Prepare to Walk on the Water

Show Notes

This message is for anyone who is in the middle of a hard season and wondering where God is. Pastor Carter Conlon speaks directly to those who have been waiting for their circumstances to change before they can move forward in faith. It is an honest, strengthening word for a church facing uncertain days.

Drawing from Matthew 14 and his own recent experience with open-heart surgery and bacterial pneumonia, Pastor Conlon makes the case that God's answer to our storms is often not to stop them, but to call us out onto the water in the middle of them. "He may not stop your storm, but he will give you the power to walk on water." The message calls the church to move beyond a faith that only asks God to calm things down, and into the supernatural life of stepping out toward Christ while the winds are still blowing and the waves are still rising.

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33, 2 Timothy 3:1, 3:13, Hebrews 12:26-28, Matthew 16:33

What is Carter Conlon | Sermons?

Sermons by Carter Conlon, from Times Square Church NYC and author of It’s Time to Pray. The sermons posted are to encourage you, the body of Christ, to mobilize in this unique time to reach all generations and people globally with the gospel of Christ and the truth of salvation.
For the latest sermons and additional resources, please visit https://www.carterconlon.com.

Praise God. Bless the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated. We have some lovely folks in the lobby this evening from our Bible School, Summit International School of Ministry. Yes, amen. I would encourage you to visit that table this evening after the service and get some information either for yourself or some young people that you know have a calling of God on their life, or a passion, in a sense, to both understand, to be able to stand, present, and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ in this generation in particular. I want to tell you, young people are meeting with God at this Bible School. This is Times Square Church's Bible School. Absolutely phenomenal touches of heaven come down, and I just thank God for that with all of my heart. So please visit that table in the lobby, and if you're going to apply, or if you know somebody who wants to apply, you need to do that soon. We had 544 applications last year, and the first-year class fills up pretty fast. So if you do want to get in, this is the time to consider an application for 2027. You can get also information online at summitpa.org. Remember to pray for Pastor Tim. I love the messages that he's bringing from this pulpit. I hope you do too as well. And there is a tremendous spiritual headwind that hits this pulpit, so you need to uphold your pastor in prayer. We need to uphold our pastor, every one of us, and just say, God, give Pastor Tim strength. Keep him, minister to him, speak to his heart, and be thankful that God has given you a man after his heart that wants to win a billion souls in our generation. Thank God, thank God, thank God for that. I want to ask you a question this evening before I speak. How many of you are in a storm? Can I see an honest, raise your hand, how many are in a storm? How many? Come on now. Now look around you. There's a lot of people, probably a third of the people that are here, should be about a half, but it's about a third have raised their hands, are in a storm. In other words, you're in a situation that seems to be so adverse to your forward journey that you're wondering if you're going to make it, and you're wondering where Jesus is in the midst of the storm. What if I told you tonight that he's not necessarily going to stop your storm? You know, stopping the storm is strictly an American perspective on the gospel. Do you know that? If you are a Christian in China, your storm is not going to stop. I'll straight out. It's going to probably be for the rest of your life as a believer in Jesus Christ. It's strictly in America where we're in a peace time, a prosperous time, and the concept got into the church that the whole purpose of Jesus Christ is to calm every one of our storms, and to make us all feel really good all the time, and to bring us into this place of calm and peace, which is wonderful. Obviously, he can do that. There's no doubt about it, and he will for some, but not necessarily for everyone. He may not stop your storm, but he will give you the power to walk on water. That's what I want to talk about tonight. Sometimes it's in the midst of the deepest storm you'll ever face in your life that you will see the greatest miracles of God. You know, recently I was in the hospital. I had open heart surgery, and then because of the intubation, I caught bacterial pneumonia. I was in bad shape. I mean, I was in such bad shape that when Pastor Tim visited me the first time, he burst out crying. He just leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. I was thinking, I must really look bad, because there was no mirror in the room, and I couldn't get out of bed. I thought, boy, I look bad. When Pastor Tim comes in, a man of faith, and bursts out crying. But it was in the midst of that storm in my life. It was a storm. I'll tell you, you're hooked up to all kinds of bells and whistles and wires and tubes. You can't get out of