Palm Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church FL, September 11 , 2021 LIVESTREAM FL

i've [Music] i'm so glad i'm a part of the family of god good morning and happy sabbath to my palm spring church family and good morning and happy sabbath to my worldwide church family it's a wonderful feeling to be alive and to be able to bond together in the spirit of unity whether near or far worship god as one big happy family our topic this morning is bringing back the family answer my name is hazel affleck and i will be the superintendent for the morning at this time we'll have this scripture reading by sister nadia peer reading will be taken from joshua 24 verse 15. and if it seems evil unto you to serve the lord choose you this day whom ye shall serve whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the amorites in whose land ye dwell but as for me and my house we will serve the lord amen amen please bow your heads for the opening prayer dear heavenly father we thank you for this day you have given us we thank you for the opportunity to come together as brothers and sisters in christ to worship you during this special day your holy sabbath we ask that you please bless the service and help us to learn from what we are about to learn from the lesson and also we ask that you protect those that are on their way to the church and help them to arrive here safely we thank you for all you have done in particular the breath of life because there are many those that are grieving at this time but you have given us this opportunity to come together so we bless your name in just name i pray amen at this time we will have the mission story after which we have the welcome then the special music and then the closing remarks can you imagine being seven years old running for your life into a jungle how might that that you feel our story is resenting resentment this was jimmy shu life in the southern asian country of miami previously known as burma as a boy jimmy developed a deep resentment towards the authorities because of his experiences at one point lost in the jungle he thought he would die he decided that if he ever survived he would join an army resistant movement to get revenge after two years of separating jimmy found his father in a refugee camp in thailand but his father did not agree with him jimmy planned saying it would not help to take a weapon instead he urged jimmy to become a pastor and tell his people about the love of god and the hope of eternal life it was not easy for jimmy to give up his anger and the resentment but he saw his father's peace and joy as they attended a seven-day adventist church in the refugee camp he read about the conflict between christ and satan in the bible he realized his father was right and decided to forgive those who had wronged him jimmy became a seventh-day adventist pastor and later resettle in the united states he soon discovered that many adventist refugee families whom he had known in refugee camp in thailand were not were now scattered across north america they were trying to find 70 adventist churches but did not know enough english to understand the message or participate in the services many were becoming discouraged jimmy longed to visit and encouraged them in their faith he wanted to help them to organize small group so they could worship the god of heaven in their own language with much prayer jimmy planted three churches but worked full working full-time to support his family he did not have time to find a travel to help another more of the 2000 karim adventist refugees scattered across the continent but god knew my heart and my need said jim issue who now serve as a pastor in the carolina conference and as a kareem church planting consultant for north america division adventist refugee and immigrant ministries god has been leading all the time and he already had a plan jimmy added a 13 sabbath offering that was collected in 2011 provided funds to the reach out to refugees in north america the funds allowed jimmy to visited refugees families scattered throughout the united states and canada helping them to organize congregation in their own language and to serve their communities through his work 55 karem churches had been planted across the continent over the past decade all this was possible because church member gave and jimmy and others like him allow god to replace their resentment with forgiveness and love this 13 sabbath your offering will again help share the gospel with refugees in north america division thank you for planning a generous offering thank you sister anthony for a mission story at this time we will have the lesson story which will be done by elder ebanks good morning and happy sabbath everyone we give the lord thanks for this another privilege we have of assembling in his courts and for those of our friends around the world we welcome you we hope that as we discuss this very important lesson together we all will be blessed and just to let you know i was not supposed to be here this morning standing my wife had had that assignment where she asked me to do it and i was reluctant at first because i wanted her to rest rest not be anxious i decided to do it so we pray that god will lead and that we will be blessed and we will find rest indeed in him who is the author and finisher of our faith we're going to begin with prayer if you would bow with me please loving father in heaven it is such a glorious privilege that we have to be in your holy presence one more sabbath morning we praise you lord for the blessings you have been told upon us but most of all we thank you for jesus christ your son he who left your presence left the worship of holy angels to come down here to their sin cursed planet lived a perfect life and then died at the hands of sinful man just so that we could be saved but we are rejoicing this morning father because he is at your right hand in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and in him we can find rest for this we praise you we thank you we ask thee now holy spirit to overshadow us with your holy presence take control of my intellect my mind and all those who are participating watching around the world may we be blessed as a result of discussing this week's lesson we praise you we thank you we love you we worship you oh god because you're all together worship worthy of our worship and we do all this in jesus name and for his sake amen amen so we look at this week's lesson longing for more when i saw the topic of the lesson the first thought hit me was indeed having that whole sick experience that homesick feeling longing for more of what we studied we have been studying for many many years and we have not yet received the fulfillment of what we have been studying in jesus christ what is my hope that as we look into this week's lesson we will be excited about the times in which we live as we long for more which is to experience that perfect rest that jesus has to offer us the introduction of lesson talked about in the city of queens new york this uh architectural model that was built back in 1964 i think it was and it was just a a miniature model of the city of new york that was growing the different streets of different buildings the landmarks all these were there on that miniature model however as the different engineers the civil engineers and all the other high intellectuals got together to put together this architectural model their model still came way shy of what the real new york city turned out to be i remember when my wife and i were looking to to building our neighborhood the miniature mod was on a table in the office and as we went in we looked at the different lots and different sizes and what that would pitch ours different models that one that but when it got to the reality of building our house what a difference it was so i realized that the model was just basically just a tendency to give us an idea of the dimensions of the building right an inch in this case was worth 100 feet and so on and so forth so it was in the children of israel as this adjourned god gave moses in sunday's lesson a model as to the center he should build as he goes through the wilderness experience and he was cautioned he was reminded that that he should build the sanctuary according to what he has seen in the mount god had given him a model a model as to how he should build the sanctuary and again it was a model of a heavenly sanctuary so then again even though he was given that model it still came way shy way far of what god intended for his people however he admonished him to build me a sanctuary that i may dwell among you right and so they they went through that they were in essex space paul mentioned in first corinthians 10 someone has the bible i'm going to ask you to turn to your bible and mr microphone man find that person please and someone read for us this morning first corinthians 10 verses 1 through 11. real quick we have limited time so we have to go as quickly as possible somebody has found it all right brethren i do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the clouds all passed through the sea all were baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was christ but most of them god was not wealthy or their bodies were scattered in the wilderness now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted and do not become idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did and in one day 23 000 fell nor let us tempt christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents nor complain as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer now all these things happen to them as examples and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come yes before you move on to sunday um on the sabbath islam where he says a model help us grasp the essence of the original correct but it can never replace it rather it is there to help us better understand what the original is all about beautiful thank you so much for bringing that outside anthony and that that that pretty much is an excellent way to segment into sunday's portion right as we study about the baptism of being baptized in moses it is a relationship with god that's important right god wanted a relationship with the children of israel while they were wandering through the through the desert and he gave him all these examples right he he had marched in mars lawn or red in in the first corinthians we have we who live in 2019 or 2021 i'm sorry we have seen what they experienced we have seen what they what they did we have been admonished that we have these things as our examples as our examples and they did everything you name it they did it they committed adultery they pursued god they had false gods they worshipped other idols and whatnot and god was angry with them because of his holiness and in one day how many of them were destroyed 23 000 somewhere in that neighborhood now my question to us was around the world can't respond to this question but the question to me for you is this what have we learned from their experiences what have we learned how disobedient and rebellious the natural human heart is as they saw god leading they drank from the rock they ate the bread the manna in the wilderness they saw god's power with the cloud by day and the fire by night and they still rebelled against him now now now that that how do i relate that to us living in this time and age you know there's a sickness i call it that the enemy has seemed to have cast over all of us especially assembly at random adventist christian we have the examples of israel of old and i think they also fell for this too and as i think we become cynical they even loathe the manner that god has been feeding them with we're tired of this stuff they want to go back to egypt to the flesh parts of egypt while god was leading them in 2021 i see the same thing happening among us at 78 venice and it is so sad i pray god that we will come to understand how we can rest in him having that relationship we become cynical that's what happened to the children of israel they became sorry taking becoming critical of everybody else they criticize moses remember we don't know what has come of this moses guy when he was up there in the mountain with god we we we're critical of each other and the sad thing is that cynicism leads to apathy and that's the state that they were in we are in today the state of apathy we become indifferent we don't really care about souls anymore we go through the process day by day those going through the motions while souls are dying in sin god had selected israel to represent him among the heathen nations when they came to when it was inspired the land two guys came up with a favorable report these are our examples palm springs these are our examples and if we continue in that same path the same thing that happened to israel of old will happen to us so they were baptized in moses we know that there was no physical baptism by moses taking place they were they went through the red sea god led them jesus led them to the red sea they didn't get wet these the egyptians got drowned their the the topic of the listeners for that can derive from it is that they were baptized in moses in that they accepted his leadership as their leader of god because through moses jesus was being represented and so they accepted that so when it wasn't talked about being baptized it is accepting moses's leadership as he followed christ i want to say it's romans 6 3 about the point so that those of us that were baptized in christ we should walk in newness of life we take on christ when we identify ourselves as christian so so so it's important for us to keep in mind that what happened to israel of old they are for our example we can't always read them as a historic event they are therefore example that we might learn from them and not make the same mistakes that they made dr pierre i believe that yes we do have this exam these examples and what we do see with israel and spiritual israel today us today um is that we do not want to feel uncomfortable and that's where the problem is when things are going well we're jumping up and down singing praises but as soon as things start to go a little bit awry we get a little bit uncomfortable then we want to doubt we don't want to we it's as if we want to tell god to take to take the back seat i'm driving right and we we don't want to leave it completely to god right and god did not promise us that things will go easy he never promised that he did just promise that he would be with us but never promised us that things will go very well we'll go without any um difficulty right and i'm glad to write brought that out doctor peter because again the lesson we're studying is right right along that line the children of israel that were being led by moses god gave a directive go go tell pharaoh this let my people go and he was taking them through their disobedience led to a lot of the disasters that they face as a matter of fact we think about it of all the droves that left egypt only two the lesson talks about their bodies being scattered all over the desert only two of the original folks entered the promised land uh caleb and joshua right so just by virtue of us living in a sinful world just by us being here qualifies us or or or naturally uh uh end us up being uh in a situation of discomfort and so we should not when those times occur you know because the bills are piling up and we don't see any way out and might be issues whatever the issue might be we are living in a sinful world and these things must be like going trading fire by the way right but we have so many historic events so many historic examples that we can lean on that we can go by to understand that god is still in control and that is what we need to understand you know the rest that god wants us to to have the the sabbath is just a miniature part of the whole process the rest that he wants us to get to receive to enjoy is rest from sin rest for more worries rest for more cares knowing that he cares for us in matthew i think it's 11 matthew 11 verse 28 i believe it says jesus said come unto me all leave that labor and are heavy laden and i will give you think about this invitation for a minute jesus the author of life is inviting us in a sinful word doctor pierre to come on to him we are tired we're exhausted if you want to find us come to me