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I want to say good morning. My name is Joshua Franco. For those of you that don’t know me, I lead the college ministry here at the Broward Church. Most of them are sitting right there, but last week a few of us were able to go on this campus retreat, and so we had a blast at that. But I’m grateful that we get to be back and be together this Sunday.
So if you haven’t been around recently, I want to let you know we’ve been in this series for the whole year. We’ve been focusing in on the ministry of Jesus, focusing in on his interactions with people, the way that he interacts with those that are sick or going through some things, or those that think they don’t need any help. We’ve been going through all of that.
And so this morning, the main passage that we’re going to be focusing in on is in Matthew chapter nine. It’s going to start off in verse 27. So you can turn there, you can type there, or you can look up here, or you can look at your neighbor’s Bible. Whatever you want to do, that’s what we’re going to be. So before we read anything, I want to give some context on some things that have been going on throughout Matthew chapter eight through twelve. All right, so Matthew chapter eight to twelve are very crucial in understanding the life of Jesus.
And now I know that this series has been focused on his life, but what I mean by that is more of how he interacts with other people, how he interacts with those that need help, how he interacts with those that don’t, how he cared for people, how he loved people, how he served people. Throughout those chapters, we get a very, very clear glimpse of his heart in action. The miracles we see in those few chapters come immediately after Jesus has finished speaking about the Sermon on the Mount, preaching the Sermon on the Mount. So with that sermon, he actually sets up the expectations of what his kingdom is supposed to be like. He sets up expectations of the citizens and how they’re supposed to conduct themselves on a heart level, and also practically under his kingship.
After that, after setting that example, he goes on to live according to that example, being a king that is a servant. The miracles in those chapters also function as credentials for the fact that he’s the Messiah. So now in Matthew chapter nine, it’s been pretty much a long day of Jesus doing Messiah things. He’s healed a paralyzed man. He’s raised a young girl from the dead, and he’s gone on to heal a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. Messiah things. Today we’re going to cover two other healings. It’s technically three people that get healed, but it’s like two different ones. One of healing blindness and one of healing a man that was possessed by a demon. But he was also mute. So my hope is that today, as we go through these passages, that we’d be able to get an answer to this question here. What are the benefits of persisting when our faith is tested? That’s my hope today that we would discover throughout Matthew chapter nine. What are the benefits? Why is it worth continuing to try? Why is it worth continuing to give everything when it seems like things aren’t going anywhere? Why? Why would I continue? So we’re going to go ahead, we’re going to read the passage all together, and then we’ll go through and study it out bit by bit. All right?
So Matthew chapter nine. So it says, as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, have mercy on us, Son of David. When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him and he asked them, do you believe that I’m able to do this? Yes, Lord, they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, let it be done to you. And their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, see to it that no one knows about this. But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that region. While they were going out, a man who was demon possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.
So as Jesus went out from there, there were two blind men that followed him. So Jesus leaves from the synagogue leader’s house after raising the synagogue leader’s dead daughter back to life. So then we’re introduced to two blind men.
So blindness at this time period, it was very, very common. So it was a result of poverty, it was a result of unsanitary conditions, excessive heat, sunlight, blowing, sand, accidents, war or different infections. So complications with sight would also develop during pregnancy, which would also cause the baby to go blind shortly after it was born. So that’s why today, like, whenever you have a baby, they put antibiotic drops or ointment on their eyes of newborn babies to prevent this. So it’s very tough for us to connect with people who are blind. Like, we came in here, we drove, we parked, and we walked in here with full sight. But if you did everything you did this morning with no sight, that’s very challenging. That becomes very, very different. These men, as they travel around these areas, they’re feeling to make sure they know where they’re going, they’re paying close attention with their ears, like, okay, there’s probably a family walking to my left or there’s a donkey walking on my right. And there’s this careful detail to what they have to pay attention to as they’re dealing with their day to do normal things.
