Jim Cymbala delivers a powerful sermon titled 'When You Can't Go On,' emphasizing that even the greatest figures in the Bible, like Elijah, faced moments of despair and breakdown. He recounts Elijah's journey from triumph over the prophets of Baal to fleeing in fear from Jezebel, illustrating how even the strongest can feel overwhelmed. Cymbala encourages listeners to recognize their vulnerabilities and the importance of seeking God's presence and nourishment during tough times. He highlights that God provides strength and direction, even when we feel we cannot go on, reminding us that it's always too soon to quit. The sermon concludes with a call for prayer and support among believers, reinforcing the need for community in times of struggle.

I'm reading a book now on my Kindle, a book that I think I might have read parts of it many years ago, but now I'm going through the whole book when I'm not studying, reading the word. I love to read history. And this is called The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, the story of the rise of Hitler, Nazi Germany, which led to World War II, which led to the Holocaust. Just a real study of evil. One of the things that's happening right now in the book, which I have studied in other ways, reading about Russia and Stalin, the man of steel, is that right before Hitler decided to attack Poland, where my mother's ancestry is, I'm half Polish, half Ukrainian, right before he attacked Poland, he wanted to make sure, he figured England and France might honor their treaty with Poland, and thus there would be a war throughout Europe, but he wanted to make sure that Russia wouldn't come in on his east, because then Germany has always been afraid of fighting a two-front war, be squeezed in the middle. So two of the most diabolical men who ever walked across the corridors of history got together, and through emissaries, Hitler put out a feeler and said, let's make an alliance, Nazi Germany with communist Russia. Now he had always talked horrible about Russia and about Stalin and the communists. He rose to power killing communists in Germany, but now it was convenient to make a treaty, an alignment with Russia. The moment he did it, he's doing it right now as I'm reading it through, the minute it happens, within 10, 15 days, he attacks Poland on September 1st, 1939, and told Stalin, when I attack, I'll cut it up with you, you take some, I take some. As evil as Stalin was, and he maybe was responsible for more deaths than anyone who's ever lived, more than Hitler, more than Mao, more than anyone, he boasted one time to one of our former presidents, President Truman, that he had killed 12 or 13 million of his own people. Stalin signed with Hitler, thinking Hitler would keep the treaty, but as soon as Hitler was successful in conquering France and driving England back to England and trying to bombard it by air, as things were going better, he did what he had always planned to do, break the treaty with Stalin, and out of nowhere, attack Russia and obliterate Russia at first. While he was lining up all these troops to attack Russia, which has no end to it, something like seven or eight time zones, reports were made to Stalin, you better be careful, the German troops are lining up on our border. Stalin went, no, that's not gonna happen, that's propaganda, you're trying to divide me from my alliance with Hitler. And they said, no, it's real talk, and he went, no, no, no, no. And then, on a fateful day, total blitzkrieg, Nazi Germany invaded the land of their partners, and Russia was driven off the field and just started to retreat, retreat, retreat, retreat. The villages were decimated, Jews were executed in the very trenches that they were gonna be buried in. Stalin, the man of steel, who was revered in Russia as our leader, disappeared for a matter of days. Nobody could find him, nobody knew what to do, the generals didn't know what to do, everything was crazy because Stalin was the commander in chief, dictator, god, president, chairman, whatever, he was everything. Nobody could find him. His nerves broke, and he ended up in his dacha, where he lived, and some of the leaders finally got the courage to go to him, and when they went in, there was this trembling, frightened man because he had been fooled, he had been duped, he wasn't ready for war, Russia wasn't ready. And the only reason that they weren't conquered was they kept just retreating so many hundreds and hundreds of miles that the Germans kept coming and obliterating everyone, that they ran raping the women, marauding through Russia, but they extended their lines so long that they couldn't get their supplies to their army, and then an early winter came, and they were trapped with summer clothes in Russia in the winter. That's the only reason Russia was able to eventually turn it around. The man of steel broke down, the man who ordered the deaths of so many people, and they said that when he stared at you at a dinner or at any meeting because he just eliminated people with no reason, that when he stared at you and kept looking at you, you could not hold his stare. He was the man of steel, but he broke down. Someone might need to hear this today. We all need to remember this because in life, we all have moments where we break down. I