WEBVTT

00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:06.059
Nice to be able to introduce Jason and his family.

00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:11.019
We appreciate their ministry and the work there

00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:15.800
and what God is doing and I pray for them all

00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:18.339
the time. It's very important. We need prayer

00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:23.980
and pray for his whole family as well. We do,

00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.039
before you come up here, do want to remember

00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:30.800
also Hunt Keith and Monica. That's a serious

00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.039
request. It doesn't mean that others are not

00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.479
serious, but that's a serious request. Jason,

00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:37.979
you want to come up here and take your time,

00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:40.340
and we are just thankful. Thank the Lord for

00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:43.079
your outreach with the children. That's a very,

00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:46.060
very, very important area to reach the precious

00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:50.439
children. Amen. Thank you, brother. Well, good

00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:52.880
morning. How are you all doing this morning?

00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:58.100
Good. I'm going to start by doing a little something

00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:04.379
for the children. I like that little stand. One

00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:07.319
of the things you'll see me do, after I do something

00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.480
for the children, I'm gonna go on Facebook, and

00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.099
I put my videos on Facebook of my preaching.

00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.620
And so what normally happens is you actually

00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.859
multiply. And I normally get about 100, maybe

00:01:20.859 --> 00:01:24.239
200 more people who at least see a blip of me.

00:01:24.420 --> 00:01:25.680
I don't know if they watch the whole message

00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:29.310
or not, but you know. But my thought is, is you

00:01:29.310 --> 00:01:30.969
know, I've spent all this time preparing this

00:01:30.969 --> 00:01:32.870
message. If somebody else sees it, praise the

00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:36.290
Lord. Let's get as much mileage as I can out

00:01:36.290 --> 00:01:38.829
of my sermons, right? All right, so I'm gonna

00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:41.790
do something for the kids. So kids, if you can't

00:01:41.790 --> 00:01:45.209
see the table over here, please get to a place

00:01:45.209 --> 00:01:47.890
where you can see that. If you wanna come up

00:01:47.890 --> 00:01:49.950
here and sit on the floor, you can do that. Or

00:01:49.950 --> 00:01:52.989
if we wanna clear the front row, we can do that

00:01:52.989 --> 00:02:01.040
too. Do you wanna clear the front row? I've got

00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:03.420
some really cool little illustrations here. Okay,

00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:06.480
it's clear. Come on up. Come on up. If you're

00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.060
little or young and hard, let's fill up these

00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:12.539
four chairs. You want to come up and see, honey?

00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:15.879
There you go. And you can kind of scooch scooch

00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.460
together. You have something? You can chair a

00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:20.840
chair. There you go. There you go. That'll work.

00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:24.419
There we go. Or we can bring an extra chair for

00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:34.330
you, honey. There you go. All right, very good.

00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:37.210
Well, I'm gonna start with this book right here.

00:02:37.669 --> 00:02:41.810
Can somebody tell me what does that say? Holy

00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:45.509
Bible, that's right. Now, the Bible is God's

00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:48.370
true book, and he loves each and every one of

00:02:48.370 --> 00:02:53.379
us very much. And the Bible, Sometimes when people

00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:55.319
read the Bible, you know what they see when they

00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.680
read the Bible? They don't see anything. It just

00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:03.879
seems really boring. Have you ever read the Bible

00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:05.960
and it just kind of seemed like a bunch of words?

00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.479
And it was just like, I'm just not getting anything

00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:14.099
out of reading God's Word. Well, I want to encourage

00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:17.319
you to keep reading God's Word. Because the more

00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:20.960
you read God's Word, the more you'll get to see.

00:03:21.389 --> 00:03:23.969
And actually, you gotta watch it because if you

00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:27.110
turn away, you'll actually miss what God has

00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:31.770
for you in His Word. Did you see something different?

00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:37.169
What did you see that was different? Yeah. It

00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:40.689
was blank and then it saw pictures. It was blank?

00:03:41.069 --> 00:03:44.110
Are you sure? Because when I flipped it, I think

00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:46.870
it's just blank. I don't think there's anything

00:03:46.870 --> 00:03:51.870
in there. I saw something! You did? Okay. You

00:03:51.870 --> 00:03:57.069
saw a picture in there? Let me try that again.

00:03:57.189 --> 00:04:01.430
Let me see if I see. How did that happen? Boys

00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:04.270
and girls, if you know the Lord Jesus as your

00:04:04.270 --> 00:04:07.569
Savior, the more you read the Bible, the more

00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:11.330
it becomes alive to you. So I want to encourage

00:04:11.330 --> 00:04:14.889
you to keep reading the Word of God. Keep reading

00:04:14.889 --> 00:04:17.670
it and it will become more and more alive to

00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:20.800
you. And when you get to my age, this is what

00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.459
begins to happen. The word of God becomes so

00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:26.300
much alive to you that there's even color in

00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:29.480
it, all right? What I mean by that is that you

00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.360
learn more and more of the scriptures, okay?

00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.759
So keep reading God's word, even if right now

00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:37.500
it seems kind of boring, or even if you're at

00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.800
kind of the mid -level, or even if you are seeing

00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:43.540
all the truths in it. We can never exhaust God's

00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:46.259
word, so keep reading God's true book, the Bible.

00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:49.790
Now, I've got this little book right here that

00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:51.810
actually one of my summer missionaries made.

00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:56.449
And this is a pop -up, wordless book. Some of

00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:58.709
you may know Bethany Hutchins, and she made this

00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:01.009
book. She made it by hand. There's only a few

00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:03.250
of these in print. If you'd like to buy one,

00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:05.449
talk to me afterwards. I'll be glad to show you

00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:08.230
where you can get one. But this reminds us, this

00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:10.310
little book right here, it reminds us of heaven.

00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:14.329
I want it! You do? Do you know who lives in heaven?

00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:17.810
Yes, I really like to pick people that raise

00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:20.029
their hand. So if you raise your hand, I'll call

00:05:20.029 --> 00:05:23.410
on you. Yes, sir That's right. God lives in heaven.

00:05:23.470 --> 00:05:25.269
What do you think does God love us or does he

00:05:25.269 --> 00:05:37.449
hate us? You gotta raise your hand Yes, sir That's

00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:39.290
right, he takes care of the world and he is really

00:05:39.290 --> 00:05:42.670
good the Bible says in John 3 16 for God so loves

00:05:42.670 --> 00:05:45.170
the world That means that he loves you, and you,

00:05:45.329 --> 00:05:48.110
and you, and you, and you, and you, and you,

00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:50.790
and everybody, okay? There's not one person that

00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:53.470
God doesn't love. But, there's one thing that

00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:56.089
God can't allow into heaven. And that's what

00:05:56.089 --> 00:05:59.889
the next page reminds us of. Sin. Sin is the

00:05:59.889 --> 00:06:03.029
bad things that we think, say, and do that make

00:06:03.029 --> 00:06:05.550
God sad and break his laws. In fact, I like to

00:06:05.550 --> 00:06:07.629
do a little motion with that. You can do it with

00:06:07.629 --> 00:06:12.029
me. Sin is anything we think, say, or do. that

00:06:12.029 --> 00:06:15.089
makes God sad and breaks His walls. Can you guys

00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:16.790
think of some examples of sin? Can you raise

00:06:16.790 --> 00:06:21.170
your hand and give me an example? Yes, sir? Hitting

00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:22.509
someone. Hitting someone. So I'm going to let

00:06:22.509 --> 00:06:24.850
this little bottle right here represent sin,

00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:26.750
because it's all nice and dark. And I'm going

00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.649
to let this water right here represents our lives.

00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:32.389
So when we sin, when we hit somebody or something

00:06:32.389 --> 00:06:35.050
like that, ooh, that kind of messes things up,

00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:38.269
doesn't it? Yeah. OK, what's another example

00:06:38.269 --> 00:06:45.180
of sin? Yes, sir? We sin when we say cuss words.

00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.720
Yes, we sin when we say cuss words. Yep, that's

00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.459
a good example of sin. What's another example

00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:53.740
of sin? Yes, sir? Being mean to someone. Being

00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:56.839
mean to someone, lying or hitting someone like

00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.040
we said before. Can you guys think of an example

00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:03.319
of sin? No? Yes, in a row? Cheating. Cheating,

00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.220
cheating on a test, yeah. Alright, one more,

00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:12.259
one more. Yes, sir? Lying, that's right, not

00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:14.639
telling the truth. Cheating and lying are actually

00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:16.899
very similar to each other. And you know, the

00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:19.300
Bible says that all of us have sinned and come

00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:20.920
short of the glory of God. Can you take your

00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:23.519
hands and open them up like this for me? We're

00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:25.259
gonna let these fingers represent everybody in

00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:27.779
the world. And this thumb's gonna represent God.

00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.259
Open up your hand. We're gonna let this hand

00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:33.699
represent sin. We're gonna put sin between all

00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:36.720
the people in the world and God. God can't get

00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.279
together with us because what's in the way? Sin.

00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:41.939
That's right, sin is in the way. Pastor Peter,

00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:47.300
this is for the kids. So the Bible tells us that

00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:50.279
we've all sinned and come short of the glory

00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.779
of God. So God did something to take care of

00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:54.560
our sin. Does anyone know what God did to take

00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.300
care of our sin? Yeah. So when he died for us,

00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:03.620
he took care of our sins. That's right. When

00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:06.680
Jesus died on the cross, he paid for our sins.

