Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP161203A
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00:08 Good morning and happy Sabbath, so glad that you've joined us
00:12 for this worship service 00:14 in the beginning of the Advent season. 00:17 We serve an amazing God 00:19 and we must proclaim to all the world 00:22 that Jesus Christ came. 00:25 He was Emmanuel. 00:26 He died, He rested, resurrected 00:29 and guess what He promised to do? 00:31 Come back and come again. 00:33 So I invite you this morning to stand as we pray 00:37 and also sing out loudly and from our hearts 00:41 and proclaim that the Christ child was born. 00:45 Please stand for prayer. 00:49 Holy Father, from the beginning 00:52 of this earth's creation You purposed, 00:55 as soon as the man felt You purposed a promise 00:59 that said that the Son would come and redeem us all 01:02 and, Father, we are so thankful for that. 01:05 So during this time 01:06 we celebrate you as the Promise Keeper, 01:09 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 01:21 Hark the herald angels sing 01:26 "Glory to the newborn king 01:30 Peace on earth, and mercy mild 01:34 God and sinners reconciled" 01:38 Joyful, all ye nations, rise 01:43 Join the triumph of the skies 01:47 With th' angelic host proclaim 01:51 "Christ is born in Bethlehem!" 01:56 Hark the herald angels sing 02:00 "Glory to the newborn King" 02:06 Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace! 02:10 Hail the Son of Righteousness! 02:15 Life and light to all He brings 02:19 Risen with healing in His wings 02:23 Mild He lays His glory by 02:28 Born that man no more may die 02:32 Born to raise the sons of earth 02:37 Born to give them second birth 02:41 Hark! the herald angels sing 02:46 "Glory to the newborn King" 03:10 O come, all ye faithful 03:16 Joyful and triumphant 03:21 O come ye 03:23 O come ye to Bethlehem 03:31 Come and behold Him 03:36 Born the King of angels 03:40 O come, let us adore Him 03:45 O come, let us adore Him 03:50 O come, let us adore Him 03:55 Christ, the Lord! 04:01 Sing, choirs of angels 04:06 Sing in exultation 04:10 O Sing, all ye citizens 04:15 Of heaven above! 04:20 Glory to God 04:24 All glory in the highest! 04:29 O come, let us adore Him 04:34 O come, let us adore Him 04:39 O come, let us adore Him 04:44 Christ, the Lord! 04:50 Amen. 05:03 Silent night 05:08 Holy night 05:13 All is calm 05:17 All is bright 05:22 Round yon virgin mother 05:28 And Child 05:31 Holy Infant 05:35 So tender and mild 05:40 Sleep in 05:43 Heavenly peace 05:50 Sleep in 05:52 Heavenly peace 05:58 Silent night 06:04 Holy night 06:08 Wondrous star 06:13 Lend thy light 06:18 With the angels 06:23 Let us sing 06:28 Alleluia 06:33 To our King 06:37 Christ the Savior 06:42 Is born 06:48 Christ the Savior 06:53 Is born 07:03 Joy to the world, the Lord is come! 07:08 Let earth receive her King 07:13 Let every heart prepare Him room 07:17 And heaven and nature sing 07:20 And heaven and nature sing 07:22 And heaven and nature sing 07:29 No more let sin and sorrow grow 07:33 Nor thorns infest the ground 07:39 He comes to make His blessings flow 07:44 Far as the curse is found 07:47 Far as the curse is found 07:49 Far as, far as the curse is found 07:56 He rules the world with truth and grace 08:01 And makes the nations prove 08:06 The glories of His righteousness 08:11 And wonders of His love 08:13 And wonders of His love 08:16 And wonders of His love 08:27 Well, good morning, boys and girls, nice to see. 08:29 Ooh! 08:30 We've got people still coming down the aisle, 08:32 nice to have you here on this first Sabbath of December, 08:35 first Sabbath of Advent 08:36 where we think about Jesus coming the first time, 08:40 good to have you. 08:42 All right, now one of my friend Michael Bryson. 08:46 Michael Bryson is a young friend of mine, 08:48 he is an engineering major at Andrews University, 08:51 he's one of my PowerPoint partners. 08:54 And on our media team that Michael got very sick, 09:00 very sick this summer, 09:01 very sick, we were very worried for him, 09:04 and we thank the Lord he's got better. 09:07 But while he was sick... 09:11 Hey, anybody here know what legos look like? 09:14 Everybody who's ever touched a lego, put your hand up. 09:16 Have you ever touched a Lego? 09:17 Okay, this is the right audience. 09:19 Good. 09:20 Bring it in, gentlemen, 09:22 bring it in you have never seen anything like this before. 09:26 Watch the screen right here 09:28 if you're sitting in the distance, 09:29 keep your eye on the screen, 09:31 here come our media team members. 09:34 Bring it. 09:36 There it is, Michael, 09:38 why don't you just stand right over there. 09:40 There it is. Okay, down, down, down, down, down. 09:44 Does anybody know what that is? 09:51 Does anybody know what that is? 09:54 Take a guess, what is it? 09:57 Pioneer Memorial Church, absolutely right. 10:00 Hey, Michael, 10:01 number one we're very glad you're doing better. 10:03 Number two, boy, 10:05 you've really turned some downtime into some profit here. 10:09 Michael, look at these legos. 10:10 How many legos did you use? 10:12 I don't know exactly how many 10:14 'cause, you know, you build it as you go 10:15 but I weighed it, it weighs 6.5 pounds, 10:19 so based on that I estimate at least 2,000 pieces. 10:22 At least 2,000, anybody got 2,000 legos at home? 10:25 No you don't. Okay, all right. 10:29 Now Kate, do we got a camera here. 10:31 Come on, lets get this camera on the big screens too, 10:33 camera on the big screens as well, there we go. 10:35 Oh! 10:36 Look at our minister, go back to our minister music 10:38 that would be your dad, Jonathan, right there. 