George Williams - Young, Dedicated, and Determined

[Music] lead me on [Music] why should i worry when the lord is there to catch me he has brought me through so many things great and small my lord i know he'll guide me through it all [Music] to the [Music] take me [Music] wherever i go i know my lord and savior always shows me the way [Music] so take my hand on this christian journey i know that with you i'm never lost or lonely got to take you with me every day this i pray [Music] come on [Music] [Music] take my hair i am [Laughter] through the night come on come on oh [Music] he is a future [Music] jesus is you when you feel that my friends [Music] [Music] [Music] will be defeated [Music] [Music] tribulations [Music] jesus me [Music] jesus him [Music] hold to god's unchanging hand and he will lead you just hold to god's unchanging [Music] [Music] so i know that he can truly guide me [Music] trust in him the king was angry when they said no he [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] everybody good morning it's time for us to begin our worship service once again god has protected us all night and all day brought us to this place that we can worship him in spirit and in truth well it was all night and all day you know the angels you're watching over me mom you know it's all night and all day the angels are watching [Music] my lord we're singing [Music] [Music] it was all night and it was all [Music] the angels well you know that it was all night and it was all day you know the angels are watching over [Music] one more [Music] was time night and it was all day you know the angels of over me my lord we're singing all night and all day the angels are watching over me good morning grace mercy peace and love to each of you from god our father by through his our lord and savior jesus christ we'd like to welcome you to the morning worship service of the church of christ at east side and a special welcome to those on youtube internet we thank you to all our visitors welcome so we want you now to prepare your hearts prepare your mind to worship our lord and our savior and thank him through your worship for all the love he's given to you that brought you to this place today to assemble together with one another in love and peace let us pray a father who art in heaven hallowed be your holy and divine name we thank you again for this opportunity to praise you to honor you so we ask and invoke your special blessings on this worship service may it be pleasing may it be acceptable to you as we praise and honor you and thank you for all that you've done all that you're going to do and now may we blow a kiss back to you in jesus name we pray amen good morning east side we may seem to be few in number but it seems to me that the church that has a symbol it's ready to have some church that's now that's what it seems to me now if you're fooling me don't tell me anything different god washed those all day and all night brought us to this place i'll be listening for my name we'll sing all three verses i'll be listening together let us sing when the savior calls i will answer and when he calls for me i will hear and when the [Music] and i'll be somewhere listening [Music] a listening i'll be somewhere a listening for my name and if my heart is right when he holds me and if my heart is right i'm gonna hear and if my heart is right when he calls me i'm gonna be [Music] listening for my name and if my role is wide when he calls me and if my role is wide [Music] i'm gonna be somewhere listening for my gonna be somewhere a listening for my name i'm gonna be somewhere listening i'll be somewhere unlistening i'll be somewhere listening for my name [Music] i'll be somewhere listening for my name [Music] i'll be somewhere listening for my name yield not to temptation we'll sing all three verses after which we'll ask you to stand for prayer we'll ask you to stand when we sing the chorus last course together let us sing you not to temptation yielding your sin egg victory will help [Music] [Music] [Music] because jesus will carry why don't we just ask the savior to him you and to come but strengthen and keep you know that jesus is willing to end you and jesus will carry you through and sure [Music] [Music] be thoughtful and [Music] because jesus will carry you through why don't we just ask the savior to him you and to come you know that jesus is willing to hate i know that jesus will carry you through and to to him that oh come [Music] may god giveth a ground and through fate we will come honked though we're often cast down [Music] [Music] because jesus can carry you through why don't we just ask the savior to him you and to come but strengthen and key you know that jesus is willing to hate i know that jesus will carry you why don't we just ask the savior to help you and to come for trenton and key you know that jesus [Music] oh why don't we just ask the [Music] you know that jesus willing and jesus will carry you through family please join me in prayer the merciful one the creator of heaven and earth without you we are nothing we your people your children the one you love so much we come before you this morning lord to say thank you because you are everything we thank you for your son jesus christ the one that suffered bled and died for our sins the one that is the bridge that led us that will lead us and continue to lead us to you lord this morning we some of us are on different levels of life some of us are feeling real good [Music] some of us have in between some of us are right in the bottom whatever i raise love we know we have god like no other the one that can understand and hear all languages of the world there is no one who is capable of that so lord this morning we just say thank you thank you for everything that you have done for us the one that we know the one that we don't know lord we just want to process at this moment to ask father god for forgiveness of sin anything that we stand in you receiving this prayer we say lord forgive us the lord we thank you we thank you and we thank you if we have mouth all over our body we'll be insufficient to say thank you because lord we uh we we went to bed last night woke up this morning to a new day it's already a good day because this is the day the lord has made you have made and we will rejoice and be glad in it said by who by you so we thank you so lord some of us have breakfast this morning before coming here some of us just said you know what i'm just going to come to church and lord we thank you and some of us have checks and we already we already put some money in there uh shelby lord and and we our mind is prepared we just thank you lord and as we prepare for today we always thinking about the goodness your goodness before things happen you already know lord you already know and we just want to take this moment to say thank you lord for the things that you have prepared when you know that this world was about to go through a transformation and you prepare for your children you prepare for everyone lord we thank you for footsteps we thank you for ppp because most of us would have not been here today with our stimulus chair sometimes we just forget about the little things those of us who have businesses thank you for small business loan thank you for that payroll protection plan thank you father god for blessing the government to help us and a lot of people might not identify with this law but there are those who identify with this purely because so many things happen some people got richer in this process some people even got poorer in this process will some people lost loved one but you have created some avenue for your special children and even those who don't believe in you started to believe in you through this process and we said thank you lord we thank you father god for our reigns and we thank you for mortgages and we thank you for that god that we even you know it was so bad it was so tough lord that you allowed us to read those benefit of getting an extension in paying our bills and because some of us don't understand we only live in america because in the other part of the world there is no social security there is no food stamp and there is no retirement program and lord and then christian has been i've been lich lord in other part of the world and we have an opportunity to garden and sing praises to your name give us prosperity all these things lord and we thank you for this opportunity we thank you for this country united states of america lord we thank you for this body here today we thank you father god for what you have done and continue to do we can't thank you enough lord yes our church building has gone through some challenges of his own the lord our faith and trust is in you we are not worried thank you for insurance policy thank you for insurance policy with lord because without insurance most of us will be in a different situation as well lord what shall we say so many things lord we thank you for the relationship that we have with you as your children because god most of us has not lived to your expectations you have your son our big brother jesus christ who has said the mark and we can't even live up to a little part of it you know our heart you know what we go through you know that we are better than we at sometime lord we thank you father god for overlooking our imperfection and blessing us in spite of lord we thank you and this moment lord we thank you for our children we thank you father god for the seed that you have blessed us with we pray lord that we continue to be those parents that pray for the children when the children don't know how to pray for us and pray for themselves because our mother and father prayed for us when we didn't pray for ourselves lord we thank you for our grandchildren the special love that you have blessed us with and some of us even have great grandchildren we ask your blessing upon them lord on a personal level today lord every one of us you know uh we may we have different challenges whatever that challenges are you know lord that we