July 3 PM - Kevin

Kevin Shepherd brings almost 30 years of pastoral experience, including twelve years as Lead Pastor of Glad Tidings Church in Burlington, Ontario, where he led significant growth through community engagement and leadership development. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Crossroads Christian Communications and YES TV, using media to inspire spiritual transformation, cultural impact, and global outreach through faith-based storytelling and values-driven entertainment. Kevin also serves in leadership within the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) as a General Executive Member and Assistant Superintendent for the Western Ontario District, while remaining active in interdenominational initiatives across Canada. Kevin and his wife, Sherri, are proud parents of Caleb (married to Lauren) and Sadie.

Transcript

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Anybody ever have your plans not go the way that you thought they were gonna go? Yeah. You know, I'm gonna start off by telling you what happened. Um and you know, it's so amazing, God's so good. As I've been praying about coming here, and I I love coming to this camp. Like I just I love it. Um, and thanks again, Pastor Phil, for the opportunity to be here. I've been here a couple other times and uh was just looking forward to this so much. And so as I was praying about uh what the Lord wanted to encourage our hearts with and and challenge us with, um the theme that God put on my heart was the big picture. And I had just been praying about that over the last month or so, uh, not knowing that God was going to give me a sermon illustration about the big picture while I was trying to get here. So I go to the airport, I go in like I do often, everything was smooth, got right through security, got to my gate, I'm standing there, and waiting for the boarding to happen. 20 minutes before we're supposed to board, the agent comes on and says, uh, there's a delay, there's an unexpected maintenance issue on the plane. So we're moving the uh flight out, the boarding time to 11 o'clock, which is about an hour later. I'm like, okay, that happens, no big deal. So I'm staying there waiting. And now I I now not everybody felt like I did at that moment. There was ever been in an airport where something like that happened? People get pretty uptight. And so uh standing there waiting, and about 20 minutes later, the agent comes on again and says, we are oversold. This flight is oversold. So we need to get some people to take a later flight. So we're offering a $1,200 per person voucher to take a flight at 250 in the afternoon. And I was like, like I was wanting to do this, but then I was thinking, well, I was gonna put it a little tight to get here for camp. So I thought, okay, I better not. And so, you know, people run to the thing and they get their $1,200 voucher and away they go. And then only about 30 minutes later, I get a text from the airline app saying that the flight was canceled. And so because I got this text, I was one of the first ones to respond. And I know that you got to get in line in order to get the next flight out. So I like quickly go to the to the uh desk, and just as I get there, the agent comes on to make the announcement verbal to everybody that the flight was canceled. So she comes on and she says, Sorry to inform you, everybody, the flight is canceled, and people lost their minds. Like people were yelling. I'm staying there while she's still finishing the sentence. This guy comes up right beside me and starts yelling at her that he wants $1,200 now. So I actually said to him, Hey, just calm down for a second, you know, let her finish. And he's looking at me, he's all right. I'm like, dude, just let her finish. So he calms down, she finishes, and then he says again, I want my $1,200. Guy over there yells so loud, they call security. Like it was it was unbelievable. So then I turn around. Well, actually, first I talked to the gate agent. I said, What do I need to do to get on the next flight? She says the system automatically books everybody in the next flight within 30 minutes. After that, if you don't like what flight it gives you, then you come and talk to customer service, see if they could put you on a different flight. I said, okay, fine. So I turn around and I see this teenage boy who literally had his hoodie over his face, and I could tell he was crying. Now I had noticed him a little earlier. I had noticed he was a bit nervous. I didn't see anybody else with him. And so I just walked over to him and I said, Hey man, everything okay? And he kind of looks at me. He says, I just I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. This is my first time flying by myself. I don't know what to do. I said, It's okay, bro. I do this all the time. I'm gonna help you. We'll figure this out. I said, What's your name? He said, My name's Delby. And I said, I'm Kevin, and I just, you know, I'll we'll we'll work this out together. Is there anyone that we can we can call or we can talk to? He says, Well, I was I was traveling with my nan from Newfoundland, and this was our connector, and for some reason our connection flight was different, and my nan is already gone, and so I'm by myself and he's crying and he's really uptight. And I noticed he had some anxiety issues earlier. So I said, Is there anyone else we can call? He says, We can call