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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Hey everyone, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Tammy Brown, Pastor Mads wife, and they're both honored and excited to join Matt as we launch into the series She, Her. We're going to unpack what Scripture has to say about the role of women in the church. Will you guys stand as we re-scripture? In Genesis 1,26, which is the sixth day of the creation account, God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word, for its guidance in showing us not only who you are, but your heart and intention for us as well. Use this series to teach us about your heart for women and our role in the church. Let it be a reminder for some, an awakening of calling for others, and a provision of insight to us all. We ask this in Jesus name, amen. You guys can grab a seat and enjoy this message. Thank you Tammy. Let's give her a hand. The gift of gab is my gift and the gift of controlling gab is her gift. So I'm so grateful for her and just so glad to be able to launch into this series with you guys as a church. So as you heard Tammy read the word of God, the first chapter in our Bibles, in your notes I want you to hear this and write this down. Women were always a part of God's plan. Ladies, you were never a second best, you were never trying to figure it out. You were always a part of his plan. Genesis 1, 27 says this, so God created man in his own image and his own likeness, male and female he created them. You are a part of God's plan. You are not a second class citizen. That is not who you are. You were made in the image of God and men we need to champion this today. So many women are overwhelmed with what they're not that they're failing to see who they are. And what we need to do as men is we need to champion them and tell them to stop comparing themselves to what they see on social media and to say compare yourself to the image of God that you right now right here already reflect. Right? Because ladies when you look to social media all you're going to see is your faults. When you look to God you're going to discover your beauty and we need to awaken this amongst women today and the church needs to be the place where we champion women. So when we discuss women in the church, Sandals vision is to be what? To people know it. To be real. That's our vision. That makes Sandals unique. Sandals is not the best church. I wish we were. But we're trying. Amen. We're giving it our best. But our vision is to be real. So when we're real here's what we have to do. We have to accept history. Okay, we don't ignore it. We don't pretend it. We don't wish it away. Christianity like all groups and all religions does not have a perfect history. Our history is marred with periods of beauty and periods of brokenness. That's the reality. And there has been a long period in the church where women have not been treated as equals. And that's just the reality. And so if you're a woman, let me say I'm sorry. I want to apologize. Not because of what scripture says, but because of how men have interpreted what they believe scripture has said. And so I'm going to discuss this more on our podcast called The Deep Brief. And I'm going to answer as many questions as I can. I can't possibly in a message teach you everything you need to know about women and their role in the church. I can't possibly address all of your questions. And so I'm going to do my best in the podcast to answer the questions that you have either because it's something I didn't address or something that I did address that cost confusion, right? Because sometimes that's my spiritual gift, amen? You had clarity and then I preached and I'm like, no, I'm lost. So so here's what I want you to know. This is a brief summary. As the church became more Western, we forgot the beautiful role of women. So in the fourth century, there was a guy by the name of Augustine who had an extraordinary unhealthy relationship with lust and an unhealthy relationship with women. And as the church became more Western, more Roman, we forgot the beautiful role of women. What's changing? The more scriptures we uncover, the more manuscripts we uncover, the more archaeology that we uncover, we see women playing a huge role in the church for 400 years. And then it stops for 1600 years. And what we need to do as men is we need to repent and say, God, we're sorry. We want to recognize women for who you've created them to be. And so when we do this, we almost recognize bias. Okay, if you're young, I'm probably not going to go as far as you think I should. And why is that? I don't listen to you. I'm going to listen to God. Amen? So if you're young, I love you, but you were raised in a world where just because we progressed doesn't mean we're biblical. So I'm not going to go far enough. Now if you're old, you're going to be freaked out because things are changing. But some things need to change if we're wrong. Okay? If you're conservative, this series is going to push you. You're going to have to let go of some of the biblical beliefs that you have about women because they're wrong. When I went to seminary, my conservative pastor said this, if it's something new, it's not for you. Now that rhymes, but it's wrong. I didn't know anything about the Bible. It was all new, right? I needed to know everything that I was learning. And just because you haven't been taught this doesn't mean you don't need to know this. Okay? And like I said, so if you're conservative, you're going to struggle because you're going to