A Song For The Sabbath

so so well praise the lord and welcome to the eastern star church located in fishers and in indianapolis under the leadership of our senior pastor jeffrey a johnson senior my name is minister patricia clemens and we are so excited you tuned in today now please hit like share with a friend or family member and let them know that the eastern star church is on and i guarantee that they will be blessed let us pray father we thank you for this day thank you for taking us through another week god we've been through so much but we're still here and still standing and for that we're grateful so be with us throughout this service today that you and only you get to get our get the glory today and father we pray that the word goes forth in a mighty way and that lives are changed it is in jesus name that we pray amen you're the giver of mercy and grace you are worthy of the highest is oh oh oh i will praise you forever and i will worship forever is foreign oh pray forever and i will worship for you forever want you forever foreign will praise you forever and i will worship forever oh thank you welcome to eastern star church where jesus is exalted and the word is explained thank you for joining us today today is prayer sunday call 317 268 for prayer and one of our prayer ministry volunteers will pray with you until 1 30 pm eastern standard time you can also visit the prayer wall at easternstarchurch.org or send an email to wecare easternstarchurch.org our care center drive up food pantry is open hours are mondays 1 to 5 p.m tuesdays 10 a.m to 2 p.m and the second saturday of each month 9 a.m to 1 p.m the care center is located at 5719 massachusetts avenue and the rock fresh market now has extended its hours shop with us monday through thursday from 9 a.m to 5 p.m and saturday from 9 a.m to 5 whether you're a member or a visitor we are looking forward to you growing with us through bible classes and fellowship please join us for these special online events and classes children 12 and under are invited to our children's church watch party with sister sandra today at 1 45 p.m on zoom and youtube there's still time to register go to easternstartchurch.org and click on events teams watch a new episode of team church on youtube today and join pastor p every monday at 7 30 p.m for teen talk and on wednesdays at 8 p.m for teen bible study women of the word saturday april 24th at 9 a.m this online group will discuss living a fruitful life based on lessons by author beth moore join the marriage ministry for bake eat love on friday april 23 at 7 pm to learn more about the ministry and participate in a baking competition with other couples join crew conversations on tuesday april 27 at 7 30 pm as young adults discuss different seasons of life and how to bloom where you're planted senior saints bodybuilding class 3-4 pm on tuesdays and thursdays adult boot camp tuesdays and thursdays at 7 pm register for all these classes and more by visiting easternstarchurch.org and clicking on events you're also invited to join us for noonday services every wednesday for an inspiring word ready to become a member of eastern star church sign up for our new membership class it's next sunday april 25th at 2pm do you sense a call from god to serve in full-time ministry do you have questions about ministers in training if so and you would like more information email esc mit easternstarchurch.org are you a graduating senior the ignite ministry will host a virtual eastern star church scholarship prep day on may 1st eastern star church graduating seniors planning to apply for the eastern star church scholarship are required to participate to register visit the website and click on the events tab parents are your children interested in learning new skills in areas like music art science dance and martial arts register your five to 13 year olds for our online summer camp our summer connected learning experience runs for four weeks from june 14th to july 8th space is limited go to easternstartchurch.org and click on events to claim your spot we are looking for volunteers visit our website and click on the connect tab then serve if you are an eastern star church member experiencing an illness hospitalization or death in the family please call the care center at 317-547-5483 so we can pray for you we are here for you go to easternstarchurch.org to learn more about how we can help you and your family grow through fellowship and discipleship it's prayer time church let us prepare for prayer today is prayer sunday our prayer ministry volunteers are available to pray with you today until 1 30 p.m eastern standard time call 317-268-8516 for prayer and one of our prayer ministry volunteers will pray with you you can also leave a prayer request on the prayer wall at easternstartchurch.org or email us at wecare easternstarchurch.org pray for those struggling with alcohol addiction and that youth and teens learn early how alcohol use negatively impacts healthy brain development april is alcohol awareness month prayer prayer against racial disparities and injustice in our nation prayer for blessings on construction of the rock children and youth center and the safety of construction workers we would like to lift up the following in prayer demetria anthony michael and angela evans jackie kennedy fletcher for shari finnell deborah golden natalie griggs eleanor lett laurie morgan darnay scales and nervus and gail thompson let us pray father we thank you for this day thank you god for being so awesome and so kind father we lift up those names that were just mentioned oh god cover them oh god meet them at the point of their need father we pray for those names that were mentioned and the names that were unspoken father cover them in whatever situation