pray to you in our prayer closet so we come together right now lord and ask lord that you will meet us at our point of need whatever that prayer is lord that you will answer that prayer for us lord some have lost loved one some are sick lord we just thank you for the memory that we have with the loved one that we lost and we pray lord that you continue to guide and protect us and to continue to stay forward in love because we have a legacy and every one of us have a legacy and it's our own to define what that legacy is and our legacy starts with seeking you seeking the lord first and we can teach our family that how to love how to appreciate how to understand simple compassion because somebody didn't have a bed to sleep last night somebody was under the bridge last night somebody smoked cracked through last night someone who smoked meat through last night somebody drink theirself to sleep last night somebody praying and couldn't get a relief last night because of self-life suffering but here we are a lot we got so much money in our bank accounts and we some of us have paid up our homes and we've paid off our cars we've got so much room in our house that we can only sleep one and somebody don't have a place to sleep and then we our ego is so big just like texas whom we have arrived lord we ask for forgiveness where we are arrogant please forgive us lord replace that arrogance with confidence in you thank you father god for hearing this prayer this morning because god some of us are college dropout but we make so much money than a college graduate some of us have degrees lord and we have favor from sort of men and women and we have done great things some of us have jobs we never even interviewed for we never applied for we're talking about the benefit of you lord and we thank you lord and and we know lord that we don't know what the future holds you do you do lord when the time comes because none of us is going to make it out of here our life we are not here forever we will definitely exit this world we will not call it a cruel world today because you know lord we know lord that you gave this to us when our time comes lord you already know that we are not perfect you know we've done some sleazy things that we think we can take to our grave lord we we know lord that we believe and we know lord that you will call our name because we'll be faithful over a few little things that you would call on him said you have been bad but because of my grace our mercy come on over son come on over daughter come and have your crown of life lord we also pray lord that it will be peaceful some of us are fighting ourselves help us to stop firing ourselves and to hold to your unchanging hand thank you lord for what you have done for us thank you thank you thank you thank you lord those of us that are who have fought complacent as a result of this coronavirus we pray lord that you please touch them in a special way yes means are changing their mind those who didn't want who they want the vaccine and now telling families please go and take version in this church we pray for scientists we thank you for the scientists we thank you father god for pfizer we thank you for madonna we thank you faraga for our john cena johnson all these men are women that are labeled day and night to come up with vaccines so that we will so that we can uh fight this coronavirus we thank you for that we've prayed for them before because we know lord that you did this you you did this lord so because you asked a prayer and you asked an opera we've seen it thank you god for hearing this prayer today lord finally lord we just thank you for this great body here we thank you for men and women of inside church of christ we thank you for the visitors who pray lord that you need to bless us lord yes we might be filled right now lord we know people are come we have come this another this is just another trial this is just another trial lord and we overcome we thank you father god for the leadership of this church the deacons the elders the preacher their family we pray lord the economy to bless them lord because they have worked tirelessly through this process coming up with different ways to reach the members like we thank you and we pray lord that you praise brother william as you step up to to to to preach to us this morning we pray lord our heart our mind will be open to receive this word lord that we will become a better person for you thank you father god for all your many blessings this is our prayer in your son jesus christ we pray this morning amen let the church say amen as we prepare to hear our second sermon that's a preaching praying brother right there god bless him though i do need to find out what members have all that money i'd like to get a little bit closer to you leaning on the everlasting arm i know that most of you here and most of you at home would say we know leaning on everlasting all singing all three verses what what a fellowship tell me what what the joy divine call someone [Music] sickness tell me what what of peace is mine called something leaning on the everlasting oh everybody needs to lean oh jesus and everybody needs to lean oh jesus alone but you got to lean oh jesus and you've got to lean on jean says yes we'll leave [Music] to walk in in this old pill come away cause i'm lean leaning on [Music] [Music] she oh thank god that we're leaning oh jesus thank god that will leaning oh jesus then you'll be so [Music] safer and secure and secure from all along but you got to lean oh jesus and you got to lean on [Music] sandwich now everybody say what what the [Music] [Music] leaning [Music] sit peace with with mine my lord so nicole's i'm lean leaning on [Music] oh and everybody needs to leave oh jesus everybody needs to [Music] [Music] from all alone but you've got to live oh jesus and you've got to leave [Music] [Music] see thank god that we're leaning oh jesus thank god that will lead jesus [Music] [Music] lord [Music] amen amen and amen while you're standing on your feet go ahead and lift your voices and repeat after me praise o servants of the lord praise the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord from this time forth and forevermore from the horizon of the son two is going down the lord's name is to be praised the lord is high above all nations his glory above the heavens who is like the lord our god who dwells on high who humbles himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth amen and amen please be seated that's psalm 113 and verses 1 through 6. what a powerful psalm i love that song god's name is to be praised from sun up to sundown hallelujah you know we shouldn't just worship the lord when we get here on a sunday morning but we ought to have worship and praise given for god every day of the week all through the day we ought to be praising the lord in some way shape form of fashion and of course when we live for the lord that is indicative of a life that is praising god because when we live for the lord we are honoring the lord by the life that we live and as paul said in romans 12 and verse number one we are presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice unto the lord and of course i love the idea that he says god is so awesome think about this now think about how vast the heavens are yet the bible talks about god is so above so high above the heavens that he has to humble himself to look on the heavens that he has to as it would be to stoop to look on the heavens what an awesome god we serve in church that ought to give us a sense of peace and comfort to know that we serve a god that big and so there is no problem that we can encounter in life that god cannot handle and the church said amen y'all happy to be here this morning amen we as brother ed said maybe a few in number but we are appreciative for those who have come and for those who have tuned in on youtube we are thankful for you and and certainly to the church that's here and to the church that's there we thank you and it's good to see you and for those of you that i cannot see i'm glad that you're looking at me not me but participating in the worship service that's what i'm saying amen and amen now i want to just take a moment to say if you are visiting with us and you're not a member of the church of christ at east side we'd like for you to please stand so that we might recognize you if you're not a member of the church amen we have several here who are not thank you god bless each and every one of you thank you so very much we want you to know that you are indeed our honored guest and we are glad that you have come to worship with us this morning and we want you to know that you are among friends and not enemies and in spite of the covet i trust that you'll give us a chance to greet you when this service has ended now brother ed did an awesome job in leading us in songs this morning had a lot of energy thank you brother ed for that job well done and what can we say about douglas you know douglas douglas is it reminds me of brother roberts he prays about everything and that's all right that's all right you know brother roberts used to pray pray even for sweet potato pie douglas didn't pray for that but he got everything else and so we appreciate him so very much i appreciate his passion and his love for the lord and certainly we are grateful for all of the men of god these brothers the last weeks or so all of la all just they do a wonderful job in praying and leading us before the throne of god we are grateful to have so many spiritual brothers who can talk to the lord on our behalf and i know that there are many sisters who are praying along with us we're very spiritual in their minds as well in their hearts so we know that the prayers are going up and god hears our prayers if you have your bibles we'd ask that you please hold them up i'd just like to see them if you have your bible if the ipad iphone god bless your heart thank you we never want to put the bible down amen we we never want to stop reading the word of god it is the standard by which we live