Christ is Life Podcast

Now, because we are jumping into the middle of a chapter, we need to make sure that before we look at what's written in this section, we understand what's already happened. Here's the scene. 120
of Jesus's disciples have gathered together, and they're waiting.
This is after Jesus's life, after his death, after his resurrection, and then they witnessed His ascension back to heaven, and he had told them one of the last things was to wait, to wait in Jerusalem on the promise of the Holy Spirit that He would send. And so they're waiting,
they're sitting in silence, they're praying, they're looking, they're listening.
And all of a sudden, in just a moment, what sounded like a violent wind began to occur. And in a moment, I mean literally, from one second, it was this, and the next second, the breath of God was breathed into their dry bones, as the prophet Ezekiel had said was going to happen one day in the future. And he breathed life into their dry bones, and they came to life like real life, not physical life, but Zoe's spiritual life, and for the first time, they were really, truly alive, the way that they were created to be alive before sin entered the world and messed things up. Not only was there a sound like a violent wind, but there was what appeared to be tongues of fire that were resting on each one of them in this moment. And so, just like the God was present with the Israelites through the pillar of fire in the Old Testament, at night, God was present with each one of them now living in them, and would be with them each and every single day, never to leave them again. They were filled with His purpose. In that moment, his supernatural power that was now in them began to be expressed through them. They began to speak in other languages that known languages but that weren't known to them. In one moment they didn't know how to speak this language, and the next moment, they were being empowered by the Holy Spirit to communicate in this language. And this began to draw a crowd the sound that they heard like the violent wind. And then all these people speaking who they know didn't know their dialect, but yet they were speaking in it. And so this is the scene, and some of them find themselves poking fun and kind of going these guys have had way too much to drink already, but yet others were genuinely asking, What does this mean? Not just what's happening right now, but what is happening to us and what? What does it mean?
And that is what we're going to find out in this section today. So I asked you to turn to Acts. Chapter Two said that we would be there in verse 14. Well, here we are. It says, Then at that moment, after the sending of the Spirit and them asking, What does this mean? Peter stood up with the 11, raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Now, before we move on, I don't want you to miss this. You could just read it and go. Okay, Peter stood up and he talked to the crowd. Well, the original Greek word doesn't mean that. He just stood up and began to talk. The Greek word that is used here means Spirit inspired utterances. Spirit inspired. So the Holy Spirit came in Acts one through 13 began to empower them. And now the spirit was going to work in and through Peter, he became a branch. The spirit was in him and united him to the life giving vine. And so now, as he was attached to the life giving vine, the life giving stuff from the vine could come through him as the branch. And now he would give him new words. He would produce new words through him to come out of his voice so that the crowd could now understand what was happening and what this means. This was God revealing what was going on in and through his instrument. Peter, at this particular time, what does he say? Verse 14 continues, fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem. Let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk as you suppose. No, it's only, it's only nine o'clock in the morning. It's not what's happening here. No, no, no. This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
In other words, the Holy Spirit in Peter inspired him to take them to Scripture to help them understand what was happening in this moment, he inspired them to take them to Scripture that was recorded and spoken about eight to 900 years prior to this day to explain what was happening on this day, eight or 900 years after it was written about what does he say? This is from Joel, chapter two, verses 28 through 32 he says, in the last days, I will, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people again, eight or 900 years before this day, God inspires through the Holy Spirit. Joel to write this saying that there is a day coming, one day in the future, I am going to send the Holy Spirit, pour out my spirit. And so in general terms, Peter is trying to say that's what's happening today. What you're witnessing is the fulfillment of what was promised eight or 900 years ago when God said He would send his spirit. Now a few things for us to talk about here. The first thing he says is that this would happen in the last days. Now, most of you know this event happened around 2000 years ago, and so you could be going, Okay, was it really the last days then? Because here we are 2000 years later, and we're still talking about this thing right now. So that must be a mistake. It must not be the last days. Well, really, what we're talking about here is the beginning of an era called the last days. In our minds, we go, Okay, the last days. Then in a couple of days, it could be a weeks or a few months. I mean, there's not very long before Jesus is coming back, and this will be the last day and the end of things. But on that day, was the day that started an era called the last days. Now, at the end of that era of last days, the real last days of that time is when Jesus will be coming back again. But right now we're still in that era today. The other thing I want you to see here is that he says, I will pour out again in the Greek language. The image that is
that would this Greek word would convey would be that of a torrential downpour. I mean, a think of the worst rain, the worst storm maybe you've ever been in Am I mean, it is just absolutely raining as hard as you've ever seen it rain. I mean, if you jumped out of your car and tried to run in a building 10 feet from where you were, you would have just be covered from head to toe. The thing I just don't want you to miss is that when God says he was going to send His Holy Spirit. He didn't say, I'm going to send this light, little sprinkle, this little misting of the Holy Spirit that's going to come. You're going to get a little bit of it here in Part No, a torrential downpour is coming where I am pouring out all of my spirit in to you so that you'll have access to all of God, all of the time.
