This sermon challenges the listeners to take a stand for righteousness in the face of societal decline, addressing issues like abortion, homosexuality, and moral decay. It emphasizes the need for courage, prayer, and a willingness to stand up for what is right, even when it's unpopular. The message calls for a return to God's values and a commitment to make a difference in the midst of a morally deteriorating society.

If you'll turn with me this morning to the book of Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, chapter 22, I'm going to be speaking a message called, Will You Judge the Bloody City? Now, I want to encourage you, if I can today, to stay with me and hear me out in this message. I know there are people who visit this church who say, well, I didn't come here to hear about the calamity we're in as a nation. I came here to be blessed. Well, if you hang on, you will be blessed. I'm going to be speaking in measure about abortion as well this morning. And so, for all of the ladies that have had an abortion, and you've come to Christ, there is no condemnation. You don't have to run when this topic is discussed. You are forgiven. You are cleansed. You don't have to carry the guilt in your life. And so, don't let this message ever produce that. I'm going to be talking about homosexuality as well. And I want to encourage those who have struggled with that lifestyle, there's a place in the kingdom of God for you, not in the practice of homosexuality, but there's a place in the heart of God to forgive you as with all people of your sin, your wrong, your difficulties, and there's a place in His kingdom. And I pray God with all my heart, the Lord, give me the grace I need to speak this today. Father, I thank you, God, with everything in me, Lord. Jesus Christ, you are confirming this word by your presence today. I thank you, Lord, that you died for all people. You died for every person ever born into this world, and you died to give us life and give it to us more abundantly. You died to give us a hope and give us a future, to destroy the power of sin over our lives and to give us that life that you alone are able. Father, I thank you for the anointing. I thank you, God, that you will enable me to speak this in a manner that will engrave it on our hearts. And we'll not be able to lay it down or put it away or just say that was nice, but you will give us an awareness of the hour that we are living in, all of us, and the perilousness of inaction at this time. Help me, God, to speak this and help us to hear it. You've given me your word. I know this of a certainty. Now, I ask for the grace to deliver it. I ask for the grace for this congregation to hear it. And at the end, Lord, lead us to that which you're calling us to, and give us the grace to go there. And I thank you for it in Jesus' name. Ezekiel chapter 22, we're going to begin at verse one of a message entitled, Will You Judge the Bloody City? Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Now, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations. Then say, Thus saith the Lord God. The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come, and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You've caused your days to draw near and have come to the end of your years. Therefore, I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all countries. Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult." In other words, defiled and lacking order and law. Now, look, the princes of Israel, each one has used his power to shed blood in you. In you, they have made light of father and mother. In your midst, they have oppressed the stranger. In you, they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed. In you are those who eat on the mountains. In your midst, they commit lewdness. In you, men uncover their father's nakedness. In you, they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife, another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law, and another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. In you, they take bribes to shed blood. You take usury and increase, and you've made profit from your neighbors by extortion. You've forgotten me, says the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I beat my fists at the dishonest prophet which you have made and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it." Verse 25, the conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured people. They've taken treasure and precious things. They've made many widows in her midst. Her priests have violated my law and profaned my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they've hidden their eyes from my sabbaths so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her are like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, thus says the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy, and they wrongfully oppressed the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found no one. Now Paul the apostle in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, let me just read it to you, verses 5 to 11, says these words in talking about the nation of Israel. But with them, with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, and do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, and nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day 23,000 fell. Nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents, nor complain as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. When we look in the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel, we see a cry