Singles

t is so good to be together. Whether you're here at one of our campuses or we're connecting online, I'm so glad that you're here. And as we open up the Word of God, and we're gonna find ourselves in 1 Corinthians chapter seven. It might take me a few moments to get there, but those of us that like to be ahead, you can head there now. But as we open up the Word of God, I just pray that we would find ourselves in a place where we open our hearts to not only let it inform us, and it can do that, it does that, it informs us who God is, it instructs us in his way, but that we would also allow it to transform us. We won't allow it to just inform us in terms of lofty thoughts. That we would allow it to do its work and transform us. Those of you that were able to just see the baptisms, all incredible young men that love God. And I get an opportunity to see that up close and personal on a regular basis. But I'm gonna point out Nate for just one second, because just this past fall, it brought an incredible smile on my face. I don't even know if he knows I heard this. And Nate had been coming in our Tuesday night gatherings for single young adults and college-age students. And he had come, and allegedly, someone had seen him and went, like, they just kind of were displaced for a second. They were like, "Wow, Nate's here? And this is church. And like, that doesn't seem like that's..." And I couldn't help but smile hearing that because in the same ministry, someone had seen me and went, "Wait, is that Jay Perillo here on a Tuesday night at, like, this Christian gathering?" And then I shared my testimony one Tuesday night, and they were just blown away. And they came up to me, and they were like, "I just can't believe you're here." And I was like, "Well, I can't believe I'm here." And so that we would allow the Word of God to have that same transformational power in our lives. And God wants to do that in every season of our lives. He wants to renew us in every season. But we've been in this incredible series since Mother's Day: Family Matters. And family does matter, indeed, does it not? It matters. One, because we have this longing inside to belong, to have this purpose, right, to have this place. To have people in our lives that provide strength and provision. Like, we long to belong in a family. I just got back this past week from Cambodia. We were there, a team of us, with one of our ministry partners. I'll talk about that a little bit later on in our time together. But in that, I got to have just a meaningful conversation with our guide and our host. His name was Johnny. His name is Johnny, and he's 30 years old. He was an incredible host. And Johnny grew up as an orphan in Cambodia. And so for a time, when it was just me and him, we talked about family, and he shared obviously his experiences. And he invited us into his home. He was an incredible host. And he had a picture of his brothers. And they weren't biological brothers. They were brothers that he grew up with in an orphanage. But he talked about just the strength and the bond. And you and I, we long for that. So family matters. And family matters also because it matters to God. That God designed the family unit. He was intentional with it. And so it should not surprise us that at times the family unit, it suffers attack, right? Or there's brokenness within. See, 'cause God uses family in such an important way. Author and pastor Tim Keller, who has had an impact and an influence not only for me as a pastor, but for me as a believer, he is now currently fully enjoying the presence of Jesus. But he says it this way, better than I ever could. He says this: Family is a covenant. And I know that's a religious term, but that literally means a committed. Like, a commitment. Like, I am committed to this. Like, think of marriage vows for life. "Family is a covenant community where worship and learning happens in the context of unconditional love." That was God's design for marriage. One, it reflects the Trinitarian nature of God, right? How God lives in relationship, father, son, and spirit. But it should not surprise us that the family, yeah, that it sustained some attacks. I mean, maybe even you've picked up on it in our current culture, that our culture has kind of gone away, right? Where it's devalued or maybe even attacked the family unit or the strength of it. But that's not new. It's been happening since the beginning. Pastor Dan, Pastor Jerry had mentioned that the past few weeks. How the sting of sin, the first relationship it impacted was the marriage relationship between husband and wife. And then even but a few chapters later, the sting of sin, and it impacts siblings, when Cain actually murders his own brother. But God wants to use the family unit. He uses it in incredible ways. And so we've been talking about that since Mother's Day, and we're gonna continue to talk about that. But my task this morning is to talk to our singles. But don't check out on me. If you don't find yourself in that season of singleness, don't, like, say, "Oh, hey, I gotta go to the bathroom or something," and jet to the parking lot. Don't just close your screen. If this message had a title, I would say it would be Seasons and Singleness. And so my hope is that the Word of God, that I don't get in the way of that. 'Cause the Word of God always has something for everyone, if we come to it with a place of surrender, saying, "God, would you speak to us?" But I want to talk about singles. I wanna talk about seasons. and I know God has something for each of us this morning. But in 1 Corinthians chapter seven is kind of this famous chapter where Paul does take some time to emphasize singleness. But he does talk to everybody. And he really is doing that for a number of chapters. Paul is a pastor, an apostle, a church planner. He's talking to a church in the city of Corinth, and he's really trying to help them break free from really their past, what their current culture is kind of feeding them in terms terms of lies. And so he's really trying to help them step into this life that Jesus has for them. And so he says this in verse 35 of chapter 7: I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you. You and I have to remember that about God. 