Church of Christ at Cedar Valley Live!

money is our god mighty is our king mighty is our lord he's ruler of everything glory to our god glory to our king glory to our lord he's ruler of everything [Music] me [Music] [Music] in his presence there is [Music] there is peace [Music] when we seek the father's heart we will find such blessed assurance [Music] the lord [Music] there [Music] is presence there is peace [Music] when we seek the father's heart we will find such blessed assurance in the praise [Music] he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadows of the almighty i will say unto the lord he is my refuge and my fortress my god in him will i trust o my father i thank you i praise you i magnify you i lift up your holy name holy holy holy lord god almighty i find rest relief reassurance in the shadow of your presence [Music] there is peace [Music] when we seek the father's heart we will find such blessed assurances [Music] lord with your presence [Music] lord with your breasts [Music] that rise up against me see there be wishes of my soul there is [Music] my glory and the lifter up of my head [Music] i cried unto the lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy [Music] for me my [Music] for me my glory and the lift [Music] i will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round the bounce i will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about [Music] i will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about i will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about but thou o lord [Music] my glory and the [Music] [Music] my glory [Music] my glory [Music] i sing praises to your name all the lord praises to your name lord for your name is great and greatly to be brave i sing praises to your name oh lord praises to your name oh lord for your name is great and greatly to be praised [Music] glory to your name oh lord oh your name is [Music] we give glory to your day [Music] it's good to see everyone it is now time for our morning service to begin our first election this morning will be there's not a friend again our first selection will be there is not a friend no not one let us all together sing there's not a friend like the lowly jesus singing no 911 [Music] you know that jesus knows all about our struggles telling you he will god till the day is done well there's not a foreign jesus singing no no one keeps singing no not no one no friend like him is so high and holy singing no 901 singing no 901 and yet [Music] you know that jesus knows all about our struggles telling you he will guide till the day is [Music] is he is not near us singing no not singing no not no night so dark but this love can cheer us singing no not no one keeps singing no not a one you know that jesus knows all about our struggles telling you he will guide to the days [Music] and you know that jesus knows all about our struggles telling you he will guide till the day is [Music] have our scripture reading and prayer good morning this morning scripture reading will be taken from the book of psalms versus chapter 34 verses 8 through 17. once again as psalms 34 verses 8 through 17. and the bible reads o taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the man that trusts in him oh fear the lord yeah he saints for there is no want to them that fear him the young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the lord shall not want any good thing come ye children hearken unto me i will teach you the fear of the lord what man is he that desired life and loveth many days that he may see good keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking gown depart from evil and do good seek peace and pursue it the eyes of the lord are upon the righteous and his ears our pun are open unto their cry the face of the lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth verse 17 the righteous cry and the lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles i read to you psalms 34 8-17 let us now be standing for a word of prayer good morning church let us go to god in prayer a heavenly father we come this morning giving you thanks father for this day that you've blessed us with father for this opportunity to come once again to worship you in spirit and truth father father we just uh we continue to pray for those who are on the way to this building and we pray that as we go through this service father that we continue to keep the mindset of of being a willing learner of your word to be able to to to to discern your word father we pray to always keep a servant mindset we pray for the brothers this morning as they do your work father we continue to pray for our minister and we pray that the message that he bring this morning will be able to we'll be able to uh discern it father from the youngest to the oldest and father we just thank you for once again this uh opportunity and blessing uh to learn another portion of your word we thank you for this fellowship father and we just pray that everything we do will be with decency and in order lord and this prayer we say in your son jesus name amen it is nice and cold in here i just thought i might say that for somebody who may be cold victory in jesus victory in jesus will be our selection before our contribution and communion victory in jesus victory in jesus if you all have it let us all together sing i heard an old old story how a savior came from glory how he gave his life on calvary to save a wretch like me and i heard about his cronies of his precious blood and then i repented of my sin and won the victory o victory in jesus my savior whoever he saw me and he bought me with his redeeming love oh he loved me i knew him and [Music] healing of his cleansing power revealing how we make the lame to walk again and cause the light to seep and then i cry dear jesus come and hear my broken spirit i then obey his blessed commands and gain the victory or victory in jesus my savior for it don't you know the heath he looked for me paid the price with his breathing maybe love well he loved me if i knew him and all my love this dude don't you know that he plunged me to [Music] well i victory about a mansion he has built for me in glory and i heard about the street of gold the beyond the crystal sea [Music] victory over victory in jesus my savior don't you know the he he looked for me paid the price with [Music] [Applause] don't you know that he plunged me to victory well i've got a big dream in jesus my savior don't you know the heat he look [Music] is [Music] [Music] amen we've come to another part of our worship this morning and that is the collection for the saints our scripture reference will come from saint luke the sixth chapter beginning in verse number 38 and here the bible says give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over with the same measure you meet with all will men put into your bosoms with the same measure you meet with all the same measure will be given to you again some of you all had a chance to give this morning when you came in others will give once we are dismissed and if you're watching us online you can give through the church's app let us go to god in prayer for the contributions we've received so far let us pray father in heaven again we thank you so much for this day this opportunity and privilege that we have to be able to come out and worship you we thank you for this offering we thank you for those who gave and those who will give and those who didn't have it to give we pray that this offering be used for the advancement of your son's kingdom for us in christ jesus name we pray amen another part of our worship is the lord's supper and that is the commemoration of the death the burial and the resurrection of our savior jesus christ we do this upon the first day of every week which is sunday our scripture reference again will come from first corinthians the 11th chapter beginning at the 23rd verse and concluding in verse number 30. the brethren are coming down the aisle for those of you who have not received your communion cups and bread here the bible says for i have received of the lord that which also i deliver unto you that the lord jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he breaked it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me after the same manner christ also took the cup and when he had sub saying this cup is the new testament in my blood this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup ye do show the lord's death until he comes wherefore whosoever shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup she should do so uh drink up this cup would do so uh in the body and the blood of the lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat up that bread and drink of that cup for he that eateth and drink it unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the lord's body for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many are asleep let us now go to god in prayer for the unleavened bread and for the fruit of the vine father in heaven again we come unto you at this time thinking about the the death the burial and the resurrection of your son and our savior jesus christ upon the cruel cross of calvary we pray father that we will commemorate how he was beaten how he was crucified how they put nails in his arms and feet how they put a crown of thorns upon his head and the blood streaming down into his eyebrow and all across his face and all across his body he was left there on the cross father as you know naked before the whole world we understand that through the blood that was shed on the cross we have the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life with you in heaven we pray now that as we partake of this unleavened bread that we will take it with clean hands and pure hearts and for this fruit of the vine which is representative of your son's shedded blood on the cross we pray father that we will partake of it in a manner pleasing and acceptable to you for this we pray thy son jesus christ's name amen this now concludes our lord's supper oh yeah [Music] [Music] i will praise him i will embrace him i will praise him [Music] i will praise him i will praise him i will praise him i will praise him i will praise him [Music] what a friend we [Music] and grief [Music] [Applause] [Music] to carry [Music] for he is my savior my mama my redeemer oh how he loves me and how i i love him for his reason [Music] [Music] sing hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] amen amen i'm gonna try to stay in line with that scripture that we were reading in psalms uh this may this may tie in i hope it does i don't see oh there he is okay yield not to temptation yield not to temptation this will be