Converted Heart Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Guest (Female): Welcome to Converted Heart Church. Whether you're joining us for the first time or are a valued member of our community, we're delighted to have you with us today. As we continue to navigate through these challenging times, we believe that every person who enters our virtual doors is guided by the Lord. Though we may be apart physically, we greet you with a smile and embrace you with a virtual hug. On behalf of our pastor, Dr. Darryl, and First Lady Burton, and the entire Converted Heart family, we joyfully welcome you into our spiritual home.

We are Christ-centered, preaching messages of love and hope; community-minded, being aware of the needs of the community; cultivating relationships, partnering with businesses who have the same vision; and caring heart, connecting the heart of God with the heart of the people. Thank you for being with us. We're thrilled to have you here and look forward to sharing this journey of faith and fellowship with you. Please enjoy the service.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Amen. Can we put our hands together and give God some praise? This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We're going to celebrate the Lord this morning, give God our best praise, our best worship on today. I'm happy to see all of you, and I'm grateful that God has sustained us through all last night. He kept us, our sleep and our slumber. He has allowed us to wake up to see the glory and the beauty of this day. And so for that, we give God praise and honor and thanks.

Our call to worship this morning is coming from Psalm 100 on this first Sunday in June, Communion Sunday. And so we are grateful to know that the word of God says, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Somebody say, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good."

How many of y'all can testify that the Lord is good? Hallelujah. The Lord is good and his love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. Amen and amen. I'll ask Reverend Kim to come and lead us in worship this morning as we go higher in this time of praise and worship and get ready for a word from the Lord on today. Let the church say, "Amen."

Reverend Kim: Amen. It is good to be in the house of the Lord this morning. We are always grateful and thankful to God for his faithfulness unto us. I want to truly apologize ahead of time. I added a song to the playlist this morning. Hallelujah. I just heard this song and we all know it, so we're all going to sing, right? We're going to sing this song. It's a very easy song, and you know how we do. We kind of try to lead you in it, but you'll get it.

We lift our hands in the sanctuary. We lift our hands to give you the glory. We lift our hands to give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days. We lift our hands in the sanctuary. We lift our hands to give you the glory. We lift our hands to give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days.

We clap our hands in the sanctuary. We clap our hands to give you the glory. We clap our hands to give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days. We sing our song in the sanctuary. We sing our song to give you the glory. We sing our song to give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days.

Jesus, we give you the praise. Emmanuel, we lift up your name. Heavenly Father, coming Messiah. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days. Hallelujah in the sanctuary. Hallelujah, we give you the glory. Hallelujah, we give you the praise. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days.

Jesus, we give you the praise. Emmanuel, we lift up your name. Heavenly Father, coming Messiah. And we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, we will praise you for the rest of our days. Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days. Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days. Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days. Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For the rest of my days. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes, Lord, for the rest of our days. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We will praise God for the rest of our days. Amen. He deserves all of the praise for the rest of our days. Amen. Hallelujah, God. We thank and praise God for his faithfulness unto us. Amen. God is so faithful and so loving. It is first Sunday, and so we're going to sing a familiar hymn that celebrates the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Reverend Kim: The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power. The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power. For it reaches to the highest mountain, and it flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.

It reaches to the highest mountain, and it flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain, and it flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power. It will never lose its power. Hallelujah. It will never lose its power. It's the power of the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah.

That is one thing that helps us to not worry and not stress when we understand the power of God through the blood of Jesus. And by the Holy Spirit, we can rest and be assured that God is faithful. I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. Have you? I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread. Therefore, I have no need to worry.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: Y'all see what she did? She got y'all ready for next week. Amen. That's a precursor. Come on, let's give Reverend Kim a praise for leading us in worship on this morning. Amen. We thank God for her and we thank God for how God is using her in this ministry at this appointed time. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious Lord God, thank you now as I stand behind the sacred desk to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Simply, Lord God, my prayer is that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be found acceptable unto you. You are my rock and my redeemer.

By the power of God, go now, Lord God, touch every heart within the sound of my voice, those who are sitting in their seats now, those who are in other places near and far. Touch their hearts and open their hearts to hear this word from you. This is your servant's prayer in Jesus' name. Let every heart say, "Amen." Hallelujah. Amen. This is first Sunday, so for those who are watching and wondering why I'm not in a robe, it's because it is hot up here. Can I just be honest? It gets really warm up here, but that doesn't mean that the word won't go forth. It's just a clothing arrangement that I don't have on this Sunday. I'm making some arrangements to work that out.

