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I’m going to invite you this morning to Acts. Chapter six is where we’re going to be together today, Acts chapter six. And I want to tell you, as a church, one of the things that I, I really appreciate about going through the book of Acts, especially as I consider where we are as a church, as a nation, is this is a very refreshing book of the Bible to encourage God’s people in every season of life, and especially in adversity. We have this tendency within us. It’s just part of human nature. I’m not saying that this is a godly thing. I’m just saying this is the way that we think sometimes is when we go through adversity, we we often look at our adversity as a moment that we’ve just got to kind of push the pause button on seeing things move forward in life in order to get past the hump of life, to get back to, you know, living for Jesus and seeing God do great things. But the Book of Acts is really a book that challenges us in the midst of that. And the reason I say that is because when you look at the end of chapter five and you look throughout all of chapter six, what you discover is here’s the early church in the midst of tension. But yet God is doing some incredible things. In fact, at the very last couple of verses, last two verses of Acts chapter five, Pastor Lincoln shared this with us last week.
But you see the early church being persecuted. They’re told to stop teaching about the resurrection of Jesus. They refused to do it because they tell us they would rather obey God than men, and they continue to proclaim Christ. Well, the leaders of that day bring the disciples and put them on trial. And because they refused to talk about Jesus, they beat them for proclaiming Jesus. And the disciples run away rejoicing. Now for most of us or all of us, that’s counterintuitive to the way that we would often think, right? We think to yourself, if somebody beats me, I’m not going to be all cheery about it. That’s just not the way. Even if my football team loses today, I’m not cheering about that. And by the way, if you miss church because your football team is playing, Jesus is going to make sure your team loses. All right. That’s just I’m just kidding. I’m teasing. That’s not that’s not true. That’s not that’s not true. We know it’s not true because the Dodgers won yesterday. And that’s just Whatever. All right. Whatever. God’s not with that. I’m just kidding. That’s all that’s on the air. I’m sorry. If anyone watches. Okay. Okay. It doesn’t matter. Okay. So, so so all that to say, in the midst, I got sidetracked in the midst of challenging times. Right. I want you to know, often that is one of the most beautiful places for God to move.
And the book of Acts reminds you that again and again. And here’s how. Here’s how we know. When the early church is persecuted, one of the reasons they’re running away rejoicing is because that becomes a tangible moment for them to realize that the substance of their faith matters more to them than the temporal of this life, and even when it’s going to cost them. And it’s the same for you, right? It’s easy to say you’re a Christian when life goes your way, but but what comes out of you when you’re cut? Do you bleed, Jesus or not? And especially when we think about maybe even in your life right now, some of the difficulty that you might be going through. And we look at that and we’re like, man, I just want to survive right now. But but I want you to know, when you read the book of Acts, God has a plan that’s much bigger than just surviving. And in fact, the way Acts chapter six starts out is, is it says to us now in those, those these days when the disciples were increasing in number, I mean, here we are in chapter three. They face persecution. Chapter five, they’re facing it again. And we might think, you know, the result of that. Then obviously the church is going to shrink. They’re going through difficult times.
And, you know, I even think about that sometimes for us, like, to be honest when we look at attendance here at the church, I’m like, oh, we can’t grow anymore. I’ve been saying that for like a couple years just because we’ve we’re just a little pressed. Right. And then every year our numbers go up and I’m like, I mean, it takes a little bit as, as Americans, we like our comfort. We like our space. Right? There’s a I mean, there’s a little bit of not a lot, but a little bit. And being able to be a little bit comfortable in how we worship. And it’s just it’s a reminder of beautiful things that that God is doing here. And, you know, when you look at the early church and you see, you know, they’re going through persecution. And in the midst of that, rather than retracting, the church is growing. And we could say, well, how is that happening? And let me just tell you, one of the ways that we we we just see the reason this is happening for the church is because when people are being pressed for the sake of Jesus, they’re demonstrating substance to who they are in Christ. And people see the reality of that. And they think, man, I want that. They have something that transcends the difficulty of what they’re going through, and it’s real. There’s substance to that.