the song before brother bailey comes forth and break unto us the bread of life [Music] [Music] is is [Music] [Music] [Music] i know jesus will carry you oh why don't you ask the savior to have you strengthen and keep you i know jesus isn't willing to hey hey you i know jesus will carry you through we need to shine evil company yes all that bad language disdain because our god name's holding red every lord [Music] is [Music] i know jesus will carry you in oh why don't you ask the savior to help you strengthen and keep you i know jesus isn't willing to wait hey you i know jesus will carry you oh to him that overcome may i know god and give it a crown because it's true faith we [Music] [Music] yes [Music] i know jesus will carry you [Music] i know jesus is willing [Music] i know [Music] is don't you save me [Music] why don't you help strengthen and keep you jesus is willing to help i know that jesus will carry you through why don't you ask the savior to help you and come for strengthen and keep you jesus is willing to end i know that jesus will carry you through why don't you ask the savior to help you and come for strength [Music] i know that jesus will carry you through amen truly we are thankful to the god of heaven that as the scripture tells us in every temptation he makes a way to escape that you and i can be able to to handle it and we're thankful to god for his provisional guidance in our lives and his protection which has allowed us to be here in this place today we are not here today because of anything that we've done but we're here because god has done everything and i pray this morning that you have been encouraged thus far by the worship and i appreciate brother brother gt uh kee keeping it going you know uh i wish i wish brother gt we could sing like that the first time you know what you have to go through it 10 times before us waking up but that's all right maybe we'll grow to that point but we're thankful for the spirit and enthusiasm in which you sing and for the lord and all you who have joined in with them and all of our guests this morning we want to say thank you we're glad that you're with us here at cedar valley we pray that you felt the hospitality we know that we are in different times where we can't hug you and shake your hand like we normally would or even see your face we want to let you know that we're glad you're with us as well as those who are watching us online who faithfully watch us from not just in members of cedar valley but those in the state and well some from over the country as well so we want to thank you all for always joining in and your encouragement and your support as well we just want to encourage you if you can't i'm not going to be long this morning because we want to after church just show a little appreciation and honor to our elders who have served here for around three to four years now and we want to show them a little honor today and so please hang around after that and i promise you we'll have plenty of time to transition and go into that so i think that these things are important i think uh congregations i was always taught that many churches don't understand that congregations have to be taught to learn how to appreciate people and it's no slight on you to encourage someone else and we have to do that and and i think one of the things that i've learned and in leadership over the years being in authority and on authority you have to learn to respect office even if you don't always agree with the man and i think we have to learn that god puts those officers in place for a reason and they're not for the the glory of the men but to move his body where he wants it to be and so we want to ask you you to hang around for a second and i'll ask the guys to leave the cameras rolling so those that are online can can watch as well that are our members here to cedar valley again we want to thank you all for continuing to pray we need to continue to pray for one another god's house is a house of prayer we have power in prayer i am a witness here today is there anybody else who stands in need of prayer this morning i stand in need of prayer and and though you may not feel a card out or come down front you need prayer for your own self sometimes we have some tough battles in our own minds itself against self and then we have to deal with our concerns for others and our family our family members our spouses our children our aging parents or or some other issue we have then we have friends and loved ones and people we care about and then we have to deal with our foes that come against us and then we have to deal with our finances and we always have something that we stand in need of but we're here this morning to take our mind off of those things and re-center ourselves on god's word and when we set our minds on things that are above we will see that we can fly high above life situations and circumstances and it's not god's will or desire that any of us be weighed down underneath our circumstances on today and i pray that god's word will do so to today now uh i've learned uh over the pandemic has taught me something i used to think that uh you know i'm just sharing a little insight certain certain services you know which service uh you're gonna get a little bit more amends i learned at first i thought it's the nine o'clock service that gave you a little bit more amends than the 10 to 45 service then i thought for a while well maybe it's the 10 4 5 service they give you more amends and the 9 o'clock service then i found something to be true it ain't the time of the service it's the people in the service so i'm not going to pull on you to say no amens but what i think i want to do i want to ask that you don't fall asleep uh it's too early in the morning to fall asleep on somebody all right so pay attention and i i think it's something that uh that can be encouraged you know nothing more discouraging for you to spend your time talking to the lord preparing something only to talk to folk who ain't even paying attention you say you should have just stayed at home if you don't want to be attentive and maybe say i'm with you sometimes it's a recip it's a reciprocity going on here we are all in agreeance to the power and the glory of god's word i give you give you can't say just because i'm sitting in the audience that i don't have to be engaged in the worship uh that god is the audience here and and god uh is desires our total attention this morning i know i know your cowboys are out in inglewood and i know that that's on the back of our mind we just can't wait to get out to go eat and watch the cowboys but let the cowboys bury the cowboys and uh and you can get to them uh here in a second god bless y'all i love y'all uh and we'll go ahead and move on for that let's go back to the text of psalms chapter four i got a long way to go in a very very very short time to get there so we can encompass all of this today and i want to reread uh this this is a psalm of david the psalm of david and really i wish i'd go back and deal with this whole story as david changed his his countenance in the presence of emma excuse me who drove him away and departed remember david was playing mad and he was pretending uh to be mad to stay alive and uh david began this song by saying i will bless the lord at all times the praise of the lord shall be continually in my mouth verse number two my soul shall make her boast in the lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad then he says oh magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together in other words lift the lord up enlarge him in your life i sought the lord and he heard me and he delivered me from all my fears can somebody say amen to that this morning they looked unto me and they were light and their faces were not ashamed this poor man cried but the lord heard him and the lord saved him out of all of his troubles that anyone this morning who has been saved from some troubles the angel of the lord encamped round about them that fear him and him and then verse number eight our text this morning that was read oh taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the man that has his trust in the lord oh fear the lord ye his saints that's us for there is no want to them that fear him the young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the lord shall not want any good thing come ye children hear me i will teach you to fear the lord what man is he that desires life and loves many days that he may see good first of all keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking gal depart from evil do good seek peace and pursue it why because the eyes of the lord are over the righteous and his ears are open until unto their prayers or their cry but the face of the lord is turned against those who do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth the righteous cry and the lord heareth and delivers them out of all of their troubles this morning i want to use for a subject very plain and simply briefly you better recognize you better recognize david said o taste and see that the lord is good he begins this by saying i will bless the lord at all times not just good times not just happy times not just when things are working according to schedule or going according to plan that's me that's when i'm high when i'm standing on top of the mountain or when i'm down in the valley i will bless the lord at all times and how do i do this it's got to come out of my mouth i often say love is loud if you love somebody you can't just sit up there and say i know you love me how do i know you love me because you show me love is a demonstrative word if you love people tell them if you appreciate them say it out of your mouth and he says this praise is going to be continually coming out of my mouth david used the words taste and mouth to seem uh to to to metaphorically tie this love for god to an appetite for the good and the wholesomeness of god is something that you taste you have you ever said if it's so close i can taste it uh and they said god is i heard god say god is good i've never said that about anything that's good but i get the point that it's so good some when food is really good it just it touches your soul that's why they call it have you ever had some food so good you don't know if if it's good in your palate or is it good in your soul have you had some food so good you had to just go and talk to the lord about it and just look up in the sky i said that did something to me in my soul i don't know if that was just my stomach or that that's why they call it soul food because it's something about some good old greens y'all another kind that got the right amount of meat in it