Building a Life That Honors God: 4 Pillars of Faith | Blue Collar Sunday

Praise the Lord.Can we give them a hand again just for participating?Appreciate them so much.I might move around a little bit here in a minute, but, uh, this will give me an opportunity to sit down as well.So we’ve got Gene Johnson, and he’s a heavy equipment operator.Yeah, they’ve got some pictures up there for him, and glad you’re here, Gene.And then Herman Klippel.Herman, wave at us.And, uh, he’s in there somewhere.See if you can find Herman’s pictures.He- Herman worked 43 years for the University of Missouri in their, uh, lawn care, and, uh, there’s other fancy names for it, but 43 years.Can you imagine that?He is just a such a hard worker.Amen.And then Dayson Lloyd.We’re glad that Dayson’s here.And he works, uh, the best way I could say it was in utility repair, but I know he does a lot more than that.But look at him there, he’s trying to get a drain emptied there, and, uh, that’s amazing, Dayson.And then Manny Lopez.Manny is with Lake Movers, and we’ve even got some pictures of Manny actually moving.I think Manny told me that that safe weighed about 1,000 pounds or 900 pounds or something, and 2 guys are moving it.That’s, or maybe 3.That’s pretty good, butAnd then Ryan Noggle.Ryan is here, and we’re thankful that he’s here.And Ryan for, for a long time has been a plumber, but, uh, just recently he got hired on at Boone Hospital in their maintenance department.And so we’re so thankful for all these guys that are here just willing to talk to us.And if you can imagine, they’re used to working.They’re not used to being up here in front of you.So, so that’s a little bit different for them, but again, guys, thanks for being here.And I’m just gonna start here with Gene, and we’ll just go down, uh, down the aisle.And so, uh, first just, Gene, tell us a little bit about your work.How long have you– What’s the company?And go– Just tell us what, where you work, what you do, and then we’ll, we’ll pass it on to the next guy.Okay.guys.Just make sure that’s on.There we go.AllIs it working now?I think so.All right.Use that other- Pastor Ellis messed us up by giving us all these things.This one works.All right.All right.Well, I got into the construction industry in about 1999.Started out as a plumber, actually, Ryan.Wow.Did that for 4 or 5 years, and, uh, I just didn’t like it.I couldn’t– I was like, it hurt everywhere.My body hurt.So I, I always envied the guys that were into tractors, you know, having air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter and was like, “Man, I wanna be like those guys.”So, uh, I made the switch, um, 2004 or so.I’ve been running heavy equipment since 2004 for, um, the, for the union hall, Local 513 Operating Engineers.And, um, spent about 15 years just, uh, doing pipeline work, mostly in Missouri, but all over the country.And, uh, worked for the power line companies, going through, run an excavator, dozer, clearing right of way for new power line projects, and you know, that.Very good.And we’ve got one picture up there of the, of that pipeline.Yeah, that one there, that was in, in the hills of Pennsylvania, uh, about 10, 10 or 12 years ago.And I’ve, I’ve got a picture of that because they, uh, they got rid of our hydraulic breakers just the day before, and then they decided they were gonna put a valve body through that ditch, and the only thing that was dug was the ditch, ditch line itself, and they were like, “What are we gonna do?”And I said, “Give me a day.”You know?And I beat the heck out of that excavator bucket.They probably could- They needed a new one when it was done, but they were able to put the valve body in and- Nice.Nice.Yeah.All right, Manny, go ahead and introduce yourself.It, it should be just pass it over to Manny.Thank you, Gene.Are we needing batteries?It’s working.Run with it.It’s red, but that’ll work.I’m gonna try my best with my voice.But Manny Lopez here.I, uh, I work with, uh, Lake Mover.I’m sorry.I hung out with Ellis for hours yesterday,We need, we need some batteries.them?Well, I’ll ha- Or I can get another mic.We like to make it, you know, difficult.And here’s one of our hardworking guys, Chris Brinkman.Thank you, Chris.And I’ll tell you, Chri- Chris and everybody in the sound booth, they do such a great job.Appreciate them so much.All right, go ahead, Manny.Okay.Everybody bear with me here.Um, I joined Lake Movers in 2023, um, and, uh, we, you know, it started off as kind of a, a side gig, um, moving 1,000-pound safes and couches for them-just for some cash.Um, but– And, and, you know, I, it worked for a little while, but, uh, I moved up to management and started doing sales for them for a little bit, and then b- became branched them out here to Columbia area as the branch manager and area director Area director.Uh, but honestly, man, the job has been, uh, just fulfilling in many ways.Uh, it actually got me in this church.I, I met, uh, Ellis at a business meeting for our company- Praise Godand, and he invited me to church, and we never left.Uh, but- H- who’s, who’s glad that Manny’s in this church, amen?Woo.But, and my wife.And so, but, but also when I firstI went from being full, in full-time ministry to doing that sort of work, to moving couches, moving boxes and stuff, and I remember it’s, it’s kind of a, it’s a dangerous job in a way.Uh, ’cause I remember, you know, you can get hurt.People would twist their ankle or hurt their back and stuff.But I always took it as an opportunity to pray, uh, for healing, and I, I was so gung ho about that when I was in the field.If I wasI didn’t want people to get hurt, but when they got hurt, I’m like, “Yes, I can, I can pray for someone.”And look crazy.But it’s awesome because, you know what I mean, that’s just, that’s just how I am.And, um, it was just very fulfilling in that, in that state.Amen.And, but yeah, IThe back breaking part though, I couldn’t do that much longer so I’m glad I’m- Niceyou know, I do the behind the scenes part, so.Praise God.All right, pass it on to Ryan.And again, just introduce yourself and tell us what you do, and I got more questions for you coming.Uh, I’m Ryan.I will let you know I dislike public speaking-so I’ll keep this short.Um, I started plumbing back in the middle of 2019 with Roto-Rooter, and I stayed there for the entirety of my plumbing.And like Tom said, I switched to maintenance at Boone Hospital, and everything’s going pretty good for that.Praise God.Amen.Thank you, Ryan.That’s good.I’m Herman Clipple.I started at the university in 1980- Yeahsoon as I just got out of high school.I started working as a farm worker number one, moved up to the, in 10 years I moved into the university landscape services.I’ve worked there from being a groundskeeper one to groundskeeper two, and then the last 27 years I worked as, as being there, I wound up being one of their lead groundskeepers and their head salt truck driver.Then being called out all weird hours of the nights and everything, and plus the, I knew everything about the irrigation system, so I got away from my family a lot during that period of time.Mm.But it was enjoyment when I retired in 2023 and wind up, got a part-time job at being a landscape tech for the Central Bank here in Boone County.Nice.Praise the Lord.Amen, Herman.Go ahead, Jason.Hi.I’m Jason and I s- I work