00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:09.870
Isn't that cool? He died on the cross to take

00:08:09.870 --> 00:08:11.550
care of all of our sins. So we're gonna go back

00:08:11.550 --> 00:08:14.149
over here to our little cup and we're gonna take

00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:16.009
the cross and we're gonna put it in that little

00:08:16.009 --> 00:08:19.370
cup. The cross is gonna represent the blood of

00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:23.589
Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus died for

00:08:23.589 --> 00:08:28.329
all of our sins and he paid for our sins so that

00:08:28.329 --> 00:08:32.049
we could be made clean. We like to sing a song.

00:08:32.090 --> 00:08:36.289
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood

00:08:36.289 --> 00:08:40.500
of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing

00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:44.240
but the blood of Jesus the Bible tells us in

00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.840
first Corinthians 15 3 & 4 it says Christ died

00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.740
for our sins according to the scriptures that

00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:55.120
he was buried look at there He was buried and

00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.580
he rose again the third day And he took away

00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:03.259
Isn't that cool boys and girls look I want to

00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:05.120
show you something else in my little book that

00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:08.110
maybe you didn't see You see, you see the tomb

00:09:08.110 --> 00:09:10.950
right there? Can you take and move that stone

00:09:10.950 --> 00:09:15.730
away from me? Pick it up like this. Grab that,

00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:20.529
what do you see in there? Nothing, you know why?

00:09:21.370 --> 00:09:25.110
Because the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive.

00:09:25.269 --> 00:09:29.210
Can you say Jesus is alive? That's right, Jesus

00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:32.029
is alive and because of what Jesus did by dying

00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:37.019
on the cross and paying for your sins. Oh, well

00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:39.220
thank you. Yes, I will take a minute. I appreciate

00:09:39.220 --> 00:09:42.840
that. Are you trying to say I have bad breath?

00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:50.240
Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. The Bible

00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:55.240
tells us that God gives us an invitation to heaven.

00:09:56.019 --> 00:09:58.559
In John 1 -12 it says, but as many as received

00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.840
him, to them he gave the right to become the

00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:05.320
children of God. Boys and girls. Moms and dads,

00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.779
have you ever put your faith and trust in Jesus

00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.360
Christ? Have you ever asked him to save you from

00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:15.980
your sins? You can do that today and be cleansed

00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:19.440
from your sins. I did. Good. And once you come

00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.700
to know Jesus as your Savior, he wants you to

00:10:21.700 --> 00:10:24.580
grow in him. The way that you grow in Jesus is

00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:26.620
by going to church. Hey, we're in church right

00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:28.539
now, aren't we? Yeah, we're already in. Reading

00:10:28.539 --> 00:10:30.940
your Bible. Because remember, as you read your

00:10:30.940 --> 00:10:33.360
Bible, more and more it becomes what? more and

00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.879
more alive to you. And then obey your parents

00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.340
and those in authority and tell someone else

00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:42.279
the greatest story ever told about the greatest

00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:44.620
man who ever lived. All right, boys and girls,

00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:46.720
thank you so much for being such good listeners.

00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:49.379
I think it's time for you to go to Sunday school.

00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:51.480
So we'll turn it over to the Sunday school teacher.

00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.460
Are they staying in here? All right, okay, so

00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:56.419
we're ready for you to all head out. Thank you

00:10:56.419 --> 00:10:58.759
guys for being such good listeners. If you have

00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.240
questions about that, come and see me afterwards.

00:11:24.959 --> 00:11:27.840
So that's one of the methods that we use to share

00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.559
the gospel with the children and we do a variety

00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:33.960
of those things at the North Carolina Mountain

00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:37.870
State Fair. We also do a Vangie Cube and all

00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:41.629
kinds of fun stuff. So while this is booting

00:11:41.629 --> 00:11:46.490
up, I'm gonna, there we go. Well, before I hit

00:11:46.490 --> 00:11:49.450
that, I'm gonna give you all a little update

00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:51.409
on the ministry. Thank you for letting me come

00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:53.710
and share about the ministry of CEF. Thank you

00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:56.210
for partnering us with us in the ministry of

00:11:56.210 --> 00:11:58.750
CEF for many, many years. And it's been a good

00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:00.789
partnership. It's been a wonderful, we've seen

00:12:00.789 --> 00:12:04.250
the Lord do some amazing things. In fact, Monica

00:12:04.250 --> 00:12:08.330
just tracked and I asked her to go back and look

00:12:08.330 --> 00:12:11.450
at the last five years of ministry. And I said,

00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:13.389
how many people have we shared the gospel with?

00:12:14.289 --> 00:12:17.970
And on average, we share the gospel with maybe

00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:24.429
three or probably about 3 ,000 people a year

00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:28.889
on average. However, when she went back and looked

00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:31.870
at our numbers, I said, I want you to count.

00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.919
all the missionaries that we've had trained,

00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:37.919
and that have used Child Evangelism Fellowship

00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.279
as well, and the people that they have shared

00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.820
the gospel with. And so over the last five years,

00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.899
by God's grace, we've shared the gospel with

00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:51.279
21 ,000, over 21 ,000 people have heard the gospel

00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.559
in the last five years through Child Evangelism

00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:55.960
Fellowship. And you're a part of that. You're

00:12:55.960 --> 00:13:00.220
a part of the 1 ,600 that heard the gospel at

00:13:00.220 --> 00:13:03.919
the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. 1 ,650

00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:06.860
and 57 professions of faith. You're a part of

00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:10.620
that. That's not us. That's Christ in us. That's

00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:13.759
you and I partnering together to share the gospel.

00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:20.159
Pete and Dorothy gave me their van. And it has

00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.100
been a blessing. I drive that every day, almost.

00:13:23.100 --> 00:13:24.980
And it's been a good vehicle. And I appreciate

00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:27.379
that very much. It's been a blessing. It's been

00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.759
a great help. So by together, we're partnering

00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.440
together to reach the lost. Many years ago, when

00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.019
I came and shared here, I think we had zero after

00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:40.779
school good news clubs. Today we have 28 after

00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:44.100
school good news clubs. And we'll have, actually,

00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:48.820
we're close to 30, but we're actually in 28 schools.

00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:51.360
The reason that we have 30 is because we have

00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.879
one that's not in a public school. It's actually

00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:57.179
in a mentally challenged facility. And then we

00:13:57.179 --> 00:14:00.559
have one that's splitting into two, because there's

00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.919
so many children in the club. There's about 50

00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.139
children in the club, so we have to split it.

00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.820
And it works much better. So we thank you guys

00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:10.700
for being a part of the Ministry of Child Evangelism

00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.840
Fellowship. You might ask, how do you get so

00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:14.720
many people to North Carolina Mountain State

00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.940
Fair? Well, I want to point to those three young

00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:19.639
men that are sitting right behind Pete. Those

00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:21.940
three young men, Joshua, Daniel, and Joseph,

00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.710
were a tremendous, they were my bait. It wasn't

00:14:25.710 --> 00:14:28.149
because of their good looks, although I think

00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:30.289
they are good looking, but I'm biased. But it

00:14:30.289 --> 00:14:32.970
was because the North Carolina Mountain State

00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:36.090
Fair, they made little balloons, little animal

00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.149
balloons. And we put up a sign, free balloons,

00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:40.830
and that brought people in. And I'll tell you

00:14:40.830 --> 00:14:44.090
what, we didn't have a lot of downtime. It just

00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:46.110
brought the people in. We didn't have to stand

00:14:46.110 --> 00:14:47.950
there very long until someone would come in.

00:14:48.529 --> 00:14:52.350
We had one girl come in, and I shared the gospel,

00:14:52.490 --> 00:14:54.429
and her eyes got real big, and I was like...

00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:57.419
Okay, does she understand what I'm saying? Is

00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:00.360
she from another country? And I had some bags

00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.460
that some of you had packaged, Debbie had packaged,

00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.879
for Helene, that were left over from Helene,

00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:09.679
with little gifts in them and tracks. And I gave

00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.940
her one. And she took off. And then I see about

00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:18.120
five or six Muslim women coming into our tent.

00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.639
And I started trying to share with them about

00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.299
Jesus. I tried to start giving them tracks. And

00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:24.840
they're like, nope, we're not gonna take any

00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.139
tracks. Nope, nope, we're, nope, nope, nope.

00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:30.080
I said, oh, well, would you like a bag of treats

00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:32.759
and toys with tracks in it? No, I didn't say

00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:34.519
there were tracks in it. And they're like, yes,

00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:37.179
thank you so much. And they took them and they

00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:39.820
took them. And of course we had wonderful opportunities.

00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.500
Joshua had opportunities to lead some people

00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:44.700
to the Lord. I had opportunities to lead some

00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:47.139
people to the Lord. And it was just a wonderful,

00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:50.320
wonderful time. There were those that came in.

00:15:50.509 --> 00:15:52.570
And I started sharing the gospel. I remember

00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:55.009
one couple all came in and sharing with their

00:15:55.009 --> 00:15:58.570
son. And as I started sharing, I was actually

00:15:58.570 --> 00:16:00.690
flipping through, not using the wordless book,

00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:03.610
but my Avangy cube. And I showed a picture of

00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:06.549
the cross and Jesus on the cross. And they went

00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:09.710
like this to their child. And they actually blocked

00:16:09.710 --> 00:16:11.990
their child from seeing the picture of Jesus

00:16:11.990 --> 00:16:15.289
on the cross. There's a group of people that

00:16:15.289 --> 00:16:17.610
believe that you should have no images of Jesus,

00:16:17.730 --> 00:16:20.360
that that's idolatry. and so they'll cover their

00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:22.259
eyes of their children when they do it. They

00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:24.620
were Christians, but then I've had other ones

00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:27.220
where I would be sharing the gospel and I, and

00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:29.019
as soon as the parent realized what we were doing,

00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:31.120
they would go like this to the children's ears.

