WEBVTT

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Thank you. church, and when my nearest to my

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age friends were in children's church, we would

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always sing This is the Day almost every single

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Sunday. And we had this really cool thing we

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did where we would sit down and we'd stand up

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and then we'd sit down and we'd stand up. And

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then we'd sit down and we'd stand up. So what

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we're going to do, we're going to break the room

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in kind of half. So Ricky, Ricky, you are the

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middle of the room. Today, if you want to say.

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You are on that side. And you are going to be,

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so this side, the right side of the room, you're

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going to be the lead part. That's what it's called.

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And you're going to follow Alicia and Nikki and

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Tim. And then this side over here, we're the

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echo. And you're going to follow Amalia and me

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and Joshua. So, on the stage, people, not playing

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an instrument, get your squad. Alright, so...

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Thank you. We got this. That would be fantastic.

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So, first, I haven't been here since our Chilli

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Dog Sauce Competition, so I would like to say,

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once again, congratulations to our winner. In

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first place, Miss June Brister. you donate, your

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name will be entered into this bucket, and then

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on the 21st after service, you will draw a name

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for this book from this bucket, and then the

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lucky winner will be putting a pot in Deacon

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Tony's face. is the God's Kids Corn Maze Outing.

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See Miss Jenny for details. And then on the 21st,

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is that correct? The 21st, that is the Gate Crasher

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Corn Maze Outing. See Miss Sherry for more details.

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All right, so I have one more thing for you this

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morning. Something kind of new, something kind

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of crazy, but that is me. So this is our new

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verse for the month of Joshua 5 .12. So with

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that being said, on the board, in the hallway,

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in a pink sequins pencil bag, there are verse

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cards such as the one Pastor Dan is holding up.

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So what your challenge is is to grab a verse

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card, memorize the verse, send a verse to a team

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leader or Pastor Dan or Mr. Tony, and then they'll

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sign the card, you'll write your name on the

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card, and then you will give that card back to

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me or my mom because I have to work every day.

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And then we will enter those products into a

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drawing at the end of the month and there will

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be a prize. What will that prize be? I don't

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know. What more do you need than memorizing God's

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word? That's right. That was a prize for yourself,

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but we'll have a little something something for

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you. So, without further ado, do we have any

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prayer requests? Melissa? I have a report on

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the 16th for full legal custody of Dalton. Absolutely.

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I work with two pregnant ladies. One of them

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has been pregnant only for a couple months now.

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The other one is ready to pop at any moment.

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And then you also keep my manager in prayer.

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He lost his dad on Thursday. So he's going to,

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for him and his family, the Connelly family.

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And all I have right now, so, again, Miss Nikki,

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we open this up. Oh, I can't speak. Open us up

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in prayer, please. Thank you, Jesus. Father God,

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we just thank you for bringing us together on

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this glorious, even though it is cloudy, Lord,

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it's still the day that you made it, Lord. We

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just thank you for bringing us together. Lord,

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we ask that. out, Lord, you know what they need,

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Lord, so we just pray that your will be done,

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Lord, whatever it may be. Lord, we just ask that

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you continue to bless us as we go about our day

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today and as we go about this week, Lord. And

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we pray that, Lord, we just ask you to help our

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pastor today as we bring forth that word. We

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just thank you and we just bless your name in

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Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, ladies and gentlemen,

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if you are willing and able, I don't want to

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step on toes, will you join us in singing Strong

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Tower? Shelter. They call it a sacrament. In

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England, they call it a ritual. But really, to

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us, it is a command. It's something that God

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gave us to do. And the reason he gave us to do

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it is so we would not forget the great sacrifice

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of Jesus. The bread that we eat represents the

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body of Jesus. The blood that we drink represents

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the blood of Jesus. And these things were broken

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and poured out for us to pay for sin so that

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we might have salvation. So we might have heaven

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one day and his presence with us here now and

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on the earth. At the same time, realize that

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it is in contrast. It is in stark contrast to

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the way the rest of the world works. I want to

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read a couple of verses to you from my spot here.

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A couple of verses to you from the book of Proverbs.

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Thank you very much. So in the book of Proverbs,

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it's talking about wisdom, it's talking about

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the teachings of God, talking about the word

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of God and telling us we should live by them

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and so on. And then it says this about, quote

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unquote, the others. And so Proverbs divides

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the world into sort of two groups, if you will.

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And it says this, it says, for they cannot sleep

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unless they do evil. So they have a plan every

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day. They're working to pursue what they want,

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and they don't mind hurting people along the

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way. It doesn't mean hurting people physically,

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but it can be psychologically, emotionally. It

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can be pursuing money. It can be whatever. And

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it says, and they are robbed of sleep unless

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they make someone else stumble. And in verse

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17 it says, for they eat the bread of wickedness,

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and they drink the wine of violence. And so the

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rest of the world. The non -God people. I'm not

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naming them. I'm not saying that I know who they

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are. But the people who are not in love with

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God, the people who do not follow God, they have

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their bread and their wine as well. That's what

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Proverbs just said. And the wine and the bread

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that they eat of has both a description and an

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effect in those verses that I just read. They

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eat the bread of wickedness. And they drink the

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wine of violence. And so the description is wickedness

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and violence. So they are sustained. They feel

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healthy. They feel strong when they eat the bread

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of wickedness. So they go after what the world

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wants. They go after the things that their eyes

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see that they like, that they desire, that they

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want to pursue, that they taste, that feels good

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to them, that their body feels energized by,

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etc. And those things are things that do not

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honor God. And they want them, and so they go

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after them. And then they drink the wine of violence.

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Violence is not what you think it is here. It's

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not the punching somebody in the face if they

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want to punch somebody in the face. That is a

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kind of violence. But this kind of violence,

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what it's talking about, is emotive energy, doing

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things out of your feelings. And so you get somebody

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makes you mad, and you punch them. We call that

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violence. Right? That's not good. Somebody makes

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you afraid, you may run, right? Because that's

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out of the energy that you're feeling of your

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fear or your anger, you act. So this is saying

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they act largely out of their emotions. So that

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also is not good. I can't tell you the number

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of times someone has said to me that they don't

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feel. I don't feel like he likes me, or my feelings

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are hurt because she said something I didn't

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like, or I feel angry at them, right? And then

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their actions come out of those feelings, and

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that is not what it means to be a follower of

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God. Our actions do not arise out of our feelings.

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That would be drinking the wine of violence based

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on what this verse says. Our actions arise out

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of what we know to be true. I was dealing with

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a rheologist a day before yesterday, in fact,

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and she said, I feel like this. And she said,

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I think it was candy, actually. I'm pretty sure

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it was over candy. Now, I'm not picking on the

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candy thing because, you know, candy is cool,

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right? But the point is, she said, I feel like

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I should be allowed to have a piece of candy.

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And I said, it doesn't matter what you feel.

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What really matters is what's true. And I said,

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what's true? What's the rule? She said, well,

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I can't have candy until I achieve it. Sort of

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shortened it until later, but it's until after

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dinner or lunch. So we have a dessert, one dessert

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a day after dinner or lunch. And so she knew

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she couldn't, but she wanted it and she felt

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it. And then when she realized that she was just

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feeling it, but it wasn't really right, she dismissed

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it and she didn't get any more trouble. And she's

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four. Why is it that 40, 50, 60 -year -olds can't

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realize that sometimes you feel something, but

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that's not the truth, right? Have you ever been

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talking to somebody and they say something and

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then you go, oh, I think they did that to hurt

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me. Right? I think they did that just to hurt

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me. That was spiteful. And that's what you feel.

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But you don't really know it's true, even if

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it seems like it was true. You don't really know

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that. You go to the person and talk to them and

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they say, yeah, you know, I meant to hurt you

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or I'm angry at you or they cuss you out or something.

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Well, now you know. Right? A lot of times people

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are out of their feelings. Okay? So, that's the

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bread of those who do not know God. Then, Jesus

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gave us this. This is actually from the writings

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of Paul, talking about what Jesus did on the

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night before his arrest. Paul says, I received

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from the Lord that which I also delivered to

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you. that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which

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he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had

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given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my

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body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance

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of me. Notice that herein there is a description

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and also an action plan, if you will, or the

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outcome. There is the bread, which represents

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his body, and the outcome or the action plan

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is thanks. So we recognize that Jesus paid with

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his body to pay for our sins, so we thank him.

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How is that different from the action plan that

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was in Proverbs? They eat of the bread, they

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drink of the wine. The bread is evil or wickedness,

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and the wine is violence or acting out of your

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emotions. And they can't sleep. They can't rest

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unless they have had that to eat or drink. So

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we rest and sleep. And know that we are okay

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and give thanks because of the bread that we

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eat, which is the body of Jesus Christ or symbolic

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of the body of Jesus Christ, knowing that Jesus

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paid for us. So if you go to bed tonight and

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you lay your head down on the pillow and you

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don't know that Jesus died for you, then you

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might want to give some thought to that. On the

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other hand, there will be those who lay their

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head down tonight and they can't rest. They don't

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know Jesus, but they've worked throughout the

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day to live by their emotions, to do what they

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felt was right, to do what they wanted, to go

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after their desires, and so they can rest. But

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if you know God, you need to know Jesus. Jesus

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said, this is my body, which was broken for you.

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Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way,

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he took the cup. Also, after supper, saying,

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this cup is the new covenant in my blood. And

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we kind of tend to leave that out, but that's

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the phrase that Jesus used. And a covenant is

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a promise. It's a deal. Your part, my part. That's

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a covenant. And he was making a covenant with

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us. The new covenant is my blood. Do this as

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often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And

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he was reminding us that his blood was poured

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out for his sin, but he was also reminding us

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that that seals the deal. Your sins are washed

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away. Your need to respond out of your emotions,

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that's washed away. That's dealt with now. Your

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need to eat of wickedness, to feel like you're

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getting ahead in the world, that you're getting

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what you want, that's dealt with now. Okay? And

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he said, that's the new covenant. Sins are washed

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away by the breaking of Jesus' body and by the

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pouring out of his blood, and that's paid for

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what we did wrong. Now, if you're here today

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and you're about to take the Lord's Supper, and

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all of us are, at least all of us that want to

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and are willing to do so, There's a couple things

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out of that that I need you to see. Number one

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thing is, this is about Jesus. Which means, if

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you don't believe in Jesus, if you have nothing

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to do with Jesus, there's kind of two things.

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One, you could just not take that. You don't

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have to take the bread. You don't have to take

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the juice. If you're searching, trying to figure

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out, is Jesus real? You don't have to take it.

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You can take it or not, really. And it's just

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bread, it's just juice, if you do want to take

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it. So if you're here today and you don't know

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Jesus, and you know you don't know Jesus, but

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you don't want to stand out like you don't know

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Jesus, then feel free to take a little piece

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of bread and a little drink of juice, and it's

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not going to bother anybody. On the other hand,

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if you're here and you know you don't know Jesus,

00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:16.589
then I'm asking you, what's keeping you back?

00:23:17.430 --> 00:23:19.750
The free gift of salvation offered by God. God

00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:21.910
is offering you a free gift. Will you accept

00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:24.450
Jesus? That's it. And if you're old enough to

00:23:24.450 --> 00:23:26.390
understand that question and to say, I want to

00:23:26.390 --> 00:23:27.829
live for God, then you're old enough to accept

00:23:27.829 --> 00:23:30.589
Jesus. And you say, okay, I believe. I'm willing.

00:23:30.869 --> 00:23:34.769
I'll let God lead me. Whether you're 6 or 7 and

00:23:34.769 --> 00:23:37.069
can understand or 40 or 50 and can understand.

00:23:37.869 --> 00:23:40.650
If you can understand, you say, I'll accept Jesus.

00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:43.309
I will let Jesus lead me. I will live for Jesus

00:23:43.309 --> 00:23:45.130
the best I can from now on. And you do that right

00:23:45.130 --> 00:23:46.609
now. There's not going to be a song of invitation.

00:23:47.529 --> 00:23:48.990
There's not going to be an opportunity for you

00:23:48.990 --> 00:23:50.630
to walk forward and say, I'm living for Jesus,

00:23:50.710 --> 00:23:52.009
which would be a great thing to do. I highly

00:23:52.009 --> 00:23:54.000
recommend you do that. If you're a kid, and right

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.700
now as I'm talking, you're accepting Jesus, and

00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:57.039
you say, I believe in Jesus for the first time,

00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:58.980
then when you go to class, you tell your Sunday

00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:01.200
school teacher that you accepted Jesus today,

00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:02.900
and you're going to let Jesus lead you from now

00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:05.500
on and let them talk you through it. But you

00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:07.200
don't have to wait until then. If you're accepting

00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:09.180
right now, then you take the Lord's Supper. Remember

00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:12.480
that it's his body and his blood. If you're an

00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.799
adult in the room today, or youth, and you're

00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.200
in here during the sermon today, then we get

00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:17.559
time for the invitation. That's your opportunity

00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:19.619
to publicly proclaim and say, I am accepting

00:24:19.619 --> 00:24:22.099
Jesus. But you could be doing it right now. You

00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:23.880
don't have to wait until the sermon. Right now,

00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.660
in your mind, in your heart, say, I am truly

00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:27.680
accepting Jesus. I'm willing to live for God

00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:30.339
from now on. The best I know how. The best God

00:24:30.339 --> 00:24:33.660
teaches me how. Right? The second thing, I said

00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:37.279
they were true. The second thing is, if you do

00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:41.420
know Jesus, this needs to be, this moment in

00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:43.980
time is really the only moment that you have.

00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:46.000
You don't have tomorrow. You don't have an hour

00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.779
from now. You don't have 10 days from now. Those

00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:49.799
don't belong to you. They belong to God. You

00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:52.539
don't have an hour ago or 10 years ago, even

00:24:52.539 --> 00:24:54.380
though that's your history and only you were

00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:56.160
there and only you know everything that happened

00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.839
other than God and you've probably forgotten

00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:02.220
a lot more than he has. You only have right now.

00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.880
And in this moment, we are going to take the

00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.720
bread, which represents the crushed body of Jesus,

00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:09.599
and we are going to take the wine, which represents

00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.059
the poured out blood of Jesus. This is huge.

00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:14.480
It's bigger than the sermon that will come in

00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.259
15, 20 minutes from now, because this moment

00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:20.799
you have. So ask yourself right now, have you

00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:24.059
been living for God? Have you been making your

00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:25.920
decisions in line with the way God would want

00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:28.809
you to? And there's no fixing it because you

00:25:28.809 --> 00:25:30.349
only have this moment. You can't go back and

00:25:30.349 --> 00:25:32.650
fix yesterday. But what you can do is turn to

00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:35.130
God right now and say, I want to take this, the

00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:39.109
Lord's Supper, as my bread and my wine, the body

00:25:39.109 --> 00:25:45.269
of my Savior, the blood of my Lord. It's a very

00:25:45.269 --> 00:25:48.569
serious matter for those of you who believe to

00:25:48.569 --> 00:25:52.430
remember that the ultimate sacrifice was paid.

00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:57.240
Not by a man, although he was a man. but by God,

00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:00.680
because he was also God. We're going to pray

00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:02.140
together briefly at this time, then I'll ask

00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:05.420
the Deacon Yoke fellows to come, and we'll proceed

00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:08.319
with the Lord's Supper. Let's pray. Father in

00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:10.579
heaven, if there be amongst us those who came

00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:12.920
in the room today not knowing you in earnest,

00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:18.079
not desiring to live for you for real, but they've

00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:19.980
been thinking as I've been speaking about whether

00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:21.720
they want to live for you, whether they want

00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:23.299
to know you personally, whether they want to

00:26:23.299 --> 00:26:27.059
invite you in as a friend. And I ask you, Lord,

00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:31.119
to do that in them right now. To show them that

00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.680
you love them, that you want to be a part of

00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:37.900
their life, and that you want them to be a part

00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:40.480
of everything that you're doing. If there is

00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.400
someone who came in the room today already believing,

00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:46.660
and they've not been living for you the way that

00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:50.000
they should, Lord, give them right now the strength.

00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:51.880
I know that evil spirits are probably wandering

00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:53.799
their mind and saying things and distracting

00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:56.779
and tempting. And diligence and faithfulness

00:26:56.779 --> 00:26:59.779
is hard when you haven't been doing that. And

00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:01.359
Lord, just help them come back to you right now

00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:04.579
in this moment and just let it all be about you.

00:27:04.660 --> 00:27:06.900
If we can only get 60 seconds right, God, then

00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:09.400
let us get this 60 seconds right as we honor

00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.799
you remembering what you did. And Lord, if there's

00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:15.279
somebody in the room today who came in here and

00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.519
not a Christian, maybe they've been lying about

00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:21.920
it. Maybe they didn't know anything about it.

00:27:22.730 --> 00:27:24.789
And they don't feel entirely comfortable right

00:27:24.789 --> 00:27:26.930
now turning their life over you because that's

00:27:26.930 --> 00:27:31.250
a big decision. The Lord, as the Lord's Supper

00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:33.230
comes around, as the bread comes around, the

00:27:33.230 --> 00:27:35.450
juice comes around, just speak to their hearts.

00:27:35.970 --> 00:27:37.990
Comfort them. Let them know they can take it

00:27:37.990 --> 00:27:41.930
or not take it. As long as they commit themselves

00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:45.210
to continue to ask, are you God? Are you there?

00:27:45.970 --> 00:27:49.049
Am I supposed to be following you? And you'll

00:27:49.049 --> 00:27:53.259
be okay. Lord, help us. We draw closer to you

00:27:53.259 --> 00:27:56.140
today through this. Some would say ritual. Some

00:27:56.140 --> 00:28:00.519
would say sacrament. But we know it's a command.

00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:05.339
It's an ordinance. It's a rule that we must remember.

00:28:05.700 --> 00:28:07.980
We must remember what we've done and live accordingly.

00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:11.039
Please help us do that. In Jesus' name, amen.

00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:13.839
The Deacon Yofels will come forward, and then

00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:16.000
I'll ask Ms. June and Ms. Sherry, would you prepare

00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:48.799
the table? I think Brother Ron may have gotten

00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:52.880
a call. Is that true? He's on call this weekend.

00:28:53.779 --> 00:28:58.079
Okay. So as the bread comes around, I'll ask

00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:01.460
you to take it, but don't eat it until we all

00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:04.799
eat it together. And at this time, I'll ask Brother

00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:06.240
Tony, would you ask a blessing upon the bread?

00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:16.599
And then we'll distribute it. We thank you for

00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:21.140
this time to bring us together. As our pastor

00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:27.619
explained, we remember your sacrifice for us.

00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:32.259
That you gave him your body. You gave him your

00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:37.799
blood. You gave your life for us. Lord, we remember

00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.519
as we do this. Help us, Lord, to also remember

00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:48.079
who we are. that we're not only partakers of

00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:51.700
this, because we believe what you did, but we're

00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:56.359
your children, we're your followers, we're your

00:29:56.359 --> 00:30:00.259
disciples. Because not only did you give your

00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:04.480
body and die for us, but you also rose again

00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:10.180
to give us hope, you defeated Satan, and we can

00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:11.759
do the same through your power, through your

00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:19.119
strength. for claiming your name, for being your

00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.960
children. We thank you for that. So Lord, just

00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:25.859
be with us as we remember and as we take this.

00:31:19.759 --> 00:32:08.700
I do it. On that evening, and then as Paul preached

00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.740
it all throughout the Middle East, and then in

00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:13.960
churches all over the world, in churches, dozens,

00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:17.259
maybe hundreds of them, this morning, this bread,

00:32:17.299 --> 00:32:20.500
Jesus spoke up. He said, this is my body, which

00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:30.940
is broken for you. Take and eat. Ask Brother

00:32:30.940 --> 00:32:37.059
Tim to ask a blessing upon the Jews. Father,

00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:42.319
thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you so much.

