it up and [00:02:20] Speaker C: online, all the things. But taking that moment to just go like, oh, Jesus, I want you to have this in this moment. [00:02:26] Speaker A: And I know many of you probably do that already. [00:02:28] Speaker C: But again, there's something about doing that corporately that helps unite our hearts to be the people that God wants us to be okay. So excited to see what God births in us through this. [00:02:39] Speaker A: Before I get started this morning, I just want to take a moment and [00:02:41] Speaker C: honor pretty much everyone. [00:02:43] Speaker A: The amount of work that has gone [00:02:45] Speaker C: into moving so quickly. [00:02:47] Speaker A: Can we just, like, everybody involved. [00:02:49] Speaker C: Like, You guys are so incredible. What an amazing church God has birthed and is developing and growing. I want to pray for our time this morning. If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 20. We're continuing on our series, the King and His Kingdom. We are exploring the life, the death, the resurrection, the ministry, the ascension of Jesus. [00:03:19] Speaker A: And we're going through this series because [00:03:21] Speaker C: we want to learn as much as we can about the kingdom of God. What does it look like when the king gets his way, the rule and the reign of God. [00:03:28] Speaker A: And so I'm going to pray for [00:03:29] Speaker C: us before we jump in today's passage, [00:03:31] Speaker A: but I also want to just pray [00:03:33] Speaker C: a prayer of, like, setting this space aside, consecrating this space, that whenever we have the privilege of occupying this space, that this space belongs to God. We want his presence to be here, [00:03:46] Speaker A: not just for our benefit when we [00:03:47] Speaker C: come together to worship Him. [00:03:49] Speaker A: But I don't know if you know this, the presence of God has a way of changing and affecting the reality around us. And so how crazy would it be if this school started to experience, I don't know, some incredible miracles and some amazing, like, examples of God's kingdom breaking in in this space and they start going, wow, like, things have kind of changed over the course of the last couple few months. What's new? Oh, that church restored in town, started [00:04:18] Speaker C: meeting in our space. [00:04:20] Speaker A: Like, I know that sounds wild, but what if the presence of God was so felt by the people in this neighborhood? [00:04:28] Speaker C: Even there's houses all right here. [00:04:30] Speaker A: What if the presence of God amongst his people, what if the people of God with the presence of God, like, actually tangibly affected the environment that we occupied? [00:04:40] Speaker C: I think that would be pretty cool, don't you? [00:04:43] Speaker A: So we believe in all of our hearts that God not only provided this [00:04:46] Speaker C: space for us, but we believe he brought us here and not just for us. Although, yes, to bless us. I think he has a heart for this school, for its faculty, for the students, for this neighborhood, for these people. And so I'm going to pray for our time, but I also want to pray, like, a prayer of consecration for this space that as we come here and gather here, that it would be affected. Like, it would be felt not just by Us. So will you join me in prayer? Father, we are so thankful to be here, the way that you've provided this. So it's amazing in a situation that seemed very, very concerning. Man, oh, man, you just demonstrated your faithfulness to us in such a powerful way. And so, Father, we consecrate this space for you. In the name of Jesus, we set this space aside. This belongs to you. Everything belongs to you, Jesus. And so whenever we are occupying this [00:05:41] Speaker A: space, God, it's our desire to steward [00:05:43] Speaker C: it well, because it does not belong to us. More than anything, it belongs to you. And so, Father, I pray that your presence among us would be felt and experienced by the teachers, by the staff, by the precious men, women, children who live in this neighborhood. I pray, Father, that your kingdom would be felt, it would be experienced. I pray for fresh revelation of Jesus. I pray for things. This sounds funky. I pray for things to happen in [00:06:09] Speaker A: the spiritual realm that we don't see, [00:06:11] Speaker C: but we can look back years from now and go, God, you did something profound through your people. [00:06:15] Speaker A: Just being present, worshiping you, praising you, exalting you, opening your word, eating the scroll that is your Bible, taking it in ourselves and then manifesting it with [00:06:25] Speaker C: fruit in our lives. So, Father, have your way among us. We honor you, we bless you. Teach us this morning, through your Word, we want more of your kingdom in us, through us and all around us. We love you, Jesus, and all God's people said together. [00:06:41] Speaker A: Amen. Okay, Matthew 20, starting in verse 29. [00:06:44] Speaker C: How you guys doing? [00:06:45] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:47] Speaker C: Wow. Okay. Great. This is gonna be fun. Seriously, are you doing okay? [00:06:53] Speaker A: Okay, great. [00:06:55] Speaker C: Almost broke out into a pastoral counseling session there instead of a preach. [00:06:59] Speaker A: Okay, a little context for you. Just to bring you up to speed. [00:07:02] Speaker C: This is the last week of Jesus life, all right? [00:07:05] Speaker A: He has fixed his eyes on Jerusalem. He's going to the cross. He knows it. He's giving his boys a heads up, right? He's on his way to Jerusalem where all this is going to take place. [00:07:17] Speaker C: That's where we pick up here in verse 29. Says this as they Jesus and his [00:07:23] Speaker A: disciples, as they were leaving Jericho, a [00:07:27] Speaker C: large crowd followed him. [00:07:30] Speaker A: There were two blind men sitting by the road. [00:07:32] Speaker C: Picture this in your mind, guys. He's leaving a city, leaving a town of Jericho. He's going to Jerusalem. Crowd following two blind men sitting on the road. [00:07:40] Speaker A: When those blind men, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, lord, have mercy on us. Son of David, [00:07:50] Speaker C: verse 31. [00:07:51] Speaker A: The crowd demanded that they keep quiet. [00:07:55] Speaker C: And I love this, but they Cried [00:07:56] Speaker A: out all the more, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. [00:08:02] Speaker C: Jesus stopped, called them and said, what do you want me to do for you, Lord? They said to him, open our eyes moved with compassion. Jesus touched their eyes immediately. They could see and they followed him. Alright, that's