- Good morning ladies
thank you for being here that time change you know didn't deter you or this cold weather. I am so happy to be here
my name is Melanie Brown and I want to thank you Kathy
for allowing me the privilege to be here you know, I grew up going to the Harvest Riverside I grew up here. So this is kind of like my alma mater and so when I get a chance to come back and to reconnect with old friends with the ladies that you know, when you serve the Lord
together there is a bond there that is you know eternal. So when I get to see them it's like you know a wonderful little mini reunion. So, I'm so grateful to be here. Would you go ahead and open up your Bibles to the Book of Esther. Did you love meeting Esther last week. Wasn't she beautiful and
wasn't she so gracious it was so much fun to meet her and to, and to get to know her and you're going to really
want to be here next week because you're going to even get to know Esther's character even that much more next week. But you know as we got an opportunity to see who she was were you guys just a little bit jealous of all the beauty treatments
that she received. I know yesterday and again this morning I was putting on my self
tanner you know on my legs I would have such white
legs in wintertime. And I was thinkning to myself Esther had someone to do this for her that's so nice but this
week we are in chapter three and with any good story there is an arch rival an Nemesis, an enemy and we're certainly
going to see that today when we look at the character of Haman. And I was you know as I
was studying this chapter I recognized that the crux of the story, the tipping point of chapter three. I was in this refusal to bow and it got me thinking,
well, what is so important about bowing. So it, you know kind of
spurred me on to this, this quest to find out
what it, what is bowing. And so I want to just share with you a few of my insights as
I've been studying this and, and you know in our American culture the bow is pretty much extinct right we don't go around bowing to each other. But it's very much alive in Asian cultures so if you were to go to Japan or China or to Korea you would
see the customary bow and to bow is a sign of
respect, it's acknowledgment. And I was thinking back about
when my kids were in taekwondo and I remember them having
their little white little you know uniforms on and before a match they would say (foreign language) bow to the master. So they would be bowing to
their teacher, the master. Acknowledging respect but also that they were
acknowledging that you know you are the authority you are the referee and so whatever call you
make we are going to respect we are going to submit to that's how they would start the match. And then they would turn
to their sparring partner and they would bow to one another again as a sign of respect. And then I was thinking about this new series on Netflix
that I've been watching it's called the Crown. And it's about the British monarchy and all during that show
you see everybody bowing bowing to one another and the
reason why they were bowing is because again a sign of respect but also they were acknowledging position and royalty. And they would bow to the sovereign which is you know the Queen of England. And so we, I was see, I was watching that and then I also was reading an article. And it was saying that the bow actually got its origin from animalistic tendencies
and this is what it said, it said, "Have you ever had the advice where if you came to
face to face with a bear that you were not supposed
to make eye contact. What you're supposed to
do is to get down low, bow down as low as you can to the ground into like a fetal position because this will let the Bear know that you are not a threat to it." And so there are that thought is like that's how we got the bow you know we are not a threat. And so I heard this story
of these two campers that were out in the wilderness and they came across a gigantic bear and one of the friends said, oh remember what we learned if we ever come across a bear? We're not supposed to make eye contact we're supposed to bend down low. So they said, okay that's right so they start to bend down
and the friend looks over and sees that his other
friend is putting his shoes on and he says, why are
you put in your shoes on you can out run this bear and he said I know I
just have to outrun you. Okay, I stole that joke from Pastor Gray he tells it much better but in all seriousness that bowing down that, that gesture is one of your acknowledging your lower status. It's saying, you're stronger you're weaker and it's a sign of submission. And then I read that there were
different degrees of bowing the deeper the bow the deeper
the respect and gratitude. And they were saying that
when you lay prostrate that is you're laying flat on the ground your face to the ground. This is the ultimate physical
expression of submission you can't get any lower
you're on your face. And we see that in the Bible we see the Psalmist getting
on his face before the Lord whether it be in repentance or whether it be in worship
but you lay prostrate. And then there is the
position where you kneel with your knees to the
ground and about head. And then over time it evolved
into the bend at the waist and the bend of the, of the head. And it wasn't until the 17th century that there was a distinction between the way men bowed,
men would bow from the waist and then women would curtsey that's when that came into play. And so you know as I was studying the importance of the
bowing and how it originated there was a song that's actually a psalm that kept ringing through my head and maybe, maybe, maybe you know it it's Psalm 95:6 and it says, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the
