Don't Worry, GOD Cares_1 Peter 5:6-8_R. Gardenhire

wow [Music] i need a christian someone [Music] i need someone who will never oh [Music] and will tell me [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] good morning welcome to this worship hour here at the church of christ those of you who are in our viewing audience we're delighted that you have tuned in as well as uh to those of you who are here in person thank you for coming i haven't seen many of you since we entered the pandemic it is certainly good to see you all this morning we trust and pray that our worship service will be uplifting and edifying to us all a few announcements before we begin first we have a few notes of thanks that comes from cardelia bender patricia greene and teresa mcclure and they are the sister of brother alton greene whom just we just laid to rest a little over a week ago another note of thanks comes to us from sister lily kroger in the passing of her loved one as well please join with us as we express our condolences and sympathy for the following families first angela and matt starks miguel and sonya hayes and family in the passing of their uncle ronnie lee hayes who passed away on wednesday september the 1st services were held on september the 8th here locally in nashville also don delay excuse me maurice and dondelle phillips in the passing of maurice's brother jeffrey phillips he passed away on september the 3rd there will be a public viewing on thursday september the 16th at the highland hills funeral home from 2 p.m until 6 pm and then the funeral services and viewing will occur on september the 17th beginning at 11 a.m carlos and denise lowe and family in the passing of carlos's mother sarah estella low she passed away on monday september the 6th a memorial service and visitation will occur here at the straighter lane church of christ on september the 18th 10 until 11 30 am i want to also just ask your prayers for all of our members you see there are a number listed in the bulletin those who are homebound many are having some difficulties with health etc but i want to ask you to join with us especially for one of your shepherds brother walter steele brother steele is is hospitalized the family is requesting no visitors at this time and the best thing that all of us can do for them is to really pray and pray earnestly for brother steele sister steele and their family we want to on behalf of all of our leaders especially our elders our ministers and deacons to just express our sincere thanks to you for your generosity and responding to the disasters both that is was west of us there in waverly as well as for those victims in haiti you did above and beyond your normal contributions and you made such an impact and a difference in the lives of so many many lost everything except the clothes they were wearing and some even lost family members but you made a significant a significant contribution to support those people in their time of need and we're we're so thankful to you for that you responded in your usual fashion and again we are so appreciative you can you can clap you can you can say you can pat yourselves on the back thank you so much also along the lines of giving we want to continue uh to ask that you send your contributions in electronically or by mailing the specifics of how you do that is posted on our bulletin and also on our website and i believe the most of you are familiar with that process thank you so much again for your generosity if you are in need of communion sacraments you may stop by the building on mondays wednesdays or fridays from 11 o'clock until 2 pm or any saturday from 8 30 until 11 30. just come in lower level first floor there in the foyer there is a container that has those communion sacraments virtual tutoring is available on mondays and thursdays six to 7 30 p.m if anybody is interested we highly encourage you to participate in that opportunity visitors how many visitors do we have here are you if you're visiting would you please stand or raise your hand we just like to acknowledge you see who you are here we have a couple of visitors here thank you so much for your attendance we know that you could have been any place other than here this morning but you made an effort to be here and for that we are so appreciative let us pray our father in heaven we are humbled by your love for us your awesome power and father for all of the ways that you lead guide and shepherd us your children we pray father that as we engage in our worship service that all hearts and minds will be centered and focused on you we pray father that you will help us to clear our minds of all worldly concerns and put our full attention on you you are not only worthy and deserving but it is father one of our deepest ways to express to you how much we love you and adore you we pray father that you will guide us as we engage in our worship we pray father that you will help us to apply the things that we will hear in the message to our lives so that we are better as servants and your children we pray father that as we've mentioned for our brothers and sisters who are dealing with all forms of maladies we just pray father that you will touch and be with each allow us to encourage and and strengthen in ways that we can that's in keeping with our temperament and our abilities father we pray that for those who are still reeling from the devastating ravages of the storms and the earthquake we pray father you would grant them comfort father we also ask that you will be with all of your children here at this congregation and around the globe especially father those who are suffering simply because they bear your name we pray father you give them relief you give them comfort and you give them strength now father be with us as we go into this service guide us keep us and father help us to give you our very best in jesus name amen good morning god has indeed blessed us each and every one of us to be able to open our eyes on this morning not necessarily to be in the place but to be able to be aware and to be in the presence