Blessed | Kim Miller

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Blessed Versus Living Blessed

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So the last while, um, I know I've talked with a few of different ones of you that the Lord has been working in my life is about being willing to ask for blessings. And so the title this morning of the sermon is A A Blessed Life. Now, the um as I was studying, um, there's a difference between blessed and blessed. Uh, it's basically the same meaning. Both are receiving favor from God or getting uh receiving things that only God can provide for us. And so blessed is a verb that has been in the past. In other words, we might say, hey, we've been blessed with a beautiful morning this morning, or um I've been blessed with a healthy family, or I noticed uh I feel you've been blessed with, were you the one that was throwing a stone? You've been blessed with muscles, I guess. I was impressed that you tried that uh the other day. Um so no, it's it's the past tense. Um blessed is living a blessed life. It's a it's at the moment, it's an adjective. Um it describes what's happening. So that's the thrust of the message this morning is a blessed life. It's a present thing, it's not a thing of the past. As we look into the Bible a little bit here, the uh one example is giving us uh the Virgin Mary. The angel Gabriel came to her and said, You are highly favored, you are blessed, you are blessed. I'll just read it. The angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Highly favored art thou among women. So that's my thrust this morning. Asking God to highly favor us. There's nothing wrong with that. Us Mennonites, our culture maybe doesn't, you almost feel a little greedy to ask for being favored by God, but but God wants that. God wants us to ask for blessings.

Jabez And The Courage To Ask

SPEAKER_00 2:25

I don't know how many of you have ever read this little book. I would highly, I highly recommend it. It's kind of where the sermon has been coming from. It's the prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. Um, and it's just a book that really challenges you to be willing to ask for a favor from God. So, what does it look like to live a blessed life? A few characters in the Bible we're gonna look at this morning are uh familiar ones. One is Abraham, the other one's Joseph. We're not gonna spend a ton of time on those. Um, and another one's Job. We could look at Esther, we could look at King David. There's many different ones in the Bible that we could look at, but those three are the ones I've chosen. But before we get into that, I would like for us to turn to 1 Chronicles 4. And there is a character that is only talked about in these two verses, and that's this Jabas that this book is writing about. And as you go, if you turn to 1 Chronicles, the first nine chapters here are really just they're kind of boring. There, it's about the lineage, it's about your the heritage. I don't know, it's Franch, I guess you would say in Dutch. I don't know. I do I do say the older I get, the more interesting Franch is. Maybe just go ripens with age, I guess. But these first nine chapters are about Franshof, and so, but then in chapter four, if you look in chapter four, verse nine and ten, there's one that stands out above the others, and it says in verse nine of first chronicles four, and Jabez was more honorable than his brethren, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bear him with sorrow. So Jabez actually means pain, causing pain. But why is he standing out? Verse 10, and Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, and that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested. He got out of the box and request just asked to be blessed. I mean, if you are called Jabez, meaning causing pain, you're kind of starting off on the wrong foot. Because we'll get into it a little bit later, but in the Bible, uh, what your name, what you were given as a name, really it really meant something. And so, but we'll get into that a little bit later. So, getting into first, we'd like to look at Abraham and see what he um actually let's just uh I'm just gonna talk a little bit more about Jabez

