Community Worship Center | Sabbath Service | August 7, 2021

[Music] god's blessing is going to be resting upon you as we worship and as we take another look at the word of god today we are reviewing the subject of resting throughout this entire quarter how to rest rest in jesus our subject this morning is finding rest in family ties finding rest in family ties let's say our memory verse together it's taken from ii peter 3 verse 17 and 18 the new king james version let's say together you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand where you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the errors of the wicked but grow in the grace and knowledge of the lord and savior jesus christ to him be glory both now and forever amen what a lovely memory verse to jesus be glory forever and forever we're looking into the families this week as we study family family relationship and we see in the bible a lot of dysfunctional families lots of families that are dysfunctional and the bible reports on them we see abraham father abraham who is regarded as the father of faith he had a dysfunctional family didn't he yep about his son isaac everything was all right with isaac esau and jacob what conflict existed between them but then in spite of their messy family relationship abraham isaac and jacob are in god's hall of fame if you read the book of hebrews hebrews 11 you'll see their names there in god's hall of in spite of the fact that they had a dysfunctional structure i wonder why they are in god's hall of fame anybody knows i think that um if we look at joseph he had so much problem in his family with the situation with his code he went to egypt as a matter of fact before that he was in a pit and at the end of all of this he was in the palace and the simple fact that he had to have a relationship with god oh now you hear it on the head these names are recorded in god's hall of fame because they learned the hard way and they accepted god's forgiveness and his mercy and this love oh some of us here as we study some of us today we are in some dysfunctional family aren't we but remember jesus says i came to send a sword in the family i sometimes been how to reconcile that matthew 10 verse 34 35 jesus says i did not come here to send peace but a sword in the family well now does that contradict the fact that there should be peace in our home where is that what's the sword in the home anybody knows not so sure well the lord here is saying somebody in the family is going to hear the gospel and is going to accept jesus as their lord and boy is going to bring some war it's going to put mother against father son against daughter and all the rest of that but then jesus says he that shall end your to the end shall be saved but here we have isaac jacob and here jacob now is called to be the father of israel jacob after his conflict with his family at home robbing his brother's birthright went all the way to peyton aaron to his uncle laban work for 14 years for one woman got leah and you know as you studied that listen ellen white says god would have preferred leah for for jacob as his wife although she was cock-eyed yet leah was preferred by god for lack of but that's the problem sometimes we choose we didn't ask god for for choosing we just do our own thing run up into all different kinds of trouble oh jacob loved rachel didn't he love her to his heart so much so that he was willing to work another four seven years for her but even when she left and followed her husband she took a golden calf she took a a a god with her indicating that she was not converted at all somehow along the way she died in childbirth but then here comes jacob meeting with jesus after all after it all jesus met jacob wanting to entrust to him the reigns of israel and you remember that great conflict that went on between jesus and jacob until when he was about to leave and he recognized that he was fighting with jesus he said lord you've got to bless me alan white says if he was arrogant in that request instantaneously he would be dead but he was humble and so the lord just touch him on the right side and make him help him remain humble but now somehow the lord bless him he's on his way to canaan the lord blessed him with children twelve sons and one daughter he now is the leader of israel he has the scepter of israel and the lord blessed him with ruben simeon levi judah zebulum issachar dan asha neptali joseph benjamin twelve sons and dinah come this evening and we'll give you their structure who their mothers were and so on this evening at five o'clock we're going to talk a little more about that but the child was born and then on their way home somebody says rachel began knitting a royal coat for her son joseph she began but she never got to finish it and later on joseph finished uh jacob finished that that royal role and gave it to joseph and he made a great big mistake one of mistakes that many of us today are making what was that error because of his love for rachel he loved the rachel's children more than he loved the others he loved joseph and he loved benjamin because of his love for rachel and at that point and she died can i say something yes um as you talk to joseph i i looked at the situation where his father showed more favor to him now one of my questions does god show more favor to any one of us more than the other oh does the lord show more favor to any one of us than anybody else yes may i take that okay you see what joseph was what um joseph's father did for him is what jesus does for each of us each person is special in god's side and we should all feel special just like joseph but not nobody should feel as if they are not special so it's individual but it's collective with god things are mysterious we don't know how it works but that's how it works i'm special in god's sight and everybody else can say the same thing god favors me yes in our local situation even we with our children sometimes we have to be very careful because sometimes the the the favoritism is not because i love you more than the other sometimes is your behavior just like oh joseph although he did things if we look at david we look at moses but they still stayed connected to god and god still loved them and made them great rulers so we have to be careful sometimes and even in the church they are some members for whatever reason we show more favoritism to them than the others i just want to piggyback on something you said because we can't let this slip you said something that you said that sometimes we favor people for different things so if we look for something to favor somebody for everybody would get favored what joseph's father did he favored joseph for maybe because he loved them the joseph's mother but he should have looked for something to celebrate in the others that's where he made the mistake they must have been good at something that he could you know praise them for so they too would feel special for something he made a big mistake all right well you asked the question does god love anybody more than the other you know what the bible says if one sinner alone had sinned in this world jesus would have died anyhow so the lord loves us god doesn't know anything else but love he loves this creature and longs to see that we all live in obedience to him so that he can save us so now in the family here is this royal that quote that joseph had jacob gave to joseph was a royal court that's what kings wear and here it is it's given to joseph i would imagine when it was given was a nice ceremony exalting joseph and that caused the brothers to hate that boy and sometimes that's what we as parents do in our homes we show favoritism to one who you think you should show favoritism too and you rub that one's life into the eyes of the others and you send the others to hell oh we should be like jesus they are all your children you ought to if you don't know how to love them learn to love them all hide the fact that you have a little favoritism to one who will be right by you in the kitchen will help your mother help you cook and all of that kind of thing hide it how do you do that but somehow but because of that hatred came in that family and then one day come this brother walk up to me tell me amen i had a dream last night you know what i dreamt i dreamt that all of y'all bowed down to me i already then brother hate him you committed a mummy bowing down to you and all that well i got i got news for you but somehow they were out there in the wilderness daddy sent him to go see to the boys and they say ah here comes the dreamer here come this wise guy let's fix him up and they fixed him didn't they throw him down in a nice hole they were going to kill him but pastor reuben rubin begged for him and the others and somehow big daddy you know is the big brother they put him down in the pit and it didn't take long before some merchants came along and you know the story well joseph was sold to the ishmaelites and uh not only was he sold to ishmael later on he was sold to potiphar twice sell all over the place soul from one to the other pastor the way you're you're working through the process is so very interesting because it started with the robe that um jacob gave to him so it's a process and sometimes we don't see the meaning behind the process that's how it was supposed to go he was going to be um big he was something was going to come out of it but he had to go through the process and very often we don't like the process he didn't want to be sold but that's a part of the process he didn't want to be in the hole that was a part of the process he didn't want to be in particular's house for the mrs potiphar to rely on him but that was a part of the process so we should enjoy the journey because it's the end the journey may be very rough right but it's the end that's going to be sweet yes um [Music] just through this reason why you say it's a process but if there isn't faith and connection with jesus we're going to go astray because i think maybe not at all times but somehow joseph might have questioned certain things in his mind but because of the connection he stayed steadfast now the other thing is that i noticed that with joseph he knew the dream now when i