Sept 25, 2021 - “Standing on Integrity”

right yes me [Music] hey [Music] my name is hannah bungu i teach world history for sophomores in junior senior english at palau mission academy it's a really awesome opportunity every single day i get to come into school and view these kids where i get to interact with them and show them more about god that's my biggest goal here every worship every chapel every single thing i just bring it back to god so being a missionary it might seem scary before you do it but honestly it's so awesome just being on the front line for god every single day so most of us here in palau are teachers and the average day today is you wake up and you try to eat breakfast and then you go to staff worship which is really really important because if we don't center ourselves every single day in god then we cannot help our kids properly then after staff worship the day starts you go to your classes you meet with your kids every single class starts with worship so we do a worship thought and then get into the material there are days where it's harder than others mondays tend to be pretty hard because kids are tired but as the week progresses things get a little bit easier and then they get hard again but day to day is you come in you teach them and then you interact with them in the hallways and you talk with them and you hug them and you high-five them and you you know check up on them and they make you laugh and you make them laugh and then the day ends and you grade and you grade pretty much the whole evening you spend time with your housemates and with the other missionaries and they understand what you're going through so it's really cool because you get to share that experience with them and then it starts all over again may not sound fulfilling but it is the most fulfilling thing i've done in my life before coming to palau i did not get trained as a teacher i was not an education major i had no idea what i was doing coming out here but you don't have to be an education major or a trained teacher yes it does help but god will equip you when you answer his call he will equip you i was able to fulfill a whole year last year teaching fourth grade and we're now in april of this year as i'm in high school i don't always know how things are going to come together but god blesses and so if you're scared about doing the work that god calls for you you're not doing it on your own because he's going to help you he's going to be with you and so that should not be a worry just trust him and he's got you [Music] you should definitely be a missionary there are so many places that need your help guama canyon mission is one of those places i'm here in palau my favorite island with my favorite people but wherever it is that god sends you be a missionary every year adventist schools like palau mission academy rely heavily on volunteers like hannah to teach the next generation of leaders many of the volunteers come from far away and having a comfortable living space makes a big difference currently volunteers live 20 minutes away they travel by bus each morning to school new on-campus housing facilities would increase the staff's productivity and more importantly their interaction time with the students this quarter a portion of your 13 sabbath offering will help build staff housing at palau mission academy please support adventist education on this pacific island by giving this quarter thank you for your generous contributions to mission well hey guys bill santos lessons for living television i hope you're all doing well thank you for these precious moments in your sabbath service to allow me just to let you know that all of the preparations are going according to plan we are getting ready to launch the advertising campaign you know to get the word out into the community that these meetings are coming up you will see within the next little while bus kings you know circling it around circulating in edmonton announcing the meetings and the plan is to have also some ads on television running announcing the meetings now all of that is wonderful and the team of pastors that's leading out is extremely committed to doing everything they possibly can to use conventional you know media you know television uh bus kings you know and social media to promote these meetings but i have to tell you you know i keep harping on this nothing replaces your role in inviting your friends and family co-workers and neighbors to come out to the meeting that is still the most effective way of getting folks into that venue to watch and to attend those meetings and so let me encourage you again uh you know to do that um ideally ideally you will invite the folks to come to your church because here's what we found is that if folks have had a chance to come to the church meet some of the folks there's a greater likelihood that when you invite them to the meetings that they will that they'll say yes and that they'll come it's very difficult for them to accept the invitation when the first time you've ever invited them to anything is to come to the meeting so you know look at inviting them previously so that when you invite them to the meetings they've already experienced this ideally they've come to your church they've met some of the folks they say oh these are nice people and all of those factors increase the likelihood of them saying yes you can also let them know that they can connect with me via social media on my facebook page our youtube channel our soundcloud page on instagram every morning on instagram 6 30 a.m eastern time i put out a one minute devotional video all of those are ways to get them connecting to me the speaker and again increasing the likelihood that they will accept your invitation to come out october the 29th um i also want to remind you that every sunday morning at 10 a.m on ctv our program goes out over the air lessons for living television and so hey invite them to watch the program also now you know i have some anxiety i'm a little anxious the situation there in alberta has changed with respect to covet it's changing a lot of places so we're not exactly sure how it's all going to play out between now and october the 29th but one thing we're certain of is that the lord is in control we have placed these meetings right in his hands and asked him to guide us in the preparation steps and so preparation is going on full steam ahead and we are just hoping and praying that if it is the lord's will the meetings will come will come out and things will happen you know in a much more traditional way but we do have some contingencies should the covid situation become such that we are not able to attend in person but let's not get ahead of ourselves let's just continue with our planning and working towards getting as many people to attend those meetings as possible so hey continue to pray for the pastors continue to pray for me and my family as i prepare my messages and prepare and pray for those that you're going to be inviting that the holy spirit will go out in advance and will soften their hearts to be receptive to your invitation okay listen uh this is exciting time to be a seventh-day adventist it's exciting time to be involved in the work of winning souls for the kingdom you know the lord has told us the harvest is plentiful it's the workers that