Is Jesus with you still?

Father, I thank you for the opportunity you give me to be able to share your word today with my brothers and sisters. Lord, and just as it happened this morning, I also ask you now that this word come to life for each one of us. Please give me the strength I need to be here and share this message today. And Lord, that you be glorified in everything and that your word does not return empty but rather fulfills what you send it for today. May you be glorified above all things. Thank you Jesus. Amen.

Well, brothers, a few months ago I was talking to my mother, there in Puerto Rico, on the phone and she was telling me about one of her experiences with my youngest nephew by one year and a half. His name is Giorvani, not Giovanni, but Giorvani, I know that Puerto Ricans have something crazy about playing with names and they named my nephew Giorvani. So, my mother tells me that they were at my house there in Puerto Rico, and we live in a sector called town houses, they are like a row of three houses that are together and then after those three houses there is a space in the half, and then comes another row of 3 houses.

So, then, the roofs of these houses are connected to each other. On the roof of my house we have an additional apartment, my grandparents were living there, and then, well, there, my grandmother has a flower garden. Well, this day, my mother, my grandmother and my sister were there, they were there looking at the flowers, pouring water, also talking and obviously my nephew Giorvani was with them too.

Then, suddenly they focused on this flower that was very pretty, it was lit, very pretty and the 3 of them were there talking about the flower, and how pretty and oh, how pretty. And suddenly, they began to ask, and where is Giorvani? And they started looking and they didn't find it, they went inside the apartment and they didn't find it there, and suddenly when they realized it, my nephew was running on the roof of the house next door.

Now, our house has a gate that closes off the apartment, one of those gates that are about 4 or 5 feet high, but the other houses don't. So, well, my nephew was running wildly around this other roof and obviously the danger was that he would run too close to the edge and..... you understand that gesture, right? Let it go over the edge and fall down.

In her anxiety, my mom then ran to a gate that gives access to the other side of the roof, but the padlock was closed. And when she couldn't find the key, my mother got so desperate, brothers, that I want you to imagine this: a 60-year-old woman jumping over a fence. I was surprised, I didn't believe it when she told me, but I was surprised, I told myself, my 60-year-old mother, she likes to wear shorts, I know, but anyway, I couldn't visualize it. . She didn't know how to get hooked on the fence and climb up the leg and jump to the other side. The thing was, he did. I believe that when one is under stress and anguish, the adrenaline makes one do things that one could never do.

But the thing was that when my mom got to the other roof, she started running after my nephew, 'Giorvani, Giorvani, stop there', and he thought he was playing and continued.... hi, hi, hi, hi..... and my mom running after him all over the roof. The thing was that he crossed to the third house, to the roof of the other house, and my mom kept running after him and the thing is that in the middle of all this, the neighbor's son in front, when he realized the situation, he ran out of his house and climbed over the gate of the third house, and got on the roof and grabbed my nephew just in time for me to go the other way, because that was the direction he was going .

Why am I going with this, brothers? I don't know if you have found yourself in a situation in which you assume that someone is with you and maybe you are even talking and you think that person is listening to you but suddenly when you look to the side, it's like... .. And where is?

Sometimes it happens to me with my wife, we're in the kitchen and I suddenly go to the office to get something, and she keeps talking to me as if I were in the kitchen but I'm not. And I let her tell me from the kitchen 'but look, I'm talking to you,' 'ah, sorry, sorry, if I come back now'.

But it is that feeling, brothers, that when you understand or assume that someone is with you but in reality they are not. It is a feeling that often causes a little insecurity and anguish. Obviously a father with a son who is perhaps in a place with a lot of people, and suddenly they are walking, and suddenly one feels his hand is empty and he starts looking and where is my son? Where did you take? I think that's why they invented those straps that tie them up, right? and that one always has it tied up in case they leave. A leash, exactly, they grab it like that.

And you know, brothers, I understand that many times in these situations the same thing happens to us in our relationship with Jesus. There are times when we are carrying out our lives assuming that the Lord is there, but we do not make sure that he really is.

There is a passage in Scripture that can prove this to you. I would like you to go with me to Lucas, Chapter 2, beginning in verse 41. Excuse me if I'm getting a little hoarse right now, but I'm fighting a little flu of those there that are bothering you.

Luke, Chapter 2, verse 41 says this: “His parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festival and when he was 12 years old – this is speaking of Jesus – they went up to Jerusalem as it was the custom of the festival.

