Tested-Dr. Ken Bell

Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church.

Well good morning church.

Some of you may have noticed already but Pastor Kip and Dixie are not with us here this morning.

They are out in Philadelphia for the church of God camp meeting and they are going to

be out in the church this morning but they send their regards and say hey and they will

be back later tonight.

But this morning we do have a special guest with us here this morning.

We have Dr. Ken Bell with us here.

Dr. Ken Bell was a previous state overseer here.

Overseer as well in western North Carolina as well.

He has held two pastorates and the reason they are back in the area he has retired and

wants to be close to family.

He's got his daughter and son-in-law and two beautiful grand babies here this morning.

Could we honor Dr. Ken Bell as he comes and brings the word this morning.

Thank you very much.

What he is saying is I'm a has been.

For years my wife has been referred to as Ken Bell's wife and now I'm referred to as

Trish Bell's husband.

So this is a delight to be here and I appreciate Pastor Kip and trust me with his congregation

today.

I first met Kip and Dixie when we came as overseer in 2010.

I think I'd met him when I'd been here for a Bible study for the camp meeting and he

had just planted the church and was meeting at the sports and poem.

As anybody to now you've got two services and I just commend Pastor Kip and Dixie for

the outstanding job they've done.

Andrew is doing a great job and Zach is doing a great job music.

And Jenna she's telling me she's retired now too.

She was doing a good job with the young people.

But it's a delight to be with you today.

Now I know I'm on a time limit this morning and I'm reminding of a young southern minister

who went up north to pastor.

He'd never been up north and they had a huge snowstorm.

He went to church and only one farmer showed up.

And so the pastor said to the farmer, well I guess since it's just me and you we'll call

off service.

And the farmer said, well pastor if I go out to the field to feed my cows if one cow shows

up I feed it.

He said, well we're just going to have church then.

So he called him up to the choir.

Those days when they call people up to the choir and him and the farmer sang a couple

of hymns and then he took the farmer's prayer request, asked the farmer if he'd like to

sing a special.

And asked him if he'd like to testify and went ahead and let him testify.

Then the pastor preached this message, called the farmer down to the altar and had prayer

around the altar.

He said, why don't we go ahead and celebrate communion and feet washing.

So he went ahead and celebrated communion and feet washing.

So after the service the pastor said to the farmer, well you taught me a lesson today.

Farmer that we need just go ahead and have church.

And the farmer said, well I don't think you got the whole lesson.

He said, when I go out to the field to feed the cow if only one shows up I don't give

it the whole load.

So since I'm on limited time you may not get the whole load this morning.

It could be good or bad.

But it is the light to be here and again I commend your pastor and his wife for the

great job they're doing him.

I want to preach to you this morning on the thought of being tested.

How many of you like to take tests?

Any of you like to take tests?

Nope.

Hey there's one guy.

There's always one in the congregation that likes to take tests.

But you know we experienced tests all of our lives.

I think the pandemic was a test for the church and for us as individuals.

I taught at East Coast Bible College for 17 years in Charlotte, North Carolina and my

students feared my test and I tried to prepare them.

I'd give them a study guide and they just had to study.

But I would give multiple choice questions through false questions fill in the blank.

And I gave some essay questions until I got tired of reading all the bunk.

I tried to think of a good word that they wrote including essay questions.

And one had one student come up to me after a test and he got his grade back.

He said, Dr. Bell I don't think I deserve this F.

And I said, I don't either but it was the lowest grade I could give you.

That's cold in it.

I heard of a college student going to secular college and he was studying ornithology and

study of birds.

And went into class one day and the professor handed out a pop quiz.

You know what pop tests are?

No study and it was a page with pictures of bird legs, two bird legs in a blank, two

bird legs in a blank.

He said identify the bird that belongs to these legs.

He looked at it.

He didn't have a clue what birds those legs belong to.

He just got up and turned his test back in.

He pointed out the door and the professor said wait son you didn't sign your name.