our lives it is the standard by which we follow or that we follow as members of the churches of christ well i can say east side i won't go any further than that amen you used to be able to say that but now you just you have to say what you say about east side and so that's what i'm going to say now i want to ask you to open your bibles to daniel chapter 1 daniel chapter 1 daniel chapter 1. and we're going to read verses 1 through 8. daniel chapter 1 verses 1 through 8 if you have it say amen amen and amen all right i'm reading from the new king james translation and the bible says in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah nebuchadnezzar king of babylon came to jerusalem and besieged it and the lord gave jehoiakim king of judah into his hand with some of the articles of the house of god which he carried into the land of shinar to the house of his god and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god then the king instructed aspanas the master of his eunuchs to bring some of the children of israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking gifted in all wisdom possessing knowledge and quick to understand who had ability to serve in the king's palace at whom they might teach the language uh the literature of the chaldeans and the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and three years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king now from among those are of the sons of judah were daniel hananiah mashiel and azariah to them the chief of the eunuchs gave names he gave daniel the name delta zaza to hitler naya shadrach to mashiel meshach and to azariah i bet me go but daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies nor with the wine which he drank therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself and i'll just read on just a tad bit now verse 9 now god had brought daniel into fayetteville and good will of the chief of the eunuchs and the chief of the eunuch said to dania i fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and drink but why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age then they would endanger my head you would endanger my head before the king so daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over daniel hananiah michelle and azariah please test your servants for 10 days and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink then let our appearance be examined before you and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies and as you see it as you see fit so deal with us with your servants so he consented with them in this matter and tested them ten days now we'll read the rest of it as we go through but in verse number eight the bible says but daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies nor with the wine which he drank therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself i want to talk this morning this lesson is primarily geared toward our young people our youth but it is of course something in it for everybody i want to talk this morning on the subject young dedicated and determined young dedicated and determined i need you to give me your attention if you would as and i want you to use your mind i want you to use your imagination i want you to think with me as i try to [Music] draw this image in your head and try to recapitulate this story that we are looking at here in the book of daniel chapter one imagine if you will that you are in your early teens somewhere in the range of 13 to 15 at the most 13 years old 14 years old 15 years old and the political environment is one that is hostile it is unstable and it is volatile imagine if you will that there is the sound of war all around you that when you were growing up your parents told you about the destruction of your kinsmen in the northern kingdom israel they told you about how there was this nation that came in in 722 bc just a little bit over a hundred years ago and carried your kinsmen off into captivity they told you about how this cruel vicious military juggernaut the assyrians besieged samaria which was of course the capital city of israel the northern kingdom and carried them away captive into assyria and now you are being told that there is a new nemesis on the horizon there is a new power in the land there is another nation that has arisen that has flexed its military muscles and this nation is so strong and mighty that it defeated the mighty assyrian army and now it is the preeminent power in the world and now this nation that has defeated assyria and taken the position of the world's power is on the march and it is marching towards your city it is marching toward your home it is marching toward jerusalem i'm quite sure that hearing that news as a young man would be very disconcerting to say the least and i'm sure that your mind would be inundated with questions about your future question about the future question about what tomorrow will look like and will there even be a tomorrow to look forward to considering what's on the horizon and i would imagine that there would be a lot of fear in those young men i would imagine that there would be a lot of frustration in those young men and i would imagine that there would be a lot of anxiety about and the same is true today many of our young men and young women and i might as well say many of us young and old are wondering what the future holds amen especially with all of the issues that we are faced with as a nation we are still in the throes of a pandemic that seems not to want to go away our democracy is under assault voting rights are under assault and even truth has been crucified and nailed to the cross amen no longer does truth matter in america it's just whatever sales whatever pleases my base whatever pleases the populace that's the only concern i have whatever can keep me in power that's the only thing i'm concerned about and so this world that we're living in right now this country that we're living in right now is in trouble but let me encourage you not to panic let me encourage you not to fear let me encourage you not to worry because our god whom we serve is not asleep and not only is he not asleep but i want you to understand that our god that we serve is still on the throne and he is still in control can the church say amen and church let me encourage you to face every new day the same way i don't know what tomorrow holds but i know this i know who holds tomorrow and even though i cannot trust what tomorrow holds i can trust the one who holds tomorrow in the hollows of his hand i want you to understand that every day we ought to wake up with the same resolve we ought to wake up with the same attitude and disposition that i'm gonna face this day with faith and trust in god but the bible says we walk by faith and not by sight and every day our mantra ought to be that which solomon talks about in proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 when solomon says trust in the lord with all of thine heart and lean not to thy own understanding in all of your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths in other words all of us from the youngest to the oldest need to take god's hand and let go of worry because you cannot hold on to worry and hold on to god's hand at the same listen to me if you're going to hold on to worry you got to let god's hand go but if you're going to like god's let weary go then you can hold on to god's hand but you cannot hold on to worry and god's hand at the same time you must let one go in order to hold on to the other and when we take god's hand we must trust him and believe that somehow another no matter how things look no matter how bad how bleak they may look how gloom they may look we know that god is still in control god will see us through it and he'll bring us out one way or the other back to this scenario just imagine now that you've heard of this nation that's marching through the land capturing city after city nation after nation and your hometown jerusalem is in its crosshairs and the day finally arises that there is that nation outside of your city walls and this nation besieges your city but not only does it besiege the city but then it breaks through the gates and it comes into the city and then it breaks into your neighborhood and it comes to your neighborhood and then finally there comes that knock at the door and it's some of those soldiers from this nation babylon and they come into your house and they break into your house and they take you and your brothers and everybody that's in your family and they drag you off to a foreign land hundreds of miles away just imagine what would be going through your heart through your mind can you imagine how devastating that would be can you imagine as a young man or a young woman in your early teens being faced with that harsh reality and here it is this is not a nightmare this is not a dream this is not something that i'm going to wake up from and say thank god that was a dream i cannot tell you how many times i have had dreams and i woke up and i said thank you lord i fell on my knees right there and said i'm so glad that that was a dream have you ever done that i know i have i said oh lord thank you that that was a dream but this was not a dream they could not wake up from this this was not a nightmare that they could wake up and say i thank you lord that it was just a bad dream this was their reality and that's the situation in daniel chapter one judah has been invaded by babylon jerusalem the capital city has been captured and babylon has taken several thousands thousand captives back to babylon and among those captives are these four young men that we're reading about here in daniel chapter one they become the focal point of the first half of this book called daniel notice what the bible says now in daniel chapter 1 and verse number 1 as we walk through the text daniel chapter 1 and verse number 1 if you have it say amen the bible says in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah nebuchadnezzar king of babylon came to jerusalem and besieged it now