This was not just true at Pentecost. This happens any time, any day that you put your faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you. He pours it torrential downpour of the Holy Spirit into your life,
all of God
inside of you. That's what happened to you, the moment of salvation. The last thing I want you to see here is
it's just for some people.
No, it's for all people. Doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter where you've been, it doesn't matter what you've done. This promise that Joel was inspired to write about eight or 900 years ago, that we're seeing happen at the day of Pentecost is something that is offered to all people, and that is what Peter wants us to see, and that's what he gets into next as he continues in verse 17, your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even my servants, both men and women, all people, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy Peter's wanting to make sure that we understand what Joel was writing about in this promise that was coming, that there in this time were a lot of societal statuses, hierarchies between men and women and those of one.
Class and those of another social class, and between old people and young people, and he's going, No, no, the days that I pour out my spirit there, we're not talking about any of that we're talking about. I pour all of me into all of them. And whether you're young or whether you're old, or whether you're a man or a woman, or you're slave or free, you're filled with my power. You are changed. New Life has been breathed into your bones, and I will express that power through you and lead in My Kingdom work, no matter who it is that you are,
no matter what the world says about you, I'm doing this in and through you now, this first part of what we're looking at in Joel is one of the things that Peter is using to describe what was happening in that moment.
What does this mean? They asked, okay, well, you see young and you see old, and there's men and there's women and there's people around. I'm explaining to you that what you're seeing right now is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Prophecy in general, means to declare a message of God in the Old Testament. A lot of times it was future things, and there were prophets, and the Holy Spirit temporarily inspired people and gave them messages, and they were to declare and share that message. And so in this moment, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in them, and what happens? 120 people are declaring the wonders of God. It says in Acts one or two, one through 13, they're, in a general sense, prophesying in this moment. He's describing, helping them see what was happening in that moment. And this is the kind of thing that now that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and we're still living in this era that the Holy Spirit still does in and through us today. Sometimes he helps us see things, envision them clearer, and sometimes he inspires you know dreams, and reveals certain things to us in that way. And in other times he he gives us a word to declare, you've had it happen to you, you felt the Holy Spirit say to you, you need to go encourage someone through whatever it is that's going on in their life. Or maybe you didn't even know anything was going on in their life, but you felt God lay them on your heart and to go clear a message of grace and truth to them in some way. And when you've done it, they go, Oh my gosh. How'd you even know that I was walking through this. They're going, you're going, I didn't, but the Spirit just laid something on my heart to declare to you, this is the kind of thing that he's still up to. And if the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we look for him to do these same things. We don't just go, oh, good for the apostles and the 120 that were there that day. No, no, he's still involved in doing these things today. Now he shifts. We're still in Joel, but we're shifting from the beginning of the last days and the error that we're in. And these last two verses are going to describe the last of the last days. And so you see a dramatic shift in the language here. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke, the sun will turn to darkness, and the moon will to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So, so, okay, outpouring of Holy Spirit. We're in this era of grace right now.
