Reflections on a life of ministry | February 16, 2025

Now, Andy didn't leave

me any instructions

for who was supposed

to, uh, do the

announcements today.

So I'll be watching

to see who I

want to choose.

I guess what I.

Well, who is it?

Well, it's the

only other staff

guy that's here.

That would be Josh.

Well, you didn't

need to do the

announcements,

you know you'd

get a couple,

something like that.

I'll watch and see

if anybody isn't

paying attention.

Well, nobody's

fixing to leave now.

. Yeah.

You miss me out

here, don't you?

Yeah.

You know, I always

used to have

a lot of fun.

I have bullet points.

I don't know how,

I don't know how

to preach off

a manuscript.

Never did learn

to do that.

So even when we would

only have about 30

people in the church,

I would be able to

stand up there and

I'd just look people

right in the eye while

I was preaching and.

It worked pretty good.

'cause people never

fall fell asleep

during my sermon

because whenever I

was looking for an

illustration and a

name to use, it'd be

just like, well, you

know, Scott was out

here doing that and

see he just, he was

down here like this

and just like that.

He looks up.

So not your

first, okay.

Yeah, keep looking.

I didn't give it yet.

You just proved

you were asleep

already and the

music was good.

You shouldn't

have fallen asleep

this morning.

Uh, I've been kind

of pondering what

I would preach on

this morning, and

usually I'm pretty

fired up and

wired ready to go

with some things.

And I have been

thinking about stuff

and I don't know,

this may be the

second time and.

The history of me

that I preached in

jeans and boots.

That's 'cause we were

over here shoveling

this morning.

But it was, uh, so my

wife said it's a jeans

Sunday, so I guess

I'm okay in jeans

and in, in boots.

It's better than

shoes and in a, in

a suit out there.

So for some of you

who are new, you

probably haven't

heard me preach

for a day or two.

It's nice to see you

this morning, Olivia,

since we're moving

you this afternoon.

I'm glad that you made

it so we can help.

I saved you a spot

right up front.

You and

Gabriel, right?

Right here in

the front row.

Gabriel, come

with her.

She's embarrassed

to come on her own.

Okay.

Don't make noise.

That makes it

even worse.

Yeah, mic, what're

gonna have to

ditch that mic.

Okay.

I have no problem

with that.

Off is that

turned off?

Okay.

I suppose if I

do that, it will

look better.

My wife always

wants me to be

more dignified.

It doesn't

work, but I try.

What are you shaking

your head at Robin?

My goodness.

Okay, so I've had

Rusty on edge all

weekend and he wasn't

sure what I was

doing with a special

song this morning.

And Jeff and Patty are

sitting there saying,

I sure hope we get

to do announcements

at the end of the

service this morning.

So I just want

everybody to be ready.

So we're, we're gonna

sing a song this

morning that . We,

I did with the first

youth group I got

to work with only

50, 54 years ago.

That about right hun,

is before you were

even in the picture.

We've been married

51 and a half

years, so, or 51.

We've been

married a while.

I kinda came into

Christianity in a, in

a really weird way,

and this morning,

rather than preaching

like I usually would

preach why my son

tells me that I

like to tell stories

and he's right.

True, true stories.

Not, not the kind

that your kids

tell when they're

in trouble, but

real stories and I.

I came out of

a, a remarkably

interesting church.

I grew up in the

Church of the

Brethren, and the

Church of the Brethren

was not like the

brethren in Christ

that we were part

of here for a while.

The Church of the

Brethren was very, um,

liberal, probably

isn't quite

the right word.

They were very

lost.

How about that?

And uh, when I went

to, I guess that's

going down when I went

to Bible college, why

my first year back

home, my home church

said, we'd like you to

work with the youth.

And so I said, great.

I would like

to do that.

So I did.

And, uh.

My pastor

was not saved.

He didn't know Jesus.

He was 50 some

years old and his

wife didn't know

Jesus and his kids

didn't know Jesus.

And I came home after

getting saved and

fired up about a lot

of, uh, things we

were, Robin brought

up after I asked him,

we're gonna sing this

song up here for you.

