July 4, 2026 ”What Are You Doing With Your Freedom?” Pastor Jamey Houghton

So you just introduce God of our

fathers. Everybody stand up and then we

do it. We'll do

>> Hello and welcome to church. We're so

glad that you were able to join us here

at the McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist

Church for our worship time. I hope that

your time is blessed. I hope the music

blesses your soul. I hope the message

touches your heart. And if if it does,

we would be honored if you would share

this content with somebody else so they

can be blessed as well. We're so glad

that you can be a part of our online

church here at McDonald Road and hope

that you are blessed in your worship

together with us today. God bless and

enjoy our worship service.

I have spent

a couple of years of my life living

overseas

and um many more months beyond that on

mission trips with uh with young people

in different countries.

And it is always so nice to come home to

the United States of America. I had been

at one point out of the country for six

months and was very excited to come

home. I I was out for a year, but in the

middle point of that year, I had come

back for a wedding and then was another

six months out of the country. And when

I came back, I landed in the United

States. I was very excited looking out

the window, missed home, had my passport

ready and got in line. You know, there's

two lines when you get out. the line for

American citizens and then the line for

all the other countries. And I was like,

I'm going in the line for American

citizens. I'm home. Got in line. I was

ready. And I got up to the immigration

uh station. It was my turn next. I came

up there. I handed him my passport. He

took my passport and started thumbming

through it, looking where I'd been. Then

he realized that I hadn't been home in 6

months. That was the last stamp on

there. He looked at it, stamped it with

a stamp, handed it back to me, and he

said some of the most beautiful words

I've ever heard in my life. Welcome

home, sir. I was like, I am home. This

is home. And then just be greeted by a

fellow America. Welcome home, sir. And

handed me my my passport back and I was

like, I am back. It felt so good to be

back in the United States of America. We

were just recently in Canada for Calli's

graduation at Fountain View Academy. We

went up to Canada. Whenever you cross

the border by car, you always feel

guilty for nothing. You don't have

anything that you shouldn't have, but

you pull up and and they're like, "Do

you have any cherries or fresh fruit?"

And you're like, "I don't think so, but

I don't know." No, I guess the what's

the right answer? I don't know what the

right are we allowed to have cherries or

not. And they're like, "Do you have any

guns?" I'm like, "Do we look like we

have guns crossing? We're going to a

graduate." You just feel guilty going

across because the questions they ask

you. And um when we when we came back

down, we got back into the United

States, I was like, "Yes,

miles per hour." The kilometers per hour

are in the rear view mirror. We're back

to miles per hour.

>> It just felt so good. And you get back

to America, you're like, "Ah, yes. It is

so good to be an American." I think

>> I love this country.

Fourth of July has become one of my

favorite holidays. After living overseas

for so long, I began to appreciate a lot

of things about this country.

And uh I don't know, it was especially

after after the first time I lived out

of the country for a year when I came

back to that first Fourth of July, I was

like, "Oh, I love this holiday even more

now." And the fireworks and all the

songs, the songs that go along with it.

I think the best rendition of the

national anthem that I've ever heard.

Raise your hand if you know what I'm

about to say. Does anybody know what I'm

about to say? Who sang the best national

anthem?

>> I heard it. Whitney Houston at the Super

Bowl in like 94.

Best version I've ever heard. Gives me

goosebumps every time I hear it. Uh, and

it's just it's just amazing.

The places we can visit in this country.

How many have you ever been to a

national park before? Yeah, most of you.

They're amazing, aren't they? the

scenery that you see at national parks.

The first time I ever went to Yusede

National Park, I remember pulling in and

there's that first that first view off

to the left. You have to take your life

into your own hands to cross oncoming

traffic to get to the viewpoint. But

when you get there and park, you're just

like,

"This is amazing. It's it's it's almost

like you're looking at another planet.

It's incredible. all the national parks

that we have in this country. Acadia

National Park, Yellowstone National

Park, Everglades, Smoky Mountain

National Park, right in our backyard,

Glacier National Park. So many

incredible places to see here in this

country.

