Serve, Speak, and Remember Deut 13:1-8

Easy Love by Ruth Anderson

And I'm living what I believe

Gonna walk through the night

And cost me everything

Gonna stand for what is mine

And everyone can see

It's me that's acting

Gonna live what I believe

The world will say God's praise

The world can be pretty real

When this love might be seated

And we're gonna chase and give ourselves away

While life's in quarantine

When life can be the throw

Of the hope that is new

Gonna live what I believe

Gonna walk that line

And cost me everything

Gonna stand for what is right

And everyone can see

It's me that's acting

Gonna live what I believe

There's no passion deep inside

Gonna live what I believe

When life can test your faith

Living for you, as a woman's for you

With faith and conviction

You saw the light in the day

And will not be ashamed

Gonna live what I believe

Gonna walk that line

And cost me everything

Gonna stand for what is right

And everyone can see

It's me that's acting

Gonna live what I believe

Gonna walk that line

And cost me everything

Gonna stand for what is right

And everyone can see

It's me that's acting

Gonna live what I believe

Gonna live what I believe

Gonna live what I believe

So Alicia's gonna lead us in prayer in a moment

And then call on somebody to pray

I do want to remind you

There are a couple of important announcements

In your bulletin

If you are a member, sorry

If you are a messenger for New Heights

There is another important set of dates

Listed here November 14th and 15th

Which is the state convention of absent Ohio

Annual meeting

Which we are entitled to have our messengers

Present at

And there is some money available

Through the church to help with transportation

And possibly a hotel night stay

So we'll be talking about that

If you're a messenger and you can make those dates

Reach out to me

If you can't go 14th, stay until 15th

Perhaps you could go just on the morning of the 15th

We could be a little harder because it's a two hour drive

But maybe you can do that and be there for the meeting

And the majority of business decisions

That kind of thing will all be conducted on the 15th

But the night of the 14th is a really cool experience of worship

And there will be some small stuff business wise

That goes on on the 14th

So it's a really neat

And it's not that often that you get invited to

Go out of town for one night for Jesus

That's a great opportunity

So it's like a little mission trip

Alright so that's coming up on the 14th and 15th

Also, right before that

It is in Columbus

Actually I'm sorry it's in Cuyahoga Falls

Which is near Cleveland

So about an hour, I think it's about an hour and 45 minutes away

And then also in November

We have a Thanksgiving dinner and a Thanksgiving gratitude service

So on the second Sunday in November

And we may hear more detailed about it

If things have changed a little bit or whatever

For the current plan

Our Sunday worship service will be

Our gratitude service will be asking you to come and show us

Ways that you show gratitude to God

And you can do art, you can do music, you can do poetry

You can read a story, you can read your favorite Bible verses

Or whatever, that will be a large part of what we do together that day

And worst case scenario if you all can't produce enough

Then I'll preach for an hour again

Okay so I know you love that idea

So that'll work, okay

So that's going to be on that day

And then after that will be the fellowship

So we're going to have Thanksgiving dinner together

So it's a challenge to come together and worship together

And then have a big dinner together afterwards

But we will put the worship and the service of the Lord first

And then we will make it work out

Get all set up and ready to go and have dinner afterwards

And we can pull it off and do it

And you're welcome to invite anyone to come

And if they come with a godly way of showing gratitude toward God that day

We will let them, we will involve them in our service

And so if they come after their church and come over here afterwards

And show gratitude, that's fine

Tell them bring a turkey with them

You know that'll take care of it, I'm just kidding

But they can eat our turkey, okay

Alright so let's pray together

Alicia will do Leah's and then call on somebody

I'll have Colin on you

Fair warning, oh yes

That's very nice

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day

I thank you for bringing us all here together

We have our lives at home Lord

And I ask that you help us through that

We thank you that you were able to do that

So that we could be here today

And just help us to worship you and focus on you

And learn more about you

In Jesus' name I pray

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day

For this beautiful fall weather

That you've given us

For this building that you've gifted to us

For the musicians and the teachers and the preacher

And those who are here today

To serve you and to show your love to others

In any way that we know how

I ask a special blessing on my children this morning

They are recovering from being sick

And can't be with us

And I just ask that you watch over them

And guide them and all of us as we go from here

In Jesus' name, Amen

Alright, if you would stand with those of us that are standing

Those of us who cannot

Well, if you can't stand just kind of think upward

And we can add the word song

As we read my song

I hear the music ringing

And for the first time

I am falling in love

To the one I love

How can I even see it in your way

How can I ever say enough

How amazing is your love

How can I even shout in your name

I know that I've long tried to be

