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[Music] [Applause] away [Music] and trumpets will is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] jesus is [Music] [Music] to heaven [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] is certainly uh it is a pleasure to be with you this evening uh pray that uh your day has been good or your day if you're watching in the morning your day is going to be good uh it's a joy to have you as part of our audience it's a joy to have all of you all as a part of the audience this evening i pray all is well in your corner of the world also uh maybe we ought to do a quality check and see if everybody's all right uh anybody not all right just grunt [Laughter] we got we got one grunt well we'll pray for that grunt at the end of bible class tonight yeah well again we can't hear whether or not you grind it out there or not but uh in all sincerity i pray i pray uh your day uh is going well listen i do need to mention this in terms of announcements uh we're trying to make sure that all of our sisters know that we love them and uh for many many years we've had a celebration on mother's day and many times we've had breakfast and we've had gifts along with that breakfast with guest speakers well this year because of covert we're going to do something different and i pray it will work well and benefit you from nine o'clock to 9 45 this coming sunday morning we're going to have what we call a mother's day drive-thru uh and we're inviting whether or not you are a mother or not we're inviting you to come because it's our way of saying to the softer side we love you we love you we love you anybody feel loved already ladies any ladies out there feel loved well the leadership is trying to make sure that you know that you are loved and uh so this sunday you'll when you pull in the parking lot between nine o'clock at 9 45 and i want to beg you not to be late you're going to see men in black uh glasses on no i'm just joking uh white shirts black bow tie white gloves and then we're going to have a number of stations one station will be the card station and so we're making personalized cards for all of the sisters at guard notes uh and so you're welcome to grab your card and some of us will sign it and let you know how much we appreciate you and then when you move to the next station the next station you can get a bouquet of flowers uh bouquet palau is personally for you uh and then that third station we're talking about that third station we have ordered from a national dessert maker a national dessert maker we have ordered a hundred and fifty pound cakes y'all like pound cakes huh howard i can tell you like power okay i see i see the pound cake right there uh we're we're having a celebration to show our sisters that you are loved and so the pound cake is the sweet side uh and so you'll be able if you arrive early if you're a part of the 150 you're going to be able to pick out the pound cake you want there will be an assortment of pound cakes and then at the very last station you'll see men in black again white shirt bow tie and they will be serenading you uh so kind of putting your head the four tops right no how about the temptations about the temptation a black suits uh white shirts bow ties and saying to uh our ladies happy mother's day and so again you're gonna get cards you're gonna get flowers you're gonna get a cake and then if you'd like to park the car and come inside you're welcome to if you'd like to turn around and go back home and be with us on the virtual audience you're welcome but either way either way sunday is a day that we want you to know that the leadership at the garden oaks church of christ still cares for you nobody has to tell us how difficult this uh past year has been so many have lost loved ones so many have got got the virus themselves and so uh it's our chance to take a break uh kick up our heels and celebrate and so we do not want you to miss it this sunday may 9 9 o'clock to 9 45 and please don't be late and then as i say that as i say that ladies kind of put your hand over your ears and don't hear this part men men we need you uh we need you to come dressed for the occasion uh and we will furnish all of the gifts but you just come come early please and help us as we serenade and as we celebrate uh this particular day uh god bless you uh i'm trying to uh take a moment and think are there any announcements that i have failed to make the announcements and the announcements and the announcements on point okay so so uh last time when i asked you to pray your eyes went that big so i'll i'll tell you dismiss a prayer okay all right is that a word uh howard or bro how's either one of y'all if y'all just take us in prayer we certainly would appreciate it our father god god you're so good to us and lord we thank you we thank you for all of your blessings we thank you for even the small blessings that us blessings that are small to us that like you woke up woke us up this morning and you let us see another day and you allowed us to have the strength to get out of bed and give our right mind and go about our business lord we thank you for all of these blessings dear father dear father we even thank you for your dear son that you allowed to come to this earth and live as a man and go through trials and tribulations and thank you dear father that he rose again so we can give him all honor and glory devop the father as we prepare our hearts to listen to your word help us to hide our cares and listen to your word and allow your word to bless our lives the father we ask that you bless all those that hear us we pray dear father you allow us to be of sincere heart and allow your word to touch us and make a difference in our lives but all in all god we thank you for all of your blessings and for everything you do for us and we can never stop thanking you for you've been so good to us you've been better to us than we've been to ourselves so continue to watch over us and protect us and keep our heads around us their father especially as