bed. There's nothing you can do for yourself. My lungs are full of fluid, but it was in the midst of this situation that the Holy Spirit began to draw me out of my circumstance, as he once did with Peter in the out to that surgeon. Folks, I got to tell you, I saw the hand of God in such a powerful way. Even though I was in a place where I was literally in the storm of my life, I saw the miracle power of God at work. I was able to speak to people. I saw tears. There were rededications of lives. There was prayer. It was phenomenal what God was able to do. When our focus shifts from ourselves to others, that's what we teach at our Bible school, that Christianity finds its power when we finally escape ourselves and start living for the benefit of others. When that starts to happen, well, I'm going to talk about it this evening. Father, I thank you, Lord God, for the touch of heaven in this service. I thank you for the wonderful worship we've had this evening. Thank you, Lord, that you lifted us up and out of our circumstances, many of us, just even for a minute, where we could just bask in the glory that one day we will be partakers of with you in eternity forever. Thank you, Lord, for the moments of refreshing that we all need, Lord, in the midst of the fight, the struggle, the battle, life in general that we have to live on planet earth. Thank you, God, for just reminding us of who we worship, what you have done on the cross, and where our eternal home is going to be and what that is going to feel like. Thank you for just letting us just touch it for a moment this evening. We thank you for Brother Ricardo and Elder Vicki and all those who lead us in worship in this church, Lord. We don't take it for granted. We give you thanks, God, for people who know how to worship, and they've chosen to worship you, Lord, in the midst of their own storms. They've made a choice to declare you to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Lord, they don't just sing songs, they worship. We are invited because of their leadership to the throne of heaven, where we also may find grace to help in our time of need. Lord, I ask you for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. God Almighty, I'm not interested in just being a purveyor of information. I ask you, Lord, to work through the word that's about to be spoken. God Almighty, give sight to the blind, open prison doors, heal wounded hearts, give vision to those who can't see a way forward. Give strength to those that are weary and weak, those that are in a place of poverty where they say, I have no resource to go forward. I don't know what I'm going to do. Lord, give strength that can only come from the inward power of the Holy Spirit. God Almighty, we're not afraid of truth. Speak truth to our hearts tonight, for you said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. We're not afraid of truth that sets us free. We don't have to shelter ourselves from the truth. God, give us the grace to walk in the truth, for that's where the miracle power of God is suddenly discovered. Lord, you need a church that's going to walk on water in this last generation. So God, I'm asking you, Lord, help us. Let faith arise in every heart. Grant to us a gift of faith in this sanctuary tonight. Not just faith in concepts, but an absolute empowerment of the heart that comes from the Holy Spirit. Father, God, in Jesus' name, I cast myself one more time into your hands and ask, Lord, that you would do a work that only you can do in this sanctuary. Let nothing of the frailty of this human vessel stop you from doing what you want to do this evening. And I thank you for it in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 22, prepare to walk on water. Immediately, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. The disciples were always being sent. Do you ever notice that every time they get in a boat and are sent to the other side, they end up in a storm? It's phenomenal. And you and I, when we come to Christ, we're getting in the boat of God's promise, God's salvation, God's carrying power, God's word, and we are sent to the other side of our journey. We're going to journey through life, through this world, and one day we're going to be at the throne of God where we will dwell with him forever and ever and ever. But along the way, and a third of you this night know this, the rest of you will know it in the days ahead, the waves rise, the winds rise, and circumstances start working against your mind and start getting you thinking that your boat is going to go down. And when he'd sent the multitudes away, verse 23, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now, when evening came, he was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now, in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately, Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, as only Peter could do, and said, Lord, if it is you, commend me to come to you on the water. I just wonder sometimes, did he ever, did he stop for a moment and say, in heaven's name, what have I just said? If it is you, command me to come to you on the water. It's amazing he didn't say, if it is you, stop. Stop the storm. And so he said, that being Jesus, come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And so Peter leaves the boat, is walking towards