And it made me smile

One thing I will never mind

Is the nicest thing

What all my save-all is

As I'm the one with you

Knowing you'll see me through

And sing a song to you

How can I even see it in your way

How can I ever say enough

How amazing is your love

How can I even shout in your name

I know I am loved by the King

And it made my heart want to sing

I can sing when the trouble's right

I can sing when I win

I can sing when I lose my chance

And fall down again

I can sing as you pick me up

I can sing as I'm there

I can sing as you give me love

When I call to you in prayer

I can sing as my last breath

Sing for I know

That I'll sing when the angels

Have changed the world above

How can I keep from singing your praise

How can I ever say enough

How amazing is your love

How can I even shout in your name

I know I am loved by the King

And it makes my heart want to sing

I am loved by the King

And it makes my heart want to sing

I am loved by the King

And it makes my heart want to sing

Yeah, I can sing

Alright, I need the slightly less tall people towards the front

Get yourself somewhere that you can see

That includes Katelyn

Yeah, yeah, just a little down here

Alright, so this is a song we've had up for a long time

This is the first time we're doing motions for it

So this is a new one for you to learn

If you are not a motion-type person, there is some clapping

I expect you to do at least that

Great!

We want to sing, We want to sing

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to sing, We want to sing

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

Step by step we're going forward

Little by little we're taking round

And we turn powerful weapons

Strong walls strong

Stumbling down and down and down and down

Woo!

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see Jesus lifted high

A better life across this land

Turn over my team of troops and know

He is the way to Heaven

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

We want to see

We want to see

We want to see Jesus lifted high

Good job guys, thank you.

Okay, so we asked ourselves how the Lord been speaking, what have you seen this week?

What have you read in your Bible, what have you heard in your prayer time?

I was watching a movie, which Ariana and I really love this movie, in fact there might be some excerpts that you may see from some point in time called I Believe.

It's a Christian movie about a nine year old boy who is raised by two parents who are pretty much atheists, but he comes in contact with the Word of God and just flat out believes what it says and the amazing things that follow.

Pretty neat.

And one of the scenes he says, but you talk to God, and the little boy says, you talk to God.

The interviewer says you talk to God, and he says actually it's more like I listen.

He does the talking and I do the listening.

I thought that was pretty powerful.

Pretty good illustration of prayer.

So what have you heard this week? Go ahead and share.

What do you got?

No pressure.

Mistress.

Alright, what is this? What's in this bottle?

Water.

Okay. I'm going to tell you a few things about water you may not know.

Okay.

First though, I'm going to read Genesis chapter one verses one through eight I think it is.

Okay.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was out without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, and it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And God caused a light day, and the darkness He called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.

And it was so, and God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters, and He called this the disease. And God saw it, and it was good.

Now, here's a few facts you may not know about water.

Number one, the amount of water that is on the earth and in the earth and in the air is the same amount of water that's been there since the beginning.

Water never leaves.

So, one place to say they are in drought is because the water is somewhere else.

Or, it's up in the air, in the sky, in the clouds, so when water evaporates, it goes up into the air.

And then eventually it comes down somewhere else in precipitation.

So that's why sometimes you have places that have no water and some places that have a whole lot of water.

The only way water can pretty much be destroyed is by lightning.

And lightning divides the three molecules that make water.

Two hydrogen, one water, or one oxygen, H2O.

The only time water can basically leave our atmosphere is when it's divided.

And that is when hydrogen can sometimes escape into space, but it's very rare to happen.

Which is kind of interesting.

The only way we will ever run out of water is if we make it unusable.

It is always here. It never leaves.

There is enough water at all times. It just might not be in the right place.

So, when you think about water, it's been here since the beginning.

This is the same water that was here when God created the earth.

This water never changes unless we pollute it.

And there are other water facts I will be bringing that will blow your minds.

But that will be it for today.

Alright, studying water and learning about God. Awesome.

Who else? Jason.

I have a song.

Music.

Music.

Music.

Music.

What are you going to say about that?

So, what really spoke to me is at the end when he said, happiness doesn't come from what we want, but what we do have.

And if we worry about what we don't have, we are going to end up with something that we don't want or something worse that we want to have.

What he means by the vaccine on the other side, he also says that we can't put our lives because they are not right there in our shoes.

