>> The choir has just invited us to fill this place with heavenly music, which we are definitely going to do in just a moment. And even later this evening in a very special way. And I say that because tonight at the very end of Pastor Charles' message, we're going to ask the overflow rooms to come into the worship center, to fill the aisles, to be all of us together as one, and to end the night with worship and song together.

So when you see or hear Pastor Charles pray at the very end of his message tonight, that will be your cue, overflow, to come and be with us here in the worship center. But before that, we have a moment now to pray and to fill this room with praise before God.

Bow with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we gather tonight as men numbering in the thousands, but we sing together as messengers with one voice, one heart, one Lord. We gather to lift up our praise to the fullest of our capacity, to reach, as it were, the fringes of heaven, and to invite the angels to wonder at the joyful sound that echoes off these walls.

We come even now imploring you, our great Savior, to fill our souls with joy and to fill your ears with praise. May all that takes place in this hour be a sweet aroma to you, for you are our soul's delight. And we pray this in Jesus' precious name, amen.

Let's remain standing and declare our faith. May grace and peace be multiplied to each of you this evening in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. I am eager to preach, but permit me to take a moment to publicly say, on the behalf of all of us here, to Dr.

John MacArthur, we love you, we thank God for you, and we are praying for you. Amen. And then let me say as a guest here at Grace Community Church for this conference, well technically at this point, I know ecclesiology doesn't work this way, but I feel I'm a part of Grace Church at this point, but as a guest here for this conference, I want to say on the behalf of all of us gathered, to the pastors, to the staff, to the conference coordinators, to the more than 1,000 volunteers of this church who have served us this week, thank you for serving us well.

Thank you for serving us well. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. This afternoon in the bookstore, I was asked by a young man, Christian, student at the university, how does a 17-year-old pastor a church? There are a lot of answers to that question. One answer to that question is that I believe a pastor needs a pastor.

And as a young man, God brought a pastor into my life, and I am honored that he's here tonight, Dr. Melvin Vaughn Wade, who is at this point 80 years old, who served for 42 years the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Los Angeles. He is here to pray for his son as I preach tonight.

Dad, would you stand? I'm grateful for you being here with me tonight. Would you bow with me in a word of prayer? Heavenly Father, we praise you for the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a privilege it is for us to be gathered tonight to sing praise to the matchless name of Jesus, who is our all-sufficient prophet, priest, and king.

Now we ask that you would cause our worship to go higher as you deepen our understanding of your word. Open our eyes that we may behold wonderful things from your word. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the church. Help us, Lord, to receive with gentleness the implanted word that is able to save our souls, and help us to be doers of your word, not hearers only, lest we deceive ourselves.

Grant me tonight -- you know the burden under which I preach tonight -- help me, Lord. Guide my thoughts, guard my heart, govern my words so that everything I say would be consistent with sound doctrine. And as the seed of your word is planted and watered, we know that only you can give the increase.

So we reserve for you, as always, the highest praise and full credit for the fruit that shall come from this time. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you turn your attention with me tonight to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55 records the great invitation. Permit me to read the chapter to you in its entirety.

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear and come to me. I hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, it can bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall never return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I send it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. And it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Amen. Crescenzio Ibarra recorded a brief video inviting family, friends, and neighbors to a birthday party for his 15-year-old daughter, Ruby.

It was to be a grand affair with food and music and games, including a horse race with a 10,000 pesos prize. "Everyone is invited," says Crescenzio in this 45-second clip as he stood with his wife and daughter. When the local photographer uploaded the video to the community's Facebook page, he inadvertently clicked "public" instead of "private." 1.2 million people are SVP'd for Ruby's birthday party.

The video was shared 978,000 times. #15Deruby was a trending topic on social media. The Mexican Airlines Interjet got in on all the fun and offered 30% discounts for people buying tickets to this small northern Mexico town for Ruby's birthday party. The party took place December 26, 2016. If you pull clips, newsreels of it, you'll see how overwhelmed the young lady seemed to be by the spectacle of it all.

The young man actually died in a freak accident during the advertised horse race. Ruby's mother, Aneldo, complained to a reporter. "My husband gave the invitation, but just to those who lived in the neighboring regions, I don't know who copied it, but they posted it and it went out, wait for it, as if it was an invitation to the whole world." Ruby's hijacked birthday party illustrates the tragedy of fallen humanity.