00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:50.059
You deserve so little. It's hard to imagine.

00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:53.740
It's not difficult understanding the price you

00:32:53.740 --> 00:33:33.140
actually paid for it. Jesus comes around, just

00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:35.019
take one, hold it, we'll all drink it together.

00:35:25.070 --> 00:35:26.449
As we prepare to take the juice, I want you to

00:35:26.449 --> 00:35:29.889
think for a moment about those who actually stood

00:35:29.889 --> 00:35:34.789
at the foot of the cross. As Jesus was bleeding

00:35:34.789 --> 00:35:39.429
out multiple wounds in his body, as the Roman

00:35:39.429 --> 00:35:42.210
soldier thrust his spear in and blood flowed,

00:35:42.210 --> 00:35:44.809
to those who were there who believed in Jesus,

00:35:44.889 --> 00:35:47.809
when they heard the words, this is my blood which

00:35:47.809 --> 00:35:50.090
is poured out to you, over and over again as

00:35:50.090 --> 00:35:52.130
they continued to worship God, as they lived

00:35:52.130 --> 00:35:54.460
out the rest of their lives, It really meant

00:35:54.460 --> 00:35:56.699
something. They saw the blood of Jesus flow.

00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:01.119
And I know you and I are not there. You and I

00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:03.980
were not there when he died. At the same time,

00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:07.539
you have an imagination. And you have seen people

00:36:07.539 --> 00:36:12.119
suffer. And you know what a great price can look

00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:16.639
like. So as we remember the words of Jesus, this

00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:20.139
is my blood that I pour out for you. And not

00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:23.119
just us. But the kingdom, Christians all over

00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:25.760
the world, as we remember that, I want you to

00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:28.500
use your imagination today. I want you to think

00:36:28.500 --> 00:36:32.119
about the great Christ that was made to wash

00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:35.280
away the sins and provide the bread and the juice

00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:39.460
of the righteous. And Jesus said, this is my

00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:42.519
blood which was poured out for you. Take and

00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:51.070
drink. And it is a joyous occasion to be in the

00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:54.289
Lord, to know that God has paid the ultimate

00:36:54.289 --> 00:36:57.110
price, the price that we could not pay for ourselves,

00:36:57.510 --> 00:37:01.530
that the bills are paid, and one day the mansion

00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:05.309
shall be truly ours. And so I ask you today,

00:37:05.429 --> 00:37:09.190
if you're pleased with the sacrifice of Jesus,

00:37:09.510 --> 00:37:12.690
would you say with me, I love you, Lord. One,

00:37:12.710 --> 00:37:17.389
two, three. I love you, Lord. Go collect your

00:37:17.389 --> 00:37:20.789
plastic cups. We have just a little more worship.

00:37:20.889 --> 00:37:23.070
I would ask you today to worship the Lord. In

00:37:23.070 --> 00:37:25.150
that worship, we will also give our tithes and

00:37:25.150 --> 00:37:28.030
offerings, which is an act of worship. I would

00:37:28.030 --> 00:37:30.250
ask you today to honor God with all that you

00:37:30.250 --> 00:37:31.949
are for the remainder of your time when we are

00:37:31.949 --> 00:37:41.030
gathered together and we praise you. Lord, bless

00:37:41.030 --> 00:37:44.530
these praises, these offerings, and these tithes

00:37:44.530 --> 00:50:53.780
in Jesus' name. Some of you might not know, but

00:50:53.780 --> 00:50:55.860
you soon will know, we are working through the

00:50:55.860 --> 00:50:59.079
book of Joshua. All of the sermons back to the

00:50:59.079 --> 00:51:00.840
beginning of the book of Joshua up through this

00:51:00.840 --> 00:51:02.820
point are online. If you want to listen to them

00:51:02.820 --> 00:51:04.280
online, you can do that, except for the one I

00:51:04.280 --> 00:51:05.519
preached last week, which will hopefully get

00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:08.579
there this week. So we'll be all caught up. If

00:51:08.579 --> 00:51:10.699
you want to go back and listen to them, you can.

00:51:11.199 --> 00:51:13.000
If you want to remember things, you can. But

00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:14.659
I'm going to give you a quick few highlights

00:51:14.659 --> 00:51:17.519
to remember where we're at. We began with the

00:51:17.519 --> 00:51:19.739
idea, the notion, the book of Joshua, that it

00:51:19.739 --> 00:51:23.320
is about the story of the man Joshua. and his

00:51:23.320 --> 00:51:26.480
life as it speaks of God and the Israelites coming

00:51:26.480 --> 00:51:28.460
into the promised land and God unfolding his

00:51:28.460 --> 00:51:30.519
promise and carrying out his promise to bring

00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:36.119
them into the land. Bless you. Joshua was a man

00:51:36.119 --> 00:51:41.039
who was actually born Hosea, son of Nun, and

00:51:41.039 --> 00:51:44.260
was renamed by Moses, Joshua, and we learned,

00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:45.840
and I've mentioned a few times along the way,

00:51:45.880 --> 00:51:47.840
and I think it's hugely important, that the name

00:51:47.840 --> 00:51:49.820
Joshua brought through the Greek would then be

00:51:49.820 --> 00:51:53.800
Jesus. Obviously this is not Jesus, but the name

00:51:53.800 --> 00:51:57.480
means God saves or Yahweh saves or God saved

00:51:57.480 --> 00:52:01.159
me as expressed by a command. And so Joshua is

00:52:01.159 --> 00:52:04.179
leading the Israelites as an example for us,

00:52:04.199 --> 00:52:07.659
if you will. And now we come to a select moment

00:52:07.659 --> 00:52:10.679
in time where the Israelites, we've read this

00:52:10.679 --> 00:52:13.000
text, actually I read it last week, but I mentioned

00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:14.559
to you that we would be in it this coming week.

00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:20.039
have crossed, are crossing the Jordan River into

00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:24.039
the Promised Land. A couple of details. The tribes

00:52:24.039 --> 00:52:26.980
from the eastern side of the Jordan have led

00:52:26.980 --> 00:52:29.440
them across in battle array, in case they might

00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.619
be attacked while crossing, perhaps, or at least

00:52:32.619 --> 00:52:35.480
ready. All the men who've made a commitment,

00:52:35.579 --> 00:52:37.159
they're keeping their lands on the east side

00:52:37.159 --> 00:52:38.280
of the Jordan. Their women and children are left

00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:39.659
at home, but they are leading the Israelites

00:52:39.659 --> 00:52:44.230
across the river. And Joshua is leading them

00:52:44.230 --> 00:52:46.469
and telling them exactly how this will be accomplished.

00:52:46.590 --> 00:52:49.610
And God has said to Joshua that in this day,

00:52:49.650 --> 00:52:51.769
as he brings the Israelites across the river,

00:52:51.869 --> 00:52:56.389
that he would exalt Joshua so that people would

00:52:56.389 --> 00:52:59.090
know that God is with him the way God was with

00:52:59.090 --> 00:53:01.489
Moses. And we talked about last week how God

00:53:01.489 --> 00:53:04.489
is a witness for us, that God speaks about us

00:53:04.489 --> 00:53:07.710
as much as we speak about God. And we hope that

00:53:07.710 --> 00:53:11.079
God says positive things about us. That's kind

00:53:11.079 --> 00:53:13.320
of the goal, and that is his desire, is to say

00:53:13.320 --> 00:53:14.900
positive things about us, but that is not always

00:53:14.900 --> 00:53:20.280
the case, I'm afraid. Then Joshua, on the other

00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:21.980
hand, does not tell the people, on this day you

00:53:21.980 --> 00:53:23.800
will see that God will exalt me and lift me up

00:53:23.800 --> 00:53:25.659
and make me greater. He doesn't do that. He rather

00:53:25.659 --> 00:53:27.619
says, on this day God will begin to keep his

00:53:27.619 --> 00:53:29.860
promise that he made for you, and he exalts God.

00:53:30.360 --> 00:53:32.800
And so as God lifts us up, we are to be lifting

00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:35.579
God up, and that's what Jesus did. Jesus even

00:53:35.579 --> 00:53:37.760
said, my father now exalts me that I may exalt

00:53:37.760 --> 00:53:40.159
him, and of course I paraphrase that. So we come

00:53:40.159 --> 00:53:43.480
to that moment in time where he is bringing them

00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:47.760
across the river. And so we've talked about when

00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:49.579
we were on the river on their side, I preach

00:53:49.579 --> 00:53:51.219
a sermon, basically it says life on the side

00:53:51.219 --> 00:53:54.280
of the river. And as they were on the side of

00:53:54.280 --> 00:53:55.880
the river waiting to come across in the promised

00:53:55.880 --> 00:54:00.420
land, they were there by faith. The tribes from

00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:02.579
the east side of the Jordan gathered there, keeping

00:54:02.579 --> 00:54:04.860
their promise to Moses, which was really keeping

00:54:04.860 --> 00:54:07.639
their promise to God, because God had said Joshua

00:54:07.639 --> 00:54:09.969
would be their commander. the commander of all

00:54:09.969 --> 00:54:11.710
of Israel. And Joshua said, now you've got to

00:54:11.710 --> 00:54:12.889
keep your promise. You've got to come. So they

00:54:12.889 --> 00:54:14.550
were there believing in faith that God was going

00:54:14.550 --> 00:54:16.269
to do what God said he was going to do. And they

00:54:16.269 --> 00:54:19.670
didn't want to be dismissed by God. The people

00:54:19.670 --> 00:54:22.510
of the other tribes were there believing in faith

00:54:22.510 --> 00:54:24.570
that God could do something. Mind you, they were

00:54:24.570 --> 00:54:28.309
on the side of an over swollen river. And there

00:54:28.309 --> 00:54:30.070
was no bridge. There was no ford. There was no

00:54:30.070 --> 00:54:31.710
way across. They were believing that God was

00:54:31.710 --> 00:54:33.170
going to make a way for them to go into the promised

00:54:33.170 --> 00:54:35.570
land. And then they would face, they knew they

00:54:35.570 --> 00:54:39.969
would face giants of men. wealthy and strong

00:54:39.969 --> 00:54:43.309
with great weaponry and skill and tactics. And

00:54:43.309 --> 00:54:45.630
they knew that Jericho would have to be defeated

00:54:45.630 --> 00:54:47.590
and Jericho was a huge city and it was in command

00:54:47.590 --> 00:54:49.429
essentially of all the land with a huge wall.

00:54:49.929 --> 00:54:51.630
And they knew that all that would have to happen.

00:54:51.769 --> 00:54:53.570
And so as they gathered on the side of the river

00:54:53.570 --> 00:54:55.690
before they ever crossed the river, they were

00:54:55.690 --> 00:54:59.630
responding in faith. We talked about how life

00:54:59.630 --> 00:55:01.789
on that side of the river, preparing for God

00:55:01.789 --> 00:55:05.190
to do something, prepares us. for when God actually

00:55:05.190 --> 00:55:07.010
does it. Remember, it was God who made the promises,

00:55:07.070 --> 00:55:08.610
and God was going to do it. It was not them.

00:55:08.750 --> 00:55:10.670
Even though he would require them to go into

00:55:10.670 --> 00:55:12.510
battle, he's the one who said that he would win

00:55:12.510 --> 00:55:14.650
the victories. And we know historically that

00:55:14.650 --> 00:55:16.769
is what happens, that one Israelite soldier is

00:55:16.769 --> 00:55:19.590
as good as 20 on the other side of the line.

00:55:21.309 --> 00:55:23.309
So now we come to that moment in time where they're

00:55:23.309 --> 00:55:25.869
actually crossing the river, and I was struggling

00:55:25.869 --> 00:55:27.809
with what... as I was preparing this lesson,

00:55:27.889 --> 00:55:29.829
the truth is I had all the text typed out, I

00:55:29.829 --> 00:55:31.010
basically had the points, and I was trying to

00:55:31.010 --> 00:55:33.489
see what was the one thing that God wanted us

00:55:33.489 --> 00:55:36.150
to see, and I'm suggesting to you now that it

00:55:36.150 --> 00:55:39.550
is a bookend. There is life on the other side

00:55:39.550 --> 00:55:41.829
of the river, that was a life of faith, it was

00:55:41.829 --> 00:55:44.030
a life of looking forward to how God was going

00:55:44.030 --> 00:55:45.690
to bring them across the river into the promised

00:55:45.690 --> 00:55:48.670
land and keep his promises, but now they have

00:55:48.670 --> 00:55:51.230
crossed the river into the promised land, and

00:55:51.230 --> 00:55:54.050
so they now live in a place where What seemed

00:55:54.050 --> 00:55:56.630
to them to be, at that time, the greatest barrier

00:55:56.630 --> 00:55:58.949
has already been dealt with by God. And that's

00:55:58.949 --> 00:56:00.650
like that for us. If you've accepted Jesus Christ

00:56:00.650 --> 00:56:02.489
as your Lord and Savior, you have to realize

00:56:02.489 --> 00:56:04.170
that your sin, the things that you were doing

00:56:04.170 --> 00:56:06.210
that was wrong, that your sinful nature that

00:56:06.210 --> 00:56:07.829
led you to have the tendency of doing things

00:56:07.829 --> 00:56:11.809
that were wrong, your tendency to act out of

00:56:11.809 --> 00:56:13.989
your emotions, your tendency to desire what your

00:56:13.989 --> 00:56:15.969
flesh desired, to go after things that you saw,

00:56:16.150 --> 00:56:18.309
the things that you desired, had passion for.

00:56:19.980 --> 00:56:22.800
That all of that was dealt with in your salvation.

00:56:23.519 --> 00:56:27.179
And now you are free. However, you still have

00:56:27.179 --> 00:56:29.300
to live, right? You still have to deal with those

00:56:29.300 --> 00:56:32.760
things. We all still have the same things of

00:56:32.760 --> 00:56:35.059
temptation. There is no temptation except that

00:56:35.059 --> 00:56:36.400
which is common to man. And we have the lust

00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:38.559
of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride

00:56:38.559 --> 00:56:40.659
of life, which lead us to things that we ought

00:56:40.659 --> 00:56:42.760
to know better than to consume them or take them

00:56:42.760 --> 00:56:45.340
as part of our being. But we have to make that

00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:47.059
actual decision. Now, you're free to make the

00:56:47.059 --> 00:56:49.300
right decision, but... We sometimes make the

00:56:49.300 --> 00:56:51.800
wrong decisions. So we are living in the same

00:56:51.800 --> 00:56:54.039
place essentially now. And I said some of us

00:56:54.039 --> 00:56:55.639
were living in that place. We're looking at a

00:56:55.639 --> 00:56:57.420
river or a thing that God wants to take us across,

00:56:57.619 --> 00:56:59.460
a thing that God wants to take us through. Some

00:56:59.460 --> 00:57:00.880
of us were living on the side of the river over

00:57:00.880 --> 00:57:03.119
there. And now I want to say to you that if you

00:57:03.119 --> 00:57:04.519
have response to the Lord's salvation, you also

00:57:04.519 --> 00:57:07.139
see that this side of the river for them should

00:57:07.139 --> 00:57:11.300
speak heartily to us as well because we have

00:57:11.300 --> 00:57:12.699
crossed salvation. Now, if you have not crossed

00:57:12.699 --> 00:57:13.920
salvation, you're sitting on that side of the

00:57:13.920 --> 00:57:16.119
river. Again, let me encourage you, the only

00:57:16.119 --> 00:57:18.019
thing that's stopping you is your faith, you

00:57:18.019 --> 00:57:19.860
have to believe that God has provided this for

00:57:19.860 --> 00:57:22.599
you, and then by grace, he does all the work,

00:57:22.659 --> 00:57:24.420
he provides the salvation, he washes away the

00:57:24.420 --> 00:57:28.000
sin, all of that, if you just are willing, if

00:57:28.000 --> 00:57:29.480
you just accept it, if you're willing to do that,

00:57:29.500 --> 00:57:31.659
believe and accept, and then commit yourself

00:57:31.659 --> 00:57:33.360
to follow him for the rest of your days, okay?

00:57:33.679 --> 00:57:36.360
So, then you're across the river, so I hope,

00:57:36.380 --> 00:57:38.440
this is going to be largely for those who are

00:57:38.440 --> 00:57:42.139
across that river, and if you're not there, I'm

00:57:42.139 --> 00:57:44.820
sorry, but I would ask you to kind of, Suck it

00:57:44.820 --> 00:57:46.679
in and take it in so that when you do cross the

00:57:46.679 --> 00:57:50.559
river, you're ready. Okay? So this is about what

00:57:50.559 --> 00:57:53.280
it's like now, having come across the river,

00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:57.179
but looking at and facing what to them will be,

00:57:57.340 --> 00:58:00.639
in their minds anyway, the greatest challenges

00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:03.219
they will ever face. When they were on the other

00:58:03.219 --> 00:58:04.599
side of the river, it looked like the river was

00:58:04.599 --> 00:58:05.760
the greatest challenge. There's no way across

00:58:05.760 --> 00:58:07.039
that river. You can't swim across it. We're going

00:58:07.039 --> 00:58:10.019
to have to wait until everything dies down, you

00:58:10.019 --> 00:58:11.599
know, after the floods are gone, whatever. And

00:58:11.599 --> 00:58:12.539
then even then, probably now, we're going to

00:58:12.539 --> 00:58:14.570
have to march 100 miles or whatever. or at least

00:58:14.570 --> 00:58:16.369
20, because I think the nearest forward was 20

00:58:16.369 --> 00:58:18.030
miles away downstream, whatever. But anyway,

00:58:18.190 --> 00:58:23.869
the point is, they were there, now they're here.

00:58:24.050 --> 00:58:25.750
They were on the other side of the river, now

00:58:25.750 --> 00:58:27.730
they're on this side of the river. But don't

00:58:27.730 --> 00:58:30.289
think that just because the river was parted,

00:58:30.289 --> 00:58:32.349
just as it is for you and I, don't think just

00:58:32.349 --> 00:58:34.590
because we were saved, that everything that now

00:58:34.590 --> 00:58:36.230
comes is just going to be, oh, it's just going

00:58:36.230 --> 00:58:38.070
to be a piece of cake. Everything is going to

00:58:38.070 --> 00:58:40.369
be easy. Everything's going to be simple. There's

00:58:40.369 --> 00:58:42.530
never going to be major opposition. No, they

00:58:42.530 --> 00:58:46.230
are faced with a land to conquer. Armies larger

00:58:46.230 --> 00:58:49.570
than they are in size, not in number of people,

00:58:49.650 --> 00:58:52.730
but in size. And that means huge potential losses.

00:58:53.030 --> 00:58:56.230
That means their entire society could lose a

00:58:56.230 --> 00:58:59.809
half of every adult male, even though half of

00:58:59.809 --> 00:59:01.469
all the adult males could die in this battle

00:59:01.469 --> 00:59:02.710
and take the promised land. That's what they're

00:59:02.710 --> 00:59:05.130
faced with. They know what Jericho looks like.

00:59:05.170 --> 00:59:07.840
They do not have the technology. to take down

00:59:07.840 --> 00:59:10.880
or break into Jericho. They can siege it, but

00:59:10.880 --> 00:59:12.900
even that will be extremely difficult. They know

00:59:12.900 --> 00:59:15.360
what they're faced with, but they've just crossed

00:59:15.360 --> 00:59:18.159
the river. And this is where we live our lives.

