Well, That's Better Acts 20:17-38

Thanks for choosing this podcast by New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

Let us join together in worship and growth.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts.

Sing to the Lord in the glory.

Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts.

Forever more, let us love Him here, and let there be praise.

When the Spirit of God is with us, we will overcome.

And our weakness and strength will defend us, when His love brings us out on top.

So lift your voices, with gladness sing,

We will claim through all the earth that Jesus in Christ has made.

Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts,

Sing to the Lord, given the glory.

Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts,

Forever more, let us love Him here, and let there be praise.

Let us love Him here, and let there be praise.

Good morning everybody, how are you all doing today?

Good morning, Tom.

I'm not sure if there's any announcements, because I'm taking this from Pastor Dan today, because he's stuck out for a moment.

Are there any announcements, Alicia?

Team leader meeting this afternoon.

There is a team leader this afternoon, directly after service.

Are you having a break?

Yep.

Is there anything else?

That's all we got right this second.

Alright.

I suppose they have baptisms, but right now my two candidates for baptism are not currently here, so it seems to be coming in late.

It's ready.

It's ready. We're ready.

Alright. Well Dan, go ahead and open this up in prayer.

Yeah, let's pray.

Thank you, God.

Father in heaven, this is your day.

When we look at the world, the state of the world, the pandemic, the political state, the choices of our country, the challenges that we face,

challenges in education, challenges in running a household, challenges in life in general, what we're reminded in no small way where it says consider it all joy when you face all manner of trials and tribulations.

Everybody wants to make that about persecution, but there's a lot of sources of trials and tribulations.

We recognize there's a lot of things going on, a lot of things going wrong, and Lord, in our midst, there's a lot of things going right.

We confess to you that we don't understand fully.

We don't know how this whole thing works.

We get the gospel that Jesus died for us and we're living for him and that we ought to be about that.

Those of us who are saved, we sense your Holy Spirit working on us.

We feel his direction, we hear his voice at times correcting us, directing us, convicting us, leading us to a better understanding.

We come together to worship you because, let's see, because you're worthy of worship, because it's a thing that you gave us to do,

because as we do that as a spiritual discipline, we chase away evil spirits, distractions, temptations, and overcome trials and tribulations.

It's a practice that we can do, and yet so many folks who are going through it right now, who are practicing that discipline and other disciplines that you've blessed us with.

Thank you, Lord, for watching over us, providing us, protecting us.

Thank you for help and strength and for a desire to look to you and be guided.

Thank you for wisdom and discernment.

Lord, thank you for your love.

I ask you now to take over this service.

I ask you to lead every note that's strummed and every key that's pushed and every voice that's uplifted and every word that's cried out and every praise God, every amen, and every heart that seeks you.

Lord, I pray for those that we do know who are sick.

I pray for Jason, just now Lord, and the headache that he has and that I pray, Lord, you just heal him up.

Help him let go as he lifts his voice and as he strains to sing, strains to honor you with his presence.

Lord, we just know that even elsewhere in this room there are people overcoming burdens and barriers, and he can do it to you by your power and by your strength.

I pray for those who are coming to be baptized today, they're young, and they've got a family of autumn, they've got things to deal with, so I pray Lord that they'll come those days and be here, be baptized.

I pray that it signifies great growth in the kingdom, much more so than what we can do here.

I thought that we'd pray for Melissa LaSage, who as of this morning was back in ICU.

They say her kidneys are familar, Lord, and that'll kill you.

So we ask you Lord for healing, we ask you Lord to lead her to yourself in a very true and certain way, and put her on the road to serving you every single day.

We pray for all those girls, they love her, they will be hurt and aching even now.

Corianna was afraid yesterday with her mom in the hospital, I remember saying it.

People don't die from allergies in the hospital, the whole thing started with a bee sting.

That's not what it's all about, we know, Lord, that you know exactly what's going on in her body, and you can heal her.

And for those who are here today, we pray for little Zayden, who's quote, quarantined, unquote, even though he's not sick.

We're grateful for that, we'll pray that you do it with our day, who's the guy on the end electronically, and that you help them both grow.

They can talk about Jesus, and the father and son can talk about Jesus and learn and grow.

We pray that for ourselves every day, that fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and people will love you.

Sit around and just talk about Jesus, or stand around, work around, talk about Jesus.

We want to talk about Jesus now, to help us sing, help us worship you, and we pray in Jesus' precious name.

Amen.

We will enter his gates.

I will rejoice for he has made me man.

