BRINKLOW BROADCAST :This Is Us

oh yes you ready so [Music] do [Music] so [Music] do [Music] foreign [Music] do [Music] so [Music] do [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and happy sabbath everyone we are in god's presence amen come on and magnify the lord together with us please stand to your feet god we inhabit your praise today we welcome and we honor you in this place oh hallelujah with one voice and one heart with one love to one god let us magnify things together one voice here we are in one with our heads together come on oh [Applause] together hallelujah let's praise him together please be seated [Music] hey what's going on church family happy sabbath to you i'm on assignment again i'm on location again i told you you never know where i'm going to show up and so here i am at one of our members house they don't even know i'm coming and i want you to come see me check up on somebody just see how they doing see what's going on come on with me let's see who members doing about the knock-on i'm telling y'all i know they have no idea that i'm coming over it's a surprise i hope they home they should have came out by now hope hey hey hey y'all see who it is we came to check up we came to see what's going on come on out in this son man let's say what's up to the people let's see what's going on and see what's has been doing listen man man let me throw this mask up to make sure we good to go how you been doing covet man things are good yeah yeah yeah it's been good no complaints no i'm not complaining you've been enjoying staying in the love staying in the house is this your first time outside sisters you know what i'm saying since since quarantine what's going on nah we get out we got we get out we exercise okay i see the hoop out here yeah yeah yeah the boy trying to beat me yeah i hear you well listen say what's up to the folk and uh everybody just help me uh give some of these announcements so first thing we have going on this sunday is grocery grab and gold don't forget this sunday have you ever been there we've been out about four or five times okay i bring the boys with me we go how's it been it's been excellent i've been out there i've been out there when bobby's been out there listen bobby works he ain't just out there leading praise and worship and singing and shouting and praising the navy love he'd be out there working and we're encouraging you guys to come on come serve come help somebody else out that's this coming sunday another thing we got going on and you're a man yeah i'm a man sheldon you're a man behind camera we got uh we got men's ministry this uh friday night next friday night at 8 00 o'clock p.m i was on the last one yeah and we had a great time we had dr myron evans last time next friday 8 o'clock okay we have dr todd sterling nice i don't think y'all want to miss that yeah so i got it here i'm a guy on record bobby are you going to be there i'll be there i'll be there y'all heard it here first bobby kennedy is coming on zoom on men's ministry night if he can come you can come come on let the church say amen and this lastly man we've been in this series called this is us and really just talking about things that are pertinent that are important that are special for our relationship with us and god tell me one thing that you've noticed or have gotten a takeaway from the series so far man it's been a powerful series number one it's really been good to get out of what we see as normal church right and just have some real conversation yeah and even last week when when claudia allen made mention of how people in afghanistan israel that part of the world they're used to being and living with war yeah every day yes i remember that i don't understand that and don't and so our perspective is right about what warfare white really is yeah and so man if you want to get out of thinking and along the normal lines and just come and get some conversation and get some teaching yeah that allows you to shift your perspective and think differently then this series has been really powerful for that listen you heard it right here from bobby k we have bobby kennedy's house y'all let the church say amen i may be at your house next week you never know i don't want to catch you with your work undone bob ain't got no shoes on i hope you got something wrong when i come see you listen god bless you as we continue to worship together today as pastor dr medley leads us in another powerful installment of this is us god bless you god is going to do something special for you today peace [Music] nice too good morning everyone this morning check check check good morning good morning everybody good morning come on if you're in the house just wave at us wave your hands come on say hello to those watching online we say welcome to you that are watching online come on y'all can do better than that it's been a tough week man uh t said maybe we just need to talk to each other because they don't want to talk to us let me talk to y'all online because y'all are i mean they just quiet today i don't know anybody had a rough week like me and you just glad to be in the house of the lord come on put your hands together for the name of our god we praise god for one more day so we say good morning happy sabbath hello how are you hey what's up what's going on how you been uh hey i don't know no other ways to say what's going on listen we say welcome to you online you'll notice in today's service some people have masks on some don't and those that don't have a negative cover test so we just wanted to make sure that you are aware of that as we continue to keep people safe we are here for one reason and that is to celebrate the name of our god has god done one good thing for you this week come on let's talk people of god has he done one good thing if you're watching and he's done one thing for you would you just put something in the chat just describe one thing that the lord has done for you if you are here in the house and you can put your hand on one thing the lord has done for you just shout out one thing god has done in your life this week come on just shout out one thing has he kept you safe has he kept you in your right mind maybe i'm talking to the wrong folks no you guys are here you're breathing everybody i hope you have a smile on your face can't see through your mask yeah but the fact that we're here today is a blessing talk talk guys stand up on your feet is that is that something you can do come on if god has done something for you stand up on your feet and let's just put our hands together to praise the name of our god come on this is for god this is for god this is for god this is for god he's been good to us he's been real kind come on this is for god if you're breathing if you're still alive if you've kept your family safe if he's kept you in protection on the road come on put one thing in the jack that he's done for you in your life and we praise the name for our god amen so um get your cell phones out or you you can sit down get your cell phones out everybody got their cell phones out online you got your cell phone everybody in here and we want you to text to nine nine triple zero ninety nine thousand this is a series no hashtag no spaces so type in text nine nine zero zero zero and then the message part do this is a series no spaces no hashtag and then your message let us know what you're thankful for um this week and we'll be using this throughout the service and so listen if y'all are gonna be in the house y'all gonna have to talk to us if y'all ain't gonna talk you should have stayed home right if you gotta yell for your message i don't know what's going on online they don't wanna talk today maybe y'all should have switched and y'all should have been here and they should have been home but if you're in the house you gotta just more than you gotta do more than just look at us let me talk to this lady right here y'all they gotta do more than just look at me you know what i'm saying if y'all in here you might as well talk back to us let us know that you're alive and still breathing as we praise the name of our god we want to let you know that we are still grieving and mourning the loss of our conference president and his wife elder and sister fordham we continue to ask persons for the fordham family and we're praying in this season and this next season for the leadership in allegheny east conference you'll be receiving a survey soon as we seek to find out and pray for the next leadership in the conference we're asking when you get that survey if you would fill that survey out so that we would know where god is leading us in this next season also there will be a qr code um it should come up on this screen and we want you to use this to help you with taking sermon notes and then share it with us we would appreciate it keep it for yourself but then also share it with us it should there it is right there [Music] click this link and uh once dr benny comes with a sermon uh there'll be notes on there that you can take to help you as we continue to move through this is our series we praise god that with all these deaths happening and it's almost like every day we find out somebody else has passed are you feeling like me man i'm i'm so glad we're talking about this is us because this is not life you guys what we're dealing with right now but we're so thankful that during this season where so much death is taking place that god has blessed us with life in fact imani grace may wimbish was born this past week i thought we would say a picture that she is imani grace may win she was born this week and we say congratulations to the wimbish family for uh the gift of life and speaking of birth uh we have something special we want to do right now because um we have an older member in our congregation that