are few so let's all link arms under the guides of the holy spirit and let's get this work done god bless you i'm not going to take any more of your time have a great sabbath we'll be back in touch again real soon [Music] good morning good morning and happy i sabbath like to welcome you all to today's service and those who are viewing us via our youtube channel we are glad you've joined us before the worship for today i have some few announcements that i would like to highlight impact 2021 they are looking for volunteers please if you are able to volunteers they are looking for ushers greeters and securities we got a form that need to be submitted via google please click on the link below on the bulletin and there is also an email that need to be sent so that they can know that you will be able to volunteer we have a membership transfers this is the first reading there's a chad stanky zaid stinky isabel steinke and solomon stanky uh these are membership uh transfer from edmonton uh to pioneer memorial sd church again this is a first reading please read through the impact 2021 there might be some of the changes due to covered restriction that's in place at the moment please use the uh get use of our website as more information about some of the changes that may have taken place and please look into the bulletin that you have is also a prayer for impact and yeah that will be so useful and also get used for the our website we are glad today to have uh pastor oliver johnston who will be uh sharing the word of god the call of worship for today comes from the book of psalms 34 verse 19 to 20. it says the righteous person may have many troubles but the lord delivers him from them all he protects all his bonds not one of them will be broken let's go ahead and pray heavenly father we invite you we invite you this morning that to be with us we pray that your presence lord surround us we pray that uh your will be done as we recognize who you are in our lives we pray father that you continue sustaining us especially in this moment that we are that it's not easy but we believe that lord your hands will be upon us thank you and continue being with us for this service i pray in believing in jesus name amen good morning and happy sabbath church family um it's been i think a very full month of september so far so many different things have been happening um you know whether that be with school or covid restrictions and i haven't been here uh you know with my praise team since i guess before summer so it's so nice to be back in church and i know i'm um really thankful for all of you who have come in person and and glad to be worshipping with everyone online as well yes so we are just very excited to be here worshiping with you all i think the past week has been a very busy one and and i think it's nice to be able to come back to church and and just feel that calm and and also just be able to see everyone so please uh sing with us our first song open the eyes of my heart open the eyes of my heart [Music] open the eyes of my heart i want to see you i want to see you open the eyes of my heart lord open the eyes of my heart i want to see you i want to see you to shining in the light of your glory pour out your power in love as we sing holy [Music] i want to see you i want to see you open the eyes of my heart lord open the eyes of my heart i want to see you i want to see you to see shining in the light of your glory pour out your power in love as we sing holy holy holy [Applause] shining in the light of your glory pour out your power in love as we sing holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy i want to see you at this time we'll be collecting the offering and you can do so online as well and peace like [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] of this glorious [Music] is [Music] praise the lord it is [Music] when is face shall be sad the clouds [Music] [Applause] [Music] my soul and it is [Music] so [Music] leading into our prayer song we will be singing cornerstone and i guess over the past 18 months dealing with so many different things i really think god has been our cornerstone through it all we can go through very difficult times and very stressful moments and i think just remembering to come back and be reflective with yourself and with god and sharing whatever it is that you're feeling personally for me has really helped um and so i just encourage you throughout the next couple weeks if you know you're feeling stressed or anxious about anything just set a time and really stick to it i find that sometimes we can get so busy and overwhelmed with so many things and you know i i think just having a moment of thought can really change the attitude of or outcome of your day and really help you to to be like okay i got this because god's on my side so please join us as we sing our prayer song cornerstone my hope is built on nothing less than jesus wanted righteousness i dare not trust [Music] my hope is in jesus blood and righteousness i dare not trust the sweetest brain but holy trust in jesus [Music] through the [Music] when darkness seems i rest on his unchanging grace [Music] christ alone [Music] he is lord oh [Music] trust in his righteousness [Music] lord [Music] kindly in heaven father we come before you lord we pour our hearts to you lord because we know you are able to father we pray that you strengthened our faith and we thank you lord for bringing jesus to save us lord god we pray for those who have been impacted by prophet 19 love the challenges that they are facing father we pray that you help them throughout father you pray member of this church that lord you continue being with them you continue lord with your love and your kindness lord being with us all father god i pray that lord before pastor oliver johnson become comes and share with us your word pray that you give him strength and lord that you be with us all in this sabbath day i pray that your love and your kindness will keep being with us until we reach your kingdom i pray lord in believing in jesus name amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello boys and girls my name is auntie alvear and i'm from the duke seventh day adventist church but i'm so happy this morning to be here to tell you the story at south church no in my story we have two men they were farmers they were neighbors and at least at the very beginning they were very very good friends they would even work together and use each other's machinery for harvesting and for planting they were just so so close i not certain what happened and i don't even know if the men themselves knew what happened but all of a sudden they were not good friends anymore well one of them mr tom said that his cow had a calf on mr team's land and mr tim took the car well mr tim said it was his cold that had the calf so the calf was his and from then on everything that mr tom did mr team had a problem with it everything mr tim did mr tom had a problem with it and it got so so bad that one day mr tim got his back home and he dug a big ditch from the pond at the top of their properties right along the line that divided their properties so that instead of a line that nobody exactly knew where it was there was now a ditch when mr tom looked out and saw that ditch he was so so upset look at what mr tim did he