Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000590A
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00:01 Breath Of Life Ministries Presents:
00:09 B590 "It's Now or Never" 00:20 PB:"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 00:24 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 00:27 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 00:29 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 00:32 I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you"--what, everybody? 00:35 Aud.: Always. PB: "Even unto the end of the world." 00:40 I'm gonna challenge you today: It's now or never. 00:45 It's now or never. Father, bless us now, O God, 00:51 as we preach Your Word today. We need You. 00:56 We need the power of Your Holy Spirit, so Lord, 00:59 I know I have something prepared, but I need, 01:02 want and desire Your Holy Ghost to speak and have 01:06 its way today. So, Lord, do what You do, 01:10 and we'll stand back and say, Look what God has done. 01:14 Forgive us of our sins, and at the appeal time move, 01:18 we pray. In Jesus' name. Let everyone say amen. And Amen. 01:24 It's now or never. When we come to a new year, 01:32 we often talk about what God is going to do. 01:37 But today I'm not worried about what God is gonna do; 01:42 I know what God is gonna do. Today I want to 01:47 talk to you about what you're gonna do. 01:51 Are you hearing what I'm saying? You see, 01:54 in 2017, funeral cars ran every day. In 2017, 02:04 funeral homes had services every day. 02:09 Grave diggers dug every day. But God--but God!- 02:20 -in His grace and His mercy has allowed us 02:26 to still be here today. And let me remind you: 02:32 Most of us know that we're not here because 02:36 of our own goodness. But I believe somebody 02:40 knows we're here because of God's goodness. 02:45 And one of the reasons God has left us on 02:48 this earth for another year is because God 02:52 is trying to save us. [Aud. reaction] 02:55 PB: For some of us, if we had experienced death 02:59 in 2017, we wouldn't be saved; we'd be lost. 03:06 Now somebody should've shouted right there. 03:09 I tell you, we shout at the wrong time. 03:12 Somebody should've shouted on the fact 03:13 that you've got another year to work on yourself. 03:17 [Aud. reaction] PB: That you've got another 03:19 year to get your temper under control. 03:22 That you've got another year to get your 03:23 mouth under control. That you've got another 03:26 year to get your attitude under control, 03:28 get that addiction that keeps pulling you 03:31 down under control. You've got another year 03:33 to be the husband that God has called you to be. 03:36 Another year to be the wife that God has 03:39 called you to be. You've got another year, 03:41 somebody, to get your son back, get your 03:44 daughter back, get those kids back, 03:46 pull your family together. You've got another year- 03:50 -and it's now or never. Now, you don't have time 03:55 to worry about what's happening in somebody 03:56 else's house; you've got too much work in your own house. 03:59 [Aud. reaction] PB: To worry about what's going 04:01 on in somebody else's house. Do I have a witness in this place? 04:04 [Aud. reaction] PB: You've got another year 04:06 to man up and stop blaming other people for the 04:09 stuff that you did, that caused you to be where 04:13 you are today. It's nobody else's fault but yours. 04:16 Do I have a witness in this place? It's now or never. 04:20 But not only that, let me give you another reason 04:22 today why God has chosen to leave us on this earth. 04:26 You see, we've got one more year to not only be saved; 04:30 we've got one more year to tell somebody else that 04:34 they can be saved. Got another year to tell your family, 04:38 your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, 04:43 your loved ones that you serve a risen Savior; 04:46 that you serve an awesome God; that you serve a 04:51 company keeper, a cancer killer, a problem solver. 04:55 Another year to tell somebody that God is a heart fixer. 04:58 You've got one more year. And that's why the text says Go, 05:04 ye therefore, teach all nations. Baptize them in 05:07 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 05:10 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 05:12 have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, 05:14 even until the end of the world. You see, many times in life, 05:17 I find that we sit back and put the responsibility 05:20 of redemption, rescue, salvation, and deliverance 05:24 all on God. And we sit back passively and watch 05:28 and turn everything over to God and miss out on 05:31 what God expects from us. But if we're gonna be 05:34 effective in this world, we must take action. 