Uh, not quite yet,

but it was, uh, from

the movie, A Thief

in the Night, and

it was a very big

movie back in the

day, Christian movie.

It's only 52

years old, , so

it is somewhat

dated and, uh.

I went to school in

the little town of

University Park, Iowa,

which was just about

45 minutes southeast

of Des Moines, Iowa.

And in this film that

was filmed actually

while we, Pam and I,

were in Bible college

there, and it's filmed

at the Iowa State

Fair, which been there

many times and filmed

at the airport where

my brother-in-law

missionary Ron was

at, where they used

the helicopters and

it had the unites

symbol on the side of

the, of the airplane

and the helicopter

and all that.

Ron worked on those

and the hospital

where my best friend's

fiance worked and

watched the filming of

the . Part of the film

and over at the Red

Rock stand where Pam

and I and my friend

Bill and everybody

else and his brother

would go on dates out

here to the Red Rocks.

Damn.

So it hit kinda

close to home as

being reality.

It had the first,

uh, reform church

up in Pella and the

Open Bible Church

up in Des Moines and

things right out of

all of those things

that were there.

And so Robin watched

that with some of

you ladies and she

said, oh, you gotta

watch that again.

And she can tell

you all about what a

wonderful thing it was

scared her to death

when she was young

and it did scare some

people into heaven,

which was good.

But it was quite

intense why I.

I came out of

things like that.

Keith Green, just

radical Christianity.

Some of you saw

the movie, was

it last year?

The one, what was

the name of that one?

The Jesus Revolution.

That's my era.

We were in the

Midwest, so we weren't

quite as crazy as

they were out there

on the West Coast

except for Pam.

She grew up out

there, so she's the

wild, crazy one.

Uh, but we were a

little, a little

more reserved back

here in the Midwest.

And for those of you

who don't know Keith

Green's music, he

was, he was a calm,

passive fellow who

pounded on a grand

piano when he sang

and never looked at.

He, he didn't have

music on the piano.

He just . He just

played all over that

thing and he would

just stare like this

while he's playing,

look at the audience

and sing from his

heart and write calm

little music like

the church asleep

in the light, in the

midst of a darkness

that it just can't

fight because it's

asleep in the light.

Jesus rose from the

dead and you can't

even get out of bed.

You know, it's

just passive little

stuff like that.

So that is what

woke me up out of,

out of total sleep

in that church

that I grew up in.

And

so I came home

that summer and

I got to work.

We had about this

group right here,

no more than U

three rows, and

I thought, hey.

They asked me, so

I'm going for it.

And I did.

And several of

those kids are still

following the Lord to

this day that they had

never even been around

a place where the

gospel was presented,

that they should give

their heart to Jesus.

And uh, so we closed

this summer with

a special event.

We are what Keith

Green used to call.

We were a high

steeple, few people

type of church, big

stained glass windows

and beautiful pews and

beautiful everything

but nothing inside.

So I had these

kids all fired

up as well as me.

And so we, we had

stained glass windows

that were almost

as big as the whole

front of the church.

And the sun rose

right behind that

stained glass window.

And so 10 o'clock

on Sunday morning,

they let us have the

whole service and we

worked all day Friday

and Saturday and we

darkened every window

anywhere where you

could open the front

door of the church

and that would be

the only light that

would come in any

window in that whole

area was blacked out.

You couldn't even

see 10 o'clock in

the morning with

the sun shining.

You couldn't see your

hand in front of your

face because we wanted

to have an effect.

And so we did

the whole morning

and presented the

gospel and had the

kids help do that.

And then we

song sang this

nice little song.

So why don't you

guys come up?

We'll sing that.

That'll give us some

background here.

Tony can use this

microphone 'cause

you didn't have one.

What's that?

It won't work.

Okay.

Alright.

Here, you can

stand over here.

I'll stand with you.

You're gonna mouth it?

Yeah.

. You got Turkey?

. Were you born when

this came out?

Uh, no.

No.

That's what I thought.

You're stepping

on my cord?

No, you were

born in 1972.

Okay.

I was.