Lord, our God, our maker for he is our God and we are
the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand. Don't you love that psalmist tender call to corporate worship. Come, he's inviting everyone come. Let's go bow before our King, our King who is the good shepherd who feeds us and guides us and leads us and protects us. And I was thinking about virtue, I was thinking about that's what we do on Thursday mornings here. It's a call to corporate worship let's all bow in submission to our Lord the authority of his word. That's why we're here
this morning right ladies. And then I'm also reminded of Philippians 2:10 that says, that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. There is coming a day
when it will be a mandate and everybody will bow in authority and in recognition of who Jesus Christ is. But we come today
willingly don't we ladies. We willingly bow before the Lord. The title of my message is when to bow and when to stand. Would you pray with me. Lord we thank you for drawing
us to this place this morning because we believe the Lord, that were two or more are
gathered together in your name you are there in the midst. And so Lord, we welcome
your presence among us and we ask that your Holy
Spirit would move among us now. And Lord even though we
might be sitting (mumbling) Lord, the posture of our heart is bowed before you in submission. And Lord were yielding to what the Holy Spirit wants to speak to us personally today. So, Lord may we have ears to hear and may we have a heart willing to apply what you're going to show us today and it's in Jesus' name
we pray amen, amen. So Esther chapter three verse one starts like this. After these things. Now this phrase is there for two reasons, after these things. It's letting you know that time has passed after these things. But that it's also telling
you that something happened that we need to remember. So if we go back to the
end of Esther Chapter two. You do remember that
incident that takes place at the very end. Mordecai who we know is Esther's cousin but really is more like Esther's
surrogate father, right. He is by the palace wall and he just so happens to
hear two of the Kings doormen proposing or plotting the assassination of the king. And he hears this and then he goes and he reports it to
Esther who then in turn reports it to the king. So in essence he saves the king's life he thwarts that assassination attempt. And you would think that
after this honorable deed that Mordecai did that he would have been
then promoted somehow right he saved the king's life but that's not what we read. When we begin to read
Esther chapters three we read that Haman, we're going to learn more about him later. Haman who is not honorable at all he's the one who's being given this place
of honor and authority. And so this is not what we expect to read it doesn't seem fair. But you know what ladies this
is a reality sometimes right. After you do a good deed shouldn't
you be instantly rewarded and yet much of our efforts
and our honorable deeds go unnoticed and go unrewarded. And after you raise your
children with Christian values and you take them to Sunday school. Shouldn't your teenagers follow the Lord and yet we have (mumbling) And after you take your vitamins and you exercise and
you eat your vegetables shouldn't you have perfect health. And yet we all get sick
and there's disease. After you commit your life to Christ and you're here part of the
Virtue Women's Bible study and you're doing your lessons and you're having your quiet
time and you're praying and you're in fellowship. Shouldn't you enjoy a trouble free life. And yet we all have our
struggles and our trials. And you know why that is right ladies we live in a fallen world
that is tainted by sin. But we can take heart and we can have hope when things don't appear to be working out as we thought that they should because we have a God who is sovereign, our God is the King of Kings. He has, control he is in
control of all things. He is transcendent that
means he is above all things. He reigns supreme, he is that, he is a God who knows all things. He sees all things
nothing escapes his notice his eyes are everywhere he is omniscient he is omnipresent. And we also know that he's
a perfect record keeper don't we? If we learn nothing else from Nehemiah we know because of
those lists that we read those names, God knows who belongs to him he knows us by names, he knows who is serving him. He knows who is about his business. Do you know that today that the Lord knows whatever it is that you're
going through this morning he knows. He knows the offenses, the injustice, the pain, the betrayal, the despair, the grief, and sorrow, the disappointment, the discouragement, the confusion whatever
state you're in God knows. And may the fact that he
knows give you comfort he knows. But not only does he know ladies but he has the power and authority to use those very things,
to use those things that make you cry at night. To use those things that
you feel so broken over he uses those things for his purposes in his perfect time. You know he can change our circumstances because he's God nothing
is too hard for him. But often times he chooses not
to change the circumstances but to change us in the circumstances. And you know we saying it this morning it's a promise that we need to stand on because it's the truth of God's word. In Romans 8:28, we are told that all things, all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to his purposes. We stand on that today by
