Restore Your Weapon of Praise

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] this is the day this is the week that the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it hello everyone and welcome to the four more church of god worship service we are so thankful to the almighty for the opportunity to be coming into your homes and have you worshipping with us if you are tuning in for the very first time welcome welcome welcome and thank you we are so glad you could join us in worship please share the details of our online services and invite your family and friends to worship with us for today's service we pray the word of god will indeed give you confidence we trust it fulfills your faith and inspire you to go deeper in your relationship with jesus christ [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] thank you for everything that you have done for us lord god we thank you for taking us through another week starting another one we just want to ask that you continue to cover start guide us and protect us as we are about to begin worship we ask that you just take complete control of every single thing lord god from start to finish touch every single one of us that are involved such every single one of us that are watching and lord i pray that everybody from us up here to those online be blessed i pray that you increase lord god and we decrees for you deserve all the glory and all the praise and all the honor in your name we pray amen amen sitting right here all alone thinking of you only you in my heart you in my mind [Music] but still i feel like we're so far apart [Music] lord i feel so empty [Music] close to you can i get closer [Music] can i get close to [Music] get you close to you [Music] close to you sitting right here [Music] holy [Music] but still i feel [Music] lord i've been so empty i need to know [Music] what can i do to get gold [Music] can i get cold can i get close to you [Applause] [Music] can i get close see [Music] jesus foreign [Music] but i still wait i'll risk my faith [Music] can i get closer to you tonight [Music] [Music] closed captioning not available [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] near a blessed lord to the cross wherever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in [Music] [Music] to the cross [Applause] [Music] us breathing inside [Applause] [Music] [Music] where [Applause] [Music] we [Music] and [Music] we were [Music] for you are worthy to be praised [Music] you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you you are worthy to [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] if we worship we were [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] you [Music] [Applause] you are worthy to [Music] you are worthy to [Music] hallelujah can we just lift up the name of jesus hallelujah we bless the name lord jehovah you i trust in you oh lord [Music] [Music] i trust [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] i trust [Music] [Applause] [Music] i believe [Music] [Music] i believe [Music] goodbye to my pain and my sorrows [Music] goodbye to my face and my sorrows [Music] it's so long bye-bye it's so long [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] i am not forgotten i am not forgotten i am not forgotten god knows my name i am not forgotten [Music] [Music] i am not for god i am not forgotten god knows my name i am the forgotten i am not for god [Music] goodbye to my pain man [Music] [Music] it is [Music] is [Music] it is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] it is [Music] hallelujah [Music] hmm [Music] mike testing welcome my name is roxanne mott your moderator for today's service to our family and friends across the island and across the globe tuned in to our youtube and facebook welcome we say a world welcome to if it is your first time joining us in worship via our social media platforms we invite you to subscribe to our youtube channel to know when we go live just click the bell to turn on your notification a big welcome to everyone and we trust that at the end of the service you will be richly blessed let us pray most righteous and heavenly father thank you for bringing us here today lord thank you for the provisions to worship your name lord thank you for the sanctuary thank you for family and friends lord thank you that we can gather today individually in our own homes and some today in the chapel lord i pray that you continue to bless us lord i pray that the service reaches our hearts today lord i pray for those who are struggling right now with the pandemic and the lot don'ts feeling isolated lord i pray that they know that they are never alone i pray that they know that you're with them and they have family to surround them lord i pray that you continue to cover us lord i pray that our service today reaches someone's heart and they are willing to give their heart to you lord continue to get and protect us in your righteous and holy name we pray amen for the month of september we focus or work our focus is on worship and today we are looking at the theme restore your weapon of praise we now invite our praise team to come and do our welcome song it is a wondrous feel when you're confessing and shout and when you pray and lift of jesus name so to only your [Music] [Music] in in a special way oh [Music] in a special way i hope you stay with me [Music] [Music] in a special in a special way [Applause] [Music] thank you praise team i hope by now you would have shut out all distractions and allow the lord to be the focal point as we worship him today with every item beat a song a prayer a meditation on his word let us bring our praise and worship as we receive his blessings let us all stand and read the scripture which is taken from 2nd chronicles 20 verses 20 to 30. that is second chronicles 20 verses 20-30 this will be followed by the singing of the wonderful hymn praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice and they rose early in the morning and went forth and they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of tekor and as they went forth jehoshaphat stood and said hear me o judah and ye inhabitants of jerusalem believe in the lord your god so shall ye be established believe his prophets so shall he prosper and when he had consulted with the people he appointed singers onto the lord and should praise the beauty of the holiness as they went before the army to say praise the lord for his mercy endureth forever and when they began to sing and to praise the lord sent ambushments against the children of amman moab and monsieur which were to come against judah and they were smitten for the children of oman and moab stood up against the inhabitants of monsieur utterly to slay and destroy them and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of syria everyone helped to destroy another and when judah came towards the watchtower in the wilderness they looked onto the multitude and behold they were dead bodies falling to the earth and none escaped and when jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them they found among them in abundance both riches and the dead bodies and precious jewels which they stripped off them themselves more than they could have carried away and there were three days in gathering of the spoil it was so much and on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of baraka for they they blessed for their they blessed the lord therefore the name of the place was called the valley of barca on to this day then they returned every man unto judah and jerusalem and jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again to jerusalem with joy for the lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies and they came to jerusalem with psalters and harps and trumpets onto the house of the lord and the fear of god was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard what the enemy fought against the enemies of israel so the realm of jehoshaphat was quiet for his god gave him rest roundabouts this is the word of the lord no for the singing of the hymn praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice [Music] [Music] he gave us [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] let the earth praise the lord [Music] and give him the glory [Music] every [Music] [Music] from jesus [Music] praise [Music] through jesus [Music] great things praise our rejoicing to