00:59:18.900 --> 00:59:23.179
Having come over, now what? Grab your Bibles

00:59:23.179 --> 00:59:24.880
if you would. Now we tend to hoot, holler, say

00:59:24.880 --> 00:59:27.179
amen, say yes, something, give me a breath at

00:59:27.179 --> 00:59:31.659
least, as we turn to Joshua chapter 4. Thank

00:59:31.659 --> 00:59:35.260
you very much. So that is a subtle reminder to

00:59:35.260 --> 00:59:37.500
put everything else out of your head, if you

00:59:37.500 --> 00:59:39.860
will, and just let the word of the Lord speak

00:59:39.860 --> 00:59:44.619
to you. Joshua chapter 4, beginning in verse

00:59:44.619 --> 00:59:48.619
1. Now when all the nation had finished crossing

00:59:48.619 --> 00:59:52.760
the Jordan, that sets the day, that's where we

00:59:52.760 --> 00:59:55.619
are. The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, Take for

00:59:55.619 --> 00:59:57.559
yourselves twelve men from the people, one man

00:59:57.559 --> 00:59:59.460
from each tribe, and command them, saying, Take

00:59:59.460 --> 01:00:01.920
up for yourselves twelve stones from here out

01:00:01.920 --> 01:00:04.260
of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where

01:00:04.260 --> 01:00:06.500
the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry

01:00:06.500 --> 01:00:08.980
them over with you, and lay them down in a lodging

01:00:08.980 --> 01:00:12.400
place where you will lodge tonight. So Joshua

01:00:12.400 --> 01:00:14.300
called the twelve men whom he had appointed from

01:00:14.300 --> 01:00:16.059
the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe,

01:00:16.159 --> 01:00:19.400
and Joshua said to them, Cross again to the ark

01:00:19.400 --> 01:00:21.300
of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan,

01:00:21.380 --> 01:00:23.699
and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder,

01:00:23.860 --> 01:00:26.179
according to the number of the tribes of the

01:00:26.179 --> 01:00:29.260
sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you,

01:00:29.320 --> 01:00:31.539
so that when your children ask later, saying,

01:00:32.039 --> 01:00:34.960
What do these stones mean to you? And I put the

01:00:34.960 --> 01:00:37.380
emphasis on the to you there, but it's not there

01:00:37.380 --> 01:00:38.880
in the original language. Realize there's no

01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:42.420
emphasis in Hebrew. There's not even any vowels

01:00:42.420 --> 01:00:46.079
or any punctuation. So what the emphasis would

01:00:46.079 --> 01:00:50.880
have been in this case is varied. It could be,

01:00:50.960 --> 01:00:52.079
I'm going to read it a couple different ways.

01:00:53.079 --> 01:00:58.039
What do these stones mean to you? What do these

01:00:58.039 --> 01:01:01.480
stones mean to you? What do these stones mean?

01:01:01.929 --> 01:01:06.570
To you. See it? Okay. Then you shall say to them,

01:01:06.670 --> 01:01:08.809
because the waters of the Jordan were cut off

01:01:08.809 --> 01:01:10.969
before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when

01:01:10.969 --> 01:01:12.590
it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan

01:01:12.590 --> 01:01:15.469
were cut off, so these stones shall become a

01:01:15.469 --> 01:01:18.170
memorial to the sons of Israel forever. Notice

01:01:18.170 --> 01:01:21.429
that it seems like God was saying, because the

01:01:21.429 --> 01:01:24.610
water was cut off, the stones will become a memorial

01:01:24.610 --> 01:01:27.949
to Israel forever. At first glance, that's what

01:01:27.949 --> 01:01:30.500
it looks like. But let me read it again. Because

01:01:30.500 --> 01:01:32.400
the waters of the Jordan were cut off before

01:01:32.400 --> 01:01:34.300
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when it

01:01:34.300 --> 01:01:36.139
crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan

01:01:36.139 --> 01:01:39.940
were cut off. Notice, for us, that's in quotations

01:01:39.940 --> 01:01:42.639
marks. That's what they would say to their kids.

01:01:43.880 --> 01:01:48.360
You follow? So when they say that to their kids,

01:01:48.619 --> 01:01:52.800
then he says, so these stones shall become a

01:01:52.800 --> 01:01:55.719
memorial to the sons of Israel forever. So it's

01:01:55.719 --> 01:01:57.440
not that the stones will become a memorial because

01:01:57.440 --> 01:02:00.329
God did the great work. But the stones will become

01:02:00.329 --> 01:02:04.630
a memorial because they said to the kids, the

01:02:04.630 --> 01:02:07.130
waters of the Jordan were cut off because of

01:02:07.130 --> 01:02:08.989
what they said. The stones will become a great

01:02:08.989 --> 01:02:12.449
memorial for Israel forever. Thus the sons of

01:02:12.449 --> 01:02:14.550
Israel did as Joshua commanded, took up 12 stones

01:02:14.550 --> 01:02:16.369
from the middle of the Jordan. Just as the Lord

01:02:16.369 --> 01:02:18.070
spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the

01:02:18.070 --> 01:02:20.210
tribes of the sons of Israel, they carried them

01:02:20.210 --> 01:02:22.789
over with them to the lodging place and put them

01:02:22.789 --> 01:02:25.489
down there. Then Joshua set up 12 stones in the

01:02:25.489 --> 01:02:27.369
middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet

01:02:27.369 --> 01:02:29.130
of the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant

01:02:29.130 --> 01:02:31.670
were standing, and they are there to this day,

01:02:31.789 --> 01:02:34.309
meaning under the River Jordan. For the priests

01:02:34.309 --> 01:02:37.090
who carried the Ark were standing in the middle

01:02:37.090 --> 01:02:38.750
of the Jordan until everything was completed

01:02:38.750 --> 01:02:40.849
that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to

01:02:40.849 --> 01:02:43.190
the people according to all that Moses had commanded

01:02:43.190 --> 01:02:46.309
Joshua, and the people hurried and crossed. And

01:02:46.309 --> 01:02:47.710
when all the people had finished crossing the

01:02:47.710 --> 01:02:49.809
Ark of the Lord and the priests crossed before

01:02:49.809 --> 01:02:54.360
the people, the son of Reuben, And the sons of

01:02:54.360 --> 01:02:56.800
Gad and the half -tribe of Manasseh crossed over

01:02:56.800 --> 01:02:59.519
in battle array before the sons of Israel, just

01:02:59.519 --> 01:03:03.500
as Moses had spoken to them. About 40 ,000, equipped

01:03:03.500 --> 01:03:06.380
for war, crossed for battle before the Lord to

01:03:06.380 --> 01:03:10.820
the desert plains of Jericho. On that day the

01:03:10.820 --> 01:03:12.739
Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel,

01:03:12.780 --> 01:03:15.480
so that they revered him, that means they held

01:03:15.480 --> 01:03:18.619
him as holy or a representative of God, just

01:03:18.619 --> 01:03:20.599
as they had revered Moses all the days of his

01:03:20.599 --> 01:03:24.099
life. Now the Lord said to Joshua, Command the

01:03:24.099 --> 01:03:25.679
priests who carry the Ark of the Testimony that

01:03:25.679 --> 01:03:27.500
they come up from the Jordan. So Joshua commanded

01:03:27.500 --> 01:03:29.099
the priests saying, come up from the Jordan.

01:03:29.219 --> 01:03:31.519
It came about when the priests who carry the

01:03:31.519 --> 01:03:33.320
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had come up from

01:03:33.320 --> 01:03:35.900
the middle of the Jordan and the soles of the

01:03:35.900 --> 01:03:39.480
priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground

01:03:39.480 --> 01:03:42.840
that the waters of the Jordan returned to their

01:03:42.840 --> 01:03:44.980
place and went over all its banks as before.

01:03:45.139 --> 01:03:47.679
Now let me be clear about one thing here. It

01:03:47.679 --> 01:03:50.420
says when their soles of their feet When they

01:03:50.420 --> 01:03:52.360
first entered way back when, if you remember

01:03:52.360 --> 01:03:53.780
from last week, if you don't, I'm going to tell

01:03:53.780 --> 01:03:55.340
you anyway in a minute, so don't be too worried

01:03:55.340 --> 01:03:57.840
about it. When they first touched the overflowing

01:03:57.840 --> 01:04:00.179
water of the Jordan, which presumably means with

01:04:00.179 --> 01:04:03.820
their toe, right? So as they walked up to the

01:04:03.820 --> 01:04:06.239
overflowing waters, not the Jordan River inside

01:04:06.239 --> 01:04:08.820
its banks, but the overflowing waters, the flood.

01:04:09.239 --> 01:04:11.500
They touched the water with their toe, and it

01:04:11.500 --> 01:04:14.099
was in that instant that the waters parted. A

01:04:14.099 --> 01:04:17.619
huge swath, and they crossed over how? On dry

01:04:17.619 --> 01:04:22.719
land. Right? This says that when they reached

01:04:22.719 --> 01:04:27.699
a spot and stepped their soul onto dry land,

01:04:28.059 --> 01:04:31.659
but wait a minute, they crossed over on dry land,

01:04:31.880 --> 01:04:35.400
right? So they've been walking on dry land, toe

01:04:35.400 --> 01:04:39.039
and heel on dry land. See the symbols? Toe and

01:04:39.039 --> 01:04:43.880
heel on dry land. Toe and heel. When I got up

01:04:43.880 --> 01:04:47.480
this morning, Ariana was complaining that her

01:04:47.480 --> 01:04:50.170
bedroom was cold. she said where is that cool

01:04:50.170 --> 01:04:53.030
air coming from and i noticed that we have a

01:04:53.030 --> 01:04:54.429
heater in her room because that room doesn't

01:04:54.429 --> 01:04:56.269
get as much furnace heat so just in case and

01:04:56.269 --> 01:04:59.010
the heater had been turned down and so i reached

01:04:59.010 --> 01:05:02.130
over to the heater and i put my toe because i

01:05:02.130 --> 01:05:03.869
don't want to you know this morning i don't bend

01:05:03.869 --> 01:05:05.590
over too early in the morning you know i'm saying

01:05:05.590 --> 01:05:09.050
so i reached out and i put my toe on the button

01:05:09.050 --> 01:05:12.389
and turn the heater up we reach with our toe

01:05:13.079 --> 01:05:15.079
Try to reach the button with your heel. You can,

01:05:15.300 --> 01:05:17.420
it's possible, but you have to completely turn

01:05:17.420 --> 01:05:20.039
your facing and set your body up just so, and

01:05:20.039 --> 01:05:22.820
then you can reach with your heel. We reach with

01:05:22.820 --> 01:05:26.880
our toe. Now, when you are taken aback, someone

01:05:26.880 --> 01:05:31.179
surprises you, you rock back on your heels. It's

01:05:31.179 --> 01:05:32.239
called being back on your heels. You're caught,

01:05:32.380 --> 01:05:34.699
surprised, you're firm. Because why? Because

01:05:34.699 --> 01:05:39.150
you are firm on your heels. Your weight over

01:05:39.150 --> 01:05:40.909
top of your heels suspended over top your leg

01:05:40.909 --> 01:05:43.010
your ankle holds it nicely and you stand firm

01:05:43.010 --> 01:05:46.590
Now if you walk around on your tiptoes for a

01:05:46.590 --> 01:05:51.070
while That's not nearly as stable If you really

01:05:51.070 --> 01:05:53.130
walk in your tiptoes you better be in the ballet

01:05:53.130 --> 01:05:54.949
or a ballerina or you're not gonna be able to

01:05:54.949 --> 01:05:56.429
do it for any length of time at all most people

01:05:56.429 --> 01:05:58.690
can't do it at all the way ballerinas can do

01:05:58.690 --> 01:06:00.610
it and they wear special shoes even to help them

01:06:00.610 --> 01:06:02.929
do it and the better they get the weaker the

01:06:02.929 --> 01:06:05.389
shoe that's the rule and for ballerinas by the

01:06:05.389 --> 01:06:07.719
way They need the shoe less and less. They still

01:06:07.719 --> 01:06:09.719
wear it, but they need it less and less when

01:06:09.719 --> 01:06:11.960
they get really good. And so we can't technically

01:06:11.960 --> 01:06:14.739
do that. So you reach with your toe, you're firm

01:06:14.739 --> 01:06:19.059
with your heel. Now the heel comes up onto dry

01:06:19.059 --> 01:06:21.179
land, which basically to us, you need to understand,

01:06:21.360 --> 01:06:24.000
it means that they left the Jordan. They also

01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:25.980
left the area that the Jordan would overflow,

01:06:26.139 --> 01:06:28.480
which is significant because when the water comes

01:06:28.480 --> 01:06:30.280
rushing back in, which it does, when the water

01:06:30.280 --> 01:06:31.940
comes rushing back in, it's probably going to

01:06:31.940 --> 01:06:34.340
flood an even larger area than it had previously

01:06:34.340 --> 01:06:37.260
flooded. You follow? Briefly, at least, it's

01:06:37.260 --> 01:06:38.659
going to come and flood that whole area, the

01:06:38.659 --> 01:06:41.039
Jordan body, the main part of the river, the

01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:43.719
flooded area of the river, and I submit to you

01:06:43.719 --> 01:06:46.159
even further at first, because of the resistance

01:06:46.159 --> 01:06:47.699
of what lies before it, it's going to run down

01:06:47.699 --> 01:06:48.880
the channel, it's going to run down the flood

01:06:48.880 --> 01:06:50.960
zone, and the flood zone is temporarily going

01:06:50.960 --> 01:06:53.820
to be even larger, and they step not where the

01:06:53.820 --> 01:06:57.099
river ends, not where the flood ends, but now

01:06:57.099 --> 01:07:01.219
where the flood of the flood ends. Their sole

01:07:01.219 --> 01:07:05.070
of their foot. Not their toe, not reaching, but

01:07:05.070 --> 01:07:08.969
the sole of their foot. Okay. I'm going to go

01:07:08.969 --> 01:07:10.349
a little further with the rest of the chapter.

01:07:13.510 --> 01:07:15.969
We'll start at 18 again. It came about when the

01:07:15.969 --> 01:07:17.309
priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of

01:07:17.309 --> 01:07:18.949
the Lord had come up from the middle of the Jordan,

01:07:19.030 --> 01:07:21.550
and the sole of the priests' feet were lifted

01:07:21.550 --> 01:07:24.369
up to the dry ground, that the waters of the

01:07:24.369 --> 01:07:25.809
Jordan returned to their place and went over

01:07:25.809 --> 01:07:28.690
all its banks as before. Now the people came

01:07:28.690 --> 01:07:31.289
up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first

01:07:31.289 --> 01:07:34.949
month. and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge

01:07:34.949 --> 01:07:38.170
of Jericho, which was that huge looming city

01:07:38.170 --> 01:07:39.769
that they knew was before them. They could not

01:07:39.769 --> 01:07:42.269
take the land unless they take Jericho. So they

01:07:42.269 --> 01:07:47.110
see now clearly the opposition. Having crossed

01:07:47.110 --> 01:07:49.369
the river, they see clearly the opposition. Those

01:07:49.369 --> 01:07:51.050
12 stones which they had taken from the Jordan,

01:07:51.170 --> 01:07:54.389
Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons

01:07:54.389 --> 01:07:56.550
of Israel, when your children ask their fathers

01:07:56.550 --> 01:07:59.030
in times to come, saying, what are these stones?

01:08:00.170 --> 01:08:02.110
Then you shall inform your children, saying,

01:08:02.369 --> 01:08:06.030
Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For

01:08:06.030 --> 01:08:08.150
the Lord your God dried up the waters of the

01:08:08.150 --> 01:08:10.429
Jordan before you until you had crossed, just

01:08:10.429 --> 01:08:12.829
as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea,

01:08:12.949 --> 01:08:17.350
which he dried up before us until we had crossed.

01:08:18.050 --> 01:08:20.210
Notice the difference? Slightly different pronoun

01:08:20.210 --> 01:08:22.550
usage there. That all the peoples of the earth

01:08:22.550 --> 01:08:25.210
may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty,

01:08:25.350 --> 01:08:30.399
so you may fear the Lord your God forever. There's

01:08:30.399 --> 01:08:31.619
a couple things I want you to see here before

01:08:31.619 --> 01:08:37.479
we get into a few distinct points. In the Hebrew,

01:08:37.659 --> 01:08:39.159
in the language, in what we're talking about

01:08:39.159 --> 01:08:40.960
here, there's sort of a give and take going on.

01:08:41.020 --> 01:08:43.640
There's the audience and the reason why. Notice

01:08:43.640 --> 01:08:47.220
that all the earth would see the glory of the

01:08:47.220 --> 01:08:51.100
Lord. That's really the audience for God's glory.

01:08:52.880 --> 01:08:55.859
That's who they would proclaim what God had done

01:08:55.859 --> 01:08:59.609
to. So all the people... of the earth may know

01:08:59.609 --> 01:09:06.750
that God's hand is mighty. God can do. There

01:09:06.750 --> 01:09:10.270
are those who do not believe that God needs to

01:09:10.270 --> 01:09:13.470
forgive sins. There are those that believe that

01:09:13.470 --> 01:09:15.829
they're basically okay. They've done more good

01:09:15.829 --> 01:09:18.470
than they've done bad. That's what they think.

01:09:18.649 --> 01:09:20.770
And they think that that should be a standard.

01:09:21.170 --> 01:09:23.489
If God is righteous and just, that should be

01:09:23.489 --> 01:09:25.470
a standard by which God will let people in if

01:09:25.470 --> 01:09:30.010
they've done more good than bad. However, if

01:09:30.010 --> 01:09:33.010
you went to elementary school, you know that

01:09:33.010 --> 01:09:35.989
you may have done all of your homework, but when

01:09:35.989 --> 01:09:38.729
you pulled the chair out from underneath the

01:09:38.729 --> 01:09:40.949
child in front of you or pulled that girl's ponytails

01:09:40.949 --> 01:09:43.289
or stuck your finger in that boy's eye because

01:09:43.289 --> 01:09:45.050
he didn't like your dad's favorite football team,

01:09:45.270 --> 01:09:48.149
none of the homework that you had done kept you

01:09:48.149 --> 01:09:51.210
from the punishment for what you had done. So

01:09:51.210 --> 01:09:55.170
no amount of good surmounts the amount of evil

01:09:55.170 --> 01:09:57.010
that we do even if we've only done one evil.

01:09:57.680 --> 01:09:59.739
There still must be punishment for that one evil.

01:10:00.039 --> 01:10:01.960
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of

01:10:01.960 --> 01:10:05.020
God. Therefore, the wages of sin is death. That's

01:10:05.020 --> 01:10:09.399
part of the Romans wrote, essentially. The people

01:10:09.399 --> 01:10:11.380
of the world may not recognize that they need

01:10:11.380 --> 01:10:14.680
to be forgiven. That's one problem. But if the

01:10:14.680 --> 01:10:16.859
people of the world recognize they need to be

01:10:16.859 --> 01:10:20.180
forgiven, and I submit to you that many do, then

01:10:20.180 --> 01:10:23.539
there is a question as to whom they, or does

01:10:23.539 --> 01:10:25.920
God have the ability and the power to forgive

01:10:25.920 --> 01:10:28.880
them? So should they go to God for that forgiveness?

01:10:29.760 --> 01:10:31.720
And the message that is delivered to all the

01:10:31.720 --> 01:10:35.399
world is that God's hand is mighty. He is even

01:10:35.399 --> 01:10:43.319
able to forgive sin. And the next group of people

01:10:43.319 --> 01:10:45.680
that's an audience in here is the next generation,

01:10:45.899 --> 01:10:48.619
the next generation of Israelites. The message

01:10:48.619 --> 01:10:51.300
to them was not that God's hand is mighty, for

01:10:51.300 --> 01:10:53.439
they just saw him break open the river Jordan.

01:10:54.760 --> 01:10:57.239
The message was that God has done mighty things

01:10:57.239 --> 01:11:02.020
and that those mighty things should not go unnoticed.