If you're going to be sick, you want to

be sick in America.

I've seen hospitals in other countries.

You want to be sick in America.

We have the best healthcare in the

world. I think it may not be perfect and

you may have complaints about it, but

boy, try being sick in a third world

country.

>> It's not that fun. If I'm sick, I want

to be in America. I have Americans

taking care of me. America's had a less

than perfect past. And according to

Bible prophecy, there's some problems

with its future as well. But we're not

going to be focusing on that today. We

have a Bible prophecy series coming up

starting in two weeks where we're going

to look at some of those things. But

today we're going to look at a little

bit different of a of an aspect of

America that I think is relevant to us

today,

especially on the 4th of July. And it

has to do with our freedoms that we

enjoy in this country. The freedoms that

you have right now

are better than the freedoms that most

of the human race has had up until this

point. You realize that? You realize

that most people have never been able to

vote for a president before. They were

just they had a king or a dictator.

You have privileges today that most

people couldn't even dream of. There are

people that are risking coming in a

lifeboat from Cuba to get here because

of of of their desire to have what you

have here sitting in this church today.

God, we see throughout scripture, has

been involved in a variety of different

governments in the past. from

Nebuchadnezzar to the pharaohs of Egypt

to Israel, we see God involved in the

nations in the in the history of this

world. And it shouldn't surprise us that

we would see God involved somehow, even

in our own nation. It shouldn't surprise

us that we would see our own nation

somewhere tucked in the covers of this

book. Even as we get closer to the

second coming of Jesus,

how has God been involved in the past? I

want to share two stories that are kind

of interesting to me as a bit of a

history nerd. Anybody else like history?

I love history. It's it's a it's a

fascination of mine.

Long time ago, before George Washington

was a president of the United States,

he was a young 23-year-old aid to camp

was this his title or high-ranking

personal assistant to British General

Edward Bradock in the French and Indian

War.

George Washington's job was to ride

through and deliver vital messages

across the battlefield. So he was riding

a horse through an active battlefield

while people are dying all around him.

There were multiple people that had this

job that they were riding horseback to

go to different parts of the battlefield

to let them know what they were supposed

to do and get orders from them. There's

a historian that wrote about this

battle. His name is Joseph Ellis

and he reports about this one specific

battle where George Washington was there

as a horseback rider delivering messages

for General Bradock.

Joseph Ellis reports that in the chaos

of the battle of Mananga. I had to

practice that one. Mananga.

He says that every other officer on

horseback was killed except for George

Washington.

George Washington had two horses shot

out from underneath him. Got another

horse and kept on delivering his

message. But every other officer on

horseback was killed except for George

Washington. When the battle was over, he

took off his jacket and he had four

bullet holes in his jacket.

They found shrapnel in his hair and yet

he made it through without even a

scratch.

Years later,

an elderly Native American who had

fought on the other side of that battle,

he was a chief, he sought out and wanted

to meet George Washington.

He told him that he had personally shot

at him 17 times

and he had ordered his men to do the

same, but not a single bullet found

their mark. Eventually, he told his men

to stop wasting ammunition

by shooting at George Washington. The

chief finished the meeting by explaining

that before he died, he wanted to meet

the man who was quote protected by the

great presence above end quote.

He thought it was absolutely impossible

that George Washington could have

survived this and he had shot at him 17

times himself.

Somehow George Washington was preserved

in that battle

and went on to become the first

president of the United States of

America.

Seemingly preserved divinely.

Later on,

July 21, 1861, another battle, another

war. Manasses, Virginia,

the first battle of the Civil War.

A northern general by the last name of

McDow

assembled 35,000 troops in Washington

DC, mostly farmers and young men,

marched them down to Manasses, Virginia,

where they met. Southern General Boeard

with 22,000 troops, much smaller army.

He panicked a little bit when he heard

how many troops the north was bringing,

called for reserves, and 10,000 more

troops came up to give him assistance in

this battle of Manasses.