jesus [Music] jesus [Music] who come to the father and through jesus christ the glory greatness boys [Music] [Music] the sun [Music] we thank the lord for his worth whether spoken or sung as it continues to remind us to restore our weapon of praise let us come to worship the lord as we ensure that all the earth is told about him so coming to us now is sister camille calvert who will share with us the goodness of the lord [Music] in church my name is camille calvert as you all may know so an online school on online school it's very depressing and stressing so far i was supposed to advance to the other grader but you have to get um a certain amount of marks advance so it was actually it wasn't looking so well for me and if you don't get enough marks it will be you got to repeat so i was praying and asking god just to help me just to help me so i made a deal with him that if more the online school and just make more get advance to the other level then i will do international so weeks pass and mercy picnia repeat my picnia advance me cancel myself on still i repeat and kids were still advancing money upon any lesson so i was there i was crying because it's really depressing to see yourself repeating back our grade although you know it's online and now learn not really because the internet and it's just depressing so a day came when i got a phone call at an advanced next level i was glad so i thank god i advanced the next level but then i said i still made a deal with him so me i i think it was the wednesday r2 was there tatiana gotta take say one of her sisters they're supposed to do a testimony and i was like a testimony i'm a very shy person and it's my first time giving a testimony so i didn't know what to say or what to do what i said okay i'm going to do it so this is my testimony i'm just saying to y'all that when you're feeling dumb when all we look like say god is an answer in your prayer just continue to pray continue to have faith because with faith and prayer i can't see sensei god will answer your prayer thank you [Applause] thank you sister camille for reminding us that sometimes we need to just hold on a little longer on god's promises to us continue to obey him pray to him and sometimes when your problems feel so great you'll find a difference when you shift your focus to worshiping him and praising his name it will really shift the atmosphere we're happy we're happy that you decided to accept the lord and as a young convert we encourage you to continue to give your testimony which is your weapon of praise [Music] the world has been experiencing some challenging times we are faced with atrocities after another so if ever a time we need to we need the lord is now and as such we have lots to petition to him for to take our petitions to the throne of grace we call our youth coordinator sister dorita stewart as she comes we will sing lord prepare me to be a sanctuary [Music] [Music] [Music] i'll be [Music] for you lord prepare for me tried and true [Music] sanctuary [Music] lord prepare me to be a sanctuary [Music] [Applause] tried and true [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] tried and true [Music] [Music] for you lord [Applause] [Music] tried and true [Music] living stand to where [Music] hallelujah hallelujah not because there's only 20 or so of us in here we can still lift him up we can still lift our voices hallelujah let us praise the lord hallelujah let us give him some praise hallelujah we understand it in serious times we know it's depressing time sister camille speak about it just know how depressing it has been i don't know if we get the mental fortitude of persons have been challenged seriously challenged but god is still able and god we should allow god to allow to be the sanctuary of our hearts no matter what i just want to tell my church family thanks before i go into the prayer you know it has been a rough rough rough rough rough and it's not just rough for my family rafa all of us everybody has been affected somehow has been impacted if you never get covered or if your family member get it or something or the hospitals are bursting to the seams no children and people are dying and crime is still going on and online school is a bother and just a challenge trust me if we're not recognized after the last days at this point in time i don't know when we're going to recognize that so we have to ensure that our hearts are in the right place when we look around the world all the atrocities afghanistan fire in our greece earthquake inner heights flooding are all my god are we continuing to cry lord don't you see and i can imagine or enunciated with all the things of the world but let us not be don't try yeah we understand the depression here we get it but just understand where our faith and our hope lies he says they never leave us now forsake us i'm not thinking there's a cliche at all a true committee sister coming i should make a deal with the lord you know if you'll give me whatever let us ensure that we have a covenant with god because guess what his promises are unsure but sometimes we most time we mess up or we mess up and it is really burdensome so i want to thank the church family for really reaching out to my family you know it was been hard my favorite favorite cousin i lost her and up to no we have put her to rest but guess what we still have not even known we have no closure yet as to what is the cause and that is just horrifying for us they found her dead just so we still don't know what is the cause to this day after month and more but god is still able amen no matter what people now lose out me on a time we can't afford when you listen to the documentaries and you listen to the news and one of the doctors say somebody will come in look good and your thing is just asymptomatic of it and by the time they do the ward run and come back later that person is gone and that for her is heart rending yes she used to date but not when you look for somebody and say huh they look like they they can't come through understand that now is the time and a time for a joke none of us know our time worse in this situation we don't know and it's not just covered alone the crime out there it is horrifying but i implore you to be steadfast i thank my church family for their extension of sympathies for my family we really do appreciate it let us pray dear father we want to thank you we lift you up lord god we come broken we come contrite we come burdened but we come to you nevertheless because indeed as the song says you are alpha you are omega you are the beginning and the end and sometimes we can't thy purpose see but all is well that is done by you god we continue to trust your heart even if when i see your plan now when i see your hand we continue to trust your heart to know that you're continuing to repost god in your bosom your people are crying out god i ask you for mercy mercy god because you stay wary and you look and you see all the atrocities in the world what are we turning to you are we understanding the implications of what is going on i don't think we get it sometime sometimes we cuss and say where are you god or could you abandon us but we must remind ourselves of your promises lord when abram took isaac isaac asked him when he sacrificed them that him in a seat and you provided that lamb in the thickets the woman said if i only could touch the aim of your garment i would not be i would be healed and immediately god you continue to feed the birds in the air much more we your price possession lord we ask you for mercy jesus we cry out to you as a people our nation jesus is painful and amidst corona there is still crime my god my god my god my god my god when we will return and humble our hearts to you god but in spite of it all we beg you for mercy we know that this dispensation will eventually pass and there will be no time for mercy again but in this time in this juncture god we ask you for your forgiveness first because as a people as a nation as a country as a world we have failed dear god but we ask for your forgiveness cleanse our hearts god sister camille spoke about online schooling and yet the challenge i remember back in the day last year march everybody was so happy for it got it tired tired to take the bus on the traffic and now look where we are many of them are crying out for face to face lord god and school has already