00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.159
No, don't let my children hear that. And you

00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.740
think, well, why not? Well, it's because the

00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:40.039
God of this world has blinded them. They do not

00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.659
know, they do not understand. They do not know

00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:44.679
the spirit of God. You're a part of the ministry

00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:47.340
as the gospel goes out to those people. We have

00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:49.679
Buddhists come into our tent. They were very

00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:52.379
kind, very nice people. Do you like to receive

00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:54.879
Jesus as your savior? No, no, we're Buddhists.

00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:57.360
But they were very kind and very listening. And

00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.080
had we not had those balloons, they would not

00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.559
have come in. They would have just kept on walking.

00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.519
Because other than the balloons, there's really

00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:09.599
nothing very attractive about our tent. And other

00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.359
than the Holy Spirit. But He's the most attractive

00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.619
thing, isn't He? He's the one that draws people

00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:19.079
with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So we have the

00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:23.559
North Carolina Mountain State Fair, we have the

00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.380
Fair, we have the After School Good News Clubs,

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.420
and we have Christian Youth in Action, which

00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:32.579
reminds me, I have with me, I brought with me.

00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.460
I gave one to Dave, I mean Pete, but there are

00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:38.480
other ones. We have a retreat coming up, February

00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:42.440
20th, 21st, and 22nd. It's gonna be at Bryson

00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:46.420
City. And so if you are 12 or up, and I think

00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:50.519
all of you. in this room are either 12 or up,

00:17:52.819 --> 00:17:54.559
you're welcome to come to this. And actually,

00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:58.019
I need adults as well. Last year that we did

00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:01.380
this, I really struggled with having adults at

00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:03.579
this event to help with the children. I think

00:18:03.579 --> 00:18:06.180
I didn't have that many, but I'm partnering together

00:18:06.180 --> 00:18:09.200
with several churches in the local area, and

00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.839
I'm actually having a Baptist pastor from Liberty

00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:14.200
Baptist. Pete got to meet him the other day.

00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:16.980
great young man, loves the Lord, really good

00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:21.819
apologetic preacher. And he's gonna be preaching,

00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:24.119
and our theme is gonna be modern day martyrs

00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:27.799
for Christ. The message I preached last week

00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:31.380
at our little church was about having a martyr

00:18:31.380 --> 00:18:33.960
mentality. And I was gonna preach it this week,

00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:36.480
but the Lord told me not to. So I said, okay

00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:40.180
Lord, this is Friday, I'm preaching on Sunday,

00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:43.940
what do you want me to preach on? And so I'll

00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:47.019
be sharing that with you in just a moment. If

00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:49.880
you would, go ahead, let's go ahead and start

00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:52.059
with a word of prayer. And then we'll get started.

00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:54.339
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for

00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:56.940
your goodness and your love and your mercy. Thank

00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.279
you for the joy of the Lord. We're reminded,

00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.339
Father, that your word says the joy of the Lord

00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:05.359
is our strength. Lord, we pray for our children.

00:19:05.859 --> 00:19:08.200
We thank you, Lord, for the children that are

00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:10.779
coming to faith and trust in Jesus Christ and

00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:13.720
the after school Good News Clubs. Lord, I'm reminded

00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.160
of the little girl I was able to lead to the

00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.799
Lord just last week. And Lord, I pray for these

00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.079
other children as they reach out by faith and

00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.619
take the Lord Jesus as their savior. Lord, we

00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:26.259
thank you that we can have an environment for

00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:30.220
them to grow and learn from the word of God about

00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:33.180
your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray, Father,

00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:34.960
as we open up your word that you would convict

00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.460
us of sin. Lord, that you would help us to live

00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:41.079
with a martyr's mentality. but Father, that you

00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:44.079
would also help us to live in your presence where

00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.339
there is fullness of joy. In Jesus' name, amen.

00:19:49.059 --> 00:19:54.720
Have you ever known a Christian who, well, to

00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.559
put it nicely, they were not full of the joy

00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.799
of the Lord. Rather, they were kind of scally.

00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:06.180
And, you know, they would kind of look at people

00:20:06.180 --> 00:20:08.359
funny when they came in late for the service.

00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:11.559
Or maybe they'd scowl at a child as they run

00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:13.960
through the church service and say, don't you

00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.880
know they could knock someone over, or hurt somebody.

00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.500
Not realizing that, that that's the future of

00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:23.519
the church, is our children. Or have you ever

00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.519
met a Christian who is always grumbling, well,

00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.039
this world is just terrible, you know, the president

00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:30.519
and this, that, and the other thing, and I've

00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:32.839
just got all these problems I'm dealing with,

00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:35.720
and they're just, argh! Have you ever met someone

00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:42.849
like that? Well, we're gonna look at a passage

00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:44.309
of scripture. Go ahead and turn with me to the

00:20:44.309 --> 00:20:47.549
Gospel of John chapter 15. Because we're gonna

00:20:47.549 --> 00:20:51.109
be talking today about the joy of the Lord. There

00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:54.869
was an old Chinese proverb, old Chinese proverb

00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:58.609
of a king who wanted to be joyful, wanted to

00:20:58.609 --> 00:21:01.849
be happy. And so he sent out his messengers and

00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:04.329
he told his messengers, he says, or he took his,

00:21:04.329 --> 00:21:06.089
brought in his wise men. He said to his wise

00:21:06.089 --> 00:21:09.369
men, he says, what? What do I need to do to be

00:21:09.369 --> 00:21:11.670
joyful? What do I need to be to be happy? And

00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:13.049
they also, they had their little council and

00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:14.630
they talked together and they said, well, what

00:21:14.630 --> 00:21:17.210
you need to be joyful and excited is you need

00:21:17.210 --> 00:21:19.990
to go and you need to find the most joyous, the

00:21:19.990 --> 00:21:23.710
most happiest man in your kingdom. And you need

00:21:23.710 --> 00:21:26.869
to get his shirt and you need to wear it. And

00:21:26.869 --> 00:21:28.950
that will make you happy. That will make you

00:21:28.950 --> 00:21:31.089
joy. So he sent out his messengers throughout

00:21:31.089 --> 00:21:34.150
the whole land. And they came back to the king

00:21:34.150 --> 00:21:37.140
a month later and they said, well, king, We found

00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:40.160
the happiest man in your kingdom. This is okay.

00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:43.140
Great. Where's his shirt? It says well, we got

00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:46.160
talked about that you see we went and we found

00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.819
this man and he's a farmer and he's extremely

00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:59.440
poor and He doesn't own a shirt You see joy cannot

00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.200
be bought It has to be found and the only way

00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:07.390
that we can find the joy of the Lord is in the

00:22:07.390 --> 00:22:10.410
presence of the Lord. And yes Joshua, it's time

00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:15.849
for Psalm 16 11. I say that to my children because

00:22:15.849 --> 00:22:20.509
they know that that is my favorite verse of all

00:22:20.509 --> 00:22:23.269
time. And I'm actually gonna preach from it as

00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:25.970
well. You can look it up or you can put your

00:22:25.970 --> 00:22:29.589
finger in John 15, you can turn there if you'd

00:22:29.589 --> 00:22:31.170
like or you can just listen to me as I quote

00:22:31.170 --> 00:22:36.089
it. There are three points really. in Psalm 16,

00:22:36.170 --> 00:22:39.390
11. It says, you will show me the path of life.

00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:46.009
In your presence is fullness of joy. And at your

00:22:46.009 --> 00:22:49.470
right hand are pleasures forevermore. You see

00:22:49.470 --> 00:22:54.390
that Christian who is not full of joy is not

00:22:54.390 --> 00:22:58.609
full of Jesus. They're full of anxieties and

00:22:58.609 --> 00:23:02.250
worries and woes and of criticism. but they're

00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:04.970
not full of Jesus. What's the remedy for that?

00:23:05.309 --> 00:23:07.930
Well, the remedy is spending time with Jesus.

00:23:08.950 --> 00:23:11.769
You will show me the path of life. That's the

00:23:11.769 --> 00:23:16.250
first part of the verse. Psalm 23 says, the Lord

00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:19.289
is my shepherd. I shall not want. He is the one

00:23:19.289 --> 00:23:21.089
who's leading us. He's the one who's guiding

00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:23.190
us. He's the one who's showing us where we're

00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:25.930
to go, what we're supposed to do. In fact, further

00:23:25.930 --> 00:23:30.849
on in Psalm 23, it says, you will show me, The

00:23:30.849 --> 00:23:32.730
Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh

00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:34.869
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth

00:23:34.869 --> 00:23:38.009
me beside the still waters. He leads me in the

00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:44.250
paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Oftentimes,

00:23:44.670 --> 00:23:48.410
the animals that we have reflect the owner we

00:23:48.410 --> 00:23:54.089
are. So if you're a good shepherd, your sheep

00:23:54.089 --> 00:23:58.089
will be well taken care of. If you've got puppies,

00:23:58.329 --> 00:23:59.730
which by the way, we have puppies right now.