and it's seasoned just right and it's something about some cornbread if you know how to make it it's something about it that does something to your soul and david spoke of this metaphorically he says god is good and god is wholesome god satisfies all of my appetites and i want you to know something healthy people want healthy food and people that are sick don't often want the word of god because the word of god gets inside of you and it forces you to deal with yourself and with the word of god you can only do one or two things you got to accept it or reject it and if you reject it you keep going on living your way and dealing with the consequences of your life if you accept it that food gets deep down inside of you and it nourishes you and it grows you on into maturity now verse number 10 it says those that seek the lord and this word i'm going to use a lot during this sermon and that is good g-o-o-d it's about recognizing how good god is why because we serve a god that's good james chapter 1 and verse number 17 james tells us that every good and perfect gift is from santa claus every good and perfect gift comes from target every good and perfect gift comes from the government no every good and perfect gift god is the originator god is the source he gives it to us he loans it to us he distributes it to us and it comes down from the father of lights he's talking about the heavenly lights in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning if god said it you can take it to the bank god is consistent god has not changed though people have changed and times have changed and generations have changed and enemies have changed god has not turned one variation one dow there is no shadow in his turning james says in verse number 18 of his own will of his own insight of his own knowledge of his own wisdom he brought forth the word of truth that we us all of us who are in here today might be some kind of first fruits of his creatures now i want you to first of all know that the goodness of god is prominent from the opening chapters of the bible and i want you to know this morning that if you don't shout how good god is the bible says that the hills and the mountains and the rocks and all of the inanimate objects testify to the goodness of god that's why i opened up my mouth and i can say hallelujah praise god thank you jesus you've been good that's why sometimes i raise my hand and sometimes i can't hold my peace because the god i serve has been so good to me i am undeserving of all of the goodness that encompasses the word god and from the beginning we see that god pronounced everything he created and god said it was what it was good genesis chapter one and verse number four first timothy chapter four and verse number four in chapter two god saw that it was not good the only thing that god said was not good was for man to be alone so what he did is he created for him a wife genesis chapter two and verse number 18 through 25 and in the garden god placed adam and eve and there was a tree of the knowledge of what good and of evil now from this one tree the man and the woman were forbidden to eat of anything in the garden they could eat but from one tree the lord forbid them to eat of and we see that we shall return to this matter of goodness here in a second but the goodness in the garden it's important for us to understand a vital truth and i think god's goodness and his evil are prominent from the begin and evil or prominent from the beginning of the bible now i want you to know that since god is good everything he created is is good the enemy distorts the truth of god and changes it into a lie when man and woman were in the garden they were naked now most of us would think nakedness is bad ain't nothing wrong with being naked it's all depend on who you naked in front of and what you're doing why you naked but in the beginning man and woman were walking around free as they want to be was nothing wrong sin entered in the camp satan distorted god's word and all of a sudden they were open and free and they're hiding and running from god god said adam where are you he says i'm hiding lord cause i'm naked what did the lord tell him who told you that there's a whole generation of people i want to say who told you that we got to constantly telling our kids there's stuff that's being fed to us who told you that that wasn't a sin who told you that that was okay and any time the enemy gets into it he distorts what what god said was good and creates some other type of alternative image but the one thing in the garden that was not good to eat was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil satan seemingly asked an innocent question that was intended to undermine eve's confidence in the goodness of god by the time satan finished with eve i want to ask this question or say this to you by time satan finishes with you and your household by the time satan finishes with our society we won't even know what is true and what is false anymore because he distorts the word of god he misdirects us he blows smoke screens in front of us to make us think that we're doing that which is right when it's actually that which is unholy eve after dealing with satan she doubted the goodness of god it was easier for her to obey him once she doubted his goodness bible says it's the goodness of god that leads us to repentance somebody says i don't know if i were to repent this morning has god spared you have you seen how good god has been to you in spite of you you ought to be running down these aisles to repent matter of fact even before you got here this morning you all have fallen down on your knees and said lord forgive me because i see i am a sinner in light of your holy goodness if god was not good and was not acting for her good then why should she obey him i wanted to ask those this morning who have thought about giving up on god if god is not good why are you even here this morning why even open up your mouth and sing a song if god ain't been good to you you know sometimes we don't say that god is not good we usually act it out we say it in how we live our lives as if satan is twisting our minds to make us believe that we are like he did to eve missing out on something god doesn't want you to eat of this tree because he knows once you eat of this tree that you'll be like him so you're missing out on something there's some of y'all here this morning that think you're missing out on something let me tell all those kids who are thinking about going in the world i need somebody to testify this morning to help me preach this sermon what good did being in the world do to you what did that world the streets are draw you in or let's put in bible terminology the far country the place you go to waste yourself on riotous living and god is so good he'll give you time to come to yourself but let me tell you something coming to yourself is not the same as repentance see repentance is the return there are a lot of people out here in the world that know they're wrong and that's a lot of people say you know what i know i should be in church there's a difference between knowing you should be in church and actually being in church the prodigal son repented when he returned that's how you knew that he understood that the father could receive him and that he could come back home and his father was so good as the bible says just like our heavenly father who rejoices over that one sheep that comes home rather than those 99 that need no repentance so satan first changed eve perspective of god and then he was able to persuade her to disobey him i want you all to know that god is good even his prohibitions see we have come to believe that the bible is a book of rules where you just don't do that you can't do that anything that i believe god tells me not to do is for my good. children anything your parents tell you to do hard head rebellious it's for your good what parent i don't tell my kids anything that i believe would harm them any command any instruction that i give them it's for their good because sometimes they don't even know the road that they're traveling down just like we don't even know the road that we're traveling now but if we keep his precepts that are eternal they have not changed from the bible days down through the ages we've got to apply them for our lives as well eve did not understand why god forbade him but knowing that god was good should have been enough what what good god uh what what a good god must be to forbid evil and god has to be good to us we must know the truth is found in the word of god and if the truth is found in the word of god then that means that truth helps us avoid the temptations i'm glad you said that and the snares in which satan uh throws our way i want to tell you something this morning some of you may be under heavy temptation and you're sitting your pew this morning nobody knows the temptation that you feel on a daily there is no sin in temptation the sin isn't yielding but one thing that satan knows is that all i got to do is come back uh years later i heard a story this guy was saying before us the enemy kept coming to a man i don't know why it's just the story you like ice cream man i said no i don't like ice cream he kept coming to him you want ice cream you want ice cream i could finally the enemy went away then he came back 20 years later and he walked up to me and said what flavor you know that's how the enemy is right he'll go away 10 years and it's thought you some you had beaten the sun you had conquered and he's not going to stop until you're six feet underground and he's not going to stop until you've rejected god that was another story i heard about a pilot he got on the i got on the loudspeaker an overcast and he said i got good news everybody he said we're making good time and the bad news is the good news is making good time the bad news is we don't know where we are a lot of people are like that in life you making good time but you don't even know where you are there are people coming in the morning some of y'all rush out only to go do nothing because enemy had you thinking that you had to hurry up and get through church so you can get on to something else we go through life so fast we don't stop and think about how good god is we don't focus on our blessing we're making time we're going nowhere real fast and as long as the enemy can keep us like that hamster on the wheel he know he can get us focused on what's wrong in our lives and what we have done and the shame that we have in the guilt and what others are doing to us and what's happening in the world we can take our eyes off of him the real enemy the goodness of god god is good can somebody say