Sermon: A Christmas Reflection

On this Christmas Eve, Pastor Choi exhorts the congregation to have faith and trust in Jesus by giving all their cares and anxieties to Jesus the new born King as they celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Jesus intends to keep all their cares with Him and not give them back to them.

   A Christmas Reflection 2013

The following is a summary of the sermon:

A Christmas Reflection                          Dec. 24, 2013

Have you been out lately, either in the mall or at the stores for last minute shopping?  I just did that yesterday, stopping at a couple of stores.  Every store I visited was packed with people.   All of them, children and adults alike, were busy getting things they needed, either food or gifts—all for Christmas!

Speaking of gifts, last Sunday, our Sunday School threw a birthday party for Jesus.  Rosemary, our Sunday School superintendent, asked the kids what birthday gifts they would bring to Jesus besides anything with monetary values.  One child said love.  The other said faith.  The third child said friendship.  I was deeply touched with their answers and, in fact, was very proud of these 6-8 year old kids!

As the kids gathered for Jesus’ birthday party, we too are gathered here tonight to celebrate the birth of Jesus the new born King.  If I may ask, what gifts would you bring to Him, besides anything with monetary values?

Some of us may present the gifts that would fit and honor the new born King like the three wise men did: gold, incense, and myrrh.  We may bring adoration, praise, and worship to Jesus.

Others may bring their broken dreams and hearts, wounded spirits, weary souls, and tired bodies for healing and restoration.  In fact, our lives are full of such broken relationships, hurts, abuses, hatred, sorrow, confusion, sadness, tears, spiritual hunger and thirst, …the list goes on.

Most of us, however, would bring personal concerns, anxieties, and even doubts on behalf of our loved ones (E.g. A concerned wife asked for a pastoral help for her husband’s spiritual backsliding).  Even for ourselves, we would bring our worries about the uncertain future at work, financial struggles, health problems, school situations, relationships, and even for the world peace.

No matter what concerns you bring, one thing is certain: Jesus intends to keep them with Him, not give them back to you.  He doesn’t want you to take them back home!  (That’s actually what a lot of us do in our prayers.  We pray for God to take over, and then at the end of the prayer, we take them back!).

No matter how big your concerns may seem to you, remember that Jesus is greater than any problem in the world.  He can handle them.  He will wipe your tears.  He will restore your spirit and grant rest and peace to your soul.  He will quench your thirst and heal your body.  He will answer your prayers.  He will be with you forever!  Just come to Him.

Tonight, Jesus grants you repentance for forgiveness.  He offers Himself to every one of us: His life, His truth, and His love.  He offers us eternal life.  He gives us the hope of resurrection and takes away the fear of death.  He sets us free from the bondage of sin.  He grants us rest, peace, strength, and courage to face tomorrow!

As you go home tonight after the service, remember that Jesus is Immanuel (God is with us).  He is with you.  Have faith and trust in Him.  And remember once again that Jesus loves you.  That’s why He came to the earth after all.

Merry Christmas to you all!

 

Sermon: The Name Jesus

Today Pastor Choi talks about the most powerful name of all: Jesus.  Encouraging the congregation to ponder the name Jesus, he answers carefully three questions on the name of Jesus:

Q1: Do I know the name ‘Jesus’?

Q2: Do I know the meaning of the name ‘Jesus’?

Q3: Do I claim the name and do everything in the name of ‘Jesus’?

In the end he exhorts the congregation to do everything in the name of Jesus and start experiencing Jesus in a new way.

   The Name Jesus

 

Following is a summary of his sermon:

The Name Jesus                                                                                                    Matthew 1:18-25

  • 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yetdid not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

