2024 Gratitude Service

I'll fly away, to them whom I've got special soy.

I'll fly away, I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away.

We are going out, we are going out, out of the way.

We are going to carry me home, we are going to carry me home.

I look so good, you're in a white dress, I see.

Come and party, carry me home.

The better thing will probably happen to me.

Come and party, carry me home.

I'll star the light, I'll star the light.

No more darkness, no more night.

As I fly, I'll fly away, I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away.

When I die, I'll fly away, I'll fly away.

Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning.

Good morning.

We are here today to praise the Lord.

This is what we call gratitude Sunday.

It's going to be a little bit different than any other Sunday.

I'm sure most of you well know because you're a little bit prepared as you walk in the room today.

So we have gratitude in the bolt.

It's okay, we're going to guide you through it.

We have an order of worship where we will have a song and then have a gratitude predation.

We have a word of thanks, praise to God over something that God has done.

Some people have prepared more than that.

You might have a poem or a reading or a writing or something like that.

We do ask if you are a speaker.

We are going to keep you at the five minutes maximum time limit when your time is going on.

So somebody, our people, will time you on his phone.

So we'll do that.

Just say we're going to get close to five minutes and we're going to like...

Pushing your luck.

Because you have a lot of folks who are going to share a piece from all different angles.

Good morning.

Good morning, Diane. How are you?

Good morning.

I said good morning before you got in and you missed it.

So now good morning.

Thank you.

All right.

So we are going to mix it up that way.

So it's going to be a constant new show.

That being said, also on the front, opportunities.

So Little Wonders, if you feel like you need something to do with your hands,

Little Wonders of God skits, because you're going to be in here with us all the time.

You can get that one.

And Ariana's got colored stuff up here that you can color on while that's going.

But don't fail to listen.

Because there's going to be some really good stuff that people are going to talk about.

I know there's at least two skits that are going to happen.

I'm excited about that.

And reading.

Some kind of a little bit like poetry and a video.

There's a lot of good stuff.

That being said, if you come prepared today, we're going to try to intermix and just have...

We don't have any certain system or plan.

We're going to try to have two or three at each spot.

And then we'll go on to the next song.

And if we get to the last spot, if we still have six or seven, we'll have them all.

It'll be all right.

But we want to be actively singing songs and praising the Lord throughout.

We will pick up tithes and offerings at a certain point, because that is a great act of gratitude, Lord God.

God provides you with everything that you have.

And one way to say thank you back is to be faithful with tithes.

It's a little bit of money and the offering is our way of saying thank praise God.

After all is said and done, there will be a gap while we get ready.

But some folks work hard before service, so we're not too far from ready already.

And then we'll have a meal across the hallway in the multipurpose room.

So we are on...what is the double saying?

On like Donkey Kong.

This is going to be awesome.

We're going to show gratitude to God and give the Lord the glory.

So we're going to pray together at this time.

And then it's a happy day.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, this is your place as the entire earth is your place and all the stars.

You own it.

And today we want to commit it back into your hands.

We want to say thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's going to be all day about how we should be thanking you all day, every day.

And today folks have come in here.

This is not a one man show or even a team show.

This is a whole church show.

It's all about an opportunity to speak out, live up, live out for our God.

We love you, Lord.

We are grateful for all that you've done.

We ask you to govern this because it could be hard or more likely Lord because you are a good God,

a God of organization, a God of love, a God of kindness, and a God of order.

You will take care of it.

And so we are trusting you with all of it.

Glorify you, Lord.

Thank you for those who are in the house today.

Remember this is your place.

This is your people.

And here today we intend to reach new heights in Jesus in the way of thanking you.

And we praise you for all that you're going to do in Jesus' name.

Okay, I've done my paper.

Thank you.

What do you write for всем ев Hierarch Paul 72

Whenever I've been to space

Whenever I have changed

can

pull through

That's Jennie Saly's

Wooster Netflix

The alas,

Penny Pilts Too Faced

tego

hit

go

We are in the first spot for graduate presentation.

So someone courageous who is ready to rock and roll, raise your hand right now.

Alright, go.

First hand that's off.

You're in the front and you're teaching company.

Move the microphone.

If you're going to pass the microphone around, you really don't want anything to go happen,

but you've got to be nice and loud.

This is a little absurd thing from a song.

It's the ending of the song.

The song is called Holy and it's by Zac Rose.

It's a really good song.

I recommend listening to it.

It's a really good song.

But this is just the little ending snippet of it.

And what you're going to understand today that the way to become a living sacrifice

that you carry in your hand and the way family can benefit them through family

sacrifice and then sharing the sadness by making it smaller.

And you say, this is for you to fill out.

This life is not my own.

I'm not here because of how smart I ever have.

She is, I ever have connected I am.

I'm here because of grace, by grace, through grace,

because of mercy.

I wasn't even supposed to make it this far.

And whatever you want me to do,

that is what living sacrifices all about.

So with that, there was a couple of verses that I found.

One of them is John 8.36.

It says, so the son sent you free, you will be free indeed.

And then Psalms, Psalm 118.5 says, out of my distress,

I call to the Lord, the Lord answered and set me free.

So one of the things that I thought about

with this whole gratitude thing is my freedom in Christ.

And how amazing that really is when you think about it,

how he could take someone that has cursed his name,

that would have spit in his face and cursed him out

and just hated him for everything.

And for him to know me by name and saved me,

to set me free from a life of sin

so I can one day get to heaven.

I always thought that that was really cool.

And without that, I don't know where I'd be.

I don't know where any of us would be

without the grace of God.

And with the season of Thanksgiving and being thankful

and I just, I really can't express the amazing feeling

I get knowing that God sent his son to die for me,

who hated everything that God stood for

for 20 something years,

but would still send his son to die for me

so I can be saved.

And I really think that is the greatest gift

that anyone can receive.

There's nothing we can do to deserve the love

that God shows us.

And like I said, I think that with the season

of Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon,

we need to be aware of what we're here for,

why we're here and what we actually stand for as Christians.

And that is to show people the freedom they can have

through God, through Jesus.

They don't have to live how the world wants them to live.

They don't have to see the world

how the world wants them to see it because of grace.

We are here because of grace.

We are only here because God wants us to be here

because God has the ability to end your life.

And he's done it in the Bible.

There's stories in the Bible where God has...

There's stories in the Bible

where God has ended someone's life

and God has the ability to do that.

Whatever he gives you, he can take it away.

And that includes the breath in your lungs,

the air you breathe every day,

he can take that away from you.

