RICK PARKER-IN THE MIDST

i would like to say thank you it so insufficient but it's all the words i got i i don't know what else i could say but thank you appreciate your prayers and your kindness and your willingness to go to the throne of grace on my behalf and uh god did what nobody else could do [Applause] and uh i appreciate all of your prayers you'll never know this side of glory what they mean and so thank you from the bottom of my heart i know there's people sitting here under the sound of my voice that fasted and prayed and begged god to have mercy on and thank you and i wish i had i wish i had the vocabulary to express my gratitude but thank you and uh we sure do love this church and love you dear folks love your pastor and his wife we were and he's not joking when he said we were well nine to death i text brother cody and brother jason and made preparations for my funeral told them i want you fellas to preach and my associate pastor will moderate the service that folks in my church will do the singing but i want you guys i was already making plans for my funeral they told me that my odds were very very slim and i laid in the bed they wouldn't let my wife in wouldn't let anybody else in but apparently the holy ghost didn't get the memo [Applause] because about two o'clock in the morning the sweet holy ghost showed up in my room he wasn't worried about getting covered and he wasn't worried about nothing else when nobody else could get to me sweet spirit of god came to where i was and i laid there and as i was laying there squalling and just praying i said lord i don't have an opinion lord i don't know what's best lord perhaps it's best that you take me and if so i'm good with that i said perhaps it's best that you leave me and i'm good with that i said lord i'm not going to ask you to leave me or carry me home i'm not going to ask you because i don't know what's best lord i'll miss my wife i miss my church but i trust you because you know what's best so lord i'm not going to ask you anything i'm just going to say lord i trust you you do what you want to do and i know it'll be right and that night on the verge of death that night i started getting better and by the next morning the nurses the doctors and everybody was shocked they said my god you were dying last night and today you've improved and over the next four or five days i just kept getting better and better and better god brought us out you can trust him [Applause] what brother jason said was exactly right by the way doc tremendous thank you you can trust him you say but it's falling apart well maybe that's what it needs to do you think about this what if the prodigal had iran to the far country and put some money in that boy's hand and brought him some mcdonald's cheeseburgers and loved on him and he'd have never got right he never would have got right sometimes it needs to fall apart let me give you a quick thought quickly let me give you what what the lord's given me matthew chapter number 18. and we'll be brief i know what time it is we'll we'll be brief i just want to give you this thought and try to encourage you tonight our god is worthy to be praised our god is worthy of ever amen every glory to god every hallelujah ever uplifted hand he is worthy of all the worship and adoration we can bestow upon him i want to say thank god for the lutrik family boy what a blessing i sitting back here this is helping me my soul thank you brother cody again for having us one of our dearest friends on the planet we love him dearly and thank god for him and his wife and children they certainly have been a blessing in my life good to have our pastor and hear him preach today brother jason tremendous tremendous preacher and an even better friend can i say that and a phenomenal pastor i certainly appreciate my pastor and miss tracy uh it's always a blessing to see them matthew chapter number 18 quickly and we'll give you what the lord's given us i'm going to read one verse for time's sake and give you this simple thought here's what the bible says matthew chapter number 18 verse number 20 matthew 18 verse 20. for where two or three are gathered together in my name there am i in the midst of them let us pray father we're grateful for what our hearts have felt lord what you've uh how you've encouraged us and helped us thank you for the holy ghost and father we know we're nothing we're nobody we're in desperate need of your touch you're anointing your power lord i pray and grant it i pray you'd send it pray and help your unprofitable servant lord for the next few moments may you encourage us help us may you get real big as we get real little and god will thank you and praise you whatever you do in jesus name amen tonight uh here we find one of the greatest verses in the word of god and if we'd properly interpret this verse it would change our churches now because many times we've just read over it it's hindered and hurt our churches this verse tonight believe it or not defines worship you say worship how do you get worship out of that verse well you say he's just talking about two or three believers getting together in fellowship and it may seem that way at first glance but if you look a little deeper you'll see there's so much more here than meets the eye to the casual observer i want to give you two or three things but way of introduction i'm going to show you something and i'm gonna sit down all right number one you'll find this verse contains a promise jesus makes us a promise he said if just two or three people would get together and begin to talk about the things of god he promises us he would be in the midst of those people do you realize what that means tonight as believers we can have fellowship not only one with another but with the very god of heaven the the words of the lord jesus christ are a promise to us and fellowship with us he promises us if we get together talk about the things of god and where two or three are gathered together he promises he would be in the midst of us that means there's no excuse for a dead meeting there's no excuse for a dead church if we have a promise from almighty god there's no reason for the church to be dried up and or dead as four o'clock and it'd be cold and indifferent there's no purpose for that because brethren we have met together to worship him and he promises us we would be in the midst of us so you'll find there's a promise but secondly you'll find there's a prerequisite he said where two or three are gathered together in my name he didn't promise this promise doesn't affect any church that's not gathered in his name it doesn't say if they're talking about sports cars or computers doesn't say if they're talking about hunting or the race but he said if they'd gather together even just two or three believers would gather together in his name he would promise this promise would be enacted and this this is what concerns me about that we live in how come we're not seeing more of god showing up in our midst i think it's because we've not met the