Well, good morning, Saylorville!  How are we doing this morning? Great to have you. Great to see you, whether you’re in the building here or watching online right now or later. Thank you so much for being a part of this.

I loved Curtis’s prayer and introduction to this morning. Just that idea that the word of God should be sweet to us, right? If it’s not, then the problem’s not with the Bible. It’s with our perspective on the Bible. So I hope that the word of God gives you joy, even when it convicts us, which it should. I hope that that’s a joyful conviction because it changes us to be more like Jesus, which brings us joy.

We’re in Acts chapter 16 this morning in God’s Word. I hope that you have a version of the Bible, either on a device or in paper, and you can sort of track with our conversation here this morning. My name’s Jason. I’m one of the elders. I love being a part of what God is doing here at Saylorville Church.

Two Sundays ago, my wife, Meredith, and I put our son, Judah, on a bus in the back parking lot here along with 80 other high schoolers and middle schoolers and sent him off to Lake Ann Camp in Michigan. While the buses pulled away, Meredith and I did what every parent dreams of doing when their favorite child is leaving home. We went on vacation. We literally put him on the bus and drove to the airport and it was just fantastic! We were on the beach In Florida, while he was inhaling the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. (audience laughing) And we got back just in time for the buses to pull back into the parking lot. Just a fantastic time! We were celebrating our wedding anniversary in Florida. 25 years ago, we honeymooned there, and so it was fun to go back to where it all started and to see… okay, all right, okay. (audience applauding) She deserves much more than that. (audience laughing) … how it started and how it’s going, right? It’s amazing to think through that. Maybe you’ve seen some of those pictures, by the way, on social media or online, how it started, how it’s going. People compare old pictures or the beginnings of things to current ones, right? In fact, here’s one of Meredith and I, just a couple of years ago, on the shores of Lake Ontario. There she is. I don’t know the guy is with her, but he resembles somebody in my family. She hasn’t changed at all. And then here’s one of just a couple days ago, actually, in Florida… how it started, how it’s going. That some guy kissing my wife on the beach. (audience laughing) And actually, I found this one this last week again. This is the very first picture that we ever have of us. We are, I think, freshman in college, so it’s almost 30 years ago. It’s so long ago the color photography hadn’t even been invented, apparently. That’s us. Back in 2001, when we got married, we stood on the beach in upstate New York in front of our friends and family. And I’ll tell you, we weren’t thinking about 25 years down the road. We didn’t have any idea that God would lead us on an epic journey that has us in the most epic city, in the most epic state, in the United States of America. [APPLAUSE] Some of you guys need to get out more. (audience laughs) Oh my goodness… Iowa! Yeah, we stood there. We’re just two kids really making a promise to be faithful one day at a time till death do us part, right? But looking back, we can trace God’s hand through thousands of ordinary moments that didn’t feel epic at all when we were living them. How it started, how it’s going.

Okay, here’s one more set of pictures. I don’t think any of you were around when this picture was taken, at least I hope not. But this is one of the original buildings that stood on this grounds right here, Saylorville Church right there. We started Saylorville Church in 1840 and we’re 186 years old right now. And all those years later, the Engage Network has started. We’ve got eight, almost nine churches, Atlas Church in Waukee starting this fall. God is faithful every single day, isn’t He? Isn’t it amazing? — how it started, how it’s going, God is so faithful. But look, you know this. Our Saylorville story is made up of thousands, and thousands, and thousands of mundane moments, of unnoticed, unremarkable, maybe even unsung moments in time. And you have that same story too. In fact, I bet if you took a couple of seconds to think about it, you could probably come up with five or six ordinary moments in your life that were conversations or relationships or changes of direction decisions. Just little tiny little steps that have led to big changes over time that called me and you being here, right here, today, right now. See, people love looking back at how something started and then comparing it to how it’s going today. Maybe it’s because even for things that are incredible right now, their beginnings often look surprisingly ordinary.

And so Acts chapter 16 tells us a story of something that happened in a little town called Philippi. About 20 years after Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, rose again, and then ascended to heaven to prepare a place, to take those of us who are his friends and family. You might have heard of Philippi because the Apostle Paul actually wrote a letter to the church there. We called the letter to the Philippians. When we think of that church, we think of joy. We think of generosity. We think of the Philippian church as one that supported the Gospel ministry in a really strong and healthy way. This was the church that took on Paul in support from day one of his ministry. He loved them so much that he said this about them.

Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…”

In other words Paul says every time I think about you I’m thankful for you. That’s pretty incredible! So the church in Philippi is really one of the healthiest examples of a gathering of believers in the entire New Testament.

But how did it get started? What was the beginning? And if I were writing the storyline of how this great church started, it would probably start with some kind of massive evangelistic meeting, right? We’d pack out a synagogue, or maybe the coliseum, or The Casey Center, and Dude Perfect would be there as the opening act, right? Okay, that would… they’d say, like, ‘Let’s go… every three seconds… those guys.’ Then the Apostle Paul would grab the microphone and he’d preach this incredible evangelistic message. Thousands of people would get saved! Paul Seymour would come up at the end and play some tasty licks on his electric guitar, and we’d invite everybody for donuts and coffee, and come back next week for more, right? That’s the storyline I would write… but that’s not how this story goes.

In fact, it begins with a closed door and then another closed door. And then a detour on a boat, and then a simple prayer meeting on a quiet riverbank, and it’s a normal conversation with a handful of women. And then we meet this ordinary lady named Lydia. No one standing by that river that day would have imagined that they were witnessing the birth of something amazing, something epic. But that’s how God loves to work, isn’t it? He takes ordinary people who are faithful in ordinary moments and He accomplishes extraordinary things through them. And that’s why I love the story of Lydia this morning because humanly she’s the very definition of ordinary, of every day of the title of our series Unsung. See, Lydia never preaches a sermon. She never performs a miracle. She never writes a book of the Bible. She’s never even mentioned outside of this one chapter in the New Testament. All she does is respond faithfully to the God who’s already at work.

And before we even get to the message this morning, real quick, I just want to pause and lean in to those of you who feel ordinary this morning. Maybe you’d say something like this. ‘Could God ever do anything with someone like me?’ ‘How could I ever make a difference for the Lord?’ Maybe you’re thinking there’s absolutely nothing special or unique about you. I want to tell you, if that’s you, then I think God has a reminder for you in His Word, and we’ve been hitting on it all summer. And this is a phrase that I think we should memorize.

Faithfulness is underrated.

Faithfulness is underrated. We celebrate lots of things, but we should celebrate faithfulness… absolutely… because I think if there’s a hall of fame in heaven, and I don’t know that there is, I’m just making this up, but I think if there’s a hall of fame, it’s gonna be full of people that nobody recognizes. And that’s amazing to think about. Guys like Elihu… just a blue-collar guy giving his best… or Hannah… a woman enduring the pain of infertility… or maybe Ananias… a regular follower of Jesus who’s just available for Jesus. Or how about Barnabas? Barnabas is the guy that’s always behind the guys that are up front… just regular ordinary people. Or maybe some of you, because people like you hold the doors, you take out the trash, you change diapers, you wash windows, you set up chairs, you park the cars, you serve the donuts, you pour the coffee, you add to the water containers, you make the crafts so that the children can do crafts and someone else can teach the lesson. You cry in an office with one person while we celebrate with hundreds in a room like this. You’re behind the scenes. You’re quiet, but your consistent, maybe unsung. And I wanna tell you if that’s you this morning, you may feel unsung, but you are not unseen. You are not unseen because you are loved and you’re gifted and you’re valued. And I believe some of you are gonna go to heaven if you’re a believer one day and you’re gonna look into the eyes of your Savior and He’s gonna lean in and whisper, ‘Well done My good and faithful servant. Well done. Well done.’

And so I hope God’s Word has spoken to some of you in a special way this summer. And this morning I’m excited to continue as we look at another unsung hero of our faith, Lydia, 2,000 years ago. So let’s read from Acts chapter 16 together, and as we do we’re going to discover three ways that God’s faithfulness comes first and how our everyday faithfulness responds.

Before Luke tells us anything about Lydia, he wants us to notice what God is already doing long before Lydia even enters the story. So follow along with me beginning in verse 11 of Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16:11-13

11 “So, setting sail from Troas, we (so that’s Paul and Silas, they just picked up Timothy and Dr. Luke is writing this book and this narrative. So he’s part of that group as well. He says) made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis,

12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. (Luke says) We remained in this city some days.

