Bible Study

praise the lord saints what a joy it is for me to greet you yet again on tonight to god be the glory for the great things he has done i want to say thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to tune in to make sure not only your mind is in tune but also your heart and your spirit is in tune to receive what the lord shall share with us on tonight i want to say thank god for each of you who joined in with us this past sunday as we celebrated the highest and holiest day of the christian liturgical calendar the fact that our god our savior jesus christ got up i said he got up he got up not with some power but he got up with all power in his hand and that same power is available to you on tonight whatever you're going through whatever you face with god's power can lift you up out of the doldrums of despair and put you on the sun live path of hope and restoration and so we want to thank you yet again for sunday and for joining us on tonight also friends i want you now to share this particular bible study with those who are part of your facebook village if you're on facebook share this and also if you're on live stream you can copy the link and give it to someone even now as i'm speaking because we want to be a blessing to not only our members but for those who are connected to us worldwide and if you're on facebook as well you can type in the name of someone that god is laying on your heart right now or someone you know would be blessed by this particular study it ought to be all of your facebook friends everybody can be blessed by this particular study that we're having on tonight well pastor what are we going to be talking about tonight well we are looking at the fact of returning back home home coming home coming and i'm going to be looking at this particular theme for this session and the next session from this particular passage on tonight focusing on 2nd samuel chapter 6. but when i begin to initially think about homecoming my mind begins to think about some of the greatest experiences i've had in my life ever since i could remember from middle school to high school even to college we always look forward to great anticipation to homecoming because you know at homecoming it was it wasn't just about the football team it wasn't just about the basketball team winning because some of us if you went to some of the schools like i did we already knew before we got in the stands that our team was not going to be victorious but it was all right because that wasn't the real purpose of homecoming the real purpose of homecoming was not only seeing current students of that particular institution but seeing those who had graduated and seeing those who had gone into the world to become movers and shakers for them to return back to the place of their beginnings and it would encourage us as current students that if they were able to do it you that's right you remember that we could do it as well i remember homecoming very fondly i remember when i was at fisk we had mary j blige to come for homecoming and and jodeci i don't know if some of y'all remember joe just said i'm i'm not going to dare in this pulpit speak of some of the songs that they would sing but but i remember jonasy coming through and boys to men i mean we just look forward to great times at our school's homecoming but listen i realized that that wasn't the greatest homecoming the greatest homecoming that i had was not at school but it was at church if you grew up in a black baptist church like i did every year they would have homecoming that's when old members who had been gone away would come back and we would have a reunion choir and sisters would sing brothers who had gone on with return and sing those deacons would pray some of our favorite preachers would preach and then after the great service we sure enough was going to eat we were just going to have a good time together and i really enjoyed the church homecoming because the church homecoming was going to do something for me that my school's homecoming could not do what is that the school's homecoming blessed my mind and my heart but when i went to the church's homecoming that did something to my soul and church although a lot of those homecomings were by choice when we look at what has happened to us 388 days we have been outside of the confines of these walls as a worshipping community and i can't wait for us to return back into our sanctuary what saints all over this city would be able to come back home in this place i'm going to be preaching to some live people i'm i've been preaching to this wood and these pews for 388 days but i'm looking forward to the saints of god coming back home as we worship god together i can't wait the first sunday in may cannot get here fast enough and yes many of us are excited now let me say this as a caveat that's a word of caution pastor are you requiring us that we have to come back no ma'am no sir i am not making a mandate whatsoever that you have to return i know what the bible says i know hebrews 10 25 says forsake not the assembly of yourselves together as some do but encouraging one another as we see the day approaching i i understand the scripture but the bible says we have to read the whole counsel of the word of god which means we can't cherry pick what scriptures we want to use when we want to use it and what are you saying that to say pastor i'm saying that because i'm building a bridge to this statement that the bible also says we've got to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves so if you are feeling sick if you feel that you you're not at your best that's why we're asking you please for your safety and for our safety as we're returning back home that particular sunday you stay at your home