And I think that that’s putting a fire under the rear ends of people in the first century, and they realize I don’t have what they have, and I want that. And, you know, when I think about our country today. I think that we are heading nowhere fast as a nation like the trajectory that we’re on. But with the trajectory that we’re on, there is a growing hunger in our country right now. And I think that that growing hunger is even exacerbated here in Utah. I have I’ve lived here for 20 years. I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere. Utah is home for me. I love living here. I love the people here. And in my 20 years of being here, we’re seeing more people desiring to know Jesus in the last couple of years than really the other 18 years combined. And I think the reason for that is people know that there is some brokenness and they’re looking for answers. And can I tell you, the best way to show substance to your faith is being willing to pay a cost, because Jesus matters more. I was reading an article this morning that said last year in our country, Bible sales were up 22%. And this year in our country, Bible sales are up 36%, which I thought that’s that’s amazing. But then when you realize you can just download it for free, the fact that it’s up at all is phenomenal, right? Like, and I’m not saying if you study the Bible on your phone, that’s that’s fine.
You know, but I think it’s convenient for Sundays. But there’s something about just getting it in your hand, marking it up, even getting a study Bible, reading the notes. And but but it’s saying to us that in the midst of challenging times, people realize that there’s a need there. There’s a longing in their soul that they they can’t fill. And who better to to demonstrate it than God’s people and and what better time to do it? Get this. Not not just when it’s easy, but even when it’s hard. I think one of the most beautiful times to do it is in the midst of adversity, because it’s showing the substance of what is in you, because of the Jesus that you have in your life. And so when you look at chapter six, this is what we’re seeing with the church. We’re actually seeing at the very beginning there. They’re increasing in number. But you’re going to find that the second half of verse one that they have trouble. Let me skip ahead here. They have trouble within and trouble without. Trouble within is described the second half of verse one. Trouble without is described verse eight to verse 15, the pressure from the outside. But in verse one it tells us a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in daily distribution.
Now there are some problems that we get that are good problems, and there are some problems that we get that that God can use them for good. But at first they don’t feel good. And I would say sometimes the pain from within can can be can can they they can be trouble. Right. But but they can be good troubles. Right. Like trying to find a seat for people. Like that’s a wonderful complaint to have. Right. I just think thank you, Lord, for what you’re doing here. Right. As we’re growing as a church. Just so rejoicing in that. And you know, as a church, we want to belong to things that have life. We want to belong to something that’s making a difference. And it’s fantastic. It’s it’s encouraging. It’s it’s it’s inspiring to see that. And and it makes me excited. Like every Sunday morning you’re like, what new person are we going to meet today? I don’t know, but it’s going to be great. Let’s go do that. Right. Let’s let’s see how God’s moving in the hearts of people and what God wants to do, and not just new people like you. Old people too. I love you as well. I don’t mean in age, but I just you’ve been a part of ABC, and you’re a part of the meaningful difference that God is making here. And all of that is is fantastic.
I mean, you think about when the way God designed us from the beginning in the Garden of Eden, one of the interesting things I think sometimes we we perceive the creation story a little bit backwards. And what I mean by that is we often think God when he when he designed the world, he designed, you know, everything. And he created animals and birds and humanity in the Garden of Eden. And and then he. And then he. He tells us go after. Right. Like be fruitful, multiply and subdue it. But one of the things I think is very interesting to consider about our design is the order by which he created humanity. And then the Garden of Eden. He tells us this twice in Genesis chapter two. But the verse that I threw up here is verse 15. But when he created humanity, he actually made Adam first, right? And then Eve. But when he made Adam, he didn’t make the Garden of Eden until he first made Adam. I think sometimes we might think God made the Garden of Eden, and he put Adam in that. It’s actually the opposite of that. God made Adam, and then he created the Garden of Eden. And I think part of the reason was this God was saying, look, I’m Adam, I’m going to do something here. I don’t want you to screw this up. I want you to see it first before you go into it.
