WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.359 At the end of it all. And we were maxed out in 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:04.440 our residential capacity. And things were really 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:07.540 good. And so when God called us to Sweden. It 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:11.839 was a surprise to us. To say the least. I became 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.460 very close with the missionary. That I worked 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.879 with in Scotland. Brother Robert Kelly. And Brother 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.559 Kelly at the time was overseeing much of Scandinavia. 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.059 And in Scandinavia, especially Sweden, there 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:26.320 were a lot of issues that were starting to crop 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.280 up. And he was sharing with me over coffee one 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:30.620 Tuesday what was happening in the country of 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:32.979 Sweden the weekend before. And leaders were leaving 00:00:32.979 --> 00:00:35.659 the church. The saints were looking around not 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:38.320 knowing what was going on. And finally that Sunday 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.000 before. the pastor of both churches, there's 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.960 only two United Pentecostal churches in all of 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.299 Sweden, and the pastor of both of those churches 00:00:46.299 --> 00:00:48.979 got up on that Sunday and resigned unexpectedly. 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:52.759 They were working hard with him, trying to keep 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.619 it all together, but he resigned. And so Brother 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:57.240 Kelly was sharing this with me over coffee, and 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:00.789 I listened to him. With a sympathetic ear, obviously, 00:01:00.789 --> 00:01:02.990 but there was nothing in that conversation where 00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:05.329 I felt like I needed to get involved, you know. 00:01:05.969 --> 00:01:07.950 I didn't have a Nehemiah moment where I just 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:11.209 began to pray and fast and go before the Lord 00:01:11.209 --> 00:01:13.510 of Heaven for this country who was in need. You 00:01:13.510 --> 00:01:15.390 know, it was probably more along the lines of 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:19.150 thoughts and prayers, you know, like, we're just 00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:21.010 going to have to pray about that, brother, you 00:01:21.010 --> 00:01:24.829 know. You know, and I was going to get up from 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:27.230 that conversation and go about my business, you 00:01:27.230 --> 00:01:30.420 know. But on my way to my business that afternoon, 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:34.120 the Lord spoke to me as I was on my way back 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:35.799 to the Bible college after that conversation. 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:40.170 And he said, you need to go. And it was a shocker 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:42.069 for me because this wasn't a voice of the Lord 00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.269 that I had really heard up to that point in time. 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:46.969 It was so unique and so clear to me. You know, 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:49.450 the skies didn't open, but I knew that God was 00:01:49.450 --> 00:01:51.430 speaking. And so when I got back to the Bible 00:01:51.430 --> 00:01:52.969 school, I began to pray about it. And the more 00:01:52.969 --> 00:01:54.810 I prayed about it, the more I was very convinced 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:57.109 that God was speaking in that moment. And the 00:01:57.109 --> 00:01:58.730 only way I can tell you is if you know, you know. 00:01:58.849 --> 00:02:01.269 OK, if God has spoken to you and you just know 00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:04.180 it, you just know it. All right. And and so I 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:06.079 kept praying about it, however, for about 10 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:07.959 days. I wanted to make sure I really knew that 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.139 this wasn't just, you know, the coffee talking. 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:12.599 And I was really excited about the idea of, you 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:14.800 know, an adventure or something. And I continued 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:16.939 to pray. And after about 10 days or so, I shared 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:19.180 it with my wife and my wife looked at me and 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:22.240 said, well. I'm not surprised because about five 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.479 days ago during prayer meeting, God gave me a 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.439 burden for Stockholm and for Sweden. And so we 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.219 knew that God was talking. And then the leaders, 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:32.340 our leaders started calling our other leaders. 00:02:32.419 --> 00:02:34.159 Amen. They getting on the phone and saying, you 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:36.199 need to send the Fulmers to Sweden. And it seemed 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.419 like God was coming from so many different directions 00:02:38.419 --> 00:02:41.280 to confirm his voice in this situation. And quite 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.780 frankly, we needed it. All right. Because not 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:46.300 only were we happy, Sweden wasn't a country that 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:49.560 was on our radar at all. It wasn't a country 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.259 that was interesting to us. Maybe like you. Maybe 00:02:52.259 --> 00:02:53.860 you're like Sweden. I'm not really sure what 00:02:53.860 --> 00:02:56.680 that is. Is that what the Alps are? Many people 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.900 don't know where Sweden actually is. Or that 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:01.099 there are two countries named Sweden and Switzerland. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.819 They're two different countries. You'd be surprised 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:06.740 at how many people don't know that. It gets even 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:08.759 harder when you put it into Spanish. It's Suiza 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:12.759 and Suecia. It's really, really confusing. But 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:14.500 they are two different countries with two different 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:18.520 languages and cultures and people. But we had 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:22.280 no idea what this country would have in store 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:24.360 for us. We had no idea about the culture, not 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:26.620 really. We had no idea what the cities were like. 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.180 We had no clue about this. As a matter of fact, 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:32.099 I remember when I was like a teenager. Back in 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.460 the day when you had to go to the library and 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.659 rent documentaries. Praise the Lord. This was 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.219 before YouTube and every other thing that we 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:44.719 can watch things on. I'd go to the library and 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:46.360 I think I'd work my way through everything else. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.240 And now I was finally at the documentary section. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.240 And I was looking at a documentary about Scandinavia. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:53.319 I remember a teenager doing this. I was really 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:58.240 bored. But I remember from that documentary. 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.759 Clear as day. I saw Copenhagen and I was like, 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:03.879 that looks like a cool city. Let's go there. 