of god our savior our redeemer the lover of our souls amen so we come singing here i am to worship here i am to bow down here i am to say that you are my god light of the world you step down into darkness open my eyes let me see your beauty that make this heart adore you hope of a life split with you here i am to worship here i am to bow down here i am to say that you're my god you're all together lovely all together you're all together wonderful to you are the king of all days oh so highly exalted glorious in here i am to say that you you're my god [Applause] you are my god i'll never know how much it cost said i'll never know how much it [Music] [Applause] how much it [Applause] i i never know how much it cost you god to send your son and to see him die on the cross for people who were so unworthy but so that's why we know that he's wonderful that he's all together [Applause] together [Applause] oh here i am to bow down here i am to say that me [Music] good morning it's good to see everybody concerning the communion i will be sharing with you in his word second corinthians verse 6 through 9 and it reads but this i say he which soweth sparingly shall wreak also spare me and he which soweth bountifully bountifully shall reap also bountifully every man according as he purpose in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or nor necessity for god loves a cheerful giver and god is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye always have all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work let's pray together heavenly father we we're just without words thinking thanking you so much for just giving us this opportunity this space father we can come and worship you in spirit and truth freely father we just thank you for all the blessings that you have given us such as a way of means father that we can support ourselves our family and father support your kingdom and father as we give not obvious of success necessity but not grudgingly that we give father with a purposeful heart that we give father to support your kingdom and father we just ask you to bless our funds that are taken up for the support of your kingdom and father that we use it in a manner that you will be pleased this is my prayer in your son's name amen concerning the communion i will be sharing with you from his word the book of isaiah chapter 53 starting with verse 3 and the scripture reads he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and he's acquainted with grief and we hid as it hit it as were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not surely hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did not esteem him stricken spitting of god and afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was up on him and with his stripes we were healed let's pray together heavenly father we thank you again for just just for your awesomeness the giving and the sacrifice of your son jesus christ father we know that that was a cost that was paid beyond measure but we know father that here we are father here today worshiping you in spirit and truth and honoring your son jesus christ who gave up his life his death his burial and his resurrection is his story for us father to get this right and father we just thank you again for this opportunity to get it right and father as we remember your son in the taking of the bread and the cup that we do it in a manner that you are pleased and father we just asked you again thank you praising you love you and your son jesus christ and we ask many blessings in your son's name amen um when i fall on my knees with my face [Music] [Music] me us [Music] let us thread together [Music] [Music] with my face to the rising sun [Music] let us [Music] [Music] with my face to the rising sun my face [Music] mercy on me [Music] the scripture today comes from first peter chapter five verse six through eight it's first peter chapter 5 verses 6 through 8 and i'll be reading from the new king james version therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon him for he cares for you be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he made this devour i read for your hearing first peter chapter 5 verses 6 through 8 may the lord add a blessing to the readers doers and hearers of his word sing to me of heaven let me finally dream of its golden glory of its pearly gleam and i have on glasses and i can't see it i chose this song this morning because sometimes we can get in a mode of progression and we forget those older songs that hold a special place in some of our members hearts amen and we don't want to forget about them because they hold such an important part of who we really are amen join with us as we sing sing to me of heaven sing the song of peace from the toils that bind it it will bring release burdens will be lifted that oppressing soul showers of great blessings oh my heart will flow sing to me of heaven let me finally drink of its golden glory of its pearly gleam sing to me when shadows of the evening fall sing to me of heaven sing the sweetest song of all sing to me of heaven as i walk alone dreaming of the congress and so long have gone in a fairer region among the angels they are happy as they sing that old sweet song sing to me of heaven let me finally dream of its golden sing to me when shadows of the evening fall sing to me rise and sweet gold when my heart is weary when the day is long sing to me of heaven sing that old sweet [Music] of its gold and glory of its purple sing to me when shadows of the evening fall sing to me heaven let me finally dream of its golden glory of its purple sing to me when shadows of the evening fall seem to me he has done marvelous things as a minister comes to deliver the word marvelous things he has done marvelous he has the marvelous things praise the lord he has been marvelous he has been things praise the lord he has done marvelous he has done marvelous things praise the lord praise the lord [Music] praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord amen let's all say amen just a little more convincingly let us