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.”

I want you to know right away what we see in this passage. God opens doors and faith obeys. God opens doors, faith obeys.

So if you start reading in verse 11, it sounds like a travel journal, right? From Troas to Samothrace. That’s in Asia. And then over to Europe through the port of Neapolis, and then finally to the city just inland named Philippi. And it’s easy to kind of skim over those details, but Luke actually gives us every one of those miles to point out the providence of God, because Philippi wasn’t actually Paul’s plan A. He wasn’t planning to go there at all. In fact, it wasn’t even his plan B. And so how did Paul end up in this town of Philippi, meeting this ordinary woman named Lydia? Well, he actually wanted to travel further into Asia. That’s where he was. He wanted to go into the heart of Asia to tell the people there about Jesus who still hadn’t heard the Gospel. And it’s a good plan with good motives, but Luke tells us in the previous paragraph just above this, that they were actually stopped twice by the Holy Spirit from going further into Asia. And we don’t know exactly how this happened, but twice God actually closes the door for Paul to do good ministry… just wasn’t God’s will for Paul to go there at that point.

Sometimes we think that the road that Jesus wants us to walk is straight and flat. We’d like it like that, wouldn’t we? — no ups and downs, no twists and turns,…but Paul’s experience was marked by uncertainty and by interrupted plans, unexpected divine detours. We see that throughout his whole life.

You know, I was hanging out with Tyler Betz this last week. Tyler and Kat live as missionaries in France, but they’re here this summer. As you know, they’re staying in the White House. Tyler and I were talking about how much he and Kat would love if a whole bunch of Christian people from Saylorville and other churches were to move over to La Rochelle, France and hang out with Tyler and Kat and live there and share the Gospel with all the people there that don’t know Jesus yet. Tyler said, “We would love that!” But it hasn’t happened yet. And so as we’re walking and talking, I said something that’s true, but it was kind of like a cliche, right? I said, “Well, Tyler, I guess that’s not God’s will yet, is it?” And then Tyler… and if you know him, you know that he usually says exactly what’s on his mind. And sometimes what other people are thinking too, and he looks at me and he goes, “Well, God’s will keeps messing up my plans!” (laughs) And he was kind of joking, right? Well, sort of. But lots of you know exactly what that feels like. You pray, you read God’s word, you get good, godly counsel from people, you make a solid plan, you just start to move forward, and then it seems like the door just slams shut right in your face. The promotion falls through. The relationship ends. The medical diagnosis changes everything. And in the moment, maybe all you see is that door right in your face, and it’s closed, slam shut maybe.

But looking back, every closed door in Acts chapter 16 was actually an expression of God’s faithfulness. See, God wasn’t frustrating Paul’s mission. He was actually focusing it. His “no” to Asia became “His “yes” to the mission field of Europe. Because right after God said no twice, Paul gets this vision from a man from Macedonia over in Europe and this man in his vision is pleading to Paul, come over and help us. And suddenly the closed doors in Asia make sense. God said “no.” And then he said “no” again. And then He said “go to Europe.” And immediately Paul packs his bags and books the ticket to Europe.

Now most of us want God to show us the whole map before we take the first step. Anybody like that? ‘God, if you could show me the destination, I’ll gladly follow you.’ We want certainty before obedience. I’d love the strategy laid out before I make the first sacrifice. That’s what I want. But everyday faithfulness isn’t about seeing the whole journey. It’s about taking the next step.

And so Paul obeys, and he ends up in Philippi. And whenever Paul hits a new town, he goes straight away to the local Jewish synagogue to tell people there about Jesus, to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. But in Philippi, there’s no synagogue. Well, why not? Well, first of all, it’s not a Jewish town. It’s a pagan Roman stronghold in Europe. So the rule was if there were 10 Jewish men in a town, then they had enough to start a synagogue, kind of a quorum. But Philippi didn’t even have 10. So instead, there’s just a women’s community group meeting down by the river to pray. And Paul and his team meet these women, and Luke says that Paul spoke to them. It’s an important and an intentional word, because when we think about Paul, we think about him as a preacher for the most part, right? Up front, kind of teaching lots of people at the same time, maybe with a big booming voice. But this word that Luke uses isn’t that kind of word. That word “spoke,” it’s actually a word that refers to a normal conversation, just an ordinary back and forth. So Paul sits down and he just talks with these women, not from a stage, not in a synagogue, and not even in a building. He just started an ordinary conversation with a group of people, just telling them about Jesus away from the crowds.