we open the book and hear your word these and so many are the blessings we ask to view in jesus name we pray amen amen amen so uh help me uh don't embarrass me help me anybody know what book we are studying philippians we're in the book of philippians and uh i pray that you have gotten your bible maybe grab a pencil uh let's see let's ask another question that was a good answer anybody know who wrote the book of philippians the apostle paul very good slow but sure [Laughter] yeah the apostle paul wrote the book of philippians and he wrote it to a group of christians in the city of philippi if you remember correctly and just let's take a trip down memory lane very quickly in acts chapter 16 acts chapter 16 we record paul arriving in the city of philippi if you remember correctly he met some ladies by the river they were having a worship service i i don't know why god put something special inside of women uh you all love to worship god somebody says if the women leave the church house last sermon i'm going to uh but but but but you all are so special and so out there by the lake was sister girl named lydia uh a lady with means she was a seller of purple uh she came from a city called thyrotara i don't know whether or not the manufacturing facility was in thora tower and her distribution center was there in philippi we do know she had a huge house a huge house because she invited all of the accompanying of paul to come to her house and and stay there uh and then later at the end of chapter 16 the church was meeting in her house so we know that she was an established lady she met the lord the bible says god opened her heart and she got baptized uh that's not the end of the story as as the apostle paul went on you remember he met the lady that was the soothsayer the lady that was the fortune teller y'all remember that and everywhere uh he went she followed him and she kept saying this is the man of god with the word of god and so finally the apostle paul got tired of that and he cast that demon out of her and when he cast that demon out of her those people that owned her were very upset very upset because what happened was when he cast the demon out it affected their income and so paul and silas were thrown in jail they were beat before they were thrown in jail and then at about midnight anybody remember what they were doing at midnight they were what singing and praying singing and praying oh what what what a joy to be able to sing and pray in the midnight hours of our lives so sometimes sometimes when midnight comes it hurts us so bad that that sometimes we forget to connect with god but it's only in those midnight hours when we sing and pray that we really feel the presence of god anybody want to say amen right there uh i i love uh sister mcgowan was telling her story last week and she mentioned how she had gotten so ill that she wasn't as mobile as she wanted to be and she she talked about how her children were able to assist her but that philippians 4 13 i can do all things through christ that midnight scripture kept her going and so i pray you got you a midnight song a midnight prayer in a midnight scripture so that's that's that's the beginning of the book of philippians and when we leave there paul is going to be locked up in jail for two years in caesarea and then when he gets to rome he's going to be locked up two more years and so we're looking at a letter that emanates from four years of incarceration and you would think you would think after four years of pain and suffering that paul would be bitter wouldn't you think that you would think that that that somehow there is no joy there is no happiness there is no peace there but just the opposite uh from this book we get a chance to tap into the apostle paul's psychic uh we get a chance to see a number of things that kept him going and that's what we are tonight that's where we are tonight if you if you if you if you were present with us last week or if you were not present you ought to go back and look at last week last week we were talking about finding finding the secret of contentment anybody remember that finding the secret of contentment um let's let's let's begin let's begin tonight let's begin let's stop by last week and then let's launch into next week and so uh i put some red bibles out and so uh bro if you'll be the page caller for us uh we're going to philippians 4 12 through 13. philippians 4 12 13 through 13. anybody want a house by house bible over here 8 32 8 32 we got the house bibles 8 32 philippians 4 um verse 12 and verse 13. uh if you are there we're ready with a mic uh and you have to hurry because we're gonna have a lot of reading tonight because i want i want to draw you in tonight philippians 4 12-13 i know what it is to be in need and i know what it is to have plenty i have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry for the living and plenty are in want i can do everything through him who gives me strength that's a powerful passage anybody want to say amen amen um so he's locked up someone says that every six to eight hours a guard change occurs and when the guard change occurs he's reaching to someone else and so his his his mobility is greatly limited you know you and i can pick up the phone and we can facetime somebody even if we are in another place uh we can do zoom calls and we can see somebody but the apostle paul is locked up he is chained up and for some reason another though he is locked up and chained up he is really not locked down uh he he has a mentality he has a a strategy that lifts him out of his circumstance and i suggest to you we all need some kind of strategy we all need some kind of thought processes but regardless of what situation we find ourselves in that situation does not contain us uh we are not limited by it is god who frees us and so he says i've learned the secret he learned the secret last week we talked about need and greed anybody remember that we talked about a little bit about the difference between need and greed uh sister charles made us remember that as