they're going through help them to know that you are a god that will never leave them nor forsake them o god and that you will meet them at the point of their need now god we're so thankful for all that you've done for us that all that you continue to do in our lives oh god you continue to cover our homes our families oh god our minds our health father just continue to keep us as only you can we pray for our church and all the churches that open in your name god cover this nation cover our leaders oh god in high places father we pray for the violence oh god we play for our youth just cover this city in this nation god we know you can and we know you will father we're going to continue to trust you through it all father you've done so many things for us and we just thank you for it so we're going to continue to trust you and continue to keep you first in our lives god we love you today oh god and we adore you father we realize and know that there is no one greater than you and that we can always depend and count on you so cover us all o god in the name of jesus and continue to keep our hearts and our minds minds turned towards you oh god so that we will take care of and cover those that are less fortunate oh god but most of all we will tell the lost about you that we found a savior and he is sweet i know so god we just give you glory we give you honor it is in your name we pray amen come on if you know the victory belongs to jesus we dare you to join in and sing with us right who now stand against the law no one can no one will who can stand against our king no one care no one will victory belongs to jesus victory belongs to him yes wrong this is foreign victory victory victory pick me up you broke victory matter what it feels victory belongs to jesus victory belongs to him victory belongs to him victory belongs to jesus belongs to jesus well praise the lord it's time for us to get into the word of god again on the day and we just want to invite god's presence into our time in his word let's let's go to god in prayer father i bless you praise you honor and glorify you thank you for just your love towards us and you're saving us and the power of the holy spirit in us the connection with one another through the body of christ and we praise you for that dear god lord you know what's happening in this world and lord you know how difficult it is and how hard it is so lord i pray that you'll you'll touch families and individuals individuals you touch our church and our community this country and world we need you dear god please continue to work all things together for good in the name of jesus and lord i'm praying that somebody's going to be saved today i'm praying that somebody's going to repent and get reconnected to christ and to the church and lord i'm praying that victory is going to take place and i'm believing it done right now in jesus name that the words of my mouth meditation of our hearts let them be acceptable in thy sight lord your strength and our redeemer in jesus name we pray amen amen it is no secret that this world is filled with wickedness and that the wickedness and the wretchedness and the wrongness in this world can leave you worn out and worn down it seems like every single day we are bombarded with some form of wicked expression in this world and some of us right now are worried and weary to and worn out if we tell the truth about it and god praised his name gives us a word even in the face of the wickedness and you know that the wickedness is there even as we try to get justice for george floyd and we listen to that that trial that is taking place the white police officer that had his knee on george floyd's neck for more than nine minutes in the last three minutes george floyd was already dead and as we seek to get justice in that courtroom it sounds like sometimes that it's george floyd that's on trial here we got to be reminded george george floyd is the victim he was the black man who had no weapon in his hand he he was the black man that hadn't been proven at anything he had done wrong he's the one that was killed and it seems like they're trying to put him on trial and that's just wickedness in this world and while we're trying to come to grips with that then we hear about dante wright dante wright that young black man 20 years old supposedly pulled over for traffic violation only to have a white police officer to shoot and kill him and then try to convince us it was an accident that somehow she can't tell the difference between a stun gun and a nine millimeter and while we're trying to deal with that then we're reminded of what happened with uh quran nazario that black latino who was in his car driving supposedly pulled over for a traffic violation and then a white police officer points a gun in his face even you could see his hands sticking out the window he's he's not being violent he's not going for a weapon and then they pepper spray him and handcuff him and and all this is going on while they recognize he's a second lieutenant he's dressed in his army military outfit and still treat it like this because of the wickedness that is in this world and then the white supremacy that we have to deal with every single day the army found out but the military found out about that trying to get them out of the military and of course the fbi already told us for more than a decade that the white supremacists have already infiltrated police departments throughout our entire nation and here they are with blatant racism and violence against people that anybody that doesn't look like them this is wickedness and still trying to come to grips with the lies about the pandemic from the former head of state who lied about covet 19 knew the danger of covet 19 knew what it would take to help people to