[0:00] Good morning everybody.
[0:20] This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad. If any kids want to come up and sing, we'd love to have them join us. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:42] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:56] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:12] Good morning. Welcome to our church. We have a gift for our visitors at the Connection site. Amen. Please fill out your friendship card for any prayers or concern, or just so we can get to know you.
[1:24] It's fun to be part of the welcoming committee here at Edmonton Center. Our ministry opportunity on the clipboard is the fish fries. They're coming up a week from Friday.
[1:36] So if you want to be part of that, it's a lot of fun. Good place to meet some people. Come down and join us for that. Also, next week, for our mission moment, we're going to be having Super Bowl Sunday, where we're going to collect for our food pantry.
[1:50] If you'd like to bring a donation of food for the food pantry next week, that would be great as well. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Dear God in heaven, you are our strength.
[2:00] You are our peace. Help us to focus our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, all we are on you. Bless us this day, Lord. Be your people. In Jesus' name we pray.
[2:11] Amen. If you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing together, Come Thou Almighty King. Come Thou Almighty King Come Thou Almighty King Help us to praise.
[2:47] Help us to praise. Father, all glorious, for all victorious, Thou men win over us in shift of days.
[3:00] Come Thou incarnate Word, Hear Kirka cerebellum 930, God of Dios, take us with you, in the Lord. God of to honor for us in?
[3:12] Lord of all my party is yet. God of my glory $1. Be hopeless and give thy word success. Spirit of holiness on us descend.
[3:25] Come holy, come Peter. Thy sacred witness bear in this manner.
[3:36] Thou who almighty out, now rule in every heart. And their promise depart, spirit of power.
[3:51] To thee, great one in three, eternal praises be. Hence evermore, thy sovereign majesty.
[4:06] May we give glory, sing. And to eternity, love and adore. Amen. Father, come pal.
[4:52] For now, remember all of this. Not so long. We've all been joining the President of the Legion.
[5:02] The President of the Legion is the flag of the United States of America, the huge republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[5:18] The President of the Legion is the flag of the United States of America.
[5:33] The President of the University of America, the president of the United States, Thank you.
[6:09] Thank you. The Lord be with you.
[6:24] Take a moment, if you will, and stand and share the peace of the Spirit with one another. I'd like to invite any kids who want to come forward to come on up and join me. Thank you.
[6:53] Any other kids want to come on up? Come on up. Do you guys have any idea what this is? It's my family, right? What do we call this thing?
[7:07] It's a picture, yeah. I didn't know if you knew about them because, you know, usually we see them on cameras and computers now, don't we? But they actually still make pictures that you can frame and you can hang on the wall.
[7:18] And you know why I like these? Because these won't disappear into cyberspace. This will be around with me forever. And that's important because not all these people are still here with me on earth.
[7:29] Some of them are in heaven with God. And so I miss them and I can look at them and I can remember them. It's important to remember the people we love always. Our family, our friends, and hold them close in our heart.
[7:39] God wants us to do the same thing with Him. Do things that will help us remember Him, help us to learn about Him and to grow closer to Him.
[7:50] What are some of the things we can do to learn more and get closer to God? Can you think of some things? Yeah. We can read the Bible. Yeah. Anything else you can think of? You're doing it right now.
[8:04] Go to church. Do you have one? You can thank Him. That's right. How do we do that?
[8:14] We say our prayers, right? Yeah, there's lots of things. And you can ask your parents about God because they know all about God and they can share with you too about God. Okay? Yeah.
[8:25] So that's a good thing we can do to keep God in our lives all the time. So what are you guys thankful for this morning that you want to share? Raise your hand if you want to say something. My mom and my family. The world.
[8:39] My sisters and brothers. My family and cats. My brother and sister. Friends and family. And my sister.
[8:52] My family and the world. And my dad. All right? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for our families, our friends, the blessings you give to us, all the things in this world, especially for you.
[9:08] Keep us close to you and close to those we love. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, you guys can go out to church school. All the kids can go out to church school now if they'd like to. Like to invite one of our Boy Scouts to come up now and share our thankful moment with us.
[9:27] Amen. Good morning.
[9:40] My name is Ryan and I'm a part of Troop 98. One thing that I like about Troop 98 is that the boys in the troop are always helping one another. Another thing that I like about Troop 98 is the campouts that they go on.
[9:52] My favorite was Lake Placid in the Anirondacks. On the first day there, we went ice climbing and everybody and the whole troop loved it. But the next day we went to the skating, we went to the skating oval and went ice skating.