celebrated a birthday this week and uh we want to celebrate him at this time well you know this is a very significant week in history one of the greatest tragedies that ever happened in american history took place during this week in fact today marks that day but also one of the greatest blessings in the world also took place this week and you all might not recognize the date until i frame it for you a little bit the date was 9 8 19 and uh on that day a very special birth took place it was the birth of our senior pastor pastor anthony medley i'm going to invite him to come right up right now you know when god blesses the world with a man of honor a man of faith a man of trust a man of steadfast belief somebody who has ridden this horse with us through good and bad he has been here with us all the way has led beyond belief just the church family should say thank you and so we have just a small token very small of the gifts that you have shared with us and given to us pastor we love you we admire you praise god for you thank you let the church say man put your hands together for our senior pastor dr medley celebrating 95 years of life we give god he looks good uh god bless aarp ministry and we thank god so much for that right before we leave i want to ask one question and we're going to use tisa the text message um information that you just received those watching online those that are here in the house [Music] 99000 this is a series and this is what i want you to put uh in the chat where were you when 9 11 happened where were you do you remember where you were tesla where were you when 9 11 first happened um i was at home getting ready for school i was homeschooled that year wow my junior year i'm at ta and yeah my mom called me setting up for the table you know at the table and she said teasa come here sure enough i did and we saw when i hit it i was in greek class at oakland university and uh one of the older professors ran into the classroom and said they're flying planes into the building and we looked at each other and said man this dude is getting old he don't know what he's talking about what's going on until a couple moments we realized what would be known and go down in infamy as one of the most difficult days in american history we want to take a moment right now just to remember those that we lost please take a look at the screen [Music] uh pretty much it was a day i was looking forward to it was tuesday i had uh for four more days left in the pentagon i've been there 14 years and my last day was supposed to be september 14 2001. [Music] well it was uh a confusing time at that point it was 8 45 and we had gotten word that the towers were hit had to realize that i was working in an area that was heavy on intelligence and our main job within my my frame of work that i was doing was we were responsible for any type of retaliation or airstrike that took place worldwide so it was uh intelligence gathering time when a lot of stuff was missed during that time because we're looking at 8 45 and then 18 minutes later we still hadn't received the intelligence that we needed to prevent anything that was going on at that point in time oh my goodness oh my goodness we're looking at a live picture from washington and there is smoke pouring out of the pentagon it would appear that there has been another major explosion this one in the nation's capital you are looking at a scene of uh apparent blast aftermath there is smoke in the air over the pentagon actually my office uh from the blast uh site itself is about a couple of quarters two quarters over from the actual blast but because i was in that specialized unit my office was embedded within stone in between the first floor and the basement is called the mezzanine and so that was where if any strike on the pentagon were to happen that the computer systems and everything else would be pretty much intact and be kept safe from that but we really did not have a chance to really react to anything uh further uh for the most part because our job is in retaliation mode so within a span from 9 45 to about probably about 10 45 11 o'clock we went from an office that's normally manned at 34 34 people and eight probably a computer specialist um to an office of 150 to 160 within an hour and a half period we didn't have time to actually sit back and think about uh what was going on outside the majority of us did not get our first break probably until about four o'clock in the afternoon um and so we're talking about nine nine uh nine hours later actually actually going out and having a breath and it wasn't until then that we stepped up to the first floor that you know the chaos was still there uh smoke is still bellowing through through the uh through the pentagon the smell uh just heavy on the lungs heavy on heavy on the nose heart wrecking time to actually be out there but you had to understand that it brought back to the reality of what we were doing what we needed to accomplish and kept us focused on on the mission at hand [Music] for me um that day is a a solemn day for me uh it's pretty much private um i kind of like keep to myself that day um i try to reflect on the actual moment that time i sit back and i think about the lives that were lost makeshift morgue that was in the courtyard that you had to watch and see on a daily basis it's something that happens to the soul when you see that many people in one area that you know are not going to walk say hello to their kids again i think about the time when telecommunications were out in the pentagon and my son was the only one who was able to get in touch with me it's actually pulled out of his class at damascus high school and they just put him on the phone and said dial until you reach somebody and fortunate enough for me you know his phone call was only when it came through and so he was able to let my wife and the rest of my family know that i was fine and i was working um think about you know just those people that were injured um these are things that play in your mind over these years when you keep these things fresh in your mind and these thoughts on that day these are the things that i tend to think about these are things that i kind of reflect on uh those families you know the people were injured things of that nature that um allowed me to [Music] just say a prayer or just give them some type of reverence or for their life's loss in what i call a cowardly act but um but for the most part it's it's a day of no celebration and just remembrance [Music] one folks it's it's time for us to enter into prayer um i'm gonna kind of give you a list of the number of different prayers and situations that we have facing us today we have some that are kind of close to home i'll talk about those first and then as you make your list or as you approach god here and as you leave here and go back to your homes and you who are online who are at home please remember to include these things in your prayer list because the prayers of the saints avail much that's what the word of god says this morning asking you to remember the brown family in a special way patty jean pastor brown's wife lost her mother this week please keep them in special prayer also asking you to remember pastor long he lost his wife lost her mother so he lost his stepmother he lost his stepmother this week i'm sorry passed along keep him in prayer as well we're also asking you to remember um pastor noah washington's nephew he's ill please pray for him and also pastor and pastor medley and india's aunt joan is ill we're asking for special prayer for her in addition to that we have some global things that we need to pray for and one of them are very close to home past the right pastor wright lost his wife this week please keep pastor henry wright in prayer in addition to that the bradford family one of the true icons of black adventism elder bradford passed this week please keep their family in prayer we're also asking you to remember those individuals who were lost at 9 11. many of you may know someone who was close to it even though you may not have been a part of that thousands of families have been influenced even after the incident keep them in prayer [Music] we're also praying for those escaping afghanistan there are people coming into our area from afghanistan keep them in prayer and there are things you can do to help find out what you can do to help with those individuals that are coming to this area and also those who suffered in the earthquake in haiti please keep them in prayer and those suffering here with hurricane ida we've got folk in new york city being flooded out from a hurricane that hit new orleans so this thing spanned the country and has affected thousands of people even in our area young man died in his in his apartment his house in the basement as it flooded he couldn't get out please keep those families in prayer it's a lot to think about but thankfully we have a god that's big enough to respond and to hear us as we appeal to him over these particular issues today so let's bow our heads or assume whatever your position of prayer is that you would like at this time both you at home and here as we approach the throne of grace [Music] heavenly father god of life god of love god for all god who masters the universe with worlds a million times bigger than our little world a god who hears our prayers as they are presented to you father by the elders in heaven a god who loves us so much that you sacrificed your son to come here for us thank you jesus you love us so much how can we say thank you for all the things you've done for us lord [Music] we ask you for your presence in the lives of many groups of people today there are many of us here lord i don't know all the circumstances i don't know what's involved in every situation but i have a