god is good god is good and i don't even have to say all the time sometimes we add that uh god is good all the time that that's that's redundant when i say god is good that means all the time that means everywhere that means to everybody i mean i say god is good all the time that's like saying sam is good sometime i ain't good all the time and neither is none of y'all you don't think good all the time none of us do 100 of time my thoughts are right all the time but god is good and the goodness of god ought to stand alone god was good for you showed up god is good whether you recognize it or not god is good when you die god was good from eternity to eternity god is good in genesis chapter 33 and verse number 18 moses asked god to show him his glory you know what god's response was you're going to see my glory in my goodness god has been good to all of us we ought to thank him this morning i want you to know you cannot separate what is good from what is god cannot have goodness without god somebody says people are good no we serve a good god we've been made righteous through the blood of jesus christ but we're not good people often say why do bad things happen to good people and i maintain the argument if you read scripture there are no good people somebody says brother bailey you're good no i'm not the holy spirit in me is great and the moment i reject the holy spirit i can become like any old sinner on the corner paul says you want to do good but evil is always present and because that fact is there sometimes you'll do the very thing that you hate sometimes you go against the very thing that you know is good because the flesh will take over in the spirit and i will let you know every time you sin every time i sin it's because we step out of the spirit and into the flesh sometimes we act like it's rocket science i don't know why i'm sinning because you're walking in the flesh why am i doing right cause i'm walking in the spirit in the spirit there's goodness there's gentleness there's temperance there's meekness out in the flesh there's lascivitis there's adultery there's fornication there's lying there's cheating there's backbiting there's emulations there's hatred there's there's homosexual in the flesh and these two paul says are contrary to one another to be calling minded is death to be spiritually minded as life and peace and if you want to walk in the flesh and have the spirit you can't have it if you're trying to be in the spirit you can't walk in the flesh you can't straddle the fence you can't even say i'm kind of good god is kind of good none of us are good i know that's hard for us it's hard for us because we would spend our whole life saying i'm a good person that's because you don't understand grace and mercy you're only sitting where you are because of mercy and i say mercy is for the moment grace that god extends to us we're saved by grace through faith not of ourselves it's a gift for god lest the preacher or anybody in the church can boast about what we've done it's all him and matter of fact i don't want none of it to be on me i want it all on the blood of the lamb who laid it all down for us and he made me righteous through what he's done this morning god is good and that's why we celebrate him because apart from him i have no chance you have no chance matthew chapter 19 verse number 16 the bible says one came to him and said teacher what good things shall i do to obtain eternal life and jesus said unto him why are you asking me about what is good he says there is only one who's good and that's god he says but if you wish to enter into that don't mean because god is good and i'm not that i don't keep his commandments jesus said if you wish to enter into the kingdom keep the commandments we cannot separate that which is good from god and here is where our society especially our educational system had better take note you cannot teach values morality ethics without understanding that god is the author of it all first peter chapter 1 verse number 16 or leviticus chapter 11 verse 24 verse number 44 the lord said be holy for i am holy i want you to also know as i move toward a rapid close that the goodness of god is the character trait which applies to every other attribute and what i mean by that is even god's wrath is good when god executes judgment it's good how many of y'all ever got a whooping by your parent how many who ever say them whoopings were good while you're taking the whooping i don't ever hardly see anybody taking a whip and say this is good this is good keep whipping me pop me yeah i want that i wasn't doing that you like ouch stop and anybody ever try to reach for the belt only to get your arm popped too ah you try to read first and the best thing to do is take it y'all up there some of y'all got them whoopers like denzel on glory just just taking it tears coming down your eyes you couldn't do nothing about it but the parent says this is for your good the parents philosophy is if i don't discipline you the police are going to have to the parents are if you would just keep my commandments i wouldn't have to chastise you the bible says the lord loves those who he chastises and if i don't chastise you you might as well uh be uh you might you're not a child you might as well be an orphan because when you care for somebody you chastise when necessary god is good in his entirety there is nothing about god y'all that's not good there is nothing uh in his purposes that don't work out for his children god only gives his children what's good as as jesus would say what what parent that when their child asks for bread will give him a serpent that's why when we see all the heinous crimes that go on one of the one of the the crimes that are the most shocking are the ones that are that take place domestically like this is an offense against somebody who supposed to be right ideally a family unit automatically equates that everybody in that unit loves one another and they understand that we come from the same lineage the same bloodline or we're connected through marriage and and we have relationships that ought to even be tighter as a unit then every we have a system of everything that's so what happens is a lot of times we try to take people out of the system and we try to understand i i guarantee every one of us in here every single person in here to understand us on a personal level we would have to understand the system in which we came out of it's hard to understand a person in isolation because we are whether good or bad or whether we want to mitigate we are a product of our environment some of us come out of bad environments and we've chosen to do different some of us come out of bad environments and we still act in a fool some of us came out of good environments and had everything set up for us but we chose to go the other route our environments and sometimes in that environment we don't see that god has given us everything that we need that pertains to life and godliness god has given us everything we need to be successful god has given us everything we need to go to heaven that's why you say if you can't make it i believe if i get to the gate ain't nothing i can tell god uh that that he don't already know about me i believe he gonna roll the tapes you know we used to say when we play football the the pie in the sky don't lie and that was that camera cause you said you did something all day and the coach we would say let's watch the camera cause the camera don't lie you're gonna say lord lord i did lord did not do this did not do that he gonna say nah nah bro i'm paraphrasing y'all depart from me i didn't even know you but i was good i didn't know you i did good works but for the wrong reason i didn't know you or he's gonna say come i got something prepared for you rest for you been working god doesn't withhold anything good from us god is good y'all believe that this morning as i move toward my clothes we must take this truth of god's goodness one more step and i say this because look at the world in which we're living in people say what's going on with the world and you got all of your attention focus on what's wrong that's what the enemy wants anybody wants you to sit here today and say i got a mask hanging on money what's wrong with my life that is a slap in the face of a good god i believe romans 8 28 we can say that every week all we know all things work together for good to those who what love god and those who love god jesus says those who keep my commandments and those who are the called who is that those of us who have been born again his church his body his children according to his purpose i want you to know this morning you may be convinced of god's goodness yet doubt that everything which happens is good to you see this is this is the tricky part of the christian experience i believe that god is good but everything that's happening don't feel good so in our minds how does it's like working out sometimes you can go work out and it hurts and you be sore but you know that this is gonna come out good all things are working everything that and you know i can give you the opposite of that everything that feels good to you is not good for you if you just based on how good it feels listen y'all sin feels great nobody would do it if it didn't but that's the purpose of see but but most of the things we've seen in god gave them to us to enjoy the pleasure in the right way the enemy comes in and he distorts that hijacks what is good makes you believe that what is wrong is now right and now you're just chasing the higher feeling good listen when you follow the lord you'll find that there's some situations in places that don't feel good to you does it feel good to pray for your enemies does it feel good to love every does it feel good to forgive folks that don't feel good you be lying and say i just feel good i forgive everybody and i'm happy about it no it don't no to do what the somebody said i'm gonna bring it down even further because we pick and choose what we can do is somebody slap you in the face will you say well here's my other cheek as the lord has commanded you already know the answer that's why you laughing he said i'm going to take you you slap this one you ain't going to have time to get the other one but jesus explicitly said y'all stay with me jesus explicitly said my children don't fight you're going to turn and give them the other but you said i can't do that but yeah you say you good you good at doing what you good at but you ain't always good at keeping all of it you're good at doing what's easy for you but you're not good at always doing the hard things that's what the bible says if somebody asks you for your your coat