We receive invitations from the world that are not meant for us. We respond to invitations from the world that cannot fulfill what they promise. Sin makes us all excited about what is not actually true and causes us to ignore what is ultimately true. C.S. Lewis said, "I would suppose that our father does not find our desires too strong, but too weak." We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with sex and ambition and alcohol when infinite joy has been offered to us.

We are like ignorant children who continue, he said, playing with mudplies in the slums because we don't know what it means to be offered a holiday at sea. Lewis concluded, "We are far too easily pleased." But I want to remind us tonight, brothers, true satisfaction is only found in the great invitation that God extends to guilty sinners.

There is arguably no greater statement of that great invitation than Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 53 predicts and proclaims the redemptive work of the suffering servant. We see in chapter 54 the benefits of that redemptive work of the servant for the people of Israel. But chapter 55 gives a wide-ranging, far-reaching, and life-transforming invitation to all who would receive the handout of amazing grace.

God graciously extends a great invitation for unworthy sinners to get right with Him. I believe this is an appropriate word for us to conclude this conference with. We have spent this week considering what it means to proclaim Christ to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 55 reminds us that the magnitude of our message is the motivation for our mission.

God extends a great invitation for guilty sinners to get right with Him. Isaiah chapter 55 presents two truths about this great invitation. On one hand, Isaiah 55 presents a great invitation that is too good to be true. A great invitation that is too good to be true. Divine judgment on rebellious and stubborn sin resulted in the Babylonian captivity, but here God graciously offers to feed and fulfill and forgive His people.

As you read through this chapter, you should know that this great invitation is more than a good opportunity. It's a God-given obligation. There are some 12 commands in the first seven verses of this chapter. God commands sinners to come to Him, trust His promises, and repent of their sins.

See it in the text. First, God commands sinners to come to Him. In verse 1, the call to come is issued four times. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

True satisfaction is available in God, but the sinner must come to Him. Would you note the condition for coming? Come, everyone who thirsts. This great invitation is extended to anyone and everyone who recognizes His spiritual neediness. Mark it down, brothers. Self-sufficiency automatically disqualifies you from spiritual benefits. Only thirsty people can receive the living waters.

John chapter 7, verse 37, Jesus says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." Here in Isaiah 55, God talks as if He is a street merchant, standing on the corner, offering food and drink to the needy who would pass by. But unlike the street merchant, God offers His wares free of charge.

Come, He says, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. This is the handout of amazing grace. Matthew chapter 5, verse 3 says it this way, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." We are the privilege of declaring this gracious message, this great invitation, that God offers wine and milk without money and without price.

Richard's notes here, "It cost us nothing. It cost Christ everything." Look at verse 2. Verse 2 asks, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" Verse 1 tells us that sin robs us of spiritual resources. Verse 2 tells us that sin robs us of spiritual discernment.

Sin makes fools of us. The rich live by their money. The poor live by their labor. Both waste their lives on the ways of sin. And the question of verse 2 is, "Why? Why?" We spend our money on what sin offers only to find out it's not real bread.

We spend our labor on what sin offers only to find out that it does not satisfy. Why? The spirit of the question is that of Matthew chapter 16, verse 26. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" What does it profit a man to live in a big house in a gated community, but your soul is homeless before God?

What does it profit a man to drive a fancy car with two names on the hood, but your soul is thumbing a ride? What does it profit a man to wear fancy clothes with a European designer's name on the label, but your soul is naked before God? "Don't waste your life," is the call of the messenger here, "on that which does not save, will not satisfy, and does not last." Instead, verse 2, "Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food." The one who hears and trusts and obeys this great invitation will be fully satisfied.

What does that mean? It's John 5, verse 24. "Truly I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life." He will not come into the judgment. He is passed out of death into life. God commands sinners to come to Him. And then God commands sinners to trust His promises.

Verse 3, "Incline your ear," "Incline your ear," He says, "and come to Me." "Hear that your soul may live." Again, God extends this great invitation for the sinner to come. "Would you note, you must incline your ear," and the sinner must hear. "Hear" reminds us, brothers, of our urgent mission.

Romans 10, verse 17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the message of Christ." The one who inclines his ear to hear this call of God's sovereign and amazing grace will receive new life, abundant life, eternal life. The great invitation has a lifetime guarantee. "How so?" because the verse says, "I will make with you an everlasting covenant." "My steadfast, sure love for David." These words affirm that the great invitation that God offers and the satisfaction that He gives is all of Him.