our passage. Really powerful encounter here. These two blind guys, right? What I want to do is I [00:08:32] Speaker A: want to take a look at all [00:08:33] Speaker C: the people that we see just in this passage. And I want to start with these two blind men, okay? [00:08:39] Speaker A: Now if you can imagine with me for just a second, like, being blind in the ancient world would have been [00:08:44] Speaker C: pretty difficult, all right? [00:08:47] Speaker A: It would have been pretty difficult. One of the things that makes it really difficult is these guys couldn't work. And as you can imagine, if they couldn't work, that had some serious consequences for them, okay? It would have resulted in them being really two things. It would have resulted in them being beggars. Can you say beggar? An outcast. [00:09:04] Speaker C: Say outcast. [00:09:06] Speaker A: So these two guys, because of their affliction of blindness, they are going to be beggars and they are going to be outcasts. [00:09:13] Speaker C: Now think about this for a second. Let's start with being an outcast. [00:09:16] Speaker A: An outcast is someone who doesn't really belong. This is not really a place for me. [00:09:22] Speaker C: Like, [00:09:24] Speaker A: at best, I'm tolerated. [00:09:27] Speaker C: You ever felt that way? Like, genuinely, [00:09:33] Speaker A: I can think of specific moments that are still seared in my [00:09:36] Speaker C: brain where I've walked into spaces, whether it's a room or a home or whatever, just spaces. [00:09:43] Speaker A: I can feel it. I walk in [00:09:47] Speaker C: and I know, oh man, I'm not wanted here. [00:09:54] Speaker A: Maybe you've experienced relationships in your life where someone has just bluntly said it, [00:09:57] Speaker C: like, I don't want you or you don't belong. [00:10:00] Speaker A: Have you ever felt that feeling? [00:10:03] Speaker C: It's not a fun feeling, huh? Being an outcast, right? [00:10:07] Speaker A: What about being a beggar? What is a beggar? A beggar is someone who has unmet needs. A beggar is someone who needs to beg to try to get some of those very core, very basic needs met. [00:10:21] Speaker C: One of the things that I've just seen throughout the years of pastoring, and honestly, I've seen it in just so many people's lives, dare I say everybody, is that as people age, as they [00:10:35] Speaker A: get older, some of these kind of unmet core needs from childhood begin to [00:10:40] Speaker C: surface in later age of life. [00:10:43] Speaker A: That's why there's a whole industry for therapy. And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. You get older and you come to grips with, like, oh, there's some deep things. There's some deep, unmet needs in me. And so as we look at these [00:11:01] Speaker C: two blind men, I don't want you to think of them as just being totally foreign to you. [00:11:06] Speaker A: Because I would be willing to bet you that you have. You and I both together, we have [00:11:10] Speaker C: more in common with these two blind men than we might think. [00:11:14] Speaker A: Now, let's just put ourselves in their [00:11:16] Speaker C: shoes for a moment. Okay? [00:11:17] Speaker A: Imagine for you how life would drastically [00:11:19] Speaker C: change if you couldn't see. [00:11:23] Speaker A: What are some of the things that [00:11:23] Speaker C: you have to deal with? Talk to me. You guys are really quiet this morning. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Transportation. [00:11:27] Speaker C: Transportation. Totally. Mitch. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Transportation would be so hard. Okay. They didn't have, like, the crosswalks that, like, talk to you and, like, do the things that you can hear. Like, modern technology didn't exist. [00:11:39] Speaker C: But what about for you now? Like, what else? [00:11:40] Speaker A: What would change about your life? How would things become difficult for you [00:11:43] Speaker C: if you couldn't see? Shopping. Yep. Basic stuff. What else? Reading, connection. [00:11:51] Speaker A: Totally recognizing your friends. Recognizing your friends. [00:11:55] Speaker C: Absolutely, Carl. [00:11:56] Speaker A: Like, I mean, I just. [00:11:57] Speaker C: I want you to think about this for a second. [00:11:59] Speaker A: Friends, like, things will be really tough. Like, can we agree you'd need help with everything? [00:12:06] Speaker C: Practically, you can breathe on your own, don't get me wrong. [00:12:09] Speaker A: But you need help with everything. So I want you to see this [00:12:13] Speaker C: is a significant affliction that these men are going through. [00:12:16] Speaker A: A significant affliction. So let's recap. Jesus, him and his crew, they're leaving Jericho, they're walking to Jerusalem, where he knows he's gonna go to the cross. And these two blind men, they're sitting by the road, and they get word. [00:12:31] Speaker C: They hear Jesus is nearby. You ever fantasize about what you would do if Jesus showed up? I'm such a dork. Like, I think about that sometimes. I'm like, what would I do if Jesus just, like, walked in here right now? I think I'd turn off my microphone and just run to see him. I just fall at his feet or give him a hug or tell him thank you. Or, like, [00:13:04] Speaker A: what would you do? And this isn't like a pastoral, like, [00:13:09] Speaker C: trying to put you in a corner. Like, what would you do? Don't you know? [00:13:12] Speaker A: Like, I mean, like, genuinely, like, what would you do? Like, what would be your response? Like, do you ever fantasize about what you would do if Jesus showed up? The Bible says he's showing up, he's coming back. [00:13:21] Speaker C: But, like. [00:13:22] Speaker A: Like, what would you do? So Jesus, he shows up Right? These blind men, they start crying out. They hear that he's nearby, they just start crying out, son of David, have mercy on us. Right? Son of David, have mercy on us. You know that phrase, son of David? It's an important title. It's a very revealing thing, what they're saying here. Okay, The Son of David was a. It was a title that the Jewish people, they would give to their messianic deliverer. There was a promised one, right? You guys know that the Old Testament's filled with prophecies, predictions that there's gonna be this messianic deliverer, this Savior, if you will, and that that Savior would come from the line of King David. So Son of David, it's this like, you're the messianic deliverer. You're the one that the prophecies are all about. [00:14:13] Speaker C: So. [00:14:14] Speaker A: So these people, they thought that this messianic deliverer was gonna be more of [00:14:18] Speaker C: like a political savior, right? [00:14:20] Speaker