my dad. I said, Let's call dad. So we called his dad. I got dad on the phone, and and I'm just saying, I'm gonna help him. And dad explained that you know he's a bit concerned about Delby for a few reasons. And so I said, It's okay, Dad, I'm gonna help him. We'll get this, we'll get this sorted out. Don't worry about it. So I hang up the phone and I said, Delby, let's go get something to eat. We got to wait for half an hour anyway. Let's go get something to eat. How many know just a good meal sometimes helps you calm down? So we go, what do you like to eat? And I buy him something for lunch, and we sit down together, and I just start to get to know him, and he's kind of calmed down and relaxing a bit. And and so I'm learning about his life. He had just graduated from high school and learned about some of the things that he wants to do in his life, and just getting to know him a little bit, and he's getting to know me. And uh then the the app goes off, and I learned that my flight was scheduled for the next day this morning, and his flight was 6 45 that night. So I'm like, well, at least you're better off than I am, Delvey, because you're getting out tonight. And so that made him feel a little bit better. So I'm like, okay, we're gonna get y'all sorted. We we go to his gate, we get him organized, and I fast forward a few things in the story. And so then I I felt like God wanted me to tell him. I figured that this wasn't just you know, just me being a nice guy. And you know how in your in those moments your heart kind of starts to race a little bit. You ever had one of those moments where you feel like God wants you to talk to somebody about him? And you're like, man, what do I say? Like, and what if I what if I mess this up and I don't want to sound stupid? And and I just felt like I really needed to really talk to Delby about the Lord. So I said, Delby, do you are you are you are you comfortable you good? He says, Yeah, I think I'm good now. I'm just gonna sit here at the gate and wait till the flight. I said, Okay. He said, I don't know what I would have done without you. I said, Well, Delby, do you believe in God? Have you gone to church? Do you believe in God? He goes, not really. I said, Well, I do. And I believe that God had me standing here beside you because he wanted me to tell you that he loves you. This was more than just having a nice guy to buy you lunch and help you get organized. This is because God loves you, and he sent me here to tell you that he loves you. I said, Delby, I don't know if I'll ever see you again in this life. But Jesus loves you. And if you put your faith in Jesus, I'll see you again in heaven. I said, So I'd love to pray for you, and I'd love to take a picture of you so I could keep so I have a picture on my phone. I showed Pastor Phil tonight, I got a picture on my phone, and so here's what Delby doesn't know. Delby doesn't know that I was coming to this camp. And I'm going to ask every single one of you to pray for Delby, please. If you will put it in your calendar, if you'll put it on your fridge, if you'll, man, God give me a heart for this young man. And I don't know what he's going back to. I don't know what his circumstance is, but I know this. Jesus loves Delby. Jesus loves him so much that he was willing to have me miss my fight and to have you have a different speaker. And I understand you had a great night last night. I knew God was going to take care of you, but God wanted to take care of Delby. And I'd like us, amen. In fact, can we just take a minute and just pray for him before we go any further? Dear Heavenly Father, we just bow before you. I don't know where Delby is right now or what he's doing, but I know you love him and you see him and you know him. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you will give him other divine encounters, that you will bring people into his life that will draw him close to you. I thank you, God, for the privilege of spending some time with him. I thank you for the gift of interrupted plans and changed schedules so that I can be part of your divine agenda for his. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, sorry about that. A little emotional there already. My uh my prayer ducks are connected to my tear ducks. So I often cry when I pray. All right, and so that's part of what I want to talk about. What God has been putting on my heart. That so often we get so consumed with the here and now, with whatever is happening to us this day, this week, this month, this year. We get so wrapped up, we get so uptight, we get so angry, we get so frustrated, we get so worried. But I'm here to remind you, I'm probably not gonna say too much you haven't already heard at some point, but I'm here to remind you that God knows the bigger picture, that God is at work in your life, in ways that sometimes we don't even see. He is orchestrating things in your life, he is working his purpose out in your life, and if we will just be open, if we will just trust him, he will speak to our heart. He will lead us, he will guide us because he sees the bigger picture. And I was thinking about how God looks at us. You know, sometimes we have those moments like I was having, like, oh man, I don't want to mess this up, and I'm nervous, and I'm I'm, you know. And I was thinking later, God's not nervous. Like when God's calling you to do something, he's not nervous about it. He's not