faith with spiritual eyes although we can't see it God is working. He's a providential God with eyes of faith not eyes of flesh. Eyes of flesh are looking for evidence God, what are you doing about this I've been praying about this. Eyes of faith say Lord I
trust that you see this and you are going to work in your time. You know I wonder when we read about Mordecai if
he ever thought to himself, "Wow, why did I do that
honorable good deed and save the king's life. I mean, what good did it do to me." He's a Pagan King, who's arrogant, impetuous, he lacks wisdom and discernment. I mean just look at the advisors that he has around him
the company that he keeps. See, Mordecai had no way of knowing that in five years from now that the king was going to have a sleepless night of insomnia. And he was just going to happen to open up those kings Chronicles and he was going to read of that good deed that Mordecai had performed and he was going to plan to reward him. He had no idea that
that was going to happen he was just seeing his
present circumstances and he might have been questioning them. I read a poem by Mother Teresa
it's called, "Do it anyway" and I'll just read you one line. It says, the good you do today people will often forget
tomorrow do it anyway. But we know Colossians 3:23 and 24. That says, Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as though you were serving the Lord and not men, knowing that it's from the
Lord you that you will receive. That you will receive a reward. Christ is the real master,
the true king that you serve. And maybe some of you need to
be reminded of Galatians 6:9. That says, don't grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time
we will reap the harvest, if we do not give up. So keep trusting him, keep
doing that good and honorable and right thing because the Lord sees he knows. Let's read in Esther chapter three we're going to read verses
one through six together. And I've labeled this portion, "Know your identity." So if you're note taker
you can write that down. Know your identity
because it's who you are that determines when to
bow and when to stand. Who you are determines
when you're going to bow and when you're going to stand. So let's read. After these things King
Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. And all the king�s servants
who were at the king�s gate bowed and they paid homage to Haman, for so the king had
commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not
bow down or pay homage. Then the king�s servants
who were at the king�s gate said to Mordecai, �Why do you transgress
the king�s command?� Now it happened when
they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman to see whether Mordecai's
words would stand, for Mordecai had told
them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai
did not bow or pay him homage Haman was filled with wrath. But he disdained to lay
hands on Mordecai alone. For they had told him of
the people of Mordecai, instead Haman sought to
destroy all the Jews, who were throughout the
whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai. So can you picture the scene
ladies can you picture this? This is Haman, he is second in command. He's like the prime minister and he is the king's
you know right hand man. And it says that Haman
was a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites. So the Amalekites were always warring against the Israelites. And five times in the Book of Esther Haman is described or his identity is, his named the enemy of the Jews. And if we look back
through the Old Testament we can trace their battles. In Deuteronomy 27:17. The Lord is speaking and he says, never forget what the
Amalekites did to you as you came out of Egypt. You remember when Moses was
leading the children of Israel out of, out of bondage
out of the land of Egypt. They were all leaving and it
says that the Amalekites came and attacked the stragglers. Now who do you think the
stragglers were that they attacked wouldn't it be the
elderly, the old, the sick, the weak and perhaps the children. They attacked them ruthlessly and in that same verse
it says the motive why because they did not fear God. They didn't fear God they hated God and so they made
themselves an enemy of God and God says, I want you
to remember what they did because you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory. So Mordecai knew that
Haman was an Amalekites God's enemy therefore making him his enemy. And Mordecai also knew that if it was God's enemy than if God hates and God says this is wrong, this is bad Mordecai was on God's side
he was going to obey God and so that's what we see there. And in verse two we see that everyone all the kings, a royal, officials and everyone who was in the palace they all bow down to Haman and that word bowed in the
Greek it's (foreign language) It means to bend the knee
in a gesture of respect. And they paid homage and that word homage is a different word and
it means to bow down as in to worship or to revere. So they were bowing down to Haman like he was like in worship like he was a God like he was an idol to them. And all the king's servants
bowed except Mordecai and they asked him repeatedly. Did you see that in your reading daily day after day they asked. Can you imagine the peer pressure that Mordecai was under? Why aren't you bowing we're all bowing? Why aren't you bowing? And then Mordecai reveals
the reason why he doesn't bow what does he say? It's because he's a
Jew, Mordecai is a Jew. That one phrase is pregnant with meaning what does it mean to be a Jew. How does that distinction, here we're talking about your identity that was, that was Mordecai
identity he was a Jew. When the Bible talks about
a Jew in Deuteronomy 6:7 it describes the Jews or