look back at nebuchadnezzar i am asking a question why wasn't he able to interpret his dream but yet joseph knew what he jumped never got he was not able to interpret his dream so why god enlightening him even with all the dysfunction in the format because that as you just allude to the fact that there was problem before and now this one even complicated more because you're going to be ruler over us well you see it it is all god knows every one of us he knows about us way beyond and we know ourselves and he treat us accordingly god is always leading but if we step back here to to to joseph here joseph in spite of prison life part of his house joseph remained loyal to his father's god that is what matters the temptations will come he found himself in a situation there as a slave in potiphar's house you know ellen white says that stuff that mrs potiphar presented to her husband about joseph mr potiphar did not believe a single thing servant of the lord says that he didn't believe it but because he is who he is he had to lock up the boy put him in prison and so again joseph is tossed in prison now um a question how is it our what evidence are we to believe that potiphar didn't believe at all i'm not hearing the question properly but then go ahead uh give an answer somebody has an answer they need a question pastor just mentioned a while ago at the spirit of prophecy since the white said it so yeah we believe in the spirit of prophecy i also also know that but you know sometimes we have to be careful if someone should ask us the question to really deliberate because sister white said now my idea of the whole situation is that during those times a crime like that would be death instant death and for him to just put him in prison it tells me that he did not truly believe him but as you said because of his position and his loyalty to the wife yes yes so uh what happened there a lot of things joseph got some things that he did not deserve but the message this morning is from the word of god in spite of it all joseph remained loyal to his god he did not blame god and give up he remain loyal to god sometimes we find ourselves in these dysfunctional situations in our homes the thing is stutter the word of god make sure you understand the word of god take a position and remain loyal because in the end we will come back to that at the end we find god sent joseph over into egypt to prepare for israel that was to come to prepare food and all the rest of that for israel that was to come that's the long-term goal god wants to use us even in our families that are called this we call dysfunctional but the lord wants to use you don't give up and mean lawyer and pastor he if we want biblical proof genesis 39 21 tells us there's not a better proof than that he said the lord was with joseph so as a child of god we have to believe that and the lord was the lord was with joseph amen bless the lord sis okay so um pastor that was wonderful and we are now at um we're gonna look very briefly at finding true self-worth when we talk about self-esteem very often we think it's a bad thing because we love ourselves too much but when it's only a bad thing when it becomes narcissistic we are supposed to believe in ourselves and know that god is with us and if he is with us whatever we are doing is supposed to represent him so finding our true self-worth is finding it in god and joseph because he was so obedient to god's will he didn't have to worry about all the troubles that he was going through because he knew that god had his back all right so it says that our families and close relationships are pivotal in the development of our self esteem um we see a lot of dysfunction because of how children are raised right so children are supposed to be raised to obey rules but they must also have their own choice when i was raising jason i thought whatever i wanted him to do is whatever you should do and i remember he would tell me he would change every now and again i want to be this i want to be that and then one day he said oh he wanted to be a a famous baseball player and then another day wanted to be a garbage truck driver and i was like what garbage drug driver because we tend to look down on certain things when we are raising our children and then he said mom you know what my teacher told me that i'm young so i'm going to keep changing and changing we have to work with the people in our families so that they can believe in themselves you can be the best garbage truck driver you can you can tell of god's goodness just by the work you do you know so we need to help each other to develop to the best of our abilities joseph became a slave but he did not let that stop him from being his best so he did whatever he has to do and to do it well like this part of the lesson that says god looks at each of us with glasses tinted with grace so he sees us for what we can become rather than what we are now the brothers did not see joseph as anything big the father saw it that's why i gave him the rope that separates him but he did it in a wrong way but anyway he did it and later on joseph was able to save all of them but they could not see it we have to look beyond what we are seeing today with our children yes [Music] just to look at it at a section where if we notice that in our society we like to make names even among when we were in our children we we call him this name and that name you are stupid and all like that now if we know this with god that's right we are saying that if you don't have that connection with god things are going to go out upon because jesus see us as sons of god he see us as friends he says though are mine but sometimes we in the church and in our homes we treat the children as if they are not ours something you just said about speaking words where they're very important we must remember that the same power he said so in isaiah the same power that raised jesus from the dead resides in us so the words that we speak just like when god speaks his words don't go out and come back void they create something so if we tell our children that they're stupid stupid we are creating stupid people so god sees us as his children and you mentioned something elder in um isaiah 43 1 malachi 3 17 all the scriptures that are there john 1 12 john 15 15 romans 8 14 first john three one two two um one and two all talk about how god sees us you said he sees us as children you're right we belong to him we are precious and honored to him we are his treasures we are his children we are his friends so he calls us all these things i listen to joel osteen this is a um a tv preacher he says when he starts every sermon the people repeat the mantra i am this is my bible i am what what it says i am i have what it says i have i can do what it says i can do we must remember that the bible is what tells us who we are and how we should behave joseph behaved the way the bible said he should behave he obeyed the word of god and so god was with him god pitched his tent in the midst of joseph and if we want that if we want that relationship with god we have to to to be obedient it does not mean that we won't have trouble he did say you will have trouble but don't worry because i have overcome right but we have to be connected to him to enjoy that that overcoming power um so i want to close my section with um how we see ourselves when we begin to see ourselves as god's children we will develop relationships god's way so on wednesday it says that initially joseph's story in egypt takes a positive turn right joseph has entrusted himself to god and god blessed joseph who rises to heights he would not have imagined in potiphar's household you can be in the devil's camp and still enjoy blessings so i just want to live with us that we must remember to obey god obey his word be obedient to him listen to him do what he says and and keep in line with what he wants for us and we will have good relationships with the people around us oh my goodness uh thank you for that um elder combs that is joseph's journey to the top took much sufferings 13 years in egyptian prison and uh one of the most terrible thing is when those boys are going to leave one two back to his job at the king's palace he says remember me and although they promised to remember him it took him three more years in prison before that happened that's a lot have you ever i've watched the television sometimes and i see some people released from prison after 30 40 years of imprisonment innocently uh how that must be rough huh you know that you did not commit that crime and you're locked away 30 40 years and they're out free but our lesson tells us that joseph lived in the presence of god although he was in jail he was a model prisoner when he came out he ended up in the king's palace and something that um struck me with with him being in prison is that sometimes god wants us to be away from the distractions if we even look back at john when was a lot of so many things revealed to him where in prison so sometimes god need to have us away from the destruction because at times when god is speaking we can't hear because we are so in tune to so many different things and then when you look he goes to prison and he was a beam right in the person also sometimes it's not for us you're you're not being punished you're being blessed we have to know the difference between the punishment and the blessing you are going to jail and you think oh this is such a bad thing but prison ministry is going to start with you joseph was a prison minister he went to prison but he was there because there were people there who needed saving if you don't get in there how are they going to hear the word of god so sometimes we find ourselves in hot water because in that pot is something that needs to be taken care of beautifully all right saber school this young man joseph finds himself in so many hot water we talk about rise and fall i have not seen i think i haven't seen any other examples in the bible where we have some someone gone through so many horrors and fall i was looking at his life and then it took me back it took me back to um when you look at um electricity it's like a wave you ever been to to at the seaside and you just see the