Thank you, pastor david. Okay, so as I thought about this week, I figured my doctor is now retired, so I feel like I could tell this story and nobody will think I'm being mean to him. If you're curious, it was Dr. HL, but a little bit of backstory before I tell the story. When I was in high school, I was a distance runner, so that meant that I was running six to ten miles a day. And that also means that I was 6, 4, and 165 pounds. If you have a hard time picturing that, just know that when I look back at pictures of myself, I go, that's not me. And then I go, oh, my goodness. That tiny body with that giant head, that is, in fact, me. So it was what made a doctor's appointment a few years back particularly shocking. Now, I'm not a fool. I knew where things stood. But I was, you know, 32, 33 years old, I'm thinking. And, you know, and I had always kind of tried to get in front of it, and with doctors where I would say, oh, yeah, you know, I know at some point, I probably have to start taking my health more seriously. And, you know, so I tried that with Dr. Rachel. I said, you know, I know. I know at some point, I probably have to lose some weight. And I swear that he didn't make eye contact with me. He didn't look at my chart. He was almost prepared for me to say it. And he goes, oh, yeah, you could lose £50 to be in a good place. And I went, 50. Calm down. It was just like. It was just like. It was, you know, first of all, how dare you? And, you know, I mean, I almost. I was so shocked, I almost fell over, which, at my weight, wouldn't have been safe. And, you know, and I. But, no, it was a shocking moment. And, you know, as we talked about it, we worked it out, we kind of figured out, like, you know, what the plan was, and, you know, the reality is that you're going to have conversations with your doctor where the trut hurts, right? Where their job is to tell you what is true about you and to try to, you know, protect you from yourself and from health and stuff like that. We've all, you know, had appointments like that. And basically what he said to me was, he said, you know, Addison, like, you're not going to feel this for 20 more years. And he was like, but when it becomes a challenge for you, it's going to be harder for you to do something about it. And so, like, you're never going to be, you know, you're never gonna be less motivated or more able to take care of this. And, you know, we kind of had a conversation. And to be honest, that wasn't the appointment that kind of kicked me into gear. What ultimately did was another year and a half later when I kind of had a blood test that scared me and began to make some changes. So the point is, is that, you know, people can be honest with you and what you do next matters, right? Like, because what you do with somebody telling you the truth and hurting your feelings about anything, like, you can be offended, you could be upset, but ultimately it matters what you do, what they said, especially if they were trying to help you. And the story we're looking at as we continue in Mark is a story where the truth hurts someone. We talked last week about how the disciples were out spreading the gospel and Jesus was kind of growing in influence, right? And then if you read ahead, this story kind of feels like it comes out of nowhere. In Mark 6 where it says Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, they were casting out demons, they were healing people, they were baptized. You know, they were, they were, you know, sharing the gospel of repentance and then kind of jammed right in there. In the Book of Mark, we get, this is how people are responding to this. And this is what it says in verse 14. And I'm reading from the NIV. King Herod heard about this, for Jesus had become well known. Some were saying, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him. Others said he is Elijah. And still others claimed he is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago. But when Herod heard this, he said, john, whom I beheaded has been raised from the dead. So we have to wonder, who is this Herod that we're getting in this story, Right? Because this isn't the same Herod, if you're familiar with, you know, the birth narratives, where it says, you know, king Herod met with the magi and all that, this is actually that guy's son. And the guy that we meet in the Nativity, his name is Herod the Great, which there won't be a test, so you don't need to know that. But he was a cruel, cruel and paranoid man, right? Like, so the story we get in the Nativity is of course, that he had, you know, multiple toddlers, basically murdered because he saw them as a threat to his throne, right? So that is kind of the household and influence that this Herod grows up under. But not only did he do stuff like that, he had many of his own sons killed because of paranoia. So much so that I'm reading it through this week as I did research. And I had to. I had to Google to make sure I was getting it right. I was like, how many sons did Herod the Great kill? And it was like, three. I was like, okay, I think I got it. You know what I mean? But the point is, this is a borderline insane man. And it's hard to keep track of his cruelties. And when he passes, he leaves parts of his kingdom to three of his sons. And one of those guys is this guy that we call Herod Antipas. And this is the Herod in this story, and also the Herod