(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. All right, so again, I've got to run out, so I can't greet everyone after service, but I'll see you back on Wednesday. Kind of a funny story about the object lesson from this morning is I texted Brother Segura yesterday. I was sitting next to my wife and I texted Brother Segura and I thought I was gonna have to explain some things. I was like, hey, I need a carpenter's hammer and I need like a two pound hammer. And I thought that I was gonna have to maybe take some pictures and like literally, like I'm sitting there talking to my wife, telling him like, boy, I hope he's not gonna have it. All of a sudden, bing, he like sends me a picture back and there's like two hammers, like sitting right next to each other in this text. I mean, it was really fast. So if you ever wonder what he's doing, he's hanging out in hammer stores during the day. So anyway, Jeremiah chapter 13. Jeremiah, of course, is a prophet of the children of Judah, the lower kingdom of Judah. He's a prophet. We just kind of went through a sermon study at Holdfast Baptist Church on Jonah. Jeremiah is kind of the anti-Jonah in my mind because nobody listened to Jeremiah ever. Like his whole life, he was not listened to. Nobody took any of his advice. He was just persecuted, thrown in jail, thrown in the mire. And then, you know, they kidnapped him and took him to Egypt, the end, you know? So it's kind of a sad story. But Jeremiah chapter 13 here, God uses an object lesson in Jeremiah chapter 13. I always thought it was kind of interesting. So we'll just go through a little bit of Bible study on this object lesson in the beginning part of Jeremiah chapter 13. Let's go ahead and look at it and see what we can come up with from this story in Jeremiah chapter 13 this evening. Look down at verse number one of Jeremiah chapter 13. The Bible says, thus saith the Lord unto me, go and get thee a linen girdle and put it upon thy loins and put it not in water. So God tells him to go get this linen girdle. It's interesting, it's made of linen. It's not a leather girdle. It's made of cloth and put it on thy loins and put it not in water. So he tells Jeremiah, he's like, hey, put this girdle on, put this on. And so he does it. I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins. And the word of the Lord came unto me a second time saying, take the girdle that thou has got, which is upon thy loins and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and I hid it by Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. So he tells him go down and basically, he tells him go down and take this linen girdle and bury it by the river. I went and I hid it by Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. And it came to pass after many days that the Lord said unto me, arise, go to the Euphrates and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to the Euphrates and digged and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it. And behold, the girdle was marred for it was profitable, it was profitable for nothing. Super important phrase there, it was profitable for nothing. I have that underlined in my Bible. So he takes this girdle and he goes and he buries it in the mud by the river for several days. We don't know how long that is enough to where when he takes it back out of the mud, it is worthless. Okay, look at verse number eight. Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, thus sayeth the Lord after this manner, will I mar the pride of Judah, the great pride and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them shall even be as this girdle, which again, he says, is good for nothing. And then we see here this kind of this ending statement says for as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of man, so I have cause to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, sayeth the Lord that they might be unto me for me a people and for a name and for a praise and for a glory, but they would not hear saying, this is how I wanted them to be, but they would not hear. So girdle, what is a girdle? You kind of have to use King James language here. Don't look up girdle on the internet today. But we're talking about a belt in the King James Bible here. We're talking about a belt that goes around a man. And God here is using a belt for an object lesson for Jeremiah, he's using this as a symbol. He first tells him, use a linen belt, don't get it wet. He wants it to just be dry, made of cloth and put in the mud. God wants this belt to be ruined from this experiment. All right, you say, why a belt? Why a belt? Why would God use this object lesson for a belt? So the title of the sermon this evening is a belt. We're gonna talk about a belt, all right? So I don't think I've ever heard a sermon on this. I've always liked this story, so here we go, all right? So let's talk about, first of all, to look at why God used this as an example, let's look at what a belt is in the Bible. What is a girdle in the Bible? So first of all, go to Job chapter 28. Let's do a quick Bible study on a belt or a girdle in the Bible and see what it's for. Let's look at the characteristics of an actual belt in the Bible. The first thing that you need to realize in the Bible that a belt is a man's garment in the Bible, all right? A belt, a girdle is a man's garment in the Bible. Look at Job chapter 28 and verse number, I'm sorry, Job 38. I think it's Job 38, maybe I have a mistake here. Job chapter 38 in your Bible. Job chapter 38 and look at verse number three. Job chapter 38, look at verse number three. The Bible says, gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee and answer, answer thou me. So what he's saying here is he's saying, gird up the loins like a man. He's saying, you know, gird up thy loins like a man using this idea of girding it, girding it. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 10. He's basically telling Job here, he's telling him, put your pants on, put your big boy pants on, let's go. So the first thing about a girdle, it's a man's garment that literally holds your pants up in the Bible. That's what it's used for and that is what the Bible is talking about. It keeps your pants on. You say, what's the importance of this? Look at 2 Samuel chapter 10. 2 Samuel chapter 10 in verse number one. 2 Samuel chapter 10 in verse number one, you say, why is that such a big deal? The first point of a belt, the first characteristic of a belt is obvious is that it's just functional. It just, it keeps a man's pants on. Gird up your loins, gird up yourself and let's go and let's get moving is how the Bible uses that many times. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 10 in verse number one. What's the importance of, I hate to say that we need to preach the importance of keeping your pants up today, but let's look at 2 Samuel chapter 10 in verse number one. The Bible says, and it came to pass. After this, that the king of the children of Ammon died and Hannah and his son reigned in his stead, then said David, I will show kindness unto Hannah and the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me. And David said to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father and David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. So David sends these people there, his people to make peace and just kind of be friendly. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hannah and their Lord, thinkest thou that David honoreth thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Had David not rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, to spy it out and to overthrow it. So they're paranoid. They think that David's really up to something here and these people are spies. So they do a bad thing here. Verse number four, it says, wherefore, Hannah took David's servants and shaved off one half of their beards and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks and sent them away. So basically cuts off their hair, their beards, everything down, including half of their pants. And it says their buttocks, their rear ends are exposed halfway anyway. But look at verse number five, which is the key that I'm trying to, the key point here. When they told it to David, he sent to meet them because the men were what? They were greatly ashamed. And the king said, terriah Jericho, till your beards be grown and then return. So a man who's got half his pants cut off is gonna be greatly ashamed, the Bible is saying here. So these men were ashamed. That was just one of the problems. But what do you see today? I mean, this is a very simple point of the point of a belt today, all right? Now, what do you see today? You see people walking around with their pants falling down on purpose. And they're not ashamed. There's no shame there. Okay, there's no shame there. But look, they should be greatly ashamed. They should be greatly ashamed walking around like that. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter eight. Jeremiah chapter eight. See, Satan must destroy shame and then he can destroy you. He first must get rid of shame. Look at Jeremiah chapter eight. This was part of the problem with the people of Judah. Now remember, Jeremiah chapter eight is before Jeremiah chapter 13. So what is already going on in the nation of Judah? Look at Jeremiah chapter eight in verse number 12. In verse number 11, you have the people saying, peace, peace, but there was no peace. You have the people saying, there's no problems here. Everything's fine here. Go do whatever you want. That's the problem that leads to verse number 12. It says, were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? People should be ashamed when they commit abomination. Nay, they were not at all ashamed. Neither could they blush. Therefore, they shall fall among them that fall in their time of their visitation shall they be cast down, saith the Lord. The problem is is that shame is real whether you deny it or not. Whether you have it programmed out of you or not, shame is real according to the Lord. That's the problem that we have in this. I demonstrated this in a sermon about a week and a half ago. I had my youngest son stand up here and I smashed an egg on his head in front of the church. And the egg was running down his face and I told him, you have to stand there because I'm trying to teach something