We could be living a happy life with a mom, a dad, siblings, food on the table.

But there are kids out here in the world that don't have the stuff that we might not have.

So, say, when he used the example of husband and wife, the husband got a raise and he's out there when his kids want him to play.

He's comparing that because there are kids that want to play, but they don't have anyone to play with or anything to play with.

Anyone to play with or have.

And what that speaks to me is that we are unique in our own ways.

We don't always think that there's stuff that's going to make us happy for the rest of our life.

Because there's not.

The only thing that's going to make us happy for the rest of our life is the love of God and the knowing and the understanding that he will protect us no matter what it takes.

Wow. That's good.

The mini sermon right there. Wonderful. Well done.

I have another song.

It's from a movie that I've seen, my brother's seen, and Ariana's seen it, and it really spoke to me.

Okay.

Ariana.

I'm not telling you to stop.

I'm not telling you to stop.

Hold on.

I'm going to stop.

What's your back? What's your back? What's your back? We can count it to the top. Get him to the upper class.

This could get a little sticky.

Had to win this battle could be tricky.

But I know the best way, fall back. Let me lead you over the line. We'll bring them to the knees.

There's words in the air if you're with me. They got a sound, someone want to be there. I'm really yours, cause I got a strategy.

You'll take a lot of them, the rest of you can follow me. This is my crew, this is my squad. This is my turf. Oh my gosh.

Look guys, we got big with first to five, but you're different by the side, cause right now we're almost even.

This is the nightfall, everyone, we'll stay together till the battle is done.

What's your back? What's your back? What's your back? We can count it to the top. Get him to the upper class.

This is the nightfall, we're in line. It doesn't mean that we're on the same side.

What's your back? What's your back? What's your back? We're in a lot of his best. They're too happy to react.

The situation's getting kind of hectic. Don't you let this night keep us.

We stick together, we can make it. I'm a little part of this tension.

Alright, tell us what made that so important to you.

Because as you can see, the two people at the beginning, they were arguing. It's because they are not friends, they are enemies. But if you've seen the movie, they're working together.

If you haven't seen the movie, at the end they get together as a friend and they are ours. So they came from this island that is bad.

That you can break the rule and do stuff bad. But then there's four people that moved to an island that you cannot do that.

That stuff thing. When they went there, the girl that they were arguing with decided to come there.

It's been bad going on lately. At the end they team up and it's good to work them together. It's good to put your differences aside and work together and start to relax.

One thing I learned a long time ago is that people are very complex. There's a lot to every person. When you're looking for differences, you will literally always find them.

In the team of God, however, if we work together and follow the Lord together, and like you said, do what's right, then we can be unified.

I thought when you were going with the words in the lyrics where it said, I'll be with you to the end, I was thinking about Jesus.

I was thinking about how God is united with us and working with us to hold us through what we face. I thought that was pretty cool. Good message. Anybody else?

I really don't think it's possible. Thank you for that commercial. Anything else?

Last week I went to a football game, the Lions game. It was fun. My dad was on his bucket list to take his sons and stuff like that.

I was just thinking the difference between goodness and greatness. I just love to hear all these different inspirations.

We glorify God through creation, what He's created. We glorify God through inspiration, like what inspires us.

God can speak through any of it. It doesn't matter what it is or what it's not. It was all created by Him.

He separates what is wicked and what is true. None of it bothers Him. He uses it all for His good purpose.

The thing is, I did like the football game. It was fun, but was it a great game? I thank God I got a chance to watch a really good game.

I got a chance to hang out with my brothers. We got a chance to go out and all that stuff. That was good.

The thing to me, what I think of greatness, I always think of it this way, is there won't be enough games to satisfy my plate.

Even if I had a hundred thousand season tickets every single day, if I saw every single movie, if I saw everything in this whole world,

there would be no satisfaction because the idea is that it's not great.

The thing that I find great is when I come here on Sundays, is when I spend time with family that will be eternity together,

however that looks, but we're eternal. We're going to be there for eternity, not because of what we've done, but because of what He's done.

Who's in us and who we are in Him. I would rather be here every Sunday just worshipping God with my family of all.

Someday it will be all those who worship God, all those who have turned to the Lord Jesus. It will be one amazing thing.

The one thing I just wanted to share real quick, and I was just thinking about that this inspired me, is that the whole time we were at that game,

God is willing and able all the time. It doesn't mean He gives us what we want, but He's willing and able.

