Good morning to everyone. Getting to be a nice time of year in the springtime. You can go out and do your chores without your car hearts and your choppers on. So enjoying the weather.

We're going to be looking at Acts 6 this morning. I was just thinking about that hymn we were singing, "Standing on the Promises of God." That's really the essence of our faith. We're not here to participate in religious rites and rituals and do works to earn God's favor, but we're standing on His promises by faith that He has accomplished our salvation when Jesus died on the cross in our place. So that's good news. Good hymns we were singing this morning with a good message.

And that's really what we see in the book of Acts so far in the early church is a wonderful example of men and women who were living by faith, by God's grace, and just going out in obedience, preaching that good news message. 

I wanted to begin by looking back to Acts 1:8. If you turn to Acts 1:8 and see the commission that Jesus gave to the apostles, He said in verse 8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

Now, we've seen so far in the book of Acts up to chapter 6 that they have been witnesses in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders at the council said that they had filled Jerusalem with their doctrine. They weren't very happy about that. But they had filled Jerusalem with their doctrine and now it was time to move out into those surrounding areas, into Samaria, to all the ends of the earth eventually. 

And you know, sometimes God has a plan to accomplish His will that we don't see or that we might not understand. And we're going to see that example here in Acts chapter 6 and 7. It really runs all the way to the end of chapter 7, so it's difficult to just preach one message. We'll do several messages over this text. We'll introduce Stephen this morning. 

But we're going to see that God is going to use persecution to accomplish His will, to send those believers, to scatter those believers throughout the countryside as it were there to preach the gospel. 

So today in our text we see a great man of the faith, Stephen, who will become the first martyr of the church. Last week we saw that Stephen was at the top of the list of those who were chosen by the believers at the direction of the apostles to help serve in the daily distribution to the widows. There were perhaps into the tens of thousands of believers in the church body at this time. And from among them all, they chose Stephen and six others, men who were of good reputation, who were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom in order to serve and oversee these ministries within the church. 

I think from the text we can determine that Stephen must have been quite a guy. That he was picked out immediately from all those thousands. We see again in our text, his faithfulness, zeal, knowledge, and courage. And we also see what comes for Stephen as he stands boldly for the gospel and for the glory of God and is a witness for Jesus Christ. 

This historical account, this amazing story, as I said, extends all the way down to the end of chapter 7 as we see Stephen's testimony before the Jews and his tremendous recounting of the Old Testament history, the history of Israel, culminating in the proclamation that Jesus is the Christ, the one whom they murdered. 

This is the same message we saw Peter preach again and again in his opportunities before the council, before the Jewish leaders. He said over and over, "You killed Him and God raised Him up. Jesus is the Messiah." And we saw how perturbed this made the leaders of Israel. But up to this point, they had only threatened them, beaten them, jailed them. But in the case of Stephen, we will see that their rage against Jesus and His witnesses consumes them. 

They take Stephen outside the city and stone him to death because of his witness. We'll begin at verse 8 in chapter 6. Chapter 6, verse 8, it says, "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people." 

Then there arose some from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 

Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 

They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel."

I've given you four points on your outline for our text. First, we're going to see full of faith and power. Second, we'll see futile reasoning. Third, fuming hatred. And fourth, filled with glory. 

Well, first in our text, we see that this man, this faithful witness of Jesus, was filled with faith and power. As we've seen many times in our studies in the book of Acts and elsewhere, the idea of being filled or being full of indicates control. It is to be controlled by something. We will see that the Jews in this situation are going to become filled with wrath. They were consumed, controlled by the wrath that filled their hearts, and thus they acted in hatred towards Stephen and killed him. 

We've seen every time that the believers are filled with the Spirit, what happens? It says they are filled with the Spirit, and then they speak. They proclaim the glory and praises of God, preaching the gospel of Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians to not be filled with wine. 

Have you ever seen someone who is filled with wine? I see this quite often on Silver Street and Hurling. The alcohol controls, dictates their outward behavior. You might see them swerving down the sidewalk as they go their way, or their speech might be slurred, or there might be erratic behavior or outbursts of anger. They are filled with wine. They are influenced. They are controlled by it, and thus it dictates their outward actions. 

But those who are filled with the Spirit, they speak the truth in love. And that is the command to us, to continually be being filled with the Spirit, moment by moment by faith. This is distinct from being indwelled by the Spirit. Every believer has the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling him. Romans 8:9 says, "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." We are always indwelled by the Spirit, but we are not always filled or controlled by the Spirit. And this is something we must continually choose to do. 