all say amen amen thank you thank you brother booker for leading us in those marvelous selections reminding us that god has done and is doing marvelous marvelous things the very fact that we are here today is evidence of god's grace his mercy his power and it is testimony vividly of the fact that he is doing marvelous things those of you who are our guests thank you for being with us today as brother washington has said so clearly we're delighted that you've come those of you who are our guests virtually today we thank you as well for being attentive and i want you to know as minister of this congregation i can speak for the entire congregation in saying that we're happy that you are participating with us however we will be even more joyous on the day that you come and we have the chance to meet you in person we're looking forward to that please know that although our scheduling specifies when our members arrive which service they attend those of you who are guests are welcome at any and all of our worship services we invite you and we look forward to seeing you i share with brother washington in our concern our condolences and our prayers for those families who have experienced now the death of loved ones we pray for you we're earnest we feel with you we recognize what that's like because if not all of us most of us have experienced the same the passage that was read today and thank you brother brother gordon and thank you brother stewart for officiating so well today this passage from first peter chapter 5 is a familiar one to us we often quote it that says casting all your care on him that is on the lord for he cares for you i want to encourage us today not to worry not to worry and the reason is singular and it is because he cares i recall vividly growing up with my parents my mother and my father we were poor we had all we needed we just didn't need much my father worked hard most mornings he was up and gone before his children awakened he was a worker who would go out often before the sun arose and often his return home was after the sun had set and i remember on one occasion saying to my father and my mother as we were driving home from church i was still a relatively small child but we passed by a dairy queen and i said to my parents do we have enough money to get some ice cream now one of the reasons i remember that is because my mother who is now 94 years old reminds me of my saying that but what i recall from that is that although we had everything we need as a child i even recognized that we didn't have much but we had plenty we had enough i never as a child worried about having enough to eat i never as a child worried about having clothes on my back i never as a child worried about the circumstances of life and i'll tell you now in my very late 60s that i understand the reason i didn't worry was because i had parents who cared they could do [Music] what needed to be done as far as i was concerned and they did you and i are sons and daughters of god and we may not have everything that we want in life but let me assure you with god we have all that we need this week not unlike other weeks for me has been one of hearing from members of this church listening quite often consoling occasionally confronting every now and then this week i've heard this past week from members just as brother washington has shared with us today who have death in your families and here i stand saying to you don't worry i've received this week tearful phone calls from adults who said brother garden hair it's not looking good for my and they went on to tell me about their parent whose health is failing i received phone calls this week from members of this church who said brother gardner i just wanted you to know that the doctors have said my cancer has returned and i want you to pray i don't want you to to reveal that and tell the church about me you know they say that we preachers are like old refrigerators we don't keep anything he says i want you to know and here i sit on the phone wanting to say don't worry god's got you four members of this congregation in the past eight or nine days have said preacher will you pray regarding my surgery i need this surgery i'm in pain and for three of those those surgeries have been postponed one due to a death in the family of the surgeon two due to covet priorities at the hospitals yet they need the surgery i've had two families this week who have said my teenager is having a tough time and therefore so am i please pray for our family because this is hard and i sit on the other end of the phone listening internalizing empathizing and wanting from the depth of my heart to say don't worry but i have to confess to you that i worry with them we all worry from time to time i see within our lives all the circumstances that affect others tonight i want to share with you why it is that we have trouble friends brothers sisters don't think that because we are god's children that we're not subjected to troubles the apostle paul says we're troubled on every hand yet not distressed we're perplexed but not in despair we're cast down but not destroyed that's what the apostle paul says and he had reason to know so i say to you stay with me today but tonight i i want to get to helping us see why we have troubles today our focus is on why we should not worry and i'll say again don't worry you're about to have that eye surgery you're about to have that heart procedure you have that aging frail parent you have that child that you have not the answers for you have that pregnancy that wasn't planned you have that relationship that has gone awry and i'm going to stand right here as tall as i can and say don't worry when i was a child my parents knew what we had and what we didn't have they knew where i was and what i needed i didn't worry they took care of it you are a child of god don't worry first of all because he strengthens us in all things this passage that peter gives us telling us to cast our burdens on him he cares for us burdens carries with it the connotation of something that's heavy and