started and some of them still learn has not grappled with the fact that they have to accept the fact that online school still continues there is challenge with internet there's challenging resources to get the internet there's challenging reasons to buy the tablet or whatever it is but god you are your great provider you are a providential god when you created this world you made everything for us and we tap into that let me understand the difficulties jesus that these young people are going through these students are going through my own daughter i said to me you know get it you not understand the mental fortitude has been torn has been shattered but god continued to hold him that i ask you for compassionate guardians and parents and custodians and adults because we will say yes and we pay out of the bills and we do all of this but guess what in their own world they are battling it we're gonna let us not not have care let us be compassionate and understanding let us sit with them and speak with them and try to understand where they are coming from god sometimes we're too rough or we're off unnecessarily and nothing is wrong with correction but let us do it right and at the end of the day they can say it was fear fear and conscientiousness is what we should do all the time because you are a fear unconscientious god and as they go through this school period we don't know when face to face is going to happen we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow but continue to hold them jesus let them not let go of you god let them remember the precepts that they were taught at school are taught at church and taught in their own homes let they understand that great is you that is in them honey that is in the world sometimes some people just want a little call they just want somebody to just say hi oh you know and they make a world of a difference we don't have to get into the intimate details of their lives but we just have to offer that extended hand because you are a gracious god god provide for the appearance it's not easy god some of them not working some of them get redundant some of them only working two days a week or certain hours a week where is the provisions coming from but it comes from you who are who is our help when we are going to take money and buy two or three or four out of five shoes that money could have given to have one of these one of ours jesus let me have a willing heart to give a charity god we couldn't do all the world but we have not love we have nothing jesus let's remember the also all that will remember each person god and just give an extending heart they don't have to be nothing great nothing great but we don't understand how people will appreciate the little that we do god i ask you coverage over the appearance jesus it not easy for them either it's not easy when you have to be juggling everything you have a juggle bills you have a juggle oh you're going planner for tomorrow you have to go juggle we're going to find food to eat much as we go pee internet be a as it is of life how some of them are single periods single father single mother auntie uncle granny ho but give them this trend god to know that there is a family at portmore church of god there is a family that they can call on in times of need and if there is no one else there is you god but i pray for the nation that want to touch my heart god all that is happening jesus the crime levels god my god my goodness my goodness my goodness my goodness it's heartbreaking heartbreaking jesus every day i cry to you every day i put it before you would nation need a purging it can't continue like this the in discipline my god the road rage one is not one thing or the other the stabbing of them shootings my god i put before you our family members who have to trot on the road every day when it's not shooting when it's not stabbing up when it's not accidental true upon this one god i don't know where is the love of our people where is the love why we so brutal and so grilled i don't know somebody not have to do your thing but then just look on you too hard and you dig off then fierce or you'll take out your weapon but only our only weapon this morning is our weapon of praise to you we go back to our prayer life that is our weapon of prayers we come back to our devotion time that is our weapon of praise we come back to reading our bibles that is our weapon of praise it can't continue [Music] young ones driving without lice and crush oh my god i don't want to start this morning but my heart is heavy my heart is heavy because indiscipline is too much it is too much in our society and some of us give a blind eye and we turn are we free because we and the truth is sometimes we speak our life is snuffed out we're afraid to speak but i will declare the word of the lord i will declare i am not afraid to tell you if you do wrong i'm not afraid to correct you in love but some people they are because of our nation easy you can't give us to a man don't do that with you lord your seat and i'm sure where you are seated you are nauseated but forgive us and forgive them god it don't take a thing for a man to murder you or a woman even the police forces have it up to their necks they have to be putting in protocol others are mentioned in that i'm doing crime no sir but god i seek your intervention intervention in this land of jamaica intervention god in this land jamaica that the christians and the church continue to be steadfast and prayer is no time to be sleeping and joking around none because if we're not get it right the generations that's going to come tomorrow it's going to be worse for them lord when we look at our society sickness is rampant everywhere not just corona lone god cancer cancer cancer every kiss to hear is cancer cancer or heart attack or something just stress alone is causing so much physical harm to people's bodies but you are a healer you are our healer jehovah rapha we call you on you today god [Music] not only to heal us physically but in us mentally spiritually emotionally because it starts right there many times many times that's where it starts and it it manifests in the physical our people need your healing hand by your stripes they are healed god when you are wounded and touch ours jesus i will ask you and you know them by name i could have called them sister baby sister lorient brother these look here you know them all sister cardinal you know them all i might not remember them all but you knew know them all jesus remember them god remember them and touch them jesus meet them at the point of their needs lord at this time only you we can look to nobody else can fix this but first we have to fix our hearts jesus fix our hearts it's burdensome i don't come here with gloom and doom but god is heavy and we have to call us speed of speed our nation needs you our world needs your god let the church not sleep or slumber it's no time for the christians to falter no time at all but fervent in our cry to you fervent god for the healing of the nation the healing of our children the healing of our families and our loved ones that are not safe god i bring them before you it's no time to joke this is the last days that we are in none of us know our time and let none of us as christians stand by and watch and don't reach to them and say guess what now is the day of salvation now is the accepted time we can save them god but we need to do our part you made us into disciples and say go be fishers of men when you were ascending to your father that was our monday to go and tell of your goodness and we must be a light that light must illuminate through us god that people can see the god in us and come to know and worship and serve you so all the persons in our whole soul and our families that need to know you will declare that every knee shall bow on their tongue will confess that you are lord what a good joyful world it would be when all of us fall prostrate before you and recognize that you are king king of kings and lord of lords and to the uns to the backsliders or anybody out there that is not walking as how they should but we bring them before you god you know the challenges god you came from heaven and dwelt among us so you're understanding you manis you get it you get it god you'll get it you get it god you'll get it but lord we cry out to you this morning we cry out to you this morning