Sermon

Ep. 052 The Bitter Ocean

Potter's House Church - Salmon Arm, BC Canada

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  1. Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located

  2. in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship

  3. Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,

  4. discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church

  5. and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your

  6. host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing

  7. to you and bring you closer to God.

  8. Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Again, my name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor

  9. here in Salmon Arm and today's message I've put together is called The Bitter Ocean. Yesterday,

  10. today, and forever. The scripture we'll be using is pretty short as a jumping off point

  11. this morning. It will be Hebrews 13, 8 or afternoon whenever you're listening to this.

  12. It's another tumultuous day in the world. It seems that there was another assassination

  13. attempt on Donald Trump today on Sunday, September 15th. We just pray that God's hand would be

  14. upon America and Canada as well and the leaders. We need to be peacemakers but we also need

  15. to remember that we're soldiers for Christ and that although these times are dark, we

  16. do trust that God is in control and that he has all sovereignty in what goes on in and

  17. amidst mankind.

  18. So again, the title of the message today is The Bitter Ocean and we're going to look at

  19. the Battle of the Atlantic. So when all was said and done, British Prime Minister Winston

  20. Churchill would comment, the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was

  21. the U-boat peril. I was even more anxious about this battle than I had been about the

  22. glorious air fight called the Battle of Britain. And let's look at our text in Hebrews 13,

  23. 8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. So the reason why we're

  24. going to be looking at this is that the battle for the Atlantic or the bitter ocean is that

  25. we are in a period of time where it's very easy to get bitter. We are looking at a situation

  26. in society that can seem like being in a small ship in a big deep ocean, a very dark ocean

  27. where there are things underneath the water hunting us. And we have to recognize that

  28. in the midst of this tumultuous time that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today

  29. and forever. He is always with us. He is there to help us. So let's remember that as we jump

  30. into this message today.

  31. Let's just go ahead and pray. Dear Lord God, I pray that this message would impact people

  32. and help them, that it would go to their heart and that they'd recognize that you are in

  33. control. But even when it seems like the darkest hour, you are there right on the horizon,

  34. ready to help us if we will only put out our hand and accept your help. In Jesus name we

  35. pray. Amen.

  36. So when I first put this message together, one of the things that really stemmed it was

  37. it was right around the time of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. So this was back in June. And D-Day

  38. was the invasion of Nazi Germany occupied Europe. So it was the invasion of France and

  39. you know that initial push to break up what Hitler was able to do in Europe. So this operation

  40. was years in the making and was the start of a very long, long battle to take back Europe

  41. from the Nazi regime.

  42. Years before this tremendous military operation, England was at risk of failing to the Germans.

  43. They were cut off and surrounded by the German U-boats. Germany took control over most of

  44. Europe and since England is an island, they were extremely vulnerable. The trade that

  45. they had depended on was now under German control and Hitler was eager to exert his

  46. authority over the nation of England and just as he had done with the rest of Europe.

  47. So the first point I want to look at is the enemy is like a roaring lion or a charging

  48. bear. And so what does that bring to your imagination is if you're, you know, I live

  49. in bear country and if I'm out hiking, I'm constantly making noise so that bears know

  50. I'm around because last thing I want to do is surprise a bear and have one charge me.

  51. Similarly, if you were in like areas where there's lions, you would be, you would be

  52. ever aware that there could be something lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on you. And

  53. that's the picture we see with the enemy being like a roaring lion or a charging bear. We

  54. see that picture of Satan or the devil and how he looks at humanity. So the Battle of

  55. the Atlantic was from a period of time in 1939 to the end of the war. It was the longest

  56. continuous battle of the second world war and Canada played a key role in the allied

  57. struggle for control over the North Atlantic. As German submarines worked furiously to cripple

  58. the convoys shipping crucial supplies to Europe, the victory was a very costly one. More than

  59. 70,000 allied seamen, merchant mariners and airmen lost their lives, including approximately

  60. 4,400 from Canada and specifically Newfoundland. Let's look at Proverbs 28, 14 through 16.

