Smyrna - Faithful Through Suffering | A Sermon on Revelation 2:8-11

Is it real or is it cake?
We're going to start off with a game today—because, well, I just think it'll be fun.

In the following pictures several different item, some items are real and some are made of cake?  Can you tell which is real and which is cake?

Which apples are real and which are cake?

Which oranges are real and which are cake?

Which shoe is real and which is cake?

And now I'll show you the answers:

Introduction
The cake picture game ties right in with the sermon. Revelation, the book we’re studying, is a divine vision that helps us see that things in this world are not always what they seem.

Sometimes you think something’s real—but it’s cake. And sometimes you think it’s fake—but it’s real.

We can’t always believe everything we see, hear, or are told. There's more going on beneath the surface.

Even when it comes to the news, there’s always bias—on both sides. Everyone has a point of view. We try to be objective, but there’s always a lens through which we see things.

Scripture tells us that we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood alone—we’re in the middle of spiritual warfare. Revelation pulls back the curtain to show what’s really going on. What we see with our eyes isn’t the full story.

Revelation was given to the apostle John around A.D. 95–96 to encourage Christians facing severe persecution under Emperor Domitian.  These believers were suffering terribly, and Jesus was saying: There’s more going on here than what you see. Don’t give up hope. God is doing something big—something eternal.

In Revelation 1:19, Jesus says, “Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.”

So, this vision includes current events (for them), as well as future ones. And when we say “future,” we need to remember: that just means anything after A.D. 95—some of which may have already happened long ago from our perspective.

Of course, Revelation also includes things yet to come. But the danger is thinking it’s all about us or about the end times. It’s not just a code to crack. It’s a message for all God’s people through all time.

Let’s read Revelation 2:8–11, the message to the church in Smyrna.

Revelation 2:8-11
⁸ “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

⁹ “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. ¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

This is the Message from the One
The people of Smyrna were suffering. The Christians in Smyrna were suffering. They needed hope so that they could endure. And Jesus reminds us, he he starts to offer them hope by reminding them who he is. 

This is what he says. He says, "This is the message from the one who is the first and the last. The one who was dead but now alive." And so He's reminding them in a subtle way, Jesus is the first and the last. 

They are suffering. It is real suffering. But He wants them to think of this in the context of eternity. What they are suffering is happening right now. But this is in within the context of eternity. 

Jesus also suffered. Remember, it was an awful suffering that He had to go through in the passion. Being tortured, being betrayed, being crucified, awful torture. It was the worst form of torture and pain you could inflict upon the human body to be nailed to a wooden cross until you die. Jesus experienced that suffering. 

And yet, Jesus was the first and the last. In other words, Jesus existed before time and he will always exist. That's a mind blowing expanse of time to think of. And yet in this one moment he experienced suffering. That doesn't take away the fact that He suffered, but it puts it in a broader scheme, a broader scale.  

These people in Smyrna were suffering. But Jesus is saying this is upon a grand scale that you can't even comprehend.  And there's going to be a time 10 billion years from now after you've been in glory in eternity for 10 billions of 10 billions of 10 billions of years. This moment of suffering is going to be forgotten.  It's not going to seem as bad. 

And Jesus also says He is the one who was dead but now is alive. And this is another reminder. Jesus went through suffering.  He even died and yet he is now alive. And this is an important thing to remind the people in Smyrna because some of them may die in the suffering but they are going if they follow Jesus just as He is alive they also are going to be alive again. we realize.

I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!
He says, "I know about your suffering and your poverty, but you are rich."  Again, this is part of how Revelation turns everything upside down. Because because when they looked at their situation, the church in Smyrna was suffering. They were being persecuted and they were poor. 

Their poverty wasn't their fault. It's not like they made a bad decision and invested in the wrong stock or the economy went south and they lost all their money. They were poor because of persecution.

So here's the situation in Smyrna in the first century.  There was not such a great distinction between Jewish people and Christian people as there is today.  In the first century most Christians were Jewish people who believed that Jesus was the Messiah.  And so Jewish people and Christian people were in the same community and they worshiped together and they worked together. They did business with one another. 

But many of the Jewish people began to resent Christian people and thought they were heretics because they believed in Jesus Christ.  And it wasn't just a theological dispute. They actually thought, "We can turn them into the Roman authorities and say that they are not legitimate Jewish people, but they're heretics, that they're atheists, that they don't believe in the Roman gods, and that they're doing all kinds of bad things."  And they would turn Christians in and the Roman government would take Christian's property, take their businesses, take their money, and oftentimes the authorities would give some of it to their Jewish neighbors. This was a great betrayal that was happening. So Christians in Smyrna weren't poor because they'd made bad decisions. They were poor because they were persecuted.  People they formerly thought of as friends and neighbors were persecuting them. And yet Jesus says, "You you are suffering and are impoverished, but actually you are rich."  He turns it all upside down. 