So when you start thinking about it

and you realize that we are literally only here

because of the grace of God,

that is the only reason we are still here.

And for that, I am forever grateful.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

When I think of gratitude and grace,

I think back to Job.

Imagine you wake up this morning

and all you have from God is your life

and anything that you praised him

or thanked him for for the last 24 hours.

Think about it.

What would you be missing?

Would you be missing your home, your food, your cell phone,

your car, your job, your money, everything?

God can take it away.

And Job 1.24 says, he said,

I came from my mother's womb

and naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Through all this Job, Job did not sin,

nor did he blame God.

How often when things don't go right in our lives,

do we blame God?

Not God, but the first out is in.

And we need to remember, not just on this day,

on all days, to praise him for everything he has done

from the time we stub our toe to the joys

of a birth of a child and everything we need to remember him

and how often he's again.

We got one more.

20 seconds.

You're up.

I can't right now.

I got a couple more seconds.

I'll be up.

Okay.

Sorry about that.

Sorry about that.

Sorry about that.

Sorry about that.

You just changed.

I thank God for a lot of things.

Sort of like Paul, when he was mis-genered again.

My little man Paul certainly grew a big, big person.

When I was little, I almost drowned

and went to a church church and around the time.

And I was worried about my hair.

And I thought what saved my life was the beans

because there was that extra shag and I wasn't gonna pull.

But it wasn't, it was God, you know, he wanted me here.

And then when I was 18,

I was drowning in the Mottley River.

Of course I was drinking, okay, and I fell in.

Now I always think that they had long hair,

that the long hair flowed on top of the water.

That's what happened.

People long hair pulled me and hurt me.

I was like, what the hell?

You know what I mean?

There were other times when me and my brother

was real little, we ran into time.

You know that I was in the mud and got by the time.

Don't you go, don't you go.

You know how you grab each other's time

and go fuck yourself.

You know what, I was like, I was sick.

I was sick.

We sat there, we cried like babies when we got up.

And we sat there.

We did it, we wouldn't have popped.

And then I started, that's when I just started turning around.

I started turning around in my life.

I was 22 years old.

And in that journey, my mom used to help me with the dredgers.

And I took care of my mom.

And at that point, I had a phrase I had,

it's really, lie on God.

But I don't look at my mother like that.

I want her to be our danger.

But God said, that's what you're on here.

This is what you're on here.

And I was going down,

and it didn't have the whole thing to take care of her.

The miracle was there.

All the little things, I gave her up,

stopped on my feet, I had to pass her back in there

and all this.

I'm an emotional person when I cry to Eddie.

I'm a cry baby.

And I went to her a half hour before we met.

And I said my stuff to her.

And everybody seemed to be smiling.

And I was able to take care of her.

I'm able to call her baby.

But why are you crying?

He's a cry baby.

Second time when we got to the hospital,

once again, I went a half hour before.

I was saying, I'm a cry baby.

I'm a cry baby.

But I love her and I'm a cry baby.

And I walked away.

And the weird thing is, here I am smiling.

Here I am not crying.

And you know, I did not know that.

Everything that I did, I mean,

it was a miracle.

I mean, a nice night.

Oh, one more thing.

My friend was in the hospital.

My roommate, his wife,

was lying right there in the bed.

And God worked a miracle on her.

He got by twice in July.

Stuff he went through in July.

He took her to the hospital.

Oh, he was a house baby.

He called her all day.

He might lose his life or he might compare life.

But God's miracle is coming home.

You know, that, that, that, that.

You know, like that's all the fuck we did for me.

I don't hope for that.

I think that.

Okay, next song.

["And Hope is Near"]

Who is by our names, who is love and doors forever

Alright, you ready?

Got it, I might put you up there if you're good

In this time of desperation

When all we know is now empty

There's only one foundation

We believe, we believe

In this broken generation

When all is dark, you have us to meet

There's only one salvation

We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that God our Father

We believe in the resurrection

And He's coming back, He's coming back again

We believe, so let our faith be more than it does

Greater than the songs we sing

And in our weakness and temptations

We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He's come for death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's coming back again

Let the walks be found and the dead be raised

In the interior and now the love is made

Let the church live well, our God will save

We believe, we believe

In the gates of hell, we're not prevailing

From now on God is going to build

The house of God will never fail

We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He's come for death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's coming back, He's coming back again

He's coming back again

We believe, we believe

All right!

Yeah!

Great!

There's a God playing. Are you telling her?

Okay, hold on. Is it ready?

I know. Okay, I'm going to put you in emotional

If anybody wants to go, get Tony in a second.

Okay, all right.

We have our...

Zoe? Okay.

We have our...

Great.

This is Zoe.

She said, this is Zoe.

Oh.

Hello.

Me and Zoe created this blanket

to show not even half of the thing was real thankful for.

And it says, have it and thanks because it's a budget.

And two, everything around us that we see,

we should be thankful for.

So everything around us that we see

should be covering us in thanks.

Is that what you were thinking about?

That there's not that much?

We're thankful for what we see.

Oh, man.

I like it. Very nice.

Very good.

Okay, Tony, you're up.

All right, thank you.

Come on, you, you're invited.

I'm Batman. I need prep time.

Let's get set up.

Oh, yeah, just a second.

Give me a second.

Okay.

All right.

We don't start until I say go.

Should be done in three minutes.

All right.

You might want to sit there.

You know, maybe sit over there.

Remember, you were showing yours the whole time.

We were lighting yours.

Okay.

Do I need a microphone or do I need a mic?

You picked that better.

I'm sorry.

I just never even.

Oh, don't you get it?

That's fine.

Can you hear me?

Okay, here we go.

Okay.

So these are stages of my life.

It's called story of my life.

Every seat I sit in, I'm going to a different age.

I'm going from like school to paint, and you'll just find out when I tell you.

Okay?

So I put this hat on.

It's like a play.

I don't have characters.

So I put this hat on.

These are all the thoughts.

There are people messing with me.

That's me.

If it's off, that's me talking.

Use your imagination.

Okay?

It's called monologue play.

But here we go.

Story of my life.

I'm in sixth grade.

I love my life.

I go through a lot though every day.

I don't know why I live.

I don't know what I go through, but I always have a smile on my face.

I feel like people ignore me.

I don't.

It's not just normal.

What is wrong with me?

Is there something wrong with me?

I don't know.

It's like no one will talk to me.

What is wrong with that guy?

Seriously.

He's cool.