Jesus. Nobody, nobody in history has ever done this apart from Jesus himself. There's not a man in history or woman who's ever walked on the water. And yet he gets out of the boat and he starts walking towards Jesus. When he sees the wind and the waves, he begins to sink and cries out. Jesus grabs him by the hand, and the disciples in the boat watch the two of them walk back to the, on water, to the boat together. And when they get in, the storm stops. Now smooth sailing or rowing is always our preference, isn't it? I don't know about you, but it's mine. Given the choice, you know, given the choice of going down a canoe and a nice smooth flowing river or going down whitewater rapids, I'll take the smooth river. Maybe it's just my age. I'm not up for the adventure anymore. Often the storms of life come upon us at what seems the least favorable times. When things are dark, we can't see Jesus, and the circumstances around us seem to be overwhelming. There are certain times we feel like we have the inner strength to endure the storm, and other times when we just, the storm comes. And ever notice it seems to come at your weakest moment? It's coming at a time when you're reading the Bible and Jesus seems to be hidden. He seems to be by himself on a mountain somewhere praying, and you're just wondering where he is. Why are you not with me? Where did you go? Why can't I see you? Anybody here ever prayed those prayers? Lord, where are you? Where are you in the midst of my storm? Where are you when the waves are threatening to overthrow me in the workplace or in my job or lack thereof of a job or in my family crisis or in my interpersonal relationships or all of the things I have to face in life, just even the inner turmoil of my own heart and my own mind. God, where are you in the midst of what I'm facing right now? It says the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves for the wind was contrary, not at the beginning of the journey, but in the middle of the journey. Sometimes we feel like, God, I should know better by now. I should know better. I should have more trust in my heart than I do right now. How many sermons do I have to hear on your faithfulness before I will believe that you're faithful? How many times do I have to hear preachers get up and say, we're going to the other side before I will believe that I'm actually going to the other side? How many times will it take before I stop looking at the waves and I stop listening to the wind and the threats all around me? As Paul said, the outward fightings and the inward fears that come upon us and cause us to even despair of life itself, as Paul once said on his own particular journey. Now the scripture foretells us, all of us, that in the last days of history, before Christ comes back, it will be just like that. Second Timothy chapter three and verse one, Paul says, but know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. There will be a total breakdown of civility among people. Liars will abound, deceivers will suddenly rise on every level. Truth will be cast into the streets. Violence will become the norm of the day. We will see, in a sense, Matthew 24 said, there'll be a rise in deception. Second Timothy chapter three, verse 13, Paul says, evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Confusion will abound on every side. Society will, and you know what I'm talking about because it's here. It's not coming, it's here now. It's here. We're actually living in these days. I can't envision it getting much worse than it is right now. It's turning violent, you know that. It's turning to an absolute persecution, actually, against the people of God. That's what the battle has always been. It's always been a spiritual battle, darkness against light, truth against error, that which God has ordained against that which humankind wants to do in its own reasonings. Remember the devil came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and said, if you will partake of what I'm presenting to you, you can become as God is, and you can become your own judge of what is good and what is evil. You can chart your own course. You can have your own truth. You don't need God's truth anymore. Now we're living in a day where you try to present something. You tell people, you know, two plus two equals four, and they'll look at you right in the eye and say, well, that's your truth. But my truth is two plus two equals five. That's where we're living right now. We're living in an absolutely insane world at this particular moment in history. Wars and rumors of new wars. We're seeing megalomaniacs arise all over the world that are bent on conquering, and they're not even sure why or what they're doing. And we're seeing new wars and rumors of new wars every day if you read the news. That's what you're seeing. You don't have to read the news. Read Matthew 24 in the morning. It'll tell you everything you need to know. An increase in hostility among nations is rising now. The way the speech, you'll notice it's becoming more aggressive now all the time. One of the European generals just said something I think was very unwise and threatened Russia, which is not a wise thing to do at this particular moment in history considering who's at the helm at this particular time. Jesus said there will be an increase of