if you know your biblical history then you remember that there were three waves of captives that were carried away by babylon to babylon now now watch this now they captured jerusalem first in 605 bc and this is when daniel and his companions were carried off to babylon they were part of that first wave of captives that were led away from jerusalem to babylon and then there was another raid upon upon jerusalem and and then that happened in 597 bc or 598 bc and there was a second wave of captives that over 10 000 were carried away into babylon and then in 586 bc nebuchadnezzar of course there was another wave of captives that were carried away but on that occasion the walls of the city were torn down the temple was destroyed the total the city was totally destroyed and that was the end of it and they were carried away into captivity but now daniel and his companions were a part of that first wave of captives and most of the biblical historians would say that this first wave of captives that daniel and his friends were part of took place in the summer or the spring of 605 bc so i'm just trying to get you to see the stage i want you to see what's transpiring paint this image in your mind if you will notice what the bible says in daniel chapter one and verse number two the bible says and the lord gave jehoiakim king of judah into his hand with some of the articles of the house of god which he carried into the land of shinar to the house of his god and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god now i want you to notice something notice what it said here because you you'll miss it if you don't pay attention to it it was commonplace for a conquering king to place some of the spoils of war in the house of his god because it was believed by that king by that potentate that his god had given him victory over the god of the country or the people that he had conquered and so in order to say thank you to his god he would give them some of the spoils of the war but daniel wants us to know that that's not the case in this situation daniel wants us to understand that the only reason that nebuchadnezzar could take the city of jerusalem was because our god who is the true god is the one who permitted and allowed in other words even he ordained that it should be so that nebuchadnezzar and babylon would capture the city daniel wants us to know that it is god and because god is sovereign god allowed him to come in and take the city as punishment to jerusalem for their departure from him now i want you to watch this now because there's a message here daniel daniel said the lord watch this now look at verse number two the bible says in verse number two and the lord and the lord gave jehoiakim now watch this now if you're looking at your bible and if you're reading one of the reliable translations you will see that lord is capital l but then there are lowercase o r d all right now watch this it's not all caps because when you read all caps you're talking about the coveted name of god yahweh that he revealed himself in in in the book of exodus chapter three but he chooses here another word and this is deliberately done because he uses the word adonaia adonaia instead of yahweh now what's important about adonai is that that word aranaya means owner it means ruler it means lord it means sovereign one now watch this now what daniel wants us to recognize is that god was not asleep when this happened and it didn't happen because god was impotent it only happened because god is sovereign and he willed that it happened now here's what you need to understand church here's one of the things you need to understand is that part of or the main theme rather of the book of daniel is the sovereignty of god keep that in mind brothers and sisters it is this it is knowing that god is sovereign over everything god is sovereign over everyone and god is sovereign over every situation that should give us peace of mind in the midst of life crises if i'm always aware and cognizant of the fact that god is in control and whatever is happening is happening because the lord has allowed it to happen then that gives me a sense of peace because what it tells me is no matter how bad it looks to me god still has it god is sovereign church daniel lets us know in the book of daniel that he raises up kings and he brings down kings he raises up kingdoms and he brings down kingdoms he controls the heat of the fire in the fiery furnace and he controls the temperament of the lions in the lion's den who but god could do that god can take the hot out of the fire and allow his children to walk around it without any harm god can put his servant in a lion's den that's hungry and make them lie down and act like lambs because he is sovereign in church whatever we are confronted with in life let us never remember never forget rather that god is sovereign there is nothing that he is not in control of and since that is the case we ought to have that reassuring peace of mind that passes all understanding because we know that god's got it he is under control how many of you remember what happened in matthew chapter 14 this is one of the things that i love about matthew chapter 14. you remember when jesus sent the apostles on the head over the sea of galilee and then they got caught in this horrendous storm while jesus was still praying on the mountain and and when they were in the midst of that sea and and they were struggling against the storm the bible says that jesus saw them and the bible tells us in matthew chapter 14 and verse number 25 watch this now matthew 14 and verse 25 now in the fourth watch of the night and the fourth watch of the night was from three a.m to six a.m so we're talking about in the in the early early mornings why it's still dark and the outfield that storm tossed sea the bible says jesus went to them walking on the sea now i want you to see this because i'm talking about the sovereignty of god i want you to understand that god is sending a message to his apostles and what is that message the very thing that's given you trouble i already got it under control what's troubling you i'm walking on it what's troubling you is under my feet already and what god is trying to let us know is i don't care what's troubling you in life how big it is how troublesome it is i'm already in control of it what are you dealing with this morning what are you dealing with this morning i promise you that it's under god's feet what are you dealing with this what i promise you that is under his auspices what are you dealing with this morning i promise you that it's under his control ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters whether we like it or not there will be some things in life that will be out of our control see those apostles couldn't control that raging sea but jesus could and see no matter how smart we are how educated we are how innovative we are there will be some things in life that we come up against that we cannot figure out we cannot control that we cannot fix but we need to know that we serve a god who can fix it and who can control it and that's why we got to put our trust in him and not in ourselves god is in control and daniel and his friends are captives in babylon but he still wants us to know that god is running the show watch this look if you will to daniel chapter one verses three through seven daniel chapter one verses three through seven the bible says then the king instructed aspanas the master of his eunuchs to bring some of the children of israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles so we know that daniel was of royalty and and his and his companions they were of royalty and the bible says in verse number four young men young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking gifted in all wisdom possessing knowledge and quick to understand who would who had ability to serve in the king's palace at whom they might teach the language and literature of the chaldeans and the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and three years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king now from among those of the chief of the eunuchs gave names he to them the chief of the eunuchs gave names watch this now among those of the sons of judah i apologize where daniel had anaya michelle and azariah to them the chief of the unity gave names he gave daniel the name delta shahzad to hadonaya shadrach to michelle meshach and to our azariah abetnego now young people i want you to pay attention to this because there are a lot of things i want to say as i go through this text i want you to notice that those that the king selected to be given a royal education with full benefits they were of a of a certain kind amen now watch this now i want you to think because i want to i want to bring this into our day and time if if i were putting this in today's vernacular i would say that they were selected to receive a full academic scholarship with all expenses paid stay with me food shelter all of the schooling you never have to pay one dime these young men would have been enrolled in what we might call the royal academy it would have been the apex of all learning opportunities in babylon it was the creme de la creme of ancient education it was the princeton and the harvard and the yale of ancient mesopotamia only the cream of the crop could go to that institution and they would be a part of their educational curriculum for three years and the bible says now watch this now who's gonna go to this academy this this high-end school who's gonna go there the bible says in verse number four watch this young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking now that's subjective you know what looks good to somebody may not look good to others but then there are people that you just say automatically i mean that's a good looking person you know there are some people you just say well that's a good-looking man that's a good-looking woman gifted gifted in what in all wisdom possessing knowledge and quick to understand who had ability to serve in