in the heart of God as his own people, his own nation that knew him, was spiraling down more and more into immorality and lewdness and all types of behavior. Every man, every woman living for themselves, selfishness overtaking the people of God. Coming to the point where he says to the prophet Ezekiel, will you judge the city, the bloody city? Will you agree with me Ezekiel? Will you agree with my assessment of what's going on in this nation and at this time? It was a tragic situation. God himself had looked for someone to stand in the gap. Almost unthinkable in what is known historically as one of the most religious nations on the face of the earth. Religion was part of the social fabric, going to the temple was a common occurrence, being brought into fellowship as it was declared in those days by rituals and ceremonies and celebrations, recalling the history of God, the faithfulness of God, the testimonies of God, hearing the scrolls opened and read as they had it in their synagogues, talking about the coming day of a Messiah. And yet while all of this religion is going on, the nation is degenerating. It starts out gradually in the beginning, but then it accelerates until it hits critical mass. And once it hits critical mass, there's virtually no stopping it because the minds of the people become dark and there's no deeper darkness than in the minds of people who have known God. When they turn from him, that darkness is deep. If the light that be in you be darkness, Jesus said, how great is that darkness? A terrific and a terrible darkness comes into the minds of those who once knew God. But as Paul says in Romans chapter one, held that truth in unrighteousness, didn't value it, went to church, but didn't believe it, heard it, but didn't embrace it, sang it, but weren't challenged by it. And the end result is while sitting in what they think is a secure place in the presence of God, they're degenerating at an incredible rate when God's people are the ones called to be salt and light in the society. Ezekiel chapter 22 verses three and four says, thus says the Lord God, the city sheds blood in her own midst that the time may come and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. You have become guilty by the blood, which you have shed. I went online and did some research this week and it shocked me. There's a website called number numbers of abortions.com yesterday, yesterday before 9 30 AM before nine 30 yesterday. I don't know what time the doors of abortion clinics open in this country. Let's assume they open at eight before nine 30, 1,164 babies had been aborted in the United States of America. This year in the United States, 491,327 babies have been aborted so far as of June the eighth. Since the inception of that infamous court decision, Roe versus Wade in 1973, 57,983,192 babies have been aborted in the United States of America. God said to Israel, you have become guilty by the blood which you have shed. There is no excuse for this. There's no excuse for the dullness of conscience that came into this nation that allows people to kill children in the womb simply for convenience sake. 99.99% of the time it's strictly convenience. People want to sin. They want pleasure, but they don't want the consequence that comes when they've created new life. It's tragic. Verse six, he says, look, the princes of Israel, each one has used his power to shed blood in you. Many leaders, if you were to canvas in Congress, in the Senate today, many leaders who once had a moral conscience and still do maybe in some respects, but they lacked the moral courage to stand up in defense of the unborn strictly to save themselves, to save their political career, to save their reputation, not to be laughed at, not to be mocked, not to be considered out of date. They will not stand for what in their heart they know is truth. Verse seven says in you, they've made light of father and mother. CNS news on June the third at a recent feminist conference, a well-known speaker who wrote on this topic, said these words, the concept of motherhood is emptied out. It's gone, gone. Motherhood as we once knew it in America is over. It's gone. Verse eight says you've despised my Holy things. You've profaned my Sabbaths. In other words, you've turned your back to my words. Yet many still gather. Amazing. If, if we knew the numbers of people are sitting in church this morning in this nation, but I've turned their backs on the word of God thinking falsely that God can be redefined also that somehow he winks at our behavior. Somehow there'd be no consequence in America for the way we have behaved and the way we have dealt with the truth of God, the cowardice in God's house. Verses nine to 11, he talks about how morally lewd the people had become. There were no boundaries anymore, no sexual boundaries left in the nation. Every opportunity for fornication was taken as an opportunity for pleasure. Even by, especially in these days that Ezekiel speaks about by the people who claim to be the people of God, a Gallup poll this year taken between May 6th and May 10th, which folks, sad to say, largely represents the population of this country. 63% believe that gay or lesbian relationships are morally acceptable in America today. 