I invite you to turn with me this morning to Genesis 46. Genesis 46, as we read together that chapter through verse 6 of chapter 47. That portion is well-serving as the text for the sermon. Genesis chapter 46 through 47, verse 6. As we hear now the word of the Lord. So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, Jacob, Jacob, here I am, he replied. I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes. Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. And Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. He took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters, all his offspring. These are the names of the sons of Israel. Jacob and his descendants who went to Egypt. Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob. The sons of Reuben, Hanak, Pelu, Hezron, and Carmi. The sons of Simeon, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shal, the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, Merari. The sons of Judah, Ur, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. but Ur and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez, Hezron, and Hamel. The sons of Issachar, Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. The sons of Zebulun, Sered, Elan, and Jalil. These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all. The sons of Gad, Zephan, Hagi, Shuni, Esbon, Eri, Aradi, and Areli. The sons of Asher, Imna, Ishva, Ishvi, and Bariah. Their sister was Sira. The sons of Bariah, Heber, and Melchiel. These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah, 16 in all. The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin. In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potipharah, priest of On. The sons of Benjamin, Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Mupin, Hupin, and Ard. These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, 14 in all. The sons of Dan, Hushim. The sons of Naphtali, Jaziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillam. These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel, seven in all. All those who went to Egypt with Jacob, those who were his direct descendants, not counting his son's wives, numbered sixty-six persons. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all. Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive. Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers in my father's household who were living in the land of Canaan have come to me. The men are shepherds. They tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, What is your occupation? You should answer, Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did. Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. Joseph went and told Pharaoh, My father and brothers with their flocks and herds and everything they own have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen. He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers, What is your occupation? Your servants are shepherds, they replied to Pharaoh, just as our fathers were. They also said to him, We have come to live here a while because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants' flocks have no pasture. So now please let your servants settle in Goshen. Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any of them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock. Beloved in Christ the Lord, there are many people who enjoy traveling. Many of you do. You enjoy going to certain places and maybe taking the direct route there by plane or the interstate freeway, but there are some who enjoy traveling but like to make maybe a little more of an adventure out of it. They like to take unmarked roads and see where this road will take them and see what kind of an adventure they can find. Jacob was setting out on a journey. He was setting out on quite an adventure. A 400-year adventure. Sure, of course, not for him personally, but for his family. And he knew his destination, the one right before him, of course, but this was just the beginning. He did not know the details of the journey. He knew very little about what it was exactly that lay ahead of him. Maybe he didn't really understand that through him, the Lord was building or would build his church. Yet, he did know that God was with him. And therefore, this morning from this passage, we consider God with Jacob, not Joseph this time, God with Jacob as the Lord builds His church. And the Lord builds His church, first of all, with His promise. And notice from the text the prelude of God's promise. Jacob was convinced by Joseph's words that were told to him by the brothers, by his other sons, and also by Pharaoh's wagons. He was convinced. And therefore, he packs up. He sets out. But Jacob is also a bit apprehensive. He stops in Beersheba, which was the southern doorway, we might say, to the land of Canaan. The southern doorway of the house. He stops there, as it were, to look out over the desert, and across the desert lay Egypt. In verse 3, the Lord says, do not be afraid. Well, why would Jacob have been afraid? Why would he have been a bit apprehensive? Well, you see again, Canaan was the home turf. Canaan was the land of promise. But now there seemed to be, to Jacob, a clash between the patriarchal promises of the land and what providence seemed to be directing Jacob to do. Providence seemed to be directing him to Egypt because of Joseph's words. God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a family. And of course, his desire to see Joseph. But yet there's this clash. What about the prophecy of 400 years of slavery and mistreatment? What about the fact that Abraham did not want Isaac to leave the land? He sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, but he didn't want Isaac to leave the land. What about the fact that God encouraged Jacob to return to Canaan after he had been gone for a time in Haran by Uncle Laban? Not to mention the fact that Jacob was an old man by this time. And this would be a move unlike you or I have ever even had to imagine. It would be a big task. And