This is this is kind of like, I feel like what my wife says to to myself and the four boys that she she runs in the head of our home, right? Like she creates this beautiful little garden for us in the house. It looks wonderful. And then we come in and we kind of mess it up. And it doesn’t matter with our guys how much we look at, try to try to do things we can never do as well as she can. It’s like, this is a god with Adam. He’s like, here’s the Garden of Eden, Adam. And then he takes Adam after he’s created him and he puts him in the garden. And when God created us in the beginning, he created not the garden over the whole world, but he created a garden in the part of the world. And then he says, I want you to take this garden, and I want you to multiply it throughout the earth. And Adam, in this moment, he’s really representing the priesthood. And what that means is Adam has this direct connection to God. He’s living in direct relationship with the Lord. And when God told him to take the Garden of Eden and expand it, what he’s what he’s saying is, I’ve made you for relationship with me. And as you know me, I want the blessing of me to flow through you, that the substance of who I am is made known in this earth.
As you expand my glory around the planet. And it’s the same for us today. Now the difference between us now and Adam and Eve is that now we have the curse of sin. And so. So we’re dealing with the the thorns and the conflict that arise. But God calls the same for us in this world that we represent him. And as God transforms us, we impact the world around us, or at least we should. And even in adversity, maybe we should say, and especially in adversity, the way the glory of God is made known in the early church. There, there, moving forward in the call that God has given them. And they’re seeing the impact that’s made in the world and not despite adversity, but actually in adversity, because the substance of Christ is made known in their life, and the people around them are seeing the substance of what they are as Christians. These people really mean it. And what Jesus has done in them really matters. And what they have is, is transcending the struggle of this world that I want to belong. And so people are are becoming a part of that and as as they’re becoming a part of that, they’re beginning to expand. And as the church is expanding what their understanding is with expansion comes responsibility. And it’s the same for us.
And I think as you just naturally grow in this world, the older you get, the more responsibility you have. Sometimes when you’re young, you just can’t look. You can’t can’t get past wanting to to grow older. And then when you’re older, you’re like, I want to be a kid again, right? Because you got all the responsibilities. But, you know, one of the things that’s interesting as a child when, when you when you make mistakes as a kid, as a kid, when you make mistakes, there’s smaller consequences usually. And those become opportunities for you to learn. Because when you get older and you make mistakes, oftentimes the consequences are bigger. And consequences don’t just have to be bad things, they can also be good things, like we can make positive consequences for for our actions, right? But what you are intended when from a young age, to learn what it means to just nurture and grow as a human. And the same is true for you as a believer. And the Bible calls us as when we first come to Jesus as spiritual babes. But God’s desire is to nurture something in you that as God gives you more responsibility, that you continue to see your influence in Jesus make a difference in the lives of people around you. And here’s the early church doing this as they they discover this, this pressure within, this growing pains that they go through. And then they, they in verse eight start to discover the, the pressure without as people try to get them to conform to who they are and or what the world is, they want them to just submit to their authority.
But there there’s something greater happening in them that they’re they’re not bowing the knee to this. In fact, in the midst of these challenges, you get this sort of this summary idea in verse seven of what continues to happen as as the church sees some, some, some pain, growth within and and also without. And it says verse seven, and the word, the Word of God continues to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. I mean, that is incredible. And we come to to challenges and we see them as obstacles. But what God is saying is really what they are in him are just opportunities for his glory to be made known. And sometimes when we go through difficult times in life, like we look at our challenges, we think, man, I just want peace or I just want to survive. And then you read verse seven, you realize, man, God’s got so much more than just surviving that he took a moment that was difficult. And rather than just just get past the hump, they’re seeing the not only is this situation getting handled, but the church continues to grow and the glory of God made known through the community to the point where it’s saying that they greatly multiply in Jerusalem.
And even at the end of the verse that the priests are becoming obedient to the faith. The priests who are running the temple for for the Jewish religion are now submitting their lives to Christ and becoming believers. And that is amazing. I mean, you think even about maybe your life this morning, some of us might be thinking everything’s going great, job is going great, family’s going great, church is going great. That’s that’s amazing for you. If that’s you. But then some of us might be thinking, man, everything’s falling apart. My home, my marriage, my kids, my job. And I’m just trying to survive. And then you look at a section like this, and you realize that is often the catalyst God uses to do things far more glorious than we could ever ask or think that the greatness of God wants more than just survive. He wants his people thriving in every circumstances of life and him. Doesn’t mean it’s not hard, but it does mean that there is a God who helps us transcend with a greater hope in the midst of the temporal challenges we face in this world, to the point that when the substance of Jesus is made known in my life and adversity, it resonates in the hearts of people that they they long for something, they’re hungering for something.
