Heart Attacks | Debleaire Snell

if you're thankful for god's grace just put your hands together and just give god an ovation of praise if you want to stand up on your feet and praise him for his amazing grace we give you permission to do that we believe his race warrants such adoration such praise and such gratitude from the hearts of those that have been redeemed so we thank god that his grace is still amazing and it still is powerful to overcome all of our sins let the redeemed of the lord say amen today we thank uh sister and minister tam body and jeremy kelsey for being great stewards of the gifts that god has entrusted to them we thank for our god that he has they lend themselves unto the lord they give themselves to the lord's service to use their gifts for his glory and honor and so if you don't mind just give jeremy and tamara just a virtual amen right there in the chat not sure if they're watching but we just want you to want them to know that we appreciate their ministry and all that they do to help further the gospel of jesus christ and then before we shift i do want to just say a word of appreciation for our community service team uh today we had another one of our grocery giveaways now i know that that kind of agitates some of us that jesus said though jesus said it is lawful to do good on the side and so we are thankful that they are willing to come out early on sabbath mornings and many hours during the week uh to kind of feed and to supply the immediate needs of a financially distressed community and so we thank god for our community service team and we pray god's richest blessings upon you uh jesus made it clear that what you've done unto my people you do it also unto me and so we want you to know that god is going to richly bless you and so i do want to just say a quick word of welcome to our fairfield sda church uh in northern california they are in between pastors and while they're in between pastors they just made it up in their mind that they're just going to join us in worship from week to week and so we give a virtual welcome to you thank god for you brother woody and for your dedication to god's cause um and what i want to do real quick for those who are on facebook and on youtube do me a favor just be an electronic evangelist be a digital disciple just like just push the share button so that this message can be connected with somebody tagged somebody that needs to be encouraged today so they can receive god's word as well so right now right now before we open up the scriptures do me a favor just share the message tag somebody in the message so that they can receive what it is that god wants to say to them today uh and before we do that i do want to just say a special word of appreciation to our prayer ministry team and i want to say to the first church family we thank god for you we're so proud of you for participating with us in these 15 days of prayer and fasting we've been committing ourselves to some specific spiritual disciplines i want to encourage you you don't celebrate the end of the fast by going completely in the opposite direction there ought to be some things there ought to be some carry over that was a catalyst to kind of push us excuse me in a certain direction and so i won't encourage you to hold on to the things that you received uh so that you can continue to receive the blessings that you have been receiving and so what we want to do real quickly is we want to go ahead and make our almost home covenant statement that should be coming up there on your screen and we're going to say that we want to encourage you to say it out loud along with those of us who are in the house of the lord today invite you to stand to your feet as we make our covenant statement this morning as we make our covenant statement together let's uh let's say it as a family i know i can't hear you but i believe you're declaring it with me in faith today i make my decision about eternity permanent i consciously choose the eternal over the temporary i select the narrow way and reject the broad road my body may be on earth but my mind is in heaven my loyalty is in heaven my investments are in heaven and my love is for heaven today i put those things from the past behind i reach forward to those things that are ahead i refuse to quit i refuse to get tired i will not be weary defeated discouraged distracted or deceived i've got too much to lose and even more to gain my mind is made up i won't turn back i'm clothed with determination i'm closer than i've ever been thank god almighty that i'm almost home right there in your living room just give somebody a little fist pound let them know we almost home amen and amen i'm going to invite you this morning to turn with me in your bibles to the book of saint john chapter 14. john chapter 14 and we'll begin together at verse number one a very familiar story to many who have been in the way for some time john 14 and verse number one john chapter four king and verse number one john chapter 14 and verse one is jesus now speaking to his disciples says these words john 14 and i'm gonna actually read verses one through six jesus says this let not your heart be troubled that's the word right there this is the word to the body let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also and where i go you know and the way you know and thomas said unto him lord we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way and jesus said unto him i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me again i'm going to read for emphasis verse number one just this first clause that i should probably warn you we're not gonna get through it all today we're gonna have some leftovers for next week but just just what he says in verse number one he says let not your heart be troubled today saints i want to talk to you for a little while under the subject heart attacks heart attacks let's uh let's pray together today father we come before you boldly because that's the way you invite us to come and father we're praying that you would just give us a word that gives us peace in the midst of uncertainty that gives us stability in the midst of upheaval that allows us to maintain our hold upon you so lord it is my prayer once again that our faith will be multiplied exponentially in the hearing of the word so lord i ask that you would hide me in the shadows of the cross that jesus alone might be seen that christ alone would be heard and at the end of our time together may jesus alone be praised we ask this in the name of him who