[10:09] On the last day we went through the Olympic Hall of Fame and got to see the miracle on ice. Last but not least, I'd like to thank Mr. Nesbitt and the church for the great leadership and letting us use them for our meetings and activities like Italian night and the court of honor.
[10:25] Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. What a blessing to have you all here and to have the opportunity to serve the community in this way by opening up our church.
[10:42] Amen? Congregation? Amen. Let's bring our gifts, tithes, and offerings before the Lord as an act of worship to God. Amen. Thank you.
[11:22] We're so much and lovely. You are worthy.
[11:38] We're worthy. We're worthy. God, Prince of Peace, you are worthy. Worship and honor be unto you for all eternity.
[12:06] Forever and evermore, you are holy. You are holy.
[12:32] You are holy. Wonderful, wonderful. You are holy.
[12:49] Worthy. Worthy. Worthy. Worthy. Mighty God, Prince of Peace, you are worthy.
[13:03] Worthy. Worthy. Worship and honor be unto you for all eternity.
[13:21] Forever and evermore. Worship and honor be unto you for all eternity.
[13:48] Forever and evermore. You are holy. You are holy. You are holy.
[14:04] You are holy. You are holy. You are holy. You are holy.
[14:23] You are holy. Thank you.
[14:59] Thank you.
[15:29] Thank you.
[15:59] Thank you.
[16:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[16:41] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. people who were being recognized and consecrated. We also recognized and reaffirmed the consecrations of the folks who have been certified lay ministers for some time. It was quite a blessing and a joy to be here and to participate in that service. We need to keep in prayer this morning.
[17:11] There was, I don't know if things are under control or not now, but on Brighton Avenue in the town of Tonawanda, just off Parker. Big fire as I was driving on my way here for worship this morning. I don't know what facility it was, but there were lots of emergency vehicles, lots of sirens, and more I kept seeing as I was driving down, more and more emergency vehicles heading to that location. I'm not sure what happened, but there's something going on there. We need to keep Wayne and Brenda Forrest in prayer on their missionary endeavor with the nomads. We want to make sure that we lift them up as well, all of our missionaries.
[17:53] We have Anna Kay Anderson who has developed some new health concerns. We want to keep her in our prayers as well. And Lorinda Morris and Ron Elman have surgeries coming up this week. Ron will be having some surgery on his hand because of an injury. And Lorinda is having surgery on Wednesday to remove cancer, and she's asked for all of our prayers. So with these concerns and joys, of course, and those that are on your heart, let's turn to the Lord in prayer.
[18:22] loving Heavenly Father, God of all creation, we are humbled in the privilege of being able to come to come into your presence to offer up our prayers, to offer up our joys, to know that when we are rejoicing, you rejoice with us. When we are in grief, you are grieving with us. When we are troubled, you are troubled with us.
[19:08] Lord, Lord, we are troubled with us. And that you desire to have us pray and release your power into this world where health is so very, very badly needed. Lord God, we pray right now for all of those people who are sick and infirm, who are needing a touch from you, whether it be in their spirits, their souls, or their bodies.
[19:35] We pray in Jesus' name that you touch them with your healing power. We pray that you give compassion and wisdom to their caregivers, whether they be medical professionals or family and friends.
[19:55] It is you who makes us whole, Lord. There is no one else. There is no other way to become whole and healthy and well.
[20:09] We are grateful for your concern for our well-being and know that you will answer the prayers of those who are in need of healing. God, we pray for those who are grieving losses of all time.
[20:24] We pray that you would send your spirit of compassion, comfort, and peace. We pray, Lord God, that as we encounter people who are in need of compassion, who are in need of comfort, who are in need of a healing touch, that you would empower us to deliver that, to be your hands and feet, your eyes and ears, and your voice in this world.
[20:57] Move in us and through us, Lord, so that we can touch this world so in need of help. Lord God, we pray and lift up all of those people who are missionaries, who are out in the wider world, delivering your message of hope and forgiveness, bringing help where help is needed.
[21:26] Lord, we pray in Jesus' name that you keep them safe and that you make them strong and bold to carry out the work that you called them to.
[21:40] And Lord, we pray for ourselves as we encounter people each and every day in our workplaces, our schools, our neighborhoods, and even our families, Lord, who need to hear your message of salvation, your message of grace and mercy, to bring a healing touch, whatever kind is needed.
[22:06] Help us, Lord, to be bold. Help us, Lord, to be strong, not out of our own power, but of your power in us. Amen. Now, Lord God, help us to hear, to understand, to receive the message that you bring to us this day.