give me your cloak also but you say i've already given you one thing go through the sermon on the mount jesus says before you worried about the the mold in my look at the beam in yours good people don't spend a lot of time worrying about your toothpick because they understand that they have a telephone pole and they understand that one thing i realized about my life my life i ain't telling my choice my life my stand right with god as a full-time job it's a full-time job somebody says i i keep all of it no you don't name one person here that keeps all of it all the time i show you somebody who's not truthful that's why we need him god is good listen y'all even when it don't seem like it even when like it doesn't feel good even if you're standing at the cemetery even if you're standing uh with the undertaker and y'all picking out clothes for your loved ones god is still good god is good if you're hooked up to a hospital machine god is good if you're running god is good whether you're up or down and because of bad things happen that doesn't mean that god is not good you'll be surprised how many people begin to doubt god when troubles come so sometimes in an attempt to carefully avoid blaming god then we shift the blame from god to satan so i believe this morning satan gets too much credit sometimes for why we do what we do and if we're not blaming satan or blaming god then we're blaming other folk we're always usually last on that list to blame i want to remind you of paul's thorn in his flesh second corinthians chapter 12 i want to remind you that paul's thorn in his flesh the bible says was brought on by a messenger of satan god was aware of it and god permitted it so the lord tells paul that this thorn was permitted right so that my strength can be seen in your weakness and i think about joseph this morning in genesis chapter 50 joseph brothers intended to stand against him and cause him problems and joseph said i understand your intentions and i want you all to know this morning church this gives you real power even when other folks intend evil to come your way god can take those intentions and use it for your good he says you meant it for evil but god meant it for good god saw what she was doing but they didn't even realize that god said okay since y'all gonna play dirty i'm gonna send your brother here to preserve your life i'm moving from the pit i'm gonna move him from potiphar's house to the palace and joseph was the right type of man joseph was the second most powerful man in egypt he had their power their future in his hands joseph could have dismissed them from his presence and joseph cried he was troubled at their presence but he understood it even in that moment standing before those same brothers who cast him off for dead his perspective was right because he understood how good god was he said you meant this for evil but god meant this for good let's bring this out of the ancient days and bring it into your own life how many of y'all believe that this morning so i said they plotted me on your job god will turn that into your favor god will work out with it somebody said the pandemic is distorted god you got to make the pandemic work in the favor of the believer y'all don't know how god works this morning and you ought to believe that this morning whatever goes wrong god can make it right i believe that god can bring it good and watch this go god is going to make it right for his glory that's why moses said god where's your glory he says it's in my goodness you want to see my it's in everything that i've done that's good and holy it's in a newborn being born it's in a breeze that blows across your face it's in your your nervous system still working and it's the eyes that you can see and your lungs that can breathe it's in the food that i provide for you or the voice that you can lift up and praise me my goodness is all around you and the enemy doesn't want you to be aware of it david said in psalms 119 he says it was good that i was afflicted oh man why is it that we want to be christians yet we want to separate christianity from suffering and affliction david said it was good i think i did a sermon years ago this would be one of my go-to sermons you know sometimes we go on the road we just preach a sermon that we good at that they hadn't heard before david said i think what's called it's all good if you would change it it's all good what i'm going it's all good loss discipline it's all good he says before i was afflicted i went astray he says but now i keep your word it it was it was the harsh reality of the separation see the thing that makes hell hell and i know we argue about people argue whether it's physically literally fire or metaphorically speaking but i believe one thing we can all agree of that in hell there will be an absence of the presence of god right now you got some relief even if you got a space to go and sit by yourself quiet to think that's relief even if you got a cup of coffee that you can pour and drink i know some of y'all think coffee is a sin but i drink coffee even if you've got a space in your backyard to go sit out god is good somebody says i don't like my vehicle let me ask you something did it get did get you here this morning somebody said god is good oil change oh you got all them lights on on your dash but you still made it here this morning anybody got lights on on your dash yeah you got lights all to say you got it's your services dude i would bring it in but i really ain't got the money right now that's why i hate going to service because they give you a long list of stuff that's wrong i'll be like will it run one time i put my car i was gonna drive to florida so he said you got this this this this this how much you want around i said y'all change your oil that's again i said y'all check the wiper fluid i said i'm gonna trust it let's go sometimes that got to be like your life you got all these lights on and you run all these warning signs change engine change or get rid of this friend be faithful uh watch your attitude be be thankful all these lights on as a reminder and we just rolling around trust your instrument he says in faithfulness verse number 75 i got three more minutes you afflicted me y'all don't believe me but god is good he says god afflicted me in faithfulness i like what paul says in philippians chapter 3 and verse number 10 paul talks about that that this goodness see um one of my pet peeves y'all got a lot of pet peeves is when people try to ascribe attributes to me or say they know me when they don't know me to know someone you got to spend time with them sometimes y'all think preachers would walk around quoting scriptures all day i want to hear some golf balls i want to fish i like sports i like music i like poetry i like art some of the things i like and you can only know what a person likes that's a lot look about a lot of people out here in the audience i don't necessarily know what everybody likes have we sat down with one another that's the importance of fellowship to talk with one another to see what they like but paul says i want to see i might know about you and sometimes you only know about somebody either what you heard or what they show you publicly so paul takes it further he says i don't want to be the type of christian that knows about the goodness of god paul says i want to know him remember i've always said that intimacy is about information it's it's what you share with someone that brings you close so some of y'all have the delusions some people in your lives they're not giving nothing they're just taking everything you've given them so then you look up and you say this relationship is one-sided because anytime you continue to pour in without getting anything back you're going to feel lobster you'll feel empty but if there's reciprocity a david and a jonathan or a ruth and naomi type relationship or paul and barnaba where where you're pouring into each other and iron and sharpening iron there's intimacy i'll go where you go my people your people i'll go where you go ruth and naomi i want to be around you psalms 107 i'll give thanks to the lord for he is good and his loving kindness is everlasting i want to read this on my way down turn with me to psalms 107. let's read this and recite this as we leave here this morning i don't know if this is what you wanted but i pray that this is what you needed sometimes psalms 107. i want to read a few verses of this oh give thanks for the lord for he is good his mercy endures forever let the redeems of the lord think about it let the let the redeemed of the lord let us try to read their minds let the redeemed of the lord say you know i know the lord is good he said let the redeemer of the lord say so let me tell you something every chance you get this week you ought to say how good god is even if it annoys your neighbor and your enemy and your children's spouse god is good watch anytime somebody complain about it we ain't got this freeride god is good let's keep it moving hey don't like me i don't think god is good he gonna take care of it it's gonna work it's working out of my faith if you know god is good you know it's working it out you know god is good you know he's in control let the redeemed of the lord say so and watch this you ain't got to say all the time god is good all the time and all the time god is good that sounds good but god is good all by himself he don't need another attribute he don't need another line to go with that god is good period and that everything that that word means he's good he describes himself as being good let the redeemer the lord say so whom he had redeemed from the hand of the enemy anybody this morning been redeemed anybody this morning just this week found yourself being being pulled out of the snare that the enemy wanted to pull you into let the redeemed the lord say so he gathered them out of the lands from the east from the west from the north from the south they wandered in the wilderness in a a solitary way they found no city to dwell in hungry and thirsty their soul fainted then they cried unto the lord in their trouble and he delivered them just like he's doing for us out of all of their distresses and not only did god deliver him think about he didn't deliver them out of like i said before that sometimes there's disappointment in deliverance because god delivers you out of something and then god delivered you out of egypt and now you're in the wilderness so divine deliverance sometimes is tough because when god breaks you out of something then you find yourself what's next follow me god ain't gonna break you out of egypt and instantly put you in paradise you can't just zap yourself from 400 years