DISCLAIMER:  This text is not a 

verbatim transcript.  

Communication Access Real Time 

Translation (CART) is provided 

in order to facilitate 

communication credibility and 

may not be a totally verbatim 

record of the proceedings. 

>> Thank you for joining us 

today. 

We want to let you know about a 

few items of interest.  

First, go to our website, 

firstcolonychurch.org, and go 

there often.  

You'll find links to our worship 

services, Bible study options, 

online giving, and our podcast 

"Anchor Point." 

You can also download our church 

app.  

Just search for First Colony 

Church of Christ in the App 

Store or on Google Play.  

The app is a great resource 

where you can stay connected to 

First Colony Church.  

Thank you for joining us today.  

we are glad you're here.  

[\M\M\M] 

 [\M\M\M] 

>> Thank you for joining us 

today. 

We want to let you know about a 

few items of interest.  

First, go to our website, 

firstcolonychurch.org, and go 

there often.  

You'll find links to our worship 

services, Bible study options, 

online giving, and our podcast 

"Anchor Point." 

You can also download our church 

app.  

Just search for First Colony 

Church of Christ in the App 

Store or on Google Play.  

The app is a great resource 

where you can stay connected to 

First Colony Church.  

Thank you for joining us today.  

we are glad you're here.  

>> Well, good morning and 

welcome to the First Colony 

Church of Christ.  We are 

honored to have everyone here 

together for worship so we get 

to focus on the biblical truths 

found in 1 John.  Let's stand to 

enter into worship today.  

>> Richard: God is faithful, 

amen. 

\M "House of the Lord" \M

>> Richard: Yes!  Is there joy 

in the house of the Lord today?  

Any time the church comes 

together, there is joy. 

\M "Resurrecting" \M

>> Richard: Thank you, church, 

for your worship today.  You may 

be seated.  

>> Amen.  As Kevin and Leigh 

Hayes lead us into our time of 

communion.  If you're here, you 

can gather your supplies.  There 

is more on the tables if you 

haven't gotten one yet.  Let's 

go ahead and start preparing our 

hearts and our minds for 

communion today.  Thank you so 

much, Kevin.  

>> Kevin: Good morning, church.  

My name is Kevin Hayes and this 

is my wife Leigh and we are 

honored to lead you in 

communion.  Let us pray.  Abba, 

father, we are grateful to be 

attending here.  As we live in 

this world right now that is 

full of great division and 

separation, we are grateful that 

we can come together for 

communion as one people with a 

common purpose, that is to 

remember and honor Christ for 

his sacrifice, as we are 

instructed in Luke.  He took 

bread and broke it and gave 

thanks.  This is my body.  Do 

this in remembrance.  Likewise, 

he took the cup saying this is 

the new covenant of my blood 

which is shed for you.  As we 

take these new elements of 

communion, let us understand the 

depth of price's sacrifice and 

love for us, both individually 

and as a body of believers.  

Open our hearts to allow the 

spirit to do his full work in 

us.  Give us a spirit of 

kindness, love, understanding, 

and forgiveness for one another 

and for the world.  In the name 

of Christ, our savior, we come 

before you.  Amen.  

>> I'd like to share with you 

the beautiful words of Jesus 

from

Mark 12:29-31 

The NLT version. 

Jesus replied, “The most 

important commandment is this: 

‘Listen, O Israel! 

The Lord our God is the one and 

only Lord. 

And you must love the Lord your 

God with all your heart, all 

your soul, all your mind, and 

all your strength.’

The second is equally important: 

‘Love your neighbor as 

yourself.’

No other commandment is greater 

than these.” 

\M "You Say" \M

>> Man, that was a beautiful 

song.  Thank you, Emily, for 

leading us in that song.  So 

many truths found in that song 

as we believe.  As we believe in 

the promises in what God has 

done for us.  This is the time 

for our offering.  So as we 

enter into this time, let's 

remember some of those words of 

what God has done in us and what 

he created us to be and the 

joyful hearts.  As we do that, a 

reminder to give online, safe, 

secure, easy to set up.  If 

you're here, we have giving 

bins.  You can give on your way 

out.  We also have text to give 

option as well.  Let's pray over 

the offering today.  Father, we 

do believe.  Father, we do put 

our lives and hope and trust in 

you and you alone as we get to 

be your children that you call 

your own.  With grateful hearts, 

we come before you and we give 

back what you have already 

invested in us.  We trust you 

and we love you and in the 

powerful name of Jesus, we pray.  