is altogether lovely it is in the name of jesus that we pray let god's people say together amen and amen you may be seated there in your home or here in the house of the lord again we're talking under the subject heart attacks it's interesting saints in ecclesiastes chapter 1 solomon tells us that there is nothing new under the sun he says what has been will be again and essentially he is teaching that for us there is nothing new in content or in substance the only thing that we see that's new is actually the packaging so young people there are no new temptations old temptations just get new packaging pandemics are not new covet is just the latest package white supremacy or nationalism is not a new thing what we're seeing is just the latest package for it financial stress is not a new thing there is just a new bill collector or creditor's name on the envelope in your mailbox in fact donald trump is not something new [Music] he is just a newer version of nebuchadnezzar george wallace and adolf hitler [Applause] so anything that is present that brings us stress if you can find a strain or remnant of it if you just look back in the past and it is why ellen white says to us that we have nothing to fear for the future lest we forget the way in which god has led us in the past so we don't have to be troubled by what's coming we don't have to be troubled by what's happening unless we forget what god has already made happen and if you're like me there are times when you look back over your life and you look at the things that have caused you trouble and you look at the things that cause you worry you're actually a little bit embarrassed that you worried so much about certain things in fact when you look back on it you actually have a little bit of shame because you realize in hindsight that god had it under control the entire time i remember as a student i worried whether or not i would financially clear but when i look back on it i see where god already had the provision made i remember there was a time where i worried if i would find the right partner or spouse but when i look back i can see where god was ordering each and every one of my steps there were times where i worried about the bills but when i look back i can see how god had made the provision in advance there were times where i worried about health issues for me or my kids but when i look back on it i see how god had already created a way of escape there were times where i worried about enemies but when i looked i can see the weapons were formed but they were never going to prosper i can look back and recall where i was worried about work situations but now i realize that god even used those things to build my character and is there anybody like me that when you look back on certain formal worries or anxieties you do so with a little regret because you realize that all of that worry was a bad investment because those worries brought you no return and there are some of us that are somewhat embarrassed that you put so much worry into this or to that or to them because you realize that that worry was not warranted in the light of god's faithfulness but here is our inconsistency because we see past worry as trivial and present worry as justified we are embarrassed by our past worry but we make provision for our current worry as if our current worry is greater than the god who did it in the past and this beloved is a needed conversation because we are in a season where many stressors are trying to attack the tranquility of the heart the fact is that there are some of us that are troubled by the bills we have some of us are troubled about what will happen after the inauguration some of us are troubled by what disease or sickness may come upon us some of us are troubled because there is a lack of provision some of us are troubled because there is a lack of employment some of us are troubled because there is a lack of civility some of us are troubled because there's a lack of security some of us are troubled because there is a lack of justice some of us have hearts that are troubled while god is on the other side saying let not your heart be troubled and can i pause to say this to the saints that one of satan's greatest weapons against you in a time like this is your forgetfulness remember solomon say that there is nothing new under the sun so everything that we face is just a newer version of something that god has already kept you through in the past in other words are there any older saints that can testify that we've seen racial tensions that were even greater than these but yet god has brought us every step of the way is there anybody that can remember the recession in 2007 and 2008 when the economy crashed and the housing market went into foreclosure yet god took care of us and the righteous were never forsaken or their seed begging after bread and anybody old enough to remember sars ebola measles monks and chicken pox and yet the lord has enabled us to make it to this current season and i have a sneaky suspicion that if somebody was to look back over their lives you would see that god is able to make a way out of no way and that god still comes through right on time is there anybody that can look back on it and you see where god paid the tuition when they were in third grade and now you know he can still pay it now that they're in seventh grade when you look back on it you can see where god allows you to walk away from some car wrecks and if he can keep you from dangers that you can see he can keep you from dangers that you cannot see if you just look back over your life and look at where god has brought you from i believe that while you wait for sabbath dinner there can be some thanksgiving in your living room there can be some rejoicing in your prayer room now there's somebody that's watching this message and gritting their teeth and saying pastor how can you say we ought to be thankful in a season like this how can we rejoice in a season like this i need you to know you can always be thankful if you're thoughtful you can always have rejoicing if there is reflecting you say you got to remember what jeremiah said in the book of lamentations when he opened up his eyes and jerusalem was destroyed and his people were dispersed and everything around him was all despair he got to a point where he didn't even want to preach the word of god anymore but he got to a place where he says this i recall to mine and therefore i have hope it is because of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed his compassions fail not they are new every morning and he lifts up both of his hands and says great is thy faithfulness in other words there can be no thank giving if there is no thoughtfulness there can be no rejoicing if there is no reflection is why the psalm says when i think of the goodness of jesus and all he's done for me my soul cries hallelujah thank god for saving the rest like me it's like the song says when i look around and i think things over all my good days outweigh my bad days and as a result i will not complain and what i want to say to somebody in the midst of all your earthly despair is you need to take some time in reflection take some time and thoughtfulness look at where god has brought you from and it'll give you the confidence to know he'll keep you for where you're going can the church say amen today [Applause] and so do me a favor saints go back with me in your bibles go with me if you don't mind to uh john chapter 13 and we're going to skip down to here to verse number 37 john chapter 13 and verse number 37. when you get there let me hear you say amen john chapter 13 and verse 37 the bible says here specifically peter says unto him lord why can't i why uh can i not follow you now i will lay down my life for your sake and jesus answered unto him will you lay down your life for my sake most assuredly i say unto you that the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times and in verse 1 of verse 14 he says let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you he says i go to prepare a place for you now beloved i need y'all to get that this little brief pericope teaches us some important lessons about the power of faith and the salvation narrative but the first thing it teaches us beloved is that god starts preparing a place even before you are prepared okay let me say it again that that god is preparing a place even before you get prepared now i need you to get what is happening here jesus is at the last supper with his disciples and what he does is he begins to pull them aside and he needs to reinforce certain truths in their minds he has to let them know that he is going to be crucified that there will be a resurrection and that inevitably he's gonna have to ascend to go back to glory and anticipating their distraughtness or discouragement he shares these words that have uplifted generations since he left he says i've got to go but let not your heart be troubled he says if you believe in god you've got to believe also in me he says in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you he says i go to prepare a place for you that where i am there you may be also now i need you to understand that the promise that he's preparing a place is alone enough to shout but as a sinner when i look at it in its context it takes my rejoicing to a whole nother level you see saints this promise is not just to those who are already prepared jesus makes this promise to those who are works in progress are y'all with me today saints now see the reason we don't get it and the reason you're not yet rejoicing is because we always read john 14 in a vacuum what we do is we divorce it from the context of chapter 13. now when you go back and read chapter 13 one of the things that we find is that jesus is at the last supper and in this supper what he does is he foretells of the betrayal of judas and he also predicts the denial of peter and in chapter 13 and verse 33 jesus is like listen i'm not gonna be with you much longer i'm gonna have to go and you're not gonna be able to go with me and then your boy peter begins to speak up he's just like lord why can't i go with you he says lord i'm willing to lay down my life for you and there in verse 38 the bible says jesus speaking says the cop or the rooster will not crow before you have denied me three times so the last statement he makes in chapter 13 is that peter is going to deny him the last statement he makes is a prediction of peter's failure the last thing he says in chapter 13 is that peter is going to walk away from me but note that chapter 14 is not the beginning of a new conversation it is a continuation of the same dialogue in the same breath jesus goes from saying you're going to deny me to saying that even though you're gonna deny me i'm gonna go and prepare a place for you oh god jesus says while you're denying me i'm still preparing a place for you and see i don't know if we are able to understand the amazing grace of god because what jesus is saying is that while you are unprepared i'm still preparing for your arrival are y'all hearing me today i see god is saying the peter m to us he's saying listen i already know what you're going to do and yet i've prepared a place for you in other words your spiritual failures won't make me change my mind your mess-ups won't make me change my mind your inconsistency won't make me change my mind is there anybody getting the epic nature of this peter is not disqualified he's not cut out he is not shunned even in the midst of predicted denial he is still counted as belonging to the savior and it shows us something about those who are lost is that the laws are lost through rejection not because they didn't pass inspection oh lord does it mean in other words the laws are lost because of rejection not because they didn't pass inspection and watch this saint see there are some of us that only shout because they like the fact that god loves us despite what we've done in the past but do you realize that god doesn't just love you despite what you have done god loves you despite what you will do oh god do you realize that the shadow of the cross doesn't just reach all the way back to your first sin but the shadow of the cross reaches forward to cover your last sin oh god let me say it again that the shadow of the cross doesn't just go back to your first sin but it goes all the way forward to cover your final sin and see sometimes beloved we don't realize how unconditional the love of god is and see that's why some of us will not really commit to jesus it's why some sit through appeals and they won't get baptized and they won't say yes to jesus and the reason they are afraid to do that is that they are scared that they may mess up sometime in the future they have fear that i won't always be able to get it right going forward but what i need somebody to know is that if the holy spirit is appealing to you it's not because god has just accepted your past it's because god has made grace provision for everything you're going to do in the future in other