How am I supposed to know who you are?

He raised his pants like he said you tell me.

But we're all familiar with testing.

And I want to share a scripture with you.

It's found in Genesis chapter 22 verses 1 through 14.

Genesis 22:1–14

I used to didn't read all the verses of scripture.

I would tell people.

And Megan reminds me I would say you know the story.

But people don't know the story as much now as they used to.

This is the story of Abraham and Isaac when God tells Abraham to take his son and offer

him as a burnt offering.

So let me read it to you.

Genesis chapter 22 beginning at verse 1.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

That came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham.

Who tested him?

God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham.

And he said here I am.

Then he said take now your son your only son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of

Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell

you.

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men

with him and Isaac his son.

And he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God

had told him.

Then on the third day Abraham went to his eyes and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey the lad and I will go yonder

and worship and we will come back to you.

So Abraham took the word of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son and he took the

fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together.

But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said my father and he said here I am my son.

Then he said look the fire in the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering.

And Abraham said my son God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering and

the two of them went together.

Then they came to the place of which God had told him and Abraham built an altar there

and placed the wood in order and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon

the wood.

And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said Abraham, Abraham so he said

here I am.

And he said do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him for now I know that

you fear God since you have not withheld your son your only son from me.

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket

by his horns.

So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of a son.

And Abraham called the name of the place in the King James as Jehovah Jireh which means

the Lord will provide as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.

Someone talked about being tested.

Let me say that you are either being tested today, being positioned for a test or have

completed a test and preparing for the next test.

That's the way life is.

Preparing God is not an event, it is a process.

It's wonderful when you get saved that is an event but that just begins the process.

It's just like today in life we experience the COVID test, you have a stress test, you

have blood tests, you have breathing tests, there are oral tests.

I had to defend my doctoral dissertation.

If you take a job interview that's like an oral test.

There are skill tests I think they still require you to know how to drive before they give

drivers license or sometimes I question them.

If you get a CDL license you have to take a test.

If you want to fly a plane you have to take a test and then there is life tests that every

one of us experience.

There are relationship tests between husband and wife, between parents and their children,

between neighbors with one another, between pastors and members, between members and

other members of the church.

There are financial tests when sometimes the outgo is more than the income and you wonder

what you're going to do or how you're going to make ends meet.

There are emotional tests when you cry about a situation until it seems like you can't

cry anymore and you don't know what to do.

And there are physical tests when you have an ailment in your body, some sickness, some

disease and you have to deal with pain or deal with many doctors visit.

And here's the thing, we often want deliverance when God wants development.

We want God to just take the pain away, just ease it, take it away, get us out of there.

But what God often does, He lets us be in those situations because He wants to develop

us.

I believe that life is a continual cycle.

There's a lesson God wants us to learn and then He gives it to us in a message or a song

or while you're reading your Bible at home, there's some lesson He wants to teach you

and for example, He may want to see if you really trust Him or not, so He then puts you

in a situation where He tests you to see if you will trust Him.

And here's the thing, if you pass the test, you move on to the next lesson He wants you

to learn.

If you fail the test, you'll come right back around to another test and some people get

stuck and that's why their lives just go round and round.

They never go in God because they don't learn what He's trying to teach them.

We're all familiar with the third verse of Amazing Grace, through many dangers, toils

and snares I have already come, to grace that brought me safe thus far and grace that will

lead me home.

Here's the thing, folks, nothing that happens to us catches God by surprise.

He knows what's coming and Satan is not in control.

God is in control of this world.

He hasn't abdicated the throne.

He hasn't been removed, hasn't been voted out.

And if we believe that Jesus is the Lord of this world and Lord of our lives, then we

can look forward to the day when every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going

to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now, I don't think it's too difficult.

This is a strange time in which we're living.

But this should be a time of optimism for the child of God instead of pessimism because

Jesus said in Luke 21, 28, now when these things begin to happen, He's talking about

the end days, look up, lift up your heads for your redemption draws near.