10:40 Look, doesn't that look like Dr. Logan? 10:42 That is just like him. 10:43 What's that in front of... 10:45 Hey, Michael, what are these things here? 10:47 I've got both cameras up front there, 10:50 ones over here by the organ and by the piano 10:51 which is getting in everything. 10:55 Can you get it vertical? I want to see the stage. 10:58 Jonathan, can you stand up a little bit 10:59 'cause we wanna see the cross, the detail. 11:01 Look it, here's the Bible on the communion table 11:04 but look at the cross. 11:05 Okay, there we go now. 11:08 There we go, the cross embedded 11:11 but that looks like today's praise team, look at that. 11:15 Very nice, Michael. 11:16 So, Michael, look it. 11:20 So you're sick when you're doing this, really sick. 11:23 How did this interface with that battle 11:27 that was going on? 11:28 Well, I was home, 11:30 listening to the church service on the radio 11:32 and it kind of gets boring 11:34 when you're just there home all the time. 11:36 So I was there, you know, I like Legos, 11:37 you know, it'd be fun to build something. 11:39 And so I was thinking, 11:41 you know, what can I build on Sabbath? 11:42 And so I thought, I should try to build the church 11:45 and so I started with the stage 11:47 and it just kind of drew and drew until I had this. 11:51 You know, Mike, I've been over to your house to see this. 11:53 What I'm amazed, boys and girls, watch this, 11:54 we're gonna need a camera on this, 11:56 hold the camera right where we're at Jonathan. 11:57 I want you to see 11:58 where my finger is pointing right now 12:00 that is the rose window right there, 12:03 that's the big circle, 12:04 we call that the rose window 12:06 and Michael actually painted it there, look at that. 12:10 Isn't that's, that was hand done. 12:12 Yeah. Amazing. Used markers on. 12:14 Yeah. 12:16 Michael, Michael, Michael. 12:18 How many people do we have here? Ooh! 12:20 We have... 12:21 Forty six people. Forty six people, good night. 12:25 Here's what I'm gonna do, 12:26 I'm gonna have everybody to go back and sit down 12:28 and I'm gonna have you turn around, 12:29 all the kids on this side turn around and look up there 12:32 and, Jonathan, give them a wide shot of the church, 12:34 where you just pull out just a little. 12:35 There you go. 12:36 Pull it out, pull it out, pull it out, pull it out, 12:40 what a work of art. 12:41 I think we ought to put our hands together 12:42 for Michael Bryson, don't you? 12:48 Oh, my boys and girl. 12:51 Now, boys and girls, I have a question for you. 12:55 Tell me if this is a way you think 12:58 that your older brother Melia 13:00 made this beautiful intricate model. 13:04 He put all the legos, this is what he did, 13:05 he put all the legos in a big brown bag, 13:08 shook it up and then just dumped them on the floor 13:10 and wow. 13:12 Is that how it happened? Oh, no. 13:14 Oh no, he had to take every little lego, 13:17 he said this one can't fit anywhere else 13:18 but right here, this one has to go right here on the wall, 13:22 this one goes right here, 13:23 they had to be in perfect order. 13:26 How do you think God made you as a very beautiful creation? 13:29 Did He put all your parts in a little brown bag 13:33 and then throw it out and say, "Voila, I got it!" 13:36 No, God took every little part when He designed you 13:40 and He put you together piece by piece. 13:42 It is a beautiful work of art that you are. 13:46 And guess what? 13:47 The God who did all that, 13:49 Himself got put together in His mommy's tummy 13:53 piece by piece until He was born, 13:57 the Savior of the world, that's what Christmas is about. 14:01 We're celebrating the Creator, 14:03 the Creator with a beautiful design 14:07 coming to earth. 14:08 How many are thankful that Jesus came? 14:09 The one who made the whole universe came, 14:12 He got created in that little womb 14:16 and was born our Savior. 14:18 Ah! That's what Christmas is about. 14:20 Who would like to thank Jesus for coming to be our Savior? 14:23 Yes, young man, come on up here. 14:24 Michael, can I borrow that here, 14:26 what's your first name? 14:27 John. John is gonna pray. 14:28 Let's close our eyes and fold our hands 14:30 as John thanks Jesus for being our Savior. 14:33 Dear, Heavenly Father, 14:35 thank You for this wonderful day. 14:36 Lord, we are thankful 14:39 for that we were created by pieces and pieces 14:42 by our true Creator in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 14:46 Amen, beautiful prayer, John. 14:48 God bless you, boys and girls, 14:50 as you go quietly and reverently 14:51 back to your seats, 14:53 you can say thank you Jesus for making me so special. 19:59 Oh, that was beautiful, Wind Symphony, thank you. 20:03 Just what we needed today, 20:05 a child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap, 20:11 He is sleeping. 20:13 Hard to imagine that God of the universe 20:16 in that box of hay, unbelievable. 20:20 How do we understand? 20:23 Say, did you know this 20:25 absolutely true in the Book of Proverbs, 20:27 everybody knows the Book of Proverbs. 20:29 In the Book of Proverbs there is only one prayer recorded. 20:32 And you're thinking in every Bible book 20:34 there would be lots of prayers. 20:35 No, just one prayer and get this 20:37 turns out it's a Christmas prayer, 20:40 no kidding, a Christmas prayer. 20:43 I'm gonna read it to you, right now, all right. 