afraid you're gonna mess it up. He's calling you because he has anointed you, he has gifted you because he has wired you in who you are, with the life experiences you have and how he's brought you to this moment. Whatever God has done in your life up until this moment is for what he wants to do next in your life. He's not nervous. God looks at you like a father looks at the child. I loved, Aaron, what you were talking about in worship. You hear how Aaron talks about his daughter? That's how God looks at you. He looks at you. He's like, man, if you could see you the way I see you, if you could see the potential I have in you, if you could see what I want to do in you, what I'm already doing in you, if you could see you the way I see you. God looks at you like a father looks at his child, like a grandfather looks at its grandchild. And the reason I say that is because I'm going to be a grandpa in six weeks. Yeah. I am extremely excited about that. And I'm already, I haven't even met my grandchild. And I'm already like, man, I am so for this kid. Like this kid doesn't even know who I am, and I am so for him. Like, I am so, I just believe so much that God has plans for this kid, and I haven't met him. That's how God feels about you. Whatever you feel about yourself, whatever other people have said about you, God is so for you. So we're going to look at the bigger picture. I want to just uh take us to a couple of verses tonight, and I know we got the baptism service, so I'm aware of that. Uh, two verses, and these are verses that maybe aren't super common to us, but I feel like uh God wants us to memorize these verses over the next uh few services. Because as adults, we often talk about kids memorizing verses, but as adults, we get it to practice. And I want to challenge us all and encourage us to memorize scripture. Hiding God's word in our heart is so important. And so the one verse is Psalm 4, verse 6. And the psalmist writes this There are many who say, Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O God. Would you say that with me, this whole verse? There are many who say, Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord. This is the psalmist David, and he's like, Many people are saying, Where's the good? Anyone can identify with that right now? Looking around in our world and all the challenges and all the hardship and all the struggle, and he's like, There's many people who look around and are like, Where's the good coming from? And then David shifts his attention instead of horizontally looking for it, he goes, Lift up the light of your face upon us, O God. See, the good that we're looking for is actually in God. It's in his presence, is who he is. David actually says in the next verse, I have more joy from you than when everybody else's grain is full and their vats of wine is full, I have more joy than them because I have you. Jesus is the good that we're looking for. And then the second verse, I'm going to challenge us to memorize, is the New Testament response to that, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6 as well. So say this with me. For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So here's the bigger picture that David didn't understand when he was calling out to God. He's like, Man, things are so difficult around. Who will show us the good? Many people are saying, God, you're the good that I'm looking for. He had no idea. There's no way he could have understood that the actual light of the world would step into darkness, step into our world, that he would live a perfect life, he would die on the cross, he would rise again, that we would then, through faith, receive him into our life, that we would have the light of God in us, and we could be the good that people need to see through the light of God through us. That's the gift, that's the opportunity that we have. If you'll turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 16, I want to look at uh some stories in the life of David over the next few services that talk about the big picture. And David's life is a really good life to do this with because he's the life out of all the lives in the Bible that we see from birth, from when he's young right through to when he's old. We have like his diary in the Psalms. We could see how he's feeling, his emotions, his actions, his reactions, his successes, his victories. We see his failures, his weaknesses, and we can identify that. But the other reason is because in Acts 13, 36, out of all the things that we know about David's life, Acts 13, 36 says he did the will of God in his own generation. Isn't that our prayer? That we would do the will of God in the midst of everything that we're facing and going through, we would do the will of God in our generation. So tonight I just for a few moments want to talk about God's big plan. And I want to look at a story in the life of David when he's young. And we often initially, when we think about that, we think about David and Goliath, and we will talk about that, but there's actually a story we need to look at earlier than that to understand the big picture. We don't really understand David's behavior and action in the story of David and Goliath until we understand something else in the bigger picture. So we're talking about David at a time before he's been thrust into the national spotlight when he is one of the sons of Jesse, and Saul is the king of Israel. And 1 