of slavery into freedom there's a process now these people god brought you out he delivered you from pharaoh now you're gonna have to learn how to trust him in the journey and the process god wants to see do you walk with me step by step day by day that's why david said thy word is a lampa to my feet that means day by day the little steps that i take right in front of me but it's also a light into my pathway which gives me the bigger picture that no matter where i go down this road of life as long as he has cleared the path and made a way i know i'm headed in the right directions robert frost had a poem said two roads diverged in a yellow wood i took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference it reminded me how jesus talked about there's two greats there's a narrow gate and a straight game and there's going to be few that find it there's a wide gate that many are going down how how about we are the type of people that ought to be walking the straight and narrow away that's not a way of perfection that means we're following a perfect god that means we faith and our trust that remains in him i took the one less traveled by so no i ain't never done what everybody does sometimes you got to go through a period of your life where you get to get called a square some of y'all never experienced that you're a church boy choir boy holy rolly just sent him a song back then they didn't want me and sometimes you see some of those people and you don't feel like look at my life versus yours you actually feel bad for him because just like joseph don't mess with anybody don't despise small beginnings you don't know who and what anybody can come but come with the help of a good gun he says verse number eight oh that men would praise the lord for his goodness for his wonderful works to the children of men he satisfied the the longing soul he satisfies i wish i could read all this he satisfies the longing soul and he fills the hungry soul with what goodness he says such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death being bound in affliction and iron because they rebelled against the word of god he says verse number 12 therefore he brought down their hearts with labor and they fell down and there was none to hell i want you to think about it he says in verse 15 oh that men would praise the lord i'm going to stop right there because i'm right where i want to be i said 10 15 i was going to be done and it's 10 17. somebody say won't he do it that's about as good as y'all gonna get out of here won't god do it this morning but i i pray this morning that that that you recognize you better recognize i better recognize somebody said you better recognize you better recognize that saying you better know why you always say you better recognize everything that god created says you better recognize not not only is everything think about it paul tells us in romans that even the unbelievers are without excuse because god is seen even in creation so say i never heard about jesus you didn't look up at the sky every night every single night when i go outside to feed the dog i want y'all to look jupiter and saturn are right there next to the moon every night and some of us have never had a clue that they out there they only they are out there this time of year you just see jupiter just bright as day somebody look up why they in the same place why is it that we can find them in the same spot we can find the planets in the same spot and some of us we can't find us at all fall is right on schedule wouldn't be crazy we looked up and spring was in the place of fall everything that god made stands to attention and functions as he designs it except man everything that god created at the mountains go to the mountains the mountains speak to the grander and the glory of god the skyscrapers of the sky and all their majesty and the clouds and the birds and the rivers and the oceans and the lakes and the streams everything testifies to the glory of god and you can't even open up your mouth and say god is good you can't even say thank you jesus in the church you can't even say hallelujah praise god won't he do it this morning god is good you better recognize this morning we better recognize the enemy wants us to be flooded with news and flooded with hatred and flooding with disease and sickness and everything that's going on life so we forget how good god actually really is to all of us god is good in life he's just as good in life as he is in death paul says to be absent from this body is to be present with the lord so whether we be in life or whether we are in death whether it be in this body or out of this body god is still good to us the fact that jesus says i've already prepared a mansion for you that where i am you may be also so what's the conclusion let not your heart be troubled you don't have to be troubled by what's going on in this world i'm done this morning i'm sitting down at 10 15. you better recognize i'm just playing with y'all this morning it just sounded like it'd go right there but but uh but but isn't it funny when you have and we're gonna we're gonna recognize our elders this morning for the for the labor of love of being shepherds in the lord church i i've never seen a society of people where they don't give credit and honor who to whom honors do all of us need to be encouraged along our way you want to be recognized as a good husband or a good wife or a good mother mother's day all the mamas be like hey i'm a mama today we recognize you ain't that sad a mother whose children don't recognize her on mother's day fathers want to be recognized we better recognize god just said just recognize i'm good and that that covers everything that has happened in your life that's covered your health that's covered your finances cover your relationships everything goodness covers all of it you ain't gotta say god is good in my finances god's gonna he's good and he's good alone and he's good all by himself and he's worthy of our praise he's worthy of our singleness of heart god thank you all for being a fine audience i pray that god's word today encourages us enlightens us elevates our thinking and causes us to be focused on on what's right because when we leave out of these walls and turn on those televisions and move around these streets the enemy is doing the same thing he was doing with eve he's trying to distort the truth of god and turn it into a lie don't believe it god is still good what's wrong with this world evil has always been in it but god is great and and where evil uh with sin abound grace bounds even more we're thankful to that if you're not giving your life to christ all spiritual blessings are found in christ jesus you come by here in the word romans 10 17 faith come by hearing hearing by the word of god believe what you heard repent of your sins confess jesus christ as the son of god we'll take you down in the watery grave of baptism you'll come up a new creation in christ and god had this plan before the foundation of the world he's just that good i got a plan even before you don't you realize i had a plan even before i realized what sin was god had a plan for my life he bled for me he took the wrath of god for me that's good barely will one die for a good man but for a sinner ungodly person god commended his love for me we'll make it personal while we were yet in well i was yet in my sins christ died for me that's good somebody who will stand take take your place is a good that's good beyond measure and be glad about it and don't take it back again i die for you sam but i saw the way you acted i revoke your salvation god don't work like that he's good that he's so good that he lets me grow in grace he lets me he saves me and lets me continue to grow to be transformed even more into his image and then he says i'll let you live out a good life and then when you die you can be with me forever ain't god good this morning y'all we ought to believe that and share it with somebody shout it to the rooftop send it out to 10 people say god is good to you they may not like it because the devil don't want you to say that but keep reciting those things and fake it till you make it if you husband if you see your wife saying god goodness more don't say you don't believe that you faking let her fake it till she make it let him fake it till they make it you keep reciting you might believe it you might act like it it might recognize it you need prayer this morning this is the house of god you can come down we'll pray for you as a congregation the elders will offer a prayer for you if you are just battling with some things going through some things i'm not trying to give you a message oh this is just optimistic positive no the the the goodness of god is is it must be recognized in the face of evil it must be recognized in the face of hardship the sacrifice of praise the hebrew writer says that that even at your lowest point no matter what's going on in your life you still can say god is good as the psalmist says i would have fainted unless i had learned to see the goodness of god in the land of the living some of us believe that we only going to see good when we get to heaven i'm just living out my miserable life till i get to glory that ain't what god wants for our lives he wants us to recognize and enjoy the life that we have that's why i enjoy my life you know why because i don't have long just say you go in the doctor tomorrow and the doctor says to you you got six to seven months to live but i got six to seven months to live think about it you you don't even know how long you got left you need the the doctor said i got six to seven months i don't know if i got six to seven minutes left to live i've heard of preachers preach and fall out in the pulpit people leave the buildings and they assume that they're going to get to the next destination and we think oh we feel sorry for them they only got seven months to live all you got is right now that's all you got god is good for right now we don't even know we don't even know so if you wait for tomorrow to have a good life and experience the goodness of god what you waiting for you ain't know some that don't exist but this moment exists and that's all we have we're gonna stand and sing a song when kermit before we go [Music] sweet i know [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh he's sweet i know oh the storm crowds may rise [Music] winds may blow well and i'm gonna tell the world i go [Music] [Music] let church say man god is good amen [Applause] god is good whether we suffering or whether we being blessed he said in the words of job that he lost all his property and his children lord give it lord take it away but