Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018037A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:11 Hello, and welcome to Family Worship. 01:13 My name is John Dinzey, 01:15 and it's a joy and a privilege for me to be here with you, 01:17 and I am accompanied at this moment 01:19 by my wife Idalia. 01:21 And it's time to say Happy Sabbath. 01:23 Happy Sabbath. 01:25 Yes, we are together to receive the Sabbath, 01:28 but of course, 01:29 we always look forward to Friday 01:32 because on Friday evening 01:34 that's when the sun goes down, 01:36 that's when we receive the Sabbath. 01:37 That's right, the Sabbath begins at sundown 01:40 on Friday. 01:41 That's right, if you're listening to that 01:43 for the first time, 01:45 you may wonder why, 01:46 and that's because the Bible establishes 01:48 that the days began in the evening part, 01:50 in other words the dark part of the day. 01:52 Just read Genesis Chapter 1, 01:53 and you'll see in the evening and the morning, 01:55 in the evening and the morning 01:56 talking about the different days. 01:58 But let's first introduce our guests 02:00 that are with us, part of the family, 02:01 I better like to say, 02:03 and we begin on this side, 02:04 Idalia, would you like to introduce. 02:06 Yes, ladies first. 02:07 We have Janelle Owens. Hi. 02:09 You're welcome. Thank you. 02:11 I'm so glad you were able to make it again. 02:12 Yes, me too, thank you for inviting us. 02:14 Yeah. You're welcome. 02:16 And here is your husband, your faithful Donald. 02:21 Praise the Lord for Donald. 02:22 Yes, yeah, and God is good. 02:23 Yeah, He has got us through a lot of trials, 02:25 but He continues to grow us and expand us even. 02:28 Amen. 02:29 The Lord is good. Lord is good. 02:31 Well, here to my right, 02:33 we are once again 02:34 with Brother Brian Dickens, welcome. 02:36 Pleasure as always. I appreciate it. 02:38 Thank you so much for joining us, 02:40 and together with you we have a family worship. 02:44 And at this time we are going to go to the Lord in prayer, 02:47 and I'm going to ask Idalia at this moment 02:49 to lead us to the Lord in prayer. 02:51 Oh, sure, okay. 02:53 Father, we just come before Your throne of grace 02:56 with our thankful heart. 02:57 Thank you, Lord, 02:59 because You were with us all week long. 03:02 There are seven days in a week, and there is one great God, 03:08 and You are constantly and faithfully with us. 03:11 We thank You for Your company, Your blessings. 03:14 Thank You, Lord, for the strength and wisdom 03:17 You have given us 03:18 and, Father, we thank You for the moment 03:21 that we can set aside and just worship You 03:27 these hours of the Sabbath. 03:29 Thank You, Lord, that You have thought about us 03:32 since creation 03:33 and blessed us with the Sabbath day. 03:36 May your name be glorified as we worship You 03:39 and may we draw closer to You. 03:41 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 03:43 Amen. Amen. 03:45 Well, I like to begin in this moment 03:47 with Luke Chapter 4, 03:49 and this is a moment when Jesus... 03:53 When you go into Luke Chapter 4, 03:55 you see the story of Jesus 03:57 being tempted in the desert by Satan. 04:00 And after the temptations were over, 04:04 some interesting things happened, 04:07 so let's go to Luke 4:13. 04:11 Now it says, "When the devil had ended every temptation, 04:17 he departed from him until an opportune time." 04:21 In other words, he was going to come back to tempt Jesus 04:24 at another time. 04:25 Now let's go to verse 14, 04:27 "Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit 04:30 to Galilee, 04:32 and news of Him went out 04:33 through all the surrounding region. 04:36 And He taught in their synagogues, 04:37 being glorified by all." 04:40 So verse 16, "So He came to Nazareth, 04:42 where He had been brought up. 04:44 And as His custom was, 04:47 He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, 04:50 and stood up to read." 04:53 And I'll stop there 04:54 because I will like to mention something 04:57 because we said to you Happy Sabbath 04:59 at the beginning of this hour 05:02 and so, some of you may not be familiar 05:04 with the idea of Sabbath 05:05 because we say Happy Sabbath. 05:07 That's really we are talking about the day of the week, 05:09 which is Saturday. 05:10 And it just so happens that the Bible tells us that 05:16 this day, the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week 05:19 was sanctified and made holy by God. 05:22 So I would like to ask our, Brother Brian, 05:24 if you'll read Genesis Chapter 2, 05:27 and we'll begin 05:28 and read those first two verses please. 