few i'll mention because i'm aware of them one is pastor medley in india's aunt joan [Music] oh god be at her bedside give her the only peace that can come from heaven let her know your presence father the same i asked for patty jean brown lord she has lost her mother daughter loses her mother it's a major event in life be with that family and give them peace father i continue on by praying for pastor noah's nephew who's ill touch him and heal him god help him to get through the illness that he faces and the long family lord passed along is new to us but he is in a situation now where he's lost his stepmother comfort him god remember the right family lord again strong individuals in your work the bradford family lord icons in the in your work here on this earth remember those in the storms and the hurricanes escaping afghanistan for a better life for a better world god be with them and lord please remember those who suffer from 9 11 still and the losses they endured the things they've had to deal with the illnesses they've had to face after this horrific event and bless those still suffering from i the lord this hurricane has swept through our country thousands have been affected at one point a million people had no power in the heat of summer in the south protect them god bless each one lord when all is said and done all we can do is honor you praise you glorify you and give you our all there is only one true and living god and we recognize it as you god forgive our sins hear our prayers know our heart and know that our love for you is the most prominent thing in our lives god and we will not let go of you no matter what the devil throws at us no matter what we face we will not let go of you god we love you in the name of jesus we pray amen amen [Music] so following presentation is based off of matthew chapter 14 verse 27 peter walks on water what a perfect day for fishing does seem like there's going to be a storm though oh no the storm is coming oh no the waves are so big um guys i don't think we're gonna be surviving this uh oh whoa oh hey peter ah it's a ghost ah um it is i it's jesus that's not jesus or if it's really you then prove it yeah prove it the real jesus would have saved us fine guys he's walking on water that must be jesus yeah and you can do it too come on peter come out to me i don't know guys should i it's pretty dangerous out there i mean he's jesus so he'll protect me come on peter whoa i'm walking on water you're doing it i don't think i can make it the wind is really strong and oh man i don't know if i ah whoa jesus help me you man of little faith why did you take your eyes off me why did you stop believing in our story peter started to drown when he lost faith has there ever been a time where you lost faith what was it like and how did you overcome it some ways to stay faithful are too pray about it remember that god is always in control or talk to a family member about how you're feeling [Applause] amen amen thank you children for your worship and story and today we are here to worship the lord in song during this series we are learning how to be better acquainted with god the series is called this is us this is us this is you this is me we all struggle in the relationship but you know above all he still calls us his friend so i want you to join us as we sing this morning that we are friends of god do you believe it is he is he your savior your redeemer your friend come on if you believe that i want you to just just start a little bit just sing a little bit and just say i am a friend of god come on try that i am a friend of god yeah i am a friend of god i want to say i am a friend of god he calls me friends say that i can't say it again i am a friend of god say it like you're me i am a friend of god i am i am a friend of god he calls me friends come on [Music] you hear me is amazing it's amazing i am a friend of god i am a friend i am a friend of god i am a friend of god he calls me who am i everybody [Music] he never sleeps or slumbers isn't it amazing it's amazing are you he calls me thank you for calling me [Music] friends [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] i am a friend of god he calls me i am a friend of god [Applause] i am a friend of god he calls me he calls me he calls you his friends [Applause] come on is he your friend thank you god thank you for loving me thank you for calling me stay with me what every single thing to this friend everything to god oh we fail to carry everything to god everything i am a friend of god are you i am a friend of god come on thank you god for calling me friend lord i love you today yesterday tomorrow and forever there's nobody like this friend do not fail to carry everything to this friend in prayer i love you lord and i lift my voice to [Music] my if you love god today come on and talk to him say i love you lord [Music] oh [Music] today come on if you love god come on and exalt him together with us oh oh come on if you love god worship them today my worship is come on [Applause] oh [Applause] we have in your oh lord hallelujah we honor you jesus for who you are amen hallelujah [Music] cheers [Music] so [Music] let the church say amen come on you can do better than that let the church say ben anybody thank you for god's presence in your life come on one more time if you're just thankful for jesus put your hands together as we praise the name in honor of our god who's been good to us and uh we want to do something uh very special before we get into the word we actually gonna go into discussion now uh before we get into the word if you haven't already please go ahead and download that qr code as uh we seek to know uh what it is god desires for us it's good to see everybody here we got pastor esmen we got sister minister bishop dr reverend apostle can't get thinking of no other adjective so claudia allen we got uh dr medley man 95 years of life ain't that something come on put your hands together here we go dr ivan williams and dr crairy uh we praise god for our staff and for our team and we're just going to get right into it uh in this series this is us remember if you're texting you can text this is us to 99000 or put it in a chat on facebook or youtube and we'll follow along and lord has been blessing us this series last week if you missed the message from pastor esmen uh you missed a blessing and then this past wednesday would pass along but today we are talking about having a powerful prayer life yes and uh let's let's let's start here i'm just gonna dive right into it um how would you rate this is a really evasive question so y'all forgive me but it's the first thing that comes to my mind how would you rate on a scale of one to ten your prayer life how would you rape your prayer life now i know over over my life this week well just just over your life and asthma is looking at me like uh i was going to say a word but i'm in church so what i'm saying is like overall on a regular basis how would you rate your prayer life and what i'm saying is not you praying for things because i've noticed in my life over my life that i usually pray only sometimes when i need to pray for things people placing things but how would you rate your prayer life from from one to ten give me a number and then and then tell me why y'all are laughing at me looking at me should we let dr medley go first i don't know if he needs to absolutely uh take water or something cause lotus blessed them with so many years of life well i tell you uh doc do you want to you want to start us off uh no but um uh i would say that it depends sometimes when you're praying and prayers are answered you feel like you're out of ten other times you had a one so it it depends on what i'm praying for what the circumstances are uh where i am in the spiritual rollercoaster of life during that weekday so it depends i don't have one answer i don't know how how's that for is that all right with you no it's not okay the numbers go from one to ten i don't know if you're forgetful of the numbers as you get older i'm not sure y'all pray pray for your pastor those are online put in the chat we're praying for our pastor um i know black lives matter but our pastors matter put that and put that in the chat so come on somebody else doc esme you were looking at me crazy so give me a number uh i'm just saying that's that's just a little personal that's all i'm saying okay but i will answer your question what whatever number growing is whatever number developing is whatever number of learning to pray is that's me okay um and i would agree with pastor medley that there's there are times when it's up and it's down uh i think i'm running hot that is i'm above seven okay when i'm not saying i'm there right now i'm saying i'm usually above seven when my prayers get beyond me speaking wow i don't hit seven until i'm listening wow and so i would say that right now i'm i'm i'm working with you i want to come back to what you just said later and i know i know it's an invasive question so i'll just give mine um it's all right so i wasn't that great in math but i i think i can use this do y'all know in math when you give a number then they have the symbol greater than right i'ma put one than the greater than symbol right that means i'm growing yeah yeah right it's greater than one it's not zero it's it's it's growing is that good for you doc nelly no it ain't good but it's all right we'll stay there let's stay all right lord bless and keep you safe come on william uh here we go tess there we go um i i see at least my prayer life in the relationship journey you know in a relationship you're not always 10 you're not always one i i think there's a theme running through our answers uh for me um you know when you're in trouble it's a 10. um and we have to grow beyond trouble we have to grow beyond