It is by divine accomplishment, not human achievement. And it is modeled after His covenant love, His loyal love, His steadfast love for David. The covenant He established with David of a permanent throne and an unending line in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 through 16. This is no doubt talking about David and his royal line, but this passage speaks beyond that.

We'll get a hint of that in verse 4, "Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples." This points us beyond David to the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, specifically Acts chapter 13 verse 34 says, "As for the fact that He, God, raised Him, Christ, from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way, 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'" This great invitation is only received by faith in Jesus Christ.

John 14 verse 6 declares, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Let me say that again and affirm Jesus does not say, "I will show you the way." He does not say, "I will tell you the truth." He does not say, "I will model the life." He says, "I and only I," in contradistinction to everyone else.

"I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Verse 5 speaks directly to this Messiah's servant, "Behold, you shall call a nation that do not know you, and the nation that did not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you." This is an affirmation of the Great Commission.

Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 record the marching orders of the church, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." God commands sinners to come to Him. God commands sinners to trust His promises. And God commands sinners to repent of their sins. This great invitation is extended to all, but verses 6 and 7 remind us that the sinner must come on God's terms, not his own.

What are God's terms? I could summarize verses 6 and 7 in one word, "Repent." Verse 6 says, "Repent immediately. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near." The guilty sinner, the needy sinner, is to seek the Lord and call upon the Lord when?

While He may be found, while He is near. Does that language shake you, brothers? It presses the urgency of our gospel message. Sinners must seek the Lord while He may be found. They must call upon Him while He is near. There is a time when God is not near enough to be found.

When is that time? I don't know, and I don't want to know, and neither do you. The urgency of this call to repentance is that we should seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near. God is sovereign. Life is short. Death is coming for us all.

Hell is the destiny of the unrepentant. Everyone will spend eternity somewhere, and there is no hope of salvation without hearing the gospel, repenting of your sins, and putting your trust in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. We must leave here and preach this gospel with a sense of urgency.

Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Not only should we call on sinners to repent immediately, verse 6, we should call on them to repent completely, verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

I think this is one of the best explanations of what repentance is that you'll find. Not the verbs. The wicked is to forsake his way. The unrighteous man is to forsake his thoughts. And then once sin is forsaken, he is to return to the Lord. That's it. Forsake your way and return to the Lord.

And if the sinner will do this, what will God do? He will have compassion on him. If you return to God, if you come to God, He will -- hear this beautiful language -- He will not just pardon, He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55, verse 7 affirms Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18, "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.

"Though your sin be as scarlet, I'll make it white as snow. Though it be red as crimson, I will make it white like wool." And so these first seven verses present to us a great invitation that is too good to be true. Now consider the rest of the chapter.

Verses 1 through 7 is a great invitation that is too good to be true, and then verses 8 through 13 present a great invitation that is too good not to be true. The axiom is, "If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is." That is rightly the cynical mindset of the world that we live in.

The world is filled with bait-and-switch invitations, "But let God be true, though every man be a liar." One commentator said that the gospel is not a little psychological uplift. It is tomorrow's world headlines today. The rest of this chapter gives three reasons why you can trust this great invitation that God extends to unworthy sinners.

The first reason is because of how God thinks. Verses 6 and 7 says, "If sinful people will forsake their way and return to the Lord, He'll be compassionate, He'll abundantly pardon." And the sinner hears this and says, "This is just too good to be true." Then the passage says, "Don't judge how God thinks based upon how you think." Verses 8 and 9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Two points here that need considering. The text first, it says, "God's thoughts and ways are different than ours." John Oswalt wrote, "Our understanding is not the measure of what God can do.

His thoughts and ways are not like our thoughts and ways." When I was a boy, I spent every moment I could with my father and it just, it felt like living in a classroom. He was always teaching me something, and every now and then, he would just be talking and share something, and I would just be blown away and say, "Dad, boy, I never knew that." And there were occasions he would say, "Son, there's enough you don't know to start a whole new world." And it's true of all of us.

Proverbs 3 verse 5 says it this way, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding." Translation, "Do not depend on what you think you know." God's thoughts and ways are different than ours, but not only different, God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours.

