[0:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:00] Hi, I'm Julie Maciejewski. Most Sundays, you can find me right here at the Welcome and Information Desk in Mission Central. If you would like more information about our church, please feel free to pick up a welcome folder at the back of the sanctuary at the Connection site or from the Welcome and Information Desk.
[1:16] And for everyone, we would like for you to fill out a friendship card. If you would like to receive our newsletter, be sure to fill in your address. On the back, you can put down prayer concerns, blessings, or notes to the staff.
[1:31] Welcome to Pendleton Center Church and have a good day. We do welcome you to Pendleton Center United Methodist Church this morning. And you know that part you said about the friendship card?
[1:42] I really, really, really need you to do that today. Okay? Because I'm supposed to be, you know, marking down who's here and I am not going to remember you all. So I need you all to take a moment and fill that out.
[1:54] Just write your names on it and throw it in when we take up the offering. So I'd like to invite you to our call to worship this morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
[2:24] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
[2:37] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us pray.
[2:48] Holy God, we come to you this day to exalt your name, to praise your wonderful works. We pray that your grace and your love will flow throughout this service, that we will experience you and know you more.
[3:05] May you be blessed as we exalt you and strive to be a blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to invite you all to stand if you're able as we sing together, O 4,000 Tongues to Sing.
[3:18] O 4,000 Tongues to Sing O 4,000 Tongues to Sing My great Redeemer's praise The glories of my God and King The triumphs of His grace My gracious Master and my God Assist me to proclaim To spread through all the earth abroad The honors of thy name Jesus, the name that charms our fears That bids our sorrows cease Tis music in the sinner's ears Tis life and health and peace
[4:23] He breaks the power of canceled sin He sets the prisoner free His blood can make the foulest free His blood availed for me The Lord be with you And also with you Please be seated Good morning Good morning First of all, we do have a clipboard to pass around today It's for the First Church Community Dinner It is a beautiful, sunny day And I'm glad we're all here today What other joys do we have to share?
[5:24] Good morning Well, one that I have is I'm working on the retreat That's coming up next month And I'm very thankful for the people That are going to help me It looks like it's coming together I always panic when it starts to get close But I think it's going to work well There's still room if anybody's interested Any other joys we'd like to share?
[5:51] Yes Oh wow Someone who's aortic ruptured Has come off the respirator That's amazing Yes Oh, 30 years of marriage Congratulations That's worth a clap Anybody else?
[6:20] I'm sure we all have our gratefulness Things that we're thankful for So let us share our gifts, tithes, and offerings In appreciation You Really?
[6:39] Sure Thank you You So So That's Yeah Why does that I was born by the lay of sleep, and came my dreams of fear.
[7:12] I stood in old Jerusalem beside a temple there. I heard the children singing, and them all else they said.
[7:22] Me thought the voice of angels from heaven answered. Me thought the voice of angels from heaven answered.
[7:39] Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates to sing.
[7:50] Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your King.
[8:02] Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your King. Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to your King.
[8:14] Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna. My dream was changing the streets along my line, Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna in the highest, I will see you.
[8:25] Oh Oh Oh
[9:55] Oh Oh Oh
[11:25] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Heavenly Father, please accept these gifts as a token of our appreciation for all the many blessings you give us each day.
[12:35] Please multiply them and use them to further your kingdom throughout the world. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. I'm sure we all have some type of concerns or that we'd like to lift to the Lord, so let's do that now.
[12:58] Heavenly Father, we know you're always watching over us, and we know you're always there for us. You've heard a couple of concerns publicly. I'm sure there are many others on people's hearts.
[13:11] Please hear those prayers and answer them as only you can. Help us to understand that sometimes your answer is not always what we're looking for or in the time frame that we're looking for, but that you will answer our prayers, that you are there for us.
[13:32] Please be with all those who need healing from illness, whether it's emotional illness or physical injuries. Please be with all those who need spiritual healing.
[13:48] Please be with all those who may have lost someone recently and is still grieving. Please be with our country. It's so divided, and we need to come together and realize that you are the ultimate authority.
[14:03] Help us to spread the light in the world. Help us to spread the light in the world. We ask all this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen. And now let's hear from the Word of the Lord.
[14:33] Good morning. Good morning. Our scripture reading today is from the book of Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 8. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
[14:53] This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
[15:09] For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
[15:25] For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
[15:41] We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy. In accordance with your faith. If it is serving, then serve.