He's got a smile on his face, but does anybody like, like I'm not going to talk to him.

I mean, like I'm weird, you know, he's always been friendly.

I don't do it with the guys.

Yeah.

Don't talk to him.

You don't want to ever talk to him.

He's miserable.

You're miserable.

Everybody's miserable.

Take care of yourself.

Don't worry about him.

Don't talk to him.

Leave him alone.

He'll never figure it out.

He's an idiot.

He'll never grow up.

Leave him alone.

So that's your K to six.

This is me in high school.

Well, man, I'm starting to grow.

Man, I love this.

I play football, video games, all this stuff.

I'm going to clue in and say, this is the emptiness of life.

It's not because of video games, whatever it is, whatever it's keeping you empty.

I'm empty.

God, I don't know what's going on.

I go to church every Sunday.

I cry out to you.

I feel like I've got nothing.

I feel like I understand what's wrong with my life.

I don't understand, but I don't care because I love my teachers.

I love life.

It's awesome.

But it's like, I can't even go home and talk to my family.

Go and see my family.

Hi, mom.

Hi, dad.

Love you.

I'm just going to play some video games.

Sure.

Whatever.

What is wrong with that kid?

He never shares anything.

He doesn't talk to anyone.

I can't talk to him.

He always yells at me or gets upset with me.

I don't know.

You're right.

He's a foolish kid.

Leave him alone.

Never talk to him.

He can't understand anything.

It's not easy.

He can't understand anything.

It's not your fault that he's like that.

He has to figure it out.

He'll figure it out on his own.

Let him go.

Let him deal with it.

Moving on to 23 years old.

Am I moving to 23 year old in my life?

I don't understand.

I can't take it no more.

Video games, the things I do every day.

I feel so empty.

I just don't want to live no more.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I can't take it no more.

I swear there's no answers.

There's no truth.

There's nothing going on.

I can't take it no more.

I don't want to live anymore.

What is wrong with me?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I can't take it no more.

I don't want to live anymore.

What is wrong with me?

This is me, guys.

I've been waiting, Molly.

You ready?

Yeah.

He's coming over.

He's going to sell a vacuum cleaner.

It's okay.

Don't worry.

We're sharing Jesus with him.

I know this kid.

We've already prepared.

God said this guy's smiling.

We already know that he needs Jesus.

We can't wait.

Knock on the door.

Hey, can I come in?

Yeah.

I want to sell some.

Oh, put the vacuum down, son.

Don't worry about it.

Can I open up the Bible?

I go to church every Sunday.

Well, you want to have it Sunday if you die?

I never thought of that.

I go to church every Sunday.

I don't understand all that.

He goes, well, you want to come to Jesus?

I go, yeah.

I mean, I didn't know Jesus really died on the cross.

I just thought it was a thing.

You know, people just believe in stuff.

You know, that's it.

And I don't know.

So, okay, fine.

So, I get my car, my 95 Dodge Dakota.

I believe in you, Jesus.

If you're real, no, don't listen.

You're not going to listen anymore.

You can't listen.

You won't listen to him.

You're not going to listen to him.

You can't listen to him.

Listen.

Enough.

I am the Lord your God who freed you.

Take off this dark hood and put on this truth.

I'm the one that rescued you.

You don't understand me, but I do.

I know what prayer, what presence.

You confuse me of preaching, but I don't.

I have always been there for you.

I've always wanted to talk to you.

I've always wanted to be there for you.

You don't have to listen to anybody else.

No matter what you're going through, you confuse all these things, but I don't.

I'll love you through it all.

You will have truth.

You will always find truth, and it will be there for the rest of your life.

I'll share what I want to share later if I don't need to.

But I just want to say I'm so thankful that anyone's 23 year old gave my life to Christ.

I've never been the same ever again.

And I thank the Lord.

This story could go on longer, though it's not going to.

But the point is it could go on longer, because this story never ends.

Because I've been through so many bumps, bruises.

People still ignore me.

People still not even want to talk to me as if I'm something they can't talk to.

Like I'm too big or too smart.

Maybe they just see the power of God in me.

I don't really care.

But the point is that God's loved me through it all.

And I thankfully loved you through it all as well.

That's the story of my life.

Amen.

Wow. Good job.

Thank you, Chris.

Thank you.

Okay. This time we're going to have an offertory prayer.

Pick up the other five offerings.

And then we'll have a song.

And then we'll have a couple more opportunities to share.

We're not done yet.

But this has been good so far, hasn't it?

People came ready to talk about the Lord.

And I've been blessed.

I'm glad to know that you've ever done it better.

God is so good to be doing this in us today.

So I'm going to ask Deacon Tony, would you lead us in the talktory prayer?

And then we're going to pray along with you.

Oh, yeah. Go for it.

I just want to share a verse that I'm going to sing to you.

Okay.

It was shared with me this morning.

I got an underline in my Bible, so it's like a little bit.

Cool.

You had our eye upon us way back.

And your ability to trust in you, we give our lives to you.

And you even build us up more.

So we want to thank you for what you're doing for the lives of so many people in this room.

We ask the Lord to, as we pick up the tithing offerings,

we ask the Lord to bless it.

Thank you, Lord, that we can give.

I'll just order to meet this who are just getting good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm thankful for my family, my sisters, my brothers, this environment, this good life.

I'm thankful for that my mom wasn't homeless and she didn't have no money.

She's 18 years old.

She did not get out by the road.

It took super long.

I'm thankful that she did put in a lot of time to help us stay good and need to help me.

Yeah. Amen. Good job.

That was a good one.

I'm back with you in a minute.

Alright, so I got one for you.

And then we're doing another song.

And then we've got two spots left.

So if you're delaying at this point, we've got two spots left.

Right?

Okay, this is just a reading, it's not a sermon.

Okay, so how about we go five minutes. Here we go.

Psalm 89, 15, 16 says,

How blessed are they? O Lord, they walk in the light of your confidence.

In your name they rejoice all the day.

And by your righteousness they are exalted.

Does your heart know the joyful sound?

It's not about perfected musical talent.

But can you sing or play with joy?

Those who know how to praise God as a joyful noise,

those who recognize a joyful noise when they hear it,

and I submit, join in with their own joyful noise,

these are the blessed.

To take a right turn or a left,

to avoid a pitfall or climb out of a tree,

to take a right turn or a left,

to avoid a pitfall or climb out of a pit,

renewed in God gifted strength,

because we do so by the light of his presence,

that's what Christians do.