wave up down up down that was exactly what joseph life was like and the fact of the matter is that he went through all of that through no fault of his when i said no fault of his but he was being prepared for something greater in the beginning it was all that happened was his father showed him some i wouldn't say some yeah he showed him favoritism there was in this church i know you have a lot of brothers and no sometimes probably the father showed a little favoritism to to someone but what happened the danger of it is if the rest of the brothers actually took it to heart and that's what joseph brother did they took all of this to heart and joseph suffered and the topic that we are going through is the great controversy up close and personal so the great country first year was supplemented surrounded i'm joseph but as i mentioned in the discussion earlier in genesis 39 it tells us twice twice it said that the lord was with joseph in genesis 39 and verse 2. in genesis 39 and verse 21 again when he was going through all of these things the scripture mentioned again the lord was with joseph what does that tell you when we are going through stuff what are we to do should we give up uh this is the time when we actually hold firm establish that connection this is a time when we should actually hold firm in prison joseph could actually give up you know how many people give up in prison a lot and then you have some false religion going in prison in these times and converting a lot of people but thank god and what caused joseph not to give up where did you think he get those training from the very father that established that that favoritism connection so-called favorite in connection with him is is the father who taught him he sat so many so many hours at the feet of his father and what did he do he learned all of what his father told him in prison he said he could have given up he could have meditated on his unfair situation because guess what fellow moderator his situation was on fear he could have given up but he never gave up the scripture tells us that evil is not always punished and good is not always rewarded in fact the reverse sometimes is true evil sometimes is rewarded and that is why in psalms 73 and verse 3 we take you right back there when david said when he looked at how the wicked was prospering what he was envious he was very envious but what god was with him and he showed him in his mind that this thing will exist for a time the wicked will prosper but for a time so that was the main reason yes yes elder um and that is where we often fall short we cannot wait we are too impatient we belong to the microwave generation and they say that jesus you know god is a crockpot it takes a while not even a conventional oven a crock pot you have to wait for a long time for that piece to get soft but if you put it in the microwave split seconds it is done we have to learn to wait for a change to come and we have to know the bible too it says the wicked will prosper for a time the time is coming right when they their prosperity will end but you will come into your prosperity and it will last because it's not the kind of prosperity that you envy when you you know what the wicked has it's something more tangible so we have to wait right and and here we see now joseph as you mentioned his time was coming and where did it come in prison same place in prison there because he met two guys he told us and these days we network on on computers and and phones and all that but um joseph was networking in prison at that time that was the first time you have like a computer he was networking was with those two guys and what caused his release it was a dream that those two guys had and we all know the story how one dreamt about well if the dream was was interpreted by by by joseph and one was released um um pharaoh called back for the bottler but the baker was killed but remember he told one that was was called back by pharaoh which was the butler remember when you go back there please remember me and god this is this is how god works god works in a mysterious way in a very serious way and that is what happened to joseph life he was um the butter was restored and if you can remember dream plays of a great part in the interpret and when people you remember in daniel 2 daniel interpreted the dream of nebuchadnezzar and see what happened he was rewarded but he became a governor in the land of in in in in that land there and see here with joseph being rewarded of being taken out of prison he became the number two guy the number two guy in egypt so god has a way of working for his people isn't it interesting elder or sometimes the very ones who hate you and do everything to put you down at the very ones who fall right into your hand right into your hand joseph became prime minister of egypt his brothers came to him same brothers who hated him and saw him and did everything to him they had to come and bow before him right so here we have in closing in my section here let me tell you this is this is how joseph from main two philippians 2 5 said let this mind be in you which is in christ jesus and back to isaiah isaiah 26 3 tells us though will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is saved and thee because he trusted in thee joseph trusted god and that's why he said that the lord was with joseph all the time amen amen he could have been murmuring but he did not philippians 2 14 15 tells us do all things without murmuring and disputing that he may be blameless and harmless the sons of god without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation he was in a perverse nation but god kept joseph god kept him because he realized that with god he could do all things through christ who strengthened him he kept him because unexpected tragedy can preva can derail our lives as christians but this is why we must hold firm and trust god in all things oh yes amen amen thank you for that elder as i study the prophecies of the bible the day is coming when this church is going to be persecuted many of us if we are alive will be thrown in prison they throw away the key and forget you are you ready are you ready for prison life great persecution is coming but what kept joseph in prison his faith and his trust and his confidence in god and it landed him in pharaoh's palace to the place where he brought his brothers and his father gave them a nice place to live in egypt and when he was about to die he says when israel comes take my bones back with you to eat to israel what men men of god they have set some tremendous example let's be faithful to the lord god is in it with us yes and there can be no failure with god amen our precious lord thank you so much for entrusting us with your words thank you lord for the example we've seen in your servant you stood with joseph yourself and you stood with him and so you will stand with us if we are faithful until the day when we see you again bless us to descend we pray in jesus name amen amen amen lord bless you see you on next sabbath same time same [Music] place when usain bolt is running on the tracks one of the strongest support that he gets is from the crowd of people cheering him on he will tell you that when he looks in the crowd and see people calling his name cheering him on it gives him strength to run the race all of us are in a race called life and the good thing is that we don't have to be as fast as usain bolt to win this race all we have to do is to keep running while we're running this race we have to ensure that we don't have anything that will endanger or derail us from the path that we're on hebrews 12 tells us that before we start the race we need to lay aside everything that will hold us back from running effectively the race has already started and god is waiting at the finish line all we need to do is to detach the weights and to keep running [Music] is [Music] [Music] i will be with you will be with you i will be [Music] trust me won't you trust me you i'll never leave you i [Music] if you will trust [Music] trust me i'll [Music] oh [Music] if you will only trust me [Music] trust me won't you trust me i will be with you i will be i will be trust me [Music] i [Music] will [Music] trust me trust me jesus jesus how do i trust jesus jesus trust him trust him [Music] i am [Music] i [Music] trust [Music] trust me [Music] trust me [Music] the sky shall unfold prepare his entrance the stars [Music] a praise and we shall behold him that face to face we shall we [Music] face to face we shall [Music] we be be our savior is [Music] shall rise from and those who remain shall be changed and we shall be we shall be [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is welcome to cwc my name is lavona and we are so glad that you've decided to join us for worship this morning before we join the service i would like us to reflect on revelation 3 verse 20. behold i stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come in and will sup with him and he with me it is my prayer that you will answer that knock and allow jesus to enter into your heart we pray that you are blessed by the servant this morning and that god impresses something special on your heart now let's join the service already in progress [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Applause] [Music] oh come let us worship the lord o give thanks unto the lord call upon his name make known his deeds among the people sing unto him sing psalms unto him talky of all is wondrous works glory he in his holy name let the art of us all rejoice because we seek the lord [Music] oh [Music] [Music] and [Music] [Music] almighty god as we stand here in awe of your goodness and mercy today your magnificent power is displayed throughout the entire universe we come before you humbly to invite your presence here with us by the power of the holy spirit we seek audience with the king of heaven to declare in unity that we love you thank you that you have revealed your love for us through jesus christ we pray that you would accept our worship as we elevate our praise to you please lead in spirit and truth so that our hearts may overflow with thanksgiving and our mouths may proclaim your everlasting greatness in your