Okay.

Thank you.

. Okay.

It's a really

tough song.

It's not.

It's not that one.

It's not up there.

Don't put,

just back up.

Kill that.

There you go.

Thank you very much.

You have to

just listen.

The words are

really hard.

Go for it.

Guns and

I wish

children die.

The days grew

cold of bread.

Buy a bag of, I wish

we all been ready.

No time.

Change her mind.

She hears.

She turns her head.

She, oh, I

messed it up.

We knew we didn't

go to the forest.

Yeah, we did.

Up, yeah.

How can you mess up

something so simple?

Man, there's no time.

Let's go with there.

Okay.

If you know

what, stand up

and say No, no.

We're gonna

do the, the, I

missed the line.

Okay.

It's my, it's my

bad, and I was in.

You were alive

back then.

I was in high school

when this came out.

You were in college.

Okay.

Okay, I got it son.

I was there.

I got it.

live was filled with

guns and wars and

everyone got on the

children died.

The case cold bread

would a bag of

I wish.

All bed ready?

There's no time to

change your mind.

The sun is come

and you've been

left behind.

Hear noise turns.

I wish we'd all

been ready to and

coming up a little

one disappear and

one less than each.

I wish we'd

all been ready.

There's no time to

change your mind.

This is come, you've

been left behind.

There's no time to

change your mind

out that you have

been so like the

father called,

the demons died.

The is hung and

you've been left.

Thank you guys.

Now, that was

resurrected out of

a long time ago,

and thank you guys

for doing that.

They, uh, that Sunday

morning we got to

the point where they

worked really hard.

We had one

makeshift spotlight.

Somebody had,

technology

wasn't quite as

good back then.

We had a really bright

flashlight that we

made a cone out of,

and they were up in

the balcony about

as far away as this,

and they shown it

through that thing.

And at just the

moment when we got

to the end of it,

the kids thought

this was great.

And it got to the

point, it said, you've

been left behind the

last time through it

went, you've been left

and everything went

totally dark and they

just quit and held.

Well, that had an

impact on our church.

Most of 'em

didn't know what

to do with it.

'cause like I said,

our pastor wasn't

saved, but one of

the young guys from

the community that

I had befriended

on the basketball

team, basketball's

important.

I was a senior and he

was a freshman and we

spent time with him.

And that young man

was . He wa he was

a all conference,

basketball, football,

played baseball

in the summer.

He was unbelievable.

Everybody wanted to

be Mark Bradford.

All the guys, all

the girls wanted

to go with Mark.

And that summer

when we were home,

mark gave his

heart to Jesus

for real.

And we lived in town.

The area was

about the size of

Sheridan over here.

And when Mark got

saved, , he didn't

have a car, so he

ran, it was about a

mile and a half from

where he got saved

all the way across

town to his church

where he went and he

talked to his pastor.

He had a lot of dead

churches in that town.

He went in and told

him that he'd given

his heart to Jesus

and he was ready to do

whatever it was that

God wanted him to do.

And his pastor said,

that's great, but

don't let that ruin

your life, son.

And it's like,

oh, okay.

So he left there

and he ran a mile

the other way to his

house and told his mom

and dad, I just gave

my heart to Jesus.

And he ended up,

they were ecstatic

because they knew

the Lord and.

It was just great.

So then he ran

a half a mile.

The other way.

Guy had to be an

athlete 'cause I

couldn't have ran that

far the first time.

So he runs a half

a mile to his

girlfriend's house.

Okay.

She's kind of just,

you know, the, the

mirror of him, she's

the prom queen,

she's got everything

going for her.

Everybody wants

to date her.

And he goes in and he

tells her, I just gave

my heart to Jesus.

Now, he'd been living

just like any sinful

young man who had the

world by the tail.

And they'd gotten

involved physically

and he said,

I need you to

forgive me for what

I have done to you.

And

I. It'll never

happen again.

And she said, if

that's the way you're

gonna live, then

get outta my life.

'cause I don't want

anything to do with

you ever again.

And he left.

And you know, most

young men would

just be crushed.

He wasn't, he met it.