20:46 Proverbs, "Two things I ask of you, Oh Lord..." 20:51 So that's the prayer, "Two things I ask of you, 20:54 oh Lord, do not refuse me when I die". 20:59 One prayer, two petitions. 21:01 Here they come. 21:03 "Do not refuse me when I die, 21:06 keep falsehood and lies far from me." 21:10 And petition number two, 21:13 "Give me neither poverty nor riches, 21:17 but give me only 21:21 my daily bread." 21:26 Wow! 21:27 Merry Christmas to you too. 21:29 Let's pray. 21:31 Oh, God, one prayer, two petitions, 21:36 give us the courage please 21:39 to pray the second petition 21:43 through Jesus, amen. 21:48 Jolly old Saint Nicholas 21:53 Lean your ear this way! 21:57 Don't you tell a single soul 22:02 What I'm about to say 22:05 Christmas Eve is coming soon 22:09 Now, you dear old man 22:14 Whisper what you'll bring to me 22:19 Tell me if you can 22:24 There's not an adult in America 22:27 that believes that what Christmas is all about 22:30 is this red nosed, 22:32 white bearded old man called Santa Claus. 22:38 But I tell you what drive through the malls of America, 22:41 you could have fooled me. 22:44 Do you want to know what Jolly old Saint Nicholas 22:46 brought to America on Cyber Monday 22:48 that would be four days ago? 22:51 Hold on your pew, 22:53 quoting Fortune magazine this week. 22:55 The US hit a record as consumers snapped up deals 23:00 on the busiest day of the year for internet shopping. 23:03 In fact, get this shopping online 23:05 went up 10.2 percent over last year. 23:10 Did your wages go up 10 percent? 23:14 Did the tuition around here go up 10 percent? 23:17 Pretty close. 23:19 Did the economy go up 10 percent? 23:22 Did your offerings go up 10 percent? 23:29 Online shopping on Cyber Monday did 23:32 to the whopping grand total of $3.39 billion of sales 23:38 just last Monday. 23:39 And all by the way, let me just insert this, Black Friday, 23:42 two days earlier, 23:44 we're not talking retail shopping now, folks, 23:46 we're talking online, okay. 23:47 Online on Black Friday, hold on and by the way, 23:53 it went up 21.6 percent over last year 23:57 online shopping on Black Friday, 23:59 a grand total of $3.34 billion. 24:05 So the first two shopping days of the Christmas season, 24:08 let's put it on the screen, please. 24:10 What's the grand total? 24:12 Look at that, $6.73 billion spent. 24:17 Thanks to Jolly old Saint Nicholas. 24:21 Can you believe it? 24:22 I mean, come on, come on, come on, that's you, 24:25 you're in those numbers, don't look at me. 24:28 That's you. 24:32 Jolly old Saint Nicholas Lean you ear this way 24:37 Whisper what you've bring to me 24:39 Tell me if you can 24:42 I want to go to that prayer that I read just a moment ago. 24:44 I want you to see it in your Bible. 24:46 Can you believe a Christmas prayer 24:47 in the Book of Proverbs? 24:48 Open your Bible please to Proverbs 30, 24:50 the only prayer in the entire book, 24:52 the wisest man who ever lived prays 24:54 one prayer and this is it. 24:56 Proverbs 30. 24:58 Pull out your phone, pull out your Bible, 25:00 pull out the pew Bible, if you got the pew Bible, 25:02 it would be page 447, what a prayer for Christmas. 25:07 Here we go. 25:08 This is Proverbs 30, 25:09 we'll begin in verse 7, verse 7, all right. 25:14 "Two things I ask of you, oh Lord..." 25:16 Okay, so that's a prayer. 25:17 "Do not refuse me before I die..." 25:20 One prayer with two petitions. Here we go. 25:22 Number one, "Keep falsehood and lies far from me..." 25:26 Not a bad prayer to be praying at the end of an unforgettable 25:29 or forgettable political season. 25:33 And number two, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, 25:38 but give me only mine daily bread. 25:41 Otherwise..." 25:42 Verse 9, "I may have too much and disown you 25:44 and say, 'Who is the Lord?' 25:46 Or I may become poor and steal, 25:49 and so dishonor the name of my God." 25:53 A prayer for Christmas, 25:55 come on, you've got to jot this down, 25:56 scribble it down while still fresh in your mind. 25:58 Grab that study guide that's inside your worship bulletin. 26:00 Did you get study guides up here? 26:02 All right, pull that study guide out, let's go. 26:04 Thank you, friendly ushers. 26:05 Just hold your hand up, they'll come in this way, 26:07 they're up in the balcony as well 26:08 and while they're doing it here those of you 26:10 who are watching right now on live streaming, 26:11 we're delighted to have you this first Sabbath of December. 26:15 We want you to get the same study guide, 26:17 so let's put it on, you see it right there on the screen 26:19 right now, this is our title of today's teaching, 26:23 "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas Goes To Bethlehem." 26:26 We'll do three of these little Jolly old Saint Nicholas's 26:28 in the month of December. 26:30 But he goes to Bethlehem and then you click on there, 26:33 it will say study guide, you click study guide, 26:35 you've got it, okay, so you're ready to go. 26:37 Some fascinating stats in just a moment, 26:39 fascinating numbers, you've got to write them down, 26:42 that's why you'll need this study guide, 26:43 trust me you'll need the study guide. 26:44 Let's go. 26:46 Let's put that prayer down, Proverbs 30:8, 26:49 "O Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches, 26:55 but give me only my daily bread." 27:02 Wow. 27:05 Keep your pen moving, 27:06 "That is a Christmas prayer asking God to keep me in", 27:11 write it down "moderation, keep me in moderation" 27:16 because as he says in verse 9, 27:19 "The great danger in wealth is that it tends 27:21 to make me feel independent of God." 27:24 I'll say, wow, look what I got 27:26 'cause I don't need you anymore. 