wonderful matches name dear jesus we pray [Music] amen [Music] i [Music] is i am happy sabbath church oh i didn't hear that happy sabbath church happy sabbath it is indeed the day that the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it on behalf of our pastor dr abraham j jules and this extended family church family i want to extend a warm welcome to our visitors and friends that are here today as well as by social media you could have been anywhere but you have chosen to be here and that is a promise to you a promise that when you join us that you will sing praises your prayers will be heard because you are in the house of the lord and i tell you you will be filled you will be blessed to our regular visitors you're no longer visitors you are a member of this church so as you join us again with the rest of our new friends i want you just to be watch closely speak intently to each other in love and care as he watches over us and have a blessed sabbath day it's time for children's story children please come come come sit with us and let's listen to our story about jesus come children come have a seat just like jesus did i'm gonna tell you a story jesus loved telling stories have a seat come sit down wonderful our bible tells us about the cross the crucifixion oh do you know why jesus died for us do you know why jesus died for us because he loves us jesus died for our sins you you you you you you and i are sinners and i want you to do something for me put your hands out like this so we have this part of our body and our hands out say jesus lives in me all right we're going to learn about that now about the cross the cross is important and another thing that's important look at this look at the sun the sun gives us vitamin d the sun gives us daylight the sun grows all the plants the sun is important come little ones come over here come on come sit over here good job the sun is important and ellen g white says if you remove the cross from you and i as christians that's like taking the sun away and there would be darkness without the cross you and i have nothing so watch this what is this a piece of paper and if each of you had a paper you could write a story or draw a picture and it would be different but we would all have the same paper that's like jesus he lives in you sit down it lives in you yet we're all different in your heart is the of love the lord of love is in your heart so that you obey god from your heart and guess what three things if you accept jesus as your savior you receive forgiveness and the assurance of salvation but you have to do something you have to study the word of god and the more you study the more god puts you in the direction to have a character like jesus but watch this i'm gonna do something very hard just like life you have a lot of problems you got things just like it's hard for me to oh my goodness life is hard and jesus is always with you no matter how hard life gets where is jesus look jesus lives in you the cross is in you and the l is for what everyone say love the l is for the love in you and the i everyone say i love jesus [Music] jesus lives in me yes you have to accept jesus as your savior i need jesus as my savior let me hear you excellent that's the letter i and the f is for forgiveness of sins that's the letter f and then i have to fix my letter f watch that there you go and then the e is for what everyone say eternal life when you accept jesus as your savior you have the assurance of salvation and eternal life and guess what that's the whole paper there's no more so what did we learn put your arms out we look like a cross where does jesus live everyone say jesus lives in me let me hear you oh i didn't hear that yes that's the cross the crucifixion jesus died for us jesus loves us we find joy in the cross and we have peace through the blood of jesus so now it's time to pray everyone your eyes and bow your heads dear heavenly father we pray to you at this time that every child listening to this story accepts jesus as their savior receives the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of eternal life because of the cross we know jesus lives in each child in the name of jesus we pray amen thank you boys and girls is that yes now it's time back to our seats okay it's now time for announcements we'll be doing two things we'll be doing the celebration of um the the anniversary and birthdays but we're going to do some announcements first so please make note of these singles ministry book club meets tomorrow that's sunday august 8th to um 2021 at 7 00 pm via zoom they're not back in person as yet the information is on our website cwcsda.org and all are invited you don't have to be single to be invited to to attend they are currently reading adventist home by ellen g white and they're focusing on chapters 64 through 66. so they want you to do your homework please read the chapters and going prepared to share couples ministries sugar buns start again we know all about sugar buns right so if you you are a married couple you have a lot of sugar in your bun already or you need a little more sugar in your bun make sure you come we're resuming or meeting sabbath august 14th which is next sabbath at 2 30 and we'll be in person because of covid we are asking you to bring your own food so that we can sit together eat together and um share our experiences to strengthen one another please don't forget sugar buns the next thing is um nec women's ministry will be presenting this afternoon during the ay slot so there'll be no ay today but you shouldn't be disappointed because it's there's a filler um so the women's ministries nec women's ministries department will present the shades of love based on matthew 22 um 37-40 you could read that also in preparation to listen it starts at 4 30 and it goes through to 6 15 but you you need to download the ring central app so that you can um log in the username uh id sorry is 693. if you want to write it down two 693.314.8326 and the passcode is two five two five seven three that's easy to remember 25 25 73 and if you want to call in it's 646 if you need more information or clarification i think it's posted on our website at cwcsda.org now on to celebration yes somebody has a birthday somewhere in fact we this this is a special birthday month because we have two beautiful celebrants for july and we have natalie young on the 14th and sarita brown on the 30th of july so happy birthday to you both and god bless we need to sing for those happy birthday to happy birthday to you [Music] and we have one anniversary to celebrate um there may have been others but please remember to turn in the information to us and we'll celebrate with you we're celebrating with mr and mrs calvin and annette hans hand field happy anniversary to both of you amen amen amen amen lord bless you or hymn of worship is 337 redeemed [Music] how [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] we [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] me [Music] i know [Music] is [Music] is [Music] it is the moment of prayer in the hand of faith it unlocks heaven's storehouse god waits to hear from us he wants to bless us all we have to do is to go to him and he promised that he will answer if we come to him in faith there may be something special you want god to do for you today he reads your heart read your mind he knows everything about you but if you want god to do something special for you today leave your seats take that walk of faith join us down front angels will record that you are asking god to do something special for you come then as we pray [Music] my you are my [Music] fortress [Music] [Applause] [Music] four angels [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i is you [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] four angels [Music] me yes everything to god in prayer father in heaven we approach the mercy seat at this time not in our righteousness but clothed in the righteousness of jesus we thank you for the opportunity we thank you for the privilege to take everything to you in prayer and so we are grateful with thanksgiving this hour oh god oh you have kept us three weeks and we're traveling to and from you are there with us we thank you thank you you provided for us the necessities of life we thank you we thank you that you promise us in your words that you will never leave us now forsake us we thank you this morning we thank your god for the blessed sabbath we thank you we thank you for forgiveness of sins we thank you god we thank you for angels that minister to us we thank you though we are not able to see them with our naked eyes but we see them through the spiritual eyes we thank your god we thank you for your word that constantly reminding us that we have a friend in jesus that sticks closer than a brother we thank you because when you thank your words your promises that are in them you give us courage the voices help constantly remind us that we need to run this race with patience we thank you for your word we thank you that you are coming back soon to take your children from this sinker's earth to a better place we thank you we thank your god the way you deliver us in so many different ways we thank you we thank you we're grateful lord that we have the sabbath that remind us that we have a creator who created us and we owe it all to you we thank you we thank you because the sabbath reminded us that you redeem us through the blood of christ we thank you and so god we confess now that we are not what we are supposed to be but we are glad that you are still working with us and on us to make us what we ought to be there's another songwriter let us know that it took six days to make heaven and earth but you're still working on us what almighty god you are what a loving compassionate god you are you are still working with us and us through us to make us what we are to be we are not what we are supposed to be your god but we are glad to know that you have brought us thus far when we look back we can say thank you jesus what we used to be we are not anymore because of you we thank you and so god we confess to you that we have failed in so many different ways but we are glad to know that the redeeming blood of jesus