But I'm grateful that I have this opportunity. This is another worship experience that we have. This is the first Sunday of June, Communion Sunday. I want to thank those again who are watching on our YouTube channel, LightSource.com platform, and listening on OnePlace.com on this morning. Brother Mike on last Sunday, the Lord often does this to me, he said, "You know, you are actually in a sermon series about the Holy Spirit. Why not go and take it further?" So today we're taking it further because the Sunday that we preached Pentecost, I preached about being baptized by the fire. Then on last Sunday, I preached being filled by the Spirit.

So we're going to keep that same theme, if you will, with a sermon series title called "Living in the Power of the Spirit." For the next several Sundays until the Lord says something different, we're going to be living in the power of the Spirit. How many of y'all want to live in the power of the Spirit? Sister Valerie did a wonderful job reciting Galatians chapter five. I can't thank her enough for doing that, because I've been in prayer about how to use her because she says she wants to be used in worship. And so we're working that out, we're navigating that.

I want to read verses 22 to 26 just to give it a little bit more substance to what I'm going to be talking about on today. Verse 22 of the NIV says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Verse 24 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." This is where Sister Val picked up. She said, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

So this morning for this sermon, I'd like to title this sermon with the topic "Becoming Developed by the Spirit." Several years ago, a farmer planted a Chinese bamboo tree. He carefully watered it, fertilized it, and tended to the soil. After the first year, nothing happened. No sprout, no shoot, no evidence of growth. The second year came. He continued to water it, he continued to fertilize it. Nothing. The third year passed. Nothing. The fourth year arrived. Guess what? Still no visible growth.

Most people would have given up by then. Most people would have concluded that the seed was dead and would not bring forth a tree. But the farmer understood something others did not. Sometime around the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly broke through the ground and within weeks grew nearly 90 feet tall. The question is, did the bamboo grow 90 feet in six weeks? No, it grew for five years. For five years, it was developing a root system under the ground that nobody could see. Before it could grow upward, it had to grow downward.

Before it could become visible, it had to become stable. Before it could reach great heights, it had to develop strength beneath the surface. It was being developed underneath the ground. Church, that's how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. We live in a culture that celebrates instant success, instant fame, instant gratification, and overnight transformation. We want God to change us in a weekend. We want patience on Monday, joy on Tuesday, and self-control by Wednesday. But the Spirit often works beneath the surface.

While people are looking for gifts, God may be growing fruit. While people are looking for platforms, God may be developing character. While people are looking for promotions, God may be strengthening the root. The Holy Spirit is not merely interested in making us look spiritual; he is committed to making us be more like Christ. That's called a period of time underneath the surface, a development process. The goal of spiritual development is not to become a better version of ourselves; the goal is to become a better reflection of Jesus Christ.

It's not to make you a better person or a better version of who you are; it's to make you become a better reflection of Christ because when you leave out of these doors and go out into the world, do people see Christ in you or do they see something else? That's why Paul does not call it works of the Spirit; he calls it fruit of the Spirit. Notice Paul does not say fruits with an S on the end. He says fruit. Fruit is a singular because the fruit is producing one Christ-like life that manifests itself in many different ways. Love is a fruit. Joy is a fruit. Peace is a fruit. Patience is a fruit.

The Spirit is developing the whole person. Fruit takes time. It takes time to nurture. Fruit develops gradually. And if you have ever felt frustrated because your growth seems slow, remember this: just because you cannot see what God is doing does not mean that the Spirit is not working. God is working, y'all. God is working even if you don't see it. We sing a song similar to that. We may not see God moving, but he's moving. We may not see God working, but he's working. I don't know what God is doing on the inside of you, and you don't know what God is doing on the inside of me, but he's working.

He's working some things out. He's working on us on the inside, deep down in our hearts. God is working each and every day when we wake up. We are becoming a better version of what we were on the day before. We should be a better version today than what we were on yesterday. But each day we are on this earth, something is happening on the inside of us that makes us more like Christ. I'm talking about believers who are intentional drawing to God through time with God. You've got to be intentional with drawing towards God and spending time with God.