A: You guys know the story that this [00:14:24] Speaker C: messianic deliverer, this savior, this prophesied promise [00:14:27] Speaker A: to him was gonna help deliver them from being occupied and oppressed by the kingdom of Rome, right? Establish his kingdom on the earth, overthrow the Romans, and now we're the top dogs. So that's what they're thinking. So when they say son of David, that's what they mean. [00:14:40] Speaker C: You with me? Translation? They didn't really have the greatest theology when it came to who Jesus really was. Yeah, he's a deliverer. He's a savior, but not just a political deliverer and savior now. So their theology wasn't great. Nonetheless, when they called Jesus son of David, they're calling Jesus the Messiah. [00:15:08] Speaker A: They're giving him the credit. They're saying, you are the promised Savior. [00:15:11] Speaker C: So what I want you to see [00:15:12] Speaker A: is this is a clear expression of faith. This is a clear expression that to some degree, they trust that Jesus is a transcendent authority sent from God. [00:15:22] Speaker C: You with me? [00:15:23] Speaker A: This is an expression of trust, expression of faith. [00:15:26] Speaker C: Michael Green, he says this quote, it's not the amount. Listen to this. It's not the amount or theological correctness of faith that matters, but where it is placed. Weak and confused faith, if placed in Jesus, can bring the believer into healing contact with his grace. End quote. So listen, hopefully this is encouraging to you. [00:15:59] Speaker A: It was encouraging to me. Maybe you're here and, like these two [00:16:03] Speaker C: blind men, you don't have Jesus completely figured out. [00:16:08] Speaker A: You're not like, the expert on all things about the divinity of Jesus, about his. About theology of Jesus. Your Christology might not Be perfect if that's you. [00:16:18] Speaker C: Listen, my first point for you this morning, if you're taking notes, even the simplest faith in Jesus can bring you into contact with his grace. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Even the simplest faith in Jesus can bring you into contact with his grace. [00:16:34] Speaker C: So these two blind guys, despite being afflicted with blindness, these men recognize Jesus presence. And what do they do? They seize the opportunity. [00:16:45] Speaker A: They seize the opportunity, they start crying out. And they cry out more than once, don't they? Did you catch it? They keep crying out. Now, it's clear when you read this. These guys are desperate. You don't keep crying out unless you're desperate. They're desperate in their affliction. [00:17:06] Speaker C: They're even disruptively desperate in their affliction. They cry out to Jesus. Question for you this morning. You have afflictions, I have afflictions. They might look a little bit different. You have afflictions, what do you do? What do you do in your afflictions? I've noticed that many people do two things. They hide their afflictions or they medicate their afflictions, or both. What does it look like to hide your afflictions? You've heard me talk about this before. Here's an example of hiding your afflictions. Hey, Tom, how you doing? I'm fine. Meanwhile, I had the craziest week of my life. I'm fine. I'm hiding my afflictions. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think it's appropriate to share your deepest, hardest things with everybody in the world just because they ask you. That's not what I'm saying. But we hide our afflictions. We keep things in the dark. We keep things hidden. [00:18:19] Speaker A: Now, we do that for a multitude of reasons. [00:18:21] Speaker C: And I'm not trying to throw shade at you, I'm just explaining what I see people do. And I've seen it happen in my [00:18:25] Speaker A: own life for a multitude of reasons. We hide cause we don't want other people to know. Now, the other things that I see [00:18:31] Speaker C: happen quite often is that we medicate our afflictions. And we do this. [00:18:38] Speaker A: Gosh, we do this in so many different ways. It's different for everybody, isn't it? Like some people, you're like, I just [00:18:45] Speaker C: need to scroll for a little bit. [00:18:46] Speaker A: I just need access to some of that dopamine drip in my brain just to take the edge off. [00:18:51] Speaker C: Some of you, you know exactly what I'm talking about. [00:18:54] Speaker A: Some of you, it's not the scrolling. [00:18:55] Speaker C: Some of you, just like I check [00:18:56] Speaker A: out with tv, I Just need to. I just need to veg for a bit. Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's food. [00:19:05] Speaker C: I mean, let's be honest, ice cream helps a lot. Can I get an amen? [00:19:09] Speaker A: Like, ice cream. Ice cream changes your mood, man. [00:19:13] Speaker C: It does. Frozen coffee flavored frozen yogurt, dole whip. I'm with you, girl. [00:19:23] Speaker A: Maybe it's not food for you. Maybe it's the retail therapy thing. Maybe it's like, I just need to [00:19:27] Speaker C: buy some stuff off of Amazon. [00:19:28] Speaker A: I'm gonna cruise and just click, click, click, click, click. It'll be here tomorrow, whatever. [00:19:32] Speaker C: Maybe for you it's shopping. [00:19:33] Speaker A: Maybe for you it's drinking. [00:19:35] Speaker C: I see this happen with a lot of folks, and I'm not anti alcohol. I think alcohol actually can be a gift from the Lord, but it also can be abused. In fact, man, this. It was Friday night, Ebony and I got gifted with a really generous gift from some friends. We got to see one of our favorite singer songwriters, and he wasn't playing with his band. He was playing with a symphony orchestra. Dude, it was awesome. [00:20:02] Speaker A: It was like, you ever been to the symphony? Anybody? [00:20:05] Speaker C: Raise your hand if you have. [00:20:06] Speaker A: Dude, when the strings kick in, just chills up your spine. It was such an amazing joke. But we're at the symphony, so it's kind of like proper, like, people wearing tuxedos and stuff. And it was like, whoa. [00:20:17] Speaker C: Like, I felt underdressed. I was like, I should have put a collared shirt on. [00:20:19] Speaker A: But either way, like, we're there and we're at the very, very top, so we get to see the whole thing. [00:20:24] Speaker C: And this guy in the aisle in front of us, I could tell he was pretty intoxicated before the show started. And I'm not exaggerating. He got up in the middle of, like, I think the show was an hour and 40 minutes. He got up 10 times to go get another drink. [00:20:46] Speaker A: And by like the second or third time, I mean, he's stumbling over people and he's yelling and he's like, and you're in the symphony. It's