dug and ditched between us he was a man just then he heard his phone ring when he answered it was his neighbor mr john he said my my good friend mr jim is visiting for a while he's a carpenter do you have anything that needs fixing or building mr tom said of course i do send him on up when mr jim came up mr tom said to him now mr tim jay this is what i need for you to do i want you to build a high fence all the way along that that ditch from the top right down to the bottom i don't even want to be able to see over by mr tom's yard she said okay that's gonna take some time and a lot of lumber to do that he said i have it it's all in the barn just get building just get building so mr jim the carpenter took out his tools i guess he would have taken out his level to make sure that all the boards were put straight he would have taken out his tape to measure everything to make sure that it was the right height that it was the right width he would have taken out his hammer and he would have taken out his drill and then he and mr tom they got the lumber together mr tom said you know what i need to go away for a couple days but when i get back make sure that that fence is there mr jim said don't worry when you get back you'll be completely satisfied with my job so as mr tom left he heard the sound of the drill he heard the sound of the hammer and he left thinking yes when i come back that fence will be there and i will not even have to see over there mr tim's house after he returned from his trip as he neared his house he was looking looking looking the ditch was still there but he did not see the fence and he was getting more upset as he got closer to his house where was that fence then when he got really close to his house he saw that mr jim had built not a fence but a bridge and as he looked over the bridge he saw his neighbor mr tim walking across that bridge and as mr tom drew nearer to the bridge and he could see mr tim's face more clearly mr tim actually had tears in his eyes and mr tom stepped on that bridge and met mr tim on that bridge and mr tim said to him i can't believe you did this i dug a ditch and you built a bridge to bring us back together and after they finished embracing they turned her out to mr jim and said mr jim can you stay here for a little while longer i'm certain we'll find more projects for you to do around here we're just so grateful for what you have done to bring us together but mr james said i'm sorry i can't stay my job here is done and there are plenty of bridges that i need to build no boys and girls mr jim was a bridge builder and each of us is called to be a bridge builder as well i'm certain that many times as you interact with persons whether they're your brothers and sisters at home or your friends at school sometimes things might happen disagreements can happen that threaten to pull us apart but the bible tells us behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity so we're being called to be bridge builders and just like how mr jim i guess would have had on his overall and his vest we are called to put on something as well and i want for you to look very carefully as i put on my best to be a bridge builder and the things i am putting on to be a bridge builder are love forgiveness compassion and we could also add some other things like patience as well and most importantly i'm gonna be putting on my bridge building helmet which is the mind of christ because it's only as christ's mind is in us that we will be able to build bridges and as we build our bridges it's not going to call for tools like hammers and nails and drills the things we will need to build our bridges are quite different and things that we have with us every day or smiles or kind words our hugs well now it's covered so you have to be careful with the hugs but with your brothers and sisters yes our homes and as you move through your life day after day remember build bridges not fences so [Music] good morning church happy sabbath always good to see people on the sabbath day isn't it especially to be in the house of the lord well first of all i would like to thank edmonton south for inviting me to be here and it's a pleasure to be here and seeing new faces and familiar faces good to see anyway on behalf of the ed the alberta conference the department of prison ministries they send their greetings but i just wanted to add unfortunately i'm here by myself today my wife isn't here because apparently her sister died right in the beginning hours of sabbath so of course she's there but you're in our hearts these are definite times i appreciate what uh well sister lucille and her team had to say with regard in the the times that we're living in the time for needing each other especially for prayer and i'm hoping that today's sermon will prepare us to some of the things that um pastor bill santos has said as we prepare for this new evangelistic series despite the the things that are taking place outside of in fact around the world with this kovid pandemic there are a lot of people who are suffering a lot of people who are depressed a lot of people who are in need of hope and i guess he's asking for volunteers to go out and help become bridge builders so we can bring others into the kingdom of heaven amen amen anyway let us begin let us begin with everything that is going on do you believe that we're being tested that's the first question do you think we're being tested but the question i want to pose to to you is that have you ever been tested individually have you been tested i mean really and really really and truly test it there's no one else just you and the dilemma that you find yourself in do you turn a blind eye do you turn your back and run away what do we do do you pray that it's only a dream only to find out it's as real as real can truly be the dilemma is there then what do we do let's break it down you're in a you're in a bind you're being tested the adrenaline starts pumping around your body your heart is pounding and it's a flight fight or flight mode do you make your stand that's when the rubber meets the road or do you cave in and run i'm sure that all of us have situations like this and they'll be too numerous to count but the question is if we cannot make that decision today decisions that must be made then decisions will be made for you not necessarily what you want but as we prepare to go on allow me to pray for the lord's guidance almighty and everlasting god we thank you once again for your glorious sabbath and lord as i prepare to speak to your people i ask that a call from your altar will not only touch my lips but will touch every heart that is here so that you can advise them lord what we need to be doing in a time such as this in jesus name amen okay i do have my notes i was up most of the night but bear with me please the topic for today is standing on integrity integrity now for most of us that may be older integrity seems to be something that's hugely lacking in society today in fact there used to be a time when we could look at someone and give us give them their word we would even shake their hands and that was it there was no contracts it was there it was an agreement it was a vow it was a promise every word and everything that was said was good enough can you remember that a lot of young people here so i guess