The title of our sermon this morning is draw near to God in prayer draw near to God in prayer We're in part two as we're working through John chapter 16 verses 23 through 33 and we are intentionally Working slowly through this text because of the Lord's rich instruction here with respect to prayer with respect to prayer in this text He is exhorting his disciples in their context in their circumstances. He's exhorting his disciples Exhorting you and I to pray to draw near to God in prayer The disciples are about to live in the reality of What the Lord Jesus Christ calls that day in verse 23? He says In that day you will ask me nothing most assuredly I say to you Whatever you ask the father in my name. He will give it to you That day, right? It's a day when the Lord Jesus Christ would no longer physically be with them It's a day when they're gonna face doubts. They're gonna face confusion Tremendous adversity. It's a day when they're gonna face a ministry and live in a ministry Serve in a ministry for which they would eventually die.  We live in that day that day is still this day These days in which we live are the same days after the Lord has Died after the Lord was crucified after he was raised from the dead and after he ascended to the father Now we live in this same day these instructions this instruction this Admonition this exhortation and encouragement Also suit us in our day We don't have the physical presence of the Lord with us. We walk by faith not by sight We face our own difficulties and trials some of you this morning even today are going through significant trials Significant difficulties Paul said that it's through much tribulation that we must enter the kingdom of God So one time or another you're gonna go through hard times.  You're gonna go through trials and We just like those disciples did After the Lord's ascension of the father Eagerly don't we eagerly wait for the Savior and we pray Lord Jesus Christ, please come like come quickly But you and I just like these disciples you and I were given a commission We're given the ministry a work to do we have the commission to go into this dark and hateful world with the gospel And we're gonna face their hostility So in reassuring his disciples in encouraging them and encouraging you and I For that day so to speak the Lord tells them and tells us in verse 23 he says Most assuredly right how encouraging is this right if you're in Christ most assuredly I say to you Whatever you ask the father in my name. He's gonna give you verse 24 ask and you will receive that your joy May be full he exhorts them in this passage to draw near to God in prayer to approach God with the access that he's going to secure for them at the cross by virtue of who he is By virtue of what he's done what he is doing in other words were to draw near to him in Christ's name draw near to God in prayer now that serves Several purposes that we started looking at last week several purposes for prayer one So that they'll have what they need they're gonna go into this ministry and They need They depend upon God for all they need to accomplish the ministry that he's given them right so prayer serves the purpose of Them having what they need for Christian life and ministry. God is the one who supplies right God is the one who provides John chapter 14 verses 12 through 13 Prayer is the means by which God provides for them in the work that he's given for them to do John chapter 15 we looked at these texts last week verses five through eight It's the means prayers the means by which God causes his disciples to bear fruit Right, you need wisdom. Where do you go for wisdom?  I don't know my right hand for my left hand. God. Please give me wisdom, right? He's still working on that But he's faithful to answer prayers. He not You need strength. Where do you go for strength? You go to God that God who is our refuge and is our strength very present help in time of trouble You need faith. You need your faith strengthen. You need faith to face a trial. Where do you go for faith? Right be anxious for nothing Paul said but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your requests be made known to God Maybe you're here this morning This doesn't make any sense to you Because you've never turned from your sin to put your faith in trust in Christ.   You go to God? God is a source of salvation. You cry out with David. Oh Lord. I implore you deliver my soul I want to trust in Christ Bible says ask what you desire in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and it shall be done for you The Lord hears the desire of the humble. He prepares their heart Causes his ear to hear a Solomon said that the prayer of the upright is his delight That's an awesome thought isn't it? So one prayer serves the purpose of giving us what we need Lord providing what we need providing the Christian for What they need in service to him Providing the loss with salvation in Christ when he hears the prayer of a humble Secondly though biblical prayer exalts the son prayers here are Made in his name in other words in accord with this person in accord with his Kingdom his work his will and accord with his glory John chapter 14 verse 14 Jesus says if you ask anything in my name, I will do it We'll look at that more today Thirdly biblical prayer glorifies God John chapter 14 verse 13, whatever you ask in my name that I will do So that the father may be glorified in the sun And we pray don't we For God's glory if you're a genuine Christian you desire to see God glorified We talked about three components to that our father in heaven Hollywood be your name right your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is as it is in heaven But notice also if we consider those texts together and even our text today in John chapter 16 Notice also that it's not only prayer that exalts the son and glorifies God. It's specifically answered prayer, right? John 14 13 whatever you ask in my name that I will do so that the father may be glorified in the sun John chapter 15 verse 7 Ask what you desire and it shall be done for you by this My father is glorified that you bear much fruit John 16 24 ask and you will receive it's that Answered prayer that glorifies God exalts the son and brings joy to the believer That's fourth of the on the purposes for prayer that we discussed biblical prayer and specifically answered prayer Is a source of our joy ask and you will receive that your joy may be full How is it that prayer produces joy in the heart of a Christian? We're gonna look at that more today one for the Christian Especially when you go through difficulty when you go through trials and adversity knowing knowing that he hears you and That in Christ he hears you and you have that what you've at that what you've asked for not Sometimes not only in the way that you expect or even in the way that you want right now one person had said that prayers never come weeping home Either I get what I asked or I get what I should have asked Right you we trust God for that because God has promised us in his word But it also produces joy in the heart of a genuine Christian because that which glorifies God Causes joy for the Christian. Amen You're genuinely in Christ you want to see God glorified you want to glorify God with your life the three That which glorifies God the father and exalts the son is always good for God's people always good for God's people So that was the subject if you will of verses 23 and 24 as we were introduced to this segment in John 16 We covered on point one of your notes last week draw near to God in prayer because prayer in part point one is Provided for our joy. So now this morning We come to verse 25 right as we come to verse 25 We want to continue to inform our understanding. This is some of the richest texts in scripture with respect to prayer And how we're to understand prayer Want to get practical about it how prayer works how prayer glorifies God how prayer exalts the son How prayer in his name is answered We're going to look at beginning this morning. Look at how that's done And we want to continue through this text to stir our hearts and minds you and I in christ I'm just more compelled by this text. We must be People of prayer We have this glorious blessing that's been purchased by christ at the cross and sometimes we Are we are to be right when we are christians we live for the Lord? We're to be beggars There is much that we need we should be beseeching the Lord in prayer all the time right praying without ceasing But oftentimes our prayer lives betray a pride a self-reliance a presumption And we don't want that to be said of us. We want to be people of prayer Soul-enriching god dependent god glorifying christ exalting prayer And I want to exhort us from this text the lord jesus christ is exhorting us from this text So now as we come to verse 25 let's look at point two on your notes Point two on your notes a joyful fervent effective God glorifying christ exalting prayer life Is fueled by truth Fueled by the truth look at verse 25 with me These things the lord says I have spoken to you in figurative language But the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language But I will tell you plainly About the father now. How's that connected right? Biblical prayer fueled by the truth and then we have this statement from the lord in verse 25 What is he talking about here? These things he says verse 25 I have spoken to you in figurative language So the greek word translated their figurative language In this context means obscure It means enigmatic cryptic difficult to understand right the things that they've heard from the lord jesus christ to this point Has been difficult for them to understand fully on their side of the cross That side of the cross before his death before his resurrection There was much in what he said that they just didn't get in here in verse 25 the lord's acknowledging that fact Right the language with which I've spoken to you the things that we've talked about To this point have been obscure However verse 25 right The time is coming soon after his resurrection When his statements will no longer be obscure to them Between his interaction with them between his resurrection and the ascension And then between that and the giving of the holy spirit that is going to come soon A spirit who will work to guide them into all truth They're going to plainly Understand in light of the cross in light of the resurrection They're going to plainly understand the purposes and plans of the father in redemption through christ These things that he's speaking to