home and don't come to your church home all right but you can watch us via the world wide web you can watch us on this stream that you're watching us on now because we know some of our members are not comfortable with returning just yet we are in person we are still for every service that we have we are going to have the virtual option just as you've been watching already you'll be able to continue to watch until you reach that level of comfortability somebody in the comments ought to say a man amen yes yes but for qui when it comes to homecoming there there's a certain criteria i think you would agree with me that some things have to be met for there to be a homecoming number one under letter a on your handout and the handout has been posted for you has been sent to you via email and is posted on our facebook page criteria for a homecoming someone or something is returning home that's number one someone or something is returning home reference we have luke 15 and i'm not going to read those scriptures i'm just making a reference to them because we call luke chapter 15 a lot of time in the theological circles the lost and found chapter because composed within this chapter are three stories of all three different things that were lost that became found and the bible tells us that the first particular uh story in these three parables in luke 15 was the parable of the lost sheep and if you read the parable of the lost sheep verse 5 and 6 says this man had a hundred sheep he leaves the 99 goes out and finds the one and the bible says when he returns home yeah homecoming homecoming with that particular sheep the bible says that he asked his neighbors he asked people to rejoice with him yeah because if you look at number one i said homecoming should not be treated like a home going i'll say it again a homecoming should not be treated like a home going you know a home-going service just another way of saying a funeral when we gather for a funeral people are are shattered they are crushed they are crestfallen because one uh one or several of their family members have made the transition for one reason or another and because of that a lot of times in a home go home going celebration some some people are not as enthused and excited that their loved one has made the transition maybe because of the circumstances that cause their demise we don't know but brothers and sisters when you get to a home coming just like this sheep experience when the shepherd went out and found him he tells the people look this is not a home going this is a homecoming rejoice with me be excited with me because the sheep that was lost has now been found the same thing happened with the lost corn that woman was sweeping through her house and she found that valuable piece of corn and she did the same thing that that's that the man who found his sheep did come and rejoice with me because the coin that i lost has now been found and the same thing happened with the lost son when you look at verse 24 of luke chapter 15 it tells us that when that boy came home his daddy ran out to meet him and they were having a jolly good time and it's usually every time there's a home coming it's usually accompanied by music and dancing and we find this in luke chapter 15 because remember when the eldest son returns home and he asks what's all this music and dancing about it was because the sun that was lost has now come home making it a what home coming all right and it's usually accompanied by music and dancing and pilgrim rest we're going to experience our homecoming on may the 2nd and guess what it's because pilgrims from pilgrim rest are now returning back home and are we going to have some music and dancers you sure you're right we're going to have some music we're going to have some dancing because it's a homecoming and not a home going but let's look at a particular instance in scripture aside from luke chapter 15 that lost and found chapter where there was likewise a homecoming did you know that david the sweet psalmist of israel david experienced a homecoming not only him but several of the israelite men along with him how do you know that pastor i know it because it's in second samuel and i want us to turn there ii samuel chapter 6 and i want us to begin to look at verses one through five seconds samuel chapter 6 verses 1 through 5 and as i usually do in bible study i'm reading from the new international version read with me if you're at home verses 1 through 5 says david again brought together all the able young men of israel 30 000. oh man you're talking about the homecom a homecoming 30 000 men it said he and all his men went to bala in judah to bring up from there the ark of god so they're going into judah and now they're coming back home they're bringing back home the ark of god which is called by the name the name of the lord almighty who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark remember we talked about that this past sunday about the mercy seat and you have the two cherubims and it is believed that in the middle of those cherubims is where god would reside verse three they set the ark of god on a new card that's going to be important in a minute you may want to underline new new new on a new cart and brought it from the house of abinadab which was on the heel other and ohio sons of abinadab were guiding the new car with the ark of god on it and ohio was walking in front of him david watch this okay here's the singing and the dance and here here's where they're the music and the dancing piece verse five david and all israel all these men thirty thousand with all their might was celebrating with all their might and you read further for those that know this scripture says that david would dance later with all