And I believe what we need to do as a church body is to get our eyes off of our problems

and get them back on our God.

He's bigger than any of our problems.

And we can concentrate on the problems or look to Him for solutions.

James says in James 1, 2, and 3, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various

trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 John 3 and 2, it says, beloved, now are we the sons

of God.

You hear me?

Not when we get to heaven.

We're children of God right now.

And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed,

we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.

In Acts 17, 28, Paul said, for in Him we live and move and have our being.

During World War II, Victor Frankl was a Jewish physician.

The Nazis captured him and his family, took him to the concentration camp, gassed his

wife and children and parents.

They kept him alive because he could keep the Jews who involved in labor camp alive.

But they stored his office, they stored all of his medical records.

One day he was standing in the chow line getting ready to get the mush that they were feeding

them and one of the guards was standing by and noticed that he still had his wedding

band on his finger.

And he commanded him, stretch out your hand.

He stretched out his hand and the guard gleefully pulled that wedding band off his finger.

It was the last vestige of his past.

And at that moment, Victor Frankl realized there's one thing that guard and the Nazis

could not take away from him and that was the freedom to choose how he would respond.

And hear me, we all had that same freedom.

We can choose to make things that happen to us, make us better or they can make us better,

but it's a choice that we can make.

Abraham is called the father of the faithful.

Why is he called that?

Because he had a going not knowing mentality.

He was living in error and one day God came to him and said, Abraham, I want you to go

to a place that I will show you.

Didn't even tell him where he was going.

And can you imagine, in fact Hebrews 11h says he went out not knowing where he was going.

I often wonder what he told his wife.

You want to tell her, say her honey, start packing.

Where were we going honey?

I don't know, God didn't say.

Now if it had been my wife and she's a wonderful woman of God.

But if I did that, went home to her honey, we were moving.

She said, what do you mean we were moving?

I could say, well God told me that we were to move.

She would say, where are we going then?

I said, I don't know, he didn't tell me.

I can just hear her.

Well when God is a little bit clearer and speaks to me personally, then we might move.

But here's your choices.

We can either trust God and be triumphant in life or doubt God and be defeated.

It's that simple.

I want you to know three things about this passage of Scripture.

First of all, it was a divine test.

God tested Abraham.

God tested Job by allowing Satan's attacks, but God limited them.

Remember when Satan accused Job before God?

So if you take your heads from around him, Job will curse you.

God said, all right, you can take his possession, but you can't touch his person.

So you know what Satan did?

In one day, a servant came running to Job and said, the Sebeans came and took all of

your donkeys and oxen and killed all the servants and only I remain and come to tell

you.

While that servant was yet speaking, another servant came and said, fire from heaven came

down and consumed all of your sheep and all your servants and I alone was left to come

and tell you.

While he was yet speaking, the third servant came and said, the Chaldeans came and took

all of your camels and killed all your servants and I'm the only one left to tell you.

And while he was yet speaking, the fourth servant came in and said, your sons and daughters,

your children, 10 children were celebrating in their older brother's home and a strong

wind came and the house fell and all 10 children are dead.

That happened in the space of less than an hour.

Job lost all of his possessions, but the Bible says he did not curse God or charge God foolishly.

In fact, Job said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the

Lord.

You've got to be able to praise God when you're on the receiving end and praise God when you're

on the giving end.

You praise him anyway because he's gone.

Then Satan attacked his body and you know, he afflicted him with boils from his head

to his feet.

His wife said, why don't you just curse God and die, but Job served God anyway.

God limited Satan's attacks and he limits his attacks on you and me as well.

There are two reasons God asked Abraham to take his son off for a man's to burn offering.

Now, I can't explain why God did that.

God did not like human sacrifice.

In fact, he prohibited human sacrifice, but he told Abraham to do this.

Abraham heard the audible voice of God.

There was no doubt about the will of God.

He knew the voice of God.

