Hopes & Fears

Tonight, we're starting a two-week series called Hopes and Fears, and I'll explain what that means in just a minute. We've been walking, we had walked through Genesis 1 through the first part of 11 this semester.

I want to do a couple of Christmas-themed messages to end out our year and prepare our hearts for Christmas in these two weeks. In the opening line of Charles Dickens' classic, A Tale of Two Cities, he says, It was the best of times.

It was the worst of times. And he's describing the life of this city, how it seems contradictory to say it was the best of times and the worst of times, but really it was no contradiction at all.

And Christmas is a very similar time of year. Christmas is a time of great joy and also a time of great sorrow.

It's a time of great joy in giving and receiving gifts. Christmas is a time of great sorrow as maybe it's the first Christmas without grandpa. It's a time of merriment and fellowship and love.

It's also a time of deep loneliness as it could be the first Christmas this year after the divorce. Christmas is marked by love and joy and hope.

Christmas is also marked by sorrow and fear and loneliness. It is the best of times and it is the worst of times.

And that's not just true of Christmas nowadays. That's not just true of this Christmas coming up. That's been true of Christmas ever since it existed. That was even true of the very first Christmas that there ever was.

Marked by great hope and simultaneously great fear. The Jews were trusting that God would send the Redeemer. They were trusting that God would keep His promise to send the Messiah.

And that brought them great hope. But how long would it delay? Had God forgotten altogether what He had promised? Had the Jews been too sinful for God to keep His promise to them?

Would He remember them even in their sin and send the Messiah? And so we'll be looking at hopes and fears these next two weeks.

There's great hope surrounding the birth of the Messiah. It's the hope of God keeping His promise that He had made even after the Garden of Eden. That there would be someone coming from woman who would crush the serpent's head.

And that same promise also induced fear and anxiety in the people as they wondered if they had been too sinful to forfeit God's promise. And there have been times of great anxiety when they thought the promise would be impossible to even be fulfilled, even if God hadn't forgotten.

You think back to when the Israelites were in Egypt and Pharaoh was killing all the baby boys. How would he send a deliverer? And you think even later in the Old Testament where the Davidic line, the line which God had promised to bring a Redeemer from, was narrowed down to one baby boy.

And now, in Jesus' day, Herod is once again killing all of these baby boys, trying to exterminate this deliverer. Will God be faithful to His word?

And our title comes from the Christmas song. You're probably familiar with it. O little town of Bethlehem. I'll read the first verse to you. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. And the author, Phillips Brooks, is looking over this town of Bethlehem, thinking this is just a normal night, and yet the light of the world is shining from a stable.

And he says this about that moment. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. All of these hopes, all of these anxious moments, all of these fears are met and satisfied and fulfilled in this one night in Bethlehem as the Savior is born.

And so tonight, I'll look at hopes, what hope the Christmas story brings us. Next week, we're going to look at one particular fear that many of us struggle with, and that's anxiety.

How is it that the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of the Son of God, brings us hope and satisfies all of our fears, particularly looking at anxiety next week.

But we'll look at three points tonight. We'll see the birth of Christ, the purpose for the birth of Christ, and the results of the birth of Christ. So firstly, the birth of Christ. And you can go with me to Matthew chapter 1.

So if you brought your Bible, which I encourage you to do, flip to Matthew chapter 1 with me. We'll just be in one passage tonight, so I'd prepare to turn in your Bibles.

We'll be in Matthew 1 and 2, Luke 1 and 2, and also John 1. So we'll be in those three areas of your Bible if you want to mark them now or just be ready to turn there. But Matthew is telling the story, and he's telling the story from a particular angle.

He tells us of how the birth of Christ took place. And he focuses in particularly on one element of that. He focuses on the coming of Christ as the fulfillment of Scripture, as the fulfillment of what God has promised to his people.

God's people have been waiting for this moment for centuries. They've been waiting even for thousands of years for this promise to come to fruition, and Matthew shows its fulfillment and shows how it fulfills Scripture in particular.

So I want to read, picking up in Matthew chapter 1, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. And so as you saw in verse 23, Matthew quotes an Old Testament passage in particular showing the birth of Christ fulfills it.

What he quoted was Isaiah chapter 7, showing that Jesus' birth is what Isaiah predicted. If we were to read through chapter 2, you can just glance at it with me. Wise men come from the east, and they're following a star that they saw rise out of Israel.