Some of the most important work that God does is happening underground before anybody else can see it. That brings us to the words of Paul in Galatians 5:22-25. It says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." I'm not going to go through each of those on today because that's not my assignment. My assignment is talking about being developed by the Spirit. The Spirit is developing something inside of you. The question is not whether he is working; the question is whether you are allowing him to complete the work in you.

And if you are not allowing the Lord to complete his work, then the thing that we must ask ourselves is why? Why are we not allowing the Lord to do what he wants to do in us and through us and for us? Don't you want to be the best version of yourself operating in this world? As we go further into the text, let me ask why Paul felt the need to talk to this congregation in this way. The Apostle Paul wrote Galatians to a church in the region of Galatia after false teachers had entered the church. The teachers, often called Judaizers, were telling Gentile Christians that faith in Christ is good, but it's not enough.

They taught that believers must also do certain parts of the Mosaic law, especially circumcision, to truly be accepted by God. Paul was alarmed because the teachings attacked the very heart of the gospel. You don't have to turn there, but in chapter three, verse one of Galatians, Paul asked this question to the church: "You foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." He goes on to say, "Did you not receive the Spirit by observing the law or by what you heard?"

See, the Greek word "bewitched" refers to a person under a spell, a person who has been charmed or deceived through some influence, a person who is misled to move in an opposite direction of what they believe. In this context, Paul is not necessarily accusing Judaizers of practicing witchcraft; rather, he is expressing an astonishment that the Galatians have been so thoroughly influenced that they are abandoning the truth they once embraced. Paul is shocked that they would become influenced by outsiders.

Why? Because they heard the gospel, they accepted Christ, they received the Holy Spirit, they experienced the grace of God. And if we are not careful, the high volume of the news outlets, the social media platforms, and other devices can bewitch us too, through materialism, through false teaching, through political ideologies and social media voices. The Galatians became bewitched not because someone cast a spell on them, but because they had been convinced that spiritual growth comes through human effort instead of the Holy Spirit. They were bewitched.

So Paul is reminding them not to become fascinated with false teachers. Paul was not concerned that they were being deceived by magic; he was concerned that they were being deceived by religion. They were trusting rules instead of relying on the Spirit. Paul encouraged this church to remain in a position of development through the power of the Holy Spirit. And like these Galatians, we too occasionally find ourselves taking a step back when God has called us to advance the kingdom of God. We connect Galatians 5 with what Paul says in Galatians chapter 4, verse 19: "My dear children, for whom I am again in pains from childbirth until Christ is formed in you."

Why is this verse important to us on this morning? I'm glad that you asked, because it is literally about development. Christ is being formed inside of us. That's development. That's development when Christ is being formed on the inside of us, on our hearts, in our minds, how we walk, how we talk, how we interact with one another, how we do the things that we do. There's a formulation, there's a development that takes place on the inside of us, and it only happens by the power of the Holy Spirit that works on us.

It has to start with us having a relationship with Christ. And as we have a relationship with Christ, we ask the Holy Spirit to come on the inside of us and make us new. Change our hearts, change how we talk to one another, change how we treat one another, change how we go about doing the things that we do because we want to be representatives, we want to be ambassadors of the living God. Paul's concern is not the church attendance, although that's important. Paul's concern is not keeping rules. Paul's concern is Christ being formed in us. And we must ask ourselves daily: how is Christ being formed in me today?

Do your own self-examination. Do your test in the comfort of your own home and wait for the Lord to reveal the results to you. Let me quickly share what I believe are three observations to build a bridge from Paul's letter to us today. My first observation is this: that the Spirit develops our character. Your character is being developed. Again in verses 22 and 23, it describes to us the fruit of the Spirit. Paul shares with us that character is who you are when nobody is watching.

When you are where nobody knows who you are, are you still acting like Christ would want you to act? I said it earlier that the Holy Spirit is not primarily concerned with making us impressive; he is concerned with making us Christ-like. He says that the fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Are you exercising these character traits outside of the walls of this church? When you walk outside this door, do we see love? Do we see self-control being demonstrated? Do we see your gentleness when you're acting with one another?