long as you've got jesus as your savior even if the answer is no for something you have dreamed for worked for or prayed for even if the answer is no if you got jesus as your savior you know that he is calling the best shot for you that that particular no does not mean that he does not hear your prayer he's not answering your prayer he's not going to bless you that means he has something better in store for you right you remember that and so that's a piece of contentment uh you know you you're studying for this exam and you're trying your best to to to be on the dean's list you're trying to make an a in this particular uh class and and for some reason you come up short you you can say you know what god god saw me put my energies in god saw me put my efforts in and for some reason or not another god did not bless that and since god did not bless that i am not gonna worry myself sin right i'm not i'm i'm not i'm not gonna send myself in depression uh i'm not because i have a god who loves me and since my god did not permit this to happen to me he must know he must have something better for me all right anybody want to come in on that because i'm going to tonight's lesson if you don't no comment on that okay again uh last week was the secret of finding contentment it's all locked up in this four chapter book tonight i want to talk about the secret of finding peace i believe that secret is in this book also and so write it down the secret of finding peace and i want to take you to philippians chapter 4 philippians chapter 4 and uh we're going to read verses 6 through 9 and then i want us to unpack it see if we cannot find peace in this passage philippians chapter 4 verse 6 through 9 i need a reader i need mics let's we're going to read who's going to read who's going to read who's going to read do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to god and the peace of god which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus finally brothers whatever is true whatever is noble whatever whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable is if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me put into practice and the god of peace will be with you all right all right anybody like that one all right all right all right hey i want i want i want i want i want you guys out there to to to join in with us and uh i pray this is going to be meaningful for you um i think this is an equation anybody remember your math you say a number plus a number equal a number right that's an equation right look what he says in the last phrase of verse 9. he says and the peace of god will be with you it is almost if he's saying if you do these things if you apply these things then you will have peace from god any anybody anybody tonight talk to me anybody tonight uh need peace need peace need peace what what what what can take what can take what can take your peace away just give me an example of something that can huh say drama drama drama all right all right all right so those of you that perhaps couldn't hear she said drama now i was hoping she was going to say drama queens and i was going yeah but but she left it open because she knows that there are drama kings also a drama is drama and drama does take your peace away uh somebody else what takes your peace away confusion confusion and that's confusion confusion at home confusion at work just confusion at the church house confusion takes your peace away all right all right somebody else what takes your peace away negative thinking oh we negative thinking the glass is always always always half empty always always ought to get you that's drama that's yeah that's drama all right yeah i like that i like it somebody else somebody else what takes your peace dishonesty dishonesty dishonesty you want to elaborate on that a little bit dishonesty my parents always tell me i can't stand a liar so if someone uh misleads you or gives you some false information that leads to destruction or it's just you know just leads to bad it takes you peace that's yeah yeah liars yeah dishonesty takes your peace anybody else anybody else somebody else anybody else okay can i give you one okay come on come on sometimes when things happen on schedule they just happen and then something else happens and then you can just kind of see your days yeah yeah there you go yeah on unscheduled unscheduled activities unplanned uh yeah yeah yeah um i i tell you one that that that you guys didn't say but paul is going to say in just a second worry worry worry will keep you up late at night worry will take your appetite where it will make you short with people worry we'll do a number on peace and and and so so paul is going to talk about worry in just a second and and i want you to see it but but but things happen and when things happen they can take our peace or we can take our peace back it's up to us i'll give you an example uh i was on my way to uh to to the bible class this evening and uh i was on the freeway and i was driving watching where i was going both hands on the steering wheel wasn't talking on the phone and all of a sudden i heard pop-pop and guess what i blew out a tire i'm on the side of the freeway i'm saying oh my goodness uh but the lord blessed me i got off the freeway i pulled and looked at the tire and thank goodness it's run flat tires and uh so i got back in the car and drove to discount tire and uh they put uh my spare on from me and order the tire at no charge because i had a warranty on it and so i got my piece back you know and even and even before i heard that the tower was going to be free even before i heard you know we're going to fix you up i had got my piece back now when it happened when it happened immediately my peace was taken it's like what's going on what's happening here and i think those are normal and natural reactions when things happen to us but the ability to take our peace back is what we're focusing on tonight does that make sense is that a relevant discussion can we pursue that um i will tell you something that took my piece and