and receive that rest you know sister anthony mike is coming to you we can only find rest as we rely on jesus not necessarily but that's important but rest more key is more worries anthony says testament history as an example of revealing spiritual truths that's right that can be applied to individual christians today today i like that today it was thousands of years ago that is happening sister anthony dessert it is still applicable in 2021 as we and and how we can do can we we can do this is avoiding the cynicism i mentioned earlier don't get caught up because oh we've been hearing this promise since we were babies we are still longing for more and this will become a reality in 2021 sister anthony today as we learn to rely on jesus christ that's what it's all about that's why he came to this earth and lived a perfect life modest lesson talked about the rituals and sacrifices all these pointed to jesus we talked about the the blood that was shed it talked about if uh if a man sins if a regular person sins bring a female lamb and the the instructions were given to put a hand on the animal's head and you slay it the prison takes the blood and put it on the horn of the altar all this that had to be a mess a mess with blood spilling all over the place with all these pointed to jesus christ who will be the ultimate lamb the ultimate sacrifice for you and i and how beautiful it is you know that this morning as you stand in this holy place of worship as we worship around the world through that this same jesus that john declared when he was about to baptize and behold the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world this same jesus who died he is alive and well this morning interceding at his father's right hand for you and i we can find rest in him why because he's coming back one day soon and unless we learn how to enjoy that rest now now today we will be lost when he comes brothers and sisters friends around the world it is my hope that the rest that jesus has to offer that the rituals and sacrifice pointed to this same jesus who is coming soon each one of us will be found ready waiting and watching to spend the ceaseless ages of eternity resting in his very presence all right so any more thoughts on uh rituals and sacrifices yes the last paragraph says thus blood was was key to the whole process of atonement the means by which we sinners can be made right with a holy god wow what we see with these sacrifices then is a type a model of christ death and ministry in our behalf it goes back to the model from the beginning for on the sabbath right it's the model of the sacrifice that jesus made for us is a model for us we as sinners you know how can make in our behalf and and and that that that money talking about this is anthony is the fact that he was the ultimate sacrament we talked about the different animals that were shared and i can only imagine the mess that had to be at that at the sanctuary because of sin think about where we would be today if we had to do that i had to kill a lamb or a turtle and what a mess would be outside of the sanctuary but yes separating the fat from the the different parts of the body right but jesus once and for all in his own body undertook the punishment for our sin and and and you know i think and i think i really listen also where a very important point to remember is this the sinfulness of sin sin is nothing to play with it really really isn't it is because of sin that jesus left the the beauties of heaven you and i or finite mind cannot even begin to imagine what heaven is like jesus who angels adored they worshipped him he gave that up the beauties of heaven since the effort to come down here and walk the dusty road of galilee dust that he used to make us he walked that dusty road and as one song said as he bowed his head on calvary the earth on which he made quaked because their creator its creator was hanging on that cross it was an earthquake this earth that he made could not even stand the pain that its maker was enduring for your sin and for my sin i praised god this morning everyone for the sacrifice that was laid on in my behalf i'm learning to enjoy that rest i used to think you know that time i thought well you know the more i do is the more i'm gonna be qualified for heaven the more i do i could work my way i came to realize a while back that no no because i would do a good i would do one good thing i would ten bad things completely deleted all the good until i came to realize that no my best righteousness is like filter acts it's only as i rest in jesus and i'm coming to understand that and grow in that more and more every day as they come to know jesus and to enjoy his rest and that's that's how we grow you know growth come by exercising right it's by exercising that faith accepting it because faith plays a very critical role in all of this having that faith that what jesus did on calvary is enough is enough now now we don't work to be saved we gave that up we flipped it we now work because we are saved we can't help but tell somebody who is in sin somebody who is struggling we can't help but help that person in whatever capacity we can and is by so doing that we become like jesus in in windows let's talk about hard not your heart and i think this appeal goes to each and every one of us today and i kind of alluded to that just a minute ago when you start to think that you know will i can work myself my way into heaven then we forget about jesus our hearts become hardened psalm 95 verse 11. could someone read that first place this was psalm 95 verse 11 our time is running the bible says so i swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest when you read that whole chapter in one part god said hard not he that happened here let him hear hard not your hearts the appeal to us today is that we might escape the wrath of god the children of israel they disobeyed and debra talked about it right here in psalm 95 god said because of their disobedience they're wandering away from me i have fed them i have given them drink having a cloud of uh uh uh fire by knife and a cloud keep them in the shade during the daytime i've done all of this and yet they have forsaken me god made it very clear i saw in my wrath that they will not enter into my arrest and how true it was sister anthony did not experience the reality of salvation in jesus christ that's right because their lack of faith was manifested by fragrant disobedience they go and how does it apply to us today how much we see ourselves that's a mirror for us we run right into that we don't have that we lack that faith that trust that we should have in jesus christ and so we're going on the same path my appeal to us my sincere appeal to each one of us as we study this lesson is to make jesus first and best in all that we do it's a faith venture folks and when we when we try to help god out we're being stubborn israel they're more uh uh uh are blatant in their act they they build they told uh aaron man we don't know what happened most this guy let's build a build a calf and let's worship him that that's that that's audacity right the writer is also appealing and saying god's people not to repeat the mistake of the ancients of the ancestors and failed to enter into the true rest that is found only in salvation in the salvation board offers he advised us not to enter into that mistake do not make the mistake that the others make this is my example this is my model so far after the model that i have because this is what is the foreshadow of the real thing that is to come exactly and i'm glad the point okay i i was on i was going to miss a very important point i wanted to make out in sunday sports in first corinthians chapter 10 paul identified to the corinthians he explained them they know very well in history he went into reminding them our fathers went through the desert they were killed they were destroyed because of the rebelliousness because of their rebellion against god how much more is upon us upon whom the end of the world has come mr anthony now is what we need to ensure that the examples that we that we have been given through god's word in exodus and even through the new testament that these examples don't go by uh unheeded whereby we we we our hearts become so hardened we read them we know them but yet because of cynicism as i mentioned earlier become indifferent well you know that what happened to them back then man you know we'll tell you something new and that's the blend of the devil that is satan's objective to get us to come so cynical and in to apathetic where we don't care about the things of god and that's all elle brown um it said from eight to the 11 um of psalms 95 verse 8 to 11. it's a harden not your heart as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your father tempted me prove me and say my work 40 years long was i grieved with the generation and said it is a people that do hair in their heart and they have not known my ways unto whom i swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest right and the lord asks us not not to do it right but we're still doing it right and you know ella you you you made a point there and i think sister anthony might have alluded to it earlier also that god said today if you hear my voice heard not your heart how do we how do we uh relate that contrast that to us to compare that with us today where it says today that was thousands of years ago today if you hear my voice hoard not your heart how do we apply it to today this doctor appear no young man how do we compare that statement today if you hear my voice heard not your heart i believe it also tells us about cultivating our relationship with christ when he says today harden not your heart when you have the opportunity today to cultivate your relationship with christ meaning if there's bible study if there um if there is a time to come together to to worship listen to that voice because sometimes you may not be in the i i don't want to say you may not want to but you may not have the possibility to worship the way you once were worshipping and you need to be able to listen to that voice you need to be able to cultivate that relation that relationship with christ and that's a daily ex daily experience um when you look at through certain experiences um like such as pharaoh okay he had many opportunities to surrender but he got to a point that because he was so easy for him not to surrender even when it was blatant in his face he would not surrender when you look at noah some of these people were actually building the ark with noah and you mean to tell me that they saw all these animals coming into the ark not being led by human hands and they still it was blatant in their face and they still harden their hearts and that's the same thing we have to be careful that we don't see some signs that are so blatant in our faces but because we continually daily ignored the call that we would not surrender we do not surrender also dr perry i appreciate that brother lawrence has his hand up while the mike is coming to you brother lawrence you know doctor i'm reminded that we can harden our hearts like i said in the face of god's clear leadership his clear leading in our lives we still heard no horse because of the things of this world as a child of israel back then they caught up in adultery they got caught up in idol worship as the other nations around them so as god's petite but uh particular peculiar people today we've got to learn from those examples and don't allow and you mentioned that brother laurence don't forget your thought i'm gonna come right here it it it you you said something that cannot kind of i went huh how interesting we don't even feel like praying sometimes let alone worship i don't feel happy does that happen to me i don't even want to pray the burdens are so heavy but that's the time that we need to pray most and we've got to break through that not wanting to and do it because that's when god is closer to us brother lawrence go ahead remember jesus is a he's knocking at our heart door every day every second so he's talk he's calling to us to remember to serve him and if he don't open that door to enter you he's not forcing himself on us beautiful father i like that remember that excellent thought and that is happening as you rightfully said brother lawrence every day when today is mentioned in this particular passage of scripture it connotates a degree of urgency today in other words now we've got to do it now folks and dr peter just said now tomorrow is a promise to any of us as much like today could be today for any one of us in this building today now is acceptable time don't put off what we need to do for god today to do tomorrow because tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us today let us heed god's call open the door as brother lawrence says and let him come in and stuff with us yes sir um this this happened to me already i am driving um going to work and um like a steel small boy said turn and and i kept going and somebody cut me off shortly after that and i and i made the turn wow and when i made that turn and go to a different street guess what happened there was an accident in front yeah there was an accident in front so we have to make sure that that's still small voice that we are hearing is the lord is guiding us and telling us exactly what to do but sometimes we get so tied up and hard up that we disobey the voice of the lord yeah because we have our own mindset we have our own agenda we got our own plans as to how to do things that's exactly how the children of israel were of back then they had their idea made up their knowledge every time god tried to reach them the serpent was biting and killing them jesus said get a piece of stick moses and as you lift up that sick and they look at that stick that piece of stick they will live right but we have our own minds we have our own agendas we got our own thing going and what god is saying to us today today eric hard not your heart and i like what brother lawrence says man he's knocking out our hearts every day brother lawrence god help us to open up to let him in so that he can enter and control our hearts sister tennant um the lesson points out that today if we notice it is in open and close i was going to come to that right now go ahead and he said it expressed urgency today means that there is no more time to idle around today requires a response and a decision now no you lift on the keyword now and and and you it says you missed a word it says you say it's a diddle in jamaica we say dilly dally you deal a darling around you waste time right no is not the time to be daily darling around now is the time that we should accept jesus christ in making him our lord and savior that's your hand somewhere okay that hand went back there sometime he doesn't want to our own way it can't work that way right and that is so true because that's and that's the children of israel and that is us today too i'm not saying them because the cynicism i talked about earlier had gotten the best of them it does to us today how often do you find ourselves fighting against each other i call upon the phone i have nothing good to say about anybody but he said did you see that even did i see that did you see that so-and-so today did you hear what he said before coming to us brothers and sisters we are our brother's keeper i can't be saved without you you can't be saved without me we need each other so the time you take to be talking about criticizing being critical of each other on the phone or whenever we meet how about spending those precious moments saying something positive remembering what our forefathers experienced in the desert and by god's grace escape the twenty-three thousand that died in one day how about pointing about looking to jesus the author and finish your faith and sister sister anthony i think you might have read this paragraph i'm not sure but you said something very similar they did not however enter into god's rest the idea of being that many did not experience the reality of salvation in jesus because their lack of faith was manifested in flagrant disobedience dr appear in flagrant disobedience my word god is feeding them man every day mana is falling on friday double portion fell on sabbath they were still out there looking for manner god is asking how long was i put up with