George Williams - What Have You Done With The Lord?

to jesus for the cleansing power are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you fully trusting in his grace this hour are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you watched [Music] are you walking by the savior's side are you washed in the blood of the lamb do you rest each moment in the crucified are you blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they white as snow or are you washed in the blood of the lamb [Music] are you ready he wants to save you and take you home [Music] the garments that are stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the lamb there's a mountain flowing for the soul are you washed in the flood [Music] [Music] are you [Music] are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you washed in the flood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb [Music] [Music] i have decided to follow jesus i have decided to follow jesus no still i will follow [Music] my cross i'll carry till i see jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] no [Music] decided to follow jesus [Music] [Music] no [Music] up [Music] no i can't turn [Music] is is good [Music] and with things don't turn out like we think they should [Music] for he just healed the sick and he raised the dead you protect us is [Applause] his own you you [Music] testing one we would ask that everyone would come into the auditorium we would ask that everyone would come into the sanctuary as we prepare to give god honor glory and praise we're so grateful for those that would come and join us here on this lord's day morning and also those that are visiting by way of television we we thank you so very very much we realized that you could have been anywhere but you chose to be with us and worship result here at the church of christ it worships the worships at east side and we thank you so very very much uh let us get started with our first song jesus lifted me y'all feel all right this morning amen as god has been good at you why don't you smile and say amen amen let us sing i'm so glad that jesus lifted me will you know that i'm so glad that jesus lifted me lord you know i'm so glad and will and jesus lifted me we're singing and the glory hallelujah i'm willing jesus lifted me where you know satan had me bound whereby jesus lifted me lord i know satan had me bound yes by jesus lord i know satan had me bound lord by jesus lifted me i'm singing in the glory blue young year and jesus lifted me where you know when i was in trouble lord my jesus lifted me well i know when was in trouble yes my jesus lifted me lord i know that when was in trouble yes my jesus lifted me so i'm singing in the glory hallelujah i'm willing now jesus lifted and where you know that i'm so glad yeah my jesus lifted me lord you know that i am so glad yeah my jesus lifted me lord you know that i'm so glad yes my jesus lifted me we're singing in the glory hallelujah will and jesus lifted me [Music] good morning to everyone and for grace and peace and love and my lord and savior jesus christ ask you now to prepare your hearts and prayer of your minds to worship god to worship him in spirit and in truth and on behalf of the leadership and membership our beloved minister we welcome each of you this morning worship service especially those who are on the television we or computer or whatever we uh welcome you to the church of christ at eastside and austin now prepare your hearts and mind and let us pray together our lord our father who art in heaven hallowed be your holy and divine name we come praising you and thanking you for each and every blessing you've been stored upon each and every one of us we thank you for answering each and every prayer that we've uttered but we gather this morning to worship you in spirit and in truth we ask you to invoke your blessings upon this worship service as we praise you as we thank you as we honor you and i'll end song in prayer in communion and to hear your word from us from our message from your messenger bless us now prepare our hearts in jesus name we pray amen our second selection he's a wonderful savior to me i was lost in sin but jesus rescued me he's a wonderful savior to me i was bound by fear but jesus set me free he's a wonderful savior to me and he's a wonderful savior to me he's a wonderful savior to me i was lost in sin lord jesus took me in he's a wonderful savior to me he's our friend so true so patient and so kind he's a wonderful savior to me everything i need in him are always fine he's a wonderful savior to me and he's a wonderful savior to me he's a wonderful savior to me [Applause] i will lost in sin but jesus took me in he's a wonderful savior to me he is always near to comfort and to cheer he's a wonderful savior to me he forgives my sins he draws my every tear he's a wonderful savior to me and he's a wonderful savior to me he's a wonderful savior to me i was lost in sin but jesus took me in he's a wonderful savior to me dearer grows the love of jesus day by day he's a wonderful savior to me he is his grace while pressing on my way he's a wonderful savior to me and he's a wonderful savior to me he is a wonderful savior to me and i were lost in sin but jesus took me he's a wonderful savior to me as we prepare our hearts and minds for prayer let us note thank you lord thank you [Music] lord father i thank you lord [Music] well and thank you my lord [Music] i just want to thank you lord one more time thank him this morning lord i wanna thanks yes i thank you lord well i wanna thank you know i thank you lord well i thank you my lord i just want to thank you lord has he been quick did you tell him lord you been so good has the lord been good to you tell him where you been oh you've been so good [Music] lord you be so good to me i just want to thank you lord he saved my soul where you know you saved my soul tell him this morning thank you lord thank you lord where you know you said oh you saved my soul [Music] [Music] and i just want to thank you lord everybody oh well and thanks you know we thank you lord well i wanna thank yes i thank you lord well i thank you my lord i just want to thank you but everyone please stand for prayer let us pray a heavenly father we humbly come before your throne of grace and mercy bowing low and humble submission and in reverent all acknowledging you as the one true god the everlasting father king of kings and lord of lords father we thank you for watching over us and keeping us in peace and safety as we slumber through the night and father thank you for sustaining us with the breath of life so that we were able to awaken and arise this morning the holy scriptures say in you in him we live and move and have our being and father we thank you for guiding us safely to our place of worship today we have come together once again as the body of christ to worship you in spirit and in truth and father we come confessing that we have sinned against you in thought word and deed by the sinful things we have done and by the righteous things that we have failed to do and thus have left undone we don't want our prayers to be hindered by unconfessed sins and so father with contrite hearts we sincerely confess and repent of our sins and iniquities and we pray that you will grant us mercy and grace and forgive us restore us and receive us back into the fold and continue to lead us and guide us in the way we should go father we thank you for who you are and what you have done in our lives we thank you for the many blessings that you have so lovingly and graciously bestowed upon us may we never take any of your aggressive your blessings for for granted but gratefully thank you for everyone thank you father for supplying our basic need for food shelter and clothing and we pray lord that we will be content and satisfied with your blessings and reject greed and covetousness and the desire for more and more material possessions father we thank you for our homes our families our jobs our friends our church and our brothers and sisters in christ and we especially thank you for your word and for jesus whose suffering death and resurrection brought redemption reconciliation salvation and the forgiveness of sins for all who would believe and obey the gospel to receive the awesome blessing of eternal life heavenly father we come praying for our congregation many who are experiencing trials and troubles in their lives father some are combating illnesses and disease some are recovering from surgeries and other medical procedures father some are experiencing great financial difficulties and there are some father who are struggling with relationship problems that may threaten their families and some father are mourning the loss of loved ones father there are some who are greatly concerned about the virus pandemic that never seems to end and many fathers are concerned about rising crime declining morality and decency and father there are those among us who are deeply troubled about loved ones who are close to us who don't want to know the lord lord have mercy heavenly father you know all about our trials and our troubles our worries our fears our failures and our faults and you know exactly what is needed for every situation we trust that you will hear our prayer as we cry out to you father and ask you to intervene in our lives and apply your power your grace and your wisdom to bring about resolution healing and and restoration to whatever trials and storms of life we're going through heavenly father jesus said in this life you will have tribulations but be of good cheer for i have overcome this world father we know that you are the sovereign ruler of the universe and that you are on your throne and still in control of all things and father we know that we are to walk by faith and not by sight so father we pray that our faith and trust in you is forever settled in our hearts and that you would grant us the grace to keep trusting and keep believing in you no matter what our circumstances are for you said that you would never leave us nor forsake us god of all comfort comfort us today heavenly father as our minister prepares to come forth with the sermon for the day we pray that you will help us prepare our hearts and minds to receive your holy word we pray that all negative emotions and attitudes have been left outside the doors of the church and that we have come in prepared to worship and praise you and eager to keep the unity of the spirit and bond peace so that all our attention will be centered on