00:24:00.490 --> 00:24:03.569
You will love them and take good care of them

00:24:03.569 --> 00:24:09.950
and be kind to them. Our good shepherd, he's

00:24:09.950 --> 00:24:13.250
a good shepherd. He takes good care of us. He

00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:15.710
takes good care of me and he takes good care

00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:19.869
of you. He is the good shepherd who laid down

00:24:19.869 --> 00:24:25.150
his life for his sheep. In your presence is fullness

00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:29.509
of joy. That's the second part. Where do we find

00:24:29.509 --> 00:24:35.549
joy? in the presence of the Lord. Now, John 15,

00:24:35.769 --> 00:24:37.250
turn, we'll go ahead and flip over to John 15.

00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:40.589
I've already given my first two points in the

00:24:40.589 --> 00:24:45.609
first few verses, but that's okay. John 15, we

00:24:45.609 --> 00:24:48.670
see a direct correlation between the joy of the

00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:53.890
Lord and the presence of the Lord and abiding

00:24:53.890 --> 00:24:58.269
in the Lord. So, John 15, we're gonna read verses

00:24:58.269 --> 00:25:01.059
one through 10. And I'm going to give you a little

00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:03.359
assignment as I read this passage. I want you

00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.880
to see how many times you see the word abide

00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:12.259
or abiding in this passage. John 15, I am the

00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:15.420
true vine and my father is the vine grower. Every

00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:18.559
branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes

00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:25.140
away. And every branch that bears fruit, he cleanses.

00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:28.119
He cleanses it so that it may bear more fruit.

00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.599
You are already clean because of the word which

00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:34.920
I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you.

00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:38.740
And a branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless

00:25:38.740 --> 00:25:41.640
it abides in the vine. So neither can you unless

00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.400
you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.

00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.859
He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much

00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:52.680
fruit. For apart from me, you can do hardly anything.

00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:58.869
You can do almost nothing. Now, what's it say?

00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.049
Nothing. Good for us to remember that, isn't

00:26:03.049 --> 00:26:07.730
it? Without Christ, we can do nothing. If anyone

00:26:07.730 --> 00:26:11.309
does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a

00:26:11.309 --> 00:26:14.910
branch and dries up, and they gather them and

00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:17.170
cast them into the fire, and they are buried.

00:26:17.789 --> 00:26:20.089
If you abide in me and my words abide in you,

00:26:20.410 --> 00:26:22.549
ask whatever you wish. Now, this is not a wish

00:26:22.549 --> 00:26:26.849
list. And it will be done for you. That's because

00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:28.349
you're abiding in the Father. You know what the

00:26:28.349 --> 00:26:30.710
Father wants. And so you're going to ask for

00:26:30.710 --> 00:26:32.809
things that the Father wants, not things that

00:26:32.809 --> 00:26:38.710
you want. My Father is glorified by this, that

00:26:38.710 --> 00:26:42.210
you bear much fruit. He is for us. He wants us

00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:45.289
to bear fruit. He wants us to see souls come

00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:49.150
to the kingdom. He wants us to advance his kingdom.

00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:55.769
He desires that for us. And so, verse 8 my father

00:26:55.769 --> 00:26:57.849
is glorified by this that you bear much fruit

00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:01.329
and so prove to be my disciples show that you're

00:27:01.329 --> 00:27:05.690
my disciples bear fruit just as the father has

00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:11.869
loved me i have also loved you abide in me uh

00:27:11.869 --> 00:27:15.750
love you abide in my love if you keep my commandments

00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:20.009
you will abide in my love just as i have kept

00:27:20.009 --> 00:27:23.630
my father's commandments and abide in his love

00:27:23.950 --> 00:27:26.930
These things I have spoken unto you so that my,

00:27:26.950 --> 00:27:32.029
oh, there's the word, joy may be in you and that

00:27:32.029 --> 00:27:38.609
your joy may be complete. Psalm 16, 11. You will

00:27:38.609 --> 00:27:43.730
show me the paths of life in your presence's

00:27:43.730 --> 00:27:47.930
fullness. How much joy? Fullness of joy. Where

00:27:47.930 --> 00:27:51.809
do we go to try to get our joy from? Well, yes,

00:27:51.809 --> 00:27:54.390
that's where we should go. But where do we often

00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:59.690
go? Worldly things. Just yell some out. What

00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:01.710
are some worldly things that we go to to try

00:28:01.710 --> 00:28:06.549
to find fulfillment? TV. TV, very good. What

00:28:06.549 --> 00:28:09.410
else? Alabama football. Alabama football, you

00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:14.869
said it brother. How about stuff? Do we try to

00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:17.670
find our joy in buying things? Immoral things.

00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:20.849
Yeah, immoral things. What's that? Materialism.

00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:25.309
Materialism, yes. How about social media? Facebook.

00:28:25.430 --> 00:28:30.950
How many likes that we get? Yeah. Friends. All

00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:33.569
kinds of things that we go to to try to find

00:28:33.569 --> 00:28:37.109
fulfillment. But I want to propose to you that

00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:41.789
fulfillment is not found in things or whatever.

00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:45.529
It's found in Christ. And that is the complete

00:28:45.529 --> 00:28:49.509
satisfaction of our joy. The completeness of

00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:52.619
our joy is Okay, now I'm going to stop for just

00:28:52.619 --> 00:28:54.599
a moment because I remembered I asked you a question.

00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:57.000
How many times did we see the word abide here?

00:28:57.220 --> 00:29:00.059
Ten. Yes, either nine or ten times depending

00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:03.559
on your translation. So nine or ten times abide

00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:07.019
in me. Now what does it mean to abide? Remain.

00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:10.619
What's that? Remain. Remain. To stay with me.

00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:14.119
How many of you remember the time when you met

00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:18.160
your future husband or your future wife? And

00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.279
all you wanted to do was to abide with them.

00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.420
You didn't have to say anything, although oftentimes

00:29:26.420 --> 00:29:29.299
you did. But you just wanted to be with them.

00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:33.059
And sometimes it would go from California all

00:29:33.059 --> 00:29:36.940
the way over to North Carolina. You'd fly, you'd

00:29:36.940 --> 00:29:38.940
drive, or you'd do whatever you could just to

00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:42.119
be with that person. And it was like I just,

00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:45.819
and then you'd get there and you're just... Why

00:29:45.819 --> 00:29:52.059
is that? It's because you love them. And when

00:29:52.059 --> 00:29:56.380
they start to love you back, something happens.

00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:03.039
You start to be indwelt with a joy and realization

00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:10.140
that somebody loves me. You see, joy comes from

00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:16.400
love. It comes from love. That's why we can be

00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:21.799
joyous as Christians. Because... God loves us

00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:25.099
just shared that with the kids and when we receive

00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:30.059
that love it turns into joy as I was meditating

00:30:30.059 --> 00:30:33.180
on this I was thinking of a waterfall and That

00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:35.500
beautiful waterfall maybe in heaven. I don't

00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:38.619
know. I'm just you know. I'm using my my spiritual

00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:44.240
imagination So in heaven spiritual imagination

00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:48.019
a beautiful waterfall, and it falls down into

00:30:48.019 --> 00:30:51.380
a pool And then that pool goes over into another

00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:57.640
waterfall. The first waterfall is love. The second

00:30:57.640 --> 00:31:01.740
waterfall is joy. There are many Christians that

00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:05.200
will greedily, readily agree, yes, God loves

00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:09.059
me. But they have yet to go over the second waterfall

00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:13.160
to be filled with the joy of the Lord. But the

00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:16.059
Bible tells us in this passage that he wants

00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:22.309
us to be full of joy. joy, and in him is complete

00:31:22.309 --> 00:31:25.509
joy. Okay, so we know God loves us. We know that

00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:29.950
he wants us to be full of his joy. All right,

00:31:29.950 --> 00:31:35.589
how do we get it? Well, Psalm 16, 11. In your

00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:41.329
presence is fullness or complete joy. What is

00:31:41.329 --> 00:31:45.210
the presence of the Lord? What is the fullness

00:31:45.210 --> 00:31:50.809
of the Lord? It is in prayer. It is in being

00:31:50.809 --> 00:31:54.690
with him, fellowshiping with him in prayer, abiding

00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:59.710
in him, loving him. If I were to ask the average

00:31:59.710 --> 00:32:02.390
person, if I was to take a survey and I was to

00:32:02.390 --> 00:32:04.970
ask the average person, what are the two things

00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:08.049
that you want out of life? I think they would

00:32:08.049 --> 00:32:11.630
all say, once you get down past everything, you

00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:14.930
know, surface level, they would say to be loved

00:32:14.930 --> 00:32:20.009
and to be happy. Translation, love and joy. When

00:32:20.009 --> 00:32:22.309
you look at the fruits of the spirit, the first

00:32:22.309 --> 00:32:26.349
one is what? Love. What's the second one? Joy.

00:32:26.950 --> 00:32:29.569
Love is God giving us his son, the Lord Jesus

00:32:29.569 --> 00:32:31.690
Christ, when Jesus died on the cross and paid

00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:35.549
for our sins. That's love. What is joy? Joy is

00:32:35.549 --> 00:32:39.450
when we receive that and let it come out and

00:32:39.450 --> 00:32:47.900
spend time in his presence. I was asked, By my

00:32:47.900 --> 00:32:51.319
friend hunt a couple of years ago. We first came

00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:53.920
into the ministry about four years ago. He said

00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:58.240
Jason How much time do you spend in the presence

00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:03.779
of the Lord praying? and I said He said I thought

00:33:03.779 --> 00:33:08.720
so I Didn't really have much of an answer. I

00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:12.759
mean, yeah, I did I did pray but I like hunt

00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:16.569
praise And he said, you need to be spending an

00:33:16.569 --> 00:33:22.049
hour to two hours of prayer every day. I said,

00:33:22.049 --> 00:33:25.890
how do you do that? Don't you run out of things

00:33:25.890 --> 00:33:31.750
to say? And things to do? And he said, I'll pray

00:33:31.750 --> 00:33:36.730
for you. That God will show you how to pray.

