6/6/21 // AM // "First Things First" // Pastor Jason Holley

[Music] i've been there in the lowest of times i've had questions in my mind and i've been scared but i know i have a savior who knows right where i am and hears my prayers so in the midst of all the problems and burdens of this life i will call upon the one who can get me through the night so lord hold my hand in the middle of my storm when i'm sinking down lord help me to stand and when the waves are crashing around may i keep my eyes on you cause lord you're the only one who can help me get through the middle of my storm and i don't know how my story will end i didn't see this in the plans you had for me oh but i know that i can trust in the one who's working all things for my good and though i may not know the answer till i reach the other side i'll keep my eyes on jesus till my faith becomes sad [Music] so lord hold my hand in the middle of my storm when i'm sinking down lord help me to stand and when the waves are crashing around may i keep my eyes on you cause lord you're the only one who can help me get through the middle of my storm lord or than my problems greater than my fear you're greater than my weakness you're greater than my tears you've never let me down you're here with me right now [Music] so lord hold my hand in the middle of my storm when i'm sinking down lord help me to stand when the waves are crashing round may i keep my eyes on you cause lord you're the only one who can help me get through the lord or the only one who can help me get through the middle of my storm [Music] once i wandered in since black night and there was no way i could make [Music] and now he must die [Music] to save the child who is [Music] [Music] [Applause] is still the blood of jesus now there are those who rely on the works that they do [Music] precious is [Music] it is still the blood of jesus is [Applause] it is jesus [Music] so many times i've questioned certain circumstances of things i could not understand and many times in trials or weakness blurs my vision and my frustration get so out of hand always then i am reminded oh i've never been forsaken and i've never had to stand one test alone oh as i look at all of the victories oh god spirit rises up in me and it's through the fire my weakness isn't made to wrong he never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to collide he never offered out of interest without fighting but he said it would always come in time just remember when you're standing in our lord will show up and he will take you through that fire again oh i know within myself that i would surely perish oh but if i trust the mighty hand of god he'll shield those flames again that the cross would not get angry and the hill would not be hard to collect he never offered what victory went without fighting but he said help would always come in time just remember when you're in the standing of decision and the adversary he says given oh just hold on our lord will show up and he will take you through the fire again oh just hold on and he will take you through that fire again [Music] you may be down and feel that god has somehow [Music] with circumstances that you can't get through and right now it seems that there's no way out and that you're going under but god's prevent him hit him again he will take care of you and he'll do it again he will do it again hasn't he always you may not know [Music] [Music] [Music] and he is your father and if he can calm the storm then he'll find a way to fix this [Applause] he's the same now as then he will do it again [Music] as is you may not [Music] know how you may not know [Music] [Applause] [Music] lately i've been looking back along this winding road to the old family [Music] there's no better way to tell you than to say [Music] i feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams as i go to sleep each night though i've had my god [Music] [Music] his arms around me as i face my darkest fears you see i've had more gains than losses and have no more joy than heard as his grace has rolled upon me and is [Music] [Music] how would it change [Music] for god is me and my father he's my savior he's my friend his love was my beginning [Music] but the best way i can say it is this [Music] [Music] [Applause] god's faith [Music] [Music] just honor and recognize all those who are graduating all the way from preschool to kindergarten to high school and college and to just recognize him for this great accomplishment of of moving on up in life amen so uh what we want to do first of all is uh we're going to we're going to call all these individuals names here's what i'm going to ask of you to do if you're coming to the stage stay up here we've got a gift for you for the younger kids we've got a a little bit of a children's book it's going to just it goes over basic principles of of you know the christian life and so parents you know we encourage you to take those home read them to your kids and that will be a tremendous blessing and also for those of uh the older ones that are graduating high school and college age we got this uh daily devotional it's a 90 day devotional just kind of goes through the bible goes goes through bible reading plans through the new testament and kind of explains it so that'll be a blessing we hope that it helps you out today and so amen for that praise the lord let's go ahead and introduce our graduates amen and also also yes uh one when we call your graduates name everybody that's in the family we'd ask you to please stand to your feet we want to recognize you as well okay the first individual though graduating from preschool heading on up to kindergarten is miss payton marie philpott joe y'all mind standing those of y'all that are with her amen she comes she's here [Music] she's coming she's graduating from davidson preschool and her parents our brother matt and miss brook philpot and here she comes amen let's all give her a round of applause [Music] all right now we're moving on up to kindergarten these these children are going to be moving on to the first grade and the first one we're going to make mention of is uh miss kenley grace bennett hogan and she will be graduating from union grove