Be being filled, allowing the Holy Spirit to dictate, control our outward actions and produce fruit through us, as we simply abide in Jesus Christ and believe Him and trust Him. Verse 8 tells us that this was true of Stephen. He was a man full of faith and power. Power by the Holy Spirit indwelling him. He was continually controlled by the Spirit and faith, and as a result, power was the hallmark of his testimony in his life. 

Your translation may say full of grace rather than full of faith. And this may be a better translation for Stephen. He seemed to be a man who was filled with grace toward others. Notice the verse says that the result was that he exercised great signs and wonders among the people. 

I think this is an interesting phrase. His ministry, his work was among, it was toward the people. Remember, he was chosen to minister to the needs of the people, to oversee that ministry. And he was among the people. He was preaching and teaching, I'm sure, as well as ministering to their needs with power. The power of the Holy Spirit working through him by faith. 

So by all accounts, Stephen had a wonderful, powerful ministry and a good testimony among the people. When the apostles asked the people to choose seven men of good reputation and who were full of the Holy Spirit, out of the thousands, the people chose Stephen at the top of the list. It was quite a testimony for him. 

So we see that this man was full of faith and power, of grace and love toward the brethren, and that he was mighty in works as well. And these truths set him up as a target for Satan, as always is the case. If a man, a ministry is truly full of grace and faith and power of the Holy Spirit being effective for the cause of Christ, you can bet Satan will come at that man and attack that man, as will the sons of Satan, particularly the religious leaders around him. 

Well, next we see something really interesting, and that is futile reasoning in verse 9 of our text. It says, "Then there arose from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen." It means that they had a debate. The word disputing means a fair debate. They were disputing, debating with Stephen, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 

You know, as much as things change, so many things stay the same. Did you know that there were at least 480 synagogues in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus and the apostles? Lots of churches in that town, much like today. And these synagogues were divided into groups, as we see here in verse 9. The freedmen were those Jews who had previously been taken into slavery in Rome and later had been set free. They're also called libertines. It's likely that either the present members or the founders of these synagogues were men taken captive by Pompey in 63 B.C. and made slaves of Rome and were later made free.

The important thing that we see here is that all of these groups mentioned in verse 9 were composed of foreign, most likely Greek-speaking Jews. The Hellenists, as we saw last week. The foreign groups would maintain a synagogue within Jerusalem so that when they would come to town for the feast, they would have a place to gather and to worship. And a synagogue only required ten men to be formed. 

So it's similar to the two Baptists today who walk along and one says to the other, "I'm not sure about anyone here except you and me, and I'm really not sure about you." Or the saying that wherever you have two Baptists, you'll have three opinions, right? The synagogues were divided up very often by the culture and the language or the preferences of those who composed them. 

And we see here that these different groups, Hellenist Jews from the outlying areas, each had their own place of meeting. However, they came together for one purpose. And that purpose was to refute this powerful, effective witness of Jesus Christ, the man Stephen. 

One of the regions from which these Jews came to the synagogue in Jerusalem was Cilicia. The major city of this region was a place called Tarsus. And there was a man mentioned soon in Acts 7 who was from the city of Tarsus. He was present at this debate in the subsequent trial and stoning of Stephen. Knowing what we know about Saul of Tarsus, I think it's likely that he was a premier figure in the synagogue and certainly would have likely been a man chosen to represent this synagogue in this debate with Stephen. He would have been a man to stand up and argue his point of view. 

So it's very possible, although we don't know, that what we have in this fair debate, as the word disputing indicates in verse 9, is the man Saul along with the others debating with Stephen from the Old Testament Scriptures about Jesus being the Christ. Here was the great Saul of Tarsus, student of Gamaliel, along with the other great minds of Hellenist Judaism, standing against the one man Stephen in a debate about the Holy Scriptures. This must have been an amazing event. 

But the most amazing thing is found in verse 10. It says, "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke." Stephen apparently clearly wins this debate. The great minds of Judaism could not handle him filled with the Holy Spirit. No matter how learned a man is, no matter how intellectually profound and articulate he is, if he does not know Jesus, if he does not have the Holy Spirit, then the Bible says he is a fool. And he's no match for simple truth. 