Now, let me explain a little so that if there are some of you who don't understand. The Passover party was one of the most celebrated traditions in the Jewish context. Passover meant the deliverance of the Jews from the people of Egypt. In English, the word is said Passover, as passing over, which implies one of those 10 calamities that was when the angel of Jehovah began to pass through the entire city eliminating all the firstborn of the Egyptian people. But none of the firstborn of the Jewish people were affected because their doors were marked with the blood of the lamb.

Therefore the angel of Jehovah passed over them without affecting them. And that is what the celebration of the Passover implies, is the liberation of the Jewish people from their captivity in Egypt. The passage continues, verse 43:

“.... when they returned after the party was over, the child Jesus stayed in Jerusalem – now how can this happen – without the knowledge of Joseph and his mother Mary And thinking that he was among the company, they traveled for a day, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but they did not find him.

Let me stop there. I would like to talk a little bit about this. It is interesting because on this trip, brothers, I want you to understand this context. This trip wasn't a trip like going from here to Wallham, it wasn't a trip like going from here to Wooster, it was a trip a little further. If they have the map out there available. I want you to see this in a more or less geographical position so that you understand how far they were traveling. You see this map, Galilee is up there, and Jerusalem is down here. Judea, where Jerusalem is, Bethania, further to the west, the arrow... well, Jerusalem in the middle, closer to the mountains. Ok, you saw where Jerusalem is.

It was a trip from north to south, an estimated distance, we are talking about 60 to 80 miles of distance that they had to travel. Now think about this: Boston to Springfield we're talking about 80 miles or so away, almost two hours depending on how much you obey the speed limit.

Now, if we point it a little further, we are saying that this distance represented more or less getting from Boston to the Burkshires there in Massachusetts, almost near the town of Pittsfield. Now, by car, obviously a trip like this takes 3 hours, 3 hours and a half. But at this time, how was it that you traveled? By camel, on foot and on horseback. In other words, instead of one of those cars having 40, 60, 80 horsepower, they only had a horse and in some a camel, and in some cases a mule. So, the speed with which they could travel was not that fast.

On top of that, this family of José and María was not a wealthy family, they were a poor family. So going on such a trip came with an expense, a price that had to be paid for it. One had to get provisions for the road, perhaps it took one, two, maximum three days to get from one place to another. So this trip was an important trip for the same difficult time.

Now, but, they arrive in Jerusalem and celebrate the festival. When they are going out, what happens? José and María, oh, excuse me... when they traveled in a caravan, like in a company. That means that all the relatives and neighbors of that village, of that city, all joined together in a caravan and went there in a straight line, and the idea was that the women and children almost always went to the front of this caravan. caravan, as they say, marking the pace, and the older men and children stayed in the back, rioting about what was happening in front, and in front rioting about what was happening behind.

So, that was the trip. When they decide to leave Jerusalem now, what did the text say? It says, the child Jesus stayed in Jerusalem without the knowledge of Joseph and his mother Mary. How can this happen? How would this be possible? Could it be that Jesus of his own accord kind of slipped away and stayed somewhere else? Or was it the mere fact that Mary then assumed that since Jesus was 12 years old, he already considered himself an adult, since then he was in the back with Joseph, his father, in the back of the caravan. But then Joseph was assuming that Jesus was in the lead with Mary.

So, there they are on a day trip and I imagine that suddenly Mary, like 'I haven't seen Jesus for two hours. Where will Jesus be?' She goes to Joseph, 'Joseph, have you seen Jesus?' 'No, I don't have him with me.' "And I don't have it either." A, well, the safest thing is with an aunt out there, in some of the carts, on one of the mounted horses, well, that's fine.' She leaves calmly.

An hour passes and it seems they don't see Jesus and he returns once more to José and tells him, 'José, Jesus is not with his aunt riding another horse.' 'Come on, don't worry, He's most likely with some of his other friends out there walking somewhere else, but we haven't seen him.'

But, after a while they realize, after looking for him among the relatives and the acquaintances, they already realized that Jesus was not there. And I sometimes wonder how we would respond? I wonder if, knowing some of the Caribbean women, so to speak, whose passion ignites very quickly, I wonder if that child was lost within the first hour, they were already calling the police. Where is? where is my boy or my girl? And the one who can cut off his head could be the husband, because then he comes to the husband to demand, "But, look, you didn't go out with him, where is the boy? "And one like that... < /p>

Now, it may be that in other cultural contexts, it's a little more passive treatment, they now deal with.... oh, love, you haven't seen our son by chance that we didn't find him. And the person becomes distressed but the level of distress does not lead to the point of screaming. But be that as it may, well, maybe, but be that as it may, my brothers, the point is that when you realize that the person you thought or assumed was there, is not there, there is something that causes a sense of not being complete. . It's like something big is missing.