The northerners thought this was going

to be a very quick war. In fact, a lot

of the social elite from Washington DC

got in wagons and came down with picnics

to watch this first battle thinking that

the war would be over very quickly. They

were going to crush the south and let's

have let's have sandwiches and champagne

and watch it all happen.

They were watching from a far hill.

Huge armies meeting at a three-way

railroad junction, a key spot.

The battle began

back and forth.

Over 50,000 people fighting.

The North started to take more ground

and back the South down. There was a

general, General Jackson, who stayed on

his horse and wouldn't back down and

rallied the troops to come back up on

the hill. You can go and see where this

is because there is a a giant statue of

a man on a horse representing General

Jackson where he made his stand right

there and rallied the southern troops to

come back. This is where he earned the

name Stonewall Jackson.

They rallied and came back, but

eventually the North started to take

more ground and back them down again.

And the northern soldiers were exhausted

because they had already marched from

Washington DC down to Manasses.

So they were exhausted already before

the fighting even started, but they were

still doing okay. They had a a slight

numerical advantage.

But then something unique happened in

this battle

that surprised a lot of people and

historians today still really can't

explain why.

There's an eyewitness account from a

Confederate lieutenant

WW Blackford and he wrote this about

this specific war and this battle in

July 21 of 1861. This is what he said.

It was about 4:00 and the battle waged

with unabated fury. The lines of blue

unbroken and the fire was vigorous as

ever while they surged against solid

walls of gray. The two armies standing

immovable in their front. It was on the

ridge earlier that day that Jackson won

the name Stonewall. But now the most

extraordinary spectacle that I have ever

witnessed took place. I had been gazing

up at the numerous well-formed lines of

the North as they moved forward to the

attack, some 15 or 20,000 strong in full

view. And for some reason, I turned my

head in another direction for a moment

when someone said, "Look, look." I

looked up and what a strange change had

taken place.

The whole field was a confused swarm

with men, the northerners, swarming like

bees, running away as fast as their legs

would carry them. With all order and

organization abandoned, in a moment the

whole valley was filled with them as far

as the eye could reach, they plunged

through Bull Run the creek. And he goes

on to explain how the northerners were

running and retreating in a panic. A

just after it seemed like they were

winning the battle and pushing the south

farther back. He looked away for just a

moment and when he looked back again, it

was sheer panic and retreat. He said it

was one of the most incredible things

he's ever seen. What happened here?

Northern forces unexpectedly retreating

and confusion.

There's a book

authored by one of the founders of 7th

Adventist Church, Ellen White, called

Testimonies Volume One. There's a whole

set of testimonies. She talks about this

battle in this book around page 266, 267

I believe.

And there was a moment when she was

shown in vision this specific battle.

And this is what she has to say about

what she saw in this vision. She said,

"I had a view of the disastrous battle

at Manasses, Virginia.

It was the most exciting and distressing

scene." She said the southern army had

everything in their favor and were

prepared for a dreadful contest. The

northern army was moving on with

triumph, not doubting but that they

would be victorious.

Many were reckless and marched forward

boastingly as though victory was already

theirs. As they neared the battlefield,

many were almost fainting through

weariness and want of refreshment. They

were tired. They did not expect so

fierce an encounter. They rushed into

battle and fought bravely, desperately.

The dead and dying were on every side.

Both north and south suffered severely.

She then later explains that God was

showing her how he was moving in this

young country.

And she says in her vision she saw an

angel descending down over this

battlefield and the angel waved his hand

backward. Instantly she says there was

confusion in the ranks.

It appeared to the northern men that

their troops were retreating when it was

not so in reality and a precipitated

retreat commenced.

Have you ever read a story like this in

the Bible where people were at battle

and all of a sudden there was confusion

among the ranks? We see this multiple

places in scripture where God divinely

intervened in a battle in a very similar

way. We can look at Joshua 10:10. It

Joshua 10:10

says, 'The Lord confused them before

Israel.