00:33:37.430 --> 00:33:40.450
The next morning, I woke up at 4 .30 or 5 .30.

00:33:40.450 --> 00:33:43.740
I don't remember exactly what it was. Religiously,

00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:46.700
I got up until that point four years ago at seven

00:33:46.700 --> 00:33:49.859
in the morning. But the next day I woke up at

00:33:49.859 --> 00:33:53.079
about 4 .30 or 5 .30 and I woke up with this

00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:57.559
on my mind. God is calling the prayer. And what

00:33:57.559 --> 00:34:00.819
that is is a calling to go deeper with God than

00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:03.799
you have been before. So when you have those

00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:07.200
sleepless nights, pray. When you wake up in the

00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:09.320
middle of the night and you don't know what to

00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:12.079
do, that's God calling to you like with Samuel.

00:34:13.740 --> 00:34:16.599
Samuel, Samuel. And what are you supposed to

00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:19.300
do? You're supposed to run to his arms. You're

00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:22.420
supposed to jump into that pool of joy and let

00:34:22.420 --> 00:34:26.219
him carry you over a waterfall of love and joy.

00:34:26.619 --> 00:34:29.619
He wants to fill you. In his presence is fullness,

00:34:29.860 --> 00:34:32.940
his complete joy. So whenever we try to find

00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:36.619
joy in something else, it will leave us dry.

00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:39.760
But when joy, the love of God, and then the joy

00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:43.650
of God become our source, Then, everything else

00:34:43.650 --> 00:34:45.829
flows out from underneath of that. Love, joy,

00:34:46.090 --> 00:34:48.150
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,

00:34:48.469 --> 00:34:51.590
self -control. That all comes down. Other waterfalls,

00:34:51.809 --> 00:34:54.489
more waterfalls, just going down, flowing down,

00:34:54.670 --> 00:34:57.250
deeper and deeper until what happens? Until it

00:34:57.250 --> 00:34:59.889
overflows and the people get around to say, you're

00:34:59.889 --> 00:35:04.449
weird, but I like it. Your wife ever say that

00:35:04.449 --> 00:35:07.550
to you? Or your husband ever say that to you?

00:35:07.829 --> 00:35:09.769
Maybe they didn't say weird. You're different.

00:35:10.829 --> 00:35:14.750
But you know that difference attracts the world

00:35:14.750 --> 00:35:19.130
to you actually it attracts them to Jesus Which

00:35:19.130 --> 00:35:22.550
is exactly what we want. We want them to be attracted

00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:26.170
to the Lord Jesus We want to have that fullness

00:35:26.170 --> 00:35:30.750
of joy Turn with me if you will to the book of

00:35:30.750 --> 00:35:35.590
Revelation chapter 19 You know, I wanted to share

00:35:35.590 --> 00:35:37.710
a little bit about hunt this morning. Please

00:35:37.710 --> 00:35:43.460
continue praying for Hunt. He is in his last

00:35:43.460 --> 00:35:50.019
days. I heard from Nathan Boone, who's a summer

00:35:50.019 --> 00:35:54.900
missionary and a very dear friend of our family's,

00:35:54.900 --> 00:35:58.940
and he said that Hunt was, or Monica said to

00:35:58.940 --> 00:36:03.239
Hunt that Hunt was packing his bags. He was getting

00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:07.840
ready to go to heaven. He doesn't have much longer.

00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:11.420
Maybe three more weeks. We don't know but we're

00:36:11.420 --> 00:36:13.679
trusting and we're waiting on the Lord for whatever

00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:17.780
happens and knowing that he's ready to go and

00:36:17.780 --> 00:36:22.519
I got to see him and if that was really a good

00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:25.579
thing and I thank the Lord for allowing me to

00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:32.260
see him When I went to see him I was sitting

00:36:32.260 --> 00:36:35.639
in a rocking chair was outside of his apartment

00:36:35.639 --> 00:36:40.840
building and I heard them before I saw them.

00:36:40.940 --> 00:36:44.860
But if you know Hunt, that's Hunt. But you know

00:36:44.860 --> 00:36:50.940
what I heard? I heard this, yippee! And he comes

00:36:50.940 --> 00:36:54.239
running out of the door down to see me. And we

00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:56.960
had a wonderful time. We had a wonderful time.

00:36:58.699 --> 00:37:01.860
And I share that, that with you because this

00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:08.510
next passage reminds me and what... reminds me

00:37:08.510 --> 00:37:11.730
of what it's gonna be like to go to heaven. What

00:37:11.730 --> 00:37:13.429
are we gonna say? What are the first words when

00:37:13.429 --> 00:37:17.349
we go to heaven? Yippee, I'm finally here, I've

00:37:17.349 --> 00:37:21.909
made it. Yes, thank you Lord. Praise the Lord.

00:37:22.570 --> 00:37:26.130
Hallelujah, hallelujah. I wanna look at this

00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:29.489
word hallelujah because this word hallelujah

00:37:29.489 --> 00:37:33.550
has actually connected with God's love and his

00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:38.539
joy and his peace. And in the New Testament,

00:37:38.980 --> 00:37:41.719
there are only four times that we come across

00:37:41.719 --> 00:37:45.699
the word hallelujah. And guess what? We're gonna

00:37:45.699 --> 00:37:49.820
read all four of them in one passage right here

00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:53.800
in Revelation chapter 19. In fact, let's do something

00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:58.300
fun. As we read this, we're gonna try to do this.

00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:00.260
We're gonna do another corporate reading today.

00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:02.510
And as I read this, when we come to the word

00:38:02.510 --> 00:38:04.969
hallelujah, or I'll just point at you, and I

00:38:04.969 --> 00:38:08.150
want you all to say hallelujah, okay? You do

00:38:08.150 --> 00:38:10.550
that with me? All right, here we go. Yes, sir?

00:38:11.909 --> 00:38:17.889
I am in, I am using, what is this one? It is

00:38:17.889 --> 00:38:22.539
MacArthur, it says LSB. Yes. John MacArthur.

00:38:22.940 --> 00:38:25.340
That way everybody yells, that way everybody

00:38:25.340 --> 00:38:26.940
yells hallelujah at the same time. There you

00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:28.559
go. Well, that's why I point to you as well.

00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:30.619
So that worked out just fine. All right. After

00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:33.719
these things, I heard something like a loud voice

00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:37.039
with a great crowd in heaven saying, hallelujah.

00:38:37.539 --> 00:38:41.059
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God

00:38:41.059 --> 00:38:43.960
because his judgments are true and righteous

00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:47.699
for he has judged the great harlot who was corrupting

00:38:47.699 --> 00:38:50.809
the earth. with her sexual immorality, and he

00:38:50.809 --> 00:38:55.070
has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by her

00:38:55.070 --> 00:38:58.670
hand. And a second time they said, Hallelujah!

00:38:59.010 --> 00:39:02.269
Her smoke rises up forever and ever, and the

00:39:02.269 --> 00:39:04.469
twenty -four elders and the four living creatures

00:39:04.469 --> 00:39:07.389
fell down and worshiped God, who sits on the

00:39:07.389 --> 00:39:10.969
throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah! And a voice

00:39:10.969 --> 00:39:13.510
came from the throne, saying, Give praise to

00:39:13.510 --> 00:39:17.710
our God, all ye his slaves, you who fear him.

00:39:17.719 --> 00:39:20.219
the small and the great then I heard something

00:39:20.219 --> 00:39:22.679
like the voice of a great crowd and like the

00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:25.639
sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty

00:39:25.639 --> 00:39:30.260
peals of thunder saying for the Lord our God

00:39:30.260 --> 00:39:34.539
the Almighty reigns let us rejoice there you

00:39:34.539 --> 00:39:37.820
go there's our joy word Let us rejoice and be

00:39:37.820 --> 00:39:40.880
glad and give glory to him for the marriage of

00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:44.199
the lamb has come and his bride has made Herself

00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:46.940
ready and it was given to her to clothe herself

00:39:46.940 --> 00:39:50.239
in the fine linen and bright and clean For the

00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:53.639
fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints

00:39:53.639 --> 00:39:56.159
How many of you have ever been to a wedding before

00:39:56.159 --> 00:39:58.760
I think all of us probably have been to a wedding

00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:03.000
It's a phenomenal event where the bride gets

00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:05.909
decked out in a beautiful garment and the guy

00:40:05.909 --> 00:40:09.170
dresses up but he can't really match the bride

00:40:09.170 --> 00:40:13.050
but anyway you know he tries but in heaven it's

00:40:13.050 --> 00:40:20.750
a reversal right it's the bridegroom that is

00:40:20.750 --> 00:40:24.610
the glory of heaven the bride is still beautiful

00:40:24.610 --> 00:40:26.550
and it's still be wonderful but in the in this

00:40:26.550 --> 00:40:29.409
culture it's the bridegroom that takes front

00:40:29.409 --> 00:40:33.559
and center stage And we see this word. Hallelujah.