And I wonder, my brothers, we in our lives as well as José and María who were on their way on a trip, we also in our life we take our trips, we also have our journeys. There are journeys of life in which we can find ourselves and in some way or another we can assume that "oh, since I am a Christian, I know that God is with me, so I follow him there", and we throw ourselves, we launch ourselves to undertake things, but we do not make sure that the truly presence and company of Jesus is there in our midst. Do they follow me where I go?

Many times I personally and people I've met say like, I have this idea, to be able to do this something new, I'm going to throw myself, I'm going to put all my strength, all my energies into that and that's where we launched. But I wonder, do we really take time to make sure that the Lord is there in those plans, that the Lord is there guiding each of our steps? And of course, there are times when this is not the case. There are times when people undertake these trips, undertake these journeys and it is not until they find themselves with the noose around their necks, that they then say, 'yes, I had forgotten to consult with God about this'.

It's like Joseph and Mary, we are on a journey and suddenly we realize that Jesus is not there. So how can we do, brothers? I think that the response they had is a very important response because as the passage says, when they realized that Jesus was not there, they decided what? Return once more to Jerusalem. Back to where they started.

Do you know why I understand that this is something interesting? Because there are people who, once they start their journeys, don't like to go back, because they think it's a defeat. They believe that it is a failure to go back, they believe that trying to start something over means that I failed, I did not plan things well, well, if I go back I am going to show people... they believe that if So if I go back, I'll be failing, or showing people that I was weak or that I didn't know how to calculate things correctly.

But, brethren, I challenge that thought. Because is not like that. Last Thursday I was discussing with some brothers here from the church what a successful life is and how a successful life is defined. And of course, many times if we let ourselves be carried away by this secular context, the life of success is measured according to the level of achievements that you have reached. For example, someone may measure success based on the amount of money you have in the bank, or the level of education you have acquired, or the big house you can have and how many rooms it has. Many people define success according to those things that are physical, tangible, but at the same time, fleeting.

But I came across a definition of success that turned my whole mind upside down. And success, according to this man's definition, his name is Andy Stanley, who is a pastor in the Atlanta area, he defines success as follows: success is staying true to the purpose of life in which God has us. to each one of us. And throughout that process celebrate the rewards of success.

Look where I'm going. I can set a goal of graduating with a master's degree and once I have it, what is that? I can consider myself what? Successful, right? Because I reached a goal, but once that goal is over, what happens? Now, I have no other goal, so my success stopped there.

If I define my success by those achievements that I reach along the way, that will be null and void in a moment because that goal comes and goes and it's over. Now, but if I say that my success is defined by how I remain faithful to that life purpose in which God has me, it is already a long-term vision. And the things that are achieved along the way are the rewards of me having remained successful, of having remained faithful to the things that God was doing along the way. Do they follow me where I go?

Along that path there are not only achievements, but also failures. Every day has its ups and downs, it has its successes and it has its failures. There are people who on that day when they have their achievements, say 'ah, praise yourself for chicken that they cook for you tomorrow'. They say, 'by my own strength I managed to achieve it. I, with the intelligence that I have, John Einstein, here it is. I did it and I deserve this,' and they take over that. And they forget that the one who gives us strength, the one who gives us wealth so that we can do things is God. We are not ourselves, this is a two part equation. It's how God works on his part and how I work mine by recognizing those two things working together.

And on that journey, my brothers, there are also your failures, and many times there are failures that are more fleeting than others, depending on how we recognize God's role throughout that journey. There are people who on that journey if they do not have Jesus present, those failures can be a little harder than others. In other words, there are people who hit the wall harder than others, that's why there are some who have a slightly flatter nose than others, because they hit the wall harder. I have a flat nose so that's why I talk about it.