Do we see peace? Do we see the patience being played out in your life? Do you express love when you leave here, or do you become somebody different? If I could use Peter and highlight one of the operations of this fruit of the Spirit, I would use self-control when I think about Peter because Peter, and perhaps a few of us here this morning, need some help with self-control. Self-control is a difficult thing to navigate. Peter was a street brother. He was an in-your-face kind of brother. He used to use some colorful words every now and then. And if you came too close to Jesus, you might get your ear cut off if you dealt with Peter.

Peter lacked self-control. But as time goes on and the Holy Spirit gets a hold of Peter, Peter begins to be developed. He begins to have a change that comes over him. And that's what happens when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of us; there's a change that comes over us. Some changes happen quicker than others. Somebody's going through a change right now. When I look back over my life and I can see a change of what God has done in my life, when I look back over where I come from, I can see how the Spirit has moved upon me. When I look back over where God has brought you from, it's only by the grace of God.

It's only by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's only about what God has brought you from and where he's trying to take you to. When you allow the Lord to move in your life, when you allow the Lord to have presence over your life, the Holy Spirit begins to change you from what you used to be to change you into what he wants you to be. When you allow the Holy Spirit to move in your life, you can become all that God has called you to be. However, I can see that more development is still needed because none of us will ever arrive. We're going always be a work in progress.

God is not through with me yet. There's still some things inside of me that God is working on and tweaking and pulling out of me. God is still working. I wish I had a church this morning that would be honest, that doesn't mind being honest and testifying to what God is doing in your life. So again, the Spirit develops our character. But not only does the Spirit develop our character, my second observation is that the Spirit develops our conduct. How you act, how you act around folks, how you behave. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

I like this verse because when we are open to the Holy Spirit's move, we are most effective at carrying out God's will in our lives. And what the Spirit teaches us is how to respond when we are offended. Have anybody ever been offended? The Spirit helps us to forgive when we've been hurt. Have anybody ever been hurt before? When you deal with some difficult people, have you ever dealt with some difficult people before? How to remain faithful when life is unfair. The Spirit's job in your development is to give you the power of wisdom and understanding to effectively move in or overcome these life circumstances.

Because we do live in a world where people will offend you. People will hurt you. People will abuse you. People will take advantage of you. People will talk about you. People will mistreat you. People will step on you and sometimes step over you in this life. And in our humanness, we may not handle it in a Christ-like manner. How do you act when somebody cuts you off in traffic? How do you act when one of your coworkers has taken credit over the work that you did? That's real stuff. How do you react when one of your family members disappoints you?

All of us at one time or another have had a moment when we want to fight back. But that's where your spiritual development is revealed. It's in those moments. It's in those moments where someone cuts you off in traffic. It's in those moments when you have been betrayed and your credit on your job has been taken by somebody else. It's in those moments when a family member has disappointed you. The Spirit reveals that you still need some more development. The true test of your spiritual growth is not how high you jump on Sunday, but how straight you walk on Monday.

Micah 6:8 says, "What does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." My final observation on today, as I begin to close this sermon, let us remember number one, that the Spirit develops our character. The Spirit then develops our conduct. And thirdly, the Spirit develops our consistency. Fruit does not appear overnight. This may be the most encouraging point of the sermon. Many believers, not non-believers, become discouraged because they are not where they want to be spiritually. We as believers can beat ourselves up over the mistakes we have made. I raise my hand first because I've done that.

But the fruit develops gradually. And if I could help someone this morning, God is not looking for instant perfection. The Lord is producing an ongoing transformation. Perfection in this life will never happen, even for a preacher. But the Christian life for all of us is not about arriving; it's about growing. The bamboo tree that I spoke about earlier spent years growing roots before anyone could see growth on the surface. Likewise, some of God's greatest work is invisible before it becomes visible. You may not see what God is doing in me, but as long as we stay consistent in our prayers, stay consistent in his word, and yes, in our struggles and in our waiting, the Spirit is working beneath the surface.

That's why John 15:5 says, "I am the vine and you are the branches." The reason fruit develops is that the branches stay connected to the vine. Before development by the Spirit requires us to stay connected to the vine. You've got to stay connected. You've got to stay connected to that vine. Whatever it's going to take, whatever you've got to do, whatever situation you've got to find yourself in to get some people out of your life, stay connected to the vine. Because the true vine is Jesus Christ. Becoming developed by the Spirit requires us to stay connected to that vine.