famines and plagues, and there will be an increase of earthquakes in unusual places. Hebrews chapter 12, let me just share with you what the Lord spoke to me through his words. It says, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26 to 28, he said, yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made that the things which cannot be shaken might remain. God says I'm going to shake everything that can be shaken. And only that which cannot be shaken is going to remain. What cannot be shaken? Therefore, he says, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, remember Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you. We have received God, he has indwelt us through the power of his Holy Spirit, he has given us his promises, and by the grace of God, yes, the floods will come, the wind will blow, the waves will roar, but we will not be shaken because the presence of God is within our lives. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and with godly fear. Jesus said in Matthew 16, 33, in this world you will have tribulation, not shall have, might have, could have, you will have, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. And the way I read that is Jesus Christ saying to you and me, you will have trouble, but I've overcome the power of trouble to overcome you. Do you understand? Trouble cannot overcome you because I've overcome it. There's a higher law than anything this world can present against you. The disciples must have wondered in the storm, where is Jesus? Scripture says he was on a mountain alone praying. When we begin to give way to fear, it brings suggestions to our minds which are neither true or logical. Where is Jesus? Then you start hearing these voices, he's abandoned you. He's just somehow, he's displeased with you, he's found some flaw or fault in your life and he's drawn away from you. There's suggestions from darkness that somehow the promises of God are for everybody else but not for you because somehow you're a deficient part of his church. Matthew chapter 14, verse 25, it says now it was in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea. The fourth watch is that part just before dawn. Just before dawn. There's a passage in scripture, I'm not going to it tonight but I find humor in it because it says the disciples were rowing and they thought they were going to drown and they were crying out for fear, the waves are filling their boat and Jesus comes to them, gets in the boat and the scripture says he stops the storm and immediately they're at land. The way I envision this, there's only two ways this could have happened. When Jesus got in the boat he transported it supernaturally to where they wanted to go or the whole crisis happened about six feet from shore. I go for number two, I really do. It was dark and we're all going to die, we're all going to drown and they're in about two and a half feet of water. In the fourth watch, Jesus came to them walking above or on the very things that threatened to overwhelm them. Walking above their storm, walking above their circumstances, walking above everything that this world could throw at them. All of the waves, all of the wind, everything causing fear in the heart, Jesus Christ is walking above it. Everything that threatened to overwhelm them. And they cried out in verse 26, it is a ghost. You know, mariners had a fear that if they were in the midst of a storm and a ghost came walking to them on the water, it's actually gone on throughout history. The same thought that this is the sign that we're all going to drown. This is the other world, in a sense, is revealing itself to us. They've come to take us, we're all going to drown. And this is why they cried out in great measure for fear. But Jesus says to them, be of good cheer. It is I, do not be afraid. And I just absolutely love Peter's response. Peter said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He didn't say, if it is you, stop the storm. If it is you, where have you been? Why didn't you come with us? If it is you, he said, command me to come to you on the water. And Jesus says, come. The church of this final hour needs to prepare to walk on water again. Jesus is not necessarily going to stop our storm. Do you understand? We are all going into a storm. I speak prophetically to you tonight. We are going into, the whole world is going into a storm. He's not necessarily going to calm every storm. The news might get worse every day. Society might get more violent and more vile. The lies may increase and not subside. The threats against you in the workplace may get worse than they are right now. The lies, the rumors, the vilification. The thought that you are the source of the problem. That's what society will do in the last days. Turn on the church and say, if it weren't for you, we'd all be happy. If it weren't for you, we'd all be unified. Here you are saying that what we do is wrong, and the way we think is wrong, and the way we're living is wrong, and that there is a heaven, there is a hell, there is a cross, there is a Savior. We reject this, the world says, in this generation. No, we will do it our way. Crucify Him. Crucify Him, they shouted. We will not have this man reign over us. And that same cry that sent Christ to a cross is in our society once again in our generation. We