and we ask for mercy our father forgive us forgive us god we sometimes know not what we do forgive us jesus and purge our land let us come back to a place of righteousness a place of gratefulness we cry out to you this morning god it's not too hard for you jesus but we need to recognize that we need to do our part as well [Music] we lift you of god and we magnify your god and we don't want to come to you because of what you can do for us but because you are the sovereign lord you are not our savior you are lord you are lord you were risen from the dead and you are lord [Music] cover us jesus and bless us god as we continue to magnify you even in times of depression but god to praise you and to worship you his innate is a part of us and even when we can't go on no more god we give you all the glory and all the praise and all the honor because god indeed you are worthy you are worthy you are worthy jesus accept our christ and our petitions today accept and while i'm praying praying andre anderson come on before me god i heard jesus and our family god god don't want us buffing them i know the pillars rule around them jesus god you you were in that boat and you just said come peter come remember them jesus as i pray she's right in front of me remember her and her family god remember her god lord we thank you and we praise you today and we lift you up there's so much that we could say god but it is heavy but we thank you we thank you because the work has already started god and we know you'll see to the end we praise you and we lift you up and we tell you thanks in no other name than your son's name amen hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you jesus thank you lord [Music] i know it is now time for the teaching [Music] it is now time for the teaching and the preaching of god's word and we're happy to have our very own senior pastor reverend courtney gordon encouraging and challenging us from god's word today we all know that he's a passionate he's passionate about god's people he's a humble servant leader who continues to give of himself as the lord uses him for his glory i know you have been preparing your hearts and minds ready and waiting to receive the ministry of the word of god but just before he comes let us enjoy the ministering song of sisters crystal stewart and shania williams following that the voice you'll hear is reverend courtney gordon [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning church i pray that you're feeling blessed today okay [Music] you have won the victory [Music] [Music] [Music] death could not hold you down you are the reason king [Music] you are [Music] you have won the victory [Music] death could not hold you down [Music] [Applause] in my destiny [Music] you are the lizard [Music] you have one of its [Music] [Music] that could not hold you down [Music] [Music] imagine you are the reasons could not hold you down [Music] [Music] you are the reason king [Music] you have won the victory [Music] hallelujah death could not hold you down [Music] imagine you are the least [Music] you have one love [Music] you have won it all for me [Music] death could not hold you down you are the reason [Music] see that imagine [Music] you are the reason [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] praise jesus [Music] good morning brothers and sisters [Music] we give god thanks for the ministry that has gone up to him through his servants and we thank him for this another day in his house so we acknowledge the presence of the limited number in the chapel but the many who are on online who are sharing in this service in which we encourage the saints to restore our weapons of praise even in times like this i wish to thank our moderator sister roxanne mort for heavily leading us and the praise and worship team for leading us in worship with the music accompanying the praises the rich music accompanying the praise so i thank god for our musicians and very often you don't seem to understand the value of good music and so we don't claim to have it in its perfection but we are getting there but we have quality music played by the experts from time to time week to week as they come with their fingers with their feet they give praises and honor to god for praises and honor to god do not only come from the mouth they come sometimes from the fingers from the body but most of all from the heart so i wish to greet you well in the precious name of jesus in a time that is really challenging and even before i share the word i wish to empathize with the many who are hurting from this pandemic and commit to continue to pray for you and your family and the earthing ones are not just restricted to our church family but other church families and citizens of jamaica and the world at large in this time we want to see how we encourage you this morning to still look up and trust god and having been reminded of the attributes of god and what god is doing that you will respond in praise and in honor we thank god too for the prayer of our youth coordinator who poured out our heart to god not just for herself but for all of us turn with me in the bible to psalm 42. [Music] and here i'll read just some verses of the sound [Music] verse 3 my tears have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto me where is thy god when i remember these things caesar's 4 i pour out my soul in me for i had gone with the multitude i went with them to the house of god with a voice of joy and praise with a multitude that kept holy day verse 5 is a real question why are thou cast down o my soul and why art thou disquieted in me hope thou in god for i shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance verse 7 says deep call it unto deep at the noise of thy water spout all thy waves and thy billers are gone over me but here the comforting verse of in verse 8 yet the lord will command his love and kindness in the daytime and in the night his song shall be with me and my prayer unto the god of my life verse 9 i will say unto god my rock [Music] why ask thou forgotten me why go i mourn in because of the oppression of the enemy [Music] the last verse says [Music] hope thou in god for i shall yet praise him father we thank you for your word and your people together and your servant in the midst of it together we come you your word your people your servant your spirit lead us lord we pray in jesus name i want to bring home to us that this sultan the psalms they reflect human life [Music] you check different sources and you find aspects of human life in different literature in this one narrative in the psalm you get a fuller understanding of humans life and experience that no other literature can give you it at once they segment it but in the psalm you see the full complement of human life and human situation and it brings before us the honesty of life in the midst of reality that we must reflect and consider that life doesn't have one color life doesn't have one taste life doesn't have one sound life varies and it is truly something we have to consider because in our experience really if any at all we experience the fullness of green pastures rarely even here at all we experience and i use the word fullness the fullness of still waters where rarely if any at all we experience this cloudless skies but frequently and always we experience the reality that life alternates life has its storm and sunshine life sometimes feels like a see-saw life sometimes feel like a yo-yo and it is not that you are unstable but conditions of life and situations around you are changing and sometimes that makes the experience of life bitter and hard fluctuating feelings are common sometimes we reach to the heights of joy but there are times when we are weighed down with heaviness of sorrow of temptation we have our time when we stand and dance but we have our time when we sit down and weep when we laugh but we have our time when we cry we have our time when we sing but we have our time when we sigh we have our time when we praise and we have our times and we murmur and complain times when we rejoice but times when we are depressed and i say to you my brothers and sisters much of this is normal about life says the psalmist that we must not be surprised about it in terms of the changes that we have for there are times when life moves like what we would call in the signs sinusitis wave and then note