[22:36] Let your word wash over us and fill us as we hear it spoken, transforming us and to those you have called us to be.
[22:51] Be with Pastor Tom as he delivers the message. It's come from you, Lord. We ask that you anoint him to deliver it, that it be a blessing to him and to us.
[23:05] We ask, Lord God, that all of our worship be a blessing to you this day. For that is why we have come.
[23:19] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the word of the Lord? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[23:30] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning.
[23:49] Good morning. Today's reading is from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4-9 and 12-25. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.
[24:03] These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts, Impress them on your children Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road When you lie down and when you get up Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates Be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt Out of the land of slavery Fear the Lord your God and serve him only and take your oaths in his name Do not follow other gods, the gods of people around you For the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous God And his anger will burn against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massa Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God And the stipulations and the grace he has given you Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight So that it may go well with you and you may go in And take over the good plan the Lord has promised on oath to your ancestors Thusting out all your enemies before you as the Lord said In the future when your son asks you What is the meaning of stipulations and the grace and the laws
[25:03] The Lord our God has commanded you Tell him, we were slaves of Pharaoh and Egypt For the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand Before our eyes the Lord has sent wonders, sent signs Great and terrible on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household But he brought us out of there to bring us in and give us the land he promised On oath to our ancestors The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees And to fear the Lord our God So that we might always prosper and be kept alive As is the case today And if we are fearful to obey all this law before the Lord our God As he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness This is the word of the Lord Thanks be to God Here again, celebrating his 30th anniversary of WBEN Radio Your AMMC, Clint Buhlman Remember that Yep, listen to that every morning We needed to know what the weather report was going to be Because we live in Buffalo
[26:03] So we've got to be prepared We'd go out and check Arthur Our thermometer Tell us what the weather was Some of you are too young to remember this That's okay It was a cold January day And they said we'd have some light snow in the afternoon Everybody went out about their business that day Did their thing And 1977 In the afternoon We had something we call a blizzard Well, we happened to be at our home We lived in a fourplex We were on one end And my sister lived on the other end Something happened with our furnace I don't know if it just couldn't keep up with the cold Or as I think I recall it It actually broke So we said We know what we'll do We'll get in the car And go around the corner To my parents' house They only lived around the block If we could walk straight across the Kensington Expressway We could have been there in five minutes' walk
[27:04] So we loaded up our plants And anything that would die into our little car And we got in the car And drove And got about one third of the way And the car said This is it This is as far as it gets And we were stuck Now some of you really have never been in a blizzard like that These blizzards were so big That they buried tractor trailers Imagine walking down the street with snow so deep That you had to push your way just to get through it And have you ever been out in the cold Where the cold wind takes your breath right away?
[27:40] It's frightening And we didn't have a long walk on a sunny day It would have been an easy walk But to tell you the truth We were kind of wondering if we were going to make it It was frightening It was frightening And the winter weather in Buffalo can be frightening Not today But it can be frightening So we're afraid So we check So we prepare Do we do the same thing with our God?
[28:08] Verse 13 of this passage It says Fear the Lord your God Serve him only And take your oaths in his name Don't follow other gods The gods of the people around you For the Lord your God Who is among you Is a jealous God And his anger will burn against you And he will destroy you From the face of the earth We don't talk about God much that way A God that if we abandon him Can destroy us If we don't keep the promises we make to God God is bound to punish us You know that An oath made before God Is saying God if I don't keep these These oaths I make I want you to punish me Do we think of God that way?
[28:59] Or do we take God for granted And assume God can't really do very much When in reality God can destroy us In this world as the Bible says And in the one to come Send us to hell A long time ago There was a preacher Named Jonathan Edwards Who transformed this upstate region One of his most famous sermons Was sinners in the hands of an angry God We don't think of God that way do we?