Amen.  

>> Joel: Well, good morning, 

everyone.  It's so good to see 

you all here today, as we have 

continued in our series on 1 

John, one of the things that 

we've come across is love and 

God's love for us.  What is our 

response to God and that's love 

back.  People say, how do you 

love God?  It starts with 

obedience.  John 14:15 or 15:14, 

it says, if you love me, you 

obey my commandments.  So today 

I have some illustrations that 

involve love and obedience.  

Let's pretend you're a kid.  If 

you're a kid, pretend you're an 

adult.  You can go either way.  

Let's say your mom says, Joel, 

time to take out the trash and 

you go and take one piece of 

trash outside of the trash can 

and go outside and put it out.  

Did you take out the trash?  

Yeah, but did you obey?  No, you 

didn't.  You need to do the 

entire job.  I learn visually so 

I have some visual items that 

you may recognize.  How much of 

the job should we do?  We should 

do the job totally.  That is one 

element.  The next element 

involves this.  Pretend Joel is 

playing a video game and mom 

says, Joel, time to come eat and 

I say, I'll be right there.  

Joel, your food is getting cold.  

I'm coming.  Is that obeying?  

No.  You've got to obey 

instantly.  This is instant 

Jell-O pudding.  It's not the 

cook, stir, don't burn the 

bottom, put in the refrigerator, 

wait a few hours and serve 

variety.  I've been on mission 

trips and this stuff is gold.  

You put the milk, shake it in a 

bag, and boom, awesome stuff.  

Instant.  The first two keys to 

obedience, doing it totally and 

instantly.  The next item 

involves, do I have to?  That's 

just not fair.  If I pick up my 

toys now, I'm just going to play 

with them again and it will get 

messy, so why even bother.  Have 

you ever heard or felt that?  

That brings us to WD-40 and if 

you ever opened a door and it 

creeked and you sprayed this.  

Isn't that so much nicer?  The 

first line and it says, check 

this out at home, stops squeaks.  

We need to obey totally and 

instantly and without 

complaining.  This one is pretty 

good.  So I am a younger 

brother.  This is legit.  Let's 

suppose my mom said, Joel, I 

want you to clean my room.  I'm 

doing it totally, instantly, not 

complaining.  I'm going right 

in.  And in my room I find my 

older brother's shoe.  My mom 

asked me to clean my room, so 

technically I could open the 

window and throw it outside or I 

could poke my dog in the nose 

until it thinks it should 

destroy the shoe.  Or better 

yet, I could knock on my 

brother's door and when he 

answers, what, I could chuck it 

at him and then run to my mom 

and say I'm cleaning my room, I 

don't know why he's chasing me.  

Would that be obedience.  This 

is Jesus saying we should go the 

extra mile.  Then the final key 

that you have to remember is it 

involves what is inside your 

heart.  You as adults are 

probably poking your children at 

this point, but this is where 

they get to poke you back.  This 

involves our attitude.  Do we 

obey our parents cheerfully but 

also God?  Those are the five 

keys to obedience.  And 

interestingly, if you only do 

one and you pretend it's a lock 

in a door and you only undo one 

lock and leave the other four, 

you don't go through.  My key is 

you love God by keeping his 

commandments.  Thank you very 

much.  [\M\M\M] 

>> Fall is here.  We are excited 

for the opportunity to serve our 

community with this year's 

pumpkin patch party.  Such a 

great opportunity requires great 

support.  We're asking you to 

volunteer so that every family 

can have a great time together.  

If you would like more 

information on how to get 

involved with the pumpkin patch 

party, visit our website.  [\M\M\M] 

>> If you would like more 

information about how you can 

get involved with our pumpkin 

patch party, visit our website.  