the children of Israel or the Hebrew nation. All those terms, all those
identifications there synonymous. So when it talks about the Jew it says. This is what God says in Deuteronomy 6:7 he says about them. You are a holy people
to the Lord your God, the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for
himself a special treasure above all the peoples on
the face of the earth. Did you hear that? God is saying of the Jewish
nation of the Hebrew nation you are holy, holy means you are set apart you've been set apart for me. You've been chosen, you've been selected God chose them. They were a special treasure that means that they were valuable they were costly to the Lord. Now can you just imagine if you were a Jew like, "Oh, my goodness
look how special I am." And just about when you were
getting really puffed up about your status. Verse seven comes and it says. The Lord did not set his
love on you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples, but because the Lord loves you. So in other words he's saying I didn't choose you
because you were special you're special because I chose you. Do you see that connection? It's only as we are connected to the Lord that makes us special. And that's what made the Jews special is because God was their guide. And we see that old testament principle repeated in the New Testament. For those who are in Christ because 1 Peter 2:9 says. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Ladies we are to be set apart we have been chosen we are that special treasure as well. You know in a certain extent when the Jews were
identifying who their God was they identified him as a personal God because God said, You are
my people and I am your God. They saw God as accessible
because God told them call to me, seek me, follow me. And they admitted that they were that they were pretty special. They said in Deuteronomy 4:7. What great nation is there
that has a God like ours that we can just for whatever
reason call upon him. And they also saw that God had a standard of living for them. He had a law that they were to keep and statutes that they were to obey. And I was thinking about this and I was thinking how much better is it for us today who live
under that new covenant. Because of Jesus we don't
just have God with us but we have God in us living within us Jesus come in taking
residence in our hearts through the, through the Holy Spirit. We could have that personal
relationship with God. How awesome is that we
need to recognize that. So we see here that Mordecai didn't bow he couldn't bow. It would have been a violation
of the Second Commandment where God said I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other Gods before me you shall not bow down or serve them. And you know what else ladies he was taking a literal stand a literal stand. He was standing up because to bow down would be to concede
Haman's authority over him. To bow down would have meant to concede the enemies' authority over him and he would not bow. I read this quote that said while the king of the
land may have commanded all to bow down to Haman, the king of the universe
commanded all to bow down to no one but him. And that stands for us today ladies same principle for us. And you know reading the story caused me to examine my own life. And I had to search my heart
and as God to search my heart Lord do I have any aisles in my life that I'm bowing down to you. You know an idol is anything that exalts itself above Christ. It could be any person, passion or pursuit that takes that first place that rightful place
where only God belongs. See we need to have God as supreme in our lives and there should be no
rival throne that exists within our hearts. Because ladies we can make idols about we can make idols out
of just about anything. The food we eat or don't eat is that what we're thinking
about all the time. The exercise we do or don't do are we consumed by body image
and outward appearances. The relationships that we pursue are we striving to please man in the, in the opinions of others rather than God. I just gave you my little list of the things that I
need to be careful about. Those of you who know me or maybe who follow me on Instagram know that the only things really I post are things about the Lord,
my family and exercise because I really like to exercise. And there's this store you I'm sure you have one
out here in Riverside to but it's Lululemon they sell you know athletic wear and I was in there last week and they're running this huge campaign and there's no way that you can miss it because the posters are before
you even step in the store and then once you get in there the propaganda is everywhere you look and they will send you home with this it's a, it's a poem it's
there like their statement and I read it and it kind of frightened me and I just want to read
you a few of the lines from that and it says, it's called, it's that, it's
the I am enough campaign. And it's, and it's telling us we rock, we raise and nurture we teach, we lead and we conquer. We are part creator and warrior I am powerful beyond measure I am enough. I read that and I'm like what. Because ladies I know that I am not enough I know how weak I am but I also know that I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me. But I know that in my
flash no good thing dwells I know how weak I am. And here you know I think
it's just the atmosphere that we're living in where we just want to make ourselves you know Gods we can do that we can just say we don't need God we're what the creator,
are you kidding me! We're so strong we can do all things are you kidding me you know. But this, this really is our this is, this is the