  61. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into

  62. calamity like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

  63. A ruler who lacks understanding is cruel, is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust

  64. gain will prolong his day. So as we continue this look of the Battle of the Atlantic, it's

  65. important for us to recognize what they were going through this large expanse of distance

  66. between the Canadian and American coast over to the English coast. It was a area that was

  67. primarily controlled in large part by the German Navy. So basically once you left air

  68. cover from Canada or the US and until you reached air cover within Great Britain, you

  69. were at huge risk of being attacked. You were at huge risk of losing your life. So for a

  70. time the danger had existed that Britain might fall without a single German soldier setting

  71. foot on the island nation. Rather it would be strangled into submission at sea deprived

  72. of life-giving food, raw materials and oil which flowed into its ports, causing perhaps

  73. millions to perish. This was old school siege warfare but done on a much more massive scale.

  74. And the devil likes to do this with us. It likes to try to encircle us so that we feel

  75. that we have no way to get out, so that we feel that we're totally lost, we're totally

  76. cut off from everybody who cares or anybody who can help us until we allow ourselves to

  77. be starved out. Interestingly the whole scenario had played out once before, just two decades

  78. earlier during the First World War, the newly invented German subs had tried to sever the

  79. lifeline to North America and break the British Navy's blockade of Germany. Many of the German

  80. sub commanders in World War II were veterans of the prior Battle of the Atlantic, as were

  81. most of the British naval commanders. Back then the British had learned through hard

  82. experience that the best defense was to avoid letting ships sail alone, relying instead

  83. on safety of protected convoys. But the Germans had learned as well and developed an effective

  84. new countermeasure which they used from September 39 onward, the submarine wolf pack. In 1 Peter

  85. 5, 8-9 it says, Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around you

  86. like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that

  87. the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

  88. So this battle wages on and I keep interjecting with these pieces of scripture so that you

  89. recognize and I hopefully can extrapolate out what I'm saying here is that we are in

  90. a battle, a spiritual battle. This was a physical battle, the Battle of the Atlantic, but it

  91. also was very much a spiritual battle. And it's something that is very relevant to today

  92. because many of us feel that we are stuck, that we are encircled, that we are ensnared,

  93. and that we don't have any hope outside of just circumming to the darkness of the waves

  94. and the deep, deep sea.

  95. This brings me to my next point which is the battle. Ephesians 6, 10-12 says, Finally,

  96. be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of God

  97. that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle

  98. against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic

  99. powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly

  100. places. It's beyond dispute that the rule of Hitler was one of demonic influence. The

  101. horror that was brought onto the world is unimaginable for many today. And I was just

  102. listening to a sermon by Pastor Scott Lamb that touched on this. Many of the reasons

  103. why the early Israelites, when they entered into the land of Canaan, God allowed for the

  104. other inhabitants to stay was so that the Israelites would know war. Because our Lord

  105. is a God of war. It tells us that. And so we know that war is part of the fallen world

  106. we live in, but we also know that the righteousness of our Lord is set. And that he is here to

  107. help us. But I do believe that he allows for war so that godly men, righteous men, will

  108. be able to stand firm in their faith in Christ, even when things are going totally wrong in

  109. the world. We need sheepdogs to be able to protect the herd. And if without them, the

  110. wolves would just be able to take over. So getting back to the story, if it was not for

  111. the extensive cataloging of World War II's atrocities after the war, many wouldn't even

  112. believe what had happened. This thought draws a clear parallel for us that we're not fighting

  113. against flesh and blood. We are fighting demonic forces that intend to separate us from God.

  114. We see the battle demonstrated through men and women, people who are in the thrall of

  115. demonic powers like Hitler, Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, and many others. These are things that

  116. we see even on our day to day when people side with certain political affiliations who

  117. are for things that are just abhorrent to God. The Bible tells us that he knows us from

  118. the womb so we should be very careful with how we treat life from conception. And we

  119. can't allow for it to be snuffed out and think that that is okay and that it is righteous.

  120. It's not. We have to be able to understand that these are not easy decisions to be made

  121. in society, but if we rely on the teachings of Jesus Christ and on the Word of God, it

  122. becomes very clear. Right now we're being asked to worship many things that are very

  123. contrary to the Word of God and we have to be very careful with what we allow ourselves

  124. to buy into. So how do we define a demon? Demons are fallen angels who have rebelled

  125. against God and they continue to propagate this evil in our world today. Scripture indicates

  126. that the demons were once angels who rebelled and they followed Satan and his disobedience

  127. and his sin. You can read in Revelation 12, 1-12. Like angels, demons are intelligent

  128. beings who possess great power. Though demons are evil spirits who are invisible to humans,

  129. they sometimes appear in the scriptures as possessing humans and speaking through them

  130. like in Luke 4. Their primary activities in the world are to engage in cosmic warfare

