Brixton SDA Inspirational Series II The Finish Line!

good morning and welcome once again to the brixton seventh day adventist church where we share the word of god with you each and every sabbath morning at this time we take this opportunity to reach you wherever you are in the world so that you learn more about god because we are ambassadors of the gospel so if you are joining us welcome this morning online and to our regular members we can be uh reached at brixton seven day adventist church at facebook at youtube and of course our own church website so it's a pleasure to share god's word with you we're always eager to do so because we can share it with you and that you can learn from it and become more fruitful in the kingdom of god but before we start i will invite the presence of the lord with us yes shall we praise our love and father our merciful god in heaven we are grateful to you again oh lord that you have brought us again to this point of the week where it is your sabbath day and you have given up given it to us also that we can enjoy communion with you upon this day and with each other so i pray oh lord that as we gather here on this panel and the sabbath school at large to go into your words i pray that you will give us the wisdom the knowledge and the understanding that we need to grow in thy grace in jesus name we pray amen amen it's indeed a pleasure to be with you once again to share the word and sharing with me today are some very good enthusiasts the enthusiast of the word of god to my right is elder hugh samwell who will be sharing with us today hello heather samuel hello to everyone to his right is brother roger smith hello brother roger good morning happy birthday and to his right is our own dear pastor pastor keith boldo good morning pastor good morning happy to be alive and last but not least is sister angela welcome to angelo thank you good morning and i know you're looking forward to share the word of god today's lesson is lesson 11 and it's called longing for more longing for more of what more money more fame bigger houses lovely cars what are we longing for the essence of today's lesson in fact is longing for rest not just rest from our physical labor but rest in the kingdom of god forever spiritual rest rest that so long evaded the children of israel we are looking and longing to rest with christ our savior and so today we're going to look at our memory verse which is taken from sorry which is taken from first corinthians 10 6 and it reads from the english standard version now these things took place as example for us that we might not desire evil as they did what does this verse mean to us what does it teaches us what happened to the israelites in the wilderness how did jesus example illustrate and teach us this truth about the kingdom of god so as we study today i'd like you to contemplate on first corinthians 10 6. the bible always teaches us about truth in this memory text when we see how god responds to the choices people make we get a clear picture of what pleases and displeases god we can see right from wrong in this scripture through the inspired prophet moses god recorded these events so that we could learn from them in exodus and paul points out the events for us a little bit later when he writes in first corinthians 10 11 and from the new king james version he said not all of these things happen as they do for example and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come god's purpose in recording these details and events in the divine history is that they become example so that we can learn from the divine truths when we sin we are punished and severely so so in this lesson god doesn't wait for the final judgment to bring people sin upon them we usually we are usually uh um sorry when we mention these things we use when god was in the beginning in his work is people want to make sure that they get started on the right footing god wants us to make sure that the early church gets started with truth and obedience we see the same thing in the wilderness god is beginning a new work with two million slaves from the bondage of egypt in order to make sure that we get started and be spared from severe judgment this lesson today is encouraging us to flee from evil and seek the right this lesson today is telling us that we have choices to live in eternity or suffer the consequences of sin so this week lesson longing for more we look now at first corinthians 10 11. says what paul wants to communicate to the reader and the lesson is called baptized into moses elder sammy yes happy sabbat once again yeah we're looking into baptized into moses and when we think about the word but um we look at what baptism meant baptism is a form of we dying to live again and live in christ when you think about the israelites back in um as the memory text says you know paul paul encourages not to see these things how god communicated it is is is his awareness to his people and how the people should have you know acknowledge believe trust in god paul is now encouraging us you know that we should see these things and use them as an example for ourselves that we can be you know that we can stay a right with him the baptism the baptism of um that moses is speaking about you see we can look at the children of israel going through the red sea what was happening was that they were into slavery in egypt and god was taking them from slavery to a promised land it's just like us today when we back when we are baptized god is taking us from the sins of our life into a newness of life so that is one of the first things that i gather when i first just look at the headline and paul the the lesson study brings us to first corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1 to 11. and here god wants us to you know paul paul reminds us and he admonishes us to live the life that god wants us to live and here i'll just read some of the excerpts from the some of the verses from the text it's a moreover bridging i do not want you to be unaware that our fathers were all under the cloud pass through the sea all baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea just quickly going over that we remember the israelites coming out of israel passing through that sea that sea represent a form of baptism where they would come go through as i said before they would go through from the slavery now into a new light and the cloud the cloud is the cloud was over them by day and the pillar of fire by night that represented christ in his fullness of wanting to be associated with his people he was there he said i will never leave you neither will i forsake you and he said even when he speaks to his disciple he was now telling them listen i am going but when i go i will send the spirit so at all time god was always in connection with his people and this baptism of um that we look at it's a new way of life that god wants us to live when you think about old israel you know they they they saw all the goodness of god they say all the miracles of god but yet still they disobeyed they disrespected they disrespected god they were disapproved they don't they didn't trust god and they did not you know they weren't appreciative of the fact that god was doing this on their behalf so like moses and the rest of them who who themselves didn't make it into the promised land because of disobedience we saw joshua and we saw caleb going in but what god is saying that if we i'm probably saying it here if we follow the likes of those our ancestors who disobey don't trust disrespect and not to be appreciated of what god is doing for us we too will fall in the wilderness like them you know when you the lesson goes on not just there but it goes on to speak about in first sorry in hebrews chapter 8 and verse 5. and i'll just read that in while while i'm there it says who served as a copy of the shadow of the heavenly things as moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle for he said see that you do see that you make all things according to the pattern shown unto you so what god is doing it you know when god created this earth god was making a little heaven for us humans if we notice the pattern or if we notice all the function oh god created he made light then he made sun he made a world then he made plants and animals and then he brought us into this environment which he did he gave us dominion so right through oh the bible god is showing us that he wants us to have this earth as a little heaven but because of sin it has that has marked the plan that god has for us as human being so here now god is saying now to the israel to the israelite back in exodus 20 is it exodus 25 where he's saying make tell the people to make me a sanctuary that i may dwell among us i dwell among them just like how he was dwelling among adam and eve god wants to always dwell among us that's why jesus came into the world that he can be with us you know the emmanuel god is with us he has never left us and so it is important for us to understand why god wanted a sanctuary and this sanctuary was a replica of what was happening in heaven you're at the throne the ark which represented the throne of god you are the angels that would overshadow god there was the candlestick there was everything that was the pattern that was shown to moses and god wanted us to have our little heaven here on earth where he himself could dwell with us again we look at the other things that replica what christ would come up come and do we see the word we see the bread you know when you think about the sanctuary there was a table where the shoe bread was who was that bread that bread represents christ christ says i am the bread which came down from heaven and again we look at the manna that the children of israel ate again that was a form of god giving them bread to eat spiritually and physically because that bread would be christ himself yes so if if you read exodus i'm sorry psalm 78 speaks about god gave them angel food man did eat angel food so yes on the physical side they did but on the spiritual side when christ came christ was now the spiritual bread which is which we see here in john chapter sorry which yes which we see in john chapter 10 verse 4 no john chapter 6 verse 48 sorry where he said i am the bread of life and then christ goes on to tell them that listen in john chapter 4 that i am the living water so here again we are still looking at the the the the baptism of um of moses but we are bringing it into a spiritual light that when we go into this water we grieve as as as romans 6 put it we go down and we die like christ died on the cross and then when we come out of that water we raise we are risen as christ himself was risen by god and into a new life so here it is as i try to um bring them together to tie the two into one where the sea the red sea going through the red sea it's like a baptism but on a spiritual sense where paul looks at it and he's saying to the people listen you go through this the the your ancestors went through this but they failed christ has come we should not fail because why we have the example of our ancestors and we should lead as and we know here we are the ancestors of we have the the knowledge of those who went on before so it's important for us to get our lives in line with what christ wants us and that we don't miss out like most of those who missed out and their bodies fell in the wilderness for so for me i'm ending here now where i'm saying we should recognize what god has done for us that as he brings our life as he as he gives us this life that we should accept it and not be careless as those israelites were careless and lose their own in the wilderness because even though we are baptized it doesn't stop there it goes on that we have that life to live and that life must be an example that others may follow as christ walks with us thank you very much brother sam indeed it is a well well explained uh version of baptized in moses but before i go further i just want to say welcome to all those lovely uh members and uh visitors perhaps that has joined us so far online this morning it is a pleasure to have you to share in the word of god but before we move any further i just like to throw a question to the panel and from baptizing moses what spiritual lesson can we learn from the examples from both good and bad as they left us what spiritual lessons can we learn from their examples in the from the israelites that baptizing moses from both good and bad as they left us what spiritual lessons can be learned brother uh smith slightly different from what i did but um what spiritual lessons can we learn from the first corinthians 10. yeah could you just reiterate that 10 1 what brother sam is just spoke about what paul communicated to the current what spiritual lessons can we learn baptized in moses baptizing um well this is a world of lesson that we can learn from that that's one just one yeah definitely not going to be um protracted today at all um spiritual lessons that we can definitely learn is that we should adhere to to what uh israel of all that went through and that we also should avoid the pitfalls that they fell into yes so um what we can learn walk upright with god it would be a very good one brother zamik yes thank you brother one of the things and one of the lessons that i i i picture from this is that you know people always say once you've always saved yes that's not true we we we see here yeah they those israelites got so many chances they saw so many miracles miracles upon miracles upon miracles and yet still they didn't make it to that promised land it sho and and god the bible said that god was displeased with them it shows us that even though we are baptized into christ we should not just take it for granted and and just let go because the devil will come at us the same way the moment you are baptized is that the time the fight is much stronger yes so we must be very careful not to allow you know to be watchful christ said be praying always watching praying watch them pray yes because it's so important that this devil can do he's not looking for a mind youth yep chance yes to get in amen we are not you know look at the israelites they are the sexual pro they are sexual problems you know they had food problems they have adult idolatry problem they had so many problems little small they were complaining about every and anything yes we should be faithful to god amen and trust in his promises thank you very much brothers