the king's palace at whom they might teach the language and literature of the chaldeans now i want you to notice now young people listen to me carefully nebuchadnezzar didn't just select any and everybody nebuchadnezzar wanted the best and the brightest minds at his disposal because he was looking to advance babylonian culture babylonian power babylonian wealth babylonian religion and babylonian politics and he wanted the cream of the crop he wanted the best of the best and where did he start he selected those number one who had no physical handicap he selected those who he considered to be attractive now this was the standard the king didn't do it itself but he appointed those who were over that to do it now watch this and they had to have already not watched it they have to have already demonstrated through some pre-screening process that they had an aptitude for learning young men who were not afraid to apply themselves to the books and learned and they were shocked in their minds now there are a whole lot of things that i can point out in this text but i only want to focus on two right now there are two obvious points that that leap off of the pages of inspiration that you need to hear as a young man and a young woman in today's society the first criterion had to do with physical appearance now watch this now young people whether you like it or not and whether or not you think it's fair you need to understand that the first thing a person judges you by is what they see on the outside you can say whatever you want that ain't fair they don't know how much sense i got in my head they don't know how intelligent i am i'm a straight a student but if you look like a failure on the outside you'll never get to prove to them that what what you have on the inside of your head that ain't fair brother williams i'm just talking about what he is people tend to judge you by what they see before they know you they see the out with you before they ever get to know the end with you and if the truth be told sometimes what they see will prevent you from ever getting the chance to show them the end with you so i want you to hear me now the only thing that i'm saying this morning concerning your outward appearance is care about your appearance take pride in who you are and take pride in how you look there's nothing wrong with dressing in the latest styles but as a christian young man and a christian young woman the standard is not what's in style the standard is what's appropriate and what's modest say man if you can i don't care what your peers are wearing i don't care how skippy it is and how in vogue it is i'm saying as a child of god you have another standard that you walk by and that is is it appropriate and is it modest for me as a child of god now this is a sidebar don't jump on me but listen anyhow sisters you need to be be careful what you out of worship now we have sisters here who do very well i i thank god for east side you know i would say that we do well in this area but i'm still saying we need to be careful what we wear and i'm not just saying this to to the sisters it's for the brothers as well but but i am saying that there is something to the fact that the bible says who's ever looking for a woman to lust after her that's not saying that women don't lust but it is saying that men have a greater problem with it because men are sight oriented say whatever you want to say say amen if you can hey man hey i don't think your wife had to stop buying you no lingerie but the brothers like it come on brother say amen if you care are you married don't try to act like y'all don't know what i'm talking about just keep it real and i'm just saying it is what it is let me i told you this was a sidebar let me go on cause i'm about to get in trouble but listen to me brothers and sisters if it's too tight and too short if it was too tight and too short with your left home it will still be too tight and too short when you get where you're going because it won't pick up any fabric from the house to work it won't pick up any fabric from the house to the church and it won't pick up any fabric from the house to the school i'm just talking about what i'm talking about christians christians christians have been called on to dress in a modest manner first first timothy chapter two and verse number nine and let me say a word to parents you you have to be a part in this matter you all know we have these liberated parents now and you know they're liberal-minded and they think like well you know i don't want to squash my child's artistic individuality i want them to be free thinkers and to think for themselves i'm trying to tell you that's fine to a certain degree but you are in the house to be a parent and listen to me listen to me listen to me there are certain things that you ought not to allow your child or children to walk out of the house in now if they leave and change clothes you just tell the principal if you find out tell me about it but i'm trying to tell you that if they come downstairs or come out of their room wherever they are and they're not dressed appropriately you need to tell them to go back and change well i'm not going to they ain't going to like me so what they just say about liking this is about parenting amen see you you're not really parenting parenting right until your children get mad at you amen you say whatever you want to say you know yes see if everything they do they never displeased with you something wrong because part of being a parent is sometimes saying no parents god put you in the home listen to me now god put you in the home to serve as the first teachers and as guardians that is protectors as the first line of defense parents be parents there's nothing wrong with being a friend to your child i had a good friend friendship relationship with our children i have a good friendship relationship with them now we have that yell and i have that now but even now they still know where to draw the line dad is still dead mom is still mom so i don't have an issue with with being a friend to your children but you need to know where to draw the line and so do your children let me give you a word of advice young people listen even though it's popular even though it's popular to do right now let me advise you not to cover your body with tattoos from head to toe well i know you ain't gonna like this i'm not preaching to be popular i'm just trying to talk about if you're going to make it the first thing people see is what they see and see you got tattoos all over your neck all on your cheeks earrings and and stuff stuck in your head and eyebrows can't even go through a metal detector at the airport without it going off i'm just trying to tell you that the first thing they see is that now am i saying the tattoo is wrong i'm not saying it's wrong but i am saying that wisdom says you need to be discreet about it now in the old testament god forbid it but i know we're not under the law so i'm not going to go back there because if i do that and justified that i'm going to tell you katie catfish can't eat pork i'm gonna do all of that so i'm not gonna go back there and twist the scriptures i'm not gonna twist the scriptures i'm gonna keep it where it is but i am saying that there's something to be learned from the fact that god said don't do it now now let me let me say a word or two here see what happens is a lot of times our children see these athletes they see these basketball players they see the these football players they see these these these artists on stage and they got tattoos all over their body all over the chest all over their arms and they said well i want to be like them but the problem is they already made it in life see the problem is you're already looking at a millionaire and sometimes a billionaire and you're just trying to get in school so don't don't measure yourself by what you see on stage don't measure yourself by the basketball players that you see on the court or the football players that you see on the field because you haven't arrived yet now once you get that 70 or 80 million dollar contract go on and put them on i'm just saying that to be facetious i am still saying you're a child of god you need to remember that amen care about your physical appearance because that is the first thing that people see secondly notice that's the toughest part you can you'll get the rest of this is a little bit easier notice that the king was looking for the brightest of the young men to enroll in his three-year program to prepare them for service in the palace and in the kingdom young people listen to me as you have entered another school year my challenge to you is to give it your best never settle for anything less than your best don't settle for mediocrity don't just do enough to get by even if learning is easy for you still knock it out of the park listen to me carefully give it your best in other words do your best to be your best because education opens doors for you that would not be otherwise open for you these boys are selected because they have something in their heads what a gift it is to be able to learn and to absorb information without effort lord i wish that with me i never had that gift that i could just absorb it without effort the best time to learn is when you're young and your mind is sharp and fresh and crisp can i have a an amen from the older folk i know i know all of us all the front row folks ought to be saying this listen to me listen to me see i'm speaking from experience i'm speaking from experience and not from hearsay because i'm in that older group now you know when i was younger even though learning was always difficult it was not something that just came easy but memorization i could do memorization pretty good i remember that when i first started reading about i was 17 years old when i was converted to christ i was excited about about jesus excited about his word excited about learning the bible because i had never read the bible for myself ever and so when i started reading the bible and then brother