then also, Egypt was very pagan. Canaan, you see, was bad enough. The family had already been affected. But Egypt was worse. Jacob was apprehensive. He was afraid. So what does he do? He turns to the Lord. He offers a sacrifice. He needed confirmation of what providence was suggesting, that it was indeed correct. You see, beloved, we can read providence wrong at times. There are times when all the circumstances seem right, all the details seem to fall into place, and we take that to mean that God is saying yes on this endeavor of mine. But the truth is, it might be at the very same time that it's against God's revealed will in the Bible. Yet because all the details have fallen into place and because whatever it may be is something that we want so bad, we tend to follow the circumstances and to justify the circumstances as God's leading instead of following the clear teaching of the Word of God. Sometimes when those details fall into place, indeed, that is God leading us in that direction. But this can happen with regard to marriage. It can happen with regard to employment. All the details fall into place, but it's against God's revealed will. It can happen with regard to a choice of college. It can happen with regard to relocation, moving your family. It can happen in a number of different ways. Jacob turns to the Lord. Now the word for sacrifice here is a general term for sacrifice. It might be that he offered a sacrifice for sin. It might also be that he was offering a sacrifice for thanksgiving because Jacob indeed had much for which to be thankful. Joseph was still alive. But as well, it might have been a sacrifice especially for blessing. Through this sacrifice, Jacob demonstrates that he trusts in God alone. That although he would be leaving the land, he would not be leaving God. And the text says that he offers this sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac. Jacob was acknowledging thereby that he was acknowledging the family calling and his place in that calling and he requests permission to leave his inheritance. Our Lord promises us in Psalm 50, verse 15, call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will honor me. And He has given to us His Word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light upon our path. We are called, beloved, to follow the clear teaching of the Word of God. And as well, to respond to that teaching by praying, confessing our sin, thanking God for such a great salvation, and asking for His blessing upon our life's path. But notice also then the declaration of God's promise, beginning at verse 2 of chapter 46. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, Jacob, Jacob, here I am, he replied. I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes. What a wonderful declaration of God's promise from a covenant God. A covenant God. He identifies Himself as the God of Jacob's father. And as the covenant God, He is a personal God. He calls Him by name, Jacob, Jacob. And this was to be a reminder to Jacob to remember to whom you belong, Jacob. Remember, Jacob, that you are Mine. Remember that I have covenanted with you, with your father, with your grandfather. Jacob, you have no need to be afraid. And beloved, sometimes we forget. Sometimes we forget that we belong to God. And that's because we take our eyes off of Him. we see sin at work we see it at work so powerfully we see all around us the evil forces of sin at work at times it seems like there's no hope for example when we recognize ungodly laws that are desired and that are made and and are practiced or at times in our own personal lives we simply lack faith and confidence in the lord in times of trouble we we simply can't see his work going on around us or in our lives, we simply can't sense His presence. And it's especially then when we are to remember His promise as He says to us in Isaiah 43, Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name. You are mine. This declaration of promise comes from a covenant God for the purpose of a covenant renewal. I will make you into a great nation. Now that wasn't a new promise. But yet in man's estimation, it was taking God way too long to fulfill that promise. Some say it was about 200 years or so from the time that God first made this promise to Abraham to this time when He restates it to Jacob. But here the Lord reaffirms the promise that He had given to Abraham and Isaac and even to Jacob. When Jacob was on his way to Haran and he has that vision at night of the latter. And he has given the promise of descendants like the dust. It's been so long in coming. But now the Lord makes it clear that it will not be in Canaan that this will take place. But it will be in Egypt. And therefore, he has given this promise for a covenant renewal with covenant assurance. Notice the emphasis on God's doing. I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. Now the Lord says, do not be afraid. This was a typical introduction in Scripture to a word of salvation that was about to come. When God had made His covenant with Abraham and God Himself passed through the divided pieces, when He did that, God bound Himself to keep His word. He guaranteed that he would keep his word, and the evidence had already been seen. Abraham received a son in his old age. Isaac was told the older would serve the younger. It happened. Jacob was told in that same vision that God would one day bring him back to Canaan. That happened. And also in that vision, the Lord said to Jacob that he would watch over him wherever he went. And now Jacob also saw that that meant for his family. as he heard the words Joseph is alive. God had proved Himself over and over again. And here again, He says, I will go with you. God's protecting presence guarantees blessing. And He also says, I will bring you back again. And beloved, that points forward, of course, to Israel's exodus from Egypt many years later, but also to our final exodus as God preserves us and He will bring us into His heavenly kingdom. And our