27:28 So number one, "Great danger for wealth 27:29 but there's a great danger in poverty is that 27:31 it tends to make me feel forgotten by God." 27:35 And so Solomon says, I'll go out and steal 27:36 because nobody's taking care of me, 27:38 I'll forget that you have forgotten me. 27:44 What a prayer. Let's put it on the screen. 27:47 Hey, let's read this one out loud, come on. 27:49 Let's read it out loud together, 27:51 "O God, give me neither poverty nor riches, 27:56 but give me only my daily bread." 28:00 A prayer to pray this Christmas. 28:02 Now a friend of mine and I'm so grateful for this. 28:05 She made known to me a book, 28:09 written by a man named Joshua Becker. 28:11 Ooh, I love the title of the book. 28:14 Title of the book, "The More of Less: 28:16 Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own". 28:21 Now I need to tell you that Joshua Becker 28:22 is the most famous minimalist in the United States. 28:26 A minimalist is one who lives with a minimum of stuff, okay. 28:31 His website, hot traffic to his website, 28:33 I'm gonna give it to you, it's in the study guide 28:35 but I'll give it to those who are watching right now. 28:36 www.becomingminimalist, 28:42 that's it, becomingminimalist.com 28:46 Go to that website, you got his blogs there. 28:48 Now here they come, some stats, 28:50 astounding stats from this book, 28:53 "The More of Less". 28:56 Got your pen ready? 28:57 Let's go, there's six of these, I'm gonna fly them by it. 28:59 Number one, "In the United States 29:00 we now consume two times 29:02 as many material goods as we did 50 years ago." 29:05 Double now, we're all nodding our heads and saying, yeah, 29:08 but of course. 29:09 Okay, keep going, number two, "Over the same period," 29:12 that'd be 50 years, 29:13 "the size of the average American home 29:15 has nearly tripled and today contains about 29:19 300,000 items per house." 29:24 Now that includes toothbrush, and a knife, and a fork 29:26 and if you have 10 knives, 29:28 and do you have 10 knives and all that, 29:30 300,000 stuff things, things, things. 29:33 Here comes number three, 29:34 "On average our homes contain more televisions than people." 29:39 Go figure. 29:40 Who's watching all this, more TVs than people. 29:44 Number four, oh, this was incredible. 29:46 "The US Department of Energy reports that due to clutter, 29:51 25 percent of people with two car garages 29:55 don't have room to park cars inside." 30:00 You drive down your neighborhood 30:01 all those cars outside, 30:02 don't ask him what's in the garage. 30:07 "And another 32 percent," on top of that, 30:09 "have room for only one vehicle." 30:13 In our house we still can get the two cars in, 30:16 the problem is we can't get out of the car. 30:18 We have to whistle for somebody to come open up the truck 30:20 and pull us out, that's how bad it is. 30:24 Welcome to America, keep going, number five, 30:26 "One out of 10 American households 30:29 rents off-site storage," write in the word storage, 30:33 "the fastest growing segment 30:35 of the commercial real estate industry 30:36 over the past four decades." 30:37 Do you want to make some money? 30:39 Go into storage depots, they're everywhere now, 30:42 the hottest commercial investment. 30:44 Finally, number six, 30:45 "The average household's credit card debt 30:47 stands at over $15,000 30:51 while the average mortgage debt is over $150,000." 30:58 Will Rogers that the folksy American philosopher 31:01 once said, I'll put the words on the screen for you. 31:03 "Too many people spend money they haven't earned 31:06 to buy things they don't want to impress people 31:08 they don't like." 31:10 I mean, why do we do this? 31:12 What's up with this? 31:15 Why are we doing this? 31:19 And how did that prayer go? 31:21 Put it on the screen again for us, please. 31:23 Let's do it one more time out loud, 31:25 "O God, give me neither poverty nor riches, 31:30 but give me only my daily bread." 31:35 Speaking of daily bread once upon a long ago time, 31:39 the God and Creator of this universe 31:43 disappeared into a teenage womb 31:47 and was born in a little village 31:52 that has this name, 31:56 this is the English of the Hebrew, fill it in. 31:58 The name "House of Bread" 32:02 write that down, House of Bread, 32:03 Beth-lehem. 32:07 House of Bread. 32:09 "A fitting birthplace for one 32:10 who one day will teach us how to pray, 32:13 'Our Father, who art in heaven, 32:16 give us this day our daily bread." 32:20 Write that down. 32:22 "A fitting prayer from Him who one day would declare, 32:25 I am the Bread of Life, 32:30 whoever comes to Me will never go hungry." 32:34 What was that prayer again? 32:37 "O God, give me neither poverty nor riches, 32:41 but give me only my daily bread." 32:47 Well, I come to think of it. 32:48 If you would make that prayer, 32:50 your prayer that essentially is praying 32:53 the prayer of a minimalist, not a maximalist, a minimalist. 33:00 What's a minimalist? 33:01 A minimalist is one who asks God for a quiet contentment 33:04 over a minimum of things and a maximum of Jesus. 33:11 Give me Jesus, isn't that a Christmas carol? 33:13 Give me Jesus. 33:15 Give me Jesus 33:19 Give me Jesus 33:24 You can have all of this world 33:30 But give me Jesus 33:35 Wow. Amen. 33:37 What's all this have to do we hashtag RXF4NOW. 33:43 Let me share with you 33:44 one of the most profound verses in all the Bible 33:47 and I found it just four weeks ago, 33:48 I'm dying to share this with you. 33:50 We'll come back to this three times this month. 