be pushed. But if you're liberal, you're going to say, well, why aren't we having a woman preach this series? Well, we don't want to hear a woman's voice. We don't want to hear a man's voice. We need to hear God's voice. And that's what makes us different. I was talking with a well-meaning man a couple weeks ago at a friend's house. He's a liberal guy. He's a progressive guy. Here's what he said to me. He said, I just don't know how in today's age women can't just do whatever they want in the church. Listen, if you're a man or a woman gay or straight, if you do whatever you want, you are not a follower of Jesus. The church is not the place where we do whatever we want. We have these things called scriptures. And we must, as difficult as it is sometimes, we must submit to scripture. Okay? We're not just winging it at its handles. I know sometimes it feels like it. But we're trying to understand an ancient text in a modern world. We don't throw it out. If we do, we're not scripture. We're not following scripture and we're not Christian. Here's what Jesus said in John 14, 15, if you love me, you will keep my commands. He didn't say, if you love me, you get to do whatever you want, go wherever, wherever you want, believe whatever you want. He said, you will obey my commands. Now it's not always easy to figure out the commands. Some are very clear and some are confusing. And you'll discover in next week's message, the Bible says contradictory things and we'll explain that. And we'll try to figure that out when it comes to the role of women in the church. Number three, I want you to know this, God created gender. This is so important for our day and age. This is so essential. We need to understand this. The world has never needed the church more than the world needs her now. Because the church is the last bastion of reasonable thought, clinging on to some of the truths that for all of human history, the world just took for granted and we've lost them. Genesis 1, 27 says this male and female he created them. You see, gender is binary. It's binary. You are either a male or you are either a female, both Bible and biology affirm this truth. Okay, when you were born, the doctors weren't doing the best they could. They weren't like, we're going to gas and we'll see. On every single one of your birth certificates, there's a word male or female and there's a check next to it or an ex. Okay, now there are some people where that is legitimately biologically confusing and we need to have a heart for those people because sometimes doctors have guessed in those situations and got it wrong. But for the masses, the majority of us, 99.99% of us, it was very clear the second that you were born. So how do we as a church respond to someone who feels they're non-binary? How do we do that? So many young people today. I'm not non-binary. Look, here's how we have to do this. We have to respond with both love and truth. Love and truth. Number one, listen to this. I violate this all the time. Be reasonable. Be reasonable. Anybody ever lost it? Okay, I lost it so bad on last week's deep brief. They had to edit one whole section out. I wasn't like unreasonable for a moment. It was like 12 minutes of just braah. Okay, how many of you have ever lost it? You just lose it, right? You just lose it. We do that as Christians. When you lose it, apologize. Say, I'm sorry. Because you know what matters more than policy? The person that's struggling. Listen to me. And if you're non-binary, if you are struggling with gender dysphoria or you identify as trans, listen to me. God loves you. We love you. I'm not always going to get it right. I'm not always going to communicate it right. I'm fallen. I'm human. And I make mistakes. But God did not make a mistake when He made you. You were either a boy or a girl. And your identity is found in your masculinity or in your femininity. And for you to try to figure it out beyond that is going to lead to a lot of pain and suffering. And let me say this church, when kids transition, they're making themselves slaves to the pharmaceutical machine in this country for the rest of their lives. And the reason the medical community is so excited to help you transition is because they know you are now addicted to them forever. And we need to just just speak that truth to kids. We need to speak that truth to parents. We need to say this. God did not send his son to die on the cross for you to be a slave to anyone or anything. And that includes the pharmaceutical community. And let me say this. You may feel today that you're not a woman. You may feel that you're not a man. Feelings change. Amen. Any old people in here? Feelings change. Surgery and hormonal treatment is permanent. Okay. Anybody have a tattoo? They regret? Yeah. You just knew when you were 18, you had to get that Guns and Roses tattoo. It's going to be my favorite man forever. Some of you got a tattoo on your shoulder. No regrets. A tattoo is easier to remove than gender surgery. Listen to me. All surgery is dangerous. It's all dangerous. I've had too many surgeries and every surgery that was needed has left me scarred. And listen to me. Left me numb. You see, when you cut into the nervous system, not all the nerves grow back. I don't care how positive the doctor or the surgeon is. Even to this day when my wife lovingly will touch my leg, I don't like it. Not because I don't like her touch, but because I've lost feeling in this side of my leg. And I don't want you to lose the precious touch that God designed your body to experience. So if you're struggling, come talk to