56% are in favor of doctor assisted suicide. You see, when you cross the boundary, you cross those boundaries, you begin to tamper with life and allow that sin nature in the heart of man that says, I can be as God and I know what is good and I know what is evil. I don't need to abide by the rules that God has laid out. I can choose the rules and I will take what is evil. I will declare it to be good. And so now we want only and randomly kill in the womb. What's to say we will not do it at the other end as well. When people become a burden on society, when medical conditions are terminal, when people seem to be functionally drawing from the system and not able to productively give back into it, don't think for five seconds that the evil that has been manifested throughout the world, throughout history cannot happen in our society. The right to die at the end of life can easily, easily change to the mandate to die. 45% believe that abortion is morally acceptable. Since 2003, there's been a 9% increase in those considering polygamy as an acceptable practice. This is where we're going as a nation, folks. That means multiple marriage partners of either sex. Since 2001, there's a 6% increase in American society and those considering assisted suicide as an acceptable practice. Verses 12 and 13, it says in you, they take bribes to shed blood. You take usury and increase. You've made profit from your neighbors by extortion. And you've forgotten me, says the Lord God. Behold, therefore, this is God speaking to Ezekiel. I beat my fists at the dishonest profit which you have made in the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Associated Press report on June the 8th. More, this is the headline, more phony numbers in reports as stocks continue to rise. Here's the article. As the stock market climbs even higher, professional investors are warning that companies are presenting misleading versions of their results that ignore a wide variety of normal costs of running a business to make it seem like they're doing better than they really are. What's worse, the financial analysts who are supposed to fight corporate spin are often playing along. Instead of challenging the companies, they're largely passing along the rosy numbers in reports and recommending stocks to investors. Let the buyer beware, folks. Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 25. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing to prey. They've devoured people. They've taken treasure and precious things. They've made many widows in her midst. Her priests have violated my law. They profaned my holy things. They've not distinguished between the holy and the unholy. Nor made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. And they've hidden their eyes from my Sabbath so that I'm profaned among them. I was horrified this week. And horrified is a calm term to say for it that a well-known, influential Baptist minister, influential in his denomination, and a former advisor to one of our former presidents, in an article in christiannews.net written June the 8th, here's his quote. It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation, and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I'm finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the church. I'll tell you why there was emotional turmoil because this man's going against his conscience and he knows what is right, knows what the word of God says, and is making a willful choice to save his own skin. The split is coming into the evangelical church. And there are going to be those that were never kidnapped. You know, we hear in the Old Testament of Daniel, that when Nebuchadnezzar built his big golden statue and said, when you hear the music bow down, I can't help but think of the numbers of people who went to the synagogue, numbers of people who claimed to know God, bowed before this golden statue as the music began to play. Cowardice in the heart, just not willing to stand for what they know to be right and they know to be true. Verses 27 and 28, her princes are like wolves tearing the prey. These are the political leaders to shed blood, to destroy people, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, divining lies for them and saying, thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken. And God said to Ezekiel, there's a system of greed among the political leaders of the country that is supported by a religion that refuses to challenge it. Or might I say, can't challenge it because really it's just the same spirit, but in the name of God. Verse 29 says, the people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, mistreated the poor and needy, and they wrongfully oppressed the stranger. And the end result of all this is that the nation is in a free fall, moral decline. That's where we're at today, folks. That's the United States of America. We are in a free fall, moral decline at every conceivable level. It's not even debatable. And anybody that tries to debate it, you're not living in reality. We're in a free fall decline, not this a gradual decline. It's a free fall decline. And so the question comes, and this is the question that God asked Ezekiel, will you judge the bloody city? In other words, will you come to an agreement that the nation is on a dangerous course? And will you be willing to make a total break from its ways? That's the judgment he's asking for. We can't speak for God when we're still part of the ways. You can't speak for God when you're still fornicating on the side, folks. It doesn't work that way. I don't care how many churches you go to. You can't speak for God when you're part of a corrupt financial system. You're falsifying your own books, cheating financially. You can't speak for God. There's no authority there, no courage there. You can't speak for God when you're not in the prayer closet. You can't speak for God when you're not reading the