i didn't say suicidal in your side i'll wave the up and down rhythm of motion and sound but there are times too when there is a deep struggle of the soul outside of the norm outside of the everyday experience of good and bad of achievement and failure there are times when there is a deep struggle of the soul and in this time sometimes we as christians fail to hold up to it and we feel away if we hold up to it with our bridge ring because our bridging will say hey you shouldn't feel this way but the reality is even as we consider the thing praise god and renew our weapon we must confess that there are times when praise is hard there are times when praise is short-lived there are times when there is no praise at all when it is all signed and this is where there is the spiritual and this emotional thirst of the soul and perhaps this comes about by the change and conditions around you perhaps your freedom and opportunity have been removed perhaps you have been dislocated perhaps it is retribution that is taking place around you great restriction especially within the pandemic and there is also as the psalm will see what makes it even worse sometimes there is a ridicule in the sense that there are some persons among you your friends and your family and there are times there are persons who are enemies of your soul who ridicule you and say to you you have been serving god this long you have been going to church every day then why and what is happening to you for some of us it's not the degree is there's a varying degree of of degree of depression and especially in the pandemic depression abounds in many places and sometimes we fail to admit it that we have to hold on hard we have to hold strong for us not to get to that point of depression to throw up our hands and to say this is it sometimes even in the christian faith you feel that way that you are sinking in depression perhaps sinking in despair and perhaps as you look around and see the many deaths that are happening you want to conclude that enough is enough and you want a way out i am saying to you the way out is not to take your life the way out is not to come out by taking your life your way out is not to pack up and say i can't bother the way out is not to get even careless and irresponsible the way out is to wake up and remind yourself that there is still the living god who is with us and will never forsake us shall we praise his name you know sometimes within the christian faith sometimes i make it a way to say that if a believer is feeling pain are struggling we tend to believe that hey they can't they can't really be living for god and feel in this pain but the pandemic tells us that it is okay it is okay to experience pain because human being has this frailty about us for some persons in this depression it is caused because it is affecting their family it is caused because it is affecting their friends job loss no stable health your well-being is challenged and so you are faced with two questions one that is internal which says why are you downcast o my soul and one that is external which says where is your god what seemingly is the departure of yourself that there seems to be the departure of everything that is good but to make it worse what seems to you to be not just the departure of god but in the question of the enemy where is your god it seems the departure of the good one so you are in a crisis really where the good things have departed and the good one is absent in your imagination the psalmist says despite where you are you can get back to this place where you overcome your setback and your position yourself will you come out of this depression and come to an experience of praise and honor so that when the questions are coming at you where is your god and when you yourself is raising that question where am i done cast in my soul the psalmist says there can be a response that says hope doing god for i will yet praise him somebody praise the lord and so i want us to just look a little here in terms of where then the psalmist will be able to praise god and to respond differently first i would say despite everything that is happening god is still wonderful god is still wonderful everything may be messed up everything may be broken everything may be fading but god is still wonderful and that god is still wonderfully saying to us is the order of everything that is good so even when the world is now filled with evil and bad and sickness and ruin god is still wonderful and the psalmist has to call that to mind to remind himself that even everything else has gone wrong if everything else has been broken if everything has gone down to the worst god is still wonderful church i want to you to recognize when we talk about god is still wonderful it is talking about you know as a songwriter says oh wonder you are that's that's the idea that that is behind this ear you know that it is it is beyond imagination that god is still wonderful that god is still in child church i want you to know too you know that the wonder of god is so good that over time we have changed from some things in terms of knowledge and information but god still remains the ultimate i remember i remember in our time growing up these are still around you know we were using me in the dictionary to know things then life widens beyond dictionary to encyclopedia much more information and then life moves out of encyclopedia and what we have now internet growing information and at stages of degeneration we grow out certain things i don't know what yet that will oh god the internet actually the tech is here to tell me you know but one thing is true when the dictionary gives way when the encyclopedia gives way and even if the internet gives away god is still the heights of information and god is still the source of knowledge and god is still in control of this universe somebody prays his name whether it is the macro or the micro events god is in charge of history and he's in charge of time and so the church must know that whether if it is the simple issue of your tooth hurting you are it is the vast feeling of hurt from the pandemic god understands and god is aware and so we don't want the church to believe that it is since the pandemic that you know we can trust god to be in charge of even the pandemic you know we know that there has always been even rushed on the pandemic in terms of sin and death and god has stepped in humanity and saved humanity so i want to say to us that god knows everything that was he knows everything that is and he knows everything that is to come that's why god is still wonderful god being wonderful takes the incomprehensible and make them comprehensible to us god who is wonderful takes the mysteries of life and he reveals them to us the things that are hidden he shows them to us and brings us to a place of knowledge and so my brothers and sisters in all things everything is in the hand of god everything was made for him through him and in him and by him and this is a comfort that we must have even as we seek to honor and to worship god that he has magnificent wisdom he has invincible power he is still wonderful he is still higher than us he is still greater than us praise is wonderful name that e-e-e-e is beyond us and outside of us god remains true in the midst of the pandemic god is still the force and the source of order i want to also say to you that we would have responded in many ways to some of the things that we have in life we responded to some of the problems in terms of our human intuitive you know we respond in terms of technology we respond in terms of our competence to it but everything at all time will fall short of the fullness of a solution but the art of creation the lord of creation is in control every time whether it is running smooth or whether it is broken down god is still wonderful somebody praise his name somebody praise his name he's wonderful in that he surpasses our faults he surpasses our weakness he surpasses everything that we face god is the working agent among us working in the midst of the struggles to make us fit for the time god is still wonderful and so in our politics whether it's good or bad in our economics whether it is profit or loss in our social relationship whether it's love or hatred god is still working for our good and i want us to recognize that that satan can't destroy this world