01:11:03.180 --> 01:11:06.220
Now that's a different kind of a message. It's

01:11:06.220 --> 01:11:08.060
not, can God do mighty things? Well, we know

01:11:08.060 --> 01:11:10.380
God can do mighty things. I saw the river part,

01:11:10.500 --> 01:11:15.170
right? Or we know that God has... created all

01:11:15.170 --> 01:11:17.270
of this. So people who believe in God look at

01:11:17.270 --> 01:11:18.930
the tree and they say, God created that tree.

01:11:19.050 --> 01:11:20.890
I mean, he didn't literally necessarily create

01:11:20.890 --> 01:11:23.569
that particular tree, but he created trees, right?

01:11:23.670 --> 01:11:26.109
He created the stars and we give God the glory

01:11:26.109 --> 01:11:28.810
for what God has done. And by that, you should

01:11:28.810 --> 01:11:32.010
know that God can do mighty things. But because

01:11:32.010 --> 01:11:34.069
of the temptations of the world, the cares and

01:11:34.069 --> 01:11:35.590
distractions of the world, the things that are

01:11:35.590 --> 01:11:37.989
going on, the opposition that lies before us

01:11:37.989 --> 01:11:42.300
and lied before them, Even up to the heyday of

01:11:42.300 --> 01:11:43.920
the kingdom under David and Solomon where they

01:11:43.920 --> 01:11:46.060
get as close as they ever get to actually setting

01:11:46.060 --> 01:11:47.539
the boundaries where God said they would be,

01:11:47.680 --> 01:11:50.479
but they still don't because of continuing acts

01:11:50.479 --> 01:11:52.359
of unfaithfulness. They never quite get there,

01:11:52.399 --> 01:11:54.439
always facing the opposition. In the face of

01:11:54.439 --> 01:11:55.760
that opposition, temptation, and distraction,

01:11:56.180 --> 01:12:00.079
God is trying to say, look, my mighty works must

01:12:00.079 --> 01:12:06.600
not go unnoticed. And then there are a couple

01:12:06.600 --> 01:12:08.420
of things that are assumed in the text here.

01:12:08.960 --> 01:12:11.460
The first one is that the next generation will

01:12:11.460 --> 01:12:13.899
see the signs and care enough to ask. There are

01:12:13.899 --> 01:12:16.260
people in the world who do not care enough to

01:12:16.260 --> 01:12:18.539
ask, why do you go to church every Sunday? What

01:12:18.539 --> 01:12:21.359
does the Bible say about Jesus? Et cetera. There

01:12:21.359 --> 01:12:22.579
are people in the world who just don't, they're

01:12:22.579 --> 01:12:25.239
ignorant. They maybe have heard it. I heard it

01:12:25.239 --> 01:12:28.739
when I was 12. And I heard it again when I was

01:12:28.739 --> 01:12:32.039
maybe 14. And both times I was able to walk away

01:12:32.039 --> 01:12:34.840
from those encounters without significantly having

01:12:34.840 --> 01:12:37.100
changed. I believed in God. I believed that we

01:12:37.100 --> 01:12:39.409
would answer to God one day. But I didn't really

01:12:39.409 --> 01:12:41.869
know anything about Jesus, even though two people

01:12:41.869 --> 01:12:44.329
had told me, plain as day, you need to accept

01:12:44.329 --> 01:12:46.590
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That he needs

01:12:46.590 --> 01:12:48.710
to be Lord of your life and you do what he tells

01:12:48.710 --> 01:12:50.609
you to do. And he needs to be the one who paid

01:12:50.609 --> 01:12:52.210
for your sins. Even though that had been explained

01:12:52.210 --> 01:12:55.829
to me twice over, right? Aaron, are you following

01:12:55.829 --> 01:13:00.090
this? Alright. We got this. Christian, are you

01:13:00.090 --> 01:13:08.109
following this? Are we okay? Alright. So... The

01:13:08.109 --> 01:13:10.329
something assumed here is that the current generation

01:13:10.329 --> 01:13:13.909
will be bold enough or willing to answer honestly

01:13:13.909 --> 01:13:15.810
and live accordingly. And I submit to you that

01:13:15.810 --> 01:13:17.470
when they live accordingly, somebody might say,

01:13:17.649 --> 01:13:20.170
hey, why? Somebody who wouldn't have otherwise

01:13:20.170 --> 01:13:23.149
done so might be led to do so. So we've got people

01:13:23.149 --> 01:13:24.829
in the generation who need to know, and we've

01:13:24.829 --> 01:13:26.369
got people in the generation who need to explain

01:13:26.369 --> 01:13:28.949
or proclaim the great acts of God. And when the

01:13:28.949 --> 01:13:31.270
two come together, guess what happens? Salvation.

01:13:32.130 --> 01:13:34.109
But the problem is that there are those who will

01:13:34.109 --> 01:13:37.609
not ask, and you can encourage them to ask. You

01:13:37.609 --> 01:13:39.130
can bring up the name of Jesus. You can even

01:13:39.130 --> 01:13:41.090
turn the conversation to Jesus. You can talk

01:13:41.090 --> 01:13:42.710
about spiritual matters and get them thinking

01:13:42.710 --> 01:13:45.010
about Jesus and then explain what they need to

01:13:45.010 --> 01:13:47.449
do to be saved. And that's called evangelism,

01:13:47.449 --> 01:13:51.239
bringing the good news of Jesus. Or you can be

01:13:51.239 --> 01:13:53.539
a witness. Every opportunity that comes up, you

01:13:53.539 --> 01:13:55.579
mention Jesus, you talk about God's things, you

01:13:55.579 --> 01:13:57.319
talk about what God has done for you. We have

01:13:57.319 --> 01:13:59.060
people in this room that God has literally saved

01:13:59.060 --> 01:14:01.720
their physical life more than once. And they

01:14:01.720 --> 01:14:03.560
know it. They can nail down the circumstances.

01:14:03.640 --> 01:14:05.340
This is when I was almost dead and now I'm alive.

01:14:05.600 --> 01:14:07.039
This is when I could do nothing and now I can

01:14:07.039 --> 01:14:09.340
do all these things. The people in the room who

01:14:09.340 --> 01:14:10.760
have that circumstance in their life, and they

01:14:10.760 --> 01:14:12.380
should be telling literally everyone who will

01:14:12.380 --> 01:14:15.920
listen about that. Because that is an example.

01:14:16.640 --> 01:14:19.579
And that's being a witness. And we are called

01:14:19.579 --> 01:14:21.560
to be witnesses. Not everybody is called to be

01:14:21.560 --> 01:14:23.100
an evangelist. In other words, to break through

01:14:23.100 --> 01:14:24.500
and get somebody thinking about it. Not everybody

01:14:24.500 --> 01:14:26.560
is called to be that. Only certain people kind

01:14:26.560 --> 01:14:29.260
of are good at that. That God gives it as a gift

01:14:29.260 --> 01:14:31.420
and gives them as a gift to the church. But everybody

01:14:31.420 --> 01:14:34.760
is called to be a witness. Okay? And so those

01:14:34.760 --> 01:14:36.680
are things that are kind of assumed in this text.

01:14:37.039 --> 01:14:38.300
And we're going to do a little object lesson

01:14:38.300 --> 01:14:40.380
here for a second. And then we'll go into the

01:14:40.380 --> 01:14:43.079
points. All right? So I need somebody with not

01:14:43.079 --> 01:14:45.060
too big hands to be my object lesson person.

01:14:45.859 --> 01:14:51.229
Aaron, you come up here. Come on. So these are

01:14:51.229 --> 01:14:54.630
manacles. These manacles were given to me by

01:14:54.630 --> 01:14:57.710
my wife before service today. I was kidding.

01:14:57.869 --> 01:14:59.409
Actually, I went and had to get them out of the

01:14:59.409 --> 01:15:02.149
van for me, so that's really kind of... So you're

01:15:02.149 --> 01:15:06.649
manacled. The rules are you cannot use your hands

01:15:06.649 --> 01:15:13.409
at all until they are free. Okay? Understand

01:15:13.409 --> 01:15:15.750
the rules of the game? You cannot use your hands

01:15:15.750 --> 01:15:19.189
at all until they are free. So I'm going to...

01:15:19.600 --> 01:15:28.680
Take this one off. Okay, so notice he had two

01:15:28.680 --> 01:15:31.600
manacles on, and I took one off, and without

01:15:31.600 --> 01:15:33.899
saying anything, I didn't say anything at all.

01:15:33.960 --> 01:15:36.039
I didn't say, as soon as one is free, take the

01:15:36.039 --> 01:15:38.600
other one off, whatever. As soon as I took one

01:15:38.600 --> 01:15:42.140
off, he naturally assumed the next action was

01:15:42.140 --> 01:15:45.960
to remove the second one. Right? Okay, you can

01:15:45.960 --> 01:15:53.770
have a seat. Thank you very much. There we go.

01:15:53.850 --> 01:15:57.250
Okay. So now take that little bit of insight

01:15:57.250 --> 01:16:00.710
with you to the text. All right. The first one,

01:16:00.810 --> 01:16:03.550
first point that is glaringly obvious in the

01:16:03.550 --> 01:16:07.229
text is that you must not, I must not, we must

01:16:07.229 --> 01:16:10.210
not miss the mighty things that God has done.

01:16:10.329 --> 01:16:12.750
This is problematic because I mentioned in my

01:16:12.750 --> 01:16:14.869
sermon last week as I think it was the second

01:16:14.869 --> 01:16:18.149
or third point that God can remove barriers from

01:16:18.149 --> 01:16:21.539
us. that we don't even know exist. That his power

01:16:21.539 --> 01:16:24.779
to remove things out of your way is so substantial

01:16:24.779 --> 01:16:27.680
that he will remove things out of your way and

01:16:27.680 --> 01:16:30.450
you won't even notice that they are gone. I'm

01:16:30.450 --> 01:16:32.229
guessing, I'm just guessing because I know the

01:16:32.229 --> 01:16:34.430
heart of God, that all of us have had our physical

01:16:34.430 --> 01:16:37.210
lives saved multiple times by miraculous intervention.

01:16:37.510 --> 01:16:39.970
And only a few of us know of the miraculous intervention

01:16:39.970 --> 01:16:42.609
that saved our lives. So if we've all had that

01:16:42.609 --> 01:16:44.550
and only three or four of us know of it, then

01:16:44.550 --> 01:16:46.710
only the three or four of us are supposed to

01:16:46.710 --> 01:16:50.350
know and proclaim that that's true? That's a

01:16:50.350 --> 01:16:52.869
problem, isn't it? God is doing so much that

01:16:52.869 --> 01:16:56.149
we don't know. I used to work in a restaurant

01:16:56.149 --> 01:17:00.939
years ago. We had a customer complaint line.

01:17:02.600 --> 01:17:04.699
And we would occasionally have a customer call

01:17:04.699 --> 01:17:08.560
and complain. Praise God, there but for the grace

01:17:08.560 --> 01:17:10.880
of God go I. We had very few complaints on the

01:17:10.880 --> 01:17:14.100
complaint line. We'd get one or two in two or

01:17:14.100 --> 01:17:16.220
three months. And so we were blessed. Not because

01:17:16.220 --> 01:17:19.079
I was a good manager. God was just taking care

01:17:19.079 --> 01:17:22.039
of it. Whatever. I don't know why. But a lot

01:17:22.039 --> 01:17:23.420
of restaurants would get a lot of complaints

01:17:23.420 --> 01:17:26.819
on the complaint line. And every quarter we would

01:17:26.819 --> 01:17:30.119
go to the... quarter meeting for the managers,

01:17:30.279 --> 01:17:31.920
and we would talk about the complaints on the

01:17:31.920 --> 01:17:37.060
complaint line. And the tagline was this. If

01:17:37.060 --> 01:17:40.380
there's one person that complained, can somebody

01:17:40.380 --> 01:17:44.960
finish it? There's 10 or we used to say 12 that

01:17:44.960 --> 01:17:48.220
didn't, right? So whatever that number is, depending

01:17:48.220 --> 01:17:50.260
on your industry, if there's one person that

01:17:50.260 --> 01:17:52.000
complained about your pizza wasn't warm when

01:17:52.000 --> 01:17:55.779
they got it, there's 10 or 12 that didn't complain,

01:17:55.899 --> 01:17:57.800
but their pizza was, and they were not satisfied.

01:17:58.409 --> 01:18:00.189
They were discontented, but they just didn't

01:18:00.189 --> 01:18:02.810
complain. And then the natural extension of that

01:18:02.810 --> 01:18:05.310
is that there's, of those, a bunch of them won't

01:18:05.310 --> 01:18:07.670
come back, right? And we're burning customers,

01:18:07.789 --> 01:18:09.510
and that's a phrase we used to use. So if you've

01:18:09.510 --> 01:18:11.210
got one customer that complained that your driver

01:18:11.210 --> 01:18:13.810
was rude, you can safely assume that in the same

01:18:13.810 --> 01:18:15.750
week that he worked 40 hours, he was rude to

01:18:15.750 --> 01:18:17.829
that one customer, he was rude to another 10

01:18:17.829 --> 01:18:21.470
customers, and they just didn't complain. So

01:18:21.470 --> 01:18:25.039
what we did was, what naturally follows... We

01:18:25.039 --> 01:18:28.560
honed in on the complaints. We made the complaints

01:18:28.560 --> 01:18:31.560
a very big and important thing. If I had a driver

01:18:31.560 --> 01:18:33.939
who was complained about for rudeness, I would

01:18:33.939 --> 01:18:36.359
pull that driver aside and I would work very

01:18:36.359 --> 01:18:37.960
hard with them to make sure that they were not

01:18:37.960 --> 01:18:41.899
seeming rude, sounding rude, or being rude. Because

01:18:41.899 --> 01:18:44.779
I could only assume that there were many things

01:18:44.779 --> 01:18:47.539
that that driver had done that were rude other

01:18:47.539 --> 01:18:49.340
than just the one person who picked up the phone

01:18:49.340 --> 01:18:51.020
and called. Now, if you're the driver and you

01:18:51.020 --> 01:18:52.579
know you were only rude that one time, that's

01:18:52.579 --> 01:18:56.590
unfair, right? But that's not really all that

01:18:56.590 --> 01:18:59.569
often the case is what's true. Because we are

01:18:59.569 --> 01:19:01.989
who we are. You say, well, I just had one bad

01:19:01.989 --> 01:19:04.850
day ever and I was rude to the customer. And

01:19:04.850 --> 01:19:07.729
he just said something. But then if you really

01:19:07.729 --> 01:19:09.109
be honest with yourself, you go, well, I had

01:19:09.109 --> 01:19:11.270
a bad day about a week ago too. And I had a bad

01:19:11.270 --> 01:19:13.189
day about a month ago too. And I had a bad day

01:19:13.189 --> 01:19:14.989
about three months ago. And before you know it,

01:19:15.010 --> 01:19:16.510
you realize that in the last year you've been

01:19:16.510 --> 01:19:19.630
rude a dozen times. And one person just got around

01:19:19.630 --> 01:19:24.010
to calling. Okay? And so, if God is doing mighty

01:19:24.010 --> 01:19:27.590
things, and we know of the mighty things, if

01:19:27.590 --> 01:19:30.109
God has done one mighty thing that you know of,

01:19:30.189 --> 01:19:32.729
then you can reasonably expect that God has done

01:19:32.729 --> 01:19:37.890
a dozen that you don't know of. So, what do you

01:19:37.890 --> 01:19:41.270
do? What's the solution? Drill down on the mighty

01:19:41.270 --> 01:19:44.750
thing that God has done. Know it in its completeness.

01:19:45.470 --> 01:19:51.329
Examine it. Celebrate it. Live it. For those

01:19:51.329 --> 01:19:53.430
of you in the room whose God has physically saved

01:19:53.430 --> 01:19:56.189
your life, the life that you now have was a gift

01:19:56.189 --> 01:20:01.029
from God. What are you going to do with it? Don't

01:20:01.029 --> 01:20:03.350
miss the mighty things that God has done because

01:20:03.350 --> 01:20:06.949
the one that you see represents many that you

01:20:06.949 --> 01:20:09.689
don't. Don't miss the mighty things that God

01:20:09.689 --> 01:20:12.029
has done because the one that you see and proclaim

01:20:12.029 --> 01:20:19.300
may be sufficient for many people. I can't tell

01:20:19.300 --> 01:20:23.020
you the number of times that I have heard a preacher

01:20:23.020 --> 01:20:26.560
stand up and their whole sermon is essentially

01:20:26.560 --> 01:20:30.100
their testimony. And they've preached a very

01:20:30.100 --> 01:20:31.819
good sermon. They know their testimony better

01:20:31.819 --> 01:20:34.260
than anybody, how they were saved, how God brought

01:20:34.260 --> 01:20:37.560
them across the river of salvation. In fact,

01:20:37.560 --> 01:20:40.149
we did a... Years ago, we did a Bible study material

01:20:40.149 --> 01:20:42.149
called The Net, and that's what it was. Basically,

01:20:42.149 --> 01:20:44.630
you were just talking to a point at which you

01:20:44.630 --> 01:20:48.210
could share the story in which God does the mightiest

01:20:48.210 --> 01:20:49.949
thing that he ever did in your life, and you

01:20:49.949 --> 01:20:52.310
know it the best. And it's something that you

01:20:52.310 --> 01:20:56.090
know in such detail that you can share it with

01:20:56.090 --> 01:21:02.250
great realism, with great even passion, and when

01:21:02.250 --> 01:21:04.270
they hear it, they then know everything they

01:21:04.270 --> 01:21:08.649
need to know to be saved. And then of course

01:21:08.649 --> 01:21:10.569
I've heard preachers get up and preach sermons

01:21:10.569 --> 01:21:12.689
that were very good based on a certain text,

01:21:12.789 --> 01:21:14.890
and it was clear that they had not themselves

01:21:14.890 --> 01:21:18.489
dealt with the problem. Teach a sermon on adultery,

01:21:18.529 --> 01:21:20.430
for example, or a sermon on drugs, and they just

01:21:20.430 --> 01:21:23.569
have no idea what it's really like to be in that

01:21:23.569 --> 01:21:27.289
circumstance. But they take a scripture, a certain

01:21:27.289 --> 01:21:29.390
scripture, and they twist it a certain way, and

01:21:29.390 --> 01:21:32.210
they make it apply to that certain situation.

01:21:34.430 --> 01:21:36.409
Now which sermon do you think I was more blessed

01:21:36.409 --> 01:21:39.640
by? Which sermon do you think called me to change

01:21:39.640 --> 01:21:42.359
my life, to recognize the mighty things that

01:21:42.359 --> 01:21:46.520
God has done? The testimony. Your testimony.