christian school her parents are desiree and parker stevens and her grandparents are jay and kim bennett again this is miss kinley bennett hoban let's give her [Applause] [Music] next is max alexander palmer he's going to be moving on up in shady grove elementary school and his parents are daniel and christa palmer [Music] next is miss ava grace phipps she's going to be moving on up in the vernon forest training center her parents are joshua and destiny phipps and her grandparents are shorty and diana grubbs again miss ava grace [Music] [Applause] next is bowen simone he's going to be moving up to first grade in salem baptist christian school and his parents are mike and jessica simone again bowen simone [Applause] all right now we're going to recognize our graduates that are moving on out of high school amen so just think all those sleepless nights all that work all that effort it's paying off you're moving on up and getting into the college age we're so proud of each and every single one of you and your accomplishments and the first one that we're going to make mention of is miss hannah malin patricia hendricks and she's graduating from union grove christian school her parents are shane and shannon hendricks and she plans on pursuing a real estate and starts classes this fall to do so next is kayla and venable and she's going to be graduating from parkland high school her parents are ricky and paula venable and she plans on attending forsyth tech community college for business administration [Applause] [Music] next is austin taylor watkins he'll be graduating from oak grove high school [Applause] next is benjamin lee watkins again from oak grove high school [Music] [Applause] [Music] and then our last graduate from high school is kalyn renee watkins again from oak grove high school all three of these her parents are daniel and angie watkins and grandparents shorty and diane grubbs now we want to go ahead and recognize those whom are graduating in college you know they're they've gotten their degree in some way shape or form and i know difficulties that brings you know there's a lot of times where you're studying up late you know you're putting in time and effort working a job more often times than not so listen this is a huge huge accomplishment we're so thankful for all of your accomplishments in which you have done in getting your degree the first one we're going to make mention is uh ward howard he's graduating from unc chapel hill his grandparents are clegg and i'm a gene howard and he's gonna be joining the staff in astronomy at physics at the university of colorado again lord howard next is miss angie huey she is graduating from liberty university and she's got her master's in strategic communications next is michelle black kessler and she's graduating from liberty university in an associate's in psychology and christian counseling and her parents are brother gary and miss melinda black let's all give another round of applause for all of our graduates [Music] every step i take forward the past tries to follow reminding me of what i have been [Music] mistakes and transgressions those unlearned lessons i've gone through time and again [Music] i know god can't recall what is cast in the sea it's easy for him and so hard for me but there'll come a day when i see him in glory and i'll only recall calvary's side of my story when my sins were forgiven my salvation was bought oh what a moment when i can't remember everything he [Music] forgot i know he saved me i know he forgave me and the past is the past with jesus the guild reminds me to look behind me my regrets want me to spend time with him but when i stand in his presence and he says welcome home every memory of failure and sin will be gone but there'll come a day when i see him in glory and i'll only recall calvary's side of my story when my sins were forgiven my salvation was born oh what a moment when i can't remember everything he forgot when i see him in glory then i'll only recall calvary's side of my story when my sins were forgiven my salvation was bought oh what a moment oh what a moment when i can't remember everything he forgot everything he forgot sovereign god this morning amen open your bibles up if you will to matthew chapter number six matthew chapter number six matthew chapter number six this morning as you turn your bible there we're coming back to a place coming back to a place that's known as the sermon on the mount many of you know that on wednesday nights we've been preaching verse by verse on the sermon on the mount we've been unfolding it letting the lord teach us why because this is the greatest sermon that's ever been preached by the greatest preacher that's ever been known jesus himself we pick up in matthew chapter number six i'm interested in one verse and really not even one verse i'm interested in one word today the bible says in verse number 33 of chapter six he says but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you seek ye first this morning if i was going to give you an illustration of your life i'd have a blank piece of paper no matter whether you're a graduate today or whether you're a young person or old person whether you've been living for jesus for a long time or not every single one of us when we woke up today our life is a blank piece of paper no marks no nothing why because even though we have blemishes even though we have marks black marks and marks that have have messed up things they've been in our yesterdays but when we got up today this is a start of a new day and now we have a choice to make do we choose to live for jesus it's easy to be able to say that's a graduate's decision well now here they go they're off to college they're off to life they're off to work whatever it is that they choose to be able to do their whole life is ahead of them news flash listen to me your whole life is ahead of you everything you do from this moment you must start where you are you must choose whatever you choose but remember this choose wisely because your yesterdays might be ruined and it might be i don't know they might even be disturbing it might even be black marks on your life that are either self-afflicted or maybe somebody else