And I, in the midst of this, get the privilege of demonstrating the glory of God. This is why the disciples rejoiced at the end of this chapter, or excuse me at the end of chapter five. And so this is why today we’re going to talk about staying spiritually healthy as challenges arise. And I know that was a long introduction. So please know I’m going to give you the answers here very quickly. But I think one of the most beautiful ways to think about the Christian life is really the the illustration we see in Genesis two and, and throughout the Bible, and the idea of gardening and even Jesus used parables and reflecting on the Christian life and relationship to gardening. And one of the reasons I think that’s important to think about is because, you know, for you and for me in our instantaneous generation of wanting everything. Now let’s microwave it in 30s. It’s done. I don’t I don’t know the well, it doesn’t matter. But we we we just want things quickly. We want to be pleased. We just want to know a plus b equals C. Give me the equation. Tell me what I need and let’s move on. But the Christian life is different than that. It’s more organic. It’s about learning what it means to walk faithfully in relationship to Jesus, and the substance of that relationship be made known in the way that I carry myself.
And so this, this, this thought that we’re talking about this morning is this is true for us as as individuals, when we think about God wants to do a tremendous work not only in me, but through me, even in the difficulty I might be going through in life. So trouble from within, maybe in the home, trouble from without, maybe even at work or or maybe to follow Jesus. There’s just challenges that are put on you because you want to follow Jesus, and people around you don’t want you to. Or maybe we even think about this collectively as a community when we’re talking about building a bigger facility. And and with more space comes more opportunity. And and with that, there will become moments of tension. But how will we navigate through that is important, because with that tension comes opportunity to honor Jesus with our lives. And so what does that look like now when the early church is facing this, this struggle here, here’s here’s something I think is important for us to think about. We have this tendency when we go through hardship to kind of retract to what’s most important. We kind of become primal because when life is going well, we’re kind of living in a luxury. We’re just appreciating all sorts of things. But when when things get hard, we kind of we kind of retract to, okay, let’s get back to the basics.
What’s most important, because this is going to define who we are. This is going to carry us through. And this is exactly what the early church does. This is one of the reasons why, when I read the Bible some of my favorite passages are passages like John chapter 13 to 17. Jesus’s final moments with his disciple, or one of my favorite epistles is the Book of Second Timothy that Paul writes to his his young protege Timothy, that he’s been discipling over these years because Paul knows he’s about to die. And the final words he’s sharing, you just kind of read that thinking, what are the what are the thoughts that Paul just wants to get to the cross and his and his final moments are Jesus wants to say to his disciples in the upper room in Acts chapter six, as the church is facing this struggle, they’re they’re kind of coming to that place of saying, look, this, this is what refines us. This is critical for us, especially when we think about the way God wants to use us in life, and particularly in challenging seasons. So what is that? Let me give you some quick answers here. Number one is this Revere God’s Word and pray. Revere God’s Word and pray. And you see in the verse two and in verse four the leaders of the church emphasizing this, It says verse two, and the the 12 summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables.
And in verse four. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Now in the church, they recognized a need, and it was wonderful. They wanted to serve the need, but they’re also recognizing that sometimes good things can take our eyes off the great things. And sometimes doing a good deed can be wonderful, but never at the expense of what defines who you are, because you can get lost in the sea of doing and fail to recognize the beauty of what started the journey and what continues to grow you in the process. And for us as God’s people. That’s the Word of God. This is why we go through it verse by verse. As a church, I don’t just want to know God’s Word. I want to get it in me to refine my soul. So intellectually I do want to understand it. But deeper than that, I wanted to shape who I am. And so it’s important. It’s critical for my life to turn it in, in, in my being so that it becomes who I am. So that when I’m squeezed by the pressure of life, the beauty of Jesus comes out of me. It’s why for for me, I find it perplexing when I when I encounter people that tell me they’re Christian, but then tell me they don’t read the word, I think to myself, how does that how can that even work? Right? You have a God who desires to be made known in your life, who has made himself known through His word, but how can you follow a person that you don’t know? How can you follow someone without spending time with him? Right? And so the Word of God becomes a critical component of the life of the believer to understand who God is and who we are in light of that.