Can I tell you something? I love the vibe here on Sunday mornings. I love coming to church with you folks. I look forward to it every single week, and I miss it when we’re gone. There’s just something special about realizing that you’re part of something bigger than you, or just you and your family, you and your circle of friends. In fact, right now, just look across the room at each other. Wave if you want to. We just say, ‘Wow! Look at what God’s doing!’ Just do that from over here to over here. Okay, some of you. There you go, wake up… we’re with each other. Good! Look at what’s happening here. This is a great crowd. I love crowds like this. But you know what else I love? Not crowds. (audience laughing) I love sitting down with a small group of people, and just talking about life and talking about Jesus. I love being with just a few friends in our home, with my neighbors in the drive where we’re at a coffee shop with a guy, or on a road trip with people, or out on the lake. And I’ll just say this to those of you who are part of the Saylorville family, I think some of the best times of making more people, more like Jesus will be outside of this building, and not from a stage, and not even on a Sunday morning, and maybe not even led by somebody on staff, because some of the most effective Gospel ministry happens day in and day out where faithful men and women, just like you, have normal conversations with people where you live, and work, and play… just talking to them about Jesus away from the crowds, away from the program, away from the event.

And as Paul walked towards the river that morning, he had no idea he was about to meet the first recorded convert in Europe, or witness the planting of a brand new church, Paul was just taking the next faithful step. And that’s often how God works, right? Faithfulness hardly ever feels significant in the moment. But God loves using ordinary obedience to accomplish extraordinary purposes.

And so folks, our responsibility isn’t to predict the outcome when we obey faithfully. We just get to walk through the open doors that God has already opened. You never know what God might be starting, and so what’s the door that you need to walk through? What’s the door that by faith has in front of you right now that you need to swing open, trusting God for the outcome?– because God opens the doors, faith walks through them.

Okay, next. Number two. God opens hearts and faith believes. God opens hearts and faith believes.

So here’s Paul. He’s sitting down by the river. He finally meets the woman who’s been at the center of God’s providential plan all along. Of course, Paul doesn’t know it. He’s just been obeying God one step at a time, right? Luke introduces this woman quickly. He doesn’t waste any words. They all count. Remember, Luke is a doctor, and so he’s detailed, but he’s efficient. We want that in doctors. This 14:

Acts 16:14a, “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, (modern day Turkey and Asia) a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

So Thyatira is famous for producing this expensive purple dye. Purple was associated back then with wealth, and royalty, and influence. So Lydia is part of the high end fashion scene. So she probably buys her clothes at Costco like I do, right? — and bump into each other there once in a while. But Lydia doesn’t ever talk about a husband. We don’t ever read about her family. And we find out later she’s got a house big enough to invite Paul and his friends. And so she’s pretty successful at her job on her own. And Luke uses this phrase to describe her. He says she was “a worshiper of God.” And this is important.

In the first century, this is a term used to describe a very specific group of people. These were Gentiles, non-Jewish people, who were attaching themselves to the Jewish faith. So Lydia’s not Jewish, but for some reason she’d left the Roman paganism to learn more about the Jewish God. And so she’s serious, and she’s actually seeking after God. In a sense she knows about God, but she doesn’t know him personally. Sometimes we say it this way at Saylorville. She might have met Jesus, but she wasn’t yet a follower of Jesus. She had sincerity. She had religion. She had success. She’s obviously looking for something and she’s even hanging around other women who are doing the same things, but she still was missing the most important thing… the Gospel. She was moral. She was spiritual. Even seeking. But Lydia was still lost.

And maybe that describes some of you here this morning. You need the exact same thing that Lydia needed on the banks of that river in Philippi. You need the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters.