these people god she did them from the from sunburn during the day with a cloud at night he had the fire which probably keep up with the mosquitoes and other plagues but he granted them light that was jesus leading them let their flagrant disobedience led to their downfall in 2021 are we any different we want to do our own thing we go places we we we put things in our bodies that we have no business put in our bodies and we we we flagrantly disobey god and here is the crooks of the matter we all make our share of mistakes right and although they made their terrible mistakes they seemed so terrible against god yet each time they would they would go back to god he would say if you come to me i will forgive you at one point they said whatever god says we will do that was your pledge whatev and then no sooner they said that and a little bit of difficulty came there with dr pierre a little bit of upset something came up on them they forgot about his goodness they forgot about his leadership are we any different no sister anthony see how the mic is coming at you may god help us that brothers and sisters as we go in the end of earth history which we are in right now we will learn those examples and remember one thing god wants to save us not to destroy us but if we continue being flagrant in our disobedience we will because sin is a natural destroyer if we hold on to sin we will be destroyed jesus wants to save us let's submit to him yes ma'am on friday he says we are not always willing to come to jesus with our trials and difficulties right sometimes we pour our troubles into human ears and tell our affliction to those who cannot help us so true and neglect to confide all to jesus who is able to change the sorrowful ways to part of joy and peace self-denying self-sacrifice and give glory and victory to the cross oh praise be to god and that's what he wants to do our life over everything that we do should bring glory to christ and the cross through which we have forgiveness so so the hope i want us to to i want to kind of plug this in this morning is that we all have rebelled against him oh oh i have the most checkered past you could ever think of but i thank god for the blood that was placed those hands that stretched out on calvary's cross the blood the precious blood that flowed from his own hands down his armpit from his precious feet to the ground from his precious side that blood is through which i am forgiven this morning and you know you know a very important aspect of all of this was to find true rest in christ is to accept by faith brothers and sisters our best works will not save us we've got to come to realize that many of us have a check sheet you know we check off well i didn't lie today i didn't steal i didn't commit adultery i did this and i'd handle my that will not save us it is only our faith in he who hung upon that cross over hold on to the the the offer and finish of all faith they hold the desperate grab onto jesus that will save us no matter what anyone says no matter what anyone does as we hold on to jesus so shall we be saved you know another important thing i hope we don't flagrantly sin against god david prayed for deliverance from presumptuous sins right we commit presumptuous sins too the important thing for us is to identify because the holy spirit is going to tell you and the holy spirit pricks your heart pricks my heart it's for us not to justify that act or that word because there's no justification for sin right but as the holy spirit brings it to our attention we acknowledge it and accept it early brown accept that lord i have sinned against you i'll give an extra experience i had to work this week with a very rough workforce week for me and um you know many of our resources are up in the in louisiana helping out in the restoration process and so the stress level at the office has risen quite a bit i had to work some crazy shifts this week and i remember at one point i hastily somebody wanted an answer to a question and i basically just brushed them off because i was engaged in so many things at the time because i went back later and i i said i apologize for what i did and the person said to me no eric no one has ever done this before where they have offended me or made me feel uncomfortable to apologize to me but this was not eric's doing though that was not eric's doing the immediately after in the middle of the process of me doing what i was doing which was very very important the holy spirit said to me that was not kind just like that and as soon as i got done i i had to go in the kitchen because i needed some water and the individual was there and i apologized and when the person said that to me i said wow i could break down and cry when we hurt people i don't care who it is that's a candidate for heaven that's okay i don't give the prostitute a drug addict that's a candidate for god's eternal kingdom and when we offend them we must take responsibility and apologize and i went outside i thank the lord for the opportunity and i prayed right then for him to forgive me i can't afford to hold on to sin and if you're like me man your sin lord have mercy on me have mercy on me but we are to reflect his image and how beautiful it is when we surrender our lives allow him to live in us when we allow i understand that today means today right now this is the acceptable moment whether lawrence is doing this we must open up and let him in all right now let's move on really we're conquering the heavenly city man and it's by doing by living that life allow jesus to live in us that we can conquer the heavenly city we talked about um the lesson about the logical development of the key ideas in hebrews 4 right i hope we had time to read it becomes particularly evident reading uh hebrews 4 8 through 11. do you remember what that said those we've he if joshua had given us another rest if you had to give us afterward talked about it a lot of people has used this to to solidify the idea that sabbath if god had made had blessed sunday but it's more than that it's more than that sabbath is just a small part of this equation it's about enjoying the rest in christ and that rest comes through knowing him it comes to relying on him it comes through knowing my nothingness that my best efforts are vain outside of christ that's what the rest of that that is being talked about in hebrews chapter 4. at times hebrew force has been used as it says right here to emphasize the observance of the seventh-day sabbath while others have used it to challenge the validity of this sabbath rest in light of the fact that there is another end-time rest which we are talking about this week neither position for fixed biblical text well instead the text suggests that the end time focus on god's special rest has been present since creation and that the celebration of some of the rest of uh rest offers a small weekly taste of the end time rest so so so indeed for the jew the sabbath has been understood to be a small uh precursor to the the the um world to come so the the point of challenge is that when we it is how we accept christ now it's our relationship not to him now that will conquer heaven the heavenly city that at that time we will experience true and permanent rest the difficulties that we go through right now i mean how many of us have had issues burning on you so bad i can't even sleep at night i've been there i've been as a matter of fact this was one of those weeks and i'm gonna share this with your family my wife's probably gonna be mad at me but i still love you lord we got a call this week many of you remember my daughter um we almost lost her a few years ago deanna was found with stage three going on stage four cancer the lord brought her through she came back she had the most beautiful twin boys you've ever seen beautiful boys and doing forgot her career know she is doing very well got called for a call from her this week that she went to do her physical and they saw something that brought concern to the doctors naturally lauren and i we became very i don't say frightened but deja vu again all over and i know she was anxious because we learn thank god for her she's in touch with him i'm not i'm i'm i have my weaknesses too maybe this is my children right grandchildren and i i kept asking her i avoid conversation with deanna i said to her how is deanna doing and we just went outside the parking lot just now she we were facetiming her and whatnot and she's in good spirits my point is that the world in which we live is filled with problems sleepless nights agony pain i can't waste i long for more sister michelle i long for more when i can find true rest in jesus christ not only jesus christ but in the earth made new i have that rest now in him as a matter of fact i've learned how to develop that faith that trust in him doing that whatever crisis i face whatever crisis we face he is ultimately in control you know when the text messages came out from diana her sister leona you know the phone started blowing up with text messages and leona said something that will touch my heart leona said with my baby or baby girl she said whatever god does is well done i went wow that encouraged me it really really did so so as we go through life brothers and sisters it is inevitable we're going to face trials we're going to phrase insurmount seemingly i should say seemingly insurmountable mountains because we have been there how are we going to get over this one what god brought us over we have found rest in him but i look forward to the day more than anything else when i by his grace will conquer the heavenly city and i pray that each one of us along with those our friends online will have the experience of experience of conquering that heavenly city when we will know once and for all what true rest true rest is all about god help us to be faithful god help us to be true because that day is coming soon and today is the day if you hear his voice heard not your heart thank you so much lord bless you thank you elder banks for the abled way in which you have bringed out the the lesson story thank you very much at this time we will have the welcome by sister michelle after which we'll have the special music and then the closing remarks good morning family are you longing for more i am welcome happy sabbath to my church family and to all those online joining us today i greet you sincerely greet you in the name of jesus christ it's a true honor to welcome each one to our service today today is a high day in israel it's a very special day today sister lorna ebangz and her ministry team has prepared a feast for you welcome to this oasis welcome to true rest enjoy this day and have a wonderful sabbath thank you so much be blessed stay focused on jesus it is my prayer amen thank you good morning cyberschool a house but not a was the picture satan painted four sweet little sister and me my daddy would frown while mother was praying his heart was so hardened that he would not believe in hungary swear his voice loud and clear it's about was pended around the gambling crown i never see my daddy inside the house of god for satan held his hand on the path of sin he tried not long ago how a circle was broken when god call and mother one night in a voice sweet and low her last words were spoken asking or daddy to raise their children right the angels rejoice in heaven last night i heard daddy praying dear god make it right he was smiling and praying with tears in his eyes my daddy and the angels rejoice last night the angels rejoice in heaven last night i heard daddy praying dear good make it right he was smiling and praying with tears in his eyes my daddy and the angels rejoice last night amen brethren you will notice he said brothers and sisters around here it's because we are a family and these are so near when one has an art egg we all share the tear and rejoice in each victory in this family so there so let us bring back the family altar in conclusion let me say a very big thank you to all the participants those who participate here on the podium and for those in the congregation and those who are watching online too let us all pray for each other so that when he comes we will be granted the privilege of worshiping with him as one big happy family on the sea of glass but school no comes to an end happy sabbath everyone good morning and happy sabbath were you blessed with sabbath school this morning amen thank you so much this morning i have a little presentation and it's by alna balthazar and the title is how to improve the mental health of your children alina malthazar she is the program director and associate professor in the school of social work and director for the center of prevention education at the institute for prevention of addiction at andrews university in barron spring michigan and again the the topic is how to improve the mental health of your children text philippians 4 6 to 7 be not anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus john 14 27 peace i leave with you my peace i give to you not as the world gives do i give to you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid matthew 11 28 through 30 come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for i am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light we're seeking rest in christ aren't we rest in christ applying the health message to mental health rest our bodies were not meant to push ourselves in ways modern society demands mental illness is telling us something has changed there are many ways to rest the body that improve our mental health sleep isn't just for the physical body but also the mind children with adhd like symptoms may actually not be getting enough sleep turn off those screens at least one hour before bed and have consistent nighttime routine breathing slowly and intentionally is a powerful tool when emotionally distressed take a few minutes to slowly breathe in through your nose hold your breath for a few seconds then slowly breathe out through your mouth like blowing through a straw an easy way for kids to remember is to pretend they are smelling a piece of pizza in their hand and then blow on it because it's too hot it's called pizza breathing relax your muscles when you notice them tightening from emotional distress focus on the area of tension and feel it relax when you breathe out a fun activity for kids is to pretend they are wet noodles to relax their muscles diet and exercise we all know a healthy diet and exercise are good for our physical health but it is also essential for our mental health through diet and exercise though diet and exercise alone aren't a cure they are vital improving and maintaining emotional health eating a diet rich in whole grains fruits and vegetables healthy fats low fat protein and high and high in fiber as well as avoiding sweets and highly processed food makes the body and the mind feel good having regular family meals together improves everybody's nutrition and they have a powerful impact on your child's overall mental health exercise should be a regular part of our lives regular exercise is a powerful and antidepressant medication in some people going for breast walks gives you fresh air and sunlight a change of scenery a chance to connect with your creator and opportunities to talk with those you walk by get your kids outside to play basketball toss the ball or a frisbee or go for a walk together it is a great way in to improve the parent child bond as well may god bless you may god bless us as we adhere to all of his principles on mental health thank you good morning and happy sabbath welcome one and all and these are our announcements for today bible class continues this afternoon at 3 p.m and this week we're focusing we continue the fundamentals of the seventh-day adventist church and this week we'll be focusing on creation please continue to donate to the offering for haiti earthquake 2021 this is being conducted by the community services department of florida conference so please on your um offering whether it online or with the envelope just mark in other haiti earthquake 2021 the florida conference children and family ministering ministries is partnering with gospel travel and for 16 days they'll be traveling through egypt to see the pyramids enjoy mount sinai and see the birthplace of jesus this will be from august 30th to september 14 2022. please contact