  131. with the angels. And we see that from Daniel 10, 13 or Revelations again 12, 1-12. They

  132. are also there to tempt people to sin like we read in Ephesians 6, 11. And to deceive

  133. the world with lies that blind people of spiritual truth. And that's, we pull that from 1 Timothy

  134. 4, 1. Scripture also speaks of demons physically assaulting people and even possessing people

  135. to do their will like in Mark 5, verses 1-20. As with angels, the exact number of demons

    Mark 5:1–20

  136. is unknown but scripture does seem to suggest that the total number of angels exceeds the

  137. total number of demons since in Revelation 12, 4 it tells us only a third of the angels

  138. followed Satan's rebellion. Though so interpreters believe that this passage is symbolic of cosmic

  139. warfare and should not be pressed for specific details, the idea still holds firm. Though

  140. the demons follow after Satan, they are still ultimately subject to God's sovereign will.

  141. We understand God's sovereign will is being above even what the demonic powers would want.

  142. When we read stories like Job in Job 1, 6-12 or Job 2, 1-10 where it shows us very clearly

  143. the limits that are placed on the workings of the demonic. This is not to say that God

  144. and it is for these things but in his sovereignty God employs what the demons are going to do

  145. for his holy purpose in the world. He withholds his hand because you have to remember that

  146. the devil has been judged, the devil has been convicted and it is only a matter of time

  147. before his sentence is carried out but it is only in due time. So demons also appear

  148. at significant moments in redemptive history that we can remember particularly Jesus encountering

  149. a number of demons which may reveal that they were highly active in opposing Christ's incarnate

  150. ministry. These are important things for us to understand when we look at periods of history

  151. that seem like we are in crazy upheavals or tumult. Right now is one of those times. What

  152. we are seeing in the political environment in the states is of tremendous importance

  153. for the entire world. We are seeing a shift of the Democrat party from what they once

  154. were to now being the pro-war, big business, big government, almost socialistic totalitarian

  155. party. When you look at who supports them and what they ask for that is what they are

  156. calling for. They are calling for a very top down government style that is very close to

  157. what they rail against as far as an oligarchy because look at who supports the party. Interestingly

  158. and again I am neither Republican or Democrat. I am a pastor, I am a Christian but I do vote

  159. and I vote according to the word of God and morally. If you need clarity on that you can

  160. reach out and I will have a very long discussion with you about that but this is not the place

  161. for that. The reality is what we are seeing is we are seeing this huge shift because what

  162. once was the Republican party under Trump is very different now. You see people like

  163. Robert Kennedy coming in and you see people like Elon Musk coming in. You see these classical

  164. liberals coming in and taking very high influential positions within the existing Republican party.

  165. So really now the Republican party of today is like the Democrat party of the 60s. It

  166. is a very interesting time and what impresses me about this period of upheaval in our day

  167. and age today is the reality that the last time something like this would have happened

  168. that I can see in history in the states would have been the election of Abraham Lincoln

  169. as president. What I mean by that is prior to him there was no Republican party in the

  170. federal government. He was the first Republican president and that started what we consider

  171. today to be our two party system. That being said we might see a shift after this election

  172. cycle because there is so much upheaval in the system. It is very very hard for you to

  173. even really call Donald Trump a Republican. You have to remember that him, Robert Kennedy

  174. and Elon Musk all these people were Democrats just a short time ago. So what is happening

  175. in our day and age? There is a shaking that is happening in our day and age today. And

  176. I believe that God is sovereign and a lot of what is happening is to shake us so that

  177. we will take our eyes off this world and look to what God has for us in store in his name.

  178. What we can do if we turn to him. It is an opportunity for us to turn towards redemption

  179. in Christ Jesus. So looking back at our tale about the wolf packs of Germany we see that

  180. Admiral Karl Donitz was the leader of the Germans U-boat fleet. The only hindrance that

  181. he saw to success was the limited number of subs in service. He had wanted 300 U-boats

  182. ready by the onset of the war. A number he considered sufficient to cut off Britain from

  183. the outside world, but when the war began only 57 U-boats were actually in service.

