 Happy New Year. Welcome back to the Teens Cornerstone lesson of 2024. On our panelist today, we have teacher Jonan, teacher Kevin, Barbara, and Elsie. And in the orchestra we have Ashley and Elsie, and our sign language interpreter is Joyce. My name is Brenda Mywer, and I welcome you to a new year with Teens as we learn more from our lesson and more about our Lord. Before we start, let's bow heads for a word of prayer. Our Father in Heaven, we come before you today and we thank you for this fresh start, this new year that you have given us the grace to be in. As we are about to start this Quarters lesson, may we learn more about you and learn to be able to be influences just like Christ to everyone around the world. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. To the first quarter of 2024 of the Teens Class Cornerstone Connections lesson recording, our theme for the whole of this quarter is Kings and Prophets. And today's lesson title is An Undelivered Gift. But before we begin, I'd like to introduce our panelist for today starting on my immediate right. Happy New Year everyone. My name is Barbara Oduk. I will be leading you through this session. Yes, happy New Year 24 and happy Sabbath and once again, happy first week of the new year. I'm Kevin Mwangi. I'll also be taking you through the lesson. I'm happy New Year. My name is Alsadama. I hope you had a good holiday and so excited to be here. All right. And my name is Jonan Magana. Glad to have you here before we start our last Barbara to pray with us. Let us bow our heads forward of prayer. Kind and ever-living Master, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for allowing us together here to study your lesson, O dear Lord. And dear Father, even as we teach everyone around the world, please give us knowledge and understanding that comes from you. Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Barbara. So today's lesson, An Undelivered Gift. Very catchy topic. And if you remember from the previous lesson, we're talking about the children of Israel. That is King David's reign all the way through Jesus and the fathers that God chose for his son. But today we're talking about an undelivered gift. Which begs the question before we even start. Is a gift really a gift unless it's received? It's just something to think about. Is it really a gift if someone does not receive it or accept it? Okay, that's just something to think about. But for today our lesson is about Moses and when he was relinquishing his position to Joshua, now the Israelites are about to have a new leader before they cross over into Canaan. So this undelivered gift is actually Moses not stepping foot into Canaan as God had promised him. But we see he delivers another better gift to Moses. But before we now dive into our lesson today, I'd like to ask Kevin to take us through the what do you think section? Yes, once again good morning and once again it's happy to see you and to be with you again after a year that ended just a few days ago and happy to be in a new chapter. So today's question that we get to learn is, or the question is pretty much simple to most of us. What will you wish to be a gift on your 18th birthday? You know, possibly before I go into the options I've given us, maybe I can ask one of my panelists to tell us what she thinks about, what gift will you want for your 18th birthday? Personally, I think for my 18th birthday, I would love to get a novel, a really, really interesting novel. That's interesting. What about on my other side, Elsie, what do you think, what will you want for your 18th birthday? Okay, maybe I can even skip and say maybe 20 views or something, but what do you think about that? For me, my 18th birthday, I like to be independent and so I'd like it if my parents would give me a financial guide, or like ways to, this economy is hard, so I need ways to survive in this staff economy. So it would be nice if they gave me a talk or gave me a novel or something that's like, I want to be financially independent. So if they'd help me, that would be like the best birthday gift ever. Wow, that's interesting teacher Jonah. You know, they are giving us some options of a computer, a cell phone, you know, something else. I don't know, maybe for Elsie, possibly, maybe for her, she would consider having, you know, like quite on to invest in me, get me a house on my own, give me some hustles to do so that as I go about campus, I remain independent. But what do you think, Jonah, about that, you know, for any birthday present, would an 18th birthday be an ideal for her to get maybe a house, maybe some car to move around and some hustles because she doesn't have to rely on, you know. What do you think? What I think, for 18th birthday, you're still a teenager, you're still looking forward to 18th birthday, it means, not as an adult, right? Yeah, that's true. So what most teenagers would ask for, just something very deep, both of them, most teens in this generation right now, mostly go for like luxury stuff, or just quick fix things, you know, a phone or a new car or something. Yeah. But I like what Barbara said, you know, a novel, that means knowledge. That's the same thing, knowledge, that is something that cannot perish. So I think for birthdays, people, even for a new year like right now, most people tend to look forward to having something that can really help them as they grow into a new stage. Yeah. Yeah, thank you very much. So as we come to this, and as we continue the lesson, then it's very clear that everyone is a turn a year older, maybe 