You turn to Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit and His forgiveness and new life and all these things. But there will be a day when that era of grace turns to an era of judgment.
Jesus has come. He's offering the free gift of salvation. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but at some point that will not be true anymore.
There will be a day of judgment at the end. Don't miss his grace. Don't miss his forgiveness while we are still in this era of the last days today. Okay? So he he says these things to them. He quotes all of Joel two in that moment, but he's got much more to explain to them. Because, okay, Joel, this is what's happening now. But, but how could that be
like? How is it that God could do that right now in this time, there's more that they need to understand than just what was said in Joel, so he takes them through more Old Testament passages and tries to give them a complete understanding and us today of what was really going on then. So Acts, chapter two, verse 22 says, fellow Israelites. This is Peter now, addressing them, coming out of that passage. Listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you, by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him.
Him as you yourselves know he's like you guys know this. You were around when Jesus was walking around. Some of you saw the miracles that He did, the wonders and the signs which God did in and through him. It was a sign. It was an accreditation of who Jesus was, that he wasn't just a random guy. He wasn't the false prophet that many of you guys said he was. He was from God, you yourselves. So he's introducing them to okay, this outpouring of the Spirit, fulfillment of the promise, has something to do with this Jesus guy who was just walking around on this earth that many of you yourselves know and have heard about and saw happen, but now he continues to develop it more. Verse 23 this man, Jesus, was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
This summer, we covered a whole series on the attributes of God. One of the things that we talked about as far as the characteristics the nature of God is that He is sovereign. But when we talked about that, we also said that that doesn't negate Free Will choices that we make here. And so in one sentence, in one verse, you see both God's sovereignty and our choices coming together. He's saying, Jesus, who you saw the miracles and wonders and signs and all this, God was at work through a deliberate plan that he had in his foreknowledge to send him to the cross. Ever since Genesis three and sin entered the world. God had a rescue plan, and somehow he was working and moving things through hundreds and 1000s of years to get to that point where his rescue plan was going to come to fruition. But that was not
something that he just did in and of himself. It was through the choices that people were making, and the choices that we make were ones that make us responsible for sending Jesus to the cross in the first place, for there needing to be a plan to put into place. And so he's addressing them and their culpability in that. And quite honestly, ours,
you and I can't look at that and go, yeah, man, all those people 2000 years ago who treated Jesus so bad and sent him to the cross, they're wicked men. Well,
you and I are the ones who sent Jesus to the cross along with them. It was our sin that had to be paid for our wicked choices and sinful nature that needed
the plan in the first place. Okay, so you saw the miracles. You saw the wonders. You saw God's deliberate plan handed over. You crucified Him, you put him to death. But that was not the end of the story, verse 24 But God raised Him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. The enemy and sinful man can try to shut Jesus up, can kill him and bury him and put him in a tomb, but you cannot keep the one who is the resurrection and the life buried in a grave. It's impossible to keep the resurrection and the life buried in a grave. Death has no hold on him, plus it was all part of his deliberate plan and foreknowledge, now that he's made them aware of this.
He goes back to Scripture.
Let me
show you that what is happening, not just through the Holy Spirit, but what I'm talking about with Jesus was actually talked about as well, just like it was in Joel. And this is the happening of those events today. And so now he's going to quote Psalm 16. He references King David. This is what who wrote the Psalm 16. So David said about him, about Jesus. I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body will also rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. You will not let your Holy One see decay you have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. So so again, hundreds of years before Jesus was ever onto the scene, we see King David talking about this resurrection language, not letting your Holy One see decay and and Peter is making the declaration, helping them to see that when David mentioned those things hundreds of years in the past, he was actually talking about Jesus.