What A Real Blessing Means

SPEAKER_00 5:33

here. Um, he prayed this unusual prayer, and his mother had bore him out of pain. He must have really severely caused some pain. Now we know childbirth is painful, but this must have been something extra order, unordinate, like not your or out of the ordinary. In Hebrew, it means to grieve, hurt, or cause pain. Despite his name starting him off with a meaning tied to suffering, the Bible describes Jabez as a man who was more honorable. You know, we can't really we can't help where we come from. Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances we just all at once were in them. How did I get here? Sometimes is what we find ourselves. And Jabez here, Jabez, it was totally out of his hand on his name that it or that he caused pain for his mom, and that he was given this name. By far the heaviest burden of Jabez's name was how it defined his future. And his mother gave him the name, and realizing that this name's really tied intimately with my child, he caused me a lot of pain. A name was often taken as a wish or for a prophecy about the child's future. Despite all this, Jabez found a way out, and that was he heard about, he was taught about Christ. He was from the line of Judah. He had grown up about hearing about the God of Israel who saved them, who rescued them, his forefathers from slavery, rescued them from powerful enemies, and established them in a land of plenty. By the time he became an adult, Jabez believed in, he believed fervently and hoped in his God of miracles. And he hoped for a new beginning for himself. So why not ask for a miracle? That's what he did. He prayed the biggest, most improbable request imaginable. Oh, that you would bless me indeed. And in that word indeed that he added in there is kind of like putting a bunch of exclamation marks behind it or writing it in all caps and underlying it. So it was a very emphatic, it was a bold request. So he came with confidence. But before we can come to God in confidence like that, I think it's important that we have a clear understanding of what it means we hear when we uh what it means when we ask for a blessing. Um, you know, we we shake hands and we say, Hey, bless you. And I don't, I'm not saying there's something wrong with that, but we sneeze and somebody says, Hey, bless you. So it's pretty watered down anymore, right? The the word bless or blessing or how we how we use it. But in the Bible time, it's a supernatural favor from God. And that's what he was asking here for. He was asking for a supernatural favor. He wasn't just asking for, and and recognize he didn't ask for a certain thing, he just asked for a blessing. He's like, Bless me. In whatever way you know, it's it's up to you, God, how you want to bless me, but just bless me. I want to be in your will. So when we ask for God's blessing, we are not asking for more of what we can get from ourselves, but we are asking, crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to know about or give to us. This kind of richness is what the writer was referring to in in Proverbs 10, verse 22. He talks about, it says, the blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. In other words, our work can't add anything to that richness. Like what we do, we can't add to it. It's only what God, it's it's it's supernatural, it's way above us. It's only what God can provide this blessing. And that was a radical aspect of Jabez' request for blessing. He left it entirely up to God on what blessing would be and where and when and how he would receive it. It was totally given up to God's sovereign will. He was focused only on Jabez' blessing focuses only on our wanting nothing more and nothing less than what God wants for us. God wants the best for each one of us. When we see God's blessing as the ultimate value in life, we are throwing ourselves in the river of his will. We're just throwing ourselves into his river. God just, I want to flow with you and with his power and purpose for us. But we need to believe that God actually wants the best for us in order for us to be able to do that. All our other needs will become secondary to that need, to what we really want. And what we really want is to become wholly immersed in what God is trying to do in us, through us, and around us for his glory.

Abraham Favored Through Hard Tests

SPEAKER_00 10:49

So we're going to look at Abraham first. It's a very well-known story, very familiar story. Abraham, often called the father of faith, he received a direct covenant from God promising that he would be heavily blessed. And this is the blessing that we're talking about this morning. Highly favored from God, made into a great nation, and that through his descendants, all peoples on earth will be blessed. Through his lineage. Genesis 12, the first three verses say, Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will highly favor you, is what he's saying. And make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who blessed you. Now let's recognize in verse two here, he says, I will bless you so that you will be a blessing. So the blessing, so the reason for his blessing wasn't about Abraham, it was about others. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who verse three, I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So we see here the purpose of the blessing to Abraham was to bless others. God told Abraham he would bless him so that all people, all peoples on the earth will be blessed through him through him. God wanted to create a nation, Israel, through Abraham. So God's ultimate plan was for us to be able to have a savior, Messiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, through the lineage of Abraham. But as when I think of you know somebody being highly favored from God, highly, you know, being blessed, you would think life would just be pretty easy, right? But it wasn't. Abraham was he had a bunch of trials, and I see that thread amongst the three different characters that we're going to look at. They all had trials in life, even though they were highly favored by God. So despite trials and waiting many years for his son Isaac, he lived a life marked by divine provision. Even though he had trials, God would provide deep friendship with God and long-standing generational legacy. First, God commanded Abraham. What we read here in the verses, he commanded Abraham to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house in Ur, Haran, to travel to an unfamiliar land, Canaan. And when he got there, scarcely after arriving, the promised land, a severe famine, forced him to head for Egypt. Now you would think God tells me to go to that other country, and then the famine hits. I'm like, Lord, what are you doing? I thought this is going to be a blessing, right? So he went to Egypt, and there he lied about his wife and told them it's his sister, and they wanted to take her. But the Lord intervened with that with plagues, so that that wasn't that wouldn't happen. Then we see also Abram had to mount with a military rescue mission to go rescue Lot, that he was captured in a war. And then we see how, you know, even when we're highly favored, we're still human, they made they God promised them about the that through them this generation will be established, but they didn't have they needed a son. So we see here they tried to speed up God's timing a little bit, and so Sarah wanted Abram to have a son with her maidservant, Hagar, and just created a mess, created conflict. Didn't work out, and then at 99 years of age, God asked Abraham to be circumcised. It's one thing to be circumcised as a baby, and another thing to be circumcised as a 99-year-old. Then we see again, you would think Abraham would have learned his lesson. But again, another king, Abimelech, tried to take his wife because he again was not honest with him. Then Abraham was faced with that hard decision of exiling his son Ishmael and Hagar, because Sarah was not, it was because of Sarah. At Sarah's insistence with and with God's approval, Abraham experienced the emotional heartache of sending Hagar and his oldest son Ishmael away into the desert. Abraham, God told Abraham, I will bless you. I don't know what was going through Abraham's mind at the time, but he his faith was so strong, he remained steadfast. We also see Abraham navigated stressful property and relational disputes amongst like water wells, amongst uh the shepherds, amongst with he had to separate from Lot and things like that. And then the most probably the one of the biggest tests for him was when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. And we know how that story went. Isaac, in the last moment, just before he killed him, God, the angels stopped him, and God provided a lamb. Abraham lived a blessed life. In spite of all the trials, his faith never wavered. He trusted God so much, he knew God wanted the best for him, and that's how he was able to go through life.