'Cause so many times the lies we're fed or the temptation that's dangled in front of us is that God's trying to keep something from us. That there's something out there that we're restricted from. And you have to remember that was the original lie in the garden. That you're being restricted. You and I can see it, that it's always for our own good, that God's boundaries or his restrictions are for something better. And that the world and the lies and the temptation, all they offer is a slavery to something else. And that it's God who can set you free. He says, "Not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way." There's a right way to live, folks. There's a right way to live. And it's in undivided devotion to the Lord. In undivided devotion to the Lord. I have three teaching points for us in our time together today, and this is the first one. And it's this. It's for everybody. In every season, we all are called to an undivided devotion to Jesus. In every season, we are called to an undivided devotion to Jesus. Now, I think at times you and I can fall into maybe this little bit of trap in the Western church. We kind of view our faith as a worldview. And I'm not saying that's wrong or bad, but what I mean by that is a majority of people in our nation would classify themselves as Christians. And they do that simply by either taking these polls or filling out these surveys, where it's, hey, do you believe in a God? And the reality is, is most of the world, like, that's the dominant worldview. Atheism is not a dominant worldview. But do you believe in a God? You know, do you worship at a church? And then, you know, what denomination or what faith? And so people just, you know, check off Christian. And it's like, what do you believe about God? What do you believe about the afterlife, like heaven or hell? And what do you believe about Jesus? And then I think we can fall into this kind of, this limited mindset or this limited way of thinking or living out our faith of, yeah, so, like, I can pass this spiritual quiz. I can pass this spiritual test. Like, I believe in a God. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, who lived the perfect, sinless life, so that I can go to heaven and not spend eternity separated from God in hell. I'm a Christian, right? But the word disciple is used far more often in the New Testament. And I think in some ways, if we can grasp that, that might help us to understand or get a hold of what an undivided devotion might look like in every season of our lives. And we use that on purpose here from this platform and our ministry environments. We talk about discipleship and a discipleship pathway, right? And growing in your discipleship. And we try to use that and leverage that to help broaden our understanding. That it's far more than just an hour or an hour and 15 minutes of my week to come and worship. That being an undivided disciple with an undivided devotion is far more than that. But Jesus was a rabbi, and he had disciples. And rabbis actually were pretty prominent in Jesus' day. So it's important to note that Jesus was not the first rabbi or the only rabbi. There were rabbis before him. There was a rabbi, Hillel. He had 80 disciples. He's recorded for us. There's a really, really popular one, Gamaliel. The apostle Paul studied under him. And so rabbis, they would have a group of apprentices or disciples. Now, I'm gonna take just a few minutes to talk about the education system in Jesus' time. It won't be long. I don't wanna bore you. But boys and girls went to school in ancient Israel at about age five. They'd go to the Bet Sefer, which would be the House of the Book. And at age five, they would start to learn the first five books of the Bible you and I know. And by age, let's say, 10 to 12, they would know the first five books of your Bible, like, pretty much word for word. It was an oral tradition. It's pretty impressive. And then after that, most would then go into their family kind of trade, into the family business. They would, you know, participate in that way. Now, the more gifted students at age 12 or 13 would go to the Bet Midrash, which would be the House of Learning. Boys and girls could do that as well. They would learn about the rest of the Old Testament that you and I know. And then an overwhelmingly majority of them, including all the girls, at about 16 or 17, would then step into their adulthood, right? Which is crazy. I know some of you right now are like, "Wait, my daughter's going to get married at 16?" Like, right? That's crazy. But that's what they would do. And then the best of the best would go and look to study under a rabbi. This was very difficult to do. Very difficult to get into. Think of like an Ivy League school. And so you would then go to a rabbi, that you thought maybe you had an opportunity. Maybe there was an opening, whatever that might be. The rabbi would kind of grill you. But rabbis, they were the spiritual masters of their day. Here's my pop culture reference for you. If you have a hard time grasping that, for my Star Wars fans, think of a Jedi. But don't think of Jedi Jesus. That might be a little, you know, a little wayward. But that being said, think of that, and then think of a Padawan, right? So think of probably the best combo, Yoda and Luke. The one that didn't end so well, Anakin and Ahsoka, right? But they would then go and do life with their rabbi. Now, it's important to note that Jesus was a different kind of rabbi for a lot of reasons, right? He spoke and taught with a different kind of authority. But also, as we see in the gospels, he actually did it a little bit different, did he not? He went and called Simon Peter. He went and called, right, Matthew the tax collector, which is incredible news for someone like me. 