word of God. You can't speak for God when you're not asking for the strength to speak for God. And you can't speak for God when you simply live to preserve yourself. There's a point, folks. Nehemiah said to the people when they were weary and they wanted to get off the wall that God was allowing him to rebuild. Folks, consider you're not fighting just for yourselves. You're fighting for your sons and for your daughters. You're fighting for your children and your grandchildren. It's horrific to think of what kind of a country this is going to be 10 years from now, folks, just 10 years, 10 years on the present trajectory, 10 years. You're not going to recognize this country anymore. You and I have to choose to make a break from its ways, choose to do what is right, choose to read the right things, choose to go to the right places, choose to hang out with the right people, choose to live for God. Good news is that the Gallup poll in 2015 found something else. And this I found was significant. 72 percent of this country still believes that moral values are getting worse. I find that to be significant. That means that seven out of 10 in America still have a conscience. Seven out of 10 still believe there's a right and a wrong and not everything is relative. Seven out of 10 still believes that God has something to say about this and we should be listening. Seven out of 10, seven out of 10, yet if we continue to allow ourselves to be herded off a moral cliff, and that's what's happening in America, listen to me, those that are online, listen to those that are going to be listening in the days ahead. We are being herded off a moral cliff in America. Seven out of 10 don't agree with this agenda. Seven out of 10 still have a conscience. But if we allow ourselves to be pushed in this direction, the glimmer of hope that we have left will soon be lost. The lights will go out. God said, I sought for a man that I should not have to judge the land. I sought this is the heart of God. God is looking on America and saying, I'm looking for people who will stand up and be counted. I'm looking for those who live a righteous life. I'm looking for people who are willing to pray. I'm looking for people who will make the break from evil and be willing to take a stand. I'm looking for people who are simply be willing to agree with what the word of God says. I sought for a man who would make a wall. The life application Bible says the wall spoken of here is not made of stones, but of faithful people united in their efforts to resist evil. Isn't it amazing? A nation can get to the point where there's nobody left who will stand. Doesn't mean they weren't going to church or synagogue as it was in those days. They probably going by the thousands and God's eyes are scouring the nation. He sees the enemies coming in on the border. He sees the rot from within. He sees the inability of the nation to stand. And he also knows that there's a point when God says, I'm slamming my fists over the corruption. It's time to listen. But he found no one, no one, not one who would take a stand, not one who would stand up for righteousness, not one like those in the old Testament. We don't read about the people about before the statue, but we do read about the three boys who went into the furnace and change the laws of the nation. Might I add, we don't read about all the people in the King's harem, but we do read about the one who at the risk of her life stood up fasted for three days with her friends and went in to petition for the future of her people who had been slated for destruction. She spoke for those who didn't have a voice. No one would stand. Is he standing means more than just coming into church and just agreeing with the word of God. Standing means standing. If I asked everybody here to stand and you remain in your seat, don't tell me you're standing until you're standing. It's, it's no deeper than that. It means a willingness to say, I will read what this word says. I will obey what this word says. I will speak truth when everyone around me is lying. I will speak for God when everyone else is speaking for greed, I will stand. And if they throw me in the furnace, they throw me in the furnace and folks, listen, it's coming your way, whether you, whether you want it or not. If you're a believer in Christ, Mordecai came to Esther and said, don't think you're going to save yourself by tucking yourself away in this nice little palace you've found. Don't think you're going to save yourself. It's coming your way too. And he warned her and she received that warning from God. And she took a stand at the cost and risk of her life. She went in to intercede for her people. Taking a stand means coming out to pray. Taking a stand means being inconvenienced. Taking a stand means driving the extra mile. Taking a stand means raising your voice for those that don't have a voice for the 57 million more that will be aborted if we don't pray. Taking a stand means crying out to God and saying, realizing that 1,164 babies are aborted probably every day before nine 30 in the morning. Taking a stand saying, God almighty change this nation. God almighty give us victory. God send an awakening to the United States of America. Lord, wake our churches up. Wake our pastors up. God almighty help us Lord to stand for what we know to be true in this hour in which we're living. And God says, I sought for a man. Do you think maybe the eyes of the Lord are searching again in this nation? The eyes of God are looking for a people. Why could he find no one? I think first of all, of