has done it but the good news is today is a new day you can start all over again and you can start from where you are and you can move forward so that brings us back to that verse because there's something that he's talking about in that verse that we must capture and it's really this it's about our priorities men are rested in that one word he said but seek ye first seek ye first i want to ask you this question what's first in your life everybody would say god but i would dare say as we begin to see truth in this chapter here a little bit we might even question that because it's so easy to be able to say god is first in my life because when we begin to look at our calendar what's first when we look at our checkbook what's what's first well we look at our schedule for the day and all the preparation for tomorrow what's first in our life because at the end of the day anybody can say god's first in my life the question is is everything that you do based on the priority of your life and if it is then who or what is the priority of your life i'm very thankful today that i'm able to be able to have what i have here in haines baptist church for over a hundred years people have put god first do you realize this beautiful building this location is not just for one year or two year and ten year and century i've talked about for over a hundred years people somewhere down the line has had their priorities right why because they put god first and because of that we're able to have all of these things and praise god that we do it goes a little bit further there are some of you today you know what it's like to be able to have a good home and you was raised a certain way not because everything was perfect but because you had a mom or a dad or an aunt or an uncle or a grandmother or a grandfather or just somebody that took you in and they told you about the principle that god must be first and because of that it has affected your life some of those heroes are in heaven today but you could still hear their voice when they told you put god first and because of that it has changed your life tremendously i would dare say that that's a principle that every single one of us that we must learn that mission gives us purpose and because of that purpose it makes the priority and because of that we make decisions all around that and for the graduates listen what you do from the day is not based on what your mom and dad said or how much money you have in a bank account whatever your priority is now will make your decision tomorrow whatever it is that matters most to you now is going to decide you tomorrow so i'm going to ask you what's first this morning i i really if god will permit and help me with the holy ghost i really just want to preach think on the fault of first things first if we want to write marriage we want to write home we want to write ministry if we want to write life then we need the first thing first what is the first thing the first thing is the lord jesus he must be first in your life so talking about priorities what do you mean priorities brother jason priorities are something like this you ready there are things that matter there's that one thing that matters most and then there's things that don't matter at all there's things that matter what are they well for most of us we'd say well my family my my husband my wife my children my mom my dad my church my bible i mean those things matter but i would do say they matter because what matters most to you would be the lord but sometimes marriage is not always number one your bible is not always number one prayer is not always number one and the reason it's not number one is because the one who should be number one is not in his rightful place so what happens is we say it matters but really it don't matter at all here's another question are you ready because we just got to let the holy ghost begin to set the stage if it matters so much today what did you do when you wake when you woke up did you pray because if god matters most then i know i can't live this day without god and that's not just for a graduate that's for a mom a dad a senior saint a young adult whoever may be visitor or it makes no difference if god matters most the first thing you'll do when you get up is not only will you talk to him but you'll let him talk to you so what matters most see the lord had something significant to be able to say about these priorities it's very interesting because when you come to the text and hearing in this sermon on the mount three times he used the word first i want you to turn back to chapter number five if you will and notice the first time that he had mentioned in verses 23 and 24 he he talks about things being first he says this therefore chapter 5 verse 23 therefore if if thou bring thy gift to the altar and their remembrance to thy brother have all against thee leave there thy gift before the altar and go that way first be reconciled notice to thy brother and then come and offer that gift here's what the lord jesus is saying if you want to be right with me you must be right with god if you're going to be right with god you must be right with others don't come look at me and sing and preach and teach and do everything and think you're doing something for god when you're not right with your other friends first things first he says and if you got god first you will get right with each other so i wonder who's first in your life turn over chapter number seven verse number five he brings it to our attention again and here in chapter seven verse number five he gets a little bit direct right here and he brings something else out to us he says thou hypocrite here it is you ready first cast out the beam out of thine own eye can i stop right there and just let that sink in for a minute before he even says anything else he says first cast out the beam and thy oh now in other words you need to take care of yourself before you come talking to me about somebody else and complaining about somebody else or not even complaining to god before you complain to somebody else about somebody else you need to look at yourself first that's what he says read on the bible says this he says the beam although now