05:34 Genesis Chapter 2 what? 05:36 Genesis 2:1, and 2, and 3 actually. 05:41 And it says, 2:1-3. Good. 05:45 And so here, 05:46 we have description of what happened 05:48 and then a brief description of what the Lord did 05:52 and then what He did afterward that He created everything. 05:55 Okay, Genesis 2:1. 05:58 1, 2 and 3. 06:00 "Thus the heavens and the earth, 06:01 and all the host of them, were finished. 06:05 And on the seventh day God ended His work 06:07 which He had done, 06:09 and He rested on the seventh day 06:11 from all His work which He had done. 06:13 Then God blessed the seventh day 06:15 and sanctified it, 06:17 because in it He rested from all His work 06:20 which God had created and made." 06:23 Praise the Lord. Amen. 06:25 And so here we have 06:26 at the very beginning of the creation of this world 06:29 that the Lord sanctified and blessed the seventh day. 06:34 So when you go to Luke Chapter 4, 06:35 and you see that Jesus says as His custom was, 06:38 this was the custom of Jesus. 06:41 And it would be so today 06:43 if He was walking among the earth today. 06:46 And I will say to you that He is expecting His children 06:48 to continue to do the same. 06:50 Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. 06:53 Do as I said it. 06:54 Go to church on the Sabbath day 06:57 and remember to keep the day holy, sanctify it. 07:01 You may go for more information in Exodus Chapter 20, 07:04 and I don't know if anyone, Exodus Chapter 20 07:06 where we are talking about the Ten Commandments, 07:08 specifically as Donald said in verse 8 through 11. 07:12 Anything you like to share about the Sabbath day 07:14 that would you like. 07:15 Something that I think we would be touching on 07:17 just a little bit is a idea of a gift, 07:20 and God gave us the Sabbath as a gift. 07:23 It's a gift to us that we can be with Him. 07:27 That's a powerful thought. It's a gift really. 07:29 It really is a gift 07:30 if you could look at it that way, 07:32 wouldn't you want to come in delight in God's gift 07:33 that He has given you. 07:35 Amen. That's right. That's right. 07:36 You know what's interesting as I was looking at this, 07:39 I, it says here in Luke Chapter 4, 07:42 as His custom was, very interesting the wording, 07:45 and it came to my mind that Jesus was the creator. 07:50 And if you say as His custom was, 07:52 He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, 07:55 that was His custom 07:56 even before He took upon human form, 08:01 to say that He kept the Sabbath holy. 08:03 You know, God is always doing things, 08:06 but on the Sabbath day 08:07 He expects His children to pause, 08:09 stop their work, stop their hustle and bustle, 08:13 and come to Him and worship Him, 08:16 and put all the things of the world aside 08:19 and focus on worshiping Him. 08:22 It's a marvelous opportunity. 08:24 With that in mind, I want to say to also that 08:28 sometimes we tend to overload the Sabbath 08:33 with Sabbath activities 08:35 and the gift of the Sabbath is to slow down, 08:41 enjoy the roses, 08:43 hear the birds singing as you walk 08:46 and, you know, spend quality time, 08:50 you know, in adoration or worship in the church. 08:54 You know, sometimes people are like, 08:55 oh, you know, I have so many things to do 08:58 and get distracted even during sermon time. 09:02 And I think that it's a good idea 09:04 if they will start taking sermon notes, 09:07 you know, because when the sermon 09:09 is being presented, 09:12 sometimes my mind wanders like, 09:15 and you have to rebuke the devil, 09:17 because there is such a blessing in the sermon 09:19 and unfortunately we get distracted. 09:23 So to help us focused, to help us stay connected, 09:27 I think that is very important for us 09:30 in order to be able to enjoy our Sabbath experience. 09:33 I was gonna mention that somebody talked to me 09:35 and they said, you know, it's interesting, 09:37 when the Sabbath hits 09:38 and we're in our church worshipping. 09:40 So we always see people running to get out of church 09:42 but you should be spending time with the Lord, 09:43 why you want to run away from church, 09:45 you want to be there like faithful. 