words you don't have to be afraid of what god is going to think when you mess up because god has already anticipated your mess-ups and he has supplied a sufficient amount of grace not just for your past but also for your future are y'all hearing me today's thanks and see see let let me just let ah can we just rejoice on something real quick you know what makes god's love so powerful what makes god's love powerful is that there is no ignorance in god's love see what makes his love truly unconditional is that god is not unaware of anything about us you see there's a big difference between love and infatuation you see the difference between love and infatuation is that infatuation is so blinded by lust that it can't see the traits of a person and it's surprised once infatuation shows up by what they've actually attached themselves to but love is very much different love is informed that sees the good and the bad and it makes a decision to give that person their affection now i need to understand that even the married folk in this room even though we say we have unconditional love i don't even know if we love like god did because the truth is some of us don't have unconditional love we just didn't find out certain things until after we said i do in other words you didn't see certain things coming you've just had to make your peace with it oh lord y'all y'all got quiet on me here in other words i need you to understand that if we had full knowledge of who they were going to be 10 years after you said i do and 30 years after you said i do and he still wouldn't have no job and she really meant it when she said i don't cook and and you realize that it wasn't gonna never change you might have made a different decision because there was some ignorance even in your love but do you realize that there is no ignorance in the love of god he is not caught off guard by anything that you do he is not surprised that any mistake that you made in other words god saw where you were he saw every mistake he saw every misstep he saw that you were gonna curse he knew you were gonna drink he knew you were gonna fall short but god said i'll take you anyhow because there is no ignorance in the love of god are y'all hearing me today's saints and see what jesus does here he doesn't just predict peter's fall he also predicts peter's redemption now there are some of us who who think well pastor you're going a little far that's kind of that's kind of uh affirming presumptive saying no no no i'm not affirming presumption i'm extolling god's redeeming power so that this is the thing i need somebody to get do you realize that when god looks at you that god doesn't see you as you are god looks and functions with you in the context of what you shall become let me say it again see god is not about analysis god is about projection see see god doesn't look at you where you are god deals with you as what you shall become so so notice the trend in scripture that when god is about to do something in somebody's life he does not show up and function in the context of where they are he talks and interacts with them based on what they shall become okay so so go to the book of judges look at your boy gideon uh when god angel shows up to get in you realize that your boy gideon is a straight coward your boy gideon is so scared that he is in a wine press threshing wheat because he don't want nobody even know he is there in fact gideon describes himself as the weakest man from the weakest clan but guess what when the angel shows up he doesn't show up and call him as gideon calls himself he refers to gideon as mighty man of valor in other words he doesn't call him what he is god calls him what it shall become when you go back to the book of genesis sarah's initial name was sarai which means one who strives or contends but before she even had a baby god said i'm going to change your name to sarah which means mother of many nations he doesn't call her what she is she calls her what she shall become even before jacob reconciled with esau the angel says you shall no longer be called jacob or supplanter i'm going to call your name israel which means prince of the most high god you realize that even simon he says i'm going to change your name to peter which means stone or rock when there was nothing stony or rocky about his faith and he says i'm going to call it in advance i'm not going to deal with where you are i'm going to project forward not just analysiz the president are y'all hear what i'm saying and say i need somebody to understand that god doesn't just deal with you where you are god functions based on what you shall become y'all realize oh that that's all justification is justification is simply where you are declared righteous even though you're clearly unrighteous so what happens is jesus then projects through justification but guess what he don't stop at justification he takes you through sanctification so that what he declares in heaven he takes you through a process so it's done on earth so that what's in heaven is not a lie it just foreshadows what shall come to pass are y'all hearing me today saints that's the thing i want to say to somebody the reason we don't grow is we focus more on where we are more than we focus on where we're going we focus more on what we've done more than we focus on what we shall become we focus more on where we have been more than we focus on our eternal destiny we focus more on what was more than we focus on what shall be and i guess what i'm saying to us beloved that you will never grow as long as you're focusing on your present you won't grow until you focus on your future are y'all hearing what i'm saying it's crazy i was watching um uh this podcast the other day and it was about working out and this guy was talking about his journey to kind of building his body and losing weight and he says one of the things i did he said i took a before picture of kind of how i look now but then he says i took a young i took a picture of my younger self he says when i was thin and in shape and he says i have both pictures but he says i took the before picture and i put it in the drawer and and i saw my gold picture and i put that on the mirror and it's crazy because he didn't look at how he was currently looking he was focusing on what he was going to become now his child came to him and he said listen why are you focusing so much on what you're going to become because he says when i know what i'm going to become it shows me what i've got to do right now oh god in other words in order