17, 18, 20, or even beyond by far, they usually would want a gift. However, the problem, and back to the lesson today is having a promised gift that was not delivered, like for example, maybe someone told you, someone told you they'll give you this and that, but they never delivered. Possibly, you know, we can talk about a birthday, we can talk about a wedding, where people have a wedding and someone promised they'll give you a five day paid cruise ship to some country, but they never deliver. And so that's why I challenge you as you start up this lesson, as you start up this year to remain focused and get back to get to understand what is it a delivered gift. All right. Yeah, over to you, teacher. Thank you, Kevin. Still on that, probably a barbaric read for us from the punch lines. And for those who have the lesson, all the Bible as well. First Kings chapter eight, verse 53. First Kings chapter eight, verse 53. And it says, for your signal, for you signal them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses, when you, sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt. Thank you for that. So basically just to touch on the same thing we're talking about, about gifts. The Israelites had been promised a gift by God, which is to become the light to the world, to bring salvation to the earth through them. But they did not seem to understand that gift. They wanted something that they could see, something instantaneous. So they failed to look at the bigger picture, which is God was wanted to bless the world through them. And so they rejected this gift. That is where the gift was undelivered. So that it got lost along the way. It's God had the gift straightforward to them. It's just that these people did not see what gift that is coming to them. All right. Thanks for that. Moving on, we can read that Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 46 and 47. I will read that as I let Barbara this plan to give us a summary of what this story talks about. So Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 46 and 47, it says, And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, Which you shall command your children to observe to do all the words of this law. 47, for it is not vain thing for you because it is your life. And through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, whether you go over Jordan to possess it. Now the whole of Deuteronomy 32, it's known as the song of Moses. All right. So the words Moses was giving to the Israelites before he gives the position over to Joshua. However, Moses placed a lot of emphasis in this verse 46 and 47 to the children of Israel. And this is a question I'd just like you to think about. So viewer, if someone gave you these same words in Deuteronomy 32 verse 46 and 47, how could you apply them to your life? How would your life be better or different from the other people who do not apply these same words in their lives? So as you think about that, Barbara, can you give us a summary of what our story is from Deuteronomy chapter 32? Thank you so much, Chajonan. So into the story, we have a story about the Israelites. Okay, the Lord who led the Israelites out of Egypt and was leading them to Canaan. So here, Nini, the Lord is really angry at the Israelites for rejecting him, for worshiping other gods. And God is really turning his face away from the Israelites. And he's like, these people, I will let them be taken over by a people that are not really a people. And Moses is telling Joshua, just like you said in the verse that you just read in Deuteronomy chapter 46, I will, these are not just idol words and all that. And so later on, we come to learn that Moses went up a mountain and on that mountain is where he died. Yeah, that is the brief of the story. Thank you for that, Barbara. And what was the name of the mountain? The name of the mountain was Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo, yes. And it is, thank you for that. And the Israelites actually believed that Moses died on the mountain and God buried him. But you know what happened, right? Yeah. Okay, so we can answer a few questions from the punchline question from the Out of the Story section. Barbara, you can take us to the scene. Okay, so for the first question that I prepared for you in the Out of the Story, why was Moses not allowed into the Promised Land? Maybe Kevin, you could. If we get back to the story before this aspect of the Promised Land, you realize that there is a place whereby Moses, their instructions that he had been given when he was delivering the Israelites from Egypt. And some of these instructions you realize he didn't, per se, fulfill them or do as God had it. You know, ask him to do. For example, when he was asked to, you know, when the Israelites demanded for water and he became too angry and, you know, the complaint. So for Moses, he became a bit emotional and angry. And when he was asking God, what do we do with him? He was told, just speak to the rock. But instead for him, he decided to just hit it. And I think that speaks of the anger that he had and as such from the anger and the fact that he did something that was not supposed to be. So in other words, possibly, and the main reason maybe why he never made it to the Promised Land was because he may have done some things that were done in the way that weren't supposed to be done and maybe that could have contributed. That is one of them. And maybe I don't know if you have any other, but I think that is one that stands out. Okay. Before I give my comment, probably Elsie, what do