supposed to be kind of like, [00:20:53] Speaker C: classy, you know, you're not supposed to, [00:20:54] Speaker A: like, yell the F word really loud, you know, like. But he did, and it was just [00:21:00] Speaker C: kind of like, you know what my first reaction was, bro, get yourself together. And the spirit grabbed ahold of me, and he was like, he's just medicating his afflictions. And yet there I am throwing stones at this guy. I don't know what's going on in his life. Was he disruptive? Yeah, but he's medicating his afflictions. I might do it a little bit differently. Some people drink, some people smoked. Do you know, in our country, $30 billion was spent on marijuana last year? That's a lot of weed, man. 30 mil. [00:21:34] Speaker A: Sorry. $30 billion with a B. I was like, whoa. Like, that's a lot of money. That's more than eggs. That's more than milk. Get this. That's more than coffee. [00:21:50] Speaker C: At home, not out. People spend money on coffee. But I'm like, that's a lot of money. Afflictions, man. Afflictions. [00:22:01] Speaker A: Now, sometimes people medicate with much stronger substances, right? [00:22:05] Speaker C: We see them on the side of our roads all the time. Listen, guys, do you know most people living on the streets, they're there not necessarily because they want to be. They're there because of how they medicate their afflictions. They're not that different than you and I. They're just opting for different medications. Listen to me. You have afflictions, too. What do you do with your afflictions? I'd like to propose something to you. What if. What if instead of medicating our afflictions or trying to hide them, we did what we see in this passage? What if we cried out to Jesus? What if we cried out to Jesus? And what if our cries got louder and louder and louder and louder until we got a response from Jesus? Listen, guys, that's exactly what these two blind men did. Look back at verse 30 with me. [00:23:22] Speaker A: There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, lord, have mercy on us, Son of David. [00:23:28] Speaker C: The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, [00:23:32] Speaker A: but they cried out all the more. Yes, Lord, have mercy on a Son of David. So these blind men, they cry out to Jesus in their afflictions. I want you to notice what the [00:23:44] Speaker C: crowd does, the crowd does here. [00:23:46] Speaker A: We talked about the blind man. [00:23:47] Speaker C: Let's talk about the crowd. Did you notice what they do? [00:23:49] Speaker A: It says the crowd demanded that they keep quiet. Question for you. Who's the crowd? Yeah, who said that? [00:23:57] Speaker C: Attaboy, J. He noticed it. They're the followers. You see that? [00:24:02] Speaker A: Who are they following? [00:24:06] Speaker C: That was a pitiful, pitiful way to say the name of Jesus. I love you, but, man, Jesus. [00:24:11] Speaker A: I mean. Guys, look at this. Verse 29 tells us a large crowd. It wasn't a random crowd. These are people following Jesus. Okay, so get the picture here. These people, they try to silence these blind men who are crying out to [00:24:27] Speaker C: Jesus in Their afflictions. Note taker's second point here it is, followers of Jesus aren't perfect. Followers of Jesus are not perfect. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Sometimes they blow it. Sometimes they get in the way of what God wants to do. Sometimes in an effort to help, they do the opposite. [00:24:54] Speaker C: It's like what we see in this passage here, man. [00:24:56] Speaker A: Like, if you've ever read the New Testament, you're like, yeah, I know, Tom. Like, this is so obvious in the New Testament. Every disciple, right? The original 12, blow it all over the place, right? You read the epistles, like, dude, Paul's writing to churches, and he's just like some of them, like Corinthians, he's just calling them out on all the ways that they're blowing it. He does it in love as a spiritual father or wanting to help them [00:25:18] Speaker C: walk in repentance and freedom. [00:25:21] Speaker A: But, dude, [00:25:24] Speaker C: followers of Jesus, they're not perfect. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Now, I say that. [00:25:29] Speaker C: Cause, like, it shouldn't shock us, but it does. [00:25:33] Speaker A: You know, when like a fellow believer, like a person who's following Jesus, when they miss the mark, as it were, and it affects you, you're like, it's shocking. But followers of Jesus aren't perfect. Why? Because Christians are being sanctified. That means becoming holy. That means becoming more like Jesus over time. It's a process. And hear me, it's a messy process [00:26:00] Speaker C: for all of us, myself included. I just want to remind you, if you're a follower of Jesus or you spend any time around followers of Jesus, it's only a matter of time until they let you down. [00:26:17] Speaker A: And it's only a matter of time until you let them down. Because it's a messy process of becoming more like Jesus for all of us. And right now, we're not perfect. The day is coming. The day is coming when we will be fully glorified, when Jesus returns. And you will be perfect. [00:26:31] Speaker C: If your faith is in Christ, today's not that day. So maybe, just maybe, a little bit of grace for your fellow follower of Jesus and a little bit of grace for yourself because you're in process. Jesus followers aren't perfect. Friends, as we read this, like, chances are you have more in common with these blind men than you think. And chances are you have more in common with this crowd than you might think. For example, think about this with me. [00:27:06] Speaker A: How would you react if you heard [00:27:10] Speaker C: people audibly crying out during our gathering? [00:27:18] Speaker A: Band kicks in, they're praising Jesus. Mark's trying to, like, open the Scriptures and gather you and open your heart to the glory of God, to His wonders to his worth. And you're like, yes. [00:27:30] Speaker C: Like, okay, cool. [00:27:31] Speaker A: I'm feeling, like, more of God's presence. And then you hear someone in the corner just start crying out. [00:27:36] Speaker C: How would you react to that? That person's just being weird. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Get it together, bro. That's awkward. Oh, I feel uncomfortable right now. [00:27:51] Speaker C: Right. How about this one? [00:27:53] Speaker A: Maybe not, like, out loud. You wouldn't say any of those things. Maybe you would shut up. Like, maybe you would. But, like, just. Just, like, in your brain, God looks at our hearts. Like, think about. In your mind, in your heart, like, how would you respond to that? [00:28:05] Speaker C: Gosh, just be quiet. How about this one? They're just trying to. Man, they're just trying to draw attention to themselves, I think. That's right. I think they are trying to draw attention to themselves, but it might not be your attention thereafter. Over the years. So I've been following Jesus now for about 20 years, and I've been in different worship environments in those 20 years. [00:28:45] Speaker A: And I remember, like, kind of early [00:28:47] Speaker C: on in the stages of following Jesus, [00:28:49] Speaker A: like, there were some really stark differences [00:28:51] Speaker C: in some of the worship environments that I would be in. [00:28:58] Speaker A: I can remember an environment where people are singing to God, right? They're gathered together like we are. They're singing to God. They're praising God. And a handful of people in. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Pardon the pun, but a handful of people in the room would lift their hands to God. [00:29:15] Speaker A: And then I would watch as the ushers would be in the back of the room, and they would make their [00:29:19] Speaker C: way over to those people and say, excuse me, ma'. Am. Excuse me, sir, could you please lower your hands? You're a distraction to the people around you. [00:29:25] Speaker A: So I've been in environments where it's like, just. I think the intention was probably, like, hospitable. [00:29:30] Speaker C: So I don't want to. Like, they're trying to. You know, they want to make people feel welcome. If it makes people feel uncomfortable, like, I get it, but it's for him. So, like, it's not for that. Sorry, leave that there. [00:29:42] Speaker A: But, like, I've been in that environment. I've seen that kind of go down, right? And then I can remember the first time I was in. Let's just call it a charismatic gathering. And it was very different. This is about 20 years ago, okay? It was very different. I'm in this room, and it's like [00:29:59] Speaker C: a bomb went off. [00:30:00] Speaker A: There's bodies everywhere. People are, like, kneeling on the ground, prostrate on the floor, dancing, moving, all this jumping, kneeling, all this. And it Was the first time I was ever in an environment like that. [00:30:12] Speaker C: And I remember going, like, what is [00:30:15] Speaker A: happening in this room? The band's not even as good as the band was over there. What is happening right now? [00:30:22] Speaker C: Like, they sang loud and listen, some of the guys couldn't even sing. [00:30:29] Speaker A: Like, they sang poorly, but they sang loud. [00:30:31] Speaker C: And I was like, what is happening? [00:30:33] Speaker A: And then I hear this dude probably like a few rows back behind me. [00:30:37] Speaker C: It. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Like, nothing's happened. Like, they're just happening. And he just. Out of nowhere, Jesus, like, super loud. And I was like, and you're trying to keep it together because everyone else is, like, doing their thing. You're like, ha. [00:30:50] Speaker C: Talk about feeling out of place. You know, here's my takeaway. My takeaway was like, that was kind of weird. That was kind of awkward. Those people were behaving like God was in the room. Maybe he was. Maybe it's because he was. [00:31:22] Speaker A: Maybe his spirit was in the room. [00:31:26] Speaker C: And, guys, I remember a revelation took place. Like, I realized something. I realized they saw what I was blind to. Friend, do you believe that God is present in this room when we gather? How about this one? Do you believe that God is present in the room wherever we gather? Yeah. Real talk. I'm not sure we do. Ah, let me rephrase that. Sorry, that sounded so arrogant. I'm not sure we all do all the time. I'm not so sure we all do all the time. Because, listen, if we all did, it'd be a little more awkward up in here. [00:32:33] Speaker A: It'd be a little more loud up in here. [00:32:36] Speaker C: Why? [00:32:36] Speaker A: Because desperation is awkward and it certainly isn't quiet. Like, God, have mercy on me. I screwed up a lot this week or last week or last month or this morning. Like, God, I need you. If you don't come, if you don't intervene, I don't have a shot. I need you. How about this one? God, I'm scared of what's going to happen in this relationship of my life. I'm worried about my kids. I'm worried about my friend. I'm worried about my spouse. Or I'm worried about me. I'm scared. I'm hurting. I'm angry. Some of you don't know what to do with your anger. [00:33:27] Speaker C: There's something you could do that's really constructive. [00:33:30] Speaker A: God, I'm angry. [00:33:31] Speaker C: Help me. [00:33:32] Speaker A: I need you. Because if you don't intervene, I'm going to take it out of my loved ones that don't deserve it. [00:33:38] Speaker C: Anybody ever done that? Is it just me? Some of you are like, Tom, you're being totally ridiculous right now. [00:33:47] Speaker A: Like, I get it. This happened in the story, bro, but, [00:33:53] Speaker C: like, it's not the same. [00:33:55] Speaker A: Like, Jesus was there physically. [00:33:58] Speaker B: Okay? [00:33:58] Speaker A: He isn't here physically. Are you gonna tell me I should cry out to a God I can't see? Isn't that exactly what these blind men did? Like, I'll take galaxy of that, but I'm serious. That's exactly what they did. [00:34:21] Speaker C: They were blind. They were probably the most spiritually aware people in the crowd. Friends, my concern. And this isn't just a you thing. I'm with you. My concern is that the modern church spends more effort medicating and hiding their afflictions than they do crying out to God. Hear me. If we all believed that God was present when we gather, things would be a little more awkward and they'd be a little more loud. Because desperation is awkward and it certainly isn't quiet. [00:34:58] Speaker A: Now, listen, I'm not promoting awkwardness for [00:35:00] Speaker C: the sake of being awkward. [00:35:01] Speaker A: I'm not promoting awkwardness so that our gatherings look like they're vibrant and people are. I'm not. [00:35:09] Speaker C: How do I say this? I'm not promoting awkwardness to promote, like, a false reality. I'm not promoting awkwardness for the sake of being awkward. I'm trying to get to the heart. Far too often, as followers of Jesus, I think we miss the moments that we're in. [00:35:29] Speaker A: I think we miss the moment. Cause I said earlier, we're flying by. One of the reasons we want to address our order of service is because we fly through life. And sometimes we miss God's presence and [00:35:38] Speaker C: the things that he wants to do, do in us and through us. [00:35:40] Speaker A: And we want to be intentional