for me to be that then i can't eat this in order for me to get there i can't do that in order for me to get to this point i can't stop at that point in other words my destination determines my direction so he said the sun said well if you are not going to focus on the before picture why did you even take it he says the reason i took the before picture is so that when i get where i want to be i'll have it as a point of reference for the celebration that is to come see somebody needs a before picture delivery a reminder that god has brought you a mighty mighty mighty long way but you gotta focus on what you shall be because if i'm gonna have faith then i can't hang out with faithless people if i'm gonna be holy i can't do unholy things where i'm going is gonna determine my direction but i'm not focusing on where i am i'm focusing on what god has for me can the church say amen so the word of god says listen i ain't gonna get all the way through this thing y'all gotta come on back next week so in john 14 1 this is what jesus says and this blows my mind this is going to encourage somebody today jesus says saints i need you to look at it especially in the context he says let not your heart be troubled let me tell you something that is very simple and basic but i pray that you hold it as an axiom jesus will never give you a command that he doesn't make provision for you to keep let me say it again that he'll never give you a command that that he doesn't give you provision in order to keep it so so so when jesus says let not your heart be troubled you realize he says that while describing a troubling situation like jesus in this last supper is describing scenes of of upheaval and and instability of terror for the disciples listen as he lays out this conversation when you mix this together john 13 and matthew 26 he makes it very clear he says listen one of y'all is going to betray me another one of you is going to deny me he lets them know that you're going to be persecuted because you decided to follow me you're going to be in prison because you decided to follow me you're going to be disliked because you decided to follow me and by the way i'm going to leave y'all by yourselves to handle it all and notice what he says i don't want your hearts to be troubled even though i'm describing trouble he said i'm telling you trouble is coming but i don't want you to be trouble and what he is communicating saints is the amazing benefit of what it means to live a life of faith what he's saying is that what's happening around you should not dictate what's happening in you let me say it again what is happening around you should not dictate what's happening inside of you in other words for the believer what is happening inside of you should not mirror or reflect what is happening outside of you in other words if jesus is saying don't let your heart be troubled it is because god has a power that is accessible to us that can keep our hearts calm when everybody else's soul is disquieted and i say this because there are many of us right now in this season that are dealing with a bunch of different type of heart attacks where stresses are attacking the tranquility of your heart where worry is attacking the tranquility of your heart where heaviness is attacking the tranquility of your heart where where grief is attacking the tranquility of your heart and and you got all of these things attacking the tranquility of your heart but jesus is saying don't be troubled because he is making available to us a power that allows us to have peace in the midst of every storm we are facing now watch this sense to be clear when jesus says don't let your heart be troubled i want you to make sure you understand the right foundation for it he's not saying don't let he he's not saying don't be troubled because you're almost home jesus says let not your heart be troubled knowing that in 2021 we would still be waiting for him to come he says let not your heart be troubled not because you coming out of the end of it he says don't be troubled knowing you about to go into it so that their assurance or peace can't be based upon an imminent rescue from trouble that their peace has to be a reflection of who they believe god to be so jesus says not your heart be troubled now i need you to get this saints this is not a call to indifference this is not jesus saying just pretend like you don't see bad stuff happening this is not jesus saying stick your head in the sand see i need to understand that real faith is not a denial of reality real faith is simply saying i am going to prioritize god's word above the reality so i want you to notice so jesus says let not your heart be troubled you know that word trouble in the greek is a word terrasso which is only used twice in the scripture here in john 14. that word terrasso means to be shaken back and forth it literally means two other things to have dread what's this say it means to have dread because of what you anticipate it means to lose the ability to be stable or settled so when jesus says don't let your heart be troubled he is not talking about every now and then when you get irritated he's not talking about those days when you're in a bad mood he is not talking about how you respond when something catches you out of off uh by surprise what he is talking about is a perpetual state of being because of what you see or y'all hear me today saints and i'm gonna focus on two of these definitions of trouble first i want to talk about for a minute the dread that we have because of what we anticipate see there are some of us that that are troubled and shaken not because of what is there are some of us that are shaken up because we have so much fear and dread of what may or may not come to pass now it's crazy because see there are some of us in a situation where it has hit the fan where stuff has popped off on your life there are a number of things but then there are some of us that have a paralyzed faith because we are troubled through anticipation you are having a heart attack simply because you're dreading what has not even come to pass there are some of us who are experiencing heart attack because we dread enemies that we think have power over us some of us live in fear because we are dreading of the potential loss of a job it's amazing how there are some young people that dread being alone forever even though you ain't but 27 years old there's some of us that dread or have worry about the loss of a job you still have some of us have dread because you're anticipating