makes difference so god we ask now that you will forgive us where we have failed you let your spirit come close and near towards us and we give way to him take up full residence in our lives so god you can work to us to do your perfect will and lord we pray now for your people who gather here in this place to worship we're hero god because we want to let you know we love you but oh god just like our faces are differ they are different needs and so we lift them up before the throne of grace those who make their way to the altar you know why they are hero god we pray that your spirit of grace will meet them where they are with your illness we know that you're the great physician bring healing to your children in whatever form or fashion bring healing to them put the devil to an open shame and rebuke him that we are your people we're your children you're called by your name and when we come to your believing by faith you will hear and answer our prayer so we come to you lord and we lift up our problems we lift up our sickness we lift up everything that stands in our way of god preventing us from giving you full worship we lift it up to you will you have your way today have your will god please have your way and we pray for even those who are on the internet viewing us we pray for them also lord we pray now that you will be with the one who may have chosen to break the bread of life will your god hide him behind the cross of calvary deliver your word through him [Music] so we'll cause us lord to be better christian as we walk through this life for service here on earth and dance for service above lord we pray now that he will come down in a very special way take full control have your own way that what we do here today it will be acceptable in your sight thank you for hearing our humble prayer thank you for answering because we seek it through the powerful priceless name of jesus our lord and savior and soon coming king [Music] amen when i call you [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] more [Music] [Music] joshua [Music] oh [Music] four angels [Music] [Laughter] [Music] my so [Music] so [Music] some times you have to speak victory during the days and no matter how you feel [Music] encourage yourself [Music] sometimes you have to [Music] you have to speak victory [Music] you [Applause] [Music] yourself over yourself depression is all around god is [Music] but remember [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] myself [Music] as [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] to myself [Music] [Applause] [Music] so speak over yourselves [Music] [Music] yourself [Music] good morning church our old testament scripture reading comes to us from the book of proverbs chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. proverbs chapter 3 verses 1 to 7 and i'll read in your hearing my son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about by by then write them upon the tables of thine heart so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of god and man trust in the lord with all thine heart and lead not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths be not wise in thine own eyes fear the lord and depart from evil amen he knew the new testament reading of scripture comes from john 17. it's found in john 17. now we'll read verses 1 to 5. john 17 verse 1-5 these words spake jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said father the hour has come glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent i have glorified thee on the earth i have finished the work which thy house gave us me to do oh and now oh father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee before the world was may the lord bless the world amen amen it is now time to honor the lord with our tithes and offerings with our deacons please come forward giving freely and generously is absolutely a matter of faith it's not about giving that dollar but still holding on to the edge of it afraid to let it go because you simply are not sure where the rest is coming from it's stepping out into the void it's knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that god has never failed you in the past and he will not fail you now it's about looking in that rare view and remembering when you couldn't pay the rent you couldn't pay the mortgage you couldn't pay the bills and yet somehow it was paid you just don't know that same rare view mirror god he's still here today watching over you providing for every single need so let's remember we are reminded that god loves a cheerful giver we have provided several means by which you can give and it's on the screen so please take a screenshot or write it down or take a picture of it whatever works best for you so that you might have access to that information to be able to use it you can use our online forum at cwcsda.com or cwcsda go to the online giving tab and then click here for tithes and offerings and it will bring you to that page you need to have your username and password i guess those of us who can store it store it so you don't have to constantly put it into uh the the system but there you direct it to what looks like the tithe envelope so that you can do your giving there we also have set up zell access to accommodate your contributions using the email address cwc sda treasurer gmail.com and let me just remind you please make sure if you use zell to put a memo so that we'll know how to apply your giving we also have set up a post office box and that is po box three four zero eight seven zero jamaica new york one one four three four you make your checks payable to community warship center sda and if all that fails call us call one of our deacons call one of the elders call one of the treasurers someone will be sure to pick it up for you but just don't do nothing bring you all the tides into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith said the lord of hosts if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it and i will rebuke the devourer for your sake and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field say at the lord of hosts and all nations shall call you blessed for you shall be a delightsome land saith the lord of hosts let us pray oh loving father we give you thanks for being a loving god a god who sustains us a god who supplies our needs a god who continuously remembers us even in spite of ourselves their lord speak to our hearts so that we might understand that we are simply stewards of those gifts that you have provided us and your one ask of us is that we return that portion that belongs to you and be generous with what we have left father guide us in all that we do may the beauty of jesus be seen in us in everything that we do in our speech our walk our language dear lord let your name always be glorified father take these offerings these tithes that have been given even now and bless them their lord so that they will go to the furtherance of your work so that your return might be hastened so that we will reunite with you in your mighty name we pray with thanksgiving [Music] amen [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] man [Music] there is a word from the lord [Music] comes to us through his servant dr ainsworth keith morris dr morris is the dean of preachers born in that lovely parish of saint andrew jamaica the product of seventh-day adventist education minister of the gospel preaching for the past 27 years lifting his voice crying aloud sparing not calling men and women from sin to righteousness he's currently the senior pastor of the cancer adventist sm they admire his church out there in riverside california all the way out west he has come east to share god's word with us today as the mars travel extensively to preach the gospel every continent on planet earth he has been out there to lift the word for jesus but samara's greatest desire is to see men and women especially to whom he has preached come to know jesus as lord i see that out here this morning that came in and i heard that strong amen in the congregation i said well dad is home was not too well not too long spent some time in the hospital but keith is preaching this morning so dad's got to be in the congregation there he is and i know that mother is listening over the airwaves god has given dr morris a message for our heart she's here oh yeah bless the lord i thought she i didn't see her up front here mother is here praise the lord glad to have you in the congregation your son is preaching we know that the lord has given him a message for our hearts oh that the lord will grant us receptive hearts and retentive memories as we listen to the dropping of god's word from his servant dr hensworth keith morris after our hymn of meditations the brown is going to come to sing for us and then our prayer esteem then the man of god [Music] like oh i was seeking for things [Music] draw me near a well that shall not run dry fill my cup lord i lift [Music] my soul [Music] fill it up and make me come and quench this thirsting of my soul [Applause] [Music] fill it up [Music] hear my [Music] foreign [Music] me save [Music] me [Music] my [Music] what a friend [Music] our sins and [Music] to care [Music] everything to god in prayer [Music] say [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] praise the lord [Music] i will be with you i will be with you i will be trust me [Music] i'll fight [Music] oh [Music] trust me [Music] me [Music] oh if you will try me [Music] trust me [Music] if you will [Applause] trust me [Music] [Music] trust me trust me [Music] trust me trust me [Music] so [Music] i will lift [Music] the lord made heaven [Music] me [Music] my [Music] even forevermore [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] thy foot thy foot to be moved [Music] the lord is [Music] oh [Music] even forever [Music] bye [Music] oh [Music] [Music] uh [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] if you really believe that all of your help come from the lord let me hear you say amen what a tremendous privilege and blessing it is for us to be in worship today for those of you who are in the house it is an honor and certainly a privilege as i sat there and i thought that we cannot take for granted the