his might it starts here in verse five he's doing it with all his might before the lord that's important notice he's not doing it for show in front of the people and i know a lot of times when we have in our homecomings people want to show out they go and get the the nicest wear the loudest perfume the loudest cologne why because they want to be seen but when we come back in here it's imperative for us to know that when we dance when we sing when we shout when we are demonstrative in worship it is not because we do it to be seen but remember we are always before the audience of one and that person is god of above he danced before the lord with all of the casternets harps liars temples systems and symbols look at all these kinds of music that were there because they were having a homecoming does it fit the criteria pastor you said someone returning home accompanied by music and dancing yes it does david and his men are coming back to jerusalem the ark of the covenant is coming back home not only is the ark of the covenant coming back home but the men are coming back home so in a sense it's a double homecoming because the ark of the covenant is coming home as well as the men along with david are returning back home with the ark of the covenant and we just saw in verse five they are accompanied by music and dancing i think it's imperative for us to stop a minute again to review what is the ark of the covenant i know we mentioned it sunday it bears repeating again because the ark of the covenant has such a prominent place in the old testament and i don't want you to read it or it's mentioned and you not know the symbolic significance of what it represents number one the ark the word ark simply means box okay it simply means box and the ark of the covenant as we saw on the picture sunday was laden with gold with laden with gold and it is the physical representation of the presence of god remember god is a spirit god is a spirit but by us being human beings a lot of times we don't believe something until we see it or we see a representation of it and so god knew that his people although we're supposed to walk by sight walk by faith and not by sight he knew that many of us walked by sight and not by faith and so a lot of people put their hope their trust in this ark of the covenant why because it was the physical manifestation of god it was the representation of the living god and the inside of that ark we know that it contained three elements if someone ever wants to quiz you and they may ask you a little bible trivia what's in the ark of the covenant because it was actually a box that you put a top on it had a top on it and it was laden with gold but they're inside of that box inside of that golden ark is three things it was first of all it was the rod of aaron moses's brother that was still budding isn't that amazing the rock it was still budding it was a cup of manna remember when god fed the children of israel in the wilderness when they were in the wilderness for those 40 years that god would allow manna to fall from heaven and feed them and then number three it was the decalogue also known as the ten commandments all three of those items were inside of the ark of the covenant all right but on the outside of the ark of the covenant remember we have the cherubims you've got with those two wings coming uh toward each other and in the middle of those cherubims was called the mercy seat that's actually the place where god resided and that's actually the place where the high priest on the day of atonement would take that sacrificial goat and would take the blood from that goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and that would atone or forgive the sins of the people for that one year but we know as god jesus being our sacrificial lamb that because of his blood by him being god himself that his blood was holy as opposed to the uh we know that we had bulls and goats and bulldogs but what made his particular sacrifice where god was pleased with it once and for all is because not only was his blood holy but it was infinite and by god being holy and infinite the only thing that can ultimately please him is blood that is holy and infinite and see the bloods of the bulls and the and the blood of the lambs that were there they were unblemished yes they were holy they were set apart but they were not infinite and so when jesus comes along and gives his blood which is holy and infinite and god being holy and infinite and by jesus being a a part of god being holy and infinite the only thing that could ultimately appease him was the blood of one holy and infinite that was what on the inside and the outside of that ark where had the ark been i mean for him for those men to be going back to get the ark of the covenant where where had it been let's go to first samuel chapter 4 to see where this thing where the ark of the covenant was so we can get an understanding of why they're making that pilgrimage there first samuel chapter four beginning at that tenth verse so the philistines fought and the israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent the slaughter was very great israel lost 30 000 foot soldiers the ark of god was what captured and eli's two sons hoffney and phineas died that's an important verse because when you read the context of this verse when you go back and read the beginning of first samuel chapter four you will discover that they were already in hot pursuit with the philistines as you read through the old testament the arch nemesis of the israelites were always the philistines and they are now in another battle and the people of god the israelites are beaten to a pulp so much so that not only do the philistines beat them but they also take their most prized