[15:54] If it is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If it is to lead, do it diligently.
[16:06] If it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Jane.
[16:21] So this scripture is often used to teach about spiritual gifts. And it is. It speaks about spiritual gifts.
[16:31] Spiritual gifts are something that all believers have, and it is vital that we understand that we as Christians have spiritual gifts, and we are to use them in the body of Christ for God's glory.
[16:42] But this passage, when it is talking about spiritual gifts, it does it with a little different flavor. It is pointing out the attitude that we must have, the internal dialogue that goes on that must accompany the gifts.
[16:56] And as I was going through the scripture and praying through it, the Holy Spirit just kept bringing to me verses 1 and 2. So today we're really going to be focusing our time on verses 1 and 2.
[17:07] And it says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
[17:22] This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[17:37] Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. So we're going to be talking about renewal of the mind.
[17:51] And a lot of times Paul would use Old Testament stories to teach, and so for this series we decided to do the same. And we selected, I selected a story for this, and now granted, they didn't have binoculars back then, so it's the best I could come up with, but it's something used for spying.
[18:14] Does anybody know of any spies in the Bible? Ah, there are spies. This spy, his name was Joshua. And the name Joshua actually means, the Lord is salvation.
[18:31] And the Lord is salvation is actually essential for all of us to recognize and believe. It's essential for the renewal of the mind.
[18:44] The Lord is salvation. Now Joshua was a slave in Egypt. So he was one of the people living in bondage, living in shackles when Moses showed up and said to Pharaoh, let my people go.
[18:59] And we know that story, right? So Joshua was one of those people. And then Joshua was one of the people that went and experienced God's power as there was the parting of the Red Sea, and as they walked right through it, and as they were wandering around in the wilderness and God provided manna and quail, Joshua experienced all of these things.
[19:21] And so we also need to recognize God's power, and we need to recognize what's really going on. I created an acronym for this sermon. It's the word renewal, and we're going to start with the word recognize.
[19:35] R is for recognize. So Joshua used to be in shackles, slave in Egypt. And in our Christian walk, we need to recognize God's power and recognize when we are in shackles, when we are being put into shackles, when we are being oppressed and attacked by the enemy.
[19:55] See, huge numbers of Christians are walking around completely oblivious to the demonic forces in the world that are set out to attack them and harm them, harm all of us.
[20:08] Demonic forces want to put us in shackles, in bondage, create strongholds, and we have to recognize that this is happening. The scripture says, the pattern of the world, what is the pattern of the world?
[20:21] The pattern of the world is brokenness and pain and sin, and it is based in the lies of the enemy. And so the enemy who is ruling in the world has an external force.
[20:34] The enemy dropping lies, creating temptations in our lives. The enemy is the ruler of this world in all of its brokenness. And there's one thing to just say, okay, in the scripture there's demons and such, but, you know, when I went to Cuba, it became like, one thing to know it, and then to know it.
[20:53] And you see people as they are being delivered, and people are going with convulsions and shrieks as they are actually being delivered from the demonic forces. People who would say afterwards, afterwards, and this is not just in Cuba, but here as well.
[21:09] Okay, when you pray over people for deliverance, people will say, I was carrying this weight, I just really feel like something was lifted off of me. Or I had this pain that I was carrying around all the time, and I don't feel that pain anymore.
[21:24] Or I had this anxiety in the pit of my stomach all the time, and it's no longer there. People set free from that bondage.
[21:35] So in Jesus' ministry, deliverance was huge, and we are called by Christ to be set free. Deliverance the same way, through Christ.
[21:47] We have to recognize not only that it happens, that we are in a position of being attacked, but when it happens, when are we being attacked?
[21:59] So how many of us have ever had, you know, you're going along your day, and all of a sudden you get this spontaneous negative thought pop into your head. Sometimes it's crazy stuff.
[22:09] You know, stuff like, oh my gosh, why would I ever think that? You know, this has happened to everyone. I know it has. Okay, I know it has. Okay, it may be this spontaneous negative thought prompting you, wanting you to do something.
[22:22] A spontaneous negative thought that is bringing back a memory, maybe an old trauma, something that really gets you aggravated, something just pops. It's like, I'm just doing dishes, and all of a sudden, it's like, whoa, where'd that come from?