So you imagine that. If you want to test it, you can try walking back to your car here with your eyes closed, but I do not recommend driving like that. But they were overlooked. These are people that look, if you have sight and you see somebody doing all of this, you’re just walking around them, and you’re getting to where you want to be. You’re getting to what you need to do. So they were overlooked. And so for them to find other people was very common. For you to find blind people in a group was very, very normal. Because, again, they know what it’s like to be overlooked. They know what it’s like to be going through the same things, like, oh, I’m blind. You’re blind. We get it. People overlook us. Let’s be friends, because we understand the struggle together.
And you also know this feeling, like there’s different times when we talk about how we got spanked as young kids, and we relate over that. So if you’re Hispanic, you’re like, oh, that chancleta. Man, and if someone else knows, you like, yes, Chancleta. But then there’s other things, like, so my mom is a single mom. So if my mom meets another single mom, she’s like, you know what it’s like to be like me?
You know what it’s like to raise a hard headed son, two of them, and you didn’t really have the support that you thought you would have going into this. So there’s this deal of that. Or if you deal with mental illness, you’re like, look, a lot of people just don’t know about that. A lot of people don’t know what I’m dealing with. But if I meet somebody who does, it’s a different connection.
I want to be around you because you get it. Or if you’re a veteran and you see another veteran wearing a hat at a restaurant or something, you’re like, you know what it’s like. You know what it’s like to have people shooting at you. You know what it’s like to like you get that. Other people don’t understand it.
They walk past us, but they don’t get it. And so or college students, when it’s exam time, it’s like, we get it. You’re stressed, I’m stressed. I hope I get an A, but we probably both got F’s, but we get each other. So the degree of difficulty varies. But the thing is, when you find somebody who’s going through issues like you, there’s a connection there, and you want to stick around that person because they give you encouragement to know you’re not alone going through this. So these men were united because of a common affliction, but they also had a common plan, a similar plan, to be able to deal with this. So as we read continue to try to see the benefits of them persisting in their faith during these trials, the trials of them having no sight.
So it says, as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him and crying out, have mercy on us, Son of David. The two men are screaming. They’re crying out to Jesus. This Greek word for crying out is krazo. It’s kind of spelled like crazy because that’s probably how they sound, crazy. So they cry aloud, they shriek. This is the same word that Jesus uses in Matthew 27 when he gives up his spirit in a loud voice while he’s on the cross.
This is the same word in Matthew chapter 14, when Peter’s walking on water, but then he starts to sink and he cries out for help. It’s the same word. It’s screaming, it’s crying out. But in addition to this desperate cry that we hear from these two blind men calling him the Son of David, in addition, we hear that they recognize that he’s the Son of David. So here’s why they call him that.
To Jews, the Messiah was commonly referred to as the Son of David, with people knowing that based on biblical prophecy, that the Messiah would come from the line of David. So Matthew knew this very well because he was a Jew. So in the beginning of Matthew, Matthew chapter one, he also says the same kind of messianic affirmation of Jesus. He starts off by giving that lineage. He’s like, look, this is the Son of David.
This is the long awaited Messiah. And so these blind men saying this, giving this title to Jesus, gives us more background on them. First we learn that cool by calling them, calling Jesus the Son of David, they’re affirming that they believe that he’s the long awaited king. They believe that. Maybe these men were raised learning about the Scriptures. Maybe these men grew up learning and being taught Isaiah 35 that the Messiah would come and heal the blind and he would heal others whenever he arrives. Isaiah 35, verse three to six. It says, Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way. Say to those with fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear, your God will come. He will come with vengeance and with divine retribution. He will come to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the death be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
So we’ve seen Jesus do this throughout the Gospels. And the blind men, without seeing any miracle that Jesus has done, believe this. They believe this is him. They’ve heard that Jesus is doing the same miracles mentioned here in Isaiah. And that was enough for them to believe that this is the promised Messiah. All they knew of Jesus came from hearing. That was it. They can’t see anything, which is all they needed, though. All they needed was to hear. And this reminds me of John, chapter 20, when he’s speaking to Thomas. Jesus is speaking to Thomas, and he mentions, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. And I think we all have that opportunity to believe without seeing and an opportunity to be blessed in the way that Jesus is speaking about.
Secondly, we gather from their cry that they understand their need for mercy. So they don’t just cry out saying, hey, Jesus, I need your help. You’re the Son of David. I know that. They say something right before that. They cry out something to let us know the genuineness of their faith. They say, have mercy on us.