Like if you ask me for something, I could probably help you, but when I'm tired or I'm weak or I don't really care,

I'm not always going to be there, but God is willing and able always.

There's never a time He's tired, there's never a time that He's bored or angry or grumpy.

God is willing and able, and He's in every believer that has turned to Him. And it's like during that game, never did we give God the glory.

Never did we get a chance to pray for each other, never did we get a chance to praise God, never did we have a chance to fellowship

and thank God for what He's given us. It just didn't happen.

Now what I'm saying is for everyone here, that Christ died and rose again, and the Holy Spirit is in every believer.

Can you just imagine, and I just thought this really quick, if we would, like at 3 o'clock, just one of our brothers, one of our sisters,

and we all prayed about the God that is willing and able to that person, for that person, and in us, who is willing and able.

The Holy Spirit is in every believer. Like James was saying, everybody's different.

Personalities, character traits, DNA. There's no one has the same DNA. Everybody's absolutely unique in every way, except the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not like anybody else. He's not changing, He doesn't need to change. He is perfect because He is God, always been God.

And so I close on this, is think about this, that He's willing and able. So if we pray or we share something, we speak from God,

we speak from His Spirit, then He is willing and able to protect us, not just spiritually, practically and eternally, provide for us the same way.

Empower us the same way, encourage us the same way, help us grow the same way, meaning eternally, spiritually and practically.

This is the God who is with us always. He's not on our side, like everybody says.

The grass is always greener on our side because it's not greener, because the thing is, is that everything falls, but God doesn't.

He gave His life and He fell one time. He died on that cross. He'll never fall again.

We have a victorious, living Savior that is in us and among us. So I ask, just thinking about it, use Him today, glorify Him today, praise Him today,

and even me, I already messed up, but you don't have to because He's with you.

You can tell me if you see us in prayer and then call on somebody to close out, go to a transition, a pleasant offering, go to a worship and go to the Word.

Father, Lord, thank you for this no day again. Thank you for the sunshine, the changing leaves, changing color of the trees, the sessual of the universe here.

Thank you for the Word you've already heard and thank you Lord that you're always there, willing and able to help us in this treatment.

Lord, some of us, I've already heard this story, but I know some of us, probably all of us have been through a trilogy week, with jobs, with homes, with health,

school, football practice, whatever, or we go through different things every day.

We just ask the Lord that you would renew us, strengthen us, refresh us, and Lord that you would use whatever words you've shared with our day, you're going to share us, that the Lord that would help.

Maybe some of the things that was already shared during this inspirational time has already lifted us up a little bit.

We thank you Lord for them all and I just bid us Lord now as we continue our service, as the offering as we pick it up, thank you Lord that you give just a little bit of back to you,

which you've given so much, everything we have, is because you allow it.

Thank you Lord for this time, you've made it look great. Amen.

Well we've got to learn, I hope you learn about God, and help the people that are not here, and the people that are hurt, and you stand at last.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

teach. Exactly. I'm glad you said that because I was waiting for someone else

to say that. For me in my job it's really hard because none of the guys I work

with believe what I believe so it's really hard to but I still I've told

them many times before and I've even told my boss I just do the job God

gave me because I've gotten review before and they're like oh you do a

really good job and we're really impressed with your work and I'm like

okay well that's fine and dandy but I do that because God gave me this job so you

can serve God with I guess humbling yourself knowing that what you have to

serve God with he gave it to you for his glory not your own glory not to make

yourself look better but to make him look good so that we can show the world

how good God really is so here's something else can you serve more than

one God

first of all because it really is only one but that being said if you want to

select a second for yourself I'm actually here to tell you you can serve more than

one God however if you are a Christian you're right the answer is no but if

you are not Christian and you're lost in the world you're gonna try to serve many

gods because you're gonna try to find that one thing in your life that makes

you feel good so technically yes you can serve more than one God but it's not

gonna be pretty so we are faced by temptations every single day we're faced

with temptations to do different things to look at things and the amount of

times that we're rejecting that temptations I think is more than we can

even imagine the more the times God steps in and takes our mind off of

something because it's not right or it's wrong and we shouldn't be thinking that

one of the examples I have is if you're walking down the street and you see a

really attractive person you're like man that person's really good-looking

there's nothing wrong with that right however if you go a little bit farther

than that and start having feelings like I'd really like to know what that person

likes looks like with no clothes on then it becomes a problem and there's nothing