possession which is the ark of the covenant and if you read these verses earlier they even come in the philistines even comment that the israelites are powerful because of that ark of the covenant why because it was the representation of god knowing that god was present with them by the presence of the ark of the covenant for 75 years the ark of the covenant who was was away from david was away from the people in jerusalem but let's see what happens now and so i love the bible let's see what happens when they try to take something that doesn't belong to them all right trying to take the presence of the lord let's see what happens to them go as i have listed here first samuel chapter five go to the very next chapter and let's look at verse six five and six of first samuel the lord's hand was heavy on the people of ashdod and his vicinity he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors when the people of ashdod saw what was happening they said the ark of the god of israel must not stay here with us because his hand is heavy on us and on dagon our god so they called together all the rulers of the philistines and asked them what shall we do with the ark of the god of israel they answered have the ark of the god of israel moved to gap so they moved the ark of the god of israel but after they had moved it the lord's hand was against that city throwing it into great planet he afflicted the people of a city both young and old with an outbreak of tumors so they sent the ark of god to ekron as the ark of god was entering ekram the people of ekron cried out they have brought the ark of god of israel around us to kill us and our people so they called together all the rulers of the philistines and said send the ark of god of israel away let it go back to his own place or it would kill us and our people they knew that this was not just any old box but they knew something was real about the representation of it because it represented god himself and every time they tried to move this ark of the covenant god as the bible said would rain down affliction heavy on the particular town because the ark was not at home it was not where it was supposed to be and let me tell you something things are not going to go right for you like they're supposed to be if you're not where you're supposed to be that's why i tell people when god has called you from a church just don't get up and leave that church because you've gotten upset with somebody or because something has not gone your way no you need to stay firmly planted i think i'm preaching now you need to stay firmly planted and rooted on where god has sent you because he's placed you at that particular place for a particular reason and so we see now where the ark of the covenant had been and it had been in the custody of the philistines and now it was in the home as we've read earlier of abinadab and now david and his mighty army are going to retrieve the ark of the covenant but i said earlier that a homecoming is not to be a home going right i said that earlier but i want you to see something that although a home going should not be included should that a homecoming should not resemble a home going because of what david did not do there was a home going at this home coming you don't believe me let's look at it again i know i read and you're here in second samuel chapter 5 6 verses 1 through 5 but i want to read what happened in verse number six after all of that singing and dancing that they were doing in verse five we get some disturbing news in verse number six let's look at verse six of second samuel six it says when they came to the threshing floor of nikon other reached out and took hold of the ark of god because the oxen stumbled what happened verse 7 the lord's anger burned against other because of his irreverent act wait it seemed like he was doing the right thing right it seemed like he was doing the right thing by putting his hand on the ark of the covenant from keeping it from falling because the ox had stumbled the bible said god didn't see it that way god saw it as an irreverent act therefore god struck him down and he died there beside the ark of god verse 8 then david was angry because the lord's wrath had broken out against us and to this day the place is called peris uzza david was afraid of the lord that day it said how can the ark of the lord ever come to me he was not willing to take the ark of the lord to be with him in the city of david instead he took it to the house of old bed edom the get type wow god was so upset that as they were making their pilgrimage home with the ark of the covenant one of the oxen that was carrying or or pulling along the ark of the covenant that was on a cart the bible says that the ox stumbled and because of that it seemed like the ark of the covenant was going to stumble and it seems just to seem like the appropriate thing to do right to stop this most precious representation the the most pr the most precious artifact that they have some say it was the ten commandments but no the inside of the ark of the covenant was the ten commandments it was the most precious artifact they had and it seemed like he's just trying to keep it from going on the ground but the bible said god was hot with him and took him away right on the spot there was a home going at this homecoming now friends hold on i know just like you that we don't want no home goings [Laughter] for our homecoming all right we want celebration we don't want devastation but we have to look to see what happened to cause that devastation so we don't make the same mistake as we're trying to make our way back home into the house of god and what i'm going to do this week i'm going to deal with the don'ts the things that we should not do the things