I was thinking about this the other day and how the great minds and thinkers of the world get everything wrong. Because they operate on one simple misconception of humanism. And that is that man is basically good. Do you see and hear the great minds of the world in total confusion about the things like the recent school shootings? They wax eloquent with nonsense, trying to explain how these things could possibly happen. They make no sense at all because they are operating from a false premise. 

When you understand the biblical truth that man is basically evil, then the world makes a lot more sense. And the solutions that you come to make a lot more sense as well. If the heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, the only true answer is a new heart. And that regeneration can only come through faith in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross in our place for our sins. 

And this speaks to what we should be about in this world as well, my friends. But it's absolutely fascinating to ponder what this debate must have been like as the likes of Saul of Tarsus, supposed expert in the Scripture, stood against Stephen. And because these Jews missed the absolute essential premise that the Scriptures were all about Jesus, they missed the meaning as well at every turn. 

But Stephen had the truth. And he had understanding. And he had the power of the Holy Spirit on his side, as we do, my friends. Let me ask you, would you be afraid to stand against the likes of a Stephen Hawking today? Let me tell you, he is a fool. And you have the truth. You have the simple truth of the Gospel, the answer to every man's problem. You have the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid to speak, to answer the hard questions with truth, to tell men the only answer, which is Jesus. 

Because the fact is, they cannot resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which we speak the truth in love. And this was true for Stephen as well, even against perhaps the great Saul of Tarsus. As I studied verse 10, I wondered if there shouldn't be a small s on the word Spirit. It may be speaking of the Holy Spirit, but it seems better to me to see this as the Spirit with which Stephen spoke. It says he had wisdom, that being the ability to apply knowledge in his arguments. But it also says the Spirit with which he spoke. 

It already said above that he was filled with faith and power, the power of the Holy Spirit. But I think it's better here to understand that he spoke with a spirit of love and gentleness and proper motive, attitude and tone. This is so important for us to understand when we speak, when we witness, when we preach, whenever we are making an argument for the gospel. 

And it is important to the context of chapter 7 because the accusations that will come, how he spoke what he spoke, becomes very important. They will say he spoke against Moses and claim that Jesus would destroy this place. It may even have been that Stephen said what they said he said. Yet the text says they were false witnesses because of how they said that he said what he said. 

He did not speak against Moses or the law or the temple or Israel. He spoke of a loving witness of Christ and he as a fulfillment of all these things. He gave testimony to Jesus as the answer to the prayers of Israel of the fulfillment of the law and the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He spoke positively and with love, not against or in derision of the law or Moses or anything else. What an important lesson for us. 

We must speak the truth. We must point out error when necessary. But we need to do it in love and in a positive way in that we offer salvation in Jesus Christ as the great alternative to religion and self-righteousness. 

So we see the man Stephen full of faith, full of power. And we see the futile arguments of the religious men against the truth. And next in our text, we see fuming hatred for Jesus Christ. They could not resist Stephen and his arguments of truth spoken in love, of the gospel. They had no answer. They had no way of accusing him of speaking falsely. And yet they did not believe. They did not concede. Although Stephen had clearly won the debate. 

Rather, they reacted in fuming hatred for the truth. Look at verse 11. It says, "Then they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.'" And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 

They also set up, that is bribed, false witnesses to say, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law." For we have heard him say, "This Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." They could not win the debate. They could not argue the merits of their case because according to the Scriptures, their case had no merit. 

It's much like the politics of our day. If you cannot defend your position on the issues, then you just attack the man personally. And that's what they did with Stephen. In fact, it says that they hired, they bribed false witnesses to come forward against Stephen. Does that remind you of anyone else? This is exactly what they did to Jesus. They had no case, no crime, even against our Lord. There was no indictment. There was no real charge against Him. And they had to break every one of their own laws in how a charge was to be brought, how the trial was to take place, how the execution was to proceed in order to accomplish their true goal of murdering Jesus, the Christ. 

It's the same here with Stephen. They could not resist him. They could not argue against him. There was no true accusation that would stick against Stephen. So they bribed some witnesses to come forward and say that Stephen spoke blasphemous words against Moses and against God. And the leaders stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, came upon Stephen and they seized him. They arrested him violently and brought him to the council. 

And they also set up, that is bribed, false witnesses to say that this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words. This charge is interesting because it is likely that what they said he said was exactly what he said. But it says they were false witnesses. 