foster challenged us to memorize scriptures there was a time that i would memorize whole chapters of scripture and i remember where the karma goes and the period was whether it was a question i had all of that stuff in my head and every day i would rehearse it in my mind and right now i've forgotten all of that stuff lord have mercy lord have mercy i'm trying to tell you the truth sometimes i said i know i know that verse i know it's in the bible and i say well thank you lord for concordians because at least if i can get a few words i can pull it up but what i'm trying to tell you is while you're young your mind is sharp and crisp use it you know sometimes i'm up here and i you know i used to pride myself at having a pretty good vocabulary but there are times i'm standing up here i'm trying to feel i'm fishing for the word what is that word i'm trying to think about because the mind does not work as well as it used to that's why you see me standing close to these notes amen so what i'm trying to tell you is you need to take advantage of learning while your mind is like a sponge and can absorb it so easily so young people take advantage of learning while you can you know i really i read i read a bumper sticker and you know some things they are so profound you don't forget them you just don't forget them but i read this bumper sticker and it says if you think that education is is expensive try ignorance amen you know a lot of stuff people can put over on you because you don't know but when you educate yourself so you won't be like that person that they just pull the wool over your eyes education opens doors and let me say this because unfortunately i want you to hear me well don't take this out of context unfortunately this is a thing that some of our children face in school sometimes when you are smart your peers envy you and and instead of them saying man i you know i wish i were as smart as you they make fun of your smartness and they try to put you down because you are smart and mark you and call you names because you are smart and let me tell you something don't listen to that garbage don't dumb yourself down to fit in listen if they say to you you think you're smart said i'm trying to be you don't have to be smart but i just say yeah but you know i'm trying to be smart i'm trying to learn as much as i can because that's what my parents expect to me and i expect to do the best i can as well speak up for yourself if they say well well you know you you think you know everything no i don't know it but i'm trying to learn it it's all right it's all right for you to say that and if people say things about you you don't have to curl up in a knot just keep being who you are don't dumb yourself down to fit in because if that's what you've got to do to fit in then the people that you're trying to fit in with ain't worth you fitting in with and this this is a little bit difficult i need to say this to our young black men more so than to our young black women even though it's both ways but it's it's a heavier burden on the young black man's shoulder because we have a target on our back we are already behind the eight ball you already expected to fail or to under achieve and people already think that if you have a position you don't really belong there that the only reason you got there is because of affirmative action and i'm just trying to tell you young men listen to me you don't remember that you are a child of god and as a child of god number one i should give my best at all times listen to me not everyone thinks like that i'm not saying that everyone so please don't say that i'm condemning everybody i'm saying there are still those who think like that unfortunately there are still vestiges of those who only see skin color and they automatically stereotype you but you have it within your power to prove to them that the tag and the labor that they try to stick on you is not fittable or does not fit young man listen to me get something in your head amen well i'm gonna be a football player well really you might be but there if you make it well i'm going to be a basketball it's show cutting to slim now so i don't don't don't put your stock in in what you can do physically start here because what what you put here can't nobody take it from you look at verse 4 again verse 4 daniel 1 4 young men in whom there was no blemish but good-looking gifted in all wisdom possessing knowledge and quick to understand who had ability to serve in the king's palace at whom they might teach the language and literature of the chaldeans the chaldeans now i got up here late y'all do know that right i looked at my watch when i got up here you know it was pretty late so y'all gonna have to give me a little grace this morning stay with me notice that they wanted to teach these young men the language and literature of the chaldeans now let me get a little history here babylon was the learning center of the world in that day they had acquired the remarkable library left by the assyrian ruler as a bonaparte of paul according to one historian babylon texts indicate that the schools of the day copied wordless that's vocabulary paradigms legal materials all kinds of religious documents fables omen texts including those about devils and evil spirits astrology mathematical texts economic data as well as historical matters everything you could think of they had access to it they had to learn these those who were involved in this program had to learn to write the language of babylon which was a form of acadian and with it they had to learn uniform plus they had they already knew hebrew and then they had to learn aramaic and later they had to learn persian so you're talking about all of these languages that these young men had to learn how to speak but guess what it opened more doors for them and when you read the book of daniel guess who was exalted the highest in the kingdom it was daniel and when daniel got where he got to be then he brought his friends up as well but they weren't there just because they were there because they had something up here the point is learn as much as you can expand your mind nevertheless watch what you put in your mind let me let me say this real quickly because proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23 says keep your heart with all diligence for out of it or the springs are the issues of life i like the way the new century version says it because it makes it very plain the new central version says be careful what you think because your thoughts run your life amen be selective but be well read let me finish this wrap it up verses five through seven the bible says and the king departed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and three years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king now from among those of the sons of judah what daniel hananiah at michiel and azariah to them the chief of the eunuchs gave names he gave daniel the name belcheshiza to hananiah shadrach and to michelle meshach and to azariah of baton to go they wanted to change watch this now they wanted to change their diet and then they wanted to change their names now let's talk about the names just for a second daniel daniel's name meant god is my judge god is my judge but they changed his name to belt to shazam which means may build the god of babylon may belle protect the king hedonia name name meant yahweh is gracious shadrach means the command of aku which was the moon god mishael whose name means who is like the lord our god will be known as me shack watch this now which means who is like aku azariah whose name meant yahweh is my helper will be known as abednego which means servant of nebo and nebo was the babylonian god of literature and science the purpose of the education was to transform jews into babylon babylonians and this meant not only a new land new names new customs new ideas and a new language admit all of that what are they seeking to do they are seeking to brainwash these jewish young men and teach them how to think and live like babylonians and let me say this that's exactly what the world and secular education wants to do to our children they want to educate god out of our children amen they want to educate god's values out of our children and replace god's values with the world's values and listen parents this is where you come into that equation because the home is the place where you root and ground your children in the faith if we want to secure our children against the venomous person of the world then it starts in the home listen to me church parents you got to spend time with your children they must know who god is they must know god's word you must talk to them about god you need to have conversations with them about what's going on in the world you need to talk to them about the deep matters and not just give them the glib answers that you've always given or will no give them the answers go into the research give them what they need so that they can combat what the world is putting in them the world wants to inject into their brains the venomous theory of evolution and teach them that there is no god and that there are no moral absolutes the secular world will teach our children that it's okay to ignore god's creative design and and have men to marry men and women to marry women the world will teach them that they are autonomous and no unseen god should be allowed to govern their lives that's why god instructs parents to teach your children while they are young to know god because if you indoctrinate them while they're young catholic catholic educator by the name of xavier says give me your child until he's six and he'll be a catholic all of his life now you may not say well that's not a good thing what is he trying to tell us if you teach them young you will solidify them in their belief system so i'm saying that's what we must do as parents with the truth listen if you will deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 4 through 9. it's not a hallelujah lesson but it'll help somebody heal israel