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:07.020 I'd like to try that one day. But I saw Sweden 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:11.080 and I was like, I'm good. I've seen all I need 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.659 to see. And so I say all this to say that this 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:15.520 was not on the radar for us. We were surprised 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:19.199 when God called us to Sweden. And so we had the 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:23.279 challenge then to find out what this country 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:26.839 was that God was sending us to. Amen. And so 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.129 we get on Google and we start to look. Google, 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:31.470 and tell us about Sweden, Google. And the picture 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:35.269 that Google began to paint about Sweden was not 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:38.550 a pretty one. I've already mentioned we only 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:40.829 have two United Pentecostal churches in the whole 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:42.730 country. They're separated by about three and 00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:45.790 a half hours from one another. And then I look 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:48.370 at the Christian sort of scene in Sweden. What 00:04:48.370 --> 00:04:50.610 is the makeup in this country? And almost 11 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:54.550 million people in the country and only 1 % are 00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:58.029 practicing believers. And so I look at that and 00:04:58.029 --> 00:04:59.649 I'm thinking, man, I don't know. And I look down 00:04:59.649 --> 00:05:01.189 at my two -year -old and my four -year -old and 00:05:01.189 --> 00:05:04.189 I'm like, God, you know, where are you sending 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:06.930 us? What is this place that you are taking us 00:05:06.930 --> 00:05:11.069 to? And God gave us a word. He challenged us 00:05:11.069 --> 00:05:14.149 to trust him and to go and believing that he 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:15.970 was going to take care of our family, believing 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:17.889 that he was going to bring revival, believing 00:05:17.889 --> 00:05:20.889 that he was going to do a work, even if it seemed 00:05:20.889 --> 00:05:22.810 like it was impossible at the time. As a matter 00:05:22.810 --> 00:05:25.649 of fact, our last deputation scripture that God 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:28.910 gave us, in our travels was from Ezekiel in the 00:05:28.910 --> 00:05:31.689 valley of dry bones. And can these bones live? 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:34.910 And with all of his faith, he says, Lord, you 00:05:34.910 --> 00:05:38.550 know. And so we were in the place of Ezekiel, 00:05:38.550 --> 00:05:40.949 but we were encouraged by the word of the Lord 00:05:40.949 --> 00:05:43.930 to Ezekiel to prophesy. Just go to prophesy. 00:05:44.129 --> 00:05:45.949 Speak life to these bones, and we're going to 00:05:45.949 --> 00:05:47.730 see these bones live. And so we went to Sweden. 00:05:48.840 --> 00:05:51.360 believing that God was going to do a work. And 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:54.300 quite frankly, I'm so glad to report that when 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:57.100 we got to Sweden, what Google said about Sweden 00:05:57.100 --> 00:05:59.160 and what we experienced were two different things. 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.139 Amen. Because when we got to Sweden, we found 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:05.040 a country that was hungry for God. We found a 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.300 nation that is hungry for the things of God, 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:10.060 especially young people in the country of Sweden. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.439 There is a revival amongst young people, even 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:15.420 so much that the news has begun reporting on 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.939 it. State television is reporting on what is 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:20.540 happening amongst young people in Sweden. They're 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:22.620 hungry. And the only thing I can think of is 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:24.800 once they get past all the intellectualism and 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.240 pride and arrogance and postmodernism and every 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:29.500 other theory that they've indulged in to get 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:31.439 to the point where they are, they're still left 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.750 a hungry soul. of God, longing for communion 00:06:35.750 --> 00:06:39.269 with their creator. Look, we are created, amen, 00:06:39.410 --> 00:06:41.649 for a specific purpose. We are created to know 00:06:41.649 --> 00:06:43.629 God, to walk with him, to serve him, to worship 00:06:43.629 --> 00:06:46.649 him, amen, and you can't get that any other way 00:06:46.649 --> 00:06:49.959 than the real thing. Amen. And so we're seeing 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:52.120 this happen. It's not uncommon for me to get 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.399 texts through to my phone from people connected 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:56.980 to the church who are saying, hey, we prayed 00:06:56.980 --> 00:06:59.500 for 18 young people in Stockholm today. We prayed 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:01.980 for 20 in city center today. They're out preaching 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:04.100 the gospel. They're out preaching the word of 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:06.519 God. And young people are coming to these street 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:08.519 preachers and getting prayed for right in the 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:10.819 middle of the biggest city in all of Scandinavia. 00:07:10.939 --> 00:07:14.279 Amen. This is what God is doing. Praise God. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:17.360 But when we got to Sweden, we had all the faith 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.860 in the world, and we proclaimed so many things, 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:21.819 but there's a little bit of pressure that comes 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.879 with being a missionary. Not only do I have to 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.420 report to people like Brother Linder, we have 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:33.500 to report to you. We go around North America, 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:35.860 and we proclaim what God is going to do. We proclaim 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:37.660 what we believe is going to happen when we get 00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:40.439 on the field, and then we get there, and we don't 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.120 know anybody. Right? We get to a city without 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.759 an apostolic church. We don't have any friends. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.699 We don't have any contacts. We're flying blind. 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:51.300 We're in a city that nobody knows anything about 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:53.720 that we can talk to. And all of a sudden, all 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:56.959 that faith has to find somewhere to go. Amen. 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.300 We've got to learn a language. We've got to get 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:01.100 our kids in school. We've got to figure out what's 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.720 happening on the ground there. And so we continue 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:06.740 to trust God and to believe him. And friends, 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:08.819 can I tell you something today? God took care 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:11.060 of our children. We were worried about him. Amen. 