be free from it to not get it to quarantine to to social distance but yet just kept on one lie after another and now we still have to live in the aftermath of this the lies about the pandemic he knew that it would make people sick he he knew that it would kill people but yet just kept online he and his officials this is wickedness in high places the bible teaches us that god develops in through the truth and that the enemy seeks to destroy through lies that's why we had so many sicknesses the destruction of health and so many deaths more than 500 000 hundreds of thousands of deaths all because of the lies that were told by wickedness in high places and we have to deal with this wickedness seemingly every single day we're bombarded with it we talk about georgia with that voter uh suppression those laws that they put in place it's not just georgia 43 states across the nation are trying to make it as difficult as possible for black people and brown people to vote in this nation this voter suppression that is going on because that is wickedness that we're running into and then we keep hearing these these mass shootings matter of fact 45 mass shootings i'm not just talking about in 2020 and i'm not just talking about the first four months of 2021 but 45 mass shootings in one month including indianapolis at fedex out by the airport the indianapolis international airport where a man walks up and just starts shooting people with an automatic rifle eight people end up dead others end up injured needing medical attention families all distraught every single person that died they had family and friends they had somebody that cared about them had somebody that loved them had somebody that depended on him but now this wickedness that has taken place in our nation with all of this violence and our hearts are heavy for these families and for our community because we have to deal with wickedness and wretchedness and wrongness every day but i want to show you what it says in psalm 92 in psalm 92 in verse 7 it says though the wicked sprout like weeds and evil doers flourish they will be destroyed forever but you o lord will be exalted forever here in psalm 92 it doesn't ignore the wickedness it doesn't ignore the wretchedness it doesn't ignore the wrongness but it gives us a revelation about those who are evil doers about those who who bring this wickedness and it talks about king james version they're going to be like grass and one thing i know about grass is that grass withers he's helping us to see that even though these wicked people are are doing their thing but it's only for a season because i don't want us to lose our hope and to lose our faith in god and to turn our back on jesus because of the wickedness that we see and i know that there is a temptation to do that because in psalm 93 in in in in in psalm psalm 73 asap who's a priest ace of psalm 73 says that he lost his spiritual equilibrium he lost his spiritual balance looking at the wickedness in the world he said that that god has been good to israel and to everybody with a clean heart but as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had will not slip when i saw the prosperity of the wicked when he saw the prosperity of the wicked he lost his spiritual balance and he didn't get it back until he got connected with the house of god and he saw therein that's what psalm 92 and verse 7 is showing us that y'all it's only for a season this these wicked people are going to be like grass and grass will wither that's what it's showing us and in in this psalm 92 the heading is a song for the sabbath a song for the sabbath because the psalmist is telling us that even in suffering we can keep on singing let me read it to you psalm 92 verse 1 it is good to give thanks to the lord to sing praises to the most high oh my goodness he's talking about singing and the suffering yes there's wickedness yes there's ungodliness yes there's wretchedness yes it can wear you down but he says no spend some time singing giving god praise and thanking god he said sing about the unfilling love of god sing about the faithfulness of god sing about the mind of god towards you sing about the works of god towards you what he's trying to show us is we cannot keep focusing on the bad news in verse 7 and ignore the good news in the rest of the psalm 92 you can't just every day bombard yourself with bad news and then don't spend some time with the good news cause the good news will help you to overcome the bad news this is a song for the sabbath that's interesting that that heading is here there's a song for the sabbath because there is no mention of the sabbath in the song they don't even mention this habit that's because by this time y'all the hebrew people they they embraced the sabbath so much until you didn't have to push them and prodd them till you didn't have to force them into the sabbath they honored the sabbath they observed the sabbath they remembered the sabbath that's why i didn't even it's a song for the sabbath but but it didn't even mention the sabbath in here because they understood that moses in in exodus chapter 20 with the ten commandments that fourth commandment was to remember the sabbath to keep the sabbath holy that's the fourth commandment but it's tied into he mentions two things with that he says one that god worked for six days then rested on the seventh day and so since god rested we need to rest then he mentions something else in exodus chapter 20 in verse one he says that remember god brought you out of egypt you were in slavery in egypt but god brought you out then he says remember the sabbath day what's the connection there because when they were in egypt for 430 years they were in slavery as a people but then god brought them out and in slavery y'all there is