How high? Verse 9, "As the heavens are higher than the earth." God's thoughts and ways are infinitely above our thoughts and ways. He is, in the language of Ephesians 3 verse 20, able to do far more abundantly than all that we could ask or think. We can't measure the gospel, don't measure the gospel by human reasoning.

Romans chapter 5 verse 7 says, "Scarcely would a man die for a righteous person. Perhaps for a good man one would dare to die, but God so commended His love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." There is no reason, we have no right, we have no reason to second-guess a God like that.

We should trust Him, we should serve Him, and we should praise Him. Psalm 145 verse 3 declares, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable." If God was an average God, average praise would be acceptable. If God was just an ordinary God, then ordinary praise would be okay.

But great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. We trust this message of God's sovereign grace to save sinners in Christ because of how God thinks and because of how God speaks. God's thoughts and ways are different than ours. God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours.

How then can we know God's thoughts and understand God's ways? Verses 10 and 11 says, "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

It shall never return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I send it." God speaks through storms. The snow and rain do not fall from heaven and evaporate. God is at work through them. In a real sense, the precipitation from heaven produces transformation on earth.

Look at verse 10 again, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, it does not return there, but God uses it to water the earth, making the earth bring forth and sprout." Notice this next phrase, I love it, "giving seed to the sower," that's the beginning of the process, "and bread to the eater," that's the end of the process.

That God, who is at work through storms, is at work through His Word. Look at verse 11. Notice how God speaks about His own Word. He calls it, "My Word that comes from my mouth." Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 affirms this, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God would be complete and equipped for every good work." The Bible is not man's thoughts about God, it is God's self-revelation.

The nature and character and authority of Scripture are rooted in the nature and character and authority of God Himself. So we have the confidence concerning this Word that we preach that God's Word will never return to him empty. God's Word will accomplish that which He purposes. God's Word shall succeed in the thing for which He sends it.

So we preach this message and proclaim this Christ with confidence because of how God thinks, because of how God speaks, and then because of how God works. Verse 12, "You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace." In a real sense, this is a reference to the Babylonian captivity.

God will deliver His people, but they will not come out by their own strength or power or resources. They shall go out because they are led forth by divine intervention. By God's sovereign grace, they shall go out in true joy and be led forth in real peace. Here we see another affirmation that what God will do through Israel will be much bigger than Israel.

Verse 12 pictures it as having effects on nature, the created world. See it in verse 12, "The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." I like that. I know some people that pick churches to make sure none of that happens.

The glory of God's triumphant grace will be so great that all of nature will join in. "The hills shall break forth in singing, the trees of the field shall clap their hands." This is our hope in Christ. Romans chapter 8 verse 21 points to that day where creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

So verse 12 shows us how God graciously gives that which is not deserved, and then verse 13 shows us how God mercifully withholds what is deserved. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle." And Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.

The ground was cursed because of Adam's sin. When he worked by the sweat of his brow, there would be many times when the earth would only produce thorns and thistles, but when God works, death is transformed into life, judgment is transformed into salvation, curses are transformed into blessings, barrenness is transformed into fruitfulness, and briars are transformed into evergreens.

Why does God work this way? Verse 13 says, "And it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Do you see that second to the last line? Let me land there. All of this is for the sake of His name. I called my wife this morning, checked on her and the kids.

She says, "You hadn't talked to your daughter yet?" "No." My 16-year-old, Haley, she says, "You'll hear about the incident she had in school. She shocked her teacher." I said, "What happened?" She says, "Her teacher knows you are a minister, and they started having a spiritual conversation, and the teacher was asking about you and about your teaching and about the church." And in the conversation, Haley mentioned, Crystal says, that you were in Los Angeles speaking at the Shepherd's Conference at John MacArthur's church.

The teacher said to my daughter, "Wow, that's a big deal." Crystal said, Haley told the teacher, "No, it's not. My daddy is a nobody." And I know she was telling the truth. When I return home from trips like this, my daughter, Haley, 16 years old, hugs me and says, "I'm glad to have my daddy back.

How did it go?" I tell her how I went at the event. She says, "That's great, daddy. But you know you're a nobody. You're just my daddy. You're a nobody." And when I share with the family, doors God has opened and projects God blessed us to complete, she rejoices and prays God with us, and tells me how proud she is of me, and then always adds, "But don't forget, daddy, you are nobody." May every one of us leave here with that reminder.