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.879 But God looked after them. And what I mean by 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.500 that is that... When we moved to Uppsala, the 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:21.800 city of Uppsala, about 45 minutes north of Stockholm, 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:24.660 we didn't know anything about it, but in the 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:26.579 city of Uppsala, there is the largest Christian 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.620 school probably in all the country of Sweden, 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:31.860 probably the best Christian school. There aren't 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:33.539 that many of them throughout the entire country, 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:35.139 but we just happened to move to the place where 00:08:35.139 --> 00:08:37.940 the best one was. We actually got an apartment 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.519 about seven minutes away from this school. We 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.100 landed on Sunday. The next day, we had our kids 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:46.299 registered there. Look, all the teachers are 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:49.000 believers. of them, if not all of them, are spirit 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.019 -filled believers. Praise God. God is looking 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:56.500 after our kids. We thank God for that. We thank 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:59.149 God for that. Amen. But there is a little bit 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:00.450 of performance pressure that comes with being 00:09:00.450 --> 00:09:03.450 a missionary. And so my wife was especially feeling 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:05.090 this, maybe because she writes the newsletters. 00:09:05.129 --> 00:09:07.110 I don't know. And about maybe about six months 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:09.289 into this time, she's praying stuff like, God, 00:09:09.429 --> 00:09:11.649 how are we going to see revival in Sweden? How 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:13.409 are we going to see a church raised up in this 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:15.429 city? How are we going to see revival in Stockholm? 00:09:15.669 --> 00:09:17.490 What are we going to do, Lord? You know, these 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:19.889 kinds of prayers. Amen. They were sincere and 00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:21.690 they were heartfelt. And she was feeling the 00:09:21.690 --> 00:09:23.830 urgency of this burden, this task that was in 00:09:23.830 --> 00:09:27.129 front of us. But she began to pray this. way, 00:09:27.169 --> 00:09:29.169 and it was around this time that she became acquainted 00:09:29.169 --> 00:09:30.909 with some ladies, some mothers from our kids' 00:09:31.009 --> 00:09:33.409 school. And the moms would typically drop off 00:09:33.409 --> 00:09:34.950 the kids out in front of the school, and many 00:09:34.950 --> 00:09:38.029 times they would chat with one another as their 00:09:38.029 --> 00:09:40.330 kids went off and into the school for the day. 00:09:40.389 --> 00:09:42.549 And one of these mornings, she began to talk 00:09:42.549 --> 00:09:44.029 to a couple of these ladies that she had become 00:09:44.029 --> 00:09:45.710 acquainted with and started to become friends 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:47.769 with, and one of them was sharing her testimony 00:09:47.769 --> 00:09:50.389 with the other. And she just began to cry and 00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:54.590 weep as she was giving her testimony of what 00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:56.340 had happened. She kept saying these words. saying, 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:00.500 God woke me up. God woke me up. God woke me up. 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.200 God woke me up. And come to find out what had 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.039 happened in her life is that she was at a prayer 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.419 meeting and she became drunk in the spirit. All 00:10:08.419 --> 00:10:11.179 right. She was so overwhelmed by the spirit of 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:13.460 God that she just became inebriated by it. Hallelujah. 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:15.080 And I don't know if you're familiar with that 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:19.379 or not, but. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. She 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:21.759 began to laugh and to laugh and to laugh, so 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.340 much so that they had to call her husband to 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:25.159 come and pick her up and take her home because 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:27.679 she couldn't drive her car home. She laughed 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.120 all through the night. She laughed until the 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.460 next day. And she was just so grateful because 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:33.539 she knew that she was different. God had done 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:36.360 something in her life. And so they invited my 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.279 wife to a prayer meeting, and she obliged to 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.259 go. And one of her new friends began to give 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:42.220 a disclaimer on the way there. She said, hey, 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:44.539 I'm not really sure what you're familiar with. 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:46.360 I don't know what you're used to, what your Christian 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:49.159 experience is. but we pray a little bit differently 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:51.100 at our prayer meetings sometimes, and she probably 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:52.519 went through a list of things, but one of the 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.000 things she said is, we speak in other tongues, 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:57.399 and I don't want you to be afraid. Are you okay 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:59.879 with that? And my wife looked at her, and she's 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:02.980 like, everything is fine. Everything is good. 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.919 So she gets to the prayer meeting, however, and 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.519 she walks in and there's something like 40 women 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:10.500 who are gathered together in this home and they're 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:12.580 all praying and they're seeking the face of God. 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:16.620 Ages 16 to over 60 from churches all over the 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:18.299 city of Uppsala. Some of them didn't even attend 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:21.399 church at this time. And she sees what's going 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:23.179 on here and she's feeling like she's walking 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:25.740 into the book of Acts. Amen. And so she just 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:28.259 begins to pray. And as she's praying, she begins 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:30.139 to feel hands on her head and on her shoulders 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.759 and on her feet. And she opens her eyes and one 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:34.899 of these ladies looks at her and says, God has 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:37.659 brought you here. God brought you to this place 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:40.419 to help us. You have things that we need. You 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:42.620 have things that we're praying for. Amen. And 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:45.240 God has brought you to this place. Amen. To bless 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:50.580 us. Praise God. Amen. God is working. God is 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:52.700 moving. You know, it was after this prayer meeting 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:54.779 that God spoke to my wife and said, hey, you 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:58.940 didn't do that. You didn't do that. I did this. 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:01.279 Amen. I'm the one that's going to do the work. 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:03.419 I'm the one that is going to make this thing 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:05.919 happen. So you don't worry about that. Praise 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:07.960 God. So we come to understand that God is the 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:09.539 one doing the work. And we've got to know it. 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:11.600 Amen. We've got to know it. You've got to know 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.539 it right here. And there's this song, Waymaker. 