you and your word that your word will find a resting place in our hearts and forever supply the peace that surpasses understanding father we prayed this prayer in the name of jesus and all god's people in complete agreement said amen as we prepare to bring the speaker up we want to sing i shall wear a crown how many y'all want to wear that golden crown hey man i swear that golden crown let's lift our voices and sing with the spirit watch ye therefore for you no not the day they win the lord shall call your soul often we and if you labor striving for them you know that you shall [Applause] [Music] [Music] i shall wear a crown will you know that when [Music] i shall wear a crown where you know that i sell where i go done like come on y'all the foolish virgins then will for thee is coming and you know not when lord keep your land [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i shall wear up [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] lord you know that when the trump shall wear up gonna wear you know that i shall wear that goal whoa if at last we hold out to thee my bible tells me that jesus is an everlasting friend where you know you know that you shall wear that golden oh shall wear a crown lord you know that i shall wear a crown where you know the wind a trumpet sound lord you know that wind [Music] that golden i sell where that gold gun crown he shall wear a crown lord you know that i shall wear a crown where you know that when the trumpet sound lord you know that winded trump oh i shall [Music] [Applause] [Music] i shall wear [Music] amen we look forward to that wonderful day when we shall indeed wear that golden crown please lift your voices and repeat after me i will bless the lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make her boast in the lord the humble shall hear of it and be glad oh magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together now we got to say that last verse with some strength you got to say that with some strength with some tenacity you gotta you got to say that like you cheering for your your favorite team amen but this is for the lord because he's much better than your team amen i don't care what team that is i won't even mention no names i'm just saying he's much better than any team so let us just lift our voices and say that last phrase together the bible says the humble shall hear of it and be glad oh magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together amen let that sound better that sounds a whole lot better amen thank you for working with us this morning i know we're working through these masks uh you know that's not easy and we're trying to project our voices and all of that in spite of that god has been good and he is good if you are visiting with us this morning want to take a moment to recognize you if you are not a member of the church of christ here at east side we'd like to ask you to please stand that we might be able to recognize you if you're not a member of the church here at eastside all right we have several that are visiting with us good to have each of you with us on this morning god bless you thank you for coming to be with us on this lord's day morning and we know that last week we had one who was baptized into christ after everyone had gone so we we're sure that before the end of this service we will make sure that we make him known to the body here at east side and so we're thankful that god has blessed us and is blessing us to continue to grow we appreciate those who let us in our worship this morning just beautiful prayers and great brother brother walker for the song service and you know when we get these masks off we're going to do better amen it's just hard to work with them but we're still worshiping the lord in spirit and in truth but we long for the day that we'll be freed from all of these impediments and that are impeding our worship in the in the fashion that we would like now this morning if you have your bibles we would encourage you to open your bible this morning to first kings chapter 14. also we want to say to those who are visiting with us in the viewing audience online we welcome you we thank you for tuning in this morning and of course for the church we we always expect the church to be online and those of you who are unable to come to be with us because of the pandemic so we are grateful for the body that's visibly and physic physically here but we are also equally as grateful for the body that could not be here with us on this lord's day morning you are equally as important and you are equally as loved and we miss you physically but we know that our hearts are knitted together in christ jesus and for that we are thankful and so we just want you to know that we're happy that you have tuned in and that you're with us on this lord's day morning as well and so if you're not a member and you're visiting with us in the audience as well on the television we thank you so very much for tuning in because we know that you have thousands and thousands of of choices but you chose us and for that we're grateful now if you have your bibles please hold them up let me just see the bible like to always see them amen you know this is the this is a sign of the time a lot of phones went up in there and there's nothing wrong with that and you know it's always good to to have the technology and it's also good to see just the old bound books go up as well all right first kings chapter 14. i'm going to read verses 6 through 9. first kings chapter 14 verses 6 through 9 when you have it say amen and i'm reading from the new king james translation and it says and so it was when ahaji heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door he said come in wife of jeroboam why do you pretend to be another person well i have been sent to you with bad news go tell jebel boyne thus says the lord god of israel because i have exalted you from among the people and made you ruler over my people israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of david and gave it to you and yet you have not been as my servant david who kept my commandments and who followed me with all his heart to do only what was right in my eyes but you have done more evil than all who were before you for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molding images to provoke me to anger that have cast me behind your back in verse number 9 the bible says but you have done more evil than all who were before you for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molding images to provoke me to anger and have cast me behind your back i want to ask the question this morning what have you done with the lord what have you done with the lord the bible says that jeroboam had cast him behind his back to me the life and story of jeroboam the first is one of the saddest and most disappointing stories in the old testament and there are many of those in the old testament his story actually starts in first kings chapter 11 on the heels of solomon's apostasy from the lord because of his propensity because of his proclivity because of his penchant because of his fondness because of his weakness for foreign women the bible tells us how god had richly blessed solomon we cannot understand the story of jeroboam until you understand the story of solomon but god had richly blessed solomon and then the bible tells us how solomon allowed the love for many exotic women or many foreign women and the kjv says strange women it's not talking about strange as if they were strange looking it just simply means that they were exotic they were foreign women and solomon allowed those women to turn his heart away from the lord follow me as i read and i'm going to do quite a bit of reading this morning as i look at this book of history to try to recapitulate what's transpiring so that we can follow together in first kings chapter 10 verses 23 through chapter 11 verse 8. so open your bibles to first kings chapter 10. first kings chapter 10 and i'm going to start reading at verse number 23 and conclude in chapter 11 verse number 8 and i'm reading from the niv translation here the bible says king solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth the whole earth sought audience with solomon to hear the wisdom god had put in his heart year after year everyone who came brought a gift articles of silver and gold robes weapons and spices and horses and mules solomon accumulated chariots and horses he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in jerusalem the king made silver as common in jerusalem as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore fig trees in the foothills solomon's horses were imported from egypt and from q the royal merchants purchased them from q they imported a chariot from egypt for 600 shackles of silver and a horse for a hundred and fifty they also exported them to all the kings of the hittites and the armenians chapter 11 and verses 1 through 8 now the bible says king solomon however loved many foreign women besides pharaoh's daughter now god has blessed this man tremendously and yet the bible talks about what is about to transpire and why it transpired the bible says solomon loved many foreign women besides pharaoh's daughter moabites ammonites sadonians and hittites they were from nations about which the lord had told the israelites you must not enter marry with them because they will not might they will turn your hearts after their gods nevertheless solomon held fast to them in love he had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines and that's too many women for any man don't care what you think about you that's too many women for any man just one woman is enough for one man if that one man treats that one woman right amen she she will take care all of your needs so solomon just had this propensity for loving all of these women and the bible says he had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines and his wives led him astray as solomon grew old his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the lord his god as the heart of david his father had been he followed asterisk the goddess of the sardonians and moley the detestable god of the ammonites so solomon did evil in the eyes of the lord he did not follow the lord completely as david his father had done on a hill east of jerusalem solomon built a high place for kimash the detestable god of moab and moley the detestable god of the ammonites he did the same notice now he did the same for all his foreign wives