What would Stephen have been preaching? What would his contention have been in the debate with the Hellenist Jews? It would have been about Jesus being the Christ. And the fact that the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to Christ and that He fulfilled all these things and He brought in the new covenant which Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesied about. 

This was the end of the Old Covenant law of Moses. Jesus ended the Old Covenant by instituting the new covenant in His blood in Luke 22. And He sealed that new covenant in His blood on the cross. Bringing in those promises of Jeremiah and Ezekiel of regeneration, a new heart and a new spirit. The profound and powerful life-transforming truth of our identification with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection to newness of life that we see in passages like 2 Corinthians 5 and Romans 6. 

These are the types of things that Stephen would have been explaining to the Jews in his preaching and teaching and debating. That the law was given to show us our sin. To lead us to faith in Christ. To explain our need. Not for us to keep to earn our righteousness, but to show us our total inability to save ourselves and our need for Jesus. 

And now that Christ has come and we have come to faith in Him, we are no longer under the law. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. These are the truths that Stephen would have been preaching and that would have so upset the Jews. 

So there is some truth to their accusations that the law was now obsolete and vanishing away. That Jesus was the end of the law covenant and so forth. But it was not true that Stephen had blasphemed God or Moses. But rather that he was clearly, systematically explaining the purpose and intent of the law of God and how Jesus fulfilled it. 

And they could not resist, refute what he said in any way, shape, or form because what he said was precisely true according to the Scriptures. Let me give you a contemporary example of what I think is important for us to understand in this. I hear quite often the idea in evangelical preaching that the law of Moses is still binding on the believer as a rule of life. And that we need the law to tell us what is right and what is wrong. 

And I, like Stephen and Paul, have no desire whatsoever to speak against the law, but rather to understand it for God's purpose and intent in giving it. And what the Scriptures say about the believer's relationship to it. We are currently studying through the book of Galatians on Thursday nights. We're into chapter 4 and have spent a good deal of time seeing Paul's arguments develop against the false teaching of the Judaizers who said that the law of Moses was necessary for salvation. That one must keep it and be circumcised and so forth in order to be saved. 

And we've also seen Paul's great concern for the Galatian believers who were being led astray and enticed to put themselves under the law as a rule of life. As a means of sanctification. This is so important for us to understand. Paul's concern in Galatians is not so much that the Judaizers were teaching false doctrine. He addresses that and he calls them out. But his real concern is for the believers to whom he writes and what effect this teaching is having on their understanding of the Christian life as well as the message they were preaching. 

His message in Galatians is that justification is by grace through faith and that sanctification is by grace through faith as well. I'd like for you to just look at a passage in Galatians 2. Chapter 2, verse 18. Galatians 2:18, this is Paul's testimony. He says, "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." 

Look at chapter 3, verse 1. "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" 

Paul makes the doctrine of justification clear in verse 16 of chapter 2, but then he moves into the realm of sanctification in the following verses. He says, "the life that I now live." He says, "having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" This is sanctification. This is how we live the Christian life. 

Now, many teachers say that the law that Paul refers to in Galatians is the ceremonial law of Moses or the civil law. But the moral law is still in effect for the believer and that we must live by it. I just want to show you that the arguments don't change much over a couple thousand years. But what law is Paul talking about? Notice at the end of chapter 2, he says, "I through the law died to the law that I might live to God." What law is this? 

Now, I want you to stay with me here. Turn to Romans 7 at verse 5. Romans 7:5. Paul says, "I through the law died to the law." In Romans 7, he's talking about the believer's death to the law. In verse 5, he says, "for when we were in the flesh, that is, when we were lost, when we were in Adam, when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now, we have been delivered from the law having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." 

Mark that, my friends. We serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Look at verse 7. "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law." 

What law, Paul? "For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'you shall not covet.' But sin taking opportunity by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire for apart from the law, sin was dead. Look at what Paul says. "I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death." 

Paul thought that he was supposed to gain his own righteousness and gain eternal life by keeping the Ten Commandments. But what he found through the moral law was that he was a sinner. That the sin that dwelt in him controlled him and dominated him and thus it killed him and he came to this understanding through the moral law of Moses. 

One more Scripture for you. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 2. 2 Corinthians 3:2. Paul says, "of the believers in Corinth, you are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God." Look what he says, "not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." 