Samuel 15, 35 says, The Lord was sorry that he ever made Saul king of Israel. That's an interesting verse to think through. God was sorry or God regretted that he made Saul king of Israel. Does this mean that God made a mistake by making Saul king of Israel? No. God doesn't make mistakes, he's sovereign, he's perfect. What does this mean? This means that God had a plan for Saul's life. But Saul's actions perpetually over time led to God making a decision that he needed to remove Saul as the king of Israel. See, God has a plan for our lives, but friends, our decisions matter. The way we act, the way we respond, or the way we disobey, it matters. And there's a line with God, and I don't know where that line is, and I think it's different at different times with different people in his sovereignty. But what we do matters. How we respond to every moment matters. God cares about everything in our lives. This is a time when David was serving his family by tending the sheep. It's amazing to me if you think about it in the bigger picture of David's life that all the giftedness for him to lead as the king of Israel was in him when he was serving the sheep. When he was caring for the sheep. The calling, the giftedness, the capacity that God has for you and what he wants to do in your life I believe is already there. It needs to be nourished, it needs to grow, it needs to be formed. But God knows who He's created you to be. God knows who He's calling you to become and what He's calling you to do. But in the midst of that, God's big plans for your life will always include being faithful in small ways. You know, I've been in ministry 30 years, and over the course of my ministry, I have seen so many people want to use their gifts and their abilities to move forward or accomplish something that just ends up almost promoting them right out of God's plan for their life. You know, it's like David in the field tending the sheep, but looking at all the other fields and wanting to be over in them. And I think that can happen to us. We can be so enamored with the the gifts of somebody else or the successes or the blessings of somebody else. And we can end up being so focused on that we don't see the very sheep that God has called us to care for that are right around us in our lives. I think God has not given us our gifts so we could build a bigger platform. He's given us our gifts so we could love people more. Isn't that an incredible thing? That we become the reflection of God to this world. And the way we do that is by understanding God's. God's love for us. And when we understand God's love for us, He loves people. God cares for people through people. He loves people through people. We become the reflection of God's love to other people. Does God want us to reach more people? Absolutely. Does God call us to do that? Does he want the kingdom to be expanded? Absolutely. He does. But if we make our focus getting bigger, if we make our focus results, we run the risk of having our motives in the wrong place. God's called us to love people. The people on the pathway are more important than the pathway itself. And sometimes we can be in the middle of life and things aren't going the way that we thought they would, or we're not accomplishing what we had hoped we would. And we can feel frustrated by that. Maybe you feel like you're too gifted for the field you're in right now. You feel like God hasn't led you to accomplish the things that you want to accomplish and you're frustrated in the midst of your situation. Maybe maybe God is just calling you to see the sheep that are right around you. He's called you to tend, to be faithful in that, in this moment. Maybe you feel like God has called you to be in a situation or a circumstance or a ministry that you feel is too big for you or too challenging for you. Or maybe God's given you a dream that's too big. Like you're like, I don't know how we could ever do that. I don't know how we could ever accomplish that big task, that big gift. It feels like it costs too much money. It feels like it's too hard. It's going to be too many barriers or too many boundaries. And I'm here to remind you that nothing is too big for our God. And sometimes you need to rest in the fact and know that God knows you better than you know you. And I'm going to be transparent with you. I'm going to tell you a phrase that I've put in my calendar because I have a loud inner critic. The X's are always bigger than the check marks in my life. And so I've put in my calendar because I was feeling this way, the things that the tables that God was having me at, the places that God was having me go, I'm like, God, why do you have me here? I don't know what I'm doing. This is what God gave me. I belong in every room I end up in because God put me there. It doesn't mean I deserve that platform or opportunity. It simply means I don't need to feel as though I don't belong or I can't do what he called me to do or be whom he called me to be. If God put me in it, he put it in me. Would you say that after me? If God put me in it, he put it in me. Say it again. If God put me in it, he put it in me. Because God has the bigger picture. God has the divine plan. And we don't see sometimes, and we're in the midst of the situation. Whether it's a struggle or whether it feels too big for you, God sees you. God sees you. He knows you. And we just need to let the light of his face