will not have this man to reign over us. But yet, in the midst of the storm, it's the voice of God calling us to step out and do something we've never done before. To walk in a power we've never fully understood. We've read about it, but we've never fully understood it. To step out of ourselves, to step out of our fear, to step out of all of our questions and all of the false concepts about God Himself. And to say the same thing that Peter said, Lord, bid me come if it is you. Bid me come. God Almighty, here I am in Times Square Church on a Tuesday night, and I'm in the storm of my life. And I came here thinking you're going to calm my storm, but yet I hear you calling me to step out of my boat, not when my storm stops, but in the middle of my storm. In the middle of my trial, in the middle of my difficulty, to walk in a place I've never walked before. With a strength I've never known. With a power that's never been mine. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We want to say, Lord, stop the storm first, and then I will serve you. That's almost been the American way of thinking about the gospel. Oh, Jesus, if you just calm my storm, I'll be the best disciple you've ever had in your church. And God says, no, I'm not stopping the storm. Step out first. I'll stop it in my time. Step out now. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Step out and start walking in supernatural power. Step out and start walking upon that which once threatened to drown you. You once thought this was going to take your life. You thought this was going to impede your journey. You thought this world had the power to stop what I've determined to do through your life. Step out of the boat now and walk towards me. God, I hear you calling. God, I hear you calling. God, I hear you calling. And there's many people here tonight. You have an inner prompting of the Spirit. You're feeling a call of God to something that you don't understand and you don't know why. And your focus is on the storm and yet he's not addressing the storm. He's addressing you to come to him now. Come to where I am. Come. I walk above the storm, Jesus said. The storm has no power over me. Come and walk with me where I am. And you know, the people in the boat, you see, they were being taught by Christ because they were going to have to step out of the upper room one day. In a storm in society, when Christ was finally crucified and the society had kind of, you know, they were just happy they had finally rid themselves of this man who claimed to be the son of God and was exposing the bankruptcy of all of their religious practice. When they were finally rid of him, they were in absolutely no mood for his disciples. 120 of his disciples gathered in an upper room and they began to pray. And when they began to pray, the Spirit of God came upon them. Just as the Spirit of God has and is coming upon you as the church of the last days before Christ returns. Outside, the winds are blowing and the waves are rolling because the society had just crucified Christ and they're in no mood for his disciples. And they knew to step out of that upper room without the power of God, they would drown. Do you understand? They'd be overwhelmed by the violence. They'd be overwhelmed by the anger of that society. They knew that only with the power of God could they be everything that God had called them to be. And yet, they heard him calling. Now, it's only conjecture on my part, but I can just see Peter in that upper room after the anointing of the Holy Spirit had come saying, Brothers and sisters, we have been called by God to walk in places we've never walked before. And we've been called to do things that we've not been able to do. And I tell you, one time I heard his voice in the midst of a storm like this one calling me and I stepped out and suddenly I was walking upon that which should have drowned me. Which formerly had the power to take away my safety and security. Let's go in the power because we hear him calling. And 120 people stepped out in their boat into a hostile society speaking with power that could only come from God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I saw that in the hospital. I saw that one more time. Yes, I've had the opportunity to speak in massive outreaches in some countries throughout the world. But I saw it one on one. I saw God speaking through a life that just stepped out of its own pain. Stepped out of its own circumstance. People would walk in the room and say to me, How are you doing? You're in intensive care. And usually the patient is all about himself or herself. All the symptoms, all the things I'm going through. But I would bounce it right back and say, Tell me how you're doing. Then suddenly a divine interaction would start to happen. At least about a dozen of these interactions. Next thing you know there's tears. Next thing you know there's talk about struggles and problems and such like. And then it turned to prayer. And in some cases, dedications or rededications of their lives to Christ. God help us in this last generation to get away from the soft-bellied Christianity that's been part of the American culture. The Christianity just continuously rows its boat into the church. Stop my storm. Stop my storm. Stop my storm. God says, No! Step out of the boat. Come to me