00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:35.139
Let's talk about this little word. Hallelujah

00:40:35.139 --> 00:40:37.400
real quick. This is a this is a really neat word

00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:41.500
Because if you go to Russia, you know the Russian

00:40:41.500 --> 00:40:45.599
word for hallelujah's Hallelujah, it's practically

00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:49.500
the same thing you know if you go to almost any

00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:53.059
country in the world and You use that word. It's

00:40:53.059 --> 00:40:56.039
the same thing. It's pronounced the same way

00:40:56.039 --> 00:41:01.510
why? Because it is a heavenly word You see right

00:41:01.510 --> 00:41:03.730
here in this passage, they're saying this in

00:41:03.730 --> 00:41:07.650
heaven. Hallelujah. What does it mean? It means

00:41:07.650 --> 00:41:13.349
praise to our God. Praise to God. Praise to Yahweh.

00:41:13.690 --> 00:41:17.309
Actually, J -A -H is an abbreviation, a short

00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:23.230
verb of Yahweh. If I was speaking to a Jewish

00:41:23.230 --> 00:41:25.809
congregation right now, a messianic, you all

00:41:25.809 --> 00:41:29.070
would be going like this. He just said the name

00:41:29.070 --> 00:41:31.250
of Yahweh. They weren't even supposed to try

00:41:31.250 --> 00:41:34.389
to say the name of Yahweh, the name of God, that

00:41:34.389 --> 00:41:40.030
sacred name. Why? Because it's so special. But

00:41:40.030 --> 00:41:43.190
getting back to hallelujah, where in the Old

00:41:43.190 --> 00:41:46.489
Testament do we see the word hallelujah, that

00:41:46.489 --> 00:41:51.250
word used? Well, we see it in Psalm 146 to Psalm

00:41:51.250 --> 00:41:55.550
150, at the beginning and at the end of those

00:41:55.550 --> 00:41:59.730
psalms. We see it in the beginning. Oftentimes,

00:41:59.730 --> 00:42:02.070
now in those particular Psalms, you don't necessarily

00:42:02.070 --> 00:42:04.949
see this, but there are other Psalms where it's

00:42:04.949 --> 00:42:10.909
at the beginning and the end of a battle. Praise

00:42:10.909 --> 00:42:15.070
to God. Hallelujah. Here, in this passage, it's

00:42:15.070 --> 00:42:19.849
at the end of the battle. Hallelujah. You see,

00:42:20.010 --> 00:42:22.670
oftentimes us Christians live as defeated Christians,

00:42:23.190 --> 00:42:26.730
but we need to live as victorious Christians.

00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:32.539
where we can say hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

00:42:33.059 --> 00:42:37.239
He has won the victory. Aren't you glad today

00:42:37.239 --> 00:42:40.579
that he has won the victory? And we can live

00:42:40.579 --> 00:42:44.400
with this in mind, that you and I will be a part

00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:47.780
of that throng someday, that we'll say hallelujah,

00:42:48.420 --> 00:42:54.199
hallelujah, what, a savior? We're gonna skip

00:42:54.199 --> 00:42:58.300
down to verse six. Then I heard something like

00:42:58.300 --> 00:43:01.900
the voice of a great cloud, crowd and like the

00:43:01.900 --> 00:43:04.639
sound of many waters. That's what made me think

00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:07.659
of the waterfalls and like the sound of mighty

00:43:07.659 --> 00:43:11.480
peals of thunder saying hallelujah for the Lord

00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:15.300
our God, the almighty reigns. We oftentimes sing

00:43:15.300 --> 00:43:17.480
the song oftentimes when we come here to this

00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:22.099
church, behold our God seated on the throne.

00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:29.739
Come let us adore him. Behold our King. When

00:43:29.739 --> 00:43:35.059
you pray think about that sing that song think

00:43:35.059 --> 00:43:41.179
about being The one who loves us the one died

00:43:41.179 --> 00:43:45.480
for us What would it be like to come before his

00:43:45.480 --> 00:43:50.099
throne? That's like getting in that pool of love

00:43:50.099 --> 00:43:54.679
going down the waterfall of love and joy There's

00:43:54.679 --> 00:43:56.820
nothing like being in the presence of the Lord

00:43:56.820 --> 00:44:01.460
in your presence is fullness of joy. Now we come

00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:06.079
to the last point. And at thy right hand are

00:44:06.079 --> 00:44:10.639
pleasures forevermore. Psalm 23, the last verses

00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:14.860
in Psalm 23 say, and goodness and mercy will

00:44:14.860 --> 00:44:17.679
follow me all the days of my life. And I will

00:44:17.679 --> 00:44:23.099
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Not just

00:44:23.099 --> 00:44:28.760
a weekend, not just a vacation, but for... The

00:44:28.760 --> 00:44:33.199
joy of the Lord doesn't stop at death. No, no,

00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:37.219
no, no. It's increased at death. The love of

00:44:37.219 --> 00:44:40.039
the Lord, it doesn't stop at death. It increases

00:44:40.039 --> 00:44:45.719
at death. We go up another level. I'm reminded

00:44:45.719 --> 00:44:50.400
of Pilgrim's Progress, where Pilgrim is in the

00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:53.500
city of Vanity Fair, and he's there with Christian,

00:44:53.579 --> 00:44:57.860
and they're in that city. Faithful is put to

00:44:57.860 --> 00:45:02.659
death and he dies And Christian says this is

00:45:02.659 --> 00:45:04.980
he sees that mighty chariot come down from heaven.

00:45:04.980 --> 00:45:08.300
He says I Considered that faithful did better

00:45:08.300 --> 00:45:15.739
than me Because he went to heaven before me So,

00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:20.579
you know when we have loved ones who die friends

00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:24.300
and so on and so forth They're actually doing

00:45:24.300 --> 00:45:27.969
better than us Oftentimes we think, well, I'm

00:45:27.969 --> 00:45:35.010
still here. But no, the heaven is real. And they

00:45:35.010 --> 00:45:36.789
are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and they

00:45:36.789 --> 00:45:41.489
died before us. They're better off. They're better

00:45:41.489 --> 00:45:49.349
off. Turn with me to the book of Acts. Book of

00:45:49.349 --> 00:45:53.929
Acts chapter seven, verse 56. You will show me

00:45:53.929 --> 00:45:56.469
the paths of life in your presence is fullness

00:45:56.469 --> 00:45:58.869
of joy in your right hand or pleasures forevermore

00:45:58.869 --> 00:46:01.829
That's Psalm 16 11. I haven't memorized it. Go

00:46:01.829 --> 00:46:04.750
memorize it. I tell my boys Where is it gonna

00:46:04.750 --> 00:46:10.050
be Daniel? Where are you gonna put it? On my

00:46:10.050 --> 00:46:14.489
tombstone. It's going there Psalm 16 11 and Then

00:46:14.489 --> 00:46:17.150
you can put underneath that's where he's at right

00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:20.610
now He's in heaven. He's in the presence of his

00:46:20.610 --> 00:46:23.750
Savior In your presence is fullness of joy, and

00:46:23.750 --> 00:46:25.750
at your right hand, oh, you will show me the

00:46:25.750 --> 00:46:27.230
path of life. In your presence is the fullness

00:46:27.230 --> 00:46:29.389
of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures

00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:32.809
forevermore. That phrase, at your right hand,

00:46:33.190 --> 00:46:36.489
is repeated right here in Acts chapter seven,

00:46:36.630 --> 00:46:39.110
verse 56. It says, I saw the heavens open and

00:46:39.110 --> 00:46:42.050
the Son of Man, that's Jesus, standing at the

00:46:42.050 --> 00:46:44.989
left hand of God. Nope, that's not what it says.

00:46:45.349 --> 00:46:47.750
Standing at the where? The right hand of God.

00:46:47.809 --> 00:46:50.840
So, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Psalm

00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:54.460
16 11 and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

00:46:54.460 --> 00:46:57.960
Who's at the right hand of God? Jesus! That's

00:46:57.960 --> 00:47:00.579
where our joy is. That's where our love is. It's

00:47:00.579 --> 00:47:07.659
at the right hand of God. And how long? Forever

00:47:07.659 --> 00:47:12.739
and ever and ever and ever. We can think of our

00:47:12.739 --> 00:47:16.179
loved ones. Our husbands, our wives, our grandparents.

00:47:18.579 --> 00:47:21.380
Sometimes our children. at the right hand of

00:47:21.380 --> 00:47:26.199
God, where complete joy is, full joy, not just

00:47:26.199 --> 00:47:30.400
partial joy, but full joy, complete joy at His

00:47:30.400 --> 00:47:39.360
right hand. The Bible tells us in 1st Samuel

00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:45.039
17 47, as David gets ready to go fight Goliath,

00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:50.159
he says, the battle belongs to the Lord. You

00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:52.360
know, so how's that fit into what you're saying?

00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:57.159
Well, this is it. Our lives are like that battle.

00:47:58.019 --> 00:48:02.519
Our lives belong to the Lord. And so if we're

00:48:02.519 --> 00:48:04.539
full of the joy of the Lord, we're full of the

00:48:04.539 --> 00:48:07.219
spirit of the Lord, then guess what? We've already

00:48:07.219 --> 00:48:10.860
won. The winning takes place when we put our

00:48:10.860 --> 00:48:14.539
faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And then he

00:48:14.539 --> 00:48:17.599
leads us on. He says, okay, now I'm your shepherd.

00:48:17.920 --> 00:48:22.179
Follow me. Now I'm your shepherd, abide in me.