Jesus died and arose and now is making intercession for us every day,

for those who genuinely receive him as Lord and Savior, the resurrected one.

We can rejoice and indeed have reason to rejoice even,

should be rejoicing every day.

This, regardless of daily events or any rising tide of discontentment

that seems to claim our mental state

or bury our joy beneath burdens of our own observation.

When we see the trackings of the world,

the portable provision, portable means carryable by the way,

provision or estimate the lack of something we think we need,

we need only hear again the joyful sound of the Lord and his people.

We need only value it above what we perceive of as a newly developing circumstance.

In reality, there is nothing new under the sun.

And if we will realize it is better, this joyful sound,

and it is available, we can make it limitlessly.

It is a gift of God.

God can make it for us, through us,

even if we should deem ourselves completely unable.

Then the knowing of the joyful noise come flooding back

into replace the shouts of a multitude of enemies.

And then we will say, Hallelujah!

We will praise him, we will cry out, sing out, play out, speak out, walk out, live out, love out,

because we have heard the joyful sound.

And this joyful sound remains, reminds us intimately of his willingness to bestow his righteousness upon us,

his willing transformation of us, his orchestration of our perfecting,

and again we rejoice.

We shall see in the darkness of the land of the living by a light which we could not provide,

a light that is loving and ever available, the light of his presence,

indeed the face of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the church.

When this king enters, no spotlight is needed.

This light, the light of his righteousness, lifts us up, elevates our station,

renews our crushed and vain spirits, and we are raised by his presence to be able,

to be able to know the joyful sound, and to lend our strength to it,

the strength that would have been long spent, but now is renewed daily as he walks with us, in us.

And as the joyful sound plays in our ears, our hearts overflow, and it comes out of our hearts.

Sing, sing a joyful sound.

Praise God for his presence.

The joyful sound is the song, and the lyrics are written in the blood of our Savior,

in the hearts of his people.

The joyful sound is our distinctive, knowing it makes us new, aids us in our overcoming,

marks his presence among us, and we will see and be uplifted by his provision in this way,

as his praise pours forth, for he is praiseworthy,

and we know the joyful sound he has called forth, and we shall be part of it.

Praise him today, he is worthy, do what you can, give thanks to God for all things,

give thanks together, the best you can, but give thanks alone, as much as you need to.

God is among us, and he's calling for a joyful sound.

The songs we know, the sound all people of the Lord have known,

and together we make that sound today, we make it in victory, we make it as the traffic's in victory,

we win, and here and now we sing our victory song, which is the joyful sound of his people.

Armies of God, Armies of God, are you listening? Armies of God,

sing and shout your praises, for our God is good, and the light of his presence ensures our great victory.

Let the walls of Jericho fall again, let the angels join in, let us now make a joyful sound.

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's human, Jesus Christ, his Son.

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,

give thanks because he's human, Jesus Christ, his Son.

Let the women say, I am strong, let the poor say, I am rich,

because of us the God has died for us.

Let the women say, I am strong, let the poor say, I am rich,

because of us the God has died for us.

Give thanks.

Okay, this is your next opportunity, who's still holding?

Okay, let's go here first and then we'll be here.

I do want to say I do live up everybody and I do thank the Lord for I have my fiance and my grandpa who passed away when I was seven.

I know he's still up there and then another thing is I've been going through some stuff that I don't know.

My parents have been arguing, I try to stay away from myself and fool myself.

I know it's not good to do that, but back in, I think it might have been maybe 2014,

my dad didn't come home from my mom and stuff and then he was gone for like about maybe five days and then I got bullied and like,

like, hit them and stuff and like, he came home because I was getting picked on, I couldn't go to school.

And then we moved up here and he recently started doing the things that he's done for, but he's been coming home right after me.

And then my mom's going through some stress and he's not coming home since he's not been coming home and she's stressing me out.

And I don't know if that can be a stress at home, but if people can cry, that'd be great because I do have a count home as well.

And we're getting help with the baby shower as well because we don't have a whole lot of people at home and all my family members are in shelter.

But I do thank the Lord that I have everybody here.

How about we just ask you to watch over them, even if they've missed their trials and struggles, even after any failures that have gone on,

Lord, we look into you, come into you for guidance and for healing and for hope.

And we ask you Lord to bless them, set them on the right path and help them make the right decisions in honoring you with all things.

Help her in her stress, help her with her health, help her as she follows you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Alright, cheerio.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

I'm going to be on the screen.

Okay, this is our last spot.

I see at least one hand.

Get yourself ready.

I see two back there.

So, oops, sorry.

We're going to go to Rod and we're going to come over to Aaron over here.

I have to admit it's going to be a little intimidating trying to follow all this awesome skits and songs that were sung and everything.

I don't have anything I get, but I just have something I want to share.

Something that I call the chain of gratefulness.

So let me start off by saying last year I was invited to go watch my niece Ariana play a game of basketball.

And when I enjoyed the game, you know, the Rangers did the best they could and almost came on top, but not quite.

That's okay.

So while I was there, I found out that her coach was a gentleman that I went to high school with and was in my graduating class.

So I got to talk to him afterwards.

We reconnected.

It was pretty cool just for that reason.

But I found out that he's in a similar field that I'm in, which is the maintenance field, and he's the director at the Toledo Museum of Art.

So I explained to him that, you know, I'm always looking for a better opportunity if he has something to let me know.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, he reached out to my sister and said that he has an open position.

So I applied and we're going through a process now to see if I'm a good candidate.

So where the chain of gratefulness comes in, God put so many things in line there.

And I'm not saying it was for my benefit because I don't believe it was.

I think it was just I'm just benefiting from God's good grace.

First of all, the first link in the chain, Ariana had a desire to play basketball and chose to do so.

The second link, her parents allowed her to do so.

Her parents said, okay, you can play basketball.

Third, I got invited to come see the game.

Fourth link, I reconnected with her coach, which was an old friend of mine.

And then the fifth link now is he's reaching out to potentially see if I'm a good candidate for God.

So all of those events happened in a specific order and to God's design so that I could one of the reasons.

So I can come here and share it with you all and tell you that I'm grateful for all the events that God has put in line to make this happen.

So that's pretty much all I have.

That's great to hear.

Now this morning, I suddenly remembered that this week was the gratitude service.

So I was meditating and trying to ask God what I can bring to share because I was prepared up to this point.

And I've been trying to look on the spiritual discipline of meditation.

I've had a big struggle for me for a long time. I had a lot of trouble closing that distraction.

I'm trying to find a quiet place, but I had great success this morning.