have anybody else on the panel before i move on well the scripture says that they deserve evil in their heart right so heart that is deserved desires of evil will continue to do evil right so that was your problem amen you see we have to look at the the the lesson learned it's although spiritual physical because this source of food god fed them he gave them water so this one of a spiritual lesson that jesus is the living bread is the living water and so wherever we look wherever we may go we must come back to christ because he's the living bread he is the living water thank you very much for your contributions this morning and just for those who have joined us remember baptism marks the end of the slavery of sins in our life and the beginning of a new life so if today you feel that you've been impressed come down we have baptism god is here waiting to take you into his kingdom thank you very much for listening today let's move on as time will not allow us to go further and so um the the old testament at rituals and sacrifice as found in leviticus and examples are are still being talked about today but in modern day it is important that we we put them into spiritual truth and and and so you can be guided by them brother smith rituals and sacrifices yeah um that now uh when it comes down to the rituals on the sacrifices uh the ancient israelites uh as it appears even in the scriptures seem towards uh lay a lot of emphasis on spiritual uh these rituals i should say these ritual sacrifices and so forth and by that they had attempted to undertake um these uh rituals on their own strength they did not rely upon god to give them the the stuff that they need to to point out to them what these rituals really stood for because this ritual they stood for for christ to come the christ to come so they perform these um rituals as i say based upon their own understanding now the thing is another thing is is that um it went to a certain point where um they as i said trusted so much in these rituals that god himself said in isaiah chapter 1 verse 11 away with your rituals away with your sacrifices away with all the even at one point the sabbath not the sabbath sorry away with your sabbath days which is related very strongly which relates very strongly to these rituals um i would just like to say that um we today should as i've said before try our best to avoid these uh pitfalls that ancient israel went through but it seems as if we are sort of like trailing in their mistakes and uh doing the things that they did which clearly wasn't according to the will of god because they were trusting so much in their own strength understanding and ability for to achieve righteousness you know you know the scripture tells us for it is god who worketh in us mankind both to have the will and to do of his good pleasure this is found in philippians so if we follow what god had given through his apostles the directions the instructions on the of how we can live righteous and holy lives pleasing to him and not to ourselves yes then i believe that uh we will affect the the uh the righteousness of christ and not our own righteousness which is termed in scripture as filthy rex and that is something that we want to avoid okay thank you very much brother roger um one of the things that we must be mindful of is that in john 1 6 it says and looking to jesus as he walked he said beyond the lamb of god and so we must be mindful of this question so i'm putting it to you pastor what should this teach us about why we must rely on grace and never works so we'll talk about which rituals and sacrifices the question is what should this teach us about why we must rely on grace and never works faster because the only thing that can really save us is the grace of god and uh we see now you remember when when the law was given to uh to moses at sinai and the law was read in the hearts of the israelites you remember what i said oh let the lord know everything that he said we will do right this was a clear indication that they misunderstood grace completely and we as 70 adventists we had to be very careful as well because sometimes the way we operate yes the way we operate is that you know um hey let's listen i i know grace saves us but we have to do a little bit of works as well yeah so one has to be very very careful it is important to understand that the only thing that saves a man is the grace of god yes amen thank you very much faster but you see in reality for us to have grace we must confess our sins to jesus we must acknowledge that jesus died for our sins the blood that jesus spilled on cross can and will forever redeem us jesus makes atonement for our sins we must remember that's the symbol of redemption but let's not forget the theme of this quarters lesson is rest we must find rest in jesus yes and and we've gone through many um paradigms of rest but we're still sticking to the theme of rest and hebrew 4 11 reminds us so um sister is it pastor it's the examples of rest we're looking for today the theme of rest can you tell us about it okay thank you very much um it's a very interesting lesson because um you know one would discover as from a careful reading of the book of hebrews especially chapters three and four that god's original intention yes was that moses should lead the children of israel into cain unrest i say cain and rex because that rest was from the bondage of slavery in egypt it was rest from the enemies rest from wars you know but if you read carefully you discover that neither moses or the generation that left egypt entered into canaan so then joshua took over and he took over from moses and he led the next generation now it's interesting to note that the only two people that entered the canaan that left egypt was joshua and caleb which tells me that the generation that entered cain and was a young generation 40 years and under thank you you know um because of the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness you know so one has to look at at this very carefully now they did not enter even though they entered into canaan they did not enter into the that rest that god has promised because of the unbelief right they did not enter into god's spiritual rest because of their unbelief now if you read further you discover that during the the reign of david god again renewed his his his rest right he renewed his invitation to enter into his wrist but because of the stubbornness of the people and and you know i'm glad that we have talked about we have to be very careful unless we make the same mistakes you know it is not a nice thing to make mistakes but we must learn from the mistakes of others they were very stubborn and they failed to enjoy the rest now we come down to the new testament times and we discover that up to that time israel as a nation had not entered into god's rest now we need to understand that god's invitation and promise has never failed in fact god has never given someone a task that he knows that they would feel he always provides the means the power and the wisdom everything that they need to complete that job successfully but they refuse to rely on god and you know when god makes a promise he ensures that that promises fulfill and what's interesting is that even though you as an individual if god makes a promise to me and i refuse to follow his directions god does not remove the promise from my generation he allows the same promise to be to be given to my children god doesn't say well you see your father he turned his back on me so that's it no the promise is there the promise is then i love that with god now since as god's children we have not yet entered into his rest right it is certain that there remains a rest for all god's people so what is that rest then well we find that rest in the assurance of salvation we find that rest in in freedom in christ you know that peace that we have when we understand what god's grace does for us now think about yourself you know the guilt of sin is terrible you know when you do something that you know you should not have done sometimes you can't eat well you can't sleep well you'll lose weight it is a terrible thing to be suffering under the guilt of sin but when we understand that despite what we may have done what we have done in life god's grace is sufficient and god says if you confess your sins i am faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness when we understand that hey listen that burden is going to roll off our shoulders and we will be able to until to begin to experience that rest right here you know and um we can we you know we can get rest by entirely resting on the promise of god to save us secondly it involves the rest that we find in the sabbath you know we talk about the sabbath just now and there's a connection between the two the sabbath rest and the assurance of salvation yes the sabbath race expresses our faith in in in a few ways right it testifies that we have received god's grace which alone is able to save us you know like the rituals and we spoke about the rituals and and types earlier on but like the rituals and the types in the uh you know in the in the earthly sanctuary the sabbath reminds us that rest that jesus has promised cannot be achieved on our own we can't do that you know sabbath rest reminds us that we are to stop focusing on ourselves and and anything that we think we would achieve salvation by stop that we had to focus entirely upon jesus the lord of the sabbath the one who redeems us the one who sanctifies us the sabbath also reminds us that we are waiting eagerly for the confirmation of the beautiful promise when jesus returns to take us to live with him forever the sabbath is a weekly visible sign that he is the one who sanctifies us as the bible says the one who redeems us and would recreate us in his own image you see the history of israel does indicate that while they were free from the bondage of slavery from egypt they were never free from the bondage of sin yes they never quite understood salvation that salvation came only by grace through faith in jesus and you know when the law was given that sign i again i i made that point earlier when you asked the question they said oh tell tell the lord all that he said they will do they thought they can do it all by themselves they became look at how they became strict sabbath observers and sovereign service observance so much so that while jesus was showing them how to keep the sabbath they wanted to kill him right because the way he was doing things he was healing people on the sabbath oh he should never done he should have never done that this man that is carrying his bed on the side but should never have done that but jesus was showing them how the sabbath must be kept for them it was a bit of grace plus works and so what israel failed to find we got to be very careful as christians we too don't make the same mistake but the good news is that what israel failed to find we can find it yes however however we have to remember just as christ taught and now i'm going to end up now in a next minute so just as christ taught valuable lessons through the sanctuary service with all its rituals and with all its type christ was showing how messy sin is yes and he was helping us to understand how he deals with sin yes and all the types and the pointed to the antitype christ jesus jesus himself who had been accepted you know that we can accept my faith so faith is still the key and uh we always uh fit with always going to be the key now my last text is hebrews 10 4 and verse 10 and this is critical but it says he who has entered into his rest has himself also ceased from his work as god did from him from his so god makes a connection with the sabbath rest he establishes sabbath rest when he rested from his works god said he who has entered god's rest has himself also to cease from his works as god did for him so it is not just about hearing the message of the sabbath dress it is about understanding the message and allowing the message to do something for us overcoming the bondage of sin is a process that we may never be able to understand completely but ultimately it's about trusting god allowing him to transform us transformers sorry allowing him to help us to stop relying on works and to accept his grace for he who has entered into god's rest has himself also ceased from his work as god is uh from his family as finally how do we um obtain such a risk the bible reminds us first john 1 and verse 7 that christ's blood alone cleanses us from other sins we have the assurance of eternal life jesus is coming to set us free from the penalty of sin from the power of sin he's coming to deliver us from the presence of sin what sweet rest that will be but we can begin to experience this rest right now he says come now and let us risen together says the lord do your sins be a scarlet they shall be as white as snow though there is red of crimson there shall be as wool jesus wants to clean you up right now despite what you may have done he wants to clean you up he wants to free you of your guilty conscience he wants to remove fear from your life he wants to give you peace from within he wants to be he wants that rest to begin the experience must begin right now as we are with the wonderful promise why not give jesus a chance today in your life and you will receive that peace not just for now not just for today not just for this week but for eternity amen thank you well i just want to acknowledge those of you who have joined us again and i would say happy sabbath to sister joycelyn lynch good morning and have a blessed sabbath to everyone in church thank you very much and that's coming from sonny barbados barbados welcome right here in the seventh day adventist church in brixton and um pastor on the panel there's a question um from brother elijah uh augustus how is how is jesus our sabbath rest and second question what does entering into god's rest mean first first question how is jesus our sabbath rest and second question what does entering into god's rest means sister elaine campbell said the sabbath rest foreshadow the eternal rest of jesus that jesus desires for us where will we be able to rest in is it is eternity sorry and brother tim timothy francis says it is our faith in the bread of life to give us victory over sin the rest jesus offer is rest in himself so question one what does entering in sorry how does how is jesus our sabbath rest and question two what does entering into the rest