we can't would you believe that the word integrity is mentioned 16 times in the bible only 16 times and would you believe they're all in the old testament in fact in proverbs it's mentioned three times psalms it's mentioned six times in job four times and then in genesis two times and in kings it's one time we go back to the to the let's say we spoke to job when job was tested that was a major test would you agree it was between god and the ruler of this world but thank god for goodness for jesus jesus came and broke that bond but anyway job was being tested he had never done anything wrong and as we read the bible we find that he was a man that loved god he would pray for his children he would pray every day he would give sacrifices to the lord and the lord had blessed him in fact he was one of the richest people at that time and yet when the test truly began satan came before the lord and he said gloatingly before he could even open a word god says to him so where where'd you hell from from going to and through the earth because he was able to snatch it away from adam and eve was he not and god said have you seen my servant job how he fears god how he loves me and how he does things oh yes but allow me to put my hand on him and trust me he will not stand and yet when the test came he was losing everything he lost he was losing his wealth he was losing he lost his family or every one of his children he lost and then it was a matter of he was now full of boils and sores and outside of the city and his wife although she loved him stayed by his side but he came to the point that despite what he was going through he continued to pray he continued to honor and serve his lord and i suppose the wife was hurting for him and the words that she made was do you still retain your integrity why not curse god and die can you imagine anything that could come between you and god and his simple response was you know god is everything but the main thing we came with nothing and we will leave with nothing except the love that god has placed in our hearts and as we share it with one another but let's go on so this integrity that i speak about what is it well integrity when i when i looked at looked at the dictionary it was moral soundness the next word they used was probity and i said probity what's property that's scrupulous honesty scrupulous honesty it's host wholeness completeness uprightness rectitude honorableness upstandingness mindedness good character to perform the work in its integrity the quality or state of being unimpaired can we stand up to that today with everything going around integrity is in synonymous with honesty truth truthfulness honor reliability uprightness ferocity genuineness sincerity and authenticity my brothers and sisters we're the children of the most high god he's called us out of darkness into his marvelous light that's why we acknowledge who he is that's why we're here today serving him as our creator god amen david obviously knew what it was oh yes he mentions it six times in the psalms in fact in psalms chapter 7 verse 8 he says the lord shall judge the people judge me o lord according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me again in psalms chapter 25 and verse 21 he says let your integrity and uprightness preserve me for i wait on who on god in psalms 26 and verse 1 it says judge me o lord for i have walked in mine integrity i have trusted also in the lord therefore i shall not slide in psalms 26 and verse 11 but as for me i will walk in mine integrity redeem me and be merciful unto me and as for me in psalms 41 and 12 verse 12 and as for me thou upholdeth me in my integrity and set us me before thy face forever are we getting the understanding of integrity we can't just have it of our own we've got to have something outside of us and that is god he's our our rock and our bulwark and of course god speaks to solomon that was one of the scripture readings i did have solomon was now taking over for his from his father he is now king and of course he realizes the awesomeness of his position and he stands there like a trembling babe before the people and he humbly prayed before god he says lord give me wisdom knowledge and understanding so i can go in and go out amongst your people so i can be so i can be a king of integrity and the response from the lord was found in 1st kings chapter 9 verse 4 and the lord said unto him i have heard thy prayer and thy supplication thou has made before me i have hallowed this house which thou has built to put my name there forever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually that's never-ending and if thou will walk before me as david your father walked in in his integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that i have commanded thee and will keep my statutes and my judgments so like father like son solomon too learned what integrity was he too writes in the book of proverbs proverbs 11 3 integrity of upright of the upright shall guide them and the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them proverbs 19 verse 1 better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool i guess what i'm telling you now today my brothers and sisters is that when the lord brought us out of darkness do you remember what it was like to become a member of the family of god it was something that we embraced we were so happy but as time went on and on and on we sort of got tired we keep hearing jesus is coming jesus is coming but things are happening well like now the whole world was on lockdown and 15 months later here we are in alberta start in the process again lord will you come will you come now we would love him to come but the blessing will come if we remain we remain pure and true to god but are we willing to pass these blessings onto our brethren to our children and to their children are we being examples that's what it comes down to as a church family we're supposed to be founded on integrity are we moving forward as a unity of one before god are we remembering to bring those who are in need or are we allowing somebody to come with us that we have to sort of stay away we're doing things from a distance but i can tell you the church is only as strong as its weakest link so who are the weakest links amongst amongst us are we encouraging and strengthening them are we helping and loving them are we listening instead of telling them again tell me are we truly ministering and by that i mean are we walk are we making ourselves approachable to our church family members regardless of who they are where they're from or whatever journey that's brought them to this point i guess i'm really asking what are you willing to sacrifice for one another and that's what it is sacrifice so are we prepared to sacrifice some things or everything jesus did it for us and if we love him we should be doing it for one another because i guess no one here seen god has anybody seen him yet we give everything to god but the people around us that we can see what are we doing are we searching for them are we looking for them are we trying to help them my brothers and sisters my family we can reach the bible each and every year we could read it we could claim the 3573 bible tr promises that it contains we could watch and participate in every revelation series we can volunteer for