And so, as Paul is having this normal conversation, he begins to explain that everything that Lydia had been looking for in the Old Testament actually finds its fulfillment in Jesus: the promises, the sacrifices, the prophets, the coming Messiah. That’s all pointing to Jesus. The life that she had longed for was found in Christ. And then Luke drops this profound sentence, maybe one of the greatest in the entire book of Acts. The end of verse 14, he says:

Acts 16:14b, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

Now, I want you to watch something closely here, and it’s easy to overlook this. Luke deliberately puts the emphasis on God. He says, ‘God’s doing the heavy lifting here.’ Paul faithfully proclaimed the Gospel. That was his job. All Lydia did was listen carefully, but the Lord opened up her heart. Luke gives credit exactly where it belongs. And you may understand the facts of the Gospel. You may know what people know about God, but James says that even the demons know the truth. But it’s God that opens up your heart to believe that Jesus can be your personal Savior and Lord. So Paul spoke, Lydia listened and the Lord opened her heart.

So maybe you remember the time when God first opened your heart. Maybe you’d heard the Gospel for years before it suddenly became personal. Or maybe you spent years chasing success, only to discover that only Christ can satisfy your soul. I don’t know how your story unfolded, but one thing’s true. If you’re a believer, for every believer, the Lord opened your heart. That’s how it happened. Or maybe you’re here this morning and you can’t actually remember a time when you let God in. It may be that Jesus is standing at the door of your heart right now and He’s just knocking. He’s just knocking. He’s just knocking. Lydia listened and let Him in. Will you do that? God opens hearts, faith believes.

And then finally this morning, God fills hands and faith gives. God fills hands and faith gives. Luke could have ended the story right here after Lydia’s conversion, right? It’s a great ending. We’d celebrate that story. But watch this. Genuine faith is never just an internal, private experience. When God changes someone’s heart, he immediately changes their perspective, and look at how Lydia responds in verse 15. Luke says:

Acts 16:15, “And after she (Lydia) was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

And she kept pushing them to do that. The very first thing that Lydia does is get baptized. She doesn’t wait. She obeys right away… right away. She publicly declares her allegiance to the resurrected Messiah. But then she insists that Paul and his team come and stay at her house. See, something changed and it’s subtle. We don’t pick it up maybe when we read the text, but when we first meet Lydia, she had a business. She had money. She had a house. She had a history. She had experiences. She had a story. But it was all hers, right? She’d earned that. It was her life… and then she met Jesus. And immediately all of that stuff that’s in her hands gets given back to God. See before Christ all that stuff belonged to Lydia, but after Christ she recognized that it’s always belonged to God. And so she offers it back to Him.

And this is one of the ways that God changes our perspective at salvation. We stop seeing ourselves as owners, and we start believing that we’re stewards or managers. We realize that every dollar, that every square inch of our house, that every moment in our schedule was given us temporarily to be used to make eternal investments. And by the end of Acts 16, Paul and Silas return after they’ve been booted out of prison to Lydia’s house where a whole bunch of believers had gathered. Verse 40, what’s happening here? So Lydia… remember, she’s just gotten saved. She’s already hosting other Christians in her house, and all she’s doing is opening up her hands. But God was gathering a group of ordinary people that would be a part of something absolutely extraordinary! He’s planting a church in Philippi, a stepping stone to opening the door for the Gospel to reach the ends of the earth. Acts 1-8. So God loves doing things like this. He takes incredibly ordinary things in our hands. and He weaves them into His story. He almost never asks us to do something spectacular, right? He just asks us to be open-handed with whatever He’s already given us.

And so, what’s God put in your hands? What has He given you to be stewards of? — to be managers of? Seriously, look at your hands. Make a list in your mind right now. What has He given you to be used for His purposes?