How can this be? How can they are rich when they have no money, and their homes have been taken from them and nobody will do business with them anymore because they are Christians?

Remember what Jesus said.  He said, "Don't store up treasures on earth where rust corrupts it and moths eat it and where thieves break in and steal it.  Don't store up treasures on earth. Store up treasures in heaven where neither rust nor moth nor thieves can destroy it. Where your treasure is, there your heart  will be also." 

And so what Jesus is saying here is that because they have suffered for the sake of God's kingdom and for Jesus Christ, they have made their bank accounts on earth may be empty but a their bank accounts in heaven are busting at the seams. Their suffering on earth is creating great deposits in heaven.

A lot of people would say, "Well, so what? There's still suffering on earth."  But the idea within the Christian faith is we need to be focused on eternity and not on just what's happening right now. Because Jesus is the beginning and the end. And eternity spans from before time began till after time ends. It goes on forever. And the suffering that we experience in this life or the wealth that we experience in this life or the poverty, it lasts but an instantand then it is gone. But what remains for us in eternity is forever.

There are Christians in our world who are poor now whom we look at and feel pity for but in eternity  they will be the richest people we know and that will last forever. There are many Christians who seem so wealthy now, who will be impoverished for eternity because they focused on what happena in this little tiny span of time we call life and didn't focus on eternity.

We need to be sure that we are investing in our heavenly wealth and less focused on our earthly wealth. And I want to point out that the poverty that Jesus is talking about here is not poverty that comes from making poor financial decisions, right?  Because we spent our money on things and didn't manage it well in this life.  That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about people who are poor because they've suffered persecution.

The Synagogue of Satan
Verse 9b – “ I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.”

Again Jesus is saying what you see is not all that there is.  There were many people living alongside these Christians who said that they were God's people. "We are God's people because we follow the Bible. We go to synagogue every Sunday. We worship God."

Yet their actions actually opposed Jesus Christ.  They were not God's people. They were actually Satan's people because they were opposing Jesus, opposing God's plan of salvation, opposing people who were trying to turn back to God through Jesus Christ.

There were many people in the world today who claim to be religious and outwardly look religious, but they were not.  Today in our world just because someone goes to church or says they are Christian doesn't mean they are a true follower of Christ.  Everything is not necessarily as it appears. We have to ask the question: Do they really follow Jesus?  Do these people who claim to be religious truly follow Jesus live the way He calls us to live?  Do they sacrifice the way He calls us to sacrifice?  

Many who claim to be a follower of Christ actually oppose Christ and His Kingdom by their actions.

“Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.” Why Not?
Jesus told Christians in Smyrna not to be afraid of what they are about to suffer. What He said to them applies to us too.  We need not be afraid of suffering.  And here’s why.

First, Jesus Has Already Overcome Suffering and Death
Remember who Jesus is – He is the one who “was dead and now is alive forever.”  We will live forever too if we follow Him. If we are faithful to Him in a kingdom where there is no more suffering and no more death.  So we don't need to fear suffering because Jesus has already overcome it.  Have faith!

Second, Jesus Is With Us During Our Suffering
We don't go through it alone. Remember Jesus is the one who walks among the lampstands (Rev. 2:1). In other words, He is walking among us. He is with us as we suffer and He holds the leaders of the church in his right hand.  He cares about us. He is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. And actually, contrary to what we usually think, suffering is a benefit to us. It is a chance for us to draw closer to Christ. It is a chance for us to deposit wealth in our eternal bank account. It is a chance for us to experience Christ walking with us in a very real and intimate way.

Third, Eternal Glory Awaits the Faithful
Jesus said in Revelation 2:10, "Be faithful even to the point of death, and it will give you and I will give you the crown of life." 

Recently, I was sick. I had to go to a clinic up in Varnell. It was just seemed like it was just a cold, but it wasn't going away. And I felt terrible. Had no energy, sore throat. I got there and they did the evaluation on me and said, 'All right, we know what's wrong with you. We've got some medicine that will help make you better.  We can either give you some pills and it'll take a couple of days or we can give you a shot and it'll go to work right away. Which one do you want?"