weighty it's boisterous at times it's overwhelming and peter says yes life is like that but throw it off cast it on the lord why because he cares it's just that simple because he cares he's an ever-present help it's the 46th psalm and the first verse i'm sure it's in your bibles as well and it tells us that our god is an ever present help in a time of need god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble i'm saying brothers and sisters that we can remove worry because god strengthens us in all things that's what philippians chapter 4 verse 13 says i can do all things through christ which strengthens me that means i can deal with the sickness of my parent i can deal with the stress associated with being a teenager teenagers i want you to know that what you are going through right now those of us who are no longer teenagers went through the same things and we came out for the most part upright agile mobile but we learned from it and i'm going to tell you tonight spoiler alert that one of the reasons god has us to go through circumstances is so we can learn from them and be strengthened my wife and i were visiting with jeanette mcgowan last week and jeanette mcgowan many of you know jeanette is listening right now she listens faithfully she has ms she's completely immobile and when we walked into her room as always she smiled the attendants were there helping her when we arrived and we were outside the room and they they said ms mcgowan you have some visitors and we heard her voice say who is it and i yell it's your preacher and she says let them come in but as we i want to say talked but it wasn't it was as we listened jeanette shared some things with us one of which indelibly oppressed me impressed me and what she said was you know robert i always prayed for strength she says but i've learned something i want to tell you and i sat there studiously and listened she says i want to tell you to be careful how you pray for strength she said the reason for that is what i've learned lying here is that one of the ways god gives you strength is that he gives you heavy things to lift so that you'll come out stronger god gives us heavy things in our lives to develop our strength and we didn't ask for heavy things we just ask for strength i can do all things through christ which strengthens me he strengthens me in all things and it's because of that i say don't worry he is an ever-present help in the time of need as isaiah says in the 40th chapter particularly the 31st verse he says they that wait on the lord shall renew their strength their strength their strength and the niv it doesn't say they that wait on the lord the same meaning is they who trust the lord shall renew their strength and i say today as we experience the circumstances of life trust the lord trust the lord parent that child doesn't yet understand he or she means you no harm god means you no harm we just have to remember that it is time to trust the lord not only is that true but i'm i'm reminded of what david says in the 37th psalm especially verse 25 david says i was a young man and now i am old but i have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread david is saying to us speaking through experience that god comes through he experienced that in his life it's no wonder that david could say this in the latter part of his life because as he had said in the 23rd psalm david had experienced the valley of the shadow of death yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mind enemies thou known as my head with oil my cup runeth over david was able to say such as that and david concluded that psalm by saying surely just to say with me the word surely surely that's confidence goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i shall dwell in the house of the lord forever so david is competent based on experience when he says the lord strengthens me i want you to know brothers and sisters that when we several years ago said that we want to be a well-connected church you please don't take that for granted it is vital that we be a well-connected church because one of the means through which god strengthens us is through one another those of you who say you know i really don't need that church i don't need association i don't need fellowship i don't need affiliation with those folks you're missing out on one of the tools the means by which god strengthens us i remember brother ernest davis where's sister david sister davis there she is right there sister mary davis and the visitors is her son right there and daughter good to see you all here from wisconsin i remember sister davis i was 39 years old and we were expecting our third child that's a good thing really good thing in retrospect but i was having those thoughts about being 39 because i was going to be 40 brother mccleskey you know how that works i was going to be 40 when he was born and i anticipated let's see that means let me do the math that means that i'm going to be 60 that means i'm going to work till you know i i went through all that quietly never said anything to any of you all i just dealt with it ernest davis your father walked up to me one day as only he could with a smile with a stutter and he called me young man now i was gray already then and he said vanessa was showing if you will and he said young man i see that you're going to become a father again and i said yes yes sir and he explained to me chris and told me i i remember vividly sister davis the number he told me about your experience and what age he was when you were born and it removed the burden instantly what i'm saying to us brothers and sisters is that god strengthens us allowing us to reflect on our experiences with him but he allows us to be strengthened through the experiences of others who he sends our way he strengthens us in all things he fights our battles john chapter 4 first john chapter 4 verse 4 is the scripture that in essence says that greater is he that is in you that he that's in the world he fights our battles elisha helped his servant to see this second kings chapter six this