the church. If you have a child that's struggling, come talk to the church. We're not going to put your child down. We're not going to make fun of you. We're not going to ridicule you. We're going to love you. We're going to love you. And if you've transitioned, if you've made the change, we're still going to love you. We're still going to love you. Because your soul is more important to God than your choices. And it's more important to us. So, gender's binary. You're a boy or your girl. You're a man or you're a woman. And I know that our world is deeply confused and deeply broken on this subject. But here's where I think we're confused. I think we're talking about the wrong things. Gender is either A or B. You are either boy or girl. Femininity and masculinity. Those are cultural. Those are cultural things. Like, like if you would, if you find a Viking woman from a thousand years ago, she's going to be a little confused why you can't swing a sword and why you're painting your face. She's going to be a little confused. Even in the Bible, what is masculine and what is feminine changes? Do you know why that is? The Bible is old. Older than you. How many of you guys have seen masculinity and femininity changing your lifetime? Anybody? Yeah. You know? I mean, I'm old enough to remember when a man were addressed that was strange. Now it's Tuesday. It's just Tuesday. Things are changing. Right? Things are changing. I can prove it to you the song of songs. This is a poetic Hebrew poem about masculine love for the feminine and about feminine love for the masculine. Listen to what the author says. He says, you are beautiful in my darling. All right. I feel it. This guy's good. Right? Better than what you guys wrote in your card. Amen. You're like, hey, happy anniversary. You are beautiful in my darling. Oh, beautiful beyond words. God's word is so good. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. She's got a veil on. That's strange. Your hair falls in waves. Like a flock of goats. Yeah. You had me till goat, bro. I was right there with you. Like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth. Or as wide as sheep. Recently shorned and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless. Each tooth matched with its twin. Your neck is beautiful as the tower of David. How long is this woman's neck? Jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes. Your breasts. All right. Keep it G. They're kids, present. Your breasts are like two fauns. This woman have hairy chests. I don't... Twint, twint fauns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies. Okay. Apparently femininity was, was hairy women with big white teeth, you know, long neck. And they look like goats. And the guys were like, that's my woman. That's changed. There's not a woman in here who would be blessed if I called you a goat. Amen? So masculinity and femininity changes. And so here's the thing. Here's the problem. So many people today struggling with sexuality and struggling with gender dysphoria. Their issue is not I don't feel male. I don't feel female. Their issue is I don't feel masculine. I don't feel feminine. And let me just say this. Ladies, if you're a woman, you are feminine. You are. However you dress, however your style is, that's feminine. That's you. You are feminine. And there is diversity amongst femininity. There just is. You don't have to fit into any category. Because you know, you know, I wish I was more masculine. My wife and I were on vacation in Mexico and this beautiful man walked by. And I told my wife I said, take a look, you know, I was like, I'm gonna, you know, and we just looked and lusted together. You know, it was, it was just, and this is what I told my wife. I said, that's a professional athlete. She says, how do you know? I said, I know. I know what a male athlete that's professional looks like. It's not this. It's that. She's like, you think you know everything. How do you know? So we googled him. He played tight in for the Phoenix Cardinals. He had a tight end. It was, it was very tight, very tight. The guy walked like a Greek god. You know, and I was like, I'll help you. I'll help you. He reaped of masculinity. I like get a little drop of it. You know, I just like a little, like a little, you know, but so does that make me not a man? No, he just, the picture of masculinity that I have, he matches. And so that can mess with your head. And so ladies, you get on social media and you look at some woman and you say, oh, that's a feminine body. That's feminine style. And what are you saying yourself? Oh, I must not be a woman. No, you're you. And that's who God created you to be. So we need to, we need to stop pigeonholing people and say, this is what masculinity looks like. This is what feminine. It looks like. And we just need to embrace that culture is diverse on that topic, but you're either a boy or a girl. That's, that's not debatable. Okay? We love you, but that's not debatable. Next, gifting is personal. See, this is where the church is, is missed. I'm looking forward to having my mom read scripture in here. And here's the thing that drives me crazy. My mom was usually growing up as a kid, the most talented person in our church, but she couldn't speak because she's a woman. And so the church has historically missed the gifting of women because of their understanding of gender and roles. Do you know who I want communicating at this church, whoever's the best, whoever's the best, gifting is personal. Every single one of you, man or woman is gifted by God. You know, if you should sing at San Luis