every ministry in fact we can get to know every doctrine every statute every commandment every judgment we can proclaim the good news from every house stop we can pay our tithes and offerings without skipping a beat we can show up to church every sabbath and sit in our own seats but let me tell you and me if it is not done with integrity of heart that is honestly genuinely sacrificially from our hearts we're simply going through the motions would you agree then the truth is definitely not in us because the scriptures tell us in fact the words of jesus says the son of man must suffer he must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised the third day and he said to them all if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily to follow me that's luke chapter 9 verses 22 and 23 and in luke chapter 14 he went on to say so likewise whosoever whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he has he cannot be my disciple we're living in a time now where our rights have been clamped on because of a pandemic and yet we want to preach we want to share because the preaching is just not by the words it's by our actions as well and if we cannot do that how are we living to fulfill what god has asked us to do we can come and we can sing beautiful songs like these young ladies did today we can sit down and do beautiful prayers as our elder did today or beautiful stories for our children but if we're not practicing them and if we're not showing it by example it means nothing from england they would say it'd be like diddly squat nothing nothing at all in joel joel says rend your heart and not your garments turn unto the lord your god for he is gracious and he is merciful slow in anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of evil you see it's not easy to stand in our integrity sometimes or most times it means standing alone it means speaking and acting against the grain it will make you unpopular but will it change you that's the main thing standing alone for god i remember not just too long ago we had the pandemic for about what 15 months 18 months and then the prisons opened up again and i was able to go into grierson one of the minimum security prisons and i met a young man a young man he ran a business a successful business and you know he's been searching for god but somehow he figured you know he'll just pray unfortunately when you ask well why were you here well you see i used to have a problem i don't have a problem anymore but my problem was drinking and we had a new person come in to our to our company and we wanted to take him out as an introduction to everybody so they went to a fancy restaurant and they ordered drinks and this young man had been to his house once before and he had seen the cars that he had and he says oh i'll call him tell me tell me can i drive it can i touch it can i drive it he says no no one drives my cars no one drives it but he kept asking and asking and of course after this um this celebration that they had they came back to tommy's house and again he kept asking and asking he said that for the umpteenth time no no no however a few days later tommy woke up in hospital somehow one of those cars did go out the young man that kept asking the question can i can i can i was dead for whatever happened tommy could not remember because apparently he was in the car as well so here he was in prison for something that he believed he no longer had a problem for and as we spoke i heard the story and i simply said tommy would you say you're an alcoholic not me not me but he had problems into 1995 he had it again in 2000 and he had another problem in 2005 to the point where he had to have one of those blow boxes so in other words before he could drive he had to blow in a box and if there was no alcohol the car would start you see he's there and he has in order to come out he has to go before the parole board and in order to be in a minimum anyway you have to be able to accept your crime acknowledge it be responsible and accountable so again the question was asked tommy are you an alcoholic no and i've been praying i keep praying i keep praying who you praying to tommy well i i don't know i just i just i just i just pray but the problem is just like tommy there are a lot of people out there reaching out for anything and everything but we know the truth don't we we need to share that proof that truth sorry we need to bring everybody into the house of the lord because when the lord does come one are you going to be there secondly for those people who we haven't helped they may see you in heaven and they might say well i didn't know you're a christian you never told me you never acted the part what would you say because there's three surprises in heaven for those who don't know the one you thought wouldn't be there is there the one you thought that should be there isn't there and the biggest surprise is being there yourself so impact integrity is very important in our christian work um yes it was a hard time it was a lonely time but the thing is we have three other chaplains that are there of course of different faiths and you know he saw he was reaching out he wanted to know well you know this and this and this and everybody says well you know your faith is according to how you feel um they didn't open the bible and show him what the bible says but anyway praise the lord i was able to tell him what god says in the word that if you're gonna if you're gonna if you're gonna worship him you're gonna worship him in spirit and in truth so goes what was the name of who you're praying to he couldn't tell me but today he tells me about the love of jesus today he tells me how he's been praying because he wants to get out he has a uh a two-month-old or two-month-old child that he wasn't there for the birth he wants to be there for that child and he has a nine-year-old i've had the pleasure to take him on what we call escorty temporary absences so he could be with his family for up to four hours and then take him back but you know let me spell out integrity a little bit more there's a poem i read it's called the person in the glass i don't know if you know it it says when you get what you want in your struggle for self and the world makes you lord for a day just go to the mirror and look at yourself and see what that person has to say for it isn't your father your mother husband or wife whose judgment upon you shall pass the person whose verdict cost in your life is the one stirring back from the glass some people may think you're a straight shooting chump and call you a wonderful guy but the person in the goliath in the glass says you're only a bum if you can't look that person straight in the eye it's the person to please never all the rest for the person is with you clear to the end and you've passed most of the dangerous tests if the person in the glass is your friend you may fool the whole world down the pathways for years and get pats on your back as you pass but your final reward will be the heartache and tears if you cheated the person in the glass integrity integrity i'm prepared to stand now and always because the lord has promised me no he's promised us he will never leave us no forsake us he says even the waters surround you he will be there with us what a promise to hold on to only if we are faithful