dr ephrain at 407-618-022 one two that's four zero seven six one eight zero two one two if you're interested in going on this trip to egypt jordan and israel in august september next year 2022 it's almost time for the women's ministries convention it will be september 24-26 2021 at the marriott sunnyvale harbor resort and spa in fort myers florida they have a very interesting lineup of speakers and the topic is restore so if you're interested you can contact sister denise rogers with the women's ministry leader here or you can call her whatsapp number and we will get the information to her if you're interested and she will give you more information and what is almost here september 24 to the 26th it's the full weekend for a woman's ministry and our women of our churches so please mark your calendar our prayer ministry continues with the prayer line it meets every monday wednesday and friday mornings from 5 a.m to 6 a.m the prayer line number is 7 720-740 0 8 9 8 7 2 that's 7 2 0 7 4 0 9 8 7 2 and you enter pin 5 2 8 pound if you have per request you can also contact mrs davinci she's our prayer ministries leader and her number is three 754-360 seven three two seven zero today is adventist field continues at 6 30 pm so please look out for more information on that um today is also family life day and this afternoon at um after bible class actually there will be a special video that will be shown and this video was um conducted by the florida conference it's on mental health and you know that's very important in this time of kovid um and so please it will be on youtube i was told to be on youtube so please after bible class this evening go on to youtube and watch this very special video on mental health and it's put on by our family life department as it's their special day today business meeting all members all members please note business meeting is tonight at 7 30 p.m by zoom 7 30 p.m tonight by zoom please link will be sent out later so members business meeting very important that you keep that in mind 7 30 and look for the link huge day is next sabbath the 18th of september 18th now the leos are soliciting your prayer and your support for next week it's a very big deal for them they're very excited about their youth day so please support them within person or online and just please please keep them in your purse department heads if you have any announcements for your special programs please contact me or sister sheffield the two clerks by tuesday if you want us to announce your you know your special program just contact myself or sister cheffian you have our numbers i can send to our whatsapp number we will get it so we can um announce your special event or so on sabbath quarterlies are available portalists are available please put them up in the foyer or the entrance door um you know when service is out so portalists are available today remember if you need further information on any of these announcements you can um contact us by whatsapp and the number for whatsapp is 561-465-4464 or you can text and voice 561-467-8956 and can get any updates or if you need to pass information to us the clerks um please contact us by these um these two platforms thank you so much may god bless you and have a happy and blessed sabbath day [Music] do you think you're healthy how healthy are you the health ministries of palm springs sda church presents health matters [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all right thank you jaden for that wonderful song i want to say welcome everyone happy sabbath okay you guys are awake this morning and i want to say a special welcome to those also joining us online and if anyone here is visiting us for the first time a special welcome to you whether it's in person or online you're not here by accident okay god has a purpose for you and he's invited you into this beautiful place today and so we ask that you have a wonderful sabbath with us i hope you enjoy it and may god bless you all okay felix foreign i'm gonna actually to stand for prayer let us pray oh gracious god and our heavenly father lord in heaven hallowed be thy high and holy name this morning we lift your name on eye we thank you for the blessings that you have given to us we thank you lord for the good night's sleep that we have your angel encamped around us while we slept through the unconscious hours of the night we get up this morning lord alive and we thank you and we praise you and as we are in your sanctuary this morning to lift up your name we pray that you will bless us individually and collectively we ask lord that you keep us safe we know lord that the diverse is rampant but we pray lord that we will be cognizant of the fact that we need to protect ourselves so we pray lord that you will continue to be a blessing unto us because we know we cannot protect ourselves alone but through you we know lord that the holy spirit will continue to guide us bless us today today we pray and whatever done through the honor and glory of your name through the course of today we ask that you will continue to bless each and every one and lord we hacks that souls will be born for thy kingdom and when your message go forward today that it will be a blessing unto the listeners and that they not only will be listening but that they will adhere to the words of god we ask for your blessings keep us in the alley of your hand we pray in jesus name [Music] so do [Music] [Music] so so [Music] [Music] happy sabbath church family please stand o opening hymn this morning will be hymn number 334 come thou fount of every blessing [Music] come thou fountain of every blessing to our hearts to sing thy grace streams of mercy never ceasing [Music] endless glory fills my heart with joy and love here i raise my epinephrine i have come [Music] he to rescue me from danger interposes precious blood oh to grace how great a debtor daily i'm constrained to thee let my goodness like a fetter find me closer lord today prune to wonder lord i feel it bro [Music] god i love here's my heart oh [Music] is we seated [Music] this [Music] [Music] little light is mine i'm gonna let it shine let it shine [Music] [Music] this [Music] good morning to everyone else okay how old are you guys how old are you how old are you four nine years old eight six six okay well my story has a six-year-old little boy okay and his name was javon all right oh your brother's name is fun that's very good so javon had very special socks now he got it for his birthday and he was never found without his socks again his socks helped him with his basketball games helped him with his school tests and helped to find the best hiding spots in hide and go seek and one day he wanted to do a sermon has any of you done a sermon a sermon no well he wanted to do a sermon so he went and he asked people from the church they said yes so he went he was all happy the entire week he went with his mom and he thought of a sermon now he always thought his mom was a little peculiar she always left things alone now when he acts she said i just leave things to god he never really understood that but one day when he was getting ready he could not find his socks and oh he was very very upset he said mother i can't find my special socks well she said just leave it to god i said i can't do that my socks are missing she said okay okay why don't we go by your bed let's look under the bed all right they went under the bed did they find his socks no he said okay let's look in his drawer all right they looked in his drawer they couldn't find his socks no where else do you think he looked i think i know where it is it might be dirty or something might be dirty okay okay maybe it was on him it was on him okay where did he look do you know where he looked you don't know where he looks that's okay well he looked everywhere and he could not find his socks so she said okay why don't we leave it's a god he said i can't do that i can't do that my socks are missing she said all right let's pray to god that help him find my socks so he went by his bed come let's kneel down kneel down and he went and he prayed he said dear god my socks are missing help me find my socks i really wanna do a sermon with my special socks okay he said amen amen amen all right now he got up he got him and he got ready okay he put on his nice little shirt and his nice little pants and his cute little tie he's like oh man i can't find my socks oh wow so he went into his sock drawer he pulled out plain old socks he put them on and when he put on his shoes there's something in my shoes what wearing his shoes his socks yes he's very special socks so he said thank you god you helped me find my socks and you know what he did then um wait was i right about what i said um that maybe his thoughts were on him not really on him they were in his socks he didn't check his socks he looked in his shoes by that he looked everywhere but in his shoes okay so he went he took off his plain old socks he threw on his special socks and he went up there you know what he did what did he do he suck he speeched his sermon okay and it was a wonderful sermon everyone loved his sermon he said mom mom you know what i did i left it to god and i found my socks so you know what you need to do you need to leave things to god ask god to find your things help you with anything you need to do okay we'd like to pray anyone you want to pray come on okay you want to pray too thank you thank you [Music] [Music] thank you everyone you can go back to your seats [Music] [Music] [Music] let it shine [Music] [Music] there's a lot of mind [Music] good morning again and happy sabbath at this time we'd like to invite pastor omar obama to please come forward to the podium pastor umar palma please come forward yes pastor you now today i'm playing the same trick on pastor that he does to others so it's a payback day for him he likes to do things in secret and said boss don't tell anybody you know so i promise pastor it's payback day so you all know that pastor's birthday is coming up right but then he probably planned to go away from us so we're like pasta it's not your birthday why are you going away so we got together real quick the elders got together real quick and we decided we had to help him to celebrate his birthday so today we want you to join us in celebrating pastor's birthday with us but before we go into any further um elder taylor who is the elder for the month of september has something very special to say to pastor elder taylor pasta you know he always said september is the best month and you know i always let you know that just like genesis the book of beginning without january you wouldn't have a september because there must be a beginning we have to be you know the trend center of all things but today you know as we as a church family and whatever's we truly want to say you know congratulations and wish you happy birthday and above all you're not looking older you're looking younger you know some people tend to get older but like to be digressing but at the same time we just want to extend you know our appreciation of thankfulness to have you at the leader of this church and always come forward with a great smile and a pleasant outlook we just want to say by god's grace that he continue to shower you with blessing and give you the wisdom you need to lead us as a people but i will say this we hope that you'll stick around but as you go on your vacation and think about it this month is a very you know i'm publicized because what happened in 9 11 20 years ago can you believe it but pastor we're here to tell you this morning by god's grace we hope that you truly enjoy your birth and lord happiness and like abraham give you the wisdom you need and just surround you with the grace that can carry you through god bless you so we have a card here for pastor and it reads well we have many cards but one it says birthday card reminds us of how god lights our world birthday cake remind us of how sweet life is and your birthday pastor reminds the rest of us how much we have been blessed by you so have a beautiful and a wonderful birthday so on behalf of the elders and your family first family this is for you please enjoy it and may you have a happy happy birthday i know church we're gonna sing happy birthday to pastor no i don't speak spanish but someone translated or spanish trying to tell them we're going to sing it in two languages we'll start with the english first and then we're going to ask our spanish members to please sing in spanish happy birthday to pastor let's start with the english happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday [Music] our brethren [Music] [Music] yes thank you very much i am you know i want to use the word surprise but i i was very suspicious uh when i i walked this morning and i i i got here a little bit earlier than normal and i walked in the the uh conference room and the four chord there started fidgeting like crazy i don't know why so i was you know i didn't read into that too much then i i was supposed to come up and speak and they told me you know that i can't go up now so i'm like what's going on that that's weird i tried to argue but i left it alone because it's sabbath we don't argans have it but uh i do want to say to you thank you so much uh uh muchas gracias uh it's uh it's it's a joy to celebrate a birthday i do want to correct the record because i can't let that go without correcting it uh elder taylor said january you wouldn't have january without september january was added way later on the calendar so so for those who who follow the months january came later it wasn't even existence in existence until later so september is still even though my mom was born uh in january so thank you thank you so much uh we appreciate god's goodness to us every day that we live every day that we're alive it is a reason to be thankful to god because um it is a blessing to have life and so i want to thank you so much for your prayers the best gift that you could give me is your prayer and with your prayers there's nothing that will stop the ascent and nothing that will prevent god from being glorified so thank you so much i i greatly appreciate it i i don't like these things but but i i greatly appreciate it and uh thank you so much so i join with everyone for those who are born in september you know we don't just celebrate one day we celebrate a whole month because that's so important the month is uh so thank you so much to god be the glory we thank you for everything that you have done what a day to celebrate on family life day so thank you thank you so much and indeed i will be i will be taking uh some time off might as well say it now right uh i'll be off uh as of this week um well next week which week yeah next week this week ends today yes so as of next week uh wednesday or thursday i'll be i'll be on vacation so please pray for me and my family they also have surprises for me and when you get to the stage now the wife uh teams up with the kids and they do what they do and you just have to follow so i guess i'll just follow what they have planned and now we see what was in store but i'll be gone you won't see me again until the end of september uh because we celebrate the whole month so i'll take half of the month and celebrate take some vacation all right so thank you so much for understanding that having said that though before we leave i want to point a few things out uh come this evening at 7 30 we will have business meeting it's going to be online on zoom and so we're gonna we're gonna send out the link at about 5 p.m this evening to all our different platforms to share with all our members so 5 p.m this evening we have our business meeting uh 7 30 sorry 7 30. we have our business meeting i do want to point to the flowers the arrangement behind me today and i have to personally uh say thanks to lindsay and elizabeth garbett they are related to elder garbett our first elder so want to say a special thank you to lindsay lindsey and elizabeth i think they're here yes yes thank you so much they love the idea so much they appreciate the ministry of the flowers and so they they wanted to be a part of it and uh sorry for embarrassing you but we appreciate what you've done we thank you for your kindness and uh the floral arrangements uh are made possible today uh from the lindsay and elizabeth carbon is that sister diane that just