Many Christians today say, well, I don't know if it's God speaking to me or if it's Satan

whispering in my ear or if it's just myself, but the Bible says my sheep know my voice

and will not follow another.

But he had an audible voice and he didn't question God.

The Israelites had a visible manifestation of the will of God.

As they left Egypt, you know, God put a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night so they

knew which way to go.

If the cloud went east, they went east.

If it went north, they went north.

Did you know that from Egypt to the Promised Land was just a two-week journey to the northeast

by way of the Mediterranean Sea?

But the cloud leaves them to the southeast out into the wilderness on a divine detour

because God knew they were not ready to fight.

If they'd gone to the northeast, to Palestine, they would have had default-of-listeens.

They had been farmers and brickmakers.

They were not fighters.

So God, knowing what was best for them, led them on a divine detour to the southeast out

into the wilderness to prepare them for the fights ahead.

Now, there was some smart church-of-God members in that group who said, we know the way to

the Promised Land.

This is not it.

Why are you leading out here?

But they followed the cloud.

And where did the cloud lead them?

The cloud led them to the banks of the Red Sea.

God knew the Red Sea was there.

They couldn't swim across.

They didn't have boats to get all the people and animals across.

And they were stopped.

And the Egyptians were huddling the trail behind them.

And those church-of-God members spoke up and said, we told you.

We told you this was not the way.

Why did you lead us out here to die in the wilderness?

But Moses had stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Again, God led them to that dead end deliberately to prove his power.

He told Moses, straight forth his rod.

The Red Sea parted and they walked across on dry ground and then came back and drowned

the Egyptians.

Then they went out into the wilderness and there was no water.

And this way life is, their problem at the Red Sea was too much water.

Now they're out in the wilderness and there's not enough water.

And the Bible says, Exodus 15, and there he proved them or tested them again.

That's why I was telling you about a cycle.

If you don't learn it the first time, you'll get another test to try it.

And they failed God again.

The same thing with Joseph.

Joseph had dreams of one day he would rule over his father and mother, brothers and sisters,

and he didn't have sense to keep that dream to himself.

So he told his brothers and they were jealous of him.

And you know the story, Joseph's dreams cost him to be put in a pit.

So does the slave, became a servant in Potiphar's house, falsely accused of adultery of Potiphar's

wife, wound up in prison for two years.

And I imagine Joseph wondered, where are all these things God promised me?

Where are these dreams God told me about?

And then he wound up in Pharaoh's house.

And here's the thing, folks, you might not ever hear God speak to you audibly.

You might not ever receive a sign, but we do have his word.

And you can trust God on what he said.

Psalm 23 and 4, David said, Yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff.

They comfort me.

His word says in Psalm 27 and 1, The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

His word says in Psalm 35, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

His word says, Psalm 121 and 1, David said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from

whence come my help, my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

His word says in Isaiah 26 and 3, You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is

stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

His word says in Isaiah 43, 1-3, Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you

by your name, your mind.

And when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers they shall

not overflow you.

And when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames court you,

for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

His word says in Matthew 20 and 20, Low I am with you always, even to the end of the

age.

His word says in Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ, whose strength

is me.

And His word says in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, There has no temptation overtaking you, except

such as coming to man.

But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but

with the temptation also make a way, the way of escape that you may be able to bear.

If we trust Him, and if we believe God's word, I believe when your whole world caves

in like it did on Job, you can still sing that old song.

You don't sing it much anymore.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

I'm an air of salvation, the purchase of God.

I'm born of His Spirit and washed in His blood, and this is my story, and this is my song,

praising my Savior all the day long.

Here's the thing, miracles only happen in miracle territory.

And what that means is, if you never need a miracle, you'll never experience a miracle.

If you're never sick, you'll never know that God can hear you.

If you never lack, you'll never know that God can provide.

Romans 8, 28 says, We know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are the called according to His purpose.

So it was a divine test.

Secondly, it was a difficult task.

Trust to, the Lord tells Abraham to take his son and offer him as they burn offering.