God did not call you to preach, brother, to make your name great. He didn't call you to the place you serve to make your name great. May the Lord help us to preach faithfully this good news of Jesus Christ and die and be forgotten if the name of Jesus can't go forth to the nations.

We have been doing something wrong this week if we don't leave here singing Psalm 115, verse 1. Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but to Your name give glory for Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness. My daddy ran away from home when he was a boy. A white family took him in and helped raise him, sent him to school.

And after his first year, as he'd be going into his second year, he ran into financial struggles and didn't know if he'd be able to continue, and he was pointed to another white family there who were offering to help him. The family invited my dad to dinner. During the dinner, the father, the man of the house, asked my dad about his testimony and called a ministry.

And the dinner ended with that man pulling out his checkbook and writing a check to pay the expenses for my father's schooling. My dad said, however, when he got the check and looked at it, the old man didn't like his expression and said, "Son, what's the matter?" My dad said, "Oh, it's nothing.

I just see that you misspelled Charles on the check." The old man said, "Son, it ain't your name on that check that counts, it's mine." And may we leave here knowing there's only one name that counts. He's Adam's maker. He's Abel's vindicator. He's Moses' bush on fire. He's Gideon's fleece.

His name is Jesus. There is a name I love to hear. I love to sing its words. It sounds like music in my ears, the sweetest name on earth. It tells me of my Savior's love who died to set me free, and it tells me of His precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea.

Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. In fact, right now I wish I could say it the way I feel it. Oh, how I love Jesus because He first loved me. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we give You praise for Your sovereign grace, Your free invitation to guilty, rebellious, unworthy sinners, near and far, of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people who would hear the good news of the bloody cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ and turn from their sins and trust in Him.

You offer free forgiveness and new life and eternal hope. We thank You that You have not only reconciled us to Yourself through Christ, but You have made us ministers and messengers of reconciliation, ambassadors of Christ, heralds of Your Word and the testimony of Christ. I pray that we would leave this place, wherever You have called us to serve.

May we head back to our assignments, consumed with this good news to proclaim. And I pray even for those who are in hard places, I'm asking in the name of Jesus that despite the difficulty of the setting, I pray that the magnitude of our message would be the motivation for our mission.

And Lord, we also take this opportunity to pray Your blessings on the Grace Community Church. You have used this pastor and this congregation and the ministries of this local church to bless so many of us, to teach us, to encourage us, to strengthen us. We pray, Father, that You would heal and strengthen and sustain our dear brother, Dr.

MacArthur. We pray that during these days You will prove afresh in his experience that Your grace is sufficient for us and Your strength is perfected in our weakness. And then we pray that You would put ahead Your protection around this church. We know that the enemy has plots and schemes, Lord.

Make the devil behave. Protect this church and its witness in this community and throughout the nations. Smile on these brothers who joyfully spread this good news in states across this country as we leave here and outposts around the world. And may it all be to the praise of Your glory we ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Oh, I wish you could see what I see. There are absolutely no words to express the impact of all that has taken place the last few days here. The preaching was more than good. Stylistically or homiletically, it was important preaching. It was troubling, and it was soothing as well.

But more than that, more than that, the music has been uniting and stirring and powerful. But more than that, the look in your eyes and the glow of your faces and the firmness of your handshakes and the sound of your singing just fills our hearts with joy. And we are so thankful because all of us here at Grace Community Church have desired to be that cup of water for you who labor so hard in the field for the Lord.

And so we're thankful on behalf of the elders of Grace Community Church, thank you for letting us serve you in this way because we serve the King of Heaven just like you. And please accept this invitation to come back next year, and let's do this whole thing again. All right?

Don't forget before you leave, I'm going to pray that you take your belongings home and know that the Shepherds Conference media is already online for you to enjoy. All right? Let's pray together. Oh, Holy Lamb upon the throne, as we have just sung, be blessing, honor, glory, power for the battle you have already won.

And take these soldiers who serve you in the trenches of this war and equip them with the armor and shields and breastplate that can protect them and allow them enough victory to stand strong as men and enough struggle to lean upon you as a child. And may the result of our time together deepen their resolve, strengthen their faith, and broaden their impact for your gospel all around this world.

And we pray these things in the name of the one who shed his blood for us, the nobodies of his body. Amen. Blessings to you all.