walked in sister diane we haven't seen you for about five years uh uh that's how long it's it feels so we thank you so much for for showing up happy to have you uh worshiping with us on today um sister morgan is here somewhere and we're gonna try to get her so elder gail uh elder yes please come and uh i'm getting some somebody's signaling something inside okay what's happening in the sound go ahead what's that happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday to pasta happy birthday to you made the good lord bless you may the good lord bless you may the good lord bless and keep you happy birthday happy birthday to you happy birthday mother good lord bless and keep you and let you live to see many many many more birthday happy birthday thank you well i thought one song was good enough but uh uh that's that's brother francis thank you thank you so much um um ella gail please just come help me out here for a second uh at this time we no no more singing please this this sabbath this sabbath is very special as you know we have had sister morgan as our bible instructor assigned to us in anticipation and preparation for the evangelistic series that will be held by uh pastor glenn samuels uh starting in october and uh sister sister morgan has been actively working with some of our individuals that we have submitted for bible studies and so we would like to give you a glimpse of what sister morgan is doing and what she can do for you if you're out there watching and uh you at some point would like to engage in bible studies i want you to pay close attention to what sister morgan uh is going to share with us mr morgan tell us a little bit about what you have then you know you have some props here that and the gale is going to help you with as well but but go right ahead um happy sabbath palm springs um i want to give god thanks again for giving me journey and mercies to reach here safely i'm so excited this morning because one of palm springs bible students are here with us today and their name is trisha come on trisha actually is my my co-worker and you know when i called her and told her about the bible studies she was so excited i sent out her package by ups for some unknown reason she did not receive it she and she said i have to get even if i have to come to your home or your job i have to get that package and you know i said to myself you know she is very anxious to get the word of god so i have to make that sacrifice to meet her halfway and she is driving all the way from fort lauderdale to be here with you all today to get a bible study packet and to worship with you when i spoke with her she indicated that she's looking for a church with genuine loving kind christian and as i walk through the door i've been promised that she will be taken care of and palm spring is the place for her and i thank you so much in advance for taking her under your wings this morning without further ado this is our bible study package that she drove all the way from fort lauderdale got here before me and was waiting in our car to get our package i'm encouraging you this morning to reach out to somebody even one person one makes a difference and today pastor i would like to give you the honor and the privilege to present trisha her bible study package so trisha on behalf of the palm springs sda church your new home we would like to present you with your complete real truth bible course package we know as you study the lord will grant you discernment and the holy spirit will enlighten your thoughts and now we hope that as you study you will be blessed in the package you have a number of things you have the book bible answers you have keys to happiness you also have the baptismal card the bible study itself all the different lessons are outlined in the package there's even a paper for you to make your notes and that's for you to keep as well so welcome to your home welcome to your church family welcome to your new study in your relationship thank god amen thank you so much thank you so much for coming and here i'm elder paul um i've created this box for all the churches and here is 100 baptismal card kindly encourage your family members who have not yet accepted the lord to fill out this card and so i'll get them and we can follow up with bible studies and baptismal preparation it will be out in the foyer on a weekly basis so refer to it god bless you all and keep up the good work there are so many tragedies the fire in california the earthquake in 80 the surfside building that collapsed the hurricane in new orleans that displaced so many people let us get someone to tell them about the saving grace of jesus the good news because right now they are mentally unstable that without any or most of them we have the hope we can share it with them will you god bless you all thank you now before you go elder uh i'm gonna give this to uh elder gayle and the girl is going to el again is gonna offer a prayer uh when when i'm done speaking here but i do want to reiterate and remind us what was just said many of us have said multiple times that we would like to reach our family members but we can't do bible studies uh we don't feel comfortable doing bible studies now the lord has provided us as a church with a bible instructor that will be paid for by the conference to assist us so we have sister morgan at our disposal now the only complaint i should hear from sister morgan is i i have too many names that's the complaint i want to have i would never want to hear her say we don't have anybody to study with so whoever you know now we're trying to move every obstacle so that folk and by the way sister morgan is one of our most competent bible instructors in all of the florida conference so we are blessed to have her as a part of our team and so we're going to ask you to make use of her exhaust her skills and her abilities and we hope that as a result of that god will be glorified so so as well as the individuals that have already started studying we want to encourage you to pass the information on to us we're going to leave the cards out front take some to your family members they can fill it out as well and your friends your co-workers this is a co-worker of hers right and here here she is today uh studying and has found a new church home so we want to encourage you even those who are online watching we can make this available electronically as well we're going to put the whatsapp number uh on the screen for you to text if you need uh in any way possible for us to reach out to you so we can administer bible studies now sister sister um walker sister morgan sorry how long ago since your co-worker and uh remind us of her name again this is important to share so go closer to the microphone and share with us uh that part yes she had a bible on a shelf from 2006 and never read it until i asked her to do bible studies and you know what she said to me everyone should do bible study with people like me like her you know so please you don't have to know everything but as you teach your students you will be learning in the process and your testimony is your greatest weakness of jesus christ in your life god bless you thank you so much yes good morning everyone and before we pray i would just like to ask if you're an elder if you could just stand for one minute please all the elders to stand even if you're from another church and you're an elder i'd like you to stand all right sister morgan usually when someone is going out into the into the field to minister we usually have the elders laying hands on you but because of covert we can't do that so these elders are going to stand with me and the pastor and the rest of the church and spiritually be laying hands on you all right so i'm going to say a prayer for you that god will protect you he will he will shadow and encamp around you so that his holy spirit will be with you thank you dear god i thank you so much for being a great god i thank you dear father for being in this house of god today i'm asking you that you will surround elder morgan with your holy spirit that you will keep her father from the clutches of the evil one we know in your word that the enemy does not like us to share the gospel of jesus christ with others so i'm asking you for special protection around her i'm asking for special protection around our members around our elders around our pastor so the enemy will not have his way to destroy and to cause confusion i thank you very much father for how you've blessed us in the past and as we take this message dear lord to the rest of the community i'm asking you that you will be with us and give us your peace thank you for this soul lord thank you for being with her thank you for keeping up and i ask you dear lord to continue to uplift her and her family in jesus precious name amen amen thank you so much thank you so much thank you so much much appreciated thank you very much i do want to express thanks on behalf of sister erner robinson as a church family we are very very conscious of the struggles that each of our member our members will go through on a daily basis sister robinson funeralized her son yesterday young man born 1963 was funeralized yesterday at the ambassador sda church i i had the privilege of attending in support and also very thankful to elder sonia who attended and uh the rest of her elders who couldn't attend but were able to watch sporadically online and some of her members uh in support she was overjoyed and it brought her great comfort to know that her church family was there to support her and so please continue to pray for the family and as we mentioned that we also want to mention that sister million sister million has suffered a loss in her family uh just two days ago someone died uh from natural causes and so we want to pray that god will bless the million family and strengthen them in this very difficult time so you wouldn't see them for the next couple of days you haven't seen them for other reasons but we thank god for the fact that he will provide comfort and chair for them at this very difficult time uh finally as we acknowledge that it would be impossible for us to go through this sabbath without taking a moment to acknowledge what happened in this great country 20 years ago this morning when i came in sistanova as she always does decided every time i wear this tie she always talks about my ties saying it's not christmas uh but but i wore the red and the white and the blue today to support those who are still going through uh bereavement and struggles as a result of what transpired that faithful morning september 11 2001. i'll never forget i was in a class in alberta canada and it was european history the teacher was mrs karen bottomley and i remember when the news came one of the students in the class literally said oh that's good for america and he didn't know what was going on and he spent the rest of the day after he learned what happened uh he thought it was just a plane crash when he learned what happened he spent the rest of the day and i remember having to go to his room and try to encourage him and bring him comfort because he was so saddened by the tragedy that struck america uh in new york in in pennsylvania and other parts uh on that particular day and washington so i want to i want to ask us as a church to just take a moment and uh say a silent prayer in your heart as we pray for those who are still struggling some of our own members are going through difficult times and as you're doing that i want to also inform you that the first president of the north american division one of the greatest preachers north america has ever seen uh dr charles bradford passed to his rest uh a day ago so we will pray for him and keep him in our thoughts as well so let's now uh take a moment a moment of silent prayer as we acknowledge the tragedy that took place on 9 11. amen father there are stories that we still don't know stories we still can't tell or share but heavenly father we come before you now realizing that even 20 years after bodies are still being identified and bodies are still yet to be identified and so for the hatred and harm that has befallen the united states we ask that you will bring healing to the hearts of mankind may the memory of those who died and may their legacy may all those things somehow bring about positive changes in the hearts of women and men everywhere we thank you for being with the families for these past 20 years and the promise to be with them for as long as it takes we ask for your healing touch we ask for your grace we ask for your mercy and for those who still aspire to harm and to hurt we pray that you will help them out of their misery and please come quickly we pray and take us away from the sin cursed and tormented earth in your name we pray amen we will remember may god bless you let's continue to enjoy the rest of the sabbath as we're going to have i think a very special song by half of the heronites all right god bless you happy sabbath everyone it's beautiful to be in the house of god this morning and i'm thanking god for um sister trisha and this song will minister to you this song is for you and others [Music] how beautiful the hands that served the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth have beautiful the feet that walked the long dusty road and the hill to the cross [Music] is the body of christ [Music] how beautiful the heart that led [Music] that choose to forgive and never despised how beautiful have beautiful [Music] how beautiful [Music] is the body of christ and as he lay down his life we offer this sacrifice that we will live just as he died willing to pay the price [Music] to pay the price [Music] [Music] when humble hearts give the fruits of pure life so that others may live have a beautiful [Music] is [Music] ring the sound of good news and the love of the king have a beautiful the hands that serve [Music] [Music] is the body of grace [Music] it's time for pearl ask everyone to please stand with reverence let the saints appear and bow before the lord is i command with reverence here and humble at the seat our god and our father who art in heaven we come in an awesome presence sensing our unworthiness lord it has led on me this morning to appreciate the petition your throne room on behalf of your people i am unworthy i am undone i have done nothing good to deserve your love but this morning i thank you for what jesus didn't cover in that he died to save me from my sins here i come in obedience to your divine call to come in your sanctuary to worship and adore your name your people have gathered from the east and the west from the north and the south we have come to worship you in spirit and in truth we ask that you will forgive us of our sins those that we have done willfully and those that we have done without even realizing we have sinned in thought and in action and lord we want to ask your and we ask that you will recreate in us a clean heart and please renew a right spirit within us so that our worship can be acceptable in your sight lord i ask that you will give us a heart of love a heart that is patient a heart that is forgiven and we will see each other as you seize us we all are sinners in need of your grace we come lord some of us are seeking body we are all here this morning for healing you are the greatest physician known to man you can heal both body and spirit we come lord we ask that you will remember those who have lost loved ones tragically or naturally we pray that you will give them hope and comfort lord we remember sister robinson this morning in a special way it was not your desire for parents to bury children but lord because of sin this is all that is happening we pray lord that you will give us strength and there are many others we ask that you will comfort them in these difficult times lord we pray that you will remember this nation in a special way lord 20 years ago we remember what happened lord the hearts of men are desperately wicked and they will step at nothing but lord you seats high and you look low you behold the good and you behold the evil nothing is hid from you a day and the night are all together alive before you you know our thoughts even before they come into our mind and then become action we ask that you will break us and make us melt us and moles and fashion us after your divine likeness for lord we understand that