09:46 Everything I like about the Sabbath is, 09:48 you know, God gave us permission, 09:50 you know, it's like, He gave us that 09:52 and He gave us permission to rest, you know, 09:55 and we don't and sometimes like you said, 09:57 we don't appreciate that 09:58 and we don't treat the Sabbath like a gift, 10:02 but it's a fact that, 10:03 you know, if someone wants us to do something 10:07 and we don't want to do that activity, 10:11 you know, we can just say God gave me permission to rest, 10:15 and worship Him, and spend time with Him, 10:18 and I would rather not do that on this special day. 10:21 I was gonna touch base 10:22 over what you're talking about, John, 10:24 about Jesus being the creator. 10:26 I really like Colossians 10:27 and I just have to share Colossians 1 real quick. 10:31 In Colossians 1:14, it says, 10:34 "In whom we have redemption through His blood," 10:37 we are talking about Jesus, right? 10:39 "Even the forgiveness of sins." 10:41 Now verse 15 "Who is the image of the invisible God, 10:43 the firstborn over all creation." 10:45 And 16 and 17 is the key, 10:47 for by, and I'll just switch this up, 10:48 "For by Jesus were all things created 10:51 that are in heaven that are in earth, 10:53 visible and invisible." 10:54 We are talking about the Sabbath again. 10:55 Jesus created the Sabbath. 10:57 "And that are in the earth, visible and invisible, 10:58 whether there be throne or dominions 11:01 or principalities or powers. 11:02 All things were created by Jesus and for Jesus." 11:06 And verse 17, 11:07 "And Jesus is before all things, 11:09 and by Jesus all things consist." 11:12 Amen. That's very powerful. 11:13 Very powerful. 11:14 You know, when you think about God's law, 11:16 the Ten Commandments, some people may say, 11:18 oh, that's bondage, 11:20 but reality the Bible in James Chapter 1, 11:23 actually James Chapter 2 calls the Ten Commandments 11:26 the law of liberty. 11:28 Interesting. 11:29 But when I say this, you know, God gave us His laws, 11:32 His Ten Commandments for our happiness, 11:35 for us to be happy. 11:38 And as we keep them, we have happiness with Him, 11:41 we have a good relationship with Him, 11:43 because the first four commandments 11:44 talk about our relationship with God, 11:46 the last six talk about our relationship 11:47 with our fellow man. 11:49 So if you're obeying the commandments, 11:51 you're gonna have good relationship 11:53 with your neighbor, 11:54 because your neighbor is going to say, 11:55 "Hey, this guy is not stealing from me, 11:57 this guy is not taking my things, 11:58 he's a good neighbor." 12:01 There's gonna be happiness promoted there 12:03 and you're going to get along better 12:07 but, that's the gift that God has given us 12:11 also, the Ten Commandments. 12:12 And we are talking about gifts in this program, 12:14 the gift, the many gifts that God gives us, 12:17 and we will talk about some of those things 12:18 that He does for us, 12:20 and then we're gonna focus on the gift 12:23 that surpasses all gifts, 12:25 the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. 12:27 I like to mention that, 12:29 as you guys were sharing that Sabbath is a gift to us, 12:33 you know, what the verse came to my mind 12:36 was Isaiah 58:13 and 14. 12:40 I think it goes together, Isaiah 58:13 12:43 and we've heard it before, but for our friends at home, 12:47 watch and listen to this beautiful message. 12:50 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 12:54 from doing your pleasure on my holy day, 12:59 and call the Sabbath a delight, 13:02 the holy of the Lord, honorable, 13:06 and shall honor him, 13:08 not doing thine own ways, 13:10 nor finding thine own pleasure, 13:14 nor speaking thine own words. 13:16 Then shalt you delight thyself in the Lord, 13:21 and I will cause thee 13:22 to ride upon the high places of the earth, 13:25 and feed thee 13:27 with the heritage of Jacob thy father 13:30 for the mouth of the Lord, has spoken it." 13:33 Amen and Amen. Wow. 13:35 That's a wonderful confirmation of the commandment, 13:37 and it talks about delight, 13:39 you know, delight yourself 13:41 and the Lord delight on the Sabbath day, 13:42 so delight really to keep the Sabbath, 13:45 and it brings us to closer union with the Lord. 13:49 Actually if you read the commandment 13:50 it says, God loves you so... 13:52 I love you so much 13:53 that I want you to stop working, 13:55 just don't work. 13:57 Six days you do all your work, 13:58 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, 14:00 you got to rest. 14:02 It's your little vacation. Yes. 14:04 I think it's also important to fellowship. 14:06 Yes, absolutely. 