them are going to become clear The example of that now that we have right here in our text is verse 20 look up at verse 20 The lord says verse 20 most assuredly I say to you That you will weep and lament But the world will rejoice And you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy Now that to them you can imagine right in their context that was obscure difficult to understand What is he talking about? Right enigmatic it was if you will this greek word translating figurative language And then he gives a parable an analogy to help them verse 21 A woman when she's in labor has sorrow because her hour has come But as soon as she has given birth to the child She no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world Now put yourself in their context in their shoes We can understand that analogy right of a woman having a baby. We talked about that when we looked at that text This teaching of the lord jesus christ obscure enigmatic difficult for them to understand on their side of the cross So he gives them this analogy to help them understand. They still don't fully get it right But once the lord jesus christ has been crucified and then has been raised from the dead They're going to get it. These things are going to become clear to them In that day these things will be plainly understood in light of the cross in light of the resurrection Now what does he mean verse 25? What does he mean by these things? there's a sense in which in verse 25 these things That he Is referring to the entirety of their conversation together everything that they're talking about right? There's a lot of things that he said that have been difficult to understand But part of that part of the these things is certainly The specific instruction that he's giving them right here with respect to prayer Right Now how do we get that we get that from the context? Look at verses 23 and 24. He gives a statement about prayer versus 23 and 24 in that day You'll ask me nothing Most assuredly I say to you whatever you ask the father in my name He will give you until now You've asked nothing in my name Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. They didn't fully understand the implications of all that We have now verse 25 that we're looking at together. Look at verse 26 Verse 25 settled in here between his statement on prayer and verses 23 and 24 And now his statement on prayer in verse 26 in that day You will ask in my name and I do not say to you that I shall pray the father for you For the father himself loves you because you have loved me and a belief that I came forth from god right verse 25 then Sort of sandwiched between verses 23 and 24 and this statement on prayer in verse 26 Becomes a clarifying statement. In other words, you're going to understand these things better later In light of the cross in light of the resurrection When they're able to see right the full scope Of god's redemptive purposes in christ Then these words and specifically here this instruction on prayer is going to make sense to you It's going to become plain in other words in that day When my words to you are no longer obscure When you more fully understand what all this means In that day, you're going to pray to the father and you're going to pray to the father in my name You're going to pray to the father with understanding You're going to pray to the father in light of the cross You're going to pray to the father in light of the resurrection. You're going to pray to the father in accord with truth right? You'll have access to the Father for all that you need to carry out the mission and the work that I've given you. You'll have access to the Father for help with the gospel preaching the gospel to a lost and dying world, right? You're gonna have this access to the Father in my name and He is gonna hear you and you'll have what you've asked for and in that day when you pray to Him in my name for what you need in this ministry and He hears you and answers your prayer your joy will be full, right? There's a new order coming. There's a new order coming. It's coming after the cross, after the resurrection. Jesus Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father now always living to make intercession for God's people. God's people then after the cross, after the resurrection, now living under the blessings and privileges of a new and better covenant. And one of those blessings is the fullness of God's revelation. One of those blessings is the fullness of God's revelation. God spoke in times past in various ways through the prophets to the fathers. Now He has spoken to us in these last days by His Son and God's full revelation now given to us in the person and work of His Son, all that contained right here in the Word of God, right here in the Word of God. That prayer, the prayer that they will offer up to God in His name in that day will be prayer that is fueled, understood, informed, and motivated by the truth of God in Christ. It's prayer with an understanding of those things that right now is shadowy to them, obscure to them.  Listen, that's the same understanding that you and I pray with today. We have the revealed Word of God, amen. There's no excuse for us. We see what Christ has done. Everything that He's paid for, we're gonna see it more today. Everything that He's paid for, purchased with His own blood on the cross, we should be a people of prayer. That truth is to inform our understanding, right? The Spirit of God works through the truth to quicken our heart, quicken our mind.  When you read the Bible and you're just caught up, like caught up into the third heaven with the truth of God in Christ, right? You love the Lord and that truth applied to our heart, applied to our mind by the Spirit of God should fuel our prayer. The psalmist says the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. That's right. Baptist Catechism, question 106. What rule have God given for our direction in prayer? Answer, the whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer. Now, what does that look like practically in the life of a Christian? How are we to apply that? How are we to understand it? What does that look like practically in the life of a Christian? For a Christian to pray that way, it looks like a heart and mind bathed in the truth of God's word. You want to pray in a way that glorifies God? Learn of God in His word. You want to pray in accord with His will, knowing that when we pray 1 John chapter five, right? Knowing that when we pray in accord with His will that He hears us and we have that which we've asked for, you want to pray that way? Submerse your heart and mind and scripture. Heart and mind fixed on who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ has done for us. When you come into contact with the God of the Bible through His revealed word, the spirit of God working in you through His word. When you come in contact with the Lord Jesus Christ in the way that He is revealed by God in His word, when you understand more fully the blessings that God has afforded you by His grace in Christ, are you going to pray? Absolutely you're going to pray, right? You can't help but pray and worship and praise God. So what does that prayer look like practically in the life of a Christian? First, truth will fuel prayers of worship, will fuel prayers of doxology to God. Truth is going to fuel your prayers of worship, the psalmist.  Every day I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation God shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works.  They shall utter the memory of your great goodness and shall sing of your righteousness, right? It's the psalmist, the art of the psalmist, just erupting in prayer of worship to God. It was Augustine who said that when the psalmist prays, you pray. When the psalmist rejoices, you rejoice. When the psalmist repents, you repent. When the psalmist is battling, you battle. How do you do that? You do that in prayer. Psalm 43, verse three. Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me.  Then the psalmist says, I will go to the altar of God to God, my exceeding joy and on the harp, I will praise you. Oh, God, my God, truth fuels your worship in prayer. Truth is going to fuel prayers of Thanksgiving. If you are bathed in scripture, you understand what God has done for you in Christ, then your heart will pray to God in Thanksgiving for all that he's done. Colossians chapter two, verse six. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, established in the faith there is established in sound doctrine, right? Establish in the content of our faith, the truth of God, established in the faith as you have been taught. And what are you to do having been established in the faith that you've been taught? You are to abound in it with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to whom? To God. In prayer, to Christ. You are to abound in it with Thanksgiving. The truth will fuel prayers of faith, fuel prayer. Let me give you an example of this. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 with me. Hebrews chapter 10. Truth from God's word will fuel prayers of gratefulness to God, fuel prayers of worship, doxology will fuel prayers of Thanksgiving and he will fuel prayers of faith in him. We see an example of that in Hebrews chapter 10. Look with me at beginning at verse 11. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 11. Here convincing these Hebrew Christians of the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks at the supremacy of the Lord's sacrifice over all those that went before. It says in verse 11. Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, verse 12, this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down at the right hand of God from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. Now what does this mean? For those who have turned from their sin now and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What does this mean for them? Verse 14. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. That should cause you to worship, man. Amen. Look at verse 14. The means by which Christ perfects his people in the sight of God is one offering of himself in a sacrificial death to save them from their sin. One offering of himself perfects the people of God. Those whom he perfects and makes righteous. Verse 14. He has perfected and made righteous forever, forever. That one verse, right? Those whom he has perfected are set apart. They are sanctified, set apart to God in him by one offering. He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Look at verse 15. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us. The Spirit of God also intercedes for after he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with him. After those days says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds. I will write them. Then he adds their sins and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there's no longer an offering for sin. Listen, verse 18. If you're in Christ, then you are clean. You are clean. If you're in Christ, you are forgiven. If you're here today and you're not in Christ, you have the filth of your sin corrupting you and defiling you and you are separated from the Lord your God. You have the filth of that sin, just corrupting and defiling every part of you. In the sight of God, you are an unclean thing. But when you turn from that sin, when you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, listen, you are clean. You are made clean in him. You are forgiven. Never. You'll never have to be concerned with ever making an offering to him for sin. Because that offering has been made. And now that one, that man who by one offering perfected forever, those who are being sanctified, that one stands at the right hand of God as your full and final offering. He is then, he is your righteousness. This is the truth. This truth is the truth that the disciples came to understand more fully after the cross, after the resurrection. It's a truth that you and I can lay hold of and understanding grasped onto because of God's revealed word. We can understand these things and it should provoke your heart and mind to worship God in prayer. What is to be our response to this? How are we to respond? Look at verse 19. Therefore, right? Therefore, if you cherish these truths, if you believe them, if they've made their way, the 18 inches from your head to your heart and you trust Christ for them, you believe these things. Therefore, verse 19, brethren, having boldness, having confidence to enter the holiest, the very presence of God by the blood of Jesus Christ by a new and living, a life giving way, which he consecrated for us through the veil. That is his flesh. In other words, he secured for us new access to God by shedding his blood in death by giving up his body on the tree. Verse 21, and having a high priest now, one mediator between God and then the man Christ Jesus, right? We have this high priest over the house of God Christ, our mediator Christ interceding for us. Then verse 22, then let us draw near. Amen. What's our response to these things coming to God? The whole redemptive purposes and plan, plans of God and salvation to redeem his people from their sin is so that God and men, his people could be together, could be reconciled so that we could rejoice and worship in his presence for all of eternity and God would be glorified in us. It's to bring back that reconciliation here. Let us draw near then. How do we do that on this side of the cross? We pray. We pray. We live according to his word. We obey him. We study his word. We know him through his word and we pray. We commune with God. Let us draw near. Verse 22, with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Doesn't that sound good? If you're living in your sin and to have your heart sprinkled from a wicked, accusing, evil conscience. What a great joy it is to have a clear conscience before God, right? Only possible in Christ. Only possible in Christ having your body to picture, right? Your body washed with pure, better than coming out of the Rockies, right? Better than that glacier water they sell for $3 a bottle. Your body washed with pure water. Just that filth coming off in Christ. All that filth. How are we to draw near? Verse 22, how are we to draw near then with a true heart? True heart means a heart without hypocrisy. A heart of complete trust, complete devotion to Christ. A true heart devoted to these things. How is it to be true? It's to be true with full assurance of faith, full assurance of faith. In other words, with conviction about these things, with certainty about these things coming to God without doubting, without doubting unstable, tossed to and fro. No, conviction with certainty. And all that flows from a spirit wrought understanding of what Christ has done for you and I. Let us draw near. Let us draw near. So when you understand those things, right? When you inform your understanding by the truth of God's word, when you come to understand what God has done for us, what Christ has done for us, all the blessings afforded us by the grace of God in Christ. When you understand those things, when you wrap your mind around how corrupted and polluted and defiled your own heart is apart from God, apart from Christ. When you consider that he has washed you clean, forgiven you of all your sin. When you consider that it cost his own blood, his own death on the tree. When you consider the magnitude of these things, what do you pray for? What do you pray for? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your day. God, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You pray, don't you? For his glory, for him to be worshiped and praised.  You pray for sinners to be converted to him, that he might receive the full reward of his suffering. You pray that he would be honored, that he would be worshiped. You can pray for Edna's bursitis to be healed, right? But only in so much as it glorifies God who saved you, washed you clean, right? It changes the way you think about these things, right? God is no longer a genie in a bottle. You just come to and you want for your own selfish desires to be satisfied. We can go to God in prayer for everything, but here specifically in his name, according to his purposes, according to his will for his glory. And if it's to his glory that Edna's bursitis is going to be healed, then he'll heal Edna's bursitis. But your prayers, it informs your prayers. It's going to change the way that you think about prayer. It's going to change the way that you pray. Prayer, biblical prayer is fueled, fueled by God's revealed truth in Christ. You've got to be in the Word of God though. You've got to be in the Word of God. You got to know that revelation. You got to know these things. The deeper that you understand these things, the more they impact your heart and mind, the more that you're going to pray to the glory of God. Heard this, that prayer, prayer apart from means, we've talked about the means of grace and how the Word of God is a means, right? Prayer apart from means is presumption. Prayer apart from the study of his Word. Prayer apart from obedience. Prayer apart from faith is all just presumption. It's presumption means, those things means apart from prayer is unbelief. Means apart from prayer is unbelief. As you study, as you know God more, you understand more of his purposes, more of his plans. The more that you understand and love and are impacted by theology, rich theology from the Word of God, the more that that's going to provoke you to more biblically informed prayer. Remember Paul, just think of examples in scripture, right? How many examples there are? We're thinking about Paul and Romans 11. And Paul, who said many things, as Peter said, that are difficult to understand, theologically. Paul is talking about God's redemptive purposes concerning God's people made up of both ethnic Israel and the Gentiles. And he's talking about that in Romans 11. And listen to this, just listen to this one example of how this impacts our heart and mind and prayer. Speaking of ethnic Israel in verse 28, Romans 11 verse 28, Paul says concerning the gospel, they're enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Cannot be taken away. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience. Even so, these also have now been disobedient that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all. Thinking about that, that one truth, truth of God and how God's redemptive purposes and plans are worked out in history as it relates to the nation of Israel and as it relates to his people in the church and how all these things fit together. It causes Paul, provokes Paul to worship. And Paul responds in verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Right. Understanding truth will always provoke you to pray. It's back in John chapter 16. Biblical prayer fueled by the truth. Now another reason to draw near to God in prayer is that point three on your notes. Biblical prayer is mediated by the sun. Again, a glorious truth that should drive us to prayer. Biblical prayer is mediated by the sun and not in the way that you might think. Biblical prayer is mediated by the sun. Look at verse 26, verse 26. In that day, you will ask in my name and I do not say to you that I shall pray the father for you, for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the father. Now he says, ask in my name. Verse 26. Right. In that day, you will ask in my name. But then he makes a very interesting statement at the end of verse 26. I'm not going to pray to the father for you. And the reason that he gives for not praying to the father for us is because the father himself loves us. The father himself loves us. Now, in other words, what he's saying here, verse 26, I'm not going to come between you and the father as though you can't go to the father directly. Right? The Lord Jesus Christ died to give us access to the father. And the Lord here is saying, I'm going to facilitate that access that you have to go directly to the father. And I'm not going to stand in the way of it. You have access in Christ directly to the father. Why? Because the father himself loves you. Now we know from the Bible that Jesus Christ, even now, right now, Jesus Christ has been raised. He's ascended to the right hand of the father. And even now he is living to make intercession for his people. Romans chapter eight, verse 34 says this, it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. First John chapter two, verse one, my little children, John says, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate or an intercessor, an mediator with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Hebrews chapter seven, verse 24. But he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore, he is also able to save to the utter most those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. He said in John 14.6, that no one comes to the father except through him. So if Jesus Christ isn't going to the father for us when we pray, if he's not praying for us to him on our behalf, then what is meant by his intercession? What's meant by how he mediates for us, right? He's there interceding at the right hand of the father. What does that look like? What does that mean? Now, from our text, we have the Lord standing at the right hand of the father seated at the right hand of the father. There's one positive implication related to that intercession. One thing that it means from our text, there's one negative implication from our text or one thing that it doesn't mean. And then we'll see from our text how it works, all right? So in John chapter 16, now as we come to verse 26, we're talking about how God the Son intercedes for his people when we pray. What that looks like, right? What's happening as that's going on. We'll look at one thing that it means, one thing that it doesn't mean, and we'll look at how it works, how the Son mediates or intercedes on our behalf. First, let's look at one thing his intercession means. And that's provided for us in verse 26. Also, we are to ask in his name. We're to ask in his name. When we began to talk about this last week, we're gonna look at it a little more in detail today. Calvin said this, no man, no man is worthy to come forward in his own name and appear in the presence of God. If you come presumed to come in your own name, you'll be incinerated, right?  