And I thought, give me the shot! And some people would say, "Well, why would you do that? I'd rather take the pills." Well, one thing I don't really like taking pills. They're annoying. You have to remember to take them. But a shot hurts. And it's that needle. And a lot of people are really scared of those needles. And I don't like them either. And yeah, it does hurt when they stick it in your in your arm. 

But my thinking is that pain, it lasts for a few seconds and then the medicine goes to work right away and I start to feel better. I can take a little pain for a few seconds. Now, that seems like a a silly example and I don't want to belittle the suffering we face.  But when you put earthly suffering in the scheme of eternity, then our suffering becomes so so small.  It's here for a moment and then gone.

Suffering is temporary, but our reward from suffering is eternal.  Jesus promises a crown of life, eternal victory, honor, joy for those who endure suffering and remain faithful. And when our faithfulness leads to more suffering, it means that we will have even more rewards in heaven.

Closing
There is always more going on than meets the eye.  God is working behind the scenes.  We must learn to trust Him and to look with spiritual eyes and listen with spiritual ears.  God is in control.  And the Kingdom of Heaven is eternal and it is breaking into our world.  And Jesus is with us.

As we close, I want to share a responsive reading to remind us to listen and hear what the Spirit says to us today.

Responsive Reading

All:  The Spirit of Christ walks among us and speaks to our hearts.  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when I feel alone, I am never forsaken.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when the world seems dark, God’s light is still shining.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when I don’t see the way forward, God is already making one.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when I am weak, His power is made perfect.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when I see only loss, God is working for redemption.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

Leader:  Even when I feel unworthy, I am called and dearly loved.
People:  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

All:  There’s more going on than meets the eye.  We must look with spiritual eyes and listen with spiritual ears—not just physical ones. Behind the scenes, God is doing more than we realize.  Let anyone with ears to hear listen to the Spirit and understand.

The Wonder of His Return | A Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30

Introduction
It's been my privilege all week long to be the storyteller at Vacation Bible School. We did four days, Monday through Thursday, and there are five lessons, so we wanted to finish up this fifth lesson today during church. You'll get to get a taste of what the kids have been learning, and I hope that it's something that will speak to your heart as well today, because it really is something that we all need to remember.

As we've been doing Wonder Junction and we've been wondering about Jesus all week long, we've been learning about His life from beginning to the end. Our theme verse, as Summer said, for the week has been Psalm 113:3: "From the rising of the sun to the setting, the name of the Lord shall be praised." That's a fitting verse because we've been learning about Jesus and His life from the beginning to the end, and then today we're going to be learning what happens after that.

Day one, we learned about Jesus being born in a manger, and we learned that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. On day two, we learned about Jesus when He was 12 years old—just about the time that a lot of the kids are finishing up Vacation Bible School and going into the youth program. Jesus went to the temple, and He was full of God's wisdom because He knew the Word and He was able to sit in the temple and talk with the priests, and they were amazed at His wisdom.

Then on day three, we learned how He showed His power in one particular story where the disciples and Jesus were in a boat out on the water on the Sea of Galilee. The wind and the waves began to crash, and even though Jesus was there in the boat, He was asleep. The disciples cried out to Him, "Lord, Lord, don't You even care? Why are You sleeping?" He woke up, calmed the storm, and they said, "Even the wind and the waves obey Him."

And then on day four, we learned about the greatest rescue plan of all time. Jesus came and He gave Himself for us on the cross at Calvary. He laid down His life so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be welcomed into the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life if we will follow Him, turn away from our sins, and follow Him.

So that's what we've been learning all week long. Today, we're going to learn how Jesus is coming back one day. We're going to wonder at His return. Today we're not talking about what He did in the past, but we're looking at what He's going to do in the future.

This story comes to us from Matthew chapter 25, verses 14–30. I want to read that to you. This is a parable that Jesus told, and He's telling it again to us today:

Matthew 25:14-30
¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver^[a] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!^[b]’

²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Basics of the Story
Now this is a parable Jesus told. It's a story full of symbols. He's not really talking about servants and farmers and masters—He's talking about us, the people on this earth. The master in the story is Jesus the Lord. The servants in the story are each of us. And the talents, the silver, is our time, our gifts, our influence, our resources.

Each one of us has been given by God time, gifts, talents, resources. All that we have comes from the Lord. It's not ours—it was given to us by the Master with the purpose of using it for His glory to do His work while we're here on the earth.

And the story is telling us also something very important: Jesus is going to come back. He's gone now, but He's coming back. And when He gets here, He wants to see what we've done with what He gave us.