you think? Why wasn't Moses allowed in the Promised Land? I'm going to go with his answer because he struck the rock, yet he was told to speak to it. Then my question is, of all the things he had done, he had done so many wonderful deeds, making the Israelites cross the Red Sea. Like one simple mistake really. Okay. It's actually good if you brought it up. Because what I believe is the Lord did not allow Moses to go into the Promised Land because the same reason, right? He disobeyed God bluntly because Israelites knew that Moses was supposed to speak to the rock, but he struck it. Now the Lord does not show favorism. And when he says that there's a consequence for certain action, he doesn't be like, okay, this is Moses. He's the only person I've spoken to face to face. So I'm going to let him slide. No. The same punishment applies to everyone. So God told Moses the same thing. You disobeyed me. You're not going to go into the Promised Land. Remember the reason why the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years is because a whole disobedience, yes, and a whole generation had to be decimated so that the new generation cannot get into Canaan. That is what God was going to do. Moses was part of that generation that was supposed to die off in the desert. So God wouldn't just let that one person sleep away. Remember Aaron had died. Miriam was dead. So Moses also had to die. So I think that is why God did not allow Moses into the Promised Land. He had to keep his word. So teacher John, and you think it's fair that God kept Moses out of the Promised Land? Okay. Now in his way, I contradict myself. It's fair in bit unfair as well. Right. Moses was kept out of the Promised Land, the earthly Promised Land. That was Canaan. But the guy got a way better gift than Canaan because he was thick enough to heaven. What better gift could be than that? Right. But yes, God was fair in denying Moses entry into the Promised Land. Yeah. Okay. So for our next question, what reason did God have to be angry with the Israelites? Elsie? The Israelites, yeah. When Moses went up the mountain to... I'm going to go back a few things before this. When Moses had gone up to get the 10 commandments and he had stayed up for long. The Israelites were like, I wait 40 days. This guy is not showing. I got to meet me. So they decided they were going to give out the earrings and the necklaces and all the jewelry to smelt them and prepare a golden cow. And then when Moses came back down, he was like, you guys, after all I've done for you, and then you do this. So I'd say God was mad with the Israelites over and because of their incessant complaining, their lack of trust in him each and every time, despite everything he had done for them, he was like, this guy is bad. I'm not going to continue this guy anymore. Yeah. It's disobedience basically. Yeah. Same thing. All right. Yeah. So just to add on what Elsie said, I think God was angry with the Israelites because of the fact that they chose not to be a blessing to other nations. No, God chose them. God chose them to be people, his people. And then they are just there and they are making calf gods, making God angry. So yeah, I think God has every right to be angry with them. True. True. And also just to add on the same, thank you Barbara and Elsie. The Israelites, if you look at it, they broke, I think almost each and every commandment is a specific way they broke it. Right after they were given, you know, you shall have no other God beside me, the calf shall make no golden image. I mean, it's right there. You would not take the name of the Lord in vain. They took God for granted. They did not keep the Sabbath. They were adulterous. The time Balaam came and cast them and all that, right? I mean, even if you were God, just get... Why? Why? Why? Why continue with this guy and can still make others? And it would cost me a single ounce of energy, right? Yeah. So God must have been really angry with them. That is why it's called an undelivered gift for our lesson today. Now moving on, the key text, the last teacher, Kevin, read that for us. Our key text that comes from Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse nine. Yeah. And he says, for the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is a lot of inheritance. And maybe just to add on to that, or the question that is coming out here is what do you think the verse for today and this week's key text means? And maybe could it mean that God blesses the world through his people? Equally, the other one they want to find out is could it mean that the only way that the world will really get to know God is through the inheritance or legacy? God gives to those who choose to follow him and his other case. So possibly, I don't know if I'll start with Elsie by us. Do you think God usually blesses us through the legacy of his people? You know, like so-and-so is Russia's or like, for example, Moses also. What do you think? And then, yeah, do you think you also, what does that actually mean to you? That's the case. I'm going to take two examples to answer this. For example, if you are, I'm going to take that one. God cannot go to someone who's not been saved to shed his light. He will always go to his people, those who know his statutes, his commandments, who will be able to be ambassadors of Christ to the whole world, who will shine brighter than everyone else to the like. He will go to people who know him, who will start with. So this thing for, there is this thing in math, they say, as you start from the known to the unknown. So