'Cause he went and called out those that already thought they were disqualified. Those that already thought they didn't have a shot. Those that would've thought maybe that they were too far from God, right? But Jesus initiates. God is the pursuer. And he pursued them just like he pursues you and me. But to be a disciple of a rabbi would do life with that rabbi. Let's talk about what a disciple would do. And maybe it would open the door into this idea of what it would look like for you and I to have an undivided devotion to Jesus. And the first one is this, is that a disciple most naturally and certainly spends time with Jesus. That's what they would do. They would spend long days and maybe even at times fall asleep alongside the campfire. They would be together 24/7. They were together and so close that they would talk about how it would be an honor for a disciple to be covered by the dust that flies off the sandals of their rabbi. 'Cause it showed the closeness, the intimacy of how they did life together. And we just sang a new song this morning, which was rooted out of this verse. This is what Jesus is saying to his disciples in John 15:4: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. He's using vineyard language here. He's talking about the vine. And here's Jesus's point, is that it is literally impossible to cut a branch of grapes off and then allow it to just freely float or just rest it somewhere and for it to continue to do what it's supposed to do, and that's bear fruit. And just like you can't detach and have it, you also can't just cut it off and then expect to bring it back and find some sort of way to bind it together and have it bear fruit like it's supposed to. No, it's gotta stay there. My point is this. Your everyday life, you gotta stay there. Can't just be once a week worshiping together on a Sunday. It can't just be twice a week with service and community group. Or it can't be three times a week, where it's Sunday service, a community group, and maybe a ministry environment. That's for my season of life or whatever it might be. Those things are helpful, don't get me wrong. That's why we do them. It's important to do things as a community and corporately. Absolutely, there's so much power in that. He's talking about his intimate and personal. To remain in him, to spend time with Jesus. This looks different in different seasons of our lives, does it not? I mean, for me, it's very different right now. I've come to the place now where if I don't get up by a certain time and hit my routine, and I do like it. I do like my routine, but if I miss out on something, right, or something takes longer, or I hit the snooze one too many times, man, some of those things just aren't simply gonna happen, right? I've got an 18-month-old at home, right? You get home from work, you're trying to feed, which is just an interesting, right, situation for someone like me. So all my uncles and my dad were laborers, and they liked mud and dirt. You know, they were pipe layers. They're all this stuff, and I was at, like, six years old with sensory issues and, like, trying to, like, get dirt off my hands, 'cause I just couldn't handle the feeling of it. And now I'm feeding my daughter, and it's just... We had acai yesterday morning 'cause it was a casual Saturday morning, and wow, acai was everywhere. For those of you don't know what that is, that's like purple slushy. So lots of antioxidants is what I'm told. But you gotta feed her, then you've gotta clean up. That's a whole process, right? Then it's bath time, it's reading. It's reading like 15 books. My daughter's really an ambitious reader. And I tell her she's the fastest reader I've ever seen. She's literally just going like this. And I'm like, "Wow, how'd you do that already? You gotta teach me." But by the time she's in bed and Jillian and I are ready to take showers or whatever, like, I'm done, right? Like, when I was a young adult or a single, I could be like, "You know what, like, I can read my bible for 30 minutes." Like, no, I'm done. Like, I open up anything, my eyes are shutting, right? And so I know what looks different in different seasons of our life, but the point is to find a way to make it happen, to abide. Because that's where you're going to experience the fruit that Jesus wants to bear in your life. And that's your expression of being an undivided disciple. That you prioritize your savior, your rabbi. What do disciples also do besides spend time with their rabbi? They become like them. They watch them, right? So rabbis were really special in a couple of ways. One, they could teach, right? They could teach God's Word in a really profound way. They could teach it, and they'd have illustrations, and they could make it understandable, and they could apply it. And so they would call that the rabbi's yoke, their teaching, how they would teach the scriptures. But you know what else they did? They also modeled it. They demonstrated what it looked like to live everyday life in communion with their creator, with their God. And so they model them. What would disciples look to do? They would look to be like or imitate their rabbi. Paul says this later on in 1 Corinthians. 