US, the Messiah, the resurrection that he had just talked about here. Now he knows that he's talking to Jewish people, to the Israelites here, who are going to look at that and go, Well, really, I was really talking about Jesus, or was he? Was he talking about himself? I mean, David was talking about this, was this really about him? And so he addresses that to make sure that they don't miss it. Next, he says fellow Israelites. So he's addressing them again, I can confidently tell you that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here today. In other words, there's no way that David could have been talking about himself, because David died, as a matter of fact, David died and his tomb is here. It's right here today. Do you mean to go over and dig him up and show you that he's still dead and that he's in the grave, and so this whole thing about of not abandoning me to the grave, and all of that stuff, he couldn't have been talking about himself. So is he talking about verse 30? But he David was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him, on an oath that he would place one of his descendants on the throne,
seeing what was to come. He spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are now witnesses of it. So there's some times
this thing that God was doing in and through people in the Old Testament that applied right to their own lives and the situation, the circumstances they were in, but the ultimate fulfillment of that had its purpose and meaning in something that was to come. And so Peter here is saying that David could see inspired by the Holy Spirit in this prophetic moment to speak of the resurrection of the Messiah that was coming again, he uses the language of the Psalm, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, and that that is not nor his body see decay. That was a description of Jesus and His resurrection. And as a matter of fact, it happened verse 32 God has raised this Jesus that was talked about to life. And we witnessed it. We saw it. And probably some of those who were even there. The 1000s of people that had gathered that Peter was addressing in this moment had seen it happen as well.
So where are we at?
All this stuff's happening. Explain it. What does this mean? Well, I'll take you to Joel. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is what you're seeing happen now, which can only happen because Jesus, the Messiah, the One who was also prophesied about in the Old Testament, showed up on the scene. You saw his life. You saw his miracles, his wonders, all the things that he said already. You saw that. You nailed him to the cross. But that was also part of God's deliberate plan. You raised him from God raised Him from the dead. We saw it that was prophesied about, that would also come. But there's one more thing that you have to understand before the sending of the Spirit that he's trying to get them. And so he continues in verse 33 exalted. So he addressed the resurrection, but now he's got to address the ascension, exalted to the right hand of God. He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out
what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said the Lord, said to my Lord, Sit at the right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. So he uses this word, exalted to the right hand of God. We saw him raised from the dead. We saw it happen. We're witnesses. We saw him ascend to heaven, and now he's exalted, sitting at the right hand of God in a position of authority. And because of that, now, in that place, after all of these things have happened, God gave him the Holy Spirit, and he's now poured out. This is Joel two. Now you can see why Joel two could come true in this moment because of who Jesus is, as the Messiah in all of these things happening, to put him in a position that he's in right now, to finish the work of the Cross and all that that was about through the sending of the spirit, he's taken them to two other Old Testament passages, and He finishes one again, this time, he's talking about Psalm 110
Psalm 110 is generally about the Davidic Covenant. There's going to be one who's on the throne of David forever. You just saw this referenced in what David was talking about just earlier in the passage, that there would be a descendant of his on the throne. But as David is talking about this and testifying to it, that this is going to be what happens in the future. Look how he addresses one of his kids,
my lord,
one of my sons, one of my descendants. That goes on and on and on from.
Me is going to always be on the throne, but he addresses it. You don't use the language of one of your kids as my Lord,
they were in superior to you, but he's addressing someone as superior to him. And so once again, his point is, is that David couldn't have been talking about himself here, he had to be talking about Jesus, that Jesus is the fulfillment of these things.
So ultimately, because of the sending of Jesus, His death, God's deliberate plan, His resurrection, His ascension, sitting at the right hand of God. This is now Jesus sitting on the throne, the descendant of David who would sit on the throne forever, my lord. And now, because of that, He's poured out torrential downpouring of the Holy Spirit in this moment. So he's gotten through everything he needed to say to them to prove this, to give the background to it. So now he just calls it out like it is. Therefore because of all the stuff that I just described to you and you saw from the truth of Scripture and the events you saw happen before your eyes, let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. Now quickly, when we see God has made do not get this image in your mind that all of a sudden, okay, Jesus wasn't the Lord Messiah, and now at this time, because of all these things that happened, he made him Lord and Messiah. That's not what he's talking about here. What he's talking about is that he was vindicated. What he's saying is, I've just given you all the evidence in all the proof through the Old Testament passages and everything that's happened right now, in this moment that this vindicates, gives the evidence and the proof that Jesus is the Lord and the Messiah that was to come and you
crucified Him.