So he went to

our high school

there that fall.

I was back in Bible

college and I got a

few calls from Mark

and he said, I, I

feel like I need to

start a Bible study

at our high school.

And we had about 400

kids in high school,

and you could name

the people who really

we're Christians

on one hand and

still have room to

count some more.

And he said, I

just feel like

I gotta do it.

All of his friends

and the ball teams

all made fun of him,

but Mark persisted.

So he said, school

starts at 7 45, we're

gonna meet at the

school at a quarter

of seven every

Tuesday morning.

So he started and

all of his friends

making fun of him,

and before the month

was over, they had

75 kids coming every

Tuesday morning.

They had to start

another one.

After school,

they had 35 more

kids coming then.

Now

it was really

fun because the

pastor's, two kids

from my old church.

Went to the

Bible study and

they got saved.

You know what

they did?

They went home

and talked to

their mom and dad.

Mom said, that's

just a hoax.

They led dad who'd

been a pastor for

25 years to the

Lord, gave his heart

to Jesus 'cause

his kids led him.

Now, I grew up with

a thing that, man,

if you're gonna

follow Jesus, it's

gonna cost you

everything you've got.

But if you do, it'll

rock the world.

And just like

that little world

there, it did, and

this song and all

the things that went

along with that.

Etched in my mind

that, boy, this was

God reaching out.

That movie is . It's

old, it's dated,

but it's pretty

solid, right, Robin?

Get your attention

that it does, and

there are different

things and beliefs

about the rapture,

but that one gets

your attention.

And I always thought

of that as the whole

thing about being left

behind in God's grace.

And Keith Green

was once asked,

he said, why?

Why does God let

things keep going on?

They're so bad.

And he said,

it's because

of God's mercy that

he lets sin continue.

Now you think

about that.

That's I. That doesn't

even seem right.

But he said if

God would've come

back in 1972,

think how many people

would've never had

the chance today.

Sin persists, but

so does grace.

Well, that got

me thinking about

a few things and

I wanted to, uh,

share them.

I even brought my

magnifying glass,

but the light's good

enough, so I think

I can read it here

over in Titus

chapter three.

Well, well so

much for that.

I won't be using that.

Says at one time,

we too were foolish,

disobedient, deceived,

and enslaved by all

kinds of passions

and pleasures, and

we believed in malice

and envy and being

hateful and hatred,

hating one another.

But when the kindness

and love of God our

savior appeared, he

saved us not because

of righteous things

that we had done, but

because of his mercy.

And I think this

is what got me

going on this.

We interchange

mercy and grace.

They're not the same.

We are saved by grace.

We're not

saved by mercy.

Mercy

is where God allows

us the room to come

back and find grace.

Now

I know people that

have struggled with

sin in their lives

and they've struggled

and struggled

and struggled.

And you think,

okay, how long is

God going to wait?

How long is God

going to be patient?

And all over the New

Testament and the Old

Testament talks about

God's great mercy that

he has and that mercy

is what, as I put it,

keeps the door open.

One of the other guys

that used sang had a,

had a song in which

he talks about Adam,

uh, Don Francisco.

It's kind of crazy.

Almost all the

old people that I

listened to were.

You guys might not

like the music,

but boy, they

were radical.

They were radical.

And they would sing.

And he's talking

about Adam always

loved that.

'cause our youngest

son was Adam and

he fit, but said

the voice of

God came walking

through the garden.

This was after Adam

fell and he was

hiding from God.

And he said, the voice

of God says, Adam.

Adam, where are you?

And towards the end of

the song, it switches

to where the last

Adam, which not the

last Adam, but the

sons of Adam, and

where he's calling

out and saying,

Adam, Adam, come

out of the darkness.

Come out of there

before it's time to

finally shut the door.

And we live today

in mercy.

Not grace.

When people are

committing sins,

Christians are

sinning and they say,

well, it's covered

by God's grace.

No it's not.

If God has mercy on

you, he's giving you

the time to make the

changes in your life

that you need to make.

He's not saying

it's okay.

Jesus died

because of

those actions

and activities.