obedient and true he will give us the strength to endure endure to the end and ah you may ask how in him through him and for him for without him we can do nothing of ourselves it is in him that we live and move and have our being the word of god tells us that regardless of what we're going through some people he says he will let them sleep because there's things coming upon us and we need to be strong and for you to be strong your family has to be strong and i'm not talking about your home family your church family as well we need to be strong together with integrity to be able to bring people in to be able to tell them and show them and and in action show them what the love of god is god doesn't permit things to happen without a reason and as he stirs the world right now it causes him to think is there a tomorrow and if there's not what's going to happen to me and this is what's happening now people are grabbing on to anything for hope now what are you going to do to assist them i could take a couple of examples but right now i'm going to talk about elijah elijah out of king second kings chapter 2 verses 23 and 24. you see elijah was doing his ministry and he was moving from bethel going to another town and would you believe as he came out of bethel the children came out and mocked him apparently he had a bald head from what i'm understanding and the children came out and knocked him and he turned back and cursed them and would you believe when he cursed them two female bears came out of the woods and mauled them it was 42 children now why would i bring that up with integrity you see integrity starts with you and it starts with me and you've got to have integrity in the home and as parents we need to be able to teach our children for when they're small and if you're not going to teach them guess what i'm going to see them in the big house and you're not necessarily going to want that in fact um we we just i just assisted in a parole board hearing for a young seventh-day adventist man a handsome young man but he was there in prison why well you know he passed his exam he felt good and he told mom and his siblings i've arrived i've passed out school so i'm gonna live on my own i'm gonna i'm gonna make it he had a little job and he figured you know he'll get himself a little place and he did but he lost his job and now he was too prideful he couldn't go back to mom and his brothers and sisters and say i need help can you can you help me pay rent can you help me buy food so you know what he did he listened to friends and they said i got a plan just for you sell drugs well it went on for a while the pay was good he was living large and then all of a sudden he sort of stopped going to church because he felt bad in his heart he knew it was wrong he couldn't face them he couldn't face the church members and look them in the face and if he couldn't do that what would he do with god so he became more and more and more distant until one day he had one of the biggest deals he was going to do he was going to be really set but even while he was doing all these things he felt uneasy he wanted to stop but he couldn't stop he he was like a cat chasing his tail this was good but he was feeling bad but the money was good and he was living large and he was good but he felt bad the biggest deal he had he sold to a police officer and that's what brought him into prison so all of a sudden he had to say mom guess what i'm in prison they couldn't believe it but it happens one slip that goes leads to another flip to another slip and next thing you know we think we we're too far gone that we can't turn back and then we believe that god can't love me anymore i knew better but let me tell you he was so happy when he got caught by the police it's like having a boil you ever had a boil a bad boil in a place but it was it hurt so much and so you go to the doctor and what does a doctor do he takes out one of these little sharp knives you know and he he pops it and the relief the relief is there he was so relieved he came back and while he was on bail before his um his trial he turned his life around came back to the lord he even got baptized but sometimes we got to go through it to get to it and god doesn't care how he gets you so long as he gets you integrity integrity we could talk about elisha elisha well that was going to be the understand on the study for elijah it was elijah remember elijah was the one that stood up against the heathens he went to the king of the day and he sat down and says let us stand for the lord you have your prophets 450 prophets of baal and he sat down and says why don't we test and see who is god and if god is god let us serve god and if baal is god let us serve baal but there's only one one one thing here where we've got to be able to build at an altar to our god but we can't light it god has to do it now what a day for elijah you all know the story don't you how when he was when it was their time they they they prayed they danced they they sung they they started to cut themselves because nothing was happening elijah says sing louder sing louder dance harder maybe your god is asleep but by the afternoon he says i tell you what let's just stop let's just stop he took his time and he built his altar he put his sacrifice on the altar and what else did he do he poured no before he did that he put a gutter around it then he poured the water and the water not only ran off the altar and the sacrifice but he filled the he filled the gutter then he decided to pray before god and before god before the words of the prayer could be finished what did god do he sent fire down from heaven and it says it not only did it did he accept the altar but he lapped up the water that's the god i serve today and here it is we can talk about stories like this we can go back to the bible and we can see it but somehow we feel that's only in the bible it's only a story but it's real my god's real do you know him he is so real in fact if i continue the way i was going when i was young i wouldn't be here today maybe i'll be in prison but god has a way of changing us through his love but when you realize what he's done how can we say that we love him if we're not following him how can we say that we love him if we're not telling others about the love because love is like a disease see this pandemic we're running masks right why they say it's contagious so too is love contagious we're supposed to be so contagious that god's love will exhume from us that he will touch the hearts of others that they would say whatever you're on whatever you have i want some and we introduce them to jesus but you gotta have integrity because you can't have him sometime and not all the time remember the the the the person in the glass when you go home the last thing you do you fix yourself up your hair is done you go back out but many of us remember forget what we just saw in the glass and when we come back home you know you still need to fix yourself back up but can you really look at yourself in that glass if we can't look at ourselves what do you think god says he's not going to forget us he's going to try and send someone in our lives to remind us integrity if i want your love i want all of it if we could picture the heart as a house a simple house a house with a with a living room a bedroom