But, brothers, it is something very simple and at the same time it is so profound because what I am telling you about the importance of recognizing Jesus in our lives may sound like something very simple. Maybe you can look at me and how to say, how many times have I heard that? But that is precisely why I stress it once more. Because the world we live in tricks us, do you know that word? It sort of wraps us up so much in that journey of life in which one is that there are times that one forgets to recognize the role that Jesus plays in the midst of that journey. And we cannot allow that to happen, my brothers, it cannot be allowed, because as soon as we leave Jesus out of the equation, then pride and vainglory will begin to take over us and every time we reach those achievements, let's say, ah, I did it, I managed to do this. When it has truly been God through his Son Jesus, the one who has provided us with all the things that we need to be able to achieve those achievements and those goals that we had ahead of us.

Brothers, I emphasize this because we live in a world that is also lacking in wisdom and along this road, we are going to meet people who are going to believe they are wise in their own prudence, but nevertheless They are not, and they will try to offer you the best advice. But if the advice of those other people is not also covered by the stronger presence of God, it will hit the wall.

There is something very important here, brothers, because just as José and María began to search among their relatives and acquaintances, many times Christian people also tend to do the same when they are on their journey. And there is a positive side and a negative side to this, I think it is positive that we know that we are part of a body, that we are part of a church that there are people we can count on, that there are people we can count on. speak, talk about situations to see how God's discernment helps us, to then know where to go.

But this also has a bit of a downside, so to speak. Because just as there are people who seek that support in a positive way, there are also people who depend on that support in a negative way, and we tend to say to people 'oh, please, pray for me because I'm going through this situation' . But then we also forget to take time to pray. It's like we cleanse our hands of the responsibility of praying and leave that burden in the hands of someone else to pray.

Oh, I can think of a sister like Maira, who is a tremendous adoring sister, and 'ah, well Maira, well, take it upon yourself to pray for my situation and then I'm going to trust the answer to that prayer that you do.' But, no. Not so, brothers. Yes, thank God for sisters like her who can pray, but I also have a responsibility to pray for that situation as well. There are people who perhaps bend their knees more than me, and then people say, 'well, so that my knees don't hurt so much, well, I'm going to let others bend their knees for me'. Ah, ah, that should not be so in the people of God.

We cannot be hitchiking in other people's prayers, we have to assume our responsibility to also be able to pray, and claim that presence of God in the midst of our lives and not be looking for perhaps a word from comfort or encouragement in different places, when suddenly we find ourselves in a situation and we realize that we are missing something, there are people who do not recognize that what they need is Jesus, and suddenly they start looking in many other things, they believe that the drink is going to satisfy that need or that money is what is going to satisfy that need, or that being with a woman or a man is what is going to satisfy that need, or that having a convertible car red is what will satisfy that need. But it's not like that. In every aspect of our life the presence of the Lord Jesus is what completes and complements everything we are, everything we do. There is nothing that can take that away.

And maybe, there will be people who can argue with me saying, 'ah, but Pastor Omar, if the Bible tells me, delight yourself in Jehovah and he will give you the desires of your heart, right? ?'. That passage sounds very nice, because if I am going to undertake a journey, what I am going to do is delight myself in God and I am sure that he is going to grant me what I want.

Now, but I ask you what you want is in line with what God wants or not. Delighting yourself in Jehovah does not just mean that you like being with him, your delight means that because you like something, you completely align your life with what that other person offers you. Your personal desires are not merely your carnal ones, what you want to make of your own desire, but your desires become his desires. What he desires becomes your desire and that is why he says: Delight yourself in Jehovah and he will give you the desires of your heart. Because? Because your desires are going to be the desires of his heart.

And of course, in the middle of that, your personal wishes can also come. But to do that, my brothers, we must recognize the presence of Jesus in our midst. Without Jesus that journey becomes null. Without Jesus that journey is incomplete. Why do we need it? Look how the passage says at the end in verse 51, it says:

“... and Jesus went down with them and returned to Nazareth, and was subject to them, and his mother kept all these things in her heart, - and look at how verse 52 says - and Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and men..."

Why do we need Jesus in our lives, my siblings? Because Jesus becomes a life resource for us, a life resource that influences all the dimensions of who we are: in wisdom, obviously that revelation of God that reaches us, in stature, Jesus did grow in stature, but What I understand is that this implies that Jesus also blesses our entire being. Our body provides us with health, strength, and energy to be able to move forward and to be able to fulfill those goals that we have set in the midst of our lives, which he also places in our hearts and grants us his graces, my brothers. What better than the grace of God.