  184. Hitler had been skeptical about the strategic potential of sub warfare and had given little

  185. priority to the sub fleet during his pre-war arm ups, adding several supersized battleships

  186. instead. Not to be outdone, Donitz hoped to convince Hitler to enlarge the sub fleet by

  187. achieving great results early on. The first such deed to attract Hitler's attention

  188. was the spectacular sinking of the British battleship HMS Royal Oak by U-47 in October

  189. 1939. The U-boat had managed to silently slip into the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and

  190. torpedo Royal Oak while it was anchored, causing it to capsize with the loss of 833 men. Upon

  191. returning home, U-47's commander was presented to Hitler for congratulations while the Nazi

  192. propaganda played up the triumph over Germany's traditional naval flow. The Battle of the

  193. Atlantic took place between 1939 and 1945 and 72,000 sailors, navy, and airmen died

  194. during this battle. They were trying to deliver food, weapons, and other supplies that were

  195. desperately needed by Britain and the Soviet Union in their titanic struggle against Nazi

  196. Germany. As bad as it was for the Allies, the Germans fared even worse. Fully 80% of

  197. the U-boat crewmen did not survive the war, the highest casualty rate of any branch of

  198. the military on either side. So for Donitz's success, he got huge rewards because of the

  199. magnitude of it. In March of 1943, Hitler appointed him as the new chief of the German

  200. Navy and put a 400-strong U-boat fleet at his disposal. This allowed Donitz to effectively

  201. block the Atlantic shipping lanes and left Britain nearly severed from North America.

  202. Churchill's naval nightmare was about to come true, so it seemed. But fortunately for

  203. the British people, Allied technicians had been working hard behind the scenes while

  204. the Royal and Navy Air Force crews underwent intensive training to better coordinate their

  205. anti-sub efforts. A major break came when the newly invented long-range radar devices

  206. were installed on British bombers, allowing them to pinpoint the far-off positions of

  207. U-boats traveling along the surface where they spent most of their time. Once detected,

  208. the bombers dropped depth charges and attacked with new rocket-propelled explosives. Radar-equipped

  209. American B-24s also roared into the air from the British land bases, while fast-moving

  210. British and American destroyers now equipped with radar as well blasted the U-boats with

  211. 300-pound depth charges. The radar technique proved so effective that Donitz wondered if

  212. a German trader was in the midst and was somehow relaying the exact position of his subs to

  213. the Allies. Worse for Donitz, newly improvised sound detection technology allowed the Allied

  214. warships to locate radio signals from distant wolf packs and organize surprise attacks.

  215. Additionally, the perilous mid-Atlantic crossing became safer after American aircraft carriers

  216. began escorting the convoys and launched fighter planes equipped with large-caliber machine

  217. guns to strafe and sink U-boats lurking nearby.

  218. Now I know this sounds like a lot of World War history, but I want you to draw the parallel.

  219. The Nazi regime thought they had everything sewed up. They thought they had England tied

  220. up in a nice little bow and there was nothing that could break the power of their naval

  221. fleet. And today we see in our society there are people who think they have the world sewed

  222. up. They're going to be able to enslave us. They think they're going to be able to do

  223. away with free speech like we see the attacks on the people in Brazil and in other countries

  224. as well. But what we see is that God is always in control. We see that God has the power

  225. to flip the script, if you will, or to change the heading. So even though the Germans thought

  226. they had this thing already and done, the ingenuity of free people was able to change

  227. the narrative and turn the tables on the enemy. As Christians, when we tap into Jesus Christ,

  228. we have the ability to turn the tables on the enemy.

  229. So let's look at a little bit more of this story. So by comparison, German sub technology

  230. and the wolf pack tactics had stagnated amid a complete lack of cooperation from Göring's

  231. Luftwaffe. As a result, the predictable wolf packs began to suffer heavy losses every time

  232. they attacked, causing morale to plummet amid a 75% casualty rate. The turning point in

  233. the sea battle occurred in May 1943 when 41 subs were lost. Compelling Donets, whose youngest

  234. son was killed in a sub that month to withdraw his U-boats from the North Atlantic. However,

  235. when Donets met with the fear to discuss the whole situation, Hitler told him, there can

  236. be no question whatever of letting up in the U-boat war. The Atlantic is my western buffer

  237. zone. Donets, therefore, sent the wolf packs back to the North Atlantic in the autumn of

  238. 1943 only to have his U-boats sunk at an even greater rate. One sub for every ship attacked,

  239. a truly unsustainable casualty rate. And so Donets withdrew again from the North Atlantic

  240. and this time permanently, leaving the shipping lanes wide open. Britain's lifeline to North

  241. America was thus restored. The tables had been turned and now the enemy was in retreat.

  242. The story doesn't get as much fanfare as the D-Day operations. It's easier to see,

  243. you know, video or footage or watch movies that are about D-Day because it's such a short

  244. term incident. But this battle is what turned the tables and allowed for D-Day to even happen.