confidence is that God's favor is with us for Jesus' sake until we reach the full blessing of eternal glory. How do we know that's true? In Hebrews 13, verse 5, the writer issues a call for contentment. A call for contentment with our lot in this life, whatever that may be. Why? Because God has said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. And notice then too, Jacob's response to God's promise. Beginning at verse 5, Then Jacob left Beersheba. And Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives and the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. And Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. He took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters, all his offspring. Jacob believed the promise. And he demonstrated it through total obedience. He left nothing behind, not even a few servants to guard the land. Pharaoh had said, don't worry about your belongings. But Jacob took everything as a demonstration of his faith in God that home is where God is. Of course, we're given quite a list of Jacob's family here. Names that many of us are glad that our parents did not give us. Hard to pronounce. But quite a list, and I believe a list to show us indeed, number one, that this is history. These are real people. But there are many things that can be said about the numbers 70 and 66, most likely the difference being Ur and Onan, who are included in the 70, and Manasseh and Ephraim also included, but Ur and Onan never made it into Egypt, and Manasseh and Ephraim were not in Canaan to go into Egypt. Many things have been said about this list and can be said, which we don't have time for this morning. As well, in this list are included those who really were not yet born yet until Egypt, but they were included as if they were, as the saying in Scripture goes, in the loins of Jacob. But I believe that this list points to completeness, a complete number. Jacob's entire family. The entire family moved. And as well, Jacob, we're shown, is already blessed with a large family. But there's a contrast in comparison to the nation. It would become maybe about 2 million that would leave 400 years later. Now, Jacob may not have understood how God was going to work it all out, but he demonstrated his faith. He had confidence in God that God was a God of His Word. And we too, beloved, we are called to respond to the Word of God in faith even when we don't understand all the details. And we often don't. How God will, for example, provide daily bread when my debt is drowning me. How He will put the pieces back together when I have lost a loved one or when my life falls apart. How He will protect and spare the church when ungodliness seems to get worse every day and the pressure to compromise with the world is so very great. Or how God could send His Son to die for such a wretch like me. We are called to respond to the Word of God in faith. That means as well that we are called to be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and to rejoice if we are called upon to suffer for Jesus' sake. And especially to remember God's promise again given in Isaiah 43 that when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. And to remember the word of our Lord Jesus Christ when He says, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am. Jacob would go with God's promise. That's all he needed. And that promise began to be fulfilled immediately as God also built His church with His provision. We see here provision in life, physical provision. They already had the first fruits. All that was brought back to show them from Egypt, as well as the promise from Joseph. And the family would be led to this physical provision by Judah. Notice verse 28. Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. Now this might not seem like a big deal. Judah's just one of the sons. He could have picked anyone. He chose Judah. But I think there is a bit of a significance here. There's a reversal here. Remember, it was Judah's scheme that cruelly separated Joseph from Jacob. That cruelly tore the family apart. And now, Jacob entrusts Judah with the duty of leading the family to Joseph, of leading them to this family reunion, of leading them to salvation. And of course, Judah, we know, points to the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who would bring about a greater deliverance from sin and shame and eternal destruction, and who would lead His people, as Revelation 7 says, to the springs of living water that we might drink and never thirst again. And this physical provision is also then prepared by Joseph. He prepares his brothers to meet Pharaoh. It's kind of interesting how he instructs them. First of all, though, there's the reunion between father and son. Again, we can only imagine what this might have been like. But with all of the overflowing joy and the expressions of emotions, no doubt Jacob and his sons could not help but see in Joseph, in his power, in his splendor, that his dreams were fulfilled. But Joseph's major concern was for his family. To secure a place for his family. To ensure their safety and sufficient provision for them. And he knew that the best place for that was Goshen. So he teaches his brothers what to say to Pharaoh and also why to say it. Tell Pharaoh your shepherds. You tend flocks and herds. It's the family business. It has been for generations. And if you've brought your livestock, it's your desire to keep on doing this even while you're in Egypt. Well, why should they say that to him? Especially when we're given what he says because shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. If they're detestable, why in the world would you want to tell the king of Egypt that you're a shepherd? There are a number of reasons why they were detestable, but possibly the best one here is that Hebrews slaughtered for food certain animals that were sacred to the Egyptians. But they were detestable. And Joseph also knew that Goshen was the best place for them and their livestock. He wanted them in