opportunity for worship especially gathering if this pandemic has taught us anything it ought to be that we must appreciate every moment that we have for gathering for worshiping for praising god and so on a sabbath like this as we come together it ought to be within the death for spirit a drive that says god ought to be praised with every fiber every muscle every blood within my body for the lord is good i said the lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations so if you're really happy that you're in the house of the lord like like we used to sing in primary sabbath school if you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're happy and you know it come on say amen well since that didn't work come on if you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're happy and you know it put your i praise god for the privilege of being here today now to be to be very clear i am on vacation and uh those on the west coast i hope they're not up just yet because they're expecting me to be resting come on somebody say amen i told your pastor that i would be coming to hang for a few days so i could see my parents and siblings who are here in town and he said you cannot come and not preach i said i'm not taking any church clothes and by some arrangements my clothes got to new york come on somebody say bad and here i am on this day and i'm delighted to be with you your pastor is more than a friend he's a brother to me and of course you know over these many years that he has served here and i have been here i have always expressed how appreciative and thankful i am that you have engrafted me into the fellowship of this body and i am always delighted to be here it feels like home when i come to cwc and so i'm grateful and thankful i'm also thankful to all of you for the way that you have cared for my parents and i am i am so thankful they speak of you with great delight and appreciation and even most recently as my father was not feeling well your prayers your encouragements and everything that you have done have all served to revive him i told him this week that he needs to calm down in church come on somebody well of course you know that's what i say but then there's what others say and that the spirit will say so i just leave that up to god but i'm so thankful to you and uh really appreciate what you continue to do for both my dad and mom even as they are here with you thank you pastor goff i told your pastor this week every time i'm around pastor goff i feel like i'm around a prophet of old and and i'm so grateful for what he means to us and uh to the wider body of believers my first elder out there in california says if there's one person i want to be like and that is pastor goff i want to be like pastor gotham so we're thankful for him the music has been rich the worship has been strong thank you praise and worship ministers beautiful and i always like to come here if i just come here to hear russell play that's that that's just good for me that's just good for me the text of scripture that solicits our attention today is revelation chapter five and i will read in your hearing verses one through to five revelation chapter five one through to five if you have your bibles with you i invite you to turn with me there hear the word of god revelation the fifth chapter verses 1 through to 5. john writes to us and this is what he says and i saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals and i saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof and no man in heaven nor in earth neither under the earth was able to open the book neither to look thereon and i wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book neither to look thereon and one of the elders saith unto me weep not behold the lion of the tribe of judah the root of david have prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof i want to give a title to this message today it's very simple four words it's four words god is in control as some of you can get up and go home right now because that's the word god is in control god is in control your heads are bowed your eyes are closed father once again we come to that time when we desire to hear from you oh god even now having worshiped in music prayer welcome various aspects of giving and testifying of your love your mercy or grace now we open the book to take a look we open your word it is your voice we desire to be heard now i pray this prayer as i've prayed several times before please do not allow the sermon to get in the way of the message nor the preacher in the way of the cross but i pray that jesus will be lifted jesus will be seen jesus will be heard when all is said and done may only his name be glorified and i pray with thanksgiving in his matchless name let everybody who love the lord say amen god is in control keith krell entitled his beautifully written exposition describing the antiphonal activities of revelation 4 and revelation 5. he entitles his exposition when all heaven breaks loose he talks about the praise the worship the adoration in heaven as magnificent and glorious and as i read his exposition i was immediately drawn into inspiration and interrogation to ask why does heaven break loose the book of revelation gives us insights on how god operates in the salvation of humanity and how heaven is a contrast to the plight of the earth if you would permit me i will give a little background by way of information for some and by way of reminder for others in chapter one of the book john is on patmos he is there not because he desired to be on patmos but he is there because he was banished for holding forth the testimony of jesus christ in revelation chapters two and three john received the messages to the seven churches in these messages jesus unfolded the sacred history of the christian era this history that jesus reveals to john was depicted in seven phases of expansion and contraction or in the words of scholar r rh charles the church he said would go through periods of restlessness imperfectness anxieties and apprehensions and it must be immediately observed my brothers and sisters that in the messages to the seven churches jesus pointed out his people's faults and he rebuked them but elder combs he made it inarguably clear that the church was very precious to him and that in spite of its ups and downs the church would come through triumphantly and this must remind us today that the church of god generally regionally or locally will go through periods of growth and decline but god is in control it is after the unfolding of these messages the seven messages the messages to the seven churches that the scene shifts to our text for today the scene actually starts off with the words of god to john in chapter four where god says to john stay with me brothers and sisters stay with me god says to john come up here and i will show you what must take place after this after the spiritual and emotional rollercoaster of the seven churches god is getting ready to transition john to witness the events of the seven seals these happenings the seven seals eventually would be recorded in chapters six and seven of the book of revelation and they describe not just the history of the church but also included specific signs between the ascension and the second coming of jesus christ now how much more can john take he is still reeling from the ups and downs of the church and now god is getting ready to pour some more upon him but before god pours more upon john god says i'm gonna give you a little break i'm gonna break the scene up so that you can understand john what is taking place in heaven while you are witnessing chaos on the earth god says john i'm going to give you a keyhole glimpse of what is going on in heaven before i reveal to you the content of the seven seals because john you can't handle that unless i give you this here it is john god says to john john come up here and see and so the portals of celestial magnificence is open for john to see the temple and the throne of god he sees the gleaming rainbow shining like an emerald encircling the throne he he describes john describes someone sitting on the throne with the appearance of jasper and ruby surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones and seated on them were 24 elders now who are these 24 elders their identities have been the subject of much discussion some people believe that they are angels but but as my uh seminary professor ranco stefanovic uh points out in his commentary he suggests uh that these are not angels and he gives three reasons why the 24 elders are not angels first angels are never called elders in the bible or in jewish literature they are described these these these these elders are described as wearing robes and although angels and scriptures are are depicted as wearing white robes in the book of revelation white robes are symbolic of human faithfulness hence he suggests reason number two they're not angels number three he says the elders are wearing golden crowns of victory indicating that they are not rulers but they are redeemed and angels are never redeemed from the earth come on somebody say amen not not now now some other individuals have interpreted these 24 elders to be the saints who were raised when jesus rose from the dead in matthew 27 52-53 others interpreted to be the 24 courses of the levitical priesthood and they suggest that as the priests ministered before god in the earthly sanctuary so john sees 24 elders ministering in the heavenly sanctuary now my brothers and my sisters i must be honest with you that's not the reason i came here today i didn't come to talk about the 24 elders or who they are i i cannot i cannot be sure exactly who they are but one thing i can be sure about i can be sure that if there are 24 elders redeemed from the earth i can be sure that up in glory i have human representatives and if human representatives are there it means that i can make it in come on somebody i can make it in and that's good news is there's somebody here who ought to say man now having seen the 24 elders seated around the throne john's eyes go into the center of the throne there he sees four living creatures they are covered with eyes in front and in