Thank God for 2024

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Thanks so much uh Dylan you believe it's the last Sunday of 2024 I reckon it gets uh quicker and quicker every year the days seem to fly by at a uh at a furious Pace it's been a big year I was only uh chatting one of the big things for us this this year uh our eldest graduated high school and uh where did that time go I mean you think this year's gone fast where did the last 18 years go um it's crazy I was talking to Kelly on Saturday it only seemed like yesterday that we were driving out of that hospital car park with our firstborn in the car seat tired but thankful young parents now I'm a tired and thankful old parent at least that's what my kids tell me uh during the week I came across this show on the ABC on I view called you can't say that maybe you've seen it it's an interview show and the episode that caught my eye I'd never come across this before so I was looking at old episodes the episode that caught my eye was back in season 2 on centenarians that's uh people who have lived to be 100 plus years old man it was an interesting half hour as they uh listen as we listened to the wisdom of these centenarians as they asked them questions about their lives about their experience about their thoughts of getting old I really enjoyed it uh my computer is obviously tracking what I'm watching because then my internet news feed later the day later that same day uh up PO this uh University of New South Wales study uh it was an older study back in 2021 I don't know why I turned up on my Newsfeed then but this study uh by the University of New South Wales found that the number of people living past 100 is rising the number of centenarians worldwide is rising and they looked at all this data they interviewed uh centenarians they they looked at a bunch of things trying to figure out what are some of the factors that contribute to a long life and uh the study found a bunch of things diet medication use sleep where you live all of those things can apparently play a role but uh interesting thing was what some of the centenarians had to say um uh some of them said smile more or serve others uh do something of value for others uh drink in only in moderation fall in love go for walks there's all sorts of ideas about what it means to live a long and happy life interestingly no one not one of these centenarian that was interviewed or not one result of the study none of it said that the key to life a fulfilling long life is constant business tons of activity with constant Information Technology nobody said that that was a factor at all and yet it's the age in which we live in most of us would agree that we're more time poor than ever before technology enables us to communicate quickly to to travel globally to be so constantly entertained that we can go throughout our days our weeks we can even go through our year and never actually pause to think about what God has been showing us we can get so caught up in the busyness of it all that we never pause to reflect and think about what God has done and is doing in this past year and so that's what I want us to do together this morning as we open God's word together we're going to spend some time corporately as a church pausing to thank God for 2024 for all that he's done and is doing in the life of our fellowship to do this this morning we're going to begin by looking at a passage from Paul's letter to the church in thessalonica this is from uh uh 1 Thessalonians 5 uh verses 16 to 18 it's only three short verses so you got your Bible there one Thessalonians 56-8 we're going to take a few moments to unpack this verse so it can be kind of our guide uh for our reflection this morning as we give thanks to God for 2024 uh 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 to18 Paul writes these words he says Rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you it's only three short verses let's read it again have a listen hear the challenge that's contained in these verses as we think about what this might be saying to us to Kucha Baptist on our final Sunday for 2024 Rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you it's a big challenge right when you think about it I mean how can we ever hope to live that out for starters how can we give thanks in all circumstances if we never stop to pause and reflect on what God has done on what he's doing in our midst secondly what what does it mean to Rejoice always I mean that's what it says always that could be tough I know if there's some some folk 2024 hasn't just been a big year it's been a difficult year so how do we Rejoice always when things are tough I think a helpful uh key in understanding these questions in understanding these verses is to know that Paul in this part of his letter a little bit earlier he started to switch gears uh in this letter to the Thessalonians he's moving from addressing individuals as he was doing earlier in the letter and now in this sort of latter part of the letter he's addressing the church as a whole this is a corporate message to the gathered body of Believers there in thessalonica Paul's purpose in writing this to them was to help them to understand what it meant for them to to operate as a church Community he he's speaking to the entire group so I guess you could rephrase it this way you could say as a church Rejoice always a as a church pray without ceasing as a church give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you as the church in Christ Jesus you kind of look at these things as three kind of key ele elements that should be evident among God's people as we gather together each week as we as we meet around God's word as we meet for Fellowship together these three key elements should be present in our our fellowship there should be Joy rejoicing as we gather as God's people there should be persistent constant prayer it should be a natural part of our fellowship and we should be thankful to God in all circumstances for