    Introduction

  • Do the Bible trivia insert before the sermon.
  • Let me begin with a story of a woman in the 19th century in America (There Is More, Tae-Hyung Lee, p.76).   She was an African-American woman who was a believer in Jesus.  She loved the Lord with all her heart.  Naturally she desired to know more of Jesus.  Where could she do so?  Of course, in the Bible.  Yet, she had a problem.  She couldn’t read.  Since she was a slave serving a white family and like many other slaves in those days, she was illiterate.  No one sent her to school.  Her daily responsibility was to take care of the children of her master.  One day she asked the children if they would teach her to read some words in the Bible such as “Jesus Christ.”  So, the children taught her how to recognize those two words in the Bible.  She was delighted with her new gained knowledge.   One day she got her own Bible.   Whenever she had a chance to be alone, she opened the New Testament and started searching for the word “Jesus” using her index finger going page after page.  Each time she found the name Jesus, she was the happiest woman in the world, because the Name Jesus gave her a great comfort and strength.
  • This morning we are going to discover and rediscover the joy and the significance of the name Jesus in the believer’s life.  Did you know that the New Testament (NT) literally begins and ends with this Name ‘Jesus’?   E.g. Matthew 1:1 (“A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”) and Revelation 22:21 (“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all”).   All nine authors and their 27 books in the NT (without having a conference together), yet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, focused on one single theme: Jesus.  As a matter of fact, this name consistently appears in every single chapter of the NT except 3 John.  Therefore, we can safely say that the NT is all about Jesus.
  • Here are some trivia for those curious-minded people: the name ‘Jesus’ (Greek Ἰησοῦς) appears 923 times in the NT (cf. the word ‘God’ — appears about 1200 times).  This alone tells us how important the Name Jesus is in the NT.
  • More trivia: the average APB (appearances per book) of ‘Jesus’ is 34 (that is, 923 divided by 27 books).  The average APC (appearances per chapter) of ‘Jesus’ is 3.6 (923 divided by 260 chapters).  The Gospel ‘John’ has the most entries (245 times in 22 chapters: 11.7 APC—almost 4 times more often than the average.  This is the book I recommend to every beginner to read).
  • The Name “Jesus” is ‘awesome,’ ‘amazing,’ ‘incredible,’ and ‘extraordinary.’  This is the name we are going to think about this morning.
  • Let’s ask three questions for ourselves.

    Q1: Do I know this Name ‘Jesus’?

  • Did you know that this Name ‘Jesus’ is the most powerful name in the world?  Did you know that this is the very name that has power and authority over all creatures in the world?  This is what the Bible says about this name: it is above all names in the world, both visible and invisible.   It is the name that is exalted above all nations and rulers both in heaven and on earth.  This is the name to which every knee shall bow and worship (Phil. 2:9-10).
  • This is the name that we must love, fear, honor, and revere above all other names.  E.g. imagine having an exclusive audience with Queen Elizabeth II.   You would show the utmost respect to her and her name.  The same queen once said that she would lay her crown at the feet of Jesus upon His return.  How much more respect should we show to this Name ‘Jesus’?
  • The reality: people tend to misuse this name and profane this name with no idea of what they are doing to and with the name.  Never ever treat this name casually.  Never ever misuse or profane this name.  E.g.  Almost all ‘R’-rated movies are filled with profanity using the name of the Lord in vain.  Screenwriters, beware how you use the name ‘Jesus’, because God concerns His holy name and will hold you accountable.

    Q2: Do I know the meaning of the Name?

  • The name ‘Jesus’ means ‘God saves.’  It is a Greek counterpart of Hebrew word ‘Joshua.’ –Jehovah saves.
  • What kind of image comes to your mind when you hear and think about the Name Jesus?  E.g. around Christmas time, Jesus is a cute little baby boy in a manger—as soon as Christmas is over, we all forget about Him for the rest of year.  Next year, we bring out the cute baby image again.  No, this is not how we should remember Jesus.  We should remember as His name says: God saves.
  • Who is Jesus?  He is the savior of the world.  He came here to save you and to save me.  His name tells us about His destiny (why He was born in human flesh) and His mission (why He had to die on the cross): He died on the cross to save you and me from our sins.  For us, He was crucified; for us, He resurrected from the dead; for us, He ascended into heaven; and for us, He will come again to judge the world.
  • This is the only name given to humanity for their salvation.  See Acts 4:12:Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

    Q3: Do I claim this Name and do everything in the Name?

  • The Bible says, “In whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17–NIV).
  • We are Christ’s bearers.  We represent Christ Jesus in the world.  We are called to do everything in the name of Jesus.  Jesus is our life.  He is our breath.  He is our strength.  He is everything to us.
  • Here are some Scriptural examples of doing everything in the name of our Lord: In the name of Jesus we “Bless, rejoice, praise, pray, forgive, love enemy, prophesy, preach, proclaim, confess, call on, walk, minister, raise the dead, heal, cast out demons, do miracles, welcome, gather, baptize, ask, endure hardships, suffer for the Lord, and remain true to this name.”—All in the name of Jesus.  E.g. Peter healed the beggar in the name of Jesus.    See Acts 3:6-8: 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
  • Reality Check:  How many of the things above do we actually do in the name of Jesus?  Maybe a couple?  None?  It is time that we obeyed God and did everything in the name of Jesus and experienced the wonderful Jesus in our lives.
  • Amen.