He died so that

we didn't have

to be there.

The songs that you

guys were singing this

morning, the same God

that the power that

rose Jesus from the

dead lives in you,

and if he's not

living in us, we.

I'm sorry, I, I might

get preachy here yet

if I'm not careful.

I've tried to be all

calm and everything

this morning, but I

could get preachy.

We make so many

excuses for behavior

that is unbecoming

a son of God or a

daughter of God,

and we try to make

it sound somehow

theologically, okay?

It's not, we

need to be people

who are drawing

people to Jesus.

I challenge you.

Go, go watch

this movie.

You, you'll think

it's cheesy as all

get out, right Ted?

But it's good, right?

So you, you, you,

you find the people

in there, the young

people who are

willing to, to listen.

Give their heart

to Jesus and others

who just are gonna

do whatever they

want to do because

it's all okay.

And we find that

very thing today.

Now,

a thief in the night,

and it's on Prime.

If you have

Prime, it's free.

It's about an hour

and three minutes,

and Robin will come

over and watch it

with you so that

you're okay with it.

She said the

reviews on it say

it's a Christian

horror movie.

What

is that?

A personal testimony?

Yes.

Okay.

But Susie can tell

you that that movie

changed her life.

Okay.

You see, we, we

are so insulated.

Today and we're,

we're stuck over In

Ephesians chapter

two, verse eight

tells us that we

are saved by grace.

God's grace comes

in and transforms

who we are

and we're, we are

trying so hard today

to be acceptable that

the things that we

do are looked upon

in favor with, with

the rest of the world

and the people don't

look at us and say,

well, you're weird

guys.

Scripture says

we're peculiar.

That's scriptural.

If you're

not peculiar,

there's something

wrong with you.

I. Isn't that

interesting?

Well, the world

wants us to conform.

Jesus is saying,

whatever you do,

don't do that.

Don't do that.

You know, talking

to Mark, that young

man, you know.

Can you, some of you

are 16, some of you

have been 16, some

of you're hoping

you'll live to 16.

Can you imagine a

16-year-old willing

to go and ask

forgiveness of a

young lady that he'd

been intimate with

and being ridiculed

by all of your

friends and standing

strong in the midst

of all of that?

No.

They don't do that

because they haven't

been raised to be

men or women of God.

If you're gonna be

a man of God, you're

gonna pay for it.

If you're going to

do what is right,

you're gonna pay.

If you go through

your life trying

to avoid pain for

what is right, then

you pay in the end.

Now,

one of the other

things that, uh, Eric

likes to talk about

all the time, the, uh,

the persecuted church

around the world,

and, you know,

the church in

America is so.

Absolutely spoiled.

You know, we came

this morning and

parking lot wasn't

plowed.

Okay.

I was down here at

six o'clock trying to

figure out whether if

it was icy underneath,

it's easier to walk on

the snow and the snow.

Plowers calling over

to Andy over there

in, in, in, uh,

Ohio, I guess that's

where they're at.

And so Andy's calling

me and we're back and

forth and I called

Josh and Tom and they

got out here and they

shoveled off the lines

so we'd know where to

park and put out some

salt and, and, uh, in

between time, why the

snowplow guy got here.

Plenty of time

to get everything

plowed off out there.

He broke a brake

line and he just sat

there for half an

hour 'cause there

was nothing he could

do and poor guy.

So once you were

all in here and

church started, why

two other guys came

and helped him.

So you're probably

plowed into your

parking spot,

but good luck.

You know, I can preach

till it melts that,

that's no problem.

I can do it.

I can you you

wanna challenge me?

No.

Okay.

I didn't think so.

Okay.

. I think it's okay,

but the driveway

getting in and out

and through the cars

will all be fine.

But it's just like,

I sitting back

here thinking now

this is just like

going to church.

This is like, it is.

We, we uh, I

called off church

once in 50 years.

That's 'cause I

couldn't get out of

my own driveway with

four wheel drive

and otherwise always

went because somebody

would show up.

Now if we were

overseas, they'd walk

through this stuff

to get to church

'cause they needed it.