that don't need to happen as we're making our way mentally physically spiritually back to these hallowed grounds there are some things that should be on our don'ts list and that's what i'm going to cover this week and then next week from this same passage of scripture second samuel 6 i'm going to look at some things should be on our do list that we learned from this particular story so let's look at a few of the don'ts this week precious principles from this perigraphy all right what what was their devas what caused their devastation and not their celebration now we see that other puts his hand out he touches the ark of god right but how did god want the ark to be removed what was god's way all right okay how how was that supposed to happen let's go to exodus 25 exodus 25 and let's read verses 12 through 15 and then we go to deuteronomy exodus 25 and we're going to read at verse 12. it says cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet with two rings on one side and two rings on the other then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it the poles are to remain in the rings of this ark they are not to be removed so that so we learn here that there are actually in the picture that i showed you on sunday you saw those holes in the ark of the covenant there are to be particular poles that are through those holes and actually the ark of the covenant is supposed to be lifted i'm getting ahead of myself because i'm going to deal with that next week about this lifting of the ark of the covenant but who's carrying this ark of the covenant all right it's not supposed to be on this cart that they're dragging all right they they it's supposed to be lifted up and i'm going to talk more about that next week we're going to deuteronomy go to deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 8. listen welcome because this is the first time that some of you all have ever read from the book of deuteronomy welcome now welcome welcome deuteronomy chapter 10. deuteronomy 10 verse 8. it says at that time the lord set apart the tribe of levi to do what to carry the ark of the covenant of the lord to stand before the lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name as they still do today the levites were the chosen ones who were to pick up the ark of the covenant don't put your hands on it but use these poles why because god is holy and because ozza was immortal he's putting his hand on something that represents immortality and god is not going to be pleased with that so god said i'm going to show you all i mean business and he was struck down because they didn't do it god's way um i need to tell i'm getting i'm getting to where i'm going in just a second okay that was god's way let's look at david's way what did david do now they're supposed to be carrying this thing on poles right but what did david do what what what did the people do when they were carrying the ark of the covenant let's go back to second samuel chapter six second samuel chapter six and let's look at verses two and three he and all his men went to below in judah to bring up from there the ark of god which is called by name the name of the lord almighty which is enthroned between the cherubim on the verse three here's where i want to focus they set the ark of god i told you to underline that on a what a new cart but the bible says that you're not supposed to be the pr god's representation of his presence is not supposed to be down here and below you oh i wish i had time to really deal with that if he's supposed to be up high above you yeah see ya and a lot of times we like to put god i'm getting ahead of my i wanted to deal with this next week that we we want to put god down on our level um see and we we got to get this stuff straight church before we come back to church is because before we come back in here we need to know that whenever we think we made it and we've been out of this place for 388 days and have been sustained whenever we think we have done it by our own power and our own might and our own will we're putting god at our feet when he ought to always be above us looking unto jesus i will lift up mine eyes to the heels from which cometh my health he should always be before us and above us he's ca they're dragging y'all y'all see the picture they got the oxide up above them and they've got animals dragging this which represents the very presence of god look at what happens though why were they dragging it on the car why why did they have it on this car where did they get that from when the bible says he's supposed to be lifted up why are they dragging when they're supposed to be lived where did they get that mess from let's go back to first samuel chapter six it's right there first time chapter six verse seven and eight this is the philistines talking they said now then get a new cart ready with two cows that have calved and never been yoked hitch the cows to the cart but take their calves away and pin them up take the ark of the lord and put it on the cart in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering send it on his way but keep watching it they got this from their enemies they saw the philistines do it and they said that seems pretty good so monkey see monkey do it work for them it'll work for you all right pastor that's cool when we know we can apply that to our lives don't because a whole lot of times we do stuff because we saw somebody else do it and it seemed like it worked for them and if it worked for them it looked like it'll work for us how do we bring that to the church before we get before we come back home you got to realize that what worked for other churches yeah i'm going there yeah yeah i got we got to do this before we come back home what works down the street