uh it took my piece for a while i didn't know how to handle it um one of my favorite if not the favorite radio station is cnn and so when january 6 occurred and uh the capitol hill riot y'all i was i was in knox i was my i was i could not believe it i could not believe it people storming the capitol building people wanting to lynch the vice president um i was i was so upset because and y'all excuse me i don't mean to be politically incorrect but i thought it was all premeditated i i thought it was planned uh uh the sunday before i remember telling somebody that why is he saying uh january 6 you're gonna have to think this thing through again why is he saying that because he knew that the troops were on the way as he called them the patriots were on their way and so um january 6 uh took my peace [Laughter] sorry sorry sorry you probably didn't get a birthday cake yeah but but it was it was upsetting and i know i know somebody listening could say you know the george floyd thing took my piece everybody's got something that takes their peace but but but tonight i i want i want to encourage you to delve into this study because in this study i believe there are secrets that will help us regain our peace and i believe paul is going to put them on display uh look look look look back in the passage with me look back at verse number 6. he says do not be anxious about what anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to god what what what paul seems to say is regardless of what the situation is whether it's a hospital scene and somebody is sick or whether it's an automobile accident or whether it's a a a a fiasco at work or or corruption uh and polit wherever it is paul says pray about it he says pray about everything i like that anybody like that so many times we refuse to talk to god about what we call the little things you know it's like i'm not going to interrupt god god might be out fishing today or a god might be on a vacation today and so i don't i don't want to talk to him about little things but the apostle paul says be anxious about nothing but in every situation every situation and so we ought to talk we ought to talk about prayer because when he talks about this particular verse he deals with three attributes in this verse three segments anybody see the three segments look at that look at verse six and and tell me again what you see prayer supplication or petition and thanksgiving he seems to say every time you have a matter that you need to deal with take it to god and supplication is the word or petition is the word for specific i'm not i'm not praying in general i'm not praying one of those memorized prayers as you lay me down to sleep i pray the lord my soul will keep and if i die before i wake up pray the lord no it's not one of those rope prayers it's a specific prayer lord right now i need you to help me i'm trying my best to grow this child up and lord you see how this child is acting i i need you i need you lord to put situations and events in that child's life so my child will hear my voice and my child will obey my voice and as he hears and obeys he knows i love him that's specific that i i i'm applying for this job today i'm applying for this job and you know i really need this job i can better pay my bills i can better handle my finances god would you please open that's specific and so he says don't don't don't be afraid don't be afraid to be specific in your prayer talk to god about what's going on in your life yes you got to come in come on give me a mic please the reason when paul says don't worry or anxiety is because of the fact that when we do that we are not giving god the credit i like that we are we are not trusted in god i like that i believe that in based on any circumstance uh any position or anything that we are in that if we remember lest we forget what god has done for us just yesterday or hours before because after all he will come through i like that if you think about what he's able to do so so so so trust i believe means to stretch out on god and if we stretch out on him we're putting all our cares on him so let's go get book chapter verse for that let's go get book chapter and verse before brother howard said matthew chapter six matthew chapter six if you don't mind a page caller give us the page i need uh everybody in matthew chapter six we're going to look at verse 31 verse 32 verse 33 and we're going to listen to what brother howard said but this time as we read it we're going to hear god say it page 684 684 matthew chapter 6. we need a reader we got the mic ready we've got the mic ready matthew chapter 6 verse 31 through 33 so do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father the heavenly father your heavenly father heavenly father knows that you need them but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well stretch out on your father lean on your face we have a father and our father i love to say our father owns the cattle on a thousand hills our father said let there be light and there was life our father can do absolutely anything so if you know you have a father why worry talk to your father and and when you talk to your father when you lean on your father guess what you have some peace you have some peace because you say i've got an avenue to him i'm talking to him he has heard me and sooner or later he is going to work that in my favor that's that's one of the reasons one of the right main reasons that i think we ought to tell ourselves don't worry i got a daddy i got an awesome father yes sir sister mcgowan y'all come on out of that song come on out of that son y'all burn it up over there i see y'all not just the fact that you have a debt is the fact that he has le he has no limits whatsoever no limits i may i may be limited but god has no limit his will is deep and whatever we need he could afford to bless us so our problem is can he do it if he can cannot do it but he can't do it because he has no limit i like that we need to quit putting limits on god but we need to quit putting limits on god uh if if if