who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their god so he had all of these women that he had to try to satisfy all of them you're not going to build a house for this woman and not be a one for mine you're not going to build a house for her god and not build a house for my god and so solomon found himself in a place of compromising his faith and his convictions to god solomon allowed his faith his flesh and his fleshly desires to lead him instead of the lord and his word god warned him against marrying women outside of the covenant people who were loyal to the lord but solomon likes so many men and like so many women in the lord's church and i'm talking about in the lord's church believe that such a thing could never happen i would never be led astray from the lord by a man i will never be led astray from the lord by a woman and they just feel like somehow another it cannot and could not happen but solomon was the wisest man in the world and yet women led him astray and if it could happen to solomon you can rest assured it can happen to you say amen if you can solomon no doubt thought that his in his mind that his faith was strong enough that his religious convictions were strong enough and that his his constitution was strong enough to resist the temptation to be led astray by these foreign women to serve their foreign gods but brothers and sisters one is wise one is wise when he follows god but one is not wise who decides that he or she knows more than god knows you don't know what's best for you you don't know what's best for you over god now you may say well i know what's best for me brother is but if god says that's not the best thing for you then you need to follow god's word and not what you feel or think or believe because one thing about it is god is never wrong god is always right and so now watch this now so so so you need to understand that that when god tells us not to go outside of the faith and intermingle with those in marriage who are not in the faith that god means what he says and he said what he meant amen the bible still says and i still hold to this and still stand on these convictions that christians are to marry christians and i'm never going to change that as long as the bible says in first corinthians 7 and verse number 39 that those the widow was free to marry only in the lord and god does not have a double standard if he had that standard for the widow he had the same standard for the widower and he has the same standard for those who are not in christ or those who are rather not married yet who is single god says that we ought to marry in the lord marriage already has enough challenges to deal with so why add to the problems by having a divided house and let me hasten to say because i know the arguments that i've often heard let me hasten to say that i understand that there are many men in the body there are some men i won't say many i will say there are some men in the body who are just as worldly as men in the world and and i will hasten to say that there are some women in the body who are just as worldly as some of the women in the world and the brothers said amen to that as well am i right about it so so we understand i'm not trying to play dumb and foolish i understand that we have individuals who don't live up to the standards that god has prescribed in his word and so i want you to understand that even in the body even in the church you have to be careful who you yoke up with amen because you can still be unequally yoked even married in the lord because there are some folk who will do you damage if you marry them because they are not committed to the lord and i want to tell you brothers and sisters listen to me listen to me sisters you got to look beyond that handsome face and that cut body and brothers you have to look beyond that pretty face and that curvaceous body you got to find out where that person's heart is and where the lord is in his or her life and if the lord is not first in his life if the lord is not first in her life then you need to back off and just say that's all right we can be friends until you see that god has taken first place in his life or in her life it takes more than a pretty face to live together it takes more than a handsome face to live together because when tough times hit at rough times here all of a sudden that pretty face becomes ugly and all of a sudden that handsome man becomes a monstrosity amen because looks can't fix everything you got to have somebody that knows the lord and knows how to crawl on god in difficult times who will be there to walk with you and pray with you and hold on to god's unchanging hand when life gets difficult solomon solomon loved all of these women and they turned his heart away from the lord and caused him to worship their false gods but here is the insidious thing about what solomon did see solomon did not denounce the lord solomon never stopped believing in the lord and he never stopped worshiping the lord in addition to that what he did was simply started worshiping these false gods along with the lord in other words i'm going to still worship the lord i'm going to still worship yahweh but i'm also going to worship kimasu i'm also going to work worship malcolm i'm also going to worship all of these false gods by my far and wise because after all god understands that i got to please these wives and god understands but my heart is still given to him but not according to the word of god the bible tells us in first kings chapter 11 and verse number four you see he was trying to worship god and hold on to the lord with one hand and hold on to these false gods with the other hand but the bible says in first kings chapter 11 and verse number four and this is from the new american standard version for when solomon was whole his wives turned his heart away after other gods at his heart watch this now was not holy that is completely devoted to the lord his god as the heart of his father david or david his father had been the complete jewish bible says it like this what solomon became for when solomon became old his wives turned his heart away toward other gods so that he was not wholeheartedly with adonai his god as david his father had been god said even though you're trying to hold on to me solomon from my perspective your whole heart does not belong to me and i want you to understand something about god god is not going to share our heart with a false god no sir no ma'am the bible still condemned him because god will not share his devotion with a lifeless false idol god that can do absolutely nothing for us when he has done everything in the world for us listen to what the bible says in first or in psalm 515 psalm 115 verses 4 through nine and this is from the niv as the psalmist describes the foolishness of idolatry and worshiping idol gods notice what he says in psalm 115 verses 4 through 9 he says but they are idols their idols are silver and gold made by the hands of men they have mouths that can but cannot speak eyes but they cannot see they have ears but they cannot hear noses but they cannot smell they have hands but they cannot feel feet but they cannot walk nor can they utter a sound with their throats those who make that make them with that will be like them and so will all who trust in them and then he calls on israel to worship the lord o israel o house of israel trust in the lord he is their help and shield god says i don't want you to worship in these things that can do nothing for you what kind of sense does it make for me this morning to worship this pulpit and it's nothing but a piece of wood that's all it is it is dumb and it is lifeless but i want you to know that that's what israel did time and time and time again listen as god talks about how israel forsook him in the book of hosea in the old testament prophet of hosea you remember that god gave this gave his prophet an awesome charge he said unto hosea i want you to go and marry goma nagoma was a prostitute she was a woman of the night she she applied her wares as it would be she was a harlot and god is telling his man his prophet the man of god to go and marry this woman of ill repute and why is he to marry her because he's going to give her give israel a living walking embodiment a lesson that is an object lesson to say this is what israel has done to me your god because god was married to israel in a covenant contract as it would be that israel had become unfaithful to god by serving and worshiping all of these idol gods and listen to what the bible says in hosea chapter 2 verses 5 three bible says their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace talking about children that were seek could conceive out of wedlock she said i will go after my lovers and these lovers here are idol gods i will go after my lovers who give me my food and my water my wool and my linen my oil and my drink therefore i have blocked her path with thorn bushes i will wall her in so that she cannot find her way she will chase after her lovers but not catch them she will look for them but not find them then she will say i will go back to my husband as at first but then i was better off than now she has not acknowledged that i was the one who gave her the grain and the new wine and the oil were lavished on her the silver and the gold which they use for baal listen to what god said listen to my people this is my people this is my people israel israel is following after all of these false dumb gods who have done nothing for them and israel is saying i got the rain and i got the food and i got the grain i got the oil i got the wine i got all of my clothes from these false gods i got all of the fineries of life from these false gods and god says i'm the one who gave her everything and yet she has forsaken me for something that has done nothing for her at all brothers and sisters i want you to think about this what kind of man will allow his wife after he has taken care of her he's put clothes on her back he has fed her he's put silver and gold on her hands put the best of clothing on her back gave her the best and the finest of house to live in the finest things to enjoy in life and then she leaves him and goes after some trifling man who has done nothing for at all what man would tolerate that i think all of us would say let her go i don't want her back but god is so gracious god is so loving that god said even though you've done me like that israel i want to divorce you but i just can't stop loving you and god said i want to call you back to me i want to bring