It was a test of his faith, obedience and love.

And what God was asking the saint, Abraham, do you trust me or not?

Now some Christians today have that attitude, why trust when I can worry?

Has worry ever solved any of your problems?

Has worry ever given you a good night's rest?

Has worry ever strengthened you to have your problem?

But I'm telling you, if you can learn to trust God, you can lay down at night saying,

God, it is in your hands.

I'm not going to care it anymore.

I've given it to you.

You see, Isaac was the child of promise.

He was promised, Abraham was promised when he was 75 years old that he would, God would

give him seed as numerous as the sand on the seashore and as the stars in the sky.

But he and Sarah were barren when he turned 100 and Sarah was 90 years old.

Little Isaac was born.

And now God says, take Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering.

Abraham's choice was fear or faith.

Hebrews 11, 17 and 19 says, by faith Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he

who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said, in

Isaac your seed shall be called concluding that God was able to raise him up even from

the dead from which you also received him in a figurative sense.

Job lost his possessions.

He lost his children.

He lost his health.

He had a choice, fear or faith.

And he chose to trust God.

The Bible says in Psalm 37, 23, the steps of a good man or woman are ordered by the

Lord.

And if you know for me with Jason Crabb, his family, they wrote a song through the fire.

And I think he captures his thought.

He said, he never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not

be hard to climb.

He never offered a victory without fighting.

He said, help would always come in time.

So just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says,

give in, just hold on.

Our Lord will show up and he will take you through the fire again.

It was a difficult task.

And let me ask you this.

What is the task God has for you in this church?

Why did God save you?

He didn't save you to just be a seat warmer, just an attender, just a tithe payer.

He saved you for a purpose in his kingdom.

It may be a difficult task like children's church when all the adults are out here taking

care of kids.

It may be a janitor sweeping floor or vacuuming the sanctuary.

But there is something for every one of you to do.

And here's the thing.

If we don't fulfill God's purpose for our lives, there's no reason for him to leave

us here.

I know that's blunt, but it's true.

Why would God waste good resources on somebody who's not going to do His will?

You need to find out what it is.

If you don't know what your talents are, talk with a pastor.

He can help you work through what your skills are.

Our problem is, folks, is we have too many consumers.

All they want to do is come to church, sit for an hour and 15, enjoy the music, enjoy

the preaching, and go home with no responsibility for the rest of the week.

I commend this church for the way you are involved in the community activities.

God wants you to be a disciple.

It may be a difficult task for you.

The third thing about this passage of Scripture is there was a defining moment.

They got wood and they got fire, and they started toward the mountain again, Mount

Meriah, the land of Meriah.

And it took them on the third day.

Abraham saw the mountain a far off.

And he says to his servants, stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there,

and we will worship, and then we will come back to you.

Now, I want you to notice Abraham's faith.

He didn't know in advance what God was going to do, but he had so much confidence in God.

God had promised him a son.

He didn't know how God was going to do it.

As I read Scripture early, he concluded that God was able to raise him from the dead, if

necessary.

But he said, we will worship, and then we will come back to you.

Now, something else to notice about here, the test was not getting there.

It was a three-day journey.

But now that he was here, it was a defining moment.

He had to choose, am I going to go ahead and offer my son, I'm going to go back home.

I didn't mention it, but I wonder why he told Sarah this time.

Honey, God told me to take our son and offer him his a burnt offering.

I suspect he told her, honey, Isaac and I are going to worship, but we'll be back in

a few days.

I just don't know.

But here's the thing, positioning for a test is not the test.

Can you imagine Abraham traveling, walking two days, camping overnight, the third day

sing the land, and the what ifs that went through his mind?

What if God doesn't show up?

What if God doesn't show up on time?

What if I have to go back home without Isaac?

What am I going to tell Sarah?

Satan was just as real back then as he is today, and many of us, he sits on our shoulder

and poses a little question, what if it doesn't work out the way you want it to?

What if God doesn't show up on time?