You see that's one of

the things where I'm,

I'm just old school.

I need to

hear from God.

I don't care whether

you deliver the

message, I deliver the

message, or Noah does.

But I need to

hear from God.

I need to be involved

in what he's doing.

I need to be in the

trenches out here

fighting for people.

I sent a text to

Reor who is in

London this morning.

You laughed.

So he came, but

uh, he's got an

uncle that is

Got Parkinson's and

getting near to the

end of his life that

doesn't know Jesus.

And so right before it

was time to preach, I

sent him a text that

said, man, praying for

you and praying for

his salvation because

there's nothing

more important than

him finding Jesus.

Okay.

How many things I'm

giving you just a a

little view into my

mind and my heart.

How many things

are more important

than somebody you

love finding Jesus.

Now that's easy to say

that no, there aren't,

except for when it

comes to putting

that on the line.

There's all

kinds of things.

I don't want

to embarrass

myself or them.

I. Our old thing

was, you know,

if the neighbor's

house was burning

down and they're

in, they're asleep.

What are gonna do?

Say, well, I don't

want to disturb them.

They're resting and

let 'em burn up.

Or you're gonna

go over there and

beat on the door.

Do everything you

have to do, go in

and drag them out

of that house.

See, that's the

kind of evangelism

I'm used to.

I'll do whatever

it takes.

Somebody gives me an

opening, I'm going,

if they don't give me

an opening, I'm going,

I've been telling

all these guys

how I work lately.

It's always the

call before you

come so you make

sure they're there.

And I said, if I do

that, they'll be gone

when I get there.

So I call after

I come, I get

in the driveway

and then call.

Then they say, oh,

we're, we're gone.

No, you're not.

You're just coming

outta your house.

And I'm sitting right

here watching you.

You know, that's

how I work.

Uh, I've been thrown

and I tell people

I've been thrown out

of better places than

this, and I have,

but I don't care

because I wanna see

people find Jesus.

And you know, when I

lose track of that,

then I am no earthly

good whatsoever.

It doesn't matter

how good the

retirement is.

It doesn't matter

what I get to do.

When I lose track of

that, my heart's gone.

It just doesn't even

matter whether I

live or die because

my life's over

to live is Christ

and to die is gain.

We get caught

up in feelings.

We get caught up in

misunderstandings with

people, and we have no

grasp on what it is.

That means

something eternally.

We hold grudges,

we get upset about

things that all

of heaven doesn't

give one rip about,

and God's people

have to take those

things and let 'em go.

They don't matter.

And if they do

matter, then you're

not walking with him.

You have no mercy.

And isn't it

interesting?

One of the other

great quotes that

one of my friends

gave me, excuse me,

was the only people

that can show mercy

are the people who

know they need.

I. Mercy.

It is an effort

to follow God, not

because it's so

hard to follow him.

It's so hard to

shut out the things

that the world is

bombarding us with.

Well, we're not

gonna sing that

song, so you're,

you're lucky at that.

We'll, we'll

avoid, right.

You don't, you

don't have to

shovel out, Brian.

It's okay.

We'll help you

Uh, well,

all this is, this

morning is just

kind of a glimpse

into the heart is

somebody who started

the church here,

what that was like.

I've just never

lost that.

I may be 72 years

old, but I'm

. I'm still your age

up here, willing

to go out and do

whatever it takes.

Just crazy stuff.

You guys have heard

my stories over the

year, and I won't

tell them again, but

I've, I've gone into

just ridiculously

idiotic places that

nobody in their right

mind would go in.

And just to prove

I'm not in my right

mind, my mind has

left me and has gone

on ahead somewhere

because I don't care.

One of the most

fun times I ever

had was in here

at the hospital

getting a, uh, some

sort of a thing

that they thought

could be fatal.

I'd waited and waited

and waited to have

this procedure in

the waiting room, and

I kept saying, I've

got an appointment

that I have to be at.

If we can't get

it done, then

I'm leaving.

And the nurses kept

saying, you can't,

if this is wrong, you

may not make it back.

And I said, well,

it doesn't matter.