I'm a sinner. Calvin said that Christ converts a throne of dreadful glory into a throne of grace. That's the work of Christ. That's what the work of Christ does. So when you come, the stain, the guilt, the offense, the shame, the horror of your sin must be removed in Christ. But God, right? Who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us? So that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us. God provided a mediator. God provides an advocate, an intercessor. God provided for us a mediator in the person of his own son, our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he intercedes. There's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is salvation in no other. For there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. So when we pray, we pray in his name. We have access by virtue of his intercession. We have access to God the Father by virtue of his mediation. All that he is, all that he's done. We pray because of that in his name. This is one thing that it means. A positive implication of his intercession is that when we pray, we pray in his name. If we're in him by repentant faith in him alone, then because of him alone, we can boldly and confidently come to the throne of grace. We can come in faith. And if you think about this as it pertains to your prayer, when you pray, where is your hope of access to God in prayer? It's Christ. Christ, right? On whom and on what is your access to God the Father? On what is it based? It's based on the mercies of God in Christ. On Christ and what Christ has done. Bible says that when we ask in his name, we have what we want. We have what we asked. So on what is your hope of obtaining what you've asked on what is that based? On whom is that based? It's based on Christ. So when you pray, you pray in his name. Everything about your prayer, your access to God the Father is based entirely in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the promises of God are yes and amen in him. So when you pray, this little tagline that some people put on their prayer, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Not a flippant cavalier or light thing. It is a profound thing. It's a thing of significance. We pray in his name, every prayer that has ever been heard by God has only been heard for the sake of the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So in Jesus' name I pray, it's not a throw away phrase. It's not a mere tradition. It's not to be said cavalierly. He purchased with his own blood, his own body on the tree, he purchased your access to the Father. That means the ground. Think about it now. The ground of the promise that God is making here, that whatever we ask in his name we shall receive, the ground of that promise is who? The Lord Jesus Christ. When God promises that whenever you pray, you pray in his name, you'll have that which you've asked for. The ground of that promise is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means, or that is because nothing that is ever prayed in his name will ever be denied to us. Why? Because there is nothing that the Father will ever deny the Son. Think about how that fits together. You think about prayer and the ground and basis of the promise here. When you pray, you pray in his name, all your hopes wrapped up in him, all your desires wrapped up in him, you pray in accordance with his will, you pray for his glory, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for you Jesus Christ, for the glory of your name, which always entails my good, for your name, for your glory, I pray these things. When you pray for those things in his name, God promises you have that which you've asked for. Why? Because the ground of your hope, the ground of that promise is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. To whom God the Father will never deny anything. So all this, these promises, this praying in his name incorporates all those principles that we briefly discussed last week. Praying for his name to be hallowed, praying for his kingdom to come. All this is praying in his name, praying for his will to be done. It's praying according to his will, as we do in 1st John chapter 5 verse 14, right? We know if we pray according to his will that he hears us and we have what we've prayed for. It's praying from a heart that honors his word, honors him. 1st John chapter 3 verse 22, whatever we ask we receive from him, why? Because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Honors his word, honors his commands, honors him. One commentator said that straight praying never proceeds from a crooked heart, or straight praying never flows from crooked conduct. We pray in his name. Now one thing that his intercession, John chapter 16, one thing that his intercession does not mean, this is a negative implication here, a thing that it does not mean, it doesn't mean that God is unwilling, if we're in Christ, if we're in Christ, it does not mean that God is unwilling to receive us directly into his presence. Christ's intercession doesn't mean that. The Lord here in John chapter 16, by making this statement in verse 26, is protecting us from taking his intercession too far. And we know people that do that, right? Look at verse 26. He says, I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you because you've loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. In other words, in me you have direct access to God.  In other words, Jesus doesn't have to go to God and twist his arm for you to get him to give you what you've prayed for. You don't need a priest, right? You don't need a priest going to God to twist his arm to give you what you've asked for. You don't need Mary to plead with Jesus or to plead with God to give you what you've asked for. You don't need to pray to dead saints asking anything of any of them. Why? Because you have direct access to God the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has bought it for you. What a blasphemy, right? What a blasphemy. The Lord Jesus Christ died. One of the greatest blessings of the Christian life is to have that access. The Lord Jesus Christ died to secure it and yet you have billions of people who pleading with Mary to answer their prayer, pleading with a dead saint to answer their prayer. What utter foolishness? We have Christ, amen? Why? Why? Because the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from God. Jesus is there. Jesus is there even now at the right hand of the Father. Not talking for you, but he's there. He's there as a continuous and perpetual and glorious and everlasting testimony witness to your blood-bought access and fellowship with God. That's what he's there. That's what he does in his intercession. The Lord Jesus Christ is placed there high, enthroned in majesty, right? Exalted in the heavens for all eternity as a revelation of the perfect access won by him of God's people to God. He stands there as a witness to your forgiveness. He stands there as a testimony of your justification by faith in him. He stands there as a picture, as a trophy, right? As an exalted depiction of the satisfaction of the wrath that was once reserved for you. He stands there as the satisfaction of the righteous demands of God's justice. He stands there testifying, witnessing to the fact that the handwriting of the requirements that were against us and contrary to us, that he has taken them out of the way having nailed them to the cross. That's the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands there as a testimony as a witness to what he's done for you if you're in Christ. Not talking per se for you. Does that make sense? Someone might ask, they might make this statement, ask the question. If I've been justified, right? If I've been forgiven, I've been washed clean, I'm right with God. If Christ has secured my eternal redemption, then why do I need ongoing advocacy with the Father? Why do I need intercession, right? In one sense that's right. If you think about the question, that's right. We were justified. We were, if you put your faith and trust in Christ, you were justified, made right with God in Christ. Romans 5-2 again, therefore, having been justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we also now have access by grace or by faith into this grace in which we stand. There was a time when you were justified if you're in Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is our righteousness, present tense. So in this sense, in the sense of his intercession, his advocacy for believers, it's not that the Lord, that God simply looks back at the cross, right? He doesn't just in the same way that we don't simply only look back at the cross. We don't only look back at the cross. God the Father looks at Christ. If you're going to live your Christian life, your Christian life is lived by looking at Christ with eyes of faith, looking to him in faith and living for him. So God the Father doesn't just look back. He looks at Christ. He forever looks at Christ. Your intercessor, your mediator, who Christ, Christ stands forever there for us. Christ stands there for us as the eternal and everlasting ground of our eternal salvation. We will always look to Christ in faith, always. When we're in heaven rejoicing and worshiping God, when we're heaven, we will look to him as the ground for our eternal salvation. We will always look to Christ. He is the eternal and everlasting and perpetual and continual advocate with the Father for us who have been saved. He is the ground, is an ongoing is and forever will be the ground on which we have eternal life. He is the Lamb who was slain from before the foundation of the world. He is forever the Lamb who is slain, right? And he is the Lamb who will be worshiped forever and ever, amen. The death of Christ, the death of Christ wasn't merely the end. It's not the end. It's the beginning, if you will, the foundation of our life in Christ. So his intercession on our behalf, all the blessings that come to us in him were all purchased at the cross and flow out of that death.  