the loss of a marriage that's still intact there are some of us that have dread because we're so worried about contracting covet we are way down in anticipation of things not going right we're way down in anticipation of joe biden's failures we're way down because we have heaviness of things that have not even come to pass and see and i can see this this is why jesus says beloved take no thought for tomorrow help me holy spirit jesus says don't take no thought for tomorrow because sufficient is the trouble of today and i just need to know do i have at least four or five witnesses out there that realize i can't be stressing about what may be i can't stress about two weeks from now i can't worry about next year i got too much stuff on my plate right now to even be worried about what's going on down the line are y'all hearing saints in other words i got too many actual problems to compound it with anticipated problems are y'all with me today saints i see one of the ways we keep our hearts from being troubled number one is you've got to learn how to live for today do you realize beloved that one of the themes of scripture is just learning how to live and trust god one single day at a time are y'all hearing me saints do you realize that when you look in the old testament whenever god fed the children of israel with manna you realize that god did not give them five days of portion are on one day he would feed them one day at a time and the only day he gave them extra was on the sabbath so that they could rest in him and not have to gather you realize that in the lord's prayer jesus taught his disciples he said pray give us this day our daily bread in fact even when you look at the apostle james he says listen don't be taught about what you gonna do next week next year what business you gonna go handle because all you've got promised is today and i guess what i'm saying to today says is because anticipated problems will keep you from praising god today see god has promised to meet your needs on a day to day braces and see i need y'all to understand something that if you spend so much time anticipating the future it'll keep you from seeing how god is fulfilling his promises today now let me tell you something about the future see i need you to understand that the future is impatient see the the future is nervous the future gets anxious the future worries because they don't know how god is going to do it the future doesn't know how god is going to bring it to pass and when the future gets nervous about the future he'll start trying to borrow joy from the present oh god and what i'm saying to somebody today is don't let tomorrow borrow joy from today don't let next week borrow peace from this week don't let next year borrow joy from this year in other words you ain't gotta lend nothing to the future let the future know that god has enough joy for you on tomorrow god has enough peace for you next week god has enough provision in next year in other words don't reach back and borrow none of my peace today none of my joy today because god has enough to supply for every season you're in are y'all hearing me today saints what i need somebody to understand is that god has already seen some of y'all worried about what god is going through tomorrow so much so that you can praise him for what he's doing right now and matter of fact can i get some folk to join with me that if you ate breakfast this morning and dinner is warming up on the stove it's because god already kept this promise today in other words if you slept inside and not outside in the snow it's because god already kept this promise today if the lights are on in the house even though the bill is past due it's because god has kept this promise today guess what he made there may be a time where you lose your job but maybe you ought to just thank god that you're employed today there may be a day where you get covered cancer or lupus but if you've got your health maybe you ought to thank god for the portion you have today there may be a day where your parents get sick and die but if they are still here why don't you just love on them today it is why the bible says this is the day that the lord has made i will rejoice and be glad in it from the rising of the sun to the going down of the saint the name of the lord is to be praised that's why i will bless the lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul will make his boasts in the lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad oh magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together there is somebody who is being stingy with praise but guess what their clothes on your back today you better praise him if you know where your kids are today you better praise him if you can inhale and exhale today you better praise him if you've got clapping in your hands praise him if you've got running in your feet praise him if you've got volume in your mouth praise him that's why the bible says let everything that has breath praise the name of the lord because he's been faithful this day are y'all hearing the word today saints listen listen listen i need to know i'm almost done listen gotta come on back we got some more leftovers next week but but let me say this the other term for the word troubled it is it is to shake something or put it in motion so violently that it never stops shaking it is the inability to be still or be stable and again like i said it's not the same thing as just being a little bit bothered but i'm talking to some of us who are just in who who whose faith is constantly vibrating i'm talking about that person who your mind is always in flux i'm talking about that person that that like you ain't even got the ability to be still in other words you you are like a leaf that is just tossed by every wind of circumstance that blows in your life and what i'm saying to somebody beloved that the journey of faith see this is what faith is faith does not make you exempt from trouble but faith gets you to a place where you're not moved by trouble in other words god wants to get you to a place where where maturity is this is not where i just pray lord don't let it hit me it's where i pray lord give me the strength so that even when it hits me i'm still standing and see i need you to understand that that the the witness of the christian believer is not that i'll never get hit the witness of the faith is that when i get hit on my left cheek and then again on my right cheek and when i get punched in my gut and when the devil hits me with an