that people who know you, you will tell them what you need to do, what they need to do so that they can spread the gospel. So I always think God will shed light onto the world through his people. And there's also this video I saw on TikTok where this person was trying to light 50 candles around one huge candle using a lighter. So take the lighter and then with the, it's a big lighter. So it's a very, I've never seen such a light. It's so messy. I can normally see the ones for weddings and candles and it's like so messy. I don't even know where they got it, but it's huge. So it takes the candle, the candle, the big candle, then smaller the candles around it. The difference in height is not a lot. It's just this one is much bigger. So the lighter comes and then once it lights, this candle spreads that flame to the rest. Now you can take one of those small candles, exchange and expect that it will have the same effect. Actually, just to add on that, it's a good thing you brought that up. We can go back to the prophecy in Daniel. It's a bit of a deep thought, but we see that in that prophecy, the Lord gave a certain time period for the gospel to be spread amongst the Jews. Now once the Jews rejected the gospel by killing Christ and then again by stoning Stephen, then the gospel moved out from the Jews to the Gentiles. As the time the apostles now moved on to the Gentiles. So the same thing, the Lord reveals himself to his people first. Now when his people reject them, reject him, then the Lord moves on now to other people. So it really makes sense. Let me progress on by saying, there's a question I came across as I'm trying to look through this lesson and as I recall starting up almost of the year. So if that's the case, Elsie, do you think yourself you are blessing to this world and possibly are you also part of this God's inheritance? Like for example, can people be blessed through my ministry or through my service to humanity? And yeah, what do you think about that? Because as you start the year, you may want to focus on something. So do you think you're part of that inheritance or can people be blessed through us? I believe I am part of the inheritance there. The remnant church that God has revealed to me. I say these things with faith and by God's grace that I may be able to shine His light, that when I walk through whatever I'm doing outside there, people may be able to see Christ's character in me. I don't want to bluntly say that oh, I have been the best example of Christian nudity. I'm Bible hugging, Sabbath keeping SDA, but I say these things with faith and I hope God will continue to hold my hand despite all the many challenges I've gone through or all the things I've done. But with faith, I know I will conquer by God's grace. Amen. Thank you for that. Just before we go to the other part, there's a story that is told of, you know, just based on what she shared, of a very selfish greedy man that once lived and he only cared about his money, how he could earn more and above all where he could cut to save. You know, the same way most of us are doing nowadays. Comfort, family, friends, community didn't matter at all. So what happened is that one night he had several dreams. One was about what his life could have been. He had not become so greedy. And the next was what his greed was costing him in his daily life and the final dream was where he was headed to if he did not change and become a blessing to others. What a dream that was, man. So, and the question from this was, is it indeed this what God was saying to the Israelites? You must become a blessing. This is your purpose to be a blessing to those around you. So imagine that kind of a dream to you teacher Jonah and assuming you had all the wealth and everything and then you dream to those three dreams. I'm sure you just want to change immediately and change. But possibly you can take us through and as you know you, Lucia, is on to the next part. All right. Thank you for that, Sir Kevin. I mean, that part just brings up a couple of questions that you can even just ask you just introspect as we live here. And our viewers will, you know, I was a question again. Yes. Could it mean that the only way the world will get to know God is through the inheritance. That's from the mandate part. What God gives to those who choose to follow Him and are you part of God's inheritance? I think that can be a very good place to start the year from. It's just because they just think, are you part of God's inheritance? Are you sharing the blessings promised to His children? As we move on again, thank you, Kevin. Psalm chapter two verse eight, Barbara read that for us. It's also in the punchlines. That's a good thing. Psalm chapter two verse eight. And it says, ask me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth, your possession. That's quite the promise. Ask me. Just ask me and I'll give you all this you want. Elsie, can you just tie that to the flashlight? Just give us more insight. Now, maybe if I just do the flashlight. Okay. Through the chosen nation, God has purpose to bring blessing to all mankind. They were hedged about by the precepts of His law, the everlasting principles of truth, justice and purity. Obedience to these principles was to be their protection for it would save them from destroying themselves by sinful practices. Christ was the instructor and in the tabernacle and the temple, His glory dwelt in the holy Shekinah above the mercy seat. In their behalf, He constantly manifested the riches of His love and patience. I'm tying that