33:53 I want you to go to the Book of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 33:56 so you turn it from Proverbs now 30 to 2 Corinthians 1. 34:02 Oh, look at it, I've known these verses here 34:04 but somehow I never saw it, I just never saw it, 34:07 but I want you to see it too. 34:09 2 Corinthians 1:20. 34:13 2 Corinthians 1:20, 34:15 I'm reading, "For no matter how many promises 34:19 God has made they are 'Yes' in Christ. 34:25 And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us 34:30 to the glory of God." 34:31 Did you get that Jesus is God's great 'Yes.' 34:35 To every single promise He has ever made, 34:37 God has ever made to the human race, 34:39 Jesus is the 'Yes' and all we have to say, 34:41 I'm telling you all we have to say is 'amen' 34:45 and when you say amen, that promise is yours. 34:50 Now I'm gonna repeat myself 34:51 because we've been coming back to this 34:52 over and over this fall. 34:54 You have got to get this principle 34:56 before we put a wrap on this little series, 34:57 you've got to get the principle and then here's the principle. 35:01 I remind you that when God, God is so omnipotent 35:04 that when God speaks a word and it comes out of His mouth. 35:09 So powerful is that word that the moment He speaks it, 35:12 the word creates the reality it describes. 35:16 So when God steps out into the darkness and says, 35:18 "Let there be yo, light." 35:21 There was in less than half a nanosecond, 35:23 guess what there was, light. 35:26 He speaks the word and it happens. 35:32 Psalm 33:6 and 9, 35:35 "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made 35:37 and by the breath of His mouth, the host of them." 35:39 That's verse 6, now here comes verse 9. 35:41 "For He spoke, and it was done. 35:43 He commanded, and it stood fast." 35:46 He speaks the word and it happens, 35:48 that's why I love Isaiah 55:11. 35:50 God says, the word that comes out of My mouth 35:52 will never come back to me empty, 35:53 it will never come back to me empty 35:55 but it will accomplish the purpose 35:56 for which I sent it 35:58 and it will succeed in the mission 35:59 I have given it. 36:00 The word always accomplishes what God speaks 36:03 because when He speaks, 36:04 the word creates the reality that the word has described. 36:08 That's why Jesus can come along in John 6:63 it is 36:11 and he'll say this, "My words", 36:17 "My words, the words I speak to you 36:20 they are spirit and they are life." 36:24 That's why in that very chapter of John 6, 36:26 here's what Jesus does before 15,000 gaping mouths, 36:31 and gawking eyes Jesus takes. 36:34 Can you believe this? 36:36 He takes, He takes five little loaves of bread 36:40 and two fishies and He breaks the loaf, 36:44 here is what He does, they're all starry, 36:46 He breaks the loaf and He lifts up the two halves 36:50 to heaven and He cries out, 36:52 "Oh, Father, with this bread, 36:58 feed the world." 37:01 And 15,000 consumers went home with their tummies full 37:05 because when He speaks a word and He says 'amen' 37:08 as He did on that prayer, He says, 'amen', boom. 37:12 The promise immediately 37:17 is engaged and responded to by God. 37:22 Jesus, here's the point, guys, Jesus is God's great 37:25 'Yes' to every single promise God has ever made. 37:30 Every promise, which means that any promise, 37:34 can you think of promise right now? 37:35 Can you think of a promise from the Bible? 37:36 Something is gonna pop in your mind. 37:38 Any promise that come that you come to, 37:41 if you say amen to it, 37:44 Jesus is the fulfillment, He has already fulfilled 37:49 what that particular promise is promising. 37:53 He's the great 'Yes'. 37:56 That's why the word was made flesh, 37:59 so He can come down here 38:01 and be not Dr. no, not Dr. no, he's God, yes, yes. 38:08 Every promise. 38:10 How about the promise of my salvation? 38:12 Yes. 38:13 How about the promise of me becoming righteous, 38:14 you know, right living, right thinking, yes. 38:18 How about the promise of me 38:19 being forgiven, pardoned, and cleansed? 38:21 Yes. You say amen, you got it. 38:25 How about the promise of a brand new beginning 38:28 for my broken life? 38:30 Yup. 38:32 How about the promise of no more fear? Yes. 38:34 How about the promise of food on my table? 38:37 Yes. 38:39 How about the promise of success in my classes? 38:42 Yes. 38:43 How about the promise of financially stabilizing 38:46 this institution and this congregation? 38:49 Yes. 38:50 How about the promise of becoming 38:52 a mighty witness for Jesus? 38:53 Yes. 38:54 How about the promise of becoming rich? 38:56 No. 39:00 You can't push this too far. 39:04 Right. 39:06 Ah, but I changed my answer, I change it back to a yes 39:09 because you'll become rich in ways 39:12 you never before imagined you could become rich in. 39:15 Amen. 39:16 Wow, when that word became flesh 39:21 that the mighty yes of God 39:23 came down to live next door to us. 39:26 God yes, God yes, and that was Jesus. 39:32 And I promise you, I promise you 39:34 there is nothing God has ever promised in His life 39:38 and He's lived a long time. 39:39 There is nothing God has ever promised 39:42 that is not already fulfilled and made available 39:46 in God's great yes, name Jesus. 39:50 All you and I need to do 39:52 and I'm sorry for sounding like a broken record now, 39:54 but all you and I need to do is say amen to that promise. 