I'm pretty excited for that.

And as I was sitting there, I felt led to read James 4.13 and opened my Bible app.

It was already open, James 4, I think, on Tuesday.

And James 4.13 through 15 says,

Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring, what your life will be, for you are like a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes.

Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

And so my first reading this and as the next verse goes on to say, I've been very arrogant with my first thought.

But then as I continue to meditate and try to focus on what I was meant to take from that and share today,

the Lord told me I should focus today on what I've done in the past and I should focus on how I need to deal with that today.

And it just made me realize that I'm so grateful for the freedom that I've been given, the opportunities I've been given to make plans

and leave them in the Lord's hands to change with it.

If I want to say, hopefully tomorrow I can go to the store and buy some sweet snacks, if the Lord wills it.

That's the freedom that God has given me and many blessings go into making that one small circumstance happen that you may need to take for granted.

I think that every person on the earth has that blessing and in our vain, grieved nature of the world that we were born with,

we kind of overlook anything that everyone has, anything that's not unique just to us that we have going over top of everybody else.

But it's truly fantastic to be able to do what we're blessed with, the will to do whatever we wish.

And I'm so grateful that the Lord allowed me to be here and to express my gratitude for that gift and be with fantastic people that share the same thing.

Good word. Thank you very much.

I missed anybody? You're changed. You went earlier but I'll let you go to the end.

Alright, for the past week I've been trying to think of stuff that I was grateful for.

Of course I'm grateful for my family, grateful for kids, grateful for church, everything around us.

But I was listening to Matthew West's broken things, you know, the words that said I was here I am, I'm all I am.

And the one thing that came to mind that I'm grateful for is that we're all able to prove the blood of Jesus to them and just say here I am, I'm all I am.

So as my wife noticed I'm not going to talk about feelings much.

I think I think in general I think guys in general like trusting their feelings and letting people see what their heart is doing.

Well, I've learned over the last 14 and a half years that I am able to do that.

I'm able to talk, I'm able to reach out for help, I'm able to reach out and say hey I'm hurting, I need help.

And for most of my life I never felt like I could do that, I never felt like I could reach out for help, I never felt like anyone would care.

I always felt like nobody cared what I said, nobody cared what I thought.

That I'm a guy, I'm supposed to suck it up and deal with it.

And that was how I felt for 20 plus years of my life is that you know I'm just, I'm a man, I have to suck it up, take it like a man and just deal with it.

Well the problem is that that turned me into a very evil person.

It turned me into a person that looking back that I can't understand why anyone would even want to stay with me.

But needless to say I am absolutely grateful for my wife because she chose to stay with me even though I gave her every opportunity.

I gave her more time than not I treated her like crap and she couldn't laugh when she actually did me twice.

The second time I thought we were good, I thought we were done, I thought there was no way we were ever going to come back.

And what's crazy is being that Thanksgiving is so amazing.

I think a little bit, the weekend before Thanksgiving is when we got to an argument and she left and I didn't think she was coming back.

And I actually got a phone call from Sherry inviting me over to Thanksgiving dinner which blew my mind.

So you know that me and her had this huge fight and you know that we pretty much split up now that this isn't going to work.

And Sherry called me over and invited me for Thanksgiving dinner and I was sure I would go I guess.

Me and Alicia were talking and figuring things out and the weekend after I accepted Christ.

I actually got up early, got the kids ready, we were having breakfast.

But she was that push I needed to realize that there were times where it was like she would just constantly nag and nag about going to church.

But looking back I am truly grateful that she did.

Even though back then I might not have been, even though back then I might have been a jerk about it and yelled at her and told her to shut up.

But looking back we all have to have that person in our life that nag.

We all have to have that one person that goes hey you need to do this, you need to step up, you need to do what God's telling you to do.

And for me that was my wife and she did. She did a great job at it.

And because of that, because of the grace of God I am here today.

A completely different person, a completely changed person.

I got a new heart. I am not that person I was before.

And that's why I took a break from being a 517 my favorite verse, because I am me.

I made you because of the love of Jesus Christ.

And I am grateful that I had that one person that kept poking me trying to get me to go to church.

Alright, anybody else real quick?

Ok, I'll get you. Tony then Cheyenne.

Ok, so 20 seconds.

Nehemiah wanted to pray to see if you could ask if you could change your prayer.

Things I needed to share got real emotional and it was really rough but I just want to share real quick things.

The Lord just put in my heart is you confuse preaching with preservation or perseverance.

You confuse prayer with presence and you confuse patience with providence.

That was what I was trying to share at the end.

But I just want to say I thank all of you and I don't mean all of you. Every good gift comes with a gift.

I am so blessed by everything that is going on here.

We are already blessed but we need to remember because we are blessed we can have that blessing.

I am grateful to be here with you lovely people today and to be back in church.

I am grateful to have my beautiful babies.

I am grateful to have my sobriety because that was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with in my life.

I am grateful I am no longer homeless and I got me an apartment now.

And I am grateful for God.

Amen. Well said.

You are going to pray?

That is the plan. You are going to pray for it.

We have one song and we are going to go to work.

I just pray at this moment everybody can close their eyes to know that I want to follow God even in my hard times.

I just want to hurt my dad sometimes.

I just want to hurt his feelings but I don't do it because I love him and I respect him.

I want to be a good kid and I just say be good to me as I am good to you God.

So God I just say you can shine your light on daddy, me, everybody in this church.

Everybody that needs God I just hope I can shine my light on them and help them better to do better.

And I just hope you can give them the glory of God and make them know that you died on the cross God and you were suffered to your death.

And I just want to say you are the almighty, the glory of us.

And I just want to say we can help people be better like you can help other people be good.

So I just say can you help us and anybody that is in a situation or homeless people or anybody that needs help.

I just hope you can help them throughout their lives every day of their lives and every day until they go to heaven.

So I just say give them a great life. Amen.

Music

The moon and stars were cast. The morning sun was dead. The Savior of the world was fallen.

His body on the cross, His blood poured out on the grass, The weight of every pest upon him.

The final breath he gave, His heaven loved him brave. The son of God was laid in dark and new.

A battle in the grave, The war on hell was waged, The power of hell forever rose.

The ground began to shake, The soul was rolled away, The spark of love could not be overtaken.

Thou that litera's young, sing, Our reign to reign, The King has sent you to reign. For ever he is glorified.

For ever he is lifted high. For ever he is risen. He is alive. He is alive.

The ground began to shake, The soul was rolled away, The spark of love could not be overtaken.