and around the corner for another church may not work for pilgrim rest we have to do what works for us and i know with covert 19 protocols every church and i've been reading uh ad nauseam it seems on just trying to make sure that we're on in tip-top shape the elders and i we've been making doing our level best going above and beyond trying to make sure that we have the best practices in place when we return to worship and every time i read a different church's manual there's always something different why because of the fact that it's a different church there they may be seeing things differently when it comes to its operation and when it comes to our covet 19 protocols i know some churches are all right with you not wearing your mask not here when you come into these doors we want you to put on a mask we're still dealing with the pandemic it hasn't gone away just because you've been vaccinated it's still out there we want to protect ourselves i was at this other church and i saw where everybody was using the same microphone no we're not going to do that they're going to be some things we're going to do that's going to be different they're going to be some things you may not like when you come up to the lot and you see we have different things going up you have to go get your temperature checked and you have to make sure you're screened properly you've been registered you may not want to do all of that but for where we are right now we are doing what's best for pilgrim rest baptist church and just because it's different doesn't mean it's deficient say it again just because it's different doesn't mean it's deficient all right because what worked for others may not work for us i remember what happened with david in in so we're talking about samuels when you go to first samuel chapter 16 and 17 remember when he was getting ready to go against goliath and saul tried to put his armor on david and david could not operate in that armor why because it wasn't made for him it was not going to work for him because given where david was what worked for saul was not going to work for him and what did david do that's when he took the five smooth stones and slingshot and he defeated the giant goliath you still can get the goal accomplished even when it may be different or you may not see it that particular way does not mean god still won't get the glory because of the means by which his glory is being received that's the first thing i want us to get from that text the second thing is notice that we should not do we should not do we should never mishandled god's presence because remember what happened why did those will die because he was trying to put something mortal on something immortal it was not going to work he mishandled to think that he could actually put his hands on god on the very presence of god we are no matter what we do what god was trying to show no matter what you do you will never be in the same league as me you you will never be in the same stratosphere as me and he had to make that clear that that it's it it was such a blunder it it was such an offense that god said his own the only thing that it could have is punishable by death and church look at the grace that god gives us because oftentimes we have been guilty of mishandling god's presence what does it mean pastor to mishandle god's presence it's when we come in church one way that we do it and we don't worship god as the bible says in john 4 and 24 that they must worship him how in spirit and in truth we say it all the time but a lot of us don't know what that means what does it mean to worship god in spirit and in truth what it means when it says worship god in spirit it means that you are worshipping god with all of your heart that when you come into this space that you are giving god all that you have there should be passion exuded when you worship god remember i've said before and it bears repeating that the heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart remember david said create in me a clean heart o god and renew in me the right spirit so as a man thinketh in his heart so is he if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and believe in thy heart that god raised him from the dead love the lord with all thy heart thy soul thy strength the heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart and when we come to worship god when we are worshiping him with all of our heart it is the amalgamation of the will the intellect and the emotions all in one and can we honestly say every time we have entered into god's house or even since you've been worshipping at home have you every time when you worship god gave it your all by making sure that your heart your mind your soul that your will your intellect and your emotions were all together on the same page when you're worshiping god worshiping him with your heart it says just not with your heart but it says also worshiping him in spirit and in truth because what is saying it is that anyone can praise god anybody can do that but everybody can't worship him why because to worship him with the truth means you got to know something truthful about him to be able to worship him in spirit and in truth and so the more you are knowledgeable about who god is the deeper you have a relationship with god and you know by for yourself no one has to convince you who god is when you know that for yourself and you get a deeper relation with him when you read his word and when you pray and when you fast no one has to tell you who god is you know it for yourself when you bring those two elements together because the more i know about him the more i want to worship him the more i think about how he's been a provider the more i think about he's made a way the more i