have. We all have moments when our nerves, our emotions, our minds, our bodies are stretched so tight for so long that your spirit gets weak. It can happen to a non-Christian like Stalin in the heat of battle. It can happen to a believer from the strain of spiritual warfare, but you have moments that happen in life, they can happen, they've happened to the best, where you're in trouble, where you're weak. You start thinking crazy. You start talking and even praying crazy. And God put some stories in the Bible to help us with that. You know, I tell people rubber bands, if you stretch them long enough, will break, even if they're Christian rubber bands because it is what it is. Let's say it in Spanish. Es lo que es. Muy bien. So here's a story of one of the great men in the Bible and how he crashed, but let me give you a prelude to it. One of the most fiery and sensational prophets in the Old Testament is a man named Elijah. And Elijah, out of nowhere, he appears and he goes to the wicked king of the northern kingdom of Israel, who's named Ahab, who has a charming wife named Jezebel. And he tells him, because he stood before the Lord and received some revelation to the Lord, no man has the power to make it stop raining. You can only communicate what God is gonna do. He goes to that king and he says, my word, it's not gonna rain. And he disappears. And then God takes care of him at a brook and feeds them supernaturally and then takes them to a poor town of Zarephath and a widow takes care of them. And now the drought is so bad that all the animals are dying and people are dying and judgment is coming on the northern kingdom because Ahab has led the Israelites into the worst evil in the history of their nation. And now God is sending judgment as he promised in Deuteronomy. If you serve me, I will bless you. If you turn from me and serve other gods, here's what's gonna happen to you. And now God is applying that prophetically through the prophet Elijah. So then what happens is they're searching for Elijah because Ahab says, I gotta find this guy and kill him. So he sends out search teams for him, but they can't find him because God is hiding him. When God wants to hide you, you are hid. And God wants you to be revealed, you will be revealed. That's a sober thought. Now he appears and he tells, Ahab says, oh, I finally found you. You are the troublemaker. And he goes, no, you're the troublemaker. How about that? You're the troublemaker because you led the people away from God. And now the judgment of God is upon you with your filthy idols of you and your wife. But don't worry because God is gonna send rain. But before God sends the rain, why don't you get all the leaders of these idols that you serve? So they gather up 450 prophets of Baal and 500 from another god. And there's this phenomenal story in the Bible. Elijah stands down, 950 people, and says, all right, and there's this famous verse. If God is God, then serve him. And if Baal is God, then serve Baal. It's like what God is saying to all of us. If Jesus Christ is real and the Bible's true, then do the logical, serve him with all your heart. If he's not God, if he didn't die on the cross and raise again from the dead, then why waste the time reading a Bible or coming to church? We're all wasting our time. It's either true or it's not true. If it's true, it deserves number one attention of our lives. If it's not true, don't do it at all. The worst thing is to halt between two opinions. Like my friend Tony Evans said, be an evangelical atheist. Go to church and shout with the preacher and sing along with the choir and then live Monday through Saturday like an atheist, like God doesn't even exist. Don't even go by the Bible. Don't even read the Bible. Don't even believe what Jesus taught, but gotta be in church to go through the motions. That's the worst kind of life. If God is God, let's serve him. How many say amen? If Jesus is real, make him number one in your life today. If he's not, why waste our time? Then this is a bunch of foolishness. He faces them down. God answers his prayer by fire. Nothing happens when the false prophets pray. He's victorious. He faces down all these people. Then he tells Ahab, don't worry, it's gonna rain. He goes up on a mountain and he puts his head between his knees and he starts to pray like this and intercede. He sends his servant, go look for the rain, it's coming. The servant keeps going, I don't see anything. He says, no, it's coming. He's touched God in prayer. He knows what God has said. Suddenly there's a little cloud. Next thing you know, rain comes. The man is amazing. I mean, Ahab has lost his prophets, but at least he got some rain. And it's all by the word of the Lord. But after all of that, King Ahab goes home to see his dearest and here's what happened. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, may the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. In other words, I'm gonna kill you. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. And when he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there. And while he himself went a day's journey into the desert, he came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors. Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, get up and eat. He looked around and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then he laid down again, slept some more. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So he got up and he ate and he drank, strengthened by that food, must have been supernatural. He traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night and the word of the Lord came to him. What are you doing here, Elijah? He replied, I've been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty the Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, put your prophets to death with the sword, I am the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too. The Lord said, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. He's still in the cave. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper of a little breeze. And when Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and he went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. So here we learn, ladies and gentlemen, what to do when you can't go on. That's the name of this message, when you can't go on. How many have honest up? I've tried to be vulnerable and honest with you. How many have had moments in life, you didn't know if you could make it and go on for whatever reason, just lift your hand, okay? Now after this is over, this little story, the Lord refreshes him. He gives him orders, what to do, what he's supposed to, where he's supposed to go. But never one time does the Lord say to him, you poor thing, oh, you poor thing, never. He says, I'll help you, but I got more for you to do. But that's not how it begins. How it begins is a very strange thing. He faces down 950 prophets. He calls down fire from heaven. He's living at one time with ravens feeding him. He sees a miracle in Zarephath when a woman is able to feed him with just a little food that she has left. He stands before Ahab and he's not afraid. And yet when Jezebel says, he did what? I will kill him before the next day passes. He totally breaks down and he runs away like a scaredy cat. That tells us a couple things. Number one, even the greatest men and women of God have had moments when they broke down. This is to encourage us. If you've ever been at the end and felt you couldn't go on for whatever reasons, emotions, spiritual tension, pressure, financial pressure, children just driving you to the brink, you don't feel you can go on. The sentence he said that really jumped out at me some weeks ago was this. I have had enough, I can't go on. End of story, I've had it. I can't go on. This is not a new convert. This is Elijah saying, I've had it. But no, Elijah, you saw God. Hey, I know, I don't want to talk about what God did. I've had it, I'm done. It's over, finito, no mas. So when you and I go through these things or you're on the verge of one of these moments, remember, God put this in the Bible for a reason, to encourage us. How must have Peter felt after he denied the Lord the third time in the cockroach, just like Jesus said, and then Jesus happened to walk out at that moment and looked at him, and the Bible says Peter went out into the night crying bitterly. How do you think he felt? When you've been full of yourself and boasting, and then you find out that you're made of jello and your faith is not as strong as you thought? This also points out that sometimes you can face mountains in life and be victorious, and a pebble can get you. He faced 950 prophets. Think of your own life, 950 prophets. The king searching for him, wicked king Ahab. He faces that all down. He walks with God, is fed supernaturally, stops the rain, then calls for the rain, prays until the cloud appears. You would think this guy is Superman. And then one little lady says, I'm gonna kill you, and he goes, ah, I gotta get out of here. Makes no sense, but it's us. Because you learn in life, sometimes by the grace of God, you can face great stress, but if you're not careful, the littlest thing can cave you in. Think back on your own life. Certain times, God's given us grace. We have faced tremendous challenges, and we had faith, and we had joy when we did it. And then other times, we get out of right relationship with the Lord, we forget the basic principles of spiritual warfare, and the next thing you know, we're running scared. We can't even believe the sun'll come up the next day. Can't believe God for anything. Christian living, spiritual living, is not like this. At least the history given us in the Bible, except for Jesus Christ, it has high moments, but if we're not careful, we can sink down into a vulnerable position, and that's why the Bible says, as long as it's called today, whenever you meet together, encourage one another, build up one another's faith. One of the things that I've been noticing is Paul says to the church there, I'm sending Timothy to find out about your faith. He just came back with a report that your faith is strong. And now, I want you to know that when I come, I want to come if I visit you again and strengthen your faith, for the just shall live by faith. When your faith breaks down, when your inner man crumbles, you're in a very vulnerable position. And the things you used to be able to face, you can't face anymore. It's not because of age, because God's plan is for us to go from glory to glory and from strength to