Exodus 14:24 with the Egyptians, the

Exodus 14:24

Lord threw their forces into total

confusion.

And in Judges chapter 7, the Lord

Judges 7 · chapter mention

confused the foes of Gideon. We see

something very similar over and over

again in scripture.

And here in this vision, Ellen White

sees an angel move in and do the exact

same thing with the armies of the north.

and throw them into confusion and unexpl

unexplained by historians today, they

turned around and ran as if being

chased. Total retreat.

Why would this happen? If you look at

history and the exhausted state of the

northern army, if they had kept on going

and chased the southerners all the way

back, likely they would have been too

weak to encounter the backup armies.

likely more death would have happened

than already happened here on this

battlefield, but there's a very good

chance that it would have changed the

outcome of the whole Civil War early on.

And then our country would look very

different than what it looks like today

for a lot of Americans.

God's hand has been in many different

parts of this world's history as far as

governments go. And and it's no

different today in different aspects.

Remember the song, he's got the whole

world in his hands. I love that song. It

reminds me just to have peace about

things and trust God with the things I

can't explain.

But God has been moving and preparing

humanity for the soon coming of Jesus in

a lot of different ways. some that we

may not even know about, but some that

we get a sneak peek at through different

aspects like stories of George

Washington

and explanations of things by Ellen

White where we see God actively moving

in this country

right now. We have freedoms in this

country

that are luxurious compared to what

other countries have.

freedom to talk about God freely.

There is very little chance that after

I'm done preaching here that I will be

arrested and thrown in jail for whatever

I say up here.

In other countries, if I preach

certain things from this book, I could

be thrown in jail or even killed.

There are countries very close to us

even just to the north that classify

some of the things in this book as hate

speech

over in the Nordic countries as well

contents in this book labeled as hate

speech. Hate speech. Can you imagine

God's word being labeled as hate speech?

And yet other countries don't have the

same freedoms that we have.

You can't openly talk about Jesus in a

lot of the majority Muslim countries.

They won't throw you in jail. They'll

just kill you.

The freedoms that you and I have here in

this country to talk about Jesus are

incredible.

My question to you today is,

what are you doing with that freedom?

the freedom that that so many people

would love to have

but don't have. What are we doing with

the freedom to speak freely about Jesus

here in this country?

For most of the world's history,

they have not had that freedom that we

have. In fact, you know, it's it's what

I'll be preaching on in my Bible

prophecy series coming up in just a

couple weeks. Boy, that would ruffle

some feathers around the world.

But here in America, I'm free to preach

on it, to preach on Bible truth. What an

absolute luxury that freedom is that we

have.

We look at scripture

and the ones specifically, I love the

book of Acts,

they are called and driven

and persistent in their witnessing and

telling people about Jesus, even without

the freedoms that we have today. Turn

with me in your Bibles to the book of

Acts. Today we're going to look at a at

a story

of witnessing and lack of freedoms and

sharing their faith. The book of Acts

I've always looked at as I go through it

and I think this is just like a

perpetual beating of Paul. Paul has to

go through so much and he keeps on

getting physically beaten, threatened

with death, left for dead because he

continues to tell people about his

friend Jesus. They threaten him, say,

"Don't speak about it again." He goes

right back out and preaches again.

Right? I mean, as he leaves, he's going

to preach again.

He does not have those same freedoms

that we have today.

Acts 9, the Jews are plotting to kill

kill him. He has to leave. A little bit

later in Acts 9 and around 20 verse 26,

the Greeks are trying to kill him. Just

in one chapter, two different groups of

people are trying to kill him for what

he's doing. He's preaching.

Acts 13,

he's ministering in Antioch, the first

place where they're called Christians,

deals with a sorcerer,

first miracle of sorts. Verse chapter,

chapter 13 of Acts, he preaches

powerfully and the Gentiles beg for more

preaching. Almost the whole city shows

up the next Sabbath.