if he is our father and if he loves us he's gonna care for us and he can do absolutely anything anything anybody else got a comment there yes ma'am come on over here i like first peter chapter five verse seven it says cast your cast your cares on him for he cares for you cast your cares on him for he cares for you well that's first peter 5 7 right y'all that was a preacher's wife that quoted that verse i want y'all to know okay she knew book chapter and verse okay uh but but we have a father and we ought to cast cast our cares on him he he knows what we need uh so so many times i wonder is that how paul made it through that night that midnight night i wonder is that how he made it through those four years he he just cast his cares it's like god i'm yours if you're gonna get me out of here get me out of here if you're not gonna get me out of here take me home but i'm yours i'm casting my key when you when you when you lean back on god when you put the load on him it takes the load off of you takes the load off of you i don't know who i'm talking to tonight i don't know what kind of load you have on you tonight but i know we've got a god that can take that low we we got to look we got a god that promised he would never leave us nor forsake us and so how do i have this peace well one of the things i recall and i keep telling myself i got a daddy and my daddy cares for me anybody else anybody else let me take you to another passage make it to another passage uh luke chapter 10 luke chapter 10 verse 41 and verse 42. luke chapter 10 verse 41 and 42. page 7 30 4 7 34 in the house bible seven thirty four seven now we need a reader we got the page number we need a reader seven thirty four we're going back in the background martha martha the lord answered you are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed mary has chosen whatever what is better and it will not be taken away from her somebody help me with that what what does that say break it down for me basically the way i take it was calm she always put everything to god to the father first but martha was always busy running around trying to solve all the problems herself um and mary just wants her just to lay down just to be calm and just to give everything to god i like that i like it well how were you about to say something sister maybe you haven't seen anything you're always trying to take the pledge well you know i can imagine if you look at the background i believe that they were having a meal for jesus and uh jesus was invited over and and mary and martha was there but uh mary was sitting at the feet of jesus can you imagine inviting jesus over and sitting at his feet maybe sitting down talking to him but but but but but martha was busy trying to get the dinner ready we we have a special guest and and we we need to do this so so martha martha thou are cumbered about a lot of things but look at your sister mary she's chosen the good part i like that it's not so much about the meal what about the guests too many times too many times we put too much on our wagon that's that's that's what steals our joy we we just put too much stuff on our wagon uh the alarm clock goes up uh full day in the morning and late at night we're still running uh as fast as we can so some sometimes we just need to take some stuff off of the wagon jesus says only one thing matters only one thing uh he's here uh to to to to to many times we got to put four cars in four garages it's like really that just cause they built a four car garage i don't have to have four cars uh but but but we got the mentality you know i just moved in this house i got to have it furnished every room completely furnished we stress ourselves because we put too much on ourselves sometimes we'll take stuff off ourselves and we ought to say you know what today lord it's just me and you it's just me and you if everything else falls apart it falls apart but today i just want to walk with you i want to pray to you i want to study i i don't want all that stress and so we have the ability to unload some of that stuff and i think that's what jesus was saying to to to her it's like unload some of that stuff get some of that stuff off of you uh because all of that is not necessary anybody else got to come in on there let's go to philippians 4 7 then 4 7 4 seven four seven chapter four verse seven that one verse four seven what does that say somebody somebody read it somebody run a mic run a mic somebody run the mic run the mic somebody come on come on peace of god which surpasses all understanding would guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus so so everybody focus in on that word god see that word guard now remember where is paul at he's in prison remember every six to eight hours of what a new guard arrives but paul seems to say here don't miss it paul seems to say here that god will supply you with a guard that will give you peace come on y'all it's it's it's like paul you you chain to somebody a guard that doesn't give you peace but paul seems to say there is a peace that comes from god god will send that peace and that peace will come in the presence of a guard and guard the peace of god uh sometimes sometimes when i wake up in the morning i'm laying there in the bed and and i'm saying god thank you for watching over me all night long a burglar could have broken in the house but god you you guarded my house thank you god that you guarded my heart and it's still beating you guarded my lungs into still pumping air you guarded my mind and it still functions you you're a good god you guard and so there is a guard that god will send to give you peace yes sir yes sir we need the mic again on who was guarding him external but he focused he switched it yeah and looked at the internal i liked it something that could guard what you can't see something that was that would guard his mind his soul you know so he he said he said he said that that that will guard your hearts not who i came to i know you see every so many hours i'm on being chained but but there's another guard that's