without you we can do nothing we pray lord that you will bless this waiting congregation as they wait for a word from you we pray lord that you will bless those in radial land and as they join into whatever means that something will be said here today that will draw them closer to you we pray for the speaker of the hour we pray that you will endow the person with wisdom from an eye and lord as it speaks to us may he speak directly on your behalf and lord all that he say it will be coming directly from your throne and lord we will apply them to our lives so that we can be better persons preparing for your soon coming lord we pray for our young people and our children we ask that you will enfold them and encircle them with your loving arms lord the devil is trying to destroy them i pray that you will cover them under your blood and keep them from the hands of the old enemy he has come to destroy and to devour but you come that we might have life and have it more abundantly this morning i pray for my friend i see my whose son try to commit suicide i pray lord that he will just bless this young man help him to realize that that is not the way out is the plan of the enemy as he is laying in his hospital bed this morning your spirit is life for a purpose help him to look up to you knowing that you are the hope of all the ages lives seem hopeless and helpless but there is hope in king jesus he is the hope of all the ages bless us individually bless us collectively as a church we pray lord that you will remember all the countries around the world that are suffering disasters of whatever kind lord the coronavirus is ravishing the land but help us lord that we will hold fast to you help us to realize that you blood can protect us help us lord that we will apply your blood to our lives and so that we will be protected from the hands of the enemy you promise that you will never leave us and you will never forsake us your promise that our bread and water will be sure a lord you are not a god who can lie you have kept all of your promises and what you have done for others you can do it for us so this morning we call upon your name because your name is worthy to be praised and we ask that you will hear up her and answer according as you will and lord when time changes for eternity and you come together your people may no one in the hearing of my voice this morning will be missing from that number along with all those who we have worked with we have worshiped with we have prayed for them lord may we all go home to spend the ceaseless ages of eternity and we pray lord that as our pastor go on vacation that you will go with him and his family bless him keep him guide him and protect him and bring him back safely to us and lord when there will be no more parting when there be nothing to hurt us and to destroy us we will live in a land that is happy and healthy we will go home to praise you throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity thank you for hearing thank you for answering until then keep us faithful keep us trusting these mercies and blessings are asked with the forgiveness of all our sins in a wonderful and precious name i ask amen and amen amen there are two ways you can use the adventist giving platform the first one is online go to www.adventistgiving.org once you get to the welcome page you will see an input field where you can type the name of your church once you begin typing the name of the church a drop down menu will appear with a short list of churches that best match your entry it is very important that you select the correct church one way to verify if you have the correct church is by the address shown once you select the church you will be taken to the donation page that resembles the familiar tithe envelopes you see in church each week here you will see the areas that you can choose to designate your monies for such as tithe local church budget sabbath school expenses etc the virtual envelope is separated by sections for local church conference and union and world at the bottom of each section you will see the phrase more offering categories here you can click and a pop-up window will display a list of other options for you to select to add to your virtual tithe envelope once you are done you click the back to envelope button once you make your selections of where you want to donate you input the amount next to the dollar symbol by each specific area if you choose more than one category it will automatically total your donation at the bottom of the page once you are finished designating your funds click continue this will take you to the next page where you will have the option to log in register or continue as a guest to make your donation we recommend registering if you are a first-time user that way your profile information and payment will be saved to make it easier for future use the second method you can give online is through the adventist giving app via your smartphone first you must download the adventist giving app from the app store or google play once you do open the app the initial page will tell you more about adventist giving in the features of the app you will be prompted to slide to the right until you see the option to select your church once you select your church you will see the options with the same sections and categories as the website the main difference is that at the top just below your listed church you will see the option for a one-time donation or a recurring donation which you can select to set up automatic payments follow the instructions and input where you would like your monies to go and the total will be automatically calculated at the end just like the website continue to follow the instructions listed and you will be on your way to successfully donating via the ease of your smartphone for a list of frequently asked questions please visit floridaconference.com forward slash adventist giving let us stand as we have prepared the offering loving lord and father we give you thanks for your love your mercy and your grace lord we give you thanks in spite of everything that's happening around us you always provide for your people and today lord as we return unto you what is rightful that belongs to you the prayer lord that you may bless this gift but above all lord may you bless the giver that will give ourselves totally to you because father we are living a world of uncertainty but one thing we know you are certain and your promises are sure because your promise i'll never leave you nor forsake us lord and we can see because you're still let your sun shine to shine upon us they give us the rain to water the thirst the ground so that it can produce food for us and for the animals so we give you thanks lord accept our worship accept our gift now we that we bring in jesus name amen our scripture reading for today is nehemiah 4 reading from verse 14 through 16 and i will read in your hearing and i looked and arose and said to the nobles to the leaders and to the rest of the people do not be afraid of them remember the lord great and awesome and fight for your brethren your sons your daughters your wives and your houses and it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us and that god had brought their plot to nothing that all of us returned to the wall everyone to his work 16 so it was from that time on that half of my servant worked at construction while the other half held the spares the shield the bows and wore armor and the leaders were behind all the house of judah here ended the reading of god's holy word today is at the palm springs sda church family life emphasis day and uh we are excited that our family life director uh sister lorna ebanks has put together an amazing program i know we messed it up because we had to insert a whole bunch of stuff but she's forgiven us already especially because the sabbath you see so i i do want to as we always do on occasions like this we do want to emphasize and show our appreciation as a church for the hard work by the way the family life ministry is the largest umbrella ministry in the palm springs church because the family life oversees singles women's men you know just the women's ministry alone is large enough because most of our members are women so so want to thank sister ebanks uh for your leadership i know you had great plans and i mean you should have seen the plans until covid struck and then we had to adjust and address in different areas so you have some of your team members here sister banks we'd like to ask them to stand as we appreciate your service and ministry everyone that's a part of the family life ministry please stand there we go thank you so much please stand there we go and now by the way yeah if you see mostly women were standing until elder james brown who is the elder in charge i think of family life ministries he's also men's ministry director so i want to thank you so much on behalf of the palm springs sda church thank you for your ministry for those who couldn't be here thank you as well for your service and may god continue to bless you thank you sister banks please be seated today is a very special day for us as we mentioned and uh because it's so special we had to have a special guest speaker for today uh sister faith is that you uh our prayers to the family continuously thank you so much um our speaker as i was mentioning today is dr jeffrey k thompson who is the senior pastor of the fort lauderdale seventh-day adventist church uh he was born far far away from here in the bahamas and so we're excited that he is here with us today having uh been made aware uh for all of us uh that he was available today we were excited that he could be here he's a product by the way of seventh-day adventist christian education for example he earned his bachelor of arts degree in theology from northern caribbean university likewise he received a master's degree in uh church history from the andrews university uh he also uh graduated with a doctor of philosophy in conflict management conflict management from trinity theological seminary dr thompson commenced his ministry in the bahamas where he served as a pastor and departmental director afterward he excelled so much he served as the president of the cayman islands conference for several years he's also an accomplished author of three books he has pioneered two church publications and for those who may not know he came to church one day secretly and uh quietly and then eventually we saw a huge publication in the southern tidings that he wrote uh in what he noticed here at the palm springs seventh-day adventist church he's a very accomplished author he is the recipient as well of numerous awards uh furthermore his evangelistic accomplishments are very noteworthy for example he planted churches in the bahamas and in the cayman islands on the other hand he has served as well as a member of the 2020 census committee for the city of fort lauderdale not just in the church but he is serving in the community dr thompson is married to denise thompson and they are proud parents and grandparents we are elated and excited uh dr thompson that you are here today to bless us with a word from the lord it's been a long time coming and we're so excited that he's here uh personally for me the very first time i heard about dr thompson was on my first trip to the cayman islands you cannot enter the cayman islands as a seventh-day adventist minister and you are not made aware of the footprint of uh dr thompson he's done tremendous work and uh those who are watching in the bahamas right now who ordinarily watch we welcome you and thank you so much for joining us we ask that you will pray for him as he presents the word of god today but just before dr thompson is uh or sorry approaches the pulpit we will hear another special song of meditation and then we will welcome dr thompson to the palm springs seventh-day adventist church pulpit may god bless you [Music] his heart was broken mine was mended he became sin now i am cleaning the crossy carrot bore my burdens the nails that held him sets me free his life for mine he's alive for mine [Music] could it ever be that he would die [Music] god's son would die to save a wretch like me what love divine he gave his life for my [Music] his scars of suffering brought me healing he spilled his blood to fill my soul his crown of thorns made me royalty his sorrow gave me joy and told his life for mine how could it ever be that he would die god's son would die to save a wretch like me what love divine he gave his life for mine he was [Music] i am loved and accepted [Music] [Music] i [Music] could it ever be that he would die god's son would die to save a rich like me [Music] a love divine he gave his life [Music] [Music] [Music] amen after that beautiful song coming to us from sister veronica i believe we ought to say another hearty amen his life for mine that is what the gospel of jesus christ tells us jesus died for us and so first of all i just want to pause to thank your illustrious pastor pastor palmer for his kind and gracious words of introduction as i sat listening to his beautiful words my only wish is that my wife could be here so she could be reminded of what a wonderful husband she's married to so i think i'm gonna have to send a text message i'll probably tell her to watch the video uh online but but certainly are very very good i look at pastor palmer as one of the mortal pastors in the realm of the florida conference father's really bless your church but a phenomenal pastor and i'm so happy that you appreciate him because let me tell you something if you don't appreciate him i know other churches will be happy to take him so i just i know you you shower him with love and that is so commendable and so i bring you greetings from your sister church fort lauderdale 7th adventist church which is actually the first seventh adventist church in broward county it was established way back in 1920 we just celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2020 and so before we open the sacred book the holy word of god let us bow our heads in prayer loving heavenly father we thank you for the bible we thank you for jesus we thank you for the sabbath and now as we about to open the bible we pray that your holy spirit will come by this place may we go forth rejoicing because i ask it in jesus name this morning or today i would like to focus on the book of nehemiah and i believe that repetition deepens impression so i'm just going to ask you to stand for the reading of our text today just stan everyone kindly stand and my text today is taken from nehemiah chapter 4 verses 14 through 16. let us read it together after i look things over i stood up and said to the nobles the officials and the rest of the people don't be afraid of them remember the lord who is great and awesome and fight for your families your sons and your daughters your wives and your hopes then the next verse says when our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that god had frustrated it we all returned to the wall each to our own work then the next verse from that day on half of my men did the work while the other half were equipped with spares shields bulls and hammer the officers posted themselves behind of judah kindly be seated we noticed at the very beginning that this particular passage the text says at the very beginning fight for your families and this is family life day at this church speaking of fighting i read a story some time ago about a man from jamaica who wanted to uh you know he wanted three thousand dollars and for this man he decided to really put up a good fight to get the three thousand dollars so what did he do well he prayed that god would help him to get it not seeing any help coming up to him he decided to write god a letter he went to the post office and mail the letter to heaven district heaven post office the postmaster not knowing where to send the letter decided to read it the letter said dear god i am broke i'm begging for three thousand dollars thank you move by it the workers of the post office all contributed money but could only arrive at 2500 so they mailed it to the man a few weeks later the man picked up his mail at the post office rushed home and was shocked only to find uh 2500 in the envelope and so he decided to write god back and he wrote dear god thank you for the money me know your will