01:21:46.659 --> 01:21:50.260
The sermon that the church preaches is way more

01:21:50.260 --> 01:21:54.060
powerful, way more imbued with God's being than

01:21:54.060 --> 01:21:56.699
the sermon that the pastor preaches. We do this

01:21:56.699 --> 01:21:59.119
because this is something that God has called

01:21:59.119 --> 01:22:02.180
us to do. You sit there and listen to me because

01:22:02.180 --> 01:22:05.420
this is what God has organized us to do. And

01:22:05.420 --> 01:22:07.159
by the way, when you do that, you're really not

01:22:07.159 --> 01:22:09.359
supposed to be listening to me. You're also not

01:22:09.359 --> 01:22:11.840
supposed to be tuning me out. But taking cues

01:22:11.840 --> 01:22:13.500
from what I am saying, you're really supposed

01:22:13.500 --> 01:22:15.920
to be listening to God. That's what this is all

01:22:15.920 --> 01:22:20.319
about. And God can add this morning to your story

01:22:20.319 --> 01:22:22.439
another mighty work. And when he does, don't

01:22:22.439 --> 01:22:26.699
miss it. And when he does, proclaim it to everyone

01:22:26.699 --> 01:22:29.199
who will listen. This is the problem to a degree

01:22:29.199 --> 01:22:31.300
that I have with people who go out and throughout

01:22:31.300 --> 01:22:32.880
the week they don't talk about what happened

01:22:32.880 --> 01:22:35.420
during the sermon time with their friends and

01:22:35.420 --> 01:22:37.939
their family members and so on. If God called

01:22:37.939 --> 01:22:39.460
you to be here and to hear from his word and

01:22:39.460 --> 01:22:41.560
your soul was changed, that is a mighty work

01:22:41.560 --> 01:22:43.500
of God that ought be proclaimed. It is one of

01:22:43.500 --> 01:22:48.380
a dozen. I get that. We save double money back

01:22:48.380 --> 01:22:51.020
on a coupon and tell everybody. God transforms

01:22:51.020 --> 01:22:53.899
us on Sunday morning and we tell nobody. Don't

01:22:53.899 --> 01:22:56.520
miss the mighty works, the mighty things that

01:22:56.520 --> 01:23:00.060
God has done. God has erected all around us monuments

01:23:00.060 --> 01:23:03.239
to His greatness. This building, these chairs,

01:23:03.479 --> 01:23:05.460
these are the physical monuments to His greatness.

01:23:05.579 --> 01:23:08.460
These Bibles, which we have, and people will

01:23:08.460 --> 01:23:09.939
argue that there are mistakes, but there are

01:23:09.939 --> 01:23:12.779
none. People will argue that there are differences

01:23:12.779 --> 01:23:14.699
between this and the original text, and the fact

01:23:14.699 --> 01:23:17.520
is, there aren't any. In 1948, when they discovered

01:23:17.520 --> 01:23:19.680
the Dead Sea Scrolls, which had been lost for

01:23:19.680 --> 01:23:23.920
whatever hundreds of years, is that? probably

01:23:23.920 --> 01:23:26.760
1900 years, and they took the pieces of those

01:23:26.760 --> 01:23:29.039
scrolls and compared them to the present day

01:23:29.039 --> 01:23:31.380
Bibles that we have, mind you, in the language

01:23:31.380 --> 01:23:33.439
that they were written, guess how many differences

01:23:33.439 --> 01:23:37.579
there were? None substantive. The only differences

01:23:37.579 --> 01:23:39.819
that they could find were tiny, minor differences

01:23:39.819 --> 01:23:42.520
in the way a letter was made, or the way spacing

01:23:42.520 --> 01:23:44.579
was done, or things like that. They couldn't

01:23:44.579 --> 01:23:46.899
find a single substantive difference that changed

01:23:46.899 --> 01:23:49.880
the message. After the same text had been buried

01:23:49.880 --> 01:23:52.000
for 1900 years, and they could take up to the...

01:23:52.239 --> 01:23:54.479
to the King James Bible and the Hebrew Bible

01:23:54.479 --> 01:23:56.060
that made up the Old Testament, that made up

01:23:56.060 --> 01:23:58.000
the King James Bible, and it was the same. It's

01:23:58.000 --> 01:24:00.380
not been changed. This is a monument to God's

01:24:00.380 --> 01:24:02.039
power, and we ought to proclaim. We talk about

01:24:02.039 --> 01:24:05.619
the Bible. This is a monument that he has erected

01:24:05.619 --> 01:24:10.060
to himself. All creation testifies in the tsunami.

01:24:10.720 --> 01:24:13.720
In the hurricane, in the earthquake, testifying

01:24:13.720 --> 01:24:15.859
how creation groans for when Jesus will renew

01:24:15.859 --> 01:24:18.380
everything. In the gentle breeze that cools you

01:24:18.380 --> 01:24:21.979
on a hot day. In the good taste of healthy food.

01:24:22.319 --> 01:24:26.939
In the waking up in the morning rested. All creation

01:24:26.939 --> 01:24:29.359
testifies. Your body testifies to God's order

01:24:29.359 --> 01:24:33.840
in His creation and His power in creation. The

01:24:33.840 --> 01:24:36.500
stars themselves testify to His multivariate

01:24:36.500 --> 01:24:38.800
personality and they are basically just all the

01:24:38.800 --> 01:24:42.619
same. to the naked eye until you look closely

01:24:42.619 --> 01:24:45.399
look for his artistic nature and his creation

01:24:45.399 --> 01:24:46.859
and the differences and the variances realize

01:24:46.859 --> 01:24:47.979
that some of the things you're looking at are

01:24:47.979 --> 01:24:50.460
stars aren't even stars they're planets in our

01:24:50.460 --> 01:24:53.579
very own solar system and if you pull out a telescope

01:24:53.579 --> 01:24:59.060
and look you could see their rough surfaces or

01:24:59.060 --> 01:25:02.579
the gas clouds rolling in their atmosphere our

01:25:02.579 --> 01:25:06.220
god is amazing and he has erected monuments all

01:25:06.220 --> 01:25:09.180
around us to proclaim the nature of His mighty

01:25:09.180 --> 01:25:13.619
work. Amongst us then, there are times that men

01:25:13.619 --> 01:25:16.500
have decided to stay the course, and God has

01:25:16.500 --> 01:25:18.399
completely transformed their lives, providing

01:25:18.399 --> 01:25:20.380
everything that they need. There are times that

01:25:20.380 --> 01:25:22.760
men have decided not to stay the course, and

01:25:22.760 --> 01:25:24.520
we can actually tell the stories. We hate these

01:25:24.520 --> 01:25:27.159
stories. They're sad stories, but of how they

01:25:27.159 --> 01:25:29.479
have paid dearly for not being faithful to God.

01:25:30.560 --> 01:25:32.560
Sadly, there are people in this room who will

01:25:32.560 --> 01:25:35.500
pay dearly for not having stayed the course with

01:25:35.500 --> 01:25:39.439
God. Some of us are paying dearly today for not

01:25:39.439 --> 01:25:42.319
having stayed the course with God. Repent and

01:25:42.319 --> 01:25:44.239
turn back to the Lord is the message that that

01:25:44.239 --> 01:25:47.020
proclaims. There are instances in which we have

01:25:47.020 --> 01:25:50.800
elected ourselves to not stay the course, and

01:25:50.800 --> 01:25:53.720
the memory of the cost that we paid back then

01:25:53.720 --> 01:25:57.239
is an erected testimony and a powerful work to

01:25:57.239 --> 01:26:00.199
the Lord. And we're free now! Saved now! turned

01:26:00.199 --> 01:26:02.920
completely to the Lord now, cleansed now, forgiven

01:26:02.920 --> 01:26:06.180
now, and still paying a little bit of the price.

01:26:07.060 --> 01:26:12.079
And that is a monument to the Lord. James said

01:26:12.079 --> 01:26:14.560
it this way. He said, therefore, James 1, verse

01:26:14.560 --> 01:26:17.779
21, therefore, putting aside all filthiness and

01:26:17.779 --> 01:26:21.180
all that remains of wickedness, in humility,

01:26:21.359 --> 01:26:24.479
receive the word, let me say there, the word

01:26:24.479 --> 01:26:27.659
of God, implanted. which is able to save souls.

01:26:27.840 --> 01:26:31.579
It's the same word that saved your soul that

01:26:31.579 --> 01:26:35.720
you now receive when God proclaims His mighty

01:26:35.720 --> 01:26:38.560
works. When you read in the Bible, when you read

01:26:38.560 --> 01:26:40.239
the word Lagos, it's talking about the word of

01:26:40.239 --> 01:26:43.119
God. It's talking about the creating power of

01:26:43.119 --> 01:26:44.960
God. It's the power of God to do things. It's

01:26:44.960 --> 01:26:46.920
the power of God to change us. It's the power

01:26:46.920 --> 01:26:49.220
of God to move us to the next place that He's

01:26:49.220 --> 01:26:52.659
trying to take us. It was the word of God, essentially,

01:26:52.659 --> 01:26:56.329
that split the river. The Word of God. What is

01:26:56.329 --> 01:26:59.670
the Ark of the Covenant called, by the way? In

01:26:59.670 --> 01:27:01.130
that text that we read last week, it was called

01:27:01.130 --> 01:27:07.529
the Ark of the Testimony. Why? Because the power

01:27:07.529 --> 01:27:11.130
of God to create is expressed so often in His

01:27:11.130 --> 01:27:16.010
Word. And we ought to receive that indwelt. So

01:27:16.010 --> 01:27:19.210
when you're blessed, and you run quickly on to

01:27:19.210 --> 01:27:23.069
the next blessing, you're missing it. When you're

01:27:23.069 --> 01:27:25.149
blessed and you quickly turn that blessing over

01:27:25.149 --> 01:27:28.449
to do something new, something different, when

01:27:28.449 --> 01:27:29.970
that check comes in the mail and you already

01:27:29.970 --> 01:27:33.130
know what it's going to be spent on, you're missing

01:27:33.130 --> 01:27:37.909
something. The second thing I want you to see

01:27:37.909 --> 01:27:40.810
in here is that we ought not to fail to proclaim

01:27:40.810 --> 01:27:43.949
when the monuments get the attention of the next

01:27:43.949 --> 01:27:46.630
generation. And by the way, that doesn't just

01:27:46.630 --> 01:27:48.430
mean your children or your children's children,

01:27:48.470 --> 01:27:50.989
grandchildren, whatever. The next generation

01:27:50.989 --> 01:27:55.689
of believers as well. So it's your friend who

01:27:55.689 --> 01:27:58.689
doesn't know Christ who recognizes that something

01:27:58.689 --> 01:28:01.189
is different about you. Or your friend who doesn't

01:28:01.189 --> 01:28:03.010
know Christ who wonders why they're in a bad

01:28:03.010 --> 01:28:05.229
spot. I had a young man call me on the phone

01:28:05.229 --> 01:28:08.430
and say, we think our child is possessed of an

01:28:08.430 --> 01:28:11.529
evil spirit and explains circumstances that were

01:28:11.529 --> 01:28:15.949
pretty dark. And I said, you know, I can only

01:28:15.949 --> 01:28:18.789
tell you that that actually may be true. From

01:28:18.789 --> 01:28:21.310
what you're describing, it may be true. And he

01:28:21.310 --> 01:28:23.170
said, we want you to come and pray over our child.

01:28:23.869 --> 01:28:26.189
And this was a professing believer, but they

01:28:26.189 --> 01:28:27.670
weren't following the Lord, but it was a professing

01:28:27.670 --> 01:28:29.670
believer. By their own profession, they admitted

01:28:29.670 --> 01:28:32.050
they were not following the Lord. And I said,

01:28:32.069 --> 01:28:36.229
well, I could do that, but the truth is, as the

01:28:36.229 --> 01:28:39.149
child's father and as a believer in the Lord,

01:28:39.270 --> 01:28:41.789
this is something that you can do and should

01:28:41.789 --> 01:28:45.010
do yourself. And if I come and I do that, and

01:28:45.010 --> 01:28:46.750
chase away the evil spirits, and then I leave,

01:28:46.789 --> 01:28:48.329
and you don't have the power to protect your

01:28:48.329 --> 01:28:49.750
children, because you're not living for the Lord,

01:28:49.789 --> 01:28:50.989
you don't have the power of faith, you don't

01:28:50.989 --> 01:28:53.329
have God in you, then there's nothing to keep

01:28:53.329 --> 01:28:56.550
the evil spirit from coming back and affecting

01:28:56.550 --> 01:28:58.090
the child again. And actually what scripture

01:28:58.090 --> 01:28:59.829
says is this is only going to get worse each

01:28:59.829 --> 01:29:02.029
time. Now at the end of that conversation, that

01:29:02.029 --> 01:29:03.989
man repented, turned back to the Lord, went and

01:29:03.989 --> 01:29:05.630
prayed over his own child, the evil spirit went

01:29:05.630 --> 01:29:10.369
away, and for a while he remembered the powerful

01:29:10.369 --> 01:29:13.090
thing that God had done. He erected a monument,

01:29:13.229 --> 01:29:15.010
but I can only say he probably erected it out

01:29:15.010 --> 01:29:17.170
of a paper mache because about six months later,

01:29:17.270 --> 01:29:19.109
he was back in the same place that he had been

01:29:19.109 --> 01:29:22.670
before he made that call. What I'm saying to

01:29:22.670 --> 01:29:27.390
you is that I proclaim to him, we cannot fail

01:29:27.390 --> 01:29:30.850
to proclaim when the monuments that God has erected,

01:29:30.850 --> 01:29:32.489
the things that God wants us to see, get the

01:29:32.489 --> 01:29:35.590
attention of those who need to hear, whoever

01:29:35.590 --> 01:29:37.890
they are. Your children are your responsibility.

01:29:38.470 --> 01:29:40.689
Your wife, your husband, that's your responsibility.

01:29:41.260 --> 01:29:43.520
That's a God -given command that you are required

01:29:43.520 --> 01:29:46.199
to lead them closer to God. If you are not doing

01:29:46.199 --> 01:29:49.020
that, you will answer to God probably in a more

01:29:49.020 --> 01:29:51.100
extreme way than any other thing that you can

01:29:51.100 --> 01:29:52.260
imagine that you've been commanded to do that

01:29:52.260 --> 01:29:55.500
you're not doing. Because that's your solemn

01:29:55.500 --> 01:29:58.680
responsibility before the Lord. It is who you

01:29:58.680 --> 01:30:01.899
are, part of your being. And you're not being

01:30:01.899 --> 01:30:04.520
who you're supposed to be. And anytime we don't

01:30:04.520 --> 01:30:08.039
do that, we pay a very dear price. That being

01:30:08.039 --> 01:30:11.100
said, There are others who need to hear. And

01:30:11.100 --> 01:30:14.539
when anybody shows some signs, whoever it might

01:30:14.539 --> 01:30:17.220
be, you have to be ready to proclaim the monuments.

01:30:17.560 --> 01:30:19.300
You have to be ready to proclaim what God has

01:30:19.300 --> 01:30:22.020
done. If they will open their eyes and take notice,

01:30:22.220 --> 01:30:25.140
you must be prepared to give an answer. I took

01:30:25.140 --> 01:30:28.260
a class at Liberty University in the theological

01:30:28.260 --> 01:30:30.619
seminary there. It was a week -long intensive.

01:30:31.720 --> 01:30:33.619
And we were there about eight hours a day except

01:30:33.619 --> 01:30:36.779
on Friday. And if I could say it was on revivals.

01:30:37.479 --> 01:30:39.579
And you know churches have revivals. They get

01:30:39.579 --> 01:30:41.220
people together and they'll have like five days

01:30:41.220 --> 01:30:43.239
of music and they pray and they sing and they

01:30:43.239 --> 01:30:45.079
invite people and stuff. They call it a revival.

01:30:45.100 --> 01:30:49.640
We're having revival this week. And, you know,

01:30:49.640 --> 01:30:51.600
sometimes it grows the church and positive things

01:30:51.600 --> 01:30:53.319
come out of it. God has done miracles involved

01:30:53.319 --> 01:30:56.680
in those things and so on. But this class that

01:30:56.680 --> 01:30:58.680
I took, he summed up revivals. This is how revivals

01:30:58.680 --> 01:31:01.039
happen. If you want to have a revival in the

01:31:01.039 --> 01:31:02.479
spirit, this is how it happens. If you want people

01:31:02.479 --> 01:31:05.609
to be revived, this is how it happens. He said,

01:31:05.710 --> 01:31:08.770
when God's people do exactly what it is that

01:31:08.770 --> 01:31:12.210
God's people are supposed to do, and they continue

01:31:12.210 --> 01:31:14.909
to do that, then God does something, whether

01:31:14.909 --> 01:31:16.850
it be scary or positive or whatever. You get

01:31:16.850 --> 01:31:20.390
an earthquake. You remember 9 -11? After 9 -11,

01:31:20.590 --> 01:31:24.069
the attendance in churches that Sunday and the

01:31:24.069 --> 01:31:29.050
following month was up by like 40 % nationwide,

01:31:29.050 --> 01:31:34.069
which also meant across religions. So some people

01:31:34.069 --> 01:31:35.630
were going where there was no message of hope.

01:31:36.550 --> 01:31:40.590
And a lot of pastors missed the opportunity to

01:31:40.590 --> 01:31:45.010
proclaim because they already had a plan on what

01:31:45.010 --> 01:31:47.229
they were going to talk about. And they didn't

01:31:47.229 --> 01:31:49.529
talk about 9 -11. They didn't talk about what

01:31:49.529 --> 01:31:51.149
God was doing. They didn't talk about the nature

01:31:51.149 --> 01:31:53.470
of a nation that desperately needed the Lord.

01:31:53.850 --> 01:31:55.939
They talked about whatever it was they... And

01:31:55.939 --> 01:31:57.640
some of them probably preached the gospel plain

01:31:57.640 --> 01:31:58.880
and simple. They may have shared their testimony.

01:31:59.399 --> 01:32:00.960
And I'm not saying lots of people didn't get

01:32:00.960 --> 01:32:03.840
saved. But what I am saying is there was an opportunity.

01:32:03.960 --> 01:32:06.300
And if God's people had been found doing what

01:32:06.300 --> 01:32:07.840
God's people were supposed to be doing the world

01:32:07.840 --> 01:32:10.000
over, then we wouldn't have gone back to a month

01:32:10.000 --> 01:32:13.020
later the original attendance numbers. Out of

01:32:13.020 --> 01:32:15.819
that 40 % increase, we'd have netted 4 % or 10

01:32:15.819 --> 01:32:20.619
% or 15 % growth. And it's just not that. It's

01:32:20.619 --> 01:32:23.300
all the time. And let's dumb it down to one particular

01:32:23.300 --> 01:32:25.840
circumstance where one guy in your life, one

01:32:25.840 --> 01:32:28.720
gal in your life, says, hey, I've been wondering

01:32:28.720 --> 01:32:31.380
about, thinking about whatever. And the truth

01:32:31.380 --> 01:32:33.600
is, you believe in Jesus. You believe he saved

01:32:33.600 --> 01:32:35.199
you. You believe that he brought you across the

01:32:35.199 --> 01:32:37.659
river of salvation. But you're so busy looking

01:32:37.659 --> 01:32:40.479
at the big things that are coming, the struggles

01:32:40.479 --> 01:32:42.520
that you still have, the bills you have to pay,

01:32:42.619 --> 01:32:44.300
the problems you have with so -and -so who won't

01:32:44.300 --> 01:32:46.420
do what you think they should do, and so on.

01:32:46.520 --> 01:32:48.640
Those problems, this person walks up to you and

01:32:48.640 --> 01:32:50.100
says, you know, I've really been giving some

01:32:50.100 --> 01:32:53.149
thought to... Something that cues in on faith.

01:32:53.250 --> 01:32:55.670
God, faith, the problems I'm having, evil spirits,

01:32:55.890 --> 01:32:58.590
demons, angels, Bible, what the Bible says, John

01:32:58.590 --> 01:33:01.670
3, anything they say, it's a clue that they want

01:33:01.670 --> 01:33:04.529
to talk about that. And you're busy, busy, busy.

01:33:06.310 --> 01:33:09.350
And they don't get what they need. And who do

01:33:09.350 --> 01:33:10.350
you think is going to get the blame for that?