think about that i was on my way to a burning hell but he saved me and rescued me just in time it makes me want to lift my hands and worship and praise his holy name mama said if somebody does something good for you it's just good proper protocol it's just good sense to tell them thank you now i know i'm not i know you're not in the sanctuary with me but we we might as well act like since we're getting ready to be back into this worship experience together if you all were here with me tonight i would ask you when you think of the goodness of jesus and all that he's done for you what should be your response your soul ought to just cry out hallelujah thank god for saving us because the more i think about who he is to me the more i want to worship him in spirit because what drives my passion to worship him it's because of the truth that i know about him we mismanage the moment when we refuse to arm ourselves with more and more truth about who he is so that we can worship him and be an informed worshiper we we we we cannot we cannot we cannot we cannot we cannot mishandle the very presence of god to think that somebody is as as as foul as as me to think of somebody as as away from the mark as me to think about how lowly i am and how far distance and detached i am from god i should always be in a position to realize that he's above me and beneath him but but but because david was so excited to go to retrieve the ark of the covenant and he did not do the first step which was read the word of god because exodus 25 already laid the blueprint out for how god's presence should be handled it shows going back to something i mentioned the other day but i think it bears repeating that he was ready they were ready but they were not prepared and and so brothers and sisters that as we about to close this out that's something we've got to do pure that that yes we've been away from the church for some some time and they're going to be some different protocols required of us i know many of you have said to me pastor i'm ready to come back to church but i raised that question that i raised for you three weeks ago i raised it again tonight i know you're ready but are you prepared for the homecoming why because the very fact that when you come back to church you just can't walk in like you normally would you got to make sure that you've been registered you got to make sure that you stop by and get your temperature checked you you got to make sure here's the other thing when the usher you just can't come in the sanctuary now and sit down where you want to sit the ushers are going to lead you to your seat and you can't copy your attitude because you're not sitting in the section that you're accustomed to sitting in we i know you're ready but are you prepared for that that we're going to have to go through a change in our mind to realize the church as we once knew it is different when we now come back home will it always be that way we don't know but we have to put ourselves in the mindset that since church is different i can't walk in with the same mindset i've got to have a different mindset as we're coming back home to worship our god listen isn't it amazing how we can be very rebellious sometime when we come to church what i mean us shall tell you okay no gum come down this way please sit here i i want to go sit where i want to sit i i want to go and sit and do what i want to do but listen is amazing that we go to a stop sign that has never said anything to us but we stop we go to a red light red light ain't saying a word but we stopped go to a a four-way stop light hadn't said a word we do exactly what it tells us to do you go to the supermarket they say you got to be six feet apart the sign hasn't said a word but you obey it if we can obey a sign if we can obey a light that hasn't said a word to us we should be able to have a little bit more compassion understanding for those who are trying to help us to experience the best homecoming that we possibly can are you prepared and here's the three areas that i want you to think about again are you prepared in the upward inward and the outward dimension as we come back to worst remember that's that's what our theme is for the year still standing still striving while still striving to become better in the dimensions of that which is upward strengthening my relationship with god and as we're preparing to do that what i'm going to ask the church to do is to march says mark 9 and 29 there is talking about some things only happen by fasting and praying listen i i can guarantee you that although we are trying from an administrative level to prepare to have everything running the way it ought to with effectiveness and efficiency there's going to be some things that may not go as smooth when we're first rolling out these new protocols i can assure you of that whenever you have two or more people doing something there there's the possibility for it not to work out completely as you would desire it to it's going to happen but to help us from a spiritual standpoint to get our hearts ready for the changes because yes a whole lot of life is what happens to you but even greater is our response to them and when we prepare our hearts and minds we're able to deal with it until everything begins to level out properly i want the church for the next few weeks every wednesday and i'm going to be making this announcement it won't start today will start next week i want us to begin to fast and pray from 12 to 6. just no no breakfast that god would prepare us spiritually to come back home he wants to do that also inwardly ephesians 4 and 2 talks about being patient yes there might be some patience required i know you used to just walking right in but it's going to now require maybe