means who would like to take okay so i think the those that uh respond they did quite well we have to remember that that jesus established the sabbath rest uh i think i mentioned that uh earlier on where he rested from his works all right he is a creator he has created us and so we too as we as as hebrews chapter 4 and verse 10 says as he rested from his work so we too rest from us as we accept him as lord and savior for our life we follow the guidelines that he has laid out there for us so when we rest from ourselves once it's done in the right way all right we rest in christ then we rest in his sabbath rest amen okay thank you i hope that question is answered um you'd like to answer yes brother camera go ahead brother smith go ahead yeah um the question was asked by um the viewer yes on christ's rest now asking how can how is the rest in christ realized yes okay well look you know first of all christ said take my yoke upon you and learn of me for my yoke is easy yes and my burden is light so when we accept christ we accept his rest yes and the other thing is um it's uh the sabbath also as pastor just pointed out i think quite amicably the sabbath when we rest we repair rest effects repair and then from from the spiritual uh angle rest also affects recreation not recreation as such but re-creation going back to the old testament where god says to moses speak to the children of israel saying verily my sabbath you shall keep for it is a sign that i am the lord that does sanctify the word sanctify means to cleanse and make holy to put man back into the position from whence he had fallen so i believe that uh the the word rest is a very very important word when it comes to salvation our salvation because it means to repair yeah you cannot i mean doctors will tell you uh people are affiliated with the health services will tell you that one of the most important things we can do for ourselves is to get good sleep to get good rest because when we don't we get agitated irritated and we also lose much of what we can gain from rest so rest when it comes to rest uh and especially the sabbath rest it affords us a sanctifying process that nothing else can afford us so sabbath rest does bring us our affordable that sanctifying risk and going back to the front where jesus says take my yoke upon you and i've learned that the yoke of christ is the law of god so when we take on the law of god take jesus christ you look upon us we do enter into his rest and uh we are fitted for glory when we do amen thank you very much there's another question but we'll come back to it right when's this lesson is talking about hardening your hearts and perhaps in our own lives we may have heard the sermon again or oh we will hear it at some time what does it mean to harden your hearts and so this lessons look at hebrew 4 7 4 4-7 and it says for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise and god did rest the seventh day from all his work and in this place again if they shall enter into my rest seen therefore it remains that some must enter therein and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief seventh again he limited a certain day saying in david today after so long a time as it is said to today if he will hear his voice harden not your hearts and to supplement that we'd like to look at psalm 95 reading from 8 to 11. here is a complimentary verse it says harden not your heart as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me proved me and saw my work at 40 years long i've grieved with this generation and said it is a people that do air in their heart and they have not known my ways eleven and last unto whom i swear my wrath that they should not enter into my rest as the question were so ably answered about entering my rest and i hope the person got something from it no no no we're in no doubt as what it means to harden our art if i may summarize that in one word it's called stubbornness when you resist god then you you're hard on your heart but it's not just that it's the rest that we're speaking about the theme of rest is beginning with god's own rest after creation the fact that genesis makes no mention of the evening of the seventh day of creation provides a basis for some jewish commentators to conclude that god's rest last round it's never stopped this is a timely reminder for all men women boys girls teenagers who've hardened their hearts to sin three times in one chapter it is pleaded and in other books harden not your hearts you see this hardening is unbelief unbelief is a sin that hardens the heart when satan tempted even adam in the garden he got them to disbelieve the word of god yes in genesis 3 1 you don't really believe if people will really believe in god they would not practice sin in as much as we live in a sinful world because when we practice it we face judgment by not believing in god's words people feel pleased in their unbelief to carry out the roots of sin because they it it makes it justifiable to harden their hearts and carry out their acts and become engaged in for unforbidden pleasure and forget and reign against god's standards of holiness that's what hardening your heart means and it it allows us to to develop habits that prevents us and prevents the mind from reaping the benefits of the gospel just like the israelites did they turn away from the true and living god they refused to listen they rejected truth of salvation they rejected the faith in jesus and turned away from the living god hardening their hearts you see since deceitfulness can prevent us from reaping god's promise i could go on along but time it won't allow me sin offers rationalization and justification that deceives the mind let me give you a little thing because i used to work hard as a as a as a son of a farmer and in ploughing the land and taking out the animals you develop callus in your hand it makes the inside of your hands become very hard because of constant use it is like a christian journey we become impenetrable insensitive blind unteachable when we harden our hearts a hardened attitude is not a sudden act it's an abnormality it's not a good state of mind it makes you inflexible to avoid sin we need to come into the presence of god jesus commanded his disciples to share the gospel to the end of the earth because he knew that people would refrain from their spiritual need and live into sin it says in matthew truly i tell you one reason in matter 25 and 12. one reason we are so unprepared is because of where we've hardened our hearts when we should be serving god so we become procrastinators but let me summarize quickly about the rest because if you continue to harden your hearts if we do that then we will never enter into the eternal rest with christ that's the promise because if you refuse to take god into consideration then you're living an unrighteous life sister writes sister white says the lord requires of us to obey the voice of duty when there is when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue the opposite course it requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from god if you hear that voice heart not your heart because if you do the voice that is heard gives warning gives counsel in reproof the lord's message is light to his people if we wait for louder calls and better opportunities it may be withdrawn and we may be left in the darkness harden not your hearts god bless you right um in the interest of time we want to go quickly two thirds of the lesser sister angela and it's called conquering the heavenly city okay i got a question to answer for thursday's listen on the question was how can we help others find rest in jesus when they think that their sins have been so grievous that their hearts cannot be changed yes and that their cases are truly hopeless what biblical references can you share with them so when the spirit of condemnation sorrow of sin hopelessness and hopelessness overwhelm you you need to first acknowledge that you are helpless in this situation and that your only hope is in jesus christ who die to pay the ransom for your sins in john 3 20-21 we read for if our heart condemn us god is greater than our heart yes and knoweth all things beloved if our hearts condemn us not then we have confidence toward god when your heart allows you to feel condemned believe in the promises of the lord john 3 verses 17 through 20 for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world yes but that the world through him amen he that believeth on him is not condemned but either believe it not he's condemned already yes because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god listen what is really condemnation it is not the hardened it is not the hardening of your heart that condemns you the bible says and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light oh yes because their deeds were evil and there are some practical examples of jesus socializing and more importantly accepting the offering and sacrifices of the condemned of society in which he lived back then for an example the woman at jacob as well in john 4 5-11 the woman taking an adultery in john 8 1-11 mary magdalene the woman of ill-repute the very same woman with the alabaster box of expensive perfume in john 12 6. the woman at the well left the presence of jesus with a testimony so convincing that the whole city of samaritan samaria came out to see jesus john 3 29 says and many of the samaritans believed on him for the saint of the woman which testified he told me all that i ever did the woman of alabasta box of fine perfume was accused of waste by a thief judas betrayer so the lesson is that sometimes those who stand in accusation against you are worthy of condemnation themselves jesus defend mary and rebuke his disciples and said unto him to them leave her alone matthew 26 13 verily i say unto you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world there shall also that this woman have done be told for a memorial of her finally i think this story of the woman caught out in the act of adultery and remember i said caught up because it could have been set up not that she what she did was right but finally i think that the story of the woman caught it out in the act of adultery is a profound example of god's love to the soul who feels condemned hopeless and restless the woman was brought in the presence of jesus in broad daylight in hope and shame and humiliation she was corned disgraced and off-naked guilty she could not raise her head so presuming she hung her head down below her chin condemned and helpless she was drugged in the presence of the master consider for a moment psychological torture and the emotional grief that her fellow human beings brought on her but in john 8 7 through 7 through 8 and 10-11 so when they continued asking him he lifted up himself that's jesus and said unto them he that is without sin among you gosh let him first cast a stone and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground when jesus lifted up himself and saw none of the woman he said unto her woman where are those then accusers run oh um no man condemned thee she said no man lord jesus said unto her neither do i condemn thee thee go and sin no more so you cannot have peace or be perfectly blessed until all on your halter is laid so jesus says unto you today neither do i condemn you go and sin no more amen amen what a beautiful way to sum up thank you very much for joining us this morning just remember their rema there remains therefore arrest for the people of god hebrew 4 9. this rest reflects god's rest from the first service ever it means we can rest from our work and trust in our salvation just one line longing for more sister sister longing for more one line what are you longing for okay i'm longing to have that constant relationship with jesus here i can live in this present without the feeling of condemnation because why i feel condemned because of my sins which i race with every day so i want that peace that tranquility of heart to be able to remain in the presence amen pastor longing for more one thing yeah um amen brother roger longing for more one sentence yeah just more of the rest of christ christ rest that's all i'm longing for longing for more brother sammy you know there was a song back then i i used to hear in about two thousand five does say i want what am i longing for and you know what am i longing for just love jesus more that's all i'm longing for who could not long for the eternal rest of christ according to sister white that i may know him june 5th we shall be saved eternally when we enter through the gates into the city then we may rejoice that we are saved eternally saved but until then we need to heed the injunction of the apostle hebrew 4 1 is quoted having a knowledge of canaan singing the songs of canaan rejoicing in the prospect of entering into canaan did not bring the children of israel into the olive groves of the promised land they could make their truth only by occupation by complying with the condition by exercising living faith in god and by appropriating his promise to themselves the thoughts of our hearts and the words of our lips and every act of life will make more worthy in the presence of god that is continually felt let the language of our heart be low god is here then the life will be pure and the correct and spotted the soul continually uplifted to god testimonies to the church let us pray as we close let us pray eternal father and our god we just long to be with you father we have seen where our weary bodies are just going from day to day but father you have promised a rest and if we be remain faithful to you we will surely enter into that race father we have seen the example of ancient israel where they have failed where their bodies fell in the wilderness but lord as we study these lesson bring it to our minds not just to our minds and leave it there but bring it to our minds that we can live out our lives in you and that others may see the rest that you have given unto us and draw closer to you that they themselves can find rest and peace and joy in you father we thank you and we praise you in jesus name amen amen once again join us next week same time same place 10 50 at the breaks 15 sorry at the brixton seventh adventist church where we share the word of god and as usual and as usual um trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus than to trust and obey god bless you amen [Music] [Music] [Music] hey there is today your