to read it but god next time when we ask you for a money send it in an airmail envelope because god you know say the evil chiefing people them that work at the post office teeth five hundred dollars from the letter now this man had tremendous faith in the lord and so i want to focus for a while on a man in the bible who had tremendous faith in god and so let me set the context for our sermon today in 722 bc the assyrians attacked jerusalem in fact jerusalem had uh gigantic walls uh that surrounded the city for protection however the assyrians came and attacked these giant walls and even destroyed the temple in the process and so the people had no place to worship god in many ways the things they valued were completely destroyed but about almost 300 years later the children of israel reach a point in their experience and they said why bill have they had given up hope and they said is it really worth the fight have you ever said that in your christian experience have you ever thought that have you ever said that about your family have you ever said that about your marriage have you ever said that about your children why should i even bother you know the look late ruth bell graham wife of evangelist billy graham i was married out to evangelist graham for over 63 years and sometime ago a reporter asked her a question and he said in your marriage in your long marriage have you ever considered divorcing uh your husband and she replied divorce no murder yes now the fact of the matter is we all go through those days ups and downs in marriages now remember nehemiah was a cup bearer to the king he had the job of making sure that the cup or the king was not poisoned and so he had to taste anything he drank he had to taste anything that king ate and so one day nehemiah heard that the walls were torn down in jerusalem he heard about the temple which was the very center of jewish national life had been destroyed and his heart broke yes he heard about the people uh you know what they were going through he heard that his people were discouraged his heart broke for them and so he started crying out to god for them he started interceding he started pleading on their behalf he started fasting and so he must have said i can't stand here i need to do something i need to make a difference and so when you look at families today you might come to the same conclusion and say i need to intervene i have to say something i have to do something now watch this we have to be willing to make a difference and so when nehemiah goes before the king something occurred that had never happened before uh he was pretty discouraged uh but the king said nehemiah why are you so sad uh he had to think uh before he answered because if he said the wrong thing the king could order his execution and so he begins to share what happened to jerusalem he told the king that his heart was aching not only for the city of jerusalem but for all of his people for example he was burdened for his family his friends and his acquaintances his heart was broken more importantly god begins to work on the king's heart even while he was speaking and so the king said how can i help you how can i help you nehemiah said i need safe passage in other words i need the palm springs sheriff department to provide me with a safe police escort and so the king said okay nehemiah said your majesty i need you to allow me to go to jerusalem for a long time to rebuild other walls and the king said okay in fact the king signed an executive order and gave him a government grant with all of the money and the tools and equipment that he needed for the project he was so excited and so nehemiah i would imagine he takes air jamaica no i mean caribbean airlines no i mean american airlines no i mean he took his horse and carriage to jerusalem but he when he gets there it's worse than he could ever imagine and so he sees other helpless and hopeless people it just crushes his heart he wanted to rebuild their hopes he wanted to rebuild their city so nehemiah i would imagine he decided to do a swot analysis and so as we put that uh slide on the screen with the swot analysis says uh you would recognize that s in the swot analysis stands for what strength they had many strengths because the king was on their side so that was a strength and i believe that you have many strengths here at the palm springs seventh-day adventist church can you say amen and so he decided to go through the swat analysis the w and the swot analysis uh stands for weakness uh they had many weaknesses for example they were discouraged as we go on to the o in the swat analysis uh this stands for what opportunity that's right they had a unique opportunity to rebuild of the wall and i believe this particular church the palm springs church which is strategically located you have tremendous opportunities for sharing the gospel of jesus christ even during this pandemic can you say amen the t in the swot analysis stands for the threats yes uh they had to fight oppos off opposition and even criticism every now and then and so we notice that nehemiah next brings everyone together according to the story in the bible and he said here is what we are going to do so he lays out his strategic plan his vision just like pastor palmer is always laying out the vision for this particular church everybody is getting excited he is getting excited they start building the walls they get about halfway up with the walls however there were three enemies uh placed around jerusalem that began to hear what they were about to do and so opposition began to come their way i know you know this is a good time to remind ourselves uh who was rebuilding the wall we need to remember that god was the architect and nehemiah was the contractor god was at work it was his will to rebuild the wall and the gates around the city and anyone in opposition to that goal was in opposition to almighty god and so the opposition mocked them and even threatened them speaking of opposition i've come by to tell you that ships don't sink because of the water around them ships sink because the water that gets in them and so don't let what's happening all around you get inside of you and weigh you down to the ground and so you need to be focused on jesus at all times and you ought to say amen and i need to let you know that when i preach the word of god when you say amen i preach shorter when you don't say amen i preach longer because if you don't say man it's telling me that you're not really following me you're not really following me and so if you want to hear the word of the lord today you need to say amen and you need to understand that it's okay even as a seventh-day adventist to say amen some people believe that only the baptist and the pentecostal and the church of god should say amen but i believe i should say amen because god has brought me from a mighty long way and so if you don't say amen pastor palmer i'm going to say amen all by myself amen means so let it be that's what it means so let it be and so my friends you know speaking of opposition when robert fulton first showed off his new invention the steamboat skeptics were crowded on the bank yelling it'll never start it will never stop and but it did it started with a lot of uh clanking and groaning and as the steamboat made its way down the river the skeptics were quiet for one minute then they shouted it'll never stop it will never stop and so that's just the way people are it's hard to please people now so have you ever been ridiculed for doing the will of god i have and people will ridicule you even when you try to do something for god my friends it's usually comes from the least expected source and designed to catch you off guard because so every group has its sand ballot and tobias i'm sure i'm happy that you don't have any of them here but they have you have them in some other churches that i've you know been at and so forth and so on but now you know there is a high cost for spiritual leadership that's what you need to understand because leadership can be very lonely and many times it's a lot of hardship and so let me go to nehemiah chapter four the bible tells us in nehemiah chapter four and verse one it says but it's so it happened when saint malach heard that we were rebuilding the what the wall that he was what furious and very indignant and mock the jews now he should have been happy but he was furious and that's just how some people are they do not like to see progress and so the bible tells us and he spoke before his brethren and the army of samaria and he said what are these feeble jews doing will they fortify themselves will they offer sacrifices will they complete it in a day will they uh revive other stones from the heaps of rubbish stones that are burned and then the bible tells us in the next verse now tobiah the ammonite was beside him and he said uh whenever they build e if even a fox goes up on it he will break down their what their stone wall and so he was really ridiculing them so nehemiah puts the children of israel together in families notice i said families he put them together in families to build different sections of the wall but they were so discouraged that they threatened to quit some of the people said it's not worth it but nehemiah did something awesome he became a dispenser of hope even in the midst of their discouragement nehemiah reminded the children of israel that if they didn't take a stand that they and their families would perish at the hand of the enemy that's what he reminded him of and so friends i don't want i don't know what you may be going through right now but i want you to know that our families are in trouble in the united states of america our families are in trouble in the state of florida we need to fight the good fight of faith for them paid them in prayer soak them in the word and battle the enemy to protect them in jesus name can you say amen that is what we need to do for our families today and so if you are a christian i've come by to tell you that all christian people are your family some are under attack today and it is our duty to reach out to them in the love of jesus christ we are not to attack our wounded but rather we are to love them and humbly restore them to their place even if they fall down every now and then now watch this watch this watch this watches sadly many of us are ready to write people off for one failure let me repeat many of us are ready to write people off for one single failure and you know but that is not the way of jesus christ because i've come by this church to tell you in the name of jesus that my past has nothing to do with almighty where almighty god is about to take me the bible says there's no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus and so when the devil reminds you of his your past you need to remind the devil of his future and so don't let anybody make you feel bad about your past because the bible tells me there is mercy i said there is mercy you didn't hear what i said there is mercy i said there's mercy i said there is mercy oh i feel my helper coming down there is mercy there is mercy with the lord and so here is what nehemiah said in verse 14. we go to verse 14 he says do not be afraid there's so much fear sweeping the land these days people are afraid of the delta variant people are afraid of the mu variant of the coronavirus that is just behind that but the bible says don't be afraid of the enemy he is not all powerful you see the devil may be powerful but my god is all powerful the devil made me guide me but my god is almighty he will have the last laugh and so my friends i want you to know that the devil will not win in the end and so he must flee you know if you wanted to flee all you need to do is to tell him to flee in jesus name and the holy spirit will cause him to flee and so you have people i believe uh you know all around you even in the church who may mock you every now and then but don't be afraid of them you might have them in your cyber school class who will mock you until you say pastor why even try you are people are in your own church who will mark you behind your back don't worry what people may say about you behind your back because i have a god and i serve a god who will bless you in front of their faces so don't worry about what you're talking about behind your back because god is so good he's going to pour his blessings upon you and that is why the bible says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i shall dwell in the house of the lord forever and then david the psalmist says that god is going to prepare a table before you in the very presence of people who can't stand your god people who are hoping that you will fall down and die he will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies that is what my god is going to do so don't focus on the negative people of the church focus on the positive people of the church in jesus name and so watch this watch this nehemiah said listen to me do not be afraid of them here is why because if god is for us who i said who i said who can be against us if god is for us who can be against us oh my friends this verse gives us so much hope that we will always prevail that our eternal destiny and the love of god are secure and so though we may suffer we will not be destroyed if you want to tweet something tweet that in jesus name no matter how bad things seem we must remember that if god that god is for us we need to remember as veronica's saying that he loves us he gave his life for you he gave his life for me and so we are his children and so that's why jesus is our older brother remember the lord who is great and awesome and fight for your families so i say fight fight fight fight fight for your families and even when you're fighting if you get knocked down don't stay down you know some time ago muhammad ali was involved in a boxing match and he got knocked down on the ground and it appeared as if though he was gonna lose the fight and so the referee just counted he counted one two three four five six before he reached ten ali got up long story short he won the fight and then after the fight a news reporter asked him muhammad ali uh how how how were you able to get up so fast muhammad ali looked the reporter in the face and he said the ground is no place for a champion and so i've come by the palm springs church today to tell you that the ground is no place for a champion even if you fall down get up in jesus name can you say amen because the ground is no place for you you have a home with jesus and so remember the lord remember the lord remember the lord why should we remember the lord because nehemiah was facing a task that was impossible the children of israel had not been able to build those walls in several hundred years but nehemiah uh you know uh with the people and with the power of the holy ghost build the wall the bible tells us in 52 days that is what it says and so i've come by to tell you that he was successful because he remembered the lord every now and then i remember the lord and the sabbath is a great time to remember the lord can you say amen lord i don't know about you but he has brought me from a mighty long wave had not been for the lord on my side i don't even know where i would be i wouldn't even be standing here i'm only here now i know you believe that you are here today uh because the alarm clock woke you up no no no you are here today because the holy spirit woke you up and directed you to this church you are here because the spirit of the living god guided you on the highway coming to church today and so i i don't know about you but i've seen doors opened i've seen burdens lifted i have seen souls saved i have seen prayers answered during my ministry and my friends i want you to know that the same god who answered those prayers he is here today so remember the lord remember the lord he's still the same today yesterday and forevermore and so fight for your families fight for family togetherness don't just sit down and be defeated but fight like you have never fought before fight for your husband fight for your sons and for your daughters and for all of your children and so i read a blog recently about the connection from the connection uh point christian church titled three reasons to fight for your marriage reason number one one person can make a difference that is so important one