Thou that litera's young, sing, Our reign to reign, The King has sent you to reign.

We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. The Lamb has overcome.

We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. The Lamb has overcome.

We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah.

The ground began to shake, The soul was rolled away, The spark of love could not be overtaken. Thou that litera's young, sing, Our reign to reign, The King has sent you to reign.

For ever he is lifted high. For ever he is lifted high. For ever he is lifted high.

The Lord wants us to hear and it comes out of Psalm 52.

And so here we go. This is God's word. It says,

The righteous will see and fear and will laugh at him saying,

I'm going to stop there. That's verse six. I'm going to tell you a real quick story.

So kids, check this story out. I was about 10 years old and our art class, we're approaching Christmas time.

It was right after Thanksgiving and our art class was going to do an art project.

We brought home the paperwork and gave it to my mom.

And what we had to do was buy a block of soap.

Some of you probably don't even know what soap is, right?

Because you've got liquid soap now, but they actually make soap in blocks.

And that's the way most people actually do wash up still in the world.

So if you've never seen that, it's because your household just doesn't use blocks of soap.

I still use blocks of soap because I'm real old fashioned like that.

That being said, I was supposed to buy a block of soap and the block of soap,

our teacher said for sure, make sure the block of soap does not have rounded corners,

that it has right angles. So it is a block, not an oval of soap, right?

And so we went to the store at 11 o'clock at night, an hour and a half past my bedtime

because my mother and I procrastinated in buying the block of soap.

And so an hour and a half past my bedtime, in my pajamas, I'm at Kroger's

and we're trying to pick out a block of soap.

Now they come in a lot of different kinds of packages and we picked out

what we thought was a block of soap in a box.

The box was blocky, but because it was already after 11 o'clock at night,

we did not open the box to ensure that the soap was blocky.

Okay? So then we get to art class the next day and I pull out my soap

and I'm all proud of myself and I'm a little tired because I only got a short night's sleep

because we were at Kroger's after 11 o'clock at night. And guess what?

The box of soap was not filled with a block of soap, it was filled with an oval of soap.

And immediately I became very fearful because I knew that the teacher had told the class multiple times.

Now I was not a Christian. I did not know Jesus. I did not know that there truly was a God.

I did not know that God loved me or valued me in any way.

And so I became very fearful that the class, especially the people sitting at my table,

would laugh at me for purchasing an oval of soap after we were warned with absolute certainty,

do not purchase an oval of soap.

So I let the soap slip off my lap onto the floor under the table and I crushed the box and I put it in my bag

and I pretended that my mother and I had not bought soap.

The teacher went around and she was giving a block of soap to all of those who had failed to bring soap.

So I got a block of soap and I thought, everything is grand. I just won't tell my mom.

I did wonder in the back of my mind whether my mom would wonder that the soap did not smell like the soap that we bought,

did not look like the brand that we bought or whatever.

But it was the best I could do to avoid being laughed at at that time.

And then the art teacher came around and she noticed that there was a block of soap,

or rather an oval of soap, under the table.

She immediately figured out that this is what had happened, that someone had bought an oval of soap.

Despite many warnings not to buy an oval of soap, someone had gone to the store and purchased an oval of soap.

And then being embarrassed in the last moment, someone had let their oval of soap slip under the table

so that they would not get in trouble for purchasing an oval of soap when they were supposed to purchase a block of soap.

Now, there was only one person at my table who had not brought a block of soap and that was me.

And so the teacher picked up the oval of soap and she said to me, is this your oval of soap?

And I said, no, I don't know where that came from.

She said, well, you're the only person at this table that didn't have a block of soap

and I gave you a block of soap and you started your project with it.

And I said, I understand what you are saying, but I would never purchase an oval of soap after I was told multiple times.

I'm way too intelligent to purchase an oval of soap after.

But she knew that I had purchased a block or an oval of soap instead of a block.

So she knew it was me, but she let it slide and I went on and made the craft.

I submit to you that many things were done in my non-Christian life with that motivation in mind.

I did not want people to laugh at me.

It might be why I was unable to stand up and preach or speak in front of a crowd or even a class to give a book report.

The last time I gave a book report was in seventh grade.

It was three minutes longer than the allotted time and they laughed at me.

I intentionally made the book report comical.

It was meant to be laughed at, but to myself, I thought they laughed a little too much.

The humor was good, but it wasn't that good.

So either they were placating me by laughing a lot at my jokes, which weren't all that funny,

or they were laughing at me as a person.

Either way, I didn't like it.

For five years going into high school and everything, I avoided any public speaking whatsoever.

Even up to becoming a Christian, I was a Christian for a year and a half and I avoided any public speaking whatsoever.

I didn't want to be in front of anybody because I was afraid that people would laugh at me.

Listen to me.

I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that at some moment in time in your life you have felt this sensation.

That you too have thought, I don't think I want people to laugh at me right now.

The righteous will see and fear and will laugh at him.

Who's him?

Because if the righteous are going to see them and laugh at them, I don't think I want to be in that group of people.

I don't want to be one of the people that the righteous are going to laugh at, even though I am now saved.

If they did laugh at me, I'd be okay. I'd still go to heaven. I'd be okay.

God will still take care of me, but I don't want to be laughed at unless I'm trying to be funny.

And then I like to be laughed at.

That doesn't always work out for me because I'm not that funny.

Verse 7 says what they will say and it identifies the man who will be laughed at.

It says, behold, look here, the man who would not make God his refuge.

In other words, the person who lived his life not recognizing that God alone is your sustenance, your support, your power, your might, your blessings, all of that.

The one who would not do that.

He is the one that the righteous will be laughing at.

Rather, it says, he trusted in the abundance of his riches.

He had a lot of wealth. He had a lot of success.

He was strong. He was smart. Whatever.

The good things that he had in his life.

He trusted in those things instead of trusting only in God.

And he was strong in his evil desire.

But as for me, the psalmist writes, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.

I am right where I am supposed to be.

And I am being filled up by the good things that God gives.

I am blooming. I am sharing. I am working in the house of God.

The psalmist writes, I trust in the loving kindness of God forever and ever.

In verse 9 he says, I will give you thanks.

And the U is capitalized, meaning it's God.

I will give you thanks forever because you have done it.

And I will wait on your name for it is good in the presence of your godly ones.

There are three things I want you to see in this passage of scripture.

And we're going to go fast.

So hang on, kids. If you're with me, hang on.

Here we go. We're going to go fast.