[22:35] Okay? That is a demonic attack. This is an attack on our mind. And when we recognize that, we need to do something about it.
[22:48] Spontaneous negative thoughts, temptations, painful memories. The enemy is attacking, and it is constant, constantly throwing flaming arrows at us. 1 Peter 5.8 says, be alert, be alert, and of sober mind.
[23:03] Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. And so, when we have thoughts coming into our mind, we need to evaluate, which means discernment.
[23:17] E is for evaluate. There you go. Evaluate. We're going to have evaluate. We need to discern, which means that when a thought pops into our mind, we need to say, okay, is this something holy?
[23:32] This is something that the Holy Spirit is speaking to me, at which point it will match up with the Word of God. Or is this just myself saying, oh yeah, I forgot to pick up such and such at the grocery store.
[23:44] Or is this a demonic attack? And if it's a demonic attack, it will be a spontaneous negative thought. And usually that thought does damage.
[23:57] And so the scripture says, we need to take every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10.5 says, we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
[24:11] So the darts of Satan, the negativity cast over you, if you do not bind your thoughts and make them captive to the power of Christ, then they will bind you.
[24:23] The shackles of bondage come off with Christ. So each thought that comes to us, we need to take it captive, evaluate it.
[24:34] Is it of God or not? Is it true to God's Word or not? Is it true to God's character or not? Is it true to God's witness or not? Is it true to God's promises or not?
[24:45] So God gives promises to all of us, just as he did with the Israelites. See, God had brought the Israelites out of captivity, out of bondage, out of slavery, and he brought them to the land of Canaan.
[24:59] And we actually call it the promised land because God promised it to them. And Joshua was selected along with 11 other people.
[25:10] There were 12 men selected to go out and scout out the land of Canaan to figure out if they would be able to take it because they were supposed to go in and conquer it. And so Moses sent 12 spies to go and check out the land of Canaan.
[25:25] And they all went out and they came back to give their story of what they saw. Now, they all knew that ahead of time that God said, I'm giving this to you.
[25:38] And they all had experienced the power of God with the Red Sea, with the manna, the whole thing. I'm giving this to you. I'm promising this to you. They all go out and they come back and 10 of the spies were freaked out.
[25:54] They're like, they're not doing this. No, no, no, no, no, no. They said, the people who live there are powerful. Yeah, it has milk and honey, but the cities are fortified.
[26:07] They're very large. These people are giants. There's no way we're going to take them. So first, it means that they believed the lie that God was not powerful enough to fulfill his promise to them to give them this land.
[26:23] And they gave in to the demonic spirit of fear. They said, we can't attack those people. They are stronger than us. Even though God was with them.
[26:36] We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes. We're small and we seem the same to them. We can't. And so they dismissed the entire idea and decided to live in defeat.
[26:47] And then this bad report that they all carried spread around all the Israelites. And how many of us know that negativity spreads very, very quickly? Joshua and another spy.
[27:00] Anybody know what his name was? Caleb. Caleb. Joshua and Caleb. Joshua went out and he evaluated the same land, the same people, the same experience, the same thing.
[27:13] And yet he came back with a different story. In light of God's promise and knowing who God is, we look at it with a different attitude, a different frame of mind.
[27:28] So when we evaluate and discern, we come to a conclusion. And that means that we need to navigate. N is for navigate, which means we have to either embrace it or we have to cast it out.
[27:40] We have taken that thought captive and now we have to figure out what we're going to do with that. So if it is of God, if the Holy Spirit is speaking to us, obviously we embrace that and we go with that.
[27:53] But if it is a demonic attack, we cast it out. And you say, not today, Satan. I'm not doing that today. No, that is not, not, not going to happen.
[28:05] It is not going to happen. Each and every thought. So there's the external going on where the arrows are getting thrown at us, but then the internal happens as well.
[28:17] Because here's the thing, we have a responsibility not to own it. Because these negative thoughts will be cast at us and it happens all the time. And we have a responsibility to make sure that that thought does not have a place to land.
[28:34] That we do not believe it. So we do not accept those lies. We do not justify those lies. And we don't give in to the temptations. We don't participate and give ownership to the lies.
[28:50] The lies. There's so many lies that the enemy tries to tell us. One of the biggest lies, there's so many, but one of the biggest lies is about our own identity. You know, especially with social media.