     

     

Sermon: Work with God

2,000 years ago, Gabriel the angel visited a young woman named Mary in Nazareth.  She was told that she would conceive a boy child by the power of Holy Spirit.  Based on the story of Mary’s conception, Pastor Choi expounds on three qualifications of God’s worker: any believer who wants to work with God must bring “a willing heart,” “courage,” and “communication with God.”

 Work with God

 

Following is a summary of his sermon:

Work with God    Luke 1:26-38

  • The Birth of Jesus Foretold
  • 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
  • 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
  • 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
  • 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
  • 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

 

Introduction:

  • This is a fascinating story from a human’s perspective, isn’t it?  We see God working with a human, a mere country girl.  I am going to point out three things that stood out to me in the story, the things that are required of the believer who would like to work with God.  They are: a willing heart, courage, and getting into God’s Word daily.
  • First, here’s a brief recap of the story: 2,000 years ago, God sent Gabriel, His Chief-of-Staff, to a young woman whose name was Mary.  Mary was engaged to Joseph at the time, and the both resided in a small town called Nazareth whose population was less than 500 (James Strange).  [In 1918, 8000 people.  In 2011, 80,410.  60% Arabs and 40% Christians—wikipedia].   That day, Gabriel told Mary that by God’s power, not by man, she would conceive a boy child.  The child would be called the son of the Most High.  He would forever reign over the house of David and His kingdom would never end.  Then, he left.
  • That’s so great, isn’t it?  So far so good.
  • Let’s try to understand what was going through in Mary’s mind and heart at that time.  One of the best ways for us to understand her mind and heart is to put ourselves in her shoes.  Had you been Mary, how would you have felt and reacted to this very unusual yet awesome visit from an angel?Willing Heart:
  • After the angel left, I believe, fears for the future began to arise in the heart of Mary.  She might have reasoned in her mind as follows: “Wow!  It’s so great that God has chosen me to work with Him.  I am truly blessed.  Now, how am I going to break the news to my fiancé?  I know he is a good man, and I hope he will listen, but will he believe me?  What’s going to happen if he breaks the engagement?  What about my family and friends?  Who’s going to believe my story anyway?  Everyone will eventually find out about my pregnancy, too.  I’d better hide from people.  How else will I cover my belly for several months since it will be obvious to everyone?  Oh, will I be able to endure the cold stares and malicious gossip from the townsfolk afterwards?  I will be lucky if I am not pelted with stones.  Furthermore, how will my child endure the town gossip?  (Indeed, in later life, Mary and Jesus endured a malicious rumor which called Jesus “Mary’s son (not Joseph’s)—understood at that time as illegitimate child”).
  • I love the way Mary responded to God’s call in verse 38: here I am, Lord.  Let your will be done.  She could’ve easily said, “No, I don’t want to!  Choose someone else, God!”  Yet, she embraced God’s will with courage.  God never forces anyone to follow His will against their wish.  Rather, He only and always works with those who say a willing yes to His invitation.   My prayer for all of us is that we too, when invited by God, respond to God’s call with amen saying, “Here I am, Lord.  Use me according to your will.”  That leads me to the next point: courage.Courage:
  • Being favored by God doesn’t always mean that everything in life will be exciting and wonderful.  In fact, being chosen by God to work with Him never means an easy road.  E.g. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, John the Baptist, and Paul.  On the contrary, working with God often means uncomfortable or even painful experiences.  A narrow and rugged road, for sure.  For a long time, too.  In fact, the greater the task is, the harder the road that lies ahead of you.  Only a few will choose to take this road.  Yet, the reward is great!  God’s call is always worth saying yes to.  That was the path that Mary chose to follow.
  • Think of her again.  God already knew everything Mary would face or had to go through in the years to come.  Yet, He went ahead with His plan.  A poignant reminder here: no special provisions or protections were promised to Mary except His presence with her: except the fact that He sent the same angel Gabriel to Joseph, Mary’s future husband, to assure him that her pregnancy was from God’s Spirit, not from man.  “This is happening according to God’s salvation plan,” the angel assured Joseph.   “Therefore, take her as your wife (Matthew 1:20-21).”
  • That’s all what God did for Mary.   No other special provisions or protections.  What’s that mean for us?  Sometimes, when God calls us to work with Him, He provides us with one or two promises or assurances about the plan.  The rest, until its fulfillment, we must endure with courage, patience, and trust in the Lord clinging to His faithfulness.  E.g. My response to God’s call to work in English speaking congregations.  When we work with God, we ought not to despair.  Rather, we should cling onto God, because the Lord will see us through, providing us with His sufficient grace and presence.Encounter with God: 
  • One more thing and I will be done.  Notice here how God communicates with His people.  For Mary: an angel appeared.  Not just an ordinary angel but God’s Chief-of-Staff.  It demonstrates the extreme significance of the case, because Christ’s birth was a water-shed event in human history.  Christ’s birth divided the human history in two periods: B.C. and A.D.
  • God also used prophets to convey His messages to His people.  He also uses dreams and visions to communicate with us.
  • For most of us today, though, God uses the Bible to reveal Himself and His will to us.  The Bible is the best, the clearest, and the surest way to know God’s will for us.  In the Bible, we meet with God and communicate with Him.  In the Scripture, He points us in the directions we need to go.  If the Bible is the meeting place, then our devotion time is the time to encounter with God.  That’s why it is so crucial for us to get into the Bible daily.  E.g. God speaks to me in my daily devotion reminding me of His will in my life.  The other day’s message was “Love does no harm to its neighbor (Romans 13:10).”  The same God in the same way sends His message to us every day.
  • One of the greatest tragedies among believers is this: many of us are so naïve as to neglect this opportunity to meet with God.  Too many of us never meet with God in the Bible, because we never expect to meet with Him in the Bible or to discover His will for us through the Bible.  Consequently, we end up living out our lives as if we are on our own; living life our ways, rather than God’s.  We live every day with no eternal perspective on life.   Let’s get into the Bible daily.Closing:
  • The Almighty God had a plan for Mary and Jesus.  He also has one for you.  You are not an accident.  Nothing is a coincidence in God.  You may not plan to be at a certain place at a certain time, but if God has meant you to be there, He will arrange accordingly, and it will happen (E.g. meeting old friends from Texas at Costco one time).  As Mary served as the instrument of God’s salvation plan, so can you.  God wants you to be part of His plan.  You alone can fulfill that part.  He invites you to work with Him.  His invitation for you may not be as drastic as Mary’s, yet God still works with you in your life.  Are you willing to say yes to His call?  Are you willing to take the narrow path for God? Are you willing to suffer on behalf of Jesus the Lord?  If you do, the reward will be great and eternal.  You will never regret it.  Let’s work with God.
  • Amen.