the back of them he says the first living creature was like a lion the second was like an ox the third had a face like a man the fourth was like a flying eagle each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around even under its wings no doubt this imagery that john uses to describe what he's seeing here is drawn from the old testament prophets of ezekiel and isaiah if you recall ezekiel when he saw the the living creatures he called them in ezekiel chapter 10 and verse 4 he calls them cherubims isaiah however in isaiah 6 and verse 2 seeing the same thing over there in the old testament he calls them seraphims whatever you wish to call them cherubims or seraphims john sees these uh living creatures and john is careful to point something special he observed in his vision he sees them these cherubs or seraphs he sees them hear the saints of god he sees them in continuous reprise he sees them in continuous praise he sees them in continuous worship the text says day and night they cease not to say holy oh oh come on somebody day and night they never stop saying holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is and is to come john sees them worshiping but then john says whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever they they lay their crowns before the throne and they say you are worthy our lord and god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being notice if you will notice if you will when the angels when the seraphs when the cherubs worship the elders also worship i i'm going to take my time when the saras worship the elders also worship and what this tells me brothers and sisters is that both humans and angels worship in unity okay okay okay hear me sins of god if your worship does not synchronize seamlessly with the worship that angels give then you're not truly worshiping are you listening to me if angels give 100 reverential or while i'm stealing god's glory because i have careless disregard that i'm not synchronizing in worship with angels see see true worship involves reverential human acts of submission and homage before the divine sovereign in response to his gracious revelation of himself and in accordance with his will so we see angels and humans worshiping together come on somebody they they are not distracted by their cell phones talk to yourself morris come on somebody see some of us when we're in worship we can't even give god one hour we can't even give god an hour and a half we can't even give him 15 minutes [Applause] we act as if god is begging us to do so god does not need us we need god [Applause] uh so so humans and angels synchronize in worship but observe also observe also that the living creatures and the 24 elders they never cease their worship pastor god this does not mean that worship is the only thing they do what it means is that they are in a constant disposition are you listening to me of worship it means that their minds we're always in worship mode are you with me somebody you see some of us we got to wait till we come to church to worship but i want to declare unto you that i can worship wherever i am from driving on the road i can still worship if i'm on the subway i can still worship are you listening to me somebody i don't have to be up in church to worship and that's why for many of us it took us a long time in the pandemic to transition because we felt that we only could worship in church but for the person who knows that it doesn't take a whole lot for them to worship even turning on your computer and looking on the screen you can still get in the spirit because you know [Applause] the bible says that they ceased not worship they kept worshiping they kept worshiping they they did not they did not have a sabbath performance they did not take it off at sunset sabbath and put it back on sunset friday no no no every day are you listening to me they did not rest from worship not now catch this catch this catch this what was the content of their worship what what was the content notice they never ceased from worship but the bible tells us that all they were saying was holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is every day holy holy holy every day holy holy i said every night holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is twofold rebuke twofold rebuke number one it reproves the idea that if we repeat phrases in worship that shows a lack of creativity and a programmed limitation in our worship let me put it where you can catch it see some of us we get upset when we hear the praise and worship team singing the same line over and over again why can't they sing something else well the angels were saying holy holy holy is the lord god almighty day and night 24 7 365 plus one three six six are you listening to me it's not a program limitation god was not tired of hearing it and god is never tired of hearing you saying that god is holy that god is good that god deserves our praise god is never tired of hearing it john says that they kept saying they focused on just a few simple words they had no worship smoke screens to hide behind there was no change why because they knew that god was consistent that the same god yesterday is the same god he was holy yesterday but but but here is the second rebuke here's the second rebuke their worship reprimands the lack of intentional theological focus in our praise they kept saying holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is and is to come yes they repeated it but notice that they focus their praise on three attributes of god his holiness his omnipotence and his eternality they didn't just get up and say what they want to say they observed the attributes of god they said that god is holy indicating that true worship delves deeper than superficial sentimentality it acknowledges emphatically that god is indefinite god is infinitely different from all creative things and god deserves they say that god is omnipotent it emphasizes the fact that it doesn't matter who comes up against you that your god is more powerful can somebody celebrate the power of god because satan is already a defeated foe too many times we behave as if there's a rivalry between god and satan well there's a rivalry when you have two equal opponents but satan is not an equal for my god my god is omnipotent and what that simply means is that my god is all powerful [Applause] but but they also focused on the fact that god is eternal and it reinforces the belief that god's rule is not up for challenge god's incumbency is forever are you listening to me last time i preached here trump was president come on i'm trying to make a political statement i'm simply trying to say trump is no longer the president biden is the president it means that their incumbency lasts for a while uh are you listening to me but god's incumbency is forever that's why we cannot put our trust in man we've got to put it in god because kingdoms will rise and kingdoms will fall but the god of heaven reigns forever so the angel said holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is and is to come are you with me somebody but but watch this when they said that the elders rose up and they got up from off their seats you see i'm not going to trouble you today and try to tell you because some of you like to sit down i'm not going to trouble you the elders the bible says they got up from their seats i'm going to mess with you i'm just going to read what the bible said the elders got up from their seats and and they laid their crowns come on somebody before the throne and they said you are worthy our lord and god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being so so when the angels said holy holy holy the 24 elders on the other side said you are worthy now i want for you to catch that it's very important for you to get it but then as john is experiencing the worship taking place john observes something else huh he sees the throne and he sees god the father sitting there in his right hand he he sees a scroll with with with seven seals affixed to it john john is careful to write john says and i saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll john says but no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside of it i wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside notice the angel asks the question who is worthy that's what the angel asks now brothers and sisters this is where the crooks of the message comes watch this john says no one is worthy the strong angel asks the question but the question is really not directed to john remember john is simply up there in vision because god invited him to watch revelation chapter 4. read it god says come up here and see john watch what's going on john tells us what he's seeing he sees the seraphs and the cherubs worshipping he hears them saying holy holy holy and then when they do that the 24 elders they rise up and they say the text tells us they say thou art worthy thou now say it with me because some of you still haven't gotten it what do they say thou art worthy that's what they said that's how revelation chapter 4 ends but then john is in this what is known as antiphonal worship what that simply means is that there are two sides of praise one is asking questions and the other is responding or one is saying something and the other is responding john is witnessing that and so the question is asked who is worthy the obvious response is thou art worthy to receive glory and honor and power but john who is there to witness decides i'm gonna give an answer to a question that i was not asked john from a place of human frailty john from a place of human doubt is up there in worship and john says no one is worthy no one in heaven what about god no one what about the holy ghost no one what about jesus john john says no one the 24 elders just gave him the answer that god is worthy to receive glory and honor and john says no one now this is what i'll tell john sit down watch what's going on because you don't have the answer that's what i'll say to some people who are right now in worship god is doing something mighty god is showing you that god is all-powerful but you are still doubting the power of god notice john did not leave worship he was still in