is recorded elisha had a servant israel was under siege of the syrians and one morning elisha's servant looked up to the hills and he saw that the assyrians had surrounded the city the military the horses and chariots were everywhere and here's what it has to say beginning with verse 15 of chapter six and when the servant of the man of god was risen early and gone forth behold a host compass surrounded the city both with horses and chariots and his servant said to him alas my master how shall we do it's what you and i do when we look up and see all of a sudden that we have more than we ever thought we could handle and by the way let me tell you something they often say that god doesn't give us more than we can handle erase that erase that god always gives us more than we can handle we have to have good sense enough to know that we can handle all things with god you can't handle that teenager by yourself he gives you more than you can handle which is reason you ought to depend on him again getting into tonight's sermon we're going to see that god as paul said causes us to be weak because when we realize that we are weak that's when we're strong the servant looked up and the man of god in verse 16 answered fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them and elisha prayed and said lord i pray thee open his eyes what we have to do is open our eyes to the fact that god fights our battles those of you who are doing well in the corporate world i've been there and done that i understand what it's like to to rise through the ranks and get titles and money and all that goes with that but don't you know that you don't do that by yourself you have to look up and know that god brought you through it's a fierce world out there there are folks who will undermine you there are folks who will remove you there are folks who are envious jealous there are folks who are supposed to be working with you who are working against you all that happens and the only way you get through that is to look up and see that god brings you through i remember uh for years i i had a i had a counterpart who who just was ambitious i'll leave it at that and i'm not saying that i was without ambition but god had a plan and i remember this counterpart doing all manner of things to to look the next part the executive part and i recall assuming that whatever god chose that's what would happen and one day i got off an airplane in ontario california my phone was ringing and it was my ambitious friend and what he said to me was robert they want me to be and he he named the title it was a lofty title and he said i can't do it would you allow me to recommend you now he'd been vying for this for years that's god you have to look to the hills as the psalmist says in the 121st psalm i'll look to the hills from whence cometh my help my help cometh from the lord elisha prayed and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about elijah's brothers and sisters i'm telling you today that god fights our battles for us don't worry if you think somebody's going to move you out of your job because of you name the reason envy prejudice bigotry whatever it may be there's life on the other side god's got something better plan for you i you don't have time for me to account for you the number of times that through 41 years in the corporate world that there was trickery and connivery if i could make up that word and god only used it for my good i i mean i could i could tell you about some things he fights our battles don't worry because god forgives when we confess our sins there are some of us who know and i'm thankful that you know if you recognize that your life is caught up in sin you don't have to worry about it you have to do something about it start with repentance and then confession first john 1 9 says we'll confess our faults he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness don't worry confess change if you're engaged right now in a lifestyle listen carefully and a lifestyle that you know is contrary to god's will you're living with her you're shacking with him you're consuming this and engaging in that substance and you're participating in this deviant behavior and you're getting gain you're getting money from this when you ought not be anywhere near that i'm telling you don't worry change you're not going to sleep well at night and you shouldn't change why should i not worry when i've been engaged in sin don't worry because god cares god still loves you in second peter chapter 3 verse 9 the bible says god is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness but he is long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance god wants you saved so don't worry straighten up and fly right david knew of this in second samuel chapter 12 especially verse 13 but in second samuel chapter 12 when david had committed the most notorious of his sins that is taking bathsheba the wife of uriah the hittite having sexual relationships with that man's wife and then covering it up at least attempting to by the way you don't cover up sin folks you try but the scriptures are still true that says be sure your sins will find you out but david tried to cover up his sin and ultimately trying to cover up his sin caused him to have uriah killed he said uriah come home from the battle come home from the war go home with your wife uriah wouldn't go uriah come with me have a meal have some drinks get intoxicated go home with your wife uriah wouldn't go ultimately david decided that the only way i'm going to cover up the sin that i've committed since i found out that she's with child and not going to be able to make it look like it's her husband's child i'm going to have him sent to the hottest part of the battle and he died and when nathan god's man came and david's friend came and told david about this and said david you're the man here's what david said david said i have sinned against god and nathan said to him by god's authority but god is not going to take your life keep that in mind because although god had forgiven see the law was still