Joseph Blessed To Save Lives

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Next, we'd like to just read briefly look at Joseph. God blessed Joseph in the Bible. What was the reason for it? To preserve human life, as we know the story. God blessed him to preserve human life. There again, the blessing was not about Joseph, it was about others. That was in Egypt. Preserved human life during a severe famine, protected the lineage of the patriarchs, which would have been not Joseph's himself. I mean, he was in that family, but he was because of the famine, he was able to help protect his family of starvation and fulfill his covenant promise of making Abraham's descendants into a great nation. God gave Joseph favor, administrative wisdom, and the ability to interpret Pharaoh's dreams so he could store grain and provide physical sustenance for Egypt and surrounding nations. These are a few of the purposes for uh his favor, his blessing. It was also the divine blessing on Joseph positioned him in Egypt as a second in command, allowing him to rescue his father, as we had talked, and his family. Also, it was to keep Abraham's family alive through Joseph, through the famine. Joseph's journey from slave and prisoner to ruler displayed how God actively turns human evil and suffering into ultimate good for many people. Joseph trusted in God, but there again he faced many trials. Family betrayal. As a teenager, he was betrayed by his family, his brothers. He was sold. His oldest brothers resented his favorite status and dreams. They threw him into a pit and sold him to the passing traitors, making him a slave in a foreign land. He was taken to Egypt and bought by Potiphar. Although God caused him to prosper in his duties, he lived as a property. He was like property. He was a slave, stripped of his family and freedom. He was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife. When he faithfully resisted the romantic advances of Potter's wife, he was falsely accused and he was put in prison. Because she lied about it. Lost his position and his reputation through all this. Then when he was in prison, he was when he was in prison, he was forgotten. He was interpreting dreams for the cupbearer, Pharaoh's cupbearer. And he was even in charge of some of the prisoners. But they forgot about him. So I'm not sure how long he was in here before that. But through this time, you're like, God, where are you? Right? Where are you? He had many opportunities to ask why. But yet, because of his faith and because he believed that God wants the best for you, for him, he stayed faithful. The last one we're going to look at is Job here.