Those two things are inextricably married together and inseparable, two distinct things, but they're married together. By virtue of his oblation, by virtue of his sacrifice, he now lives to make intercession for his people and will always and forever and continually will live in the reality of his intercession, having won that intercession for us at the cross, will live eternally in light of that intercession. Forever Christ, his person, his works, the crucified and risen redeemer of his people is stationed there at the right hand of God the Father forever. A perpetual effective intercession, a living and eternal declaration. So now think about that for a moment. Every bliss, every moment of bliss in heaven, every moment of bliss on this side of heaven, every moment of eternal life that we enjoy, every word of worship that falls from our lips, every song of praise that erupts from our heart is seen then as grounded in and owing to our mediator, Jesus Christ the righteous. John Owen said that his intercession for us is not vocal, it's real. You understand the distinction. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24, for Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. What shall we say to these things? Listen to Paul from Romans 8. If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Do you see the connection there between praying and having what you've prayed for, right? How shall it not be with him, with Christ, that he won't freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written for your sake, we're killed all day long. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter, that's our lot in this life. Yet in all things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So what's the implication of these things, right? What shall we say to these things? Listen, brother, sister, draw near to God in prayer. We have this access that has been bloodbought by our mediator, our Lord, the Lord who is our righteousness. One said, let not our prayers die while our intercessor lives. Romans chapter 5 verse 1, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, there are Lord Jesus Christ, praise God, amen. But it's through him, through him that we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So in your Christian life, you've been given justification. If you turn from your sin and you put your faith in trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you've been justified by faith. Praise God, right? That's a promise of God, justified by faith. Turn from your sin, put your faith and trust in Christ, and be reconciled to God. Once you have had that blessed, unspeakable, indescribable gift given to you by God's grace, right? Then you in Christ now stand in that grace. You stand in that grace, and that grace is multifaceted, many splendored. It's a beautiful multifaceted diamond. You have this glorious grace and access to this grace in which you stand. Romans chapter 5 would say, access that, right? Access it. You're battling with sin. You have access to grace that will help you overcome sin. You're facing trials, facing adversity. You have access to grace for your help in time of need, and you can boldly and confidently go to the throne and ask what you will because the Lord Jesus Christ lives to make intercession for you. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father having secured your access with his own blood.  Without doubting, but you've got to go. You want to learn of God?  We oftentimes in the Christian, I know to my shame, I'm guilty of this, of acting beggarly when it comes to these glorious riches. Listen, when you don't understand these things, when you don't understand these things, you're going to pray for a couple minutes in the shower, alarm goes off, you know, thank you for the day, you know, help me to get through the day better, you know. Listen, don't take it too far.  We should pray always, rejoice always, right? But listen, if that constitutes your communion with God, a flippant moment here, a quick cavalier moment here, I'll take a few moments and let me just pray about my car, make sure I, Lord, I want a parking place when you're pulling into the mall, right? If that constitutes your, you do not understand these things and you don't believe. When you come to understand these things, when you come to believe, it's going to impact your prayer life. Many of us have prayed in passing, like these things aren't important. Devote time to God in prayer, set aside a time, right? Have a plan and pray to God. We sometimes treat prayer or act toward prayer, conduct ourselves with respect to prayer. Like these things have not been blood bought by the Lord Jesus Christ. They're just flippant, easy cavalier things, right? William Booth said, work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer. E.M. Bounds, other duties become pressing and absorbing and crowd out prayer. Choked to death would be the coroner's verdict in many cases of dead praying if an inquest could be secured. What I want to do for us, what I want the Lord Jesus Christ to do through, what my prayer would be, be through this text, John chapter 16 and us over the next week or so, looking at how the Lord talks about prayer in these verses and all that is intended in them would be for us to be a people of prayer. Devoted, concentrated, fervent, effective prayer. God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, God-dependent, fervent, effective, righteous prayer. See to be a people of prayer. It takes determination, right? It takes folk. If you've ever spent or attempted to spend any length of time in prayer, it's not easy all the time. Sometimes just flows right off the lips, doesn't it? Other times it takes a concerted effort of your will just to maintain concentration for one minute, but you and I are beggars and we have great need of God. We are immensely, fully, completely, infinitely dependent upon God and we need to pray. Amen? We'll talk about that more next week. Let's pray together. Take a few seconds, just a moment here, and pray silently and just ask the Lord to work in your heart with respect to these truths. Let's pray. What do we so desperately need you? We are confronted by the truth of your word and the glory of these things and yet oftentimes we can't even stay awake to apprehend them. Fight against the flesh. Our own hearts and minds just deceived or sluggardly, sinfully rebellious. God, we need you. We need help. Spirit of God, please convict us of these truths. Reveal to us wondrous things from your law and provoke within us dependence upon you in prayer, worship of you in prayer. God glorifying Christ exalting. How would be your name? Your kingdom come prayer. We acknowledge by faith this glorious promise that you've afforded us in Christ, that whatever we ask in his name we have, that which we've asked for. We revel in that truth. God, help us to take joy in that. Build our faith. Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief and cause us for your name to be people of prayer. Lord, we pray in accord with your word. Answer our prayer. We want to see sinners converted to you, but we want to see the saints edified, grown, matured in their most precious faith. We want to see your church prospered. We want to see your name made famous. We want to see Christ receive the full reward of his suffering. We want to see the sun exalted in this wick and deplorable generation in which we live. We want to see you come, Lord, come quickly. And all things may you receive the honor, the blessing, and the power forever and ever. All these things we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being with us here today at the beautiful downtown San Antonio Public Library for very special and colorful unveiling. I'm Rebecca Helterbrand. I'm Senior Vice President at Clarity Child Guidance Center. It's my privilege to welcome you all, and we know that you make choices every single day and where you're going to spend your time. I also realize it's a Sunday morning, so thank you for spending your time here with us today at our event. I'd also like to welcome and really thank Nowcast SA, which is right here in the back, videotaping and also live streaming this event today, for continuing their mission to inform and engage our community about important topics like one in five minds. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and last year our advocacy campaign, One in Five Minds, commemorated the month by planting 3,000 pinwheels in front of the Alamo. The pinwheel represents the joy of childhood, and nearly all of those 3,000 pinwheels were this beautiful blue color. But every fifth pinwheel was a bright, distinct yellow to represent the one in five children who will have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder. Whether it's depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, our children need our love, care, concern, and support. And that one in five that represents about 80,000 children in Bear County alone. And we know that our region is an epicenter for all of South Texas, and most of the kids that need help and treatment are not getting the care and concern and treatment that they need and deserve. The pinwheels at the Alamo event last year was a powerful and visually striking installation that drew attention to the thousands of children and families who are affected by mental illness. So we asked ourselves, how do we build upon the success of last year's event? Well we decided to collaborate with talented artists who could visually express the hope and healing that is available by ending the stigma and providing treatment for kids.  These pinwheels with a four foot wingspan are visual reminders of the childhood that our kids deserve. They also demonstrate the big gaps in care for our kids and the big difference that each and every one of us can make today. Art is important. It creates conversation. These pinwheels are not only beautiful, but they exist to stimulate the conversations about mental illness and break down the barriers to treatment created by the intense stigma that has put upon our kids and our families. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. With treatment, our kids can heal and graduate from school, succeed in their chosen career, and avoid the trap of addiction, incarceration, and homelessness. One in five minds, along with many of the community partners here today, hopes to end that cycle and increase the services and funding for families who are uninsured and underinsured. A pinwheel is a joyful symbol. When we see one, let's remember the children should reclaimed by the families who get the help that they need. And now I'd like to introduce our president and CEO, Fred Hines. Thank you, Rebecca. One in five minds is Texas's first Children's Mental Health Advocacy Campaign and was created to start the conversation about children's mental health. As many of you know, that's still a challenge, but thanks to events like this and many more sponsored by our community partners here today, it's becoming a little easier. Thanks to channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others, people are speaking up and speaking out to advocate for our kids and inform others about mental health. Our most recent research showed that almost one-third of San Antonio parents, 30%, didn't know where to send their children in a mental health crisis, and 43% would send them to a local hospital unaware that psychiatric care is not available. It's hard to get help when you don't know where to turn. This is compounded by the limited availability of mental health professionals to care for these kids. In a 2015 report from Mental Health America, ranks Texas as, get this number, Texas is 50th in mental health workforce availability, with only one provider in 1,757 individuals, about five times less than the leading states. Finally, if a family can help, insurance can become a barrier to care. The same report ranks Texas 46th, 46th in the nation, with 40% of kids with ongoing mental and emotional disorders being inadequately insured, yet, in spite of these challenges, many families are still receiving effective mental health care across our community. Many in the audience are part of the system of care who dedicates their lives and careers to helping kids. We join you in championing children's futures. Clarity Child Guidance Center is proud to be a partner with all of you. We are also pleased to be celebrating our third year of the One in Five Minds Advocacy Campaign. If you've been on the One in Five Minds website, there are stories shared there about the reality of mental illness, and many of these stories are stories of hope. You're about to hear a story about how 17 artists were inspired to lend their talent to supporting children's mental health, and how it led to the Pinwheel Gallery that's displayed before us this morning. It's now my distinct pleasure and privilege to introduce Rex Hausman. Rex is an artist who has shown his work nationally and internationally, including a beautiful piece in the lobby of our outpatient services facility. Rex also brought together this team of gifted artists for this amazing project. Rex is the Gallery and Arts Program Director for Hausman Millworks, a creative community here in San Antonio, and I'd like to welcome him up to the podium now to introduce this campaign and the artists involved. With special thanks, Rex Hausman. Hi, everybody. I've got to open this thing. We pause for applause. Okay. Thank you, Fred, and thank you all. It's a special morning, and it truly is fate that we're celebrating here at the San Antonio Public Library, certainly because of the beautiful colors and architecture and artwork that are displayed around us. But there's another reason. When this library was opened in 1995, my parents, Jean and Renee Hausman, who were present here, were asked of Hausman & Hausman Design Company, now known as Hausman Millworks, a creative community in Alta Vista, were selected to handcraft the furniture here. I believe some of the booktables and big tables. I believe many of the pieces are still here today. So to be standing here to introduce this artwork in a building where 20 years ago we displayed our family's woodwork is really special. As Fred mentioned, I met the team at Clarity Child Guidance Center when they asked me to display my work in their new outpatient services lobby facility. Through conversation, I learned about the work they're doing in the community with their one-in-five minds advocacy campaign. We talked about what a group of artists could do with pinwheels, and we loved the idea. There's a healing element to art. I know personally. And I thought if we could also use art to inspire change, it could be a dynamic project, many people working together. I called a few friends who were artists, and they were very interested in what Clarity Child Guidance Center was doing.  And to them, I thank. They thank them very much. Many of us are familiar with the impact of mental illness, and knowing this work could go a long way, which would provide help for children made it an easy decision to participate for all the artists involved. There are 17 artists in all. Who I'm about to introduce to you. And we were all given the same assignment, take a blank four-foot pinwheel and create something that interprets our view of children, mental illness, most importantly care and hope. What you see before you is the result of a creative collaboration. A visual campaign we call Pinwheels of Change. For me personally, I think it's a great opportunity to create something that I'm not familiar with. For me personally, it was an intensely personal experience. My pinwheel is about simplicity at first, and five basic colors that form the five wings of the pinwheel itself. However, when one looks inside the folds of each wing, you see the true heart of the matter, with depictions of family, friends, and of course coffee, all important facets of my life. When the pinwheel spins, you see the things that I think about most, and this is what I hope conceptually children have to look forward to when gaining clarity through a tumultuous time. For it is truly in the simplest things that the most wonderful things are in life. Each artist's work tells an individual story, and I encourage you all to meet the artists here today, and hear about the inspiration of their work. All of the artists have worked with us at the Hausmann Millworks through our gallery, and many have active studios. I will introduce each artist to you as they stand by their pinwheel. If we could also hold applause until the end when all the artists are named, it would be appreciated. First and foremost, Augie and Will, two students who are involved with me in the Atelier program at the Millworks. If you guys could go stand by your pinwheel. David Almaguer, who's been at the studios probably the longest of anyone. Steve DeLuz, who also has a studio with us. Hector Garza, who has a studio. Albert Gonzalez, who we're really proud of and has a studio. Larry Graber, who has worked with us. Bruce Hahn, who drove in from Smithville. Kyle Johnson, who's from Los Angeles and has worked with the McNay, but couldn't be here today. Jane Lawrence, who couldn't be here today, was one of my professors at UTSA. Christina Sosa Noriega, who's here today. Kim Parker, who had a studio with us at the Millworks. Claire Rhodes-Stevensson, who's worked with us quite a bit. Gary Sweeney, who I believe was coming. He's not here yet. Luis Vega Treveno, who also isn't here. And Carla Valiz, who couldn't be here because she's in Mexico. Now we can applause these guys. And thank you all. It has been such a privilege to work on this project. On behalf of all the artists in Hausman Millworks, a creative community, thank you for being here today. And thank you guys for showing up today. Please share this with your friends and how they can go online to see the work, the pinwheels. And I do now, I would love, love to welcome Rebecca up front. Thank you. Thank you, Rex. On behalf of One in Five Minds and Clarity Child Guidance Center, we are honored by your support and overwhelmed by the work you and all the artists have put into creating these pinwheels. Please join me in thanking them yet again. The support doesn't end there. We have another artist who just, who's going to do it. As an example of how the community has embraced this campaign, many organizations were really stepping forward and we had organizations calling us and saying, we want one of those pinwheels. So we kind of had a list of organizations we wanted the pinwheels to go to, but we had literally organizations calling us up and saying, give us a pinwheel. That's the kind of support that you're hearing from the community so that they can have a chance to be inspired to end the stigma of mental illness. In a couple of days, literally starting tomorrow, these pinwheels are moving and going to new homes to be represented during the month of May and they'll spend that entire month there, inspiring and educating people. Of course, you're going to find a pinwheel at Clarity Child Guidance Center, but you're going to also find them at the Bear County Courthouse, Rack Space Headquarters, our host today, the San Antonio Public Library, the Children's Hospital of San Antonio, University Hospital and the Medical Center, Valero Energy's headquarters, HEB's newest downtown store to commemorate the year of downtown, the Bar Shop Jewish Community Center, and Zachary headquarters. We're very grateful for these partners. Please join me in giving them a round of applause. Now, at each of these sites, when you go to visit Zachary or Valero or HEB's downtown store, all these various areas that are listed on our website, oneandfiveminds.org, you will have an opportunity to post a picture. We know how popular selfies are, so I'm sure you can get your face in with a pinwheel. And you want to hashtag pinwheels4change using the number four, pinwheels4change. And you can also tag one and five minds on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And because these are unique and amazing art displays, each one is also going to be available for purchase through an online bidding site with all the proceeds going to benefit and help fund children's treatment. In fact, you can start bidding today. So you can use your smartphone and go onto the website, oneandfiveminds.org. There's also information on each of these pinwheels. And you can visit the