culture that we're living in that we all want to be empowered. We need to know who is in power right. We have a king that we bow to amen. I have another confession to make I might as well right. This, this chapter forced you
to really examine yourself but I did a 48 hour fast on social media and you know what ladies it was harder than I thought it was going to be. And I recognized how much time and energy and thought that I put into it and I was convicted because I'm an over thinker I mean
that's just kind of who I am and so if I have to over think every, every word I post every word I say. I go Lord help forgive me
do I over think your word because that's the thing we should be over thinking
right and meditating on. And so the Lord was showing me
just Melanie just be careful and I want to heed that
warning from the Lord. My husband was telling me about a phenomenon called the Blackberry prayer have you ever heard of it. It was the phrase was coined long ago and I didn't really
believe him so I googled it and he's right it's actually
in the urban dictionary and what it is is you know Black
Berry was the first company that came out with the Smartphone so they were the first phones
that had a keyboard on it and so when people would text they would have to hold their
thumbs together like this and they would be texting and then their, their heads would be bowed so what does it look like I'm doing it? Looks like I'm praying, right? And they say that you know people businessmen
were doing that at lunch that waitresses wouldn't come by because the didn't want to interrupt them because they thought they were praying. And I was thinking gosh how
many times are we like this on our phones and it's like oh, Lord, I hope that I'm communicating with you and talking with you as much
as I am bowed like this. So it's just something
for us to be careful about I think this is a warning that maybe we didn't need 10 years ago but I think we all certainly need to maybe just heed it today in this day and age in the time that we're living. I want to ask you two questions even as I wrote these questions down I was thinking, wow, this
could be a whole teaching within itself but I think
it's worth you pondering. These are the two questions, what is your identity? What is your identity and
who is your authority? Okay, I'm going to be honest with you these are questions that we need to answer as women today. We need to, we need to settle this we need to know how to answer this. But these are questions that
I'm asking my teenagers, my young adults that are living right now you know being bombarded you know by everything of this world and I'm saying what is your identity, who is your authority? We need to be able to
answer these questions. I believe that Mordecai
knew his identity as a Jew in a very pluralistic society. Do we, do we know our identity because we're living in
an atmosphere of pluralism and diversity. We're all kinds of beliefs, ideas and religions exist and they're
all put on the same level. But ladies we need to, we need
to know as Christian women we must know our identity. And our identity must be in Christ, it must be in Christ let me explain. Oh, you guys are so
responsive I love, love you. What I mean being in Christ you're either in Christ or
you're outside of Christ. And what it means to be in Christ is you've made the
decision to bow your knee in submission to Jesus Christ. That he is your Lord and your savior he is going to lead you, he is going to say what's right or wrong and you're going to follow his statutes you're going to follow him. And if you do that then you
know that you are in Christ if you're outside of
Christ you're saying no, no Jesus I want to do things my way. I am not going to submit to you. And you know ladies the
lines are being drawn and you want to make sure
the you are with Christ and you're standing in Christ. Because you know there's no other way you're either with him
or you're without him. But when we are in him we are who he says we are. So if you want to know your identity if your identity is in Christ then he tells us what our identity is. We are who he says we are and this is what he says we are and this is just one section of scripture you know the whole Bible
is a love letter to us telling us you know who we are in Jesus and all the wonderful things and benefits. But just from Ephesians 1
this is what he says we are when we are in him when we are in Christ. We are blessed, we are beloved, were accepted, were adopted, were chosen, were forgiven, were redeemed and we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. That's who we are that's
our identity in Christ and that doesn't change. And who is your authority, who do you submit to. Who has the power and
influence over your life and the choices that you make. Shouldn't it be in the
one who loves you the most the one who is willing to shed his blood on the cross for you. We must be careful that
we are not submitting to the world. And ladies the Bible makes it very clear. When the Bible talks about the world it's making a distinction of those who have rejected Christ. That's the world, the world
is going their own way and the Bible tells us don't
be conformed to the world but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind that you may know what
is that good acceptable and perfect will of God and that's Romans 12:2 so we don't want to submit to the world or the world's way of thinking because the world's way of thinking is not God's way of thinking so we're not looking to the
world to know how we should live and who our identity is and what or who authority is we're not looking to them and we're not going to bow in fear we're not going to submit to fear wouldn't the enemy love to