that that's over that guard yeah that's over that guy there's guarding my heart and that's how we have peace that's how we have peace in a bad situation we recognize that wherever the situation is god has a guard and that guard will give us peace give us the peace of god you got to go to a funeral you got to go deal with a job that's chaotic you got to go home to a relationship that's rocky take god's guard with you huh and god's guard will give you the peace of god oh y'all let's that's sunday morning run stuff right there that's that's that's sunday morning run stuff right there hey y'all we gotta hurry and get to this next verse because we don't want time so we spent a lot of time talking about the power of prayer right now i want to spend some time talking about the power of positive thinking power of positive thinking somebody somebody read verse eight and nine now eight and then who hadn't raised somebody who hadn't read somebody who hadn't read all right come on finally brother whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things whatever you have learned or received heard from me or seen in me put it into practice and the god of peace will be with you see there it is again so so we got the guard of peace when we explore the power of prayer now we got the god of peace again when we have positive thinking too many times whatever comes up comes out to too many times we don't control what comes out because we don't control what goes in can i can i can i just say to you that god hears what we say god sees what we think and so it behooves us it behooves us to ask ourselves what am i feeding myself what is it that's going in my head can i can i read something to you and this in in preparing for tonight i did some research and it says according to the ac nielsen company the average american watches more than four hours of tv each day that is 28 hours a week that is two months per year in a lifetime of 65 years that is nine years glued to the two is that crazy four hours a day y'all that's crazy now we're not talking about the content right now all we're talking about is allowing a tv to take our minds for four hours a day you know what i told myself a long time ago and i hope this doesn't come across alone i told myself a long time ago i am not watching tv because i'm sick and tired of watching millionaires make millions when i could be making millions it's like i am not going to spend my time plugged in watching tv wasting my time four hours a day think about that say you say to yourself if you get up at six o'clock in the morning you gotta be at work at eight o'clock you get off at five o'clock so that means that from 5 30 6 o'clock until 10 o'clock the tv's on and you're watching it excuse me when is there time to pray when is there time to cultivate relationships when we allow the boob to to take all of our time we're putting garbage in and garbage out and if i remember that old saying i think it was uh the united negro college fund it says a mind is what it's a terrible thing to waste terrible thing the ways and when we start talking about the content the content let's talk about the content for a second the the content the content um let's see number of murders seen on tv by the time an average child finishes elementary school is 8 000 murders you you want to know why this new generation seems to devalue life uh it's just just casualty that's all it's just i've forgotten the word they use when it's a drive-by and somebody else gets wounded or somebody else gets hurt but it's it's a word that just minimizes life can i can i just say we need to control what we put in our minds uh i've i've gotten to the point where i'm very cognizant about the radio stations i listen to uh because music can affect you a long time ago when i was young and crazy if i turned my radio on the wrong station my car would just start just the car all by itself like what's wrong with this car the car is listening to the music and so when when you tell yourself you know what i i got a mind and this mind is the most powerful computer on the planet whatever and and the bible says as a man thinks in his heart same thing what is it it's like whatever you whatever you program whatever your program i'll have to ask this gentleman right here we've been talking we both were salesmen he is still a salesman today there there is something inside of him that wakes him up and says go for another sell his passion it's something that says you can but when you surround yourself with buzzers huh it's hard to fly somebody says if you wallow with the turkeys or with the pigs somebody finish it for me y'all haven't heard that one you can't fly with the eagles you can't fly with the eagles um and so i i need to say again and i need to say clearly god cares about what we think about yes ma'am yes sir he wants us in worship on sunday morning yes ma'am yes sir he wants us in bible class on midweek yes ma'am yes sir he wants daytime and nighttime uh with us but god cares what's going on in our mind 24 7. let me give you a passage give it help me with colossians 3 verses 1 and 2. colossians 3 1 and 2. and right behind that we're going to romans 12 1 and 2. but colossians 3 1 and 2 right now colossians those of you at home i hope you're taking notes and i hope we're not going too fast for you colossians 3 verses 1 and 2 page number please 834 834 house bible house bible colossians 3 verses 1 and 2. uh i need a reader i am running out of time since then you have been raised with christ set your hearts on things above where christ is seated at the right hand of god set your minds on the things above not on earthly things you know when you're carnal-minded when you're worldly-minded you really don't have time for god you know you're so focused on things of this world that you miss an opportunity to just have a moment with god in prayer in solitude thanking god for his many blessings set your mind set your mind it's almost like a remote control and you're flipping and you're flipping because you flip into a station you flip into