uppercut and he tries to suplex me it's when he's thrown everything at me in short order i'm able to stand with my head held high and my chest out and my back straight and my feet planted on solid ground because i am founded on the rock that is christ jesus are y'all hearing me today saints i see one of the things i want to say to us beloved is that you can have peace no matter what the circumstance go real quick philippians chapter four and verse six i'm almost done philippians chapter four and verse number six philippians 4 and verse six the word of god says to us this the bible says and gives us the command remember god never give gives a command if he doesn't give you provision to make that command become the reality he says be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through christ jesus did y'all catch that saints god says don't be anxious oh holy spirit he says don't be anxious about he says don't be don't be anxious about anything oh thanks he said don't be anxious about your bill don't be anxious about your doctor's visit don't be anxious about what's gonna happen on inauguration day don't be anxious about the present don't be anxious about the future he says like when you make your request known unto god the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind through christ jesus watch this now he says when you make your request known unto god does it say everything changes right away just prayer make all of the bills be paid instantly does it make all of the enemies your footstool right away this prayer make the cancer go directly into remission so that before prayer changes teens the first thing prayer changes is us so the one thing that is granted automatically when i pray is that the eruption in my soul is quieted as i find a perfect peace that the world can't even understand so that when the world is looking at you after you've gone through what you've gone through see see the problem is that see we ain't got no witness because there's not enough amazement because our responses are what the world predicts they should be in other words we're responding just like somebody who doesn't know the lord but see they don't really get to see peace modeled because we're not calling on the name of the lord in other words you get to a place where you are praising when you should be complaining and you're trusting when you are to be a traitor to the cross in other words they don't realize that the benefit is not that you get to sidestep what they get to go through but you go through the same things that they go through but you come out with your faith intact on the other side are y'all hearing the word today isaiah 26 and verse number three isaiah chapter 26 and verse number 3 word of god gives us a very powerful promise isaiah 26 verse number 3 where it says you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you trust in the lord forever for y'all the lord is everlasting strength listen i just need you to know we got to get to a place for our folks where when we're in distressing times we've got to focus on god more than we focus on the problem now y'all hear the word of god today sex see see i need you understand that peace is twofold it's a matter of how much you pray and what you choose to focus on and the issues with some is that we're focusing on the issue more than we focus on god and see what i'm saying is that we've got to get to that place where we discipline ourselves to fix our minds on jesus and when you fix your mind on god guess what and you fix uh get a sense of how big your god is what becomes clear is how tiny and how small your challenges are in the light of how great your god is listen i've shared with you guys before i remember when jayden uh he's almost 11 now i remember he was a little baby when we would go out of town to hotels or sometimes to my parents house what would happen is he would get so over stimulated by being in a different resting environment that he could not hardly go to sleep and y'all know that got little kids that when when the kids can't go to sleep that thing is rough because the parents can't go to sleep i remember there be times where he'd be laying on his back in his bassinet in a foreign place and he would be looking around at the different paint colors and looking around at the different fixtures and looking around at the different light settings and what was happening he'd be looking around so much that he would not be able to go to sleep and what we learned how to do after a while is i would just hold him right here in the cradle of my arm and what i would do is i would palm the back of his head so that he was not able to look around all he could do is look into the face of his daddy and when he couldn't look around at everything and all he could do was look at me all of a sudden those big watery eyes would just begin to close and fall asleep and what i'm saying to somebody is stop looking around at everything that's happening stop looking around at all your bills stop looking around at the white supremacists stop looking around at all your enemies stop looking around at donald trump stop looking around at capitol hill stop looking around at all your creditors stop looking around at all your doctors report and cast your eyes on jesus and when you fix your eyes on him then you'll find rest sweet rest for your soul is there anybody that believes god's word today that knows that we don't have to be troubled our hearts peace does not have to be attacked because of god said for me not to be troubled it's because god has made the power available for me to be able to have peace in the midst of everything that is happening in my world to god be the glory and see my question for somebody as you sit at home today it's not is it well with your money it's not is it well with your career it's not even is it well with your friendships you see all of that is outer the question is is it well with your soul and see god's message to us today is simply this that god said let not your heart be troubled see i need to know we hadn't even got to heaven yet we hadn't even got to the mentions god said that to the disciples knowing that they were not coming out he said that knowing that they were just about to go into it he makes this statement not based upon the fact that they about to escape it he says your heart heart ought not be trouble based on who i am in your life and what i'm saying to somebody today and god's word is simply this like you know it ain't just like this great reformation but like god is