Chapter 14,

Paul heals a man in verses 8-10. And

then in verse 19, the the Jews stone

Paul and leave him for dead. He has to

run for his life. People are plotting to

kill him. They stone him and it's it's

easy to breeze by this. People threw

rocks at him hoping he would die. They

knocked him out until he was left as if

he was dead. They thought they'd killed

him. That's how bad they hit him with

rocks.

And yet God's not done with him yet. He

revives him back up. What does Paul do

immediately after he's done being stoned

and comes back to life? Essentially, he

gets back out and preaches and tells

more people about Jesus. If that's not

inspiring, I don't know what is. This

man, you cannot stop him from telling

people about his friend Jesus and the

hope that he has in him. He's left for

dead, gets back right back up and keeps

on preaching. Acts chapter 16 verse 16

Acts 16:16

says, "Now it happened as we went in

prayer that a certain slave girl

possessed with the spirit of divination

met us, who brought her master's much

profit by fortuneelling. This girl

followed Paul and us and cried out

saying, "These men are the servants of

the most high God who proclaimed to us

the way of salvation." And this she did

for many days. The first thing right off

the bat when you read this, you're like,

"Hey, that's a pretty good endorsement."

She's like on their side saying, "Hey,

look, these guys will teach you how to

be saved." Probably not. Remember who

she works for. There's probably a

mocking element to her voice in this

because I don't think she's actually

endorsing them. And Paul's response to

this is clearly not a happy one.

Clearly, she's harassing them. And this

part of the story brings to the

forefront the battle between good and

evil, the great controversy, the battle

between Christ and Satan. And it reminds

us that Satan's way is bondage and

keeping people prisoner. The way of

Jesus is freedom. That's the way of

Jesus to free people from the bondage of

the devil. She follows them around every

day for many days. Now it says, "But

Paul greatly annoyed." Paul is human.

He's a servant of Jesus and he's a

preacher, but he gets annoyed, too. We

all get annoyed at stuff. This girl was

driving him nuts. He couldn't preach

without her interrupting. And and

finally, he was so annoyed. He's he

turns and says he realizes the battle

here between the spiritual battle that's

happening between good and evil. He

says, "I command you in the name of

Jesus Christ to come out of her." and he

came out of her that very hour. This

reminds us of the power of the name of

Jesus. In the battle between good and

evil, the power of Jesus always wins.

>> Amen.

>> We don't have to fear anything. I don't

think Paul had an ounce of fear when he

commanded that spirit to come out

because he knew the power of Jesus. No

matter what our struggles are, go

forward in the name of Jesus. It's a

powerful name and powerful God.

He frees this lady through the power of

Jesus. She has her life back.

And what do they get for their good

work?

Verse 19. But when her master saw that

their hope of profit was gone, they

seized Paul and Silas and dragged them

into the marketplace to the authorities.

And they brought them into the

magistrates and said, "These men being

Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, and

they teach customs which are not lawful

for us, being Romans, to receive or

observe." And the multitude rose up

together against them, and the

magistrates tore off their clothes and

commanded them to be beaten with rods.

Can you imagine Paul? Not again.

I have to get beaten again. And it's

extra bad when when it's undeserved.

When you've done nothing wrong and you

get punished, it stings a little bit

more. If you've done something wrong and

you know you've done something wrong and

you get punished, you're like, "Okay,

that's fair. I deserve that."

But if you've done nothing wrong, only

try to help people, and you get punished

for that, that just hurts a little bit

more, doesn't it? Stings a little bit

more. Like, I shouldn't have to go

through this. And here Paul and Silas

are, they've just been ordered to be

beaten with rods.

That's rough.

Verse 23. And when they laid many

stripes on them, they threw them in

prison and commanded the jailer to keep

them securely. Having received such a

charge, he put them into the inner

prison and fastened their feet in

stocks.

Paul and Silas had been given a gospel

commission, hadn't they? To do what? To

baptize people in the name of Jesus. To

teach what they had been taught.

And they were following that commission.