a frequency and when you hit that frequency god says that's where i want you i want you on a worldly frequency i want you on the spiritual frequency somebody give me romans 12 verses 1 and 2. we're going to get the same thing again romans 12 verses 1 and 2. romans 12 house house man house man page 803 sister mabel after you read that you got to talk to us about it romans one 12 two therefore i urge you brethren by the mercies of god to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to god which is your spiritual service of worship and do not be conformed to this world and be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of god is that which is good and acceptable and perfect help us you know when i read that i think about well basically i'm going to talk about about what i take away from the book of philippians and what we've been reading about it strikes me as very very powerful that paul in prison is surrounded by chaos and trouble and and and what he gets from god is joy lord have mercy contentment and peace those are the three elements that we have talked about that paul got from god and trusting him god so if we focus on god focus on the good thing we will find or we will have or we will maintain joy contentment and peace that's how we are transformed somebody else anybody else so so yes well i'll come right to you let me say this and i'll give it right to you when when he outlines what we ought to think about he says now here's the things you need to think about think about what is true think about what is noble think about what is right think about what is pure think about what is lovely think about what is admirable gossip how can we put gossip in here it don't fit in here does it how can we put vindictiveness a spirit of bitterness and vindictiveness in here is it in here how can we put a spirit of hate in here he says here are the things you ought to think about think about what is true think about what is noble what is right what is pure what is lovely what is admirable there are some things that god wants us to think about you know paul is talking about your value system you know while he's in prison he wasn't talking about my house or cause or the things i have he said your value system have to has to change to have a good relationship with god you can't measure by the things you have the tangible things and if you focus on god and you fix your life on what god has to offer for you those tangible things really don't matter i like that i like that let's see uh guys it is eight o'clock we need to wind it down uh sister magana i'm gonna call on you to have the last word okay so you get your thoughts together so so listen those of you that have been with us tonight i pray you know when when when i launched into this book of philippians there is a way to study it academically we could talk about uh paul and timothy and now they've got elders in the church and now they've organized the church there are so many things that surface out of this but right now i think what we need is we need help on how to live we need somebody to remind us how to have peace how to have contentment how to have joy and that is exactly what the book of philippians is doing and so i'm praying i'm praying that as you are listening that that somehow today you are being blessed that you're grabbing a nugget and that nugget is something that you can chew on and it gives you nourishment it gives you hope as you go from day to day okay system again well i just want to say that i've gotten so much out of everything that we've been talking about over the last few weeks um i think everything everyone said really summarize what you have been teaching and i just go back to what dr brother power said about the value system because i think that brought it home again that our values are so out of line right now we're not following you know christ's model it's almost unpopular for us to do that right um i recently got on instagram which is what the young folks use but i got on it for a business reason and you can just get overwhelmed with all the negative things that you see and you literally have to focus your mind you know because they have everything coming at you and so i wish there was a way that we could stop it you know instagram and put on the word of god and yet it'd still be popular for for young folks and so i i just want to say this was apropos because my son came with me and uh he chooses to take the high road and i'm very proud of him for that it's not always the popular role but he's a man of his word he is he has a lot of integrity to be young and i learn stuff from him all the time and so you know i've been nudging him the whole lesson because it you have been saying what he chooses to do and i think that's a beautiful thing so more than anything i just want to say thank you for reaching all the generations and just you know pushing back the word and how important it is let's let's show sister mcgowan son some love yeah power to you keep it up keep it up keep it up uh god bless you uh we appreciate you being with us i appreciate all of you and your comments i know you never know what to expect when you arrive you say where are we going but you come and i pray that when you leave you say you know what i got so much out of that um just the conversation and so thank you for sharing thank you for reading thank you for being here thank you for being here uh maybe soon and very soon we'll be able to be together again and be in an environment where we can all just kind of feed off of each other you know all these things we've been talking about the peace the joy and happiness they are really found in jesus christ you know we can we can we can have mental lessons and strategies that reach for joy and peace and happiness but real peace real joy real happiness is found in jesus and so i'm one of those guys that believe that jesus is the answer to everything if i can have jesus as part of my life if i can have him ordering my steps if i can have him with me uh i just believe everything will be all