death for death it would have been fair it would have been just it would have been right for david's life to have been taken because david had taken a life brothers and sisters if you're in sin those of you who are entrapped in sin don't worry because god wants you saved but i have to tell you you must change it's what it's what the roman writer talked about in romans chapter 6 what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound god forbid change and then you'll have no need to worry and i'll say this and i want those of you who are youngsters to listen carefully what god said to david was i'm not going to take your life david you're going to be forgiven but folks hear me well when we disobey god there are consequences god says david the sword is not going to leave your house and david suffered his life was spared but david suffered he had treachery among his sons he had a a rape of a son against a daughter david even had a son who sought to overthrow his kingdom and you see when we do the wrong stuff especially when we call ourselves children of god we're going to pay for that david's remember david's sin was that he took another man's wife god had given david wives and concubines he had given him everything that he needed his heart's desire so what happened david's son who had david on the run set up a tent in the middle of town where everybody could see and had the women if i can say it that way who belong to david come into the tent with him and i don't have to explain to you all what was taking place it was the fact don't decide that just because god forgives that i'm going to do what i want to do and everything's going to be fine no you're going to pay for it but god forgives don't worry because he provides a way of escape from sinning god provides a way of escape brothers and sisters first corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 there has no temptation now notice that this passage is not talking about trials in fact i was this week i i went and reasserted for myself reassured the the word temptation is used in different ways in scriptures and in this particular passage in its context and in its original form it is specifically talking about sin temptation there is no temptation taken you but such as is common unto man but god is faithful and will not suffer will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able but with the temptation provides a way that you may escape that you may be able to bear it that's what paul had to say in second timothy chapter 2 verse 22 i want to answer the question well how shall we escape well one of the things you can do is flee temptation in genesis chapter 39 when joseph was in the house of potiphar and mrs potifer had her eyes on him so to speak she wanted to have intimacy with him the bible tells us you'll read it there in that 39th chapter of genesis particularly verse 12 that he ran and she grabbed for his clothing he left the portion of clothing and rent sometimes you just have to run from sin you have to get away from it in second thessalonians chapter 5 and the verse is 22 the passage says abstain from the very appearance of evil what does that mean well i know what that looked like for me i recall that one of the things i did in my days in the corporate world i i had one of those roles where i spent a lot of the company's money a lot of the company's money because every tire that was made couldn't stay in the factory where it was made it had to move it had to move to a factory warehouse it had to move to a distribution center it had to move to a company store it had to move to a walmart or a costco it had to move somewhere across the planet and my job was physical distribution every distribution center every trucking company every railroad every shipping line tires would move from asia from africa from south america i spent hundreds of millions of dollars it's necessary products no good unless it can get to the customer that was my job that was my role whenever and listen listen carefully whenever you have the responsibility of spending hundreds of millions of dollars not millions hundreds of millions of dollars somebody wants to be on your side somebody wants to invite you to their home somebody wants to invite you to a big occasion somebody wants to invite you to the master's golf tournament somebody wants to send things in the mail to you somebody won't somebody always wants something i remember when i before i was at the level of having all that that i had that responsibility for one plant and people would come and they would call on me and they would they would want to take me to dinner and i i watched when i was an analyst before i became a manager how my my manager would receive gifts and how he would be taken to dinners time after time after time and as a youngster 21 and 22 years old as an analyst i said this this is not good so when i got that first role of being responsible for a few hundred thousand dollars of spending and those same people came calling on me i said no thank you no thank you or i recall someone sending me at thanksgiving this this wonderful uh turkey you know it was a ham thanksgiving ham expensive and it's just a ham but you know what i did i took it to the rescue mission and gave it to them i couldn't send the hand back and then i spoke to the people the next time they came because i never called and thanked them they said mr gardner did you i said yeah i took it to the rescue mission and the reason i wanted them to know that at 22 or 23 years old is because i wanted to set a standard that says a ham is okay but i want to avoid the very appearance of evil i'm not on the take and the word got around folks stop doing that it tells me that when we abstain from the appearance of evil evil will get away from us if we forsake evil if we shun evil if we resist evil the devil will flee brother jones my mentor and our beloved minister said it this way if you're not buying from the devil stay out of his kitchen or his store stay out of his store he provides ways of escape much more could be said about