05:36 Yes, God blesses what you do, but you've got to 05:40 take action. And it's against this backdrop that 05:43 this text speaks to us today. Now, we often read 05:46 the gospel Commission and the closing verses of 05:49 Matthew 28, but we don't read the first verses of 05:52 Matthew 28 in order to get the context of the 05:55 closing verses. But Matthew 28--if you look at 05:58 it carefully--it begins by telling us about two women. 06:02 How many women, everybody? Aud.: Two. 06:04 PB: How many women, everybody? Aud.: Two. 06:05 PB: Two women: Mary Magdalene and the 06:10 other Mary, which means Matthew has his own 06:14 version of Mary Mary. I wish I had a witness in this place. 06:18 [Aud. reaction] PB: Mary and Mary went to the 06:21 tomb where they had laid the body of Jesus. 06:24 The Bible says in Matthew 28, verse number 2, 06:27 if you look at it, "And, behold, there was a 06:29 great earthquake." A great what, everybody? 06:30 Aud.: [indiscernible] PB: "For the angel of 06:32 the Lord descended from heaven, and came and 06:34 rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it." 06:36 Now, friends of mine, if you read the Bible correctly 06:39 and you let the Bible speak for itself, you will 06:42 discover surrounding Jesus' death, burial and 06:44 resurrection, in all of the four gospels--Matthew, 06:47 Mark, Luke and John--you will discover three major things. 06:51 Number one, you will discover that Jesus died on Friday; 06:55 that He was crucified on Friday, the sixth day of 06:58 the week, and that's the preparation day. 07:01 Number two, you will discover that it's on the 07:03 seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, that His 07:06 body lay resting in the grave, which means He was 07:09 obedient to His law even in death. Then number three, 07:14 early Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, the first day 07:19 of the week, Jesus rose with all power in His hands. 07:25 But not only that, if you study the context surrounding 07:27 Jesus' death, burial and resurrection in all of the gospels, 07:29 you will also notice that when Joseph--everybody say "Joseph." 07:33 Aud.: Joseph. PB: Joseph was the undertaker, 07:34 according to Matthew 27:59 through 61. 07:38 He had taken the body of Jesus, wrapped it 07:40 in clean linen, laid it in his own new tomb, 07:43 rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, 07:46 and then departed. Who was there? These same 07:50 two women. Mary Mary. Mary Magdalene and the 07:56 other Mary. Mary Mary. Mary and Mary were at the cross, 08:02 in Matthew 28:56. Mary and Mary were at the tomb 08:07 in Matthew 28, verse 61. Mary and Mary were 08:11 the last ones at the crucifixion, and Mary 08:14 and Mary were the first ones at the resurrection. 08:18 Now, in Matthew chapter 27, verse 60, 08:21 Mary Mary saw Joseph roll the great stone in 08:25 front of the tomb. Listen to me good. 08:27 But in Matthew 28:2, they saw an angel roll 08:32 away the stone from the tomb. Let me repeat that, 08:37 somebody didn't get that. Joseph rolled a stone 08:41 in front of the tomb, the undertaker, in Matthew 27. 08:46 But an angel rolled the stone away from the tomb, 08:50 in Matthew 28. Somebody's still not getting it. 08:54 Let me try it this way: It took a man to roll 08:58 the stone in front of the tomb, but it took a 09:02 miracle to roll the stone away from the tomb. 09:07 Mary Mary walked up on an earthquake, an angel, 09:12 and an announcement, and in verse 6 of Matthew 28, 09:16 the angel makes an announcement. Look at it. It says, 09:19 "He is not here; for he is risen." He is what, everybody: 09:22 Aud.: Risen. PB: Risen. Stop there; 09:24 that's the first sentence. He is not here; 09:27 but he has what, everybody? Aud.: Risen. 09:29 PB: Now, the next sentence in verse 6 gives 09:32 us a powerful picture of the way God works. 09:35 Don't miss it, because most of the times we 09:37 miss this picture, trying to get to the end 09:39 of the story, because we want to see how the 09:41 story ends, but we miss out on the lessons 09:43 in the story. The next sentence in verse 6 says, 09:46 "Come, see the place where the Lord"--what, everybody? 09:52 Lay. Come see the place where the Lord, what, everybody? 