The Dream Team, Part 7
Type: Sunday Morning Service
Series: The Dream Team
Sermon: Part 7 - A Picture of Love
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Tom Van Kempen
Love is more than words—it’s action that sees the inherent worth of every person. True love dismantles prejudice, rejects selfishness, and moves us to act with compassion like the Good Samaritan. When God’s love grows in us, fear fades, and we begin living like Jesus—loving people without boundaries.
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Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
What the World Still Needs: Love That Acts
Even after thousands of years, humanity continues to cry out for love. Jesus answered this longing in Luke 10 by telling the story of the Good Samaritan—a lesson that shows love is more than emotion; it’s the decision to value others as God does.
The Question That Misses the Point
When the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he was really asking, “Who can I exclude?” But Jesus shifted the focus from defining who deserves love to asking am I being loving? True love acts, without asking if someone qualifies.
Seeing People’s Inherent Worth
The Samaritan saw value where others saw inconvenience. God designed every person with intrinsic worth, a divine imprint that doesn’t change no matter how broken they are. To love like Jesus is to recognize this worth in every person—from the unborn to the overlooked.
Love that Dismantles Prejudice
The Samaritan’s compassion broke through centuries of animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Real love doesn’t discriminate; it dismantles walls of division. When we love those who are different from us, we reflect the heart of God, who values all His children equally.
Compassion That Moves to Action
The Samaritan didn’t just feel sorry—he stopped, bandaged wounds, and paid for care. Genuine compassion is gut-level; it moves our feet, opens our wallets, and rearranges our schedules. Love that stays in words is incomplete—real love shows up.
Growing in Love That Drives Out Fear
Love grows as we live in God. The more we dwell in His presence, the more fear loses its grip—fear of rejection, difference, or being taken advantage of. Mature love transforms us to act boldly and freely for others, just as Christ did for us.
Living a Life That Loves
The call today is simple: let your love be real. Whether it’s feeding someone who’s grieving or celebrating someone society has forgotten, love changes lives. The world still needs “love, sweet love”—and it starts with us living like Jesus.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Opening Question:
When was the last time someone showed you love through action rather than words? How did it affect you?Read: Luke 10:25–37
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
What excuses do we make for passing by those in need?
How can recognizing a person’s inherent worth change the way we respond to them?
What are some “modern-day Samaritans” in your community—people we tend to overlook or avoid?
How can your group collectively live out love that acts this week?
Action Step:
Each group member will intentionally show love to someone they might normally overlook—through a conversation, a meal, or a simple act of service. Share your experience next week. -
Luke 10:25–37 records Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. In the first century, Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies; centuries of religious and ethnic conflict caused deep distrust. Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee often took long detours to avoid Samaritan territory entirely.
The “road from Jerusalem to Jericho” was a steep, winding, 17-mile stretch notorious for bandits—it was called “The Bloody Way.” Priests and Levites represented Israel’s religious elite, expected to show compassion, yet they passed by the injured man. The Samaritan—despised by Jews—became the story’s hero, revealing that love transcends prejudice and ritual purity. Jesus’ message was radical: genuine faith is proven through compassionate action, not status or title.
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(30 Minutes Total)
Title: Love in Action
Introduction (5 min):
Ask: “Have you ever seen someone get hurt or need help? What did you do?” Explain that Jesus told a story about someone who helped when others wouldn’t.Scripture: Luke 10:25–37
Craft (10 min):
“Helping Hands Collage” — Trace each child’s hand on paper, cut it out, and write ways to show love (helping a friend, sharing, praying for someone). Glue all the hands onto a poster titled “Love in Action.”Game (5 min):
“Good Samaritan Relay” — Set up an obstacle course where one child pretends to be hurt, and teammates must carefully “rescue” them using teamwork and kindness.Discussion (5 min):
Who helped the man on the road?
Why didn’t the others stop?
How can we be like the Good Samaritan at home or school?