you back even though you've cheated on me and committed adultery on me spiritually speaking god says i still want to bring you back to me in church i'm just trying to tell you that god says i don't want you serving these other gods and you know why i don't want you to serve these other gods because these other gods can do nothing for you and i have done everything for you and i did it because i love you not because i had to but because i wanted to and so church god is a tolerant god but he's not going to tolerate us sharing our devotion with someone else solomon loved all these exotic women and worship their gods therefore god decided to tear the greater part of the kingdom away from him and give the greater part of the kingdom to jeroboam and that's where jeroboam comes into the equation because of what solomon did notice now in first kings chapter 11 as we pick up here first kings chapter 11 verses 26 through 40. first kings chapter 11 verses 26 to 40. the bible says then solomon's servant jeroboam the son of nibath adephra might from zarita whose mother's name was zaruha a widow also rebelled against the king now watch this now why did he rebelled against the king and this is what caused him to rebel against the king solomon against the king solomon had built the milo and repaired the damages to the city of david his father the man jeroboam was a mighty man of valor solomon's seeing that the young man was industrious made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of joseph now solomon recognized his worth work ethic and so he says because of his work ethic i'm going to make him the form and i'm going to put him in charge he's going to be the boss of all of those who are part of the workforce and so jeroboam had been elevated by solomon now watch this now watch this because now it's about to get dicey the bible says now in verse number 29 now it happened at that time when jeroboam went out of jerusalem that the prophet ahaji the shalom knight met him on the way and he had clothed himself with a new garment and the two were alone in the field then a high gi took hold of the new garment that was on him and tore it into twelve pieces verse 31 and he said to jeroboam take for yourself ten pieces for thus says the lord the god of israel behold i will tear the kingdom out of the hand of solomon and will give ten tribes to you but he shall have one tribe for the sake of my servant david and for the sake of jerusalem the city which i have chosen out of all the tribes of israel because they have forsaken me and worshiped astaroth the goddess of the sidonians kimash the god of the moabites and milcom the god of the people of ammon and have not walked in my ways to do what is right in my eyes and keep my statues and my judgments as did his father david however i will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand because i have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of my servant david whom i have chosen of whom whom i chose because he kept my commandments and my statutes verse 35 but i will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and give it to you ten tribes verse 36 and to his son i would give one tribe and of course he doesn't mention benjamin here but benjamin was also a part of that because there were two tribes judah and benjamin but benjamin was smaller and so the predominant tribe was judah and so judah is predominantly mentioned in the text now watch this the bible says in verse 36 again and to his son i will give one tribe that my servant david may always have a lamp before me in jerusalem the city which i have chosen for myself to put my name there so i will take you and you shall reign over all your heart desires now watch this now god is speaking to jeroboam remember this god is saying this to jeroboam god is saying in verse number 33 37 so i will take you jeroboam and you jeroboam shall reign over all your all your heart desires and you jeroboam shall be keen over israel in verse 38 then it shall be if you heed if you jeroboam he all that i command you walk in my ways and do what is right in my sight to keep my statutes and my commandments as my servant david did then i will be with you and build for you an enduring house now when he talks about an enduring house he is not talking about a physical house but rather he is talking about a dynasty in other words he will always give him someone to reign in his dead after he dies in other words i'm going to make you a great dynasty just like i made david a great dynasty in israel verse 39 and i will afflict the descendants of david because of this but not forever verse 40 solomon therefore sought to kill jeroboam but jeroboam arose and fled to egypt to shaishak king of egypt and was in egypt until the death of solomon now church this is why the story of jeroboam is such a tragic story because god just told him that i'm going to give you the biggest portion of the kingdom i'm giving you 10 of the 12 tribes 10 of the 12 tribes you will have 10 of the 12. now watch this now not only will i give you 10 of the 12 tribes but he says if you just keep my commandments i will establish you as a great dynasty in the north you will be just like david was david was king over united israel but if you follow my word if you keep my commandments i will bless you just as much as i bless david in the north i'm going to bless you now watch this he says all you got to do is just be faithful and i'm going to ask you a question is that complicated is that plain is that straightforward did not god said you have a simple choice what is that simple choice just live for me just walk in my commandments just do what i ask you to do and if you just do what i ask you to do i promise you i will bless you to be great and i will establish you on the throne forever you will always have a descendant and i'm going to bless those who bless you and i'm going to keep those who come against you from succeeding in other words you will be great jeroboam what can be difficult about that you know some of us would say right now lord have mercy i wish the lord would just tell me something like that i wish the lord would just come down and tell me now now if you just walk in my pathway and do what i want what i would have you to do if you just seek me then i will bless your life you better be careful what you're saying because in reality god has already done that you see we already said well if i had been if i had been back there and if god had said that to me then i would do i would do this or i would do that i want to tell you there are many times i wish that god would just come down and talk to me like he talked to those prophets i wish god would just tell me george i want you to do this and i don't want you to do that but god doesn't do that but he has given us his word that if we keep his commandments if we're faithful to him and if we seek him that he will bless us you might say well brother williams what does he tell us that matthew 6 and verse number 33 jesus said seek ye first quoted with my church seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you i would ask you of course how many of you believe that in church i want you to understand that i have lived by this verse ever since i came into christ i have lived by that verse i've lived on that verse i've lived with that verse and i can tell you this morning that god has kept his promises hallelujah praise the lord i am a witness to the fact that god keeps his promises it reminds me of the story of this old woman and she read her bible every day and then every time she would read a bible she would write some notes in her bible and one of the notes that she would write in the bible she would write these two letters in a bible these two alphabets she would write tp tp tp and then one day her grandchildren were reading through a bible and they said grandmother what is that what does these two initials mean what do these two alphabets mean tp what do they mean and she says well children they simply mean that i have tried them and they've been proven to be right tried and proven in other words i tested god's promises and every promise that i tested god proved to be faithful to me and i'm saying church the same is true in my life and i pray that the same is true in your life that god has been true to his word when god tells us something when god promises us something we can rest assured that god is going to keep his word because god cannot lie oh taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the man who trusts in him all jeroboam had to do was to trust and obey the lord but he did the exact opposite of what god told him to do just like so many of us and then when we when we do it our way the first thing we want to do is get an attitude with god amen you know god tells us in this word what we ought to do and then when we don't do it the first thing we want to do is say god has forsaken me no you have forsaken god then we're going to get an attitude with god and then we want to check god but before you try to check god you need to check yourself because god is not at fault god is always faithful and we're the ones who fall down on the job god is faithful the question is are you faithful and i'm not talking about worshiping on the lord's day because so many of us think we equate faithfulness with showing up on sunday morning before the television or showing up in the auditorium that's not faithfulness see god when god talks about faithfulness he's talking about the whole life god does not talk about sunday morning and wednesday night he's talking about sunday monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday he's talking about 24 hours a day he's talking about seven days a week he's talking about 365 days a year and when there's a leap year 366 days a year he's talking about your life being committed to him every day of your life the whole life with the whole heart that's how god constitutes or looks at faithfulness it's not about showing up on sunday it's not about putting money in the collection place it's not about taking communion it's not about singing songs and praying and reading the bible it's about your whole life every day in every environment and jeroboam had to do all the airborne had to do rather was to be faithful to the lord and the lord would build him a dynasty just like he did for david but watch what jeroboam did now watch this look at first kings chapter 12 verses 20 through 33 we see what god promised now watch what he does first kings chapter 12 verses 20 through 