in the story of Jesus and the Crucifixion. And he is in charge under Rome. He is in charge of the area in which most of our scriptural narratives happen, right? And ultimately, he is trying to consolidate power because that's what their lives were all about. And he marries the daughter of another king. And that's what brings us to kind of our story today. All relevant. I know maybe that felt like history or what have you, but all relevant to kind of what we're doing. So we find out that Herod had killed John the Baptist, and then we get kind of that backstory. And what I want you to do as we watch this is kind of watch this family. Because no one in this family stands for anything at all. There are no plans, there are no principles. There's no guiding light, right? Like, if you were to sit down with Herod and really get a feel for what he was about, you would kind of come away saying, that guy's just about power. Like, it isn't. Like, he isn't. Well, meaning he isn't. It's just about, like, kind of can't see beyond the nose of his face. Like, he is almost a comic. A comic level of villainry is like a foot in his life. And, you know, you can't listen to this and tell me that this man stands for anything. It just seems like he's making it up as he goes along. So we start in verse 17. For Aaron himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. Why he did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled. Yet he liked to listen to him. So now we meet Herodias. This is Herod's second wife. Before being Herod's second wife, she was his sister in law. Before being his sister in law, she was his niece. And so that is the story of Herod's marriage. And he had divorced the daughter of another king in order to marry him. I looked at a family tree for 10 old minutes this week, you know, just to kind of figure out where the lines were going. I mean, some family trees are bushes, you know what I mean? And that was the situation we had going on here. I mean, the seating at Thanksgiving had to be unbelievable. They didn't have Thanksgiving because, you know, we were still a couple thousand had to be unbelievable. And so we get this mess of a family. And then the story continues. Finally, the opportune time came because Herodias wanted to kill John. On his birthday, Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guest. The king said to the girl, ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you. And he promised her an oath. Whatever you ask, I will give you up to half my kingdom. She went out and said to her mother, what shall I ask for? This is Herodias, the head of John the Baptist. She answered at once. The girl hurried in to the king with the request, I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Verse 26. The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guest, so to impress some of his friends, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went beheaded John in prison and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John's disciples came back and took his body and laid it in a tomb. And then we get kind of back to the story we were telling. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. What an awful story. What an ugly, sinful, debaucherous story. Just this man who is just playing games with people's lives, drunkenly sitting at a party, we assume, and you know, just deciding to end a life somewhat casually, right? And it's just kind of jammed right in there in the middle of talking about the growing kingdom of God where it says that Jesus gathered his disciples and he sent them out two by two and they proclaimed the kingdom and they taught repentance and they healed people and they cast out demons. We're getting this story of the kingdom of God and it's this ragtag bunch of people who are, who are deeply called and feel a deep sense of purpose and are going out and are spreading the gospel and telling people to repent. We get kind of the camera just kind of shifts to the left and we see this story of a kingdom of the world, and it's a disaster. There's nothing like this other thing. We shift over to Herod and we get just this guy who's making it up as he goes along where it's like, you want me to arrest him? I guess I can arrest him. I mean, I kind of like him and, you know, I kind of like some of the things he says and, you know, yeah, yeah, I guess I'll arrest him. Okay, he's arrested. We're gonna have a party. I'm gonna have somebody come in and dance for me. I really like that dance. I'm gonna see if she wants anything. And then she says, oh, I want you to kill somebody. And instead of saying, no, that's crazy, because I just decided this five minutes ago. He says, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want one of my party guests to think that I, you know, don't take my oaths seriously. So I'll just end a life, right? And we get this gross little story, and it really is an odd story. So we have to ask, why does Mark included and what does it teach us? And as I talked to Pastor Mike at GCC this week, he. We were kind of going through, and sometimes he's really good at statements and it just helps me to kind of hang some things. So I did borrow his statements, but that's. That's all I borrowed. So we're going to kind of hang off his statements. But I. But, you know, beyond that, it was, you know, how I used. It was a little bit different. But the first thing I want you