01:33:11.069 --> 01:33:15.069
If God has erected the monuments and brought

01:33:15.069 --> 01:33:17.770
your attention to them sufficiently that you

01:33:17.770 --> 01:33:20.590
know that you have crossed the river, But now

01:33:20.590 --> 01:33:24.109
your eyes are on Jericho, or whatever Jericho

01:33:24.109 --> 01:33:28.670
is for you, instead of on living out what God

01:33:28.670 --> 01:33:31.470
has already done in your life, who do you think

01:33:31.470 --> 01:33:33.270
is going to get the blame for that? The God who

01:33:33.270 --> 01:33:35.569
did all the powerful works? The God who is completely

01:33:35.569 --> 01:33:37.510
capable of forgiving sins and does all the mighty

01:33:37.510 --> 01:33:40.409
works in us? The God who brought you to where

01:33:40.409 --> 01:33:43.250
you are? The God who erected the monument so

01:33:43.250 --> 01:33:46.369
that you can remember? Gave you the command to

01:33:46.369 --> 01:33:48.939
remember and proclaim? That God? Or is it going

01:33:48.939 --> 01:33:52.380
to be the God who brought them to the moment

01:33:52.380 --> 01:33:55.439
of decision? Brought them to one of the people

01:33:55.439 --> 01:33:58.520
who proclaims to be his children? So that they

01:33:58.520 --> 01:34:03.319
could talk for a while? No, it's not going to

01:34:03.319 --> 01:34:06.380
be God's fault. I submit to you, it's not going

01:34:06.380 --> 01:34:09.180
to be their fault. Because they did what they

01:34:09.180 --> 01:34:11.279
were supposed to do. They recognized the monument

01:34:11.279 --> 01:34:14.500
and began to ask the questions. It's going to

01:34:14.500 --> 01:34:17.310
be your fault. Because as they gave you enough

01:34:17.310 --> 01:34:21.869
time to bring it up, you didn't. The problem

01:34:21.869 --> 01:34:26.010
based on this text then is, that's what happens

01:34:26.010 --> 01:34:29.210
with the Israelites over the coming years. That's

01:34:29.210 --> 01:34:32.069
what happened the first time. Remember, God parted

01:34:32.069 --> 01:34:35.529
for us the Red Sea, parted for you the Jordan

01:34:35.529 --> 01:34:39.449
River. You're supposed to remember. Proclaim

01:34:39.449 --> 01:34:41.609
to your children the monument is supposed to

01:34:41.609 --> 01:34:43.270
get them asking and then you're supposed to proclaim.

01:34:43.569 --> 01:34:45.689
And I submit to you that the principle is they

01:34:45.689 --> 01:34:48.909
should be erecting additional monuments. Right?

01:34:49.590 --> 01:34:54.890
They'll be in the room in a minute. Don't fail

01:34:54.890 --> 01:34:56.869
to proclaim when the monuments get the attention

01:34:56.869 --> 01:35:00.510
of the next generation. Peter said it this way.

01:35:00.789 --> 01:35:03.390
Peter chapter 1 verse 13. Therefore, prepare

01:35:03.390 --> 01:35:07.369
your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit.

01:35:08.430 --> 01:35:12.869
Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought

01:35:12.869 --> 01:35:17.289
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Not

01:35:17.289 --> 01:35:19.390
the hope that you'll overcome the next problem

01:35:19.390 --> 01:35:21.350
or that God will act mighty again. We're all

01:35:21.350 --> 01:35:23.130
begging God to do something mighty in our situation.

01:35:23.329 --> 01:35:25.869
And it'll be great if he does, and he does often

01:35:25.869 --> 01:35:28.430
answer prayers. And if you ask in faith and believe

01:35:28.430 --> 01:35:29.989
that you have what you ask for, according to

01:35:29.989 --> 01:35:31.470
what Jesus said, you ask it in his name, you'll

01:35:31.470 --> 01:35:34.409
have it. We're so busy asking for the next thing

01:35:34.409 --> 01:35:37.520
that we're forgetting the previous thing. Jesus

01:35:37.520 --> 01:35:39.020
said the resources are in the harvest. You know

01:35:39.020 --> 01:35:41.279
why churches are poor? Because churches aren't

01:35:41.279 --> 01:35:43.439
winning people to Jesus. The resources are in

01:35:43.439 --> 01:35:44.779
the harvest, and the harvest is winning people

01:35:44.779 --> 01:35:49.739
to Jesus. 1 Peter 3 .15 says this. Let me get

01:35:49.739 --> 01:35:51.960
13 one more time. Therefore, prepare your minds

01:35:51.960 --> 01:35:54.479
for action. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope

01:35:54.479 --> 01:35:56.619
completely on the grace to be brought to you

01:35:56.619 --> 01:35:59.930
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3

01:35:59.930 --> 01:36:02.510
.15, just a little further down, says, but sanctify

01:36:02.510 --> 01:36:04.949
Christ as Lord in your hearts. That means set

01:36:04.949 --> 01:36:09.550
him apart, recognize he is holy, right? So like,

01:36:09.609 --> 01:36:12.590
recognize the monument that God has constructed,

01:36:12.869 --> 01:36:16.170
recognize the great work that God has done. Sanctify

01:36:16.170 --> 01:36:19.270
Christ as Lord in your heart, always being ready

01:36:19.270 --> 01:36:21.850
to make a defense to everyone who asks you to

01:36:21.850 --> 01:36:23.710
give an account for the hope that is in you,

01:36:23.869 --> 01:36:27.250
yet with gentleness and reverence. And then that

01:36:27.250 --> 01:36:30.289
leads us to the third point in the text. Don't

01:36:30.289 --> 01:36:33.909
you ever, I added that you ever in there just

01:36:33.909 --> 01:36:37.909
now, but don't you live as if you never crossed

01:36:37.909 --> 01:36:42.090
the river. Don't you do it. Don't you get out

01:36:42.090 --> 01:36:46.710
of bed not one day. Don't you eat one meal or

01:36:46.710 --> 01:36:51.069
take one nap. Don't you take one sip of one cup

01:36:51.069 --> 01:36:55.909
of one drink ever as if you had not crossed the

01:36:55.909 --> 01:36:58.380
river. And that's more packed with meaning than

01:36:58.380 --> 01:37:02.460
you realize. Which makes sense because God has

01:37:02.460 --> 01:37:04.119
done mighty things and the monument has been

01:37:04.119 --> 01:37:06.500
erected and we noticed and we asked and someone

01:37:06.500 --> 01:37:08.460
told us and now we've accepted Jesus Christ as

01:37:08.460 --> 01:37:10.539
Lord and Savior and now we too have crossed the

01:37:10.539 --> 01:37:12.920
river of salvation, using that metaphor, and

01:37:12.920 --> 01:37:18.180
we ought not to live as if we have not. Hebrews

01:37:18.180 --> 01:37:22.880
6 says this, Therefore, leaving the elementary

01:37:22.880 --> 01:37:26.369
teaching about the Christ, let us press on to

01:37:26.369 --> 01:37:29.829
maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance

01:37:29.829 --> 01:37:33.350
from dead works and faith toward God, of instruction

01:37:33.350 --> 01:37:35.930
about washing and laying on of hands and the

01:37:35.930 --> 01:37:37.689
resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

01:37:37.729 --> 01:37:39.630
In other words, the basic teachings of Christianity

01:37:39.630 --> 01:37:43.130
should be settled, he says. And this we will

01:37:43.130 --> 01:37:46.029
do if God permits. Leave behind the elementary

01:37:46.029 --> 01:37:49.649
teaching. For in the case of those who have once

01:37:49.649 --> 01:37:51.729
been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly

01:37:51.729 --> 01:37:53.939
gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy

01:37:53.939 --> 01:37:56.020
Spirit. Now, if you crossed the river of salvation

01:37:56.020 --> 01:37:58.680
and received all that, if you have tasted the

01:37:58.680 --> 01:38:00.720
word of God and the powers of the age to come,

01:38:00.800 --> 01:38:03.819
and then have fallen away, it is impossible to

01:38:03.819 --> 01:38:07.699
renew them again to repentance, since they again

01:38:07.699 --> 01:38:10.819
crucified to themselves the Son of God and put

01:38:10.819 --> 01:38:13.880
him to open shame. For ground that drinks the

01:38:13.880 --> 01:38:15.760
rain, which often falls on it, and brings forth

01:38:15.760 --> 01:38:18.720
vegetation useful to those for whose sake it

01:38:18.720 --> 01:38:21.979
is also tilled, receive a blessing from God.

01:38:22.270 --> 01:38:24.529
The ground that does its work receives a blessing

01:38:24.529 --> 01:38:26.850
from God. But if it yields thorns and thistles,

01:38:26.909 --> 01:38:28.829
it's worthless and close to being cursed and

01:38:28.829 --> 01:38:33.050
it ends up being burned. But beloved, we are

01:38:33.050 --> 01:38:35.529
convinced of better things concerning you and

01:38:35.529 --> 01:38:37.729
things that accompany salvation, though we are

01:38:37.729 --> 01:38:40.949
speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so

01:38:40.949 --> 01:38:42.810
as to forget your work and the love which you

01:38:42.810 --> 01:38:45.449
have shown toward his name in having ministered

01:38:45.449 --> 01:38:48.109
and in still ministering to the saints. And we

01:38:48.109 --> 01:38:50.750
desire that each one of you show the same diligence,

01:38:50.869 --> 01:38:53.579
work hard, Train yourself, that's diligence,

01:38:53.800 --> 01:38:57.220
so as to realize the full assurance of hope until

01:38:57.220 --> 01:39:00.560
the end, so that you will not be sluggish, stop

01:39:00.560 --> 01:39:04.340
being lazy, or I would say distracted, so you

01:39:04.340 --> 01:39:06.800
will not be sluggish, but imitators of those

01:39:06.800 --> 01:39:09.359
who through faith and patience inherit the promises,

01:39:09.500 --> 01:39:12.819
the monuments that God has erected in people,

01:39:12.960 --> 01:39:16.020
be imitators of that. For when God made the promise

01:39:16.020 --> 01:39:18.119
to Abraham, since he could swear by no greater,

01:39:18.359 --> 01:39:21.920
he swore by himself. saying, I surely will bless

01:39:21.920 --> 01:39:25.420
you and I will surely multiply you. And so, having

01:39:25.420 --> 01:39:28.420
patiently waited, he, that's Abraham, obtained

01:39:28.420 --> 01:39:31.619
the promise. For men swear by one greater than

01:39:31.619 --> 01:39:34.079
themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation

01:39:34.079 --> 01:39:36.819
is an end of every dispute. So when you're arguing

01:39:36.819 --> 01:39:38.560
with people, back in the day anyway, if you made

01:39:38.560 --> 01:39:42.159
an oath, I swear it's true, on God or on my mother

01:39:42.159 --> 01:39:44.399
who died, who was a holy woman or whatever, then

01:39:44.399 --> 01:39:47.109
they would accept that. In the same way, God

01:39:47.109 --> 01:39:49.270
desiring even more to show to the heirs of the

01:39:49.270 --> 01:39:51.550
promise, that's us, the unchangeableness of his

01:39:51.550 --> 01:39:54.210
purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by

01:39:54.210 --> 01:39:57.170
two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible

01:39:57.170 --> 01:40:00.050
for God to lie, God will take you through. That's

01:40:00.050 --> 01:40:03.170
what he promised. We who have taken refuge would

01:40:03.170 --> 01:40:05.310
have strong encouragement to take hold of the

01:40:05.310 --> 01:40:08.729
hope set before us. This hope we have is an anchor

01:40:08.729 --> 01:40:11.689
of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast,

01:40:11.810 --> 01:40:15.029
and one which enters within the veil. Where Jesus

01:40:15.029 --> 01:40:17.729
has entered as a forerunner for us, the veil

01:40:17.729 --> 01:40:19.470
was the holy of holies that we were previously

01:40:19.470 --> 01:40:21.210
not allowed to go. That's the place that ripped

01:40:21.210 --> 01:40:24.890
open when Jesus died. When Jesus has entered

01:40:24.890 --> 01:40:26.989
as a forerunner for us, having become a high

01:40:26.989 --> 01:40:30.069
priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

01:40:30.510 --> 01:40:32.670
Philippians 4 says it more simply. It says this,

01:40:32.710 --> 01:40:35.069
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever

01:40:35.069 --> 01:40:37.409
is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is

01:40:37.409 --> 01:40:39.829
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good

01:40:39.829 --> 01:40:42.689
repute, if there is any excellence and if anything

01:40:42.689 --> 01:40:47.180
worthy of praise, Dwell on these things. That's

01:40:47.180 --> 01:40:49.659
your focus. The things you have learned and received

01:40:49.659 --> 01:40:53.140
and heard and seen in me. Practice these things

01:40:53.140 --> 01:40:56.619
and the God of peace will be with you. But there

01:40:56.619 --> 01:40:58.779
is a special way of falling away that the Bible

01:40:58.779 --> 01:41:01.359
describes. The first way, a special way the Bible

01:41:01.359 --> 01:41:03.199
describes is under trial when things get difficulty.

01:41:03.539 --> 01:41:05.840
The parable of the four soils says that there

01:41:05.840 --> 01:41:08.539
were those who were sown amongst thorns and the

01:41:08.539 --> 01:41:11.119
cares and troubles of this world choked them

01:41:11.119 --> 01:41:14.590
out. James says it this way. Blessed is a man

01:41:14.590 --> 01:41:17.489
who perseveres under trial, for once he has been

01:41:17.489 --> 01:41:19.689
approved, he will receive the crown of life,

01:41:19.810 --> 01:41:21.930
which the Lord has promised to those who love

01:41:21.930 --> 01:41:24.130
him. Hear me now. Do you claim the name of Jesus?

01:41:25.069 --> 01:41:27.979
Christian, do you claim the name of Jesus? According

01:41:27.979 --> 01:41:29.960
to that right there, what I just read, I'll read

01:41:29.960 --> 01:41:31.000
it again for you because I look like you were

01:41:31.000 --> 01:41:33.199
distracted for a second. Blessed is a man who

01:41:33.199 --> 01:41:36.220
perseveres under trial, for once he has been

01:41:36.220 --> 01:41:38.460
approved, in other words, tested, once he has

01:41:38.460 --> 01:41:41.399
been tested, he will receive the crown of life

01:41:41.399 --> 01:41:43.180
which the Lord has promised to those who love

01:41:43.180 --> 01:41:45.619
him. When will you receive your crown of life?

01:41:45.979 --> 01:41:51.319
After you've been tested. There is a very special

01:41:51.319 --> 01:41:54.930
way of falling away. It's looking at the trials

01:41:54.930 --> 01:42:00.250
and difficulties that we face or having cares

01:42:00.250 --> 01:42:03.090
for what the world cares about. I'm worried about

01:42:03.090 --> 01:42:05.789
money. I'm worried about fine things. I'm worried

01:42:05.789 --> 01:42:08.729
about what's on TV or what's on the news or what's

01:42:08.729 --> 01:42:10.649
happening. I'm very concerned about all of these

01:42:10.649 --> 01:42:12.229
other things that the world's happening. And

01:42:12.229 --> 01:42:15.250
our hope is not on Jesus. And so we are distracted.

01:42:16.590 --> 01:42:19.369
It's a trial. And we say, well, you know, it's

01:42:19.369 --> 01:42:21.010
only, it's only, he was going through a lot.

01:42:21.670 --> 01:42:25.090
No, God says he was going through a lot, he should

01:42:25.090 --> 01:42:26.970
have stood the test of time, and I would have

01:42:26.970 --> 01:42:33.729
given him the crown of life. I think you're playing,

01:42:33.890 --> 01:42:37.750
some of us are playing games with God. We say,

01:42:37.789 --> 01:42:40.689
oh, it's been so difficult for me lately, so

01:42:40.689 --> 01:42:43.369
I'm not going to do what God wanted me to do.

01:42:43.960 --> 01:42:46.739
Or I was really, I know he came up and he said

01:42:46.739 --> 01:42:48.260
to me, you know, I've been thinking a lot about

01:42:48.260 --> 01:42:50.020
the Bible and I missed that opportunity to talk

01:42:50.020 --> 01:42:51.819
to him about that. But the truth is, I was going

01:42:51.819 --> 01:42:53.600
through a really rough time. I was down because

01:42:53.600 --> 01:42:56.039
this bad thing happened to me. Or I was rushing

01:42:56.039 --> 01:42:58.539
to get the groceries home so the ice cream didn't

01:42:58.539 --> 01:43:00.680
melt. Or, you know what, let the stinking ice

01:43:00.680 --> 01:43:05.000
cream melt. It's a soul. Let the bills go unpaid.

01:43:05.460 --> 01:43:08.520
It's a soul. Let the appointments go unkept.

01:43:08.920 --> 01:43:16.239
It's a soul. Stop. Making excuses for why you

01:43:16.239 --> 01:43:19.199
are not proclaiming the greatness of God and

01:43:19.199 --> 01:43:22.579
what He has done and actually proclaim the greatness

01:43:22.579 --> 01:43:26.479
of God and what He has done to everyone. Trim

01:43:26.479 --> 01:43:29.039
your mouth so you're not talking about the junk

01:43:29.039 --> 01:43:30.920
that the world is talking about. So you're not

01:43:30.920 --> 01:43:33.100
talking like the world. You don't sound like

01:43:33.100 --> 01:43:36.199
an unsaved person. Get yourself under control

01:43:36.199 --> 01:43:39.840
and live for Jesus the way you said you would.

01:43:40.020 --> 01:43:42.770
And when you do, This is the great blessing.

01:43:43.010 --> 01:43:44.810
People will take notice and they'll go, hey,

01:43:44.850 --> 01:43:46.350
what's that all about? And you'll be able to

01:43:46.350 --> 01:43:49.710
say, I am a monument. I have been erected in

01:43:49.710 --> 01:43:52.109
the Lord God. I have crossed over the river.

01:43:52.289 --> 01:43:54.710
This is the great thing that God has done in

01:43:54.710 --> 01:43:58.489
me. And yes, I'm a work in progress. And yes,

01:43:58.510 --> 01:44:00.250
I'm bound to make mistakes. Don't hang your hopes

01:44:00.250 --> 01:44:03.670
on me. Hang them on Jesus who died on the cross

01:44:03.670 --> 01:44:08.350
for your sins. And then, don't forget to include

01:44:08.350 --> 01:44:11.600
in the gospel this truth. Jericho is coming.

01:44:12.859 --> 01:44:15.119
There's still trouble and difficulty on the horizon.

01:44:15.220 --> 01:44:18.800
I get that. When you lead that 20 -year -old

01:44:18.800 --> 01:44:21.140
person to Christ, realize they have to live another

01:44:21.140 --> 01:44:25.279
60 or 100 years for Jesus. And make sure that

01:44:25.279 --> 01:44:30.399
you explain to them that Revelation 3, the same

01:44:30.399 --> 01:44:32.500
chapter that people like to say, behold, I stand

01:44:32.500 --> 01:44:34.340
at your heart's door and knock, and Jesus is

01:44:34.340 --> 01:44:35.659
talking about coming in and suffering with me,

01:44:35.699 --> 01:44:37.060
which was really written to the church, but it

01:44:37.060 --> 01:44:39.210
was written to everybody in the church. That

01:44:39.210 --> 01:44:42.949
same chapter says, for the one who perseveres,

01:44:42.949 --> 01:44:45.770
for the one who continues to the end, I will

01:44:45.770 --> 01:44:48.850
let him sit on my throne with me as my father

01:44:48.850 --> 01:44:52.270
let me sit on his throne with him. That's Jesus

01:44:52.270 --> 01:44:58.750
talking. But it's very easy to assume that you

01:44:58.750 --> 01:45:02.069
are the only person under trial. And if I must

01:45:02.069 --> 01:45:03.930
burst your bubble now in this moment, let me

01:45:03.930 --> 01:45:06.810
tell you. that you are under no trial that is

01:45:06.810 --> 01:45:10.390
any greater than anyone else's trial. You say,

01:45:10.430 --> 01:45:14.270
but I'm struggling psychologically because of

01:45:14.270 --> 01:45:16.909
this horrible event that I experienced, or no

01:45:16.909 --> 01:45:18.510
one else in this room knows that I don't have

01:45:18.510 --> 01:45:21.430
the money to pay for what I need to buy. Yeah,

01:45:21.449 --> 01:45:23.930
they may not know that you are in the place that

01:45:23.930 --> 01:45:25.449
you are in, but they know that they are in the

01:45:25.449 --> 01:45:27.430
place that they are in. And what place is that,

01:45:27.470 --> 01:45:29.949
by the way? I hope it's the place that you saw

01:45:29.949 --> 01:45:32.289
God bring you across the river, and you're looking

01:45:32.289 --> 01:45:35.359
at the opposition. But that's not your hope.