And Numbers 24 says, there's a star rising out of Jacob to rule the nations. You look at chapter 2, verse 6, a quote from Micah 5.2, saying the Messiah would be born from Bethlehem in particular.

In verse 11, these wise men who came from the east, these kingly figures, fell down and worshipped Christ. God had promised that the ends of the earth would worship the Messiah, his son.

And then not only did Jesus fulfill prophecy in his birth, but even in his early childhood years, his family had to flee to Egypt because Herod was trying to kill all the baby boys. And they came back out of Egypt, fulfilling Hosea 11.1, which says, out of Egypt I called my son.

In verse 18, there's a quote from Jeremiah. And so Matthew is trying to show that all of Jesus' life, even in these early years, fulfilled the promises of Scripture.

And what's significant about that is this was all really before Jesus had the power to make decisions on his own. He was a baby boy. He was a toddler when these things were happening, and yet they're fulfilling Scripture precisely.

So I want to go back to chapter one, and we'll kind of zoom in on this in more detail. So Joseph is betrothed or engaged to Mary, so they were legally married, but they hadn't come together after the wedding ceremony yet, and so they were kind of like engaged, would be an analogy in our world today.

And Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. And the way the text tells it, the way Matthew details the story, it seems like Joseph just finds out secondhand. It doesn't seem like he heard this from Mary.

It says Mary was found to be with child, and we know that she moved off to live with Elizabeth for a few months of her pregnancy. And so Joseph just hears this news, doesn't consult with Mary because he doesn't know the details of how this happened.

all he knows is that the baby is not his. So he's pondering, how am I going to handle this? How am I going to relate to Mary? How am I going to handle our relationship moving forward?

How am I going to end this? And he receives an angelic visitation during sleep, and the angel tells him what has taken place. This is the destiny of Jesus.

This is why Jesus came. He came to save his people, and that's what his name means. His name means Yahweh saves. His name is literally Joshua.

Yahweh saves. Yahweh saves. And that's exactly what Jesus has come to do. And when we think about the parallel or the connection to Joshua, what was Joshua's role supposed to be?

He was to take over the leading Israel and take them to the promised land, to lead them into rest. And that never took place.

He took them to the promised land, but they didn't experience the fullness of the rest of God yet. They didn't experience the fullness of God's Sabbath rest. This was fulfilled in Christ.

This was fulfilled in the true Joshua. This Joshua, this Jesus, would provide true rest. And he says that in Matthew 11, 28, all who are weary and heavy laden, come to me, and I will give you rest.

Jesus has come to provide rest for his people. Rest from your labor. Rest from your trying to earn God's righteousness. He has come to provide rest.

And Augustine is the church father. And he wrote a long time ago that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.

And so Augustine was saying that we are created to find rest in Jesus. We are created for the Savior. And regardless of what we do, regardless of what we try to find satisfaction in, regardless of what we do for entertainment or what we spend our money on, we will not be satisfied until we kneel before this king and worship him.

He alone can give rest. He alone provides hope. He alone is what we were created for. And he quotes Isaiah 7, 14.

This is fulfilling what the prophet said. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. And he translates or interprets that name, which means God with us.

The hopes of all the ages, the anticipation of all of God's promises were fulfilled, and this baby boy, God kept his promises.

Now he says that God, his name is God with us. And this was always the hope of God's people. God's hope, or God's people's hope was always that God would be with them.

At one point, after the Exodus, God told Moses, hey, you guys go to the promised land. I will not be with you. And Moses said, Lord, if you aren't going to be with us, let us stay here in the wilderness.

He wanted God to be with them. And if you remember Psalm 23, he says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, because you are with me.

This was always the hope of God's people, but this would be true in a new way. This would be true in a more full way in Jesus. And we'll look at that momentarily, but let's go to Luke chapter 2.

Flip with me to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Luke also gives us the birth narrative of Jesus.

He also tells us this story. He emphasizes different details. He tells it from a different angle, but the stories don't contradict each other. They complement each other perfectly.

And so Jesus is born. You see in chapter 2, verse 7, she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there's no place for them in the inn.

Verse 8. In the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear.

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

And what's interesting is the way Luke tells the story is there's two different decrees going on at the same time. At the beginning of chapter 2 there's a decree from the Roman power saying everyone go back to your hometown, get registered there.

Why? So you can pay taxes. So we can know who's in our cities, we can know how populous our kingdom is, and you can pay your taxes accurately.

You can give us more money. This is the decree that comes from the Roman government. Give us more power, let us know how many people we have. What's the decree that goes out from heaven?