what he's done and what he's doing Among Us Joy prayer and Thanksgiving they should be evident and should impact our corporate worship together we're going to unpack this this morning just briefly um but we're going to spend the bulk of our time looking at that last one Thanksgiving because I want to leave room for us as a church corporately as a body to uh pause and give thanks together for what God has done in and through Us in 2024 so that's first one unpack it real quick joy in uh verse 16 there should be Joy there should be rejoicing in gathering together as God's people I think there is joy as we gather together as his people I mean I get to stand up here I get to see your faces as you come in uh uh most people come to church with a smile on their face there's an evident joy in our gathering together as God's people we see that in our text this morning that's how it should be I think about it even more I think there's joy in our singing We we've just been singing this morning there's joy in in that in the words that we sing in the the the songs and what it conveys what it teaches us about God who he is and what he's done and about who we are in light of him there there's joy in our preaching there's joy in our kids ministry teams as they open up God's word to our little ones there's joy in our serving as we Steward the gifts that God has given to us but there's joy in Mission as we reach out in love to our community with the good news of the Gospel we saw that on full display at our Christmas Outreach didn't we uh there's a joy here and it's good notice the tricky part in our text this morning the scripture says Rejoice always and that's the rub isn't it how do we live up to that when things are hard when when disappointments come when the sadness and grief is present maybe you're asking that question right now because the reality is your year 2024 this past year has been one of those years for you there's been some difficult times for our F church family this year there's been times of suffering ill health loss and sorrow how do we approach this command that tells us to Rejoice always in light of this I think we've got to start with understanding that Paul's writing to the church this is an exhortation uh uh for the whole body to Rejoice it's meant to be understood corporately within the church there should be this constant Joy because we know that we're the redeemed chosen people of God to whom he's promised that We'll Inherit eternal life that's the the source of our joy and it's a corporate joy that we share there will be times when some members of our body are grieving and as brothers and sisters in Christ we'll grieve with them we'll encourage them we'll support them but overall across the church you you can't quench that sense of joy that exists in the body in the church as a whole as we gather around God's word as as his people this is the joy that is ours in Christ and it should be in the church it is in the church we can go through times of uh difficulty individually but corporately we remember and remind one another of the good news of the Gospel that we're guaranteed this eternal life we've got this sure and certain hope in Jesus because of that we have this deep and Lasting joy in him it can't be taken from us where called to Rejoice always just quickly turn in your Bibles to uh to Matthew uh 5 uh: 14 and 15 Matthew 5: 14- 15 we read these words Matthew says then the Disciples of John came to him that's Jesus saying why do we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast Jesus said to them can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will Fast Jesus and his disciples seem to be having a good time they're going to weddings they're invited to parties they're feasting and celebrating they're having what you might call a joyous time and these Pharisees these religious leaders come along and they see Jesus and the disciples enjoying themselves and they question Jesus they they're kind of grumbling about this they they're idea of of of religion their idea of what it meant to to honor God was that you needed to be serious all the time they thought the disciples were were not serious about their faith Jesus Says by W his illustration this is not the case you don't need to to to be serious all the time there's joy he uses the example of a wedding you don't go to a wedding with the intention of making it as boring and as difficult for the groom you hang out with him at the wedding no you you go to have a good time you go to celebrate to have a joyful time together Jesus did say that there would be a time that would come when uh uh his followers would mourn and we know that that came at his uh crucifixion and his death but the good news of the Gospel is Jesus didn't stay dead he rose again he's alive and so friends Jesus Is With Us now he indwells Us by the Holy Spirit the the Bible says he's with us to the very end of the age we're with the groom so it's that time of rejoicing all over again amen we can uh Rejoice because Jesus is with us that's our first uh element that second one we want to unpack this morning that uh element of persistent prayer it should be a natural part of our fellowship Paul says pray without ceasing again he's talking to the gathered body of Believers to the church collectively if we don't understand that shift then this verse is is a bit of a hard time for us individually because it's going to seem like an impossible task maybe you've struggled with this verse before how do I pray without ceasing we try and pray a little bit more we we try and pray uh but the reality is that none of us can ever claim that we've prayed without ceasing I know that we've got some amazing prayer warriors in our church who pray regularly and often for our church family for the work of God in our community but even our prayer warriors need to sleep none of us can say that we've ever been able to live up to this exhortation to pray without ceasing it's hard right individually that's why it's