They did not have the freedoms that we

have today to do that without

repercussion.

It would be a little intimidating,

wouldn't it, if you went out doortodoor

offering Bible studies, knowing that it

would be possible that they take you

down to Cambridge Square by the fountain

and beat you with rods if you keep on

doing it?

Be a little bit intimidating, wouldn't

it? How excited would you be about

giving Bible studies if that was the

recourse, taking you down to Cambridge

Square and beating you in the square in

public? You'd probably be like, "F, can

I give Bible studies anywhere else?

Maybe online where they're not going to

beat me.

It's pretty intimidating. And yet Paul

and Silas

were still willing to tell people about

Jesus, even without those freedoms that

we enjoy today.

Verse 25, it says, "But at midnight,

Paul and Silas were praying and singing

hymns to God, and the prisoners were

listening to them." This part of the

story

always challenges me because I think to

myself, if this happened to me, could I

be singing and praying?

Singing that blows my mind alto together

there. Singing about what?

You know, Paul and Silas knew they

weren't alone.

God promises, I'll never leave you or

forsake you. He also says, I'm I'm close

to the brokenhearted.

In the book, Thoughts from the Mount of

Blessings,

the author says, "Christ was beside them

there," talking about Paul and Silas in

prison. "Christ was beside them there,

and light of his presence irradiated the

gloom with the glory of the courts

above." That changes everything, doesn't

it?

Even though they were thrown in prison,

Paul and Silas could still sing praises

to God, knowing that he would be with

them and help them make it through. You

know how they knew that he would be

there to make it through with them?

because they could look back at their

past

and they saw how God had been with them

in the past and they made it through

those trials. And because God had helped

them make it through those trials, they

knew that God would help them make it

through this trial as well. If you're

ever wondering if you're going to make

it, just look in your rearview mirror.

Look at all the times God has been with

you and helped you make it through. And

you will have confidence knowing that

God will help you make it through

whatever you're going through at that

moment. Here they are singing and

praying. The whole prison is listening

to them.

They're probably asking the same

questions. How can these guys be

praying? They can't be comfortable.

They've just been beaten with rods.

Their feet are in stocks. They can't lay

down. They can't sleep. They're probably

in a lot of pain.

What is it about these guys that allows

them to be this cheerful in jail after

they've just been mistreated like this?

The prisoners were listening to them.

Even in jail, they were able to be a

witness.

Verse 26 says, "Suddenly there was a

great earthquake so that the foundations

of the prison were shaken and

immediately all the doors were open and

everybody's chains were loosed." Odd

earthquake, isn't it?

I picture angels zipping right through

that that prisoners being like, "Chains,

chains, chains, doors, doors, doors, and

everything just opens and falls down."

Can you imagine the prisoners faces?

They look down, look around, look up.

Verse

27. The keeper of the prison awaking

from sleep and seeing the prison doors

open, supposing the prisoners had fled,

drew his sword and was about to kill

himself. But Paul called out with a loud

voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for

we are all here." He shouted, says with

a loud voice,

must have almost been ready to happen.

He shouts to try and stop him. Do

yourself no harm, for we are all here.

I wonder how the other prisoners

stayed.

How did they know to stay and not just

take off?

I hope someday there's a there's a

replay of this story where we can see I

don't know if there were angels at the

doors being just like, "Give it a

minute. Just wait for a second. Stay

stay right where you're at." I don't

know how it happened, but they all

happened to stay.

Verse 29, he called for a light, ran in

and fell down trembling before Paul and

Silas. He brought them out and said,

"Sers, what must I do to be saved? Even

in prison,"

Paul and Silas were pointing people to

Jesus. No doubt before he fell asleep,

he'd heard them singing about Jesus.

"What must I do to be saved?" Paul gives

a very simple answer.

Very simple.

He says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus

Christ and you will be saved." Simple.

Believe in Jesus.

Accept him and by believing you'll

follow him.

You'll be saved."

