GOCC Network

and we're humbling our hearts to god save from the chest the chastise pilgrims tried christians away [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus is [Music] [Music] no one dies [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] glory to shame [Music] is [Music] is [Music] good morning good morning good morning how's everyone doing oh i heard about two people good morning how's everyone doing hey man i don't know about y'all we are finally in autumn aaron can you take this down just a just a hint not too much just echo on just a little bit we are finally in autumn is cool outside and i feel good is that all right hey man i don't know about y'all but if you're watching from home we want you to do a couple of things we ask that you take a moment and we ask that you share this video we ask that you like this video we ask that you start a watch party we ask that you if you're on your phone we ask that you text this video out to someone to encourage them to start or to view worship this morning is that all right amen amen and if you're in the church i give you permission for 30 seconds to take out your phone and send this video to somebody if you're on facebook all right amen amen so let's worship the lord this morning let's worship the lord this morning falling set for you and i just can't help myself jesus i'm falling keep on singing i'm falling said for you and i just can't help myself jesus um oh one more time let's say i'm falling falling said for you and i just can't help myself jesus i'm falling and i keep on falling in love with them over over and over over oh and i keep on falling in love with him over window over and over again and he gets sweeter and sweeter they go by your over and over and over oh and he keeps on blessing me and over and over and over and my lord he keeps on blessing me and over and over and over and over again keep getting [Music] by oh with a lovely [Music] oh and he keeps on cleansing me over and over over and over and my lord he keeps on cleansing me and over and over [Music] between [Music] my lord and i i keep on falling over whoa and over oh and i keep falling falling set for you and i just can't help myself jesus i'm falling keep on singing it i'm falling falling said for you and i just can't help myself jesus i'm falling amen amen amen let's sing a little bit of mansion mansion robe and crown mansion robe and crown i'm gonna trade my earthly home for a better one bright and fair children in the air and now join them in their leg where tis no sorrows can be found and when i receive a mansion [Music] and is fair there's sunshine day and night no cold no rain will fall therefore the sunshine's ever bright and i'll need no heavy said i'll just wrap my robe [Music] there [Music] [Music] said bright and new and i'll wear a smile so bright for there'll be no cause for us and when i received [Applause] [Music] always about why don't you let me [Music] why don't you let me be let me be your throne say [Music] good morning church i look back and i close my eyes for a second and i just thank god for all those blessings just within that second how many blessings you have so for me i'm going to praise him i'm going to thank him because i don't believe there's a small blessing or a big blessing there is a blessing and you should be thankful for that blessing and praise him let us go to our heavenly father in prayer lord today our favorite word on the first day of the week is thank you thank you for sending your son jesus to die for us that we may have a right to repentance lord thank you for this house that you have blessed us with to praise you to sing your words to kneel down and pray to hear your word we want to say thank you lord thank you lord for the man servants are here that uh the men the minister the elders the deacons uh the song leaders uh the ushers lord and everybody in the audience and on on facebook or youtube thank you for all the platforms that you have bestowed upon us that we can always praise you wherever we are lord forgive us of any sin we have committed we're through word thought or deed lord we're going to fall we're going to stumble we're going to say things and do things on a regular basis but we know you sent your son so we can say lord i forgive us lord i pray for those who are holding grudges against their families lord i pray lord that you touch somebody's heart to just say i'm sorry i love you forgive me and live on a happy and prosperous life lord be with us on the father and of this service that it be pleasing and acceptable in your sight this will be enough in jesus name amen good morning church it's good to see everyone this morning let's sing a little bit of just a little talk with jesus just a little talk with jesus i once was lost in sin but jesus took me in and then a little life from heaven filled my soul will it bathe my heart in love and wrote my name above and just a little talk with jesus makes me whole now let us have and let us tell heaven is turning you will find oh yeah it makes it right all right now sometimes my past seems true without a reality and then a cloud of doubt may hide the light of day the mr sin may rise and hide the story skies but just a little talk with jesus clears the way come on church and have a little talk with you and let us talk he will hear and he will answer her and when you feel [Music] my eyes be filled with tears but jesus is a friend who watches day and night and i go to him in prayer he knows my every care and just a little talk with jesus makes it right come on church and have a little and let us tell you and he will and he will [Music] oh yeah come on church come on [Music] the way you feel and your heart you will find oh yeah i said one more time come on and let us have a little [Music] [Music] you will find oh yeah it makes it right all right [Music] amen amen just have a little talk with jesus it'll make everything all right i really love the lord [Music] and oh i really love the lord said you don't know you don't know what he's done for me he said he gave me the victory and that's why i love [Music] i love him i i said i love the lord can we say that against it i will lay i love the lord [Music] you don't know said he gave me the and that's why i love him i love him i [Music] said i love the lord now i know how sweet he's been said i know how sweet he has been yes he's such a loyal friend he's such a lord your friend and all the cross he died on the cross he bled and died and now with him in him i abide and that's why i love i love him i love [Music] [Applause] [Music] he gave me the victory and that's why i love him i said i love him i i [Music] you don't know what he's done for me said he said he gave me the is that your testimony this morning y'all if it's your testimony to lift your voice and say i love the lord y'all if that's your testimony this morning and say i love the lord because that's my testimony [Music] what he's brought me through said he gave me the victory said that i loved him said i said i love him you don't know [Music] and that's why i [Music] me [Music] let us go to our lord in prayer our father who art in heaven holy be thy name this morning our grace's father we lift up your name in praise and doing so my gracious father we said thank you thank you for your many blessings and i'm a racist father we just continue to pray for your grace and your mercy while it is needed my gracious father we are thank you for life it's life except and in life we walk