[\M\M\M] 

>> All right.  Just two weeks 

away.  We have pumpkin patch 

coming up.  You can go ahead and 

get out our phones.  I'm going 

to give you permission.  You can 

go ahead and volunteer.  Our 

number one volunteer is trunks 

because we have the biggest 

trunker tree in town.  All you 

have to do is sign up, park your 

car and we'll give you the 

candy.  If you have a trunk, 

we'll give you the candy, pass 

it out.  It's going to be a 

fantastic time.  Volunteer, 

bring some candy and we'll have 

some fun.  It's time for Main 

Street live.  Mr. Joel coop 

smith is in the back.  If you 

are first to fifth grade, go see 

Joel.  Parents, if you have not 

signed up your kids, go to the 

chapel and get them signed in.  

For all of us here, whether 

you're a guest or a member, we 

would love to have you fill out 

a connection card.  You can do 

that online or if you're here, 

scan the Q.R. code and it will 

come up.  That will allow us to 

know what ministries you want 

information and also sharing 

your prayer requests because our 

staff prays for you every week 

by name.  Fill those out.  If 

you are a guest this morning, 

thank you for joining us.  We 

have a room right across the 

lobby called new here, start 

here.  We would love you to go 

there.  Our staff would like to 

meet you as well as we have a 

gift for you after service.  At 

this time, it is time for our 

fellowship greeting.  Stand up 

and say hello to folks around 

us.  If you're online, go ahead 

and say hello in the chat box.  

We would love to know that 

you're here with us.  

[Indistinct chatter]

\M "Every Giant Will Fall" \M 

>> Richard: Thank you, church, 

for your worship.  You may be 

seated.  [\M\M\M] 

>> Ronnie: Richard and team, 

thank you so much.  Hello, 

everybody.  Good morning.  Glad 

to see you.  For those of you in 

the room, welcome, glad to have 

you here.  And to those of you 

watching online, we are really 

glad to have you with us in this 

worship experience also.  Today, 

let me just encourage you to 

participate, engage, invite the 

Holy Spirit to massage your soul 

and your heart and ask how God 

might move in you and in your 

life.  We were just singing this 

great song.  Nothing is 

impossible for our great God.  

And today as we work through 

this passage of scripture 

through 1 John, that is one of 

the great messages coming 

through for us.  First of all, I 

would like to recognize some 

recent baptisms and ask you to 

stand if you're here in the 

room.  First of all, Norah Agan, 

the daughter of Lance and Kayla.  

Let's celebrate with Norah, 

please.  There you go.  

Fantastic.  And also Jack and 

Addison Likus, the children of 

David and Alayna.  Where are 

Jack and Addison, right over 

there.  There you go.  Very 

good.  Well, we celebrate with 

those fine, fine young people 

and you love to see young people 

making a decision for Jesus.  

They've got a long time, Lord 

willing, to let their light 

shine for Him.  The title of 

today's message is called humble 

confidence.  Our text is 1 John 

5:13-17.  You hear the words 

"humble confidence witness stand 

and you think that's a bit of an 

oxymoron and do they go 

together?  Absolutely.  It is 

the Christian message that 

provides for us humble 

confidence.  Humble in that we 

are clueless sheep in need of a 

good Shepherd.  We are groan 

sinners in need of a savior.  So 

there is a call for humility.  

And yet, we do have a good 

shepherd, we do have a savior, 

we do serve a mighty God.  

Therefore, we can live with 

boldness and confidence before 

Him.  You're going to see this 

concept of humble confidence in 

this passage of scripture today.  

1 John 5:13.  

[Text on screen] 

A sense of confidence there, 

that you know you have eternal 

life.  Because we trust not in 

ourselves, but in who?  In the 

name of the son of God and the 

apostle John has been writing to 

us.  He says, there are signs of 

life in you.  You can look 

around and you see those signs 

of spiritual life.  You believe 

in Jesus.  You want to please 

the Lord.  You love one another.  

Those are signs of spiritual 

life and you look not to your 

own sense of perfection.  You 

see a direction in your life, 

but there's great confidence in 

the name of the son of God.  

He's going to drive home this 

sense of confidence beginning 

verse 14.  

[Text on screen] 

We don't have to come before God 

with a sense of timidity.  We 

come with a great sense of 

confidence and approach God.  