And they spoke the word of the Lord to

him and to all who were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the

night and washed their stripes. And

immediately he and all of his family

were baptized. Can you imagine the

conversations that happened while he was

washing the stripes on their back?

What did they say? What did they talk

about? This this Roman centurion

probably was in charge of these beatings

or knew the guy who was probably treated

him rough. It says they were thrown in

prison, not not gently carried into

prison.

What did they say? It says he washed

their stripes and immediately he and his

family were baptized. Can you imagine

what that was like for Paul and Silas as

they baptized this family?

seeing how God had turned something bad

into something good.

Incredible story. Now, when he had

brought them into his house, he set food

before them and rejoiced, having

believed in God with all of his

household.

Paul and Silas, despite their lack of

freedom to speak about Jesus,

were bold

and couldn't be stopped.

We have religious freedom here in this

country.

What are we doing with our freedom?

We have freedom

like no other country in the world to

speak about Jesus.

What are we doing with that freedom? Are

we utilizing that freedom?

I would suggest to you and challenge you

today to use your freedom to partner

with the Holy Spirit and ask God to open

up doors for you to share the hope that

you have in Jesus with somebody else.

This week it can be local, it can be

online, it can be anywhere.

I I made a couple videos on my YouTube

channel in Italian. I used some uh AI

technology, turned it into Italian, and

uh I get I get questions still like a

year later in Italian on my YouTube

channel. I don't speak Italian.

I have to copy and paste what they say

in there, put it into Google Translate,

translate it, look at it, I'm like,

"Okay." Then I answer the Bible question

in English, translate it back into

Italian, and post it back to these

people. I have Bible studies in Italian

fairly often. Don't speak Italian.

Doesn't matter anymore.

You can do Bible studies anywhere

anymore with with with the internet and

and technology today or you can talk

with somebody at your office

like the Bible says with gentleness and

kindness share the hope that you have. I

believe that is our challenge today and

we have the freedom to do that more than

just about any country on earth.

What are you doing with that freedom

here in 2026?

Many years ago, I went to uh another

country with a group and we were doing

public evangelism and helping out at a

at an orphanage.

And there had been some some warnings

from the State Department on on some

rather unsafe areas close by to where we

were at, but they had given us the

thumbs up and okay, it's it's all right

to go there. It's we think it's fairly

safe there now. So, we went there with

this group. We were doing evangelism

each night. Uh working with the kids

during the day at the orphanage. Uh the

evening meetings were just incredible.

People were coming from all over the

place. I'm pretty sure I shook hands

with a guy that had leprosy after the

meeting. I saw him coming. I was like,

"Oh." And they would they would come and

want us to pray with them and want to

shake our hands and connect with us. And

I saw this guy coming and I was like,

"Oh man, I I think this guy's got

leprosy on his hand. His hand was all

bandaged up and his skin." And I was

like, "Lord, I can't not shake hands

with this guy. He's coming up to me. I'm

going to need some extra part some some

virtual plastic gloves on my arm cuz I'm

going to shake this guy's hand and show

this guy some love. I shook the guy's

hand and he gave me a big smile and he

kept on going and I never got leprosy.

So, praise the Lord for that.

But I can remember I can remember being

there. We had great meetings and um

prayed with a lot of people. A lot of

people were baptized and we left and we

were looking at possibly coming back and

things had changed in this area and in

that next year there was a 7th Day

Adventist pastor that was dragged out of

the pulpit on a Sabbath morning and

beaten to death by a mob. We weren't

able to go back to the area because of

safety.

And I'll never forget that because I I

thought to myself,

this guy died doing what we're all

called to do.

He didn't have that freedom to speak

freely without repercussions.

The country where I live in,

I have the gift of amazing freedom to

speak about Jesus.

What am I doing with it?

What am I doing with it? Friends, we

live in a pocket

of history.

A pocket

with some of the most gracious freedom

you could ever have in this world's

history.

We don't even have to face the same

stuff that Paul and Silas faced.