09:55 Aud.: Lay. PB: Now, understand, the word "lay" 09:56 in this text is in the past tense. It's not the 09:59 present tense but the past tense, which means the 10:03 text doesn't say "lays"; the text doesn't say "is laying"; 10:09 but the text says "lay." Past tense. Somebody's 10:14 gonna get this in a minute. The angel, which is 10:17 Greek for "aggelos," which means "messenger." 10:20 So then the angel is nothing more than a messenger, 10:24 which means the announcement is simply a message. 10:28 So the messenger gives the message that the miracle 10:31 has already taken place. Past tense. Y'all don't get it. 10:35 Mary and Mary didn't see Jesus raised from the dead. 10:40 God had already done that. Which means, the miracle 10:44 had already taken place. You see, the way God works 10:49 most miracles, I've learned, in our lives is just 10:52 like that. We don't see what God is doing. 10:54 But God just lets us see what He's already done. 10:58 [Aud. reaction] We don't see how God is working, 11:02 but God just lets us see He has already worked it out. 11:06 I wish I had a witness in this place. Let me try 11:08 it this way: We don't see where the cancer went. 11:12 We just know the cancer is gone. We don't see where 11:16 the money came from. We just know the car note 11:19 has been paid, the house note has been paid, 11:22 the tuition has been paid. We don't see how the food came; 11:26 we just know there's food on the table. We don't see 11:31 the new house, we don't see the new Family Life Center. 11:34 We just know we're standing on new carpet. 11:37 [Aud. reaction] PB: We're standing on new tile. 11:40 We're looking at fresh-painted walls, 11:43 and holding the keys in our hands. 11:45 We don't see how God is working. 11:47 We just know God has already worked it out. 11:51 [Aud. reaction] PB: Mary and Mary didn't see 11:55 God raise Jesus from the dead, but God let them 11:58 see how He had already raised Jesus from the dead, 12:01 which means the angel didn't roll the stone away 12:05 in order for Jesus to get out. Let me say that again. 12:09 The angel didn't roll the stone away in order 12:11 for Jesus to get out. The angel rolled the stone 12:15 away in order for the women to see in. 12:18 [Aud. reaction] PB: God was letting them see 12:20 what God had already done. That should make 12:22 somebody shout right there. And when you look 12:25 back over your life, and you think things over, 12:27 what you will find out is that those places 12:31 where there were miraculous moments in your journey, 12:34 you really didn't see what God was doing. 12:37 You really didn't see how God was ___ somehow. 12:42 When you look back over your life, 12:43 you can see that the Lord has already done. 12:45 When you look back over your life, 12:46 you will see that God already worked it out. 12:49 When you look back, you will see that God has 13:02 already worked a miracle. When you look back, 13:05 you're able to say, If it had not been 13:07 for the Lord on my side-- [Aud. reaction] 13:09 PB: --what you have, you would never had. 13:13 What happened never would have happened. 13:16 The miracle in your life would have never 13:19 taken place, and where you are now has only 13:21 been made possible because of what God has already done. 13:24 [Aud. reaction] PB: The angel rolled away the 13:29 stone for Mary and Mary to see what God had already done. 13:36 The angel rolled away the stone for Mary and Mary 13:40 to see that God had already worked a miracle. 13:45 Now, the earthquake wasn't a miracle. 13:49 The earthquake was a molecular disturbance 13:52 caused by the breaking in of a heavenly messenger. 13:54 The messenger wasn't a miracle. The messenger 13:58 was simply coming with a message and making an 14:00 announcement about a miracle that God had 14:02 already performed. Don't get confused today and 14:05 start thinking that the messengers are the miracle. 14:08 Don't just fixated on the messenger and you forget 14:12 about the message. The messenger is not the miracle. 14:16 The messenger is bringing the message about the miracle. 