at a small company called SBE.Yeah, it’s a good one, isn’t it?Uh, we do a lot of excavation.I do mainly water and sewer, some concrete here and there.I actually started off welding for the first 2 years out of high school.Oh, wow.Um, but I just didn’t really like it that much.More like going out and being in different houses, different locations every day, but been doing that for 5 going on 6 years.And yeah, pretty, yeah.Praise the Lord.And Jason, we’re glad to have you part of the church, brother.Here, pass it back down to Gene.So, so this round of questions, I just wanna ask them, tell us one thing that’s challenging about what you do, and one thing that you really like.And so we’re just gonna keep this going fast.But Gene, in your work, what’s one thing challenging and one thing that you really like?Challenging things, there’s a, there’s a few of them but I’ll be brief.Uh, to simplify it, it’d be the environmental conditions, weather- Yeahwhatnot.Weather.Um, tractor malfunctions- Mmyou know, safety issues, people working all around you.Sometimes it’s like a bunch of ants.Um- Yeahhaving to be mentally aware, you know.Uh, the brass, you know-manage, upper management always thinking that they could do better.And I’m more than happy to let ’em try.Uh, um, um, and, uh, and the sec- the follow-up was the- What’s something you find really fulfilling?Really fulfilling would be the, you know, when, when we complete a project and now they’re bringing natural gas or oil or, or, or new power to the grid.Yeah.You know?And, um, and now I currently work for Pace Construction, which we do asphalt.I’ve been with them for a little over 2 years now, so it’s pretty neat to, uh, you know, go and drive over the road that they just finished.Uh, I don’t work at the road crew, but I work at the plant that produces the asphalt, and it’s just, uh, pretty neat to see the finished products of it all- Yes, yesand know that we’re helping everybody and, and know that God’s in it, you know?Amen.Yeah, that’s awesome.That’s awesome.Gene, let me ask Gene real quick.Gene, do you ever just drive down the road and go, “You know, I built that,” or, “I did that”?Yes, he does!Yeah, but- I t- I tell my kids that all the time.Come on, man.Like, “I, I did that.”I mean, I would.I mean, I would.You know, it’s like, “Hey, see that road over there?Yeah, I built that big pipe over there.”Sonny calls my bluff all the time ’cause I’ll, I’ll point out random stuff like, “I did that,” and he’ll be-“No, you didn’t.”No.That’s good.Go ahead, Manny.What’s one thing that’s really challenging about what you do, and another thing that’s really fulfilling?The most challenging about the moving industry is truck space.Truck space.Truck space.If you see on one of theYeah, filling a truck, making, trying to get everything to fit in the truck.Now, when you first start, when you’re, you know, brand new, it d- when you’re a laborer, it doesn’t really matter.You’re just out hereBut on my end, if there’s not truck space, I have to change the bill, I have to change, talk with the client.We have to add more space.We have to find the truck, all that, so- That makes senseit c- you know, a lot of people, it’s easy to say, “Yeah, this’ll fit into one truck,” but it some- doesn’t all- a lot of the time.Yeah.So that’s probably the biggest one.Fulfilling, what’s really- Um- What do you really enjoy?What’s really fulfilling?Just ki- comp- like it’s the completion part, just completing big projects.I mean, it, it’s moving, but it’s also like there’s some, you know, I’ve had jobs that last a whole week.Mm-hmm.Um, you know, and there’s been jobs where you’re in the middle of it where, and you’re like, “I don’t know if we’re gonna get this done,” but then you gotta stop and say, “If we don’t do it, who else will?”So I mean, do Americans have stuff?I mean, or what?Oh, yeah.Oh, my gosh, yes.Yes, they have so much stuff.I mean, do you ever- I-show up at a house and just look at them and go, “We’re not doing it”?Yeah.I mean, just like, “I’m sorry.We’re not moving you.”When we first started the company, we used to not do that, but now we have to do that.Yeah, we, it, it used to be, “We’ll take on every job.We’ll move whatever,” but now it’s like, “No, there, you’re not ready to move, so”That’s it.You’re, that’s a good way to put it.You’re not ready to move, so- You’re notremember that, and if you’re gonna move, you need to downscale before you call Lake Movers.And get rid of stuff.You have too much stuff.Oh, wow, that’s good.Ryan, one thing you enjoy and one thing that’s challenging.So as far as challenging things go, navigating crawl spaces and attics- Oh, yeahand the seasons.Usually, the crawl spaces have some sort of sewage in them that I’m crawling through as well.Mm.Um, but as far as fulfillment, putting a smile on the customer’s face and making their day.That’s awesome.Could we just say thank you, Jesus, for plumbers?Yeah.Woo.Thank you for plumbers, yeah.Herman, go ahead.The challenge part with my type of profession is the different types of weather climate I have to deal with- Yepfrom the heat, cold, and all that, but the most beautiful part, after you get a job done, like me, I was the lead groundskeeper for the Red Campus, which was the main campus.Everything there had to be precise, looking good for graduation or when the s- new students coming in.When you go out and you mow the Francis Quadrangle and them lines are s- straight- Yeahshowing out beautiful- Wooand the flowers around the campus, it’s looking beautiful, and the shrubs, that was the most beautiful feel that made my job feel like I was doing well.Yes.Amen.Amen.That’s great.That’s great, Herman.Um, I’d probably say the most challenging thing is also weather.The weather, between the heat and the cold, it, it can really get you sometimes, and snakes.I don’t like snakes.Tired of seeing them this year.If you have snakes, don’t call me, all right?Don’t call me.Uh, the most fulfilling thing, though, is probably just, like, learning on a day-to-day basis because, like, between running machines, water, sewer, concrete.Mm-hmm.Like, when I buy a house, there’s not many things I’m gonna need to hire somebody for.Heck yeah.So, like, that’s probably the most fulfilling thing- Woois just learning something new every day.That’s awesome.That’s awesome.And I tell you, we, we love having blue-collar-type people around the church because, you know, one of the things Dason has done over the last few months, he’ll give me a call or a text, say, “Hey, Pastor, you got anything you need done at church?”Yeah.And he, he’ll say, “Hey, I got a little free time,” you know?And that, that’s huge.Uh, we, we just had a renovation that we did in our kinda cafe here on, if you go back out the foyer and kinda look in there, it’s really nicely done, and all of that was done, I think we hired, uh, one guy for one part of it.But all the tear out, all the, the trim work, every, was done by people in the church.Yeah.And, uh, really praise God for that.You know, it really helps.All right, so we’re gonna get a little more spiritual now.And so Gene, just kinda transitioning to how do, how does your Christian faith, um, impact your work?You know, what you do every day, doing, you know, working in cold weather, hot weather.Um, how does being a Christian help that?Well, first, I couldn’t do