down the pathway that we call life and we're made aware of all the things and problems and challenges that encircle us we need your grace we need your mercy we need your guidance and the gracious father we ask that will be pointed in such a way that we will serve as your beacon a light that shines brightly and those who are in the shadows or in the darkness may step into this light and fill your present my gracious father we ask that i would help us to take on this love that would show compassion for our fellow man that was your empathy for our fellow man my gracious father we pray a special prayer here for the problem that's going on in our country we have many and at the time we are truly divided and only you can help us to solve this divide we pray a special prayer for our young ladies young men who are spread out across the world defending and fighting for what we call our rights and gracious father be with them be their protector encircle them with your protected arm let it be your will that they will return back to us our gracious father we pray spiritual prayer for the families but whatever we have is based upon the structure of our families because father be with them and be with them and be to god so that they can come out and walk the pathway for by that we will be served as a magnet to build your church to serve as a magnet for correcting the wrongs that we have in our societies as father as we begin to close this we pray expressive prayer for the leaders of our church we pray the decisions they make and continue to make it for your benefit mr father as we close we ask these prayers in the name of the lord and save jesus christ amen let the spirit of the lord let it rise among us let the spirit of the lord let it rise among us let the praises of our king rise among us let it rise oh let it rise and let the praises of the lord so let the praises of the lord let it rise so let the praises of the lord let it rise let the songs are let it rise [Music] let it rise joy let the joy of our lord let it rise let the freedom of our king freedom of our king rise among us let it rise [Music] let it rise so let the love of our lord let the love of my lord let it rise to let them let it rise let the freedom of our king let it rise oh let [Music] let it rise to let the souls follow [Music] the songs of my lord let it rise [Music] let it rise let the freedom of our king oh [Music] oh [Music] hey everybody say lord the people praise you there you go say we lift you up and raise you say oh you are the only one say you're the one you're the only one say if i had ten thousand hands say i will bless you as you convey it oh you are the only ones say you know why you're the only one said if i had ten thousand tons say i will bless you with everyone say oh you are the holy one say you're the one you're the only one say oh you are the holy one say you're the one you're the only one amen amen right before the preacher right before the preacher all righty uh let's see let's see oh lord i've come i've come to receive to receive my blessing patiently waiting for the harvest i've got that hebrew that's that good kind of faith the faith to know my blessing shall come cause it's mine all mine so this harvest time said oh lord i have come to receive i am patiently waiting he hey for the harvest so i'm [Music] is listened to i believe in him for great things that he promised me a long time ago and i know i'm gonna get it hey because the bible is his soul well it is the father's real good pleasure let the kingdom get in line cause [Applause] [Music] i have come to receive i've been patiently waiting for that harvest i've got that he bruised [Music] the a blessing there's a blessing in store if you believe that there's a blessing if you believe that there's a blessing and star said that there's [Music] my blessing my blessings on the way to my [Music] blessings and my blessings [Music] mine one more time is mine oh my the church's heartbeat sounds if you have brought a copy of the word of god with you it's a good time to access the book today we will be in the book of luke and i want to encourage you to be with us today luke chapter 16. and i want to begin our reading this morning at verse number 19. luke again is the book chapter number 16. and i want to begin reading verse number 19. there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine living and lived in luxury every day at his gate was laid a beggar named lazarus covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table even the dogs came and licked his sword the time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to abraham's side the rich man also died and was buried in hades where he was in torment he looked up and saw abraham far away with lazarus by his side so so so he called to him father abraham have pity on me and send lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because i am in agony in this fire but but but but but abraham replied son remember in your lifetime you receive good things while lazarus received bad things but now he is confident here and you are in agony and besides all this between us and you a great chasm has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot nor can anyone cross over from there to us he answered then i beg you father send lazarus to my family for i have five brothers let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment [Music] abraham replied they have moses and the prophets let them listen to them no father abraham he said but if someone from the dead goes to them they will repent he said to him if they do not listen to moses and the prophets they will not be convinced even if someone from the dead rises it be seated a month this morning to draw you in i want this morning for you to use your imagination and what i'd really like this morning is for you to see jesus sitting at a canvas and as he is sitting at this canvas there is a side of him that looks like leonardo da vinci he has a paintbrush he has a canvas and what he'd like to say to the garden oaks church of christ on september 26 is i want to show you some pictures and so i have entitled this lesson jesus a paintbrush and some canvas you know you do know that a picture can be deceiving you know that don't you a picture a picture can appear to be one way but then when you look at it at a different angle or when you back up and you look at it it is totally different let me engage you let me engage you uh i need you to see a picture and i need you to look quickly because we're only going to have that picture up for 10 seconds and i need you to tell me when i bring up picture number one when i bring up picture number two when i bring up picture number three i i need you as soon as you ascertain what you think the picture is i need you to shout it out but already bring up picture number one media team somebody shout out what you see take it down media team tell us what it is take it down media team media team bring up the second picture picture number two please take it down media team bring up what it is last picture last picture remember what i said a picture can appear to be one way and then all of a sudden it is another way picture number three tell me what you see take it down media team and tell us what it is and so and so this morning as as as we engage what i'd like you to see again is i'd like you to see jesus with a paintbrush with a canvas and i want you to see him as a master artist as he portrays life at its extremes he shows us life