00:12:13.940 --> 00:12:15.779 And we sing that song. I think you've probably 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:17.379 sang it so many times that you forget what you're 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:20.200 even saying anymore. But the song says, even 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:22.820 when I don't feel it, you're moving, you're working. 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:25.639 Amen. Even when I don't see it, you're working. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:30.019 You never stop working. You never, ever, ever 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:33.639 stop working. Hallelujah. And that's so true, 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.820 church. We can join with God in what he is doing 00:12:36.820 --> 00:12:38.840 wherever he's doing it. That's got to be our 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.019 prayer. You know, the Bible calls us to be co 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:44.600 -laborers with him. Co -laborers with him. Not 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.759 just employees, amen, not apprentices or spectators, 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.139 but co -laborers with him. And one thing I know 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.500 about this person that I am working with is that 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:55.850 he's not lazy. Amen. He shows up. He clocks in. 00:12:55.909 --> 00:12:58.090 He never clocks out. All right. He just keeps 00:12:58.090 --> 00:13:00.389 going and going and going. When I'm calling out 00:13:00.389 --> 00:13:02.610 sick, he's still working. When I'm sleeping in, 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:04.590 he's still working. When I don't know what's 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:06.990 going on, amen, he's hard at work. Praise God. 00:13:07.110 --> 00:13:09.549 When I'm scrolling Instagram, amen, taking a 00:13:09.549 --> 00:13:12.710 long lunch, okay, he is still working diligently 00:13:12.710 --> 00:13:16.129 and doing things. And so we have the opportunity 00:13:16.129 --> 00:13:20.419 to be a part of what God is doing. Amen. I'm 00:13:20.419 --> 00:13:22.340 so grateful for it. One more story about God 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:23.779 doing the work, okay? I'm going to move quickly 00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:25.860 here tonight. Amen. There's another story. If 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:28.720 you want to put that picture up. There's a young 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.779 man. Yep, there we go. This is Arthur, okay? 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:36.100 Arthur's 15 years old. He's raised by an atheist 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:39.460 father and an agnostic mother in a country where 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:42.320 1 % of the people are believers. He's got no 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.179 friends he can talk to about what's going on 00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:46.480 in his heart, but Arthur is laying in bed at 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.409 night, and he's praying. No reason he should 00:13:49.409 --> 00:13:51.830 be praying this way, but he's praying, God, I 00:13:51.830 --> 00:13:55.009 have to get saved. I don't even know what that 00:13:55.009 --> 00:13:58.370 means, but I got to get it. I have to figure 00:13:58.370 --> 00:14:00.350 out what that means. Lord, won't you tell me? 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:03.129 Archer has got nobody he can talk to in his life. 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:05.070 So Archer does what any 15 year old is going 00:14:05.070 --> 00:14:06.929 to do at that point in time. He's going to go 00:14:06.929 --> 00:14:09.909 on YouTube and he's going to say, OK, YouTube, 00:14:10.149 --> 00:14:13.980 lay it on me. How do I get saved? And so YouTube 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:15.860 started taking in the pictures of street preachers 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:17.940 and videos of street preachers. And from that 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:21.659 initial surge, somehow God's hand guided Arthur 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:23.980 all the way to our digital doorstep to where 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:26.419 we were able to make contact with him and start 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:28.860 talking to him. And Arthur wanted to be baptized 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.720 in Jesus' name. Arthur lives five hours on the 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:36.759 other side of the country. Arthur lives in the 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:38.899 second largest city in Sweden, in Gothenburg. 00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:41.250 Actually, where's my friend, Ethan? Where are 00:14:41.250 --> 00:14:43.549 you at? Is he here? There he is. Praise the Lord. 00:14:43.649 --> 00:14:46.429 Amen. He works for Volvo in Gothenburg. Praise 00:14:46.429 --> 00:14:50.929 the Lord. Amen. God bless you, sir. Amen. That's 00:14:50.929 --> 00:14:55.669 a good man right there. Amen. But he's living 00:14:55.669 --> 00:14:57.990 all the way in Gothenburg where they make Volvo, 00:14:58.149 --> 00:15:02.649 by the way. Amen. And Arthur, there's no apostolic 00:15:02.649 --> 00:15:05.330 church within three hours of Arthur to attend. 00:15:05.529 --> 00:15:07.769 Nowhere. Not in Norway, not in Denmark, not in 00:15:07.769 --> 00:15:11.019 Sweden, not within three hours of him. And so 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:13.039 I baptized Arthur in Jesus' name, and now Arthur 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:14.440 wants to be a preacher, but Arthur doesn't even 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:16.799 have a church to go to except for online. Amen. 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:21.059 And so we need to pray, church. Jesus said, look, 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:24.259 I have never experienced a situation where Jesus' 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.299 words rang more true, where the harvest is white, 00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:31.039 but the laborers are few. And so he gave a prayer 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:32.600 request, and I'm giving that same prayer request 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.600 here tonight. Pray the Lord of the harvest. Pray 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:37.580 with us the Lord of the harvest, that he would 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:40.980 send forth laborers. Into his harvest. Because 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:43.059 friends we need it. And God is already beginning 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:44.779 to answer this prayer. We have aimers who are 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:46.899 coming. We have people. I'm hearing of individuals 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:49.039 who are feeling a calling to Sweden. Just coming 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.080 out of the woodwork. No contact with them at 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.539 all before. But people are being drawn by the 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:56.059 spirit of God. To come and help us in this country. 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:58.259 And we thank God for that. But we need more. 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:00.820 We need seasoned leaders to come and help us. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.340 Train leaders in the country. We need people 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:05.539 to come alongside of us. And raise up the next 00:16:05.539 --> 00:16:07.860 generation. We just had our first person licensed 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:09.539 in the local church. church there in Stockholm 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:12.100 where I pastor now. Amen. We thank God for the 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:16.059 one, but we're believing for more. Amen. We got 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:18.919 connected in a partnership with Harvest Bible 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:21.320 College in Scotland, and we've just graduated 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:24.840 our first graduates this past summer. Amen. It's 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.320 just a handful, just a couple from Sweden. Amen. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.409 But we're believing for more. Praise God. We're 00:16:31.409 --> 00:16:34.250 believing for more. You know, Elijah prayed and 00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:35.629 it stopped raining. And then he prayed again 00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:37.870 for it to rain. And he had to pray a few times 00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:40.309 for the rain to start coming. Hallelujah. And 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:41.990 for a long time it's not been raining in Sweden. 