I will enter his gates with a tear in my heart.

I will enter his doors with a prayer.

He has made me man, he has made me man. I will rejoice for he has made me man.

Sing, O watchers of our Jesus, sing his mercy and his praise.

In the mansion's bright ablas, and with the cross of praise. When we all live in heaven, what a day we'll rejoice in there will be.

When we all sing Jesus' praise, and we all sing his praise. While we walk uphill from passing clouds, we'll overspread the sky.

But when challenging days are over, not a shadow not a sign, when we all get to heaven, what a day we'll rejoice in there will be.

When we all sing Jesus' praise, and we all sing his praise. Let us then be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day.

Just one glimpse of him in glory will once more reflect our day. When we all get to heaven, what a day we'll rejoice in there will be.

When we all sing Jesus' praise, and we all sing his praise. Onward to the prize before us, soon his beauty will behold.

Soon the party gates will open, we shall travel through the streets of gold. When we all get to heaven, what a day we'll rejoice in there will be.

When we all sing Jesus' praise, and we all sing his praise.

Praise the Lord!

We were singing that song before the beginning here, and I went, Lord, I know that's there, where is it at? I couldn't remember. I looked in the general vicinity and I found it! Just like that.

It's not easy to find something in the future, remember where it's at, that's as well as classic places. Sometimes you go looking in here, where is that at exactly? Especially because this happens to be in the Psalms.

So singing that song, this is what I was thinking of. Let me back up one second, I'm going to go to verse 5.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord. Many are saying, who will show us any good? Lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, O Lord.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than when there are grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep.

Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety.

I was thinking about that in the light of today, and I know there have been, there's lots of reasons probably to be upset. You know what I'm saying? You go on Facebook, they'll give you a bunch of reasons to be upset. A lot of people disagreeing all over the place. People being mean to each other.

There's lots of reasons. Obviously the pandemic, if you take a good hard look at what COVID is and what it can do to you or to your family or whatever, you might start to get fearful. You know what I'm saying?

Or upset, angry, right? Everybody thinks everybody else should be doing it a different way. And so on. There's lots of reasons. You're upset, you're angry, you're down and out, whatever.

Some of it's got serious health concerns. Trying to figure out what we're going to do. People dealing with job issues, relationship issues, etc. Trying to figure out what it is that we're going to do.

Lots of reasons to be anxious, doubtful, wondering, questioning even that what we know God has said to us and what we know God is planning on doing.

And the solemnness is this way. Many are saying who will show us any good? Who will show us any good? Lift up the light of thy confidence upon us, O Lord. That means God's face.

Look at us and shine the light of your presence into our lives. Thou hast put gladness in my heart. More than when there grain and new wine abound. More than when you have abundance. More than when you have enough money.

More than when you have enough resources. More than when things seem to be all good and there's nothing to be worried about. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep.

For thou alone, O Lord, that's making me dwell in safety. Who are you trusting in today? Who's going to take care of it? If it goes bad, if it goes to the absolute worst it could go in this lifetime.

If you die, if you're trusted in the Lord, it's going straight to heaven. We're going to sing, we're going to dance, we're going to live for eternity.

You're going to eat better food than you've ever tasted in your life. Lay down on a better bed if you choose to. If there's any better taste in your life, go anywhere you want at any time. Serve the Lord for eternity.

If it should go the worst it could possibly go.

I guess there is a worse way. You could not trust the Lord. You could turn from the safety provided. You could say, no Lord, I don't need you to take care of my every concern. That would be a worse way.

And maybe then you wouldn't have that great gladness in your heart that God provides. Man, God is so good.

At a time in my life when I thought I was okay, I had all the finances, I had all the house, I had a beautiful wife, I had a child and a child coming and so on.

I realized that you can be happy about whatever's going on in your life, but you need a greater gladness, a greater joy. That's how King James Version translates that verse.

A greater gladness have you put in my heart. Praise God, he is good.

Alright, how about you? What have you been reading? What have you been seeing? Jason, show us.

On Friday night, I heard that one of my friends, his name is Aaron, saw a boy and his family got in a real bad car accident.

They were five from one someone and they smashed the back of the little man there and she got a really bad car on her own.

Her mom has a really bad car on her and it happened right after school on Thursday.

So, you got her last name is Stahl? Star. And is it that whole family's last name you know? Are they all stars? Yeah.

Okay, so we're going to play for the star. But she's also got a boy. Who was in the accident? Yeah, but she's only our local nation.