shine upon us. God mourned the fact that Saul became so distracted from God's plan in his life. That he became focused on himself. And so God divinely called the prophet Samuel to go and anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel goes to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse, because God said that one of his sons who became the next king. Many of you know the story. Eliab the oldest stepped up first. The Bible says Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, surely this is the Lord's anointed. But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Isn't that true? We judge by the outward, we judge by the accomplishments, we judge by the weaknesses, we judge by the failures. But God looks at the heart. I'm going to talk a bit about comparison tomorrow, because I think it's one of the biggest thieves, one of the biggest things that destroys and steals away from what God wants to do in our lives. C.S. Lewis made this observation. We say that people are proud of being rich or clever or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer or cleverer or better looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich or clever or good looking, there would be nothing to be proud about. On the road of comparison, inner peace is a mirage because it's relentless. What I'm trying to say is if we become so focused on results, if we become, and I'm a strategist, okay? Like results matter. Numbers matter. How many know God cares about numbers? He's got a whole book in the Bible called Numbers. He loves numbers. We got to count numbers. We want numbers to be big. It's all good. Well, the right numbers to be big and the wrong numbers to be low. But we want, we want numbers. But God cares about character more than results. And if you can have all the big numbers you want, but if your life is not submitted to the will and the purpose of God, you might go the way of Saul. God's blessing on your life does not equate God's approval of your life. This is how the numbers thing, this is how God could call Noah to build an ark and preach for a hundred years. And listen to what the Bible says in 1 Peter 3:20. God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in the terrible flood. Could you imagine if, as a pastor, I preached for a hundred years and there were only eight people left in my church, and they were all family. Do you think I'd be doing the conference circuit? People would want to buy my book, man. Church growth expert. And yet he's in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. Why? Because he honored God. He was faithful in what God had called him to do. That's the invitation for us. That's the gift. So the firstborn Eliab, not to be the next king of Israel. Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel, but Samuel said, This is not the one the Lord has chosen. Next, Jesse summons Jemaah, but Samuel said, Neither of this is the one the Lord has chosen. In the same way, all seven of Jesse's sons are presented to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these. Then Samuel asked, Are these all the sons you have? They're still the youngest, Jesse replied. But he's out in the fields watching the sheep and the goats. Send for him at once, Samuel said. We will not sit down to eat until he arrives. So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome with beautiful eyes, like Pastor Phil. And the Lord said, This is the one anoint him. So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. Listen, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. That's the bigger picture to David and Goliath. If you read David and Goliath without stunting that, understanding that, you don't understand David and Goliath. The reason he walked the way he walked into that valley was because the Spirit of the Lord had anointed him. Because the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him from that day forward. And friends, I got to tell you right now, if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ and you've opened your heart to the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Living God is upon you. The Spirit of the Living God is upon you and anointed you for whatever it is that God is leading you towards. The Spirit of God has gifted you for whatever big task that feels too big for you. It's not just you. It's the Spirit of God in you. And the Spirit of God has anointed you for the most menial, small, seemingly insignificant thing that you're going to do in a day. Because it has formation purpose in God's big plan. See, when you understand that God's Spirit has anointed you and called you, you don't walk based on your past. You walk based on God's promise. You don't walk based on your weakness, you walk based on God's promise. You don't walk based on what people have said about you. You walk based on God's promise. So when people say, Who will show us some good? You could say, Lift up the light of your face upon us, O God. And you realize that He's the good that people are looking for. And He's anointed you to bring it to this world that desperately needs to see it. Because God is at work. And I had this out loud conversation with God. And I was like, God, I don't want to be paranoid. I don't want to be paranoid. I want the opposite of paranoia. And I didn't know what that was. I'm a word guy. I love words. And I like I had to look it up. I'm like, what's the opposite