[Text on screen] 

Now, that's a staggering, 

staggering proclamation.  You 

know, over the last year and a 

half so many bad things are up, 

suicide, depression, abuse, 

divorce, what can Christians do?  

Somebody says we pray and then 

the cynics all come back, oh, 

that's just a cheap Christian 

cliché.  My friends, there are a 

lot of things you can do after 

you pray, but nothing you can do 

before you pray.  Prayer has to 

be our first response, not a 

last resort.  We are -- we have 

the incredible privilege of 

inviting and welcoming the touch 

and the hand of God and he's 

willing -- get this, he's 

willing to assert himself into 

the situation.  Now, the Bible 

says and this is so true.  We 

know this.  I'm not telling you 

anything we don't know.  We work 

out our own salvation with fear 

trembling.  There are things 

that we're supposed to do.  You 

do what you do.  You take 

initiative, energy, own a sense 

of responsibility, but all of us 

will find ourselves in 

situations where we're not 

enough.  My energy is not 

enough.  My smarts not enough by 

a long shot.  And we should then 

invite God as a first response 

to insert himself into the 

situation.  My friends, prayer 

is the most important ministry 

of this church.  Prayer is the 

most important ministry of your 

life.  And, you know, a lot of 

people might pray, they don't 

know to whom they're praying.  

We know, we're praying to our 

heavenly Father, to Jesus and 

the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Mark Patterson has said it and I 

believe it's true.  

[Text on screen] 

You know, Martin Luther once 

said prayer is the difference 

between we can do and they best 

God can do.  Prayer places my 

unknown into God's all-knowing 

hands.  Some of you are facing a 

situation right now and it's a 

problem, but the problem is more 

than the problem.  The problem 

is you don't know how the 

problem is going to work out, 

and that's the dilemma.  You 

just don't know where it's 

going.  And the fear of the 

unknown, the fear of where is 

this heading.  But when you pray 

and you put that in God's hands, 

you know, God's got this.  I 

don't know where it's at.  I 

don't know how it's going to 

work out.  I don't have to know.  

It's in God's all-knowing hands.  

Prayer places what seems 

hopeless into God's powerful 

hands.  Sometimes we face those 

situations and they do, they 

feel hopeless.  Name it.  It 

might be a health situation, 

marriage, finances.  But we 

serve a God who raises the dead 

and because of the resurrection, 

there's always hope.  Again, I 

don't know how it's going to 

work out, but I do know prayer 

invites an all-powerful God into 

a seemingly hopeless situation 

and to a knowing God and certain 

situation and prayer places our 

failures into God's gracious 

hands.  One of the great 

promises we read in 1 John 1, as 

we confess our sins, he is 

faithful and just and forgives 

our sins and will cleanse us of 

all unrighteousness.  We can 

take the darkest stain in our 

life and place that into God's 

gracious hands.  You say I'm a 

person with a lot of wrongs, I 

can't be made righteous.  Yes, 

you can.  You know how, God 

covers your wrong in the 

sacrifice of Jesus.  Those 

wrongs have been turned into 

rights.  You are now a righteous 

person because the righteousness 

of Christ has been gifted and 

credited to you.  When we pray, 

here's what we're doing.  Prayer 

moves us from the natural into 

the supernatural.  Prayer allows 

us to touch the supernatural.  

As we were singing, nothing is 

impossible.  With me, that's not 

true.  With you, that's not 

true.  With God all things are 

possible.  So John is saying, 

here's what you can know.  God 

hears us, he responds.  And our 

mantra is, your will be done.  

That is our prayer mantra.  We 

ask with great boldness and 

there isn't anything too big or 

small.  Our mantra is your will 

be done.  Occasionally you will 

meet someone and they say, I 

prayed, God didn't do it.  

Prayer doesn't work.  Just 

because you asked something and 

because you asked it glibly and 

tritely, it doesn't mean you 

didn't receive it and prayer 

doesn't work.  When I was 10 

years old, I asked my dad and my 

mom for a mini bike and they 

said no.  No way.  Now, they 

heard me.  Their answer was no.  