[29:28] We don't think about the wrath of God And the possibility That God might do what he should do Because the Bible says The penalty of sin is death And if we sin We should be condemned to hell All of us But we don't think of God that way We're not afraid of God Because we've shrunk God down To a little impotent God We've made God small We pull God out for our crisis Or for our emergencies Or we celebrate God on our holidays And special occasions Of baptism or confirmation Or a funeral or a wedding But other than that We put God away in the corner Because we don't want a God That will interfere with our world And our lives So we make him in a once in a while God They do that in the south With the weather, you know They look at it once in a while Unless a hurricane's coming There is no reason to watch
[30:29] The weather down there You should see the weathermen In the south They're like a bunch of clowns Trying to put on a show So somebody will watch them Not us We have serious Seasoned Weather people And we don't just leave weather Once in a while Here and there It's playing on the radios It's playing all day long And now Well Let's see what Bob Sled has to tell us Should we go Or should we stay home Is it safe Is it going to snow Is it going to storm All of us who are wise Have taken the time To ask those questions Before heading out Into the winter Now some foolish folks Would say YOLO Just go for it See what happens And they likely learned That they should have checked Before going out Other cowardly folks Decide it's too much No matter what And never go outside Once winter hits They become winter hermits
[31:30] And that's no fun And still others believe That a quick glance Out the window Will give enough insight As to the conditions outside Now looking out the window Is a great start In determining where And when you should venture out But it's not enough Hey It's me again Bob Sled I've come to count on something That gives me even more wisdom I'd like to share with you My favorite television channel The weather channel Of course There's a great weather reporter That I've come to rely on For clear and accurate reporting Even when I'm not able To watch the weather channel They have this great app Now 24-7 365 You can check that And see what the weather is doing now And even more importantly What it's going to do Why is that important you ask?
[32:11] Well because we live in western New York And the weather can change Every five minutes It's exciting It's challenging It's not like those southern states Where it's always the same thing Over and over Sunny and warm Sunny and Now that's boring We have the lake effect weather Here in western New York And our weather changes all the time It may look like it's going to do something But often it does something Totally different than what we expected And we weren't prepared for it Because we didn't have the full story The forecast comes out And it says it might be a little hazy A little snowy A little windy And even a little cold So we know we have to be ready to adapt to something But we need to know what's coming our way The forecast continues And then bam The radar comes on And we see it approaching It's a big scary blob Heading in our direction Is it going to hit us?
[33:01] Stay tuned Ever watching? Stay tuned in? Alerts from our app on the ready? It's wise Especially in western New York To keep in constant contact With the Weather Channel Don't leave home without it Do we stay or do we go now?
[33:20] Thanks, Bob The Weather Channel Which probably around the world Is an occasionally watched channel In western New York We live the Weather Channel 24-7 In fact, we have radio stations We listen to And we don't care what they're doing on there So long as they have the weather on there Every few minutes 24-7 We want to check the weather 24-7 We should live with God Hear, O Israel This passage says The Lord our God is one Love the Lord your God With all your heart With all your soul And with all your strength Which one's left out, by the way?
[34:03] Mine Very good Very good Jesus added mine To it Love the Lord your God With everything you've got In verse 6 It says These commands that I give you today Are to be on your heart What do we actually love?
[34:22] What do we live for? What are we concerned about? What are we afraid of? What do we respect? When I was a little guy We had five children in our family The oldest was my sister She was six years older than me When my sister told me to do something I did it Now that's because my sister Compared to me Was huge I mean she was like a giant I was just a little guy She could pick me up And throw me around She said Put on your coat I put on my coat She had an effect On my everyday life She's the boss Do we see God that way?
[35:06] Or do we ignore God And forget God? We've been talking About the children of Israel And how they were in Egypt And they had the blessings of God They lived in the land of Goshen And then they lost the blessings of God And ended up as slaves The entire nation Fell apart When they turned away from God I've been talking about How our nation Peaked in its strength And its glory As our faith in God did And as our faith in God Has been fading Where are we headed?
[35:35] So we're doing what they did We're turning to the lessons They learned in the desert Of how to remember God How to keep God in our lives Because when we forget God It can be dangerous This book is a book of Deuteronomy I told you two or three weeks ago That this book was actually A hidden book for a while King Josiah came along Who loved God But several kings before him Didn't believe in God And so the nation Had gotten away from God They forgot God So when Josiah came along He said we should do some God stuff Let's fix up the temple That seems like a good thing to do So they started fixing it And they found this book And they started reading it And they went Oh man dude We're in trouble We're not doing what this book says If this is what God expects We've got problems Do we know Do we know enough About God To know whether Whether our life Is on the right track Or the wrong track Or are we so busy
[36:36] You know it says in here Be careful Be careful when you plant Your vineyards And you go about your work And you work on your houses And you do the things With the people around you That you don't forget God Because God knows What we're like We get distracted We get to a place Where we're looking around And watching other things And we forget who God is We get far away from Him My sister lives in Philadelphia now I see her a couple of times a year She comes up See us at the lake Talk to her on the phone We do a couple of these email things Maybe a text once in a while My sister doesn't have A day to day impact on me She has nowhere near the influence She used to have in my life The people who influence my life Or the people who are in my life Every day My wife My daughter My grandson To tell you the truth You people have more influence On my life Than my own sister does I love her
[37:37] But really How much a part of my life is she We've done that with God We've made our God Too small We've turned Him Into a caricature of God He's become a small part Of our lives Do we talk about Him Do we spend time with Him Does He come up in our regular conversation Or are we embarrassed to talk about God Because of what the people around us might say In verse 14 it says Be careful that you don't follow after the gods Of the people around you in this land Do we follow after the concerns and worries And considerations of this world around us Do we live by what our friends at school or work say to us More than by what our God says to us Usually in the winter Somewhere along the line I get this panic phone call It's typically around 10 in the morning
[38:38] Pastor Tom We've got to close the church tonight Oh Okay Why's that There's an incredible huge storm coming our way Right about that time All the radio reports are going nuts There's this huge storm coming The weather channel says We're going to get blasted by storms all over the place Everybody starts freaking out You know where the weather channel is located by the way?