I started watching people this week here at Saylorville, listening… I know that sounds really creepy. But these are some of the ways that you folks are already opening up your hands and giving back to God what He’s given to you for His glory. These are some of the things that you folks have faithfully given. Just listen: this week, your home. Several of you have hosted people who are looking for friendships, and connections, and belonging, and you’ve opened up your home. You have a home and you’re using it. One of you gave your car to a college student so he can get back and forth to church. Yeah, you gave your car to a college student! Way to go! — opening up your hands and giving what God has given to you. How about this one? Your swimming pool. Our high schoolers and middle schoolers had a great time this last week… believers and unbelievers, building friendships, and having fun in a swimming pool. If you have one, use it, right? Some of you made meals for families who are in the hospital. Some of you used your skills. You folks were fixing everything from cars to copy machines. You were teaching people in places like Senior Living centers to Smokey Row coffee shop. You were creating tools and resources that will help more people be more like Jesus. You’re giving back. Some of you gave money helping to fund ministries and missions right here in the Saylorville Township area and all around the world. Some of you gave your experience, older saints sitting down with younger believers, mentoring, and praying, and discipling them. You’re doing it. You gave your time, your schedule, moments of your life to others to point them to Jesus. Some of you gave your stuff. I watched a guy give his guitar to Jesus, a lawn chair to help others. a bicycle, a sewing machine, an oven, a laptop, a lawnmower, a fishing rod, power tools, even half priced wings at Jethro’s were used this week to help more people be more like Jesus. Jethro’s for Jesus. Hey, you are faithfully giving the unsung to God so that He can faithfully use it for His glory. And friends, don’t ever underestimate what God can do through what you think is small or insignificant or unsung. So what’s in your hands?

You know, Lydia disappears from the Bible after Acts, chapter 16. But I want you to just think about this. I’m imagining a little bit, but Luke tells us that she was from Thyatira, a city back in Asia that’s her hometown. And years later, John mentions a thriving church in Thyatira in the book of Revelation. But scripture never tells us how that church began. It doesn’t ever mention Paul or any of the other early church leaders visiting Thyatira, starting a church, being influential… but watch this… Lydia, undoubtedly had business connections ongoing ties to friends and family in her hometown. And so I wonder, is it possible that a woman whose heart God opened beside a river in Philippi eventually carried the Gospel as a missionary back to her hometown on another continent? Is it possible? We don’t know, but if she did, those are the kind of stories that God loves to write, isn’t it? Lydia had no idea how far her simple faithfulness would reach. She just responded to the grace, the amazing grace that God gave her, and God multiplied her obedience far beyond which she could have ever imagined.

So let me ask you three questions as we close here this morning. First of all, what door has God opened in your life that you just need to faithfully walk through? Trust Him for the outcome. Just walk through the door. Number two, where’s God inviting you to trust Him more deeply for the first time believing in Him for your salvation. And number three, what has God already put in your hands that He wants to use for His glory? Think about that, and then offer it back to Jesus.

And before we leave this morning, I want to make sure that our focus stays on the main character of Acts chapter 16 and the whole Bible. See, Lydia’s story is really a story about the faithfulness of God. God opened a door that Paul would have never chosen. God opened a heart to believe the Gospel. God took one woman’s ordinary obedience and helped use it to establish a church that became one of Paul’s strongest partners in the Gospel mission.

But all of this points to something greater. The greatest door that God ever opened wasn’t into Europe or Asia or even here into Des Moines, Iowa. It was a door back to Himself, because our sin had closed that door, and we could never obey well enough to crack it open. We could never believe strongly enough to kick it down. We could never earn our way through that door… so God did what only God can do. He sent His Son Jesus. Jesus Christ obeyed perfectly where all of us had failed. We walk every path selfishly, and yet Jesus walked the path that the Father gave Himself all the way to the cross. And so, there Jesus with His hand stretched out and pierced for our sin, Jesus bought our forgiveness and brought us back to God. And because He rose again, He still opens blind hearts and eyes to the Gospel and He calls ordinary people like us into extraordinary mission. We get to be part of it. But let’s not leave here today thinking first about Lydia. Look beyond Lydia to the Lord Jesus, whose faithfulness makes our faithfulness possible. So walk through the open doors. Believe with an open heart and live with open hands. And then, friends, what if we just trusted God to do what only God can do? Can we do that?

God, thank You so much for the stories of Your faithfulness that we read in Scripture. And we connect with characters like Lydia, who point us to You, because we feel sometimes just so… unsung. Sometimes we feel like there really isn’t anything special about us. Or maybe the doors that we hold, or the coffee that we serve, or the vacuum that we use, or the animal crackers we give out to kids… it’s nothing. And we should just quit, because we’re not famous or flashy or fancy, but we can be faithful. Help us, Lord, to be faithful. Thank you for being a God who is first and always… faithful. And it’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Let’s stand together. [Music]