33. now he came to pass when all israel heard that jeroboam had come back they sent for him and called him to the congregation and made him keen over all israel there was none who followed the house of david but the tribe of judah only and when rihaboy that's solomon's son came to jerusalem he assembled all the house of judah at with with the tribe of benjamin 180 000 chosen men who were warriors to fight against the house of israel that he might restore the kingdom to reaborn the son of solomon but the word of the lord word of god came to shamaya the man of god saying speak to rehoboam the son of solomon king of judah to all the house of judah and benjamin and to the rest of the people saying thus says the lord you shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of israel let every man return to his house for this thing is from me therefore they obeyed the word of the lord and turned back according to the word of the lord now god says go on and put your swords down go and put your weapons up because number one this is from me but number two these are your brothers and you are not to pick up swords and fight against your own brothers lord have mercy if we only understand that in the church that god does not expect for us to take up arms against one another and when i talk about take up arms i'm not necessarily talking about taking up literal arms but i'm talking about being combated with a combative attitude with one another in the lord god's people ought to be able to get along with one another in the house of god and not be estranged from one another but learn how to be one with one another i appreciate that brother this morning praying that we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace because that's what god expects of us watch this then verse number 25 verse number 25 the bible says then jeroboam built shechem built built shechem in the mountains of ephraim and dwelt there also he went out from there to build and built pinwell now watch this now here comes the problem verse 26 the bible says jeroboam said in his heart now the kingdom may return to the house of david if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the lord in jerusalem then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord rehoboam king of judah and they will kill me and go back to jeroboam rehoboam king of judah now listen to the foolishness that he has going on in his head he is thinking about how he can keep god's people faithful to him when god has already told him that all you have to do is just follow my word if you follow my word don't worry about it i will firmly establish you but here he is concocted in his own mind how can i keep the people faithful to me how can i keep them from returning to rehoboam and he says listen what i'm going to do is establish my way of doing it and how did he do that why did he do it because god had already proven to be faithful god told him through the prophet of high jai i'm going to give you 10 of the tribes and right now that has come to pass he has ten of the tribes and they've made him king god's word has come to pass and he should have thought about that but instead of him trusting god he resorted to his human inventions watch this verse 28 chapter 11 and verse 28 i'm saying chapter 12 i'm sorry notice what he said he says therefore the king asked advice made two calves of gold and said to the people it is too much for you to go up to jerusalem here are your gods o israel which brought you up out of the land of egypt and he said one in bethel and the other he put in dan now this thing became a sin for the people where for the people went to worship before the one as far as damn he made watch this now he made shrines of on the high places and made priests from every class of people who were not of the sons of levi verse 32 jeroboam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the eighth month like the feast that was in judah and ordered offered sacrifices on the altar so he did at bethel sacrifice into the calves that he had made and at bethel he installed the priests of the high places watch this now which he had made verse 33 so he made offerings on the altar which he had made at bethel and on the 15th day of the eighth month in the month which he had devised in his own heart and he ordained the feast for the children of israel had offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense jeroboam decided that what i need to do to keep the people loyal to me is not follow god's word but make my own religion watch this now jeroboam said to the people of god it is too much for you to worship god like god has prescribed and it is too much for you to worship god where god has prescribed you to worship him so in essence what he said is you don't need to go all the way up to jerusalem what i'm going to do is make it convenient for you i'm going to give you an easy religion that makes no demands of you watch this 11 times from verses 26 to 33 the narrator uses the personal pronoun he or his to indicate that this was 100 jeroboams doing and god had nothing to do with it it was all about jeroboam and never about god what is he trying to do he's trying to stay in power he's trying to stay in power and one of the things i have learned one of the things i have learned just now just by living in this political milieu just by living in this political environment right now that we're in this toxic political environment that we're in is that wicked men would do anything to stay in power they will lie they will cheat they will steal and they will kill just to keep power and so jeroboam is doing the same stuff we're living it all over again he said whatever i got to do to keep you i'm going to keep you whatever i got to do to stay in power i'm going to stay in power i want you to be loyal to me and i will do whatever it takes including making you an easy religion and church let me give you a word of caution i got to make a point here that's important let me give you a word of caution let us not get so comfortable with worshiping or lying at home that when when when because one day it will be over when the pandemic is over and it is no more and we're able to take these masks off for good i trust and pray that you have not become so comfortable that you will still find a reason not to meet in person because the devil loves to give us comfortable religion i'm not condemning you for staying home right now i'm not condemning only you and god know why you're doing i'm not condemning no one and so i don't want you to say brother williamson said demons i'm saying when this stuff is over and and we get back to normal i'm just simply saying because it's so easy and convenient to set it home and watch it on television don't stop making excuses for still standing home when god has moved the impediments it's understandable now but when it's over you need to return to jerusalem amen yes sir don't don't you stay don't you stay in dan in bethel you need to come on back to jerusalem watch this now but you know i have to say this about jailboy uh jeremy was a true machiavellian politician in other words he was shrewd he was cunning and he was devious and unscrupulous let me show you what what jeroboam did he he told the people that these are the gods who brought you up out of egypt in other words he said now i want you guys to understand that that that these are the gods these these golden calves that you see these calves that's the same god that abraham worshiped the same god that isaac was the same god that jacob these are the same gods and only reason i'm using god's plural is because i made one for dan and one for bethel but it's still just one god i just got a representative of that one god in both places and and interestingly our god favors the bells because the bills were were made in the form of bulls because they were fertility guards and the bull was considered to be strong and fertile and so watch this now and so many of the gods in that region had the appearance of bull and bale was one of those gods so watch what with jeroboam and jeremiah get you to see this in just a minute how he's pulling this thing together because jeroboam is smart he's a shrewd politician and jaboy said what i'm going to do is nationalize idolatry but i'm going to mix it with yahwehism and so i'm going to bring together yahwehism baalism and all of these other isms around here and i'm going to merge them together but he says now watch watch this now because i want you to see that that our gods that i have just made these bulls these golden calves they look like they and there are other nations around here that think that their god looks like him too so they will have an affinity to the same gods that we have affiliated to so in essence i'm unifying us stay with me now stay with me so what he did was seek to seek to produce a type of syncretism meaning that he was trying to merge together an amalgamation a mixture of various religions into one which meant that the monotheists could worship the cows and the polytheists could worship the cows and everybody feel like we're all right are y'all with me see that's the way the devil does it he always tries to make false religion look good he always gives it a smattering of truth so that it's not 100 an error you know this is still yahweh this is still yahweh even though i have a figurative image of him i'm still saying it's your way the devil knows how to confuse he will mix truth with error and people will look at the truth and forget the error and unfortunately israel took the bait and they swallowed it hook land line and cinco and sinker sorry but it was all a lie it was a sham jeroboam made a theromorphic image of yahweh and and all that means is when you say ethereomorphic that simply means that they would take the true god and give him the image of an animal when you talk about anthropomorphism anthropomorphism we're saying that you're giving human-like characteristics to god when you say ethereomorphic image you're saying that you take animals and make them look like god or make god look like an animal and so that's what he decided he was going to do because that fit the culture that he was in and because of that in first kings chapter 13 god sent an unnamed prophet to crowd against the altar of jeroboam follow me i'm almost at the end stay with me first kings chapter 13 verses 1 through 10. if you have it say amen and behold a man of god went from judah to bethel by the word of the lord and jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense burn incense then he cried out against the altar by the word of the lord and said o altar altar thus says the lord behold a child josiah by name shall be born in the house up to the house of david and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you and men's bones shall be burned on you and he gave a sign the same day saying this is the sign which the lord has spoken surely the altar shall split apart and the ashes on it shall be poured out so it so it came to pass when king jeroboam heard the saying of the man of god who cried out against the author ed bethel that he stretched out his hand from the altar saying arrest him then his hand withered watch it then his hand which he stretched out toward him withered so that he could not pull it back to himself the altar also was split apart and the ashes pulled out from the altar according to the sign which the man of god had given by the word of the lord then the king answered and said to the man of god please entreat the favor of the lord your god and pray for me that my hand may be restored to me so the man of god entreated the lord and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before then the king said to the man of god come home with me and refresh yourself and i will give you a reward but the man of god said to the king if you were to give me half your house i would not go to wit with you nor would i eat bread nor drink water in this place for so it was commanded me by the word of the lord saying you shall not eat bread nor drink water nor return by the same way you came so he went another way and did not return by the way of the man by the way he came to bethel now watch this sadly this young prophet disobeyed god's word that was an old prophet i don't have time to read all of that there was an old prophet who came along and lied to the young prophet and said listen god has spoken to me and angels have spoken to me and told me it's all right for you to come back and so he went back into the city and he ate bread and drank water just like god told him not to do and then the word of the lord came to that false prophet that old lion prophet and said to him you tell that young man because he disobeyed me he's going to die on the way home by a lion and that's exactly what happened now watch this now after all of this church watch this after all of this here is general boyd holding to the altar the prophet comes and he speaks against it and says this altar is going to be split apart and the ashes are going to pour out on the ground and then when jeroboam said get him when he stretched out his hand his hand with it up and he couldn't even pull it back and then he said oh lord i have messed up prophet will you please pray to god the prophet prayed to god and he restored his head a hundred percent and then after that happened the altar split asunder and all of the ashes fell out exactly like the man of god said it would happen you would believe and think at this time that surely jeroboam has changed his heart and then later on he learned that this young prophet that did not follow god's word had been killed on the road by a lion just like god said he would now he has all of this evidence that god is telling the truth and everything that god says comes to pass jeroboam knows all of this but he did not change notice first kings chapter 13 verses 33-34 after this event jeroboam did not turn from his evil way did you hear that after all of that happened he did not turn from his evil way but again he made priests from every class of the people for the high places whoever wished he consecrated him and he became one of the priests of the high places and this thing was the sin of the house of jeroboam so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth jeroboam knows the truth and he knows that the lord is the one and only true god but his heart is so hardened by sin and rebellion that he simply cannot and will not repent the church here is what i want you to hear that is the way that sin operates in our lives we have to be careful you think you think that you can toy around and flirt around and play around with sin and not be captured by sin sin is insidious and it is strong it is deceptive and it can take you captive watch this now jeroboam had seen all of the mighty works of god at work right there before him and yet he still would not repent church that's what we're seeing is it takes us further than we want to go costs us more than we want to pay and makes us stay longer than we want to stay so what you need to understand is when you have the inkling to repent of sin you need to do it then not later when you feel like it in your heart and you understand that god's word is speaking directly to your heart and god's word is saying you need to change you need to turn don't rebuff god's word don't push it away because if you keep pushing god's way word away what's going to happen is your heart is going to get harder and harder and harder and repentance is going to become more difficult than ever if you keep rejecting god's word eventually you'll come to the point that you will see no need to repent and you will have no strength to repent and your destiny will be sealed now chapter 14 verse 1. the bible says first kings 14 1 at that time abajai abajai the son of jeroboam became sick now real quickly as i move toward my conclusion the hebrew terms in verse number three verse 12 and verse 17 in reference to this boy in reference to the son in reference to this child covers abroad a broad spectrum of time in other words the word can speak in reference to an infant as well as in reference to an adolescent and so he is somewhere in that spectrum of time of being a babe all the way to an adolescent but the text would imply that he was more of an adolescent because god said in verse number 13 that he saw something good in this child towards him so that boy had at least somehow another come to a point that he had some knowledge of god and in in spite of his daddy he had a a a earning a a yearning rather for god and so god says as a means of protecting him for what i'm going to do and that says i'm going to take this boy out of here and he is the only one that's going to go to the grave watch this now and so we don't know how old he was but we can surmise that he was at least old enough to know who god was and to have some kind of attraction and affinity for god all right look at verses two through four quickly the bible says chapter 14 verses two through four and jeroboam said to his wife please arise and disguise yourself that they may not recognize you as the wife of jeroboam and go to shiloh indeed a hijab the prophet is there who told me that i would be keen over the people also take with you ten loaves some cakes and a jar of honey and go to him he will tell you what will become of the child and jailborn's wife did so she arose and went to shiloh and came to the house of a high jai but a could not see for his eyes were glazed by reason of age now church listen in the time of crises jeroboam knows that he cannot turn to his false prophets in the time of crisis he knows that he cannot turn to his false houses of worship in dan and bethel he knows that he cannot depend on those metal calves he knows that the only place that he can go for his answers to his problems is to the lord the god of heaven and earth and that's still true even today man will never find the answers to solve his deepest pains his deepest longings and his deepest needs the secular systems of this world can never satisfy the longings of the soul or the needs of the heart only god can do that there is no medicine that can do it there is no pleasure that can do it there is no material thing that can do it and there is no man or woman that can do it only god can reach the deepest longing of the soul only god can reach the deepest pain only god can bring out of your you out of that black dark place that you're in and only god can bring real joy and real peace and will happiness back into your life if you're looking for it this morning it can only be found in the lord only god can bring wholeness to our brokenness healing to our woundedness and hope to our hopelessness if you have a need this morning and you've been seeking for wholeness if you've been seeking for your brokenness to be fixed you're not going to find it in the streets of austin or anywhere else you can only find it in the lord if you're stuck in a rut you need to try god you've tried everything else why not try god jeroboam knew where to turn to in the time of his greatest need but he was not willing to repent notice verse 5 verse 5 first kings 14 and verse 5. the bible says now the lord had said to hahajai here is the wife of jeroboam watch this now coming to ask you something about her son for he is sick thus and thus you shall say to her for it will be when she comes in that she will pretend to be another woman now church i don't know about you but when i read that my heart leaps for joy now you may not say well what in the world you may say well what in the world did you leave for joel and that one for brother why don't you stay with me because i want you to see this i'm almost at the end i'm almost at the end watch this now you may not see it but there were some very very very important things in this one little verse that seems so mundane what is it notice that nothing escapes the notice of god stay with me church god heard every single word that jeroboam uttered to his wife in their house stay with me he knew every detail about their plots and their plans he knew how jeroboam's wife was coming to him he knew when she was going to come and he knew why she was going to god knew every intimate detail about that conversation and he knew every intimate detail about their lives and what that tells us church is that god knows everything about each and every one of us there is nothing that god does not know about you not a single thing and there and here it and here's what you you need to understand church watch this now this is not a bad thing for god to know everything about us it's actually a good thing because what that means is that there is nothing that can happen in my life and in your life that god is not already aware of do you not know this morning that god knows everything that you're going through he knows every single thought you have every struggle you have every trial you have everything that you are dealing with in life god knows every intimate detail god knows our weaknesses he knows our fears he