14:19 Now, the rolling away of the stone is not the miracle, 14:23 either. It's just the means by which God lets you 14:26 and me see evidence of the miracle that God has 14:29 already worked. You see, the meaning of the message 14:32 that God's messengers bring is that God is rolling 14:35 away the stones in your life. [Aud. reaction] 14:38 PB: God is letting you see evidence of the miracles 14:41 that God has already made in your life. Let me tell 14:45 you something, friends of mine. I was reading a 14:46 story this week. God didn't get Jesus up to show 14:49 you how bad He is. God got Jesus up for you. 14:54 God worked a miracle for you. God rolled away 14:58 the stone so you can see what God has 15:01 already done for you. [Aud. reaction] 15:04 PB: The women, early that resurrection morning, 15:07 walked up on a messenger with the message about 15:09 a miracle that God had already worked on their behalf. 15:12 And when you come here on Sabbath morning to Oakwood; 15:15 when you come to commune with the Lord and be with God, 15:19 all I try to as God's messenger is to try to bring 15:23 you a message about a miracle that God has already 15:27 worked on your behalf. God has already healed your body. 15:33 God has already put money in your pocket. 15:36 God has already secured a job for you. 15:40 To that student that's here early: 15:41 God has already financially cleared you. 15:45 God has already closed on a house for you. 15:48 God has already mended your marriage. 15:51 God has already saved your son, saved your daughter, 15:55 saved your grandson and granddaughter. 15:57 God has already rolled the stone away and 16:00 worked a miracle on your behalf, 16:02 but unfortunately we don't realize it. 16:04 Because we're more interested in preserving 16:07 the message that we've made instead of 16:09 embracing the miracle God has worked. 16:12 [Aud. reaction] PB: But stop missing the 16:15 miracle because you're too fixated on the mess. 16:17 The message that God's messengers bring are this: 16:22 God is rolling away the stone. God is getting 16:26 those things out of the way that keep us from 16:29 seeing the evidence of the miracle that God has 16:31 already worked on our behalf. God sent Jesus for you. 16:35 God raised Jesus for you. God is sending Jesus 16:40 back to get you. Death doesn't stop the 16:45 message of God. Death doesn't stop the miracles of God, 16:49 and death can't stop the mission of God. 16:53 When you hear the message of God and when 16:56 you experience the miracles of God, 16:58 it's now time to pursue the mission of God. 17:01 But before we get to the mission of God, 17:03 in Matthew 28 towards the end, after Mary and 17:06 Mary have received the message from God and 17:08 experienced the miracle of God, it's important 17:10 to note that they followed the angel's or the 17:13 messenger's instruction to go to the disciples, 17:16 that tell them that Jesus had risen from the dead. 17:19 Now, you know the story. Quickly, as they run and 17:22 go tell the disciples what the angel told them, 17:24 Jesus suddenly appears in front of them. 17:29 Somebody knows He's an on-time God. 17:31 I wish I had time to talk about the fact that 17:34 when you hear the message of God, experience 17:36 the miracles of God, and go do the mission of God, 17:38 Jesus will meet you. Mary and Mary see Jesus, 17:44 and they fall down, the Bible says, and they 17:47 begin to worship Him. Because when you get in 17:50 the presence of God, all you can do is worship Him. 17:52 When they worshiped him--if you look at verse 10. 17:55 Look at it carefully. Look at all the nuances 17:57 of the text--when they worshiped Him, 17:59 verse 10 says He spoke to them. 18:02 What is that lesson for us today? 18:04 Somebody knows that when you worship Him, 18:06 that God will speak to you. When you worship Him, 18:10 He'll speak through a sermon. He'll speak 18:13 through a song. He'll speak through a Scripture. 18:15 He'll speak through silence. He'll speak 18:17 through prayer. Whenever you worship God, 18:20 God will speak. Jesus speaks to Mary Mary, 18:24 and He says in verse 10, don't be afraid. 18:28 Go tell your brothers to go to Galilee and 18:31 I'll meet 'em there. As Mary and Mary, 18:33 they obey Jesus, and they leave there, 18:36 because after the Lord speaks, it's time 18:38 to do what the Lord says. Do I have a 18:40 witness in this place? The temple police, 18:42 who had been guarding the tomb, run to 18:44 the chief priest to tell him that Jesus 18:46 is not in the tomb. So what happens? 18:49 A meeting of all of the Jewish leaders 18:51 is now called, and they decide to bribe 18:53 the temple police to say that they were 18:56 all asleep, and Jesus came during the 18:57 night and took the body of Jesus. 