to what we have just read and the questions in the choose the parts. For example, could you be the face that has to show the world who Jesus Christ is or do you look different or the same as the world around you? I know nowadays you could bear witness. Is there more pressure right now than there was before to be, not to be holy, but to be righteous as a teenager? I feel like nowadays there is so much pressure because of social media. Sin is bombarding you from all corners. You open your phone, your laptop, from everywhere. In the estate, someone is doing something at the corner and it feels like it's hard. It's hard. Yes, Pabras, it's hard. It's really, really hard. I thought I was all on struggling. I know it's hard. I've been struggling for two months and it's pretty easy to lose yourself. But as Psalms 2 verse 8 is saying, ask me, is this other Psalm that says Psalm 34, test the Lord and see if He will not do and what He has said He will do to you? So if you feel overwhelmed over bad end or you feel like you're not keeping what you need to be keeping or you feel like this is not working. Christianity and me, but in your distress and your despair, always seek to ask God to help you and guide you through all that you do. And also speak to a comfortable adult, someone who you trust in the faith, because it's adults that you see in church. They went through rough times. You might not even know. So just talk to them because they might be experiencing much experiencing. And with time, they have. So talk to them. And this journey is for everyone. And we're all at different stages and we need each other. Amen. Maybe teacher John, just to add. I think there is too much energy nowadays to confirm. You realize there's too many parties. Like, you know, there's too much happening over the weekends. You know, possibly just came from school. Maybe you were in a certain year, you know, year nine, year 10, 11, or you just joined campus. So you're just trying to find your, you know, you are gripping in this world and where you belong. And in the process of doing so, you find yourself in the many events, many programs, international conferences. And when you go to these international conferences, you aren't finding your churchmates there. You just find everyone mixed up, dressed differently, doing so much. And you realize you find ourselves in the aspect of confirmation. But you see in Romans 12 too, you know, a very nice verse that became more of our memory test. And be not conformed to the patterns of this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You know, by the renewing of your mind. That you may know the perfect, true, acceptable will of God. So you find it's a verse that some of us learned, you know, a pathfinder lessons or earlier on, but as you come by, you're like, ah, but man, you know what, let's just do it. It's just 10 minutes, you know, it's just, you know, we should go code everything. So it is this thing of conforming. And I pray that those listening to this lesson, as you start up this new year, that God may guide us so that we don't find ourselves in a trap of conforming to the patterns of this world. But rather our minds may be transformed. But how do you get transformed? By getting to understand or study the word of God and just try to leave what we speak about. True. Amen. Thank you for that. So the biggest challenge to us on that is, does the world around us see our Christianity? Or do we have to literally just tell someone, I am a Christian, I'm Adventist? Can someone just look at you and say, this is a child of God in the way you behave, in the way you speak? Do you do so many other things? All right, let's moving on swiftly. The punchlines, okay? But there's a specific punchline I want us to look at, that second Samuel chapter 22 verse 50. Barbara again, that for us. Second Samuel 22 verse 50. And it says, therefore I will praise you, Lord, among all nations I will sing the praise of your name. And I think for that, if you look at all the punchlines that we have today, all the way from the first one to the last one, the major theme we see is becoming a blessing to other people. So the Lord is calling us as spiritual Israel, to become a blessing and to others. And a question that we can get from this is, how do we evangelize to others? Because by being a blessing to others, we show them what God wants of them, right? Which is an evangelizing. And the good things that God wants for us and from us are found in the Bible. So that means we need to share what we have in the Bible with others that is evangelizing. So this is a question I want to just throw to us, just to think about, how can you see yourself evangelizing? Or even before that, what do you think when you hear the word evangelizing? Just let us know in the comments as well, right? And how do you see yourself evangelizing to other people around you, okay? And then we can read Ezekiel chapter 16 verse 14. I'll ask Elsie to read that for us. It's in the punchlines as well. Yeah, and it says that, and your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the sovereign Lord. Okay, thanks for that. The Lord gives us things that make us famous to the people around us, for lack of a better term. And God gives us these things for His glory, for us to use them to serve Him. And thinking of that, I want us to just list one thing each, just one single thing that you can do to become a blessing to people in your sphere of influence or your circle of influence. What one thing can you do to become a blessing to people who are around