'Cause he understood it, he says this: Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. And so the point is this, is that you start to become like Jesus. The way you live, the way you speak. Your demeanor is that of Jesus, a humble servant who looks to love God and love people, 'cause that's what Jesus did. And the third thing is this, is a disciple with an undivided devotion does what Jesus did. It's in the actions. It's in the actions. Here's a command from the disciple John in 1 John 2:6. He says this: Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. I used the NLT just 'cause it mimicked kind of my teaching point of do as Jesus did. The NIV would say must walk as Jesus did. And so if you're asking yourself, what does it look like for me to be a disciple with an undivided devotion, it's this. Do I spend time with Jesus? Do I act like Jesus? And do I look to do the things that Jesus did? And for, you know, the cynic out there that would say, "Well, Jesus, I can't do the things Jesus did. He was the perfect, sinless Son of God. He performed miracles. I can't do any of those things." but what was the great message of our savior? What did those miracles point towards? The good news. The gospel. That's what Jesus was living for, was the redemption of humanity. And the good news that Jesus Christ came to die so that others may find life. And can you and I, can we live in that story? Can we join God as he builds his kingdom? Paul continues in 1 Corinthians chapter seven. And this is where I'm gonna take a turn. And here's my point, is that as I talk about singles, and whether that's you're single in your 20s and 30s, and you're kind of still thinking about or hoping one day for marriage, or maybe you're in a season of singleness for various reasons, divorced, widowed, I'm hoping that this is helpful for all of us. I don't want to just speak to the young adults that I get an opportunity to do life with pretty regularly. But what Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians chapter seven is while he places a special emphasis on singles, he's talking to everybody regardless of their relationship status. And so let's go. I've got verses 31 to 35. It's a little bit lengthy. I'm gonna pause a few times, but I will hopefully provide enough context to keep it moving. "Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them." Wow, what a truth statement right there. Important for you and I to pick up on. That those who use the things of this world should not become attached. And why? Because everything fades. Everything passes away. And that includes relationships. That includes family relationships. Some of us here today even know that pain. But nothing here is going to last forever. It's important for us to note that. Even when we're thinking about this idea of marriage, that we shouldn't idolize it. It's a good thing, it's an incredible picture of the gospel, but it's not the thing. Anytime we make a good thing the thing, it becomes a bad thing. 'Cause it sits in a place in our heart that it shouldn't, where God should be. "For this world as we know it will soon pass away. I want you to be free from the concerns of this life." He says, "An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord's work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities," and these are real responsibilities, "and how to please his wife. His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. I'm saying this for your benefit." Paul's trying to help these believers. "Not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible." He doesn't want them to get distracted with either relationship status or what you have or don't have. He wants them to look at what matters most, what's going to last forever, and where they can find their true fulfillment and their true hope. And that is in their Lord. That is in Jesus. He says, "I want you to do it with as few distractions as possible." And there are a lot of distractions, are there not? I mean, we probably even have more than they do. I might be able to say that. Distractions, whether it's related to relationships, success, our career, right? Our bank account, retirement accounts, experiences, pleasure, all of these things that can be distractions. Now, as I mentioned earlier, just this past week I got back from Cambodia. It was a great trip. It's a great place. I went with even better people. I provided a picture for you. These are my friends. There was 10 of us. And outside of the three old dudes in the back, and I can say that 'cause I love them. Well, one of them is me. I probably shouldn't have said it that way. But you're looking at those age 20 to 28. And we're talking about a pharmacist, an engineer, a mental health counselor, a painter, a media person, an educator, interior design. So I love it. Like, that's why I love doing what I do. I get to meet people in different fields and see how they want to bring Jesus into their career field. But we went with aim. Some of you have seen that over the years. Maybe you remember a few years ago I had really long hair. Yeah, that was something. And we did something about me either cutting it or keeping it. And that went to Agape International Missions. And here's the deal. They fight specifically against child sex trafficking in Cambodia. And the week prior to us being there, they saved a seven-year-old girl. They went and rescued a seven-year-old girl. And that statement in and of itself is kind of, it's just different, right? 