to realize is the word of God is offensive. That the truth of the word of God is offensive. John didn't say anything that would have surprised Herod or any decently minded person, Right? Like the word of God is offensive. But Herod and his wife, or at very least his Wife were offended by it. They were offended by what John was saying. Now, we are not called to be jerks, right? We're not called to just be constantly pointing out how people could be doing better. What we are called to do is speak the truth in love and be clear about what we believe the Bible says about the lives we are called to live. And for some people, that will be offensive. For some people, that will be offensive. In fact, it being offensive might be evidence that it is in fact the word of God. And as Christians, we are called to, you know, we are called to sometimes offend. We are called to sometimes offend that when you speak the truth in love, it leads to you sometimes offending the people who are in your family, who are your friends, who are at work with you, who are in your life. And it's not that you set out to offend them. It's that the nature of the way you live might offend them. Right? Like if somebody tries to have a conversation with you that is, you know, inappropriate in some way, you say, yeah, I just don't really, like, go there with that. You know, it's just not something I do. And, you know, that's just what I believe God has called me to do. And sometimes those conversations will offend people because they'll say, well, you think you're better than me, or, you know, but the truth is that as Christians, we are called sometimes to be offensive, to offend people with the gospel, because otherwise there is no difference from the way we live, from the way other people live and our lives as witness to people, show us the differences, show people the differences and give them an opportunity to repent from the way they are living their lives. And so sometimes the word of God is offensive and going kind of one step further. If we haven't been offended in a long time by the word of God, I wonder if we are really listening to the word of God. This is the Bible scripture. We believe that, you know, as a church, as a denomination, however you want to put it, as Christians, we believe that every word is inspired by God and is. I'm not going to quote it perfectly, but profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting. Right? Like, you know, and so that means that if we are listening to the word of God, we should be having moments where we go, oh, I'm not sure I'm doing that. I'm not sure I'm living that out. I'm not sure that that has made its way into every part of every part of my life. And friends that doesn't mean you're not a Christian. That doesn't mean that God's mad at you. That doesn't mean that's what we call sanctific. That's what it is to grow as a Christian, to read Scripture and go, oh, this applies to my life in a way that I hadn't thought of before. This applies to something that I'm not doing yet. There is a change that I can make so I can more wholly reflect God. As Christians, many of us sitting here, we've been Christians for a long time, and we have to be careful if the word of God stops offending us. Because the truth is, if you do that, you've made Jesus into who you want Jesus to be, instead of Jesus making you into who Jesus wants you to be. Right? Like, because we can trip into saying, oh, it just turns out Jesus agrees with me about everything. We're good to go. You know, it's a Jesus. I'm already. I'm already there. We did it. But the truth is that the word of God is offensive. It's offensive to our friends and neighbors. It's offensive to us. That is a feature, not a bug. Right? You know what I mean? That is the point of the word of God. That the Holy Spirit would convict us, would change us, would grow us. Right? The holy word of God is God's standard of perfection, and it will challenge us until we are made perfect in heaven. So in the words we speak, are we willing to be offensive when the word of God is clear, or are we afraid of confrontation? If I can be transparent, this is something I struggle with. I'm not someone who enjoys confrontation. I am not a confrontational person by nature. And sometimes I worry that, you know, in my conversations, I don't do enough to make it clear when people aren't living. Right. So if you're hearing this and you're saying, addison, that's not me, listen, I agree with you. I struggle with it, too. What I do know is that we have a responsibility of Christians as Christians to speak the truth in love. And we have to choose truth. We have to choose confrontation sometimes. And beyond that, when we hear the word of God, does it still challenge us? Or do I need to open my heart back up to the idea that God is growing and changing me, that Jesus, through his Word, is growing and changing me. So, first of all, the word of God is offensive. Secondly, when we are offended by the word of God kind of going off where we ended the last one. Repent, repent, change. What you are doing when the word of God offends you. Look back at verse 17 to 20. We're not going to read the whole thing, but look at Herod and John's relationship. He has them arrested because he calls him out in his marriage and his wife says, you know, you should arrest John. And he says, okay, I guess. But he doesn't want to kill him because he's afraid of him. Which, you know, John had a following. And he was worried, if I kill John, it'll lead to, you know, a little revolution. And, you know, being a king or a tetrarch in Rome was really about. Like, they just didn't want you to bother them, right? So if you had, like, a little revolution, it would be like, well, you're not handling things well, right? Like, so this was. He was trying to keep, like, kind of a fire from starting. But then it has this really interesting thing that. Where it says, when Herod. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him. See, Herod was happy to listen to John. Theoretically. He wanted to be the type of person that John liked, right? Like in Herod's best version of himself, he was like, you know, I'd really like John to respect me. I'd really like John to think I have some good ideas. I'd really like John to, you know, John is John. He looked at John and he wanted his respect, but not if it meant changing his life, not if it meant doing anything different, not if it meant not grasping onto power constantly. It's actually not unlike what we talked about a couple weeks ago in Mark 4, where it talks about the seed that's scattered, and it says, others, like seeds sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they only last a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. So that's the kind of diagnosis of Herod's soul. That's his heart. He wants to be the type of person who. To kind of transfer it to our time, right? He wants to be the type of person who sits in church and listens, right? He wants to be the type of person who, you know, is respected by people who he sees as morally sound. But he doesn't want to do anything to make that happen. He doesn't want to change anything about himself. And this isn't. You know, we all know people like this, and maybe sometimes we've been people like this. Maybe we're willing to listen as long as it doesn't cost us too much. Maybe we like to just listen, you know, maybe we like to just be the type of person who goes to church, because after all, we live in Lancaster county, and a lot of people in Lancaster county go to church. And I want to have an answer when people ask me where I go. So I kind of got to show up somewhere and make sure they know me, right? You saw this with people a couple years ago with the COVID 19 pandemic. Like, as soon as they got out of the habit of going to church, they looked back at it and they said, you know, I'm not sure that was an important part of our lives. And they just kind of stopped going because they just got out of rhythm. And they were like, that's kind of nice to sleep in on Sunday, right? I mean, and to be fair, good point. You know, when you like, if you ever. If you ever sleep in on Sunday, you're like, man, people in the world are getting two weekend days. This is wild, right? Like, you know what I mean? And, no, I'm being a little tongue in cheek, but the point is, there are people like this that are easy to picture in our world, right? Where, you know, they like the idea of church. They like the idea of being considered a Christian. They like, maybe the comfort of the social parts of church, but they don't want to be changed by Jesus into the man or woman that he is calling them to be. They don't want to be offended. They don't want to do difficult things. They don't want to not watch that show because it offends, you know, kind of who they are. They don't want to not participate in that activity because it maybe offends the gospel. They don't want to cut off that friendship because it's leading them into behaviors that they're trying to not do. They don't want to actually experience any type of pain. They just want kind of all the positive stuff without the negative stuff. He was greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him. And we find ourselves in that place where the word of God will offend us. And what happens next matters. Like, when we hear those things that offend us as Christians, do we say, oh, that's for, like, the crazy people at church, right? Like, that's for, you know, kind of the crazy Christians. No one. No one really does that. Or do we repent? Do we see what the word of God makes clear in our lives? And we make a difference. We make a change. We make a shift in how we live. You know, the reason why Jesus is serious about sin is because sin will destroy us, right? Like, the reason why Jesus is serious about sin is because sin will destroy us. And I think when we talk about this, it's easy to kind of dismiss it and say, oh, yeah, that's for those. Those other people, right? Like, I can be casual with it. I can have kind of a casual Christianity, But. But think about it. Jesus is serious about sin because sin is destructive. The way I always illustrated it when I was a youth pastor was. You know those stories that you hear about on the news where it's like, somebody. If you're from the south, this isn't meant to offend you, but these people are always in the South. I'm not saying it's a. I'm not saying it's a category of. I'm not saying it's something in the. The people who, like, they find, like, a baby alligator or, like, a baby bear, and they're like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna raise this thing. And, like, they. They take the baby alligator and they. I guess in the north, it would be like, a wolf, right? Like, you hear the story, but, like, you know, it's like. And then they bring it and they, like, raise it in their bathtub and stuff. And, like, the reason why it's on the news. Why is it on the news? Because it killed them. It's like. And it's like, you know why the alligator did that? Because it was an alligator. They're killing machines. That's. That's what they do. They kill, right? 