bless it be the name of the lord bless it be the name of the lord amen we want to thank brother bailey for the message pray that god will continue to crown his head with wisdom that he might have expound the truths of the gospel to the family of god here at cedar valley church of christ thank you brother bailey we now want to recognize the prayers of the saints we begin with brother blue he says i want to thank the congregation paul elijah was a success and i'm asking prayers for continued prayers for physical strength also a special prayer request on behalf of sister diaries washington's health keep sister washington uh in your prayers for health sister hill uh as prayers brothers and sisters i am asking prayers for me and my family and the loss of my cousin kelly lambert please keep the lamberts in your prayers as well sister hill sister wilmore has special prayers asking prayers for my family in the passing of my aunt also prayers for my mom's health and healing sister wilmo and sister hunt has special prayers says please pray for me and my family we funeralize my nephew on yesterday let us go to god and cry on behalf of the saints holy father [Music] god of all comfort who comfort us in all tribulations that we might be of comfort to others we thank you lord first of all for jesus who died for us we thank you for your word which comforts lord and communicates to us what you would have us to do we thank you for your spirit by which we are sealed till our day come father we want to pray for the saints who have lost loved ones we pray lord that you would bless them with strength we pray father that you would bless them with comfort knowing that you've told us that you are the god of all comfort can provide us with comfort in all tribulations so we pray lord for that comfort from you we know many people say that time brings comfort but father we depend on you for comfort today not time but you lord so we pray father that you would be with all those who have lost loved ones bring them comfort bring them peace bless them father according to thy will knowing that you are good in everything that you do is good we pray also for all those who are sick who are in the hospital who may be struggling with mental problems father we pray that you would bless them also pray that you would heal their bodies and their minds father that they might be able to see father that your lamp might guide them throughout this darkness in this world lord continue to bless and keep all of us but we look to you for all blessings all things that we accept and that we know are good comes from you the hospitals the doctors the food the families everything lord that is good comes from you and we just want to say thank you continue to bless and keep us all in the name of jesus we pray let us all say amen we'll do one selection and i think well a couple of verses of a selection and then you know brother bailey come forward i'm gonna trade my earthly hope for a better one riding where you know christ left to prepare a mansion for his children in the air and i'll join him in that land where tis no sorrows can be found and i'll receive my mention oh background let's say about a man [Music] [Applause] to [Music] [Applause] now from the work that i try to do but one day i'll be rewarded with the cross over right and new and i wear a smile so bright before there will be no cause for around when you know please if you would let us pray we're going to dismiss from our service and then we'll go right into it father in heaven we're so thankful again for this day you blessed us with we're thankful for your word father you have been good to all of us may we walk in your goodness may we appreciate what you've done may we share that goodness with others through the life in which we live we're so thankful for the blessing of fellowship father you've kept us all you sustained us all and i prayed father that we would continue to be thankful for the opportunity we have together together may we be encouraged may we go into this world being light and soft in the midst of a perverted and twisted dark world again we're thankful for your son who gives us life and gives us life more abundantly in the name of our lord and savior jesus christ we pray amen amen all right we'll go ahead and get started and i'm i'm excited about uh doing this today and you know this is the pandemic time and in pandemic time we uh have to adjust the way uh we do things as um because of you know we would do some things different i when i started a le almost well moving toward 12 years ago one thing you guys always heard me say one of the responsibilities that you have and it's not one that i take lightly that a preacher evangelist has according to the word of god is is to uh set the church in order that's an ongoing thing and then also ordained elders now probably for about seven years didn't get into that or you know i would talk about it frequently but we were able to do so about four years ago and the purpose for having elders in the congregation is significant whether you all realize it or not i want to before we have we're going to have a presentation by each zone to the elders and then we have something we want to present to each elder from the congregation and i think it's important to do that to give honor i'm one person who i always believe that like you you must recognize people for their labor uh and oftentimes many of the things that they do you don't see it so you just got to trust and believe when i say that it's an honorable work what is an elder according to first peter chapter five and verse number two the shepherds of god's flock are under the shepherds uh are are caring for god's flock serving as overseers not because you must peter says or not as lords but because you are willing as god wants you to be not greedy for money but eager to serve not lording over those entrusted to you but examples to the flock the elders are members of this body who provide general watch care and oversight of the members they continue to evaluate the church and continue to use wisdom and discernment and their shepherding gifts to ensure that the church remains on course and that our lives remain intact scripture also states that the role of an elder is overseer paul tells us and first tim paul tells timothy in first timothy 3 1 if anyone sets his heart on being a overseer it is a noble task or it is a good work and they are to care about the spiritual and the physical well-being of the members pray for the sick guard the body against harmful influences whether it be on the inside and the out and confront those who contradict the truth of god in doing so they are closing potential entrances of satan into the church so christ will make incredible both to the congregation and to the community and so i've been thankful of the four years and and you know we grow together and in the church growing with the elders and the deacons and the membership we learning to grow together and work together and we all have the same mind for this church as i said a few weeks ago we don't always agree on everything but we do agree on uh that god is with us and god is in this place and that we are moving in the right direction so i want to personally say that that i appreciate them and the working relationship and when we come together we don't just talk business we we talk about the word and talk about god and care generally for the people's soul so not only do i want to thank the elders but their wives as well because sometimes we can have a meeting and it was probably a 30 minutes and ended up being four hours and especially during the pandemic i talked to leaders everywhere who who many leaderships have grown fatigued because it just changed the way we had to do things and decisions have to be made and we have to put out information and you all have been very cooperative so one of the things that the bible instructs is that members are not to make it difficult for shepherds to do their job and so as this congregation grows we're going to be looking for more shepherds because what shepherds do is keep up with the sheep and as our flock grows you need more men to help guide those those lives in the direction that they need to go so the bible says that we ought to consider as members men who would potentially uh hold that office so we're thankful to them for their labor for their work it's been a blessing and a privilege and we continue to look forward to growing together and i just want to publicly say that i have i have been supported in my role as a minister with them and i can truly say that and i'm thankful to you all for that as well as your families and the blessings of the word so at this time what i want to do is ask each zone to come up if you would there's we have five zones and uh each elder oversees a zone and overseeing is just that that's why we need members to come along overseeing doesn't mean they have to do everything they're just making sure things get done and so to break down our flock here we have it where each elder oversees a zone so if you have anything this is a perfect time to say this in your zone initial concern contact your elder and if he can't handle it uh or if it's something that he needs to bring back to everybody else he will but here's your contact and so hopefully this will give you opportunity almost sneaking in here so somebody says i don't know what elder's in my zone well you about to learn right now all right so uh uh you need to get that contact information so they can properly uh shepherd and communicate with you and we can keep god's flock going okay next week we're gonna do something for our deacons so hang tight for that as well and then we have some other uh i think this is time to show appreciation for some other people who have been doing some wonderful things uh here in the body all right so uh who has zone one all right brother neely uh he's gonna present something to we're gonna ask the presenters one to 45 seconds and then we have then we'll go ahead and go on good morning church you know the crawford is a big family and uh it took a long time to write this one page so if you're brother crawford with you and your family yeah brother crawford and sister crawford would you make your way down i also want to ask all of zone 1 members to stand if you live in lancaster 45 south wilma hutchins ferris course counter and it's 40 or terrible if you'll stand please and remain standing guys go ahead and come on up come on up and i'll read this so that we can make this quickly uh i forgot my hat i was going to wear my side hat because if you know brother crawford you normally see him walking like he has somewhere to go with that