He is working in those of us who desire to become the instruments of advancing his kingdom forward. There will be some tears shed. There will be some moments of disappointment. There will be some seasons of dryness and barrenness. But if you stay connected to the true vine, which is Jesus, your roots will be stronger. Your life will flourish because the Spirit is developing you. Stop measuring spiritual growth by emotional experiences alone. Measure it by increasing Christ-likeness. The doors of the church are open on this morning.

I just stopped by here today to say to us that someone listening may feel stuck. They may say, "I'm still struggling. I still go to church. I still pray. I still have my moments. I'm still struggling." Someone may say, "I'm not where I want to be." Someone may say, "Why is it taking God so long?" Can we stand to our feet? Let me remind you that God grows oak trees over decades, but weeds in days. We were out cutting the yard on yesterday, and the grass was almost up to my hip. That's how tall it was.

But it was grass and weeds that grow up very fast. They grew fast and out of control. But the tree grows slowly and in a controlled way, meaning that the Spirit is producing something that will last. Don't miss your growth. Your growth and development by the Spirit is something that God wants to last. As God is working inside of us, developing us, you may see people get promoted, you may see people get all these wonderful things, but God is working on you. He's working on us because what he wants to do is grow us to be a man or a woman that will stand firm and be able to stand and last, not to fizzle out.

So the doors of the church are open on this morning. This is an invitation for those of us who don't know Jesus in the pardon of your sins. If you are here and don't have that relationship with Christ, we want you to come up, give me your hand and give God your heart. If you want to rededicate yourself to the Lord on today, we certainly fall short of God's glory, but Romans 10:9 says if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, we are saved. How many of y'all are saved today? Are you saved today?

I see the hands of the believers going up. There may be somebody watching on our YouTube or LightSource on today who doesn't have that relationship with the Lord. If that's you, you can take out your mobile device and text the word "Join" to 240-269-5193. Text the word "Join" to 240-269-5193. We want to make sure that we connect with you. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Come on, let's give God some praise for his word on today. Becoming developed by the Spirit is what we should strive to do each and every day because we just love the Lord and we want to be the best version of who he is, not who we are, but who he is in our lives, to glorify his name. Did y'all get the word today? Amen.

Let us transition at this time to our time of Communion. Communion is open to all. We have what we call an open table, so you all are invited to partake of the elements on today. If you're joining us at this time on YouTube or LightSource, we want to invite you to partake in the celebration of Communion as well. Your bread, your crackers, your juice, or your water is all you need. Communion is one of our two main rituals of the Methodist church; the other is Baptism. And so we always look forward to taking Communion, remembering what Christ did for us.

Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbor and intend to lead a new life following the commandments of God, walking from henceforth in his holy ways, draw near with faith and take this holy sacrament to your comfort. We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table, but thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that our sinful souls and bodies may be made clean by his death and washed through his most precious blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us. Amen.

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give thine only son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there by his oblation of himself once offered a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of his precious death until his coming again; hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and grant that we receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, according to thy son our savior Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.

Who in the same night that he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Likewise after supper he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins; do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me." Amen. What you have before you now is the bread. Let us take it and let us eat it together, remembering what Christ did for us on Calvary. Before you now is the cup that represents the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us now take it together. It is to preserve our soul and body into everlasting life.

And with that, we can give thanks, we can give praise to the Lord for this opportunity to once again trust him. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's put our hands together and give God some praise for another Communion service, another word to encourage us for this week. Becoming developed by the Spirit is what we should strive to do each and every day because we just love the Lord that we want to be the best version of who he is, not who we are, but who he is in our lives, to glorify his name. Did y'all get the word today? Amen. Let us pray now for our benediction before we leave this place.

The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Amen. Let us bow for our final prayer before we leave this place. Father God, thank you. Thank you for reminding us, Lord God, that your Spirit seeks to develop our character, your Spirit seeks to develop us in our conduct, and your Spirit seeks to develop us in our consistency. Lord God, thank you for using us, developing us to make us what you would desire us to be on this earth. Now to him who is able to keep us from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault with great joy, to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore. Let the people of God say, "Amen." Hallelujah. Come on, give God some praise. We thank God for you and we look forward to seeing you. God bless you. God keep you. We love you. Amen.