then he shows us death and then he shows us life after death i know i know i know i know you have heard of the painting mona lisa i know i know you have heard of the painting of the ceiling of the sistine chapel i know you have heard of the painting and sculpture of the thinker but can i tell you but can i tell you nobody can paint a picture quite like jesus if if you will give me your mind just for a few minutes and if you will examine the portraits the the canvas that jesus paints i promise you it will be a masterful illusion you will see things you've never seen with a stroke of a breast jesus shows us what appears to be devastation the devastation of life and and then he takes that same breath paintbrush and he strokes it again and it seems as if it is the abundant life and then he takes that same paint brush and that same canvas and he strokes it again and everything is reversed come on now i need you to examine these three portraits with me examine the text go back to the text and look at the first set of portraits i need you to focus on luke chapter 16 verse 19 through 21. luke chapter 16 verse 19 through 21 the bible says there there was a rich man somebody got rich somebody shot rich again who was dressed in purple fine linen and lived in luxury every day at his gate was laid a beggar named lazarus covered with sores longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table even the dogs came and licked his stores i i need you to see this these first sets of portraits if if you're trying to tag it i i need you to say life everybody say life he when he when he picks up the paintbrush he he allows us to see the extremes of life a man who is very very wealthy and a man who is extremely poor the rich man the first man he shows us he shows us that the rich man if you will was really rich he dressed well he wore purple and fine linen every day he ate well six course meals from fine china every day he he lived well he had chefs he had servants he had maids he had butlers he lived well in extreme luxury jesus paints this portrait then then he goes to another canvas and he shows us the beggar lazarus lazarus was poor lazarus was sick lazarus was helpless lazarus was hungry lazarus appeared to live at the gate and only the dogs were his company this is the first set of paintings and i'm certain i'm certain if i poll the audience right now and if i ask you right now on the surface all of us would say if you're going to paint me jesus paint me the rich man i i want the gated house if i touch where you are you can say amen i want to get it house i want to design a clothes i want the gourmet meals i really want the american dream i really want to live in extreme luxury none of us none of us would say jesus if you're gonna paint me paint me lazarus no no very few if any at all would raise up their hands and say i want the sickness i want the poverty i want the trials i want the tribulation but but i need to stand here flat-footed and remind somebody today that this day is not the last day or you didn't hear me this day that you and i are living in this day that we call life this day is not the last day you can you can spend all of your time getting as much as you can as if there is no tomorrow you can spend all of your time getting as much as you can as if you can take it with you but but but but but i i need to remind somebody today that if you don't have jesus you have wasted your time say it again preacher you you get all you can you can't all you can but if you don't have jesus you wasted your time but but i need to be clear i want anybody to misconstrue what i said i i believe i believe that we ought to climb as high as we can climb and so i want to look out and see some brother and say climb brother i want to look out and see some sister and say climb sister i do believe i do believe that we ought to run as fast as we can so i want to glimpse some brother and say run brother run glimpse some sister and say run sister run but as we climb come on now get close as we climb as we run we need to take jesus with us i i i i know you know the scripture and i know you know what jesus said and so you you help me right here you you hear something that you kind of think that jesus said you you helped me with it jesus said what would it what would it profit a man if what and then what what what jesus is saying is that if in fact you are able to put your hands on everything if in fact you are able to climb as high as you want to climb be all you want to be and as you arrive at that place if you don't have jesus another passage jesus said in luke 12 15 he said to them watch out watch out be on your guard against all kinds of greed life does not consist in the abundance of possession you can have a toy box come close you can have a toy box and you can have so many toys in your toy box you can't close the tour box but but jesus says now as you put all these toys in your toy box understand that life does not guarantee you a place in the afterlife simply because your toy box is full but but i believe that jesus would say to me uh preacher before you go to the second set of portraits preacher let me add a microphone preacher let me let me let me have a word to say i believe jesus would say preacher let me speak to somebody that's struggling today preacher let me speak to someone that's hurting today let me speak to someone that's barely holding on and let me remind them that there is another day coming i believe he would say to this audience today whatever you do don't don't don't let hard times separate you from me whatever you do don't let anything separate you from me no no no life is not fair no life is not one big picnic after the other however however there is another day coming in and that day is reckoning day too many times i've seen it over and over again too many times when life turns bitter people turn bitter toward jesus it's like jesus if you had been there if you didn't you see and so people turned bitter toward jesus to too many times when life gets bumpy people turn away from jesus too many times when life gets heavy people let go of jesus hands too many times we walk away from the messiah i'm so glad in this story there is no mention about lazarus letting jesus hand go he had hard time he had sickness he had an extreme situation but it seems as if that through it all come on come on let's let's look at the second set of portraits luke chapter 16 now verse 22 one verse this time second set of portraits verse 22 the bible says the time somebody shout the time can i hold that whole extreme media team don't drop it can can i remind you that we all have a time coming and i know you're looking good today got your son to go to meet and close on you you might have ran for three miles this morning you might be watching what you eat but i want to remind you the time is coming the bible says here the time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to abraham's side the rich man all so died and was buried this second set of portraits that jesus now shows us is not about life at all it's really about death somebody shot death come come come come with me quickly let's let's you and i get in the car and let's go to the rich man's funeral wait wait we've got to sign in and there is a long line before we can sign in and say we're here look at all of the flowers at the rich man's funeral look at all these city officials at look at the long procession to the cemetery can anybody can anybody see the glo gold-plated