01:45:35.399 --> 01:45:37.260
Your hope is not that God will take out the opposition.

01:45:37.659 --> 01:45:39.380
Your hope is not that you will be able to use

01:45:39.380 --> 01:45:41.800
the blessings of God so you can use prayer like

01:45:41.800 --> 01:45:44.079
a sudden weapon that you can all of a sudden

01:45:44.079 --> 01:45:46.819
go, oh God help me, I need to pass this test.

01:45:47.140 --> 01:45:49.520
Oh God help me, I need to get through this situation.

01:45:49.899 --> 01:45:52.859
Oh God help me, I need the words to say. God

01:45:52.859 --> 01:45:55.739
has already taught you to go to Him every moment

01:45:55.739 --> 01:45:58.600
of every day with prayer. And I'm not meaning

01:45:58.600 --> 01:46:00.220
to step on anybody's toes when I say this. I

01:46:00.220 --> 01:46:02.420
know there's some prayers in the house. I'm going

01:46:02.420 --> 01:46:04.000
to say that that way. There's some prayer warriors

01:46:04.000 --> 01:46:05.659
in the house. You ought to be a prayer warrior

01:46:05.659 --> 01:46:08.199
every moment of every day. And you can be transforming

01:46:08.199 --> 01:46:10.479
the world every moment of every day. Instead

01:46:10.479 --> 01:46:13.300
of going, oh, here's a monument. Suddenly I have

01:46:13.300 --> 01:46:15.600
to resurrect something. I have to go, all of

01:46:15.600 --> 01:46:19.659
a sudden, here's a moment. Because of trials,

01:46:19.859 --> 01:46:22.479
we justify ourselves not doing what we're supposed

01:46:22.479 --> 01:46:27.489
to be doing. But the Bible says, Just the opposite.

01:46:30.890 --> 01:46:34.569
There is another way that we mustn't miss to

01:46:34.569 --> 01:46:36.729
go astray that's in these texts, and that is

01:46:36.729 --> 01:46:39.789
looking down on those yet to come or who are

01:46:39.789 --> 01:46:41.789
in the midst of struggles that we do not understand.

01:46:44.130 --> 01:46:47.430
You don't know people's struggles. You don't

01:46:47.430 --> 01:46:49.170
know out of their struggles how they're going

01:46:49.170 --> 01:46:52.970
to behave. You don't know what temptation they're

01:46:52.970 --> 01:46:55.510
going to yield to. You don't know what distraction

01:46:55.510 --> 01:46:58.529
or difficulty is going to drive them crazy, and

01:46:58.529 --> 01:47:00.250
the next thing you know, they're not acting like

01:47:00.250 --> 01:47:06.310
Jesus, they're acting like Satan. And so we don't

01:47:06.310 --> 01:47:11.329
judge people based on their actions. Instead,

01:47:11.529 --> 01:47:15.470
we do what we were supposed to be doing all along.

01:47:16.189 --> 01:47:20.189
We point to the monuments. Think about how awesome

01:47:20.189 --> 01:47:22.529
God is. Even though we're going through this

01:47:22.529 --> 01:47:25.670
horrible struggle now, Think about the amazing

01:47:25.670 --> 01:47:29.869
thing that God can do out of this. We talk about

01:47:29.869 --> 01:47:33.189
how if we survive this, God will be able to erect

01:47:33.189 --> 01:47:36.890
another monument in that we survived that horrible

01:47:36.890 --> 01:47:42.409
time. People go up and say, I feel for you, or

01:47:42.409 --> 01:47:43.890
I'm sympathetic, or I know what you're going

01:47:43.890 --> 01:47:46.989
through. You don't. Even if you, let's say that

01:47:46.989 --> 01:47:49.970
the challenge was the loss of a job. And you

01:47:49.970 --> 01:47:51.409
say, well, I've lost a job three times and I

01:47:51.409 --> 01:47:53.670
know exactly what it felt like. No, you don't.

01:47:53.770 --> 01:47:56.430
Because you never were in that person's skin.

01:47:56.590 --> 01:47:59.810
Ever. You don't know that that job triggers things

01:47:59.810 --> 01:48:01.489
that happened when they were eight or that their

01:48:01.489 --> 01:48:03.409
dad did or their mom did or the accident they

01:48:03.409 --> 01:48:05.289
were in. You don't know what they feel like.

01:48:05.289 --> 01:48:11.829
You just don't know from inside. And so you cannot.

01:48:12.380 --> 01:48:15.199
look down on those who are in their struggles.

01:48:15.399 --> 01:48:18.300
You cannot look down. We talk about people who

01:48:18.300 --> 01:48:20.180
don't come to church or don't worship God, and

01:48:20.180 --> 01:48:22.399
we shake our heads and go, oh, that's just crazy.

01:48:22.800 --> 01:48:24.939
God is so awesome, and I love worshiping God.

01:48:25.039 --> 01:48:28.180
Or that don't serve. Now, I'm not saying you

01:48:28.180 --> 01:48:31.460
should make excuses for a person to live in wickedness,

01:48:31.520 --> 01:48:33.600
but what I am saying is to realize that they

01:48:33.600 --> 01:48:35.979
are simply, until they are saved, they are simply

01:48:35.979 --> 01:48:39.180
a product of their experiences. They're not free.

01:48:41.470 --> 01:48:44.529
No one ever cursed a slave for doing what his

01:48:44.529 --> 01:48:47.029
master told him to do, even if the action was

01:48:47.029 --> 01:48:52.329
wrong. Because the slave could be killed, or

01:48:52.329 --> 01:48:54.189
his family could be killed, or his children could

01:48:54.189 --> 01:48:56.770
be beaten in front of him if he didn't do what

01:48:56.770 --> 01:48:59.250
it was. If the head slave didn't beat the other

01:48:59.250 --> 01:49:00.770
slaves when the master told him to, then the

01:49:00.770 --> 01:49:03.670
head slave's family would be beaten. They're

01:49:03.670 --> 01:49:06.590
just doing what they're mastered by. Pray that

01:49:06.590 --> 01:49:10.260
they be set free. Be prepared to proclaim the

01:49:10.260 --> 01:49:13.319
monuments that God has set up? Yes. But don't

01:49:13.319 --> 01:49:15.460
let yourself come into a place where you are

01:49:15.460 --> 01:49:17.899
looking down on someone else for what they are

01:49:17.899 --> 01:49:22.899
doing. Because that is not focusing on holiness.

01:49:23.520 --> 01:49:28.180
That is not whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

01:49:28.260 --> 01:49:29.819
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever

01:49:29.819 --> 01:49:32.119
is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there

01:49:32.119 --> 01:49:34.979
is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,

01:49:35.060 --> 01:49:38.289
dwelling on those things. While you're looking

01:49:38.289 --> 01:49:40.210
at somebody else's nastiness, you're not dwelling

01:49:40.210 --> 01:49:43.449
on those things. You can watch your TV and you

01:49:43.449 --> 01:49:46.489
see a sex scene and you say, oh, they shouldn't

01:49:46.489 --> 01:49:48.670
put that stuff on TV. Well, you're watching it.

01:49:51.869 --> 01:49:53.789
And you're dwelling on how they shouldn't put

01:49:53.789 --> 01:49:57.050
that stuff on TV. They shouldn't talk like that.

01:49:57.189 --> 01:49:59.250
But then when you get upset, you talk like that.

01:50:04.869 --> 01:50:06.930
Paul wrote it this way in 1 Corinthians. He says,

01:50:07.520 --> 01:50:12.340
For who regards you as superior? What do you

01:50:12.340 --> 01:50:15.720
have that you did not receive? And if you did

01:50:15.720 --> 01:50:18.239
receive it, if God brought you across the river,

01:50:18.520 --> 01:50:21.260
why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

01:50:24.380 --> 01:50:27.500
He said, Joshua, I'm going to exalt you today

01:50:27.500 --> 01:50:29.739
amongst the people and everybody's going to revere

01:50:29.739 --> 01:50:32.460
you. And Joshua didn't go to the people and say,

01:50:32.560 --> 01:50:37.720
I am Joshua. I am mighty. Hear me roar. as God

01:50:37.720 --> 01:50:41.399
parts the river. No, he said, God is going to

01:50:41.399 --> 01:50:43.060
do today what God told you he was going to do

01:50:43.060 --> 01:50:46.399
today. He spoke of the monument that God had

01:50:46.399 --> 01:50:52.720
erected. Quoting the word, in fact. They don't

01:50:52.720 --> 01:50:56.439
need you to tell them how awesome you are or

01:50:56.439 --> 01:50:59.600
how saved you are. They don't need you to tell

01:50:59.600 --> 01:51:03.279
them about your spiritual gifts. If your salvation

01:51:03.279 --> 01:51:06.039
story goes something like this. I was in a horrible

01:51:06.039 --> 01:51:07.859
place. I did all these wrong things. Then one

01:51:07.859 --> 01:51:10.760
day I realized that I was unsaved and I needed

01:51:10.760 --> 01:51:13.800
Jesus. And then I prayed to Jesus and said, Jesus,

01:51:13.880 --> 01:51:16.760
come in and save me. And then Jesus saved me,

01:51:16.800 --> 01:51:20.079
after which I knew I was right. And I've been

01:51:20.079 --> 01:51:23.399
telling everybody ever since, you're not proclaiming

01:51:23.399 --> 01:51:26.600
the monument of God. You're proclaiming your

01:51:26.600 --> 01:51:31.840
own greatness. You received everything you have.

01:51:33.380 --> 01:51:36.720
Everything. And if you received everything you

01:51:36.720 --> 01:51:38.359
have, then you ought to be giving glory to the

01:51:38.359 --> 01:51:40.279
one who received it. But what do we do instead?

01:51:41.140 --> 01:51:45.260
As soon as we get one hand out, as soon as we

01:51:45.260 --> 01:51:48.979
start to feel a little bit of freedom, our first

01:51:48.979 --> 01:51:53.520
instinct is to free ourselves the rest of the

01:51:53.520 --> 01:51:57.779
way. And now you're responsible for the rest

01:51:57.779 --> 01:51:59.359
of your salvation. What do you know about your

01:51:59.359 --> 01:52:06.079
Bible? How does that work out? That's what happens.

01:52:06.579 --> 01:52:09.640
Because you couldn't earn it. You couldn't get

01:52:09.640 --> 01:52:12.119
the first hand free. And now that one hand is

01:52:12.119 --> 01:52:13.880
free, no more can you get the second hand free.

01:52:13.979 --> 01:52:16.699
What makes you think you can do it? You say,

01:52:16.739 --> 01:52:21.539
well, I can do it. I can do all things. But that

01:52:21.539 --> 01:52:24.539
is the verse. The verse is, I can do all things

01:52:24.539 --> 01:52:29.760
through Christ which strengthens me. Because

01:52:29.760 --> 01:52:32.770
he did it. I can do all things. And by the way,

01:52:32.810 --> 01:52:35.170
that is written in the context of prayer and

01:52:35.170 --> 01:52:40.569
suffering. I can live in suffering because He

01:52:40.569 --> 01:52:45.250
makes me able. I can go without because He makes

01:52:45.250 --> 01:52:48.550
me able. I can lift up to Him in prayer the things

01:52:48.550 --> 01:52:52.970
I know I cannot handle myself because He makes

01:52:52.970 --> 01:52:57.729
me able. That's the context of that verse. So

01:52:57.729 --> 01:52:58.949
you get out of bed in the morning and say, I

01:52:58.949 --> 01:53:01.569
can do whatever I want. Because I mean, Jesus,

01:53:01.670 --> 01:53:04.170
you're stripping the verse of its meanings. That's

01:53:04.170 --> 01:53:06.590
not the word of God. It's at best the word of

01:53:06.590 --> 01:53:10.130
the world. Just real quick, the points and then

01:53:10.130 --> 01:53:18.109
the conclusion. The points were this. One, don't

01:53:18.109 --> 01:53:22.310
miss the mighty things that God has done. And

01:53:22.310 --> 01:53:24.350
I would put the emphasis there on that God has

01:53:24.350 --> 01:53:28.350
done. Two, Don't fail to proclaim when the monuments

01:53:28.350 --> 01:53:31.109
get the attention of the next generation. We

01:53:31.109 --> 01:53:34.390
need to tell anybody who will listen about the

01:53:34.390 --> 01:53:36.890
monuments that God has erected in our lives,

01:53:37.029 --> 01:53:43.909
in our world. Three, don't live as if you never

01:53:43.909 --> 01:53:47.810
crossed the river. Don't spit on the memory of

01:53:47.810 --> 01:53:50.069
the amazing thing that Jesus did. That would

01:53:50.069 --> 01:53:51.970
be you going back into wickedness. And by the

01:53:51.970 --> 01:53:53.770
way, if you do that, according to Hebrews, there's

01:53:53.770 --> 01:53:59.130
no further. Payment. And don't look down on those

01:53:59.130 --> 01:54:02.930
who are yet to come. And don't make excuses for

01:54:02.930 --> 01:54:07.229
yourselves to give into trial. The trials that

01:54:07.229 --> 01:54:11.510
are coming. Our vision is not on the next challenge.

01:54:11.609 --> 01:54:13.729
And that's a problem for us. Whether you're a

01:54:13.729 --> 01:54:15.890
type D personality, so you plan on dominating

01:54:15.890 --> 01:54:17.649
the problem, or you're a type I personality,

01:54:18.170 --> 01:54:20.229
so you... Plan on figuring out a way to get through.

01:54:20.409 --> 01:54:22.409
Or we could go on with that list. The bottom

01:54:22.409 --> 01:54:25.470
line is our focus is not on the problem. It's

01:54:25.470 --> 01:54:27.470
not supposed to be on the problem. It's supposed

01:54:27.470 --> 01:54:31.850
to be on the Lord. Okay, by way of conclusion.

01:54:33.369 --> 01:54:38.949
If you're not careful, you just might miss the

01:54:38.949 --> 01:54:41.850
awesome things that God wants to do now. Right

01:54:41.850 --> 01:54:43.789
now in this moment. I'm going to tell you a joke.

01:54:43.869 --> 01:54:45.270
I don't do a lot of jokes, but I'm going to tell

01:54:45.270 --> 01:54:47.010
you a joke. This is a joke, so I'm going to get

01:54:47.010 --> 01:54:49.000
down to everybody to laugh. Just telling you

01:54:49.000 --> 01:54:51.239
in advance. I'm going to do a lot of jokes. So

01:54:51.239 --> 01:54:54.720
there was a shepherd who loved the Lord, and

01:54:54.720 --> 01:54:56.539
he had a Bible that he always studied when he

01:54:56.539 --> 01:55:00.140
was out in the fields. And one day, he forgot

01:55:00.140 --> 01:55:01.979
the Bible in the field, came back to where it

01:55:01.979 --> 01:55:04.420
was, and it wasn't there. It was his favorite

01:55:04.420 --> 01:55:07.619
Bible that he had always used. So he was sad,

01:55:07.739 --> 01:55:10.300
but, you know, he could get another Bible. It's

01:55:10.300 --> 01:55:12.100
not the end of the world. It must be. God wanted

01:55:12.100 --> 01:55:13.319
to give it to somebody who needed it, whatever,

01:55:13.520 --> 01:55:15.300
you know, all the excuses that he could make

01:55:15.300 --> 01:55:17.000
to give God the glory because he loved the Lord.

01:55:17.550 --> 01:55:19.630
Then one day, about two weeks later, a sheep

01:55:19.630 --> 01:55:21.710
came walking up to him with the Bible in his

01:55:21.710 --> 01:55:26.229
mouth and handed the Bible back to him. And he

01:55:26.229 --> 01:55:28.670
said, as he accepted the Bible, he said, whoa,

01:55:28.710 --> 01:55:32.130
it's a miracle. And the sheep said, not really,

01:55:32.229 --> 01:55:38.149
your name's written in the front. The point is

01:55:38.149 --> 01:55:42.449
this. We're not the shepherds who lost his Bible.

01:55:44.310 --> 01:55:50.539
We're the sheep. Doing amazing things. Because

01:55:50.539 --> 01:55:53.680
we don't know any better. Because it's who we

01:55:53.680 --> 01:55:57.340
are. Because it's time to go forward. Stop worrying

01:55:57.340 --> 01:56:00.579
about Jericho and nine foot tall guys with great

01:56:00.579 --> 01:56:06.460
big spears. Stop it. That's not who we are. We

01:56:06.460 --> 01:56:10.300
crossed the river that was split by God on dry

01:56:10.300 --> 01:56:17.310
land. Reaching, we reached. Now, settling, we

01:56:17.310 --> 01:56:22.810
settle. And when God gives us the next victory,

01:56:22.970 --> 01:56:26.270
we will do it again. We will believe in faith

01:56:26.270 --> 01:56:28.649
that God is going to do something amazing. We

01:56:28.649 --> 01:56:30.510
will reach out for it and grab it and say, maybe

01:56:30.510 --> 01:56:32.229
God's going to do this. I'm going to go for it.

01:56:32.250 --> 01:56:34.329
And you go for it and God will do something amazing.

01:56:34.569 --> 01:56:38.510
And then you now have another monument to God

01:56:38.510 --> 01:56:50.560
to proclaim everywhere you go. And Ariana has

01:56:50.560 --> 01:56:54.880
brought me around to it. Just lately, Ariana

01:56:54.880 --> 01:56:56.819
has decided she likes to hear family stories

01:56:56.819 --> 01:57:00.720
more than she likes to be read to, which is a

01:57:00.720 --> 01:57:02.199
little bit of a problem because I'm trying to

01:57:02.199 --> 01:57:03.720
get her to be able to read, so I want her to

01:57:03.720 --> 01:57:05.220
look at the words and stuff, so we'll work on

01:57:05.220 --> 01:57:07.180
it. But that being said, so now what we do is

01:57:07.180 --> 01:57:09.220
we tell family stories, and we read. We do both.

01:57:09.899 --> 01:57:12.079
It started on our camp trip. We lay in bed at

01:57:12.079 --> 01:57:13.539
night, all of us in the tent, telling stories

01:57:13.539 --> 01:57:15.399
that turns into a person telling a family story.

01:57:15.779 --> 01:57:17.539
So she got really fired up. So now she wants

01:57:17.539 --> 01:57:19.380
to hear the stories of the family. So then I'm

01:57:19.380 --> 01:57:21.100
thinking, and I'm telling her the stories, right?