[39:05] Georgia We're going to listen to what's happening in western New York From people who live in Georgia Really? Really? How many of you have ever had a phone call From a panicked relative that lives out of town Because Buffalo got three feet of snow And we've got it dusting, right?
[39:22] We're like We're fine That doesn't happen here Relax Because you see Sometimes we get too far away from it We're worried about what everybody else says Instead of what we need to know What God wants us to know It says in here that we should impress These words on our children Talk about them When you sit at home When you walk along the road When you lie down When you get up Tie them as symbols on your hands Bind them on your forehead Write them on the door frames of your houses And on your gates They should be a part of our regular conversation Our everyday thoughts Boy Scouts came in And they were standing here Doing the Boy Scout law Their oath We didn't have it up on the screen They didn't have little cue cards They've got it in their mind
[40:23] Right, boys? Because How often do you do that? Every single time You get together Right? To the point you're going Not this again Come on I thought we had something else We could do But it's in their minds Just like You people who attend Pendleton Church You're supposed to love The Lord your God with Because I do it All the time Hear, O Israel The Lord your God Is one God Love the Lord your God With all your heart With all your soul With all your mind With all your strength They call that In the Jewish faith The Shema And they have something Called a mezuzah A mezuzah Is a little thing That you put those words into And you're supposed to Put it on the doorpost Of your house So that when you Come or go You touch that And you remember To love the Lord your God With all your heart Soul, mind, and strength I actually have a mezuzah
[41:24] Because we have A Jewish fellow Who comes to our church From time to time And he said I moved from a house To an apartment So I had two of these And I only need one You want it? So I said sure Problem is I put it on my front doorpost I don't go in the front door So I never see it You see what the problem is?
[41:46] We have all our symbols Of our faith They're around our house They're on our copy table There's a Bible There's a cross over there There's something To remind us of God But we don't see it We don't look at it We don't spend time with it When was the last time You sat down with your children And talked to them About God?
[42:05] Do we make God A part of our lives? Do we look at His scripture Every day? We stay close to God God will stay close to us And blessings Imagine what life would be like If before you went to work Before y'all walked In the doors of school Before you started engaging The craziness of this world Around you You looked at a few Scripture passages To remember Whose you are Who you belong to Out in the back of the sanctuary There's baskets And I've got these Little cards that I made up for you I'm calling them Scriptures I don't know what I'm calling them It doesn't matter Because I forgot Doorpost scriptures That's what they are Doorpost scriptures They're just different scriptures Now you might have other ones That you'd want to put down These are just ones That literally came to my mind Immediately Love the Lord to God With all your heart Soul, mind, and strength
[43:06] Before you walk into school Or work You remember We know that in all things God works for the good Of those who love him And are called according to His purpose Or from Luke Do unto others As you would have others To do unto you Or when Jesus said Why do you look at the speck In your brother's eye When you've got a log In your own eye Deal with your own business What if we went into Our lives Thinking about how God Would want us to live How would we live That song we heard says The hazy days of winter Hang on to your hopes My friend That's an easy thing to say But if your hopes Should pass away Then simply pretend And you can find them again That's what the world wants Make up a slogan Pretend Pretend Say something That people will get excited about But really it has no power
[44:06] No depths No strength These words have been around For 3,000 years Because they hold power They pull us back With God And if we'd focus on God Can you imagine What our life would be about Garbage in Garbage out But what if we put The good things of God Into our life Philippians says to us Brothers and sisters Whatever's true Whatever's noble Whatever's right Whatever's pure Whatever's lovely Whatever's admirable If anything is excellent Or praiseworthy Think about these things We think of all the wrong stuff We pour pain and destruction And hurt and resentment And fear and anger Into our hearts Is it any wonder what comes out When we should be pouring in The joy of God We should have a regular life With God Which leads to his blessings Philippians says I can do all things Through Christ Who strengthens me