prerequisite of being gathered together in his name but you'll find also that god provides proof for this verse in luke 24 jesus has been crucified and there's two believers and they are on the road to emmaus and the bible says this in luke 24 14 and they talk together of all these things which had happened these these believers have gathered together they're talking about the crucifixion talking about the lord jesus christ talk about what's happened just i mean literally over the last day or two and they are discussing uh the things of god do you know who shows up in the midst of those believers as they're walking on the emmaus road the lord jesus himself and he sets down between those believers and begins to fellowship with those believers proving the text verse i just read to you that anywhere two or three believers gather together in his name and we're talking about the things of god and discussing the things of god he proves this verse by showing up in the midst of those believers on the road to emmaus but then you'll find the position and this is where i want to get when we read this verse this is the mental picture that most people have brother cody if you would come here a minute brother hunter if you would come here just a minute in our minds when we read this verse we just picture two fellas standing here talking like this and we just assume you know they're talking about you know they're gathered together in his name but that's really not the the picture god wants you to get this is the picture that god wants you to get where they're gathered together in his name he said this he would be in the midst amen now why do you think god sent soul winners out two by two as they begin to talk about the things of god and begin to talk to the center guess who shows up right in the midst of that amen the spirit of god shows up begins to deal with that sinner convicts that sinner because they are discussing the things of god with the sinner and so when while they're discussing the things of god with the sinner guess who shows up and gets all over that center and says they're right you need a savior the spirit of god god himself shows up and so god proves this verse over and over and over and over now if you'll study the old testament you'll find the ark of the covenant was where the power of god met that's what brother jason just told and you can prove it that's where god would come down in the midst of that art and he would meet with his people and the presence of god would show up between the cherubims is what the bible says because if you if you don't mind get on your knees right there they're going to represent the two terribles now the bible says stick your hand straight out this is this is the look that they had just like that and those two cherubims set on top of that ark their wings would come down like this and their heads were bowed and the wings would come down and that means it blocked out everything that they heard that means their vision was focused on right here and that means their sole concern was what was happening right here now when you come to church if you'll block out everything that you heard all that's going on around you you'll begin to focus on what's going on in the midst guess who's have to show up step right in the midst of that and now you could have church because there is power and the presence of almighty god resting in the midst between the two thank you fellas you can put your hands down thank you stand up so there's god picture thank you fellas god gave us pictures of that thing throughout the bible now let me say this people don't understand why the church is set up the way it's set up we got a choir loft then we got a pulpit then we got an altar then we got the pews now if if we interpret this verse right where two or three are gathered together in my name there am i in the midst of them this is what you may be missing out on sunday morning the choir gets up and begins to sing great is thy faithfulness they're doing their part they're singing the praises of god they're talking about how faithful he is how good he is how we're on the winning side but where we fail is down here because we don't do our part they're doing their part they're singing the praises of god but we won't worship and holler a man and say glory to god and we won't respond properly but if we would respond properly in worship raising our hands saying amen glory to god hallelujah thank you jesus and we'll do our part now the choir's doing their part if we'll do our part guess who's going to show up in the midst but congregations are dead as four o'clock in the average church choirs were saying their guts out preacher's preaching his guts out because congregations don't respond properly god is under no obligation to fulfill his promise but if you'll do your part the choir's doing their part guess who's going to show up in the midst do you know what's in between do you know what's in the mix between the choir loft and the pew so now they're doing their part you're doing your part god promised you'd show up in the midst and get on the pulpit now your preacher can get up under the unction and the anointing of the holy ghost and begin to preach now if you will respond to preaching properly remember you still got to do your part now if you fail to do your part during preaching god's under no obligation to fulfill his promise but if you and i will get behind the preacher and you can say amen preacher that's right glory to god preacher your right hallelujah preacher that's right thank you lord i appreciate that and you'll do your part and worship during the preaching god promised he would be in the midst of that do you know what the midst of that is [Applause] do you know why folks ain't getting delivered do you know why folks are leaving the altar the same way they came in because we have not met the obligation of the verse in matthew 18 20 and there's no power on the altar hey when they get on the order i want to get them changed get them see them delivered see their lives turned upside down see them saved by grace see homes put back together and see god do something right here in the altar but in the midst of what's going on now hear me tonight the reason we're not seeing it as a whole as the church as a whole is because we've failed to meet the obligation brother cody said it right there ain't nothing dignified about you sitting there let me help you raise both hands please just stay with me now go like this now everybody seen you had a spell so see you ain't got nothing to be embarrassed about everybody just watched you have a spell church was never meant to be a spectator sport [Applause] church requires your involvement [Applause] hear me and then people walk out and go well i just didn't get much out of the service today well let me ask you something what'd you put in [Applause] you won't holler a man you won't raise your hand you won't get involved you won't help them saying you won't help your preacher preach and then you leave and say well