They’re coming there as blind men, and we would assume, look, they just want their eyes to be healed the same way other people have wanted healings throughout the Gospels, but they’re like, have mercy on us, Son of David. This is different from what we’ve seen from people asking Jesus prior. During most of the healings, we see people come to Jesus and they’re like, hey, what I understand about you is you’re a healer. Like, you can help my friend walk. You’re a healer. You can stop my bleeding. You’re a healer. You can raise my son, my daughter from the dead. You can do these things. And then after that interaction, they leave, recognizing that he’s much more than just a healer.
But these men approach Jesus knowing from the beginning who he is, from the beginning. So the request is different. Rather than asking specifically, hey, can you restore our site? They ask for something of much more value. Asking for mercy instead of the restoration of their sight shows us that they know they don’t deserve to ask the Messiah for anything. Instead they humbly plead with him. Please have mercy on us, please. Whether that resulted in the restoration of their sight or something spiritual that they can’t see right away, knowing that they may not be healed the way that they want God to heal them. But if they have God’s mercy, they have something better than any physical healing they could experience, anything. To go with their knowledge, these men had the right attitude.
As we approach God during our trials, this posture is something that we would do well to keep. Approach, confident in who he is. He’s the Son of David, he’s the Messiah, but with humility and reverence, because we know he doesn’t owe us a thing. But we know that he’s also still merciful to give.
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him and he asked them, do you believe that I’m able to do this? Yes, Lord, they replied. So this is possibly taking place at Peter’s house. So after a busy day of teaching, preaching, healing, walking, and serving people, Jesus heads home with a couple blind men following Him and crying out to Him. And as Jesus is about to enter the home, I don’t know if you caught it, but he doesn’t acknowledge them. He says nothing to them. They’re screaming. If someone screams your name as you leave this building, you’re probably going to look, there’s something that’s going to happen there. But he ignores them, possibly to test their faith, possibly to get them to continue to persist, to get them to continue to really ask and be perseverant in how they’re asking for these things. So that way, if it’s fulfilled, they will value it much more.
But I want you to keep in mind who Jesus is. We’ve learned a lot about Him throughout this series. Remember the way that he interacts with those that are in need. Remember how he interacts with those that are hurting and those who trust in Him. He doesn’t ignore them. Ignoring a truly desperate heart is not in Jesus’s character. He doesn’t ignore them. But this silence is deliberate. It’s deliberate and it’s for their benefit, whether we see that or not. This isn’t to push the men away. This is to draw the men closer. He allows them to keep on pouring out their hearts. And it seems like this provides an opportunity. This provides an opportunity for them to prove the sincerity of their hearts. If he’s the Messiah, but he doesn’t answer them right now, will they still believe? If he’s the Messiah and he doesn’t answer them within a year, will they still believe? If he’s the Messiah and he never answers this request, will they still believe? And these questions need to be asked by ourselves as well. If their faith was real, they would continue to persist.
I pray that this is something that would encourage our hearts this morning. Your trials are not an attempt by Jesus to mock your effort. He wants to bring you closer to Him. These trials are something to help us grow deeper and more persistent for Him. Though there was no invitation for these men spoken by Jesus, they still press on to the point of breaking into whoever’s house this is. They break into Peter’s house or whoever’s home it is. This kind of persistence is a theme throughout Matthew, chapter nine, but I think he really wants to make it clear for us. I want you to think about it. Earlier on in this chapter, we have a group of friends that have a paralytic friend, and they’re like, I want to get this guy to Jesus. Now, how do I do that? This house is full. There’s no space for us to bring Him in on the mat. The next thought process is we will claw through a roof to do this. Then nothing’s going to stop them. Then you have a woman who, let’s say maybe it’s a crowd, definitely bigger than this crowd, but imagine us being in like, this mosh pit type of setting, and a woman is trying to push through just to touch somebody. She didn’t let that stop her.