no sabbath in slavery there is no day off it's slavery there is no rest but he's telling them you're not in slavery anymore you're emancipated you're liberated you're free you can take a day off you can have a sabbath day a day of rest a day of renew a day of of being reset a day of a reboot and to rejoice in the things that god has done in the face of the wickedness we can still trust god because y'all there are there are been let me do it like this because i want us to understand we're free whom the lord has set free is free indeed when you believed in the death the burial and the resurrection of jesus you invited him into your life you've been set free and because we are free now we can have a day of rest we we're not in bondage to sin we're not in slavery to money we're not in slavery to the wickedness of this world we're not in slavery to anything we're free if we were in slavery we couldn't get a day of rest but since you're free you can trust god and go ahead and remember the sabbath because there are benefits to the sabbath when we remember the sabbath there are benefits that are attached to that there are spiritual benefits there are personal benefits and there are social benefits spiritual benefits yes because god worked six days he rested the seventh day genesis 1 says we're created in the image and the likeness of god and since we're created in the likeness of god then we ought to be like god in that we work six days but then we rest the seventh day some of us feel like no i can't take a sabbath i can't take a day off i got to keep wrestling there's too much wickedness in this world i got to keep wrestling it's too much wrongness it's too much wretchedness i got to keep going now you you work six days rest the seventh day go ahead protest six days go ahead and march six days go ahead and try to get as many people as you can to register to vote for six days go ahead and empower those who are uh elected officials who are looking out for our community do that for six days go ahead and hold those elected officials accountable do that for six days go ahead and fight for justice in this world of injustice do that for six days but on the seventh day you got rest it's it's a spiritual benefit to it you honor god you worship god you praise god you spend time with your family and your friends this is you're lining your life spiritually up with what god is all about matter of fact it's obedience you ought to take that day of sabbath that rest and do it because god said it give god a day because god says it's obedience to him it's the ten yo it's not the 10 suggestions or the 10 ideas or the 10 options it's the 10 commandments god commands us and the fourth commandment is to remember the sabbath day to keep that day whole and i g and i'm not trying to be judgmental i admit i went through a long period of my life where i did not honor the sabbath day a long period all i was always pushing i was always hitting it i was working uh 12 13 hours a day seven days a week because i grew up in a time that they said you got to work harder than everybody else so you got to put in the time and then so i i took that to heart and i did it not six days seven days and i was disobedient to that fourth matter of fact i violated that commandment more than any other command i tried to honor all the other nine commandments while i was violating this one commandment and and out of that disobedience i actually thought i was doing god's will because i was working so hard i'm gonna tell you what changed it for me because i thought my family couldn't live without me i thought my church couldn't live without me my community couldn't live without me i got to keep hitting this thing hard and then i got diagnosed with cancer don't sweat that god deliver me set me free he's jehovah rapha he's the god that heals i stand before you castle free but when i went in to have my surgery the doctor was explaining to me here is the percentage of a chance you won't make it he's telling me his it was a small percentage because i caught it early he said but this is a percentage you won't make his percentage you gonna die and when i thought about that i said now if i had died my family and friends and church community would have had to make it without me every day and the holy spirit said jeffrey johnson if they can make it without you every day they can make it without you one day because we need to be obedient and trust to do things god's way and there's always blessings attached to obedience bring the tithe and the offering here's the blessing god will open the windows of heaven and pour you out of bless give is a blessing attached to it that god will give back to you good measures press down shaking together running over and when we remember the sabbath the blessing are the spiritual benefits that come from that and personal benefits that come from the sabbath that day of rest of restoration of renewal yeah because you're at your best when you rest i don't care who you are you're gonna need a break you're gonna need a rest and you're at your best when you rest your ingenuity is better your your creativity your energy is at another level when you get plugged in and recharged so that you can go on now and do your six days of rest but you had your best six days of work but you at your best when you're ready i don't want a surgeon operating on me that hasn't had appropriate rest i don't i don't want a dentist drilling in my mouth that has not had the appropriate rest i don't want a pilot flying the plane i'm on that hasn't had the appropriate rest and whatever field you're in i know you get it i know you're talented but you're still at your best when you rest there is a personal benefit that is attached to remembering the sabbath then there is a social