Wrap-Up & Prayer (5 min):
Pray together: “God, help us to see people who need love and to act quickly to help them, just like the Good Samaritan.” -
Good morning. If you happen to not be on Facebook or Instagram or any of those services, you probably haven't heard that this past week my wife lost her mother. And they had an extremely close relationship. And on Tuesday she went to be with the Lord. And it's been a struggle the last couple of days. And during times of mourning and times of grief, it's only natural to begin to share stories. And so one of the stories that Robin and I have been talking about is when I first married into the family. Because, you know, I grew up in South Dakota. My wife grew up in California. And in the early 80s, there weren't a lot of jobs available, especially in South Dakota. So we decided to make our abode in the California area, which seemed to be thriving at that time. And we got married in November. So right during the holiday season. And most people have holiday traditions. And the Gory family was no exception to the rule. And so Christmas season began. And we went through, you know, the normal messages during the month of December. We had a Christmas Eve service. Robin's dad was a pastor. And so he presented the message. And then we went home to eat a food. Let's just say it was a food that was one of their family traditions. And it was something called gumbo. have a gumbo recipe in their family. Let me see. Okay. I guarantee you it did not taste like what they served me. Because I'm from South Dakota. And being from South Dakota, we had steak and potatoes. We had hamburgers and french fries. We had pork and chicken and scallop potatoes. But I never ate something called okra in my entire life. And I just need you to know that when you boil okra, the consistency was the same as what I experienced in a South Dakota winter with the snot going down my face. It was the least favorite texture I had ever placed in my mouth in my entire life. this family recipe with an entire loaf of bread to guide me. And so for the next 365 days, I was dreading the next Christmas. But it came. And that Christmas, I'm anticipating the same pain and the same torture. And as she distributes the gumbo to everybody, a bowl in front of me. But instead, my mother-in-law goes into the kitchen and brings out two broiled lobster tails with drawn butter. And I knew I had scored in the mother-in-law department. Because she didn't just tell me she loved me. She showed me what being a part of her family was all about. And the measures that she would take to make me feel welcomed, loved, appreciated, and a part of the family remind me of the story that we are going to read today. And it's found in Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 25. And listen to this familiar story, but please listen with new ears. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said, What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? And so the lawyer answered and said, You shall love, say love, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, this is Jesus, says to the lawyer, you have answered rightly. Do this and you will live. Jesus is congratulating the lawyer. He's saying, right on. You've got it. Love is definitely the key to life. Love literally makes the world go round. So here's my question for today. Why are we still singing the song? What the world needs now is sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some, but for everyone. Yeah. Why are we still singing that? That song was written by Burt Bacharach back in the early 60s, recorded in 1965, became a big hit, and it's been recorded almost every year since by a different person or a different group. It was last recorded last year in 2024. In other words, nothing much has changed in 60 years. The world still needs love. Why? Are we still asking for something that Jesus told us was the right answer 2,000 years ago? Well, the key is in the very next verse, and it's the very first word. Luke 10, verse 29. But, but, but the Lord The lawyer, wanting to justify himself, says to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? The lawyer asks who's my neighbor because he's looking for a loophole. Who can I eliminate when it comes to love? Who am I justified in ignoring? And in the story that follows the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is trying to communicate to the lawyer and he's trying to communicate to you and your inner lawyer that you're asking the wrong question. It's not who's my neighbor. The question is, am I acting neighborly? Are you acting in a loving manner? This story gives us three distinct ideas and probably many, many more. of comments on true love today with the goal of getting you involved in our dream team here at the church. Point number one is this. Love sees people's inherent worth. Now, what does that even mean? When I say inherent worth, I'm referring to the intrinsic, built-in value that every single human being possesses. It is a permanent, listen, an unchangeable characteristic. In other words, no matter what a person does in their entire life, they still have inherent worth who can say amen. Unfortunately, everyone doesn't believe this. Many people, like the thieves that we're about to encounter in the very next verse, only value another human being based upon what they can do for them. And if I don't get any from you, then I don't have to love you. I don't have to value you. I don't have to protect you. This afternoon, right after the service, we're going to do a walk for life out here on the 301. And we're going to be praying for the unborn babies for an