course, there's people who just, they don't want to stand. They want to save themselves. They want to be liked by everybody. They want to get along. They don't want trouble. No, none of us do. I don't want trouble in my life. Yet there's our seasons and times when, if you're going to stand for God, you will. Trouble is coming your way. There's no way of getting around it. We have been given an opportunity to, to read the stories and see the miracles that have gone before us. It's not just for Bible study. The early church were persecuted. They were threatened with beatings and imprisonment. And so what did they do? They, in the book of Exodus, as they went into the prayer meeting and said, God, shake the place where we are. God stretch forth your hand and begin to heal. God, give us boldness to speak your word. God do miracles through our lives in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, knowing it was going to bring them into prison, knowing it was going to cause trouble for them, knowing it was not going to be comfortable. But you see, we've had the benefit of real comfortable peacetime religion for probably a generation or two in this nation, but that time is over folks. It's over now. Found no one. I think here's another problem. Couldn't find anybody who believed that God could actually use them to make a difference. You know, all he needs to feed thousands is a bag lunch. You know that, right? That's what I am. That's what you are. If we have all this history and all this knowledge from the Bible, and we've come to a place where we don't believe that God will actually use us, we're to be pitied. Then all of our study has been for nothing. All of our study has not brought us to the place of saying we are exactly where Gideon was. The Midianites are coming in 135,000 devouring everything of godliness in the nation, and we're just trying to eke out a living and trying to survive, and we're poor. But you know what God did. We find ourselves in a situation that the servant of a prophet of God said one day as he woke up and saw the city surrounded with armies, oh what are we going to do? The prophet of God prayed, said God would you please open this man's eyes and show him that there are more with us than are against us. Found no one. I wonder sometimes if he just couldn't find anyone who believed that God was still willing to show mercy. We look out in the streets of our city, and we see the debauchery in our society, and we read the headlines in our news, and there's something inside of us very much like the prophet Jonah says God just judge it all. Just get me out of here. I want to go to heaven now. I'm sick of living in this society. I'm tired of the speech. I'm tired of the lying politicians. I'm tired of the compromising preachers. I'm tired of the watered down powerless religion. I'm tired of prayerless churches. God just take me home. Just get me out of here. Yet the Lord comes and says I want to show mercy one more time. Would you agree with me? I want to open the floodgates of forgiveness and reconciliation and newness of life. I want to do it on a scale unseen in history. That's what I believe about the hour in which we're living. I truly believe it with all my heart. I've seen it in the prayer closet. I saw it in the worship today. God wanting to show mercy. Yes, judgment is coming. I have no doubt this world is going to implode. I have no doubt about that. But till that day comes, God wants to show mercy. Mercy in a way maybe that you and I have never seen it in our lifetime. He wants to meet with people in churches that we don't even think he should, but he would. God wants to reveal himself as a savior. I believe. I believe it with all my heart. You see, because I know him. I know his heart. I know the one who went to a cross and said, father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. I know the one that stood at the last day of the feast and said, if you're still thirsty, if this religion hasn't satisfied you, come to me and drink. And if you do, as the scripture says, out of your inward parts will flow a river of living water. I know the heart of the one who said, come to me, all you who are laboring and are heavy laden. You've tried to change. You can't. You've tried to be good. You can't. You've tried to be religious. It's powerless. Come to me. All you who are laboring and are heavy laden, and I will give you a rest. Come learn about me. I'm meek and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. You see, I know him and I feel his heart and I know his passion. He's not willing that any should perish, but all should come to the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. He's not willing. He doesn't judge a nation until the nation has judged itself. We have a small window of mercy, but we cannot, we cannot make a difference until we, as God's people, have detached ourselves from the evil practices of this society. You don't vote for a politician who's for gay marriage and for abortion just because he gives you free stuff. That's how you know whether or not you're detached from this system. That's one of the signs, folks. I am neither Republican, nor Democrat, nor Libertarian, nor Green Party, nor the rent is too high. I don't belong to any party, so I feel free to swing in every direction. I don't care what title the man or woman's got. They have to have my value system before my vote goes on the ballot, and if none of them have my value system, I don't vote. Man that I know puts his name on the ballot every presidential election. He puts his neighbor's