Sermon: Comfort Ye My People

“Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye, My People,” says your God (Isaiah 40:1).  Today God speaks to us contemporary believers in Christ though the mouth of Prophet Isaiah that it is not the time that we focused on our own comforts.  Rather, it is time that we focused on others’ needs and comfort them by speaking to their hearts.   Pastor Choi explains the meaning of comforting the afflicted and what’s the best way to comfort them–by speaking to their hearts.  He challenges the congregation to reach out to the afflicted throughout the Advent season.

 

  Comfort Ye My People

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

 

Comfort Ye My People                           Isaiah 40:1-2

  • Isaiah 40:1-2
  • King James Version (KJV)

 

  • 40 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
  • Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Introduction:

  • Explanation of the Church Calendar: Unlike the regular calendar, it begins with the Advent season, the four Sundays before Christmas, typically falling at the end of November.  It has the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost until the next Advent.  We are entering the season of Advent today.
  • The word Advent originates from the Latin word— “coming.”  In this season, we remember and anticipate the coming of the Lord Jesus.
  • During the season of Advent, we anticipate the second coming of Christ, because His first coming has already been fulfilled.  The Bible says, the first time, Jesus came to save us from our sins.  When He comes second time, He will come, not for the redemption of the world, but for the judgment of the world.  He is coming as the Judge, not as the Savior: “28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).
  • This morning, let us ponder the reasons why God sent Jesus to earth for the first time two thousand years ago: to comfort God’s people and deliver them from the bondage of their sins.  In fact, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, through the mouth of Prophet Isaiah, God revealed Jesus’ mission for His people: comfort.
  • Begin with listening to “Comfort Ye My People”–one of the songs in Handel’s Messiah:Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to
    Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned” (lyrics are based on Isaiah 40:1-2). 