helpful to understand that Paul's writing to the church to this gathered body of Believers when he says corporately persist in constant prayer make it such a natural and and and regular part of your fellowship when we view it through that lens we start to see a clearer picture don't we I mean we pray together in our Sunday Services When We Gather each week throughout the week our ministry teams are praying as they plan and prepare and and before they begin each day's Ministry our our midweek discipleship groups our our extended family groups as we call them include a gathered time of prayer in small groups as members pray for one another and for the needs of the church and our wider Community we've got pastoral care team that meets during the week and and prays for for those who have uh needs and need assistance and or encouragement in our community we've got a prayer team that that that stands ready to pray for the immediate needs of the Church community as they arise individually uh we're all praying at different times throughout the week we pray in our families in our at our meal times before we tuck our kids into bed when we meet up with friends for coffee and a chat we're praying for one another I know some of us even Pray when we wake up in the early hours of the morning or in the middle of the night as we struggle to get back to sleep we redeem that time and we spend it with the Lord in prayer across the corporate life of the church there's prayer happening right around the clock praise God for this constant persistent prayer could we challenge ourselves individually and corporately to to find or make some more opportunities to pray or pray a little bit more in the year ahead we probably can that's probably that's why we're going to uh hope to make some more opportunities for corporate prayer in in 2025 but but even so as we look back on the year that was on 2024 it's good to know that others are praying too that it's not just up to me or you it's encouraging to know that collectively and individually we've been given the ear of our maker who invites us to pray to come before him and ask of him we know that he hears and answers our prayers and it's encouraging as we collectively look out across the gathered body of Believers that calls Kucha Baptist home we're so much closer to praying without ceasing than we might ever be be as individuals it's encouraging right should be a natural and key element of our fellowship prayer finally thankfulness uh in all circumstances this is the one I want us to focus on this morning as it's our final Sunday for 2024 as I said at the beginning uh uh there if we never pause if we never stop to take time to reflect on what God has done then thankfulness will never be something that we're any good at I think we've got a lot to be thankful for uh in 2024 so what we're going to do is we're going to pause for just a moment and we're going to look at a few of the things that we can be thankful for as a church this past year things that we can thank Christ for this year to the best of my knowledge we've had the joy of baptizing nine people praise God we should be thankful for this some of these folks have been Christians for a long time but then they realized that Christ was calling them to take this step of obedience in baptism we praise the Lord for that amen some of these folks they were new believers who are recently saved they felt the call of God to be baptized praise God for that praise God that he's given us new life praise God that people have been brought from Darkness into light from Death To Life praise God that we have the the promise of eternal life that we'll get to live forever in glory with him how good is that it's great it's amazing that God has gifted this church with new life this year it's not our work it's not because of what we've done we can't claim any of the glory for that at all that's all God and so we want to give the praise back to him and thank him and this is what I'd like us to do this might be a little bit bit weird it's not normally something that we do every week but I'm going to stop talking in a moment and I'm going to let you in groups real quickly pray and thank God for new life and before we begin if you're if you're new here this morning if this is your first time with us today if you're sitting here and you're thinking Dave I don't know about that that's not for me that sounds too weird that's okay uh there's no pressure at all for you to be involved for you to join in uh if if somebody uh looks at you to join their group to be involved in that prayer it's fine just say I'm okay uh no thanks um if you just need that quiet minute of of personal reflection individually that's okay but for those of us who are regulars who are here this morning those of us who are watching us online you can join in your family at home wherever you are um I want us to join in I want us to take a moment real quick just in the group maybe near the where we're sitting you don't need to get up or move too far there's not going to be enough time for that it's only going to be about a minute or two but let's pause and give thanks to God today for the new life that he's given to us in 2024 now one other thing to say before we get get stuck in um it is appropriate in prayer to bring requests to God uh but this morning I I don't want us to bring any extra requests um uh we'll say that for another time what I want us to do this morning is is just spend a short minute to thank God to acknowledge what he has done in and through Us in the life of our church we want to thank him for the gift of New Life In Christ for the way in which he's blessed our church with that in 2024 it's so encouraging to see folk come to faith in him to commit in obedience to him and so we should take a moment as a church corporately to give thanks to God for that right now it's only give a minute you only might have time for one or two to pray moms or dads you get a chance to lead your family in this if you