and a kitchen and a and a bathroom see for us we will sit down and say today we got baptized thank you lord for saving my life thank you lord for doing all the things that you've done for me however please don't come in my bedroom come into my house but don't go in my bedroom why you've got magazines under the mattress or it would be please lord don't come in the kitchen and look in my fridge the things he told us not to eat and drink and do it's there but lord don't go in my kitchen don't go in my living room lord because all of a sudden there's videos that i'm watching that i shouldn't be watching things that are change in my mind god wants us to have integrity he wants our house to be able to stand no matter what we go through amen but anyway with elisha and elijah elijah came and he put his mantle on him to let him know he was going to be the next prophet but there was only one condition elijah would have to be with him until he till he departs and at least two occasions elijah told him why don't you stay here until i come back i'm just going over yonder you stay here elijah says no wherever you go i'm going wherever you're gonna do i want to see he sat down and he saw elijah take his mantle when they had to cross this river he put it on a river and he was able to walk across elijah's looking god had called him now was he a man of integrity the second time elijah says to him again you stay i'm just gonna go over yonder and i'll come back elijah elisha would not let him out of his sight until the day came when the the chariots of fire came down and they took up elijah and the mantle came back the mantle came down and he picked it up and what did he want he wanted a double blessing of elijah do we have the integrity to get the blessings that god truly has for us this is the time we need to be able to stand hmm there is so many things to say but a little time to say it and yet we're looking for eternity when we're going to go before god and we'll be able to sing to him praise to him and say prayers to him why because he's taken us out of our darkness into his promise of light in first samuel chapter 15 verse 22 and 23 we could talk about the first king of israel he was king saul you remember him he was heads and shoulders above everyone else he was a handsome dude but anyway the prophet samuel was told to go and tell him the amla kites when they were going through the church when they were going through the through the through canaan they would come up behind the children of israel and they would kill the sick the lame and the infirmed and the young and god said you know it's time his measuring cup is done destroy the amalekites tell saul he must destroy everything women children even their cattle don't touch their riches destroy it time was coming and elijah was supposed to be there to see him but elijah was running late the philistines or the the amalekites seem to be massing in a different area so he needed to strike and strike now so what did he do as a king he's supposed to have integrity that everyone's gonna follow him wouldn't he but he decided well since since the prophet elijah's not here bring me the sacrifice i will sacrifice it myself i will do it he was the king not the priest if god calls us to do something then we need to stay in our lane would you agree stay in your lane and do what god has called you to do by the time king saul came by the time elijah came king saul had just sacrificed the animal and his words to king saul was has the lord a great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and and to heed the fat of rams for rebellion is the sin as with of witchcraft and stubbornness is as inequity and idolatry because you have rejected the word of the lord the lord has also rejected you so why am i speaking about integrity we're seeing the things coming taking place around us we don't seem to understand yes we've done bible studies we never thought it things would happen like this the whole world has been on lockdown not just little edmonton not just canada the whole world these are times that we're now living in so what is truth today today we need to find we'll find that there are only varying degrees of truth or simply outright lies and so this is what the prophet isaiah has for us today and it's taken from isaiah chapter 5 isaiah chapter 5 and verse 18 to 25 i think it's important for us to read because we're living in a time where you don't know what's up or what's down we don't know what's in or what's out but this is what he says woe to those who draw iniquity from cords of vanity and sin as if it were with a as if it was with a cart a cart rope they say let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it and let the council of the holy one of israel draw near and come that we may know it then he says woe to those who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight woe to men mighty at drinking wine woe to men valiant in mixing intoxicating drink who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man therefore as the fire devours the stubble the flame consumes the chaff so the root will be as a as rottenness and their blossom will ascend like dust because they have rejected the law of god of hosts and despised the word of the holy one of israel therefore the anger of the lord is aroused against his people he has stretched out his hand against them and stricken them and the hills trembled their carcasses were as refuge in the midst of the street for all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still we still have a loving god we might not keep our promises but he keeps his ears amen now i want to end on something that i that i saw we've got lots of time now you can't go to offices you know so every now and again you can look at something so i was watching a youtube blurb and what got me was a statement that was says i take full responsibility for going to heaven or hell and i thought well what would this be about and would you believe it was a very very important people two were preachers well-known preachers and one was a lady who's got money lots of money she's a celebrity she's a billionaire who obviously believes that money will save in fact i understand she started her own religion i won't give any names but anyway she made the statement because a lady a lady in the ordinance called her out and she says well if you're a christian shouldn't you be and this is what she had to say i have a i have a different opinion of a christian than you do okay and god serve and god i serve doesn't care whether you're tall or short whether you're born black asian or gay and so that's just a difference of belief and i don't expect to change your belief today because just before i came down i was late i was running late i was in the makeup room arguing with someone saying that all gay people are going to hell and then someone said that i'm going to hell with them with all the gay people because i was doing the show then she made the statement i take full responsibility of my going to hell or heaven would you say that's been presumptuous that is a presumptuous that's presumptuousness if we've got integrity we cannot be presumptuous but anyway the response from two pastors one of them humbly says i can if i found i was going to hell i can make no just complaints against my god he owes