have us all cower in fear and keep us from what God, the calling God has in our life the purpose that he has
for us to fulfill you know we're not going to submit to fear. We're going to stand with the Lord we're not going to submit
or bow down to peer pressure political correctness or
even our own bad habits. We don't submit or give
authority to anything or anyone who is in direct opposition to God's word and to God's principles
and to God statutes. You know in these final verses,
verses seven through fifteen we see that Mordecai's refusal to bow brought severe consequences it was costly not only did Hayman want
to kill him as a result, but he sought the
annihilation of all the Jews Hayman consulted with
his Persian astrologers to pick that lucky day that's what it meant to cast (mumbling) to pick that day where he was going to plan his attack. He used false accusations, he
schemed, he lied, he bribed and he deceived the king
into issuing a decree that was literally a
death warrant on every Jew both men and women young and old and then the couriers went
out motivated by greed giving directions to plunder
their victims possessions and doesn't this sound
exactly like the enemy that we have today that we
read about in John 10:10 that the thieves comes only
to kill, steal and destroy see his tactics have not changed. And then in verse 14, it says a copy of the document
was to be issued as law in every province being
published for all people that they should be ready for that day and ladies we need to be ready we live in a day when our enemy the devil is threatening us his agenda is the same to thwart the good plans
and purposes of God and he would love it if we would cower in fear when we're supposed to
be standing in faith and he would love us to
be standing in our pride when we should be bowed
before the Lord in submission and in obedience and in worship. We need to know his tactics
so that we know how to stand Make no mistake about it this genocide attempt by Hayman was originated by the devil himself because the devil knew God's
plan from the beginning that it was going to be
through the lineage of the Jews that the Messiah was going to come forth and he thought if I could
just annihilate them that he thwart Jesus coming but we know that that
didn't happen, right? Jesus did come he did come and now that the Messiah has come the enemy still fights us today to keep us from our purpose our purpose is to know, to love, to serve, to share, to trust, to obey, and to worship the Lord. He'll do anything to keep us from that. You know in closing ladies I want to just leave
you with an exhortation found in a fusion 6:10 it's an exhortation to stand. Brethren but I'm going to say sisters sisters be strong in the Lord
in the power of His might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil for we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to
with stand in the evil day and having all having done all to stand ladies, there's a difference between standing and with standing when you stand this is, this is the stance you take but to withstand is to be
able to still be standing when the opposition comes so when the opposition comes we still need to be able to withstand that and that's the exhortation you know my husband is a wrestler and he wanted me to tell you that he is the champion wrestler. He really was, he's wrestled for years but now he actually coaches
at our local high school and those of you who have kids in sports you know the difference
between a Christian coach and a non-Christian, right? And this is become Bob's ministry I mean he prays with these kids and he loves to be there and to train them and he was telling me that the first day of every season you know what he teaches those kids to do he teaches use them to stand because that is foundational,
it's fundamental they need to learn their stance because they can't be
effective in defense or offense if they don't know how to stand correctly. The stance is the most important we need to know how to stand, ladies and we need to know who we are standing on we're standing on that
solid rock of Jesus Christ that rock that does not
change, that does not falter if we're standing on sand that's going to shift if
we're looking to the culture that changes every few years we're going to topple over we need to be standing on the
solid rock of Jesus Christ on his timeless truths on his absolutes and on his promises so that we can then withstand so in the opposition and the pressure comes we won't waver and we won't fall, amen. Amen, will you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for your word and we just bowing your presence now because you are so good you are so worthy of our praises God we bow in appreciation, we bow worship and Lord, we bow repentance because your word confronts us and Lord, we just pray that
you would search our hearts that you would help us, Lord,
to stand when we need to but we would submit and we would give up those things that would hinder our walk with you Lord we yield to you and Lord, we also what I
recognize that some of my sisters are here because their bowed in brokeness their bowed in despair and
they are desperate for you God and I pray that you would see the posture of their heart, Lord, that you would see their neediness, God and you would come in those places, God and that you would strengthen them Lord that you would help our feeble knees our wobbly fearful knees to be strong and to be able to stand in you and to be able to walk in obedience Lord for the things that
you've called us to Lord. we love you and we praise you in Jesus name, amen.