[29:03] You see somebody on Facebook, for instance, people having fun. They're having fun. It's a good thing. And then we have a mind thing that happens and it says, I want to do that too.
[29:16] Oh, they did it without me. They must not have wanted me there. They must not like me. I'm not likable. I'm not lovable. Everyone hates me. And you go down this spirally pit.
[29:27] And then you have lies about identity. Well, someone is more beautiful or smarter than I am. And it goes, instead of just recognizing whatever, it says, I'm not as much as they are.
[29:42] I'm not enough. And instead, we start casting ourselves in the negative image instead of in the image of Christ. And we say, I am anxious. I am fearful. I am depressed.
[29:53] I am bitter. I am angry. I am resentful. I am a victim. I am unloved. I am unworthy. Because we're buying into the lie of the attack.
[30:07] Allowing those negative thoughts to land. And we have a part in taking ownership of that. This is killing our kids. Our teenagers have the highest rate of anxiety and depression than ever before.
[30:24] Because they are going down this deep pit. A pit straight from hell. As they are not knowing how to cope and cast out those negative thoughts.
[30:36] And it's something we all have to battle all the time. Proverbs 23, 7 says, For as a person thinks in his heart, so they are. And Proverbs 4, 23 says, carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.
[30:58] The Good News Version says, be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts. See, every action begins with a thought.
[31:11] So even if it's not true, even if that thought is not true, if you believe it, it is true for you. And that means it's going to have an impact, a negative impact on your life.
[31:26] And therefore, it has affected your life. Owning lies from the enemy gives way to unclean actions. And so the Israelites believed the lies of the enemy, that God was not with them, that there was something to fear, that there was something better for them, and they were missing out somehow.
[31:45] And that belief brought them into temptation, which enticed them to do something sinful. Scripture says, do not conform to the pattern of this world.
[31:55] And yet, they absolutely did. They rebelled against God. They grumbled, and they complained, and they questioned God, which is exactly what happens to all of us when we start trying to justify any sin that pops into our mind.
[32:11] And we start saying, well, did God really say that? Well, it's really not that bad. Well, it's okay. And well, I don't really know that God really cares about that anyways. And we start justifying this.
[32:22] They grumbled, they complained, they questioned, and it takes you in a bad direction. Anytime you start questioning like that, you are headed in the wrong direction. Where the Israelites were headed, they were saying whether God really has their best interests at heart.
[32:40] Does God really care? Is God really with us? Is he really wanting the best for us? The answer is yes, but they didn't believe it. And so they were living into that lie.
[32:52] They owned the lie to the point of even exclaiming, if only we had died in Egypt. Egypt. Really? And they started to talk about actually selecting a leader that would bring them back to Egypt, bring them back into slavery, bring them back into bondage, bring them back where they would be losing all of their freedom.
[33:20] We have to be careful too that we don't set ourselves on a path where we are also saying, I want to go back to Egypt. A path that says, I want to be in shackles.
[33:32] We don't want that, but you know, the choices we make can't head us in that direction and we can become in bondage. James 1, 14 through 15 says, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
[33:46] And enticed, rather. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, it gives birth to death. Our battle today is no different.
[34:01] No different. We have these negative thoughts come into our mind and if we take ownership in them, it gives birth to sin.
[34:13] And so one of the lies is God is not with you and you're alone and that creates stress and sometimes fear and it can play out in your job or at your school and you become tempted and perhaps it means that you give in to, say, there's lots of ways you can do it, maybe gluttony, okay, and you end up feeding that with junk food, literally a feeding frenzy or give in to other addictions like alcohol or drugs or shopping or social media or sleeping, doing anything but going to God.
[34:44] Or maybe the lie is what you have is not satisfying and how does that play out? It plays out especially in our relationships. Our relationships with our spouse, our family, our friends, our co-workers, when we believe that lie we become tempted and sometimes people end up going toward pornography or inappropriate relationships or surround themselves with others who will feed the demonic with bitterness and resentment and anger.
[35:13] Another one is it's not fair. I need, I want, I deserve and this plays out strongly in our finances for instance. As we live into that lie, give in to the temptation and we end up overspending with I deserve and then we play the pity party, oh poor me and we end up feeling envy and jealousy and hatred of ourselves and of others and we end up in the spiral going down, down, down, down, down.