wrong with complementing something because they look good but I think it's

crazy how many times we are faced with temptations and we don't go into them not

even realizing that God is actually pulling us away from them and the reason

he does that is because he doesn't want us to go back to doing what the world

says we should do and we are going to look in Deuteronomy chapter 13 starting

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

in verse 1 says if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and

gives you a sign or a wonder and that sign or that wonder comes true

concerning which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods whom you have

not known and let us serve them so right away it warns us that there's going to

be people that will rise up and say hey let's go do this instead even though

it's not something you're aware of like back then a lot of more worshiping other

gods like ball you had um oh was the other one I just had it it's on the top

of my tongue Astrof that was the one but you have all these other false gods that

these people would worship and there's there was a list I found I wish I would

have saved it but I didn't and it kind of disappoints me but there was a list I

found it would have like 30 over 30 different false gods that they would

worship back then and it is crazy because a lot of the names I've never

even heard of and it it's just crazy the amount of things that people strive

after that they they go after just to make them feel a little bit better when

truthfully the well Dan said there is only one God that is going to make you

feel good and that is our God the God creator the God of the universe that is

the only God that you are ever going to follow to make yourself feel right

hmm

something else to think about with this anytime you put something above God that

is now a God in your life a lot of people do it with money fame success some

people do it with video games some people do it with sex anything you put

above God becomes a God in your life so if someone says hey let's go to the bar

and get messed up and you know that you're not supposed to do that but you

do it anyways that has now become a God in your life because you are serving

that instead of doing what's right with God and someone says hey let's go watch

TV and let's go watch a movie but you know you haven't spent any time with God

that day and you still go and watch that movie and just push God aside that movie

or that TV show has now become a God in your life now again I'm not saying

there's anything wrong with watching TV or watching a movie or going out with

friends however you have to make sure that you're still putting that time in

for God continuing in verse 3 says you shall not listen to the words of that

prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to find

out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

you shall follow the Lord your God and fear him and you shall keep his

commandments listen to his voice serve him and cling to him but that prophet or

that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he is he has concealed

rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and

redeemed you from the house of slavery to seduce you from the way in which the

Lord your God commanded to walk you shall purge the evil from among you now

we can't go around killing people that try to lead us to doing wrong things

however you can cut that person out of your life right if there's someone that

comes up against you and is trying to constantly force you to do the wrong

thing you can push that person out of your life I mean I've taught that my

youth group many times did you have to be very careful who you hang out with

because real friends will never try to force you to do something that you know

is wrong that is not what you want to do a good friend is going to force you to

try to better yourself and do better I have my best friend Charlie meeting him

we went fishing yesterday and he likes to drink sometimes he likes to drink a

lot but when we were out yesterday he didn't really do anything like that

because and I even asked him I was like hey if you wanted to go get something

you can and he said no because I don't want to do that because of he don't want

to make me feel bad or anything like that so I was like okay that's cool

however I wouldn't have cared if he did but that's how a friend should be they

should be able to respect you and your decisions your choices this is when

continuing verse 6 this is when it can get a little scary says if your brother

your mother's son or your sons or daughter or your wife you cherish or

your friend who is with who is as your own soul entices you secretly say

let us go serve other gods from neither who neither you nor your father have

known of the gods of the people who are around you near you or far from you

from one end of the earth to the other end you shall not yield to him nor or

listen to him and your eyes shall not pity him nor shall you share or console

him or conceal him but you shall surely kill but you should surely kill him your

hand shall be first against him to put him to death and afterwards the hand of

all the people you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce

you from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the

house of slavery then all Israel will hear and be afraid and will never again

do such a wicked thing among you so this is saying even your own family if your

own family your own flesh and blood were to try to get you to walk away from God

you need to cut them out of your life if you are married and your wife or your

husband is forcing you to try to go against what God says you have to cut

that person out now obviously I mean personally I would try my hardest to

make them see the truth to make them understand why I serve God and why I do

what I do but if that doesn't work then you're gonna have to get free of that

because Satan will use the people around you the people you love the most to

break you down who but God will use those people to build you back up as

long as you're on the same page well you have to be careful even when it comes to