00:48:22.420 --> 00:48:24.860
Now I'm your shepherd, be full of joy and let

00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:28.440
your cup overflow so that other people can know

00:48:28.440 --> 00:48:33.639
the joy and love of God. Psalm 23 says, my cup

00:48:33.639 --> 00:48:39.880
runneth over. You anoint my head with oil. My

00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:44.699
cup runneth over. The picture, if you, and I

00:48:44.699 --> 00:48:46.519
probably have said this here before, I know I've

00:48:46.519 --> 00:48:48.869
said it in other messages. My boys know what

00:48:48.869 --> 00:48:51.489
I'm going to say next. My wife probably does

00:48:51.489 --> 00:48:55.110
too. Because those things that you really love,

00:48:55.530 --> 00:48:57.289
you share over and over again because it means

00:48:57.289 --> 00:48:59.929
so much to you. And this is something I heard

00:48:59.929 --> 00:49:02.090
three or four years ago from another person.

00:49:02.190 --> 00:49:04.530
I can't claim it. But it says your cup runneth

00:49:04.530 --> 00:49:08.010
over. When you were invited to a meal back then

00:49:08.010 --> 00:49:12.409
and you were wanting your guests to leave, you

00:49:12.409 --> 00:49:15.469
would fill their cup up halfway with grape juice

00:49:15.469 --> 00:49:17.260
or wine or whatever you were given. And that

00:49:17.260 --> 00:49:19.960
was a sign that it's time for you to go home.

00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:26.699
But if your cup was kept full, that means you

00:49:26.699 --> 00:49:29.219
stay here for as long as you want. And so when

00:49:29.219 --> 00:49:32.900
the cup was full, it's you being in the presence

00:49:32.900 --> 00:49:35.440
of the Lord. And God is saying to you, Peter,

00:49:35.719 --> 00:49:39.599
stay with me as long as you want. Just stay here.

00:49:40.039 --> 00:49:42.800
Just stay. And you know, when you get into that

00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:48.559
baby, when you hit that, You don't want to leave.

00:49:49.280 --> 00:49:50.860
There are times it's like, okay, I got to go

00:49:50.860 --> 00:49:53.659
make breakfast. Oh, I don't want to leave. The

00:49:53.659 --> 00:49:57.340
word of God is so good. The Holy Spirit is so

00:49:57.340 --> 00:50:02.219
strong. I want to stay right here. That's why

00:50:02.219 --> 00:50:05.280
God wants us to get up earlier or stay up later

00:50:05.280 --> 00:50:10.219
and spend time in the word of God. And when we

00:50:10.219 --> 00:50:13.809
come before Him, worship Him. When we talk about

00:50:13.809 --> 00:50:15.449
prayer and being in the presence of the Lord,

00:50:15.449 --> 00:50:19.449
it's hard to define this. And we talk about,

00:50:19.809 --> 00:50:23.130
and I am winding down here, but when we talk

00:50:23.130 --> 00:50:25.769
about coming into the presence of the Lord and

00:50:25.769 --> 00:50:29.389
praying, we say, well, how do we do that? Well,

00:50:29.389 --> 00:50:31.630
yes, you confess your sins. Yes, you pray for

00:50:31.630 --> 00:50:33.849
other people. Yes, you pray for the governors

00:50:33.849 --> 00:50:36.190
and leaders. The Lord reminds you to do that.

00:50:36.210 --> 00:50:38.230
Yes, you can have a book. You can write your

00:50:38.230 --> 00:50:42.320
prayer request down. But the pinnacle of... Prayer

00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:45.840
is praise. It's not even Thanksgiving. You say,

00:50:45.980 --> 00:50:48.800
Jason, how do you know that? Well, Psalm 100,

00:50:48.960 --> 00:50:53.239
glad you asked. Psalm 100, it says, make a joyful

00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:55.780
noise unto the Lord. That's because the God knows

00:50:55.780 --> 00:50:58.940
that some of us can't sing. But yes, we're supposed

00:50:58.940 --> 00:51:01.380
to praise the Lord. Okay, we're supposed to sing,

00:51:01.460 --> 00:51:03.760
make a noise to the Lord, okay? But it says,

00:51:04.099 --> 00:51:08.260
enter into his gates with what? Thanksgiving.

00:51:09.019 --> 00:51:12.199
We Christians miss out on a blessing because

00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:14.940
we are not thankful for the things that God has

00:51:14.940 --> 00:51:17.619
given to us. And when you stop and you realize,

00:51:17.699 --> 00:51:19.980
God's given me a wonderful wife, He's given me

00:51:19.980 --> 00:51:21.780
a wonderful children, He's given me a wonderful

00:51:21.780 --> 00:51:26.920
child. You just start realizing, well, God's

00:51:26.920 --> 00:51:30.480
blessed me. Go visit another country if you don't

00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:34.019
think that God's blessed you. But that's not

00:51:34.019 --> 00:51:37.519
the pinnacle of prayer. The pinnacle of prayer

00:51:37.519 --> 00:51:43.059
is praise. Why? Because you forget about who

00:51:43.059 --> 00:51:48.400
you are and you think about who God is. Praise

00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:54.440
the Lord. Okay. I just need to be quiet. I just

00:51:54.440 --> 00:51:58.840
need to stop. I just need to, woo! Praise him

00:51:58.840 --> 00:52:02.039
for being the creator king. Praise him for being

00:52:02.039 --> 00:52:05.820
God Almighty. Praise him for sending his son,

00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:08.739
Jesus, to die on the cross and pay for our sins.

00:52:09.269 --> 00:52:13.349
And then that can just go on and on and on. And

00:52:13.349 --> 00:52:15.309
you're just like, okay, all right. And what that

00:52:15.309 --> 00:52:19.530
is? That's the anointing. That's the Holy Spirit.

00:52:19.610 --> 00:52:22.909
That's the cup being full to overflowing. So

00:52:22.909 --> 00:52:25.929
that when you get around other non -Christians,

00:52:25.929 --> 00:52:28.570
they say, whoa, what's different about this God?

00:52:28.849 --> 00:52:32.590
And that's exactly what Hunt has. It's exactly

00:52:32.590 --> 00:52:35.989
what he has. I've just started going to a Bible

00:52:35.989 --> 00:52:38.619
study with Peter and Pete. And the other guys

00:52:38.619 --> 00:52:40.519
in the Bible story are like, oh man, we miss

00:52:40.519 --> 00:52:45.300
Hunt. We miss him. He's full of the joy of the

00:52:45.300 --> 00:52:51.659
Lord. Everywhere he went. My children, oh man,

00:52:51.659 --> 00:52:55.920
we want to see Hunt. Can we go see Hunt? Nathan,

00:52:56.440 --> 00:53:02.519
can I go see Hunt? I want to see Hunt. There's

00:53:02.519 --> 00:53:05.449
a friend of Hunt. who, if I said his name, you

00:53:05.449 --> 00:53:09.449
might know him, who knows and has acquaintances

00:53:09.449 --> 00:53:13.630
with presidents of the United States, past presidents

00:53:13.630 --> 00:53:15.130
of the United States. I don't think he could,

00:53:15.469 --> 00:53:19.489
maybe, I don't know. A very important man, he

00:53:19.489 --> 00:53:24.010
called me. I want to see Hunt. That's because

00:53:24.010 --> 00:53:27.730
Hunt is full of the love and the joy of the Lord.

00:53:28.630 --> 00:53:31.300
And so we need to pray for that. for ourselves,

00:53:31.420 --> 00:53:34.280
that we would be full of the love and the joy

00:53:34.280 --> 00:53:39.360
of the Lord. Why? Because the joy of the Lord

00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:46.199
is our strength. It's our strength. David is

00:53:46.199 --> 00:53:53.199
a long boy. The battle belongs to the Lord. He

00:53:53.199 --> 00:53:57.559
is our strength. He is our song. There is a song.

00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:01.519
That was that was written many years ago about

00:54:01.519 --> 00:54:06.559
a man a Pastor actually a preacher and he wrote

00:54:06.559 --> 00:54:11.820
this song it says Jesus keeps me singing as I

00:54:11.820 --> 00:54:19.900
go It says There's within my heart a melody Jesus

00:54:19.900 --> 00:54:22.679
whispers sweet and low fear not I am with thee

00:54:22.679 --> 00:54:27.059
peace be still in all life's ebb and flow Jesus,

00:54:27.380 --> 00:54:30.019
Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my

00:54:30.019 --> 00:54:34.219
every longing, keeps me singing as I go. He wrote

00:54:34.219 --> 00:54:36.019
that song, and you know, when I sing that song,

00:54:36.019 --> 00:54:39.280
I'm full of excitement and joy. But just this

00:54:39.280 --> 00:54:41.019
morning, I was doing some research, and did you

00:54:41.019 --> 00:54:43.980
know that the pastor, right before he wrote this,

00:54:44.539 --> 00:54:46.500
learned that his wife and children were caught

00:54:46.500 --> 00:54:50.159
in a fire and all died. You see, he wrote this

00:54:50.159 --> 00:54:53.360
song out of adversity. Why? Because it was full

00:54:53.360 --> 00:55:00.179
of the love and the joy. of God. Now, as we really

00:55:00.179 --> 00:55:04.320
do wrap up, I really am wrapping up here. I want

00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:07.340
to share one more thing, and I'll let you go.