The test was Abraham had to choose.

He reached that defining moment we had to go back home or obey God.

It's like the initials at the Red Sea, someone had to give up and go back to Egypt.

There's something else about this passage of Scripture that I think speaks very strongly.

You know the age difference between Abraham and Isaac?

100 years.

But he said, we will go yonder and worship, and we will return.

I believe, this is a personal opinion, I'm saying that, that I think our children need

to worship with their parents sometimes.

I'm not saying every Sunday, but all the time when they are in the church, I loved when

I was here a week or two ago when you had the kids, I think that's so powerful for children

to be involved in adult worship.

And he said, we.

Now what you know is Abraham spoke his faith aloud.

He didn't keep it to himself.

In spite of the circumstances, in spite of no evidence of God's provision, Abraham believed

God.

They started up the mountain, put the wood on Abraham's back, had to fire, and started

up the mountain.

And Isaac was a smart little boy.

He said, Daddy, I see the wood and I see the fire, but where is the lamb?

And notice what Abraham said.

One, God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice.

What I want you to notice is he had to speak his faith aloud the second time.

Can I tell you, it's easy to speak your faith aloud on Sunday morning in church.

You're surrounded by believers.

You've got people who love you and care for you, but you've got to speak your faith

aloud on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday when nobody's around and you'll

see any change.

You've got to speak your faith.

I believe your word.

Now Abraham believed God already answered.

Now Abraham didn't have ways or Google maps that shows you where the police are or where

the construction sites are, that sort of thing, but he believed God.

So Abraham followed God's direction and started up the mountain.

Now the Bible doesn't say this, but I believe as Abraham and Isaac started up one side of

the mountain, God started the ramp up on the other side.

Now Abraham couldn't see the ramp, but it was coming.

And Abraham and Isaac got to the top of the mountain before the ramp.

I'm sure that Abraham thought if he obeyed God this far, got to the top of the mountain

and sure he, the answer would be there when he got on top.

But the answer wasn't there.

As a father, I'm sure he looked around.

God, I thought you would show up by now, but he hadn't.

Hear me folks, you're often disappointed because God doesn't answer your prayers the way you

wanted or when you wanted, but I'm telling you, God has a plan.

He's heard your prayers.

Your answer may already be on the way.

It's coming.

The answer is coming, but it wasn't there.

So what did Abraham do?

He did what God told him to do.

He built the altar, looked around.

There was no ramp.

Laid the wood out on the altar, looked around.

The ramp still was not there.

He bound his son, looked around.

Ramp still was not there.

Laid Isaac on the altar, looked around.

I'm sure he looked behind him, but the ramp was not there.

And then he took the knife and raised his hand and then the angel of God called out of heaven

and said, Abraham, Abraham, if you read the text, he says his name once to get Abraham

to take his son.

He calls his name twice to keep him from taking his son's life.

God knew in his heart, Abraham's heart, that Abraham had committed to taking his son's

life and he looked around and the answer had made it to the top of the mountain.

And he took the ramp and offered it and named that place Jehovah Jireh.

God will provide.

You see, God is an ambidextrous God.

You know what that means?

He says, good with his right hand and it's his with his left hand.

And what happens to us?

We're often concentrating on what God's doing over here and don't even see what he's doing

over here.

Abraham didn't see what God was doing with his left hand while he was following God on

the right hand.

It's like God already had the lamb ready to take Isaac's place.

When they came to collect taxes from Jesus and his disciples, he told Peter to go fishing.

Peter called a fish, had a gold corn in his mouth.

God had already provided.

Matthew 6 and 8 says, your Father knows the things you have need of even before you ask

Him.

And here's the thing, folks, you have a choice.

You can trust God and be triumphant or doubt God and be defeated.

And this is your defining moment this morning.

I'm sure there's some of you who brought a need into this building today.

I don't need to know what it is.

It doesn't matter.

God already knows what your need is.

You may be having problems, marital problems.

You may be having problems with some children.