pandemic can destroy this world god in the midst of the bitterness and the ugliness of the pandemic and even other evil around us we must not lose sight that god is majestic is awesome he's wonderful he's perfect and he can never fail and if we come to that understanding we are able to praise god because we are restoring the wonder about him and in that way we can say god it is truly wonderful that you are good i want us to take it in our hearts and believe that if us christians we believe that we can't live through this pandemic it has bigger implications it says to you that you believe that we are not saved and you believe that it is not god who made this hurt and i believe one of the things that we must always ensure that we don't forget is that the earth is the lord and the fullness thereof and everything that dwell dear in that god is in charge of the universe it cannot get out of his hand it cannot do what it wants to do the universe is in the hand of the great master of creation that he is in charge and as quickly as we come to that point the things are going away around me but god is still stable still honorable still awesome we can respond and raise our spirit and say we shall not die but we shall live and declare the works of the lord hallelujah god is still wonderful and if everything else goes god remains the same secondly the psalmist not only wants us to understand that god is wonderful even in the mess even in the disappointment and is the author of everything that is good but the psalmist wants us to know that this god who is wonderful is also merciful even being wonderful is the author of everything that is good then he been merciful make him the rescuer from everything that is bad every bad thing every bad thing and be honest christian some of the bad things of life are not all there were people doing us alone that is part of it are not all there what oppressors do to us are not out there what some would say hey politicians do to you are not out there where others what in terms of what other civil servant servants do to you or even the church does to you there are something some pain in our hearts caused by what we have done to ourselves and the injury that sometimes that we are carrying are not injuries that are caused from an external but sometimes it is the injury from our thoughts and our minds and therefore we need to be mindful of that and so i want to say to you as the psalmist was in exile qatar from god away from jerusalem which was meant to be the center of god's presence no he's in exile cut off from god but the psalmist wants us to to be reminded that this same god who may be seen by some person to be left in jerusalem this same god has insights into our hearts for some time the pain of our lives are not the pain that is external but the pain that is inside our hearts and sometimes the reason why we can't find the solution is that we are looking for the external to solve our solution when we know that the problem lies with us and we need to look to him but the psalmist says god has insights into our hearts he knows our words so when pastor don't know your expressions and pastor don't know your feelings the psalmist wants us to understand god knows our words he knows our thoughts he is he he is he is seeing our situation and he knows our feelings and that's what makes him aware of your condition so he's not this wonderful god who is up there and doing nothing he is emmanuel god with us so the pandemic is not just we are satan alone wrestling with it but jesus is rid of somebody praise god jesus is with us and that's what makes the devil sad you don't understand that the devil would wish that he has all his way to destroy us i wish that jesus was in in the mix he wished that god would give him permission that god gave job give him for job but he needs to remember that in that permission he got a restriction that there is to this and no more that he can do this and no far that he can go because god is with his people that god is not simply up in heaven but the christian church must recognize that god is in the hospital with the broken ones on their bedside god is in the homes where people are screaming for pain and he's helping and comforting and he's pulling them beyond the ordinary and beyond this reality and showing them something that is greater god is not a technician simply in heaven just pressing a button and just making things happening down here god comes and those who understand the literature god comes right down to the wiring god comes right down to the field into the not in into the cut and thrust of the society into the nitty-gritty of our lives god comes there he's not just interested in our big hallelujahs he's entrusted with our side you know weeping in our pain in our struggles he's not just up there enjoying all the hallelujahs and the praise of the lord and the thank you jesus he's in the trench he's in the road he's in our pain somebody praise his name that's the god i know that's a god i know the god i know if you picturing pictorially that backhaul fm jacket back of him thai and could dome into the pain of humanity to solve the issue hallelujah because he understands our condition he understands our depravity he knows our brokenness he knows our wounds but guess what this wonderful god being merciful is a wounded healer he's touched with our infirmities but he can do something about the infirmities there are a lot of persons who are touched with our pain and infirmities and can't do anything about it and sometimes you can make promises and can't back it up god says i'll never leave you nor forsake you and the greatest demonstration of the merciful god as the rescuer from every evil is when jesus christ came and died on calvary for us praise god and the greatest symbol of god's mercy is the cross of calvary which indicates god has come and cut across evil and put that put that stamp upon the situation and to liberate humankind and all the pain all the struggles church of god we are not just looking to bishops and reverence we are looking to the wonderful merciful god who is worthy to hand able to help somebody praise his name somebody praise his name we bless his name for he is merciful he's merciful he was betrayed he was crucified but he rose from the dead and rules triumphantly and says to us god comes in a mess and he will not leave until he helps us out of the mess and so in this pandemic the merciful god is here to help you and that is why you must not just lie down and just die silently you must open your mouth and restore your weapons on praise because he lives forever the merciful god is with us when we can't move what we can do he is the mover and shake our whole life somebody praise god when we can't know when we can't see he's with us in mercy helping us along the way i think what needs to happen is that mankind despite how big we are need to come to this point that there comes to a state in our lives where we can't help ourselves we only only help by god almighty the last point i wish to make the psalmist says yes this god is wonderful in charge of creation and that this god is a god who is concerned about him that he will come in his pain and a struggle and he holds on to that and he says as long as that is so i'm not going to close my mouth i'm going to praise god but he wants us to know something else about this god not that he is wonderful and that he's merciful but the psalmist says that this god is faithful he's faithful he's faithful that he restores but he not only restores but he stays he stays with the restored he is with us and he is faithful to the end there are a lot of persons who you know good and strong and do some things for you but after they have done those things for you they have nothing to deal with you and that's when i think that satan likes he wished that god yeah would have stayed in heaven and let alone send senior son here to die but after the sun dies that you know jesus went back he didn't know oh hallelujah he didn't know that there is going to come in the struggle after jesus would have rescued us he didn't know that there will be another helping agent within our lives and this time the psalmist can't talk about it at this point for at this point in history he doesn't know the fullness of it but we know that on the day of pentecost the holy spirit has come and from the us coming that