40:01 You say, Dwight, but what is the amen mean? 40:03 Well, I will tell you what the amen means. 40:06 We said this before but let me refresh your memory, 40:08 when I say amen to one of God's promises, 40:10 here's what I'm saying. 40:12 I say, "Dear, God, that by faith", 40:14 okay here it is. 40:15 "By faith I choose to believe your promise 40:19 and trust you to deliver to me 40:21 in the most opportune 40:23 and beneficial time for my life." 40:25 You choose, I can't stand here and say you do it now 40:29 or I'm not gonna believe in you, that's called force, 40:32 that's called presumption, there is no faith in that. 40:35 He's just a magician and you think 40:36 God's gonna dance to your music? 40:38 No, you can't do that. 40:40 When you say amen, you choose the time, 40:43 I know you're gonna fulfill this promise. 40:44 You do what's most beneficial for me, 40:48 I believe, amen, that promise. 40:53 And I'm telling you from God's hand to your lips, 40:58 that's how it works, God will deliver. 41:00 Now look it, folks, we're not talking about 41:02 UPS delivery here, 41:04 we're not talking about FedEx delivery here, 41:06 you understand that. 41:07 We're not talking about Amazon Prime delivery, 41:09 we're talking about the God of the universe, 41:10 when you ask and you say amen to that promise 41:16 that you put your finger on. 41:19 Instantly, He begins to move heaven and hell 41:23 to respond to a promise He made. 41:26 Don't give Him a timeline that's not fair, 41:31 just trust Him, trust Him. 41:36 Now, can you think of a promise that God 41:38 that you can't say amen to? 41:40 I don't think you can. 41:41 You want an Amazon Prime, 41:43 you want an Amazon Prime kind of promise, 41:45 I'm gonna give it to you right now. 41:46 These are the words of Jesus. 41:47 Red letters in the Bible, put it on the screen for you, 41:49 Jesus speaking, Luke 6:38, 41:51 "Give and it will be given to you, 41:54 pressed down, shaken together and running over!" 41:59 That is an incredible promise by the way. 42:00 Jesus says, "You give, it will be given back to you." 42:03 I mean, we're talking about really giving it back, 42:06 not that little bit you gave, we're pressing it down 42:08 you got so much. 42:10 Mercy. 42:11 And all you have to say in response to Jesus' promise 42:14 is amen. 42:17 And then you give, you've got to give. 42:19 You gonna say no, no, I want the promise without the action. 42:22 What's up, folk? 42:23 That's craziness. You've got to give. 42:25 He says, give and it will be given to you, 42:27 you've got to give. 42:28 You say amen to that promise, boom! 42:31 His omnipotent word declares to you it will be given to you. 42:38 Exactly as I ask, when I ask, for the reasons I ask, 42:43 nope, nope, nope. 42:45 But it's beneficial, 42:47 the very best you can trust Him, 42:50 you know. 42:51 Joshua Becker, let me go back to this book one more time. 42:54 The title of the book again, "The More of Less: 42:56 Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own". 42:58 He makes what strikes me as a profound observation. 43:02 Look at as far as I know this is not a religious book. 43:06 He may not believe in anybody in the universe 43:08 but Himself and you and me but that's okay, 43:10 he's making a point here, I want you to catch it, 43:12 put it on the screen for you. 43:14 "It's true," Becker writes "that the less we need, 43:18 the more we can give away." 43:21 Yeah, come on, 43:23 if you don't need all that stuff, 43:24 if you don't need all that stuff, you give happily. 43:26 That's why they have garage sales, 43:27 people are giving stuff they don't want anymore. 43:28 Somebody's garbage is somebody else's treasure. 43:33 "The less we need, the more we can give away. 43:36 But oh, what if the inverse is also true?" 43:39 Here it comes now. 43:41 "What if the more we give away, the less we need? 43:45 In other words, 43:47 what if generosity leads to contentment?" 43:53 Wow, give and it shall be given unto you. 43:57 Isn't so much a promise of how when you give, 44:00 you make a million. 44:02 As it is a promise of how when you give, 44:04 you will feel like a millionaire. 44:08 Give. 44:10 How did Joshua put it, what if the more we give away, 44:13 the less we need. 44:15 In other words what if generosity leads to, 44:19 and by the way what every human longs for? 44:23 You know what the materialist is so we have a minimalist 44:26 and we have a maximalist, 44:27 but now we're talking about materialist, 44:28 don't get confused. 44:30 What does a materialist believe? 44:31 A materialist believes this. 44:34 If I can just get enough of this stuff, 44:37 I would be contented. 44:39 Everybody's going for the same prize, 44:44 I want contentment. 44:48 But the materialist believes 44:50 that in the accumulation of stuff, 44:52 the latest technological gadgets got to always be 44:55 the new first kid on the block to have them, 44:58 did an accumulation of stuff I will finally be contented. 45:03 I am telling you, you will never be contented, 45:05 impossible and that's what Becker is saying. 45:09 Generosity, giving it away 45:12 is what will bring contentment to your life. 45:15 My momma, after all Jesus 45:17 is God's great yes. 45:22 That's why Jesus can say, 45:25 put it on the screen, "Give," Jesus speaking, 45:28 "Give and it will be given to you." 45:32 I tell you what, you say amen to God's great yes, 45:34 you give to Him and you see, 45:36 just see what Jesus will give back to you. 45:41 I promise you. 45:44 No, no, He promises you so that's what Jesus says. 45:47 Do you want to see what God says? 45:49 Put God on the screen, please. 