if if you want to be a part of it um again if you don't that's okay um just just let people know need a moment to reflect and and you can join in individually or just sit and reflect for a minute that's that's all it's going to take is that that sound clear all right it might feel a bit weird to start with but let's let's give it a go uh one minute thank God for the gift of new life and regeneration by his spirit this year let's go e e start start to wrap it up amen amen sorry if we cut you off there you're going to going to have to move fast uh I going to give you uh two more times uh to do this uh so just be ready um and uh we'll we'll get stuck into it uh when we get to it uh but that was great uh well done um all right so second thing I I want us to be thankful for this morning or second thing I think we should pause and reflect on is the great number of people who have encouraged us in our walk with the Lord this year as I look across our church as I look right across the demographics I'm so encouraged by so many in our church family in 20 24 I thank God for the great number of kids that we see here each week whether it's through our weekly kids Ministries during the school term through playtime kids club youth group uh or whether it's on Sunday in our CR or kids church we have a heap of kids that uh that come across our church in any given week wasn't it such a joy to see so many of the kids at our community carols event they're all up the front here dancing and singing and praising God some of them didn't even know that that's what they were doing this so young but it was wonderful to see God at work in the lives of our young ones in the lives of their families this year it's a real blessing to see see so many kids involved in the life of our church as I was thinking about that during the week I found myself thanking God for the crying babies I'm thanking God for the noise that kids make on a Sunday for the occasional broken lights we get during the week or the broken windows we get from time to time this is all part and parcel of a healthy Community with kids they should be here they're a part of God's kingdom I'm glad that our kids are here what a blessing it is that God has gifted them to us I'm so thankful too for the parents of the young kids who bring them along particularly those with little ones I remember what that was like some Sunday mornings it's a challenge just to get everybody ready and out the door on Sunday and then as you're heading to the car one of the baby's poos or vomits and you've got to go back inside and change and and then you're driving they're all stressed and you realize dad's forgotten the nappy bag or the water bottle or the baby formula so you end up arriving late you come in all hurried and rushed everybody's looking at you and uh however you arrive parents of young ones know that I'm thankful for you this year especially those parents with young kids because it's hard to get to church sometimes parents with young kids you feel like you're really only doing it for your kids that's the only reason that you can make it here at all because in yourself you've hardly had any sleep last night you last thing you want to do is feel like getting dressed up a meeting together but you do it for the sake of your children sitting under the word of God for the joy of gathering together you clean yourself up you drag yourself to church and you bring your family along I thank God Parents parents for your faithfulness under him this year what a blessing you are as you lead your children in faithful obedience to God when he says don't give up meeting together what a faithful example you set not just for your children but for the rest of us looking on for the for the next generation of Youth and Young adults that are following in your footsteps I pray parents with young kids that God will richly bless your faithful obedience to him this year praise God for our next generation for our youth and young adults our teenagers what a what a crazy stage of life could be difficult and awkward I remember being a teenager once so don't know if I'd go back to that um the pressure that you feel as a teen to fit in to conform to to have the right stuff to wear the right clothes the the pressure that you feel from friends and from society and maybe all the more now with all the digital stuff and social media we didn't have that when we were kids it could be a hard time with all these pressures on you I thank God that he's given our church a a strong group of teenagers and young adults who commit to meeting together on a Friday at our youth group and Kids Club we've got Godly young adults who serve on Ministry teams and and meet together in weekly small groups in our extended family groups our efgs I hear of young people during 2024 that were were meeting up during the week for fellowship and to pray with and for one another to encourage each other in their walk as Disciples of Jesus we've got young adults who serve as Leaders on Su camps this year all all of this is is so encouraging to see and to hear it's another reason to thank God as we pause and reflect on 2024 for the work of God in the minds and hearts of our young people as they've sought after him this year praise God for the parents of those teenagers because I'm one of those parents it's hard we we don't know what we're doing most of the time we pretty sure our kids think that we're doing it wrong and maybe sometimes we think we're doing it wrong as well too it can feel a bit like a guessing game there's no manual for this sort of stuff feels like sometimes we make it up as we go along the best that we can do is seek the Lord and pray we we try and love our kids and try and figure out how the gospel applies to our par parenting we we give it our best shot to show our teenagers the love of Christ but we we don't really feel like we know what we're doing most of the time that's the honest truth we do our best and all that we do we try and point them to Jesus