  245. Britain and America and Canada too were all able to restore open shipping in the North

  246. Atlantic. This brings me to my final point, which is victory in Jesus. We have total victory

  247. in Jesus. The angels and the demons must comply with the will of our risen Lord. In Luke 4,

  248. 33-35 it says, And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon

  249. and he cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

  250. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked

  251. him saying, Be silent and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in

  252. their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. Our God is an awesome God, as

  253. the song goes. Our Lord Jesus is in all power, God. Ultimately at the return of Christ, demons

  254. will be thrown into a lake of fire where they will endure God's wrath for eternity for the

  255. rebellion against him. And we can have assurance of this from multiple scriptures in Matthew

  256. 8, 28-29. When Jesus heals the two men with demons, it says, And when he came to the other

  257. side of the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met with him, coming out

  258. of the tomb, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, What

  259. have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

  260. They know the judgment that they live under. They know that the time is coming when they

  261. will be cast out in Matthew 25-41. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from

  262. me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. They sit with

  263. judgment hanging upon their head. And any of those who partake in the wickedness of

  264. Satan and his angels or his demons, they also get to look forward to this judgment.

  265. In Revelation 20, 7-9, it says, And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released

  266. from his prison, and he will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of

  267. the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle, their number is like the sands of

  268. the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp

  269. of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And

  270. the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the

  271. beast and the false prophets were, and they will be tormented day and night forever.

  272. It's very powerful picture because again you see they're released from prison and what

  273. do they do? They go back to being what they are. Rebels. That's why I've never liked

  274. it when someone says, Oh, well, Jesus was a rebel. No, Jesus was righteous. The culture

  275. he was living in was rebellious against him. Jesus is not a rebel. He is King. He is Lord.

  276. He is God. And the demons know it, the devil knows it, but what I still find super interesting

  277. about this scripture is that they still came out of the prison and they did exactly the

  278. same thing they always do, which is try to encircle the saints thinking that they will

  279. win this time. But God tells us not so fast and he consumes them with fire.

  280. This reminds me of a song that I like. It's from Hillsong United and it's called Oceans

  281. Where My Feet May Fail. You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown where my feet

  282. might fail. And there I find you in the mystery in the oceans deep my faith will stand and

  283. I will call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves. When the oceans rise, my soul

  284. will rest in your embrace for I am yours and you are mine. Your grace abounds in the deepest

  285. waters. Your sovereign hand will be my guide where my feet may fail and fear surrounds

  286. me. You have never failed and you won't start now. So I will call upon your name and keep

  287. my eyes above the waves. When the oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace for I am

  288. yours and you are mine. What a powerful song to sing and it does call your imagination

  289. to Jesus walking on water and calling out Peter into the water with him. And as Peter

  290. would sink, he would look to Jesus and call out for help and Jesus would lift him up out

  291. of the water. So even if in your life you're in like a bitter battle like the battle of

  292. the Atlantic right now, you don't have to stay there. You can put call upon our Lord

  293. Jesus Christ and lift your hand up to him and he will grab a hold of your hand and he

  294. will help you. Hitler had lost the battle of the Atlantic due to the perseverance of

  295. individual sailors, merchant marines, seamen who kept the ships moving no matter what,

  296. along with the approved coordination from the British Navy, the Air Force, and the technological

  297. developments that tip the scales in the favor of the allies. And of course the additional

  298. people or the addition of the American shipyards along the East Coast began turning out new

  299. merchant ships at an outstanding rate, replacing the lost tonnage. The British people now receive

  300. everything they needed, along with a gigantic arsenal of American-made weapons ready to

  301. use for the invasion of the Northern Europe. So the picture here is even though the battle

  302. of the Atlantic was won, the real mission was to bring life-saving support to the people

  303. of England and to push forward with that life-saving support into Europe to beat back the devil

  304. and to free those who were under bondage. The Allied forces still had a long road to

  305. victory in World War II, with the sea superiority achieved and later the air superiority that

  306. was achieved. It set the stage for the D-Day that we started with. Just like we see in

  307. the Bible, there is an ebb and flow in life. Trust in the Lord does not guarantee an easy

  308. road. On the contrary, it means that you will make it to your destination. There will be