And we're children and we have a 

really good and wise heavenly 

father and we ask so many times 

and you say yes and here's more 

and he may say no for reasons 

that don't make sense to us.  

Sometimes he may say later.  

Here's what happens.  Prayer is 

moving us from the natural to 

the supernatural.  Prayer is not 

something we do to use God and 

manipulate God.  Prayer is not 

something we do to prove what 

good people we are.  Prayer is a 

gift from God to you, whereby 

you get to partner with him to 

change what's possible.  

Prayer's God's gift to you, 

whereby you get to partner with 

Him to bring redemption and 

healing to the world.  And now 

John will talk specifically 

about that as he moves into 

talking about intercessory 

prayer.  Verse 16.  

[Text on screen] 

Sometimes we do that if somebody 

is sick and that's so good, you 

pray for one another.  John says 

I want you to be praying for one 

another spiritually for their 

walk with Christ.  

[Text on screen] 

What is that all about?  Let me 

ask you this.  Have you ever had 

a relationship with a brother or 

sister in Christ and they just 

really, really frustrate you.  

Go ahead and nod your head and 

say yes.  Have you ever had a 

frustrating relationship with a 

brother or sister in Christ and 

you gossiped about them?  Don't 

look so holy.  Yeah, you had.  

Here's what John says.  Rather 

than talking about that person 

who frustrates you to another 

person, why don't you talk about 

that person to God?  Rather than 

gossip about that person, 

intercede for that person.  

Hello, make sense?  One lady 

told me, I try to live by this 

mantra.  Don't go to the phone, 

go to the throne.  Rather than 

gossip about -- I can't 

understand why they -- you see 

that person committing a sin, 

now, it's not -- they still have 

spiritual life in them, they do.  

And rather than talk about them, 

pray for them, intercede for 

them.  It's a way of bringing 

God into the relationship so 

it's not just about you and that 

person, but God's involved and 

you're asking God to work on 

that person's heart and he's a 

good guy.  He loves you and us 

and he will do that.  We get to 

intercede and it is a powerful 

and a beautiful ministry and 

John goes on and says there is a 

sin that does not lead to death.  

[Text on screen] 

In other words, he says, 

sometimes you're going to have a 

person in your life, a believer, 

and there are no longer any 

signs of spiritual life there, 

none whatsoever.  They don't 

really love the church.  They 

don't have a real desire to 

please and honor Jesus.  They're 

not even really sure they 

believe in Jesus, you know.  And 

I believe what John is saying 

here that with such people, you 

love them, you pray for them, 

you intercede, you speak, you 

try to do what you can for them.  

Here is John's message.  You 

can't beat yourself up because 

someone you care about doesn't 

love the Lord the way you love 

the Lord.  You can't take that 

personally or look to blame 

somebody other than the person 

themself who is responsible.  

It's not really -- you've got to 

accept that the cold, hard 

reality is not everyone you love 

will love God.  Not everyone you 

care about is going to change 

and follow the Lord.  Not 

everyone you want to fix is 

going to want to be straightened 

out.  You are not God.  You 

cannot change a heart.  You can 

pray, intercede, speak your 

piece, do all you can.  At some 

point you get to the place and 

the point where that person has 

no signs of spiritual life 

whatsoever.  Just like Jesus 

told you, you just do what 

you're going to do.  It doesn't 

mean you condone it or bless it.  

It means you acknowledge, I'm 

not God.  I can't change this 

situation.  John says -- now, 

prayer is powerful.  It is 

absolutely powerful.  And in 

other people, intercede for one 

another.  When you see any signs 

of spiritual life especially, 

you are interceding for each 

other.  You just know you are 

going to have people in your 

life where they stiff-arm the 

Lord your care and your concern 

is no substitute for their 

taking some action and 

responsibility.  What's happened 

right here with these churches?  

You had influencers come in who 

have done what?  They basically 

say we don't believe Jesus is 

God, so they've redefined Jesus.  

They've redefined morality.  We 

don't think sin is a big deal.  