benefit attached to it what do you mean socially you know you got to understand the context in which the commandments were given to us in the first place they the hebrew people have been in bondage for 430 years as a people then they got set free god brought them out which means they had never known freedom before they had never known liberation and emancipation they'd always been in bondage and slavery this the first time they'd been in freedom they didn't know how to live in freedom as a faith community as a community of faith and that's why god gave him the commandment that's why god gave him the precepts the laws of god to show you here's how you live socially in a social context in a faith community and part of that is remember the sabbath day it is it's a social implication it's a social benefit to it because when you're at your best now you can be a blessing in community when you all burnt out and worn out and drained and miserable and weary man you impact the rest of us socially here's what the apostle paul says those of us who are christians he says we're the body of christ different members same body and as members of the body of christ all of us know this with our bodies that if one part of your body doesn't function properly your entire body is impacted by that so here you are worn out and burned out you can't function properly it doesn't just affect you individually socially it affects the rest of the body of christ andre drummond is a nba player i think he was drafted i knew he was drafted in first round i think it was by the detroit pistons where he started and then for a few minutes he went to the cleveland cavaliers and then he landed with the los angeles lakers and he has led the league in in rebounding four times he's a young man but he's he's a very very talented nba player he's intimidating he plays d he's big he's strong and when he landed with the lakers he really hasn't played too much not because he's not talented but because he has one toe that won't function right and that one toe that won't function right has impacted his entire body now he's six foot ten he's 280 pounds he is one of the strongest men in the nba but he can't get on the court because one member of his body won't function right that's what i'm saying y'all when we line our lives up with the word of god and when we get our best through that rest that god commands us now socially there are benefits associated with that and when you're reading in psalm 92 in the middle it does mention the wickedness and the wretchedness but then when you keep reading it gets down to verse 12. and in verse 12 this is psalm 92 verse 12 but the ungodly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of lebanon in the king james version it says that the righteous will grow strong like palm trees the righteous the godly these are people who are in right relationship with the lord that's what righteousness means righteousness doesn't mean perfect it means being in right relationship with god and the way in the 21st century you get in right relationship with god you got to believe jesus died on the cross believe god raised him from the dead receive him by faith and now you in right relation and when you're in right relationship with the savior yo there are blessings that come with that the blessings that come with being in right relationship with the savior that's the best decision i've ever made in my life it will be the best decision you will ever make in your life when you receive jesus as your personal savior by faith well what do those blessings look like since well you're going to be like a tree he said now the the wicked they're like grass they wither but the righteous are not like grass they're like trees trees not just any tree like palm trees and and the thing that palm trees are known for are their flexibility and stability yes he says i'm gonna make you like a palm tree when you get it right with jesus and you're gonna have flexibility and stubbility like a palm tree yo every year i i go to florida to get a cyber to get a rest every year and and every now and then i go there on the heels of a hurricane and when hurricanes go through uh through florida like that man it tears up everything the highway signs are all over the place and houses are destroyed boats and ships are wrecked it it it brings havoc because sometimes the winds can be 125 miles per hour it'll take trees and crack trees in half and uproot trees and the wind will carry them away but not a palm tree a palm tree has flexibility and stubbility and when those winds come through in florida you see the palm trees in that storm they may bend but they do not break and god says i'm gonna make you like a palm tree you're gonna deal with storms you're gonna deal with white supremacy you gotta deal with racism you're you're gonna have to deal with with poverty you're gonna have to deal with police brutality you're gonna have to deal with with all these lies that come from from people in high places you gotta deal with all that but you're gonna be like a palm tree it may bend you but it will not break you and i gotta admit that there have been times in my life seeing the things that go on in this world that i i've i've been bent uh there have been times looking at these mass shootings and then it comes to my own community in indianapolis and eight people dead and my heart is going out to those families i gotta admit i've had times looking at all of the injustices in the world and the mass incarceration of black and brown people i gotta tell you there have been times i've been bent looking at poverty and sickness and disease and death i've been bent but praise god it didn't break me matter of fact that same palm tree that's bent by the storm but when the sun comes back out