and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of the brother's eye so in other words he's saying if you're going to be right and you're going to call somebody out and god is the priority of your life before you judge somebody else you'll be quick to judge yourself i would dare say if we lived that way there'd be a lot more mercy in this world wouldn't it be a whole lot more grace matter of fact there'd probably be a lot less talking somebody's saying man i mean because here's why sometimes we say well why don't you say more about that because friend i don't need to be so adamant about other people i know me i know me i know my life i know the things i've done and by the way we're not just talking about things that are seen we're talking about things that are unseen we've been preaching through the sermon on the mount and we've understood that jesus says over and over you have heard you have heard you have heard you have heard in other words everybody's so good at living by the law but then he said this but i say unto you in other words it ain't just by the outward appearance it's also the inside because first things first the last time the third time that we see is found in our verse that we read this morning chapter 6 verse 33 and this is what he says again as we read it he says but seek ye first the kingdom of god and this righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you so the lord teaches us over and over and over it's about putting things right and here's what god's saying in your life if you want to be right right here you must first be right right here if you want the marriage the life the home the children the money the job if you want the ministry if you want all of this to be right watch me this must be right and when you seek you first god says i'll take care of everything else i wonder how many things in our life are not what i need to be simply because we got our priorities all messed up when we give god the choice and we let god choose listen we know that god will always make the right choice there's no doubt about it god never messes up god never makes a mistake as brother eric said no matter what he chooses god is still good god knows what's best for our life so we're going to have to trust him and what happens is we have to be careful to choose our priorities why because once you choose your priorities watch me your priorities will choose the rest for you if your priorities money everything you do will be based on your money if your priority is god everything you do will be based on what god says if your priority is family you'll listen you you might go to church and do a lot of things but you will you will forsake the things of god because family means more than god and i'm not talking about being petty about i'm just saying you got to make sure listen for him god gave us that husband god gave us that wife god gave us those children god gave us those parents sometimes what we choose to do might not always sit well with those closest to us but if it pleases god it's always worth it it's always worth it by the way it's always right so we don't have to worry about what do i choose questions today that sit at the table for graduates or this where do i go to college where do i work you don't have to choose look at me you don't have to choose you have to choose the priority in your life and when you choose god god says this is what you'll do when you go to college this is what you do when you go to work by the way who am i going to marry what am i going to do it ain't about who you want to marry i like how brother brandon morrison used to say it now brandon morrison you always say he said one day he might be a hunk and the next day he might be a chunk can i get a witness right there you never know here's why because we're so quick to look at it from our perspective when god sees not just next week and next month but god sees next year so every decision along our life it's always right when we let god choose so he connects this to a lot of truths found in this chapter i want to give them to you very quickly this morning the first thing i'd say to you this is listen your priorities always start in your thoughts that's hard to understand in other words it's not it's not seen in what you do it starts in your thoughts again everybody can come to church and everybody can sit on the pew but that don't make you a christian just because you go stand in a garage don't make you a car can i get a witness right so just because you do something does not make your priority what it should be no it's in your thoughts you say brother jason you got back you got a bible to back that up the bible says this as a man thinketh in his heart so is he it starts in your mind notice if you will what the bible follow along with me he unfolds this verse number 25 of chapter number six listen how many times he talks about the thoughts verse 25 therefore i say unto you take no thought for your life verse number 27 he says which of you be taken thought can add one cubit unto his stature verse number 28 knows what the bible says and why take ye fault for raymond over and over and over verse number 31 take therefore take no fault saying what shall we eat verse number 34 notice what the bible says he says therefore take no thought for the morrow so over and over and over and over god says what matters is what you're thinking and what you're thinking needs to be established is this is that god is number one in my life because as a man thinketh in his heart so is he so when you have to make a choice you're going to say god it's not my choice it's yours do you want me to do this do you want me to live here do you want me to work here do you want me to marry him do you want me to marry her whatever god wants so as you think listen it will determine what happens in your life so when i ask you what do you think about the most what do you think about the most some of us can't even get away from job far enough to be able to sit down and listen to god speak we're so consumed with different things when we come to the house of god someone listen some of us can't even come to church long enough to put down a cell phone and not texting a friend or a family