hour. But I hope that you will continue to pray for not just the babies, but the mothers who are making these abominable decisions to abort their babies. Because what they are saying is, this baby is meaningless to me. And what they should be saying is I value them because God values me. Who can say amen? That's what needs to be communicated. But Jesus begins this story in verse 30 and he says a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves. They stripped him of his clothing. They wounded him. They departed. and they left him half dead. Jerome, one of the early church fathers, called that road from Jerusalem to Jericho the bloody way. And the reason it was described that way is because especially at night there were bandits lurking around every corner and it was dangerous. You shouldn't go on that road by yourself especially. And what he's trying to communicate in this particular verse, Jesus is saying these men, these did not recognize the man's inherent worth. They only recognized his net worth and what they could get from him. People are not objects to be used. Who can say amen? People are not objects to be used. The robbers lurked. The robbers identified a mark and they ran right over him. took his very clothes off of his back. If he had any jewelry, they stole all of that. I'm sure they took his walking shoes along with it and left him half dead. Now, most of us will not identify with the robbers. We'll say, I would never do anything like that. That's not who I am. But the question isn't, are you willing to rob somebody? The question is, do you use other human beings for your benefit? The question is, do you use people that make you happy? Do you use people to get ahead in business? Do you use people to fulfill your own self-esteem needs? And if you do, this is called selfishness, and it is the exact opposite of love. A wealthy man was concerned that his new wife married him only for his money, and so he went to his wife and he said, hey, I gotta ask you a question. Would you would you still love me if I lost all my money? And she looked at him and said, honey, of course I would still love you. I would miss you, but I'd still love you. Sometimes we use our spouses. We use our parents. We use our children. And we're not supposed to use people. They're people. Luke chapter 10 verse 31. Now by chance, a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw the man on the side of the road, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side. I guarantee you that as they started talking, as Jesus started talking about the priest, all the people started thinking, yeah, this guy's going to handle the situation. And as soon as Jesus said that the priest passed by and the Levite passed by, they started getting uncomfortable. Because the priest represented the very best of them. And if the priest isn't going to do the right thing, how are we going to be able to do the right thing? Here's my question for you right now. Have you ever ignored another human being? Have you ever seen somebody in church and turned around and walked out the door? Have you ever seen anybody at the store and purposefully I was listening to Caleb this week. How many listen to Christian music ever on the radio? Okay. So I'm listening to Caleb and the morning DJs are Carlos and Amy. And Amy is repenting of her sin from that weekend because she says that I actually saw somebody from my church and I saw them at the supermarket and I knew I didn't have time to talk to them. So when I came down the aisle, I turned around and went around to the other aisle and got out of there as fast as I could. And she goes, am I a bad person? And Carlos goes, no, you're just normal. I just saw you at the store a couple of weeks ago and I ignored you. Well, listen, you could tell she was genuinely hurt. This wasn't a part of the shtick. This was real life. And he thought he was giving her a way out. When all he did is he told her that that weekend she meant nothing to him. She was only a problem to be avoided. And Jesus is saying that is not what people are. They're not problems to be avoided. But like the lawyer, we also want to justify ourselves. We want to make excuses. for why we do what it is we do. Maybe the priest is thinking in his mind, you know what? The thieves are probably still around here and I need to take care of myself. I've got children at home and since I've got kids at home, I better hurry on home to take care of my family. Maybe the priest was thinking I've been working hard all day long. It's been just slaving up there in Jerusalem, taking care of the needs of the temple and the people in the temple. And so God will give me a break if this one time I pass by on the side. He will forgive me. It can't be that big of a deal. Maybe the Levite as he was passing by he was thinking you know what I don't know what to do. The guy looks half dead to me. I'm not a doctor. I can't help this guy. I don't have any money in this particular circumstance. So there's no way God's going to hold me Here's the question. Does a half-dead guy have to reach out to us? Or should we be reaching out to them? I hear people say they didn't ask for help. Most half-dead people can't communicate, just so you know. Most half-dead people don't have the capacity to even know their circumstances. They need someone reaching out to them. Who are we as a church passing by. What Jesus is trying to communicate is that everybody is a treasure that needs to be valued. Every human being. Do you remember a couple of weeks ago I was teaching that you are a masterpiece? That Greek word from Ephesians 2, verse 10, Pastor Scott preached on it a couple