any of it without, without divine guidance.That’s, that’s been a practice and a mainstay from the beginning throughout it all is- Every, every time I go to start a different job, I’ll be running a different machine or something, and maybe I haven’t run that kind of tractor in 2 or 3 years or something, and they call me out and say, “Hey, we need you to dig up these fiber optics,” and stuff like that.And I’m always praying, you know.That’s, that’s a pretty cool part for me, to be alone in the seat- Yeahkeep the doors closed, the windows u- you know, up- Yeahand, and just having a open-ended conversation with God all day.10, 12 hours, or however long it may be, just, just talking with God all day and- Amenpraying for His, for His guidance.And, you know, let me be the hands that, that, that gets it done.That’s awesome.And, uh, and glorify Him, you know?And- Mm.Yep.Praise God.Manny, same question.Thank you, Jim.Question again?So the question is, you know, being a Christian, how does your Christian faith influence your work or your work ethic or the attitude that you show up with?Well, the guys, especially the guys I work with, they don’t even know that I’m a Christian.Is exactly what I don’t want them to think.That’s right.That’s right, rightYou w- So really it’s me just sharing, being around my environment.I want them to know that I’m a Christian.Yes.That I’m a Christian, and I mean, uh, in this industry, you know, you get people who are kinda rough around the edges and stuff sometimes.Uh, but it’s just, I use it as a, especially the newer guys, I use it to share my testimony with them.Uh, because, I mean, I’ve been probably exactly where they’re at in life.Mm-hmm.And, uh, you know, just show them the grace of God and what He can do in your life and- Amenhow it changed.I mean, and, you know, just kinda encourage and influence.Um, that’s the first, and then second is I drive a lot, so definitely get a lot of, like, alone time w- or one-on-one time with God with music, with worship music and stuff- Praise God.That’s greaton the open road and, you know, just talking to Him.That’s always been- Amenuh, where I get a lot of breakthrough.Love that.Love that.Amen.Ryan, same question.So I usually start my day praying for a good day and asking for challenges that I can overcome.Wow.Um, and on a few occasions, I’ve even had customers tell me that I am the answer to their prayers.Yeah.Wow.Praise the Lord.That’s good.Yes.Yes, that’s awesome.Well, with me, my faith with God- Pull that microphone up, Herman With my faith with God, like it being out on the campus, mowing some of the big open fields gave me the quiet time.Didn’t have to worry about supervisors bugging me or anything.They, I can be out there mowing big open fields, being out where God is just right there the whole time, watching over me.And it, and I, we pray about, for my wife, my, my kids, my grandchildren, even asking things to, to guide my life, to make the right decisions for each thing I did.Seems I got the answers out there in that field when I was mowing.Yeah.That’s good.That’s good, Herman.Um, I’d say probably just showing up and treating everyone with the most respect, and making sure they all get the most honest work I can give.That’s good.Yeah.Uh, whether it’sLike, I’ve worked on a variety of houses, from ex-NFL players’ mansions to- Mmjust Ms. Shirley around the corner, you know?And everybody’s gonna get the same work, the same best attitude that I could possibly give.Wonderful.Yes.That’s awesome.That’s so good.That’s so good.All right.Well, I got one more question for these guys, but I kinda picked up on a theme.They, they have a lot of alone time with God.And so guys, I’m gonna ask you, will you pray for your pastor?Yes.I mean, it, I would really, bless me.And I know you do.I know you do, but pray for Tom and Jenny, pray for the church, you know, when you’re spending time with the Lord.That is, that is awesome to hear.So one more spiritual question: What is God doing in your life right now?You know, if anything comes to mind.What kind of, what’s God up to in your life?How are you growing?Um, how is your faith in the Lord growing?And how is the church helping?Y- you know, if you could share any- anything about the church, of how the church has been helping you to grow.Sure.Sure.Um, I’ll be honest with you.Before, before we started this here today, I was praying that I wouldn’t let any profanity slip-or foul language.Yes.Amen.Like- We were praying that, too.YeahHoly Spirit, please fill me so I can be the voice for you know- Yes, amenGive me the words, because I tell you, I, I’ve been, I’ve been surrounded by it for, for 27, 28 years- Yesevery day, you know?Yesof, of language, of the norm being alcohol, you know, tobacco, drugs.Yes.Uh, that’s the norm.Um, surrounded by it, so I gotta make it here.This is where I recharge.Mm.This is, you know, when my battery’s run out, when my light’s not shining, I gotta make it back in here- Praise Godso that I can go back out there, you know, in the darkness and, and hopefully convert some people.Amen, amen, amen.That’s good.So, um, sometimes I, I get worried that I’m not doing enough, ’cause, well, I’d like to have a house over here or a house over there, and it seems like all I do is drag that gypsy caravan around behind me-all over the dang country or state of Missouri, and then I remind myself Jesus was nomadic.You know?So- Yes, yesit, it’s a pretty good opportunity to share the word.Yes.And this church, for me, like I said, it’s, it’s, it’s recharging.It’s, it’s, it’s spiritual food, and I need it.We all do.Praise God.And, uh, I think what really got it going off, shout out to Jenny and Ellis and the worship team- Amen’cause they’re like, they’re up there, like, my top 3 favorite bands ever.Yes.And, theyIt’s totally changed my life.You know, I, I listen to it now all day long, Praise GodI didn’t used to.You know, I’d, I’d be driving down the road, I was one of those guys, like, I always, I always, you know, believed in God, loved God, but I wasn’t the best follower.I, I still fail every day, but I’d, I may come across it on the radio in my pickup and I’d be like, “Oh, yeah, that’s”I’d always feel guilty.”Oh, that’s that Christian music.””I wanna listen to some country music, you know, maybe, maybe some rock and roll.”But, uh, but how it happened, it, it all changed a couple of years ago.The, uh, antenna on my, on my tractor got wiped out during transit, and then we got to our new place, so the only station it would pick up was a faith and worship station.There you go.Praise God.And, uh, I was like, “Okay, we’ll give it a try.We’ll give it a try.”I called and told Ellis about this a couple years ago, and he’s like, “He’s working on you.”And, uh, so it, it went good, you know.And, and then before we moved the next time, I got a new antenna to put onto the loader, and, uh, I put it on, and we made our move to the next spot.And even though I had a plethora of stations available, I went right back to God.God.Amen.And, uh, that started in this church.Praise the Lord, amen.Thanks, Gene.So thank you all.Let’s give- Thank youyes, let’s give Gene a hand.You bet.Same question, Manny.The question- You know, what’s God upWhat’s GodYou know what the question is, man.He just likes to hear me repeat myself.So what’s the Lord doing in your life, and