00:16:42.769 --> 00:16:45.029 Amen. But we start praying for the rain over 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:47.250 and over and over again. And we start seeing 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:49.710 the cloud the size of a man's hand. We know that 00:16:49.710 --> 00:16:52.330 the rain is coming. And we see it happening right 00:16:52.330 --> 00:16:56.639 now in Sweden. And so we're excited to get back. 00:16:56.659 --> 00:16:58.860 We were excited to get back before we ever left. 00:16:59.059 --> 00:17:02.659 Amen. And one of the things that we're really 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:06.339 excited about is developing a little project 00:17:06.339 --> 00:17:08.460 that we have further. You know, before we ever 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:11.000 went to Sweden, the last time we started, well, 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.299 we were in Tennessee, and God gave us a vision 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:15.460 of starting a coffee company when we went to 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:17.619 Sweden. And I know that's really wild. You want 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:18.839 to be a missionary. Why are you talking about 00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:20.680 starting a coffee company? Well, I didn't know, 00:17:20.819 --> 00:17:23.160 okay? But I just believed that the Lord was speaking. 00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:25.849 Global Missions told us, we think that's too 00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:28.769 much money. I said, well, okay. And so I put 00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:31.309 it on the shelf. Amen. But once we got there, 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:33.690 we started having connections and building a 00:17:33.690 --> 00:17:35.890 network in the city that we live in, in Uppsala. 00:17:36.210 --> 00:17:37.809 Many of those people from the prayer meeting, 00:17:37.869 --> 00:17:40.009 we got involved in their lives and became leaders. 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.920 close friends with many of them, but also they 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.740 look to us as leaders in their lives. And they 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.240 wanted to start having worship with us and start 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.720 to have events with us. And so we started doing 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.160 live worship out in the countryside just outside 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:56.500 the city center in Uppsala. And they wanted us 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:58.940 to do the fika, bro. They wanted us to take care 00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:00.420 of that. If you want to put that picture up of 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.059 the coffee bike there. And so in preparation 00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:05.599 for these events, we started looking around and 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:07.259 trying to get prepared to serve hundreds and 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:08.819 hundreds because we believed that's what we were 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:11.250 going to do. So we found in the midst of that 00:18:11.250 --> 00:18:13.450 searching, we found a coffee company that was 00:18:13.450 --> 00:18:15.809 for sale down in Stockholm. We took half of our 00:18:15.809 --> 00:18:18.230 savings and we threw it at this coffee company 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:19.910 and said, you know what, Lord, we're just going 00:18:19.910 --> 00:18:21.869 to put skin in the game. We believe that you're 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:23.809 in this. And so we bought this coffee company 00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:26.069 and began to serve, amen, many, many people in 00:18:26.069 --> 00:18:27.630 these ministry events that we were doing in the 00:18:27.630 --> 00:18:30.380 summers. Amen. But when we go back to Sweden, 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.380 the goal is to open a cafe space in the city 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:36.380 of Uppsala that can serve as a church location 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:39.039 that will serve for Bible studies and for prayer 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.140 meetings and for eventually Sunday services. 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:44.240 Look, Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden, 00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:46.519 about 45 minutes north of Stockholm, as I've 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:48.579 already mentioned. Between these two cities, 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.660 there's something like 25 or 30 percent of the 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:53.579 population living there. And we have one apostolic 00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:55.839 church. We need another. And that's what we're 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:58.630 doing with this cafe location. Amen. So we believe 00:18:58.630 --> 00:19:00.250 that God is going to use this for his glory. 00:19:00.349 --> 00:19:02.230 It might be unconventional, but we believe that 00:19:02.230 --> 00:19:04.460 God is in it. Amen? And so we're going to see 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:06.460 great things happen in the midst of that. So 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:07.880 we want to invite you to be a part of that. You're 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:09.539 already supporting us monthly, but if you want 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:12.140 to give toward this, you can give toward our 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:14.960 evangelism project. Our evangelism project is 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:16.980 a big umbrella project that covers everything 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.900 from printing leaflets, amen, 7 ,000 of them 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:22.279 perhaps, Brother Linder, amen, all the way to 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:24.559 renting facilities, okay, and everything kind 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:27.339 of in between to help us win the nation of Sweden. 00:19:27.950 --> 00:19:30.869 Thank you so much for all that you do for the 00:19:30.869 --> 00:19:33.170 kingdom of God. Thank you so much, amen, for 00:19:33.170 --> 00:19:36.089 your support for over 15 years at this point. 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:38.569 We could not be more grateful to you. Amen. God 00:19:38.569 --> 00:19:41.390 bless you. And I do want to get into the word 00:19:41.390 --> 00:19:43.670 of the Lord today. I know that it is your Thanksgiving 00:19:43.670 --> 00:19:49.809 service. And we have so much to be thankful for 00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:54.059 here tonight. Praise God. And I love Thanksgiving 00:19:54.059 --> 00:19:56.039 because it's a time that we can come together 00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:59.869 and begin to reflect and begin to think. about 00:19:59.869 --> 00:20:02.609 all the things that we have in our lives that 00:20:02.609 --> 00:20:05.509 so often we don't think about or we take for 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.549 granted and we don't really, really, really think 00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:11.150 about and meditate on. And sometimes those things 00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:13.630 become, they lose their luster in our minds and 00:20:13.630 --> 00:20:16.329 we become sort of ungrateful for those things 00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:18.569 in our lives. So I thank God for times where 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:21.950 we can set aside remembrances. And God did this 00:20:21.950 --> 00:20:23.750 even for the children of Israel, didn't he? He 00:20:23.750 --> 00:20:26.269 did it in the Passover. Jesus did it in what 00:20:26.269 --> 00:20:29.099 we call communion, the Lord's Supper. always 00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:31.579 this remembrance that we're putting before us 00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:35.400 because there's a danger for us to forget. Amen. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:38.839 There's a danger for us to forget. I thank God 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:40.920 for the song that we sang in the very beginning 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:43.579 of this service because I believe it speaks to 00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:46.579 what the Lord has led me to speak on this evening. 