knows our doubts he knows how hurts he knows our sadness he knows the side the source of our sadness he knows our frustrations he knows why we cannot sleep at night he knows why you cried yourself to sleep last night he knows how lonely your heart is he knows about the doctor's report he knows the sorrow that has gripped your heart because of the loss of a loved one he knows the crisis that your marriage is in and the crisis with your children he knows the crisis that your business is in he knows about your financial problems there is nothing that god does not know about you he knows about the doctor's report he knows about your sick husband or your sick wife or your sick parents god knows all of the things that's ailing you this morning and god cares now let me say this as i close god said all you need to do is just trust me so here's my message to you right now whatever you're going through whether you believe it or not god knows it and god has not forsaken you god has not closed his eyes to your problems god still cares about everything that you're dealing with in life whatever that is god says i care now watch this the question is do you believe it and all god is saying just trust me i'm not asking you to do anything else but just trust me jeroboam was trying to pull one on god but god's people should never try to pull anything on god but we ought to take our problems to god and simply say god i know you already know this and i'm asking you to help me with my problems watch this now verses 6-13 as we close and so it was when a hijai came the sound heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door he said come in wife of jailborn why do you pretend to be another person for i have been sent to you with bad news go tell jeroboam thus says the lord god of israel because i exalted you among the people and made you ruler over my people israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of david he gave it to you and yet you have not been as my servant david who kept my commandments and who followed me with all of his heart to do only what was right in my eyes but you have done more evil than all of those who were before you that's meaning he's talking about saul and solomon for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molding images to provoke me to anger and have cast me behind your back therefore behold i will bring disaster on the house of jeroboam and were cut off from jeroboam every male in israel born and free i will take away the remnant of the house of jeroboam as one takes away refuse until it is all gone the dogs shall eat whoever belongs to jeroboam and dies in the city and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies dies in the field for the lord has spoken arise therefore and go to your house when your feet enter the city the child shall die and all israel shall mourn for him and bury him for he is the only one of jeroboam who shall go or shall come to the grave because in him there is found something good toward the lord god of israel in the house of jeroboam verse number nine god said to jeroboam's wife this is why i am going to do all of this because he has cast me behind his back as i close i want you to hear this the pronoun me is in the emphatic position in the hebrew and it simply means that god put emphasis on that here's what god said jeroboam you took me me jeroboam the one true god me the one who blessed you with your kingship me the one who has given you everything and done everything for you you took me the one who provides and cares for you you took me and tossed you me behind your back now what does that mean certainly god is not saying that he got rid of him because god is everywhere at the same time it is a figure of speech he is simply saying that in the strongest possible language and terminology that he could use that you have shown utter contempt from me you have no regard for me whatsoever you have pushed me completely out of your life i'm asking you as i close where is god in your life this morning where is god in your life this morning is god first or does he take place second place in your life is he first or does he come in after your job that he blessed you with is he first or does his uh or do your family and your friends and your hobbies rank higher than god does where is god in your life where is he in your marriage is he first in your marriage or is he in your marriage at all when you're dealing with one another in your marriage how do you deal with one do you think about god is in our midst where is god in your dating life do you leave god at home when you go on a date because you know you don't intend to do right where is god in your business does god have a place in your business or do you put god aside because you know that you plan to conduct unscrupulous business where is god in your finances do you do you have god as an afterthought well i'll give god something after i've done everything that i want to do where is god god on your job and in your school is god on display or do you hide god because you are ashamed of him what have you done with the lord in your whole life where is god have you tossed him behind you or have you said i foresaw the lord always before my face for he is at my right hand that i shall not be moved have you put god in his rightful place that's the question if you haven't then this morning god says if you don't put me first i won't be at all i will not play second fiddle to anyone or to anything this morning if you believe that jesus christ came suffered bled and died for your sins if you're willing to repent of your sins if you're willing to confess the name of jesus christ if you're willing to be baptized in water for the remission of your sins this morning you can be added to the church just like that young man was last sunday morning after it was all said and done he obeyed the gospel this morning you can do that jesus died for you he was buried and he rose again did you believe that will you say lord i'm ready to turn from my sin remember you can keep toying around with sin to the point that you will never obey the gospel because your heart will become so hard will you this morning repent will you confess the name of jesus and will you be baptized in water for the remission of your sins will you come as we together stand and sing the song of encouragement there's a fountain freak is for you and me let of love from the source source of love [Music] and will you come to the fountain [Music] is for you and me thirsty soul hear the welcome [Music] now it flows while the waters roll let [Music] [Applause] [Music] and will you come [Music] thirsty [Music] it's let the church say man thank you brother george for that message this morning as the song says will you come so at this time do we have anyone who wishes to be baptized is there anyone that wishes to place membership i'm before you at this time to also take the prayer request of the saints and if you would when i called out one of these in the in the category if you would raise your hand or if you're able to stand so that we can recognize you is anyone who has sinned and you've repented and you're requesting prayers also is anyone who wants prayer for traveling grace prayers for medical tests or procedures prayer for family illness okay prayer for the loss of a loved one prayer for job search or work concerns prayer for relocating to another city or another state prayer for school or for college prayer for children prayer for any other request that was not mentioned let us go to god in prayer now father now god we approach your throne first of all just thanking you for giving us this opportunity to be here this morning you watched over us while we slept you protected our homes you woke us up this morning and then you let us get up and then you brought us to this place so that we could worship in spirit and in truth so father we thank you for that we thank you for all of your many rich blessings that we take for granted we thank you dear father for your preached word we thank you for brother george as he strives to teach and preach that which he has diligently studied to stay in accordance with what you would have him to say so we we thank you for him we thank you for his family we thank you dear father again for all that you are for all that you do and all that you will do dear father we come now just asking that you would act upon the request of your children for those that have sinned and have repented we know dear father that you've already forgiven them and just give them the strength and the courage to forgive themselves and make whatever it was that was a stumbling block make it a stepping stone dear father for those who are traveling we pray that you will give them traveling grace let them arrive safely to their destinations and then bring them back safely home to find things well for those dear father who are requesting prayers for medical tests or procedures we pray that you will look favorably up on those tests and whatever the procedure may be that you would be with the doctors nurses and those that will be conducting these procedures that they will go well for those dear father who have illness in their family we pray that you will act upon those requests also for those dear father who have lost loved ones we just ask that you would comfort them at this time and let us as your children do what we can to comfort them also the father for those that are searching for jobs or they have work concerns i just pray and ask their father that you would give those people those your children the right doors that they will be able to go through if they're looking for a job and if it's a door that you don't want them to go through dear father just shut that door and then give them the faith that they need to know that you didn't want them to go through that door and if there were concerns we just pray and ask their father that each and every one of us will just do what is right and you'll take care of the rest the father for those that may be relocating to another city or another state we just pray to father that you would be with them and as they established their new dwelling they would not forget you and find a place to worship the father for those who are in school or in college are young children that are back in school all the way from pre-k day care all the way up through college we know dear father that they especially need you because the devil will be busy in their lives and that's one of the reasons dear father that almost every