I have given you my son. My son is your savior. And look at the language of verse 11. This announcement isn't made to the powerful, this announcement isn't made to the elite or the educated, it's made to shepherds.

And verse 11 says, for unto you. These shepherds weren't the parents, and yet Jesus was born to them.

And typically with a birth announcement you announce who the parents are. So back in the day there used to be this thing called newspapers that would like go out in the mail, in your mailbox. Not really, they would get thrown on your porch.

But so they would, you could give birth announcements in the paper and it would say so and so was born to, and it would list the parents' names. This is a very different birth announcement.

The angels are announcing to them, this savior is born to you shepherds. He's born to you guys who are outcasts.

And we can't romanticize the shepherds and their jobs. Like you watch a Christmas movie or something and it's like the shepherds are so cute and clean and they're happy.

not an accurate picture at all. They were dirty, stinky, poor, outcasts. They were just like basically always middle school guys at Falls Creek.

Like just nothing was going well for them in terms of smells. But the angels appear to them and say, Jesus is born for you.

And this will be the sign for you. Now what would be the sign that Jesus was born for shepherds?

He's laying with the animals. You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. This was the sign that Jesus was born for people like the shepherds.

He was laid with the animals. The star in the sky was a sign for kings and those who were powerful and educated and knew things like that. But this was the sign for shepherds.

This is the good news of Christmas that Christ was born for us. Christ was born for you. We just sang that in the song we sung that Christ is born for you.

Christ has come to bring salvation to his people. Christ has come to deliver us from our fears. Christ has come to deliver us from our sin. And this is how Mary interpreted it too in chapter 1 verse 49 after she receives this announcement that she'll become pregnant with the Son of God.

Verse 49 says Mary worships God and says for he who is mighty has done great things for me. Her Savior would be her son.

And we need to be careful with this because Christ was born for us but we can't just go too far with this and say so therefore you don't have to repent. You don't have to do anything. You're just accepted as you are.

I was driving by a church just this morning that had a huge sign out and it's got like a rainbow background and it says God is for you. Okay, so we need to be careful.

What they're saying is whatever you do God is happy with you. However you live your life God is delighted in you. Is that what the angels are telling the shepherds?

No, they're telling them this is the sacrifice that will bring you hope. This is the Messiah who will set you free. He is born for you but you must come to him.

You must worship him. You must bow to him and follow him. And I mentioned earlier that God was with his people but now in Jesus he would be with them in a new way.

So what does it mean for Jesus to be Emmanuel? What does it mean for God to be with us? Let's go now to John chapter 1. Turn more to your right. John is the last gospel written chronologically and so all three of the previous gospels have been written by the time John puts pen to paper.

And his gospel is perhaps the most theological of the gospels. He is explaining to us how Jesus is God. And we see that in even the opening words of his book.

He doesn't give us a birth announcement. He doesn't give us the birth narrative. He is explaining theologically what took place when Christ came to the earth. chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word.

And the word was with God and the word was God. This sounds just like Genesis 1 1 in the beginning but John says was the word and it's kind of weird to describe a person as the word but what he is saying is that Jesus the son of God was there with God the father in the beginning and they created all things.

He's picturing the son of God as the word that the father spoke when he said let there be light. This son was the word. He was with God and he is God.

Verse 2 he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him that is through the word and without him was not anything made that was made. Verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth.

The word became flesh. This is what we call the incarnation the taking on of flesh by the son of God and so we see that God is not just with them in a spiritual sense but that the son of God took on physical humanity.

He became a man and dwelt among us and that word dwelt is the same exact word used of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. This is God's presence dwelling with his people through his son Jesus Christ.

Look at what he says next. We have seen his glory. Moses was able to go into the tabernacle and talk with God.

Was Moses allowed to see God's glory? No. And yet here when Jesus takes on flesh and comes to dwell with us they see him face to face.

They see his glory on full display. And as we read John's gospel the way his glory is put on display is when he's on the cross.

Jesus will go on to say in this gospel now is the son of man glorified when he's talking about his death. Verse 16 for from his fullness we've all received grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God the only God who is at the Father's side. He has made him known.

And so John is saying no one has ever seen God but the only God who's at the Father's side has made him known. And so what John is saying is that it's through Jesus we see God's glory.

It is through Jesus we know who God is. It is through Jesus we see the glory of God put on full display and we do not have to flee away. The disciples could look into Jesus' eyes and they were welcomed in his presence.