of paranoia? I looked it up. You know what it is? Pronoia. So paranoia is you're deeply suspicious something bad's gonna happen. You know what pronoia is? You're deeply suspicious something good is gonna happen. Come on. That'll preach. I'm deeply suspicious that God is up to something good. It doesn't matter what happened. It doesn't matter if your flight's canceled. I'm deeply suspicious that God is up to something good. Because he's at work, because he sees the bigger picture. I'm gonna ask the keyboard player to come back. I just want to tell you a story. Again, that just I'm hoping, I hope you're hearing what the Spirit is saying. I think God just wants us to be encouraged tonight and have the confidence that he's working in you and he's invited you to participate in his work. So I want to tell you a story about my grandpa. My grandpa was a farmer and a very simple man, a quiet man. Uh he bought the farm that uh he lived on when he was 26 years old, farmed that farm his entire life until he passed away. He also did the mail road. He had this orange truck, and I used to love going to Grandpa's farm because I could get up really early in the morning for him to deliver the mail and I could sit on his lap. Used to be able to do that back when I was a kid. I'm really old. And I used to sit on his lap and I would drive. He would actually hold onto the steering wheel down there. I didn't know that. And I thought I was driving the whole thing, you know. He'd actually sometimes pull it towards the ditch and he'd like, keep it on the road, boy, you know. And but here's what my grandpa would do. Every house that we pulled up to, when he put the mail in the mailbox, I'd hear him praying for them. He'd whisper a prayer for every person he put the mail in the mailbox for. And I didn't say anything, I was young, but I just noticed that this is something that he did. So fast forward, I wanted, I started dating Sherry, and I just loved Sherry so much. And I was uh 18 years old. We had been dating for a year, and I wanted my grandpa to meet Sherry. So we drove to where my grandpa lived. He's about two hours away from us, and uh was driving there because where my grandpa lived is a place called Mount Bridges. It's near London, Ontario. And my girlfriend, Sherry, had lived in Mount Bridges for a period of time. So we get there, I go in, I say, Grandpa, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend. This is Sherry Lockhart. He goes, Lockhart, Lockhart. He goes, Harvey, Diane, Tara, and Sherry. She goes, Yeah, how'd you know? He goes, I prayed for you every day when I delivered your mail. Well, here's the rest of the story. When they lived in Mount Bridges, Sherry's mom and dad were going through a very difficult time, and Sherry's dad ended up leaving them. Went off and made some very poor decisions. And so Sherry and the girls, Sherry and her sister, her mom and the two girls moved back closer to Hamilton where they had family. After a few years, Harvey, Sherry's dad, was on a business trip out east. He was flying out east, and a random stranger told him about Jesus. When he's out east, after he was done his business meetings, he looked up an old relative that he hadn't seen in 30 years. And when he was over at their house, they had given their hearts to the Lord. He was teaching Sunday school the next day. So he told him about Jesus. So then Harvey's flying home from this business trip, and another random stranger sitting beside him on a plane told him about Jesus. So Harvey is driving home and he had a God if you're real moment at the side of the road. He didn't know what to do. He just thought, I need to go to a church somewhere. He didn't know what church to go to. The only reference he had was the pastor who did a funeral for his dad a number of years earlier. So he looks up that church. He goes to that church on the Sunday, listens to the pastor preach. He goes forward, gives his heart to Jesus. That pastor was my dad. So Harvey starts to reconcile with his wife and the girls, starts to bring them to church. They give their hearts to the Lord. Sherry comes to youth group. That's where I get a chance to meet her. And that's why I brought her to meet my grandpa. We dated for five years. This past Monday we celebrated our 30th anniversary. My grandpa was alive and came to our wedding the year we got married, and he passed away that year. Friends, God is always at work. Even when you don't see it, God is always at work. He's at work in your life. And he's invited you to participate in that. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me just for a moment? And I know you've had such great services this week. And so I'm not going to take a long time with this tonight at all. But I do feel like God wants us to just take a moment to reflect. So in a moment, I'm I'm going to be quiet and just allow God to speak to you and you to speak to God. And there may be a number of different aspects of this sermon that is applying to you. Like maybe you're wondering if God sees you in the midst of your challenge, your hardship, your difficulty. Maybe you are wondering if your faithfulness in ordinary things actually mattered. And I just want to encourage all of us to just take a minute or two and just ask Jesus this question. What are you calling me to do in this moment, in this season where you've placed me? And just let the Spirit of God speak to your heart.