saying you got too much dread in your life you you literally are weighed by down by what paul calls imaginations you you worried about things that may or may not even happen and what i'm saying to us beloved is we got too much on our plates today to be worried about what may happen what may not happen like listen if you just learn how to even though you have a vision for your life let me be clear you have a vision for your life but you got to learn how to live one day at a time how to be present and see god's goodness from moment to moment and experience the experience like again if everything you need has been provided today that's what god has kept this promise to you he's kept this promise god is saying to somebody you you've got to learn how to focus on him more than you focus on the problem again you you you look at it and the situation in them and you you fix your eyes on them and you're always looking around and that's why you're disquieting that's why you can't rest is why you can't sleep at night because you your attention span is everywhere except on god what god said is if you make your request known unto me i'll give you peace that passes all understanding to guard your heart and mind through christ jesus listen again i'm going in front i don't even know if this sermon was for you but i'm just giving i'm just preaching out loud what god gave to me there have been some things in my inner world colliding with what is happening in the culture and ain't gonna lie i just i've been tripping but god used this 15 days of prayer and fasting especially our fast day so that i can get centered and i can be reminded to stop looking at the issues and look to the heels from what's cometh my help and realize that my help comes from the lord i need y'all know we we're almost home we almost home i'm gonna talk about that some more but i need you to know that god is our refuge and our strength and a very present help in the time of trouble [Music] there's somebody at home that's listening to the gospel of jesus christ and you want to make a decision for god you know you've been putting this off and saying tomorrow and later and down the line you know you need to say yes to jesus christ you know that you need to be baptized for the remission of your sins but one of the things that has kept you and anchored you from making that decision is you kind of worried well lord can i do it can i live right going forward can i can i live out whatever it is i'm committing to and it's actually fear about whether or not you can perform well in the future that keeps you from making that needed decision but i need to understand that what god showed us about peter is this is that even while peter was unprepared jesus said i'm still preparing a place for you my grace does not just go back to your first saying but it extends all the way to your last sin he said if i'm appealing to you there is no ignorance in me i know exactly who you are i know exactly where you'll misstep but i still want you anyhow there is no ignorance in god's love he knows it listen you realize that even when you confess your sins that's just the way of getting the burden off you you ain't informing god and that he don't already know he knows everything he sees all and yet he still desires a love relationship with you so today you hear the word of god you're in the gospel of jesus christ you want to respond appropriately if you're here in huntsville or the greater tennessee valley you want to make it up your mind says i want to be baptized i'm going to be in one of the next baptisms at first church or i want to begin studying the bible with some help or assistance so i can get made ready and prepared for one of the next baptisms you do one of two things email us at prayer at first sdachurch.com prayer at first ncaachurch.com or if you're on facebook or youtube right now there is a link coming up in the comments called titanfall you can just click on that link and you can make your decision known and by tuesday of this week somebody will be getting in contact with you so we can begin studying the word and begin moving in a direction that culminates in eternal life and i just want to say to somebody today if you hear his voice harden out your heart and it's crazy because like we will receive worry from the future stress from the future anxiety from the future so much so that it clouds us of god's goodness today but it's crazy how we won't just make that simple decision today to say i accept jesus i make jesus my choice would you say yes and maybe you're in another city another state another country you can email us just the same and as we said earlier in the service we'll get you connected with a church a pastor somebody that can help you grow in your relationship with god that can help you get built up in your faith right now we're praying father in in heaven [Music] before we pray for financial wellness because we know you got that before we pray for medical wellness because we know you got that too before we even pray for relational wellness that's under your purview as well i pray for all of god's people every person under the sound every person within the spirit's reach whoever is hearing this word right now i pray that it would be well with their soul i pray that you would stand in front of them and that you would block everything that would seek to attack the tranquility and the peace you want to put in their hearts may somebody be able to reach out to you and get a fresh hold on divine omnipotence today and may they be strengthened not just for what is coming but lord even in a week that looms large with great potential for upheaval nationally and in government may it be well with our souls we look to you we focus on you we put our trust in you we pray it in jesus name let god's people stay together amen and amen god bless you thank you for letting us bring the gospel of jesus christ into your home and we look forward to coming back and giving you the next part of this message next week god bless

Channel: First Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 10,507

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Keywords: sda sermons, first sda church huntsville alabama live, fcsda, first sda church huntsville, sermons by great preachers, prayer, church, first sda church huntsville youtube, snell, sda, first sda church huntsville, first sda church huntsville al live stream, sda sermons 2020

Id: OclbqMg78fo

Length: 64min 41sec (3881 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 16 2021