What will you do with the freedom you

have today as a disciple of Jesus? One

called

to teach what you have learned. one

called to share the hope that you have

in Jesus.

What will you do with the freedom that

you have today for God's work? I want to

challenge you today to pray a bold

prayer

and ask God to open up opportunities for

you

to share the hope that you have with

somebody who needs it. It may be someone

close to you, maybe a family member you

might be praying about, maybe a co-orker

that that you've had some conversations

with, but they've been a little bit

hesitant about it. It might be the

person at your favorite restaurant that

you talk with, chat with. It may be

strangers online that you connect with

in a forum somewhere.

But I believe if you ask God

to give you opportunities,

I believe he'll do it.

What he needs is a willing heart. Will

you be that willing heart and utilize

the freedom that we have right now to

share your faith and the hope that you

have in Jesus soon coming? I believe

with all my heart that Jesus is coming

soon. Everything I read in this book

indicates that Jesus is coming soon.

We're going to be looking at a four-part

Bible prophecy series starting in two

weeks on reasons I believe Jesus is

coming soon based on Bible prophecy.

There is a Bible prophecy that was

fulfilled as recent as 1929

written in this book fulfilled in 1929.

That's not that long ago. My grandfather

was born in 1925. He was four years old

when Bible prophecy something written in

here was fulfilled.

For me, that's pretty cool. And I want

to know more. When God talks about

taking us home and he gives us signs,

things to look forward to, I want to

know everything there is. And then I

don't want to know it just to keep it. I

want to know good ways to share it as

well so that more people can be with us

in heaven and know about the hope that

we have in Jesus. That's my challenge to

you. Pray that bold prayer this week.

utilize the freedom that we have right

now to tell somebody about Jesus. The

freedom that you and I have sitting

right here in this church now is some of

the some of the best freedoms anyone's

ever enjoyed in the history of this

world.

Use it for good. Use it for good. We're

going to sing a closing song. I want to

invite our worship team to come up. Our

closing song is This is My Father's

World. It's often easy to stress out a

little bit about end time things and the

coming of Jesus and the things that are

in Bible prophecy and what what that

means for America and Americans, but

this is a great reminder that just like

the other song says he's got the whole

world in his hands. It's the same

message here. It says, "This is my

father's world. Oh, let me never forget

this. This line seems applicable that

though the wrong seems off so strong,

boy, isn't that true today? God is the

ruler yet. This is my father's world.

Why should my heart be sad? The Lord is

king. Let the heavens ring. God reigns.

Let the earth be glad. Let's stand as we

sing our closing song. This is my

father's world. Father in heaven, Lord,

I pray for the missionaries overseas and

the Seventh Day Adventists overseas that

don't have the same freedoms that we do,

but are still acting on their calling to

be gospel missionaries. Lord, I pray for

those of us that are here that have

these freedoms, to have the boldness of

Paul and Silas,

to not be hesitant or afraid to share

our faith,

but always being mindful to do it with

gentleness and kindness like you've

instructed in the Bible. Lord, give us

opportunities this week to share the

hope that we have in you, to share about

the grace and forgiveness that we've

experienced in our own lives that others

can have as well, and the change that

God can bring about in lives. Lord,

thank you for the privilege of

partnering with you in this ministry.

Give us the boldness to move forward

with you in the power of the Holy Spirit

is my prayer in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Amen.

>> Thanks so much for joining us here at

the McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church

for worship. Each month we reach between

25 and 30,000 people with gospel content

online. We're looking to expand our

audiovisisual department this year and

looking to raise $30,000 in this

project. We would love for you to

partner with us on this and consider

making a donation to our audiovisisual

department as we look at expansion and

reaching more people with the gospel

across the internet this next year. You

can go to mrcsda.org

to make a donation directly to our

audiovisisual department. Thank you so

much for considering making this

donation and the privilege is ours to

partner with you in making this a bigger

and more effective ministry here at the

McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church.

God bless each one of you and thanks

again for joining us here at the

McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist Church.