The first one is, and it kind of hurts a little.

We are different than those who find their strength outside the Lord.

So if you're in this room, you are different than people who find their strength outside the Lord.

Unless you can say, I am not a person who finds my strength in the Lord.

If you're here today and you can say, I'm a person who finds my strength in the Lord,

then you are going to be different from those who find their strength some other way.

You're going to be different. You're going to be seen as different.

You're going to stand out. People are going to look at you.

They may even in this lifetime laugh at you.

But it is not the laughter that they laugh at you because you're doing the right thing that you're really afraid of.

We see God. We see God's providence. We see God's protection.

We see His power. We see His strength.

We see Him taking care of us. And we fear Him.

And we will ultimately laugh at those who make another choice.

Actually, it's kind of dumb.

It's really kind of dumb to choose to find your strength in something other than God.

Because of why? Because all other strength is limited.

It will eventually run out on you.

Finding your strength in something other than God is like driving your car from the trunk.

You climb in the trunk. You shut the trunk.

And you hope, you hope beyond hope that you will arrive at your destination.

Oh, I pray that the car will soon pull up and I will open the trunk and get out and I'll be there.

That's dumb. That's not how it works.

You drive the car. You get in the front seat with the steering wheel.

You put it in gear. You start the engine. You put it in gear.

And you direct the car to go where you want it.

Because cars were made to be driven by people, not from the trunk.

And God is like that.

We were made for a right relationship and we were made to be driven by God.

Provide direction? Yes.

Provide strength? He's going to give us what we need to do? Yes.

And when we do it on our own, it is as if we are driving the car from the trunk.

Notice that they drive their cars from the trunk because they have developed a strong, strong evil desire.

Now listen, we all have desires. You want something, don't you? River, you want something, don't you?

People like candy, sweets, cake, money, bills paid, houses, cars, transportation.

We want all of those things.

But there's a difference between wanting something and wanting it in evil.

That you'll take it for yourself at someone else's hurt.

That you'll take it for yourself by sin. You'll steal. You'll covet.

You'll desire what somebody else has and it should be transferred from them to you.

And you'll now own what they previously owned.

There's a difference between wanting things and wanting them with an evil desire.

The one who wants them with an evil desire is a person who finds their strength outside the Lord.

It is a person who drives their car from the trunk.

Notice we are different than those who find their strength outside the Lord.

Secondly, we are sustained. We are healthy spiritually speaking as we continue to look to the Lord.

Our bodies are healthy as God allows our causes to be.

If we continue to look to the Lord and do the things that he wants us to do, we will be right where we are supposed to be.

And our spiritual will go to be with God for eternity and get a new body that is perfectly healthy.

We are good here in God's house. Here and now.

If you won't be sustained by the Lord, if you won't be grateful to God here and now, when and where?

Will it be when the check comes in? Or the boat comes in with all your cargo on it?

Or your job comes in with a promotion? Will you be grateful to God then?

If you can't be grateful to God now, surrounded by people of every age who shared their testimonies,

the great thing that God is doing, the tough stuff they've been through, how they're looking at it.

If we couldn't do it today, if you haven't been able to be in here today and have a heart grateful toward God,

then when will you get around to do it? This is trustworthy.

God is. He is who He is. His loving kindness is not limited.

It does not run out and does not come up short of the goal.

God is love. And try as it might. The world cannot redefine love.

There is only one thing that is love.

Here alone, in God's love, in God Himself, does love last forever.

And it finds its perfect example and its perfect definition.

We can trust in the love of the Lord toward us. And even when we are screwing up.

The next time you are doing something stupid and you go, oh, Crud, I'm doing something stupid,

and you get a feeling in your heart that says, God now no longer loves me, know that that is not true.

It's not true. God loves you even in the middle of the stupid things that you do.

He will still love us. He will correct us as necessary because love does that.

And He will fall on us in welcome when we turn back to Him as the Father did to the prodigal son.

For this reason, but not only this reason, we will give thanks. God has done it.

God created everything, every cell, wrote the DNA. He made it all perfect.

Then man made it flawed by searching out his strength in something else.

God created it all. God called His people out of darkness for 25 plus years.

I lived my life screwing it up day after day after day. I almost chased my wife away.

I almost ruined my career chances. I lied and I stole and I cheated.

And I know that that's not to me that you currently know, but I'm telling you that was to me for 25 years of my life.

Now I'm 54. So for less than half of my life, it's been true.

But for a long time, it was most of my life. And God still loved me.

He called me out of the darkness and I answered.

God sent Jesus to pay the bill and save souls as payment for all wrongs ever done or all wrongs that will ever be done.

His name is good here. God wrote the check and the check will be paid, baby.

You're going to heaven if you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

The only question is if you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, why would you ever find your strength or your blessing outside the Lord?

And the answer is you will not. God's name is good, these verses say, is good in the presence of His godly ones.

It's good. We don't take the Lord's name in vain because the Lord's name truly is never in vain.

His name is good and we know He's good.

And so when we say His name, we know that we are speaking of the ultimate good, the one to which we owe our allegiance,

the one to which we owe our lives, the one that saved our souls if we are willing, the one that lifts us up if we are willing.

He's good. We have seen that He is good and we've seen it not from afar, not from a distance like with binoculars or a telescope.

River, have you ever looked through a telescope?

Natalie, have you ever looked through a telescope? Binoculars? There you go.

And you saw something far away but you saw it more clear than if you were that far away, right?

Glasses. I've got glasses. I can see you better with them on than I can with them off, even though my prescription is pretty mild.

But we don't see God like that. When you accept God as your only strength, when you accept God as your salvation,

when you recognize what God has done to send His own Son to pay the price for your sins,

then you accept that in Him alone is our sustenance. Oh, but there will come a day.

There will come a moment in time in which the people will stand before God

and there will be those who found their strength in God alone

and there will be those who found their strengths outside God

because they were smart or wealthy or capable or they thought they were crafty or they thought they were sneaky.

They will find their strength. Before I became saved, I was very afraid of being laughed at.

And the things I was laughed at, I mean, really does it matter if your classmates laughed because you brought an oval soap

as opposed to a rectangular soap? Does it really matter all that much?

At that point, we should probably be able to laugh at ourselves. The story is kind of comical, essentially.

We went after I was supposed to be in bed and bought a box of soap only to find out that in the box was an oval soap.

That's kind of funny when you think about it. It's almost like a joke.

We ought to be able to laugh at ourselves when we try to do things in our own strength and screw it up

or when we make mistakes that are kind of goofy or you tell a joke and it bombs.