[35:44] The list is huge. We could keep going on and on but God says do not believe this. Do not conform to the pattern of this world.
[35:54] I have something so much better for you. So we have to ask ourselves what are our triggers? What are the things where when you get that negative thought thrown at you, you own it.
[36:10] You give it a place to land and you allow it to fester and you allow it to grow and all of us have them. All of us do. We have to work on it. Work on it. We have it.
[36:21] The things that when the enemy sends the arrow we own it, we accept it, we give it a place to land and then we regurgitate on it until we're sick. We will always have to be working on this and so we always have to ask ourselves what lies have we been believing?
[36:39] How have I been conforming to the patterns of this world? And this could be from sin that you're actively participating in or it could be from sin that you used to do and you're carrying shame.
[36:51] It could be from a trauma. We need to renew our minds with the mind of Christ freeing us from the lies of the enemy, the destructive, toxic, ungodly thoughts that keep us imprisoned.
[37:04] And so we end up being shackled by these things and we need to be freed from the oppression of shame, the lie that says that we are broken. We need to be freed from the shackles of slavery to sin that the lie of Satan said was not a sin and that it was even justified questioning the goodness of God's moral authority.
[37:25] We need to be freed from the bondage of false identity, the lie of Satan that claims that you are not who God says you are and who are you?
[37:35] You are blessed, beloved, child of God and with Christ in your life you walk in victory. See, if we do not allow healing from God, Satan will use it to bring defeat.
[37:51] He will use it to bring us into slavery and I don't know about you, but I do not want to go back to Egypt. We will want to go back to Egypt, amen? Amen. So a response though in this is I can't do it, I can't overcome it, I can't break these chains, I'm not strong enough and the truth is you're not, truly you're not.
[38:13] But the one song we sang at VBS this year says, I can't do it, God can do it. It's kind of a goofy song but it made a great message.
[38:24] I can't do it on my own but with God I can do it. The memory verse that all the children memorized was Ephesians 3.20 and said, glory to God who is able to do far beyond all that we can ask or imagine by His power working within us.
[38:43] We have the power of God within us which means we are victorious and we can overcome. A transformed mind that leads to a transformed life.
[38:54] Sanctified, holy, pleasing to God and so E is for express. We recognize that this thought just popped into our head. We evaluated it and we determined that this was not of God and so we decide that we're going to take it captive and we're going to cast it out and how do we cast it out?
[39:11] We cast it out by expressing the truth. We express the truth of God. Truth counters the lies. Truth of God's word. The truth revealed through God's word, through the Holy Spirit, the glory of God in your life, the truth which reveals who God is, who you are in Christ and the promises of God and in that way God's will is received, discerned, tested, approved which always must be characterized as good, acceptable, and perfect.
[39:45] See Joshua and Caleb, they went out and they evaluated but they evaluated the same exact situation but they did it on God's truth and Joshua said the land we passed through and explored was exceedingly good if the Lord is pleased with us he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey and he will give it to us.
[40:12] Only do not rebel against the Lord. Do not be afraid of the people in the land because we will devour them. Their protection is gone but the Lord is with us.
[40:26] So don't be afraid of them. He understood God's promise. He understood who he was. He understood who God was and he was looking at the exact same situation and saying we got this.
[40:41] We got this. See, God's promises are strong. God says I am with you and if God says I am with you God is with you.
[40:53] God says I love you and if God says I love you God loves you. we speak that truth truth of God's word against whatever demonic forces are coming against us and in that way when we start speaking the truth we end up growing in our relationship with Christ building that relationship and it's so important to build that relationship with Christ.
[41:18] W is for worship. This whole passage started with therefore therefore meaning we're Paul talking the whole time through about how amazing Jesus Christ is.
[41:32] The offering that Jesus Christ gave for all of us and so worship then is lived gratitude in view of God's mercy. So we take this thought and we take it captive and we speak the truth and that truth is a form of worship as we recognize God's goodness in all of it.
[41:52] Philippians 4.8 says finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.
[42:09] Think about those things. Think about God's goodness. Counter all that negativity with the goodness and the grace and the love you have in God. The promises that God has given to you.
[42:21] And it says offer or give willingly your bodies your whole being as a living sacrifice not to die but to live.