Church, you want to know how you should know? If you're gifted. If you're not, we love you, the Lord loves you. Jesus died on the cross for you. You can't sing. You can't sing. You should not sing. I don't care where your mom says. I don't care where your husband says. He has to tell you that you sound good. And I'm going to sing, you can't sing. I'm just saying you can't sing good enough for all of us to listen. That's all I'm saying. And let me say this, speaking is the same thing. This is one of the things that's so gross and seminary is we think we can teach anyone to teach. That's why people don't go to church. It's awful. Awful. Best nap of your week, amen? Preach, pastor. Next, listen to me. Calling is supernatural. Listen to me, ladies. Some of you have a call to ministry. And here's what you're going to find out. The scripture affirms that men should lead. Men should be the leader. Scripture affirms that men should be the highest level of leadership in the church. And scripture affirms when there are no men, God picks a woman. And that's hard for us, right? Wait a minute. Right? You ever noticed this? A woman can't preach who preached the first gospel? Women. Why? The dudes were afraid, locked up, and hiding. The scripture is full of God giving us commands and structures to build our lives on. And then God does his own thing. For example, in the Bible, who does the blessing always transition to in the Jewish household? It's always the oldest firstborn male, right? Until God decides something else. And God can do whatever he wants. And why is that? Because what's most important is not your gender, it's the gospel. Jesus appears to the women. Boy, I sure wish the men were here. Wish we could get the word out. I was alive. What does he say? Ladies go and tell the disciples, I'm risen. I'm risen. The first of Angulous, they're all women. Every single one of them. Next, number four, God created women to reflect Himself. Genesis 1, 1 and 2. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Did you know that the word spirit in Hebrew is always feminine? What is the spirit of God? It's the feminine nature of God that is reflected through women. Some of you have never heard that. Listen to me, there is not one Hebrew scholar on earth that will disagree with what I just told you, but we haven't taught that. The ruach of God is feminine, singular in the text. The spirit of God is feminine. Now, that doesn't mean that God's a woman, and by the way, ladies, he's not a man. Amen. Amen. You need to say amen. Now, we do call him father and don't get it twisted. Why? Because Jesus did. Because Jesus did. Anybody ever know this? The Church of God is a bride. Ephesians 5.25, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, listened to the structure of the sentence and gave Himself up for who? Her. The church is described as a woman. Man, the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God. Anybody need some wisdom? Did you know the wisdom of God is described in the feminine text? The wisdom of God is a voice of a woman. Proverbs 8.1. Does not wisdom call? Some of you, she's been calling you for a long time. You're not picking up. Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise whose voice? Her voice. Guys, let me ask you this question. Why in a male dominated society, in a patriarchal society, would God define sovereignly, supernaturally according to His spirit that wisdom is a woman? Why would God tell us that, man? Because you are a dumber without her. That's why. How many times, men, have you not listened to your wife and paid the price? Yes. So what happens in the church when we tell the ladies to stay outside while we men figure it out? We make some stupid decisions. We make some ridiculous choices. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked, how many women should be on the Supreme Court? She said nine. Now, I don't agree with her, because that's just dumb in another direction. Amen, ladies. You get a bunch of women together, that can get stupid too. You know what I was saying? And we were just going to, you know, come on, come on. Listen to me, guys. Listen to me, gals. We need each other. We need each other. And when we don't listen as men to women, we lose. And ladies, when you don't listen to men, you lose. You lose. We need each other. And here's the thing is, the church needs both the voice of men and women so that she is healthy. Just as a child, and I'm going to step on some toes, needs a mom and a dad. The church needs men and women who lead, who love, and who speak. That's what the church needs. And if you're a single parent, I understand you're doing the best you can, but God's vision for the family is both a mom and a dad, and God's vision for the church is both men and women leading in love sharing the gospel to the world. That's the vision. And you're going to see this time and time and time again. And some of these things are going to be like, I don't know how come I didn't ever see that. I don't know either. But it's in the text and it's always been there. Number five, guys, you ready? So God created men to what? To recognize the beauty of women. Some of you guys are like, I'm really good at that, boss. I'm I'm awesome at beauty detection. In the audience, we have one of my favorite friends, Pastor Justin Kualsky. He's in the back. My favorite story about him, I didn't tell him I was going to say this, but he works for me. So he's going to listen. But I remember when he first met his bride. And he showed me a picture of her. It was right when smart phones first came out. He goes, look at her, look at her. And she was dancing. And while she was wiggling, Justin goes, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I was like, oh, buddy, you're done. You're done, man. You're done. And he's been done for a long time because he found, he found his bride. And she's amazing. She's amazing. Ladies, we're not the same. Stop, stop trying to beat me. Ladies, if you become me, you are an ugly woman. You know, I think I'm all right. You know, as guys go, you know, I'm not a 10, maybe a six, six and a half, seven, I don't know, you know. But here's the bottom line. If I walk around naked, you're calling the cops. Amen. Who's calling the cops? You're calling the cops. If a woman walks around naked, you guys are calling your friends, right? Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's going on here? Stop saying we're the same. Stop. We're not the same. We're different. And that's okay. That's okay. Listen to me, guys, you must recognize the beauty of women and not become enslaved to it. Recognize it. Recognize it. My wife opened with scripture. I don't even know how many times she asked me, how does she look? How do I look? How do I look? It's great. Amazing. Fantastic. Beautiful. Most beautiful person on earth. Can we go now? Right? Like, how many times do you think I asked her? How do I look? How do I look? Right? Zero. Yep. Zero. Don't care. This is what it is. Let's all deal with it. You know, I'm in Camo. I'm a man. Right? I'm going to go hunt something. It's just different. We're just different. And here's the thing. Our differences were designed to make us better together. Next, men, God created you to respect the dignity of women. They're not just a play thing for your eyes. They're a partner drawn out from your side. When God built women, He took her from the middle of you to be beside you. 1 Corinthians 11, 11 to 12, listen to this. But among the Lord's people, and here's the thing, I can't decide if you're a Christian or not. That's your choice. My job is not to decide your eternal destiny. That's your decision. But if you are a Christian, I want you to listen to what Paul is saying. It doesn't matter. Some of you are so worked up on what the world is doing. You need to be worked up about what you're doing. How are you living? He says this, women are not independent of men. And men are not independent of women. For all though, the first woman came from a man. Every other man was born from a woman. And everything ultimately comes from God. Do you know what Paul is saying? We need each other. And don't say something. One single. It didn't say if you're married. Did it. Last time I'm checked, everything one of you was born from a mom. Okay, now that may change, but that's not on me. Listen to me, whether you're married or single, we need each other. We need each other. Some of you young guys, you're in a group. I want a group man accountability. You know what you need? A woman in there to go, no, no, no, you're all stupid. You know what some of you cultivate groups need? You know what you need in your cultivate group? You need me. And I'm going to say, stop acting crazy. Stop. That's why you're single. This is nuts. I'll be in your cultivate group. I won't even wait for you to finish your point. I'm like, no, we need each other. We need each other. Because here's the thing is, ladies, you don't understand us. And we don't understand you. I've been married to the same woman for a long time. She still shocks me every week. What? But we need each other. Husbands, love your wives. Listen to us and never treat them harshly. Ladies are always freaked out, right? They're going to get kidnapped, raped, grabbed in the parking lot. Do you know who the most dangerous man is in any woman's life? Her husband. Guys, guys, never, never be harsh. Never be harsh with your wife. My favorite argument with Tammy is on the level of my volume. She's always like, stop yelling. I'm like, you think this is yelling? I got seven more decibels. Anybody else have arguments on volume? Well, the script is with her. Never be harsh. Do you know how we know when I'm harsh, when she thinks I'm harsh? I don't get to go. I'm not being harsh. That's harsh. Right? Last point. And this is what I hope our church can listen to and appreciate in the series. God created men to listen to the voice of women. Some of you don't know this, but Proverbs begins with a father to his son and it ends with a mother to her son. You see the book of wisdom thinks that we need a dad and a mom to speak to us. Proverbs 31 and 1 through 2. By the way, I haven't changed the text. This has always been there. These are the sayings of King Limuel, which contain this message, listen to this women, which his mother taught him. Well, I thought women weren't supposed to teach men. Let me read it again, which his mother taught him, oh my son, oh son of my womb, son of my vows. She loves this boy. Do not waste your strength on women. On those who run kings. Let me translate this for you. Mothers know that it's not just masculinity that's toxic. I know. Ladies, you ever met a toxic woman? Yeah. What do men need? The wisdom of their mothers, the wisdom of their sisters, the wisdom of the women in this church because without your voice, ladies, they will waste their life as do kings. As do kings. A couple of weeks ago, you guys saw I had a, I didn't have to. I chose to make an apology because I spoke harshly towards a woman. I actually violated the text while preaching from the text. That takes talent. It takes a gifted man of God to sin and multiple