Now I want you to understand something. A lot of times when we talk about Jesus coming back, we think about something that's going to happen far off in a distant time—maybe decades from now, maybe hundreds or thousands of years from now. But I want you to understand, each and every one of you, that Jesus is coming back for you in your lifetime one way or another.

The belief in the Christian faith is that one day Jesus is going to come on the clouds for all the earth. That may happen in your lifetime. But even if that doesn't happen in your lifetime, I want you to understand: you're going to take your last breath at one point in this life, and when you do, you're going to come face-to-face with Jesus. So He's either going to come for all of us at once or He's going to come for you individually. And when He comes, He's going to want an account, just like He did of these servants in the parable.

Jesus didn't save us just so we could sit in the shade napping with our hats pulled down over our heads. He came and saved us so we could saddle up and ride for His Kingdom. We are on a mission with God to save the world. And He's given each of us different talents, different gifts. Just like He did in the story—He gave some ten bags of silver, some five bags of silver, some one—He gave each and every one of us different talents, different abilities, and differing amounts. But each and every one of us has something that the Lord has given us.

Oftentimes we're afraid to use it. We want to dig a hole, put it in the ground, and bury it. We don't want to step out. We don't want to be the tall blade of grass that gets cut off. We just want to fit in, hide in the crowd. But Jesus calls us to step forward, to step out in faith, and to serve.

What It Means to Be Ready
We’ve got to be ready for when He comes—because He's coming, and we're going to see Him in our lifetime. Being ready doesn't mean that you stand there and look up at the sky and wait for Him to come all your life. It means living as if He's coming—doing what He wants us to do, what He calls all of us to do: love others, be compassionate like He was, be honest and tell the truth like He did, share Jesus and talk to others about what He's done in our life and what He means to us. Be a witness about the kind of Savior that we serve and what He's done for us to save us. He's calling us to be kind as Jesus was kind and compassionate—helping those that are in need, not only thinking of ourselves but thinking of others and even being giving to others sacrificially, to the point that it hurts. Be faithful in work, faithful with our family, in our church, in our community.

Use the gifts that God has given us. He's given each one of us a little something different. One of the joys in life is discovering what kind of a gift God gave you. Are you a singer? Are you a preacher? Are you a teacher? Are you a helper behind the scenes?

Throughout this week of Vacation Bible School, we saw so many different people serving in so many different ways—from Summer, who's standing up in front of everybody talking, to the people who were registering people as they come in to make sure their kids were safe, to the people who were putting up decorations or bringing donations. Everybody had a part. This is a good image of what we have in life: there are so many things that have to be done throughout our world and in our community, and each one of us has got a different gift, and we're called to use that for the glory of God—not to hide that talent in the dirt.

It means that we have to live with a sense of urgency. This parable says that the master's coming back, and we don't know when the master's coming back. But we do know that He is coming back, and it's going to be when we least expect it. So we ought to live and we ought to serve out of a sense of urgency.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I'm a procrastinator, and I just put things off—"Well, I can do that tomorrow," or "I can do that later." But this parable reminds us that you can't live a life of procrastination. Because what if Jesus comes back? What if the master comes back and He calls for an account? You're going to feel really silly when you say, "Well, I was going to get to that tomorrow," and He says, "But you've had your whole life to do and to use what I've given you. What have you been doing with what I gave you?" And don't you want to be able to give a good account? I know I do.

Living in the Wonder
So when you think about your life and you think about what this message is saying to us, ask yourself the question: What would you do differently this week if you knew Jesus was going to be coming back on Friday? How would you live your life differently if you knew you're going to have to give an account to the Master on Friday? But you know what—you might not have until Friday. You might have to give an account tomorrow. You might have to give an account this afternoon.

So it gives us a sense of urgency to get to work doing what He's called us to do. If there's someone you need to talk to, do it. Don't put it off. If there's something in your heart that you need to get right with the Lord, do it. Don't put it off.

We live with a sense of hope and a sense of wonder and a sense of expectation as Christians. Now some people might hear this story and it might put in their heart a sense of dread. But we're not called to live as Christians with a sense of dread or fear, like a doom-and-gloom belief that the world is going to end. We know the world is going to end, but that's not a bad thing if we are walking with the Lord. If we're doing what He's called us to do, then when the world ends or when Jesus comes back, that's going to be a good thing. Because what did He do for the faithful servants? He said, "Come on, let's celebrate together."