So they've come into these 

churches and redefined Jesus and 

morality.  But the leaders of 

the churches and John himself 

said, we're not going to 

tolerate that here.  We love 

you.  That's not going to fly 

here.  And 1 John 2 they went 

out from them.  And John says, 

love one another.  That's one of 

his mantras.  Pray for one 

another.  Even when you see one 

another stumble and fall, pray 

for one another.  If someone 

doesn't believe in Jesus, the 

apostolic version of Jesus, if 

someone doesn't adhere to the 

morality of the scriptures, if 

there are no signs of spiritual 

life there, that's not on you.  

Pray for them, but that's not on 

you.  Accept the reality.  You 

cannot change the person.  The 

good news is, it may be that 

that person has been in a 

prodigal situation and that 

person comes back.  We've all 

seen situations where somebody 

is in a wilderness and they come 

home.  

[Text on screen] 

Let me do a little bit of a 

sidebar here and ask this 

question.  What happens when a 

Christian begins to walk in sin?  

I mean not stumble, but walk in 

resistance and rebellion?  First 

of all, God doesn't stop loving 

you.  God doesn't stop loving 

that person.  In fact, His 

kindness and love is often the 

magnum bringing them back.  But 

secondly, and you have to be 

aware of this, your defenses are 

lowered.  Why stop now?  

Thirdly, God may discipline you.  

The Bible says that He is a 

loving Father.  He will 

discipline His children to try 

to get their attention.  The 

Holy Spirit may convict you, 

especially in tandem with the 

prayers of your brothers and 

sisters.  Your spiritual friends 

should exhort you.  Hopefully 

that happens.  And you choose to 

either hear or harden.  You 

never want to get good at 

telling God no.  You don't want 

to get good at that.  Now, let 

me take you back to John's main 

thrust here, verse 14.  

[Text on screen] 

Everybody, I believe that God 

answers prayer and sometimes God 

will answer prayer dramatically, 

dramatically, in amazing ways, 

just amazing ways.  You can read 

about that in the scriptures.  

Hezekiah had a terminal illness 

and he was granted life.  Peter 

was in prison and people prayed.  

There was a dramatic release.  

Some of you -- I have 

experienced in my life profound, 

dramatic answers to prayer that 

force me literally to my knees 

weeping in tears over such a 

dramatic response.  Sometimes 

God answers prayers just 

dramatically.  But I believe God 

answers prayers dramatically, 

but not always.  God sometimes 

intervenes miraculously, but not 

often, not always.  When it 

comes to healing, often I 

believe God heals naturally, 

medicinally and sometimes those 

prayers are answered through a 

prolonged recovery, Tylenol, 

penicillin, positions.  I 

believe God answers prayer, 

sometimes dramatically, often 

not dramatically.  Listen 

carefully, even when the prayers 

are not answered affirmativity, 

the way I would like, God is 

still good and worthy of our 

trust.  Although it pains me to 

say this, there are times in the 

scripture where God says, no, or 

not now.  David prayed for his 

infant son to live and that 

didn't happen.  Paul prayed for 

the thorn and the flesh to be 

removed and it wasn't.  Even 

Jesus prayed, my Father, would 

you take this cup from me?  And 

you know that story.  Only in 

heaven does God promise to wipe 

every tear from your eyes.  

Think about it, if God answered 

every prayer exactly as we 

requested, that basically means 

that we're in charge of universe 

and that is a scary thought.  

That would be a disaster.  And 

that's why we pray as Jesus 

prayed, your will be done.  

Bring those bold requests to 

God.  When I say "bold," I mean, 

don't let guilt keep you from 

praying.  I'm not worthy to ask 

this.  Don't let guilt keep you 

from praying or the size of the 

request keep you from praying.  

Bring it boldly before the Lord 

and step into it knowing that 

you have a wise, good, heavenly 

father who will take it and sift 

it and respond in grace, mercy, 

and wisdom.  All right, 

everybody, that's John's message 

to you today.  We can ask in 

confidence because we are his 

children and we can ask in 

confidence for one another as 

well.  All right.  Grant, would 

you be making your way up here.  