[42:32] So we die to our old self and we rise with Christ. It's part of our actual communion liturgy. We say it every single time as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[42:47] Right? Holy and living sacrifice. So how did Joshua become so strong in the Lord? How was it that he was able to go out and see the exact same thing and have that because that is a gift?
[43:01] And I found the answer I think in Exodus 33. It's at the very beginning of his story and the way it works is the Israelites would have this camp and just outside of camp they would set up what they called a tent of meeting and it's where people would go to inquire of the Lord and when they would go there God's glory would come and it says that Moses spoke to God there face to face and Joshua was Moses' aid and he was always with Moses and it said that Moses would return to camp but his young aid Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
[43:42] He was soaking in God's presence he came into the presence of God and he stayed he stayed in the presence of God soaking renewing knowing God in a relationship that gave him fuel through the power of love that's something that we are all called to do because that's what keeps us going and so A is for action something we have to practice continually we have to pay attention transition it from our head to our heart to our spirit to our lives and see here's the thing it's actually hard because we're not built in a way that does this naturally the science I read was that negative thoughts are generally received immediately we hear a negative thought and we believe it like that unless we're prepared but a positive thought we actually have to reflect on it for a solid 15 seconds before we will believe it so we actually have to take that time so we think back to
[44:54] Philippians think on these things take the time to think of the good things take the time to think about God's grace the renewing of the mind means that we need to allow God to heal and transform our negative thoughts and be able to cast them out when they come at us again so they'll say that a habit takes 21 days and this one scientist I was reading says it's 21 days doesn't actually cut it so to build a new way of thinking and break down toxicity you start with 21 days but then you actually have to do two more cycles of 21 days minimally to stabilize and concretize the new thought pattern deep inside of you so it is a constant action God's power of love in us transforms us so we no longer walk in defeat we don't have an urge to go back to Egypt because
[46:00] I'm not going back to Egypt we are not going back to Egypt Joshua walked in that victory he lived in that victory standing solidly on God's promises he followed willingly even when he didn't make sense I mean think about it Joshua Joshua fit the battle of Jericho think about Jericho God told Joshua take some men and you know that huge city that huge fortified city you're going to conquer it the way you're going to conquer it is you're going to walk around for six days in silence and on the seventh day you're going to blow some horns and the walls are going to fall down and Joshua said got it and here's the thing Joshua not only did it he did it fully expecting that the walls would come down because God said they would so how do we get to the point where we also believe that whatever God tells us is true we go back to soaking we go back to worship we go back to that relationship we go back to the strength that carries us through because the last letter we have is L is for love through all of this the Israelites renewed their covenant with God and this passage again starts with therefore in view of God's mercy more than just making good choices okay this is way more than just making good choices we need to go deeper we need to actually become so the kingdom of God within us living through us day by day moment by moment the renewal or the transformation of our mind reflecting the image of God the mind of Christ by the power of God's love within us and the response is our love in return so I'm not going back to Egypt how about you because by the power of God's love we all can be transformed
[48:03] I'd like to invite you all to stand if you're able as we sing together the power of your love Lord I come to you let my heart be changed renewed flowing from the grace that I'm found in you Lord I've come to know the weaknesses I see in me will be stripped away by the power of your love hold me close let your love surround me bring me near draw me to your side and as our ways
[49:52] I'll rise up like the eagle and I will soar with you your spirit leads me on by the power of your love Lord unveil my eyes let me see you face to face the knowledge of your love as you live in me Lord renew my mind as your will unfolds in my life in living every day by the power of your love hold me hold me close let your love surround me bring me near draw me to your side and as our ways
[51:36] I'll rise up like the eagle and I will soar with you your spirit leads me on in the power of your love power of God's love breaking every chain because God is a chain breaker if you've been walking the same old road for miles and miles if you've been hearing the same old voice of the same old eyes you've been trying to feel the same old holes inside there's a better life there's a better life if you've got pain he's a pain taker if you feel lost he's a way maker if you feel freedom or saving he's a prison he's a prison shaking savior if you've got chains he's a chain breaker we've all we've all searched through the light day and dead of night we've all found ourselves worn out from the same old fight we've all run to things we know just ain't right there's a better there's a better life there's a better life if you've got pain he's a pain taker if you feel lost he's a way maker if you need freedom or saving he's a prison shaking savior you've got chains he's a pain breaker if you believe it if you receive it if you can't feel it somebody testify if you believe it if you receive it if you can't feel it somebody testify testify if you believe it if you receive it if you can't feel it somebody testify if you
[54:52] If you got pain, he's a pain taker. If you feel lost, he's a way maker.