how has the church helped?Oh, man.Oh, ILike I said, when we got invited here, we never, we just never left in 2023.It’s just been, uh, an amazing ride, and this church has been here with us through some of the hardest times of, uh, my relationship with my, you know, my wife, with, uh, my family, and just got us through a lot of things.God has really used this, uh, used this church as, like, the cornerstone for that.Amen.Thank you, Lord.And, uh, but, but also, I mean, especially with, like, work, um, sorry about my voice, but with work, like, especially recently, you know, with, uh, we had an office kinda close down in Ashland where I was gonna be working, so, but a lot of my work is here in Columbia, so I, Tom, you know, I, I pop in here and- That’s greatyou know, I pull my laptop, and I’m able to do my estimates and stuff here in the building.Uh, by the way, Herman, me and Ellis are both sharing your office.So, uh, so so, um, um, but yeah, I can do that.But I’m actually in the church, and my wife is here working, too, as well.Just, uh, just doing that, just beingI just feel like a- as long as I’m here, um, it just, you know, it’s, I don’t know, just always being around the church and be- I’ve always worked in a church of some sort, and it’s just- Yesalways helped me stay focused on, you know, you know, the rates that I’m running.Praise God.Yeah.Praise God.And Manny recently was elected as one of our deacons.I think you know that, but we appreciate Manny so much and his heart to serve the Lord, yeah.All right, Ryan, same question.What’s God up to in your life, and how does the church help?You know, despite what I’ve got going on in my personal life, I’m still able to get up every day, smile, and find joy- Yeahand keep on going.Uh, when I first came to this church, it instantly felt like home.You know, I’ve never experienced that at a church before, and the encouragement and the lessons that I get every time I walk through those doors has really helped strengthen my walk with the Lord.Praise God.Amen.That’s so good.For here, for me at, for this church, this feels like a, one big family to me.And it’s, people have blessed me with encouragement for what I, I have done and even to my wife.I had a few blessings this year.I usually don’t wear a winter coat, um, ’cause I’ve been out in the elements so much that sometimes don’t bother.But somebody blessed me with the money to buy a winter coat and everything, so I got that And this, this year, me and my wife, we had todecided we had to do some serious work to our house.And we kept praying to God how we were gonna come up with the money and getting it done and everything.And somewhere that blessing came out.About, about a month ago it showed up, and I didn’t expect it.I didn’t ask this person, I justWe just talked about it, and the next thing you know, him and his wife came to our house and said, “Don’t worry about the, the money.The work’s gonna be done.”By Tuesday, everythingWe’re gonna officially haveWeMe and my wife, we’ve been out of air conditioning for 4 years.And like IWe lived, her and me lived in 2 trailers before when we first10 years of our marriage, no air conditioning.Oh my goodness.So we managed and everything, but now we got new air conditioning system in our house- Whooand some other stuff.And I thank God for this church, and I thank God f- for all the people I’ve been around with in, within this church, and it made a big blessing in my heart and my, and my wife.Amen.Praise God.So I haven’t even been into a church s- in, like, 10 years since I was playing drums in the youth group here.That’s right.And shout-out to Ellis for getting me back in here.Um, and I’m glad I did, ’cause, you know, being here and, you know, seeing old faces and meeting new people, it’s a great community, and I’ve been learning how to be a better father and a better partner at home.Um, and I can proudly say that, you know, God’s definitely working in my life, because I am now 9 days without a single sip of alcohol.Praise God.So, uh, so far, you know.Journey’s gotta start somewhere.But yeah, I- Amendefinitely am very appreciative for this church and what it’s done for me growing up and even now coming back.Praise God.Praise God.Amen.Amen.Amen.Well, guys, I wanna say thank you for just being willing to get up here and share.We value you, we appreciate you, and we appreciate all of our blue-collar men and women.And I wanna invite us all to stand.I’m gonna pray for them.And would you just pray for these guys that are up here, that they would keep walking with the Lord.And, uh, we know it, we’re not perfect, you know?We’ve all got issues, problems, things we’re struggling with, but one thing we know for sure, we know Jesus is the answer.Yes.And we, that’s where we get charged up.That’s where we get the light when we’re out in the dark world.And so let’s pray for them, and then pray for somebody in your family, somebody, a loved one that you have that’s a, a hardworking, uh, dad or mom or somebody out there just starting out in life, and they need your prayers.They need to know that you appreciate what they’re doing.And so will you pray with me?Lord Jesus, thank you so much for these hardworking men that are on the platform here, and they were willing to take a risk to come up here and share about their lives and be transparent.That’s not easy, Lord, and we thank you for them.And we pray, Lord, that you would favor them and bless them.Thank you for Proverbs 11:25 that says that when we water others, you will water us.So Lord, I pray that you would refresh them today, and we pray for all the blue-collar workers, hardworking people in our church who often go unnoticed, but what they do is so appreciated.Lord, we pray that you’d bless them and look out for them and encourage them today.And Lord, we thank you, Lord, for every person who serves in the church, every person who goes out and works hard to care for their family and to make this city and this state and this nation a better place to live in.We give you thanks, Lord.In Jesus’ name.Amen.Amen.Praise the Lord.Praise the Lord.Praise God.We’re gonna go ahead.This is gonna feel a little bit different, but we’re gonna go ahead and take a 3minute break where you fellowship with one another.That gives me time to rearrange up here, and we’ve got a special sermon for you here in just a few minutes.So let’s greet one another.Well, this morning’s a little bit different, okay?So I’m not gonna be preaching the message this morning by myself.I’m gonna get us started, but then Pastor Ellis and Jenny and Angie, we’re all gonna be preaching this sermon together.And then at the end, we’ve got some birdhouses that we have, have, uh, put out for the kids because this is blue-collar Sunday, but it’s also a fifth Sunday.It’s a family church Sunday, so we’re gonna invite the kids to come up here in just a few minutes and build some, some birdhouses together.And yes, I went ahead and spent some time in my office.Kids, this is what Pastor Tom does in his office.Is I wanted to make sure that they actually, that it worked.You know, that, like, I didn’t wanna call them up and say, “Build a birdhouse,” and then somebody, like, doesn’t even one of the parts.So, so I went ahead and built it.That’s what it’s supposed to look like, and, uh, we hope that that’ll be fun for the