00:20:48.220 --> 00:20:50.700 The psalmist said this. It was David. He said, 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:54.140 Bless the Lord. In Psalm 103, verse number 1. 00:20:54.900 --> 00:21:00.500 Oh, my soul. and all that is within me. Bless 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:07.039 his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:10.920 forget not all his benefits. I'm reading in the 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:15.299 ESV, sorry, didn't I? Who forgives all your iniquity, 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:21.119 who heals all your diseases, who redeems your 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:26.019 life from the pit, who crowns you. with steadfast 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:32.279 love and mercy. Bless the Lord, O my soul. You 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.700 know, when I read this psalm, I'm immediately 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:38.740 struck by the first several verses of it. He 00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:42.039 goes on and he elaborates and he starts to sort 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.779 of expound on the ways that we can bless the 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:46.599 Lord. But in the very beginning of this psalm, 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.299 I believe that David sets the tone for the entire 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:53.240 thing. Bless the Lord. I look at this and I see 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:58.059 David commanding his soul to do something. This 00:21:58.059 --> 00:22:00.319 is not necessarily an encouragement to anybody 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.420 else at this point. This is a command to his 00:22:03.420 --> 00:22:08.259 own soul. Amen. David is commanding himself to 00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:11.859 bless the Lord. Every part of me. You know, when 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:14.299 man was created, he was created from the dust 00:22:14.299 --> 00:22:18.839 and God breathed the spirit into him and he became, 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:22.700 the Bible says, a living soul. And so when David 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:25.400 looks at this, he's saying everything that God 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.799 has made, every part of me, you need to bless 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:31.539 the Lord today. All that is within me, bless 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:37.400 his holy name. Hallelujah. And David is very 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:41.680 intentional to do this because he follows up 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:45.460 that verse saying, forget not all his benefits. 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:51.359 David understands there is a danger. In forgetting. 00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:57.940 So, don't forget what God has done for you. So, 00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:00.900 you've got to remember what it is that he has 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:03.900 accomplished for you. You see, David understands 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:07.440 something. Everything that's happened in the 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.819 history of his people, every bad thing that has 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:13.640 happened in the history of Israel began with 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:19.339 somebody forgetting the goodness of God. It began 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:22.680 with the Israelites forgetting what God had accomplished 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:26.940 for them and delivering them from evil and remembering 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.339 only, if you can recall from Exodus, the leaks. 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:34.220 And the cucumbers and the onions and the things 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:35.859 that they ate. I think they might have even said 00:23:35.859 --> 00:23:39.440 watermelons. I can't remember. Amen. I don't 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:40.700 know what else. The spaghetti, the meatballs. 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:42.880 I have no idea what else they were thinking about. 00:23:42.940 --> 00:23:45.920 For me, if I'm thinking about things to remember 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.279 from the place where I was in bondage, it's not 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:50.279 going to be leeks. It's not going to be cucumbers. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.440 It's not going to be melons. Praise the Lord. 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:54.799 Amen. No, no. It's going to be other things. 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.019 But these children of Israel had forgotten so 00:23:58.019 --> 00:24:00.619 much. to the point where they only remembered 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.119 things that were only okay, and they esteemed 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.019 them greater than the things that God had done 00:24:05.019 --> 00:24:08.559 in their lives. Friends, David understood something 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:13.859 about the power of forgetfulness. Amen. He had 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:16.980 the logs. He had all the books of Moses. He looked 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:20.039 at it, and he, like us, probably screamed every 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.519 time he read throughout the book of Exodus. You 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:24.460 ever been like that? You're reading through the 00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:26.119 book of Exodus, and you're just like, I can't 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:30.460 believe you're doing this again. Oh, my goodness. 00:24:31.259 --> 00:24:34.480 When are you going to learn? It wasn't that long 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.460 ago that he did this for you. What is your problem? 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.279 David understood that they are but dust. And 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:43.740 he continues in that psalm. I'm not going to 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:46.039 read it all tonight, but he understands something 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:48.720 here. He understands that God knows that we are 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:51.920 dust. He understands our frame. But God has blessed 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.240 us with so much. He continues to tell us what 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.789 God has done. He says he heals. Our diseases. 00:25:00.289 --> 00:25:04.450 All of them. Amen. He heals the disease of our 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:07.630 mind. He heals the disease of our body. He heals 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:10.930 the disease that cripples us and impedes us in 00:25:10.930 --> 00:25:15.049 so many ways. He heals us. Not only does He heal 00:25:15.049 --> 00:25:18.829 us, He forgives us. Amen. And He doesn't forgive 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:22.529 just in part. He forgives all our iniquity. He 00:25:22.529 --> 00:25:26.329 forgives it. Amen. From the first and to the 00:25:26.329 --> 00:25:30.240 last. The psalm continues and says he moves it. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.119 This is where David says he moves it. As far 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.619 as the east is from the west, he has removed 00:25:35.619 --> 00:25:39.819 our iniquity from us. Amen. This is the God that 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:42.619 we are serving. And David is saying, bless this 00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:45.819 Lord, oh my soul. You better not forget what 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:48.640 he's done. You better not forget what he's accomplished 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.819 in your life. You know, this reveals something 00:25:51.819 --> 00:25:55.519 to me. David understood that he had received 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:59.950 something from God. He understood that he had 00:25:59.950 --> 00:26:04.170 gotten something that he did not deserve. Amen. 00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:08.630 David reveals that in these words. There's power, 00:26:08.730 --> 00:26:10.990 church, in reminding ourselves of the dynamic 00:26:10.990 --> 00:26:13.950 that we have in the relationship with God that 00:26:13.950 --> 00:26:17.750 we are walking with. This dynamic of a recipient. 