Comfort:

  • Definition: “to make somebody who is worried or unhappy feel better by being kind and sympathetic towards them” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).
  • Pay attention to the word “Comfort” in verse one: it’s a verb and a double imperative.  Twice God commands to comfort.  E.g. To make sure the news is clear, the reporter used to say “Repeat” between the same news.  Here we see God do the same showing His clear intention to comfort His people.
  • Note here that God doesn’t command to comfort those who are already comforted.  There’s an old saying among the preachers: Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.  Obviously, here in the verse, God wants to comfort His people, because they were already afflicted.

Ye:

  • Comfort Ye (Second person plural).  Who are ‘Ye’ here?  Whom does God speak to?  Three possibilities: 1) Septuagint Bible (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in the 3rd Century B.C.) says ‘priests’—the preachers like me.   2) Other commentaries say ‘heavenly court.’    3) God speaks to you this morning: comfort.
  • If God still uses the Bible to speak to us, this verse is for us: God wants you and me to comfort the afflicted.  In other words, it is not the time for us to focus on our own comfort.  Rather, it is time that we focused on others’ needs and the comforts of the afflicted around us.

My People:

  • God is interested in comforting the people, particularly His people.  Who are God’s people here?  You may say, Israel.  You are right, but there’s more.  It is true that God has called Abraham and his descendants Israel to be His beloved children in the Old Testament.  He also calls you and me to be His people in Christ in the New Testament: we call Him Abba Father.  He calls us children.  As our Heavenly Father, He minds our welfare, both physically and spiritually, both temporal and eternal.  We are His people and His business.  We are the object of God’s comfort.
  • Did you also know that God has chosen you long before the creation of the world?  Long before you were even born.  Mind boggling, isn’t it?   Listen to what Psalmist says to God in prayer: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).  Yes, He has chosen you long time ago and has mapped out your entire life: He knows not only what happened to you, what’s happening to you now, but also what will happen to you in future.  He sees the entire picture of your life.  So, you can relax and put your trust in Him.   You are God’s People and He is your God.   He never regrets that He has chosen you to be His child, because His gifts and call are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).  Rest assured that you are His child forever.
  • As our God, the LORD considers our business His.  As God’s people, God’s business is ours, too.  God protects us, cares for us, and cares about our needs.  As much as He provides us with His presence, protection, and promises, He also expects us to stay faithful to Him: worship Him only, to gladly obey His commands, and to bring honor and glory to His name in our daily lives.  He loves those who gladly submit themselves to Him every day, not grudgingly.  He works with those who offer themselves to Him as an instrument of peace and righteousness.  We are in such a relationship with our heavenly Father.  The Bible calls it a covenant relationship where the LORD is our God and we are His people.   In this relationship, if we go astray from Him, God holds us accountable and brings us back to Him through chastisements.  E.g.  Like the one Israel had with Jehovah God—the background of today’s text: after the Babylonian exile for 70 years due to their idolatry and disobedience, God brings them back home.
  • A little bit of historical background: after the people of God committed the sin of idol worship and injustice, the nation of Israel was destroyed by a foreign enemy.  They, for the next 70 years, paid their wages of sin through the humiliation of slavery.  After the time of hardship had passed, God spoke softly to them saying, “My people, your humiliation and hardships are over.  It is time that you were restored and comforted.”

Speak tenderly (v. 2):

  • How do you comfort someone?  One way to do it is to speak tenderly [literally, speak to the heart] (v. 2).  It is like you saying to a crying child, “Come on now, child” wiping the tears from his/her eyes and giving a hug.  Whatever you do or say, it must register to the heart of the one afflicted.
  • By the way, have you ever tried to comfort someone who was afflicted with either physical pain or emotional suffering?  Was it easy?  Was it hard?  In my experiences, it was never easy.  E.g. I once paid the pastoral visit to one family who lost their precious child due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  I discovered that it was not the time for theological elaboration explaining why bad things happen to us.
  • So, how do you comfort someone?  Of course, we can do that with God’s word of assurance and hope like the one in today’s text.  We can also comfort people by being empathetic (being in their shoes) with them.  By being sympathetic with them (suffering together).  By simply being there for them.   A lot of times you don’t even need to say a word.  Just be there.  Your presence will do it.
  • Action point: Reach out this month to at least one person who is afflicted and speak to their hearts in the name of Jesus.
  • Let us pray.