here. And then I said to him, I said, as he's standing there and the egg's running down his face and it's going into his shirt and it's just really uncomfortable. And he's like, and I'm like, there's no egg on your head. There's no egg running down your shirt right now. And I said, how about if everybody in this whole church told you that there was no egg running down your face right now, would that help you out? He's like, no, because there really is an egg on my head. This is what's going on in Judah at this time. This is what's happening in our country today. We're being told that things that are actually shameful are not. I mean, go to Proverbs chapter 23. Let's just look at this real quickly. Go to Proverbs chapter 23. This is why people can be programmed to think that being a drunk is cool and drinking and being a drunken fornicator is something that's normal and it's great. And you can see all the TV shows you want and you can see all the movies that you want where all these people are just going out and they're drinking and they're womanizing and they're doing all these things and it's just fun. And it's just this great thing. But the problem is, is that the shame is real. The problem is, is whether you believe the Bible or not, it's true. Look at Proverbs chapter 23. Look at verse number, just look at a couple of verses here. It says, I mean, this is why the Bible says you'll have wounds without cause. The Bible says verse 33, or verse 34. I like this one. It says, you shall be as though that lies down in the midst of the sea. Somebody that just like lays down in the ocean is gonna drown. Whether someone tells them that, hey, that's great. That's wonderful. Then go lay down in the midst of the sea or lay on the top of a mast. You find yourself in dangerous positions. Look, it doesn't matter. You know, you have wounds without cause. It doesn't matter if people tell you, hey, that's not real. You know, you really have a black eye. You really are gonna drown. It's like telling, giving somebody a loaded gun and saying, hey, go play with this with your friends and point it at each other and do all these things. And there's no problem. Look, there is gonna be really a problem. Amen. It's real. You look at the fornication culture in this country today. It's just, it's completely normal. It's destroying young ladies today to just teach them that, hey, this is normal. You can just go out and fornicate and young men, same thing, and everything's gonna be fine. And you know, no one's getting married anymore to go out and fornicate. And you see all the sitcoms and all the funny things and everyone just fornicates and everything's great, but they don't show you all the disease and all the problems and all the ruined marriages and all the damaged, depressed people that are destroyed from this. They don't show you that, but it's real. You can pretend that it doesn't exist, but it's real. And then, you know, here comes all the depression. Here comes all the depression and it's like, okay, here you go, take a pill. I mean, speaking of science, psychology might be the biggest fake science out there today. I'm not saying that some people don't struggle more with depression than other people. But if you don't go and look for the root cause of a problem, your odds of solving it are very low. Again, back to the belt. Back to the belt. So it's a man's garment. It's a man's garment, keeps your pants on. It protects you from shame as a man. Okay, it protects you from shame. Protects you from, I mean, just to put it simply, it keeps your pants from falling down. I've always felt very strongly about this. This is one of the things that before I was even saved, I always felt very strongly about this and I'm glad to see that it's biblical. I always told my boys, since they could understand English, like, hey man, you know, when you come outside, you come out, I mean, I've told them hundreds of times. When you come outside to help me with something, you dress to work. You dress to work. What do I mean by that? Look, there's nothing wrong with repeating things to your kids, it works. You know, don't come out. I mean, don't come out in shorts and Crocs, okay? Like, first of all, Crocs, like, no serious man should own a pair of those. I hope that I don't offend anybody from that, but. But I mean, what do I mean when I say dress to work? When I say dress to work, when I told my kids, dress to work, I mean, put some work shoes on, put some serious pants on that have some denim or some kind of strength to them. And another thing is, put a belt on. Put a belt on, because I don't want to be working with you while your pants are falling down. You're not ready till your belt is on. I forgot a tie last time I came here, but I dead sure never would have forgot a belt. I wouldn't have made it from the bedroom to the kitchen without a belt. I'd have been like, something's wrong here, okay? One of the differences between, I'm telling you, one of the differences between a boy and a man is wearing a belt. You go from elastic pants to putting a belt on. It's a key transitional period for a young man. I mean, I'm not joking, my wife is always like, why are you so serious about that? I've just felt very strongly about that always. A man wears a belt. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 20. 2 Samuel chapter 20. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I want you to look at the world differently after tonight, okay? Every single time you see some bum or drug addict out there stumbling around, you check and see if he has a belt on. He doesn't. He doesn't have a belt on. You're gonna be like, you're gonna drive around Arizona and you're gonna be like, a-ha! No belt. What's another purpose for a belt? Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 20. We're just talking about the physical characteristics of a belt. We're trying to figure out why God used a belt as an example in Jeremiah chapter 13, okay? Look at 2 Samuel chapter 20. Look at verse number eight. 2 Samuel chapter 20, look at verse number eight. The Bible says, and when they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them and Joab's garment they had put on was girded onto him and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins and the sheaf thereof. As he went forth, it fell out. So here we see that Joab's garment that he had put on, it was girded with a girdle and the girdle held his sword. So that's another thing a belt is for. It's to carry your guns. It's to carry your tools. It's to carry your weapons and your stuff that you need as a functional man. I mean the Bible's just telling you right there. It's not just to hold your pants up. It's to help you carry stuff. That's why a man needs a serious belt, okay? I have a dark blue suit and my wife tells me that a black belt does not match this blue suit. So my wife got me a belt. This is the belt that my wife got me for that dark blue suit. I mean that's a nice belt, right? I can't wear this belt. I've never worn this belt. I mean you can see how new it is. This is like 10 years old and I've hardly ever worn this belt. And the reason is is because I just, I feel like I need a serious belt. So I wear this black belt that I have right now. I wear it everywhere. I wear it hunting. I wear it fishing. I wear it hiking. I wear it to church. Sometimes it doesn't match. I don't care. But a man needs a serious belt. Why? Because you got to hold stuff. It's got to be, you know, it's got, a belt should be strong. It's important. You need a serious belt as a man. This sermon is brought to you by Galco. I'm just kidding. Turn to Isaiah chapter five. So what do we know? It keeps your pants on. It holds your weapons. It holds your tools. I'm watching people walk around this church. I don't think I'm offending too many people in this church. We've got some serious belts in the room here. It holds your weapons. It holds your tools. It holds your stuff that we need as functional men. Look at Isaiah chapter five. A belt, a girdle in the Bible, it also symbolizes strength. Look at Isaiah chapter five and verse number 27. I love this verse right here. Isaiah chapter five and look at verse number 27. Isaiah chapter five, verse number 27. The Bible says this. It says, none shall be weary nor stumble among them. None shall be slumber nor sleep. Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed. You see that? Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. So I'm right on the work shoes too. But what I'm trying to get you to see here, if you look down at verse number 27, is what he's saying is the weary and the stumbling, they have no belt on. He's comparing those two things here. The weary and the stumbling and the one that slumbers and sleeps. You know what we call that? Somebody that's lazy. No belt! I mean, the Bible's really making a connection here that somebody that is not weary, not stumbling, hardworking, you know, their belt is, they got a good belt and it's tight and they're ready to go. Amen. It also symbolizes spiritual strength. So it symbolizes actual, real, like we're talking about real manly dignity here, a belt. You're like, you're reading too much into this. No, I'm not. Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three. It symbolizes spiritual strength as well. You're gonna look at people differently now after this sermon. Matthew chapter three. Have a belt symbolizes spiritual strength as well. Look at Matthew chapter three. What's one of the characteristics of John the Baptist that we hear? Look at Matthew chapter three and look at verse number four. Matthew chapter three and verse number four. Why is this, why would it be in the Bible? Think about this. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins and his meat was locust and honey. Turn to 2 Kings chapter one. John the Baptist had a leather belt on. 2 Kings chapter one and Elijah, whom had the same spirit as John the Baptist. What's another thing we learn about Elijah? Look at 2 Kings chapter one and verse number eight. 