about forming each other, about letting God's spirit form us. So some things might feel weird and awkward. They're not meant to feel weird and awkward for the sake of feeling weird and awkward. They might be awkward because they don't come naturally to us, but there's something supernatural that wants to invade our life and influence us. [00:35:58] Speaker C: Amen. I think we missed a moment sometimes. Guys, look what's happening here. [00:36:06] Speaker A: These blind men, they're desperate in their afflictions. They cry out to Jesus. They're surrounded by a crowd of people who are following Jesus. And those people tell them to keep quiet. [00:36:21] Speaker C: My next point for you is desperation is something to support, not something to silence. [00:36:31] Speaker A: Desperation, something to support, not something [00:36:34] Speaker C: to silence. [00:36:35] Speaker A: Listen, instead of the crowd joining them, like, think about. Instead of the crowd being like, oh, [00:36:44] Speaker C: these two guys are flipping out right now, they're crying out to Jesus in [00:36:47] Speaker A: their afflictions, asking God for mercy. [00:36:49] Speaker C: Instead of going, shh. [00:36:50] Speaker A: They should have been like, jesus, Jesus, these guys need mercy. Jesus, these guys need mercy. Will you give them mercy? They're suffering and their afflictions, will you be merciful to them? [00:37:01] Speaker C: Jesus, that's not what we see. Desperation is something to support, not something to silence. Now, listen, in all fairness, friend, you might not be in a season of desperation. [00:37:15] Speaker A: Like, that's. [00:37:16] Speaker C: Praise God. If you're not, that's wonderful. But I assure you, there are many among us right now who are. And I don't just mean outside of these four walls. I mean people you're sitting next to right now. [00:37:32] Speaker A: Suffering and affliction, serious stuff, hard things, difficult things, painful things, disorienting things. Our church right now, just real talk. Our church right now is going through serious affliction. [00:37:49] Speaker C: Many of you, I look around, you're feeling it. If it isn't affecting you right now, praise God. Praise God. I can rejoice with you. That's awesome. Celebrate with those who celebrate. Honestly, if you're in a fantastic season right now, will you just come tell me after the gathering? [00:38:11] Speaker A: Like, I'm not trying to be weird. [00:38:13] Speaker C: I need the encouragement. [00:38:15] Speaker A: Like, I can genuinely go, yes. [00:38:18] Speaker C: That's awesome. The many among us, serious affliction right now. [00:38:26] Speaker A: There are many among us who need to be joined in crying out. I saw several of you doing that [00:38:32] Speaker C: this week in the prayer room. Awesome. Crying out to God on behalf of people you love. I want to say this. I believe we're in a unique season. As a church, I believe we're in a unique season. I believe whether we like it or not, we're in a season of affliction. Now, listen to me. It's not going to last forever. Okay? It's not a forever thing. But that's where we are right now. We're in a unique season of affliction. It's not going to last forever. [00:39:04] Speaker A: It's here. [00:39:05] Speaker C: It's where we are. [00:39:05] Speaker A: Now, I'm convinced that the best thing that we can do, join together in [00:39:11] Speaker C: prayer and fasting for God's mercy. [00:39:14] Speaker A: I think it's the best thing we could do. Not strategize, not try to figure out what's the best advice we can give, but to genuinely, in desperation, cry out to God for mercy in prayer and fasting. [00:39:24] Speaker C: Now, listen, why prayer and fasting? [00:39:26] Speaker A: Because I don't think there's anything that better exemplifies a state of I'm desperate. Like, I need you more than I need food. I need you. Without food, I die. Without you, I die quicker. Like, do you hear me? Like, that's what I'm talking. I'm talking about this place of desperation. And maybe not even for yourself, but for somebody that you love. [00:39:50] Speaker C: Why? Listen, if this passage teaches us anything, it's that desperation gets God's attention. [00:39:59] Speaker A: Desperation gets his attention. Do you have any idea how powerful [00:40:03] Speaker C: prayer and fasting is? [00:40:06] Speaker A: Like, guys, there's a reason that we [00:40:09] Speaker C: don't like to do it. Sorry, let me say this. The ways that God is strengthening our church in prayer, the last two years is staggering. [00:40:25] Speaker A: It's incredible. Like, it's mind blowingly, miraculously incredible. So I'm watching. God's doing that among us. It's incredible mixing that with fasting. [00:40:34] Speaker C: Do you have any idea how powerful it is? [00:40:36] Speaker A: Like, it's off the charts powerful. [00:40:37] Speaker C: Guys, you know who gets it? [00:40:39] Speaker A: You know who understands the power of prayer and fasting? [00:40:43] Speaker C: The Muslims. [00:40:46] Speaker A: They totally get it. [00:40:48] Speaker C: Guys. [00:40:50] Speaker A: They're required to pray five times a day. Like, hear me, they stop whatever they're doing five times a day to pray. So, like, they don't fit prayer into their schedule. They build their life around prayer. Like, I've literally been on flights going to the Middle east and it's like 16 hours nonstop. And I'm like, I gotta get out of my chair. So I go to the front of the airplane and there's some dude in the corner on his knees praying to Mecca. Like, they get it. They stop whatever. They build their whole lives around it. And not just like some of them, [00:41:30] Speaker C: in some, you know, communities. [00:41:34] Speaker A: All of them right now they're in the middle of a 30 day fast called Ramadan. [00:41:44] Speaker C: Not just some of them, Muslims all over the earth. Do you know what the fastest growing religion in the world is? It's not Christianity, it's Islam by a lot. Now you can call that a coincidence. I don't believe that it is. The religious group most committed to prayer and fasting is the fastest growing. I don't think that's a coincidence. The Muslims know the power of prayer and fasting. Have you discovered it yet? Honestly, have you tapped into it yet? It'll change your life. It'll change the lives of people around you. So I'm calling you, I'm calling you to join me in prayer and fasting for God's mercy on our church. If you have any questions about fasting, [00:42:52] Speaker A: I did a whole sermon series. [00:42:53] Speaker C: You can find it on the website It'll answer a ton of questions for you. There's only a handful of messages, but it's pretty thorough. It's pretty comprehensive. It'll give you at