  309. difficulties to overcome while you're on the path, but the Lord will be there and in

  310. the end you will make heaven your home as long as you stay on the path and persevere

  311. in Christ. Juno Beach was the Allied code name for a

  312. 10-kilometer stretch of French coastline assaulted by the Canadian soldiers. On D-Day June 6,

  313. 1944, the Canadian Army's 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Brigade seized the beach and

  314. its seaside villages while under intense fire from German defenders. An extraordinary

  315. example of military skill reinforced by countless acts of personal courage, the 3rd Infantry

  316. Division took heavy casualties in its first wave of attack, but took control of the beach

  317. by the end of the day. More than 14,000 Canadian soldiers landed or parachuted into France

  318. on D-Day. The Royal Canadian Navy contributed 110 warships and 10,000 sailors and the Royal

  319. Canadian Air Force contributed 15 fighters and fighter bomber squadrons to the assault.

  320. There were 1,074 casualties from the Canadians, including 359 killed. When we think of the

  321. battle, we remember the lost and I know it's not Veterans Day or Mists Day or Remembrance

  322. Day or any of these days when you might be listening to this, but we always want to remember

  323. those who sacrificed their life for the freedom that we enjoy today. But at the very top of

  324. that list, who you have to remember is Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He did so that you

  325. could have eternal life in Him. With that, if I could have every head bowed, every eye

  326. closed, real quickly, we always end with an invitation because the purpose of any of these

  327. messages and this one specifically is not to learn about history, it's not to learn

  328. a good story here or there, to pick up some scripture, that's all good and fine, but the

  329. reality of it is the purpose is Christ. If you are in the midst of turmoil right now,

  330. if you are sinking out in the ocean of your own sin, just call out to Him, raise your

  331. hand up so that He can grab you and pull you out of the bondage that you're living in.

  332. If you want to raise your hand wherever you are, I can't see it, but God can see it. I'd

  333. like to lead you in a prayer. I'd like to lead you in a prayer if you raised your hand,

  334. if you know you're not right with God. It's a simple prayer, just repeat after me, dear

  335. Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your Son Jesus Christ,

  336. that He died for my sin. I repent of my sin and I accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior.

  337. In His name I pray, amen. So if you prayed that prayer and you meant it, I'd love it

  338. if you reached out to me. All of the contact information is in the show notes. But for

  339. the rest of you, I do want you to press forward and remember that even when it's dark, even

  340. when it seems like the waves are too high and the water is too deep, Jesus is there

  341. for us. Even though we live in the precipice of very challenging times today, with lots

  342. and lots of wars and rumors of wars, this is nothing new in the midst of human history.

  343. The reality remains that Jesus is there for us if we will turn to Him and give Him our

  344. whole heart, our whole life. Now to pray and give your life to Jesus Christ is what's necessary

  345. for salvation, that's true. But if it's going to be a real conversion, and what I mean by

  346. that is if you allow God to really have your heart, you'll see that by taking the next

  347. steps. The next steps are simply live for Christ, read your Bible, find a Bible-believing

  348. church to be a part of and pray. And God will help with the rest. If you live in Samanar,

  349. we'd love it if you came to our little church. We're a little church, but we have a vision

  350. to touch the world for Jesus Christ. We have a burden, we have a heart for, I'd love to

  351. see parts of French-speaking Africa touched by our fellowship someday out of Samanar,

  352. that would be amazing. I have a real burden to see people saved. And so if you live in

  353. and around the Samanarm area, reach out and we'd love to have you at church. So with that,

  354. I want to thank you all for listening to me again. I love it if you like, save, and share

  355. this podcast. And there's also in the show notes, there's an opportunity for you to give

  356. if you want to support what we're doing here in Samanar. And all that information is there

  357. in the show notes. So please take a look. And if you feel God leading in that direction,

  358. we would love that. And we thank you in Jesus name. So I just want to close in prayer. Dear

  359. Lord God, I thank you for the opportunity to preach even in these podcasts formats so

  360. that people might hear the word of God and go forth and live a changed life. I pray that

  361. that would happen and that this message would go forward and more and more people would

  362. come to your name in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thanks again for listening. You have a great

  363. day and God bless.

  364. Thank you for listening to the PHSA Potter's House Samanarm podcast. Be sure to follow

  365. us on Instagram at pottershouse underscore Samanarm to keep up to date on what we're

  366. doing. Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.