45:51 "Bring the whole tithe into My storehouse 45:53 and test Me and see if I will not throw open 45:55 the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing 45:58 that there will not be room enough to store it." 46:02 You say amen to that promise and you tithe, 46:06 tithe it back to God. 46:09 You got it, boy, as my temper said, thank you. 46:14 Now I know you're serious, 46:16 you really want to be partners, don't you? 46:20 You say, amen to it, 46:22 He says bring it say amen 46:23 and I will open the flood gates of heaven. 46:28 After all Jesus is God's great yes. 46:31 Every promise is yes in Him. 46:35 Okay, so early on Black Friday morning 46:38 I'm having worship, okay, so this is just a few days ago. 46:40 Early on Black Friday morning having worship 46:42 and I suddenly remember I forgot, 46:46 you know, I have a little twitter account. 46:47 I forgot to send anything out on Thanksgiving, 46:51 oh, it's too late now. 46:52 It's a little word of grace, a little word of gratitude, 46:54 it's day after thanksgiving, what's a point of it now. 46:57 And while I'm having worship, 46:58 suddenly a thought comes to my mind 47:00 so I grab my phone 'cause that's where 47:01 I do most of my tweeting. 47:02 I grab my phone and I... 47:04 In 140 characters or less I typed up this message. 47:08 Put it on the screen for you, you see it there. 47:11 "The antidote 2 Black Friday 47:15 is 4 words long. 47:18 Memorize them, 47:19 you'll have no problem driving past 47:20 a shopping mall today on Black Friday" 47:23 and what are the four words? 47:24 "I don't need it." 47:30 Now look at I've been tweeting for four years is it, five. 47:33 I have never written a tweet that has been retweeted 47:38 and favored it more times than that single line. 47:42 And do you know why? 47:44 Because everybody knows, it's true. 47:48 "I don't need it." 47:56 Do I? 47:58 Do you? 48:06 Wow. 48:09 "Two things I ask of you oh, Lord, 48:12 do not refuse me before I die, 48:15 keep falsehood and lies far from me 48:18 and give me neither poverty nor riches 48:20 but give me only my daily bread. 48:25 For no matter how many promises 48:27 God has made they are all yes in Christ 48:31 and so through Him 48:33 the amen is spoken by us to the glory of God." 48:38 Promise, I am your daily bread, 48:42 prayer, amen, 48:46 give me Jesus. 48:51 Take out your connect card, please. 48:55 Tucked away where your study guide 48:56 was a moment ago. 48:59 How should we respond to this, 49:02 we got a few guests here, always nice to have you, 49:04 bless you, fill out the front side of the card 49:06 what you're comfortable with. 49:08 Need a card, just hold your hand up, 49:10 here come the ushers. 49:11 Turn the card over, my next step today. 49:16 Some suggested responses, box number one, 49:19 this Christmas what I want more than anything else. 49:24 Give me Jesus. 49:26 Give me Jesus, my daily bread. 49:31 Boy, that's a prayer. 49:35 There's a Christmas prayer for you. 49:38 Box Number two, this Christmas 49:40 I want to give more than I have. 49:43 I want to give more than I have. 49:45 Jesus said, given, it will be given to you. 49:46 I will take them up but I want to give more than I have. 49:49 Here two suggestions of how you might give. 49:51 Number one, I want to return God's tithe, 49:54 His 10 percent of my income. 50:00 There's some of you who are saying right now, 50:02 you know, it's true. 50:03 I'm a kind of haven't spend the tithe this year 50:06 until things turn around, 50:07 you know, they'll turn around eventually. 50:09 Oh, my friend, my friend, they will never turn around. 50:13 The way to turn things around for you is to return to God 50:18 that 10 percent, they'll turn around. 50:21 I promise you, 50:22 I will open up the floodgates of heaven 50:24 and bless you there won't be enough room 50:25 to store my blessing. 50:27 Just show me 50:28 that we're together in this journey, 50:30 just show me underneath your nickels and dimes, 50:33 that's tiddlywinks to me. 50:36 I just want to know do you want me? 50:37 Do you really want me? 50:41 Something substantive 50:42 by which I say to God, yes, please. 50:45 Amen. 50:46 If you haven't tithe this year 50:49 or you kind of phone off thinking, man, 50:50 it's just kind of crunch time. 50:52 I want to challenge you to consider 50:55 that perhaps what you've been waiting for 51:00 will be unleashed 51:02 when you say amen to this promise 51:06 and accept His invitation, tithe it back to Him. 51:10 The other box is I want to give 51:12 a sacrificial year and offering to this congregation. 51:16 We love to have that. 51:21 You know, we have hope training this year, 51:22 was that right or what? 51:25 $62,000, $62,000 this congregation invested 51:28 in Hope Trending, 62,000. 51:30 Now here's the deal. 51:31 This is what so often happens and I know. 51:34 If you need some extra money, 51:35 you reach into this pocket 51:37 and you put it into this pocket, 51:39 you just move money around. 51:41 That's okay, that's understandable 51:43 but because we've done that to get through Hope Trending, 51:46 we're looking at some naives for a very unglamorous fund 51:50 called Church operating, keeps the lights on, 51:52 keeps a little treasures in primary, 51:54 a primary treasures and little friends going, 51:56 you know, those little magazines and... 52:03 I did some arithmetic. 52:04 If a 1000 giving units, 52:07 all right, if a 1000 giving units, 52:10 so you're married so that would be two giving units, 52:12 and we're more than a 1000 giving units. 