least a baseline that you can operate in. If you don't know where to start, just pick one meal. [00:43:06] Speaker A: Just pick one day a week. Pick one meal a week. [00:43:10] Speaker C: Start somewhere, right? Forego food to feast on God. That's the point of fasting, right? Instead of eating, cry out to God because desperation gets God's attention. Do you know why? Do you know why desperation gets God's attention? Look back at verse 31. [00:43:29] Speaker A: The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, [00:43:33] Speaker C: Lord have mercy on us, Son of David. Jesus stopped, called them, and said, what do you want me to do for you? What would you say if Jesus asked you that question? Verse 33, Lord, they said, open our eyes. What a request. Verse 34. Here it is. Moved with compassion. Jesus touched their eyes. [00:43:58] Speaker A: Why does desperation get God's attention? [00:44:01] Speaker C: Listen to me. [00:44:02] Speaker A: Because he's compassionate. Because he's infinitely compassionate. He makes the most compassionate person you've ever met. [00:44:11] Speaker C: I almost said something. [00:44:13] Speaker A: Really. [00:44:13] Speaker C: I filtered that really good just now. [00:44:14] Speaker A: He makes the most compassionate person you've ever met look not compassionate. [00:44:18] Speaker C: Okay? [00:44:18] Speaker A: He's so compassionate. It says moved with compassion in the original Greek. [00:44:23] Speaker C: It says move with compassion. [00:44:24] Speaker A: That means a deep yearning in the bowels, like, in the guts. Like, your gut is like yearning. Like, it's like. It's a deep internal feeling that's urging, like, at a bowel, at a gut level. It's not just like, oh, that's sad. [00:44:41] Speaker C: What a bummer. Those guys are blind. Dang it. [00:44:48] Speaker A: Like, it's way more than that. It's deep, like his move with compassion. It's a deep internal feeling, [00:44:59] Speaker C: man. [00:45:00] Speaker A: Over 10 years ago, I can remember [00:45:02] Speaker C: a time this happened multiple times. But I can remember one specific time [00:45:05] Speaker A: me and EB were meeting with a [00:45:06] Speaker C: couple, just counseling and trying to help them through some stuff. [00:45:10] Speaker A: And it was a season of life [00:45:12] Speaker C: where our kids were young. [00:45:13] Speaker A: And Vivian is nearby, and she starts, like, crying. And I could tell the couple that we're with, they kind of look at [00:45:22] Speaker C: us and they're like, do you need to. [00:45:26] Speaker A: Like, I could tell they're kind of disrupted by it. [00:45:27] Speaker C: And we're just. Me and EB just kind of keep, you know, talking to him and loving on him and stuff. [00:45:32] Speaker A: And after a while, they were like, hey, your daughter. [00:45:37] Speaker C: I don't know if you could hear. [00:45:38] Speaker A: She's crying. Do you want to go take care of that. And we both were like, no, it's okay. [00:45:42] Speaker C: She's just whining. She's just. It's a fake cry. Because we know what her cries sound like. Parents, you know exactly what I'm talking about right now. [00:45:53] Speaker A: You know, there's the cries when you're [00:45:55] Speaker C: like, they're just whining, let them cry it out. And then there's the cries of desperation. [00:46:03] Speaker A: Parents, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The whiny cry, you're like, okay, okay, come on. [00:46:08] Speaker C: Like, let me help you through this. The desperate cry. [00:46:14] Speaker A: You immediately sprint, you'll jump the fence, Dads, you're like, I'm getting to my child right now. Nothing's gonna stop me. [00:46:24] Speaker C: Like, that's what the scriptures are talking about. That's what's happening with Jesus in this moment. [00:46:29] Speaker A: That internal gut level feeling of like, oh, I hear the cry, I'm coming. That's what the scriptures say. That's what it describes. That gut level feeling, that compassion. [00:46:40] Speaker C: You with me. There's a difference. That's what the Greek describes Jesus feeling when he heard their desperate cry for mercy. Friends, desperation gets God's attention because he is compassionate. Get this twisted. [00:47:02] Speaker A: Don't get this twisted. It's not like God ignores your cries [00:47:04] Speaker C: until you're desperate enough. That's not what's happening at all. It's that he knows what's underneath the cries of his children. [00:47:16] Speaker A: He knows us better than we know ourselves. [00:47:20] Speaker C: He's compassionate. That might be worth writing down your notebook. Jesus is compassionate. Not only is he compassionate, but look what he does in this passage. Not only does he stop and engage them, what does he do? He touches them. And his touch transforms them, doesn't it, guys? Not only is he compassionate, he's the king, baby. He's the king. He's got the authority and the power to heal any affliction. Listen to me. Any affliction. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus is not only compassionate, but he's king? [00:48:22] Speaker A: Do you believe that not only does he just care so deeply? Sprinting, jumping the fence to get to the cry of his desperate children crying out for mercy. Not only is he compassionate, do you believe that he has the power and the authority to heal any affliction that you face, that the people around you face? Do you realize he's driven by his compassion? It's the same compassion that drove him to the cross. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't a coincidence. It was his compassion. It was the compassion of God in the person of Jesus Christ that drove him to the cross, where he used his power and authority differently than anybody uses their power and authority. He uses his power and authority to lay his life down in place for people who desperately need their greatest afflictions healed. What is that? Sin and death. Every person you've ever met is afflicted with an incurable disease called sin that leads to death. [00:49:25] Speaker C: Listen. [00:49:26] Speaker A: Healing the blind guy's affliction, spectacular [00:49:31] Speaker C: healing the affliction of mankind from their sin and death, that's the greatest of all time. Do you see Jesus? Do you have eyes to see him this morning? Not just for other people. Do you have eyes to see him for you? He wants to give you eyes to see Him. All right, I'm going to call the band up. I'm going to close here. We're doing good on time. All right. I want to draw your attention as we close to the last verse where the Passage ends, verse 34. Jesus moved with compassion. Jesus, what Their eyes touched. Their eyes immediately they could see, and they what? They followed