kids.I wanna begin this morning, uh, turning to 1 Corinthians chapter 3.So if you would stand with me, uh, with your Bible, I’m gonna read from a passage of scripture that talks about how we’re all building, we’re all building a house.We’re all building in the family of God.And so this is 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I’m gonna start in verse 9.1 Corinthians chapter 3, I’m gonna start in verse 9.Here’s what Paul says to the Corinthians.”For we are coworkers in God’s service.You are God’s field, God’s building.”think about that.You are God’s building.Verse 10, “By, by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder and someone else is building on it.But each one should build with care, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stone, wood, hay, or straw, their work will be shown for what it is because the day,” that’s a day, speaking of a day of judgment, “the day will bring it to light.It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames.”Will you pray with me?Lord Jesus, thank you for your word.Lord, your word encourages us.Your word directs us.Your, your word warns us.And Lord, I thank you that in, in this passage of scripture, Lord, we see clearly that you’re call- calling us to build with you.You’re calling us to build lives and build the lives of others around us, Lord, in such a way that you get the glory, that you are honored.Lord, I pray that you would put within the heart of every man, woman, boy, and girl here today, put within us a desire to build a life that honors you and to see our lives as builders.We can make a difference.Whether it’s putting in pipes all over or fixing someone’s plumbing or moving people from the lake to Columbia or wherever, Lord, we make a difference.Help us to be builders.We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.Amen.Amen.You may be seated, and God bless you.I’m gonna turn back to Luke chapter 6, and my part of the message this morning is just to talk about the foundation.You can see these 4 pillars up here, and that’s because we have 4 pillars that we believe the Lord wants to build into your life.But my, my job as, as starting the sermon is just to talk about the foundation.I wanna read from Luke chapter 6.I’m gonna start in verse 46.Here’s what Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not what I say?As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.They are like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but, uh, but could not shake it because it was well-built.”I wanna pause there and say I wanna build a life like that.Amen.And I know I can only do it with God’s help.I can’t do it by myself.I need the foundation of Jesus in my life.I need His light in the dark world.I need His truth.I need His humility and His example of service.I need the grace of God at work in my life.Verse 49, “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the, the ground without a foundation.The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”And I don’t have to tell you, but as we look around our world today, many people are going through the storms of life.And as they go through the storms of life, they find that everything’s turning to chaos.They have nothing to lean on.They have nothing to hold them together.And I’m here to tell you this morning that no matter if we’re just starting out in life or we are later on in life, we need to come to Jesus and make sure that we’ve called Him Lord.That we’ve said to Him, “You are my Lord.You’re not just my Savior, and I’m gonna put into practice the things that I’m learning from you.”I wanna go back up here to just verse 47.Jesus says, “As for everyone who comes to me,” that’s the first step.You’ve gotta come to Jesus.But secondly, you’ve gotta hear my words.That’s why it’s so important.When we come to church on Sunday or we go to a Bible study or we go to a prayer meeting or we spend time in personal devotion, we are trying to get the word of God into our heart and into our mind.We’ve gotta come to Jesus, and we’ve gotta hear the word.But the third step is we’ve gotta put the word of God into practice.We’ve got to apply the word of God to our daily lives.And I can tell you what I’m learning.I’m learning that too often I’m not real good at that.I may be good at preaching it.I may be good at teaching it.I may be good at hearing it, but I’ve gotI wanna get better, Lord.I wanna get better at actually applying the teachings of Jesus in my life because that’s where the, the, the fulfillment is.That’s where the flourishing is.That’s where the house actually gets built up, is when I’ve laid that foundation of coming to Jesus, hearing the words of Jesus, and actually putting his words into practice in my life.I wanna just challenge you this morning.If you’re seeing a gap in God at work in your life, it may, just may not be God.It may be you or me not really applying God’s word- Yeahto our lives.right.And so we’ve gotta come to the Lord Jesus.We’ve gotta call Him Lord in, in a way that says, “I’m really surrendering my life to you.I’m really laying you as the foundation of my life, and now whatever I do, You’re gonna be the center of my life, and I’m gonna begin to hear and to obey and to walk out what You’ve called me to do.”I wanna just share a quick illustration that I found about f- the importance of foundations.It comes from Japan.In Japan, foundations are really important because of earthquakes.I think most of us know that.There’s a lot of earthquakes in Japan.The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was given the challenge of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world.Wright’s investigation showed that a solid foundation could be floated on a 60-foot layer of soft mud underlying the hotel, which would provide a shock absorbing but solid support for the immense building.Can you imagine that?60 feet of soft mud as a s- as a shock absorber, and then a solid foundation of rock or stone or whatever he used.Shortly after the hotel was completed, it withstood the, the worst earthquake in 52 years while other lesser buildings fell in ruins around it.I just share that to just illustrate this really matters.The foundation of your life, your, your beliefs, your core values, who you are when no one else is looking, making Jesus number one in your life, not just coming to church and saying, “Oh, yeah, I’m religious” or “Yeah, I’m a Christian,” but actually following Jesus.Friend, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years later, that’s what’s gonna make a difference in your life.That’s what is gonna separate you from others when the storm comes.So I think Pastor Ellis is next, and he’s gonna come and share, I believe.Let me look at my notes, make sure I get it right here.Nope, Angie’s coming.Angie’s gonna come and talk to us about truth.Come on, Angie.Let’s give her a hand as she comes.Okay, I get to talk to you guys about the pillar of truth.So I’m gonna start with reading John 14:6, which says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me.”Jesus is the truth.Jesus is our way.We have no path to the Father unless we are going through Jesus, and it’s important that we understand this truth because there are so many counterfeits out in the world, that if you do not know what your truth is, when you’re faced with a counterfeit, you’re gonna