first time here or maybe your first time in a while if so maybe you're wondering exactly who we are and what this church is all about well we'd like you to know that we're a group of ordinary people who are on an amazing journey together following christ our guide is the bible because it's the divinely inspired word of god and it will never take us in the wrong direction along the way we hope you'll see that we are welcoming and spiritually passionate and that getting to know you is a big deal to us we know that the road is rough sometimes but we'll work really hard to bring you practical and relevant messages to equip and encourage you through life's ups and downs we want you to know that we care about this community and we believe that it's our job to make it a better place so no matter who you are or where you've been we're glad you're here with us today and we hope that you'll join us on our journey following christ and living out his plan for us so welcome to church [Music] so [Music] do [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we have so many reasons to be thankful so many reasons to celebrate to worship and that's what we've gathered to do here today to honor a god who never stops loving us no matter what to empower one another to be stronger followers of the king of kings to make this world a better place by spreading god's love and you're invited to join the fun you see the bible teaches us that we have a new covenant with god a new lease on life courtesy of jesus christ and that alone is worth celebrating but the lord wants to partner with you and i to bring peace hope and love into our hearts and into the world around us and how do we do this well that's what we're going to talk about today but before we do let's join in celebration of the fact that through christ we are free free to escape a life of sin and instead pursue a life of spiritual growth free to sing praise and worship with thankfulness in our hearts no matter who you are or where you've been you are free free in the name of jesus christ to pursue a personal relationship with god and as we enter into a time of worship and praise we encourage you to rejoice in that freedom come everyone clap your hands shout to god with joyful praise for the lord most high is awesome he is the great king of all the earth let's glorify the name of our almighty god let's worship happy sabbath everyone one more time happy sabbath it is so good to see you the sun is shining it's a wonderful day it's a blessed day we're in sabbath time so let's just sing and worship we're going to start with our theme song let's stand our theme song running lives race please stand [Music] so yes so the words of the song is inspired by the theme of the song running my life's race so let's sing and run life's race remember that there may be obstacles but god with god by our side so we can overcome any obstacle that we may have [Music] obstacles fear and strife may come in your way but hear god say my child just hold on god will give you strength and victory through every test you got here by faith keep running life's [Music] obstacles fear as strength may come in your way but hear god save my charges hold on god will give you strength and victory through every test you got here by faith keep running life's race until you have won [Music] [Music] until you [Music] [Applause] obstacles fear and strife may come in your way hear god say my child just hold on god will give you strength and victory through every test you got here by faith keep running life's race until you have won [Music] [Music] keep running lights onto my [Music] keep riding lights great until you have one [Music] [Music] good morning good morning good morning and happy sabbath happy sabbath you may be seated [Music] it's such a a privilege to to actually be seeing the congregation here with us today listen we've been here we've been having fun so welcome and happy sabbath to all of you happy sabbath indeed indeed petra i i'm sure they're happy to see us you know face to face and not necessarily through the screen and i just want to use this opportunity picture to just just ask do we have any any visitors anyone that's visiting with us for the first time this is your first time amen amen just give us a wave just give us away all right and i'm going to ask my congregation just to give give her a very warm wave a warm warm wave go ahead amen amen and and of course we are going to be singing uh a song so praise team will stand by for a fellowship song and you'll feel even more welcome at that time but even before we go there petra i just want to also say we just want to welcome the online visitors as well so they've been with us or you've also been with us maybe you're joining us today in the congregation but maybe you were watching from home during the week so we just want to say welcome welcome and thank you for tuning in it's promised to be a beautiful sabbath isn't it it's going to be it is going it has been a lovely week and for those of you who are joining us for the first time uh we are your hosts my name is tariq and we have my name is petra i have petra and we are hosting running lives race now it has been a spectacular event um picture and even those online who have been here we would want to know how long they've been here we've been doing this every night so you know the drill if if this is your first time just saying one and picture we are at um session number eight no sorry today is nine players number nine there we go right so if you have if you've been here all throughout the week just just send nine and you can check the other numbers the number of times you've been here just send them in the chat just for us to know that you have been here and you have been represented also as well to read for those in the congregation we don't want to leave you out you're worshiping here with us today so just throw your fingers up and we can look out and we can see yes so if you've been with us for all of the sessions that we've been having in the running lash race series just go ahead and we've been together virtually and of course we we felt like we were bonding with you through the chat is that so picture both on youtube and on facebook and we'll say to those online it's not too late share the link share the link you you may just save a life share the link it is really important that when something good is happening you don't keep it to yourself don't you think peter amen yes man you you definitely share it and that's what we're asking you to do today and the petra today is the finish line the finish line we've done it we've made it we've come full circle i mean the work continues from here right because we've got some amazing tips that pastor dane has shared with us um but in terms of the series today culminates the whole thing everything yes and and just imagine um what what what joy it will bring us when we get to that grand finish line just just imagine how happy we'll be just imagine how you know the smiles the the joy everything and and i mean you know even though life has been rough we know we look forward to the finish but of course before we got to the finish line we started somewhere didn't we we did yes we did so on sabbath we kicked start this the the series sorry with all naked and was there anyone who tuned in for that who who just again wave of hands i'm sure yeah see many familiar faces who were here of course that was for our morning session yeah and that was all about being transparent and being open with god not covering ourselves because at the end of the day he knows us all anyway definitely so it's just about sharing and building that relationship with god and then the pm yeah tariq what was the pm so the the the pm petra i'm gonna have you telling the pm because i'm so excited about telling them my favorite right so it was beware or prepared amen amen and and of course for for when we got over to sunday then we started to add a little a little jazz to it right yes and and of course we had sunday being called sunday and of course it was pretty smooth what was the time it was it sunday's title was focused on how you finished yes and tariq that was actually my favorite night oh i don't know if i'm being biased i mean they were all pretty good but on sunday we focused on the story of job and we were we were saying hashtags like your situation doesn't have to define your destination and for me that was a great way to kind of bring the program to warming up yes so how about you tariq i think the next one and for the enough picture you know that monday was my favorite day of the week and one day was miracle monday and i'm sure someone somewhere experienced a miracle um petra and of course what was the title of america monday that was what if you fail what if you fail and of course for me it was my favorite picture because um so often we think of failure as as a bad thing or when we fail you know we give up and we just leave it there right and it spoke of david and and you know the fact that he acknowledged where he was and of course you know there were some some strong points there about being in the wrong place at the wrong time so when david should have been in his position he wasn't and because of that david fell but that's not the end petra of course where it is life we heard about and then we heard about lifeboat so that was the hashtag god is always willing and able to save you at whichever point you are so that was an amazing night as well yes then we went on to terrific tuesday patreon what was the that for terrific tuesday that was exercise by putting your faith into action right and that was just wonderful and of course wednesday we have always wednesday and i'm sure that you were award as well yes and that was make time for rest and restoration certainly then we had thankful thursday and of course we shared things that we were thankful for and that was a very interesting day it wasn't that was very good yes it was the title for that one was prioritized yes and can i can i can i tell them petra um i i think you know we don't mind sharing that um even though it was thankful thursday we we had to give thanks that was the day when the electricity went right so we can share that now we can share it no so we are having a virtual campaign pastor was in jamaica and there was no electricity so guess what we prayed and we prayed and we prayed and of course something worked out and so we were thankful we're very happy amen amen and fine well not finally but last night we ended with fresh friday so we ended the week with fresh friday and we got a fresh anointing and wasn't it beautiful it was amazing it was an amazing channel our title was stay ready and we we focused on stuff like representing god as opposed to representing him we don't need to talk on god's behalf god's word already does that for himself but often at times i think as christians we tend to kind of say what god should accept or what god shouldn't accept so let's represent god as he would like to be presented right and one of our other features that we we were doing throughout the week we were looking at um mind or charity which we have been supporting and of course you know bringing awareness or more awareness to mental health and so i'm sure that you all you know are a part of of of us and so we encourage each and every one to support mind and even after we ask that you continue to support mind because as as i said before we are one family and we speak of course with one voice and if you are if for some reason you forgot you may just see the link and you can check it out at another time yes and of course those who are online um you know i'm not leaving you out you'll also see the link um in you know i think it's in the description and also you'll see it as well on screen petra and of course we have been blessed we haven't been and of course as the praise team will join us to sing a fellowship song i i want you to give someone a a beautiful smile or or a wave um just you know just just let someone feel welcome and to be happy to be here because indeed it's a pleasure to be alive amen amen amen amen okay all right go ahead so stand stand stand as we sing stand as we sing all right so let us greet somebody [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] together [Music] [Music] everybody [Music] i'm sure yes you may be seated thank you and and of course you know we we we say that we we do hope that you enjoy the rest of our service today yes yes for service that's it that's it that's it enjoy i hope that you all feel welcomed and i hope that today will be a blessing for you as it is for us okay definitely all right let us say a quick word of prayer um father we thank you for taking us here in this moment we ask that as we're about to go into our service you'll be with us be with us dear lord and help us help those who are on their way give us a blessing we ask in jesus name amen [Music] let me join with the host by wishing you a very happy sabbath happy sabbath to everybody are you happy to be alive it's just good to be alive did i host did i hear you say wednesday was wednesday all right well i have a little bit of news here and i've been asked to announce that uh i've asked been asked to share with you that forest and nadia or ideas you might want to call it i don't know you know some people pronounce the names differently but they are announcing the arrival of a baby boy on wednesday wednesday say amen brethren and they said baby is all well so um that's our own son from brixton here for us um he is now blessed with good good mathematician you know he came with one then they became two and now they're three and at the time go on there might be four five six seven you know it depends all right good we also want to um remind you and remind all those who are listening to us that uh we are not yet at the end of the tape or the end of the the race i remember some years ago using bolt was giving a little bit of advice to some of the runners and he said listen when you are running don't slow down until you cross the finish line so we must not slow down we're still to go we have uh a sermon this morning and then this afternoon at uh 5 p.m now i know this might be a little disappointing for some of you but we had to work out some logistics and so forth so our baptism this afternoon is going to be at 5 00 pm uh you will have a chance to go home and maybe catch a little rest and have some some dinner and for those of