Goshen. But even more than that, he wanted the family in Goshen to keep them from getting intertwined, mixed up with the Egyptians, to keep them separate. This physical provision that is given by Pharaoh, he interviews the brothers. In the text here it says the brothers also say we have come to live here a while. It says it differently in other translations, but in the Hebrew the idea there is that they say it in such a way to keep the door open that they might leave when they wanted to. And of course, that's to be contrasted with later on when they would be held against their will. But Pharaoh grants Joseph's desire, beloved, the point being God provided for Jacob and his family through a heathen king. We pray, give us this day our daily bread. And we need to understand that God cares for His people through a variety of means even by the hands of the world. Many believers are employed by unbelievers or by corporations that don't care one bit about the employees but only about the profit. God provides technology through those who do not acknowledge Him. And that technology, beloved, is for the believer's benefit. We are able to benefit from medical technology, cures for diseases. Other technology that is involved in food handling and clothing and any technology that is used to make this life a little bit easier. The world exists, in a sense, for the church. While God is building His church and when that church is complete, as I said a number of years ago, the scaffolding of the world will be torn down and destroyed. Jacob could testify to you and me that life is good wherever it is found with God's favor. You see, beloved, you and I can have all that this world has to offer. But if it does not come with God's favor, we have nothing. And it only leads us to destruction. But we can have nothing this world has to offer except the bare necessities of life. But if we have it with God's favor, we have everything. And that's because Jesus Christ has already secured all we need for this life and the next. Israel would be provided for in this life. But God builds His church with His provision also provision in death. Now really, this was still only a promise to Jacob. But his reunion with Joseph pointed to him the beginning of God's kept promises. At the end of verse 4 again we read, and Joseph's own hand will close your eyes. What a comforting word from the Lord that Joseph is indeed still alive. And that Jacob would die in peace in Joseph's presence. He would not die in trouble as he had lamented before. And in verse 30 it says, Israel said to Joseph, Now I am ready to die since I have seen for myself that you are still alive. Joseph was a picture of God's salvation of Jacob and his family and seeing Joseph. was a confirmation to Jacob of God's Word that his promises would be kept. As we said a couple of weeks ago, we can't help but to also see Simeon as he holds the Christ child in the temple and says, Now may your servant depart in peace, for I have seen your salvation. Beloved, we have the comfort and we have the assurance that God is with us in death. Many of us don't like to think about death. But we have the comfort that God is with us in death. We own the comfort of Paul that being absent from the body, we will be at home with the Lord. We have the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with us even to the end of the age and along with that promise includes the fact that we will be surrounded by God's grace to die when the time comes. You and I can close our eyes in death with confidence by faith because God has already kept His promise to send us a Redeemer. And because our Redeemer lives, because Jesus Christ rose again for our justification, as Paul says, we can close our eyes in peace knowing that God will continue to build His church, knowing that we will be with the Lord, knowing that we will be raised again, knowing that we will reign with Him forever and ever. And also, beloved, just as salvation for Jacob's family would only come if they went to Egypt, eternal salvation can only be found by going to the Father through Jesus Christ. Well, finally, the Lord was also building His church through Jacob's family, then with His protection. Pharaoh says in chapter 47, verse 5, Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock. God builds His church with His protection in an unusual place. Jacob and his family were sent, as it were, to the world to be saved. Like Abraham went to Egypt in a time of famine. And our Lord Jesus Christ, as an infant with His parents, went to Egypt because of Herod and his death threat. Jacob and his family were sent to an unusual place. They were delivered from the public arena of many. Canaan was a territory filled with many small heathen nations. And in Canaan, Jacob's family was in danger of becoming submerged in the way of the Canaanites. This family list reminds us of that. The sons of Simeon, one was the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Judah were reminded of Judah and Tamar through Ur and Onan who died. We're also reminded of Dinah and the incident with the Shechemites. They had already begun to become submerged in the way of Canaan. And the Lord had said to Abraham many years before that the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. It was going to get worse. God delivered Jacob's family from the public arena of many and isolated that family in the womb of one. Just as a conceived child is protected in the womb of the mother and grows and develops in that womb, Israel would grow in the womb of Egypt, that pagan country. There they would be set apart. In Goshen they would stay separate from much of the pagan ways of the Egyptians. Yet there they would benefit also from the technology of Egypt and from the bounty of Egypt. There they would be safe. They would be protected. They would grow. And of course, their ultimate protection comes from the presence of God who said, I will go with you. See, beloved, that makes all the difference. Many years later, Moses prayed