I praise God that so many of our parents of teens are doing a good job on this I can see the love of God in you how he's gripped your heart and is molding your life you are a blessing to our church and to the children in our church as God works in and through you I think also we can't forget this morning in our list of folk to be thankful for who may have encouraged us in our journey this year too often in our country we undervalue the elderly I'll let you decide if you belong in that category or not um is probably safer but friends I'm thankful to the Lord for you who are in what Ed Chan would call the deepening years I I'm thankful that we've got a group of folk who have the wisdom through years of life experience and of Walking With Jesus we have so much to learn from you you you've seen it all before you you've been through these other stages of life that we're journeying through you've got wisdom to offer and encouragement to share with those of us who are yet to experiencing that to experience it and you're doing that you encourage me so many of you not only that but you've got more time on your hands and so many of you redeem that time in serving the lord and serving his people by praying faithfully and regularly for the work of God and for his people in our church family I reckon this deepening years age bracket has probably got a better hold of this command to pray without ceasing than most of us I reckon you do because you got more time to devote to prayer and many of you I know are doing that better than most of us I'm so thankful for the gracious group of seniors that God has given to our church so many of you are giving your love your support your care and your prayers to many of us younger ones I thank you for it praise God for you all of this to say that as we look back over 2024 I'm sure that each of us can find somebody that we're deeply thankful for because Jesus equips redeems keeps and Carries his Saints until the end this is the work of the holy spirit in and through his church it's why we can be incouraged in this way every man woman and child whether you're older or younger or somewhere in between each of you is a testimony to the fact that God has chosen you redeemed you and is saving you and will bring you into his glory as we look around this body of Believers our fellow brothers and sisters we should feel a sense of Thanksgiving thankfulness in our hearts For Those whom God has redeemed so that's what we're going to do right now we're going to pause again just a minute real quick uh in in groups and I want you to thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ young old everything in between let's pause and thank God for those who've been a blessing to us in our walk this year thank God for those who've encouraged you at home join us again let's go e e okay wrap it up again bring them to a close amen amen next I want us to thank God for the work of mission this year both local and abroad it's amazing what God is doing in and through our church I think of the many gospel opportunities we've had in 2024 through our ministry teams particularly those with links into our local community mentioned our playtime our ministry earlier but we've also got our crowd plus our kids club youth group our men's and women's ministry we've had numerous opportunities to share Christ with folks in our local community through our Ministries this year and we praise God for every success that we may have had mentioned the Christmas Outreach event earlier and the many gospel opportunities we had across that evening that afternoon it was just such a a wonderful privilege to share uh what we know to be true to join in God's mission of making himself known and making Christ known in this world it truly is a joy I give thanks to God for every volunteer who's served on one of these Ministry teams or for any volunteer who served across the life of our church in this past year doesn't matter whatever roster you've been on whether you've sung or played a musical instrument ran Tech stuff up the back right through to welcoming people at the door or coming early to unlock or staying late to lock up what whatever it is leading efgs mowing lawns working bees helping out with maintenance around the property cleaning out storm water pipes collecting cans and scrap metal cleaning windows whatever it is you have all served in participated in God's mission in our local community this year it's all for the glory of God it has to be right I don't think any any many of us wake up one day and think all I've ever wanted to do in my life is clean a window or or mow a lawn no but so many of you Faithfully serve and join in the mission of God the work of the Gospel here because you understand as I do what a privilege it is that God has chosen us to be a part of his plan for Redemption what what a joy it is to be h a part of God's mission in the world it it's not necessarily that you love cleaning or mowing but you love the Lord and therefore you love his people your hearts to serve him to serve the body to join in his mission and that's how it should be I thank God for you it's not to mention that many others in our church family who engaged in mission in our local schools we've got a number who are involved in mission in our schools think of School Chaplain or the the many teachers admin and support staff that we have as a part of our fellowship they're all engaged in mission to our school communities um there's also uh encouraging this year to hear story after Story of of people who are intentionally and prayerfully seeing uh their workplace as a mission field it's been exciting to to talk to you over a cup of teas and coffees about how you're sharing Christ in your workplace and how you're praying for your workmates and it's just really encouraging to see you on mission for the Lord we've heard encouraging reports of the missionaries we support financially this year we've heard from Ben and Petra and the from inside out Prison chapy from