God's grace, obviously, I know cannot be abused, brethren. Oh, as the passage from Paul that we have discussed so much says, I will sin more so that grace may abound. Ah, by no means, that's cheap grace, if you will. There is a theologian named Dietriech von Hoffer who wrote that, 'Cheap grace', cheap grace, and that is what happens when we abuse God's grace, because we know that God is there to forgive all my faults, well So there is no problem if I keep doing these other revolutions around here because God will be there to forgive me. That is cheap grace. That grace runs a risk of being fat, so to speak.

Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, and in grace before God and before men. Do you want to succeed in your life journey, my brother? You need to have Jesus present at all times because Jesus is the one who will be in charge of giving you the wisdom you need to know how to proceed. He is the one who is going to be in charge of giving you the word that you need to know how to speak at an opportune time, at an opportune moment. He is the one who is going to be in charge of nourishing your life, your body so that you can grow strong in it and he is the one who is going to be in charge of providing you with grace with God and with the people around you. That you do not feel that the people around you are a nuisance, that they are a key that is bothering you all the time, but that God puts you in favor with them, that they are people who extend their hand, they are people who are willing to pray with you as long as you also pray.

This day of life, my brothers, we have to keep God present. I ask you, what day of life are you in today?

To close, I want to meditate on this; What day of life are you in today? Are you perhaps on a day of family restoration? Are you on a journey to get a new job? Are you on a journey to get yourself a boyfriend or a girlfriend? Or are you on a journey to get married soon? Are you on a journey perhaps to restore yourself from a loss you had and see how your life meshes once again so that you can move on? Are you on the journey of mental restoration? Are you on a journey of physical restoration? Are you on a journey to change mental parameters and the paradigms with which you see life and let God shape each of your thoughts so that then everything can go better for you? What is the journey of life you are on today?

And above all things, do you have the Lord present on that journey? Or you left a point assuming he was there. It is very different to assume something and make sure of one thing. God can tell me, 'Omar, I am with you wherever you go. Great, so here I go. It is one thing for me to behave like this and assume that the Lord is always with me. It's another thing for me to take the time and make sure, 'Dad, you're here. I am in this relationship with this person, are you here? Does this relationship suit me or not? Dad, you are here at work, I am thinking of changing jobs like this, but I don't know, Lord, I need you to be here so I know where to go, where to go, if it is necessary to stay where I am.

Father, I'm in the process of finishing my academic career, I don't know what the next steps I'm going to take are going to be. Hey, I need you here now, more than ever, more than when I started my freshman year of college. Now in my fourth year, I need you. What will my next step be? I need you to be there.

Did you see the difference? When I intentionally look for that presence of Jesus in my life, when I intentionally keep an eye on my surroundings, seeing, Lord, where you are, and I'm not just assuming that things are going to happen by osmosis. God wants a people who are fully intentional in seeking his presence in everything they do. Seek his support in everything he does, from the transaction we do at the bank, to the presentation there at the Estate House; from a greeting that we give to a person, to a lunch with these women from New Bedford. The presence of God has to be there present. We can't assume he is. We have to make sure he is there.

Let's stand up, brothers. Glory to God. Hallelujah! Where are you on the journey of your life? That is the question for you today. And on that day where Jesus is, he is well present in the midst of the situation, he is isolated in a closet or in a little box. where is? Where is that resource of life? where is that resource of wisdom for your life?

You have to do well intentional, brothers and sisters, we have to be well intentional. No matter the circumstances, even in the midst of your failures, listen well, this was something I was talking about a few minutes ago. Even in the midst of your failures, my brothers, I know that the Lord is present. But are you sure that he is there with you?

A failure in life many times people see it as something negative, but people who keep God in mind, a failure becomes an opportunity to grow and that becomes a marker in that success process in which God has you, that journey of success in which God has you.

We celebrate the good things in our successes. Amen, yes, Lord, thank you for this, thank you for that, thank you for the other. But we, as Christian people, when we see our failures, we also have to say, 'Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you that you were there too. You did not let shame sink me, but in the midst of that learning experience you lifted my life to a new level so that I could move on, you put my feet on the rock, you affirmed my steps so that I could continue.

That's a lifetime of success. Recognize the presence of God in the midst of each of these stages. And I'm telling you, my brother, if any of you perhaps feel stuck where you are right now, know this, that God is using that stagnation to further prepare you for what's to come at the next level.