52:14 But if a 1000 giving units gave $100, $100, 52:20 I just drove by Pizza Hut this week 52:21 and they said, pizza is for $10, okay. 52:24 So that's 10 pizzas, mark down to $10. 52:29 If every one of us gave $100 and by the way 52:34 that's like three gas fill ups may be, 52:37 right, about three. 52:39 We're not talking about a lot of money here. 52:41 But if a 1000 giving units 52:43 all gave a $100 to church operating, 52:47 we are clear to sail into 2017. 52:52 Oh, but you heard Pastor Rodney just a moment ago, and he says, 52:55 "Guys, we've got to go into all the world, 52:56 it's not just about keeping our lights on, 52:57 it's about turning the light of the world on out there." 53:01 So let's throw another $50, come on. 53:04 You're feeling generous this Christmas. 53:06 I mean, 6.73 billion, 53:09 I guess we are feeling generous. 53:11 What if we took another $50. 53:15 How many pizzas is that? 53:16 Well, $10, that's 5. 53:20 Boy, by the time we're through we're gonna be able to 53:22 get pizzas to everybody. 53:24 But anyway, throw another $50. 53:27 If every giving unit just gave another $50, 53:29 that's a $150 now. 53:30 Come on, we're talking about a lot of money here 53:32 not in America. 53:35 And let's do one more, 53:36 we have some precious children over here. 53:38 Ruth Murdoch Elementary School in Andrews Academy, 53:40 let's throw another $50 for them, 53:42 come on, another $50. 53:43 Do you begrudge our children another $50? 53:47 If we each gave $100 to this congregation 53:52 and $100 to evangelism and children 53:55 'cause their evangelism too, $200. 54:01 Every giving unit, this month. 54:05 All I'm saying is you can get there from here. 54:09 To the guy who emptied the treasury of heaven 54:12 every last penny to save you and me 54:15 what is 200 bucks to college students, 54:18 what is two hundred bucks? 54:20 A lot, okay. 54:23 I'm talking to the wrong group apparently. 54:28 But, you know, what I mean, 54:30 we can drop $200 just like that, 54:31 I gotta have that new phone, 54:33 there it goes $300 just like that. 54:35 I got to have an iPhone, 54:37 boom without batting an eye. 54:41 What if we gave the little that we have to Jesus, 54:48 who says give it to me 54:50 and it shall be given back to you. 54:53 What if we said amen and we did, 54:57 that's my invitation to you wherever you live, 55:00 whatever church you attend, 55:01 whatever congregation you support, 55:04 why don't we this year give God a big Christmas gift. 55:10 We need it. 55:12 This church needs it. Let's pray. 55:15 Oh, God, thank you, thank you for these people, 55:17 everybody has been sitting here, 55:19 we have been getting into the word together, 55:20 we're ready go home now. 55:22 But dear God, not before letting you know 55:27 how grateful we are that the treasury 55:28 has been emptied 55:30 and that Jesus is the great yes 55:33 to every promise you have ever made 55:36 or will ever make, it's all wrapped up in Jesus, 55:39 and so to Jesus we say amen to the glory of God. 55:43 Jesus do whatever it takes, 55:45 you want me to give, I will give, 55:47 amen, to give it back to me, 55:49 amen to opening the floodgates of heaven, 55:52 amen 55:56 to your glory and honor. 55:59 Know our hearts, we love you with all our heart. 56:02 Oh God, if you were here we would line up to hug you 56:06 one after another. 56:09 We so love you 56:13 'cause you so loved us 56:16 in Jesus, amen. 56:20 Thank you for joining us in worship today. 56:22 I hope you were blessed. 56:24 As we enter the busy holiday season, 56:25 I trust you're able to snatch some quiet moments 56:27 to reflect on all that you're grateful for. 56:30 Me, I'm thankful for you for your prayers, 56:33 for your letters which literally come to us 56:34 from around the world. 56:36 You'll never know the impact your prayers 56:38 for this ministry have on me and our entire team. 56:41 Trust me, you bless me through your prayers, 56:44 so I'm thankful for you, 56:45 I am thankful for the young creative tech team 56:47 that makes this ministry happen. 56:49 They keep coming up with new innovative ideas 56:51 for sharing the gospel globally 56:52 through electronic media, television, 56:54 radio, web, mobile, 56:56 whatever, what's more these young innovators 56:59 have had the skills and the commitment 57:01 to see our projects through. 57:03 So I'm thankful for you, I'm thankful for them 57:06 and you'd expect me to say 57:07 this as another year draws to an end. 57:08 I'm also thankful 57:10 for the financial support of viewers like you 57:12 that makes this ministry possible. 57:14 If you've been blessed this new year, 57:16 I'd like to ask you to join the hundreds 57:17 who financially support our New Perceptions Ministry. 57:21 It's simple to do, 57:22 just call our toll free number 877-HIS-WILL, 57:25 the two words HIS WILL, 57:27 and one of our friendly operators 57:28 will be happy to assist you. 57:30 Trust me, no gift is too small 57:32 for God to use to spread His good news. 57:34 And let me remind you not a single penny 57:36 of your donation will come to me, 57:37 every gift is entirely invested 57:40 in our mission to communicate 57:41 God's everlasting gospel to what we believe 57:44 is an end time generation. 57:46 So once again the number to call is 877-HIS-WILL. 57:50 This Christmas I wish for you 57:52 God's very best wrapped up in Jesus 24/7 all the way 57:57 through the new year to come. 57:59 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-07-31