him. [00:50:58] Speaker A: You ask 10 different people how they [00:50:59] Speaker C: would define what a Christian is, and you're probably going to get 10 different answers. I'm going to give you one right now. Followers of Jesus are people who have been touched by Jesus. Followers of Jesus are people who have been touched by Jesus. They don't just believe he's real. They obviously believe he's real, but they [00:51:38] Speaker A: don't just believe he's real. They don't just believe that he is who he says he is. [00:51:47] Speaker C: Listen to me. They have experienced his grace. They've been touched. [00:51:56] Speaker A: They've experienced his grace. They've been touched. And as a result of being touched [00:52:01] Speaker C: by Jesus, they are not the same. It's different. Now. My question for you this morning is, has God touched your life? [00:52:17] Speaker A: Has he touched your life? Maybe you're in the room and you're like, I believe in Jesus. I've been going to Bible studies a lot of my life. [00:52:24] Speaker C: I've been around the church a lot of my life. [00:52:26] Speaker A: My parents have raised me in a Christian home. So I know some of the. My theology is better than these blind guys. [00:52:32] Speaker C: I think, friend all that's fantastic. That's good. That's part of your journey. Yes, and amen. Has God touched your life? Some of you, maybe it's been a while since God's touched your life. [00:52:46] Speaker A: Some of you, if you're honest, you're [00:52:47] Speaker C: like, I don't think I've Been touched by God because I'm still the same. My theology might have changed, but my life's the same. Some of you haven't been touched by God. Some of you, it's been a while you have, but you found yourself in [00:53:03] Speaker A: patterns of just life just punches us [00:53:05] Speaker C: in the face sometimes. [00:53:07] Speaker A: Satan's really attacks us and tries to harm us, tries to divide God's people, tries to destroy what God loves. Maybe you're here and it's been a [00:53:20] Speaker C: while since you've been touched by God. [00:53:22] Speaker A: Maybe you're like, how do I even know? [00:53:24] Speaker C: I think so. [00:53:25] Speaker A: How do you know? Here's how you know. You know if you've been touched by [00:53:29] Speaker C: God, if you're not the same. [00:53:33] Speaker A: I'm not the same as I was. I'm not the person I was. Some of you in this room have known me. Some of you in the room knew me before Jesus. And you can testify right now that dude's not the same guy. Like, I feel it, I see it. I battle shame sometimes because I'm like, [00:53:51] Speaker C: I'm not the same person. [00:53:53] Speaker A: What does that mean? The only explanation is not that I figured stuff out, it's Jesus touched me. Has he touched you? Has he touched your life? You see things you know, you know he has. If you see things differently and you [00:54:06] Speaker C: follow him, as a result you see it, [00:54:11] Speaker A: that means you, you follow him. He touches you, you follow him. Even if you don't fully understand, [00:54:19] Speaker C: even [00:54:19] Speaker A: if you, even if it's uncomfortable, awkward, maybe even weird. [00:54:27] Speaker C: How about this one? You follow him. [00:54:28] Speaker A: Even if it's not something you would [00:54:30] Speaker C: choose, you follow him because of the life changing mercy he's shown you. Listen to me, some of you in the room, you don't need just a little bit of mercy. Some of you need life changing mercy [00:54:43] Speaker A: this morning, like life altering the trajectory does not seem good. You can hide it, you can medicate it, but the trajectory does not seem good. [00:54:52] Speaker C: Listen to me, I have really good news for you. If that's you, if you're not, if you're like, I genuinely am in a space. I need life changing mercy. I have fantastic news for you. I know exactly where you can find it. Jesus, he's our only hope. Followers of people, followers of Jesus are people who have been touched by Jesus. Friend, is there affliction in your life this morning? Is there affliction in your life? Is there affliction in the life of somebody that you love? Why don't we cry out to Jesus? He's compassionate and he's a king he's got all power and authority. Will you stand with me? If you're able. If you're on the prayer team this morning, would you make your way to the front up here? This is where we're going to receive people for prayer. So here's what we're going to do. Not much changes, just really the space and a couple things in the liturgy, in the order of service. We're still going to spend this time, the remaining time that we have, I don't know, 15 minutes, maybe 10. 15 minutes, responding to God. If you're here and you need mercy, come receive prayer. If you're here and somebody that you love dearly is afflicted and they need mercy, come receive prayer. Cry out to God. Let me pray for us, okay, Father, thank you for your goodness, for your compassion, for your love, for your power, for your authority, for your loyalty to us, for your commitment to us. And I just pray right now, Father. I pray that there's people in this room they know. They like just one touch, Jesus. Just one touch changes everything. I pray, Father, that you would touch us. Touch us. [00:57:41] Speaker A: Many among us are afflicted, Jesus. So we join, just like these two blind men. Jesus, have mercy on us. [00:57:47] Speaker C: Show us your mercy. [00:57:49] Speaker A: We appeal to who you are in faith because we know the kind of person you are. We know the God that you are. We believe that you are compassionate. We believe that you have limitless power and authority. And we believe that you care. We believe that you love. So we cry out to you as your people and say, have mercy on us. Pour out your grace. Just one touch can transform us. And we thank you, Jesus, for laying down your life for us. Thank you for your body, for your blood given to us [00:58:21] Speaker C: to heal our greatest afflictions, sin and death. I pray that faith would rise among [00:58:27] Speaker A: us, that those who are being afflicted would face it with faith, with trust, knowing who you are, what you've done, and what that means for our eternity. [00:58:36] Speaker C: And I pray that faith would rise [00:58:39] Speaker A: so, God, we love you. [00:58:40] Speaker C: We look to you now. We ask, have your way among us. We ask for mercy. It's in your holy and beautiful name that we pray. Jesus and all God's people said together, Amen. There are trusted men and women up at the front that would love to pray for you. You can come forward at any time. Can we fill this room with gratitude and praise, huh? Bless him. Enjoy him. Love you guys.