way he will never leave again so jesus in person jesus in person went back but god still remains in the person of the holy spirit and the psalmist says the lord will provide in the sex here his loving kindness and hero the psalmist puts it now he will provide his love and kindness in the daytime and in the night time which suggests at all time there will be this living caring presence of the lord the psalmist says he walks with you personally and he shines his light on our path and helps us to bear the burden so i want you to recognize as i say it several time and time that the triune god is at work within our life if it is wonderful as a father if it is merciful as the son and faithful has a spirit it says that the whole god dead has come down to you who were nothing but god sees something in you if god invested and divested himself in our lives by giving himself to us he will not walk away when a pandemic comes for a pandemic is no comparison to the crisis of sin and since he has given you that assurance that there is this unshakable confidence then that the psalmist has that pushes him to say hope knowing god i will yet praise him and let me tell you then sometime i use the term praise him sometimes we don't link it up to those those are utterance how does hand raise and mouth open and speak and even much more sometimes we have the idea to think that praises are only at a time when everything is going good and going right and all things are in order but the psalmist says when life comes to his mess when life is confronted by all the evil all the unknown all the anxiety all the pain all the suffering the believer reflecting on the wonderful nature of god and the merciful nature of god and the faithful nature of god are called like the psalmist come let's go on come let's praise him come let's worship him for these two shall pass for jesus christ will never pass he's the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow who is today he is the amen from that perspective don't wait until your problem is over to remind yourself and to return to a posture of praise and honor that things bad getting bad getting worse but i shall yet praise him i'm not going under i am not going under the emotional is going under the physical is going on i'm gonna work on the spiritual so it can raise up the emotional and it can raise up the physical the psalmist says in this time restore your weapon of praise don't just murmur complain don't go say god over this say to yourself whatever it is lord we are in this thing together whatever it is lord it too shall pass i challenge you to hope in god this wonderful god this merciful god this faithful god who sits at the author of everything as the rescuer in everything and as a comforter for all things father son and spirit are with you in the pandemic in their fullness to help you fight to help you live with that in mind hope knowing god and praise his name god bless you if you're looking for more money to make you happier in the pandemic it will not be the answer if you're looking for greater opportunities in the pandemic to be comfortable it will not be the answer if you're looking at us breaking new grounds in the pandemic it is not the answer the answer is call to mind call to your heart and your spirit that you can never overcome this in its fullness unless the creator the rescuer and the comforter takes rule and so today if you have not opened up your heart to jesus make him lord of your life call him back to your being your plans and your activities to everything that you do get back god in your life move him from the circumference move him from the periphery and move him into the center of your life where his name gets the praise and gets the honor for his worthy to be praised stand with me those in the chapel and those online if you possibly can as we ask our brother paul accompanied by others to just sing this song that reminds us of what i'm talking about wonderful one wonderful merciful savior [Music] precious redeemer and friends who [Music] of men oh you rescued the souls of men [Music] counselor comforter keeper spirits we long to [Music] hopelessly lost our way oh we've hopelessly lost our way you are the one that we pray oh [Music] almighty infinite father faithfully loving your own hearing a weakness you'll find us falling before your throne oh we're falling before your throne [Music] you are the one that we pray you are the one our hearts always [Music] oh you are the one [Music] you are the one that we paid [Music] almighty infinite father wonderful gratefully loving [Music] falling before your throat [Music] oh [Music] [Music] falling oh [Applause] you are the one we adore you give the healing and grace oh are the one that we pray [Music] oh [Music] hallelujah [Music] just being a silence [Music] everything every voice every music everything against the background of god's word and the reflection that came through that song listen again believers listen again in the pandemic it is not only the pandemic is speaking god has spoken god is speaking god will speak pandemic will just speak for a while but god the eternal god speaks forever forever forever if you don't know him give him a chance in your life for the pain gets worse when the author the rescuer and the comforter are absent from your life re-engage him change your posture change your empowerment change your hopelessness and see in him the wonderful god the merciful god faithful god bless us god speak to our hearts and our minds for the christians strengthen their faith enrich their praise and teach them that their praise are not in the good things but their praise isn't a good one and while the good things may go the good one remains forever i pray that stimulus the motivation to restore our weapon of praise is not because everything is all right but it is because god is ever right and this is from that vantage point once the ever right is still available i shall yet praise him bless your people in our pain and in our struggles call them back to you a relationship to no one to serve you and when those who are getting panic and those who are speculating and those who are making worse of the situation calm your people down to trust you that the worst that can come out of this pandemic is death and you have that in your back pocket long time controlled and dealt with on calvary and in the empty tomb give us hope and mary as christians at this time don't join the world in believing that all is god but raise your banner raise our testimony raise your weakness raise our praise in the midst of the misery to sing a new song to god to support those who are weeping and are in pain like we ourselves may we know that we are wounded healers right in the hearts of those who have been listening even to this world today strengthen them and give them the spirit to fight and to lift you up and to glorify your name bless them bless their family bless their surrounding and guard and guide them from every danger but in the midst of the danger and in the midst of the peril let them sing to you the wonderful and the merciful savior in the name of jesus christ we pray amen amen you may be seated wherever you are we thank god for his word to us today if we can't be raised by his word nothing else will raise us god is the answer so i thank you for worshiping with us i invite the usher to now come as we give god portions of his blessings to us and give him thanks for that which he has provided for us prison worship team can we get a number of praise and glory to the almighty god will sing after i bless father thank you for the gifts you will be provided in fact have already provided and the channels and the vessels whom you have provided it through will give to you bless the channels bless their lives and their families and their work and the source of good from which god these gifts come from bless the gifts to the glory and to the ultimate intention of your purpose and all of us together bless us lord in jesus name we pray amen you may come with the offering as the usher's saying as they are in praise and worship saying dorothy may be hard [Music] [Applause] [Music] hold on a little longer take jesus [Music] alone [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] right [Applause] praise the lord praise god praise god praise god praise jesus thank you very much deacon pig as we do the