member and i'm not talking about a situation urgently but we're so detached and we wonder why didn't i hear what brother charlie heard today well because our thoughts were somewhere else our priority was somewhere else are y'all we'd be this morning and we wonder why why am i why am i why am i not engaged why am i not thinking why am i not growing why am i not feeling this why am i not understanding maybe because our thoughts are somewhere else have you ever been close to a family member and they say i just feel like our relationship's not what it needs to be well you're like well i never understood that why because meanwhile you're going through everything mechanically when the truth be told their thought is about having a daddy or having a mom or having a husband having a wife and we just think just because we live in the same house everything's all right friend that's not the way it is your priorities start in your thoughts the second thing it leads us to is this is not only that but your priorities listen to me they affect how you and i deal with everything else that's in our life your priorities literally whatever it is that's in your life it will affect how we deal with everything else that's in our life so your priorities they matter that's what i'm saying to you notice what the bible says i want you to pick this up how he talks about things it affects every other thing right things things notice in chapter number 32 through i mean uh verse 32 through verse 34 he says for after all these things do the gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for tomorrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself over and over and over and over god says yes there's things but those things are affected by your priority so i want to ask you what's struggling today what's struggling today is it your home is it your life is it your mind is it your future is it your job is it a relationship you know i i i remember whenever i was a kid and and uh and i there would be times where certain things would happen and and there would be a relationship that i would i would have or or something that would be going on and we see in teenagers today they they begin watch me they begin to pull away from mom and dad you want to know why because little susie came in the picture a little johnny came in the picture don't get quiet on me and all you've got to do is take that cell phone or tell them they're not going to go on a call quote-unquote date or they're not going to hang out with their friends and the moment they begin to see that happen you're taking away something you begin to see this rebellious spirit inside of them you want to know why it's a true sign their priorities are not what they should be red flag red flag red flag red flag don't wait until the scars are made don't mate wait until the life is ruined don't wait until there's a knock in the middle of the night it says daddy and mommy i don't know how it happened but this is what was done don't wait for that day for you to open up your eyes you need to make sure that the priorities are set where they need to be it's amazing look how he unfolds this because he tells us and teaches us within the same scripture go back to chapter number six go back to verse number 19 and 20. i want you to see how the lord teaches this and forgive me listen this is just bible preaching because you don't need my advice you need to see what god says about the matter he says in verse number 19 notice this in chapter number six he says lay not lay not up for yourself treasures upon the earth underline the word earth verse number 20 knows what the bible says but lay up your self-treasures in heaven i underline verse number 19 the word earth and verse number 20 the word heaven here's the question which one are you living for earth or heaven your priorities matter are you listening to me your priorities matter you're living for the now are you living for eternity you say well one day whenever and my time gets close and i'm about to die i'll get things right friend if it matters in eternity it automatic right now and all the matter right now why because every knee shall bow and friend whether you call him lord then or you call him lord now he's still lord right now we understand that he's still lord he goes further i want you to go to the next verse verse number 22 the bible says this the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye i can uh i be single the whole body shall be full of light verse 23 he says but if thou be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness verse number 22 i underlined the word light verse number 23 i i under underline the word darkness it's either light or darkness light or darkness which one are you living for light or darkness are you listening to me light or darkness i don't know how to say this but if it can't be done and open it can't be done in public and can't be done in light it should not be done at all amen period no ifs ands or buts about it listen if if your if your children can't bring their friends around you and it's got to be in the darkness all the time that should not be their friends at all because they're going to choose are they living in light or living in darkness the only reason why we're staying in darkness is because we don't want everybody to see what we're really doing i got a boy thank god i don't have a daughter amen and amen but i told my son a couple uh it's probably been about a year ago now we're of course doing devotions different things we talk about stuff he's not a perfect kid but i'm hard i say different stuff and i probably have a different approach to what you do and that's fine you parent the way you do it i pair it the way i do but i told nolan i said let's just get one thing straight buddy you're not not going to ever come up to me and say hey this is this is susie she's my girlfriend and what are you talking about there's no such thing as you're choosing a girlfriend if i don't know her as a friend you're going to talk to me before you ever choose somebody why because you're my son it's my job i'm not a dictator it's my job to be able to know and if there's something secret see or something secret in your