John saw Jesus die on the cross, saw his glory, and knew who the Father was through that revelation. Jesus was truly God and truly man.

As God he never changed. As man he changed daily. Okay so as God he never changed.

God cannot change. but as man Jesus grew in form and stature. Jesus would learn things in his humanity. As God he knew all things in his humanity.

He had to learn and memorize and understand the scriptures and this leads us to some delicious paradoxes. I think we should use the word delicious more often so I'm trying to set an example for you.

Delicious paradoxes. Okay first of all someone who is good at middle school English what is a paradox? Someone tell me. Anyone know? Okay here we got a hand over here. Oh here we go.

Actual more recent middle schooler. That is. Something that contradicts itself. Close. Close. Colby you got an answer?

Okay so a paradox is something that seems I guess you guys failed middle school English. That's okay. I'll help you. I'll help you. A paradox is something that seems contradictory but actually isn't.

Okay does that make sense? So alright stick with me. So I'll give you an example if I can think of one. So a paradox would be the cold air burned my face.

That seems contradictory right? Because burning is something that's usually associated with heat but the cold air burned your face. If you've had wind burn you understand it. But there are some Christological paradoxes when we think about Jesus never ceasing to be who he was but becoming what he was not.

He never stopped being God but he became man. So as we think about this the maker of all things was made.

the one who created all things was created in his mother's womb. The one who sustains all things by the word of his power Hebrews 1 3 was sustained by his mother's body.

The giver and creator of heat was kept warm in these blankets. The one who spoke in the beginning had not yet begun to speak his first word.

The one whom heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain was laid in a trough. The one who knew all things still had so much to learn.

The one to whom all glory is due was born in a barn and seen by shepherds. He never stopped being what he was but he took on flesh for us.

In his deity he knew everything. In his humanity he had to learn. In his deity he was unchanging. In his humanity he changed a lot especially in his younger years.

In his deity he never slept. In his humanity he got tired and fell asleep. In his deity he needed nothing. He never needed to eat food. He never experienced hunger.

In his humanity he was hungry every day. How unspeakably strange these things are. How divine.

How hopeful it is for us. This Jesus came for us. He came for tax collectors and sinners. He came to Gentiles and shepherds and we see Gentiles and shepherds there at his birth.

He came for people like us. He came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19 10 says he came for us. Why?

So secondly we see the purpose of the birth of Christ. The purpose of the birth of Christ. Why was Jesus born?

He was born to die. And that seems strange to think about someone being born in order to die and yet that's exactly why Christ came.

And you might know the name Johann Sebastian Bach. Oh, all the band people just like snapped to attention. That was so cool. So he was a musical genius kind of like myself.

No, not really at all. So he wrote a number of songs and concerts, I guess you call them, but there was one in particular that was a Christmas themed concert or oratorio to use my musical language.

But he wrote this Christmas concert and he took the words of a Christmas song singing about the birth of Christ and set them to the tune of a song that was about his death.

It took the words of the song that were joyful and triumphant and hopeful and played them in this minor key to the tune of something that contemplated his death. Bach understood why Jesus was born.

He knew that even in this cradle he had the cross in mind. He came to die. And we see this in Luke 2. If you want to go back with me to Luke chapter 2.

There were several people who came to see Jesus and saw him in the first few days. One of my favorites is what we're about to read, the story of Simeon. Simeon had received revelation from the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah with his own eyes.

And so Simeon was an old man. He was in the temple. He was led by the Spirit to the temple. On the same day that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple, verse 28 says of Luke 2, Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, strange statement this is, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel.

And for a sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

Simeon was telling Mary, this baby boy was born to die. And when he dies, the tip of the sword will pierce your soul as well.

But this is why Jesus was born. In Isaiah 7, when it predicts that the virgin will conceive and bear a son, Isaiah's prophecy later goes on in chapter 53 to say that this son would grow up and would die bearing sins that were not his.

He would be like a lamb led to the slaughter, even though there was no sin found on his lips or in his heart or sins that he had committed, he would die for them. And so as we read these stories of Christmas, this baby boy who was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a borrowed trough would one day be wrapped in grave cloths and laid in a borrowed tomb.

He came to die. Why did he do that? He came to pay for sin and he came to give us life.

He accomplishes both of those things in his death. Romans 5.8 says God shows us his love and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Sin is our greatest problem. It separates us from God like Isaiah 59 says it. It creates a separation between us and our God and Jesus came to pay for sin even though he did not commit sin.

And he came to give us life. John 3.16 says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Verse 17 says for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jesus laid down his life to pay for our sin and to give us life.