By the way, most jokes that bomb are funnier than jokes that don't.

It's just that the joke teller is the one who is funny as opposed to the joke because you're telling a joke.

And you go, it's this. And you're like, that's not funny. And they want to laugh just because it's not funny.

This is my point. The laughing at that we're afraid of that's deep in our soul because I can't stand if someone would be laughing at me

is marking that moment in time. That moment in time at which those who trusted in God,

who found righteousness in Jesus Christ, God's Son, will go into eternity forever and they'll be laughing.

Not to be laughing because they're so joyous that they're safe and spend eternity with God, although that's true.

They'll be laughing for that reason. But they won't only be laughing because they're going into heaven to be saved for eternity.

They'll also be laughing, this verse says they'll be laughing at the one who lives his life with evil desire

and wants things outside God, finds his strength outside God.

You know this person. I was this person. For 25 plus years I was this person.

Don't be this person because if you come to that moment in time, would you go to heaven?

And if you found your strength outside the Lord God, those who are going in will be laughing.

They'll not only be laughing in joy that they're going in, they'll also be laughing at those who mocked God,

those who thought, who pretended to be saved and let everyone think they were saved, who pretended to be serving God,

who pretended to, God, not important, who believed that your soul rots in the dirt when you die.

And they mocked God for saying otherwise, or mocked us for saying otherwise.

I've been hurt. You've probably been hurt standing up for Jesus at some point in time.

Someone looked at you and said, Hi, you're a fool. And they laughed at you, or they mocked you, or they said mean things.

You keep going there. You keep praising God. You keep giving God the glory. You give God of your money, your time, your talent, and everything.

And what do you get for it? Nothing, nothing, nothing. That's what you get. And they're mean. They're jerks. They're hurtful.

And when we go into heaven, those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be laughing.

Not only laughing in joy that we are going into heaven, but also laughing at those who mocked us, those who persecuted us.

I submit to you Peter, who died on a cross, hung upside down on his way into heaven on that last day

when we're all going there to stay for eternity, we'll be laughing at those who crucified him.

That's not the normal response to being crucified unless you've just had a psychological break.

You're laughing because you're being crucified. But he'll be laughing at those who crucified him.

The man who made the Christians dig their own graves and put them down in there and shot them with machine guns.

The people in the graves will be laughing at the machine gun wielders if they have not since then accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

If you're in this room today and you can say that you've ever understood a feeling of fear to be laughed at, then hear me now.

Our God did it all. He is willing to come into your life and live with you personally in His Holy Spirit.

You must, you must, you must surrender your life to the Lord through Jesus Christ and say, God, I am yours.

I cannot save myself no matter what my effort. I would never be able to save myself.

I cannot pay my way in. I cannot earn my way in. I'm not smart enough to get in.

I'm not smart enough to trick everybody in this lifetime, including God, and get in someday.

That's not possible. I recognize I cannot get in unless I get in through God and His Son Jesus Christ.

And if that is you, then you today, right where you are, while I'm still speaking right now, you need to say,

Look, I've played games with it. I've messed around in sin or I've done things that I knew was wrong.

I've found my strength and stuff outside the Lord and I'm done.

I do not want to arrive on that day and be laughed at by the righteous.

I would much rather be the one doing the laughing because I have been sustained by God for my whole life

because I found my strength in God and God alone as I found my salvation in the one who can actually give it, Jesus.

You have sinned. I have sinned. Jesus, by His good gift, because He loves you, will save you if you let Him.

And then you find your strength in Him alone.

And then on that day, you'll be doing the laughing rather than the getting laughed at.

Did you hear the stories that were told in this room today?

Speaking of, you understand that it is highly probable that someone in this room who expressed their gratitude toward God today is actually not saved.

Their soap is under the table and they are saying, Oh yeah, I'm saved. I know Jesus. I'm going to heaven one day.

Oh no, I didn't buy it. What do you mean? No, I'm not the one that's pretending.

I'm not goofing off here. I'm serious about this. I really am only finding my strength in the Lord.

And they'll keep saying that and saying that and saying that, running into Christians who are compassionate and kind toward them.

And we'll keep being kind toward you. We'll keep praying for you. And all the while you're praying again.

And people have done that for decades. Some people have done it for their whole life.

Even healing and prophesying in Jesus' name.

And then they arrive there and He says, Get away from me. I never knew you.

You must know God through Jesus, God's Son. Do it today.

Stop playing games or realize that you are consigning yourself to a life of standing before the Lord.

And God says, Get away from me. I never knew you.

And those who are standing there and He says, Come well done, good and faithful servant.

They're laughing. And they're not only laughing in joy because they get to go in.

They're also laughing at you because you were like that all your life.

And you hurt people and you pretended and you mocked God.

And you pretended to be getting your strength from God when instead you got it from God's creation, which is a feeble replacement.

Will you choose God? Will you allow God to do what it is that God wants you to do?

Will you allow Jesus to be your Lord? That means He tells you what to do and you do it.

To be your Savior? That means He paid the price for your sins and only He can.

And you walk out the rest of your days the best you know how, headed for that moment in time where God will say,

Well done, good and faithful servant.

If that's you today, then as we sing this song that we're about to sing, if you realize you've been playing games,

you've been finding your strength in the world, you've been committing sin on purpose because it gives you some benefit.

Rather than putting God first, then you repent today, either for the first time you become a Christian or for the next time and turn back to God and let Him lead.

So that when that time comes, rather than you being the one who's laughed at, you'll be doing the laughing.

You heard the gratitude toward God, now let us sing about it and respond.

We'll have the praise team come forward and lead us at this time. This is our closing hymn.

This will essentially end our service except for prayer.

We're going to sing one more song.

Let us sing together.

And if you're here today, you're accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the first time ever.

It doesn't matter what anybody thinks.

Anybody thinks, hey, they were already saved.

If you know you weren't, then you do that.

You've already done that just as I was speaking and you come and you say, I screwed up.

I didn't serve God.

I didn't find my strength in God.

I don't love God like I'm supposed to and I'm coming back to God today.

You just come and say that.

Mean that and let God work in you the way only God can.

He is your strength and you find your strength only in Him or risk being laughed at at the end of time.

Would you stand with me as we sing this song?

Stand up, sing out.

This is our final song.

If you're accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, in earnest right now, you come to me.

And if you are repenting of sin and turning back to God in earnest right now, you come to me.

I'm your friend.

You are my friend.