casket can anybody hear the 21 gun salute flower what's happening preacher man the rich man has died but come now the bible says the bigger that also but it appears that his body just decayed there there there is no eternal rest funeral home to take care of his body there is no funeral at mount zion community church there is no burial at golden gate cemetery and and when you see it you say to yourself now did did they just leave the dogs what what did they what did they do with lazarus body and and so when you when you when you examine these second sets of portraits the rich man looks good again you would agree with me i would say for you that don't paint me as lazarus paint me as the rich man the rich man dies the rich man has a funeral the rich man is buried lazarus dies no funeral no burial come come for a sucker come for a second on god's desk calendar there is a beginning day and there is an ending date for all of us as as a little boy growing up my my dad was an elder at a large church here in houston and my daddy was expected to go to many funerals and my daddy would take us to the funerals and so hear me say that as a little boy i've gone to funerals in the country country where there was red dirt you know and no machine to dig the hole i i've gone to funerals in the city i've been to funerals of people who were well off i've been to funerals of people who weren't well off i've been to services in the country where when we arrived to commit the body the hole that was dug was too small and so we all had to sit around and watch them as they re-dug the hole i've been to funerals where the pallbearers dropped the casket into the hole and dropped it head first up in the funerals where they made us sit until the last shovel of dirt was thrown on the body can can i tell you can i tell you that death is real i know i know you don't have to tell me you got your you got your fine cologne on today you got your son to go to meet and close on the day you got it all together but you cannot imagine that around the corner waiting for you is old man death can i can i just say to you that death has an invitation already written waiting on god's signature and it's a personal invitation for me and for you most of the funerals i went to as a little boy were on sunday and and and and before church services were over the procession had arrived and i can i can see it right now people were rushing to the parking lot trying to get out so they wouldn't be blocked in and then after a long long funeral i i can i can see the procession the that time they they had cars that didn't have automatic lights on lights didn't come on automatically when you cranked up the car and so i i i can see right now the funeral director standing outside of the league car saying to everybody that's in the possession as loud as he could turn your lights on we're headed for the graveyard and so this morning i want to stand here right here in the lead car and i want to say to everybody that is meandering through life turn your lights on we're headed for the graveyard life is just a vapor life really is no respect of a person it doesn't care whether or not you're in the prime of life it doesn't care if you're almost to the top of the ladder it doesn't care where you are when death calls your name i'm going to die you're going to die we're all going to die no one can escape death death is after all of us sooner or later death is going to tap me on the shoulder tap you on the shoulder and say to us quietly time's up no my money can bribe death off no amount of success can bribe death off the bible says in hebrews the 9th chapter verse 27 and it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment oh yes life is the great death is the great equalizer the rich the poor the educated the uneducated the doctor the patient the preacher the member all of us will have to respond when death calls our name and hear me say clearly that when death calls our name the only thing that will matter is whether or not you are a believer oh you didn't hear me the only thing that will matter is whether or not you have eternal life insurance 100 years from now it won't matter if i called metro to church 100 years from now it won't matter if i was to supervise that metro a hundred years from now it won't matter whether i'm wearing designer suits or whether i wore suits from goodwill the only thing will matter is is my relationship right with god and quickly quickly we've got the portraits of life we've got the portraits of death let's go get these last portraits verse 23 through 31 23-31 the bible says in hades where he was in torment he looked up and saw abraham far away and lazarus by his side so he called him father abraham have pity on me and send lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water cool my tongue because i'm in agony in this fire but abraham replied son remember that in your lifetime you receive your good things while lazarus received bad things but now now now now he is confident here and you are in agony and besides all this between us and you a great chasm has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot nor can anyone cross over from there to us he answered then i beg you then i beg you father send lazarus to my family fire five brothers let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment abraham replied they have moses and the prophets let them listen to them no father abraham he said but if someone from the dead goes to them they will repent he said to them said to him if they do not listen to moses and the prophets they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead now don't don't miss it last set of portraits first says a set of portraits we call life somebody shout life set second set of portraits we call death somebody shout death this third set of portraits what jesus does with the paintbrush is he rips back the curtain of life he rips back death and he said i want everybody to understand there is life after death don't ever assume you like rover and when you die you'll be dead all over i i need you i need you back in the text but but as you as you jump in the text would just somebody shout life after death but but i just recall that what i forgot to tell you it's where lazarus was i was i was i was trying to move through life through death and through life after death and i moved so quickly that i forgot to tell you where lazarus was look again look at verse number 22. look at verse number 22 the bible says the cat the time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to abrahams the rich man also died and was buried can i ask you please come close just for a second i'm almost through can i ask you to come close for a second i don't i don't want you to i don't want you to miss seeing lazarus oh oh ho ho don't miss it we saw lazarus when he was laying at the gate he had sores all over him and the dogs were licking him it was horrible we saw lazarus when all of a sudden he died and there was no funeral and there was no burial but all of a sudden now all of a sudden we look up and we see lazarus and lazarus is in the bosom of abraham somebody somebody's heart ought to be racing right now because there is a message here that said i don't care what happens there what happens here is most important i don't care what you have to go through over here as long as you end up over here right somebody needs to hit it somebody that cannot pay the bill somebody that they're mistreating at the job somebody that's