and shines when that palm tree is in right relation with the sun then that palm tree stands straight again that's what i'm trying to tell you all the hell we've been facing all the things we've been going through you know it might bend you but don't let it break you and stay in right relationship with the son of god and when you got that right he'll have you stand straight again he said i'm gonna make you like a palm tree wickedness wretchedness wrongness all of this this hell that we're facing in our life he said but i'm gonna make you like a cedar tree the cedar trees of lebanon y'all in that day lebanon was known for his cedar tree cedar tree cedar tree they they represent uh durability and longevity the the the cedar trees you know they were exported from lebanon to all the different countries in the known world they would use them to build ships and build houses solomon even use them to build the house of god to build the temple and use it to build his own house because they're known for durability and longevity and and here's the thing about these these cedar trees these cedar trees you know they are as as long as i am tall they're diameter i'm six foot two and a cedar tree can have uh is diameter of anywhere from six feet to eight feet then they can grow like 80 feet 90 feet 100 feet tall then they live like 800 900 a thousand years and god says i know you're going through wickedness i know it's wearing on you i know you're worried and concerned but you don't have to be because the wicked are like grass they're going to wither but you're not like grass you like the trees the cedar trees in lebanon you have durability you have longevity that you yo that's why when the bible speaks of christians it talks about eternal life and eternal life is both the quality of life and the quantity of life eternal life is everlasting life we live forever we got longevity and not only living forever but it's the quality of life it's not just how long we live it's how well we live and god says i'm going to provide for you and make it that you have that longevity that's why when you hear uh some people saying well pastor i understand fighting against injustice and protesting and marching and and i understand uh doing all we need to do to to overcome this voter suppression and all we need to do to go against racism but pastor i've been doing that a long time i'm 65 years old it's somebody else's turn now my fact i helped build two churches it's somebody else's turn now man god didn't say be faithful under 65. god said be faithful not under 70. god said be faithful unto death the fact you still here is an indication that god still wants to use you you are like a cedar tree with longevity and god still has a place for you but not only longevity it also talks about productivity in verse 14. he said you're going to be like a tree that produces productivity yes and the productivity remember the wickedness and the evil doing is mentioned in verse 7 and in verse 14 still producing is not producing because there is no opposition it's producing in the face of the opposition it's producing in the face of the racism in the face of the poverty in the face of the injustice he says that you're going to be like a tree with productivity you're going to produce and i praise god that he gives his holy spirit on the inside of you when you become a christian so that you can continue to produce and continue to be used by god y'all know by now i'm a big nba fan that's why i talked about andre drummond today every week i got some illustration about basketball i'm a big nba fan and i gotta admit every now and then when i'm watching the nba players i think back to my own days of playing basketball i know it doesn't look like it now but i used to be a decent athlete i was probably better at track and field but my favorite sport was always basketball so when i'm watching the nba i think about i could do all of that i see lebron grab a rebound and go coast to coast and lay it in i could do all of that i see durant pull up with that 18-footer and bank it all i i could do all of that i i see people with their handles dribbling the ball i could handle the ball i could dribble the ball i could do all of that i see people catching the alley-oop and throwing it down i could be on the the the latter end of the alley-oop and catch it and throw that down i could do all of that i already know your question pastor if you could do all of that then why didn't you make it to the league why didn't you make it to the nba because y'all i could do it i just couldn't do it when people were trying to stop me i couldn't do it in the face of opposition y'all anybody could be a christian anybody can sing songs of god anybody can serve anybody can work but can you do it in the face of racism can you do it in the face of injustice because in order to go to the next level you got to be able to do it when people are trying to stop you but god says i'm going to make you like a tree with durability with stubbility with productivity i'm making you like a tree let me give you the last thing and i'm finished and that is the benevolence that comes from the rock of our salvation hallelujah to the land i said the benevolence that comes from the rock of our salvation in verse 15 this is psalm 92 verse 15 they will declare the lord is just he is my rock there is no evil in him there may be injustice in the world but god is just there may be evil in the world but god has no evil in him god is all good all the time and it says he is our rock y'all in the old testament what we find in the old testament are shadows of what we're going to see of the substance in the new testament and this rock is a shadow in the old testament of the substance of a rock of our salvation jesus in the new