2 Kings chapter one, verse number eight. The Bible says, and they answered him. He was a hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins and he said it was Elijah the Tishbite. So another thing we learn about Elijah is he had a girdle, he had a belt, he had a good belt, Elijah. So that's our Bible study on belts. So what do we learn about belts? Like an actual, I mean, I'm talking about a literal, actual good belt, it keeps you functional. It keeps your pants from falling down. And I mean, no serious man will be without one. And it's a good symbol of strength in the Bible, both spiritual and actual strength. It's really a picture of a man and his dignity is what we're seeing here in the Bible. Now go back to Jeremiah chapter 13. Now maybe this is starting to make a little bit more sense to you why God used a belt in Jeremiah chapter 13. Say why in the world did God use a belt? Well we see that we got a man with some dignity, he's got this belt and here we got a belt that's not worth anything anymore. Look at Jeremiah chapter 13, look at verse number nine. Jeremiah chapter 13 verse number nine, the Bible says, thus saith the Lord, after this manner will I mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. Turn to Ephesians chapter six. So here we had these people that were welled up with pride. They thought that they were, their glory, the Bible talks about their glory later on in Jeremiah 13, how he'll just, he'll destroy their glory. They thought they were the greatest. And he's gonna mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem as he marred that belt. He's gonna show them the shame that they should have been seeing already. Turn to Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six. It's interesting also that the armor of God contains a girdle or a belt. So how do we avoid this? How could Judah have avoided this in the Bible, avoided God having to come and use this analogy, this object lesson against them? Look at Ephesians chapter six and verse number 14, talking about the armor of God, there's a girdle in here. There's girding here, look what the Bible says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with what? Girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Look, in Jeremiah chapter 13, God is explaining, you think you are great, you think you are strong, you think you are functional. He's saying, I'm gonna take all that away from you. I'm gonna remove that from you. The truth that we should be girded with, that we should be wearing as a belt, protects us from that happening to us. That's what the armor of God is saying in Ephesians chapter six and verse number 14. God is explaining through the use of a belt, God's saying, nah, he's like, you know what, I'll take away your belt, and you'll be walking around holding your pants up like a fool. That's what God is gonna say. I still don't understand the physics of how the pants can actually stay up when they're down here. I don't get that. But that's what God is saying to this nation. That's what God is saying to this nation. He's saying, I'm gonna take, I'm gonna mar the belt, he wore the belt to the river. He wore it to the river, it was dry, so it'd soak up all the junk and all the garbage in the river, and now it's completely worthless. He's like, now you got no belt, and you gotta walk back. He's like, that's how Judah's gonna be. And he's using this example of literally taking away their belt by crushing their pride. It's a great example. He's talking about removing the dignity from a prideful people in this chapter. So what can we learn? I mean, the parallel to America is astounding in this chapter, in the Bible. I mean, you think, I mean, start looking around and it's gonna shock you. I'm telling you, nobody's wearing a belt today. I mean, you're going to work today and nobody's wearing a belt. I'm just like, what is happening? What's going on? The first lesson we need to learn is we need to go out and get our boys a belt, and most of the boys here have a good belt, I'm seeing it. But that's the first small lesson. I was at Verity at the Red Hot Preaching Conference the last few days, great time, great conference. And I see, leaving Verity, one of the depressing things about being away from Verity and then coming back once a year, twice a year, is seeing these, seeing my friends' kids, they're like ch, ch, ch, ch. They're kind of moving up in foot and a half increments from the last time I saw them. And one of my friends at Verity, he's got, his oldest boy now is in the, and when I left, he was just like, he was like that, you know? And his oldest boy is eight now. And I saw him, and I saw him at the conference, and he's got his backpack on, he's eight. He's got his belt on, he's got some big case right here. And his dad's a tough guy, you know, his dad's no joke. And I said, I said, Matthew, what kind of, what kind of, we got a pocket knife there? He says, no, it's a multi-tool. I'm telling you, that kid could probably fix your car. But he's got a good belt on. And he's being raised as a good, he's got a good leather and girdle about him. It's an important thing. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter 13. It's just so funny, the parallels that you'll see, and even the smallest things about how men in a culture don't even wear something like a belt anymore, how just the Bible, I mean, you can just see the Bible playing out in our everyday life here. These things like this, the people just don't think they're a big deal anymore, you know, it's just, but you can just see it every single place that you look. Go back to Jeremiah chapter 13, look down at verse number 11. You say, I don't wanna, you know, I don't wanna be proud, I don't wanna, you know, have God, you know, take my dignity from me. Look at verse number 11. God says this, he says, for as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I cause to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord, that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, but they would not hear. God is saying, for as that strong girdle should be around you, he's like, that's how I want you to cling, that's how I wanted this nation to cling to me, but they did not do it, and they are not doing it, which is why he's using this example. Turn to Isaiah chapter 47. Turn to Isaiah chapter 47, let's look at one other thing. So it's interesting, because the nation of Babylon took over the southern kingdom of Judah, but then in Isaiah chapter 47, look at verse, God also judges Babylon. God also judges Babylon. Look, it says, come down, in verse number one, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal, and uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen, and I will take vengeance, and I will not, what, meet thee as a man. The Bible's basically saying to people that he is gonna judge, God is saying to people that he's gonna judge, I'm gonna take away your manhood from you, I'm gonna take away your dignity, I'm gonna take away, you know, that's why the mighty man of Babylon had foreborn to fight, the Bible said, when they were judged, and they were taken over by the Persian Empire. God is literally judging these people, you wanna keep your dignity, how do we do that? Turn to Psalm chapter 119, you know, we need to cling to the Lord as a strong belt clings to us. That's what God is saying in Jeremiah chapter 13. It's like, this is what a belt is for, you need to cling to me as a strong belt would cling to yourself. Look at Psalm chapter 119. The message this evening is not a complicated one, but I just thought it was really interesting as we see this phenomenon happening in the United States today. Just one of many disturbing things. But look at Psalm chapter 119, Psalm chapter 119, of course, just talking about the love for God's word, and how we should just dwell on God's word, and what did it say in Ephesians chapter four, or Ephesians chapter six and verse 14, the armor of God we should be clinging, the armor of God is girded to us, it's the girding of truth. Look at Psalm chapter 119, verse number 80. Psalm chapter 119, verse number 80. The Bible says in Psalm 119, 80, it says, let my heart be sound in thy statutes. What, why? Study the word of God, read the word of God, understand the word of God, be sound in the word of God, why that I be not ashamed. And I won't have God take my belt away from me. I won't have to have God do to me what these people had done to them in Judah. What is gonna happen to this country if we don't get things right, which doesn't appear to be happening. That is what God is, I mean, if people only knew the Bible, we could avoid so much trouble, as a country, as a family, as a church, as an individual. But we get puffed up, we think this, we just need to cling to the Lord. That's it, it's simple, it's simple. God uses a belt in Jeremiah chapter 13, because a belt is a symbol of a man's strength. I mean, it's even used to talk about the Proverbs 31 woman and her strength, she girds herself with strength, in verse number 17. It's talking about how God is just, you think you're strong when you're not, he's like, I'm gonna take your belt off, and then your nakedness is gonna be exposed. And it's a shameful thing. In all the minor prophets, in Nahum, in Habakkuk, it's talking about, I'm gonna lift up the skirts over your faces, you're gonna be ashamed, your nakedness is gonna be shown. It's all gonna be taken away, I'm gonna remove your dignity from you. We need to study the word of God, love the word of God, trust the word of God, and then we won't be ashamed. We won't be ashamed of anything. Because look, and then when we do something that we're ashamed of, it's like, sorry. Just run away from that thing. You know, just run away from that, get things right, confess our sins, and everything will be fine. That's why God uses a belt in Jeremiah chapter 13. I'm not gonna keep you too long tonight so I can go home and see my wife. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for the Bible, I thank you for the truth in the Bible, Lord, I pray that you just help us to gird ourselves with the truth, with the Bible. I pray that you just bless this church, Lord, I pray that you bless these people in this church, Lord, help them to study your word, love your word, and not get prideful in their life. Lord, I pray for the relationships in this church, the marriages in this church, the friendships in this church, Lord, that you would help us to have a culture of mercy, culture of forgiveness, and a culture of confessing our faults, Lord. Thank you for the Bible, and I just thank you for the opportunity to be here. In Jesus' name, amen.