He gave us life because he did not stay dead but he rose from the grave ascended on high to the father's side where he had been for all eternity prior to the incarnation.

He came to give us life in the full. Now quickly we see the results of the birth of Christ. The results of the birth of Christ. And we'll do this quickly to wrap up.

What does everyone have in common who came to see Christ after he was born? They went away singing. They encountered Christ and they went away singing.

The wise men came in Matthew 2 and brought him gifts and bowed down before him and worshipped him. Mary was told she would give birth to him and she sang to the Lord and says he who is mighty has done great things for me.

The angels in pronouncing the birth of the newborn Jesus sang and said glory to God in the highest. The shepherds to whom the angels spoke went to see Jesus and walked away singing and praising and glorifying God.

Simeon that we just read about praised God for the birth of Christ. Anna a prophetess who is described just after Simeon in Luke 2 also praises the Lord for his provision in sending Jesus to save his people from their sins.

We learn just from the birth of Jesus that saved people sing. And so maybe you get tired of Christmas music maybe some of it rubs you the wrong way because it's a little bit annoying sometimes especially the ones that are just about presents and stuff but why do we sing so much at Christmas?

Why are there so many Christmas songs? This is the most ancient Christmas tradition. This is what happened on the first Christmas. These people went away singing and praising God for what he had provided.

The results of the birth of Christ, the people sing, the people speak, about Christ and Christ brings salvation and hope to God's people.

I was at the gym this morning and was talking to Luke because Luke and Josie are my role models and they get gains. And so I was talking to Luke and he's like, hey, did you see that girl? She's wearing a shirt that says no one is coming to save you.

I guess I said it really big. I didn't see her but anyway, that's kind of the outlook of our world. They might like the idea of Christmas, they might like the idea of spending time with family or giving gifts or the cold weather or time off work.

As long as you don't talk about Jesus. As long as you don't try to tell them they need to be saved from their sin. That's the outlook of the world in which we live.

But God's people are so filled with hope by the birth of Christ. So friends, do you sing? Do you sing to the Lord?

Do you sing with your heart in it? Do you speak about Christ to others? Do you have hope in Christ's birth? If not, you've not understood the meaning of Christmas and you need to receive this good news.

You need to follow Christ and worship him. Where can you find hope? Where can this lost and dying world find hope? In Jesus.

But where can you find Jesus? You can go this day to Jesus' birthplace, but Jesus is not there. You can go to the place where Jesus was raised, but Jesus is not there.

You can go to the very place where Jesus performed miracles, but he is not there. You can go to Jesus' death place. That's not a word. I'm making it up. Go to his death place, but Jesus is not there.

You can go to his tomb where he, or something like it where he was laid, but he is not there. He is not here because he is risen and so you must seek him where he is.

He is ascended on high to the Father's side where he is praying for sinners daily. He is praying and interceding for us. Will you seek him there?

Will you ask him for mercy? Will you ask him for the forgiveness that was purchased by his nail-pierced hands? Will you walk like his nail-pierced feet did in the perfect will of our perfect God?

Here is the only hope, for here is the only way. Paul says that there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men.

The man, Christ Jesus. This is the significance of Christmas. This is the hope of Christmas. The significance of Christmas is the birth of hope.

The incarnation of hope. And if you understand this meaning, if the Lord has given you ears to hear about this salvation he's provided in his son, sing about him, sing to him, speak about him, speak to him, place your hope in him.

And if you have not yet understood this meaning, ask the Lord to help you understand. Ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins. Because this message is divisive.

Not everyone who heard it followed Jesus. King Herod was threatened by this message. The wise men saw a kingly star rise in the sky and so they went to the palace in Israel.

But the news was news to Herod that a king had been born and he was jealous and sought to kill him. And Herod died in his sins and is in hell to this day.

Because he did not get the message. Repent before it's too late. Worship the king who was born in a manger and who was born in order to die.

Father, we praise you for this salvation. We praise you for sending your son. I pray you would be people who are marked by singing. I pray that we would be people who are marked by an understanding of what you've done for us.

I pray that this Christmas season we wouldn't be lost in a lot of the activities and the events that go on. But that we'd remember you sent your son the king not to the castle, not to be well educated.

You sent him to be born in a small town in a barn. Help us to remember it's through this seemingly insignificant birth that you have saved us from our sins because this boy would grow up to lay down his life for our sins.

I pray for you to understand that message and repent and follow him and it's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.