What a wonderful thing—that we get to celebrate, and we get to see the world being recreated, and everything that is wrong in it being made right. And even within ourselves, the things we wish were different—He's going to make them different and right and perfect. So it's a wonderful thing to look forward to. It's not a sense of dread; it's a sense of wonder and of hope and of expectation, so long as we're living for Him, doing our best.

Here's the thing too—the Christian hope: our Master is not a harsh master. He's a gracious and kind and merciful Master. He understands that we try and we mess up. He'd rather you try and stumble than not try at all. He doesn't want you to bury your gifts in the sand. He wants you to step out and try. And if you step out and fail, that's okay. He's going to be proud that you tried, and He's going to let you try again. That's the wonderful hope we have as Christians—a merciful Master.

But if you're not living for the Lord, if you're only living for yourself and doing what makes you happy without any care for what the Master wants, well then that's something to worry about. That's something to get right with the Lord instead of waiting and putting it off. He wants you to get that right.

The trail of the Christian doesn't end at the cross. The trail ends when Jesus returns and makes everything right. Jesus comes back, and we get to ride into glory with Him.

Conclusion and Invitation
If Jesus came back today—for all of us, or for you individually—would you be ready? What have you done with the time and the treasures that He's given to you?

Another wonderful hope for the Christian is we don't have to be discouraged if we look back on our life and think, "Man, I should have done this. I should have done that," or "I haven't even done anything at all." Even if you failed so far, there's forgiveness, and there's always a chance for a fresh start. You can start today, right this moment, moving forward following the Lord. And the Savior honors that. He honors that and He welcomes that.

So if you've never done anything, if you've not been following the Lord, today you can start brand new and fresh. And for Christians who have been following the Lord, we can always look back and think about things we could have done better. But that's okay. The Savior is gracious and He invites us to renew our faith and our commitment to follow Him and move forward in a new day.

As we come to the close of the lesson today, I want to invite you—if you've not decided to follow the Lord, you can follow Him from this day forward. Make that commitment today. And if you're a Christian and you're following the Lord, you've been trying, I would invite you to renew your faith in Him and your commitment to follow Him.

Now as we close, I'd like to do something special. I'm going to give parents and their children a chance to come forward to the altar. We're not going to do anything crazy; we're not going to have any crazy religious ceremonies. But I would like to give a blessing to all the kids and all of the parents who come forward and receive that. I promise—it'll just be a prayer, but it'll be a time for us to feel Christ surrounding us and a time to bless Him.

Would you come forward to receive a blessing? Come on forward if you would. I don't want to pressure you—if you don't want to, that's okay. But you won't be standing alone. It looks like we’ve got a lot coming forward. Thank you, thank you for coming. Thank you for being part of Vacation Bible School all week long.

All right. Let's pray together:

Thank You, Father, for the wonder of this week—for the laughter and the learning and the love. Thank You for every child who came through our doors, for every volunteer who gave their time, for every heart in this room today that's been praying for Vacation Bible School and for all of the wonderful things that You've done.

And now, Lord, as we stand together, young and old, we remember the greatest promise of all: You're coming back. And when You come back, Lord, You're not coming back as a baby, but You're coming back as the King of Kings. We desperately want to be ready. We want to do our best. We want to be fruitful as Your servants here on this earth.

So Lord, we ask that You help us to live every day like it matters. Help us to experience the fullness of this life and the joy that You want to give. Help us to make a difference as we laugh and love together.

Lord, we want to love You more, and we want to serve You more, and we want to trust You. So even when the trail gets rough, help us. We're not perfect, Lord, but we know You didn't come for the perfect. You came to rescue us and redeem us and to walk with us until You return.

So today we stand here not because we've got it all figured out, but because we want to follow You. We want our kids to know You. We want to be a church that keeps looking up—keeps living in the wonder of Your return.

So Lord, we offer ourselves to You, and I ask Your blessings upon these children, upon their families, and upon their futures. May it all be for Your glory. Through the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

Thank you so much for coming and being a part of this service today and our Vacation Bible School.

I know that we all want what's best for our kids, for our families. We care about our community. One of the best things we can do to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of our families and our communities is to be part of a loving church community—a faith community. I know the church is not perfect. We make mistakes. And it's because we're filled with imperfect people. But I haven't seen a better option. If you want to make the world a better place, if you want to make your life a better place, be a part of a church family.

We would love to have you as part of ours here at Pleasant Grove. Like I said, we're not a perfect church—we're just real people, which means we have real problems. But we work through them together and we move forward, and we become better. It's all by God's glory. We'd love to have you as part of our family. So thank you for being here today.