been through a divorce somebody that was mistreated as a child you need to hear nothing over here mal the only thing that matters is what's over here don't don't even ask me don't insult my intelligence asking me is lazarus happy now the bible says in revelations 14 verse number 13 write this blessed are the dead who die in the lord from now on he accessed the spirit they will rest from their labor for their deeds no don't don't don't ask me about lazarus don't ask me about that don't ask me don't ask me don't ask the question i'm telling you my bible says in psalms 116 verse 15 precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints don't ask me don't ask me as laz was happy don't ask me his last what's happening the bible says in hebrews the fourth chapter verse nine there remains then a sabbath rest for the people of god come here come here come here somebody needs to hear this the happiest day in the life of lazarus is the day he went home to be with god don't don't make me shout and hear i i know i know he had problems i knew he had problems i don't know how long he lived but i know the happiest day in lazarus life is the day he went home to be with god i i need to speak to somebody i need to speak to somebody that's grieving inside i need to speak to somebody that's here today and you still holding your loved one tight i need to speak to you today and i need to tell you today that the happiest day in the life of a child of god is when he or she goes home to be with god you can sit and you can cry your eyes out and you can grieve every day but on the other side [Music] lazar would you come back here somebody hear me on the other side anybody anybody know the song soon i will be done with the troubles of this world what are you saying louser going home to be with god sometimes sometimes we get happiness from the wrong things we we get happiness when a child is born we get happiness when a degree is earned we get happiness when a birthday is celebrated we get happiness when a wedding takes place we get happiness when a promotion takes place but when a child of god when a child of god goes home to be with god i know we cry i know we grieve but on the other side no more no more sickness lazarus no more dogs licking your sores lazarus no more laying at the gate hoping that the rich man will give you crumbs lazarus yes it's a slave in the cotton fields of mississippi and alabama used to say it here's what they said swing low swing low sweet chariot coming for to carry me home you get there before i do tell all god's children i'm coming there too help me kind of caught up for a second help me help me look look look at the person next to you and look at them seriously and just tell them hold on look at look at look at another person and just just just say hold on jesus left here and jesus says i'm going to prepare a place for you place where there is no more sickness a place where there is no pain a place where there is no more dying i um couple years ago a couple of years ago god blessed my wife and i to put our penis together and we we built a house it's a beautiful house i wake up uh every morning and i walk and i look out and i i just shout thank you lord i uh don't don't have quite the words to say about the house that god has given us just thankful but then when i hear what that old tent make of the apostle paul says in second corinthians chapter five he says for we know that if this earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of god a house not made with hands eternally help me help me again with somebody just shot with everybody just showed i got another house no now this time i want you to talk to yourself and i want you to talk to yourself and i want you to shout to yourself as loud as you can i have a house not made with hands lazarus come here for a second lazar tell this church today what you feeling last of you you spent a lot of days sick lazarus you spent a lot of days hungry lazarus you spent a lot of days long little as if you spent a lot of days without lazarus you spent a lot of days in pain lazarus lazarus lazar with you you went through a whole lot on this side lazarus do you have anything to say to the people today i believe that lazarus would quote romans 8 verse 18. quoted lazarus for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us but then we've seen the beggar lazarus but but we accidentally just skirted through the rich man come back to the text verse 23 24 the bible says in hades where he was in torment he looked up and he saw abraham fall away with lazarus by his side so he called to him father abraham have pity on me and send lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because i'm in agony in this fire you know what you know what you know what i'm not going to preach about that place that the rich man went lord knows lord knows i don't want to go there lord knows i don't want anybody else to go there the bible says it is a place where the fire never goes out the bible says it is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth the bible says it is a place prepared for the devil and his angels the bible says it is a place of eternal damnation i don't preach about that what what i want is i want everybody to go to heaven somebody shout i want to go to heaven everybody everybody everybody shout i want to go to heaven but but i need to remind myself and i need to remind the audience those that's looking i i need to remind you that heaven is a prepared place for prepared people and and so as i say that i smile and i ask you the question i i just come come get let me get close to you i don't i want to speak loudly come come let me get close to you come come next to me is anybody making preparations any anybody anybody bought your ticket let me give you an illustration when when when i was when i was growing up as a child getting ready for sunday morning lord's day was an experience it took time to prepare no one jumped up on sunday morning and said let's go to church it wasn't like that when i grew up we had to prepare i remember i saw my sister upstairs i remember mom being in the kitchen on saturday evening and mom was in the kitchen and and it was back before they had those electronic beaters to make cakes and i remember mama had the betty crocker box out mama had the big bowl and she had the big spoon and mama was cooking the cake cause tomorrow was the last day and i was so privileged y'all i i had the joy of having the spoon and licking the bowl then then the moment didn't stop there i i remember mama working cause she had to fix sunday dinner she was preparing sunday dinner and and i remember one of the favorite meals my mother had was pot roast pot roast just barely made it into the pan and and and and the pot roast had those sticks around it and it was juicy mama mama was fixing the pot roast with all the trimmings and and and and then mama went and mama fixed one of those cottage cheese salads i didn't like that but but but there they wanted to make sure that his kids were proper and so mama had to fix cottage cheese and so we we were preparing for sunday and then my dad i i could see my daddy right now my daddy would sit me down and and and we would get out our shoes that we were gonna wear the next day and daddy would get some polish liquid kiwi polish because i had to be careful not not to waste that polish on the floor and then after we got through polishing the shoe we had to put some soul edge dressing on the shoes and then after