your mother your father your brother or sister you have to you have to always

follow God don't follow what they want you to do and continuing 12 it says if

you hear one of your cities which the Lord your God is giving to you to live

in anyone saying that some worthless man has gone out among you and have seduced

the inhabitants of the city saying let us serve other gods whom you have not

known then you shall investigate it and search out inquiries throughout if it is

true and the matter established that it this abomination has been done among you

you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword

utterly destroying it and all that and all that is in it and its cattle with

the edge of the sword then you shall gather up all its booty into the middle

of the open square and burn the city with all of its booty with fire as a

whole burnt offering to the Lord your God and it shall be a ruin forever it

shall never be rebuilt nothing from which is put under the band shall cling

to your hand in order that the Lord may turn from his burning anger and show

mercy to you and have compassion on you and make you increase just as he swore

unto your father if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God and keep his

commandments which I am commanding you today and doing what is right in the

sight of the Lord so all that being said anything in your life that is not of God

get rid of it anything if you're spending too much time watching TV and

not spending enough time with God get rid of the TV if you're spending too

much time playing out a phone game instead of spending time and God get

rid of the phone if you're spending too much time hanging out with friends and

not discussing God's greatness then you need to get rid of that friend in

Matthew chapter 18 verse 8 it says if your hand or foot causes you to stumble

Matthew 18:8

cut it off and throw it from you it'd be better you enter the enter life

crippled or lame then have two hands and two feet to be cast into eternal fire if

your eye causes you to stumble pluck it out and throw it from you it is better

for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes to be cast in the fiery

hell even Jesus tells you to get rid of other things that can cause you to

stumble into sin you have you you can't keep things around if they're gonna be

there you can't keep around if they're gonna make you fall so that was the text

then I'm gonna get to the points but this is where most of the time is gonna

be so be ready because there's a lot first point is serve God and serve God

only you cannot serve more than one God if you're a Christian if you really

believe Jesus is your Lord and Savior and he saved you then he is the Lord of

your life he is the only one that you can ever follow you can't follow after

money you can't follow after dreams you can't follow after success or a person

you have to follow Jesus and him only

Luke 4 chapter Luke chapter 4 verse 8 says Jesus answered to him it is written

Luke 4:8

you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only Matthew 6 24 says no one

can serve two masters for either for either he will hate one and love the

other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve God

and wealth in second Samuel 22 for I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be

praised and I am saved from my enemies Deuteronomy 6 chapter 13 or Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:13–14

6 verses 13 through 14 you shall feel only the Lord your God and you shall

worship him and swear by his name you shall not follow any other gods any of

the gods of the people who you sort who surround you so just because we live in

a country that is free and we have God's free will to choose whatever we want to

do does not give us the right to sometimes just because you have the

free will to go out and kill somebody does that make it right just because you

have the free will to go out and steal from somebody does that make it right

we have the free will to do what we want but however we have to do what is right

if you cannot do what is right you will never be able to fully understand the

amazing thing God did when he sent Jesus Christ to die for you you want to know

why we have to call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised because he saved

us from our enemies you want to know why you can't serve two masters because

you're gonna love one but despise the other you know why we have to serve God

and serve God only because if we don't serve God and serve God only we're gonna

despise God and love something else a little bit what Tim was saying earlier

you want to look at the world and you want to put the blame on anything you

want to put the blame on our government on the people in our government on

people in charge or police or anything you want to put the blame on something

else you know we need to start blaming ourselves as Christians what are we

doing to make it better are we too busy trying to serve two different masters are

we trying to serve God and serve God only and get other people on board to

serve God this whole world is so wrapped up and around having so many different

things to make you look good when really the only thing that's going to make us

look good is bringing God back into everything you want to fix the school

systems like God be in our school systems you want to fix your workplace

like God be in the workplace you want to fix our country bring God back to our

country there's so many churches that have closed their doors during COVID

because they wanted to do what the government said but not what God said do

you think back 2,000 plus years they ever stopped worshiping because people

got sick no they would just sit them in a different part of the place they would

separate them but they still worshiped they never stopped doing what God had

them to do if we bow down to what the world standards want we are going to

fall on our face which brings me to my second point we have to remember where

we came from you have to remember who you were before you came to Christ were

you a person who strived to serve or were you a person that only wanted to

serve yourself where were you before you got saved if you can compare that to

what you are now it should be very drastic change and if we can do that

with the world if we can go back and say look here's what Jesus did here's what I