clothes in prayer we want to be praying for our men even in this world of depression and so sometimes the men are targeted and sometimes it's more than just a physical thing but the devil knows that if he gets rid of a woman and all female as well any of them he knows that he may have an inroads into families we want to pray for her men and maybe in this same breath we want to announce continue the announcement last week where we had known some young people who were recognized for their hard work in the youth fellowship and their names were called two three names that we want to mention this morning brother lionel brother jonathan and brother kyle they too have been recognized and allowed them at their convenience to collect their certificates put the hands together for god's work in these lives let's pray father thank you for society and thank you for the family and thank you for men in this society and thank you for their place and their role in both society in the family in the church in the school in the marketplace everywhere god thank you for how you have built your family and the critical role of men in this society i pray lord that you will put a guard a watch over our men men in the church and men in different places within society i pray god that you will reveal yourself to them in a personal way they recognize that there are fights there are challenges there are circumstances that are beyond them but with you all things are possible reveal your kind heart to them reveal your steadfastness to them but most of all lord through the spirit of the living god your spirit reveal jesus christ to them so that they'll recognize that they can draw from you and find the answer bless them watch over them oh god anything against them any source and force of evil and darkness we want to remind them that the way you have pulled the world you have put it as male and female and no demons no strategy no plan of the enemy can bring to not any of the gender for this is your plan we know that so god we are not trembling what what people will do to any of the gender you preserve this generation and this world bless us as we separate one from another bless those who are in church in the physical building here today as they have given their service to you renew their strength and mind and guide them throughout the week and beyond those who are online thank you for their presence and their diligence and commitment to support the ministry and also to give you honor and praise bless them throughout the week and their families and those with whom they interact walk with us lord talk with us live in us reign in us you wonderful you merciful you faithful god the author the rescuer and the comforter in jesus name in the name of the father son and spirit we all say amen thank you for worshiping with us today may you continue to give him praise and give him honor we take the notices and then we will close out and here are this week's updates for the revised national covet containment measures worship services will be allowed with a maximum of 20 persons including clergy and support personnel for movement on september 12 an authorization letter will be required also worship service will begin at 10 am local time so we look forward to having you worship with us via facebook or youtube and remember to know when we go live like subscribe to and share a youtube channel and click the bell to turn on your notification our sunday school department has classes for all ages from our kinder group at age 4 to our adults the sunday school looks forward to sharing with you each week right after worship service so join us via zoom at 1pm meet us at the zoom table this tuesday september 14th at 6 30 pm for bible study come and explore the scriptures with us and participate in our appointed discussions you do not want to miss it so remember to share the zoom link with your friends and family and see you at bible study every wednesday and friday right where you are remember to join us for foreign fasting email us your prayer request at former church of god at gmail.com or send it via text or whatsapp to to 876-385-2649 or call us at sister peter 876-988-1857 donaldson sister olivia skeen brother akeem anderson sister susan gordon brother conroy ferran minister aranda williams and reverend freeman white let us remember too our family and friends who are sick at home or in the hospital those who have lost loved ones those in the education sector or health care and frontline workers praying also for the curbing crime and violence and lawlessness in our country our caribbean neighbors our government and the church leaders for this week's health tip the covet crisis in our country is frightening so let us be diligent in observing all the measures and protocols and remind our friends and family to do the same as we cannot afford to let our guards down preserving health and life is paramount we are continuously grateful for your kind contributions of love gifts tithes and offerings these have truly been a blessing to us and continue to enhance the support to and assist our needed care and outreach ministries indeed each one reaches one and we could not have done it without you remember you can now do online giving via direct deposit to a former church of god portmore vienna's current account number three zero zero three one eight or or half a tree b s current account number one zero zero two one seven seven one nine or or half a tree b s u s savings account number seven one three two seven two one seven five and now for our upcoming local and national activities save the date friday september 17 through to sunday september 19 2021 for the church of god in jamaica region 5 convention under the theme reconnecting recalibrating refocusing no spiritual distances come connect and worship with us on friday at 7 00 pm for our youth session with guest presenter dr donovan thomas on saturday at 10 a.m it will be your business meeting and election of offices for delegates pastors and deacons and on sunday september 19th worship service will begin at 9 00 a.m with our speaker first vice chair reverend sheldon anderson also on september 19 at 12 30 get the children ages 3 through to 12 years ready for children's sunday school it promises to be a great weekend and you do not want to miss it sunday september 19 at 6 30 pm the former church of god christian education department presents a family focused info session positive and negative use of smart devices and the internet come hear testimonials and be informed make it a date on september 26 at 6 30 pm for our evening hymns of praise it will be an evening of music dedicated to the singing of our beloved hymns learning about their histories and sharing what these hymns mean to us so be a part of the preparation for this event and submit to us on sunday september 12th and all the recording no more than 30 seconds with your photo via email at formerchurchofgod gmail.com telling us the name of your favorite hymn and the reason or reasons it is your favorite him it will be a big event so come join us on this virtual hymn sing-along and finally to our family and friends celebrating birthday and our anniversary this week we say happy happy birthday and anniversary remember you are special and love so have a wonderful wonderful day when it comes [Music] to the worship team and the ict team who are largely responsible for the communication via the social media via the internet thank you very much for worshiping with us today remember those notices and continue to serve and to give god praise take care see you next week at the same time but different place all right same time but different place in fact it's the same place in terms of online but you'll have a different link that will be shared with you all right so look out for it if you haven't seen it yet we will share that with you god bless you keep strong all the time amen hello brothers and sisters friends visitors of the former church of god family we truly thank you for taking the time making yourself available to worship with us each and every week we look forward to your presence so please remember to like subscribe to and share our youtube channel do have a wonderful god reach me god [Music] you

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Length: 151min 56sec (9116 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021