00:26:18.230 --> 00:26:22.680 We have received, amen, God's goodness. We have 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:26.339 received, amen, his grace. We have received his 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:29.640 loving kindness and his mercy. And friends, we 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:33.599 don't deserve a single ounce of it. You know, 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:36.619 the Bible writer said, by grace you are saved. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:39.539 And that not of yourselves, hallelujah, it is 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:45.079 the gift of God. Amen. We are saved by his grace. 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:50.180 Amen. David understood this. And he said it like 00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:52.740 this. I was sick and he healed me. I was a slave 00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:59.200 to sin, and he forgave me. Amen. You know, the 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.019 contrast to this is what we see in our society 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:05.680 today. So much of what we see in the society 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.700 that we live in right now, the Bible predicted 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:12.220 it long ago. He said there's a generation coming 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:17.039 that is marked, and one of the key things in 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:21.690 this generation is ingratitude. To be ungrateful 00:27:21.690 --> 00:27:26.390 is a marker of this generation. This is a generation 00:27:26.390 --> 00:27:29.750 that has forgotten God and become completely 00:27:29.750 --> 00:27:33.470 entitled. Paul spoke of it when he wrote these 00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:36.069 words to Timothy. He says, but understand this, 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:38.630 that in the last days there will come times of 00:27:38.630 --> 00:27:43.289 difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, 00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:50.759 lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive. disobedient 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:58.680 to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:04.079 unappeasable, slanderous, without self -control, 00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:09.480 brutal, not loving God. Come on. You been on 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:13.220 Instagram lately? Hallelujah. This is our world. 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:16.920 Having the appearance of godliness or piety or 00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:21.220 goodness, amen, but denying. It's power. But 00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:23.279 right in the middle of that list, friends, we 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:27.319 don't want to miss it, was ungrateful. It's a 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:30.400 marker of this generation and a generation that 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:33.960 has walked away from God. But to be a grateful 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:38.440 generation is to be a generation who loves God 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:43.519 above self. Gratitude, amen, will lead to a proper 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:47.400 estimation of ourselves, church. When we are 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:50.700 grateful, we see ourselves as we ought to be. 00:28:50.779 --> 00:28:55.140 Amen. In contrast to their arrogance and to their 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:58.440 pride. As a matter of fact, to be grateful is 00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:01.859 to be holy. You know, Paul said it one more time 00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:05.019 like this in Romans chapter 12, verse 1. I appeal 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:09.420 to you. I beseech thee, brethren. Amen. By the 00:29:09.420 --> 00:29:11.279 mercies of God. I switched it up on you, bro. 00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:18.049 I beseech thee. by the mercies of God, because 00:29:18.049 --> 00:29:22.170 of his goodness, because of what he has done 00:29:22.170 --> 00:29:26.549 in your life, because of his faithfulness, because 00:29:26.549 --> 00:29:29.309 of what he's accomplished on Calvary, that you 00:29:29.309 --> 00:29:32.869 present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 00:29:33.069 --> 00:29:37.369 acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 00:29:37.369 --> 00:29:42.809 service. I love that verse, especially the end. 00:29:43.620 --> 00:29:46.740 where it says it's your reasonable service. You 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:48.079 know what that word is in the Greek? I'm not 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.559 a Greek scholar, but I looked that one up one 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:53.220 time. What's that mean? It's logikos, and I'm 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:55.500 saying that completely wrong. And that's okay, 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:57.980 because I'm a man that was born in Virginia and 00:29:57.980 --> 00:30:00.420 raised in Virginia, North Carolina. And I said 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:06.359 it just like you're going to say it. But it doesn't 00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:09.880 take a whole lot to figure out what logikos means. 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:15.549 Logical. It's the only thing that makes sense. 00:30:15.769 --> 00:30:18.170 Another version, another translation says your 00:30:18.170 --> 00:30:22.450 rational service. When we understand what God 00:30:22.450 --> 00:30:27.130 has done, the only response is to lay my life 00:30:27.130 --> 00:30:33.089 down with a heart of gratitude. Amen. With thanksgiving. 00:30:34.210 --> 00:30:38.269 With a complete and total surrender to him. Amen. 00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:41.240 Because he is worthy. of it all. But friends, 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:44.059 if we forget what he has done. Hallelujah. If 00:30:44.059 --> 00:30:45.960 we forget what God has accomplished, we're never 00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:48.339 going to do it. Amen, church. So I think it's 00:30:48.339 --> 00:30:51.359 right today, our rational response today, the 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:53.779 logical outcome of our understanding here today 00:30:53.779 --> 00:30:57.900 is to worship him and to become grateful to him. 00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:00.359 You see, when we understand that God has redeemed 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:02.940 us, we come with grateful hearts. We understand 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:06.019 that love that he has poured out on us, truly 00:31:06.019 --> 00:31:09.440 understand it. The only logical response is to 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:13.289 say, Lord, here is my life, everything. I have 00:31:13.289 --> 00:31:16.190 is yours. Hallelujah. Amen. And friends, there 00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:18.690 is a blessing in that gratitude. Hallelujah. 00:31:18.690 --> 00:31:21.789 There is abundance in that gratitude. God comes 00:31:21.789 --> 00:31:25.569 down and he begins to dwell among that kind of 00:31:25.569 --> 00:31:28.410 gratitude. You see, as we start to scour our 00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:31.630 mind and the word of God and our memories, we 00:31:31.630 --> 00:31:34.190 begin to realize he's been better to me than 00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:38.750 I could ever possibly deserve. Hallelujah. Amen. 00:31:38.809 --> 00:31:41.910 And if you don't quite feel it, amen, you can 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:44.279 And join with the psalmist and say, bless the 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.420 Lord, oh my soul. Amen. Somebody needs to say, 00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:51.839 hallelujah, God. I'm sorry I've forgotten what 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:55.000 it is you've done. But I'm going to grab my soul, 00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:58.220 amen, to the altar. And I'm going to bless your 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:02.049 holy name because you're worthy of all. the glory. 00:32:02.470 --> 00:32:04.829 God, never let me forget what you've accomplished 00:32:04.829 --> 00:32:08.309 for me on the cross of Calvary. God, never let 00:32:08.309 --> 00:32:10.930 me forget what you did for me when I came to 00:32:10.930 --> 00:32:14.170 you, oh Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. You begin to 00:32:14.170 --> 00:32:16.869 feel a little bit lighter. Amen. You begin to 00:32:16.869 --> 00:32:19.589 feel that weight just begin to leave. Hallelujah. 