get confused.You’re gonna get lost, and you’ll lose your way.Yeah.John 8:32 says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”How are we gonna know our truth?We’re gonna know it by being in our Word, and not just going through the checkbox of reading our Bible, but really getting down into the roots of it, really studying it, really implanting those words into your heart so that when you are going in and out throughout your day, it comes out in the things that you do and in the things that you say and everywhere you are.You have to take that truth which it, with you.It’s not just a little checkbox that you do to say, “Yep, I did it.”When you truly have a foundation in that truth, it forms on who you are as a person.It forms the decisions you make.It forms the places that we go.We take it everywhere that we do.And Jesus is our life.This is just temporary.We will have sadness.We will have happiness.But when we have Jesus being our focus, our anchor, He is the light in our darkness.We were never promised a smooth sailing through all of life.So even when we are serving God, we’re gonna have hard times.We’re gonna have the storms.And that’s why we have to have this strong foundation like Tom was talking about.Because if we don’t, we will crumble, just like those buildings that had no foundation.We need to have that anchor, that focus, that light to be able to focus on, that when the darkness tries to close in around us, we have the truth to help give us that strength to stay focused and not fall away.Okay, now who’s next?Now it’s Pastor Ellis.Amen.That was such a good point, Angie.Not only are we not promised that everything will be easy, we’re promised the exact opposite.Jesus said, “If the world hated you, don’t be shocked.They hated me first.”He said that He has overcome the world.That’s such a good point.We, it’s, as Americans, we really want things to go easily, right?We want the drive-through to goWe want everything to be simpler, easier, touch, voice activated, everything.But that’s not what the Lord promises in our service to Him, right?We know this is just gonna get harder and that’s okay.Uh, pillar number 2 is humility and service.And just, this is one of the grossest stories in the Bible.You guys know it, Jesus washes His disciples’ feet.But Mark 10:45 says, “Even the Son of Man,” Jesus Himself, “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”And now, humility and service do not come to us naturally, right?I’ve, I stole this from somebody else.I didn’t coin this.But the idea of I don’t wanna be natural, I wanna be supernatural.And so it’s not natural for us to wanna do for other people, right?That doesn’t just come natively and just pour out of us.”Oh, I wanna set aside all of my wants, needs, and desires and just take care of somebody else.”That’s not what we want, right?I want my recliner.I want my slippers.I wanna sit there and eat a sandwich, right?Like, that’s what comes naturally, but that’sI don’t have slippers, by the way, but that was the example.So that’s what comes naturally.Humility.Naturally, we want to brag on our accomplishments, right?I, Gene, if I built a whole road, I’d be pretty freaking proud of it, you know?So I click on keyboard and make little websites, you know?It’s whatever.So I don’t, that’s a hu- That’s, that’s not unhu- un-humble to be proud of our work, but naturally, that’s what comes to us, right?We always wanna look at ourselves through the best possible light, right?Well, I’m better than so-and-so.And it’s not easy to have that humility.Well, look at Jesus’ example of service here.He, in John 13:4-5, it says, “When He got up from the meal, He took off His outer clothing, wrapped a towel around His waist.After that, He poured water in a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”I tell y’all, I don’t mind massaging my wife’s feet.That’s okay.But they’re adorable and clean and smell fantastic.Gene, I love you.I’m not massaging or washing your feet after you’ve been in that loader in those boots all day, man.Woo.That would be a level of humility and service that as much as I love Gene, I don’t think it’s gonna happen.Dayson, when you’re trudging through the sewer lines, nobody wants to touch that, right?That’s what our Jesus did.And they didn’t have leather-clad, closed-toed shoes, right?They didn’t have Air Jordan Nikes.They had leather open-toed sandals walking through the Middle East.Those guys did not have Old Spice, right?They did not have baby foot powder, right?Those, that was just thisI hate that story in the Bible ’cause it’s so gross, and I pray to the heavens that Tom never decides to do a footwashing service, ’cause I might switch churches.But this is the what, this is the example that Christ set for us, how important it is for us to lay down our own pride and to pour into others.And how many people know while that service might not come easy, how many know it is the most fulfilling thing you can ever right?Herman, that was such a beautiful story that somebody gave that to you.But the, really the biggest blessing was not to you.I guarantee you it’s what that, that person got to feel when they got to help somebody else.If you’re ever depressed, go outside, touch grass, and go help somebody else.And I’m not saying it’s a cure-all.I’m not saying we don’t need medication.But man, there is an uplifting that comes in that moment where you get to see that look on somebody else’s face I’m gonna embarrass the heck out of him to brag on my kids for a little bit.You guys might not know, but Easton works all week long to get, to get ready forHe has pushed us so hard, and he has impressed us so much.All my kids do.Millie getting up there and singing, Evie back there, she’s already hiding.But I just– I’m such a proud dad, it’s hard not to brag a little bit.This morning, he’s running 3 tablets while playing the keyboard.I want you guys to know, there’s extra music playing.He’s running all the music, and the keyboard, he is changing it the whole time.And he, he laid off into a riff this morning, and I thought it was a recording.I was just so impressed.But we know the second he wakes up, there’s no alarm, there’s no coming down for breakfast, there’s just instantly music reverberating through the entire house.And it’s so cool how hard he has pushed us.And just being a dad, there’s nothing more humbling or just a blessing to get to see our kids when they live for the Lord.Keep lifting these teenagers up.We’ve got more and more and more of them, folks.Show them that smile.Serve them where you can.And again, as a 42yearold man, there’s nothing that’s ever humbled me more in my life than my then 14yearold son telling me how to do something different and better.And man, what a, what a lesson to learn to take that.And there’s always those opportunities for us, folks.Let’s lay down our pride and think, what can we learn from somebody else?Let’s lay down our personal desires and think, how can I serve somebody else this week?’Cause it’s the example Christ set for us, and it’s absolutely what us to do.Last verse in here is this, Philippians 2, 5 through 7.”In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ, who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be His own advantage.He made Himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant and being made human likeness.”That