you who may not be able to make it back it would be streamed so you would not miss anything but the baptism this this afternoon is going to be at 5 00 p.m and so we are asking you those of you who may not be coming back to please tune in the candidates and their families would be with us and uh of course the well-wishers and if you're living within close proximity and you want to come by you're quite free to come to attend this would be a normal uh service um time so you're quite free to do so so uh our glorious baptism comes on today at 5 00 pm then um we want to remind the church you know this month is running really really quickly in the next couple of weeks would be our communion service and the communion service is scheduled for the uh 25th of september so please make a note of that the 25th of september as soon as the elders meet we're going to walk out with the fine details and let you know but we're hoping that we can return to normal all right um that's good so please keep that in mind it's september the 25th and we want the church to continue to pray for the nominating committee we were able to meet last sunday the members did a fantastic job and you know we we we are to meet again so please pray for us as we do the work of the nominating committee under the power of the holy spirit to select officers to serve the church for the upcoming two uh term uh 2022 and 2023. may god continue to be with you and bless you as we enjoy the rest of the sabbath we have been looking at sabbath rest and you know i just want you to know that as you come in here regardless of what kind of burden you may have come in here with there is rest for you i want you to remember that despite what may have been your past you can now confess your sins and christ says if you confess your sins he is willing to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness there should be no reason why you should leave here feeling burdened there's rest for you enjoy the summit rest and let's look forward to the day when we shall be rescued from the presence of sin we will be able to rest eternally with nothing to worry about may god bless us as we worship together [Music] [Music] so sorry so right now it's going to be times for um it's going to be time for tides and offerings so if the deacons can come forward you can do that and of course this is you know that that that moment that you are afforded to give back a portion of what the lord has blessed you with and we say that as the deacons come we you know sing with us and the praise team and of course you will have a wonderful time fellowshipping as you sing as well okay the song goes [Music] god has done so much for us he's blessed us he's been with us so we're gonna sing that song and please sing with us [Music] i cannot tell [Music] [Music] it wouldn't be enough [Music] [Music] it wouldn't be enough [Music] [Music] hey what shall i render to jehovah for he has done so very much for me what shall i render to jehovah for he has done so very much [Music] oh what shall i render to jehovah for he has done so very much for me what shall i render [Music] for he has done so very much for me amen amen i will continue with these are the days of elijah and lo he comes [Music] these are the days of elijah declaring the word of the lord and these are the days of your servant moses righteousness being restored and these are the days of retrials of famine and darkness and sword still we are the voice in the desert crying prepare ye the way of the lord behold is [Music] these are the days of busy cold the dry bones becoming smashed and these are the days of your servant david revealed rebuilding the temple of praise and these are the days of the harvest the fields are all white in the world [Music] shining [Music] behold he comes riding on the clouds shining like the sun at the trumpet court leaves your voice because we know there's no part like there's no [Music] there's god god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god [Music] there's no there's no god like jehovah [Music] if shining like the sun at salvation jesus yes jesus yes jesus christ amen amen all right we're gonna sing one more song our last song and we're gonna sing um sorry you are god alone you are god alone [Music] [Music] [Music] that's just the way you are [Music] anything we can give by your plan that's just the way you are not alone but before time began you you are not alone [Music] you're the only god whose power none can content you're the only god whose name and the race will never end the only god who's worthy of everything we can give you that's just the way it is [Music] and right now in the good times [Music] you [Music] [Music] that's who you are [Music] that's who you are time began you are on your throne you are god alone and right now you are on your throne you are [Music] unshakeable [Music] that's who you are [Music] [Music] who you are [Music] [Music] a pleasant sabbath everyone it's such a blessing to be in the house of the lord one more time on his sabbath day even after covert and all the restrictions it's really a blessing to be able to come together and give god praise [Music] i was just a child when i felt the savior leading i was drawn to what i could not understand [Music] and for the cause of christ i have spent my days believing [Music] that what he had me be is who i am as i come to see the weaker side of me i realized his grace is what i'll need [Music] justice for my soul mercy said no i'm not gonna let you go i'm not gonna let you slip away you don't have to be afraid mercy said no sin will never take control life and death stood face to face and darkness tried to steal my heart away but thank you jesus mercy said no [Music] forgot to love the world that he sent his son to save us from the cross he built a bridge to set us free oh but deep within mine there is still a war that's raging that makes the sacrifice so hard to see as midnight on crucifixion day [Music] the light of hope seemed so far away as evil trying to stop redemptions flow [Music] you don't have to be afraid mercy said no sin will never take control when life and death took face to face and darkness tried to steal my heart away but thank you jesus mercy said no [Music] day is ago [Music] so long ago mercy said no i'm not gonna let you go i'm not gonna you slip away you don't have to be afraid mercy said no the sin will never take control [Music] when life and death stood face to face and darkness tried to steal my heart but thank you jesus mercies [Music] you lord thank you lord for mercy mercy said no [Music] happy sabbath everyone it's prayer time in the house of the lord and if you it's possible you could kneel if you can't then you accept an attitude of prayer let us know great god merciful father we thank you for mercy because mercy says no our father who art in heaven hallowed be your high and exalted name father we bow in your presence this afternoon to lift up and adore your name you are the only true god you are the god that never fails you're the god that sits high and you look slow you are in our thoughts our mind and everything that we do you are with us father you never fail and because you're a never failing savior you have given us this wonderful opportunity to come in your son here this morning to lift up and adore your wonderful name father we praise you we worship you we adore you we lift you up and hide there's god because many are professing to be god and many are professing that they know the true and living god but you are the only god that died and rose again we bless your name we praise you we adore you we lift you up this morning and i pray dear god that as we pray and as we praise and as we lift you up you will wash our hearts and cleanse it from everything that is unlike thee and fill us oh god with your holy spirit you know our heart you know our thoughts you know everything about us you are reading within the lines of our heart and i pray every father that you will make us holy thine father we need you more than ever we are in a trying time but amidst everything that is happening you are in control you are still a saving god you are still our deliverer you are still our high praise in the sanctuary and we praise you and we bless your holy name father help us that as we praise you we will live the life that is pleasing in your sight father as i come to you on behalf of the waiting congregation some of us are sick some of us are troubled some of us are discouraged some of us do just do not know what to do some of us are bereaved but father god you are able to deliver us you are able to take away our sadness our aches our pains and you are able to heal us of all our diseases all our sicknesses and everything that is besetting us from running with patience this race that is set before us father we are in this life race and we will have downfalls we will have obstacles but oh god by your grace we will overcome every obstacles because you are in control and you will never lead us in any darker path than you have trod because you have trough this road before father i pray that you will have mercy and compassion on each and every one of us and help us to have love one towards another help us to pray without ceasing help us to position your throne on behalf of one another because your coming is near and father i pray that let not one of us that is bowing here this afternoon be left behind father i pray that you will have mercy and you will have compassion you will take full control of our lives you'll supply our needs according to your riches in glory you said we should seek ye first the kingdom of god and it's righteousness and all things shall be added help us to seek you first lord help us to seek you with our whole heart help us to seek you with a clear heart a clean conscience and a mind just to live for you completely father you are seeking for true worshipers and true worshipers must worship you in spirit and in truth father remove from us everything that will beset us this morning and help us to praise you continually father i pray for those who are online that you will be with them in a very special way touch their hearts oh god and help them to continue looking on father those of us who are here help us dear jesus that we'll praise you and we'll worship you more than all when the word comes forth their father that will not keep it to ourselves we will share because these are the days when we need to share what we have learned what we are going through and what we need to tell people that they need to come out of darkness into this marvelous light help them to come to know you dear god whom to know is life eternal because your coming is near the end is near help us all my father to be ready father i pray for the speaker of the hour pastor fletcher i pray that you will inspire him you will anoint him oh god you will charge his lips with a life called from of the halter inspire him oh god fill him with your holy spirit and helped him to speak the plane thus saith the lord the plane does say the lord that your people need for these last and closing days we are in the last and closing days and only sound doctrine will prevail so i pray heavenly father that you will bless the speaker bless each and every one of us who will hear and listen to the word and help us to take it help us to umble ourselves help us that self will be completely slain and your spirit will take over our lives because we need you more than ever bless the this praise team bless each and every one who are taking part bless them i pray continue to inspire them continue to bless them continue to touch them that they will continue singing songs of praise to your i an exalted name father you are looking for us to lift you up and to praise you and what better place to be than in your century on this your holy sabbath day so i prayed there father that you will have mercy have compassion and let your divine will be done take full control and let your name be lifted up these mercies are asking no other name but in the precious name of jesus our soon coming king amen amen amen amen amen amen what a beautiful uncovering prayer that was i know and a beautiful song even before wow we know that grace is giving us things that we don't deserve yes and what's mercy to reach some mercy and even while we're back they're talking about mercy you know for me i don't even want to describe it the way that you we were just discussing it it's just thinking about the fact that um something is going to happen to us petra right and it's it's withhold it are withheld from us yes so of course um we are very much appreciative of of the fact that you know he grants us mercy all the time and right now petra we're going to be going right into our special hour yes so before we do so tariq we've learned so much about pastor this week we've been sharing through questions with parts of him just telling us a little bit more of himself and also you had a chance where you could also ask your questions just to clarify in a few things and just to get to know him more um but now we're gonna just culminate everything put everything together and let you know everything that we've learned about him of course and we will just go straight into it so our speaker he has from the beautiful parish of hanover in jamaica and today he serves at the helm of the youth ministries team in jamaica of course he is the youth ministries director of jamaica union and just to give you a little background of course he he at a tender age became a first elder in his church and that started his journey in ministry and of course it was not an easy task but it prepared him for what he's doing today petra you know he's now very much a strong leader of course yes and we also learned that pastor's initial interest was in architectural technology yes however when he went in to study this his peers actually found it funny that he was there they thought that maybe he had chosen the wrong subject he later realized that his interest was in brokenness but instead of broken buildings and arc architectural blueprints he realized that he was concerned with the brokenness of humanity starting with his own brokenness and therefore he went into the ministry and that's something that he prides his ministry on especially with youth um so we're just so thankful because we've learned and we've seen how passive exemplified practical advice on how we can run last race story definitely and he he continues to preach