deuteronomy 6 verses 4 through 9 he or he is we are the lord our god the lord is one love the lord your god with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your strength these commandments that i give you today are to be upon your heads impress them on your children talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road when you lie down and when you get up tie them as symbols on your hands and buying them on your foreheads write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates parents our children need to be educated in the word of god now let me say this as i bring this to a close you know what troubles me we are parents who will make sure that their children get to every extracurricular activity at school but they won't take 30 minutes to sit down with them and teach them god's word at home and let me go further than that they won't even insist that their children tune into virtual bible class on sunday when you have virtual bible class and you have parents at home and they won't even let their children tune into that and you have one student in a class that's a shame that's a shame that's a shame and the church say amen and then we wonder why children don't have faith i'm fussing a little bit every now and then i got to reprove and rebuke parents our children need to be educated in the word of god and we need to make sure that it starts with us i'm going to close out because i've kept you long enough let me say this about the rest of this text and i want to encourage you to read the rest of it because these young men that they were seeking to change the babylonians tried to change them completely they changed their names but they didn't change their character they educated them in babylonian literature but they could not educate their convictions their principles and beliefs out of them praise god daniel and his friends refused when they they said we're going to give you the king's meat to eat and the king's wine to drink and they said no we don't want to eat the king's meat we don't want to drink the king's wine because they had a kosher diet and they said well just test us just test us now let us they didn't exist to demand anything they had they had a sense of i'm going to respect you as the authority but i'm asking you see you can get a long ways just by having respect for authority you might be right but don't have to demand just say can i do your mind please and you'll be surprised if people say okay i can i can try that and so that's what they did they said just give us vegetables and water and test us after 10 days look at us and look at the others that are eating the king's delicacy and make a decision and when he when he did it when espionage did it he saw that daniel and azariah and ananiah they'd look better than those who were eating the king's food let me close watch this daniel and his friends refused to eat meat that wasn't kosher they held onto their way and to their beliefs their ways and their beliefs young people never lose yourself just to be successful in life if you have to give up your morals your ethics your convictions and your beliefs to get ahead then it ain't worth getting ahead you're in the wrong business or you're in the wrong workplace stand for something daniel and his friends said give us vegetables and water that will suffice and it did because god was with them when you stand up for god god will stand up for you young people stand for what is right stand for what you believe because if you do that you know god will be with you people will call your names people will say you're this that in the other just because you stand for what is right but let me tell you this let your actions speak for themselves young people find you some true friends some real friends not these sometimes fly by night i will be your friend if you do what i want you to do and if you be what i want you to be and if you do that then i will be your friend if you have to give up your principles if you have to give up what you think and what you believe to be somebody's friend then they ain't your friend a real friend accepts you for who you are a real friend is there when others walk away from your real friend loves you at all times a real friend even tells you when you're wrong and they try to correct you in the spirit of love a real friend will defend you even when you're not around amen i think about i think about jonathan and how he defended david even against his own father because he was a true friend this morning i've said enough i kind of run over ran over some things but i got the point across and i trust and pray that young men young women you'll take to heart those things that i said this morning and the parents would take the heart those things that i said this morning and that you will decide that you're going to be young and determined and dedicated amen if you are not a christian i invite you to become a christian a child of god a member of the lord's church you do that by believing that jesus christ is the son of god that he came he suffered he bled he died on the tree of the cross he was buried and he rose again never to die again if you believe that then repent of your sins luke 13 3 and 5 acts 17 13 31 confess with your mouth that you believe that jesus christ is the son of god romans 10 9 and 10 and then be baptized in water for the remission of your sins acts 2 38 acts 22 16 first peter 3 15 and the lord in heaven will add you to the church acts 2 47. is there anyone this morning who wants to come to jesus you have an opportunity to do it even now as we together stand and sing holy spirit just dwell in me and touch my eyes that i might sing all of your goodness grace and pow stay beside and be my drink be my living bread and keep me sheltered keep me fed [Music] and holy's [Music] [Music] my burden is [Music] [Applause] [Music] holy spirit [Music] just rescue me and set my soul completely freeing peace i joined and make my bend and in god's bosom lay my head and let me live in a brand new place see my blessed savior and holy spirit holy spirit rescue me and holy spirit holy spirit dwell in me dwell in me let the church say amen you know um brother stephane had said that uh on yesterday on well this past sunday that he was kind of like uh that commercial he was wanting to welcome back our preacher you know i would like to say that brother josh we don't want you to get hurt nothing like that but you sure did come back brother these past these past few sundays brother george been back he'd been on fire i'm not saying that he's not he hadn't been teaching as he always do but george always brings it he always bring the word but he's doing more this time but george great message thank you my brother young dedicated and determined you know this is a great opportunity for our kids we thank you brother george for our kids and our grandkids uh we we as parents and grandparents we have to do better we got to do better it's challenging out there it's challenging time and it's prayer time right now prayer time right now before we get into the confession of prayers i want to ask is that anyone among us this morning that want to place membership here at east side want to become a member of the church of christ here at east side anybody want to place membership this morning is there anyone want to be baptized this morning become a member of the body of christ this morning okay like i said it's prayer time we have uh different categories that we'll be uh i'll be reading out uh this morning uh for for prayers and it's the category if you you line up with one of these categories we're asking that you stand and if you can't stand with you please just raise your hand and we'll recognize you and pray for you this morning first is any among ones among us this morning that have sinned and need prayers for repentance of their sin okay anyone among us or prayers for traveling anyone among us this morning for prayers for medical tests and procedures okay thank you prayers for family illness thank you prayers for job search a work concern okay prayers were relocating to another city prayers for school and college okay thank you prayers for our children amen amen after that sermon of course most definitely and prayers for the loss of loved ones on this morning i want to ask that's not on the list but i want you to be praying for please pray for uh everyone in louisiana please pray for louisiana this morning because of that time at this time right now they're going through that hurricane and the brothers that uh the congregation the sister congregation that we helped it was two uh they just it seemed like it's going their way again they won't get the blunt of it but they're going through again so keep them especially too in our prayers so pray with me please heavenly father again we come with our heads bout lord and our hearts are always humble thanking you lord always for your many many rich blessings thank you for your preached word by your manservant we just pray the lord that we as parents and grandparents will take that to heart the lord and do a better job we just pray heavenly father that we were doing this pandemic in these troubled times in this world that we ought to be uh so thankful from the message that no matter what it is that we see that's happening out there in this mean old world we knew but we are reminded that god is sovereign and whatever it is that's out there god already has it like brother george said under his feet so let that encourage us to be better to have more confidence when we uh kneel in prayer more confident when we uh speaking with our grandchildren our children uh help us to be better the lord we we come praying now the lord for the the state of louisiana especially those in new orleans in those areas uh where the storm is the eye of the storm is going through we just pray to the lord that that the damage would be to that they they can survive and we just pray heavenly father that uh no one if it's your will uh get get loser death uh uh lose their home through all of this we know it's