need it's a relationship and so for me um i'll answer like pastor esmen it's it's it's a growing number greater than greater than okay doctor yeah for me it's it's a daily thing and so um you know it really is affected a lot by what time you get up or what time you plan to get up some days because your time is shorter if you have to prepare to go someplace then the other days you may get up earlier and give you more much more time so it's a daily thing and i i really believe this firmly is that your growth is how you develop from day to day you got to move forward some point in time you got to be moving forward in your prayer life if you're still offering uh now i lay me down to sleep uh you get me and you're 50 years old 60 you know it's time to step that up a little bit uh so in your prayer life you've experienced things that you need to pray about so it's a growth thing on a daily basis the good doctor i love it so i will be honest because miss tanya sweeney came up to me this morning and said what she loves about when we discuss is the vulnerability yeah so i must say this week i'd have to rate it at a one okay i'd say i pray over the food i pray in the morning i pray before bed but i can't say that right now i'm really talking to god because i got some stuff going on that has me feeling a certain way and so i can't say that my prayer life is where i would like for it to be right now i'm gonna jump on that and to move to our next question i've had seasons of my life uh and if you're feeling what i'm saying right now just wave at me i've had seasons in my life where i was so frustrated at god i didn't want to tell him nothing oh y'all making me feel they making me feel bad cause y'all ain't waving at me and i don't see nobody's hands up i wear glasses but i can see and some of y'all like no i always pray i'm at a 10 matter of fact i'm at a 25 my prayer life to the two of you all god bless you but for the rest of us that struggle with praying at times i met one time claudia i said these words to god you know what this ain't working out maybe i didn't read the fine print of our relationship because things are not going the way i thought they would so how about you go your way and i go mine because this is not working out you just frustrated right so that's what i want to push what have you experienced as some of your frustrations in your prayer life that's too invasive that's okay you know you you were you were scratching all kind of itches today um but i think for me personally uh the biggest challenge for me in my prayer life is when believe it or not when i see other people suffer that that's the suffering is is the you know the archetypal challenge of the christian life what do we do with it and i think the only answer that i've found that makes any sense to me is the fact that jesus suffered and if god was willing as the scripture said to you know to pour out his son and to allow him to endure our suffering and feel our pain it tells me that he really can understand what i'm going through so sometimes when i see other people in pain that messes with my prayer life a little bit okay because i want to see change i want to see something that's frustrating okay anybody else i i grew up in the church um i don't have other options you know i've never drank smoke i i don't have other options but when i'm frustrated i try to do it on my own and i think that's worse yeah you know some people self-medicate some people we all do stuff sure but handling on handling it by myself is is a a natural sinful default yeah mercy wow these are good yeah one of my greatest frustrations in my prayer life is unanswered prayer you know you're bringing something to god week after week month after month year after year and there's no answer that's very hard you gotta that's where you something has to help you your trust has to help you you have to build that but i will say this there are prayers in my life that i've prayed for more than 20 25 years they have been answered but you can't let go of god because he doesn't answer in your time that's good i think i'd say what frustrates me in my prayer life is i'm controlling and so similar to kind of what doc williams was saying if i don't get the answer that i want or need when i want or need it i then almost abandoned prayer because it signals to me oh clearly this is something i need to do clearly i need to kick into gear and so then i get into busyness and doing and putting things into my own hands and then you're spinning your wheels and then you know weeks months later now you going back to pray because you ultimately did something to make your situation worse rather than if you would have just been willing to be still and know that he is god so it's almost like you were saying i can't stand like backseat drivers like it's a term that when you're driving but people who are not driving want to tell you how to drive so my response is often i mean you won't drive or not i mean you know i think you're supposed to go this way do you want to drive or not i mean you can't we can pull over and i think that's what god does sometimes do you want to drive or are you going to let me handle it you can go ahead and then you get frustrated with trying to be a backseat driver with god because when you get in the driver's seat you have no idea where you're going right so doc what's your frustration well i think for me it comes out of james 5. james 5 gives this biblical formula for what to do if somebody is sick okay which includes the calling of the elders the anointing process what frustrates me is when someone is that at the point of needing anointing and uh you you go in with the biblical promises of god the formula of god he tells us that he tells us and what we hold god to doesn't happen in the person's life so what frustrates me are those who are not healed sometimes versus those who are here because i hold god to the same formula with everyone so i i think for me personally i praise god when there is healing and i honestly question god in his word when there's not because it's his word that i hold on to for me that is frustrating so i think my frustrations compile all of what you said and i think what you said is going to push me to something because i get frustrated when god you told me to do this i do it but the result that i read about i don't see right right so my question then back to kind of what you were saying what what then because if you do that and doesn't work you're like what am i doing this for so what then is the purpose of prayer what what are we praying for then because if i'm asking god you said ask seek knock and the door will be open i'm asking you i'm seeking you i'm knocking and i'm still looking at closed doors so if i do that then what what then is the point of prayer and you can read from all places in scripture where god tells us to pray where he pushes us to pray where folk in scripture have a powerful prayer life and probably one of my biggest frustrations with the church right now is that we are not seeing what god told us we should be seeing lay hands on the sick they should be healed something happens this will happen what are we praying for then what's the purpose of prayer doc um i'll begin by saying that prayer is also a journey in the recognition that god is sovereign i i mean i don't have puppet strings all i have is his promises and when he chooses to or not to answer his promises somehow my stubborn will as claudius said me being a controlled freak yeah i have to let go of those strings and man that is a lifetime journey okay okay you should be you could be taking notes if you've gotten the qr code you can start taking notes not just at the sermon but even now so you're saying recognize god as sovereign one of the purposes of prayer anybody else i would say matthew kind of five through seven struck me some years ago as i was reading it you know we always kind of pinpoint the verses that are talking about you know do not worry what you will eat what you'll drink what shall wear but it's like when i read that thing in context jesus is saying you actually don't need to pray to me about what you will eat and what you will wear and what you will do and where you will live and then if you come to the end he says ask for the holy spirit so that if prayer is about anything it's trusting that if if god is really god and if god really cares about me then my basic needs are taken care of so i actually don't have to come and ask god about the bill i don't actually have to come and ask god about the grocery budget i don't have to actually ask god about the suit i actually had to ask god for the holy spirit because he already is taking care of everything else so if what if we shifted our prayer life from coming to god asking god for the things we need are the things we want and then instead we started to ask god for himself yeah wait wait hold on timeout flag on the plate tripping offsides on the defense hold on you're telling me then that i've really probably more times than likely i've been really praying about the wrong things yeah and while i'm stressing over bills i should really be just praying for his spirit because sometimes we pray for money but we really need is the holy spirit to know how to control the money when we finally get it because if you get something from god but don't know how to use the gift steward did i see back there it will leave before you've had a chance to to embrace it all right so um sovereignty holy ghost we're going to end on this question anybody else what is prayer for sovereignty holy spirit i think it's critical for our own personal growth through confession the only person that it matters to the bible says confess yours if you confess your sins he's faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness prayer is designed for us to see ourselves if we're honest with god wow honest with god lord i was looking there lord i ate that lord i thought that thing that wasn't right that teaches you where you are in comparison to god critical peace confession and maybe sometimes we don't pray because we don't want to be honest about ourselves to god so sovereignty holy spirit confession uh i'm gonna answer mine in a few minutes okay in the message but i do prayer does this one thing for me sure reminds me he is god and i am not of my favorite movies i'ma slip this in one of my favorite movies don't judge me one of my favorite movies this movie called rudy it's about this little boy whose dream was to play notre dame football so he goes dwayne to this other school joliet uh this other community school to try to get in and he's in there talking to a priest one day because he's frustrated because after all his hard work he can't get into the school the precepts to him i never shall forget this the priest says dr medley after years of studying in the ministry and studying the bible i have only come away with two conclusions number one there is a god number two i'm not him as man what is prayer for well i i could so many things we could say and everything that's been said is just absolutely profound i think of something that that ellen white says in the book steps to christ somewhere in the 90s she says that prayer does not bring god down to us but prayer brings us up to god oh yes he said i know i'm probably in the medley's sermon right now so i'm going to stop right there listen i just want to say just in closing that um for me a prayer prayer really gets a very simple question do i want god or do i want god's stuff and once i get there then i know i'm i'm really praying mercy duane don't leave me yet because we can't just get up and leave we got to close yeah but i got to respond to what he just said man well because it ain't in the sermon yeah that that's all right we'll do it after the benediction i i we need to close this section with a prayer that we might be stretched as we're about to go into god's word for the day dwayne can you pray for us as we're about to transition into the word absolutely our gracious loving heavenly father we thank you for the privilege of prayer and for the blessing of being in community in worship today we pray your special blessing upon your servant lord as he stands up to speak on prayer we have opined on it this morning lord teach us how to pray so use doc medley's voice and use the preparation on the page but then lord let the message leap off the page into our hearts that we might pray for all the right reasons this is our humble prayer in jesus name we abandon ourselves through your worship this morning amen amen [Music] right [Music] [Music] hey for just a few moments we always mindful of our time together and um we tried something a little different to have the discussion first amen everyone know if we acknowledge the knox here today elder knox dr knox and your wife thank you for joining us for worship here from the general conference you've come to the right house for worship today as we talk about this theme of prayer let me finish the thought that pastor esman took us down about asking god for things someone said that at its core there are two words that express itself in most of our prayers thanks and help thank you lord for the new job thank you for the relationship thank you lord for the new house thank you lord for the bonus thank you for the good health report thank you lord for keeping my family help us lord to pay this mortgage help me lord to deal with my boss on my job help me lord to deal with these children you know this is always thanks or help perhaps there should be more to our lives than our prayer lives than just those two words not that they're not important but there's so much more as you already heard in prayer so i want to begin first of all in gratitude and appreciation to god for his goodness as we have already acknowledged rightfully so this 20th anniversary of 9 11. we have already prayed for the death of our god saints this past week what a horrific week it has been thank you for praying for aunt joan india's joan joan tribble we have spent the last few days up in um redding pennsylvania got back late last night been there there with anjon please keep her in prayer instead of being on vacation and celebrating we were up and reading in the hospital last few days and so we asked you to pray for us thank you thank you my gratitude my heart goes out to you for your text messages your cards your calls your prayers and even um the good pastor noah washington's video on my birthday uh in spite of him uh we praise god for you and and for everyone for everyone who has a birthday in the phenomenal month of september praise god for you uh i'm so glad for all the september births that are here and we we celebrate all of us together at some point doreen we need to have a birthday party in this church just for the month of september if there's any month that needs a large celebration it is september now pastor washington i think is the 25th 23rd so torture is coming september 23rd 23rd our our topic for the next few moments today is entitled let us pray let us pray normally when you say that people bow their heads and pray but let us pray it is a generic uh title it is laced uh with a unfamiliar story about prayer in the bible but let me begin since we have already prayed and let me surround this and anchor this message with two two quotes references from the book steps to christ under the chapter the privilege of prayer pastor esmen this one statement you know well this is the backdrop for what we're going to talk about prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse amen some i thought that was gonna make somebody shout prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse isn't that good news uh get this there's a longer paragraph in that same chapter that i'm using this it you won't remember all of it and i know how it is when you hear things verbally if you're not an auditorial person uh if you don't see it you know if your kinesthetics if you're not visual you may not be able to hear all of it but i have to read it anyway it says uh this is also steps of christ in fact your homework today is to read that chapter in the book steps to christ the privilege of prayer but this stood out for me because it is the backdrop to the biblical story that we are going to because everything we do is anchored in god's word the servant lord says if we take counsel with our doubts and fears and try to solve everything that we cannot see clearly before we have faith perplexities will only increase and deepen don't miss that if we take counsel with our doubts and fears and try to solve everything that we cannot see clearly before we have faith perplexities will only increase and deepen don't miss that we're going to talk about when we focus more on our problems than on our god it's an important issue there that sometimes we come from the time of prayer more worried than when we went to prayer the statement continues but if we come to god feeling helpless and dependent as we really are and in humble trust and faith make known our wants to him whose knowledge is infinite who sees everything in creation and who governs everything by his will and word he can and will attend to our cry and will let light shine into our hearts amen somebody don't don't miss that the contrast that if we instead of instead of focusing on our doubts and our fears as we pray if we come to god with a humble trusted heart of faith and make our wants known to him the all-knowing all-wise god don't miss that who governs everything by his word and and his will can and will attend to our cry so we have in scripture throughout scripture are these examples of pray have you noticed claudia referred to the issue in matthew 6 verses 5-15 where we see the model of prayer did you notice something in luke chapter 1 that the disciples come to jesus and say jesus teach us how to pray as john taught his disciples to pray this is troubling to me because the disciples are raised in jewish culture in jewish homes where jewish religious practices get these individuals with jewish prayers including the psalms but they come to jesus and say that look we were raised in a religious culture that values prayer but when we hear and see you pray we recognize lord we need you to teach us to pray is there something about the institutional uh uh rigors of prayer uh of that that notion of their ritualistic prayer that needs to be converted and bathed in the prayer of jesus jesus we were raised in homes that pray but you lord teach us how to pray have we seen that you understand these disciples were not foreign to prayer but when jesus prayed something else happened so god is teaching the children of israel many lessons he's teaching them that he is their great deliverer he he's teaching them that he is a sovereign god who can be trusted god is leading them and guiding them he he sent plagues to him to inform his children that he is the sovereign one who orders their steps that he will bring them through god is the one who who told them to cover their door posts with the lamb's blood and that death angel would not touch them and to prepare themselves for deliverance to to eat the lamb with their loins girded in a upright position because deliverance was at the door they were being delivered and before they crossed the red sea god said let me teach you how to pray if you read too fast the story you'll miss it because it is so potent so great with deliverance the majesty and the handiwork of god is is moving we see the sovereign god speak to winds and waves we watch how god guides his children but if you read too fast