100% of the time, they kill, right? You raise a baby bear, it's cute. It becomes a bear, right? Like, and it's gonna. It's gonna kill you, right? Like, you raise a baby alligator, it maybe is cute. I don't know. It's hard to imagine a cute version of an alligator, because even when I see those little, like, caimans, I'm like, that. No, that doesn't need to be something I'm ever around. But. But, like, you know, like, that's what they do. And friends, sin is the same way. Like, oh, I just have this. I just have this little thing. I just, you know, it's just. It's just a relationship at work. It's fine, you know, it's fine. It stays there. It's never gonna. It's never gonna grow. I don't have to tell my spouse about it. I. You know, it's just like a little thing and like, we're just like, you know, we're like, oh, it's my work wife, it's my work husband, it's my, it's just a little, just a little thing on the side, right? Or, oh, it's just like, you know, I just, I only drink too much on occasion. You know what I mean? It's only at special occasions. And I'm like mostly self controlled and it's not a problem. And you know, oh, I just, you know, I just do. Friends. Sin kills. That's what sin does. That is what it does. And even if you raise it as a little cute part of your life, what it does is it destroys you. That is how sin is. We can't tame it. But what we can do is we can give it to Jesus because there's no sin that grace can't reach. You can be forgiven and restored. The worst thing you can do is hear the word speak to a specific part of your life and dig in and say, I'm not going to worry about that because that will callous you to the work that the Word of God is doing in your life. But the pain of the Word of God, the pain of repentance is never a condemnation. Sin will kill you, but Jesus will rescue you. Sin will kill you, but Jesus will restore you. Sin will kill you, but Jesus will save you from it. And when you find yourselves in those moments, those moment of truths where the truth hurts, are you going to repent or are you going to dig in and make Jesus a little more like you would like Jesus to be rather than making yourself a little more like Jesus? So the word of God is offensive. When it offends us, we need to repent. And finally, when it offends others, we have to hold on. We have to hold on to our principles and our beliefs and our deeply held convictions about scripture. And there's a reason why we have to. And the reason is why I talked about Herod's disaster of a family so much. Because this family was obsessed with power. They were accumulating all they could accumulate. Whatever the next right thing is, they did right. They had no, like, guiding principles. They don't believe in anything. And ultimately it leads to chaos, right? Nobody reads about that story and says, oh man, I'd really like to be in a family like that, right? Like, nobody's, like, I'd really like to. I mean, I'd like to watch it on TV maybe, but I, you know, nobody looks at it and says, I want to be in a family like that, and it leads ultimately to chaos. Herod Antipas, as far as we could tell from history, several years later, the father of that first woman he married would launch a military campaign against him because he was mad. And a historian of the time named Josephus tells us that many people believe that his significant defeat was divine justice at work because he had killed John the Baptist, and later on that Rome would strip him of his, like, official title and he would end his days in exile. Ultimately, this man, Herod Antipas, longed for power and significance and respect. But the only reason we know who he was is because he happened to be alive at the same time as Jesus Christ. That's the only reason anybody knows who he was. It's a sad little life that was about accumulating power and trying to trick people into respecting him. But this, this is why the offense of the Word of God matters. Because without principles, we get chaos. The alternative is also right there. I mentioned this was sandwiched in a story about Jesus and the disciples. These men and John and Jesus give up everything. While Herod tries to grasp for everything. You can almost see the juxtaposition. Jesus sends out his disciples and he says, don't take a bag, don't take a coat, don't take a staff. Give up everything. In sharing the gospel and spreading the gospel, John loses his life, right? And there's like an interesting parallel. The text tells us that John's disciples came and took his body and laid him in the tomb. And then way later in Mark 15, we hear that Joseph of Arimathea comes to Pilate and he gets Jesus body and he lays it in a tomb. But we know what happened next for Jesus. He was risen from the dead and he led the way into heaven. And because of that, we know what happened next for John, that he saw his Savior face to face. And so when we find ourselves in a place where the gospel has offended us or the gospel has offended others, it is important that we hold on because we are