14:08 You know, it's a fellowship in worship, 14:10 and I look forward to Sabbath 14:12 when we are home for the weekend, 14:14 and I look forward to going to my home church, 14:17 and being with our friends in the congregation 14:21 and receiving the visitors in the church, 14:24 as well inviting them for fellowship dinner, right? 14:27 Fellowship dinner. Absolutely. 14:32 Exactly and so, it is a delight 14:34 when you look forward to do service 14:39 and also listen to the word spoken, 14:43 and taking time away from your usual routine, 14:46 and unfortunately sometimes 14:48 the Sabbath becomes a routine to us. 14:51 Oh, it's already Thursday, tomorrow is Friday, 14:53 I better hurry up, you know, it becomes a burden. 14:56 But why does it become a burden to some people? 14:58 What do you think, Brian? 15:00 I guess maybe over a period of time, 15:01 because I know in my past, 15:03 whenever I wasn't a Sabbath keeper, 15:06 whenever I was going to church on Sundays, 15:09 things are so much different now 15:11 that I'm going on the Sabbath. 15:14 You know, I'm going to fellowship 15:16 with the rest of the congregation 15:18 and everybody else, and spending time with God. 15:22 It seems so much different than it used to be back then, 15:25 it has changed tremendously, I mean, almost exponentially, 15:29 it's so much better. 15:30 You know, I feel better about myself. 15:32 I feel better about the world, 15:34 and I feel better about the people around me. 15:37 You know, I've created friends and family 15:42 in the congregation and in the church 15:44 that I never had before 15:45 and didn't feel before anywhere else, you know. 15:49 And it is a complete blessing and a gift to be able to come 15:54 and do this on the Sabbath 15:56 but, of course, we can't lose focus of doing it 15:58 every day of the week, 15:59 you know, praising God, and uniting with God, 16:01 and praying to Him every single day. 16:04 But the Sabbath is set aside, 16:06 it was sanctified for us to do that on that day. 16:09 That's right. 16:10 You made a good point because or more than one good point, 16:13 but the... 16:16 You know, God never wanted us or doesn't want us 16:19 just to be a Christian on one particular day. 16:21 You're a Christian every day. 16:22 You're the child of the Lord, 24/7. 16:24 And so the Sabbath day is a day that God has said, 16:29 you know, I'm gonna give you six days 16:31 to do everything you want to do within goodness, 16:36 but on the seventh day gift, that's my day. 16:40 I want you to keep that holy. 16:41 I want you to spend time with me. 16:43 I want you to worship in spirit and truth. 16:48 Let's go to James Chapter 1, 16:50 continuing the idea of God gives us gifts. 16:54 And the reason I want to read these verses 16:58 is because of something it says here, 17:03 in James 1:5. 17:05 Notice how this is worded, "If any of you lacks wisdom, 17:11 let him ask of God" 17:14 and notice "who gives to all liberally 17:17 and without reproach, and it would be given him, 17:20 but let him ask in faith with no doubting, 17:23 for he who doubts is like the wave of the sea 17:26 driven and tossed by the wind." 17:29 So my thought on this is that, 17:33 you know, God gives to everyone liberally, 17:38 and that is something that we should keep in mind. 17:40 He gives to everyone of us liberally, 17:43 and when we ask God for things that we need, 17:50 that we ask for our happiness. 17:52 You know, Jesus said to His disciples, 17:54 you know, "You haven't really asked for anything." 17:57 And then He says, 17:58 "Ask that your joy may be full." 18:02 He wants us to be happy 18:04 and so God is not gonna be burdened by... 18:07 "Oh, no, Don is just asking for just to, 18:10 everyday he is coming with stuff, 18:12 you know, everyday he is coming to ask things." 18:14 No. 18:15 God says, 18:16 "Ask and you will receive, you know." 18:18 But sometimes, 18:19 you know, you hear people say sometimes, 18:22 "Well, God's too busy for my problems, 18:24 you know, I don't want to bother Him 18:26 with my problems." 18:28 And that's just Satan trying to just, 18:29 you know, keep us away from God, 18:31 keep us, you know, 18:33 from that communication with Him. 18:35 That's true. That's true. 18:36 And people feel unworthy because of our sins, 18:40 and, you know, it's funny you said that, 18:42 because recently I was sitting meditating, and reading, 18:47 and praying at the house, 18:49 and this drunken witch just came over me. 18:52 I felt it even in my blood stream, 18:55 you know, how I had offended the spirit of the Lord. 19:00 I need to evaluate, 19:04 you know, look how I'm appreciating 19:07 or embracing the Holy Spirit, 19:09 because sometimes we just don't want to listen. 