00:32:20.009 --> 00:32:22.650 Gratitude begins to leak just a little bit, and 00:32:22.650 --> 00:32:24.769 then it begins to trickle, and then it begins 00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:27.950 to flow, and quite frankly, God is going to respond 00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:30.150 to that grateful heart here tonight, church. 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:33.900 Amen. When we remember what he has done and we 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:37.480 begin to praise him, there's something irresistible 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:41.180 to God about that kind of praise. God inhabits 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:43.500 these kinds of praise and I believe he wants 00:32:43.500 --> 00:32:46.559 to inhabit those praises here tonight, church. 00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:51.400 Amen. Amen. We're going to have an opportunity 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.099 to do that in just a second. We're going to gather 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:55.799 around this altar here tonight and we're just 00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:58.539 going to thank God together as the body of Christ. 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:01.150 Amen. And it's going to be beautiful. But I want 00:33:01.150 --> 00:33:03.430 to share with you as we close this evening a 00:33:03.430 --> 00:33:07.230 story about a service from my teenage years. 00:33:07.309 --> 00:33:09.990 I was very young in the church. I came into church 00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.009 really when I was about 16 years old. And I had 00:33:12.009 --> 00:33:14.029 only been in church for a few years. And it was 00:33:14.029 --> 00:33:16.150 on a midweek service, perhaps just like this. 00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:18.750 And the worship, we had just a small church, 00:33:18.809 --> 00:33:20.869 just a handful of us there, maybe 15, 20 people. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:23.559 All right. We all knew each other real well. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:26.539 And it was a big routine for us. Right. And then 00:33:26.539 --> 00:33:28.559 the song leader got up that evening. His name 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:31.119 was Willis. Hallelujah. You didn't need to know 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:32.839 that. But I thought it added a little bit of 00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:36.180 color to this story. Amen. His name was Willis. 00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:38.359 And Willis was up there and he was singing to 00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:40.079 the Lord. And there wasn't anything particularly 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:42.700 dynamic about the song he was singing. But he 00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:46.180 just started singing. Oh, ain't God good to give 00:33:46.180 --> 00:33:50.660 us so many blessings undeserving. That's what 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:55.059 we are. You ought to praise him. Love him and 00:33:55.059 --> 00:33:58.000 thank him a little more today and a whole lot 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.960 more tomorrow. Right? And that's the whole song. 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.059 If there's more lyrics to that song, I don't 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:07.619 know them. But we sang it and we sang it and 00:34:07.619 --> 00:34:09.619 we sang it. And I remember I was sitting on the 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:12.920 altar, or not the altar, but the usher pew in 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:14.920 the very back of the service. And Willis and 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.579 I, we caught eyes with one another. And it was 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:19.219 something that was happening in that service. 00:34:19.819 --> 00:34:22.300 That collective gratitude just started spinning 00:34:22.300 --> 00:34:24.900 in that house. Amen. And people started thinking 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:27.900 about, oh, yeah, amen. God has been good to me. 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:30.400 Oh, hallelujah. He's been better to me than I 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.440 deserve. Oh, I ought to praise the Lord. Amen. 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:34.139 I ought to just get a hold of something here 00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:36.360 today. God really, look, there's only 20 of us 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:38.639 here tonight. Amen. I think I can praise him 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:40.679 a little bit. And friends, can I tell you something? 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:44.880 Something began to shift in that atmosphere. 00:34:45.630 --> 00:34:48.530 I could see it on his face, and I could feel 00:34:48.530 --> 00:34:50.369 it in my heart. The same thing was happening 00:34:50.369 --> 00:34:54.250 at the same time. God moved in like a flood in 00:34:54.250 --> 00:34:56.710 a way that I have never felt before or since 00:34:56.710 --> 00:35:00.590 through the tragedy of that. Amen. But God just 00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:03.929 began to flow in that house, and he just began 00:35:03.929 --> 00:35:06.369 to pour out his spirit on people, and people 00:35:06.369 --> 00:35:09.389 who had just been so dignified in the past. Man, 00:35:09.449 --> 00:35:14.860 I saw them do things that night. That I never 00:35:14.860 --> 00:35:20.619 would have imagined. But they were praising the 00:35:20.619 --> 00:35:23.860 Lord. Amen. Because they got a hold of something. 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:26.519 And something got a hold of them. Praise God. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:28.280 You know what it was? It was a little bit of 00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:31.019 gratitude. But God's presence came down in that 00:35:31.019 --> 00:35:33.559 place. Amen. And began to bless those people 00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:36.940 as they pour back their thanks to Him. Church, 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:41.300 God wants to do that for you here tonight. Amen. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:44.059 Now, you might not have the same experience tonight 00:35:44.059 --> 00:35:45.920 that Willis and I did. I hope we do. Praise the 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:50.300 Lord. But what we can do is we can gather and 00:35:50.300 --> 00:35:54.880 we can say, God, you've been so good to me. God, 00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:57.679 maybe I don't feel it tonight. God, maybe I was 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:00.739 coming here to, you know, just get here and get 00:36:00.739 --> 00:36:03.000 this done today. And I'm going to enjoy my family 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:04.659 for the rest of this week, whatever it is. But 00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:06.059 why don't we take a moment here tonight, church? 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:10.099 Amen. And just lift our hands to the Lord. Amen. 00:36:10.139 --> 00:36:13.159 And say, God. You've been so good to me. Why 00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:14.440 don't we just stand today? Why don't we just 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:16.539 start to gather into this altar this evening? 00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:28.619 Amen. Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah, Jesus. Come 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:30.260 on, maybe it's been a little while since you've 00:36:30.260 --> 00:36:33.539 done this, but we can reach back in our memories. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:36.099 Maybe you don't feel like God has done anything 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:38.039 for you real recently. Maybe you've just gotten 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:40.239 used to what he's doing. But I want you to reach 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:42.840 back to when he touched you. I want you to reach 00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:45.500 back to when he saved you. I want you to reach 00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:50.599 back and say, God, oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. 00:36:51.780 --> 00:36:58.360 Bless the Lord. He saved me. He healed me. He 00:36:58.360 --> 00:37:02.739 saved my marriage. He changed my children's life. 00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:07.280 He gave me a job. He gave me a place to live. 00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:10.460 He gave me, amen, joy unspeakable and full of 00:37:10.460 --> 00:37:16.059 glory. Hallelujah. He redeemed my soul. Hallelujah. 00:37:16.139 --> 00:37:19.659 He broke the bondage in my life. God, we thank 00:37:19.659 --> 00:37:23.059 you in this house. We thank you in this house, 00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:23.559 oh God.