promised the same. That when we hold true to the gospel and it hurts that this is not the end of the story, right? If we read this story kind of from a worldly perspective, we go, well, John died, Herod didn't, right? Herod won that interaction. And when we look at our world and when we're trying to hold on to the word of God, it can be hard, right? Because it feels like we're losing in the short term. Pastor Mike doesn't like when I tell this joke, but I always say all we would have to Do, Mike, is grift for a year. All we would have to do is just run like a little. I'm 100% joking, but there's a part of you, like, let's just start a cult for a year and then we'll repent and we'll live off the residuals. Right? Like, you know what I mean? And to me, it's not a bad plan. Right? Because Grace. No, I'm just kidding. But no. Right? Like when you are living the right way and you see people in the world who are stealing and hurting and taking advantage of people and getting rich at the expense of people, it can feel like, man, why am I living right? Why am I running my business in a way that honors God? Why am I, you know, why am I acting in a way? Why am I being the man or the woman that God would have me be? It seems like everybody who's not doing that is getting ahead. And I feel like I'm just kind of struggling along. I feel like I'm just kind of, you know, it seems like. Seems like people who lie about other people, they seem to get promoted. Meanwhile, I'm honest and I try to do my work, and that doesn't happen to me, right? It can feel that way, right? It can feel like everybody who's doing the wrong things is getting ahead and everybody who's doing the right things is. Is just kind of stuck. And that's why we have to have an eternal perspective on this story. Because if we see it as Herod 1, we don't understand. The eternal reality is that Jesus ultimately would lead the way into life, that John would see his Savior face to face and hear, well done, good and faithful servants, that we are promised an eternity in heaven that will make anything that we lose or anything that we sacrifice in this life feel like the way scripture puts it, a light and momentary pain that our trade offs to follow Jesus, that our trade offs to choose to live that way and to be convicted by the Holy Spirit are not actually trade offs, but investments in an eternity in heaven where we will know and fully be known, that we will look back at this as a small and momentary pain. So maybe this is your doctor's office moment, right? Is there a place in your life where you need to speak truth? A conversation that you need to have with someone where you just say, listen, I wouldn't feel right if I wasn't honest with you about this. I wouldn't feel like I was honoring who Jesus is if I didn't say this to you. Because I care about you and I love you. Or is there a place where you need to repent, right? Is there some kind of corner of your life where you're holding on to something and you say, you know what, I don't need that. That, that isn't contributing to the man I want to be, that isn't contributing to the woman I want to be. And I want to lay that at the feet of Jesus. Or maybe you need to pray to hold on, right? You need to pray. Jesus, help me to not get so caught up in comparing myself to the people around me. Help me to not get so caught up in feeling like I'm losing while others people gain. And maybe, you know, before you leave today, you need to grab something and say, you know, I need you to pray for me about that. Because that's, that's really hitting me hard right now. I feel like, it's hard to feel like being a Christian is advantageous in my day to day life. Wherever you are, I hope that the message speaks to you and you kind of make a choice to be more like a disciple than a Herod, if you will. Because, friends, we are promised eternal life. We are promised eternal joy. We are promised so much. And all we have to do is trust the grace and mercy of Jesus and continuously conform our life. And then the truth is that the life we are offered is better, right? Like, I know I joked about it, none of us want to be liars, right? None of us want to be con people. It's not how you would say that. But none of us want to be, you know, none of us want that. We want to live the life that Jesus has called us to. But it can be hard and it can be difficult. And what Jesus would say to us is, yeah, I understand, but we're walking together. We're making you more like me every day. Sorry. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for your goodness and your grace. We thank you that every sin is covered under your grace, Lord. And we thank you that you do not leave us in a state of lost sinfulness. But Lord, that you transform us and grow us and change us to be more like you. And I pray that you would help us to see who you are, to see what you would have us to be. That you would let us shine a light into every corner of our lives and help us to help us to learn what you would have us do and help us to change and grow and, and to just, just hear from you. Lord, we thank you that you are willing to change us into the people you would have us be. And, Lord, I pray that when your word offends us, we would choose to repent and that we would grow into the people that you are calling us to be and help us to every day reflect you more. And we ask all this in your name. Amen.