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 

Stay there. Do you see the clarity of Paul's words? He ties all this together. Not the letter, not the law of Moses, all of the law of Moses, including the moral law, engraved on tablets of stone. Not by the letter, Paul says, which kills, but by the Spirit. The same truth we saw in Romans 7, 6. 

Now look at verse 7, 2 Corinthians 3, 7. "But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation," he's talking about the law, "had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory." 

Paul states clearly that the moral law of God was given for the very purpose of showing us the truth and power and tremendous problem of indwelling sin in the man and Adam. It is the moral law which condemns us, which brings death, showing us the true villain, which is indwelling sin. And through this process of showing us our sin leads us to faith in Christ. 

But after faith has come, we are no longer under the tutor. My friends, God has a new way in the new covenant. Not an external commandment that gives us no power to keep it, but an internal recreation and the power of the Holy Spirit living in us to allow us to live in consistency outwardly with who we are inwardly as we abide in Him by faith. 

You see, if we try to live by the moral law of God, we will see fruitlessness, sin and despair. But if we live by faith, by God's grace, by the Spirit, then we will see abundant life and fruit for the glory of God. These truths are absolutely essential for us to understand if we are going to understand the essence of the Christian life, which is by grace through faith abiding in Him. 

The law is a reflection of the character and nature of God. And as much as we are conformed to the likeness of Christ, we will outwardly live in consistency with the law of God. We will not be liars and murderers and coveting. But the point of what we've seen in Galatians and 2nd Corinthians and Romans is that this life of abundant fruit and conformity to Christ does not come by the law, nor is it aided by the law or assisted by the law or anything else to do with the law. 

Because we live now not by the letter, but by the Spirit, by grace through faith. I say all of that because it's vitally important for us to understand, but also because it's the same discussion that Stephen was having, the same debate he was having, and that Paul would later have, and that believers have been having with all those who would like to put the law of Moses in effect as a rule of life in the New Covenant. 

And so they brought this accusation against Stephen in our text, even though he was not against the law, nor did he blaspheme God in any way. But rather, he was just teaching and preaching the truth of the New Covenant in Jesus' blood, the same as we do today. 

Now, we have just one detail to tie back into the entirety of our discussion this morning, and that is Stephen's face filled with glory. Look at verse 15. "And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel." 

This is quite fascinating in light of the discussion, the debate, as well as the accusations concerning Stephen's treatment of the law and New Covenant brought by the blood of Christ. When they brought him before the council, when they bribed false witnesses against him, when they accused him of blaspheming God, they all looked at him. And guess what? He had glory all over his face. 

Does that remind you of one other guy who had glory on his face? We read it earlier in 2 Corinthians 3. It was none other than Moses. The one who brought the law covenant down from God. He received it from angels. God showed them that the law was from Him, that Moses had met with God directly by letting some of His glory get on the face of Moses. 

And here we have Stephen debating old and new covenant with the legalistic Jews. We have him holding up Jesus as the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets and all that the Jews held dear and hoped for and prayed for. And what do we see? Glory on the face of Stephen. What a proof this was. What an indictment against these men and what affirmation from God. 

And so they all repented and fell on their knees and confessed Jesus as Christ and begged Stephen to explain it to them more clearly. No. He had the face of an angel before them. They couldn't withstand his testimony. They couldn't beat him in the debate. They couldn't refute anything he said. And we'll see after the truth testimony that he will give in chapter 7 that they gnashed at him with their teeth. They ran at him with one accord. They took him outside the city. They laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul and they stoned him to death. They killed him for his testimony to the truth concerning Jesus Christ. 

What we are going to see, my brothers and sisters, as we continue our study of Stephen and his martyrdom in Acts 7, is that persecution has a purpose. It is within the sovereign plan of God. 1 Corinthians 1:29 says it has been granted unto you not only to believe on Jesus, but to suffer for His sake. In this particular time, where great persecution breaks out across Jerusalem against the believers, it's going to serve the purpose of scattering God's people out into Samaria and to the ends of the earth to bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every creature. 

This persecution has a purpose in the sovereign plan of God. We can trust Him, my friends, in everything. In everything. We can trust Him. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful that You've recorded these historical events in the life of the early church for our learning, for our understanding, for our encouragement. Thank You that You continue to be faithful and to work in our lives by grace through faith. And thank You that You have a purpose in every moment, every day of life for us as we just trust You and obey You. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.