You may be having some financial problems, some health problems.

But I'm telling you, God knows what you need.

And today's your defining moment.

Now, you've got to make a decision.

Am I going to put this in God's hands and leave it here or am I going to walk out the

door and continue to worry about it and hope things work out?

It's your decision this morning.

I used to be a chaplain in the Air Force.

And one day there was a young man who came and said, I'm tired of going to church.

I'm sick of it.

Sick of the people, sick of all the activities.

I don't want you to come visit me.

I don't want any of the people to come visit me.

I'm through.

And the head chaplain just smiled and said, OK, but will you do one thing for me before

you go?

I said, sure, what is it?

You know, in the Air Force chapels, they use the same chapel for different religions.

So in Protestant, they have the Protestant Cross.

In the Catholic service, they have the crucifix with Christ alone.

And the Catholics had just finished and said, would you go into the sanctuary and look

up at the cross, the crucifix with Christ on the cross and point your finger at it

and say, you did that for me, but I don't care.

He said, yeah, I can do that.

So he walked into the sanctuary, stood down in front of the altar, looked up at the cross,

raised his finger and said, you did that for me and I, and he choked.

Couldn't get out.

He looked back up at the cross and said, you did that for me.

And he failed to his knees and said, you did that for me.

And the Bible says, my God shall supply all your needs according to his richest in glory

by Christ Jesus.

Would you buy it?

Father, I delivered the word you laid on my heart for this congregation this morning.

You know everyone who is here.

You know God, what their needs are.

And I pray that at this moment, at this time, God, they will make that decision to give

it to you.

And Lord, I just pray that the Holy Spirit will do his work in Jesus' name.

As that plays and sing something, if you have a need this morning that you'd like to put

in God's hands, we used to sing a song, take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.

That you take them to the altar and you leave them there.

And again, I'm not going to embarrass you, but if you'd like special prayer and you'd

like to bring your need up here, we're going to leave it here and you walk out this door,

not carrying it anymore.

Amen.

Yes, I will lift you high in the lowest of the yes, I will bless your name.

Oh, yes, I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy for all my days.

Oh, yes, I will put out your strength to glorify, glorify the name of the Lord.

Oh, nothing can stand against all the natures to grace.

Oh, glorify the name of the Lord.

Oh, yes, I will lift you high in the lowest of the yes, I will bless your name.

Oh, yes, I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy for all my days.

Oh, yes, I will put out your strength to glorify, glorify the name of the Lord.

If you have a need, like special prayer, I want to invite you, but you can do it right

where you're standing.

You have something you want God to do for you.

You need God to do in your life.

You just like to raise your hand as an act of faith.

God, I'm giving this to you today and you're going to leave it here with Him.

God, I'm going to show you things again.

See me again, thank You.

Go ahead, say it again.

Father, we give these needs to you today.

Everyone who is here, God, that has some situation they struggle with,

something they've been worried about, Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Spirit will do the work in their lives.

There's nothing to leave it here, leave it in your hands and walk out this door,

trusting you.

Lord, we commit it to you and thank you for it in Jesus' name.

Say it again.

Come on in.

And oh, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, and all for grace to trust Him more.

Oh, singing Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him and how I brew Him more and more.

Oh, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, and all for grace to trust Him more.

Church, something happens when we step out in faith and we give that need to the Lord.

We step out in faith.

That's what we call the step of faith.

It takes that courage and that faith to step out and say,

God, I can't do this on my own.

Lord, I need you to take this.

I want to encourage you this week.

If you have something you're holding on to, give it to Jesus today.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for all of those in the house and all of those online this morning, God.

Those of us that are carrying burdens that are too much for us to bear.

Lord, I pray that we would give them to you, not just today, but tomorrow and Tuesday and every day this week, Lord.

God, that you would help us to grow in our faith, that we would learn to trust you more and more each day.

Jesus, bless us as we leave this place.

God, bring us back safe here next week.

We pray these things in your name.

Amen.

Amen.