How do they respond
when the people heard this? They were cut to the heart. They were they were broken.
I mean, devastated.
Oh my gosh. We missed it. He was right here, the Messiah, the one that was prophesied about, that would come. And what we're seeing happen today, we we missed it. They were broken. They were cut to the core at what was happening in this moment.
So they were cut to the heart. And Peter said, and said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do? I mean, please, there's got to be something that we can do. What do
we do now? We're broken. We're
cut to the heart. We're experiencing regret, guilt, shame. What do we do? Peter, is there anything we can do?
Verse 38 Peter replied, Repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, why for the forgiveness of your sins? What will happen then Peter and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, just like they did the promise Joel too, the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, not who are near far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call,
what do we do? What do we do?
Repent. Peter says
repent in the original Greek, the Greek word there is metanoia, which means to change your your mind, to begin to believe they believed one thing about Jesus. He was a false prophet. He wasn't who he said he was. We need to kill him. We need to crucify him. So change your mind about what you were believing about Him and believe what is true about him, believe that He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, and that no man comes to the Father except through Him. And John 316 says that when we change our minds, and we go from what we were believing about him to believing what is true in Him, we put our faith and trust in Him to be our Lord and Savior, then we will receive eternal life. And so we change our mind. We believe in Jesus, we repent, and all of those things that happen, we receive that forgiveness that He talks about in this moment we receive, we don't earn, the gift of the Holy Spirit is poured out downpour, torrential downpour into your life as well all those things.
Will happen. You'll have new life in Christ, the breath of God will breathe into you, breathe new life into those dry bones, and you'll have that Zoe life that you were always created to have and that you've missed out on every day because of sin in your life. And when that happens, you follow that decision up. Then this is what you do and you get baptized, to show how different you really are, because you have new life in you, because all of your sins have now been washed away, show people that they've been washed away. Show people that you receive the Holy Spirit and the old Jew is dead, buried and gone, and you've been raised up to this new Zoe life that dwells in you and empowers you and poured out into your life.
This is what you do. You put your faith in Jesus, and you get baptized
and you'll be saved.
Well, how do they respond?
With many other words, words. He warned them, and he pleaded with him, save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3000 were added to their number that day.
I don't know how many people were there. None of us know. Maybe it was 3000
maybe every single person there repented, had their lives transformed and changed. But either way, it was a significant number of them. It was a lot. So they accepted his message, they repented, they believed their life was transformed and changed. And all 3000
of those people were baptized in water. And then, through their decision and what they did, they were added to their number, 120 disciples in this moment. Now there's 3120
through one three minute speech, and it wasn't just any ordinary speech, it was Spirit inspired utterances from God. So yea, good for them, yea for the 3000 people that day. Let's pray and celebrate that God changed their lives, and we'll go home.
Or is there something in what we see in Acts? Chapter Two, here for us today.
There's so much for us today.
This promise
is for all who are far off, he said. And so maybe the first way that this applies to you what he brought you here, I said earlier, I believe that God has brought each and every one of us here today to show something to us, collectively and individually, and maybe you as an individual. You've never received God's forgiveness. You never repented and changed your mind. You miss it, and now God is cutting you to the heart. You're starting to feel the regret, you're starting to feel the guilt and the shame and for your sin and the things that you've done before a holy and a holy and perfect God. And so you now repent, believe, and you receive God's forgiveness into your life, and the Holy Spirit will come into your life, breathe that new life that we were talking about. And then, if you make that declaration, you put your faith, you repent and change your mind, and you put your faith and trust in Jesus for salvation. Peter said, Repent, and then follow that decision up to be baptized as a believer. NOTICE This happened after they believed. We're not talking about an infant. An infant can't believe. And so this happened after you've put your faith in Jesus, and then you are to be baptized as a believer. And so good news for those of you who put your faith and trust in Jesus, maybe today we have a baptism Sunday, coming up on October the 19th, and so you can have your life forever and transform changed, changed today by putting your faith and trust in Jesus, and then in just a few weeks, you can follow up that decision to be baptized and identify with him.