auction site and you can access a profile of what inspired these amazing artists to even design the work that they did. And some of them are deeply personal stories of their own journeys through mental health or with a loved one or how they were inspired when they visited Clarity Child Guidance Center and how the inspiration turned into the artwork you see here today. So make sure you take those photos, you hashtag and you link and you bid. Clarity Child Guidance Center is the only non-profit in all of South Texas providing a full continuum of mental health resources for children 17 and under, including services for children as young as three. Last year, we provided treatment to nearly 8,000 kids through our presence in the South Texas Medical Center. And most recently, we expanded and also had a clinic placed in the Westover Hills area. And we're growing through that expansion. We're projected to serve nearly 9,000 children in coming years. So thanks to the One in Five Minds campaign, more people are learning about mental illness and how care can make a tremendous difference. Please share this information with others that you know and speak up for children's mental health treatment. Our kids are counting on you to make a difference. Thank you all again for joining us for this special day. And make sure you pick up one of the schedules of all the One in Five Minds and other community partners, main mental health awareness events that are happening. So there's lots that you can do from walks to manicures to different things that are all listed on that schedule that I see you picking up right now on some of these tables. I also want to give a shout out to the fact that on our website, you can pull up this display and have children create their own unique artwork with pinwheels. In fact, in this display right over here to my left and your right, you've got a display of teens here at the San Antonio Public Library creating their own pinwheels for change. And finally, it's not in the script, but I want to give an incredible shout out to Team Clarity, led by Gerard Mijon. Gerard, if you would step forward. Step forward. Step forward. Gerard Mijon and Team Clarity really did an amazing job of working with the artists and really transposing our passion and faith for healing and the hope that comes with helping kids to these artists and we've been mutually inspired by this. So please, enjoy some refreshments, view these fabulous pinwheels and have this once in a lifetime opportunity to meet these artists and hear in front of their pinwheel why they were inspired to help us with this program. Thank you. It's actually, yeah, sure.  What? And then you'll get in. Take a look. Yeah, yeah. I went to a drinker. Mine's here. So right there. It's set there. I went to a drinker. It's each water. It never stops. Well, is this one? Hi, buddy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sure. Sure. It's a pinwheel. Good for you. Good. Jay? You got audio? Are you good? Okay, we're going to interview the artist who's talking about how each of them came together. Okay? Slowly but surely. What you were just saying to her? Yes, ma'am. And talk about each one of them. Okay. So we're live? Just go for it? Thumbs up? My name is Rex Hausman and I'm with? Holiday Harris. Holiday Harris. We're talking about the pinwheels. So each pinwheel has a different thing to it. I'm going to get rid of this thing. You've got Carla Velez here, which is made of like thousands of little pieces of glass that she hand chipped. The thing weighs a ton. And then you have Larry Graber here, who's an incredible San Antonio artist. Pretty much 90% of these are all San Antonio artists and one artist from LA to show at the McNay. So it's linked to San Antonio. This is Hector Garza. He has like Lotavia cards inside of it. It comes from his background with stenciling and then little flowers. And I'm going to talk to you because I'd rather not talk to a camera. This is Bruce Hahn, who's from Smithville. And he's worked with us before in the gallery. He went to Stanford or Princeton as a school of one. That's a computer generated algorithm. This is Kyle Johnson with the fences. He's from LA and had a show at the McNay. Kim Parker's is in the back over here with the Eye of God in the center. And it all talks about what she's about, how she processes things. This is Will and Augie, who's a 10 and 11 year old, my students. Augie on the outside loves red pandas. He just loves them. I think he adopted one at a zoo. And then Will wrote inspirational quotes from all over San Antonio, like the Landau Library and put them on the inside. And his hope was that these kids could get courage through words like he does. Then there's mine up there with a bunch of details. On the outside it's super simple and there's a sanding disc from our shop which is metaphorically my dad's. It's actually Garrett and Jay's. They're awesome. Father and son team.  So the concept behind it was when these kids are going through a really hard time their head is spinning, right? And you need to simplify things. But then the hope is that as you get inside the real matters of things it turns into family, friends, coffee, walking a dog. Really, really things that I look forward to every day. That's Carla, I mean Claire Rhodes Stevenson. She actually worked with children for 30 years. So a lot of hers was about what kids would think about. You know what, how she internalized it. Steve DeLuzes is gold leaf. And then on the inside it's actually words from Clarity when he visited. So he wrote different quotes from his experience at Clarity. Gary Sweeney's is over here with a Texas theme. You know like stars and horses and Luis Vega Treveno is a designer. And then Cristina Sosa Noriega and Albert Gonzalez. And then David Almaguer's was one of the artists that started the Millworks with us nine years ago and he's still there. And it's got doilies from his grandmother's kitchen table and then gold on the inside. And he thought of it as a merry gold. So when he was a kid he liked merry golds. And that wraps it up. Thank you so much. Did you like it? Yes. I think they're also beautiful and the meaning behind each of them is so special. Each artist putting in their true feelings and emotions behind each work of art. Oh we're turning this way? Very cool. Thank you.


You're about to watch probably the craziest fishing clip that you've ever seen before. I can tell you one thing, this is definitely by far the craziest thing I've ever seen. I wanted to show you guys this clip right at the beginning because I understand that a lot of you guys like to skip through the video, this, this and that, whatever. But I want to make sure you guys see this. If you're new to the channel be sure to hit that subscribe button, hit the notification bell also, hit the like button if you guys have been enjoying the content. Let's roll this clip real quick. They're right here bro. Watch this. That's a better one. That is fighting hard. Two pounder. Really? You got one? Double up. That's how mine felt. Look how fat. Oh my god. Look at the cut on this fish bro. Dude, this fish is guts.  I'm going to show you. This is a lot bigger than mine. Look at that cut. I don't know what that's from. Oh my god. Poor fish. Let me get you back. Dude, yours is a good one, bro. That's a three pounder. Yeah, we need to pull off this. They're here. Oh, I got another. Dude. Oh, there's no way. There's no way. Oh my god. Dude. Bro, it was hanging. I've never seen anything like that in my life. I've never seen anything like that in my life.  Noah dropped his bait in the water.  Dude, there's no freaking way. We're all on it right now. Dude, there is no way. Can you believe that? Can you believe that, Fletcher?  Is that not the craziest thing that you've probably ever seen while fishing? I've never in my life witnessed something like that and I just thought it was so cool. I wanted to share it with you guys. This was about 30 minutes until it got dark. The next day there was a big front that was going to be blowing in. So the pressure was dropped and the fish were eaten. They were schooling up. They weren't really coming to the surface, but they were chasing a lot of bait. So we tied on some like lipless crankbaits by six cents and some square bills and just started whacking it. But I hope you guys enjoy the rest of this video. It's insane. We caught some giant fish before this whole schooling thing happened and we ended up catching about 35 in the school. But let's go ahead and roll this video. Can you reach that bank phone? I like to stay more off. Yeah. Yeah, I think today's going to be more like that day. Whereas as the day goes on, the bite just gets better. I think he's pinned. I think he's pinned. I think he's pinned. It's a good fish. It's a really good fish. It's at least, it's got to be at least four or five right. He came right out of that pocket. I think he got off. Holy cow, dude. That was a good fish.  I think so, yeah. Dang! There's a spinnerbait right there, ain't it? Yeah. We are making a little adjustment going to tie on the chatter donkey. It's been a minute since I've thrown one.  Cut off the hybrid jig and think it's something quick. Pass these laydowns with this cloud cover today with the fish roaming a little bit more. That's a good one. That's a three, bro. Yeah, I promise you. I promise you it's a three. If he ain't, he's pushing it. Oh my, the Lord is that a football. Look at the belly on him. I'm actually weigh him. I want to see where their best five goes today. Skip that chatterbait up right behind the dock. Freaking, dude, that is a football. There we go. That is my first fish. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Two-six on the two-seven something. I really believe it. He's thick and chunky. Two-eight-six. Two-eight-six? He's bigger than I thought. Yeah. He's so fat.  Two-eight-five, two-eight-six. That is a fatty, dude. So that's first fish in the books. We probably should have weighed the last one, but I think we're going to call them out. So that's our number one on scale. Two-eight-five. Let's get him back in the water, catch another one. Chatterdunk catches the biggings. That guy, gosh. Get back in there. All right, Fletcher. Let's get a little start. There we go. About 800. Yeah, it's got a little, I mean, what we're throwing though should be good for it. I just think that sun hasn't been up enough for them to really get on this stuff. It's just more kind of here and there. I think it'll get good bites doing this stuff. You just keep at it. Oh, there he is. That's literally right where you caught the one last time. Oh, he's a good one too. It's about a three something. Okay, we're getting somewhere. You want to grab him for me? Yeah, I'll get him. Oh, she's bigger than I thought. Going on second fish today. Still on the Chatterdunk. I know you guys enjoy watching me fish the Chatterdunk. It's been a minute. Right there, just a white one. Got a divine swim bait trailer on the back of it right there. We're going to get a weight on this beautiful fish. I think he's pushing three and a half to zero it out. Three, two, six. There's a 330. 