hat laying on the side so i left that and i'm sorry brother crawford but actually what i wrote uh is this um i actually knew of brother crawford long before i met him back in the early 80s i think it was around 81 82 while i was working for h r blog one evening his sister reby it could have been reby and pearline or it could have been ruby and kathy or it could have been ruby and some other sister but reby is the one i remember the most and then several years later i ran back into ribby and pearline and kathy at greenville avenue you know there are a lot of crawfords just ask anybody do you know a crawford yes every time half the people here today are probably related to a crawford i bet if you visit hundred congregations you won't find one that didn't have a crawford in it this speaks very highly of the commitment to god that not only brother crawford has but his whole clan which is much larger than a normal family he would give you the shirt off his back the shoes off his feet and the gas out of his truck i knew that brother crawford was the real deal when i saw him baptize a brother that was about 6'5 and he baptized him old school i said wow so i've never seen him afraid to stand up for god we really appreciate his family his love for god the church and the flock we all look forward to working and growing old with you and sister crawford as we seek heaven together brother and sister crawford just wanted to let you know that we love you and at this point i'm going to let brother elliot brother elliott is going to do the presentation and then i'll come right back all right hello siva valley and zone one members this is to you brother crawford and i'll read this from zone one it says in appreciation to brother larry d crawford senior for your faithful and dedicated service willing spirit and labor of love you are the inspiration and blessing to us all at cedar valley church of christ zone one remember [Applause] brother sister crawford we realized that these are only token gifts as love is the only thing that we can pay you back with for all of the shepherding that you do for us may god continue to bless you and keep you the zone one amen [Applause] and brother sister crawford this is a this is for we want to present this to you sister crawford and uh we want to let you know we appreciate you uh support how many times i've seen you sitting in the car just waiting while we're doing stuff throughout the years and not saying a word so god bless you all and this is for y'all from the church as well as a token of our appreciation let's [Applause] let's right thank you let's give them a hand again thank you uh let's let's zone two zone two oh uh i want to say something half of them uh sister that's brother and uh sister uh lee brother bartlett is gonna say something real quick sister brother lee's not here sister lee would you mind uh will come to you or uh i don't want to put you out there no brother lee's not here let's let's let's just at least stay where she is but we're going to say something to her and y'all could y'all take that her uh her presentation to her and um and we'll let brother bartlett um of anything in respects to for brother lee i think brother lee for himself speaks in his um work that he's done in his time here at cedar valley um we refer to him as the general and um comedically so we do that um but lovingly so we do that also um brother lee has um stepped into his role here as an elder and has um represented quite well in that direction um he's a soldier at all times um he treats you like family um every brother is his brother every sister is his sister every little one that runs around here if they're young enough is the grandkid if they're older it's the niece or nephew um we appreciate you sister lee and uh what you allow for him to be able to do for this body i know you sacrifice a lot um that goes not just to sisterly but all the sisters here that are wives of elders and wives of deacons uh my minister's wife in addition with that we we we the wives sacrifice a lot and though this is here as a representation of the brothers that are at work got to mention for the sisters also and the work that they do behind the scenes that allowed brothers to be able to shine the way they do in what they do thank you sister lee for allowing us to have the time with brother lee that you allow us to have let brother lee know that we love him we miss him we look forward to today that he's back with us thank you [Applause] thank you and let's continue to pray for brother lee and his health and continue to be with sister lee as well as his health care provider uh and i just love sister lee and her spirit so thankful for them as well now we're moving on to zone three and brother powers i believe is going to present for zone three that's the jenkins brother and sister jenkins if you would uh jenkins to uh brother and sister jenkins we want to congratulate brother jenkins on a job well done he has been very instrumental not only him but his wife in zone three and we just appreciate his zeal for helping out doing all of our activities uh we go to the nursing home we we uh have inner action with one another so brother jenkins we really appreciate your help your sincerity we love you and we congratulate you on this thing thank you and uh so brother sis jenkins we thank you all we appreciate you all and the wonderful work that you have done here we love you and i'm sure that uh many of the golden saints can attest to that and members of your zone as well so this is behalf of the congregation to you sister jenkins for being a supportive force and for both of y'all from the church and god bless you all and we just thank you [Applause] and lastly uh lastly zone yes give him a hand brother says jenkins thank you [Applause] so so my zone is zone four so uh i said enough for our zone uh and so zone five is brother sister clark so if y'all would y'all come on we'll come to the clarks right here and brother hanks will be presenting to them is cedar hill duncanville and malothian and uh brother and sister clark is our uh elders that's over that zone and of course the many many years they've given to the brotherhood we're appreciative of that and i remember years ago when they came and brought their talents here how much we rejoiced because we knew how much he was well respect respected in the brotherhood and not only uh brother clark of course sister clark stands there right alongside uh him and and we know i know personally if i have a bible question i know he's going to give me a bible answer he's a tremendous resource in this church and we're so certainly thankful for for both of them so we just want to present them just a small token of our appreciation we have a gift card and a couple gifts for both of them thank you [Applause] and brother last of us says clark on behalf of the entire congregation just want to let you know that we appreciate you all again as this is a gift and as i i i agree brother thanks for your wisdom and and your word and you know brother sister clark served for many years as a preacher and preacher's wife as well so they've been in the game a long time and so uh i don't know how somebody could serve that along as a preacher and then want to continue to serve in another shape or form or fashion that takes a lot so we appreciate you all brother sister clark sister clark we appreciate you as well i've also seen your patience when our meetings go along and we just thank you thank you all for the love and encouragement and uh let's show them my love today all right see the valley thank you all you all are wonderful uh and appreciate you for hanging around uh we thank those that are trying to get in here today we appreciate it but this is important that we take the time to do uh and then hopefully we encourage you all to keep on keep on working and we'll continue to go on and like i said continue to look for men and women who serve in that role that's what the church needs uh we need we need to we're a team and a union more deacons too uh to serve in that role because we try to make sure the devil stays out of this place and it takes all of us so god bless you all we love you all we pray that the word will resonate on your hearts and minds and uh we already closed out so we're going to ask because we're trying to get the other if you fellowship let's do it you know outside but we're going to try to have a smooth transition thank you all god bless you and wait for the ushers to to let you out thank you [Music] [Music] is [Music] give thanks to the holy one give thanks because he's given jesus christ [Music] [Music] us [Music] [Music] the lord is [Music] is [Music] every day is a day of thanksgiving god's been so good to me every day is blessing me every day is a day of thanksgiving take the time to glorify the lord take the time to glorify the lord take the time to glorify the lord today [Music] every day is a day of thanksgiving god's been so good to me every day he's blessing me every day is a day of thanksgiving take the time to glory find the lord take the time to glorify the lord take the judge's glory by the lord today he keeps blessing me blessing me blessing me he opened the door that i might see his blessing me and he keeps blessing me blessing me blessing me take the time to glorify the lord take the time to glorify the lord he today blessing me blessing me blessing me [Music] he opened the door that i might see he's blessing me and he keeps blessing me blessing me blessing me take the time to glorify the lord take the time to glorify the lord take the the time today everybody sing now every day here's our day on thanksgiving you know my god [Music] is [Applause] [Music] he stands peace [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] peace [Music] [Music] the wings oh when he said [Music] peace [Music] peace [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Music] when he says [Music] [Music] peace [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] holy [Music] so shall i be saved from my [Music] living enemies blessed be the rock and let the god of my salvation be exalted the lord living and blessed be the rock and let the god of my salvation i will call [Music] upon so shall i be saved [Music] my salvation be exalted the lord living and blessed be the rock and let the god of my salvation be exalted i will call upon the lord i will call upon the lord [Music] for he is worthy to be praised so shall i be saved from my enemies [Music] the lord

Channel: Cedar Valley Church Of Christ

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Id: loB11xki0SU

Length: 133min 25sec (8005 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021