00:55:10.099 --> 00:55:14.079
It is not enough to talk about prayer and being

00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:16.320
in the presence of the Lord. It is not enough

00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:19.119
to preach about being in the presence of the

00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:22.019
Lord. At the beginning, we talked about the grumpy

00:55:22.019 --> 00:55:29.849
Christian. If that's you, repent. Do you know

00:55:29.849 --> 00:55:33.909
what the opposite of praise is? Complaining.

00:55:35.269 --> 00:55:42.389
The opposite of praise is whining. So repent.

00:55:44.250 --> 00:55:46.989
Take that complaining and whining attitude and

00:55:46.989 --> 00:55:50.989
ask God to replace it with joy, love, and thankfulness

00:55:50.989 --> 00:55:56.000
to Him. We started with talking about that we're

00:55:56.000 --> 00:56:02.599
gonna end With talking about a man who I've already

00:56:02.599 --> 00:56:04.659
talked about a little bit, but who loves the

00:56:04.659 --> 00:56:06.599
Lord It's full of the joy of the Lord and that's

00:56:06.599 --> 00:56:10.699
hunts You just got around him and when you left

00:56:10.699 --> 00:56:16.039
him you felt better You know, he was not afraid

00:56:16.039 --> 00:56:21.130
to say Jason I love you to me a grown man He

00:56:21.130 --> 00:56:23.150
was not afraid to take me and grab me and hug

00:56:23.150 --> 00:56:33.329
me. He was not afraid to share his faith. He

00:56:33.329 --> 00:56:38.389
was not afraid to let God overflow his cup and

00:56:38.389 --> 00:56:44.170
to spend time in the presence of the Lord. And

00:56:44.170 --> 00:56:48.230
so I want to encourage you to ask God to increase

00:56:48.230 --> 00:56:54.230
your prayer life. Say alright Lord What do you

00:56:54.230 --> 00:56:56.429
want to say to me? What do you want me to say

00:56:56.429 --> 00:57:01.710
to you? play some good Gospel music and pray

00:57:01.710 --> 00:57:06.449
the Lord at the same time worship him Spend time

00:57:06.449 --> 00:57:09.610
in his presence because where why because that's

00:57:09.610 --> 00:57:13.730
where their fullness of joy is found So you can

00:57:13.730 --> 00:57:18.190
get to the point When you're ready to enter into

00:57:18.190 --> 00:57:24.980
heaven to say Yippee! Hallelujah! Praise to God!

00:57:26.260 --> 00:57:29.300
I am going to heaven. And you know what? The

00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:33.199
road from earth to heaven isn't so bad. When

00:57:33.199 --> 00:57:38.579
the Lord is your shepherd. Let's pray. Father,

00:57:38.579 --> 00:57:41.320
we thank you for these beautiful passages of

00:57:41.320 --> 00:57:45.280
scripture. And Lord, I just confess that Lord,

00:57:45.420 --> 00:57:49.570
I didn't do them justice. But Lord, I thank you

00:57:49.570 --> 00:57:53.809
so much for this verse, Psalm 16, 11. You will

00:57:53.809 --> 00:57:57.329
show me the path of life. Lord, the path on this

00:57:57.329 --> 00:58:01.449
earth, in your presence is fullness of joy. Lord,

00:58:01.530 --> 00:58:04.369
I pray that our cups would be full and overflowing

00:58:04.369 --> 00:58:06.889
into other people's lives so that he would sense

00:58:06.889 --> 00:58:10.489
the joy of the Lord in and through us. I thank

00:58:10.489 --> 00:58:14.789
you so much, Father, for friends like Hunt, Father,

00:58:14.789 --> 00:58:17.619
friends like Peter and Pete. that I've known

00:58:17.619 --> 00:58:20.940
for many years that love you, Lord, many others

00:58:20.940 --> 00:58:23.519
that are in our lives. Father, help us to be

00:58:23.519 --> 00:58:26.380
friends to others, like Hunt was a friend to

00:58:26.380 --> 00:58:29.380
me. But even more so, Father, I know that if

00:58:29.380 --> 00:58:31.880
he were here today, Hunt would say, don't listen

00:58:31.880 --> 00:58:36.860
to me. Don't follow me. Follow Jesus. And so,

00:58:36.920 --> 00:58:39.900
Lord, would you help us to do that? And as we

00:58:39.900 --> 00:58:42.780
jump into that pool of love, Lord, help us to

00:58:42.780 --> 00:58:45.699
go over that waterfall into the pool of joy.

00:58:46.090 --> 00:58:49.110
And Lord, help our lives to be a living sacrifice

00:58:49.110 --> 00:58:55.349
for you. A love, Lord, a love book of joy that's

00:58:55.349 --> 00:58:59.050
inexpressible. Lord, I've tried to talk about

00:58:59.050 --> 00:59:02.449
it, but Lord, you know that it's just, there's

00:59:02.449 --> 00:59:05.429
just no talking about it. Lord, we just, we have

00:59:05.429 --> 00:59:08.789
to know it. We have to experience it. And I pray

00:59:08.789 --> 00:59:11.989
to Father that you would help each one to experience

00:59:11.989 --> 00:59:16.460
the joy, the joy of our salvation. In Jesus'

00:59:16.679 --> 00:59:47.079
name I pray, Amen. And before that, what it boils

00:59:47.079 --> 00:59:50.820
down to is relying and trusting in God's grace,

00:59:51.079 --> 00:59:53.199
the sovereignty of God, that He really is in

00:59:53.199 --> 00:59:56.760
charge. And you don't have to earn His favor.

00:59:56.860 --> 00:59:59.059
You don't have to try to stay there in your own

00:59:59.059 --> 01:00:04.059
effort and let you just abide there. Let God

01:00:04.059 --> 01:00:07.500
be God in your circumstances. And I can tell

01:00:07.500 --> 01:00:09.679
you from personal experience, we had a similar

01:00:09.679 --> 01:00:11.619
testimony in the sense that we spent many years

01:00:11.619 --> 01:00:14.510
in the church. doing things for God, do, do,

01:00:14.530 --> 01:00:17.449
do, do, do, and it can wear you out. And talk

01:00:17.449 --> 01:00:20.050
about that, you know, and I can tell you the

01:00:20.050 --> 01:00:23.849
same thing, very true. But when you spend time

01:00:23.849 --> 01:00:26.429
in His presence, and you get to know Him in His

01:00:26.429 --> 01:00:30.929
Word, and you pray, and you obey, and you say,

01:00:31.150 --> 01:00:37.719
yes, Lord, whatever it is, yes, I'll do it. You

01:00:37.719 --> 01:00:40.300
begin, not immediately, but begin to grow more

01:00:40.300 --> 01:00:42.199
and more in appreciation of Him and see the glory

01:00:42.199 --> 01:00:47.679
of God in the face of Jesus. Let's close by singing

01:00:47.679 --> 01:00:50.699
this little chorus, Yes, Lord, Yes. When the

01:00:50.699 --> 01:00:54.400
Spirit speaks to me with my whole heart, I'll

01:00:54.400 --> 01:01:11.190
agree and I'll say, Yes. I'll say yes, Lord,

01:01:11.190 --> 01:01:16.210
yes. I will trust you and obey. Give your spirit

01:01:16.210 --> 01:01:21.170
to me. With my whole heart I'll agree. And my

01:01:21.170 --> 01:01:27.309
answer will be yes, Lord, yes. I'll say yes,

01:01:27.489 --> 01:01:32.489
Lord, yes. Do your will, do your way. I'll say

01:01:32.489 --> 01:01:57.610
yes, Lord, yes. I will trust you and obey. Father

01:01:57.610 --> 01:02:00.969
we do thank you for the memories that we have

01:02:00.969 --> 01:02:03.389
of loved ones that have passed. I know that my

01:02:03.389 --> 01:02:05.530
wife is with you and we're thinking of Warner

01:02:05.530 --> 01:02:11.469
and sometimes we shy away from thinking about

01:02:11.469 --> 01:02:15.429
stepping across this great devoid so to speak

01:02:15.429 --> 01:02:21.670
but with you is fullness of joy and there is

01:02:21.550 --> 01:02:26.070
in this life, hope that we can become more and

01:02:26.070 --> 01:02:32.090
more satisfied with being with you and less comfortable

01:02:32.090 --> 01:02:38.250
in this world. I just thank you for your goodness

01:02:38.250 --> 01:02:43.170
to us. We used to spend time together there,

01:02:43.550 --> 01:02:46.889
the Bible said it, my son mentioned, we know

01:02:46.889 --> 01:02:49.889
where he's going. We thank you for him. I'd like

01:02:49.889 --> 01:02:53.010
to see him if it's possible before he goes, but

01:02:53.010 --> 01:02:56.530
I just pray your will would be done. Thank you

01:02:56.530 --> 01:03:00.050
for these people. Thank you for the Lord Jesus

01:03:00.050 --> 01:03:05.090
Christ. Help us to follow him closely. Also,

01:03:05.170 --> 01:03:07.550
we thank you for Jason. We pray for him and the

01:03:07.550 --> 01:03:12.070
ministry of CEF. We pray that you would bless

01:03:12.070 --> 01:03:15.710
that work, make it effective. We pray for Monica

01:03:15.710 --> 01:03:22.019
and Hunt. We pray for their peace, their stability,

01:03:22.480 --> 01:03:25.780
that you'd watch over them. We pray your blessing

01:03:25.780 --> 01:03:29.219
upon this day. We pray also for the service the

01:03:29.219 --> 01:03:31.900
Bible studied tonight. We thank you for these

01:03:31.900 --> 01:03:34.300
things. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.