Well, praise God that they survived. It is Stahl. It is Stahl, not Star. It's H.L. We're going to pray for the Stahl family.

Okay, and as I mentioned in my opening prayer, Melissa Lasey got moved to the ICU overnight and they're right now saying she has kidney failure.

So, pray for her. She is not, obviously not a member here, but a member of her kids are. So, they're very concerned about her.

Others, what else you got? Something that's not a prayer request, but something you read or something you saw.

Brother Tony Tate, what did God say to you on Mackinac Island, man? Come on. I watched all those videos. It's phenomenal what you saw.

Yeah, I was going to say, I watched those videos, there are pictures, and I got some great readings of Stahl. I always say, to encourage, we encourage.

We find, we find who we are in Christ, and we know who God is, and who God is not. So, I had a great time.

It was funny like that. I was there for three days, and she said, one day, that was enough for me.

And I was just thinking about it. I started searching the scriptures, you know, it says, you know, just one day, you know, in your courts, there are thousands elsewhere.

I was, one day, it was going to be like, that's like 5,000 stuff, and I'll talk about that later.

So, I was just trying to keep this real short, because I was like, I can do the sermon, but I'm going to get more later.

Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that I've been just kind of viewing through the Word, and I'm going to cut off on that one.

But this is something just recently, just all talking about, you know, Jesus said, who do you say I am? You know, and it was like,

and I've been saying that to myself, who do you say you are, God? Who do you say you are?

And we were talking about meditating on the Word of God, and you know, taking things in.

And so, I was just telling Pastor Dan here, and they were like, what I listen to is what people say to both.

You know, like, it's fear, whatever it is, and then when I hear that, that's probably the least thing I think about,

because that's just everybody's flush crying out, they say whatever they want.

And so, when I hear people say these things, I understand, well, consider, but you know, people say, well, prayer's out of school,

you know, this is happening, and this is happening, and this, and that's true.

And, but, in the light of that, because that's not polite, I always say, well, where's God at?

They didn't take God out of school. They may have taken parts from God, but God's not gone.

There's nowhere where God says, oh no, you got me, you know, it's like, he's not shriveled, he's not shrunk,

and so, you know, like, that's just my biggest hand I'm thinking about, is that, you know, we hear people saying things,

and you know, it's like, you have to say, well, where's God? You know, besides all that stuff that we hear all the time.

And so, you know, my inspiration today is that, I'll tell you what God's doing. I'll tell you what God's doing right now.

God wants us to live for him and do everything for his righteousness. There is no other, like, you can think of other things,

but I don't think that's it. There's nothing else to think about. God's going to continually say, yeah, here I am.

I'm not going anywhere. Nope, I'm not afraid. I'm not perverted. I'm not over here.

I'm not against any of us in sanctification, walking, I don't think you get baptized, you know, you got baptized, you know,

to fulfill all righteousness, you did all that you were supposed to do, you know, but, like, he doesn't need any more steps.

He's always here. God's Spirit is always there. He's been ever-present in all times of trouble. He's ever-present anyways, you know,

and so, just a reminder, just saying, you know, just an encouragement, like I said, or re-encouragement.

You already know this. Don't go and say, I already know this. When you know it, go do something about it.

Use it. If you know it, praise the Lord again. Take it within, you know. Don't just know it, but, you know,

make it so much more than it is, you know, because we have the, like, I never liked this song.

It was a great song, but the skill, because the title is just so sad, but the best kept secret in my generation

should not be the best kept secret, but it still is one of the best kept secrets, you know,

but it literally should be publicly proclaimed that Jesus is risen, that Jesus died, that Jesus suffered all,

He suffered all sin, everything, and came back in victory, and anybody that has that relationship,

His righteousness nails away all unrighteousness, that we no longer have to live them righteous.

We can choose that now, but it's no longer a choice in Christ. And I'll finish with this,

and I decided to get into the core, but I've been saying this a lot now, you know, God sees me perfect in Christ.

He sees all of us. Those are Christians, and maybe on Facebook you need this reminder,

is that God sees us perfect, because He doesn't see us any. He sees the blood that was spilled, the lamb that was slain,

the Father suppresses all wrath, all of it, none of it. He has no beef with us anymore, right now,

because we're perfect in Christ. God's perfecting us through His Spirit. God's Spirit is working in this every day,

to make us more like Him, to reveal more of who He is, and reveal more of what we should not be.

You know, this is God's work, it's not our work. That's why no one can even, you know, you can pray, you can encourage,

you can even, if God's allowing you to be there for Him, but nothing can do, because it truly is God's work,

then no one can boast someday in heaven. No one's going to say, I did this. No, they're going to say, glory to God, it was all you.