And prayer quickly follows it, because prayer is, is, is more than just us coming to God and telling him what we want. It’s us seeking God, asking him what he desires of us. Lord, help me know who you are. Lord, help me follow after you, Lord. Allow your word to just develop in the depth of my soul that it becomes who I am. And so the Word of God is central to the church is what we’re saying. In the midst of all the things we could get busy with. We don’t want to distract ourselves from this thing that’s intended to guide us. And more than that. Not only do they Revere God’s Word, but this next point is is duly important in relationship to the Word of God. It’s this be surrendered and wise.
Be surrendered and wise. Verse three. You see that it says, therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. Now here’s what they’re saying is like, here comes a challenging moment. How are we going to get through this challenging moment? Let’s look for people really surrendered to Jesus. Let’s find some leaders among us, life fully committed to Christ, that we can just get behind us as we move forward in these challenging times. And so he tells them specifically for this particular need related to the the Hellenistic Jewish widows, that that they they want to find some individuals for that. And this is the way they describe him, full of the spirit and of wisdom. The idea of full of the spirit literally means surrendered, right? In fact, I would say the idea of being surrendered and wisdom are interconnected to one another because Proverbs chapter nine verse ten says this the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Meaning, you’re never going to have the wisdom that God desires for you to have until you’re your surrendered to him. And what God’s desire for your life is for you to live for a purpose. And you discover that purpose as you walk in relationship with him. Meaning, the primary reason for which you were created is for relationship and God, and you will never fulfill or live out the reason for which you were designed until your life knows him is surrendered to him.
That’s why in Ephesians chapter five verse 18, it tells us every call, the life of the believer is to be filled with the spirit, which is another way of saying being surrendered to the spirit or being surrendered to the Lord. It’s to say on the throne of my life, rather than me. Sit there. I realize I’m created for the Lord, and so I surrender myself to his authority over me. God shaped me, and this becomes important in terms of the Word of God and prayer. Because if we don’t approach God’s Word with that heart of surrender, what will end up doing is prostituting the Word of God to serve me rather than surrender my life for his glory to serve him. And so surrendering is about the attitude that I’m carrying as I’m engaging the Lord in His Word. Prayerfully. And what happens in that is, is that God shapes me with wisdom, and wisdom becomes critical for us as believers and and learning how we navigate with the truth, and truth and wisdom are connected, but there’s also a distinction to them. Meaning truth is, is incredible in that it transcends you. Like in our culture, we like to say what’s true for you is true for you, which is a garbage. That’s not real truth, right? Like truth was truth before you.
And truth will outlive you. But hopefully you discover the truth because it should define you. And in so doing, you then learn how to apply the truth in what you’re going through in this life. And that’s wisdom. Wisdom is the application of truth. Lord, help me learn how to honor you in the season that I’m in. God, I just want to survive this moment. But, Lord, you have something far better planned. Lord, help me see your glory made known. God, thank you for the opportunity that I have before me to see the depth of my faith in the midst of these challenges. That’s wisdom. Right? And it’s really important to learn about surrendering to the Lord for for us as as believers and applying that that wisdom. Because the opposite of that is, as first Thessalonians five tells us, it says, do not quench the Holy Spirit. And sometimes God will make our work in our hearts, make our lives sensitive to things that we just need to address before him, surrender to him. And sometimes we ignore those things, and in so doing, we quench the spirit and our life becomes dull to the work that God really desires to do. And over time, we just kind of drift further and further away. But God’s heart for us is so much bigger. To see the beauty of of what he desires to do in our lives as as the glory of God would be made known.