330. I can't see from my angle. Beautiful little fish, not quite. Three and a half, but he's pushing it. Beautiful guy. Let's get him right back in. We're finding something. He's just a thick. See how fat and healthy these fish are. Just filled out. Yeah, they're really, really chunky. Chatterdunk. Get back in there. All right, let's go. Let's keep it running. That'd be crazy. Maybe you caught like a decent one there. That would have been funny. That was like the exact same cast I had with the skip. I think she wants a spinner bait. You're slow. Yeah. That was literally right where I caught that one. That was almost six, a video or two or go. Oh, gosh. She's, she's, she's feisty. Oh, God. I should have played with her a little bit more. Literally the exact same spot is that, that six pounder I caught and Noah just cast it up there and she didn't touch his chatter, baby. She, she swam the spinner. I don't think so.  Voletcher, please grab this thing for me, brother. Please grab this thing for me. Please grab this thing for me. Please grab him. Grab him. Look how he's hooked outside of the mouth on his nose. Barely. That's a five. That's a five pounder, bro. That's gotta be very close to it. Now you know why I couldn't really tell. I can't believe you stayed pinned, bro. Did you, I never cranked it. Did he come right off that dock?  Five pounder. Oh my God. That is insane. He's going to be pushing it. He's in it. He's high. He's high fours or he's, he's five. I thought he was like a, I thought he was bigger than the one you caught that day. Yeah. Like I said, if he's anything lower, he's just right below it. I don't, dude, he's such a heavy fish. He's long. Oh dude, my bait hit the lorry and he had it right there. Zeroed out. Four, six, one. Four, six, one. Four, six, two. Four, six, two. Great fish. Gosh dang it. I swore he was like a five pounder. He's so heavy, bro. I'm still confused. I swear that's a five pounder. Throw back and catch her in a little bit. She'll be five. All right, man. Let's get her back in the water. That was a beautiful, beautiful catch.  Oh, that's a chunk. How big is he? Four and a half? Four and a half. Four and a half. Oh, I swore that fish was like five, six pounds.  That's what you call a big bass right there, Fletcher. Let's bring it go. Yes, sir. That was crazy. So I threw up on that dock right there. Right when the bait hit the water, I didn't even have time to work it. He just already had it and I was like, holy cow, and I like hooks at him and I had him in the top of the nose. That was just crazy. Crazy, bro. I like button people. Gorls are running across this tree. Really? God. Yeah. Yeah. Here comes the Goliath. Dude, that's a four. That's a four all day. You want to grab that? Dude, that's a big one, bro. She choked it too. Grab her. That's a four pounder. All freaking deep. Oh, she's thick. She's really heavy. I think she's bigger than the last one. No. I think she's fat, bro. Maybe not bigger than the last one. She's so fat. Fletcher over here spitting facts on me. Like, yeah, my granddad knew the owner of Dollar General. I was like, whoa, freaking this fish wanted a dollar meal. Look at that. That's how you want a fish to eat a chatter bait. Dude, that's a pretty good tank. All right, we're setting up for another 25, 30 pound bag. We haven't had a 30 pound bag, but I think we can get it done. If we would have landed some of the fish that we lost earlier, we'd be just cooking up. But that's, Fletcher, I'm going to be honest. She's not bigger, but I don't even think she's four. Really? No, she's four. If she's not four, the scale is freaking wrong. It's just so, she's so fat. I know like through the lens, it might not, one thing, I know this is crazy, but the fish do look smaller on lens. That is very true. You won't know until you actually go do it. And then you'd be like, dang, Noah's right. She's just thick, man. These fish are just so heavy. All right. Zeroed out. I'm saying like three, nine, something to four, bro. I'm saying high threes to low, like low fours. Yeah. She ain't much of a four if she is a four. Yeah. Three 90. Three 90. Yeah. Just kind of pushing it. Three 90. Good fish, man. Three 90 cents. Wow. Oh, she, she tipping? Three 96. Right. Almost four, basically a four pounder. Beautiful fish.  We're on the way to get a 25 pound bag, baby. Look at that fat, just belly. Look at that. Just roll it over your fingers. Four pounder. Almost four, at least. And she goes, holy cow, Fletcher. What did, all right. So one thing we didn't say, we thought the bite was going to progress as the day goes on. We got another front blowing in. So obviously the conditions are awesome. Bites are coming a lot slower, but I will say when you do get the bite, it's a big fish. That fish was about 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes, probably. I would even, I'd say like five. Yeah. Five to 10 minutes after that last. So we're getting on them. It's going to be good. Don't skip through. God, that's a fish. Yeah. We just going to pull you on up in here.  He ain't even two pounds. There he is. That's a big one. Oh, come on. I thought that, dude, that fish felt so big, bro.  The way he ate that thing, like deep down in my heart, I was like, it's it. This is it. Dude, next cast. Dude, they're loaded under this bridge. Remember when I was like, they're chasing bait right here? Dude, they're right here eating bait like crazy. When you stay just like this, look, see the bait popping? Yeah. That should be it. That bait's popping. Come on, big guy.  That's a good little sign. Yeah. They're two pounds. There's a lot of schooling act just kind of boiling. A couple of them look bigger, but it's hard to tell. Yeah. I'm freaking small. Color is probably not the best. There it is. Oh, yeah. That actually feels like a good one on the quake. That ain't big. He's tugging like mother. On the quake, guys, we switched up a little six cents quake. I'm trying to fish him for some of these schoolers. Look how fatty he is. You can tell he's been eating. They're right here, bro. Watch this. That's a better one. That is fighting hard. Two pounder. Really? You got one? Double up. That doesn't feel good. That's how mine felt. Look how fat. Oh my God. Look at the cut on this fish, bro. Dude, this fish is guts. Oh my God. Can you get sliced open by something? Yeah. Hold on. I'm going to show you. Oh my God. Dude, yours is a lot bigger than mine. Look at that cut. I don't know what that's from. Oh my God. Poor fish. Let me get you back. Dude, yours is a good one, bro. That's the three pounder. I'm not sure what I'm saying. I was so...  It's all the best. Yeah. We need to pull off this. They're here. Oh, I got another one. Dude. Oh, there's no way. There's no way. Oh my God. Dude. Bro, is it? It was hanging. I've never seen anything like that in my life. I've never seen anything like that in my life. He doubled up. No, it dropped his bait in the water.  Dude, there's no freaking way. We're all on it right now. Let's call it three pounder. Dude, there is no way. Can you believe that? Can you believe that, Fletcher?  That is the top moment I think I've ever caught, captured on camera. I just laid my trap in the water and I had a... We're on a school. What is going on with these fishes? What? They're looking weird, bro. What if I just did it again? I literally laid my rod down. I pick it up, there's a fish on it. What the... What did you... Are you kidding me? I honestly, I thought my mind was playing games, tricks on me for a minute there. I was like, there's no way this is real life. I was like, this is not... I got so confused because I was like, I just released the fish and there's another one on my rod. And we only caught four fish.  They're not getting pinned. It's like you're just reeling it so fast. They're here. Oh, double. Dude, unbelievable. Double. Oh, yours looks good. Mine looks good. Dude, this is crazy. We got a nice little double. This is crazy, dude. Let's go. We got some twins. Dude, this is crazy. The quake. The quake is getting munched right now. I'm never throwing this color too. It's like a blue and chrome with an orange belly. Look at that.  Oh, I meant to show. They're about the same size. They're about the same size. We got some twins. Really? Oh, oh, I'm on. Dude, this is crazy, Fletcher. Fletcher, this is... No, no, no, no, Fletcher. You're smoking them. No. What did I say? The day goes on. The bite's going to get better. This front. Look. They're a little double action. Later, buddy. Dude, this is... Fletcher, this is crazy. Fletcher, no, no. This is crazy, Fletcher. Dude, that's a giant. I want to get a weight, but at the same time, I don't want a weight. I just want to keep on catching them.  Look how he ate that quake.  He's screaming. Dude, you're about to make the peak... Oh, yours is big too, bro. Yours is about the same size as mine. What is going... Why are they schooling so hard? What is going on? It's the front blowing in, bro. The front's coming in right now. Look at this. Two, three pounders. Oh, my God. This is insane. I'm getting back in there. I'm sorry. I'd love to weigh them, and I'd love to, but I just... I can't. It's not often you get on a bite like this. It's not often that you just see a fish literally not care and eat a bait. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Get another double. Just do like the 12th double in a row. Look at that, dude. Another like almost three pounder. There he is. Oh, oh, yo, that's actually a good one. Oh, yeah. Really? They're back here. Jesus, dude.  Fuck, got the rod taken out of my hand. Look, that's another three. Look. Another three. We're on a school of freaking three pounders. Dude, this is why you catch a freaking front coming in, guys, right here. Look at that freaking belly on her. That's a good one. It feels like... You know when a small one grabs it and just starts whistling your line? That was exactly what happened. Making sure we don't pull up on top.   That was so close.