life it's not acceptable this is this is open we need to be able to know why because i gotta give an account for you and as long as you're in my house i need to know who you're with what you're doing who you're dating who you're not dating who's your little girl crush or whatever it may be and i'm not trying to be silly i'm just being honest ain't no such thing as just showing up saying dad is my girlfriend next week's been like dad we're getting married no you ain't no anyway not gonna happen why because you know what that's a chance for us to sit down and pray well noah and i pray in the morning y'all might call me crazy on this and be fine every every so often periodically we pray for his future wife man that's humbling to me because there's going to come a day brother charlie my son's going to be standing there and there's going to be a lady going to be walking down the aisle and i want him to see god answering prayer right there see if i let him make these decisions on his own then i'll abort i neglect the opportunity to be able to teach him about the power of prayer so the question is are we living for light are we living for darkness there's no such thing as all of a sudden surprise no there is no surprise but it goes even further than that listen this probably hits more to the adult's life verse number 24 notice what it says no man can serve two masters he said let me just make it plain before i tell you anything else there's no way to be on both sides of the fence that's what he's saying he says right after that notice he says for either he will hate one and love the other so he said there's not an in-between there's not a gray area christian there's not a gray area there's no such thing as a gray area that's man-made he said you're either going to love one or hate the other and then notice he goes a little bit further he says you're either going to hold on to one and despise the other ye cannot serve god and mammon ma'am and his money here's what he's saying you got to pick or choose which one's going to be your god because you can't have both just because you got a lot of money don't mean that god is god but you know what i've learned thank god is when you live for god god can't bless you amen just cause you got a lot of money it ain't no big deal can i get a witness right there praise the lord i mean listen god will bless you got to put food on your table got to put clothes on your back got to have put gas in your car i mean god can do things you've never seen before so just because you're rich don't mean you're ungodly but listen just because you're rich don't mean you love god we got it backwards sometimes it's a couple years ago they did a study through colleges throughout the country and i don't know how broad or how wide it went but they asked these college students they said if i was to give you 10 million dollars would you and they had to answer some of these one the question sadly was this would you abandon your family forever for 10 million dollars some of you like praise god i'm out right now amen sorry honey see you later you know and listen we make light of it but do you know over 40 of college students chose and said yes on an anonymous survey that they'd be willing to walk away from their family talking about priorities right that's sad ain't it it's like money is taking over everything now you think that's bad listen to this you better know who your neighbors is over 50 said that they'd be willing to kill somebody for 10 million dollars yeah you better check with your neighbors friend i hope none of these college graduates are living beside you because for a lot of money they might try to take somebody out right you better go home and take some biscuits and cornbread today and say hey i just want to make sure we're all right amen but here's the issue is so many of us don't realize that our priorities affect everything in our life and the reason why things are all out of whack is because we don't have the right priority i've said it many times i say it again this morning god always gives his best to those who leave the choice up to him god always gives his best to those who leave the choice up to him can i ask you something just very personal i'll move on this morning what is it or who is it that's in your life that you chose but god didn't choose for you let the holy ghost put his finger right there for a moment i'll give you a second thing this morning or a third thing this morning not only your priorities start with your thoughts and your priorities deal with everything else but thirdly this morning listen to this your priorities help you today and tomorrow somebody say amen thank god it does notice what the bible says in verse number 34 the bible says this in chapter 6 he says take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof so what he's saying here is you can't live in the past and you can't live in the future but you can live right now so if you would live right today god will take care of tomorrow friend i don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow i don't know what's gonna happen next year i don't know what's going to happen 10 years from now but i know this is that god is in control and god is faithful so if you live right today and live in the will of god today you'll wake up tomorrow in the will of god so you can't control tomorrow but you can choose today solomon when you study out ecclesiastes chapter number two over and over and over he said i planted vineyards i built i did this i did this i had money look at me add all the things in this world and over and over and over you know what he said look at me watch me all is vanity all is vanity all is vanity all is vanity you graduates listen to me all is vanity young adults young couples listen all is vanity that word vanity for us literally means this it means to be empty or to be meaningless if you want to say it that way but when you study it out the word means a vapor in other words all is vanity everything i work for everything i have everything i strive for it's all vanity unless it's for the lord jesus christ it's like a vapor it's like a vapor and here's why i'm convicted how many of us are wasting our life away