[45:07] John says And ask whatever you will In my name And I will do it for you In the book of Luke It says For nothing is impossible With God Deuteronomy says Be strong and courageous Do not be afraid Or terrified Because of other people For the Lord your God Goes with you He will never leave you Or forsake you Imagine if we start Our day Our lives By looking At these kind of Doorpost scriptures We keep the commands Of God We live into his blessing You see Our actions Prove our faith The Bible says You'll know them By their fruits By their actions James says You show me your faith Without any actions I'll show you who I am By what I do We do what God wants He'll bless us He promised so In verse 18 He said Do what is right And good In the Lord's sight
[46:07] So that it may go well With you And you may go in And take over The good land The Lord has promised On oath To give to you You know God Has promised To bless you God has decided And promised To bless you He made an oath A sacred promise To bless you If you'll live For God But if we don't We live in danger Like the fools Who pay no attention To the weather Some of these Forecasters Actually Well take a look Per hour Yeah this is definitely What we call The hurricane roar And that's what I'm always looking for And it's almost A subsonic Have you ever been To a concert That's what I'm looking for Hurricane winds In a snow storm I want to go out With those Yeah What Shall we say Crazy You do crazy
[47:10] Foolish things Why would you Expect to be blessed You go out In the crazy weather You're going to get hurt That's why we have The weather forecast Turn away from God And you lose His blessings And we need His blessings now As much as Any time in our lives You know it's interesting That God even mentions Enemies in this passage I mentioned ISIS last night I had some guy Come out of church And he was on me For five ten minutes Because people are afraid People are afraid Right now People are afraid Of terrorism They're afraid To let the children Play in the front yard Of their homes People are afraid Of people bullying them Or hurting them And you know The odd part about it is That's not even The greatest fear The greatest fear Most of us have Is that we're going To somehow We're going to fail
[48:11] We're going to fail To live up To being the people That we really Want to be We're not going To be the Husband or wife That we'd like to be We're not going To be The moms and dads That we desire In our heart to be We're not going To be the children That our parents Can be proud of We're not going To succeed In our work And our efforts We're going to Somehow find ourselves Failing And falling And coming up Short Why we don't Talk about God Because we're afraid That somebody Will point out Our failings You say You're a Christian And you're going To talk to me About God I know who you are Do you want to know Why leaders Quit Do you want to know Why pastors Finally decide To retire People say You can't retire Pastors It's in your blood I'm not retiring
[49:11] By the way I've got a few more years Don't worry about it But the reason why Is because We do fail We fail Somewhere along the line I make a comment In a sermon That I thought Was clever But it hurt Somebody Somewhere You try to be Playable with somebody But somehow You've created The wrong impression Sometime you try To be in every place You're supposed to be in But somebody Was counting on you Being somewhere And you're not there It's like a thousand cuts I'm not talking about People attacking us For things that are Unwarranted We can live with that I'm talking about When we literally Fail to be What we expect Of us to be Finally you say I want to get out of here And go live in one of those Retirement communities In Florida And play shuffleboard The shuffleboard court Won't bug me They don't give me
[50:12] Any grief And if I fail To win At shuffleboard Who cares But if I fail To win at life Someone gets hurt So we don't talk About God Because we're afraid We won't have the right Answer for our children We don't talk about God Because we're afraid That somehow People will see The failings of our life And think that Reflects wrong on God We're afraid We're afraid To live out In that world Around us The people of Israel They were afraid To leave Egypt Not because it was good there But because they didn't Want to take the risk They didn't want to go Into the promised land Because they would have To live for God And trust God And it's hard In this life How many of you Would want to run To be president Of the United States Really Are these people Just crazy in their mind Every word they say They eat a sandwich And people are all over About why did they Pick this sandwich Instead of that one
[51:13] I remember reading About somebody Who made the mistake Of not putting Cheez Whiz On their sandwich In Philadelphia And like This mattered Holy cats Really We live in a world Where it feels like You can't win So you don't want to try Because somebody Will criticize you Like the pastor Getting up and saying The weather channel Is somehow bad Because they're from Atlanta Hello Who cares where they're from Yeah the weather channel Should have been located In Buffalo But we didn't think about it They give us weather reports 24-7 Thank God For the weather channel And thank God For people That will live their lives With courage Courage enough To go out And talk about God Integrity enough To share it With their children With their families Our nation needs it Our families need it We need the blessings Of God