right so how do i get jesus how do i get jesus well that's what the bible says for god so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believe what do you want god i want you to believe in my son i want you to rest in my son and stretch out in my son and so i'm encouraging you if you have not made jesus the lord of your life you ought to do it you ought to do it uh inside the facility inside the facility here there is a baptismal pool i believe that when one goes down in the water then one enters god's operating room and somehow as you down in that water god pulls the scalpel out and he rips away the old man all of our sins are forgotten all of our sins are left there and what comes up out of the water is the new man in christ jesus you can be a christian you can be a follower of jesus if you if you have not then i encourage you i encourage you we're watching the chat you want to put it in the chat we'll follow up with you tonight if you feel like you're guilty distance away put it in the chat i'm sorry i've seen tonight you need prayer put it in the chat we'll pray been my joy to be with you been a joy pray you'll keep tuning in and i pray we'll bless you i promise the gentleman with the buck eyes the jump with the bucket that's it he was going to lead us he was going to lead us in prayer brother mcgowan is going to lead us in prayer y'all come on all right let us be dismissed until our grace is kind almighty loving father we come to you tonight with thanksgiving in our hearts dear lord i just want to stop to say thank you dear lord we just want to concentrate on all the positive things that you have done for us dear lord we just want to say thank you dear lord we thank you for the power of prayer dear lord we thank you for being there for us when nobody else will be there for us dear lord and we thank you for scriptures that gives us joy contentment and peace dear lord and we thank you for the message tonight and we ask that you bless us to use what we've heard tonight in our everyday lives dear lord as we depart we ask that you give us traveling grace back to our destinations in jesus name we pray amen amen thank you all family thank you friends god bless you john tillman jr here from the garden oaks church of christ hey listen have you checked your watch have you checked the calendar listen guys i don't want you to mess up and so you need to make sure you check the calendar do you know what may 9th is may 9th is mother's day it's our opportunity guys to celebrate the softer side and so i pray that you're out preparing yourself to celebrate uh this wonderful occasion and sisters sisters hear me i want you to know that the leadership at garden oaks church of christ is still in love with you still appreciates you i know i know nobody has to tell me this has been a horrible year the pandemic has taken away so much from us but i want you to know this sunday mother's day we're going to celebrate you i'm telling you we're going to celebrate you in a grand fashion this sunday may night from nine o'clock until 9 45 we're going to have an event that we call mother's day drive through that's right mother's day drive through you're going to be able to stay in the comforts of your car drive through the parking lot and as you enter the parking lot you're going to see men in black with white shirts and white gloves welcoming you and when you pull in the parking lot the very first station you're going to arrive at is a station that is going to have a personalized car mother's day car to say week here and then when you pull up a little bit further another gentleman or so in a black suit and white shirt and bow tie is going to be at the next station the next station you're going to be able to pick up a beautiful bouquet for yourself next station next station that's the sweet station that's the station that we are really trying to make sure you know that we know you are the softer side and the sweeter side and so let me tell you what the church has done we have made contact with this national dessert distributor and this national dessert distributor is baking right now 150 different assorted pound cakes for you you're going to be able to drive through and you're going to be able to pick the pound cake you want i i need you to imagine that wait let's get to the last station the last station you come to is a station that's going to be serenading you can you see a bunch of men in black suits singing happy mother's day to you oh it's going to be a wonderful occasion nine o'clock to 9 45 this sunday it's a special sunday designed just for you don't miss it don't miss it we want you to know we miss you we love you i know that mother's day is the day that normally people take mothers out to dinner well because of the pandemic very few people are going to be taking mom out and so see this bouquet of flowers on your dining room table as you invite your sons and daughters and grandchildren over see this beautiful cake that you bring out and offer as dessert and you can tell your children the garden oaks church of christ loves me as you flunk the card so don't miss this sunday we're looking forward to seeing you the first i need to say this the first 150 don't be late the first 150 will get the gifts if you are late well maybe you get a chance to shake one of the elders hands no i'm just joking you just come we're going to take care of you the first 150 this sunday may 9th mother's day we're including not only mothers but latest period because we're trying to touch the softer side god bless you looking forward so looking forward to celebrating this day with you god bless [Music] 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 2 000 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 god [Music] i want to break off my friends to experience 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 yes i'll pack your bags [Music] dream

Channel: The Blessings Connection

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Id: YLnfUDHB7r4

Length: 72min 34sec (4354 seconds)

Published: Thu May 06 2021