And so now he puts them in a position where it’s, hey, look, you want something very badly, and you know who I am and you know that I’m capable, but I’m not going to answer you right now. I’m going to ignore you for a little bit, but I want you to push through. If you really want to be with me, if you really believe that I can do these things, push through. Each of them wanted closeness to Jesus, and each of them faced obstacles that they would not let deter them. And after these men break in, Jesus in merciful Messiah fashion, he doesn’t kick them out.
If someone breaks into your home after you had a long day at work, after you had a long day doing the things that you need to be doing, that’s a whole different reaction. And instead of addressing the fact that they broke in, rather, he poses a question to them, to these persistent men. Do you believe I’m able to do this?
It’s an interesting question when you consider the context and the work that they put in to be able to keep up with Jesus. Like they’re following him. Jesus in full says, like, I know I’m going home. And they’re like, I don’t know where he’s going, man. Jesus, can you say something? Yeah, no, I’m not saying anything. Hey, does anybody else out here know where Jesus is? Yeah, keep going straight. No, no, a little left. No, a little all right, you’re good. He just went inside. Inside where? To your left. And that’s persistence. And so they keep up with Him. They put in all this work to keep up with Him. They keep on shouting, make it all the way to his home blind.
This question seems like an opportunity for them to express their faith in a private setting. And because of that, I think we should take time to also ask ourselves this question: do you believe Christ is able to do it? In your current trials, what do you believe Christ is able to do? What do you actually believe? In your marriage right now, what do you believe that he’s able to do? In your singleness, what do you think he’s able to do? Your family probably has a bit of dysfunction, but what do you think he can do with that? Your mental health? What do you believe he can do? Your career path, your battle against sin, what do you believe?
Most of us, when we’re asked this question, we usually run to the same kind of thing. Yes. Yes, I believe. But we have a difficult time keeping our thoughts and our feelings aligned with that answer. Our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions.
This question reminds me of a quote that I’ve been meditating on as I’ve been working on the sermon. To believe the power of Christ is not only to assure ourselves of it, but to commit ourselves to it and to encourage ourselves in it. Matthew Henry.
Belief is more than intellectually agreeing with something. It’s something we have to commit our actions to, and we have to commit our emotions to that. We need to find daily ways to encourage ourselves in this. But also, as you look around this room, how do we encourage others in it?
We have to keep doing that the way that the scriptures repeat that we should. And so, without hesitation to this question, the men give their answer and they say, yes Lord. Though Jesus didn’t do for them what they wanted at first, they still trusted in his ability. Even though they were tested by time, they didn’t let impatience become something that drains their faith. And I think that’s a major thing for us right now that depletes our faith.
We have accessibility to so many things so fast right now. My wife and I can be chilling on the couch. It’s like I want to lava cake from Chilies, but I don’t want to leave. And then it’s a couple of taps and it’s like, I’ll be there in 30. That’s it. I didn’t have to go order anything. I didn’t have to drive to Chiles, I didn’t have to wait to get seated, I didn’t have to talk to anybody else. It’s done. And we have accessibility to be able to do that with so many things.
So when it comes time to ask God for something and we have to wait a little bit, there’s this opportunity that’s like, you know what, God, I waited 5 seconds. I think that was enough. Like, I’m going to go and try to figure it out on my own. Rather than taking on the test of faith that proves that our faith is actually real, that our faith is genuine.
Then Jesus goes on. He touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, let it be done to you. And their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, see to it that no one knows about this. But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that region.
With their persistence, the healing of their sight was an encouragement to their faith. A faith that Jesus tested by delaying what they desperately wanted, a faith that was worth having. But here’s a quote that I read also while studying out this passage. It says, the faith which in itself is nothing is yet the organ for receiving everything. It is the conducting link between man’s emptiness and God’s fullness. And herein lies the value it has. It is the bucket let down from the fountain of God’s grace, which without man could never draw water of life from the wells of salvation, for the wells are too deep, and of himself man has nothing to draw with. It is the purse which cannot in itself make the owner rich, and yet effectually enriches by the wealth which it contains.