the word even today and his words is not of his own you know he is led by the holy spirit and he continues and once more he will bring to us another word and just before he comes um petra well i think we had our song on meditation already so we'll go straight into having our word from pastor dane fletcher thank you thank you it's my joy to connect with you or in the sanctuary and those of you who are online this morning or this afternoon i trust that you had a good week or whatever your week was i pray that you experience the comfort and the presence of the power of the almighty these are indeed testing times we lose people our loved ones on the left and on the right it's a time of grief and sorrow for many but i pray that by the power of the holy spirit that you will receive strength and comfort in these difficult days who would have thought that a week would have gone by so quickly yet we have come to the end of this series running life's grace and we are actually at the finish line we're at the finish line this morn this afternoon and i hope and pray that you who would have journeyed with us would be so inspired would have been so inspired to run life's race with patience looking on to jesus the author and the finisher of your faith it's my joy yes it is my joy to connect not for the last time but just to deliver the word of god so i'm here to celebrate this beautiful sabbath with you your heads are bowed your eyes are closed for father this is your moment do what only you can do by the power of your might in jesus name amen so here we are the finish line we're at the finish line my friends and as we stand at the finish line i just want you to know that god has a special word for you journey with me then to the book second timothy chapter 4 verses 6 to 8 the bible says for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought a good fight i have finished my course i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but also to unto all them that love is appearing we're looking at the finish line just before we get into this afternoon's message i remind you that we are at the end of this series running life's race we began with the subject all naked that is being honest sincere with ourselves with god with others and if we go to god boldly we will receive grace to help in the time of need for all it all we should do is just be open with god because things are already open we next look at beware prepare warning as well as an admonition we have an enemy who wants to deceive us we can only overcome him when we study god's word and are prepared to obey every word of god let's never forget the enemy himself knows the word of god we moved from there to focus on how you think life is filled with challenges obstacles and disappointments life is filled with covet 19. in this dispensation we have heartaches and misery worry and pain because we're in a battle a great controversy a war between good and evil a war between christ and satan like job we may not know what is happening behind the scene but if we are faithful to god or end can be more blessed than our beginning and i pray today that your end will be more blessed than your beginning we next look at the subject subject what if you fall what if you fall what if you feel if you sin it does not matter the kind of sin it does not matter the number of sins once you confess your sins he is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you not of some but of all unrighteousness if he did it for david he can do it for you he can do it for me imagine after david's sin god would be able to recognize david as a man after his own heart that speaks about the grace of god the mercy of god you can make it i can make it we can make it by the grace of god and we move from there to look at exercise that is putting your faith into action that it is not sufficient to profess to have faith in god we are to be intentional about putting our faith in action or faith will not mean anything if we are not willing available and ready at all times to follow god and isaac served as a good example as he was willing available and ready to be offered as a sacrifice if you have faith in god there will be absolutely nothing too great for you to do you will be willing to gladly give your life to him and so i asked the question today how much faith do you have in god and then we understand that if we're going to run lives raised successfully we must make time for rest and recreation that god had us in mind when he established the sabbath at creation and god had us in mind because as rest repairs tissues and distresses the body the sabbath invigorates the soul keeping the sabbath is a demonstration of our faith in god that we belong to him that we belong to the god of our creation it is a sign that we belong to the eternal father and then we move from that to the subject prioritized that is we should order our lives our greatest problem is sin and the only person who can save us from sin is jesus and if you have not yet done so surrender and commit your life to him and be baptized for if you believe and you're not baptized you will be lost but if you believe and you are baptized you will be saved i say if you believe and you do not get baptized you will be damned that is you will be destroyed and then we looked last night at the all-important subject of staying ready staying ready that is living in readiness for jesus second coming which will be an unannounced event jesus will come as a thief of the night we learned also that jesus can use a person with a bad character transform even the traditional way of interpreting that person's life and bring about a positive message it doesn't matter who you are what you're doing jesus can transform your circumstance and you can type amen in the chat if you believe that jesus can transform your situation we should always be ready to meet him and if you are a secret admirer of jesus you will not make it there's no room in god's kingdom for secret admirers of his son if you're going to make it to the kingdom you must make a commitment and you make that commitment through baptism and so i say if you have been admiring if you have been pleased with what jesus has done for you you should do the honorable thing and make that commitment and today is the day of commitment today is the day of commitment i say yes today is the day of commitment and now we are at the finish line the finish line the finish line what happens at the end of your life's journey what happens when you would have considered all that you would have done a fitting example to speak about the finish line is the apostle paul the apostle paul as he penned these powerful and poignant word words to the young preacher timothy he says as he awaits to be punished to death he's about to be killed his head is about to be removed by the guillotine even as he gazes in the sky paul the apostle would be confident of this thing he would say for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought a good fight i have finished my course i have kept the faith the question today is are you discouraged by the trials that you face would you like paul be able to declare i have fought a good fight or is it that you have given up is it that you have decided to quit is it that you have decided to lose hope and faith in god yes life is challenging covey 19 is unbearable i don't know what problems you have in your family but each problem each difficulty is a part of the fight of life don't give up the fight don't you ever quit i submit to you as you edge to the finish line keep fighting keep moving keep pressing keep looking unto jesus and even as you fight the fight i am suggesting to you this morning or this afternoon that you should not only focus on fighting the fight you should also focus on finishing the course there are so many of us sometimes we start but we do not finish in university there are some persons who might know they started the course they started to study they would have invested much money in their studies but they did not finish their course they do not have much to prove that they started the course and they are not even able to apply themselves of things that they might have learned in the course i submit to you that it is not sufficient to start there are some good starters we are quick out of the blocks you may have started the journey with jesus from you were a child you may have been brought up in the church you might have gone astray yes you have started the course i submit to you that you should not quit you should not give up your objective in life is not so much to start i said it earlier in the series that you should focus on your finish do not just start you should be determined to finish your course the question is have you kept the faith remember it's not a walk in your strength it's not a walk by your power it's a walk of faith we're told in hebrews 11 6 that without faith it is impossible to please god for he that go to god must know that he is and that he is a reporter of them that diligently seek him so it is a fight it is a fight to finish it is a fight to finish by keeping the faith what's your fight this morning this afternoon are you determined to fight to finish by keeping the faith there are three s that you should never forget as you approach the finish line fight finish and faith you will never finish if you do not keep the faith and remember that that if you are going to keep the faith you must be committed to god now as we look at this message paul having had a good fight having finished the for the course he declared i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearance or his appearing now when we look at the crown the crown that paul awaits is not a diadem it's not a crown that suggests royal connection though it is a crown that really in one sense would represent that he is a child of the king of kings the crown that he will receive is a stephanos the stefanos crown my friends is a crown of victory it is a crown that is suggesting that you would have overcome you would have overcome not by your strength not by your power but by your faith in jesus christ because you know that jesus christ would have already paid the penalty for your sins jesus christ would have already defeated the enemy on your behalf jesus christ defeated the devil in heaven jesus christ defeated the enemy on calvary's cross jesus christ will defeat the devil when he will come the next time i submit to you as we press towards the finish line keep fighting keep pressing keep the faith until you finish your course as we look at this message it is obvious that at the finish line we will receive that is those of us who are faithful we will receive a crown of righteousness and this crown of righteousness will be given by the righteous judge now while the righteous judge gives this crown let us never forget that he will be giving to those who are ready to meet him now i think it would be useful then for me to share a little bit in this message about the judgment as we edge towards the finish line it would be useful to observe that there is a need for judgment because even the justice of the god of mercy and grace is a stake the accuser of the brethren the devil himself has accused god for being unfair that loser called satan the enemy of our souls wants us to rebel against god and lose our souls satan wants you to give up the fight satan doesn't want you to finish the course satan doesn't want you to keep the faith he does not want you to accept the penalty of jesus did on your behalf he does not want you to receive the crown of righteousness and so dearly beloved brothers and sisters i've come by here to say if you are going to finish the course you've got to allow jesus christ to take up your kids i submit that the gospel the good news of jesus christ is incomplete without the judgment remember my friends we looked at john 1 verse 29 the next day john seeth jesus coming unto him and said behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world now when we look at the lamb of god within the context of salvation we understand according to first peter 1 verses 19 and 20 but with the precious blood of jesus as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you and i read also revelation 13 verse 8 and revelation 13 verse 8 declares my friends and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world so jesus christ the lamb slain from the foundation of the world happens to be the mediator or advocate who eventually will return as judge judge of this entire world and it is this jesus christ who will offer a crown of righteousness i submit then that if everything is not intact with you and your lord if you are not in agreement with what the judge is doing that you will not receive the crown of eternal life and before he becomes judge he has been your intercessor your mediator it therefore means that if he has been your mediator and if everything is bare open before him and if god through jesus christ and the power of the holy spirit would have worked for your salvation and if god would have seen everything that you have done everything that you're doing the evil of your thoughts if god knows everything about you and he sent jesus to die for you and he made the way plain and clear for you to be saved and if you reject him then you will be doomed doomed in the fire of hell prepared for the devil and his angels hell was not prepared for you but the kingdom of glory was prepared for you and you have awaiting you yes there is a crown of eternal life a crown awaiting you at the finish line when jesus christ the righteous judge will return to give every person a just and true reward look at my head how big it is my head is measured christ has already prepared a crown for me my crown is not your crown my crown is a perfect crown my crown is made just for me and by the grace of god i will not allow my crown to be a souvenir in the kingdom of god if you do not make it your crown will be there on ward your crown will not be received i submit to you then make everything right and fight keep fighting keep faithful and finish well by the grace of jesus christ finish well finish well i remind you my friends i remind you that baptism baptism is connected with the judgment remember my friends that john the baptist was baptizing when he saw jesus and declared behold the lamb of god which takes away the sin of the world and if i were to condense the concept of the lamb of god that the