18:59 The leaders told the police, if the governor 19:02 asks what happened to Jesus or where Jesus is, 19:05 don't worry. We'll stick up for you and 19:06 everything will be all right. So the police, 19:09 fearful for their lives, accept the bribe and 19:12 they say what they're supposed to say. 19:14 They say what they are told to say. 19:16 The text says, if you read it when you go home, 19:18 that this lie was commonly reported among the 19:22 Jews until this day. Which meant that for several 19:25 centuries, this false account of the empty tomb 19:28 appeared in Jewish and pagan attacks on Christianity. 19:31 But I believe I've got a witness in this place 19:34 that knows no devil in hell can stop the purposes 19:37 of God, that a lie cannot live. I wish I had time. 19:40 Jesus meets the disciples in Galilee on the mountain 19:44 where He told them there He would be, and then 19:46 He gives them the great gospel Commission. 19:49 Go, ye therefore, teach all nations, baptize 19:55 them in the name of the Father, Son, and the 19:59 Holy Ghost. The message was heard. The miracle 20:03 was seen. And now it's time to execute the mission. 20:09 Fast forward 2,000 years. We've heard the message; 20:14 we've seen the miracle. And now it's time to 20:20 execute the mission. It's time to go. I don't 20:26 know how to preach--God says don't worry about 20:28 that--just go. I can't sing--don't worry about that. 20:34 Just go. I don't come from the right family- 20:38 -don't worry about that. Just go. I don't have 20:41 too much money. Don't worry about that, just go. 20:45 I've got a bad past. Don't worry about that, just go. 20:50 I haven't been in the Adventist church all my life. 20:53 Don't worry about that, just go. I don't have a 20:56 college degree, a graduate degree, a terminal degree. 20:59 Quit talking about what you don't have. Use what 21:03 you do have, and just go. Rather than concentrate 21:08 on the wrong thing, you've got to concentrate on 21:10 the right thing. Just go! Let me tell you something. 21:14 You've got to get to a point where you can see it, 21:18 say it, and then you seize it. I said you've got 21:24 to get to a point where you see it, say it, and you 21:30 learn to seize it. Seizing it means I claim it 21:33 before it's even in my hand. [Aud. reaction] 21:36 PB: Oh, that makes me want to shout right there, 21:39 because whenever God has told me something, 21:42 and whenever I begin to speak that thing in existence, 21:45 I can make claim on it even before it gets in my hand. 21:49 Oh, Pastor Byrd, what you talking about? You will remember. 21:53 We started the Family Life Center project before 21:57 we got the pledged donations. Before we got the 22:02 pledged donation from Irving Johnson. We had 22:04 already started saying we were gonna build a 22:07 Family Life Center. Before he came through, 22:09 God had already shown up. Don't wait till the 22:14 battle's over. You can shout now. But the 22:18 reason why some of us can't seize what God 22:20 has for us is because we speak ourselves out of it. 22:24 The power of life and death is in the tongue. 22:28 You've got to learn how to see it, say it, 22:32 and seize it. Everybody say it. Say "see it." 22:35 Aud.: See it. PB: Come on, say "say it." 22:38 Aud.: Say it. PB: Say "seize it." 22:40 Aud.: Seize it. PB: I'm talking about that job. 22:42 Ha ha. You've gotta say it, you've gotta see it, 22:45 you gotta seize it. I'm talking about somebody's degree. 22:49 You've got to see it, you've got to say it, 22:54 you've got to sei--I'm talking about breakthrough. 22:55 You've got to see it, you've got to say it, you've 23:00 got to sei--healing for your body. You've got to see it, 23:04 you've got to say it, you've got to seize it. 23:08 [Aud. reaction] PB: Deliverance from that habit. 23:10 You've got to see it, you've got to say it, 23:14 you've got to seize it. Tuition for your account. 23:18 You've got to see it, say it, seize it. Debt free. 23:24 You've got to see it, say it, seize it. 23:30 The Family Life Center. You've got to see it, 23:34 you've got to say it, you've got to seize it. 23:38 The three angels messages, going to the uttermost 23:42 parts of the earth. You've got to see it, say it, seize it. 23:50 [Aud. reaction] PB: Open up your mouth and say something. 23:54 [Aud. reaction] PB: That's why some of y'all never 23:55 going to get the miracle, because you never say anything. 23:58 But you've got to see it, say it, seize--execute the mission. 