is our mission today.Take one of these pillars, walk back, and do that humility service today.And coming up next, I believe, is Miss Jenny, if I can steal you.Well, Tom talked about the foundation, and Ellis and Angie spoke about one of the pillars.And when we have a building, we don’t just have one pillar, and then it has a, you know, piece of platform, and you just kinda stand here like this, right?This building would not be here if there wasn’t more than one pi– one of these pillars.And so same thing in of our, our lives.We can’t just have one pillar, but actively saying, “Lord, give me another pillar in my house.Give me another pillar.Make it strong.Make it something so that the house can be built up,” and that, as they say, you don’t see the foundation, you see what’s above the foundation that’s really standing.And so today I’m, I’m sharing with you about grace.And over and over in my life, the Lord has shown me grace through other people or through other situations.But He’s also used me in mighty ways to have grace towards other people when my humanness doesn’t want to.And I’m not gonna share one of those stories, but I will share– Yeah, ’cause I will share a story, though.Um, my kids were young, and one of them was in middle school.And I’d taken him to school that morning, sent him out, out the car door, prayed for him, got through the rest of the line, and realized, oh, there are lunchboxes sitting there.So I turned back around, got back in line, you know, ran it up to, uh, up to the office, and they said, “Oh yeah, we’ll get it to”I think it was Ben, actually.”Get it to Ben.”And, um, so then later that day, I was working for Columbia Public School during those years.I was doing homebound.And I, there was something else I needed to do at the office, so I thought, “Okay, in between students, I’ll just go over there and, and do this.”And so I go in– Excuse me, go into the office, and I’m talking to the gals, and I look over, and I go, “Hey, isn’t that Ben’s lunchbox?And, uh, it’s after lunch.”And I mean, the dread that came over that secretary’s face.And she goes, “Oh my I am so sorry.”I said, “It’s all right.No problem.He probably had some friends that shared, and,” and whatever I said, I don’t really remember.But she immediately was just feeling terrible.And I said, “It’s okay,” and I did my business or whatever, and I got ready to head out the door.She goes, “You know, ever have parents act as graciously as that.”And I said, “You know what?I’m gonna probably need it in about 5 minutes, so I gotta give it.”And literally, 7 minutes later in my car, there was something that happened, got a phone call, and that person had grace for me.And so it just reminds me, we need to keep giving that out.We need to keep giving that a, that gift, because that’s what grace is.Grace is a gift that God gives to us to give to other people, and it shines who He is in our lives.Because that’s not our human way, is it?That’s not the w- the way that we normally respond and react.And so let’s keep giving grace, because it’s a s- it’s a, it’s a strong pillar.It is a strong pillar of who God is in our lives.When, when God, when God’s grace gives us rest, and we have, uh, we, we can have freedom, and we can have selfWe are free from self-righteousness.And also, um, Jesus produces rest because Jesus works in us and helps us please God with our lives.In Matthew 11 it says, “Come to me, weary and burdened, and I”Not me, but Jesus.Jesus will give us rest.He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and I’m humble in heart.And you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”When I, um, have words like that that come about, in fact, grace was a word that the Lord was really teaching me about, um, it was probably about 12 years ago.And I will take that word and use it like an acrostic poem, because that’s what, um, is actually in the Bible.I- in Psalms you’ll find some acrostic poems.And so I took the word grace, and I just came up with these 5 things: G, God’s unmerited favor;R, redemption through Christ;A, abundant mercy;C, Christ’s love freely given;and E, everlasting gift.Let’s have grace.Praise the Lord.Thank you, everybody, for participating.So we’re building a house that pleases God, and so one pillar is what?Truth, right?So we want truth to be a part of our life.We need the truth of Jesus.We need spiritual truth, moral truth, and I really believe all truth is God’s truth, so if you find truth out there, it’s gonna line up with the Bible.It’s gonna line up with what God’s revealed to us in scripture.So we’re building a life that pleases God, and the foundation is Jesus himself.He is the rock, and you wanna get your life on a sure foundation, ’cause when the storms come, then you can make it through.You can stand the test of the storm.And so we’ve got the pillar of truth.We’ve got the pillar of, of, uh, humility and service.We’ve got the pillar of grace in our lives.And the last pillar we wanna talk about is faith.You know, the New Testament is so amazing how often it emphasizes, and even the Old Testament.Remember in Genesis 22 how God tested Abraham’s faith?And Abraham was known as the father of the faithful because Abraham was willing to sacrifice the child of promise.I mean, God had made all these promises to Abraham, and I’m so thankful there at the beginning of chapter 22 it says, “And God tested him,” so we know it was a test.God was, uh, God was putting Abraham through a test, but Abraham was willing to even sacrifice Isaac.Hebrews tells us that Abraham thought in his heart or his mind, “Hey, God is either gonna provide a sacrifice or he’s gonna raise Isaac from the dead.”That was the faith that Abraham had in God.And I wanna kinda close up, wrap up this part of the service with Ephesians 2:8 through 10, because Ephesians, most of us know verses 8 and 9.And many of us have memorized Ephesians 2:8 and 9.But verse 10 really helps us understand what God’s up to as we build this hou- house that pleases God.God wants to build up your life on these pillars, and with Jesus as the, as the foundation.Let me read in verse 8.”For it is by grace.”We’ve been talking about grace.”It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God.Not by works, so that no man can boast.”So how are you saved?By God’s gracious activity through Jesus Christ.That’s how you’re saved.And by your faith.And that faith is even a gift that God gives us.But if you have faith in your heart, it’s coming from God, but you have to walk that faith out.You have to express that faith, and you walk by faith, and God begins to change you.He begins to transform you.He begins to, uh, produce a, a metamorphosis in your life.I’ve got some little butterflies down here that we’re gonna let the kids put on their birdhouses here in just a moment, and every time I see a butterfly, I think of that Greek word metamorphosis, because that’s what happens to a- Not every caterpillar’s ugly, right?But, but caterpillars aren’t as beautiful as butterflies.right.And that’s what God wants to do in our lives.God wants us to build our lives on Him and to walk in humility and truth and grace, and then our part is by expressing our faith in God, trusting in Him.And here’s what Ephesians 2:10 says that God is up to: “For we are God’s handiwork.”Yes, we are.Now, your, your translation