Job Faithful When Everything Breaks

SPEAKER_00 21:11

I'm going to read Job, uh, Job 1, the first five verses. Job was very wealthy. And Job was a very faithful Christian. He was a very faithful, godly man. And it says in verse 1, There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and the name, and the man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There was born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on him, and hold a feast in the house of each. One on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. It sounds like they were partying animals. Verse 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my children have sinned and cursed and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. So we see Job was a very, very godly, very faithful man here. Very faithful. Job had an awesome reverence and fear of God. But despite all this, Job had trials as we know. Job had many trials coming up. Job faced the devastation, devastating loss of his wealth, the death of all his children, severe physical affliction. All permitted, all permitted by God to test his faithfulness. God didn't do it, he just permitted it. Satan did it, but God permitted Satan to do it. Satan can't do anything unless God permits him to do it. So we see here that some of the trials that Job faced. Satan orchestrated a series of swift calamities that stripped Job of his extensive property and livestock, including oxen, donkeys, sheep, and camels, transforming him from a wealthy man into a destitute one. Then we see after that the death of his children. All at once, they were in a house and a wind came and blew the house down, killed all his children. Then comes the physical pain. Since he was still faithful, I don't know. I guess if Job wouldn't have been faithful, maybe it wouldn't have had the physical pain. But he was still faithful. So when Job maintained his integrity, Satan afflicted him with painful boils and sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, forcing him to scrape his scab, his skin with broken pieces of pottery. Then comes the relational. There's one thing when you're dealing with when you're dealing with physical pain, material, whatever it might be. But once you come into relationships, then it gets pretty, pretty heavy. I mean, he was already under the weather. Like some of us are sometimes. Even worse. But then his family turns on him. Yeah. His friends turn on him. His wife, I guess his family was dead, but his wife and his friends, he gets blamed for having sinned in his life. Job faces intense emotional isolation when his wife urges him to curse God and die. And his three friends wrongly accuse him of hidden sin, arguing that his suffering was punishment for wrongdoing. Job 1, verse 21 through 22 and 22, he says, After losing his wealth and children, Job worshiped God and declared, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Noting that he did not charge God for what was happening. So often I find myself thinking, God, why are you letting this happen? Kind of blaming him, right? But Joseph, uh, but Job didn't do that. Verse in Job 2, 9 and 10, his wife starts speaking to him. Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. Why would you stand up for God when he's doing this to you? Curse God and die. But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God? And shall we not receive evil? In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips. Stayed remained faithful. Later on in Job, we see in Job verse 13, uh chapter 13, verse 15, says, Though he slay me, I will hope in him. Talking about God. Job had full trust in God, that he has the best in mind for him. Whatever happens, whether he gets dies through all this, God is he has he is confident God has the best in mind for him. But because of Job's faithfulness, God restored his fortunes and gave him his wealth back twice the amount that he had. Instead of 7,000 sheep, now he had 14,000. Instead of 3,000 camels, he had 6,000 camels. Instead of 500 yoke of oxen, he had a thousand. Instead of 500 female donkeys, he had a thousand female donkeys. And God gave him seven sons and three daughters back again. So God restored him, God blessed him again. I shouldn't say blessed him again. He was still being blessed, he was still highly favored, but God restored his wealth because Job was living a blessed life.

Four Keys To A Blessed Life

SPEAKER_00 27:35

So let's bring this to shoe leather for us. How does it look for us to live a blessed life? As we had talked a little bit, we see a common thread in each one of these three characters that we looked at here today. And one of those was their faithfulness in trusting God. What are some of the keys for this? How do we live a highly lived life highly favored by God? I have four four keys here that I like to talk about a little bit. Number one is depend on God's wisdom. Depend on God's wisdom. That's what we see, what each one of these characters was doing. They were walking close with God, and they would depend on his wisdom. We see Jabez asked God's hand to be with him. He recognized that it was important for him to have God in his life, to walk with him. Proverbs 14, 12 says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Bring it down to as we talk shoe leather here. What are some ways that we depend on God's wisdom? Um, sometimes we make decisions that we just think are the right decisions, they don't always pan out. We might think we have a good job offer and it doesn't work out, or a business opportunity and it's a flop, or a relationship that didn't work out. It can be many different things. Proverbs 3, verse 5 through 7. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. I'm going to continue reading in verse 8 through 12. And it will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Then this is what stands out to me. Number uh, for verse 9, honor the Lord with your wealth. Again, the blessings that we have are not for ourselves. It says, Honor the Lord with your wealth and with your first fruits of all your produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. Being a blessing to others with what the blessings that we receive. That's the only way we can be a blessing to others is through the blessings that we have received from God. Verse 11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves him who is who he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. I think the characters that we talked about here in the Bible understood what this meant. Job, Abraham, and Joseph all went through trials. All went through experiences, and it, I'm sure it drew them closer to God yet, even yet. So the question is, how do we get God's wisdom? You know, it's easy to say, hey, depend on the Lord's wisdom, but how do we get it? Right? How do we get God's wisdom? Through prayer and God's word. It's pretty simple, but sometimes harder. It's easier said than done. I know it's a work at times, but it's through prayer and through God's word. Jesus, just because something didn't work out, doesn't mean we made the wrong decision. Look what happened with the characters we talked about, decisions that were made. Maybe God, maybe we make a decision and it looks like the wrong decision, but maybe God's just giving us some life lessons. Yeah. Maybe God's just living giving us some life lessons. It may be God is giving us a growing experience. It's okay to make wrong decisions as long as we make the decisions according to what we feel is God's will for us. Sometimes we make a decision and we think it's God's will. It's okay if it's the wrong decision. As long as we're doing it, we thought God, it's God's will. We thought we're doing what's right, but we're human, we make mistakes. God's wisdom and God's will are found in God's word. James 1, 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Colossians 1 1, verse 9 through 12. This is Paul. Paul writing and encouraging the Colossians. This is kind of a result of godly wisdom. And verse 9, and so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you. Paul was praying for them, asking that you, their prayer was asking that you may be filled with a knowledge of his will, of God's will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints and light. So number one is depend on God's wisdom. Number two, depend on God's strength. Depend on God's strength to carry us through life. We see Job needed God's strength to carry him through his trials. His faith never wavered. Isaiah 40, chapter 40, verse 28 to 31. Have you not known, have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. God will carry us through and lead us through life as long as we stay close to Him. That's the key. We need to stay close to God. Keep a hold of God's hand, He'll lead you. And at times when you don't feel Him, He's probably carrying you. Yeah, He's probably carrying you. Number three, depend on God's timing. Depend on God's timing. Abraham depended on God to supply the sacrifice. As I don't know what was all going through Abraham's mind as he climbed that mountain, the son asked him, Lord, where's the sacrifice? He must have known they're gonna go do the sacrifice, but where's the sacrifice? Abraham trusted God for his timing. Joseph was very patient. Job didn't know how things will turn out, but he was given up to God's will. While we are waiting, God is working. While we are waiting, God is working. Job didn't know what was going on. He didn't see the behind the scenes. But God knows that. God sees it. While we are waiting, God is working. Look at what look at what happened in the background when Job was going through the trial. I don't know what you're waiting on. You might be waiting on a it could be a thing of a right job for you. It could be a right partner. Maybe it's a baby. Maybe you're waiting to be healed. Maybe you're waiting for someone to repent. Maybe you're waiting to adopt a child. I don't know what you're waiting on. But most of us are probably waiting on something. But it's in God's timing. Psalm 31, 14 and 15. But I trust in you, O Lord. I say, You are my God. My times are not. My times are in your hand. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors. This is David talking here. Make your face shine on your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. Ecclesiastes 3, verse 11a. He has made everything beautiful in his time. It is God's time. God's timing and speed are different from ours. Sometimes we wait and wait, and all at once it happens so fast we get overwhelmed with it because we weren't we were waiting. And it happens so quick, we're almost not ready. That's when God wants us to hold on to his hand and enjoy the ride, yes. I'm not sure. But that's when God, that's how God wants us. He wants us to depend on him. When the blessings come highly favored, we do get overwhelmed at times. God may be asking you. It was helping someone. So the blessings are not about us. When we ask for blessings, it's not necessarily material things, it might be leading somebody else to Christ, encouraging somebody. God might bring somebody into your life, He might bring a family into your life that you're not even comfortable with, your children being around. But that's when we need to trust on God. We need to hang on to God. We can trust God, He has the best in mind for us. It is safe when we are following Him. Number four, this is the last one.