And, you know, I think about doing ministry here in Utah and and seeing the beauty of what Jesus is doing among us as a church and knowing our best days are still in front of us. And God desires to do a tremendous work. If we would just lead in this way and find the glory of God made known to us as we seek his face as a community. Surrender to him. Walking wisely as the truth of God churns within our soul to transform our lives as we’re nurtured in his beauty, growing organically like the garden as it expands for us as a community and individuals. What what he desires to do. And, you know, one of the things that we’ve we’ve said from the beginning as a church that we we just we want to do over and over again is treat every soul precious to the Lord. I remember before we started ABC going to the over here to Wines Park and just praying before God and just saying, Lord you Lehigh seems like a difficult place to plant a church, but God, I’m going to be here until the day I die. I just want to serve you with everything that I have. And so, God, if you just bring one soul, you bring 100 souls, I don’t care. I’m going to treat every person like that one individual that just they they matter to you.
And because they matter to you, they matter to me. And one of the things that as a staff every Tuesday that we get the opportunity to do is we get to pray for needs. We talk about the next steps, where we’re going as a church, but we also take time to recognize, okay, who was new on Sunday? Who do we need to pray for? That was new here. Who did you get to meet? And just we just get to be thankful that God continues to do a work here, but we never want to lose sight of that. Every soul in this room matters to the Lord. Every heart in what you’re doing before God right now. It matters to him. It matters to us and the Word of God and surrendering to him crucial. So the early church walks through those things. Let me give you the last point, because I need to close here. But the last is this have compassion without compromise. Have compassion without compromise. And here’s what you see. Verse five. And what they said pleased the whole gathering. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nakamura, and Timon and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And it’s not easy to see that necessarily that answer of compassion without compromise.
But here’s what I want you to recognize as they’re listing off the names. The thing that’s important to to see in these verses is that every one of those names is a Greek name, not a Hebrew name. And the reason that’s important is because you remember in verse one the problem they were facing they’re trying to address is that the the Hellenist, the Greek speaking Jews are being neglected. And they thought, and they’re growing church, who better to minister to this need with compassion than the Greek Jewish people among us? And so the church, in order to minister well, chose the people among them who would be most compassionate to the brokenness of those individuals. Guys, can I tell you, for you, we all walk different paths in life, but those paths that we walk tend to shape who we are and the way that we care for those around us. Now, as human beings, we should care for everybody because we’re all made in the image of God and at the same time not take away the uniqueness of the path that you’ve walked and the way that God has shaped compassion towards particular people in your life in order to love them well in Jesus. The way the church is making this impact is through by going to the places where they’re most compassionate and caring for those around them.
That’s what these Greek speakers represent, and at the same time, they’re doing it without compromise. Even when you look at Steve and it tells you he’s a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, meaning he knows as he goes throughout this world, not everyone’s going to agree with who he is, and he’s not going to let it go because it’s defined who he is as an individual and therefore helps him better love those around him. When you look at the way the early church is just being refined in these moments, going, going back, retracting to these things that are most essential, that sets the precedent of who they are. It’s is what this is, what’s allowing them to move forward, even in adversity, that the glory of God would be made known. When you look at the end of this story and I got to end here, verse eight, it tells you and Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great, wonderful signs among the people. And in the midst of that, challenges arise. People come in and they persecute Stephen. And we’re going to look at Stephen next week. But they come in and begin to persecute him. They put him on trial. They make false accusations against him. But look at this in verse 15. And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
I mean, it’s telling you. It was apparent the contrast between Stephen and the world, the beauty of Jesus still being made known in his life in the final moments of his life. Guys, this should be the the truth of of us as followers of Christ. No matter the circumstance, it’s not going to change who I am. But I believe in a big God, and that big God wants to do more in our lives than just simply survive that. At the first century, this church thriving in conflict, God multiplying the community, he can do the same thing among us. I’ll close with this last statement. There’s an early church leader by the name of John Chrysostom. Chrysostom. And he. He was a leader in the fourth century, died at the beginning of the fifth century. And John, in the midst of persecution gave us this statement. He was martyred for his faith in the second exile, became so weak in his being exiled that he collapsed and died a martyr. But he said this this is the mark of the church. When the spirit makes many souls, one heart and one mind, and no one says that anything he has is his own, and they belong to the Lord. And even in challenges the beauty of who they were in Jesus made known. I want to make a difference in challenging times, refreshing your soul in the richness of who you are in Christ.