me nothing in fact he's done everything for me and should i go to hell he knows best the second pastor started off this way he says would you believe that 75 percent of people living in north america believe in hell and only four percent believe they'll never go there so we've gotten our point across that there is a hell and we're headed there we live in a world where sin is freely exploited sin is so much a part of our culture that every imaginal sin is acceptable except for pedophilia he said that's that last sin that is left we don't find that outrage over adultery murder lying stealing etc murder is acceptable if the victim diverse deserves to be murder is acceptable if the victim doesn't deserve to live so now we're becoming like gods to predict and tell who's going to live and who's going to die he goes on but if or when a son comes home and claims that he's a homosexual the parent automatically becomes a homosexual advocate why you are storing up the wrath of god that is to come parents are very reluctant to deal with this with the sins of their children because they are used to get away with it themselves this is the reality of life today so-called professed christians and churches are reluctant to confront sin teaching the consequences of sin to even carry out the discipline the bible talks about doing sin has immense serious consequences which will be paid in full remember god the father would not spare his only begotten son as our savior jesus christ who took on the penalty of sin for us all and he wasn't even guilty is integrity important today brothers and sisters jesus is coming i can't tell you when but the bible says many will see him come in and say rocks fall on me we don't want to see him if we're seeing what's happening now are we preparing ourselves let alone our neighbors that's what integrity is all about especially when we're standing for god i see the time has it's caught me and i'm gonna i'm gonna cut it that way but i just want to leave with well so much to say so much to say i suppose as i speak today i can tell you about saul's sister sol sister my wife she was a person that sort of slipped away from the lord just a little bit she still loved the lord but you know he takes a little relationship to change things but you know the lord will do will permit things to happen in such a way that if we remember him and if we humble ourselves he will forgive us and in that time she had she had breast cancer and this was before the before the pandemic about a year before the pandemic and as she spoke to the specialist you know they said there was a there was a lump they needed to be removed so they needed to do they wanted to do chemo first you know to do it and within the next couple of weeks she was in the kitchen doing something and she slipped over broke her hip her hip was now broken she needed surgery but they didn't want to do the surgery until they took care of the cancer so it's out of the body that makes sense right but then pandemic stepped in she was supposed to see the doctor in a year and because of pandemic it was well over a year that she had to wait to see the doctor when she did go to see the doctor they did their scans they did their tests and all they could do is send her home it was now metastatic cancer throughout her body again god has his way of doing things she had to sit down and think over things and the church which was just up the road they came and they wooed her they prayed for her and she accepted the lord as their savior and i know that as time should last i'm waiting for that resurrection morning where i can come and see my little sister-in-law and i'll be able to say well done and the prayer that both my wife and i have is that we will remain in integrity until he comes so that we will see her there's silence but the joy is we know she'll be in the resurrection that we know and my prayer for each and every one of you that we too will be in the resurrection so let us stand on faith let us be able to go out and proclaim the word of god not ashamedly but be able to sit down and say i'm not ashamed of my gospel i'm not ashamed of jesus christ this is what he's done in my life and let me share a part of my life with you so you too can be in the resurrection amen again i thank you everything happens for a reason and god is the author of it and let me tell you i serve a wonderful god he's kept me he's provided for me and even in a time such as this there is hope there is hope in his word amen [Music] one day you'll make everything new jesus one day you will bind every word the former things shall all pass away no more tears one day you'll make sense of it all jesus one day every question resolved [Music] every anxious thought left behind no more fear [Music] what a day of rejoicing that be when we all see jesus [Music] we'll sing and shout the victory [Music] one day we'll see face to face jesus is there a great vision of grace [Music] and in a moment we shall be changed on that day and one day we'll be free free indeed jesus one day of the struggle will cease and we will see your glory revealed on that day when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that we'll be when we all see jesus we'll sing and shout the victory when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that we're be when we all see jesus we'll sing and shout the victory [Music] one day one day [Music] yes one day we'll see face to face and jesus is there a great vision of grace and in a moment we shall be changed yes in a moment we shall be changed [Music] in a moment we shall be changed on that day [Music] when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see jesus we'll sing and shout the victory [Music] will sing and shout the victory [Music] there can we stand for the benediction okay shall we stand i want to thank you brother reinhardt for the reminder there is a head in heaven to gain and a hell to shun let us stand in integrity let us stand loving jesus with all our hearts let us pray almighty and everlasting god we we thank you so much lord for a word that is timely for lord where many of us are scared the world is running around chasing its tail we're on lockdown because of a thing we cannot see lord but it's taking people and so lord continue to give us hope and with that hope lord we will see you on that resurrection morning thank you for your love that you've given us thank you for the sacrifice that you've done for us and lord thank you in knowing that regardless of what happens you will find a way to get to collect us and so glory to him that will keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence innocent and happy to god the only god who saves us through jesus christ our lord be the glory majesty authority and power which he had before time began finally brethren whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is gracious if there is any excellence if there is anything worthy of praise think on these things what you have learned and received and seen in me do and the god of peace will be with you hence more and forevermore amen [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Edmonton South SDA Church

Views: 287

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: 76NN9redpMI

Length: 97min 24sec (5844 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 25 2021