'Cause there's this great hope that you're like, "Someone got rescued." But then there's this level of despair, like, that a seven-year-old had to be rescued. But they do it holistically, and they have a church there. And they have a prevention program in terms of an afterschool program, when kids are most likely to either get wrapped up into something or trafficked while their parents are working long hours. The average person there makes $2.50 a day, where we were located in the country. So yeah, kids can be really, like, vulnerable. And that's what we served in. We served in the kids club, primarily. And so one of the people that went on the trip, she's 22 years old. She's a baker. And she's like, "Jay, I could stay here." And I'm like, "Maddie, actually, you probably could. Like, you know, I'm sure, you know, your employer might not be too happy, like, if there's no croissants next week. But, you know, maybe if you do it in a responsible way and give some lead time, you could. You could literally just pack up your few things and move it." I could not, right? Maybe, I mean, but it would be a lot of conversations with my wife and definitely some more time. And that's the difference, right? I'm not gonna lie, I loved being there, but I couldn't wait. The countdown to Millie was definitely plenty for me. It was the longest I'd ever been away from my daughter. And so some of our parents know that feeling. But that's the difference, is that she can pick up, and she can do things like that. You know what I mean? She can step into and serve and say yes in so many ways. Whereas somebody maybe who's married or has a family has responsibilities, and they've gotta prioritize those. If they want to live as an undivided disciple, they would want to prioritize those things. And my point is this, and this is our second point. This is your singleness is a season that provides undistracted devotion to Jesus. Undistracted devotion to Jesus. This is where you get to work on you and God. I don't mean just work on you. I know that's kind of like a cultural thing. Like, all right, now it's me time, right? Now it's self-glow-up. I'm single. But this is an opportunity for you to work on your relationship with God and to serve the Lord fully. If you do this season right, it can set you up for better seasons down the road. And that's why I wanna encourage those who are maybe in a season that they don't wanna be in, or a season of singleness and don't wanna, don't fall into that, right, of I'm just waiting for the next season. I just can't wait to get out of this. God has something for you now. And he wants to do something profound in your life. Because here's the deal. All of us are being prepared for the greater marriage for those of us who are in Jesus, right? There's gonna be a feast. There's gonna be a wedding supper. Jesus is going to be the groom. His church, us collectively, are gonna be united with him. There is no marriage as we know it in heaven because everything that we look and long for we find in Jesus. It's always important to remember that. But if you notice what Paul teaches, not only in this passage, but even in Ephesians, is it's always about preparing ourselves for that day when we join Jesus. And so if I'm a single person, I prepare myself. If I'm a married person, my job is to help the preparation of my spouse, right? To help them grow into the likeness of Jesus, their maturity in Christ. And so don't miss the season that you find yourself in. Also, there are people here who are single, and they're content. And it's a gift. So here's the deal. If you're here and you're like, "I don't really wanna be single. It's like a gift, that people call it a gift. I don't really view it that. And if I do view it as a gift, I view it more like a gift that I get from, like, that aunt or that uncle, right? I'm thinking of like a Christmas story, that movie that was just on repeat when I was a kid, and that bunny costume, right?" But some of you, it is a gift. You're comfortable in it. I think you shouldn't feel bad about that. God uses single people just as much as he uses married people. So I want you to be encouraged in that. But if you do find yourself in a season of singleness, and you've got some longings or some distractions, this is what I wanna encourage you with. For time's sake, I kind of put it all on one slide. This is what I wanna encourage you to do. To have an undistracted devotion that consists of pursuing the right things, which, according to Matthew 6:33, is the kingdom of God. To seek God's kingdom first. Don't buy the lie. Don't seek other things first. Whatever the world's dangling in front of you, don't fall into that. Pursue the kingdom of God first. And then pursue purity. Matthew 5:8. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." You want to see God and be pure. Seek purity in all areas of life. Ethically, sexually, all of that. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." If you want to see what God has for you, then pursue purity. And then passion. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Love God like nothing else because God loves you like no one else. Give him your heart. And as you do that, as you're running after God and his kingdom, and you're single, and you're like, "Man, I'm praying for a spouse. I'm praying for a family." this is what I'd say. Is as you're pursuing God, as you're running after God, look to your left and look to your right. Maybe your eyes will meet with someone else's. Maybe you'll have that moment. And maybe that's someone that you can do life with. But it's also important to remember that that is life. Life is moving. It's not just sitting and staring in someone's eyes. Our married people can absolutely affirm and confirm that, right? Married life is not brunch every day, lazy Saturdays. It's mundane, it's monotonous, it's the everyday detail. Married folks know exactly what I'm talking about. And, of course, you have to be intentional and date one another. You have to be intentional to pause and connect and have fun. All of that, of course. But the everyday life is a grind. But if you find somebody who's pursuing the same things you are, who's given God their heart, who's looking to live in purity, then maybe you can find that someone that God wants to use in your life. See, God is all about building his kingdom. And so if he can build his kingdom better with you as a single person, he's going to do that. And if he can build his kingdom better with you connected in marriage, he's going to do that as well. God's got a plan, and it's perfect. Sometimes it's hard for us to grab a hold of that. So my encouragement is to be undivided to Jesus and don't get distracted. But Paul, and he let us in on a secret. In Philippians, he says this: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Take some time and look at the life and ministry of the apostle Paul, who's blessed, anointed, and called. And look at the peaks and valleys that he experiences. He was in jail three times. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten so bad, they thought he was dead. He also saw God do incredible things in various cities, in the lives of people being transformed. What was his point? He says, "Listen, I've been in every season and every circumstance. Let me let you in on a little bit of a secret. I've learned the secret of being content, and it's not in my circumstances. It's in my savior." And that's the last point I have for us today. It's this. The secret to joy in every season is contentment in Christ. 'Cause whatever your relationship status is, that person can never do what Jesus can do for you. I can never do for my wife what Jesus Christ has done for her, what Jesus Christ can do for her. I can't. I'm limited and I fail. He says, "The secret to joy in every season is to look to my savior, to look to my redeemer, to look to Jesus." So I want to encourage you, whatever season you find yourself in, whether it's an unusual one, a rather difficult one, or maybe you're in a joyful season, whether you're on the mountaintop or the darkest valley. And go to the same place. Go to the same place because that is where you find true contentment. That is where you find true joy. We all sat under the teaching together this morning. So my encouragement to you is, whatever season you find yourself in, live in that truth. But also, look to your family members. Look to your family members in terms of blood, look to your family members in terms of spiritually, and see how you can encourage these things in their life. Because my point is this. If you have a single young adult in your life, encourage them in their pursuit in their purity and their passion. If you have other family members in crazy busy seasons or whatever it is, encourage them to have an undivided devotion and undistracted devotion to Jesus. But the only place we'll ever find what we're looking for is in Christ. And so if we could stay connected to him, learn from him, and become like him, that's when we will bear fruit and feel the purpose and meaning that you and I so desperately long for. If you would please, pray with me. Thank you so much for your kindness and your grace. I love our church, and I love being able to connect together on a weekly basis. I'm just praying God had something for you, that he speaks some sort of life or truth into your heart. The Bible says his Word is like a seed. And if our hearts are fertile soil, something can grow there. And life can grow there. God can bring life. I just wanna take a moment. And regardless of if you're single and you're anxious in that, or maybe you're just in a difficult season right now you find yourself in, some tough circumstances, maybe it's a brand-new season, and you're having a hard time adjusting, or maybe this has been a long season, and you can't wait for the next one, this is what I want to encourage you to do. You don't have to do anything else other than just lift your hand up. I just want to pray over you. Just a general prayer. Nothing crazy. But if that's you, you're feeling that, you're feeling the burden of the season you're in, just raise your hand. And as your hand's up, I just want to pray over you. Father, I see hands, you see hearts. You know what's going on. Every detail in everyone's life here. God, I pray that you would be so unmistakable in their current circumstances that they wouldn't look at their current troubles and wrongly think of it as you being mad at them, or you've forgotten them, but that you're there with them, and you wanna walk them through it. So God, I pray that you would be so real that you would touch each person today and even as they continue in their everyday life. For those that have had your hands raised, I just want to encourage you, if it really is a burden, and if you're facing some stuff, what I wanna encourage you with is, at the front of this stage, we have prayer partners. They'd love to have a personal prayer with you. They would love to take a few moments and pray over you. So I wanna encourage you, as everybody's exiting out, have a little courage and step forward. Maybe you're here and you don't even know what it means to have a relationship with God. You don't have a relationship with Jesus. I'd love for you to come forward too. Find someone at the connection table. Find someone here. Or if you see me, talk to me. We'd love to talk to you about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. God, for the rest of us, I just pray that you continue to work in each of our lives as individuals, knowing that we don't just live as individuals, we live in families. We live in your family. We live in the family of God. We live in our own families, even if they're broken. So God, I just pray that you would use us in such a way that we would be people who share the love of Jesus Christ to those around us. God, thank you that you're with us in every season, that you're always working, even when we don't see it. That if we could just simply trust you, that we will see you work in immeasurable ways. Pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.