[55:05] If you need freedom, we're saving. He's a prison seeking savior. If you got a chain, he's a chain breaker.
[55:17] Oh, if you need freedom, we're saving. He's a prison seeking savior. If you got a chain, he's a chain breaker.
[55:39] One of the lies of the enemy, the lies of the enemy is that God will never forgive us. We've done too much. But the promise of God is that if you come with a repentant heart, God is faithful to receive us and forgive us and set us free.
[55:57] And so as we prepare for the table of grace, let us pray a prayer of confession. Won't you join me? Lord, I have sinned. I've not always followed you.
[56:09] I've not always obeyed you. Forgive me. Fill me with your power. Power of your love. Power of your love.
[56:21] That I may have victory. That I may have victory. Victory. Over the darkness of the world. Over the darkness of the world. And be renewed in my mind. And be renewed in my mind.
[56:31] And in my life. And in my life. Through you. Through you. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. So hear the good news.
[56:43] Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners. This proves God's love for you and for me.
[56:54] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. And now as a victorious, free, loved community of faith, let's greet one another with the peace of the Holy Spirit.
[57:17] What are you pointing at? Thank you.
[58:11] The Spirit of God is set upon my heart. Within the earth, through all its pulses move, stoop to my weakness, mighty as the word, and make me lovely as I ought to love.
[58:45] Hast thou not bid me, lovely God and King, all, all thine own soul, heart and strength and mind?
[59:03] I see thy cross there, teach my Lord to cling. Oh, let me see thee, and oh, let me find.
[59:20] Amen. Another lie of the enemy is that God's grace is only for a chosen few.
[59:36] But the promise of God is that God's grace is offered to everyone, everyone. And so whether this is your first time here or you've been here all along, if you seek to be in relationship with Jesus Christ and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are welcome to the table.
[59:55] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up the heart of the Lord. 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.
[60:14] 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.
[60:25] 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.
[60:42] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
[60:56] Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you. And blessed is your son, Jesus Christ. 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.
[61:19] He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. 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 and the Spirit.
[61:38] On the night in which Jesus gave himself up for us, he took the bread. He gave thanks to you. He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat.
[61:51] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over, he took the cup.
[62:08] He gave thanks. He said, this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, poured out for you, poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
[62:22] Drink of this, often remembering 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 as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[62:47] Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here 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.
[63:07] 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 we feast at his heavenly banquet.
[63:18] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, and your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen. And now let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[63:36] 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.
[63:51] 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. Amen.
[64:02] Will those who are serving please come forward. Amen. One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing, which we bless, and we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body, and this one Lord.
[65:06] Gentle Lord, you, servant, we're free, woman, one cup of blessing, one cup of blessing, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing, which we bless, and we, and we, and we, the many, throughout the earth, we are one body, and this one Lord.
[66:05] of the Holy gewesen, one gift, many the year, many the gifts, many the works, many the gifts, One in the Lord of all One bread, one body One Lord of all One cup of blessing which we bless And we, the many throughout the earth We are one body and this one more
[67:08] One bread, one body One Lord of all One cup of blessing which we bless And we, the many throughout the earth We are one body and this one more I'd like to invite you all to stand if you're able As we sing together Be Thou My Vision Be Thou My Vision
[68:23] O Lord of my heart Not be all else to me Save that Thou would Thou my best thought By day or by night Making for sleeping Thy presence my light Be Thou my wisdom And Thou my true word I ever with Thee And Thou with me, Lord Thou and Thou only First in my heart Great God of heaven My treasure Thou art Great God of heaven
[69:25] My victory won May I reach heaven's joys O bright heaven's sun Out of my own heart Whatever befall Still be my vision O ruler of all So we need to live like Joshua The Lord is salvation And walk in that victory Knowing that God has promises for our life Through that grace Through that love Through that promise We walk in victory Now go and be Joshua In this world In this world
[70:49] Thou Within that boundary In this world The Lord Is salvation God did Trust in our system And love Father Lord The Lord Emailäusprofits companies intelligence Do Forget About As�� Where This Man Please Thank you.
[71:39] Thank you.