gonna be some damage lord but we pray that it'll be very minimal to the minimum we just prayed to the lord that you would be with them at this time just be with the people in louisiana we come praying now the lord for those who ask for prayers those who've said their sin and fallen short of your word we pray for strength in that area and we just pray to the lord whatever it is that made them fall will no longer be a stumbling block but a stepping stone we pray for strength and comfort in that area pray for those the lord for traveling grace uh that we are traveling we pray that they'll be able to reach their destination safe and sound return back to us without any harm or danger and find everything well when they return back home we pray heavenly father for those who are relocating to another city we pray to the lord that first of all they'll seek a church home and that they would uh continue to worship you in spirit and in truth we pray that for them the lord we pray that the transition to the other city would be good it would be good the lord and we just pray for that pray heavenly father for those that were having test procedures medical test procedures we pray heavenly father that you would uh go with the doctors and the nurses uh that they'll be able to diagnose what is going on the lord and it will come back in their favor that the procedure would go well and we uh come back in their favor we pray heavenly father for those who are praying for family members that are ill we pray the lord that you touch all of them with their their bodies with the finger of your your love and raise them up dear lord and we just pray for that dear lord we pray heavenly father for uh those that uh uh uh those that are we also have praying for those that lost loved ones their father we pray we that you would be with those families at this time the lord and uh we know that uh brother shavers lost his mom and would be female eyes on tomorrow and there's others that lost their loved ones some we saw where some lost loved ones to covert their lord and we just prayed the lord that you would just be with those families at this time and just comfort them and give them peace and just give them strength their lord let them lean on each other i also most of all lean on you we pray heavenly father that for every category that was listed the lord if i miss one the lord that you know that you would uh bless them and meet each one of us at the point of our need thank you the lord for all that you do for us love us guide us keep us in that spirit christ's name we pray and ask amen why did my savior come to earth we're saying the first verse and the chorus twice why did my savior come to earth and to the home why did he choose [Music] he loved me so he loved me so he loved me so he gave his precious life for me for me because he loved me so [Music] and he loved [Music] he gave his precious life for me for me because he loved me my name is roger davis and uh now we've come to that point in service for the lord's communion on lord supper uh followed uh by the giving as well for those in the auditorium um if you do not have a communion packet uh which you please raise your hand so that the uh see one over here one over here that uh that they could participate in the communion and lord's supper with us and of course if you're visiting with us um there's two layers first a thin cellophane layer to access the bread and then after that you pull the second layer to take the fuel divine with us and uh more than 2 000 years before i saw one of my favorite movies soul food that popularized sunday dinner and coming together you know dinner is always a great time to get together with loved ones and it's usually prepared by somebody who loves and cares for you and you feel welcome well the greatest sunday dinner ever started was by our lord and savior jesus christ and he welcomes all who have been baptized into his body to partake every sunday to let you know that he loves you and that he died for you and that like he said at the end of matthew 28 that he will never leave you what a sunday dinner we have every sunday all the churches of christ around the world have the lord's supper sunday dinner and now first i'll pray for the bread the father in heaven almighty god thank you so much for your indescribable never-ending love for us you allowed your precious son to come to this earth live a perfect life in a body that you prepared sinless a great example to all the living word but yet you allowed him to be to be beaten bruised killed and buried on our behalf taking our place taking the punishment that we should take because of our sin of which this bread represents glory hallelujah to your name for your love for us thank you for your son thank you for you father and in the name of your son jesus we pray amen you may take the bread oh and just for those watching around the world and also visitors here the scriptures that we're following in doing the lord's supper there are many but in first corinthians 11 and verse starting in verse 23 for i receive from the lord that which i also deliver to you that the lord jesus on that same night in which he was betrayed took bread and he went giving thanks he break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me and in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this is the cup this cup is in the new covenant in my blood this dude in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes let us pray for the cup again dear father we come to you thanking you for all that you do for your kingdom for your for your creation for your people we know this is a supper that all christians are commanded to take but we pray those that are visiting those that are here that they would see this and desire to become christians as well and be a part of this wonderful sunday morning supper that we take every lord's day because this this through the vine represents the blood of your son jesus that was spilled the price for sin that cleanses us the day we become part of your kingdom and evermore until we drink it anew with you in heaven as your scripture promises thank you father thank you for your love thank you for your son and your son jesus name we pray for this cup amen you may take the cup of course everyone here please place the packet back in the little cellophane bag and at the end of service as you exit out the doors you can put them in the receptacles okay now we come to the point for the giving um um we have several ways that you can give your offering to the lord of course those that are in the audience here if you need a an envelope just raise your hand and one of the ushers can get that to you and and you know or if you have it you can give it to one of our leadership as you uh you exit out also um for those watching online um you can go to eastsidecoc and click on giving and uh and then follow the prompts uh of course those either here online uh via your computer or smartphone or tablet um you can you know you've got access to shelby next you can follow the prompts there as well and uh and then finally if you wish to mail in your offering the church address is church of christ at eastside p.o box 155 nine five that's one five five nine five austin texas seven eight seven six one and of course if you're mailing it we don't want you to put cash in the envelope you know please do check or or a money order no okay and just like for the lord's supper commanded by acts 20 and 7 and we do the lord's supper on the first day of the week also in first corinthians the 16th chapter we're asked to give uh on the first day of week as we prosper you know of course if you make no money or you have no blessing you can't give so but if you prospered upon the first day of the week you're asked to set aside something for the furthering of the kingdom and uh just read a couple scriptures here for our attitude uh toward giving and second corinthians the ninth chapter starting at verse six but this i say he which souls sparingly shall also reap sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully every man according as he is purposed in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for god loveth a cheerful giver and god is able to make all grace abound toward you that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound in every good work so god has promised that we take care of giving toward him he sure will take care of his part in giving toward us let us pray for the giving the father in heaven almighty god giver of all good and perfect gifts it's such a blessing to be a giver it's more blessed to give than to receive oh thank you for blessing your children to be able to give toward the work of your kingdom specifically the work done by your family here at the church of christ at eastside please bless this offering that we give in your name in the name of your son bless every member here and online bless us to work together as a unit as a family bless all the efforts we do to your glory forgive us guidance and keep us in song jesus name we pray for this offering amen as we prepare to close out for this sunday morning let us go to our heavenly father in prayer father we thank you for giving us this opportunity to worship corporately together father we ask that as we leave this corporate prayer in this corporate worship we ask that we do not leave the hearts in the minds of one another father as we go throughout our week we pray that we are reminded of our brothers and sisters in every opportunity we get let's pray one for another be with us father guide us protect us and forever forgive us of those sins that we commit knowingly and unknowingly for this we pray in your darling son jesus christ's name amen [Music] answer somebody's knocking at your door somebody [Music] answer [Music] somebody's knocking at your door somebody's knocking at your door

Channel: Church of Christ at East Side

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Id: RlKhABTUjrg

Length: 137min 43sec (8263 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021