god didn't meet with us today he's under no obligation [Applause] see there's two parts to that thing there's this part and then there's this part i promise you i've heard this choir saying this choir gonna do their part if there's a failure it ain't on this end it's on that end so we gotta we gotta acquire we got the choir singing we got to do our part god promised he'd be in the midst he'll rest on the pulpit and i promise you your pastor going to get up and preach i promise you he gonna open that book and go to work and rear back and preach a bible to me and you and he's gonna do his part but where we failed is on this end we've not done our part now if the choir's doing their part and the pulpit's doing their part then god said i'll meet with you in the midst right here on this altar so my question is this are you doing your part now if you'll get this it'll help you and change the way you come to church again it ain't a spectator sport man god listen i'm not being critical please thank me not critical but i don't believe in worship teams i don't believe in them i don't believe we ought to set aside 8 or 10 folk to do all our worshiping you want to see our worship team there it is god desires for you and i to worship him he is worthy to be praised bless his name i say glory to the lamb of god forever he's worthy get involved it'll help you god bless you worship him hallelujah glory listen listen you know what the bible says in john chapter number four listen you know what the bible says they that worship must worship in spirit and in truth we've got truth and we've got the spirit yet we won't worship you know what the next verse says for the father seeketh such to worship him god is looking for people to worship him god don't need nobody god ain't looking for nobody the only time you'll find god looking for somebody is when it comes to worship so i dare say that's a big deal to the lord if god from looking down from heaven is looking down and saying i wonder if i can find somebody that'll worship me may he look no further than bible missionary baptist church to find a crowd that loves him that is grateful to him that is thankful to him for all that he does hear me and do you good throw your hands in here holler amen say thank you jesus i'm not going to hell i'm saved i'm saved my sins are gone washed away i have a home in heaven peace in my heart a king james bible god's been good to me [Applause] now if you'll get this it'll help you you say you're charismatic no i'm automatic means every time i come to church i plan on worshiping him the old song says brethren we have met to worship if gods are looking for somebody to do anything you may look no further than right here if i knew god was looking for somebody do something that's right here am i lord let me help you whatever you need as good as you've been to me all you want me to do is holler amen i'll be glad to all you want me to do is say amen i'll be glad to all you want me to do is testify the goodness of god i'll be glad to all you want me to do when the choir gets singing stand up raise both hands holler amen i'll be glad to listen to me tonight god's looking for somebody who is willing to worship him and he promised if we'd worship him he would be in the midst of that the average church to quiet you could hear in that burp i can't handle it i can't handle it god's people ought to be the most excited happy people on this planet listen to me i've walked in some as like a funeral it home me the hebes and the jeebies you mark that down i don't like that nonsense give me a church that is excited about what gods are doing and how god's a blessing and how gods took care of them tonight he made us a promise he said where two or three are together gather together in my name there there i'll be in the midst the problem is we're not fulfilling our obligations so he shows up in the midst tonight may god forgive us and cleanse us may we repent of our unwillingness to worship him listen to me you might as well lose your dignity in your car in a parking lot they know you're here you might as well get in can i say this worship is contagious somebody hollering somebody hollers hey man you know what i think well god ain't been no better than him he has to me then go out worship me can i be honest old folk i'm gonna let these young people out worship me god ain't been nowhere nowhere near as good to them as he has been to me i ain't gonna let some young person out worship me i got 30 40 years on this crowd of god's blessings that's stacked up hear me we ought to worship him for his goodness his grace his mercy his kindness his love is compassion he is worthy of all our worship all our adoration choke your pride raise your hands holler amen and say thank you jesus for all that you've done for me it'll help you it'll help you tonight i'm done i'm done let me ask you something are you will you raise your hand has god been good enough to you has god has god not blessed us enough oh has god not displayed grace and mercy and compassion in our lives has he not seen us through all the hard times hear me not two months ago i was laid up they said i was going to die and now here i stand i'm preaching like i always have a rare pack worshiping the good god of heaven god's been good to me bless me help me loved me [Applause] unmerited undeserved unworthy and unearned but god keeps pouring his blessings out on me he's worthy to be worshipped tonight preacher i'm done amen our father may you forgive us tonight for our coldness and our indifference our unthankfulness lord our ingratitude lord you've been wonderful lord far far better than we deserve lord i'm thankful not only did you save me lord you've taken care of me in this life there's a roof over my head shoes on my feet clothes on my back a good sweet wife sitting back yonder a good church in south carolina loves me and prays for me lord you've cleansed me forgiven me had grace and mercy on me been patient and long suffering with me lord you've given us friends that are more like family lord i'm grateful tonight for all your blessings father may we worship you in spirit and truth we know you're looking for such to worship you may you look no further than this dear church may we always be willing to raise a hand to say amen to give you the honor and glory your soul richly deserve thank you for the sweet holy ghost thank you for your kindness and willingness to meet with us may you bless this dear place this bless this dear pastor bless his wife his children his family bless these dear people god may help us to worship you lord i don't want to wait to heaven till i start worshiping but lord tonight i want to worship you and get practiced up before i ever get there thank you for your blessings may you help your people to worship you in jesus name amen

Channel: Bible Missionary Baptist Church

Views: 347

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: CODY ZORN

Id: CxQL27oHCR0

Length: 29min 1sec (1741 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021