[52:13] We need the confidence Of God This passage Ends by saying Your children Are going to come to you And ask you How does this work They're going to say What's this God thing And you know what Parents tell me Well I don't talk To my children About God Because I don't know Enough about them They're your kids You should know More than them And if you don't So what Talk to them anyways Maybe they'll teach you Something That's okay The Bible says A little child Shall leave them God saves Just like he saved The children of Israel Egypt He gives us commands To live by That will bless our lives And guard our lives He knows we're going to fail He knows we're not perfect Enough to keep them all So God gave us grace He was willing to forgive us Anything you've ever done wrong God can and will forgive Can you imagine such a thing I don't think there's A person like that There's only one Unforgivable sin In the Bible
[53:14] You know what it is You turn your back on God It's called blaspheming The Holy Spirit He says how can I forgive you When you won't have Anything to do with me When you forget me When you don't Have me in your life When you don't pay Any attention to me How am I supposed To work with that Failure is not When we don't Live our lives perfect Failure is when We don't walk with God We make Him small We forget Him In 2 Chronicles chapter 7 It says If my people Who are called by my name Will humble themselves And pray And seek my face And turn from their wicked ways Read it with me It says that I will hear from heaven I will forgive their sin And I will heal their land I'm going to tell you something folks The politicians Aren't going to heal our land And that's not because I don't think They're not well meaning They're not intending To do the right thing But because they're human Like you and me
[54:14] So they're going to mess up There's nothing That's going to heal This country Except the power of God That's what's changed Things in the past If we turn to God God will turn back to us He promised to do it The verse In Psalm 23 It says Even if I walk Through the valley Of the shadow of death I will fear No evil For my God is with me His rod and his staff They comfort me John says There's no fear in love Because perfect love Casts out all fear And Nehemiah it says This day is holy To our Lord God Do not grieve For the joy of the Lord Is our strength Philippians says Rejoice in the Lord Always And again I'll say it Rejoice John says I will see you again And your heart will rejoice And no one can take away Your joy The book of Acts It says And everyone who calls On the name of the Lord
[55:14] Will be saved If we start our days With these kind of Words If we say these words In our heart Before the people we love Come to meet with us again We can change Our families Our lives Our world Probably my favorite one The book of Genesis Right in the beginning God said He created everything Including you And when he looked at you He said This is very good God comes to you To live to a God like that A God who believes In you Just watch you And you Just watch you Which fatto is You are good You are good You are good You are good, you are good, when there's nothing good in me.
[56:29] You are love, you are love, I'm dismayed for all to see. You are light, you are light, when the darkness closes in.
[56:40] You are good, you are good, when there's nothing good in me. You are peace, you are peace, and my fear is crippling.
[56:55] You are true, you are true, when there's nothing good in my wandering. You are joy, you are joy, for the reason that I see. You are life, you are life, when you death has lost to see.
[57:10] Oh, I'm running to your arms, I'm running to your arms.
[57:21] The riches of your love will always be enough. Nothing compares to your embrace. The light of the world will ever reign.
[57:39] You are Lord, you are Lord, and my words will ever say. You are Lord, you are Lord, all creation will proclaim. You are here, you are here, you are here, in your presence I may hold.
[57:54] You are God, you are God, on all else I'm letting go. Oh, I'm running to your arms, I'm running to your arms.
[58:09] The riches of your love will always be enough. Nothing compares to your embrace. Light of the world forever again.
[58:27] My heart will sing no other name. Jesus, Jesus. My heart will sing no other name.
[58:42] Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. My heart will sing no other name. Jesus, Jesus.
[58:55] My heart will sing no other name. Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus.
[59:06] Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. Oh, I'm running to your arms. I'm running to your arms. I'm running to your arms. The riches of your love will always be enough.
[59:19] Nothing compares to your embrace. Light of the world forever again. Image countenance to audiences.
[59:30] For in the fullOOOO clams and murracks. The orange becoming new one only possess toonia. kann ap do audio opowering mil widen Very hoch. I'm running to your arms. What kind of power I'm running to your arms.
[59:42] What kind of power It s helpful for us to Rachel and자가 kub ли Embrace, light of the world, forever reign.
[59:56] Lord, I've come, I confess, bowing to you.