testament the rock is jesus he's the rock of our salvation the rock is jesus the bible says he's the rejected stone that became the chief cornerstone jesus said upon this rock i'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail and my childhood pastor said when jesus said upon this rock i built my church then he pointed to himself he is our rock and and i told you with this rock i told you about we're the palm trees and the reason why when those storms go through florida and rip those and and break those other trees in half and uproot other trees and carry them away in the wind but not a palm tree it stays and it stands and it it bends but it doesn't break how does it endure 125 mile per hour wind when the others couldn't endure that that's because when a palm tree is planted its roots just keep going down and his roots keep going down keep going down until it comes to a rock and then the roots wrap itself around the rock and so when the storms come the palm tree can bend but not break and it can't be uprooted because it's wrapped around a rock at my childhood church they used to talk about when i was a youngster you got to be rooted and grounded in jesus hallelujah and when you are rooted and grounded in jesus it doesn't mean that the winds won't blow when the storms won't come and that ungodliness and wretchedness will not take place but it means after all of that you'll still be standing because you're rooted and grounded in jesus yes a tragedy has struck our community that peace with that mass shooting at fedex our hearts are heavy we're tired of seeing this senseless violence but i know we're still going to be able to stand because we are rooted and grounded in jesus hallelujah to the land he is our rock i'll close with this this was out in in rural michigan there was a man back in 1988 he bought a farm and when he bought this farm in 98 in edmore michigan there was a rock on the farm rock weighed about 20 pounds and it was an unusual looking rock and he used that rock to hold his barn door open it was a door stopper hold the barn door but whenever his family and friends would come around they see that unique unusual rock and they they tell him man you need to go let somebody check that out that don't look like a normal rock that rock looks different so for 30 years they would push him and prod him and and try to prompt him to go get the rock checked out he finally at 30 years decided to take it to central michigan university let a geologist look at it and when he walked into her office she said when she first saw it she already knew this was no ordinary rock and she told him that this is a rock that came from from outer space she said this is a meteor and i i don't i don't i don't call it a outer space i call it the heavens the sun the moon and the stars the heavens and this is a meteorite it's a rock that came from the heavens and landed on this earth and then this this rock is it's like 88 iron and 12 nickel it's worth it's valued at more than a hundred thousand dollars it's so unique until the smithsonian was seeking to get it in its museum and here is a man that had a rock it came down from the heavens on earth he had it but he didn't know the value of it he didn't know how unique it was and he used it only to hold the door open and you and i can't be too judgmental about him because there's another rock that came from heaven and that's jesus and some of us our rock of our salvation we don't know the value of the rock that we have and we just want to use jesus to have opened a door no he can do more than that he can't open doors that no man can close he can close doors that no man can open but he can save your soul he can forgive your sins he can lift your burdens this rock can make a way out of no way this rock can heal your body this this rock can fix your finances this rock can handle every issue in your life he is the rock of our salvation hallelujah to the lamb i keep bringing up my childhood church because when i'm talking about this rock that's what keeps coming to my mind cause we used to sing about this rock when i was a youngster in my childhood church rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thee we used to sing about this right right on christ the solid rock i stand all of the ground is sinking sand we used to sing about this rock where can i go when there's no one i can turn to who can i talk to when no one wants to listen who can i lean on when the earth all around is unstable i go to the rock i know he's able i go to the rock i go to the rock of my salvation i go to the stone that the builders rejected i run to the mountains and the mountains stand by me when earth all around is sinking saying on christ the solid rock i stand when i need a shelter when i need a friend i go to the rock and that rock of our salvation he's available to you right now with all the benefits with all the blessings of having a right relationship with god through his son jesus christ you can be saved right now and i'm going to give you a chance to do that the word of god says whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved i'm getting ready to pray right now and i want you to pray out loud repeating after me i'ma have you call on the name of the lord by faith and the moment you do that you become a child of god in right relationship with the lord follow me in prayer father i come right now i admit i've sinned i'm sorry for my sins i believe jesus died on the cross i believe you raised jesus from the dead i received jesus by faith please fill me with your holy spirit in jesus name amen hallelujah welcome to the family of god i'm so grateful to god that you made that commitment today so go ahead email us here at eastern star church email us at membership eastern starchurch.org so you