name, he said, because he's the most honest man that I know. He gets at least one vote. He might get mine next year. You never know. Still willing to take a stand. Still willing to believe that God can use us to make a difference. Still willing that God can show mercy. But in order for God to be shown, we have to be set on a hill, visible, compassionate. I'm not railing on anybody today. I believe in mercy for all people. No matter where they've come from, there's forgiveness, there's a cross, there's new life. That's what God promises. I want to give an altar call this morning, and it's simply for people who are willing to take a stand. Pay your taxes. You have to be honest. Leave those relationships that need to be left. Choose your friends wisely. Hang around with people of faith. Believe that God can use you. Believe it, because he can. Who knows that you might be the person that your neighborhood turns to God through you. Young people find Christ as savior. Who knows, but that it might be you that God uses to make a difference. Folks, listen to me. The United States of America is the Titanic, and we have hit the iceberg. Time is short. I love the story of a man who was in the water as people were dying after that ship went down, and with the last ounce of strength that he had, he kept swimming from person to person in the water saying, are you saved, man? Do you know Christ as your savior? One person testified that they said, oh, I don't know. I'm not ready. I don't know. I'm not ready. He swam away, started talking to other people, and then almost half dead, swam back and said, are you ready now, man? Do you know Christ as your savior? That's what I'm talking about. The giving of oneself for the sake of this generation. We're going to dedicate some babies after this altar call this morning, and that's what we're fighting for. If we don't fight, folks, I don't know what kind of a future are we giving them? What kind of a nation are we presenting to them? I could have given you statistics of what's being taught and what's tentatively going to be taught in our public schools that will curl your hair this morning. The idiocy, the lunacy that's coming into this society, the immorality, the debauchery, we're becoming Sodom and Gomorrah almost overnight. And if you don't fight and if I don't fight, what are we giving the children we're dedicating today? We can't just dedicate them and hope that some mystical formula is going to keep them because we prayed a little prayer at a house. No, it involves something on our part. We've got to stand now. We've got to stand for what we know is right. And so it takes courage. And honestly, I have been praying in the last while saying, God, I don't have the courage to do what I know you're asking me to do, but you do. And you live inside of me. And so, God, you're going to have to carry me. I'm not going to make a false boast and end up flat on my face, but God, I will give you my life and I will stand and I will speak, but you're going to have to carry me and you're going to have to give me the courage I'm going to need to do what I feel you're calling me to do. Please take a stand for God. Take a stand with your voice. Take a stand by going to prayer. Take a stand by choosing to do right. Take a stand by believing that God can use you. Don't count yourself out. Pray. And when you pray, God's going to tell you to do something. Do it. Do it. If you're a high school student, he's going to say, stand at your flagpole and pray every day for a revival in your school. Just do it. Just do what God tells you to do. When he speaks to your heart, stand up for what you know to be true. Speak the truth in love. We cannot, as a nation, call evil good and expect to escape the judgment of God. Simply not going to happen. But for those who are willing to take a stand, I'm going to ask if you would be kind enough as we stand to join me at this altar, the front of this auditorium, the same thing you could step between the screens in the annex, North Jersey. And at home, just stand up wherever you are, just before your laptop, whatever it is you're just stand up and say, I'm in count me in. And I'm but I'm going to trust God for the courage, because in myself, I don't have the courage. Let's stand together, please, if you will, and make your way to the front. We're going to worship just for a few moments together. Lord, we don't make a false boast of bravery. We're all self-serving cowards at best. But Lord, you have put your spirit within us and you have given us the power to stand. And so when we get to the end of our journey, the praise will be of you and not of ourselves. There'll be no boast of any strength we had or wisdom. It will all be you. God, we ask you to for the grace to pray like we've never prayed before, to stand, to be lights in a time of darkness, to be voices of righteousness in a time of evil, to be honest in a crooked time. God, give us discernment to know who speaks for God and who doesn't. And Father, we thank you for these things, Lord. Help us to be ambassadors of your love for all people, all people, Lord. We don't fight against people. We fight for people, every person, God, born in the image of God. Lord, we thank you for it. God almighty, bless my brothers and sisters with strength, for many will suffer for taking a stand. But oh God, we can't but think of the consequence if we don't stand now. And so Lord, give us the grace. Give us the grace to stand and give us the grace to kneel. And we thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Amen and amen.