Mission Aviation Fellowship what a joy it's been to to partner with these ones to see gospel transformation across our state our nation and around the globe I'm thankful for the way in which we've seen God at work as his people have joined in his mission this year we'll have an opportunity to thank God for that in a moment but I think there's a a final category we should mention this morning in our Thanksgiving in our reflection this is the tricky one I think we ought to thank God for the difficult times for the Sorrows that we've experienced this year there have been tough times I know that there's been folk who've walked a tough road this year we've had funerals serious illness hospital stays sometimes repeated hospital stays there's been lost jobs strained relationships Financial pressures heartaches and hurt how do we give thanks in those circumstan ances I don't think it means giving thanks that God has caused these things maybe some of them definitely calls us home but but the reality is we live in a fallen and sinful world it's broken all of creation has been affected by the curse of sin and so we live in a world that is difficulty heartache and pain we know the sting of death we know the frustration of declining Health we feel the effects and the symptoms of our sin right across that gamut of our whole Human Experience and yet if we have eyes to look closer in the seasons of life's difficulties I think that's where we can be thankful because in our sorrows that's more often where we see God the clearest he meets us at that point of pain we find him in those moments of sadness when we cry out to him not only that but he Comforts us in our troubl so that we can Comfort others friends I've seen Christ carry people this year I've visited in your homes I've sat Across The Breakfast Table with you on a Saturday I've witnessed it on a Sunday as we've shared over a cuper I've seen Christ work in and through you and through others as he's brought them alongside you in your pain I've witnessed the heart of Christ in the actions of his people as you've encouraged me and as you've encouraged others as God's people have carried married each other through these difficult times I've seen uh people grow in their understanding of the presence of God this year as they've been brought to that place where they've been maybe broken down and they realize they've got nothing left but then they realize that God is enough that Jesus is all that they need that he's enough to satisfy me in the midst of my struggle I'm so thankful that the Lord brings us to that place we don't like that it it's a discipline it's hard hard but there's a joy when we see the work of God's spirit in the lives of people who hold on to him in difficult times we we don't know why people face the difficulties they do but we do know that Christ is Enough we know that God loves us he is good always Tim Keller writing about prayer he said God always answers your prayers in precisely the way you want them to be answered if knew everything he knew it's a challenging thought I think it's true there are times when we can't understand why God does what he does there are times when we feel like he hasn't answered our prayer or that he's not answering it the way in which we'd hoped but as Keller says if we knew what God knew maybe we would have answered it the same way that's because he's God he knows the beginning from the end there could be more going going on that we could possibly ever hope to understand what we do know is that we can trust him that he's good always that he's faithful always we know that all things will work together for good for those who know and love him it's just that we might not see it this sight of Glory this sight of Eternity but we can hold on to that as true I think that can be helpful to us in these difficult Seasons when we try and give thanks to God in our sorrow we need to remember that God is God and we are not friends we've only scratched the surface on what we can be thankful for this morning my encouragement to you is that before we kick over to 2025 that you'd take some time as an individual that you take some time in your families with your friends maybe find some time to pause and think back on 2024 thank God for the year take time to thank him for his faithfulness for the highs and lows that Christ has carried you through he's carried us as a church as a body of Believers and we want to be thankful in all circumstances so we're going to break one last time we're going to thank God for our mission for our service and for the ways in which he's carried us through our sorrows this year and then at the end I'm going to close in prayer Dylan and the team can come back up we finish the service so one last time thank God for our mission our service and the ways in which he's carried us through our sorrows this year let's go right e it's Prett bring to a close loving Heavenly Father we've only just scratched the surface on how wonderful you are how thankful we are as your people for every blessing that you have given to us this year we thank you corporately as a church and as individuals and as families for the faithful way that you provided for our needs this year father we thank you for the provision of a new senior pastor for 2025 and we look forward to Doug and Sheree joining us next year father we thank you for your goodness and for your grace for the way in which you've been at work in and through us this year and Lord Lord while there have been times of heartache and grief your love has again sustained us the power of your presence has been evident in our lives and in the lives of your people and those who have encouraged us this year help us to not rush through life without pausing in gratitude to say thanks for all that you've done and all that you are doing in our midst and this our final Sunday for 2024 Our God we thank you together this morning and we praise you as we look to the year ahead in Jesus mighty and Powerful name. Amen.