daddy got through with me and polishing the shoe daddy would say now get your sunday school card teachers bible school teachers would send home a little sunday school card anybody remember that sunday school call daddy would say now let's let's make sure that when you get to class tomorrow you know your lesson what are you doing that i'm preparing you for sunday and then early sunday morning while we would still sleep daddy would get in the garage and back the car and he'd back the car and then it would wash the car and i don't know what daddy washed the car daddy would wash the tires had to make sure those white walls were clean and then that it would take the skirts anybody remember skirts that it would take the skirts off those those back tires because we wanted to make sure the white walls was clean and then after we washed the car daddy had a swish broom a little bit of swish broom that we and then we'd have a shimmy and we dropped somebody said no what is going on daddy mama well getting us ready for sunday mama was fixing the dinner daddy was shining the shoes daddy was washing the car because the lord's day was coming anybody getting ready for the lord's coming don't don't tell me you can just jump up and say god i'm ready the bible says that he is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle the bible says he's coming back in a moment in a twinkling of an eye the bible says that they will be eating and drinking just as they were in the days of noah marrying and getting giving in marriage can i ask you with all this in me you you're getting ready see if you're getting ready then you're working on those things that you know you shouldn't be doing and you're trying your best to get right with god because you know that when he calls your name you want to go to that place where lazarus went don't don't don't don't don't tell me you can do all of the mischief and all of the junk and stuff and still expect god to say well done i told you he says he's coming back for a church without spot shepherds would you come praise team would you come i i want to remind somebody today that this is real maybe maybe you came because somebody says it's sunday and you ought to come but but can i remind you that this story that jesus told in luke chapter 16 is real somebody shout is real what are you saying jesus don't get caught up in all the trappings on this side of life there's another day coming so what if you don't have a brand new car so what if you got holes in your shoes so what all of the stuff on this side last one leather lazar you had a lot of sick days last would you trade in those sick days no i wouldn't trade in those six days if it keeps me from getting here stand to your feet i asked the lord to help me with this because in my head i knew that there would be people in this audience that are grieving and i just wanted to remind you they are in a better place somebody shout amen and if they had one wish it would be the same wish that the rich man had go get my relatives so my relative can end up in this place with me it would not be my wishes to go back with them no it's my wish that as they stand there and listen to the preacher they'll get ready for that day that nobody can escape well you listened thank you can i remind you on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem of suffering and shame and so today i cherish old rugged cross we're the dearest and the best what are you doing jesus i'm putting blood on the cross for you somebody somebody today right now ought to be coming somebody today ought to be saying you know what i'm gonna make it as sure as i can i'm not i'm not i'm not gonna keep trying to hold on to the world and hold on to the church i'm going to make up my mind i'm moving over here because i want to be with lazarus well jesus came gave his life purchased the church bible says there's salvation in no other name other than the name of jesus christ we're going to sing a song you want to come you want a response respond right now sing the song on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the lambo [Music] [Music] and so i'll check reach the old rugged cross [Laughter] till my troll [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] hey it's it's too important to get distracted this might be the last time that god allows you to get this close in your heart before he calls your name don't get distracted with foolishness the rich man would say if i just had one more chance it's a good day to get right with god rededicate your life stand and say god you know what i haven't given it a hundred percent but i'm i'm back in it i'm back in it i'm letting some stuff go i'm i'm gonna quit dabbling and stuff i have no business dabbling in because i know you're coming back and i want to be right when you come give me a different song somebody that knows that you know that if the trumpet sounded today you have gay problems don't don't don't leave here today and you not fix it the bible says if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness sing a song somebody somebody today there are some things i may not know there are some places i can't go i cannot go but i am sure of this one thing that my god is real for i can feel him in my soul don't you know don't you know god is real real he's so real in my soul said my god is real for he has washed and made me whole and his love for me is just like you go go my god is real far i can feel him in my soul don't you know don't you know god is real he's real he's so real said that my god is real for he has watched and made me whole real and his love for me hey [Music] it's just like people gold and my god is real but i can feel him in my soul [Music] we'd like to thank brother children for the message at this time we have several that have come forward like to make a statement we ask you to come to the uh to the mic please state your name and uh make your statements yes i am how y'all doing today good morning this is my new wife um i just got married on august 17th i'm blessed every day um this is barnacles my new wife and god bless everybody and god bless the country thank you very much i have mercy hi my name is jayden um i just want to get baptized today jesus jesus tell us your name again jaden jaden come close to me we're gonna ask brother bob johnson one of our elders to take your confession all right god bless you jade jada we're going to baptize you today um we baptize people who believe that jesus is the christ the son of the living god and so with that in mind i'm going to ask you do you believe that jesus christ is the son of god yes i do jada based upon this your confession of faith that jesus is the christ who baptize you today for the remission of your sins please the sisters will assist you amen amen good morning everybody i haven't been here a while um i'm glad i'm glad to see each and every one of y'all i know a lot of a lot of a lot of y'all have been praying for me and i thank you for that because the prayers have been heard uh i'm going to give you an update on how i'm doing for y'all who don't know i am going through a cancer treatment and i have stage four colon cancer but [Music] thank you for your prayers uh my blood work and everything was wacko but right now i can tell you it is all in the green that means it's good my my levels for my my tumor marker have gone down dramatic dramatically so the tumor is shrinking and i just want to thank you for everything that you've done for me your prayers your