now. Come to me where you are. Come to me as you are. Come to me in your storm. Step out of your upper room. By the power and grace of Almighty God. Step out of your upper room and watch what I will do through your life. You will begin to walk in impossible places. With a power that can only come from God. And you'll start speaking to people in languages they can understand. About the things that I have done, I am doing, and I intend to do in the future. And when they see the power of God upon you, they'll bend their knee. They've got a belly full of religion, but they have nothing like what you will have. The disciples had a boat. They had oars. But they had no power to walk on the water. And you better be sure when Peter and Jesus got back in the boat, they were thinking about their future. God, I need that power. God, I can't do. I have to have you to do this. But Lord, I've seen somebody do it. And we've seen historically 120 people step out of an upper room and transform the whole known world. And because they did, you are here tonight. I am here tonight because they stepped out. I'm telling you straight out, if they had stayed in the boat, you and I would not be here tonight. If they had stayed in the upper room and said, now what can we do to get people to come to the upper room? God says, you're not called to get people into your boat. You're called to leave and walk in places you've never walked before. That is the calling of the church of Jesus Christ. We are a supernatural people. We're not called to be natural in this world. We're a supernatural people empowered by the Spirit of God. You know, the only reason God's left me here on the earth is because I'm a supernatural person. The only reason I'm here on the earth is to tell you that. I'm serious about this. It's the only reason I'm still here, is to tell you there's power in God. There's power in Christ. There's power in the Holy Spirit. We sing it, there's power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. Hallelujah, it's time to walk in that power. It's time to step out in that power. It's time to let Jesus Christ be Christ in us. It's time for the church to rise. It's time for us to leave the comfort of our lovely boats that God's provided for us in this hour that we're living. It's time to get out and walk on the waters of a hostile society. And believe for a power to do something that can only be done by the Spirit of God. 3,000 people on that day. They've just left the temple, and they've had a belly full of religion, there's no doubt about it. And they're walking past to wherever they're staying, because it's a holiday, it's a feast time. And they suddenly encounter 120 people walking on water, basically, in that society. Stepping out with a power that's not available through religion, you can only find it through relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. But they're stepping out with courage, they're stepping out because suddenly we're going to the other side makes sense. They're stepping out because they suddenly believe that in this world you'll have trouble, but be of good cheer, I've overcome this world. They're stepping out because the promises of God to them are more real than life and breath itself. The promises of God are higher than the waves and the wind and the seas all around them. I'm going to the other side, and I'm gonna bring a whole lot of people with me. That's the testimony of God. That's the testimony of the church at this time. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Praise be to the name of Jesus Christ. The storms of this world are about to increase, but it's time for the church to walk in the supernatural once again. And so if I tell you tonight, he may not stop your storm, but he will cause you to walk towards him in the midst of it. He may not stop it. And actually he doesn't have to stop it, because sometimes the greatest testimony that God has through his people is that he gave us the power to walk above circumstances that should have drowned us, should have taken away our hope and our future and our lives, should have destroyed our homes, our minds and our marriages, or whatever it is, but God gave us the power to walk above it. And so I want to encourage you this evening to prepare to walk on water, because we're going to have to now, in the days ahead of us. You've heard that from your pastor in this pulpit. The days ahead are gonna be filled with storms, but also the days ahead are gonna be filled with people of God. Before Christ comes and takes his church from this world, there's gonna be a shout of glory. We're gonna walk with him one more time. Father, I thank you, Lord, that you have allowed me to deliver what you put on my heart. And you've allowed me to deliver it with the passion that you feel for your people. I thank you, Lord, that you may not stop every one storm, but you do call us in the midst of it to walk in impossible places. And you promise to give us the power to come towards you when you call us. So tonight I'm asking, Lord, that you would give courage to those who need the power to walk towards you in the midst of their storm, whether or not the waves stop or the wind stops howling. The courage just to say, God, if you are calling me, bid me come, bid me come. And to us, Jesus says, come, come.