sunday there are more hands that that go up when we're talking about our children and so we just pray that you would put that hedge of protection around each and every one of them so that they will not stray from what they have been taught if there's anyone else their father whose prayer request was not mentioned but raise their hands you know already what that request is and we just ask that you would act upon that also be with us dear father continue to work with your children here at east side thank you for the leadership that you've placed here at eastside thank you for all of the members that are here and that are under the sound of my voice be with us dear father and continue to guide us in his life and forever love us for it is in jesus name we pray amen we have come to the part of the service where we are the focus our minds on the death the burial and the resurrection of our lord and savior jesus christ as we prepare for the lord's supper let us notice because he lives god sent his son they called him jesus [Music] he came to love [Music] he lived and [Music] is there to prove my savior lives because [Music] [Applause] [Music] is fear is gone because i know i know and know he [Music] because [Music] how sweet [Music] a newborn and feel the pride and joy he breathed r this child can face uncertain days because he lives [Music] i can face tomorrow [Music] cause he lives [Music] future life is worth the living just because he lives [Music] let the church say amen i want to thank brother george uh for the lesson just for the word that god places on his heart it's been a blessing to us we've reached another portion of our worship service the communion and before we take communion if anyone did not have a chance to receive the communion packet if you would please raise your hand so that the urchins can please hand one to you and for communion i will be reading from the book of first corinthians chapter 11 verse 23. for i received from the lord what i also passed on to you the lord jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me let us pray for the bread at this time dear heavenly father thank you so much first of all for who you are we thank you for your son jesus sacrifice for the fact that he took our place and he was innocent we pray that we take this bread in the right manner which is your son's body and that you will bless it in your son's name amen in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the lord a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the lord eats and drinks judgment on himself let us pray for the cup again to god we approach your throne we thank you for this blood that was shed by your son we thank you because it gives us a way to be with you throughout all eternity and not to be separated from you we pray that we take this cup in the right manner that you will bless this cup in your says name amen and now for the offering there are several options that you have in order to give one is through the eastsidecoc.com website you can access that and follow the prompts to give your offering also you can download the shelby next app and also follow the icons to be able to give through your phones for those who are present here if you would like to give your offering to someone in leadership please feel free to do so and for those who would like to mail in their offering please utilize the p.o box and please do not send cash as far as the attitude we should have when giving let us read i will be reading four for you from second corinthians chapter nine verse six through seven remember this whosoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sews generously will also reap generously each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion for god loves a cheerful giver at this time let us pray for the offering once again dear god we thank you because you are ultimately the greatest example of giving we thank you for the blessings that you give us the things we sometimes take for granted and we thank you for this opportunity just to give you a portion of what you have blessed us with we ask that you will guide the minds of those who will be handling these funds that it will continually be used for the upbuilding of your kingdom in your says name we do pray amen good morning east side you have sometimes heard someone say i'm the bearer of bad news but i'm the bearer of good news this morning and to preface that good news i'm sure that you will agree with this statement being that we are true worshipers of god that salvation is free jesus paid it all there's not a balance isn't that good news you know someone said that anything that's free nothing's free is good so that shoots that theory out the wall this good news i've got some other good news especially for our youth and for parents of our youth we have a fully weekend trip for our youth for next weekend it's been paid by the church of christ at east side austin texas and what we need we need four more teenage girls i'm talking to you if you are watching us on online on stream we need four more teenage girls and one more teenage male it's paid for now can now parents we're talking about a youth free weekend teenagers we're talking about a parent-free weekend now that's good news you know carol and i finally got to be emptiness and we enjoy youth free weekends use free weeks youth free months that's good news we need four teenage girls to go on this trip we need a teenage male i wanted to know if i could go but brother uh petra said i didn't make the cut i asked him how much i missed it by he said well a few years here and there it's important that we get our children involved we're talking about a huge weekend where they can be with fellow christians here or those who attend church here that may haven't been baptized yet and to meet with other groups from well over the state of texas and and other places they're going to uh a little bit further than dallas i understand it's it's so important that we got children involved i can truly say to you that my christian journey after i was baptized i probably really didn't get any traction until i began to get involved with the youth program and i know that that's what's such a big part of my growth there are members at this church right now that's looking at me that remember when i was young enough to go to the youth conference let's get them involved we have youth leaders here who are loving caring and they are responsible we don't send our children anywhere with just anybody that's important and talking about our youth program we're trying very hard very diligent to get a full youth minister that that's his assignment to work with our youth and the families but until then let's support those who are working full time on their careers but still dedicating their lives to helping us with our youth let's do that let's do that now i know if i was a teenager at home right now i would be running to the phone you can contact brother bradford brother ronnie mclaren i believe you know who they are if you don't contact anyone to leadership and say my child wants to go i want them to go i need them to go i believe that we can get those field that we can trip i believe it's next weekend on my right pat and we got room for four teenage girls and one teenage man i believe we can go it's paid for a plush bus air conditioner you'll have your own seat you'll just be cruising no mom and daddy to bother you i'm really selling this heart but that's the good news let's do that let's do that we're going to uh have a word of prayer and then we're going to have another bit of good news because we have someone who has been added to the body and we don't want to rush through that so we're going to have word of prayer then we're going to introduce our new brother in christ let us pray most guiding gracious heavenly father once again because of your love for us your love of mankind you've allowed us to see this beautiful and perfect lord's day father we thank you for the worship service this morning the songs the prayers the certainly the sermon father that was delivered by your man servant rather the means that we could give and father to and and that we could remember your son's uh broken body and shedded blood we're thankful father you've allowed us this great opportunity to worship you in spirit editing father as we are dismissed from this place but never from your presence we pray that you would just uh guide us this week protect us protect our families our friends father video divine will bring us back safe and sound next sunday that we can once again worship you in spirit and in truth christ then we pray amen if you'll just stay seated for just a minute we have a young man that was baptized last sunday after after worship and i understand that this young man received a simple invitation to come and be with us from brother roger davis a simple invitation and someone has been added to the body of christ this young man his brother joshua merchant he lives in prairie view and he drives from prairie view on sundays to be here with us some of us are having a hard time just driving five or ten miles he's driving from prairie view we're going to ask joshua merchant to come down front and we're going to ask the caregiver leader from caregiver 7 says roger was instrumental in bringing him to christ the elder deacon covered lead of character of seven right now we don't have a care group in prairie view texas we hadn't expanded that for yet but you all come down and we're to adopt him in character 7. everybody come down let's adopt joshua mercy brother joshua i like mre he just has this big smile as he coming down come on down brother brother joshua turn around and let the family see you here is our new brother brother joshua merchant let us give him a hand of welcome look at that smile on his face very good very good at this time we're going to ask uh that we'll get a picture of brother merchant as well so why don't we go ahead and uh josh once you go ahead and follow uh brother uh roger why don't you take him out so we get a picture before he gets stampeded all right i'm going to give a moment to just kind of get past the crowd and i'm going to release the crowd once again all right consider yourself dismissed god will come your way [Music] in life we have decisions if we keep on singing after we know the truth you

Channel: Church of Christ at East Side

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Length: 136min 9sec (8169 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021