calls your cards everything and y'all just keep keep praying for me because i feel good you know just some days i don't feel too good but when i feel good i'm i'm just out there and and god has been by my side and i know this is god's work i could feel him and thank you again amen amen also uh brother brandon dickerson sent in a request under normal circumstances his family would have been here today and you guys know brandon dickinson is the principal of cashmere high school and that's the same place right outside the high school that a kid was shot this past week and they told me on the very same day one of his sons was playing football and he got hurt playing football and i'm not certain of the extent of his uh his of his uh injury but he did say that that same son has to have surgery on wednesday and you know sometimes one thing after the other seems like and so please keep him and his whole family and your prayers i do want to thank the church as a whole almost 99.9 of you guys are keeping your mask on we want to thank you because this virus is not over it's still killing folk every day hospitals are full don't think it's over don't let up because it's still out there killing folks and we need to be as careful as we possibly can certainly uh abdullio is here and so we want up julio to uh to pray for those who've come forward if you would if you allow me i i was just translating i i'm gonna do the uh the prayer and a bilingual so those who are in the audience and i was translating too they can hear it also in spanish the prayer of this morning our father in heaven bendito dios you are a merciful father dios misericordioso we praise you thank you for our lord and savior jesus christ [Music] thank you for your kind and mercy to all of us gracias portugal we beg you for forgiveness [Music] pedimus you have been so good to all of us and and we have not been so kind to you and to others you heard your father the prayers you heard the cry of your children their gratefulness and i'm sure your father there's minimalists in the audience they could have could have come to the front and express and i know there's a lot of us are hurting a lot of us with gratitude in our hearts our father in heaven thank you for our lord and savior jesus christ because through through him one day we will call heaven in the name of our lord and save you jesus christ your father we pray and we ask all these things and for those who came to the front and ask for you of you in the name of jesus amen thank you you lord i just wanna say thanks [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you lord thank you lord thank [Music] you you thank you lord for taking the time to say i don't want to thank you [Music] father i'm gonna lay down my burdens down down back by the river side down by by the river side down behind [Music] i'm gonna lay down my burdens [Music] [Music] [Music] are we going to get ready for the lord's supper and we are going to sing amazing grace we're going to sing the all verses in spanish and english but we will start with the english amazing grace [Music] [Music] i [Music] we [Music] to us grace that taught my heart to fear my grace my fears how precious [Music] appear they are high first [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] disgrace has brought me [Music] me [Music] ten thousand years [Music] to see god's praise then when we first [Music] [Music] yoga [Music] so [Music] we now come to part of our worship in which we remember the death the burial and the resurrection of our lord refined in acts 20 and seven when we do it on the first day of the week the disciples came together to break bread then we find in first corinthians 11 chapter starting at the 23rd verse why we do it because our lord and savior died for us his body represents the bread and his blood represents the cup and we eat and we drink of his body and drink of his blood in remembrance of the cruel death that he endured that we might live and we're to do it with clean hands and clean spirits that it be not counted against us in the last days let us pray the merciful and kind father dear god we come thanking you for your love for us the love that will cause you to sacrifice your only son for sinners such as we so father we pray that you would forgive us of our sins that we take this bread and drink of this cup with clean hands clean spirits father this we pray and we pray for this cup and this spring in jesus name we pray amen we make a miracle worker promise keeper light in the darkness my god that is who you are we make a miracle work a promise you're the light in the darkness my god that is who you are you are here moving in our midst and worship you i worship you you are here moving in this place i worship [Music] you're the light in the darkness my god that is that is who you are that is who you want my way [Music] miracle worker light in the darkness my god that is who you are we now come to our collection and in regards to our collection if you are using gift plus as the mean of which you are giving and you are having problems into logging in what you need to do is to reset your password and then if you are doing automatic giving where you have a fund that you set whether at each time is supposed to do it automatically well we want you to stop that and uh just give each time as you would do as if it was your first time uh we are making some changes and when the changes are complete we'll bring it to the church we find in first corinthians 16 and 1 when we're supposed to give and paul he tells the church that on the first day of the week not we're to give as we prosper that there be no gathering when he comes and then in second corinthians 9 6 and 7 it tells us how we should give happy overflowing so that he can bless you in the same manner joyfully overflowing let us pray dear merciful and kind father dear god again we want to say thank you thanking you to god for how you are always providing for us how you always do god find a way that we should be in a position to give father we pray that you bless those that have charge that they use the funds that you would have them to do a father we pray that we give to god in a joyful manner being thankful that we have it to give father let it be an uplifting of your kingdom it is in jesus name that we pray amen trouble sometimes are filling his heart the hearts with fear freedom we all hold dear now is that stake and humble your hearts [Music] [Applause] [Music] and my jesus is coming morning maybe night alone yeah and midnight with me that don't the trumpets will sound [Music] [Applause] [Music] heaven word bound and my my my jesus is coming jesus is coming and i don't know when but i'm told that it's near and many will meet the [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm going [Music] bound good morning good morning just the other day i my feelings was hurt when i looked at the news and saw these policemen on horses with whips trying to beat the haitian people and keep them from coming into this country my heart bled i don't know if it's because it's probably because of my history that this country did similar things to my great great grandparents so it had a special place in my heart my phone rang and some of you called and asked what can we do about the haitian people so we started to look and try to figure out how this church could help you know that they're not letting them come into this country and some of the places that we wanted to give to they have if you