Ask Big So You Can Give

SPEAKER_00 38:31

I depend on God's wealth and not mine. What do I put my security in? Do I put my security in my job? Do I put it in my materials? Do I put it in my friends? Do I put it in family? If that's where we're putting our security in, we're probably insecure. We're probably insecure if that's where we're putting our security in. Philippians 4.19, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Back to Proverbs 10 again. We had mentioned this verse earlier. Proverbs 10, 22. The blessing of the Lord makes rich. This is a rich that we cannot, that you and I cannot supply. This is beyond us. The blessing of the Lord makes rich. So the question is: Am I willing? Am I open to asking God for blessings? Because we ask God for blessings only so that we can bless others. It's only for, as Jabez did. He asked God for a blessing. He didn't even say what. I'm not saying we can't pray for specific things. I'm not saying that. But God does have better things in mind for us than sometimes we under we understand, than we realize. Matthew 7, verses 7 through 11, very familiar. Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Going to end with Psalm 35, verse 27. Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad, and say evermore, Great is the Lord who delights in the welfare of his servants. That's what God does. He delights in the welfare of us. We are highly favored. We are a blessed. Well, I call him the Haitian that was here preaching the other Sunday. Trying to remember if it was him or was somebody else at work that we were talking, and he was just saying how we are so highly favored. And there's nothing wrong with highly favored, but we do have a bigger responsibility if we're highly favored. God wants what is best for us. Ask God. My encouragement is ask God for blessings so that we can be a blessing. All blessings come from God. That is all I have for the sermon this morning.

Testimonies And Closing Doxology

SPEAKER_00 41:38

I did not ask anyone to close it, but I will just briefly open. I'm not offended if it's quiet and nobody has anything to say, but I'll just briefly open it for any testimonies or maybe there's an add on that you thought about uh you're open to share. Um maybe Daniel or I'm sorry, Logan, you're the song leader this morning. Maybe you can lead the uh doxology, which is kind of fitting for the sermon after this.