Thank you, C.J. I chose to be here. Nobody forced me. He's a pretty persuasive guy, but I really really wanted to be here and therefore the opportunity arose

and I snatched it and I'm thankful for it. I wanted to be

here because I am excited about what what God is doing in this church plant. I've been following it from a distance and I'm

thrilled with what is in the offing here in the mix of this city. I'm excited to be here secondly because I love sovereign grace

and what God is doing in it

across the country and the world.

And most emotionally significant,

I'm glad to be here because

CJ is right.

He is my friend and he has meant a lot to me over the years

both at the

preaching and professional life,

though nobody in the ministry is a professional.

But even more at the personal family level of caring.

So, real easy for me to stand here and be with you.

It's what I want to do.

And I said to him when I walked in I'm pumped about this message.

I love the word of God. I love to preach and I love this book and I'm going to talk about this book because

it matters that this church plant relate to this book in a certain way.

Think about it a certain way, feel about it a certain way.

And so let me read the text.

So if you have your Bible, let's go to 2 Timothy 3 and I'll read

...