was before I was saved here's where I am now and the whole world can understand

how much of a change and how much better things could be we would never have to

worry about half the things we have to worry about and Deuteronomy 16 verse 12

Deuteronomy 16:12

it says you shall remember that you were slaves in Egypt and you shall be

careful to observe these statures you were slaves to sin you accept Jesus

Christ as your Lord and Savior you are now free from that sin you are free from

all sin you are free from the struggles that the world wants you to be in

because you serve a God who can pull you out of that you serve the God who can

take from nothing and create greatness that's the God you serve that's the God

we as Christians serve we serve a God with the power to take dust from the

earth and create man or picture this we have we serve a God who can create the

stars the universe the planets this Sun the moon God created all of that and

that is the God we serve we serve that kind of powerful God we serve the God

that can take us from worthless human beings to someone who is able to stand

in his presence and go Lord I serve you you cannot forget where we came from we

were slaves and now we are free and we are free to do God's work in 2nd

Corinthians 517 which happens to be my sit my favorite verse it says therefore

if anyone's in Christ he is a new creation the old things passed away

behold new things have come you are no longer that old you anymore now I will

tell you you cannot ever forget who you were though because if you forget who

you were you're gonna forget what you're fighting for I am fighting to make

myself a better person I am fighting to make myself the best father I can

possibly be the best husband I can possibly be and eventually the best

preacher I can ever be but I do that because God pulled me from that broken

person I was to who I am now so I can do these things and it is the same for

every single one of you God pulled you from who you were so you can be a better

person so you can be the best Tommy you can be you can be the best Chris you can

be you can be the best you can be if you remember where God pulled you from the

third point is is always speak the truth I've been trying to drill this into my

kids for years always speak the truth because if you tell one little lie that

lie can snowball and it can affect everything who's here heard the saying

that respect is earned right everyone probably I mean that's been something

that I've always had stuck in my head ever since I was a kid respect is earned

however is it easier to get someone's respect or to get someone's trust and

or a historical question I think people tend to carry a decent amount of respect

for just people in general people I think trust is more part of respect okay

so if someone steals from you someone steals from you would you be able to

trust that person anymore it'd be really hard right if someone lies to you it's

hard to believe anything they say anymore right so what are we doing as

Christians if we're not doing what God wants us to do we are lying to God

however God still trusts us think about that if you don't do what God has you to

do you are lying to God but yet he still trusts you to carry out his will and his

duty that he puts in your life and yet we can't trust people who lied us it's

hard for us to trust people who steal from us but yet when we lie we cheat we

steal God still trusts us enough to send his son Jesus to die on the cross so we

can get to heaven so that we can do his work you want to fix the problems of

this world you trust God bring God into it we need to stop trying to shove him

away in Zechariah chapter 8 verse 16 that says these things these are things

Zechariah 8:16

which you should do speak the truth to one another judge with truth and

judgment for peace

Proverbs 21 18 a false witness will perish but the man who listens to the

truth will speak forever that right there is why God's Word will last forever

because it's truth Satan all of the lies Satan has will fall away but God's truth

of his love will last forever because it's true any false thing out in the

world right now it's eventually going to die off I mean look at all these

traditions that have come and gone there there were a lot of there's so many lies

out there like for instance there's a cult out there that believes you have to

sacrifice your firstborn still there's cults out there that believe that

there's the first Church of Satan which is an actual church I looked it up it's

really weird because I did first time I ever heard Dan tell me that I thought

it was lie I'm not gonna lie I'm like there's no way that someone actually

named their church the first Church of Satan but they did but you want to

what's even crazier that's the 15th time someone's named their church the first

Church of Satan every other one failed because it's based on lies the reason

everything around us is falling apart is because so many things around us are

based on lies it's not based on the truth anymore

second Timothy 2 15 be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a

workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of the

truth and everything you do especially when you're a Christian you are approved

by God to speak the truth you're going around and I've seen it before you go

around in your day and you don't ever bring up the word of God or you go out

in the day and you purposely don't tell the truth because you're afraid it might

offend somebody or you're afraid of what someone will think well you know what

who cares what they think if you are speaking the truth about who God is who

cares what they think that does not matter what matters is the truth lives

forever you have to speak the truth you cannot lie about who God is you cannot

lie about the power that God has and the things he's done in your life if you are