to the Lord, if you will not go with us, don't send us. Because he knew that it was better to be in the wilderness with God than to be in the land flowing with milk and honey without God. Today, Christians, God's people, those who have been called out of darkness, the darkness of sin and shame, the darkness of this world, and brought into His wonderful light, the light of the truth of Jesus Christ, are to have no intimacy with the world. No intimacy. No lasting friendships. We are not to hobnob with the world. The truth is, beloved, we are weak and we're not even to flirt with the world to see how close we can get to the line of compromise without falling over it. You see, even for all that the world has to offer, it's nothing compared to God's provision and God's protection. Without God's blessing, the world's fellowship and the world's pleasures and the world's trinkets will only destroy us. Jesus said, What good does it do for a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul? We know, of course, that as Jesus makes clear in His high priestly prayer in John 17, that we are in the world. We work alongside of unbelievers and in corporations and so forth of unbelievers, but we are not to be of the world. We are not to take to ourselves the world's way of thinking and acting and speaking and doing. Today, the church is not like Israel that was located in one place. Today, the church is spread throughout the world and you can go to many, many places and you can find a gathering of believers. And there, in that gathering, the Lord provides refuge and protection and encouragement and help and comfort as people who visit us are to find here. But most of all, in those gatherings, one will find the Word of the Lord. the comfort of God with us. But someone might say, well, what about being salt and light to the world? Yes. We must be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, to be used by God to attract others to the light of Jesus Christ. And we can be without joining forces with and becoming intimate with the world. And our goal is to be, beloved, to be used of God to attract the world to Jesus Christ and not to become like the world in order that the world might accept us. God builds His church with His protection in an unusual place, but also for a glorious future. Jacob entered as a family of 70. Israel would exit as a nation of many. Under her heavenly king, the Old Testament church, pointing to the spiritual Israel, all true believers. She would be preserved by God, built by God. She would grow and become strong. And there she was to prepare for the coming of the One promised who would give true and eternal provision and protection. Beloved, the church is spread far and wide today. We also speak of the church militant, though still on this earth, and the church triumphant. But one day all will be gathered together. The church militant will be no more. All will be part of the church triumphant. And on that day, beloved, there will be no more pilgrimage. No longer will we be aliens and strangers traveling through a hostile land. No longer will we do battle with the forces of evil and be tempted to join those forces. But we will enjoy being one and all at home with the Lord. Jacob's family was to look forward to the day that they would return to the promised land. But until that day, they were to work. They were to work in this life where God had placed them with His promise. They were to work in preparation for that day. They were to work in anticipation that that day would actually come. And we also are called to look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and we too must work until then. We must work where God has placed us with His promise. His promise to come again. We must work in preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and sound the good news that He is coming again. Are you ready? We are to work in anticipation that indeed He will come, even as He said. And beloved, all of our work, whether we're building a business or trying to achieve success in whatever way, all of our work is to be done with that in mind. with the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again. This life is not an end in itself, but it is a means for God's people that He would prepare us in this life for glory. It's a journey. It's quite an adventure. We don't know the details of the trip. And therefore, may we use this life in the confidence of God's promise. May we use it in the bounty of His provision. May we use it in the assurance of His protection. God sent His Son to live in a hostile world so that a great nation called the church might be formed from every tribe, every tongue, every nation of those who trust in Him alone for their salvation. Salvation which we all so desperately need. And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, only if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He says to you, I am with you in life. I will be with you in death. I will bring you to your promised land of rest. God is building His church, which He promised to build. He has provided for her His own Son, who will protect her, both now and forevermore. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, again, we thank You in this morning hour for Your promises. Your promises to Jacob. Promises also for us in Christ Jesus. We pray, O Lord, that this life too might be a life devoted to You from us, Your people. That we might understand, Lord, that all that we think and say and do has a purpose. And the purpose is to look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when you will take us home to our heavenly promised land forever and ever. Oh Lord, sometimes the days seem long and the path seems to be so uneven and not smooth. But yet you've given to us the comfort that you are with your people. You will never leave us or forsake us. And may that comfort be with us each and every day of this life until you bring us to your heavenly glory. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.