you miss the simple lessons that god is teaching the children of israel before they cross the red sea the importance of prayer let us pray texas exodus chapter 14. it is a story you know so well either you have read it over and over again or you have watched the ten commandments so much that charles and heston still is etched in in you but but it is a familiar story in scripture the bible says now now the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the children of israel that they may turn and camp before pi uh hahah before mgdol by the sea uh opposite belle zephon you shall camp before the sea for pharaoh will say to the children of israel uh they are bewildered by the land the wilderness has closed them in notice that then i will harden pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them and i will gain honor over pharaoh and over all his enemies that the egyptians may know that i am the lord and they did so now it was told the king of egypt uh that the people had fled and that the heart of pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people and they said why have we done this that we have let israel go from serving us lord have mercy you notice how many sermons are in here right uh why have we let this free labor go when we had them but from serving us so so he made ready his chariot and took his people with him also he took 600 choice chariots and all the cherries and all the chariots all the chariots of egypt with captains over every one of them and the lord hardened the heart of pharaoh king of egypt and he pursued the children of israel and the children of israel went out with boldness it's okay can we read scripture today is that all right can i stay here without with boldness so the egyptians pursued them all the horses and chariots of pharaoh his horsemen and his army and overtook them camping overtook them camping overtook them camping there's a camping sermon in here uh they're camping camping by the sea besides uh pai ha hi roth and before bell siphon and and when when pharaoh drew near the children of israel lifted their eyes and behold the egyptians marched after them so they so they were very afraid and the children of israel cried out to the lord and the children of israel cried out to the lord that was prayer and often we missed that the children of israel cried out to the lord do you see that after they cried out to the lord notice the bible says then they said to moses mind you they just prayed to the lord they just cried out to the lord then after they cried out to the lord they turned they they turned have mercy and said to moses because there were no graves in egypt you have taken us away to die in the wilderness why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of out of egypt is this not the word that we told you in egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the egyptians for it would have been better for us to serve the egyptians than than that we should die in the wilderness do you see that they cried out to the lord then they turned to moses how dare you bring us out here they cried out to the lord the phone rang somebody started complaining they cried out to the lord they remembered a bill that needed to be paid they turned their attention they cried out to the lord they thought about an argument they had today and they realized it wasn't finished arguing yet don't miss that and moses said to the people verse 13 do not be afraid stand still and see the salvation of the lord which which he will accomplish for you today for the egyptians whom you see uh you shall see again no more forever for the lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace are you still with me i got to read on because that's you got one prayer i told you there were two prayers here here's the second one and and the lord said to moses and the lord said to moses why do you cry to me moses why are you praying to me tell the children of israel go forward mo hold on moses we already prayed we already talked about this you you know what my mission is why are you crying to me get up off your knees you stop praying and you start moving forward i don't want you to miss these two prayers that are taking place here one is praying and turning to complaining one stops to pray and god says stop praying and get moving i don't want you to miss that can i read just a little bit more because you know it hey pastor washington you know this this scripture gets gooder as you go out tell the children israel to go forward don't miss that but lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it and the children of israel shall go on dry ground to the midst of the sea and i indeed will harden the hearts of the egyptians and they will follow them so i will gain honor i will gain honor over pharaoh and over all his army his chariots and his horsemen then the egyptians still know then the egyptians shall know that i am the lord when i have gained honor for myself over pharaoh his chariots and his horsemen india i want you to know okay india's praying for me right now you know how late we got in she's looking at me she's watching my pace india i'm okay anjon i know you're watching from redding hospital right now and hopefully you got some of those uh hospital providers there's no nurses in the room watching it with you i want you know we're praying for you uh let me read a little longer and the angel of god who went before me to camp uh to camp to the camp of israel get this moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them so it came between the camp of the egyptians and the camp of israel thus it was a cloud and darkness to one and it gave light by night to the other so that one did not come near the other all that night don't miss this i just got a few points [Music] i'm almost beyond my time but i just got to make these points and i'm going to sit down because i hope you see you know we read through this i hope you see the power of those two prayer encounters see god before they cross over god had to teach them the importance and the necessity of prayer so don't miss that because god is delivering doesn't mean god still don't want you to talk to him sometimes sometimes god wants you to stop talking and allow the deliverance to take place you see there are sometimes we spend time praying when god has already given the answer uh we are afraid to step out so we cover it up by spending more time in prayer don't don't miss that but so here are my points and i'm done you got to read the rest of the story and let it stand by itself first point prayer is intended to connect you to god's plan for your life i'm going to say it enough times prayer is intended to connect you into god's plan for your life if you want to know what god has in store for you you learn that through the season of prayer you you see god is the one who notice where they are mercy when you read the text when you read where they find themselves uh you know that from a from a geographical perspective they had egypt's army behind them they had mountains beside them and they had this sea in front of them they were completely trapped they were in a place of no wind there was no way out there is no retreat there is no do-over where they are is where they are but here's what prayer teaches you it is god who led them to a point of no return you see sometimes you're where you are not because you want to be there but through prayer you discover you're right where god wants you to be so where they were they didn't get there on their own that crisis was not created of their own doing all along god put them there you in a situation that you can't understand when you pray you may discover god put you there you at a job that doesn't make sense and you want your way out you sometimes forget god put you there you see there are some things you can't discover until you take it to god in prayer and you say if i know god put me here i know god gonna work it out and let's be clear god can work it out beyond anything we can comprehend i mean how is god going to work this out i got an army behind me i got mountains beside me i got a sea in front of me so instead of praying the children of israel they cried out to god and they realized there is no way out here so instead of recognizing god they decided to turn on moses and turn on god you brought us out here we were better off in egypt we could have done better dying there but no you had to bring us out here no god had to bring us out here and look at the condition that we are in we're at a place that we didn't ask to come to we don't know why we're here uh it looks like it's the end there's no way out if they had prayed and stayed in prayer with the right attitude with the right spirit they would have recognized they were right where god wanted them to be a hard lesson because some of y'all are in some marriages you like i don't know if god really want me here you're in some stuff but sometimes you better turn that stuff over to god and i'm gonna come to that that's one of my points how to make that happen let me move on so first prayer is intended to connect you into god's plan for your life point two prayer is intended to release you from worry fear doubt and distrust you remember that quote i read and steps to christ you notice something here that is quite profound when the children of israel saw that they were trapped and they saw that pharaoh's army was coming at them you notice something when they turned on moses and turned on god what they were really doing they were focusing more on their problem as opposed to focusing on god you see it's okay to acknowledge your problem it's okay to acknowledge your enemy it's okay to acknowledge your brokenness but your focus should be on god let me suggest to you that too often we acknowledge god and focus on our problems