Certainly no one likes to feel stuck, no one likes to feel stuck, but even those stalemates throughout the journey are part of God's purpose. So my brother, my sister, trust him, trust him, trust him, trust him, and he will. And be intentional, don't assume, don't assume, please don't assume that God is going to work on your behalf. Don't assume anymore God is working things out. Don't assume, make sure. Make sure. There is a very big difference. Make sure.

I want to make a call to you. If there is someone who is on that journey of life and along the way realized that Jesus was not there and they want to take this opportunity to bring Jesus to that journey, I want to open this opportunity. If you are in your life journey, and you know it better than I do, you are in that life journey and you have found yourself in moments of confusion, you have found yourself in moments perhaps stagnant or stagnant, you have found yourself in moments where You don't know what to do and you ask people around you, but they don't have the answer you're looking for either. The answer is found in Jesus.

And today God provides an opportunity for you to bring Jesus into the midst of that journey in your life. Do you want to do it like this? I invite you to raise your hand where you are and say, Lord, I want to bring you once again to my journey of life and if you want to come here to the front, please feel free to do so, feel free to do so. It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter if you're a Christian for years, it doesn't matter if you're starting, it doesn't matter if you want to start. Feel free, you're at Dad's house. Today there is an opportunity for you to bring Jesus back into the midst of your life, and let him direct each of your steps.

Don't be afraid, please. Do not be afraid. Cowards we are not going anywhere, only to destruction. Father, I present to you this people of yours, Lord, a precious people before you, it must be said, it must be admitted. With our ups and downs, with our light sides and our dark sides, it is a precious people before you, Lord, because you make it precious, your presence in our midst brings beauty to all aspects of our lives.

And thank you, Lord, because even in those moments of failure, of stagnation, we can find the beauty that you are there to restore us, lift us up, affirm our feet, Lord, and be able to move forward. Father, I present to you right now these men and women who at some point in their journey, Lord, have realized that you were not there. Or maybe they assumed you were there but you really weren't.

Lord, these men and women, you know them well, you know their plans, Lord, and above all else, you know the plans you have for them, so Jesus, I ask you that in a very special way that this word can reach the depths of your heart just as we learn that your word is like a double-edged sword, Lord, that pierces the depths of our hearts and reaches the marrow , Lord and break the weapon and discern the intentions of our hearts, Lord, that is the word that I now minister over your people, Lord. Let it be a word that reaches deep, a word that brings encouragement, a word that brings direction, a word that affirms the heart, a word that opens the eyes to know the path in which we must walk.

Lord, let no one here rely on their own understanding, let no one here rely on their own strength or their own resources, but let us always recognize that our strength, our resources, our energies come from you and that is why we need you in the middle of our walks, we need you in the middle of our journeys, whatever Lord, we ask you to be present in the midst of our journey. Don't let us hide you in a little box, Lord. Our hearts are always restless, when we leave our homes, when we are ready to start the car, when we are ready to enter our office, at work or sit in a classroom, Lord, when we are sharing with friends, when we are sharing with families, when we are walking in the mall, when we are shopping, when we are playing a sport, or when we are reading a book, Lord, help us always to be attentive to you and to your presence in our midst, to be intentional in making you part of of everything we do. May our life not be compartmentalized but may our life be a whole because you do it that way. You make our life whole, you are the complement that unifies everything and brings meaning and direction to our lives.

Father, I present to you my brothers and sisters. Fill them with you, Jesus. Fill them with strength at those crossroads in which they are, fill them with strength to move forward and not lose direction. And Father, I declare open doors, open doors, open doors, open doors, Lord, open opportunities, bring new opportunities to your people, Lord, that they themselves marvel at how your Lord is opening doors for them, that just as Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature and in grace, before God and men, so that your people may likewise grow in wisdom, Lord, in stature, in grace before you and the people around us.

Father, give us all your blessing, Jesus. We can't do anything without you. Thank you for your love for each one of us, Jesus. And to you be the glory and honor, Jesus, forever and always, bless your people, Lord. bless your sons and daughters, Lord, bless young people here present. Bless children, bless marriages, Lord, bless single people, Jesus. The people who see us on the Internet, Lord, we bless them too, God, reach them with your power, with your grace, Lord, there where they are, wherever they are in the world, Lord, reach them.

We send a word of anointing, of blessing, of strength, of encouragement to each one of them, Jesus. And we declare ourselves in victory, Jesus. We declare in victory to honor and glorify your name, Lord. Jesus, we pray all these things trusting and believing in you, in your promises, in your presence in our midst. Amen.