may say masterpiece or workmanship.It’s just like what Paul said in Corinthians, you are His building.God is at work in your life.Paul says in verse 10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”Here’s what happens when you begin to build your life on Christ and you begin to build your life on these pillars.What begins to happen is the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the Spirit begins to grow.The fruit of the Spirit, which is the fruit of Jesus, begins to grow in your life like apples on an apple tree or grapes on a grapevine.Good works begin to grow, the fruit of the Spirit, and then we begin to s- look around us and go, “You know, I’m not like I used to be.””I’m not like everybody else in the world, because I’m following Jesus.I’m coming to Jesus.I’m hearing the words of Jesus, and I’m putting them into practice.”So we’re praying this morning for each one of our children, and this is, again, a special Sunday for us.It’s the 5th Sunday.We call it Family Church, and this Sunday we made it Blue Collar Sunday.And so we’ve got all our kids up here with us.And we’re praying for our kids, we’re praying for our teenagers, we’re praying for young adults, for all of us, that we would hear the Lord saying to us, “Why don’t you build your, your life on me?”There’s certainly other options.Right, church?I mean, there’s certainly other options out there.There’s people building their life on all kinds of other things, but why don’t you build your life on Jesus?You won’t regret it.There’s a great retirement plan.But more than, more than that, if you will build your life on Jesus, things that are dysfunctional, things that are broken, things that are falling apart will start to be restored, first in your heart, and in your mind, and in your attitude, and then in your relationship, and your, your relationships, and your finances, and your marriage.These things can be built up, friend.You can see a real difference.You don’t have to live where you’re living.You can, you can step up and live where God wants you to live if you’ll live on the foundation-which is Jesus Christ himself.So I wanna pray for us this morning, and I’m praying for each one of us, that within our hearts today, there would be the faith to say, “Lord, I want you to be my savior and my Lord.I wanna build my life on you, and I’m gonna walk with you.I’m not just gonna hear, but I’m gonna hear and I’m gonna do what you are teaching me to do.”Will you pray with me?Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the message this morning.Lord, you want us to build a life that pleases and honors you, and we can’t do it without ourselves, without, without you, Lord.We can’t do it ourselves.In fact, if we just try to live a life based on our own strength or our own smarts, we’ll end up discouraged and disappointed.So today, we purpose in our hearts, Lord, to come to you, to hear your teachings, and to put them into practice, Lord.We purpose in our heart to make you Lord and Savior of our lives, and to begin, with your help, to build a life that pleases you.We pray that over our children, our youth, and our families here today.In Jesus’ name.In Jesus’ name, amen.Well, this morning is different, and so rather than inviting the worship team to come, I wanna invite all the kids.And if we could just all stand for a moment, that’ll make it easier for them to move.We’ve got these little birdhouses up here for the kids, that they can come, and we’ve got about 30 out here, so I think we’ve got enough.But if, if, if, if first through 6th graders, even junior highers come on.Junior highers, you’re welcome to come and join us.Even high schoolers.Come on, Michael.Be bold.Come on out here.There you go.Come on, Sonny.Come on, and we’re gonna make some birdhouses.Come on, guys, come and join us.Come and join us.There we go.Johanna’s bold.That’s good.Jesse’s bold.Come on.That’s it.And older ones help the younger ones, and we’re gonna just take a minute-and make some birdhouses.All right, church, you can go ahead and be seated.Make it- And parents, if you wanna come and help them, parents, you’re welcome to help them.In fact, we could probably use your help.Some of our children’s workers or parents, if you wanna come and help these, that’d be great.Pastor Tom, I gotta tell you a joke that I, I made up this morning for you.I think you guys will like this.Why is it that Satan doesn’t like blue-collar workers?You guys know this?Why- Satan does not like blue-collar workers, and here’s why.Pa- Pastor Ellis, why doesn’t Satan like blue-collar workers?Why doesn’t Satan likeBecause he dealt with a carpenter one time that showed up at his house and kicked his butt, right?Ooh.Our Lord and Savior.I thought of that this morning.I had to share that with you guys.That’s good.That’s good.All right.Praise the Lord.We’re gonna let the kids continue to work on their birdhouses.For some of them, this is gonna take 2 more minutes.For others, it’s gonna take 30.So I wanna pray for us.We’ve had a great Sunday.We can’t wait to see you next Sunday, but I wanna remind you, we’ve got a barbecue over in Smith Hall right now.So as you exit, if you wanna join us for the barbecue, we invite you to join us for the barbecue, okay?Would you all stand with me this morning?Yeah.And we’ll close in prayer.Thank you, Lord.Lord Jesus, thank you for this Sunday, and Lord, we pray the blue-collar workers in our church would feel honored.We thank you for their work, and we thank you for their faith, Lord.We thank you that they’re walking with you.Lord, I pray that you would build up your church even as you build up each individual and build up each household, each family.Lord, we’re looking to you to do great things in our lives today, and we give you all the praise and all the glory.In Jesus’ name, amen.Amen.The Lord bless you, and may he give you peace, and may his face smile upon you this week.Have a great week.Join us for the barbecue if you can.God bless.I’m Pastor Tom Ragsdell.I’m Pastor Ellis Benus.And we’re from Columbia First Assembly Church in Columbia, Missouri.We are a church that’s on mission with Jesus.Our vision is simple.We wanna make Jesus famous in your heart and in our community.Absolutely.Thank you so much for connecting with us online.We would also love to connect with you in person.We are located at 1100 North 7th Street, right in the heart of Columbia, Missouri, right across the street from Hickman High School.So if you’re in the central Missouri area and you’re looking for a home church, come hang out with us.If you’re just connecting online and you’re nowhere near us, then please connect with us in the comments.If you have a prayer request, if you have a question, if you’re, if you’re wondering anything about the Lord or Christianity, please let us know, and we would be happy to engage with you in the comments.We believe God’s doing something special at our church, and we want you to be a part of it.We’re a multi-generational church.We have people from all different backgrounds.We’re, we’re a church of the Word.We’re a church of the Spirit.We believe Jesus can transform your life.That’s why we’re on mission with him, and we wanna help you know God, we wanna help you grow in God, and we wanna share hopeSo connect with us, and we wanna connect withAwesome.Have a wonderful and a blessed day.