So this quote was written by four other people. I don’t know who wrote which part, but it says Tegan, Paul, Trench, Tribner. Don’t know those guys, but I give credit to the four of them. But the quote was awesome. For faith to be that conducting link between a man’s emptiness and God’s fullness, that’s a benefit of you persisting in your faith, being linked to the fullness of God. Without persevering, that you just can’t experience that you can’t expect to connect to God fully without fighting. There’s no way you can expect to put in just a little bit of work and connect to God fully. He did way too much for that. Way too much. These men, even if they could see, if they didn’t have faith, they would be empty. Even if God answers or does the thing that you really want Him to do, whatever the trial is that you don’t want to be going through right now, he takes that away. But you have no faith, you are still empty. We are still empty. Fighting for our faith is fighting for a fullness that we receive from God. If you receive the thing that you desperately are praying for but have no faith again, you will still be empty. Us without faith is emptiness. We have no capability for ourselves to fill ourselves the way that we were created to be filled. So we need to go to Jesus for that, knowing as well that again, we don’t deserve it. And we learn that this kind of desperation in approaching Jesus and being faithful to Him is not something that goes to waste. If you’ve been faithful for years and you feel like it hasn’t gone, it’s not a waste.
After the persistent faith, after the restoring the restoration of their sight, Jesus asked them to not tell anybody. Same way you guys just went like, hm? I’m confused too. But to ask them to not to share the fact that they can see now. Or to not share the fact that they know that he’s a Messiah? This could either be an example of Jesus and his humility. The fact that he doesn’t want to boast in his deeds something that Christ wants to keep his private to actually show his displeasure with the area of Capernaum who have seen many miracles, but they still don’t believe. The silencing of those who should proclaim Jesus’s works is usually a judgment for a place or people. I read in another commentary that mentioned this could simply be that Jesus doesn’t want the fact that he’s the Messiah to be known right now. It’s just not the time. And so either way, they just received sight.
These men went from wandering around desperately to now they can see. They can see colors, they can see the sun, they can see plants, they can see animals, they can see their family, they can put faces to voices, they can watch their toes wiggle, they can see how their hands work. There’s so much that it’s new now that they get to experience. So the excitement is probably through the roof. And their excitement in their excitement, they go on to disobey Jesus. They go on and spread news about all of this throughout their whole region. The value of persisting, there’s a bunch of different values, but I just want to give us three just because of time. But if you continue to read the scriptures, you would see so much more. But these are three that I thought about.
If you persist in your faith, you’re going to experience God’s mercy. If you persist in your faith, your faith is going to mature. And with that matured faith, you’d be able to have the opportunity and the zeal to actually share that with others. So instead of it being like, hey, I decided to persist in my faith, now my faith has grown, you get to have the chance to help somebody else. You get to have the zeal to be like, look, man, his mercy is so good. And I know that because I persisted and I want to help you understand how good it is. And I’m going to persist in that. I’m going to persist on my own, but I’m also going to persist to make sure that my family knows. I’m going to make sure that my friends know, I’m going to make sure that strangers know. I’m going to make sure that that lady that just brought me a lava cake at Chilies, somehow, some way, I want her to know, too, but that’s because I’ve persevered.
A lack of perseverance kills your faith, and it also kills opportunities for others to grow in theirs. It kills your opportunity to be able to connect to the fullness of God and also kills the opportunity for others. It’s crucial. It’s crucial. And if we don’t have faith, we’re not going to have the passion to continue to share this mercy with anybody else.
After the now seeing men leave, Jesus has another person in need brought to him. And I really love the linking of these two miracles being back to back. I think it’s very beautiful. For some of us, that first story is going to be enough for us to be inspired to walk out of these doors and fight, to be able to approach Jesus faithfully, to be persistent. And for others, you might still be hesitant. You might be like, Josh, you just don’t know my situation. I know you’re talking about a bunch of different ones, but you don’t get how difficult it’s been and you don’t know how long I’ve been persisting. And I get that. And you may be convinced that through your circumstance that your situation is just lost, that it’s hopeless, that there’s no way that it can be better. And regardless of what the scriptures say, it’s not something that you want to believe.