Grant is going to lead us in 

prayer and he is going to 

introduce to you a wonderful 

missionary servant in the Lord 

and we are going to intercede 

over our brother Ramesh in a 

moment 

>> Grant: Friends, I want to 

introduce to you a good friend 

and brother in Christ from 

Nepal, Ramesh Nakota, also the 

founder and president of Our 

Daughters International.  This 

is an organization we partner 

with to fight human trafficking 

in Nepal.  You heard us say 

during our mission months of 

different things we've been 

doing.  Ramesh is the guy on the 

front lines that leads that 

border fight, at the border 

stations where they are finding 

these girls and the safe house 

where they are taking for refuge 

and healing and Christian 

counseling and a vocational 

training center where they are 

equipped with jobs and skills to 

go back into their communities 

where they don't have to be in a 

traffic situation again.  Amen 

to that, right.  

[Applause]. 

But the transformation is 

amazing for all of those things 

in a Hindu country to teach 

these girls about Christ and the 

transformation as they bring 

Christ back to their communities 

and sharing the gospel and 

planning the searches and 

changing Nepal.  Church, I just 

want to say this morning -- of 

course, on behalf of our church, 

Ramesh, thank you so much.  I 

mean, thank you first for just 

being a follower of Christ, for 

persevering in the faith and the 

fight.  His family has been a 

target.  His family members have 

been taken.  He's had to flee 

his home and country numerous 

times.  He continues to stand 

and fight the good fight for 

these daughters being 

trafficked.  Church, let's show 

Ramesh our gratitude and our 

thanks this morning.  Thank you.  

[Applause] 

>> Grant: We're going to pray 

over Ramesh and his family.  

He's married with two daughters.  

You can raise a hand if you want 

to reach out.  We are going to 

pray over him at this time.  

Father, you are good.  Your love 

endures forever.  Today we give 

thanks for Ramesh, his wife, his 

family, all you have done in and 

through them.  They are your 

servants.  Continue to protect 

them in the face of danger.  

Father, continue to provide when 

the enemy steals.  Continue to 

be their joy and peace in a 

world full of fear and chaos.  

Lord, be their strength and 

carry them when they are weary.  

Give them wisdom and discernment 

when complex problems come their 

way.  Father, we ask that you 

pour out a double portion of 

your spirit on Ramesh to sustain 

him, to lead him, to counsel 

him, to minister him during 

these times and these efforts.  

Father, it is in you and you 

alone that we trust.  It is in 

you and you alone that we 

surrender our lives.  You are 

good and your love endures 

forever.  It is in the powerful 

name of Jesus that we call upon 

these things.  Amen.  One more 

time, let's give Ramesh a huge 

thank you.  Thank you, brother.  

[Applause] 

>> Grant: We had the privilege 

during Bible class hour to hear 

from Ramesh.  We recorded that.  

Hopefully that comes out well 

and if it does, we'll be able to 

post that online hopefully in 

November.  You can catch that 

online to just hear about so 

many of the great stories 

happening in the midst of some 

darkness.  But at church we have 

a lot of great opportunities to 

plug in.  Sunday 9:45, we have 

great classes.  If you're a 

young adult, young family, F100, 

it's the very first classroom 

when you walk in the building is 

a great class at Bible class 

hour.  We also have a great 

women's class.  Ladies, if 

you're wanting to go through the 

scriptures and walk through, 

Missy Edgeman is leading this 

great class to jump into.  And 

of course pumpkin patch two 

weeks away.  Let's bring candy 

and sign up to be on the trunk 

team here at that party.  All 

right, church, we love you guys.  

We're praying for you this week.  

Let's go ahead and stand and 

close with one final song, 

Richard.  

>> Richard: Yes! 

\M "Every Giant Will Fall" \M 

>> Richard: Thank you, church, 

for worshiping with us today.  

You are dismissed.  [\M\M\M] 

>> Thank you for joining us 

today. 

We want to let you know about a 

few items of interest.  

First, go to our website, 

firstcolonychurch.org, and go 

there often.  

You'll find links to our worship 

services, Bible study options, 

online giving, and our podcast 

"Anchor Point." 

You can also download our church 

app.  

Just search for First Colony 

Church of Christ in the App 

Store or on Google Play.  

The app is a great resource 

where you can stay connected to 

First Colony Church.  

Thank you for joining us today.  

we are glad you're here.  

 [\M\M\M]