instead of the opposite god we got this problem and we spend hours on the problem as opposed to god we have this problem and spending hours with god let me suggest that we spend too much time focusing on the wrong agenda we focus on the issue and we exclude the god who has all answers so prayer is intended to release us from worry to release us from fear to release us from doubt and distrust that we ought to stop focusing on the issue the sickness the problem and turn our attention to the god who can solve everything point number three god is intended to give you peace calmness of heart trust hope and faith in god moses stop crying and get up and move you see peace frees us from the paralysis of worry folk who worry don't pray focal fearful don't pray oh they go through the function but between their between their ears they're not praying they're just pausing to worry more but when you pray when you're released from the issue you know god says go forward and you go forward in faith lord i can't see it it doesn't make any sense i can't feel it i don't know what you're up to god but god i'm gonna trust you anyhow god i'm gonna move forward anyhow what do you mean take this rod in my hand and step out into this red sea what do you mean by that lord it's just a rod that's a whole sea but god if you said go i'm gonna go god if you say do it i'm gonna do it god if you say speak it i'm gonna speak it that's what happens when you pray it releases you from the bondage and the paralysis that fear brings for those who don't pray for porn prayer is intended to inform us that god is aware of our need prayer reminds us that god knows what we need amen somebody you see when i bring everything to the lord in prayer i'm reminded that god got this god knows whatever you're going through god especially in the in the midnight hour when there's no one around but you and your thoughts uh there god lets you know i know what you're going through god brings those promises in jeremiah 20 and i i know the plans that i have for you you can't see them right now you can't feel them right now but i'm gonna prosper you i'm gonna bless you i'm gonna give you a hope in the future that's what god has for you get this get this prayer is intended to bring us into the presence of god i i can't i can't miss this so while they are complaining while they are complaining about being led there and i'm almost done notice this god's angel they recognize wait a minute god's angel led us here how did we forget that we were complaining we forgot all about god we were too busy complaining so god's angel who led them there notice that god's angel god's angel now who was in front of them goes down behind them and god's angel puts puts darkness for the egyptians so they can come no closer lord have mercy but god's angel finally sends light to his children now they can see don't miss that wait a minute that's what prayer prayer removes the darkness and brings god's light to us that's what prayer does when i take time not to worry but to pray then i start seeing god from god's perspective god's light shines brighter and brighter when we pray darkness there's light where did that come from it was always there we just didn't see it god wanted us to see it at the right time and in my last point here that prayer is intended to bring out god's glory you see when god does something god wants something back what we learn before we cross the red sea is that god wants look in prayer if if god is answering your prayer you have a responsibility to give glory back to god the text said god said look here's what i'm going to do you see this this this miracle that is taking place here is bigger than you you're part of the equation but you're not the whole equation there's something bigger going on in the drama of life and yes god's children are caught are stuck in the middle of it but it's still a bigger message you see there's a bigger message here you see you see i got to teach pharaoh in the world who god really is uh uh yes you're going through it but at the end of the day i'm the one who's supposed to get the honor i'm the one that's supposed to get the glory because everything that i'm doing for you you can never do it for yourself and when god does something for you when god does the ordinary and the extraordinary for you god always wants to praise for it do you know that's the fundamental theme of the great controversy that at the end of the day that everything that the pharaoh who is the devil tries to bring his people through that at the end of the day god will be victorious god will overcome he will win we will win but at the end of the day god gets all glorious god gets all praise and that's what prayer prayer is the preparation the warm-up for how we will praise god in the year so at the end of your at the end of your pray at the end of your prayer there ought to be some praise there to be some thank you jesus uh god is gonna do it for me uh he's a he's a good god uh he's a merciful god he's a long-suffering god he's a healing god he's a forgiving god he's a steadfast god he answers all of my prayers uh in the midst of trouble i can trust them when all things look dark god shows up and the darkest hours he gives light god gives joy when there is no joy god give answers where there are no answers i can praise them anyhow because in the end god is going to show up and god is going to show out so i'm gonna give him all praise that all glory and all honor because he is a good god he is our god and it's my prayer life that leads me to it we told you we told you in the last series that the formula for prayer for me is the sanctuary that that i use the layout of the sanctuary uh how i approach god in prayer when you think about the sanctuary first we enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise you see before i talk to god about anything i gotta praise god for everything i gotta come praising god for all his goodness but after i praise enter his courts with thanksgiving and praise that the first thing i do is go to the altar where sacrifice takes place i recognize that i'm a sinner in need of god's grace that there is nothing in me but i come clinging to the cross of jesus christ and because jesus paid it all i can come with holy ghost boldness now we're talking about prayer here and so i come praying and confessing my sins to god because he is a good god he covers me he cleanse me that's what prayer is and then i finally walk into the holy place it's in the holy place that there are three uh compartments three pieces of furniture uh i can turn to the to to to the table of showbread and i can recognize that i need god's word all over again that my prayer ought to be laced with the promises that comes from scripture because god's word is a lamp and to my feet and a light unto my path so i must hold on to god's word in prayer i turn also to those golden candle sticks those lamps that are always lit and i'm reminded that without the holy spirit's light guiding me that i am nothing how bad do we need the holy spirit to organize and to lead our steps now mind you i've already into the courts with thanksgiving and praise i've already confessed my sins to god i've always trusted in the word of god i'm already dependent upon the holy spirit of god now i'm prepared to intercede there at the altar of incense there i can intercede on behalf of you on behalf of others i can go through my prayer list and list every concern every sick person every person in need i can call them up to god and i know that that prayer right there can go over into the most holy place that god hears those prayer because i'm coming now with holy ghost boldness i'm coming now because of the blood of jesus christ i come praying now and now i'm about to go into the most holy place when i get to the most holy place the first thing i see i see the mercy seat of god praise god for his mercy praise god that his mercy covers us and keeps us and guides us and protect us i'm grateful now that when i see inside the most holy place and the ark of the covenant i see laws not laws of condemnation but laws that guide me and direct me and give me hope and when i come out of this season of prayer all i can come out with is hallelujah thank you i've been with god and i've been in prayer and i spent time with jesus and it's gonna be all right now because it's all been left to god oh let us pray i pray to god that the divine calling the discipline of prayer that you will take it as a priority are there thanks and help yes but there's so much more prayer does not bring us god down to us prayer does bring us up to god where god is that's where i want to be what about you i want to encourage you today as we close i want to encourage you to reconsider the unlimited possibilities of what a vibrant prayer life can mean for each of you that's all just consider it philip yancey in his book prayer does it really make a difference he concluded yes it does yes it does yes it does oh let's pray really let's pray father in heaven we have some things to consider today i want to thank you lord first of all for the prayer warriors that are under the sound of my voice those that are here and those who have joined us by virtual worship i thank you for how they have carved out [Music] with jealousy time committed to god in prayer they know how to turn off the devices [Music] step away from the routines of life hush the busy voices in their own minds and take time to pray [Music] teach us to pray let us pray lord as jesus who is our prayer example would pull away from healing pull away from teaching pull away from fellowshipping just to pray to the father do that for us help us individually where we are inspire us to set aside this sacred time of daily prayer [Music] talking [Music] to god all by ourselves in our own way