01:57:21.199 --> 01:57:23.239
And most of the stories that I'm telling are,

01:57:23.359 --> 01:57:26.279
I mean, they're very simple, not really a big

01:57:26.279 --> 01:57:29.020
deal, you know, like how we got our first TV,

01:57:29.279 --> 01:57:32.140
how we got our first car, how our car got in

01:57:32.140 --> 01:57:34.100
an accident, you know, things like that. But

01:57:34.100 --> 01:57:36.159
then I started telling her stories of how God

01:57:36.159 --> 01:57:40.279
did this and how God did that. And I started

01:57:40.279 --> 01:57:41.939
telling her the stories of how God did these

01:57:41.939 --> 01:57:45.819
things, and I began to realize two things. And

01:57:45.819 --> 01:57:47.739
I'll close with this. Number one, I began to

01:57:47.739 --> 01:57:51.800
realize that the stories are many. There's so

01:57:51.800 --> 01:57:55.500
many stories that, like, I realized I have not

01:57:55.500 --> 01:57:58.439
told them. They're almost too many. I'll never

01:57:58.439 --> 01:58:01.100
run out of a supply because God has done so many

01:58:01.100 --> 01:58:04.579
things, amazing things in my life, in the life

01:58:04.579 --> 01:58:06.300
of church members, in the life of people I know,

01:58:06.380 --> 01:58:10.640
in our family, protecting us. Just amazing, amazing,

01:58:10.680 --> 01:58:13.619
amazing things, and so many of them. And so I'm

01:58:13.619 --> 01:58:15.640
telling her these stories, and so then she's

01:58:15.640 --> 01:58:18.699
like. Tell me another family story. And our family

01:58:18.699 --> 01:58:25.859
stories are about God. And she's laying in bed

01:58:25.859 --> 01:58:28.100
at night. And I've told her all her stories.

01:58:28.479 --> 01:58:31.340
And I've read her her books. And she's drowsy.

01:58:31.340 --> 01:58:32.840
And she lays there half asleep. And she says,

01:58:33.000 --> 01:58:36.680
Daddy. And I say, yeah. And she says, I love

01:58:36.680 --> 01:58:45.529
God. But at the same time. I realized that there

01:58:45.529 --> 01:58:47.970
are so many stories that we can tell them forever.

01:58:48.710 --> 01:58:51.789
And by the way, a good story about God and what

01:58:51.789 --> 01:58:53.770
he's done never gets old. This is actually an

01:58:53.770 --> 01:58:57.329
old story. Thousands of years old. It's been

01:58:57.329 --> 01:59:00.229
told in the church hundreds of millions of times.

01:59:01.270 --> 01:59:03.630
A good story about God never gets old. But that

01:59:03.630 --> 01:59:05.869
being said, I didn't realize that. I realized

01:59:05.869 --> 01:59:08.970
I needed to repent. Because the whole first section

01:59:08.970 --> 01:59:10.890
of the story is a mini story that I told at work.

01:59:11.130 --> 01:59:15.270
How God reversed TV. how I got my first job,

01:59:15.390 --> 01:59:18.109
where I used to work, all these things. He never

01:59:18.109 --> 01:59:21.989
mentioned that. What's there to be telling the

01:59:21.989 --> 01:59:25.630
next generation? It's about how God has done

01:59:25.630 --> 01:59:29.829
this, how God is mighty, how God can save you

01:59:29.829 --> 01:59:32.050
and work in your life just as He did for me.

01:59:32.510 --> 01:59:35.909
No, I'm not special. I'm not the only one that

01:59:35.909 --> 01:59:38.390
God can do mighty works in their life. I know

01:59:38.390 --> 01:59:40.609
it's been true for all of us. By the way, if

01:59:40.609 --> 01:59:43.210
you right now are sitting here and you look back,

01:59:43.640 --> 01:59:45.260
and you can't think of a mighty work that God

01:59:45.260 --> 01:59:47.819
has ever done in your life, then right now, with

01:59:47.819 --> 01:59:50.020
your very next breath, you need to turn your

01:59:50.020 --> 01:59:52.579
life over to the Lord so that you can be saved,

01:59:52.760 --> 01:59:56.460
so that you can be transformed, so that you can

01:59:56.460 --> 01:59:58.100
see those mighty works because they're there.

01:59:58.359 --> 02:00:02.140
And for some reason, you can't see them. And

02:00:02.140 --> 02:00:04.800
then, which was my experience, after I got saved,

02:00:04.859 --> 02:00:06.500
I was able to look back at my young life and

02:00:06.500 --> 02:00:09.600
say, God did that too? Oh, wow, that's neat.

02:00:09.880 --> 02:00:12.380
That never would have happened. I could see miracles.

02:00:13.260 --> 02:00:15.739
that happened before I got saved, but I couldn't

02:00:15.739 --> 02:00:21.020
see them after I got saved. What about you? What

02:00:21.020 --> 02:00:23.000
stories are you telling? What monuments are you

02:00:23.000 --> 02:00:25.399
proclaiming? Are you looking for that next generation

02:00:25.399 --> 02:00:27.840
so that when they ask the question, you're ready?

02:00:28.199 --> 02:00:31.819
Are you in that next generation? Don't make any

02:00:31.819 --> 02:00:34.920
excuses. It's not about my trials have drug me

02:00:34.920 --> 02:00:37.840
away from God, things got too hard or too good.

02:00:38.500 --> 02:00:42.399
That's all. It just means that... You didn't

02:00:42.399 --> 02:00:49.380
love God the way you were supposed to. And don't

02:00:49.380 --> 02:00:52.000
judge anybody who's made those mistakes. Because

02:00:52.000 --> 02:00:53.460
I've made them. You've made them. We've all made

02:00:53.460 --> 02:00:56.600
them. We all were without sin. And while we were

02:00:56.600 --> 02:00:59.000
without sin, Christ died for us. Or while we

02:00:59.000 --> 02:01:01.880
were in sin. We all had sin. And while we were

02:01:01.880 --> 02:01:06.460
in sin, Christ died for us. And so we've all

02:01:06.460 --> 02:01:09.539
had it. And if you're here today and you've received

02:01:09.539 --> 02:01:12.729
salvation, then I'm going to... Say that God

02:01:12.729 --> 02:01:14.770
is now telling you to tell people what has happened

02:01:14.770 --> 02:01:18.770
to you. Your friends, your family members, the

02:01:18.770 --> 02:01:20.189
professionals that you deal with, the people

02:01:20.189 --> 02:01:21.829
that you only get 90 seconds out of their day,

02:01:21.909 --> 02:01:26.050
but they're bound, required to listen to what

02:01:26.050 --> 02:01:29.970
you say because they're paid to do it. And you

02:01:29.970 --> 02:01:34.649
tell them. I guarantee you. Oh, by the way, if

02:01:34.649 --> 02:01:37.289
you go out to eat tonight, and your server comes

02:01:37.289 --> 02:01:39.170
to your table and you tell them about Jesus and

02:01:39.170 --> 02:01:41.569
they act rude, there's a 1 -800 number for that.

02:01:43.750 --> 02:01:46.289
Right? If you tell them about Jesus and they

02:01:46.289 --> 02:01:47.670
act rude, you call the 1 -800 number and say,

02:01:47.750 --> 02:01:52.350
my server acted rude to me. But just realize,

02:01:52.609 --> 02:01:56.430
if you tell them about Jesus, they may believe.

02:01:57.869 --> 02:02:00.609
Let me pray for us. Father in heaven, help us.

02:02:01.090 --> 02:02:03.170
We are so blessed to have come across the river.

02:02:03.850 --> 02:02:07.300
I would have been... Probably one of those fools

02:02:07.300 --> 02:02:15.340
that was tiptoeing on dry land. I was for 25

02:02:15.340 --> 02:02:19.659
years of my life. Turning down the offer of salvation

02:02:19.659 --> 02:02:26.739
over and over again. Well, here we are. We're

02:02:26.739 --> 02:02:30.140
in that moment. That one moment that he promised

02:02:30.140 --> 02:02:33.460
us. Should we let this or that, we succeed in

02:02:33.460 --> 02:02:36.680
this way or that. For those of us that are saved,

02:02:36.720 --> 02:02:38.680
we know that our successes and victories are

02:02:38.680 --> 02:02:42.300
attributed to you. For those of us that aren't,

02:02:42.300 --> 02:02:46.420
right now, I ask the Lord to work in our hearts.

02:02:47.279 --> 02:02:51.239
That we might genuinely accept you and let you

02:02:51.239 --> 02:02:56.500
be a leader. Let you be in charge. Just and bright

02:02:56.500 --> 02:02:58.180
and just, we want to be in charge of everything

02:02:58.180 --> 02:03:07.600
in the world. I'm asking you. just to do what

02:03:07.600 --> 02:03:13.039
you promised you'd do and bring us home. I'm

02:03:13.039 --> 02:03:17.180
asking you, Lord, to let us, as you have called

02:03:17.180 --> 02:03:21.180
us, to take our eyes off the many and varied

02:03:21.180 --> 02:03:23.279
concerns that the world would have us be focused

02:03:23.279 --> 02:03:29.640
on and to put them on the hope that you have

02:03:29.640 --> 02:03:35.850
given us. That we would exhale. And with it would

02:03:35.850 --> 02:03:46.250
go all the worry. And all the sorrow. All the

02:03:46.250 --> 02:03:52.149
willingness to give to that patient. And then

02:03:52.149 --> 02:03:55.649
we're going to breathe in that. With that breath

02:03:55.649 --> 02:04:02.949
would come. Your word. Your spirit. Eternal hope.

02:04:12.109 --> 02:04:15.149
the river. And though large things lean before

02:04:15.149 --> 02:04:24.289
us, we realize that our Jericho, the armies that

02:04:24.289 --> 02:04:28.829
we must face, they are nothing. They are small,

02:04:29.069 --> 02:04:34.970
huge compared to the might of our God. And they

02:04:34.970 --> 02:04:41.069
will allow us to live. That's the praise team

02:04:41.069 --> 02:04:42.949
to come forward at this time. We'll have a closing

02:04:42.949 --> 02:04:45.250
hymn. This is the last song of our service, and

02:04:45.250 --> 02:04:47.229
we'll conclude our services today. But if you're

02:04:47.229 --> 02:04:49.149
here today, and you've either accepted Jesus

02:04:49.149 --> 02:04:50.750
Christ as Lord and Savior for the first time

02:04:50.750 --> 02:04:53.189
ever in earnest, or you came in as a follower

02:04:53.189 --> 02:04:55.250
of Jesus, and you've recommitted your life to

02:04:55.250 --> 02:04:57.770
the Lord today, then I would ask you to respond

02:04:57.770 --> 02:05:00.189
to the invitation as you come forward and tell

02:05:00.189 --> 02:05:02.329
us what's on your heart, what's in your mind,

02:05:02.369 --> 02:05:04.390
what God has said to you, and that you need to

02:05:04.390 --> 02:05:07.369
come back and say to us. And then if you're here

02:05:07.369 --> 02:05:09.069
and you need to be baptized, you're here in the

02:05:09.069 --> 02:05:11.390
home church, you're here and you know what ministry

02:05:11.390 --> 02:05:12.989
God is pointing you towards and you're supposed

02:05:12.989 --> 02:05:14.909
to be doing it and you're not doing it, whatever

02:05:14.909 --> 02:05:17.189
it might be, you need to repent of a specific

02:05:17.189 --> 02:05:19.649
sin, this is your opportunity to respond. So

02:05:19.649 --> 02:05:21.510
would you stand with us as we sing this song

02:05:21.510 --> 02:05:24.810
and then this be your prayer to God either way.

02:05:24.810 --> 02:05:26.350
If you're making the decision, then you come

02:05:26.350 --> 02:05:29.210
now. Come and share with me and we'll share with

02:05:29.210 --> 02:08:15.090
you. Let me know by raising your hand wherever

02:08:15.090 --> 02:08:16.649
you are that you need to say something in a minute.

02:08:17.350 --> 02:08:20.689
Okay, anybody? All right, so we have Melissa

02:08:20.689 --> 02:08:24.029
and Aaron who have come today. So I'll let you

02:08:24.029 --> 02:08:25.689
guys turn around and face them so they can see

02:08:25.689 --> 02:08:27.829
you. Okay, so Melissa, I'll let you go first.

02:08:27.850 --> 02:08:44.539
Tell them what you told me. Amen. Thank you,

02:08:44.539 --> 02:08:47.720
God, for that. Every one of those claps is for

02:08:47.720 --> 02:08:50.300
the Lord. And I already told her she's welcome.

02:08:50.479 --> 02:08:52.960
And I'm telling you now, from my heart to you,

02:08:53.079 --> 02:08:56.600
I forgive you. The Lord forgives you. And if

02:08:56.600 --> 02:08:59.380
the people forgive you, say amen. Amen. It's

02:08:59.380 --> 02:09:03.600
unanimous. Unanimously. All right. Welcome. Welcome.

02:09:03.800 --> 02:09:05.500
So we'll begin to pursue the membership thing.

02:09:05.899 --> 02:09:09.680
But praise God and thank you. All right. Aaron,

02:09:09.760 --> 02:09:10.840
will you share with us what you shared with me?

02:09:11.680 --> 02:09:26.869
Amen. We prayed together and he prayed a prayer

02:09:26.869 --> 02:09:30.550
of commitment with me. Really, it's about letting

02:09:30.550 --> 02:09:32.489
God explain to us. This is not you taking the

02:09:32.489 --> 02:09:34.350
second shackle off. Sometimes we do that. We

02:09:34.350 --> 02:09:36.390
make that mistake. Jesus, okay, I'm sorry, I'll

02:09:36.390 --> 02:09:39.329
take it off now. I'll quit that. And I think

02:09:39.329 --> 02:09:40.970
a lot of times when we repent, we think we're

02:09:40.970 --> 02:09:43.130
putting something away. And the truth is, you're

02:09:43.130 --> 02:09:45.750
renewing your focus on God. And that's what we

02:09:45.750 --> 02:09:48.449
prayed about. And so I'm very proud of him. And

02:09:48.449 --> 02:09:50.850
I forgive you, son. And your mother forgives

02:09:50.850 --> 02:09:53.289
you. And the people forgive you. And the people

02:09:53.289 --> 02:09:55.489
forgive you, say amen. Amen. And we know that

02:09:55.489 --> 02:09:57.909
God forgave you already, right, before ever this

02:09:57.909 --> 02:10:00.010
began. Okay, is there someone else who has a

02:10:00.010 --> 02:10:04.420
word on your heart? Brother Tony, would you close

02:10:04.420 --> 02:10:07.180
us in prayer and then we'll go out and we will

02:10:07.180 --> 02:10:09.560
proclaim to any who will listen the monuments

02:10:09.560 --> 02:10:33.760
that God has erected in this world. Weak and

02:10:33.760 --> 02:10:37.239
bullheaded. And we need your strength and your

02:10:37.239 --> 02:10:42.579
courage to face our Jericho, the many things

02:10:42.579 --> 02:10:45.560
that we're going to face in life. And we're thankful

02:10:45.560 --> 02:10:48.119
for these that came to Melissa and Aaron. And

02:10:48.119 --> 02:10:50.779
Lord, just ask you to be with them. Strengthen

02:10:50.779 --> 02:10:54.239
them. Give them courage. Know that they can do

02:10:54.239 --> 02:10:56.239
all things for you as you give them strength.

02:10:56.859 --> 02:10:59.340
As you give us each and every one of us. And

02:10:59.340 --> 02:11:02.520
that we are your children. You'll never leave

02:11:02.520 --> 02:11:06.479
us forsaken, even though we may do that. Lord,

02:11:06.500 --> 02:11:08.979
you're always faithful. And just ask you Lord

02:11:08.979 --> 02:11:10.439
to be with us the rest of this day, whatever

02:11:10.439 --> 02:11:32.060
we're doing, wherever we go. Go ye therefore

02:11:32.060 --> 02:12:29.539
and be the church. Thank you. God be with you.

02:13:09.170 --> 02:14:27.840
Hopefully. Thank you. Thanks. It was a little

02:14:27.840 --> 02:15:20.460
crunchy at first. Thank you. Hey, I was told

02:15:20.460 --> 02:16:08.170
it was underneath the piano. Thank you. Thank

02:16:08.170 --> 02:17:42.450
you. Thank you. I got you all. Thank you. Oh,

02:17:42.489 --> 02:17:47.450
yeah. Was he a bad man when he was little? Was

02:17:47.450 --> 02:17:49.549
he a bad man when he was little? You know him?

02:17:50.190 --> 02:17:57.750
I don't know names. You do know me. I do know

02:17:57.750 --> 02:18:01.209
you, but I don't know your name. He said it.

02:18:06.529 --> 02:19:42.319
Oh, I want to make sure. Okay. Oh, okay. Okay.

02:19:42.340 --> 02:20:22.299
Okay. Okay. Can you go find out how much one?

02:20:30.940 --> 02:20:34.040
I think I killed him off. We thought we killed

02:20:34.040 --> 02:20:57.590
him off. And then we ripped the carpet up. And

02:20:57.590 --> 02:21:00.489
then dad's like, well, maybe we should pull molding

02:21:00.489 --> 02:21:05.909
off the wall. And then we ripped. Dad ripped

02:21:05.909 --> 02:21:13.670
the molding off the wall. I don't know what happened.

02:21:17.790 --> 02:21:20.129
There's a chunk that broke off inside there.

02:21:24.409 --> 02:21:27.190
Well, I had a bottle of heavy duty stuff from

02:21:27.190 --> 02:21:32.610
Menards. I used that. It's some powder you're

02:21:32.610 --> 02:21:36.690
supposed to use. Yeah. I tried to spray it, tried

02:21:36.690 --> 02:21:39.409
to rub it on the wall. You need a tissue. I tried

02:21:39.409 --> 02:22:14.459
to see your chest. Thank you. Keys are, one,

02:22:14.739 --> 02:22:17.459
the bed. Every bed needs to be packed. Two, any

02:22:17.459 --> 02:22:30.239
walls. Traps on the door. Nothing. Anything that

02:22:30.239 --> 02:22:56.889
comes out of that room. It smells very strong

02:22:56.889 --> 02:22:58.909
of pine. Yeah, it smells like pine trees. Really

02:22:58.909 --> 02:24:09.700
strong. Spray chemicals. And the other matter

02:24:09.700 --> 02:24:45.119
is heat. Just I'm talking Small very small I

02:24:45.119 --> 02:25:29.260
mean, it wasn't in the whole house. But you should

02:25:29.260 --> 02:25:54.110
not keep it down So if you get the point where

02:25:54.110 --> 02:25:56.870
I've never seen design that's so minimal that

02:25:56.870 --> 02:26:05.280
you never see design of it. She's like, no, it's

02:26:05.280 --> 02:26:08.139
got to be golf. And I'm like, no, it's me. You

02:26:08.139 --> 02:26:10.340
never see it. You never see one. You never see

02:26:10.340 --> 02:26:13.739
any signs whatsoever. And that's gone enough.

02:26:13.780 --> 02:26:15.459
Exactly. I'm not sharing my house. She's like,

02:26:15.479 --> 02:26:17.219
that's great. She's taking a flashlight every

02:26:17.219 --> 02:26:18.719
night before she goes to bed. I don't want to

02:26:18.719 --> 02:26:27.639
be here. I don't. I put up with it. Your bed

02:26:27.639 --> 02:26:33.840
is not touching anything. Well, you know, we

02:26:33.840 --> 02:26:37.440
read after that. They can't climb the walls,

02:26:37.579 --> 02:27:02.120
but they can. I haven't trained that one for

02:27:02.120 --> 02:27:59.719
years. Just put a bug in your ear. Thank you.

02:28:29.700 --> 02:29:56.030
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But I'm like,

02:29:56.030 --> 02:29:58.450
that's why you didn't get in my bed. Because

02:29:58.450 --> 02:30:26.340
that means it was really close to my bed. Thank

02:30:26.340 --> 02:31:25.020
you. That matches there when you want it. Thank

02:31:25.020 --> 02:32:06.549
you. I can't control my height, mother. Thank

02:32:06.549 --> 02:32:21.959
you. Thank you.