And the third thing is, and this is the great part, you don't put your hands up in the air, put your hands up in the Spirit,

praising for this, but the day is coming, just Sunday, in heaven, someday we will be perfect with Christ. Someday,

even brothers and sisters that are failing, frail, you've got to understand, it's not over.

You know, I've been through a ten year absolute, like I felt like I was, like I just said, I just stepped out of the Twilight Zone,

everybody knows that show, where you go into the Zone, and you can't get out, you know, and I finally got out,

and I'm actually, I've been in so much like, I don't know where I've been, but I'm thankful that, you know,

I actually can be, through New Heights, through many brothers and sisters, I just thank God for everybody,

and everything that God does, through His creation, and the Creator Himself, the Spirit living God.

If it wasn't even here, I wouldn't even be able to be here. And it goes for everybody.

And I'm not trying to say, say hallelujah, it don't matter, hallelujah is already there, you know,

and so, I'm just saying, someday we'll be perfect. There will be a day we won't be flawed, there will be a day like that.

In the world, we'll have to bow down and say every day, and every time confessing Jesus is Lord,

and then they'll have to defend themselves against their own unrighteousness.

And I don't want to say it, but it has to be told, because it makes the perfect Holy Judge,

they'll all be banished forever, in hell, condemned by God's own wrath, that they chose death,

God's love, and His holiness, and His true perfection at the cross.

Alright, alright. Hey, did you know there's more stars in the U.P. than there is here?

I mean, not actually, right? You just see a lot of stars over there.

It's dark, there's no lights, and you can see, like, the water just goes on forever,

and now you look up and see just so many stars.

And you go out to country, you can see more stars than you can in the city,

but there's so many stars, what a blessing. God is so good, and you're absolutely right.

Hey, we're going to play a game. Everybody, Jason, put that down, I want to see it again.

Thank you, sir, I love you. Alright? Okay. So we're going to play a quick game, alright?

So, I hope you're here as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you're not, it's okay, because God still loves you, still speaking in your heart,

still convicting you of sins, still leading you in the right direction.

So, if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be a mouthpiece for God.

That means you know what God would say on certain subjects, okay?

This is what Tony Tate was kind of touching, alright?

So this is a response time. I'm going to ask you a question,

and then altogether, after this short delay, we're going to answer the question, okay?

Now, you may ask a question differently than somebody else that's near you, or whatever.

I hope not, I hope we all can kind of agree, but if not, it's okay.

There aren't any wrong answers, but the answer to the question is,

what would God say on this topic? Alright?

Some of them are going to be easy, I don't know, but it depends on how the Lord leads.

I've written this down, so this is in the Spirit, I think. Alright?

So here we go. First of all, does God love all people?

Yes. Yes, that was an easy one, alright?

Has God bigger than your current problem? Yes.

Okay. This is a little harder. Does God want you to work harder?

Yes. Thank you. That was great work, man.

You heard from the Lord. Okay, good stuff.

Can God forgive your worst sin? Yes.

Alright. Will God forgive your worst sin in any way other than Jesus?

Oh. Oh. See, these are leading questions, right?

Somebody else, somebody got a question? In the room, you got a question in your heart.

Ask a question, we'll answer it. Anybody?

You don't have to. If you got a question, you can ask it now.

One once, twice. Alright, Tony?

Is God ever present and always here at all times?

Alright, is God always here? Yes.

Alright, good. Anybody else? Yes.

Right here. Can we do all things through His Son who strengthens us?

Oh, you cheated. Use the verse. Alright.

Can we do all things through His Son who strengthens us? Yes.

The God kids are going to get that one right on. That's a key verse.

Alright. Somebody over here have a question?

Shon, do you have a question? No.

Anybody else? One once, then twice. Alright.

So, in praise, we speak up for our God.

You will hear things about who God is as we sing these songs.

And you will sing things about who God is.

Or meditate on them if you're not a singer type.

I hope you are because we all praise the Lord.

The Bible commands us to praise over and over and over again.

Alright, so we're going to pray briefly and then we have the opportunity to give tithes and offerings

as the Lord leads and then a little more worship and then to the Word.

Jason, would you pray for us? Remember the tithes and offerings?

Would you do that? Alright, nice and loud.

Amen.

Amen. Thank you, brother.

Brother Drainsock.

Yeah, because that's not weird at all.

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.

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.

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.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.