of weeks ago. A poema or poema in the Greek language. That you're a masterpiece. You're a poem. You're a literary work of art. of some kind. God has made you unique. And we love hearing that. But if that's true of me, it's true of my neighbor. It's true of my children. It's true of my spouse. It's true of people in the other countries. It's true of people on the other side of the aisle. It's can say amen. So I want to make this point that everyone is beautiful no matter what they've gone through. Some people think they've sinned too much and that God couldn't love them or they've done too much evil. So I've got something in my pocket here. Yes, it's a $20 bill. Man, that's the first time that kid said anything in 10 weeks here. Okay, I whip out a 20 and I'm telling you, anybody in this front row want this 20? Okay, this young lady right here in the white shirt. Come here. Come on. So why do you want $20? Because I'm poor. Because you're poor. Okay, okay. Hey, that's a good reason. I'm poor too, so I kind of want it. myself, alright? But watch this, okay? I'm gonna crumple it up. I'm gonna throw it in the air. I'm gonna spit on it. I'm gonna grind my foot on it. Do you still want it? Listen, listen, listen. Why? Because it's still worth something. There you go. You can have a seat. Listen, listen, listen. It's still worth $20. No matter what it's gone through, no matter what's happened to it, it's still worth $20. And you are still a masterpiece in Jesus' name. But so are all the people who aren't in church this Sunday morning. So are all the people that are driving around, all the people playing golf, all the people who who don't even acknowledge that God exists, they still have the image of God in them. Who can say amen? So what's the problem? Here we are. We're Christians. We know the right answers. The lawyer gave the right answer. Love. Love God. Love people. Here's the problem. Love grows slowly. It doesn't grow overnight. It's not like a weed. be planted by the Spirit of God. And then the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. But it begins with love. Listen, listen. In telling this story, I'm convinced that the Good Samaritan had spent years becoming the loving person that he was. But the priest and the Levite still had a long ways to go. There's a companion Scripture here in 1 John 4, verses 17 and 18. 18 and 19. And listen to what it says. As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. In other words, I don't love perfectly right now. I only love partially. But the more I live in God, the more I read His Word, the more I spend time in prayer, the more I rub shoulders with the body of Christ, the more I serve, the more I give of myself, the more I will not just learn to love, but this love that has been planted in me by the Spirit of God, the more time it has to flourish and to grow and to blossom and to become everything that God wants it to become. And as a result, the Scripture says, so we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face God with confidence. Why? Because we live like Jesus here in this world. Now, what's it saying? It's saying that perfect love literally drives out fear. And our innate fear in facing a holy God is that we're going to be judged for our sins. But the more we live in God, we begin to grow in our understanding of mercy, our understanding of grace, our understanding of what it looks like to really love another human being. Don't be disappointed in your husband or your wife for about the first 40 years. Because it takes that long to really understand what love is all about. It takes time to begin to analyze those Scriptures and see how Jesus confronted sin, but He still loved the sinner and wanted them to come to the saving knowledge of who He was. He raised the sick. He healed lepers. He went around doing good works all the time just to show people how much God loved them. Who can say amen? That's what Jesus did. That's what we begin to do the more time we spend with God. So love drives out fear. I said that. People are naturally afraid of dying. That's natural. Yet my mother-in-law, during the last couple months of her life, I'm ready to go. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm looking forward to meeting my Maker. I'm looking forward to meeting my Savior, Jesus Christ. Why? Because over 84 years in her life, she had repeatedly experienced the grace and loving kindness of God. She knew God's love was real. She was living like Jesus here on this planet. in this world. So she's not afraid of death. She's not afraid of the judgment to come. Because she was loved. And when we start experiencing love to that degree, other fears begin to dissipate. They begin to disappear. Because love drives out fear. Fear of differences. Fear of being taken advantage of. Fear of rejection. Fear of not being loved back when we extend love. We don't have to receive it back any longer. Because we know that God loves us. Who can say amen? Luke 10.33 says, but a certain Samaritan. Please put yourself in the shoes of this first century group of Jewish people. They're sitting there listening. Jesus begins the story. A certain man. And then he mentions a priest. Then he mentions a Levite. He mentions the robbers. gets robbed. All supposed Jewish people. And then all of a sudden he says, but a certain Samaritan. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. They were despised by the Jews. And here Jesus is making a Samaritan the hero of the story. Just to help you to understand the disdain just a little bit, look at this map that I have up here. the screen. And so if you were a Jewish person and you were in the area of Judea, which is on the south end of the map, and you wanted to go to Galilee, which was at the north, you would typically not go through Samaria. And the reason is, is you didn't want the dirt or the dust of that land even on your boots. So what they would do is, let's say they're over here at Jaffa, they're on the coastline, they would walk all the to the Jordan River. Then they would go on up north, past Samaria, and then they would cross at the Decapolis somewhere and get in the area of Galilee. They would go miles out of their way because they disdained this people group so much. And Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero of the story. What's he trying to communicate? That love dismantles prejudice. That true love is not racist in any way, shape, or form. And once we begin to understand that all people are valuable in the eyes of God, it begins to break down that inner lawyer that's on the inside of us. And love destroys our tendency to judge other human beings so harshly. Now please understand what I'm saying. We make value judgments all the time. And many of those are right. It's okay to judge inappropriate behavior and point it out that it's inappropriate behavior. I already did that in this sermon when I was speaking about abortion. Abortion is wrong. So that judgment is not being judgmental, just so you know. Being judgmental is when you believe you understand the motives behind what the person's doing. where you make assumptions about who they are or what they've experienced in life and you might not have any knowledge whatsoever. It's saying, you know what? I'm not going to give any money to this homeless guy because he put himself in that situation. But a loving person would say, even if he put himself in that situation, how can I help remedy this problem? and rather than blaming them for having a lack of self-control, it's saying, is there a way that I can serve or minister that will make a difference in this person's life? That's what love does. It removes the judgmentalism. And here's the reason why. If but for the grace of God, there go I. I'm just as susceptible to sin as they are. I'm just as likely to fall as they are. I oftentimes am my own worst enemy when it comes to love. And so finally Jesus points out that the Samaritan is a man who is looking to make a difference in people's lives. And that's because love is always looking. It's always proactive. Love is searching for someone to care for. Love is on the hunt to alleviate suffering in the world. world. Everyone saw the innocent man. Okay? The thieves saw him. But they didn't see a person. They saw an object to be used. The religious leaders didn't see a human being. They saw a problem to be avoided. But the Samaritan saw a treasure. Someone in need and worth his time and his efforts. He decided to form his own neighborhood watch of one. And his neighborhood was going to be the entire world, even his enemies, those who despised him. Three final things as we conclude here. Number one is this. Love is looking to share out of the overflow that's in the heart. The word for compassion here in this verse is, and please forgive me, I'm going to mess this up, it's splagnigzomahi. Splagnigzomahi. And I know I didn't pronounce that right, But it is a long word. And this is what it means. It means gut level compassion. Not hallmark card compassion. Not clicking a sad face emoji on Facebook compassion. It's the kind of love that hits you in the gut and moves your feet to action. Luke 10.34, here's the response. So he went to the man and he bandaged his wounds. He poured on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal. And brought him to an inn. And took care of him. Love is looking to jump into action. John says it this way in 1 John 3.18, Let us not love with words or tongue, but with action. And when it says words or tongue, it means only. Faith without works is dead. Because positive words do make a huge difference, do they not? driver was driving for hours and he decided that he needed something to eat. So he pulls his truck over at a diner and he gets out. He runs in. He sits at the counter and the waitress comes up to him and says, how can I help you? And he said, well, I need something to eat and I, so I'll have the lasagna and a few kind words. And she said, here are my kind words. Don't eat the lasagna. Yeah. So my mother-in-law, I had the privilege of working with her. I was on staff for her, and then she was on my staff later on. And we grew our church in Las Vegas from a few hundred to a lot of hundred. And so I was intrigued. Why are people coming to the church? Why are people staying at the church? Is there anything that happened that convinced you that this is the place that you should make your church? And so I sent out these surveys to a bunch of people. And I was shocked by the amount of people who responded. The reason I came back to your church was this woman by the name of Helen Gorey who would talk to us out in the hallways. My mother-in-law showed the love of God to people who at times weren't very lovable. But she always was there for them. She always had a word of encouragement. She always had some kind of answer where they were going through something and she would say, we can do this, we can do this, we can do that. It got to the point where we heard it so often that the staff started playfully calling her St. Helen. Not because she exploded like Mount St. Helen, but because she was a saint. She was just a beautiful person inside and out. Practical acts of service are another thing that are so important. As you can imagine, Robin and I have had a challenging week. You