lamb of god was offered that alarm was offered in the sanctuary sacrificial system whereby especially on the day of atonement that there would be there would be atonement that is mediation for the nation of israel all those who were a god's people there was a sacrifice sacrifice and if sins were not confessed on the day of atonement every person with unconfessed sin would have perished judgment would have come their way now we have it my friends as we edge towards the finish line lord help me today as we edge towards the finish line if sins are not confessed when jesus christ would have interceded in the heavenly century when he by the power of his mind will declare it is finished when he will declare he that is just let him be just still he that is righteous let him be righteous still but he that is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still he that is unholy let him be unholy still he that is lost let him be lost still he that is unsaved let him be unsaved still he that is uncommitted let him be uncommitted still he that is not fighting let him stay not fighting he that is not finishing let him stay not finishing he that is not being faithful let him remain not faithful it is then that those who would have made a covenant with jesus christ who would have made a full commitment total surrender it is at that time that they will receive the crown of eternal life my friends i i remind you i remind you that baptism is connected with the judgment for if you do not accept him you will not be done right if you do not accept him you will be damned rather while i mentioned it earlier in the series it is important for me to emphasize what it means to be dumb to be damned means to be judged and remember remember remember that paul says that the righteous judge will give him the crown of eternal life i submit to you my friends if you are going to be judged if you are going to be judged by jesus you gotta make a commitment to him because he will be your judge right now he is your lawyer he is interceding but there is one god and one mediator between god and man the man christ jesus who right now he is interceding but if you are not careful when he will when he returns he will not be a lawyer he will not be your intercessor when he returns he will return as judge and he will return with rewards yes to be damned needs to be condemned are already under the condemnation of the law for we have all sinned and come short of the glory of god and the wages of sin is death so yes we are not only condemned we are also sentenced we are sentenced to death if we are damned but i'm happy tonight or this afternoon to declare that we don't have to be damned you can be saved you can be delivered you can receive the crown the crown the conquering crown of eternal life to suggest this strong suggests that you have conquered the enemy you have overcome the enemy you have overcome the enemy by the power of the blood of jesus christ so your decision to be baptized is a decision to have jesus remove your sins and cover you with his righteousness that you will receive the you will not receive the wrath of god what is it that you desire now do you want to experience the joy and freedom of the removal of your sins or do you want to suffer the condemnation of your sins and receive the wrath of god i submit to you quickly that we are living in the judgment or we are living in the closing scenes of earth history i submit to you my beloved brothers and sisters that as we edge so much closer to the finish line do not give up the fight do not stop running do not give up your faith i submit to you you should finish your course we're living in the judgment or of this this earth history and while we edge towards the second coming of jesus we know my friends that we have a high priest who right now according to hebrews 8 verses 1 and 2 is set down on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the lord preached and not man so right now before he returns as judge before he returns to give every person his just and true reward jesus right now is at the right hand of the throne of god he's saying father my son's in london my son's in jamaica my daughter's in london my my daughters in jamaica my my daughters and my sons all over the world they have sinned and he's calling you by name today he's saying father have mercy he's saying father look i have a crown of eternal life i have already gained victory for them i i want you just to have mercy have mercy on them he's interceding but even as he intercedes his intercession will be incomplete for you to receive the crown of life if you are not keeping the faith if you are not trusting him all it requires of you right now is to trust and obey for as the songwriter sings all right there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey let's never forget that while jesus the judge will give the crown of eternal life ii corinthians 5 11 declares that we all must appear before the judgment seat of christ that everyone may receive the things done in in his body according to that he has done whether it be good or bad for god my friends god in ecclesiastes 12 verses 13 and 14. the the the wise man solomon he declared let us hear the conclusion of the old man of fear god and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man for god shall bring ever work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil now my friends there is a psalm that is applicable for us at this time as we edge towards the finish line how shall we stand in that great day shall we be found before him wanting when all our sins those books reveal oh shall we stand in that great day will you will you my friends be able to give an account for yourself or will you need jesus to stand for you i submit to you today that if you are not willing and ready to stand for jesus now when you reach the finish line when the race would have been completed if you do not stand for jesus now jesus will not stand for you you don't stand for him now he will not stand for you i mentioned i mentioned earlier and i think it is good to emphasize again my friends first timothy 2 verse 5 that there is one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus one god one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus you're going to the finish line can you approach the finish line if let me say it this way let me say this let me say this it is like a relay it is like a relay it doesn't matter how fast you finish the race if you do not finish with the button then it makes absolutely no sense it does not matter what you would have accomplished in life highly educated you would have earned lots of money paying fortune prestige you would have me your life's goals within the context of personal ambition and you reach the end of your journey if you finish that journey without jesus in your heart then your life will be what in vain jesus is the baton the cause to enable you to qualify you to move not from life to eternal life without jesus your life will be what it means so i encourage you keep fighting keep the faith and finish strong in jesus name my dear friends we started off last week with hebrews 4. hebrews 4 verses 14 and 16 declare 14 to 16 declare seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast or profession for we have not and high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need i i'm submitting to you i'm submitting to you my dear friends that this is a crucial time this is a crucial time right now your only hope your only health is jesus it doesn't matter what you would have fought in life it doesn't matter when you finish if you do not keep the faith you will not finish well so even at the finish line you need to finish with jesus but if you're not journeying with jesus you cannot finish with him journey with jesus finish with jesus surrender to jesus surrender to jesus surrender to jesus surrender to jesus right now for only jesus can help my brothers and sisters i i i must let you know that there comes a time there comes a time comes a time when we must do what is necessary we must do what is necessary have you ever committed an offense if you committed an offense and you do not have a justifiable reason or a line of defense or if you cannot pay the penalty then you will have to be imprisoned god doesn't want you to be imprisoned god doesn't want you to be destroyed in fact god had already settled the account he made all provision for you yes you my friend you i don't know what your struggle is today he made all provision for you to keep fighting it's a struggle where you're gonna fight you're gonna fight and you're gonna fight to the end you're going to fight knowing that you're not alone your life stands before you what's your greatest accomplishment what is your greatest accomplishment look at it can it satisfy your soul forevermore it's not sufficient to clean education what achieves social status you have money to take care of your needs it's not sufficient just to have a family be in love have children it's not sufficient the stories told of youngster was discussing life with his father hearing all his dreams his plans his ambition and the youngster said that i'm going to be a real successful man the dad i'm enrolling in university and then that said that's good that's good son that's very good then that's it after that what john said i'm i'm gonna do well i'm gonna get good grades i'm gonna finish i'm gonna finish well that said after that what son said dad you know i'm going to meet myself and for myself a fine young lady in university and i'm going to marry her dad said though that's good and after that what john says that you know i i would have had to get a good job and then i start my own business in order to take care of my family so that would have had to even happen before i got married and the dad said son that's good but after that what that i i'm going to be a a real wealthy person i've seen it i i've done my research things are adding up already i'm going to be very successful and i'm going to retire early at my own business it will be self-sustainable or self-sustaining then that's a good and after that what then son said that i'm gonna have fun my wife and i with the children we will tour the world and then son that said son after that what son said you know that you know we live we get old we take care of ourselves i'll have enough money to provide good health care and that's it and after that what unsaid that you know life has a beginning life has an ending so i'll just die having lived a good life and that said and after that what the question to you this afternoon after all your accomplishments after all that you would have done to live and have a jolly good time to entertain yourself to feel fulfilled after you would have done everything in life you would have grown you would have had a family you would have worked well you would have retired after that what submit to you this evening that after we finish the journey of life there is a need for salvation there is a need for deliverance is it that you are just concerned about attaining success is it that you're concerned about satisfying the desires or fulfilling the desires of your heart what is of paramount importance to you right now as you get ready to finish life's race and remember you don't have to be old to finish the race death comes and death comes when you're young death comes when you're old that comes anytime will you be able will you be able to stand like the apostle paul to say i have fought the fight i have finished the course i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which christ the righteous judge shall do you're at the finish line can you stand alone or do you need jesus to stand with you you are dead and buried can you manage can you ever live by yourself you cannot live after death accepting it be by the power of jesus christ what are you doing today are you being a secret admirer is it that you are being impatient is it that you are giving up is it that you just can't keep holding on is it that you have lost faith if you have faith in god if as you stand at the finish line if you want to finish strong if you want to finish well if you want to get that crown the crown the stiffness that crown of fig tree i urge you to make a surrender to jesus you do so by clicking the link and decide to be baptized we have a baptism this afternoon at 5 00 and even if you're not in the uk you can send indicating where you are and we can make arrangement for you click that link decide to be baptized we will make provision with and for you do what is necessary my friends if you stand without jesus at the judgment you will be naked if you stand without jesus at the judgment you will not get to cross the line from damnation to salvation if you stand without jesus at the judgment you will not move from hell into heaven if you stand without jesus at the finish line you will have a bitter end and not a better end do you want a better end or do you want a better day if you want to have a better end stand with jesus now commit to jesus now stand with jesus now and he will stand with you in the judgment he will stand with you in the end mr paul it will sing as you make your decision for jesus because you're considering after everything what next you need jesus i need jesus we need jesus i can't choose jesus for you i've already chosen him for myself you'll choose him now truth jesus right now [Music] i've [Music] away from home now i'm coming [Music] [Music] i've tried [Music] lord i'm a coming home coming home coming home [Music] never more [Music] [Laughter] [Music] of love [Music] i'm a coming home [Music] i've always [Music] years now i'm a coming home [Music] [Applause] lord i'm coming home [Music] coming home [Music] coming home never more [Music] lord i'm a coming [Music] lord now i'm a coming home i'll trust thy love [Music] believe thy word lord i'm coming home [Music] coming on [Music] [Laughter] thine arms of love [Music] lord i'm a coming home i need his cleansing blood i know now [Music] oh wash me white lord i'm a coming home [Music] never [Music] thine arms lord i'm coming home [Music] wanted far away from god but now we want [Music] [Music] today the link will be sent to you again if you want to surrender you want to surrender to it even within the realms of track and field then [Music] even as you are encouraged to run in that grace and to live today that you're making is to give up lives and you're making