strength. It's not age. It's a breakdown inside. So the Bible tells us that just one threat from the little lady in the palace sends poor Elijah on the run. Amazing. Man called down fire from heaven. And now, a little brujita is making him just run. Notice something else here. This is very typical when we get down. Come on, we've all been down. I'll close my eyes. How many ever have been, since you're a Christian, really down? Lift your hand, okay? All right. Notice what he does. He goes out into the wilderness, and he tells his servant to stay behind, and he goes on alone. Not good. But that's what happens when we get down and defeated and the enemy's attacking. We go into a bad kind of isolation. We don't want people around us. And that's when we need people around us. When you feel yourself going down, you call someone, Brother Stephen, and say, pray for me, the enemy's attacking. One of our problems is we're so proud of our spirituality, we can't own up and confess to people. We're afraid they're gonna say, what? I thought you were strong, Brother Stephen. Listen, I'm a Christian, but I'm a man. I need the Lord. Would you please give me a word of encouragement? Come on, can we say amen to that? Give me a prayer, give me a verse, give me something. We need encouragement. We need encouragement. And it's very bad to be alone when you're in that place, because Christians who are stronger spiritually at that moment can talk sense to us. And what tends to happen when you're down is you go into a pity party, you isolate yourself, and you get a totally skewed vision of what's going on. When you're down like that, you can't see things, and you say crazy things. Later on, he says to the Lord, when he's in the cave, the prophets have turned the people away from you. They've torn down your altars. They've killed all the true prophets. Now they're looking for me, and I'm the only one left. He's not left. We find out later on, God has 7,000 people who haven't bowed to Baal. He's got 7,000. But when you're down, you think you're the only one. Am I right or wrong? When you're down, you're, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. I'm the only one you don't know, you don't know. You don't know. Why, because when you're down, your vision is skewed. Listen to me, brothers and sisters. I love you. You, we can't trust our judgment when we're down. You make no decisions when you're down. You know the old saying, when you're angry, don't make decisions? Well, when the enemy's attacking, and for whatever reason, you're like Elijah. You make no decisions, and you don't take seriously what you're thinking, because what you're thinking is whacked many times. It's off. Imagine the prayers he prayed. Some prayers file away, and just forget you ever prayed them. Haven't we all prayed prayers like Elijah? Here's his great spiritual prayer, mighty man of God, Elijah, who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. Here's his prayer. Kill me. Dear God, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, and then kill me. That's ridiculous, but we've all prayed like that. How many have ever had a pity party with a cake and balloons and the whole thing? Come on, have you ever? Just, it's over. Some disappointment in life comes. Somebody lets us down. There's a strain in life. In this city, to live for Jesus, you're under constant pressure 24-7. If you ride the subway, you need extra prayer, right? Going in Manhattan, to me, is different than Brooklyn. I feel I sense something different in Manhattan. You have to be constantly on guard. The commercials, the advertisements, there's temptations everywhere. The conversations, what we don't realize is that is all stretching us and wearing us down, and unless you know how to keep strong, you're gonna go down and not know it. It's the old story of Satan has two forms of warfare. It's the punch, the knockout punch, where you try to hit someone, but the way he takes most of us down when we're walking with the Lord is just to lean on us. And you see, he just arched his back because he doesn't want me to push him over, but as I'm leaning, see, he's using muscles now. I'm not swinging, you don't see anything, but just this leaning, see, he's arching his back. He's using muscles right now. And then when we get weak from fighting that, then he comes in with the other person, with that temptation, with that, why don't you give up and quit? He's ready to quit. Elijah's ready to quit. So if you've ever been at that place, don't feel bad because Elijah was there. Not only quit being a prophet, he wants to die. I've had a couple times in my life, I never asked God to take my life, came close to it, but I had times in my life I just felt I can't go on, I've had enough. I can't take the pressure. I can't take believing God for any more money. I can't get this building done or a wayward daughter. I mean, Satan uses everything to weigh us down. I might, I know you're not saying anything, but this is real talk. Am I talking truth here? So, so you have to know that. You have to know that, that great men and women of God have come to the breaking point. And whenever you hear anyone talk victory talk like they've never been in a valley, they're full of hot air, they don't, they're not telling the truth. Everyone's