But maybe you're here today, and half of these steps apply to you? Maybe you already, sometime in the past, repented. You put your faith and trust in Jesus, you began to believe in Him, and you've had new life breathed into you, but you've never followed that decision up to be baptized as a believer, which is what Peter said. This is how you respond. This is what it is that you do guys, if that's you, if, if you've put your faith and trust in Jesus, but you've never followed that up with baptism. That is like standing at the altar. You are getting married. You are at the wedding ceremony. You are facing your spouse, declaring your vows before them, and you.
Say, I do. You say, I do to Jesus, I want to be one with you now and forever more. And then he comes to get out the ring and say, will you receive this ring? And you say, nope. Don't want
it. I refuse to show everybody else around me what's happened to me. You've said yes to Jesus, you're one with him. Your life has been changed forever. But I refuse to wear the wedding ring.
I refuse to be baptized as a believer. On the other side of this thing, baptism is your wedding ring. It's showing everyone that you have new life, that all of your sins have been washed away, that you have this new life in Christ, and that you're now one with him, and now part of the church, and so maybe that's the step he's leading you to take.
Maybe you're one of our kids or preteens.
You've accepted Jesus,
but you still haven't been baptized.
Maybe you're now in the youth group, one
of our seventh through 12th graders, and you accepted Jesus as a kid, but you stood at the altar, and now you're saying, I don't really want to wear your wedding ring. I
want to take that step, even though you're asking me to do it.
Maybe you're an adult, you
put your faith in Jesus, 1020, 3040, years ago, and you've never been baptized. He's saying, this is a step that's important. I want you to wear my wedding ring. I'm leading you to take it today.
If that's the step he's leading you to take, maybe you need to join in on October the 19th, participate in that as well. Finally, what if I put my faith and trust in Jesus? What if I've been baptized? What does that mean for me?
Declare the wonders of God and share the gospel as the Spirit leads and empowers you to do so? Why? Because that's what we saw happen today. The
Spirit fills 120 people, and he empowers them to declare the wonders of God.
He puts something on Peter's heart, and he inspires Peter to declare the wonders of God, a message of grace and truth to the people around them. If the Holy Spirit lives in us, same Holy Spirit as them, what should we expect him to do,
to use this to declare the wonders of God, to share with others the difference he's made in our life. Do you know that my sins have been forgiven? Do you know that the old man is dead, buried and gone? I've been raised up and have this new life and have assurance of where I'll spend all of eternity? Can I share this with you
so we look for what the Spirit wants to do in and through us. But in order for that to happen, I mean, first of all, you got to know that when He says, The Holy Spirit was poured out on you, that that happened to you too. But
then you've got to move from that knowing to
okay, I don't just know about that, like I believe it really happened to me, because some of us discounted, go, Yeah, but I don't really know if that happened to me. I don't feel okay. I got to start to believe that's really what happened. The Holy Spirit's poured out onto me. We got to trust Okay, if that's the way he worked in their lives, and he's going to, oh, he's looking to do that in my life. So now I'm I'm anticipating it. I'm looking for it. Who is it that you want me to declare the wonders of God to and you're going to give those Spirit inspired utterances to me. You got to know it. You got to believe it's true about you, really, not just other people, but you too, trust he's working and speaking to you. And I'm anticipating it to happen, and then I'm going to participate. When he shows me who
and enables me to be able to do so, however, the Lord's leading you to respond. I want to give you the chance to respond before we leave today.
Let's pray