We’re about to read about a man that can relate to what you’re feeling if you’re feeling that. While they were going out, a man who was demon possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said nothing like this has ever been done, ever been seen in Israel. So this gentleman is in a hopeless situation. Here’s why. So, during this time, there was a tradition that the rabbis had amongst each other that when they’re dealing with a demon possessed person, they would try to figure out a way to trick the demon into speaking its name. And if the demon speaks its name, then it becomes much more easy to be able to exorcise this demon. So now what this means in this kind of situation, for a person to be mute and demon possessed, it means that this person is beyond hope. If the rabbis can’t get this demon to say it’s name, how are they going to get this guy freed from this demon? How is that going to happen? If this demon has an effect on this man’s vocal cords, there’s just no way to trick this demon. He’s not going to say anything. The rabbis won’t be able to do this. So the Jews thought this man was beyond hope. And again, you may feel like in your situation it’s beyond hope.
But luckily this man had friends. This man had friends that believed, okay, I think Jesus might be able to do something that these rabbis can’t. I believe that Jesus has the authority over hopeless situations. And so they take him to Jesus. Today, you may be sitting and listening to these passages and thinking that you’ve been persistent for years, like we’ve been speaking about. But I want you to know that he has the ability to help through this. He has the authority over this. He’s not mocking your effort. He’s trying to help you grow in your faith. He’s trying to help you grow the way that we see in James, chapter one. He says, consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Trials test our faith to produce perseverance in us.
Church, we have to let, like the scripture says, let perseverance finish. That’s a choice for us. We either let it finish or we cut it off in the process. Let perseverance finish its work in you so you can be mature and complete in your faith, not lacking a single thing. Some benefits from persisting when we’re tested in our faith, these are the things that we’re seeing. It matures our faith. It allows us to be in a position to experience God’s mercy. And we get to understand that he doesn’t want us to stop growing. He wants us to keep moving towards Him.
This is a test. Whatever you may be going through, or whatever we can go through in the future, those will be tests that we can pass with his aid. And I believe that any test that we face is a test that he wants us to pass. Don’t lose faith now, and I pray that you don’t lose faith later.
This demon possessed guy didn’t go to Jesus on his own. Someone brought him to Jesus. And you might be at that point right now where your friends are going to be the people that you’re going to have to lean on. Or your friends are going to have to step up and try to get you into this type of position to be able to be close to Him. To help you get around Him. Because it’s difficult right now for you to initiate that. But I want you to remember that there’s no such thing as a permanent hopeless situation when we fight to be persistent. When we fight to be hopeful and humble before Jesus, nothing is too much of a challenge for Him.
As we take Communion, I pray that we keep persisting. I pray that you remember God knows how hard you’ve been trying. That’s not something that he turns a blind eye to. I pray that you believe that there are benefits to persevering and that you don’t get swept away by what the culture may be trying to teach you. I pray that you remember Jesus persevered or persisted through his death for us to be able to persevere with Him. And I pray that you believe God is really working out the good for you as you continue to fight to love Him.
Let’s go to God and pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for the way that you’ve made clear through your Scriptures that your Son fought for us. God, he went through many things on the way to the cross. God, he was mistreated plenty before the years leading up to his death, God, and when we read through the crucifixion, God, it’s wild to think through. He was spit on, he was punched, he was beat, he was lied about, he was flogged. He was put in a position to die rather than someone who should have been dead. He was beaten by and mocked by different soldiers. He hung on a cross, God. But that was your deliberate plan for us to be able to have a chance to persist with you. That was your plan to be able to help us grow and have a true faith in You, God, for us to have reconciliation with you, for us to have an opportunity to interact with Your mercy, for us to be filled by you, the Creator of all things, God.
And I pray that as we take that bread which symbolizes Jesus body and we drink the juice of that cup which symbolizes his blood, that we would recall those things, God, that we would be inspired by his persistence for us to be able to persist for Him, God. And if there are people that we’re thinking about that are having a tough time, God, that we would be friends that would persist for them as well. God, you are tremendous. Thank you again for the opportunity to be here together, to be able to sing to you, to be able to be hearing your scriptures. God, and I pray that in conversations afterwards we can keep encouraging each other to fight.
God, we love you. We pray that you help us finish the good fight the way you want us to and that we can be with you one day in heaven. God, it’s in your son’s name we pray. Amen.