this decision to be baptized being conscious anxious you're going to make an intellectual decision you're going to make a decision with your emotions yes yes yes you're making the decision intellectually because you know you are a spinner you know that you're a singer and you deserve to die you are helpless you're hopeless you're lost without jesus you're making that decision for your own good you want to be saved you want to be delivered from destruction you just can't make it on your own and you sense that this world is approaching its culmination that this world soon will be destroyed by the power of the almighty and you want to be delivered you're making this decision intellectually you're conscious of this fact that you're in need of salvation and only jesus can provide it for you you're not going to be like that youngster who was just concerned about achievement you are concerned about your salvation you're concerned about finishing well you are concerned about making it to the kingdom of god it may be a fight it may be a struggle but by the grace of god through faith you are going to finish you are going to finish well you are going to finish strong and you will receive that trouble that the crown of victory that throne that suggests that the enemy has nothing over you that crown that suggests that jesus christ has rescued you jesus christ has delivered you it is your time to make that conscious decision you're going to put the enemy to shame today you're choosing you're choosing to live and not die you're choosing you're choosing to surrender to jesus christ who is your lawyer your advocate your mediator who wanted to do your job [Music] i'm extending the appeal and yes you might have heard the story of this person who time and again created serious and grievous offenses and he knew he had a very good lawyer you might have heard this story but it is good for emphasis at this time he knew he had a very good lawyer and each time he did wrong the lawyer was careful to make him free he was exonerated the lawyer knew good line of defense [Music] but this day when he committed this offense he calls his lawyer but his lawyers know where to be from he calls his lawyer but his lawyer is nowhere to be found what to do what to do he has to face the judgment he faces judgment not like other times he does not have the competence of his qualified versatile lawyer he faces the judgment and to his dismay when he shows up the lawyer is now his judge [Music] another thing what a thing this lawyer who would have known his weaknesses this lawyer who would have known his frailties this this lawyer would have known his inconsistencies this lawyer would have known his criminal behavior his evil ways this lawyer is now his judge i submit to you that your lawyer jesus christ he knows your evil ways he's interceding on your behalf right now he wants to set you free he wants you to finish the race he wants to save you but this lawyer jesus christ when he returns he will be your judge everything there is to know about you he knows this jesus wants to be your advocate this jesus wants to give you a crown of life this jesus wants you to keep fighting this jesus wants you to finish your course this jesus wants you to keep the faith let's say fight it is not easy it is a fight don't give up the fight today the enemy doesn't want you to fight successfully keep fighting fight sign your name fight make it to the center fight good and get baptized fight keep fighting it is a fight but don't give up the fight keep fighting in jesus name you're fighting in order to save your soul you're fighting because you want to be in the kingdom of god you're fighting because you know that this is the best way to finish life's race you're fighting you're fighting you're fighting you're not giving up you're not being discouraged you are fighting in jesus you're fighting and you're finishing you're not quitting you're not giving up it could be that the enemy deceived you and the enemy right now is discouraging you he's putting all your sins before you but let that old devil that old scondrel know that he is the defeated foe let him know that your sins are forgiven in jesus name you're fighting and you're changing you're not quitting you may have fallen but you are getting up and you're keeping moving on you're pressing on in jesus name don't give up the fight keep moving in jesus name yes it's about faith you don't know the end from the beginning but you have faith you have confidence in the power of god you can trust him to do what is necessary to take care of you because you know that god can supply and he will supply your needs according to his riches in glory you are moving on you are fighting you are finishing and you are keeping the faith [Music] it's your time i pray today that the holy spirit will push somebody into the kingdom but even as you are at the edge as we come to the finish the end of this series that somebody who is struggling will cross the finish line holy spirit we pray now that you will take charge father do what only you can do for your people lord only you know those who are struggling those who are fighting those who are having challenges to finish enable equip empower them o god we pray one person may feel broken today may feel weak or helpless powerless today lord stand in the gap and be their strength somebody today is not sure what the future holds somebody because of uncertainty somebody oh god because of fear is not moving forward but we know god that faith will always overcome fear so we pray that you will give your children your son your daughter victory in jesus name order as we come to the finish remind your people that it is a fight we should not quit and we can only finish as we keep it as there's total reliance on jesus so great god jehovah jaire the one who knows how to provide for his people i pray that you will be here right now in this situation with your son and your daughter you know the struggle you know the fight step in o god push them on push them on even as they cross the finish line from damnation to salvation push them on oh god as they cross the finish line from being lost or being saved push them on o god from being uncommitted to being committed push them on oh god from being unfaithful to being faithful to jesus christ push them on in jesus lord your son your daughter needs a push push they push them in your eternal kingdom push and those who can't be pushed i pray o god that you will pull whatever you're doing push or pull your children into your eternal kingdom lord while we bring this message to a close i pray that even as i deliver your word i will not be cast away but that i will be saved in your eternal kingdom this will pray with thanks in jesus holy name amen and amen god bless you my friends and if you have not yet made your decision do it now and stay ready for baptism later this afternoon god bless you [Music] brothers and sisters i believe the spirit of god has spoken to our hearts today we want to give somebody an opportunity maybe you have been in the congregation you have been running in the wreath but for some reason you may have strayed from the course and this morning you want to say to the lord lord this afternoon in fact you want to say to the lord lord i want to run again but i want you to run with me this time if this is your decision as your ponder i'm going to ask sister mercini to come by and she's going to sing another stanza of that song and i'm going to give you an opportunity those of you who would want to renew your commitment with the lord i'm going to ask you to come first and then if there is somebody in the congregation and i believe when the word of god is preached there's always somebody who is touching who is broken if you are in the congregation and you want to say listen i didn't plan i didn't make up my mind but the spirit of god has drawn me today and i want to make a decision to be on christ's side i believe that the time is close i believe jesus is coming jesus coming in soon and i want to be in the kingdom when he comes and i'll give you an opportunity as well to come down so we can pray for you and if those of you who are here and you would want to get baptized come by and we got to help you to get ready so that you can be in that baptism this afternoon sister massini is going to sing for us and after her first uh censor i'm going to ask those of you who think that you you know you you you have straight the course and you want to start running again with jesus i'm going to give you an a an opportunity to recommit yourself to the lord first [Music] away from god now i'm a coming [Music] i've tried lord i'm a coming home [Music] home coming home never [Music] lord i becoming is there somebody here this afternoon who'd want to say lord i'm coming home i want to recommit myself to you i've strayed from the course but lord you have kept me alive you have preserved me through this pandemic i have to be grateful to you and you want to say to jesus this evening i want to commit this afternoon i want to recommit myself to you just get up from where you are and join me down here at the front if this is your desire you want to recommit yourself to the lord just get up from where you are and join me here sister just think for us please i believe that the spirit of god is talking to somebody anybody wants to recommend himself herself just join me here god bless you my sister [Music] years now i'm a coming home [Music] [Music] [Music] coming home [Music] never more [Music] [Laughter] thin arms of love just before i close that call i'm gonna give you one last chance i know how it is when you are struggling in the valley of decision is there somebody who wants to get up and say lord i'm going to walk for you i'm going to walk down this aisle i've been walking with you but you know that i have street the pastor doesn't know the elders don't know but you know up straight but i want to set things right today just leave where you are and come down here so we can pray for you [Music] lord i'm a coming home [Music] i shall invite you to bow your heads with us as we pray loving father pastor fletcher has discharged what you have placed on his heart the message of salvation is preached today's message is going to be either a witness for you or against you but this is all that we can do dear lord and we have done it with all our heart now i leave the rest in the holy spirit that you will battle and do what needs to be done i pray in a very special way for my sister julia who has made up a mind to walk with jesus to get baptized this afternoon i pray that you'll continue to be with her and strengthen her and even though she has made this walk all by herself help her to remember that everyone jesus has called he has called individually and he has called publicly and all heaven is on her side this afternoon all heaven is rejoicing waiting for this wonderful moment when she's going to take the plunge and lord i just pray that he'll continue to give her the strength and courage to do so i pray for all your people who are here lord i have asked them to recommit their lives to you and you know what is happening between them and you so lord i just place them in your hand continue to be with them continue to bless them where they might be going off please draw them back onto the track that leads to eternal life and so i thank you for hearing and for answering a prayer in jesus name amen amen [Music] never more [Music] [Music] of love lord i'm a coming home [Music] amen amen wasn't that beautiful yes i'm i'm sure you all enjoyed as as much as we did um i'll i'll just quickly share that i don't want my crohn to be a souvenir petra amen amen and my takeaway is that it's it's not sufficient for us just to start but my prayer is that we all finish well yes and before we close we have just a few announcements but i'll go ahead sure so our first announcement is that the young brother jello will be getting married tomorrow amen so he grew up in the church but we're always celebrating when people decide to be in union with each other and also on the 25th of september we have our communion so please bear that date in mind and also on the 2nd of october we have children's day so please bear those dates in mind thank you again for coming out and worshiping with us thank you again for our online viewers as well thank you for participating in the series we haven't come to the end yet we've still got one more finale for this afternoon so please go home refresh yourselves and come back out and join us and if you're not what time is that three weeks at 5pm if you're not able to come join us online at 5pm thank you for joining us have a happy sabbath we thank you amen [Music] mr okay so as we leave we're going to sing um running live space as we leave [Music] [Music] may come in your way but hear us say my child just hold on god will give you strength [Music] [Music] we're [Music] just hold on god will give you strength and victory through every test you've got hit by faith keep running life's race until you have walked the road maybe [Music] but with god by your side you make it all over [Music] [Music] my child just hold on god will give you strength and victory through every test you've got here by faith keep running life's race until you have one the road may be long there'll be mountains [Music] nothing's impossible by god's grace keep running last race until you have won [Music] you'll is [Music] i can't breathe by god's praise keep running lights race [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you for being part of our worship service experience now there are three easy ways to stay connected with us if you're watching from youtube all you have to do is click that subscribe button to see all our sermons inspirational music and more and if you're watching via facebook then go ahead and like comment share and of course follow us so you can be updated with our weekly bible reviews and if you are browsing through instagram then hop on over to at brixton sda where you can follow us to hear and keep up to date with our events inspirational quotes and more we look forward to seeing you there [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Brixton SDA Church

Views: 1,377

Rating: 4.6666665 out of 5

Keywords: brixton, London, church, christianity, worship, praise and worship, SDA

Id: hAUUgxHV2v8

Length: 202min 39sec (12159 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021