worship and still saying no one is worthy like many of us in church we got our problems to go back to and we are saying oh i'm in worship but my goodness i don't know how i'm let me tell you something why are you worshiping if you really don't believe that god can handle your problems i believe that god can take care of whatever it is and therefore i will freely worship him in the place of worship i'll honor his name i'll thank him for what he has done and what he will do john sit down remember the reason god brought john up there is for john to recognize that while there is trouble on the earth things are calm in heaven and the reason why god brings you to church those of you are online those of you who are in the house is for you to recognize that it doesn't matter what's going on god is in control i don't care what may come my way i just know that god is in control so so john don't be afraid don't worry god is in control john the reason that god brought you up there is so that when you get to the seven seals you would have had that experience to know that you can rest in the confidence of a god who sits on the throne so when seal one is opened you can declare god is in control when seal two is opened you can declare god is in control when seal three opens up you can declare god is in control when seal four opens up you can declare god is in control when seal five opens up you can declare god is in control when seal six opens up you can declare that god is in control and when seven gets around to be opened you can declare god is in control that's why you're here in church today so that you can know that whatever comes your way you can look at it and you can say god is in control god is in control that is why when john steps out of place to answer a question that he was not asked oh an elder said john calm yourself down you don't know what's going on here somebody is worthy the lion of the tribe of judah jesus christ the son of god came down to this earth walked the streets he ministered to people went up calvary's hell stretched himself out died where you should have died went into the grave early sunday morning got up he is worthy that's why today you and i can declare that whatever it is whatever situation will come my way god is in control sickness god is in control death god is in control covered god is in control be not dismayed whatever tied god will take care of you beneath his wings of love abide god will take care of is there anybody in this place who can help me close this sermon stand to your feet celebrate the fact that god is in control he was yesterday he is today and he will be tomorrow my god [Applause] my god is in control do you believe it do you believe it say god is in control he sits on the throne he reigns forever there is no situation you face that is too hard for my god god is in control i just came here to tell you that that whatever you're going through whatever you're facing right now just know that god that god that god is in control do you believe it now i don't know who is here today but somebody's here i don't know what you are faced with but god sent you to church today something is going on in your life and god wanted you to hear those simple words god is in control right now wherever you are you want to step forward and as we close this worship experience you want to come to the altar i don't know who you are wherever you are whatever is going on in your life come on come on come on just come on down god god is in control come come on [Music] come on [Music] god is in control praise team come help me sing the song i surrender all i surrender all all to jesus oh we got oh come on come on go right ahead and sing for me [Music] somebody come on come on god is in control [Music] jesus [Music] i will ever [Music] in [Music] i surrender all i surrender all to be my blessings [Music] i surrender ah before we sing any further i do believe that any time we have a gathering one like this there must be somebody who needs to say yes to jesus in a specific way not a member of the church not a member of any believing body you're just here today worshiping and you want to say brother preacher i want to raise my hand because i need for you to pray that god will move in my life to the extent that i will respond to him fully and completely maybe you have not yet been baptized and you are here and you want to raise your hand indicating you were not yet baptized if that's you why don't you raise your hand so that we can share with you here's someone let's go ahead raise that hand if you are online watching a church has facility whereby you can reach out and the church will reach out to you so that you can have that transition from where you are to where you ought to be if there's somebody else here today you're not yet baptized and you want to just raise your hand so that we can pray with you we can help to facilitate whatever your needs are as it relates to bible studies as it relates to any challenge you have regarding making that decision for jesus christ raise your hand maybe you are here today god bless you maybe you're here today you have been baptized been a part of the church for a long time but you want to say brother preacher hearing this word today has reaffirmed in my mind the reality that god is in control and although i've not been doing what i ought to have done today i'm going to make a recommitment of my life if that's you today and you are here you want to raise your hand we want to pray for you just go ahead do that right now if that's you just raise that hand god bless you keep those hands raised keep them raised until we pray keep them raised as someone is coming to facilitate as they give you that information card we want to reach out to you and pray with you there are many who are here right now who like the preacher you are saying thank you god for the assurance that is found in your word that whatever i go through that god is in control i'm grateful that i serve a god who is in control if you're like me today and you want to raise your hand and you want to say thank you god for being in control take control of every aspect of my life you want you want to raise that hand wherever you are [Music] oh [Music] worldly pleasures [Music] oh come on lift your voices and sing i surrender all [Music] [Applause] [Music] my blessings [Music] [Applause] [Music] your heads are bowed your eyes are closed father in heaven we thank you for the power of your word the reminder the reassurance that we have received god is in control we are mindful that as we will depart from this place today satan would have already been setting up trap snares issues for us to face but oh god we leave with the confidence that whatever we face this week when we face our situations we can declare those four words god is in control us not to fret to worry help us oh heavenly father not to lose confidence but whatever we face oh god may we be able through faith to declare god is in control oh god we know that for many of us we will face difficulties some of us will face issues we have never experienced before satan will turn the fires up many of us will come to the point of discouragement but even then may we be able to declare god is in control for those individuals who raise their hands in-house those who are responding online oh god you know each case each situation you know us by name by nature by station do for us more than we can conceive grant to us according to your will for our lives [Music] touch us where we need your touch guide us for we need your guidance hold us because we cannot keep steady without you bear us up because oh god we cannot do that for ourselves protect us for the enemy will come at us then when all is said and done and your kingdom shall come may it please you to declare well done good and faithful servants enter into the joy of our lord until then may we stand with this firm assurance day after day night after night god is in control we pray this with thanksgiving because we pray in the mighty and the matchless in the powerful name of jesus christ our lord and our savior together we say amen together we say praise the lord together we say hallelujah together we say thank you jesus for one more time we say god is in control put your hands together and give god praise today give him some praise [Music] so [Music] oh we thank god for the challenging message today [Music] we can say as the disciples said did not our hearts burn within us as we listen to the dropping of god's word oh it is comforting to know that god is in control no matter what's happening in this world [Music] our god is in control thank you pastor for reminding us that our god continues to control now then our closing exercise elder are you here good in closing we'll stand and sing hymn number 245 just before the prayer of benediction more about jesus [Music] more about jesus [Applause] for me [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] but we thank you dear god that we know that you are in control we thank you for sitting on that seat knowing dear god that we don't have anything to worry about so as your people depart today we ask in the name of jesus that you would go with us help us to be faithful help us to continually depend on you knowing that your coming and deliverance is sure bless us we pray in jesus name amen amen [Music] [Music] yes [Music] is for he is for he is [Music] foreign [Music] jesus [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] whatever thank you for worshiping with us today we pray that as god knocked on the doors to your heart you opened up and received him if you were blessed by the content please follow us on facebook instagram youtube and twitter at cwcsda we look forward to worshiping together with you at our next broadcast remember to stay safe and god loves you have a blessed [Music] week [Music] [Music] you

Channel: CWC SDA

Views: 3,912

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: CWC, SDA, Community, Worship, Center, community, worship, center, sda, Pastor, Abraham, J., Jules, Dare To Be Different, Clifford Manie, Pastor Clifford Manie

Id: 5u6KbH9pSeg

Length: 202min 9sec (12129 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 07 2021