some patience on our part and we're going to need god to help us to exhibit the patience next necessary and outward don't want you to forget we still want those who are unsaved on church to still come even in the midst of this pandemic even in the midst of this homecoming some of them need to find a home and it's our obligation as christians to encourage them they have no relationship with the lord jesus christ that pilgrim rest is a church in the heart of the community with the community at heart we're going to higher heights deeper depths as we occupy all streets and we're still standing but we're still striving to become all that god would help us to do us to be and i know church that if we continue to pray and fast that god would help us and even in those areas and even some areas that may not have we may not see for ourselves that god will reveal them to us we know that when we return to this place it will be a homecoming like never before i'm excited i'm looking forward to it and i can't wait to see your many faces in this place once again there may be someone watching us tonight said pastor mackie i need a home spiritually it's not by accident or by coincidence by god's divine providence that you have been led to this stream tonight because you need to unite with a church listen you need a church and our church needs you what does that mean when god knits your heart to a church that means there's something that you have that can help that church through your particular purpose to become all that that church can even be because of your connection to it god is calling you tonight saying today is your is your day this time is your moment to become a part of the pilgrim rest family or to be saved how do i be saved pastor matthew believe that one friday on a skull-shaped hill and a blood-soaked cross this man named jesus died for our sin but he didn't stay there you know the story bright early sunday morning he rose with all power in his hand if you can believe that tonight you can be saved you're already saved and you're looking for a church home even in the virtual community we'd love to be your church and i'd love to be your pastor if you're on facebook live there's a pin there below just press that pen press that pin and when you press that particular pin what's going to happen is going to lead you to a virtual membership page where you can become a member of our church fill out that information and someone very soon will be in contact with you and we're looking forward to the wonderful things that god will do through you with you and for you as a member of our beloved family come on let's give god praise yes for those who will unite with us on tonight god be praised for you my pilgrim family we are just excited be and delighted that god would lead us to join together we're going to be continuing with this theme homecoming even in our sunday morning messages so please let's be praying let's stay tuned for what god what the spirit the bible says we'll say to the church and we're glad to have you on tonight listen brothers and sisters tomorrow so tomorrow tomorrow the 8th the 9th and the 10th from 7 am to 2 pm our church has been blessed to partner with dignity health in giving 5 000 vaccines the johnson johnson vaccine which will be over the course of the next three days the 8th the 9th and the 10th listen if you know that you're not fully vaccinated if you have not been vaccinated already i'll say it that way we want you to come and receive this particular vaccine the johnson johnson is one shot that's it that's one shot you'll be one and done so do it do like you do bad news let's spread let's spread this news around to certainly help our community because if we're going to ever reach herd immunity we we need to get more people vaccinated and i know you've been hearing about the different variants but we're hearing that even with the new variance that happens you have a greater chance of overcoming the ills of this pandemic by getting vaccinated so please you do yourself a great service you'll do someone else a great service by coming or inform someone to come please please please and receive their vaccine once again 7 a.m to 2 p.m on thursday friday and saturday we're looking forward to to them to a great turnout all of those days and we're looking forward to seeing you this sunday morning 7 15 9 15 and 11 15 as god's going to bless us richly let me make this announcement as well brothers and sisters and thinking of all that's going to be taking place as we're making our transition back home we're going to be changing our service times we'll be changing our service times it is hot off of the press the first service will remain at 7 15 the next service will be at 9 30 and the last service will be at 11 45 i'll say it again the first service will be at 7 15. the second service will be at 9 30 and the last service will be at 11 45 why because it's going to be it will be a lot of things we will have to do in between services we will have to clean the church after each service sanitize it the surfaces in the restrooms all over the church so that it has been properly sanitized to prepare for the next service along with registration and other matters it's going to take time and we want to make time so that everyone can come in safely and we can be in here securely ready to praise god in spirit and in truth i thank god for each of you tonight thank you so much for tuning in with us we'll see you sunday if not before and may the lord bless you is our prayer have a good night you

Channel: Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church

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Length: 62min 12sec (3732 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 08 2021