person can make a dramatic impact on a marriage yes it would be easier if you were both putting forth equal effort but one person can be the catalyst to change imagine two people standing back to back in conflict if old people are willing to turn around then the couple will be face to face with the ability to be in a good relationship however what happens when one person remains with his or her back uh turn while the other person walks around uh to face him they can still be face to face even though only one person moved and then secondly don't toss your treasures guard the things that you treasure what you need to understand is that your marriage is a priceless gift your marriage is made up of two priceless people so fight for your marriage in jesus name and then reason number three your breakthrough is coming quitting is easy prey true is hard and so if you give up you may never experience the joy that you could experience and so hold on after god's unchanging hands all my friends men and women of the bible fought for their families the bible tells us that moses fought and delivered his family from bondage uh the bible tells us that noah are protected his family are from the flood yes we also know that job joseph provided for his family during the famine we know that david killed a giants preserving uh his brother's lives root fought to provide for her mother-in-law jacob fought with laban to win his family and so how are you fighting for your family of the pram springs church is anybody ready to stand and fight for family togetherness and so you know someone has said uh david and ashley wills as they put that slide on the screen a great marriage is born the moment when a husband and wife stop fighting against each other and start doing what fighting for each other and so that is the takeaway we need to stop fighting each other because the other person is not the enemy the devil is the enemy but we need to fight for each other in jesus name and so our families are worth fighting for verses 14 tells us remember the lord who is great and awesome and fight for your families your sons and your daughters your wives and so when our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot that god was frustrated that god had frustrated it we all returned to the wall each to our own work and so they began to work again the bible tells us they must have said we can do this and so verse 16 says from that day on from that day on half of my men did the work while the other half were crippling spares shields bows and armor the officers posted themselves behind all the people of judah and then verse 17 says those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other hand and i believe the weapon that they're talking about is the weapon of prayer the weapon of fasting the weapon of intercessory prayer can you say amen and so when we are working for god you cannot let your defenses down and so look at the next verse says verse 18 the bible says and each of the builder builders wore his sword at his side as he worked but the man who's sounded the trumpet stayed with him yes my friends i want you to know as we go back to verse 14 it says fight for your families your sons and your daughters and your wives and your home nehemiah knew that if they caved in the enemy would be successful there would be no temple or worship place to worship god in the city the maya knew that the time to stand was right now and so watch this watch just watch us watch this we have turned our heads for far too long while the enemy has ravaged the church for too long the saints have allowed the enemy to tantalize our children traumatize our homes terrorize our hearts and even tranquilize our worship oh yes my friends and so if we ever expect to salvage anything for the glory of god then we must take our stand today because tomorrow may be too late and so grandparents under the sound of my voice grandparents who are watching this telecast through social media grandparents are you fighting for your grandchildren half of all marriages end in divorce even among christian people drug use in middle school students is on the rise the average age of sexual activity is between 11 and 12. so there is a war going on today we are in a spiritual war and the enemy is trying uh to get our husbands uh to think i will be much better off somewhere else and so my friends i want you to know that you need to keep on praying you need to keep on fighting you need to keep on living the christian life in front of your unconverted husband or wife fight knowing that god is on your side our main enemy is not one another our main enemy is the devil but i've come by to tell you that the devil is a liar the devil is a liar he is a deceiver he will tell you that your church is against you he will tell you that your pastor is against you he will tell you that the conference is against you he will tell you that the government is against so he will tell you that everybody is against you because the bible says the devil knows that he has a short time and that is why in first peter it says which is my last text for the day be sober no time to sleep in church be sober i said be vigilant because your adversary the devil is as a roaring lion walking about seeking he's literally seeking he's numbering people he is seeking and searching for people who he can devour and he will use other people and he will use the tentacles of other people to bring them to him and so the devil will try to discourage you i'm sure you must have heard the story about uh the devil i was actually that was advertised that the devil was going to put up his tools for sale on the date of the sale the tools were placed on display each being marked with its sale price and there were a treacherous lot of uh you know uh tools one tool title hatred another one envy another one jealousy another one's deceit another one lying pride and so on and so on and so even as i wind down perhaps if the uh organists or pianists could just play just as i am you know these tools just laid apart from the rest and you know and was harmless looking there was a harmless looking tool that well worn but yet it was priced very high now what is the name of this particular tool someone asked pointing to this particular tool oh that is discouragement the devil replied why have you priced it so high because it is more useful to me than all the others combined i can pry open and get inside a man's heart with that when i cannot get near him with the other tools it is badly worn because i use it on almost everyone since so people so few people realize that discouragement belongs to me and that is my number one tool that i use and i can imagine as we face these last and evil days the devil is still using it so someone is saying well you know how can i fight for my marriage how can i fight for my family and i hear someone saying well you know pastor i can't fight because i'm over the age of 60. now watch this watch this don't you know that there's some benefits of being over 60. what are some of the benefits benefit number one kidnappers are not interested in you benefit number two in a hostage situation you'll be the first to be released benefit number three no one expects you to run anyhow benefit number four people call at 8 pm and ask did i wake you benefit number five things you buy now won't we are out benefit number six you quit trying to haul your stomach in you know when you're eating or when someone walks in the room because if you're over 60 you really don't care what they think anyhow benefit number seven your eyes can't get most works benefit number eight your joints are more accurate than all of the meteorologists in the united states of america you don't have to you know know when it's going to rain your the aches and pain from the arthritis will tell you and benefit number nine your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember either they do have a touch of alzheimer's and so i say fight fight fight fight fight fight like you have never fought before fight for your families in jesus name you know some time ago a pastor you know i was approached by one of his parishioners and she wanted to see the pastor and the pastor the lady said to the pastor you know pastor i've been attending this church for a while but i have decided that i'm going to leave the church and the pastor said why would you leave the church and the lady said well the reason why i'm going to leave this church is because number one there are people who are always gossiping secondly there are people in the church who are hypocrites and thirdly even when you're preaching your sermon there are people in church who are on their cell phones not paying attention to the sermon so i'm going to leave the church now the pastor had heard these sorts of stories over many years in his ministry and so he said now ma'am before you leave the church i want you to do me a favor and she said well what is that favor the pastor said well i want you to take a glass of water so i have a glass right here and i i'm gonna put some water in this particular glass and before you leave this church i just want you to do me this last favor i want you to take this glass of water and i want you to just walk around the church with this glass of water three times and uh just walk around the church three times i'm not gonna walk around three times i'm just gonna walk around once with a glass of water and so i'm walking even though you can't see me i'm walking i'm walking i'm walking the lady walked around the church with a glass of water holding the glass of water holding the glass of water holding i'm still holding the glass still walking making my way back up to the pulpit i'll be back up to the pulpit in 30 seconds and she'll be she was just walking walking walking holding the glass of water holding the glass of water holding glass of water holding a glass of water holding the glass of water holding the glass of water and so when she made her way back up to the pulpit area the pastor said now ma'am i just have a question for you when you were walking around with the glass of water did you see anybody gossiping the lady said no when you were walking around with a glass of water did you see anybody using their cell phones the lady said no when you were walking around with a glass of the water or did you see any hypocrites the lady said no and so the pastor said why she said well simply i was focusing on a glass of water and so i've come by the palm springs church to tell you that you need to focus on the glass of living water and when you focus on the glass of living water you wouldn't see the problems of the people who are tearing you down because you're focusing on jesus and as the song says turn your eyes on jesus look fall into his wonderful face and the things of this earth i know we are about to close but i feel like preaching and the things of this earth will grow strangely them in the light i said in the light you didn't hear me i said in the light i said in the light in the light of his glory and grace may god bless you today may god sanctify you today in jesus name in jesus name let everybody say hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah amen and so if you want to accept jesus christ you're watching this program online if you want to accept jesus christ then just call five six one four six five four four six four in fact i invite you to take your cell phone if you're watching online and to just take a picture of the screen and there you will have all of the information for the palm springs seventh-day adventist church and you can give your life to jesus and so as we pray i'm gonna ask the pastor to come to give the final prayer of commitment the song is being played just as i am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and as thou bitched me come to thee o lamb of god i come we praise god today because somebody just came home to jesus christ somebody just accepted the lord as their personal savior some family has just been delivered somebody has just been saved father god because of your magnificence your mercy your goodness and your grace we come before your presence to thank you for having sent us a word that has pinched every particular portion of our heart and has penetrated our minds thank you for using dr thompson to preach so powerfully to expound the word so eloquently lord we thank you for allowing him to humble himself and to hear from you so that you could have your way here today lord as a result of what just transpired hearts are being transformed and lord we see and sense in full measure your presence and your potency and so even now dear god we pray a special blessing firstly upon him and his family that you may keep them and sustain them and strengthen them in every aspect of their being and then lord we pray for that person wherever they may be maybe right here in the sanctuary or even watching at home under a tree inside their kitchen wherever they are maybe even at work but wherever that person is right now here in north america in europe in parts of africa around the world we pray for your holy spirit's touch right now oh god in their life we pray that you will keep their eyes focused on the glass of water life eternal and not allow the experimental external extinguishing influence to be a part of their existence lord i ask that as only as you can that you will baptize us anew with your power from and high oh god please renew your spirit within us give us new insight and a new way and a new path and as we go may we never never ever forget that you deserve all glory may we never forget that you deserve all honor may we never forget that you deserve all praise in jesus name we pray amen and amen amen praise god dr thompson you are welcome in this pulpit anytime let the church say amen what a powerful word thank you so much for that word very timely god indeed moved upon this place today and we praise god from whom all blessings flow please pray for him as uh he will leave please pray for him as he goes and uh he has other items that he needs to deal with and you may not be able to greet him at the door because he may have to run off it is not because he does not want to greet you but it's because duty calls and so we pray for him as he goes and may god be with you again thank you dr thompson thank you for coming he's a great mentor great man of god a great leader and one who is so humble that we can all aspire to so praise god today let us continue to close out the worship remember at the door as you go by through the doors you can deposit your offerings if you never did uh before you can do that at the doors you can go right around through the right and at the front we have your care packages waiting for you don't leave today you must get that pick that up before you go so that you can all have a wonderful time then we'll be back for our bible class at 3 30 and uh our ay program continues thereafter but our our our business meeting is at 7 30 this evening god bless you god keep you may he give you peace and again thanks to the garbage for the floral arrangements we're going to do a closing hymn i think the song is uh happy the home happy at home when god is there go ahead sister chef please stand as we sing together [Music] happy the home when god is there and love fills every breast when one they wish and won their prayer and won their heavenly happy the home where jesus name is [Music] his fame and parents hold him there happy the home where prayer is hurt and praises want to rise where parents love their sake word and all its wisdom price lord let us in arms agreed this blessed peace to gain unite our hearts in love to thee and [Music] please visit while you wait to be ushered out [Music] sound the battle cries coming up sound the battle cry see the forest night raise the standard high for the lord gird your armor hands stand firm everyone rest your claws upon this holy word rouse them soldiers rally around the burner ready steady caster [Music] must prevail shield and banner bright gleaming in the light battling for the right winner can [Music] onward forward [Music] by thy grace [Music] ready is [Music] um

Channel: Palm Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church FL

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Length: 210min 1sec (12601 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021