want to call a sur george somewhere between they would keep about 30 of the monies that you give and i'm talking about places like the united way and all these places they keep some of your money so we wanted to try to give where all of the monies that you give that we give would go to help the people so this church found a church there in haiti that's trying to help the people in haiti so this church because of their compassion for the people have given seven several thousand dollars to that church to help but someone said that we want to help personally and so we're asking a special offering if you choose to come from your pocket i guess in last day i don't i don't want to be like the rich man that's giving crumbs because it's obvious the crumbs didn't help lazarus so if you want to give from your heart we want to give you an opportunity to give and you could give as the fellas pass the basket or if you want if you'd like to give online you're welcome to do that and whatever monies that you you give a hundred percent of those funds are going to be used to help somebody all right but that isn't it while we were doing our searches and looking for places to help we received information that the people in louisiana are still hurting from hurricane ida that there are people in louisiana that are still without lights uh they have generate need generators and need gas for generators they need dry goods and clothes and you know it's not that hot outside but if you don't have air condition you hot inside one of the times it was so hot when my air conditioning was wasn't working i'm trying to let the window up and even though i got windows that are raised up it's been so long i can't even open the windows almost because it's almost gotten stuff you know you know what i mean right so we found a uh about seven or eight churches of christ here in this city have banded together to try to help the people in in from ida they are supplying a food dry goods generators they've given gas gift cards they've given monies to uh to house of folks that were here in houston to help as they try to get back home to louisiana and this church again has given several thousand dollars to helping that endeavor and let me tell you why they had lots of dry goods trying to get to louisiana and because we were kind of behind on the curve we said we gonna help with the transportation to get that 18-wheeler to louisiana so that's what we're doing and so again if you like to help in that endeavor if you have family loved ones and friends and we're trying to get to the churches of christ that were affected and what they will be doing is distributing the monies to the families of christ and again a hundred percent of the monies that you give is going directly to help someone it's not to pad anyone's pocket that everyone's doing it on a volunteer basis to try to make certain all the funds are used so whether you give ten dollars or ten thousand dollars those funds are going to be used to help somebody and if you'd like to give online you're welcome to do do that and as the brother before me has mentioned uh if uh if you're using the old product just to reset your password and if you would like to give it with the new product uh just set a password and it'll be coming uh and you can do it is that all right so let's please keep in mind those that are suffering and those that are hurting at this time the brothers who will give and thank you very very much i am gonna hide high behind how high behind the mouth the mountain said oh oh hi high behind the mountain [Music] [Music] behind [Music] don't blow poles let the church say amen we have this beautiful young lady who would have pervaded the gospel of jesus christ [Applause] jaden thomas is the name right in here you make the best decision that you can ever make that has become a member of the body of christ i've got your certificate here that says now that i am a christian take this in this bible here which is your road map to heaven and study with this pamphlet here and if you remain faithful you will uh win a crown amen i want to introduce you to your family this is your family here thank you so much you know life is difficult at times we struggle paul said it best when i try to do what good evil is always present john you you taught a lesson this morning uh i can identify with you know when he said lazarus at the gate that could be those poor haitians all they want is the crumbs from our table the bible say do good to all men especially those of the household of faith and it also says something else it says do not grow weary and well-done because in due season you will reap if you faint not so this is a struggle life is a struggle but we got to run this race with god the young lady made a wise decision she's going to run out of race but she's going to run it with jesus christ beautiful decision and we want to thank everyone for coming to today and brother brashy during the announcements let me from brother foster and kathleen belford that says for everything you've done for being the special people that you are thank you so very much thanks to all of you to know you is to know people who are kind considerate and thoughtful to know you is to be grateful for the special things that you do amen the metro bus is waiting for jerome walker let us stand and go to our heavenly father in prayer almighty god in heaven it is again that we've assembled here and heard your word we pray almighty god that you continue to be with each and every one of us thank you for the message that we heard thank you for brother john as he stood bold and preach your word we pray that you continue to bless him bless his family give him the strength and the courage to continue to do your work thank you for each member that present here this this day almighty god we all have situations that we're dealing with and we pray that you will continue to bless us strengthen us while we can build us up while we're torn down thank you for your word as it uh have a beautiful lady who came forward and was baptized we pray almighty god that you continue to be with her place a shield around her protect her from all the things that are evil be with her and help her continue to grow and be that light of the world that you expect for us to be now we're getting ready to leave this place and and we pray that you continue to be with us bring us back the next appointed time that be your all and righteous will we ask all this in jesus christ our lord amen and i'm headed for the gospel train and i know the train is on time because the lord is never late i got my ticket and i'm gonna get home boys i and for those of you that are out there listening in the audience you need to know that this facility that we worship in is a facility that has the capacity of roughly two people and so if you say 25 occupancy i believe you're in the neighborhood of four to five hundred people and so as i glimpse the audience today there are roughly 100 or so people so that means 400 more of you 300 more of you could come and we'd have plenty enough space to worship [Music] my friends to god heaven's fees singing breaking always praising things we can't comprehend because i got all i need and i'm on a mission to bring people oh yeah so pack your back [Music] is [Music] oh right fashion oh oh

Channel: The Blessings Connection

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Id: J6oFd4yz4zc

Length: 134min 43sec (8083 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021