talking to god lord and allow that prayer muscle to grow with exercise it will get stronger it will grow firmer it will become laser focused when we prioritize it finally lord i want to thank you for the prayers that have been prayed in this house the prayers that have been prayed in your house that are those time capsule release prayers some of us stand today because years ago a mother a grandmother a father an uncle a caring member a pastor a bible worker a trusted teacher a loving friend a a colleague prayed for us years ago and god those time release prayers [Music] are being answered year after year experience after experience there are some prayers for protection lord that showed up in somebody's life this week that prayer could have been prayed 10 years ago but yes when it was needed [Music] it was unleashed on their behalf lord many of us are praying for loved ones for family members we're praying right now and oh god we simply just bring it all to you because you are able teach us not to complain but to pray not to pause but to move forward to trust to know to obey to believe to have hope their faith to have courage have strength in our prayer lives in jesus name in the name that is above all name and the name that makes it all possible in jesus name the name that gives us boldness the name that girds us centers up so that we can approach the throne of god in jesus name we produce we petition our prayers let god's people say amen and amen god bless you keep on praying keep on trusting [Music] pray until something happens push through and god bless you praise god for you as we prepare to close of course there are protocols of how we close in-house thank you i want to say now thank you for not only being here thank you for being fully masked being fully responsible following all the guidelines from our re-injury committee our conference and our county thank you for that if we continue to do this i'm going to mass back up as others are some of us have been recently tested to know that we are negative and of course we're encouraging vaccines to be fully vaccinated but also to follow all of our health protocols you are doing that we praise god for you it will limit even our fellowship after church but here's the good thing about all the distance we have it never stops prayer no matter where we are we can pray to god and god will hear us god bless you as we prepare to close pastor [Music] for our stewardship lesson you know this is a series and so this is us so i want to share with you this is a thought uh two reasons there's this bible story about in mark 12 about this lady who comes through the temple of jesus and his disciples are watching and he says hey this lady gave more than everyone else and you're trying to figure out this doesn't even make sense so here are two reasons why you should give okay number one i know some of you are challenged because you think that the amount you give is so small it wouldn't count they wouldn't miss it it's not important well that's not true [Music] so you should give to make a difference even though it's a dollar even though it's 25 cents even though it's a penny you should you know why now i know why you're thinking well i shouldn't give because they won't miss it but the truth of the matter is what you give counts you need to understand this this lady gave despite the fact that they weren't going to lay name a pew after her there was a statue there wasn't going to be a church there was going to be a room named after her and sometimes we get our thinking of giving mixed up with our legacy you think your levels legacy in giving is tied to the amount that you give the size but that's not really true here we are here's her legacy here we are for 2021 thinking and talking about a person who gave centuries ago thousands of years ago we're still talking about her she's still relevant i mean why are we talking about someone who gave the smallest amount well that's to tell you the smallest amount counts number two sometimes we don't give because we think that they are mismanaging the money or what we do we don't like what they're doing with the money so here's another reason to give is your blessing tied to the third party use of the money is your blessing tight the outcome you can't tell me that every dollar you ever gave in your life you knew that it wasn't fraud there was an investment there was a stealing that happened on the third party end with the money this lady gave her last knowing that there was corruption in her day describing the pharisees was stealing the money the money was corrupt and was using corrupt wigs yes still she gave her last so if you're thinking about so who is their last when they know the third party the recipient is going to steal well the relationship really is vertical and not horizontal it's between you and god if god is commanding you to give he's instructing you go ahead and do it worrying about the third party is not gonna change your blessing it's not gonna impact god blessing you because the third party stole the money so listen if you're struggling with giving today remember remember these two points the third party blessing the third party misuse is not going to impact your blessing and the amount you get really matters this is georgia though thank you [Music] heavenly father lord god god of light god of fire god who is in front behind beside above beneath god in this moment we want to take an opportunity to engage in the privilege of prayer to allow your spirit to bring us up into your presence god in this moment we have come into the house with things on our hearts things on our minds things happening in our body but first god we want to ask for your holy spirit knowing and trusting and believing that you're going to take care of everything else [Music] but god we also want to lift up jasmine god elder janet moore's granddaughter they had a doctor's appointment on friday at the children's hospital lord and they need your hand god we're asking that you intervene that you step in that you show up and show out but god there are so many others under the sound of my voice right now that are also in need of your intervention and so we come in agreement with the word that you have delivered through dark medley this morning and so we put it on our minds and hearts that we will leave this building not being anxious for anything but in everything god with prayer and supplication making our thanksgiving known and coming into you so that the peace of god can surpass all understanding lord we are going to to understand that we have a confidence in approaching you that if we ask anything in accordance with your will that god you hear us and so god we come to you in prayer knowing that you are going to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think go before us beside us beneath us and above us in this week it's in jesus name i pray this amen [Music] aren't you glad you came to church today aren't you glad you came to church today it hits a little different when you're in the house and so we thank you for worshiping with us today um doc medley that that old man preached today i don't know where he is he might be laying down on the stretcher listen aren't you glad you watched today uh this was a a serious blessing let me stop because he knows some things um listen it continues this wednesday online this is a series minister claudia allen will be presenting on don't miss this how to study the bible that's this wednesday at eight o'clock also this friday men's ministries at 8 pm september 17th so be looking out for that also and next week we have a wonderful privilege we'll have another in-person worship service hybrid service online the link will go up this afternoon so if you want to come back as we worship the lord together please go follow the link immediately after service also september 24th um we will have communion of course virtual and we will start at 7 30 and september 26th who's ready for the church picnic did you guys mark that on your calendar all right it's gonna be on the east campus one to four of course due to covet we'd like you to bring your own food your picnic baskets we will provide goodies for you and there will also be activities for the kids and the teenagers so please please please come out of course we will follow all um covert precautions but we look forward to seeing you you enjoyed yourself today would you just put something in the chat and say i enjoyed myself god is good i'm taking my prayer life to another level if you're here just wave at us you appreciated god's presence with us today especially the word god continue to bless us as we continue to grow young and grow out god bless you god bless you [Music] just a brief reminder just a brief reminder tomorrow morning for grocery grab and go we need men especially we need women too but we really need some guys we just need some muscle so the times are from seven to nine or ten and then from ten until two so and if you can come you wanna stay you'll be a blessing as you know um our greatest and most driving interest here at the church is your safety and so for that guidance we go to scripture scripture says the last shall be first and the first last uh therefore that will be our dismissal process today we are not going into the lobby at all unless you are a chronologically gift gifted senior that cannot make the walk you need the elevator other than that there are three doors of exit one to the back over there there's one right here and down this hallway to my left and your right there's the door [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] do so [Music] [Music] [Music] now [Music] now [Music] you

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Length: 131min 3sec (7863 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021