levels the way that I did. But I apologized to this woman that I met at this concert. And I'm not saying I didn't have a point, but I lost my point in the way that I shared my point. And so I apologized. And here's the thing that breaks my heart about that. You know, after I got done preaching, right after I got done preaching, I'm in studio right now. My wife was sitting right over there literally right after I was done, my wife goes, oh, you really roasted that gal. What was she saying? I don't think you should have said that. And you know what I did? I didn't listen. And because I didn't listen, listen to me, I potentially put our church at risk. You see what I say and what I do and how I say and how I communicate matters to the future of this church. Me being flippet, me being too raw, risked, the safety and the standing of our church in our city. Because I didn't listen to the wisdom of my wife who said, oh, I don't think you should have said that. And I said, woman, let the men decide. That's not what I said, but that's what I did. And part of my embarrassment when the whole thing blew up is I didn't want to tell her on the phone because I should have listened. I should have listened to my wife because God put her right here next to my heart to help guide me and support me. Listen, I'm the leader of this church, but I need her wisdom and I need her voice because without her, I am half the leader God made me to be. Genesis 2.18 then the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. Ladies, I want you to hear me. You do not need a man. Guys, get freaking married. I don't know what your problem is. You know, and I know you're shopping for a 10, you're probably a 4.2. You know, what are you doing? You know, it is not good that the man should be alone. We got all these women in our church, you want to get married and all these dudes are like, I'm praying about it. Stop praying! Get married! You have no idea how you are dumb you are without her. I will make a helper fit for him. Fit for him. My wife is not a perfect woman, but she is the perfect woman for me. She is fit for me. Fit for me. Listen to me, guys, in her insecurity, that's what I remind her. You are for me. You are mine and I am yours. God has placed us together to worship him and serve him and lead this church for him until he comes because sandals is his and we are his bride. By the way, I'm trying to get you ready for your wedding. Some of you are still ugly. You're not ready. We need some makeup, some exercise and some scripture and maybe even some, you know, I don't know. Get the devil out. I don't know, right? But we got to get ready. We got to get ready because this is what all of human history is moving towards the great marriage of people and God together forever. Forever. So I love you guys. I want to challenge you to listen to what I'm saying because it's all in the text. Sandals is always going to stand for what the Bible says. But some of us have stood for too long for what the Bible doesn't say. And we need to repent of that and get right. Let's power heads and close our eyes. Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of women. God, we pray right now for the women in this church that they would see their value, that they would know their beauty and God that they would stand on their giftedness. And I pray this right now that they would answer their calling in Jesus name. Whatever you are calling them to do, like weeping, mourning, women at a tomb who were told to go and preach. God, whatever you've called them to do, I pray that they would do it. As they trust you, as they believe in you. And I pray as men, we would be strong enough to allow them to reflect you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you so much for taking time to watch this content. It is my prayer and really my mission in life to help you further your relationship with God, building an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and ultimately yourself. And I pray with other people around you. If this content is doing that, I want to invite you to move from being someone who watches content to someone who becomes a partner with us in developing this content. And the primary where you can do that from where you are is to donate today. You can go to donate.sc. And here's, you know, if you're like me, I wonder, where does my money go? Well, here's the one thing I want you to know about us. We're not just an online platform. We actually have 14 physical campuses that are all across California that meet in just a myriad of different socioeconomic cities. And in some of these cities, there's somebody that's struggling, single moms, kids that can't afford to go to camp. Kids that can't have an opportunity to get a backpack or something like that for school. And your money helps us to meet those needs right where they are. So what I would encourage you to do today is just pray about and say, God, what do you want me to do? And whatever God says, that's what I would encourage you to do. Because the Bible says God loves a hilarious giver, somebody who wants to give, somebody who's encouraged to give, and that's my prayer for you. And so I just want to thank you for praying. And for those who pray and feel led by God to give, I want to thank you for giving because here's the thing. If there are no givers, there's no Sanals Church ministry. We can't do ministry without the generosity of the people who are blessed by this ministry. So I just want to say thank you so much and God bless everybody who's furthering their authentic relationship with Jesus.