24:04 The world's not getting any better. Time is short. Hell is hot. 24:10 Death is sure. North Korea's president says he can push a button, 24:16 and with the press of a button he'll take out the whole United States. 24:20 The United States declares Jerusalem the capital of a 24:23 country he's not even president of. Some parts of Puerto Rico 24:27 are still in the dark. You've gotta execute the mission. 24:33 The time is out for putting on an outside show 24:37 for an unfriendly world. Time's out for doing things 24:40 we've always done. Time out for insular, insulated, 24:45 incestual ministry that reaches nobody but ourselves. 24:49 You hear me say it all the time: You can have an 24:52 incestual ministry. All you do is minister to each other. 24:54 The fruit of incest is always something retarded. 24:58 You've got retarded churches 'cause we minister only 25:00 to each other, not going out and carrying out the 25:02 gospel Commission. [Aud. reaction] 25:05 PB: It's now or never. If not us, who? 25:09 If not now, when? People are different now. 25:13 People are different, tired of centralized structures. 25:17 Tired of revelation without relevance. 25:19 Tired of religion without relationship. 25:23 Tired of fake, phony, plastic, comatose ministry. 25:28 Tired of coming to church getting beat up in the pulpit. 25:31 Tired of coming to church getting hollered at. 25:33 Tired of seeing the emphasis of policy placed 25:35 over the needs of people. It's now or never. 25:39 Let me testify one minute on this first Sabbath 25:41 of the new year. One of the great problems we have- 25:44 -listen to me--one of the great problems we have today 25:47 is that many preachers' vision is limited to the church. 25:52 They think that God sent them to the church and not to city. 25:58 Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. But when God sends 26:01 a great voice, it's bigger than a congregation. 26:06 A great voice will turn a city around, as Jonah. 26:10 A great voice turns around a nation, turns around 26:13 a generation. Some people think that God sent me to 26:17 this congregation, and I'm supposed to take care of 26:20 this congregation. Maintenance. But that's a myopic thought, 26:24 because when God sends you to pastor, He sends you to 26:28 pastor the whole city. He wants you to affect the entire area. 26:34 [Aud. reaction] PB: That's why our ministry must 26:36 extend beyond the four walls of the church. If we're 26:40 serious about Jesus' coming, we oughta act like it. 26:43 In fact, whether you're a preacher or not, 26:45 God sent you to your own job, Monday through Friday, 26:49 to affect the entire job you're working on. 26:52 God didn't just send you to that job to 26:54 make money, because God can give you money 26:56 without the job. I wish I had a witness in this place. 26:58 [Aud. reaction] PB: But you're on assignment there, 27:01 and it doesn't mean that you walk all day 27:03 with Bible in hand, Ellen White books in your hand, 27:05 Sabbath school lesson in hand, because it's 27:07 not in the way that you live, it's the way 27:08 that you love, because it's not always in 27:11 what you say but in what you do. 27:14 [Aud. reaction] PB: I told the people at 27:17 a different meeting Wednesday night, 27:19 as a church we have done a good job with worship. 27:23 I ain't just talking about Oakwood, 27:25 I'm talking about the collective Church. 27:27 You can go anywhere in the United States, 27:29 anywhere across this globe on a Sabbath morning 27:30 and you will find an Adventist church worshiping. 27:33 And they will have Sabbath school and will read 27:35 out of all the same Sabbath school lessons. 27:38 We'll have a decent sermon, decent music, 27:40 we have mastered that. But I'ma tell you where 27:42 we've got to improve. We must include, 27:45 improve in ministry. We've got to improve in service. 27:49 They will know we are Christians by our love. 27:52 The greatest sermon ever preached is the one 27:54 that is lived. We've got other churches in 27:56 this city; they have good worship. We've got 27:59 good worship just like them, 28:01 "Thank you very much for tuning into this 28:03 week's Breath of Life Broadcast. 28:05 We hope and pray that you have been blessed 28:07 by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 28:09 If you would like to hear this sermon in 28:11 its entirety, please feel free to visit us at 28:14 www.breathoflife.tv or call us at 256.929.6460. 28:23 Again, thank you very much for joining us, 28:27 - END - |
Revised 2018-01-16