for things that are just but a vapor just a vapor we got to make up our mind that we're going to follow the lord we're going to live for the lord the bible says in proverbs 27 1 he says boasts not thyself or tomorrow why because we know not what tomorrow what a day may bring forth in other words we don't know what tomorrow's going to happen so you got today live it right be the best christian that you can be choose the lord today walk with god today be the best wife be the best husband be the best mom the dad the best daughter be the best son be the best that god wants you to be why because you submit to the lord and when you submit to god god will take care of everything else you might be like this i'll give you my last point in a moment you might be like this i can't fix my son i can't fix my daughter i can't fix my mom i can't fix my dad i can't fix this situation friend there's a part that god can do and only god can do but there's a part that you and i must do so do what you can do today submit it to god watch me and let god take care of everything else and somebody comes to the piano again i'll give you my last point in a moment let me tell you what i'm guilty of i'm guilty of not being able to sleep at night because a lot of things been on my mind i was talking about my whack-a-mole a while ago that's just i don't know maybe that's probably 20 over the last couple months but sometimes it's not just that it's my own life it's my own decisions it's different things now watch me watch me here's what happens sometimes i'll worry about tomorrow and next week and how everything's going to work out i get so stressed worried about tomorrow that's my priority so for tomorrow i'm going to make this decision today the time the evening comes mine's so stressed out about tomorrow i'm trying to make sure i got everything done lined up for tomorrow and how i'm going to deal with this and handle this and help these folks put people in these folks and be able to meet with them that and then all of a sudden it comes to be nine o'clock at night well my mind is so busy that now i can't sleep so now i can't sleep so now i can't even think so now here i am i'm laying in bed i'm looking up at the ceiling of my house i'm frustrated i'm tossing and turning there's no peace there's no rest i'm saved i'm born again and before you know it i literally go three hours of sleep i get up the next day i'm late i don't have my bible study the way i should i don't have my devotion so look i ruined tomorrow because today i didn't have the right priorities i was trying to do god's job for him now i know a lot of you adults that are established you might be more spiritual and dignified and sanctified than what i am but i'm just i'm going to go on record and i'm just going to confess that a lot of time is my problem it's not that i try to worry but friend you could tiptoe around at all you want to when my priorities are not in check i should be able to submit say god i trust you whatever it is you want you just leave me tomorrow i'm just going to finish today lights out i'm tapping out i'm going to sleep when i wake up tomorrow your god will take care of this it's not that easy is it as she begins to play that brings me to my fourth truth and i'll be done this morning what is it brother jason listen to me priorities watch me you ready priorities must be built watch this on trust if i'm going to have a priority i need to be able to trust that whenever i make a priority that it's going to work everything out right notice the bible says in verse number 33 again but seek ye first the kingdom of who god and his righteousness so in other words it must be built on trust who are you asking me to trust as a graduate brother jason who are you telling me to trust as a mom a dad as a young adult a young man a young lady who are you telling me to trust are you telling me to trust the church and trust trust the preacher and trust the staff and trust the people no no no no all i'm doing today watch me is i'm just asking you i'm asking you to trust the lord if you don't hear nothing else i say to you today i'm asking you to trust the lord because watch me if you'll trust him he'll be a priority in your life because he will prove himself to be faithful i can't fix your brokenness i can't remove the scars i definitely can't ease your mind and i can't make you sleep at night i can't do it but i know one who can and it's god and this morning you and i are sitting here we have a lot of decisions to make and by the way don't think we've arrived friend just because you and i have been saved 5 10 15 20 30 50 years you know as well as i do any christian today that has a touch of god on their life watch me they would stand right now and testify i haven't made it by my own strength i've made it day by day by the grace of god they understand this principle so it's not just when you get to be 20 or 30 years old the devil's like all right i'm tapping out everything's good no he's going to keep fighting because you know what the devil wants to do hello listen to me he wants to ruin the marriage it's been for 40 years because all the young couples what have they got to look to anymore he wants to ruin the safe person that's had a testimony that's sang in the choir and served the lord for 20 years that's what he wants to do so friend hell is fighting harder right now than he's ever fought before meanwhile people think you got it together and the longer you serve the lord the more you and i realize we ain't got it all together we must make our priorities the right thing i never forget a couple of years ago began to worry about a lot of different things and there's a lot of stuff that was going on and of course i talk often about different people that's in my life and mentors and pastors and different things that i reach out to and and i was going through a lot of these things and he challenged me i don't know if you do this but every year you know there's a new word a new verse that i get i have a life verse other verses psalms 131 and it's just it's what matters to me it talks about always growing and right now just in that season i feel like i'm always growing i've had to accept it because the