you? Elsie? I must say, in school I'm more of a very... This is hard to believe for those who know me well. Serious, in a way? I don't talk to many people. I focus on what I need to do. So I think I need to be more sick to know what your neighbor is thinking about, sick to know what your neighbor is feeling. You might be helping them out with a difficult time. So just to be more kind and involving with people, share with them what you know, that they share what they know. Just to build better connections with people. Alright, so become more social and build better connections with people around you. Alright, thanks for that. Kelvin, what one thing can you do to influence people around you? Serving the community. Serving the community. That can be so many ways. But again, give us just one. God for you about serving the community. I'm doing community service and reaching out to those who need us more. Those who need us more. Alright, the less fortunate. Thanks for that. Barbara, how can you become a blessing to people around you? How can I become a blessing to people around me? That is a very tricky question to John and if you haven't thought about it so deeply, like me, I haven't thought about it so deeply. So being me personally, being a blessing to other people, I think giving gifts to the less fortunate and visiting those in hospital and encouraging them that you know, God is there. You don't have to fight this illness that you're going through alone. God is there for you and he'll always be there. He's not like a man who will see oh my gosh, you're so much in trouble and I don't want to associate with you anymore. God will always be there. Alright, thanks for that. Now as we close up for today, there's a challenge to us, you know. Just go and read again to John with the chapter 32 and it's much of a rebuke, okay? But I want you to read this passage as if it was written directly to you. Just internalize it. Replace every single pronoun directly to the audience, that's the Israelites with your name. How meaningful is this text when you look at it as if it's a note written directly to you? And then I want you to just once you think about this, if you were going to write a response to God based on the chapter 32, what would you say to him? I want to leave that as a parting short to us. Read the chapter 32 and just write down a response to God. Just think that verse is written directly to you, like John and I want you to do this and this and this and now write a response to God. Keep that note on your Bible and just keep reading it time and time again. It's going to help you just learn what God does not like about your life and what he really wants you to do. As we finish up, I'd like to ask to Kevin to read the Father Insight as we close. Father Insight. So the Father Insight speaks like this. How faith in God. He knows your need. He has all the power. His infinite love and compassion never worry. Fear not that he will fail of fulfilling his promise. That's from Prophets and Kings, page 164. Amen. Amen. Thanks for that. Just to finish up, parting short, anything you have to say? From anyway. My dad normally says, okay, be foolish. Be foolish in terms of when the world looks at you, they're like, hey, why is this chick doing what she's doing? But in the end, you end up giving them what you have and it changes their life. So being foolish, in other words, means read your Bible, pray every day, do not engage in certain stuff, even though people are like, hey, it's fine. You come, but you're like, you know it's wrong. So try as much as you can to be foolish, knowing that God will always bless you in return because you need to be His beacon of light. He has given you this light and you can't just sit down and stay with your light. You have to stand up and shine it wherever you are. Amen. Amen. Just to close up, I want us to just remember that God wants us to become a blessing to the people around us. Family, friends, classmates, your neighbors. So just think about it. What are the blessings that God is providing in your life and how are you sharing them with the people around you? That will be the closing remark for today. So thank you for being with us. Finalists, thank you so much for your input and thank you for joining us for the very first lesson of this quarter. We look forward to having a very fruitful next 51 lessons for the whole of this year. So as we close, I'd like to ask Kevin to pray with us. Yeah, let's pray to end up. Our Father what in heaven, you come with us this morning and we want to give you all the glory and all the honor. We want to thank you for you have led us and guided us all the way. We want to thank you because you've given us a new year. And as we start up this year and push on through God with our goals, targets, and so many things we have set in our minds, all you are asking that is that as we do that God, let us not like this man whom we read about who was just selfish and just wanting more and more and we've been a blessing to anyone. Help us that as you start up this year we may be a blessing to the community. We may partner with you and not forget you like the Israelites had done so and that we may continue on into a good and a blessed year. And we pray that God, you see us through for the rest of the days and the weeks that are ahead of us. Help us focus more not only on ourselves and our goals but also on what we can do to enrich your ministry and to reach out to your people. We pray this trust and believing and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.