been there. Come on, let's say amen to that. Everyone's been there. I was reading, I was reading in John Wesley's journals some time ago, very interesting to read, the father of Methodism, and he's riding horseback. He's preaching like 20 to 30 times a week, here, there, and everywhere, in the woods to 25,000 people without, in fields, I should say, to 25,000 people with no microphone. He's going to this house meeting, that house meeting. He's systematic, he's amazing. His brother Charles is writing hymns. Christians still sing. This is the middle of the 1700s. And then one day in his journal, he writes, woke up, don't feel God, 1,000 miles from me. Feel dejected, not even sure if I'm in the faith. Oh God, where are you? I am hopeless. I have no answers to what's facing me. That's John Wesley, one of the men of God that's been used the most in the last 100 years in this century, told me how the enemy attacked his marriage where twice he and his wife had divorce papers drawn up. God intervened and it never happened. But they were at the end, they couldn't go on. God in his mercy stepped in. I just, I'm saying all this to let you know, battles are real. Come on, do I get a witness here? Battles are real and here's how you get out of it. Listen, if you're worn down physically, did you know, ladies and gentlemen, you can't live without sleeping? And the Lord promised he would give his beloved sleep. Also, he was fed, and may I just say this? Wrong diet, wrong health habits, not sleeping enough will break down your body and the body broken down makes the spirit susceptible. I'm gonna say it one more time. Improper health habits, lack of sleep. He still loves you and all the rest. But sleep deprivation, improper eating, wrong kind of eating, improper digestion, and all of that has an effect on our bodies. We all know that. And remember, our spirits are lodged in this body. My spirit is affected by anything going on in my body. For good or for bad. So it's interesting that the Lord, the first thing he does is say, take a nap. And then take another one. And he gives them food, bread and water. Oh, but that tasted good. I'd like to point out to you another thing. This must have been some kind of supernatural bread. An angel gave it to him because it stands for the other kind of food that we need. When your spirit is crushed and weak, you need spiritual food. Physical food and physical rest has its place. But look at this verse from the New Living Translation. Proverbs, one of my favorite verses in the Bible. A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength. Somehow Elijah's spirit got broken in the bad sense of the word. Some accumulation of stuff. He fought off the false prophets. He fought off Ahab. He did marvelous things. And then one little lady sends him over a cliff. Ah, it was he had been broken down. His spirit was broken inside of him. And that saps your strength. You can't face anything. You don't even wanna go to work. You get depressed. And when you're depressed, and when you're broken down and you're weak, you do not make decisions. Don't believe in what you're thinking. And even if you hear yourself saying something, say, I don't believe that. Even if it's you talking. Because you don't make sense. We all, how many in your life have said silly things that were not right? Come on, it's humbling, but come on. Give it up. Lift your hand up. Have we not all done, said crazy things? Then we get in our right sentence, the Lord shines light and we go, what was I thinking? What was I thinking? Hey listen, I got so broken down twice in the early years of me being at the Brooklyn Tabernacle on Atlantic Avenue, I tried to leave the ministry and get a job elsewhere. Why? Because I didn't feel called. After a while, I was sure of my calling. Because I got beat down. I was discouraged, didn't know what to do. Discouragement is a killer. When you're discouraged and down, your spirit is broken inside. Oh my goodness. Trouble everywhere. Not knowing what to do. Young minister, no money, no insurance. Dropped out of social security because I couldn't make the payments. My wife and I working second jobs and all of that stuff going on, just, I can't take it anymore. You've never had that moment? Oh, you're all more sanctified than me. And then you want to run. When you run around, you run down, then you want to run away. Listen, when you run around too much, whatever that might mean, then you run down. And when you run down, next thing you know, you want to run away. But when you're gonna run, you gotta take yourself with you. And that's where the problem is. So, listen, he gave him spiritual food. You gotta feed on Jesus. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. You gotta feed on this word. Look, if you eat a pork chop, some okra, some cornbread, whatever, that's your body. That's sustenance for your body. Your spirit will not be affected by that food. It gets your body feeling better if you're starving. This is what feeds your soul. Look, 1,200 people every day in America stop reading the Bible. Don't let it be you. The Bible's going the way of things that are considered out of date. Let that not be said among us. This is God's word. Jeremiah says, thy words were found and I did eat them. And they became unto me the joy and rejoicing of my soul. You gotta eat this word. You gotta read it and meditate on it. Next thing you know, you'll start feeling strong. Come on here, do we get an amen? You gotta live in your Bible. Live in your Bible. Eat the word of God. So by this strength, he sleeps, he eats, he gets spiritual food and now he takes off, he ends up in a cave. And the Lord's not gonna pamper him. The Lord's not pampering me. The Lord's not pampering you. He's not gonna say, okay, take off for five or six years. He never does that. He never joins in with self-pity. If you want self-pity, you have to go elsewhere. The Lord is gonna say, I love you and I will help you, but I got more for you to do. You don't quit when you wanna quit. You quit when I say you quit. You don't die when you pray you'll die. I got a day you'll die and that's when you'll die. You're not dying before then. You're not gonna die after then. Can we say amen to that? Come on, we belong to the Lord. So now listen, listen how beautiful the Lord is. He's in the cave and he says, I'm gonna pass by to put the finishing touch on your life, your restoration. So he's in the cave and suddenly a windstorm. I mean like hurricane strength, but God's not in the wind. And what would the wind been good for Elijah? It wouldn't have been a good for Elijah. Now is God wind? Yeah, on the day of Pentecost, they heard a sound, Acts two of a mighty rushing wind. The word for wind and breath are the same words in Hebrew and Greek and they're used of the spirit, spirit, wind, breath are similar words. But Elijah did not need a hurricane wind at that moment. So he doesn't move. The next thing you know, there's an earthquake. Does God ever give us earthquakes in our life? When we're going the wrong way and getting in trouble, does God ever shake and bake our lives and shake, rattle and roll our lives? Yes, God is in the earthquake business at times. But God's not in this earthquake. And then comes fire. Is fire a symbol of God? Yes, our God is a consuming what? And on the day of Pentecost, go back to Acts two, they saw tongues as of fire on them. In Jeremiah 23, the Lord says, is my word not like fire? He doesn't need a fire. At different times in your life, you need different manifestations of grace from God. But as he's there, he feels a little, a gentle breeze, a little whisper. I always picture this in my mind. And he gets up, he puts his cloak over his face, and he steps out onto the ledge. And now he's in the presence of God. Not God fire, not God wind, not God earthquake. God, a gentle breeze. What refreshing there is. When you stop everything, and you just stand in the presence of God. Is there a time to make noise? Yes, make a joyful noise. But there's also, be still. And know that I'm God. And that moment for him was, I'm gonna be still and let God just breathe on me. What some of you need today, I know this because as I was praying, I said, God, this is good for all of us. But I just got this assurance that he brought someone in here, maybe even a pastor or a missionary or somebody who's just, you feel like you can't go on. You're gonna go on. It's always too soon to quit. You're not gonna quit. Nobody's quitting in this building. You're gonna keep going because God is gonna restore you. He's gonna give you food. He's gonna give you a gentle breeze. Come on, let's all say amen. Close your eyes. If you're here today and say, Pastor, that was for me today. That was for me. Pressure is getting to me. I'm being stretched like a rubber band. I've been feeling like feelings of downness to such discouragement, trying to pull me down. Stalin had nowhere to go to because he had no God. Elijah had a God that he could come to. Anybody else wanna come and say, Pastor, just let the church pray for me before I leave because I'm under attack. I'm at one of those Elijah moments. Father God, we stand in your presence, all of us. Thank you for the gentle breeze of your spirit. Thank you for all the times you've preserved me and kept me from quitting the race, crashing, blowing up. Surely great is thy faithfulness. Now, would you refresh my brothers and sisters here, Lord, please. You know exactly what they're going through. You know things no one knows. Rest upon them like a gentle breeze. Assure them that everything is gonna be fine as they keep their eyes on you. Feed us all in this building, Lord, from your word every day so we don't get vulnerable and weak. Your word says be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Help us to live daily, Lord, that way. Amen. Now, Lord, as we close, may your grace be abundant in the lives of all of us, but especially those in front. And could you give us our marching orders for what you want us to do from this moment on. Some of us might've gotten so discouraged, we stopped talking, praying, witnessing, loving, caring because we've gone into self-pity, depressed mode. But you're lifting us out of that. Give instructions just like you did to Elijah so that we can live lives that will bring glory to your name. We pray this in Jesus' name. And everyone said? Amen. Okay, all you ladies, gently hug about four or five ladies. Everyone, before you leave, brothers, hug. Hug four or five brothers. Hug somebody gently and say a good word to them.