[60:21] I find my rest Without you I fall apart You're the one That guides my heart Lord, I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My wonderance My righteousness Oh God, how I need you We're serenity No place is born When grace is found He's where you are
[61:21] Where you are For I am free Holiness is Christ in me For I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My wonderance My righteousness My righteousness Oh God, how I need you So teach my soul To rise to you When temptation Closed my way When I cannot stand I'll call on you Jesus, you're my hope And stay
[62:21] Oh, I need you Oh, I need you Every hour I need you My wonderance My righteousness Oh God, how I need you My wonderance My righteousness Oh God, how I need you Please be seated You know, God knows We're not perfect God knows we can't keep all these rules Not because He thinks we shouldn't try, though Not because He thinks we shouldn't at least make an effort
[63:23] Because the rules are there to bless our lives Not to hurt them But God knows Somewhere along the line we fail And so before you even came here God decided to forgive you In fact, whether you're aware of it or not God decided to forgive you before you were even born God made a decision to make that offer to you But you can't do it with your back face towards God You gotta repent turn around and face God It's just like a child with their parents You know You gotta say Daddy, I messed up I'm sorry I'm looking in the eye So that's why we come and confess our sins Just turn to our God The one who can break the brokenness and heal our eyes and heal our land So we pray to God Dear God in heaven I have sinned You know what I've done
[64:23] Ron You can peer into my soul So listen as my heart speaks to your heart Dear God, forgive me I have sinned Make me new Make me fresh Give me courage to speak of you Give me wisdom to know about you Plant your word in my heart and help me to dwell In Jesus' name We pray Amen We turn to God to confess our sin He said
[65:23] He will forgive us And so in the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God O água O água I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.
[66:10] And the voice I hear, calling on my head, my Son of God discloses.
[66:22] And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.
[66:35] And joy we share as we tarry there, another has ever known.
[66:48] He speaks and the sound of His voice, hear so sweet the touchless singing.
[67:00] And the melody that He gave to me, within my heart is ringing.
[67:11] And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.
[67:23] And the joy we share as we tarry there, another has ever known.
[67:37] God loves you so much. Amen? Isn't it a wonderful thing to know that God loves us so much that He sent His Son so that we could have that relationship with God that we celebrate here at the table.
[67:56] Everyone is welcome to come to the table and meet with God, to receive from God all that God has for you.
[68:07] If you love God, repent of your sin, and seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are welcome at the table.
[68:18] It doesn't matter if you've never been in church at all before. If today, this day, you find your heart is seeking God, you can know that God's the one who threw you here.
[68:38] And you can know that you are welcome to come to the table, join with God, meet with God, receive from God. The Lord be with you.
[68:52] Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
[69:08] Before the mountains were brought forth or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God. You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the earth.
[69:21] You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
[69:36] You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets and so with your people on earth, and all the company of heaven. We praise your name and join their unending hymn.
[69:49] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[70:01] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ, in whom you have revealed yourself, our light and our salvation.
[70:16] In his baptism and in table fellowship, he took his place with sinners. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.
[70:41] By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water in the Spirit.
[70:54] On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, and he gave thanks to you. He broke the bread, and he gave it to his disciples, saying, Take.
[71:09] Eat. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[71:25] When the supper was over, he took the cup, and he gave you thanks and praise, and he gave it to his disciples. He said, Drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new covenant, poured out for you.
[71:39] It is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves, in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us.
[72:04] As we proclaim the mystery of faith, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, gather here.
[72:15] And on these gifts of bread and wine, make them be for us, the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
[72:28] By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and be feasted at his heavenly banquet.
[72:39] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.
[72:51] Amen. Shall we pray together now with the confidence of children of God? The prayer of Jesus Father, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[73:05] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
[73:20] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
[73:32] Amen. Will those who are serving, please come forward. Amen.
[73:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[74:50] Amen. Amen. Amen.
[75:01] You seek after God in your life, you're welcome to the table. You're not happy to be a member of our church, anything like that, you're not happy to be a voice now. You want to come and join us today at the table.
[75:12] God is calling you in your heart. The table's open to everyone. Come and be blessed. Come to the table. Come to the rail for prayer. Your healing, Your anointing, The light of candle.
[75:23] Come and join us with the Lord. We do ask that you come by the center aisles, or the outside aisles. I return by these other two aisles. I don't have a name for. Take the bread, dip it in the cup, and commune immediately.
[75:35] Come and join us with the Lord. Amen. Amen.
[75:55] Amen. Amen. Stay home. Thank you.
[76:33] Thank you.
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[84:33] Hey.
[85:03] Thank you.
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[87:03] Thank you.