He said, your

appointment can't

be that important.

And I said, it is.

There's a man that

I've been talking to

about Jesus and he's

finally agreed to talk

to me face to face.

It's right up

here in Cicero.

And he said,

this is the only

time I've got.

And I said, I

don't care what it

costs, I will be

at that meeting.

And it was really

interesting.

They said,

we're sorry.

And after just a few

minutes, this other

nurse comes in and she

said, I know the Lord.

And I know how strong

that is in you.

She said,

come with me.

We're gonna get

your scan taken

care of right now.

She took me in,

we got scanned.

I got out there and I

was up at the meeting

and I didn't miss it.

That guy gave his

heart to Jesus.

Now

you see there,

there's a point.

And guys, I am so

far from perfect.

It's ridiculous.

If you need

testimony of that,

just talk to Pam.

In fact, just this

last night she was

telling me to stop it.

Right?

Aha.

Something like that.

It was, it was much

kinder because she's

such a sweet lady.

All the rest of you.

No, that, uh.

The one thing is,

man, you know, the

thrill of my life

has been God allowing

me to be a part of

what he was doing.

It wasn't him

being a part of

what I was doing.

You know, black

Bee's book.

He said, find out

where God's working

and go join him.

That's kind of

the, the whole

theory of my life.

If God was going

someplace, I wanna

be a part of it.

Let's go.

It'll be fun.

That's how we built a

few church buildings

around here and

someplace else.

They were always

gonna be fun.

They weren't all that

much fun, but they got

built and we got see

God move and God work.

And most people

just never even

see those miracles

because some of you

gotta be able to say

the rest of this.

Where do

miracles happen?

A little louder

than that.

Come on.

Where?

Edge of disaster.

On the edge

of disaster.

That's right.

And where does

God lead us?

He leads us up to

the sea with a whole

army behind us and

he parts the sea.

That's what he does.

But the miracles

don't happen unless

you go and you follow

him to where that

miracle will happen.

They don't happen

sitting in your

easy chair waiting

for God to do

some fancy thing.

It's the power

of God at work.

It's a simple old

song, that comes

along and a simple

old movie that was

Sally that changed

thousands of lives

because people were

just dumb enough

to give it a try.

Let's see what we

can do with it.

Let's see

what'll happen.

Let's go try, let's

get 12 kids together

and put on something

to try to wake up

a whole 200 people

in a church that's

deader than hay.

But let's not just sit

here and do nothing.

Okay?

Well,

God help us.

Lord, thank you

for allowing me to

be a part of you.

Thank you for having

mercy on me when

I have struggled

and through grace

changing me and my

heart, and as I go on,

Lord, I'm, I'm old.

That's my, that's

my answer that I

give people now

when they, when they

ask me how I am, I

just say, I'm old.

Lord, I'm tireder

than I've ever been.

I get more discouraged

about life than I

ever have before.

I hurt more.

I have more

financial woes than

than ever before.

And

Lord, they

don't matter.

Just having the

opportunity to go

and sit and have

dinner with a couple,

having breakfast with

somebody else, talking

to somebody that

doesn't know Jesus,

trying to tell a guy

with, with a broken

break line to not

worry, it's okay.

We'll be all right.

Instead of, as he

said, his usual

fair when people are

yelling and hollering

about why he didn't

get it done sooner

and why doesn't

he call somebody?

Get it done right now.

Lord, it's so much fun

to try to do what

you would do and

just bring some

light into darkness.

All I ask for me,

Lord, is that you'd

continue to give me

those opportunities

and I'd focus on

them less or more

than less on all

the other stuff.

'cause if you give

me years to live, I'm

sure it's not gonna

be even as good as

it is right now, but

if I can serve you.

If I can make a

difference, then

I want to do it.

I wanna stay alive as

long as I live, Lord,

and for our church,

for our young people,

for our couples,

our families, Lord,

put in them a fire

to live for you, to

make a difference in

the people's lives

that they touch.

Lord, I don't want

us as a country or

a community or as

church to get so

calm and relaxed

and, and stayed that

you have to bring

disaster upon us

until we turn to you.