that i like what jesus did and i'm coming to a conclusion yes i am that when he was tempted in matthew chapter 4 and satan tempted him jesus had a reservoir of scripture whenever satan said if you will bow down before me christ already had a scripture that says thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only shalt thy serve we have to know that we can escape temptation by being rooted in the word of god i like it when something comes up and before i have time to think about it scriptures start sounding off in the back of my mind i'm already rooted in the answers to that one i can escape that that's why the scripture says children obey your parents in the lord for this is right that it may be well with you and that your days may be long upon the earth children listen to your parents will get you and keep you out of a lot of trouble you don't have to figure it out all i had to know was my mama said and and she's listening right now but my mama put some real weapons on me like the time when i crawled under the train my mom said don't do that anymore you won't find me ever crawling under a train and like the time that i joined the denominational church i wasn't worried until i saw that switch but you won't find me doing that again we can escape temptation by remembering and obeying our parents and finally i have to say those of you who are feeling the pain the sorrow even the anticipation of death you know that your loved one is not doing well you recognize that your prognosis ultimately will end in death don't worry don't worry why because god is with us even in death he's with us even in death in romans chapter 14 verses 7 and 8. you all hear me say this all the time at funerals no man lives to himself and no man dies to himself but whether we live we live unto the lord and whether we die we die unto the lord therefore whether i live or die i'm the lord's i like this passage revelation 14 13 says blessed are the dead that die in the lord when we see these blessings remember also what scripture says that tells us that precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints even in death god is with us so i say to you today as we experience the circumstances of life don't worry don't worry don't worry because god cares cast your burden on him because he cares if you haven't obeyed the gospel of christ obey him remove that word hearing the gospel believe it repent of your sins confess your belief in jesus christ and be baptized today for the remission of your sins our brothers are going to put on the screen the means by which you can contact us if you recognize that you have sinned i encourage you to confess your faults confess your sins and know that you will be forgiven god cares for you will you stand with me as brother booker leads us in this song he will carry [Music] if you don't get anything else just believe this [Music] he is strong enough [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] yes he will [Music] let's start with [Music] strengthen your [Music] and he will carry you through and he us to will is [Music] [Music] i can hear the voices of those that come before us encouraging us saying he will [Music] take care of each and every one of us when we have those long and sleepless nights he he will walk with me [Applause] [Music] so why don't you ask the [Music] [Music] he is willing he will carry you through amen let us all say amen those words from our ministers should give all of us comfort to know that god the almighty god cares for us thank you brother garner for your fine work this morning just a few administrative announcements before we dismiss and for those dismissal instructions please allow before anyone moves please allow those that need assistance with mobility to exit the auditorium first and those who are in that category please use the exits that is most convenient for you directly following their dismissal or they're exiting the auditorium the outer pews will come forward and exit to my right and left respectively and if you have brought in your contributions and would like to deposit those today the ushers will be standing down near the exits to collect those contributions again thank you for your presence for your generosity our visitors we're so delighted that you're here please come in every opportunity wisconsin is only a skip and a hop away but we're delighted to have you here thank you so much and to those of you in our viewing audience thank you again for tuning in let us pray our father in heaven we are thankful that we have been reminded of your love for us and how much you care for us now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of the almighty god glory and exceeding joy to the only wise god and savior our lord jesus christ amen god be with you until we meet again god [Music] you can stand if you want to until we meet again [Music] god be with you be where you be with you [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh god until we [Music] [Applause] again [Music] uh-huh oh [Applause] [Music] team amen [Music] [Applause] as i journey through this land singing as i go pointing souls to calvary hello i'm robert gardenhire minister of the schrader lane church of christ thanking you for joining in to today's live-streamed worship service i'm also elated to tell you that we have resumed in person worship services on sundays at 9 15 11 30 and 5 p.m guests are welcome we are practicing protocols including social distancing mask wearing and sanitization vaccinations although not required are encouraged please consult our website straighterlane.org for more information regarding our worship services our prayer line and other offerings of the schrader lane church of christ again thank you for joining us today i look forward to connecting with you and may god be with you until we meet again [Applause] as i journey through this land singing you

Channel: Schrader Lane Church of Christ

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Id: MqlM4nxcQag

Length: 100min 21sec (6021 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021