can let us know the commitment that you've made and those of you who already christian you're already saved but but this wickedness in this world was wearing you down and you started to kind of stray from christ in the church but now you're ready to get reconnected go ahead email us at membership at easternstartchurch.org so we can get you reconnected to the church so that you can continue to be blessed and be a blessing in your walk with god hallelujah to the lamb all right it is time for the offering it is time for us to give the way god said give and of course i even like i talked about with the sabbath there's always a blessing attached to obedience so when we're obedient and we bring the tithe and offering god opens the windows of heaven pours out a blessing you don't have room enough to receive it all so we want you to be generous with your giving you can always go to our website eastonstartchurch.org see all the wonderful things we're doing in ministry and the only way they're happening is because of the generosity of the people of god and so if you want to participate in the offering there are three options that we give you here at eastern star church uh you can text to give text 4577 esc to 4577 which you amount in the message field and then you can mail it to us at eastern star church 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 46218 or you can go to our website to give easternstartchurch.org there's a little tab there click on give go ahead and make that generous contribution to the kingdom of god where we pool our resources as the body of christ to advance god's kingdom and when one member of the body doesn't function right it impacts all of us so let's all function right be obedient to what god says about bringing that tithe and our offering let's ask god's blessings on our gifts today father in the name of jesus christ we just thank you for who you are you are an awesome god and you are god forever thank you for how you handle the wicked even in this messed up world and thank you dear god for the blessings on our lives for the strength and the stability and the durability and the longevity and the productivity so that we can continue to stand even in the face of the storms that we have to deal with and now father i pray that you'll receive these gifts as we give them in your name we give out of obedience we give out a trust in faith to god knowing that you're going to take it and bless it and stretch it and use it to advance your kingdom on this earth and lord i pray that those who are giving those who are sacrificing that you'll give back to them good measures press down shaking together i pray you run it over in their life and i believe it done in jesus name amen amen praise the lord praise god i pray you take that word apply to your life i thank god that you certainly streamed with us today and connected with eastern star church and you know don't just do it on sunday mornings make sure that you're connecting with the other uh things that we have going on in ministry everything is virtual right now but you can still get connected whether it's bible study the women the men all we got everything going on the youth the children so make sure that you're getting connected where you need to be connected before i give the benediction i certainly want to lift up uh the families of those who had somebody to be killed out at fedex in indianapolis and those that that got shot but they survived we still want to pray for them and their their families and our community we're all hurting behind this let's go ahead and go to god in prayer father we do honor you and glorify you we believe you are god all by yourself lord we believe that you have unfailing love thank you for loving us even when we were unlovable thank you for your faithfulness throughout our lives dear god thank you for the plans you have for us thank you for the work you've done for us but now under god you know what's happening in indianapolis and so i lift those families up to you dear god that that have to deal with bereavement and the death of loved ones and i lift those persons up that got shot and survived to god i pray that they'll have total restoration we know that you are a healer you're a jehovah rapha and lord i pray for each of those family members that you give them comfort and strength that you'll touch them is only you can touch you'll strengthen them as only you can strengthen give them the grace that you have to god to be able to endure this and lord i pray that our community and our country will learn from this senseless violence to god and this hurt and pain that we're going through to start making the corrections in our lives to line our lives up with you i pray for our lawmakers dear god that they'll operate with some common sense and come up with policies and legislations that keep the citizens of this nation safe and i put all of this in your hands and i pray that you'll work everything together for good lord we need you so much right now and i'm trusting that even though we have to go through these tribulations that you've already overcome the world and we will operate in that victory and i believe it does now in jesus name amen amen let me go ahead and offer you the benediction may god bless you and keep you may god have his face to smile upon you and be gracious unto you may god turn his countenance towards you and grant you peace and i pray that god will do that today and forevermore in jesus name amen amen god bless you i love you guys you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 1,225

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: ESC, Bible Study, Noonday, Indianapolis Church

Id: UmJ4BZl8XM8

Length: 43min 31sec (2611 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 18 2021