waking up every day that is a blessing from God you need to cherish that you

need to remember God gave you that breath in your lungs it didn't come from

some scientific little magic thing that people try to make people believe it

comes from God let's be real the human body is the most complex thing on the

planet there is not a single person alive that fully understands every

aspect of the human body the biggest one being the brain because the thoughts

people have the ideas people have the way the brain works is so complex not

even the most powerful computers can comprehend what a human brain can and if

you're gonna sit there and tell people that's just it happens because of

evolution and not by some other miracle you are crazy the only way that that

kind of stuff is possible is because God did it God created such a precise

universe that if we were just a little bit closer to the Sun we'd all fry to

death but if we were just a little bit further away we'd all freeze to death

you realize if the moon were not in the sky the whole earth would be flooded

underwater because the gravity from the moon is what controls our tide if

there's no moon there's no tide that means it's just high tide all the time

and if it's those things those those things in creation you have to realize

that it is not by chance it is because what God said in the very beginning in

Genesis God created it God created everything it's not a lie that is the

truth and that still is the truth the Bible is the most printed book ever and

it is also the only book that has been around for thousands of years you know

why because it is the truth about God and God protects his stuff

I'm gonna go to Acts chapter 17 and verse 23 says for a while I was passing

Acts 17 · chapter mention

through and examining the objects of your worship but I also found an altar

with the inscription to an unknown God therefore what you what you worship is

ignorance this I proclaim to you to an unknown God why would anyone want to

worship an unknown God exactly do you see that is exactly how the world is

today we are trying to worship so many other things that we can't even

possibly remember what's real anymore what is true anymore but the God we

serve is always true the God we serve brought us up from slavery to sin so

that we can be saved the God we serve created everything the God we serve has

never lied to you the God we serve has never stolen from you the God we serve

is always here for you and you know what the best thing is the God we serve is

the only real God there is that's who we serve that is the God we serve so what

does it mean to serve God to live knowing that God is real do everything

in his name and why do we do it because he sent Jesus Christ to die on a cross

so you can be saved that's why we do it not just because God commands us to not

just because it's the right thing to do we do it because if God loves us that

much then shouldn't we love him that much if God loves us so much that he

sent Jesus Christ to die shouldn't we show him that respect show him that love

if God never lies to you and never steals from you never gives you more

than you can handle shouldn't you serve him in return you want to know what it's

like to be happy serve God you want to know what it's like to be successful

serve God you want to know what it's like to not be faced with temptation

every day and struggling on who you were and who you are now serve God and yes I

understand that we all have our busy lives we all work and whatnot go to

school and whatnot but you know what that is not an excuse not to serve God

so in a way of conclusion I'm just gonna do a quick recap for one don't fall into

frost teachings don't let the world's lies affect your relationship with God

remember who you were without Christ and who you are with Christ and don't lie

about who God really is don't be ashamed of the gospel that's Romans 1 16 don't

be ashamed of the gospel don't be ashamed to tell people the truth of who

God really is and why we serve him

so as we go out and as we finish our week and come back next week or Tuesday

or whenever think about that how can you serve God today how can you make sure

that you're always putting God at the top of your life instead of down below

something else I'm telling right now it is hard it's a lot of work to make sure

that you're putting God at then everything it's hard work but what did

God create Adam to do God created Adam to work he didn't create him to sit

there and do nothing he created Adam to work and then he gave Adam Eve to help

him do that work God gave us people in our lives to help the work get done if

you are still alive and you are still breathing there's work to be done so

don't let them don't let the world prevent you from letting God's light

shine because that is why it's so important that us as Christians have to

be out there telling people we have to let God's light shine in a world of

darkness because if we don't we're gonna be just like the Israelites were back in

Egypt as slaves and I don't want to see what a world without God would be but if

we can't do what's right and serve God and only God then that is what we're

gonna do we're gonna see a world without him hopefully that ain't what it takes

for Jesus to come back for us to actually see what that would look like

and what's even scarier is are you gonna be the one where he says get away from

me for I never knew you are you gonna be the one that he says welcome my good and

faithful servant

so let's get out there let's serve God let's do the right thing and speak truth

and if you haven't been I'd say start studying more and repent because every

in every almost every chapter I've ever read of the Bible there's something

about serving God anyway I'm gonna have the praise team come up and we're gonna

sing a song and during the song I want you guys to look into your own hearts

and ask yourself have you been serving God and everything have you or have you

been lying to God saying that you're a Christian and you want to follow him but

haven't really been following him

then I'll play right now I I've caught myself doing that many times and I've

repented already and I'll do it again because there's many times where I'll

sit there and I'll say yeah I want to serve God I want to do God's work and

that's something else comes up and like not I can't I can't do that right now I

have to do this instead we have to remember to serve God always don't fall

into the busyness of the world you could fall into the business of Christ though

apparently