moment i think well i got that figured out god says no friend you ain't got nothing figured out so i feel like david in psalms 131 i'm always learning i'm always being weaned as a child and it's not always an easy process but praise god again god's faithful he knows what he's doing i talked to my mentor a couple years ago and he used this verse seek ye first the kingdom of god he started to talk to me about principles and literally he was telling me he said jason he says the only thing that you've got to do is you got to realize this every single day you have to put you and everything else to death and make god number one that's what you have to do and now looking back this year marks seven years that i've been trying to go weekly i've tried i haven't always been able to sent down and he's just he's an old pastor okay he's just an old pastor got an old soul and uh he just has different ways of saying things and as i look back over the last seven years there's one thing or there's a couple things that i've learned number one is this is at the end of the day everything that i thought really mattered in the moment didn't really matter he's all that matters what i'm trying to tell you there was a lot of things that were a priority for instance there were things god was wanting me to let go of that i was trying to hold on to now that i've let go of it you know what i realized he's all that matters there was things in relationships quote unquote that god was trying to kill in my life close and far away do you know the most miserable you can ever be is trying to make something live that god's trying to kill amen can you imagine listen you ever look you ever look at genesis chapter 22 i believe it is where where isaac and abraham was walking up and you wonder how in the world can abraham have so much faith how how could he be so certain and so sure how could he have so much confidence you want to know why look at me because he was willing to kill what god was telling him to kill and because of his obedience seek ye first what happened god gave him back what he wanted to hold on to [Music] you and i i learned this on a regular basis there's a lot of things that are suffering in my life when truth be told i've realized god loves me more than i love myself hey news flash look at me god loves your family more than you love your family god loves your husband and your wife more than you love your husband and your wife amen god wants to use you more than you want to be usable what are you saying brother jason but you're going to have to make him a priority and trust him and whatever he chooses in your life seek ye first and god will take care of the rest just imagine right now how christmas could be different this year if you put god first if you quit trying to be controlling mama or controlling dad can i get a i don't need an amen right there because that hits close to home i'm bad about that just think about what could be reconciled or what could be restored if we said god it's yours whatever it is you want to do with it you do it i've seen i've seen i've seen teenagers graduate listen to me graduates i've seen teenagers graduate and be longing for that day to step out and walk away and sometimes months sometimes unfortunately years [Music] and they come back in with scars you say what brought them home a controlling mom a controlling dad a controlling pastor no unfortunately after a lot of scars there was a mom and dad somewhere that prayed and said lord they're yours whatever it is you want to do with them god you do it and somehow they got rock bottom and they came back home but it never happened until they just gave them to god now i'm saying that because as a mom and dad or grandmother grandfather listen you're gonna have to learn to let go and trust the lord make him the priority but for the rest of us today that's making decisions we need to make him a priority today why because you don't have to have those scars you don't have to be the example look at me you don't need to be the preacher's illustration do you understand that so i ask you today will you put first things first heads bow nice clothes before i have you to stand as they get ready to sing an invitation i want to do things a little bit different today it is a joy and a privilege to be able to know that you've tuned in and i pray that today that the word of god that was shared will be a blessing to you if somehow some way that the lord has spoken to your heart and maybe you're sitting where you are and you don't know for sure that you're saved by the grace of god and you've ever trusted jesus christ as a personal savior and i want you to know that the word of god says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of god the bible makes it very plain for the ways of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord you say how do i get saved you have to trust in christ in christ alone repent of your sin and then know as the bible says where jesus says i am the way and i pray that today that that will be your desire to be able to seek out for the lord jesus christ to be able to trust him as a lord and savior if you do that today and you repent of your sins and you take him as your savior would you do us a favor and contact our church office at 336-788-0551 we would love to be able to speak with you we would love to be able to encourage you maybe be able to help you find a local church no matter where you are today and maybe even possibly disciple you so we want to say thank you so much and we are definitely going to be praying for you in this ministry that our church has if you know you're saved and maybe the lord spoke to you in a different way and there's something heavy on your heart again that same number if you can contact us we'll be so thankful to be able to reach out be able to speak with you but again on behalf of the church and myself thank you so much and may god bless you

Channel: Hanes Baptist Church

Views: 7

Rating: 0 out of 5

Keywords: Truth, Trust, worship, Life, Salvation, God, Jesus, Spirit, Gospel, Bible, Real, Happy, Heaven, Hell, Joy, Revelation

Id: iXly4kwibuM

Length: 69min 17sec (4157 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021