Help us turn to you

with all of our heart

and our soul, and

our mind, and our

strength, everything

that we have.

Help us to do

that today.

In Jesus' name.

I ask it.

Amen.

Okay, so we have to do

announcements at the

end, and I don't like

doing announcements

at the end.

I'm old.

I told you that.

Right?

So, Pam, come up here.

You're gonna have to

do the announcements

since you just,

you'll deal with

Patty afterwards,

since she won't come.

So I can't believe

you, Patty, you're

gonna make Pam get up

here and she's sick

and everything else.

It's just, it's

just wonderful.

Patty.

Thank you.

It is all yours.

I've already talked

all I want to, okay.

So Melissa, come

join me, girl.

Melissa and I happen

to be dressed in

the same sweater

today, unbeknownst

to either of us.

Oh, there's

nothing here.

It's all down here.

I, I know, honey.

I'll get outta the way

you need.

Oh, thank you.

Here we go, girl.

Okay.

Uh, February.

Okay.

. Yeah.

Fa February.

Fun.

Let's see what's fun.

Okay, go for it.

Oh, is this ba Bam.

So today it's six,

so we're still doing

it even though it's

nasty out, right?

Yep.

Okay.

Six o'clock youth

group over in the

other building.

Right.

Okay.

And college age-ish.

Small group.

No.

So this afternoon

the small group is

helping Olivia move.

Right.

Um, going to lunch at

Culver's, but if you

can't be at Culver's,

then by two o'clock

be at Olivia's house

down in, on the south

side of Carmel and

y'all know where that

is then all that.

And if you don't.

Then talk amongst

yourselves and

figure it out.

Right?

See Olivia and

yeah, see Olivia.

Two o'clock.

Alright.

Upcoming

financial piece.

Beginning

February 18th.

Um, Tim Darnell is

probably a couple's

retreat, so he's your

person of contact.

Yes.

Wednesday night

group starting.

Um, they've already

started, so the

women were supposed

to meet last week,

but we, the weather

preempted everything.

So, um, this coming

Wednesday will be

the men, right?

They're the odds.

The odds first

and third, third

men are the evens.

Third, we are, we

are the evens and

nothing on the

fifth week, right?

Right.

Uh, first Peter

Small group

coming this week.

I really know

nothing about this.

So this is just kind

of behind the scenes

stuff going on.

You need to get ahold

of Dax because not

all the small groups

are meeting because

of Wednesday night.

So you all probably

know who you

are with that.

And so, but

if you have a

question, see Dax.

Or get a hold

of him 'cause

he's at Marriage

retreat right now.

Mm-hmm . So.

Mm-hmm . Ladies

Gallant's event

coming soon.

You've all

gotten a personal

invitation I think.

I think so.

Yeah.

And so just, yeah.

Roll with that.

This coming

weekend, the 22nd.

Uhhuh.

. Yep.

On Saturday.

Yep.

Yep.

Uh, rock solid.

Lock in.

Sounds like

an awful idea.

I did that one time.

, I think I slept on

the front row of

chairs while children

jumped over me.

Unless you're a teen

then it's a blast.

I'm getting old,

as Marty says,

then it's a blast.

So Friday, February

21st, 8:00 PM

through Saturday.

That's this

coming week.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That is.

It's coming Friday.

I'm so sorry.

Pray for our

youth leaders.

Yes.

Mary's retreat's

going on right now,

so we may need to

pray them safely.

Home.

Mm-hmm . I don't know

if they got snow.

Anybody know?

No.

But anyhow, it's

uh, we need to pray

them safely home

and I'm sure they're

having a great time.

That's why it's a

little sparse out

here 'cause it.

We have like 50

people gone to that or

something like that.

Right?

Yeah.

Uh, super Bowl.

So we have the

yellow box outside,

and then I think

we have a bucket in

the front here, or a

bucket in the other.

In entryway.

Yeah, in the other

center there.

So you can bring

in soups this

month to fill up

our food pantry.

And that is February.

Fun at White Rock.

Ooh.

Short and sweet.

Yeah.