know, I'm trying to write the message and I'm trying to write my Sunday school class that I have today. And Robin's at her mom's house going through dresses and jewelry boxes and shoes. and trying to figure out, what am I going to do with all this stuff? Do I want to do anything with this stuff? And then we drive all the way home. We get home Thursday. And we don't even care about eating. We're not hungry. Last night, someone from the church brought Olive Garden over to our house. And you might think, oh, that's nice. You just don't get it. It was way more than nice. Okay? Because Robin and I would not have eaten dinner last night had they not brought that food over. I wouldn't have wanted to inconvenience my wife because of what she's going through. She probably wasn't even that hungry to begin with. So we probably would have gone without food last night, which is no big deal, okay? But it might have affected the way I preached my message this morning. probably would have affected my strength having to teach three times in a three and a half, four hour period. But I don't have to worry about that because it was the best Olive Garden I've ever had in my entire lives. Well, I'm asked, is it better than steak and shake? Here's the deal. I'm not complaining. But sometimes their breadsticks come out a little bit. a little too doughy for me. Okay? But Robin turned the broiler on just like her mother, and she put those breadsticks underneath the broiler, and they were perfection. So I had soup, I had salad, I had enough nourishment to literally springboard me into my morning. And to be honest, this has been one of the best Sunday mornings I've had since I've been here. And it's because of the love of people in this church. Powerful acts of kindness. Let me end with this story. If you're familiar with Pastor Tony Campalo, he wrote a book a few years ago about an experience he had going to Hawaii, where he was a guest speaker. And when he got there, he still had to work on his message. So at like two, three in the morning, he started wandering the streets and he found this location that served food but it also served alcohol okay and so he goes on in there to get something to eat and and while he's there all of a sudden one lady comes in a second lady and before he knows it he's kind of surrounded by eight to nine ladies of the evenings prostitutes and he's kind of listening to what's going on and one of the ladies says And one of the other ladies basically says, who cares? You want a brownie? You want a cookie or something? And the girl said, well, no, you don't have to be so mean. So the eight or nine girls walk out the door and Pastor Campalo goes on over to the bartender and says, do those girls come in here every night? And the bartender said, yeah, every night those girls come in here. He says, I've got this idea. He said, why don't we give that one girl a surprise birthday party? And the bartender's like, okay, I'm in. I'll bring the cake. What are you going to do? And he said, I'll take care of the decorations. And so he went to the store when the daylight arrived and he bought streamers and balloons and a card and had everybody in the bar and the restaurant area sign the card. And when she walked in the door, they all sang her happy birthday. And she started crying because someone had remembered her birthday. Well, when all the girls finally left, the bartender looked at Pastor Campalo and said, I didn't know you were a pastor. And he goes, what kind of church do you pastor? And Pastor Campalo said, I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3.30 in the morning. The bartender sneered and said, no, you don't. There's no church in the world like that. If there was, I would join it. Listen, I want to be a church like that. I want to be a church that reaches to the lowest people in the community. I want to be a church that doesn't bypass someone in my walkway simply because I'm ill-informed, unprepared, don't know what to do. I want to be a part of a church that truly loves. Because what the world needs now is love, sweet love. Would you stand with me, please? Today you have one more opportunity to sign up for the Dream Team. I'm so proud of this church. that there was a small group of people who signed up to be dream teamers or volunteers here at the church. And this year, we've already had somewhere around 150 people sign up for ministry. I know everybody wasn't here last week, and so we have the tables there in the lobby for your availability. If there's something that you could sign up for, whether it's the 90-day prayer challenge. I'm asking everyone to pray just for 90 days for Robin and I. You might say that's selfish, but we need your prayer as we go into this new calendar year. So for 90 days, the rest of this year, I'm just asking you to pray for Robin and I. But there's dozens of other ministries you can be involved in. So would you bow your head just for a moment, please? Heavenly Father, I thank you. Thank you for a group of individuals that is to the word of God. I appreciate the willingness of everyone to get involved. And whether that is an articulated ministry here at the church, whether this is something that an individual or a couple has been doing their entire lives, or whether it's something new that you're birthing spontaneously in this moment, Father God, I pray that all of us would be willing to share the love of God in new dimensions, in new ways, Father God. in ways that will literally make a difference in this world. I pray this in Jesus' holy and precious name. And together, everybody says, amen. Would you sing along with the worship team, please?