19:13 We don't want to listen, and God is so... 19:17 Oh, He is so faithful and so good, 19:19 He's so merciful that in spite of us not listening, 19:22 He still blesses us with love and kindness, you know. 19:27 He is calling us 19:29 and, you know, it was a beautiful experience, 19:31 because I felt my very, 19:35 every fiber in my body felt the need 19:38 of having Christ in my life. 19:40 It was a humbling experience 19:43 and I'm like, "Oh, Lord, You were travelling, 19:45 you weren't at home." 19:47 And I'm like, "Oh, God, thank You, 19:50 but yet I was feeling so ashamed and so, 19:53 but yet rejoicing His forgiveness and His... 19:56 You know, the past haunts you, you know, 19:59 and it's something that Satan uses to grab you 20:04 and just trample you on the ground, 20:07 just clean the floor with you, right? 20:10 But when we step into God's presence, 20:13 where we acknowledge His presence, 20:16 He's always present. 20:18 He shows you your value what you're worth. 20:21 I was gonna say, in Luke 11, you touched on something, 20:23 Luke 11. 20:26 Actually it starts in verse 9. 20:27 I was just studying this morning 20:28 about the Holy Spirit and the gift. 20:30 Really? 20:31 And touched down to this piece that was interesting. 20:33 So it says in Luke 11:9, says, 20:35 "And I say unto you, ask," 20:37 we're talking about this ask, "and it shall be given you, 20:39 seek, and ye shall find, 20:41 knock and it shall be opened unto you. 20:42 For every one that asketh receiveth," 20:45 so God wants to give us something, 20:47 "and he that seeketh findeth 20:48 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 20:50 It's a promise. 20:51 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, 20:54 will he give him a stone?" 20:56 Well, that wouldn't be nice. 20:57 "Or if he ask a fish, 20:58 will he for a fish give him a serpent?" 21:00 That's pretty crazy. 21:01 "Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" 21:04 Wow. 21:05 "If ye then, being evil, 21:06 know how much to give good gifts unto your children," 21:10 talking about giving gift, 21:11 "how much more shall your heavenly Father 21:13 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? 21:15 Wow! 21:17 That's an interesting comparison 21:19 and, you know, the Lord speaks to us 21:20 in terms and the language that we understand. 21:24 You know, if you are willing to give good gifts 21:26 to your children, 21:28 think how much more, you know, and I like the phrase, 21:30 how much more God is willing to give us. 21:34 Just a kind of go with what Don just read here 21:36 in this Bible, 21:38 it's the Andrews Study Bible. 21:40 At the bottom 21:41 it has a little bit of commentary, 21:43 and it says on the Holy Spirit says, 21:45 "That it's the greatest and most essential of gifts. 21:50 The spirit brings close the guidance and power of God. 21:53 Greatest and most essential of gifts." 21:56 Oh, oh, yes. 21:58 I would like to go back to James Chapter 1, 22:03 because it brings out something very powerful 22:06 that we should understand 22:08 and that is in James 1:17, 22:12 it says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift 22:17 is from above, 22:19 and comes down from the Father of lights, 22:21 with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." 22:27 And that is something 22:29 that we should keep in our mind, 22:30 you know, the Lord gives us things 22:33 and because He wants us to be happy. 22:37 He wants us to be happy and God doesn't, you know, 22:41 we think of our days, oh, a new day has begun, 22:46 you just wake up, 22:47 you know, from what we understand 22:49 God doesn't sleep. 22:50 God is not when you wake up, 22:51 say, "Let's see who I can make sad today. 22:54 Who I can make unhappy today." 22:57 No, God wants to bless us, help us and lift us up, 23:02 and that's why, you know, 23:04 you even read Jesus is echoing things 23:08 that have already been said in the Bible, 23:10 in the Old Testament better said, 23:12 because He says, 23:13 "Come unto Me 23:15 all ye that are weary and heavy laden." 23:18 And He's not, you're weary, don't come to me, 23:22 He says, "Come to me," 23:24 and then He says, "I will give you rest." 23:27 You know, that's an invitation for us to rest. 23:31 So every perfect gift, every good gift, 23:33 you know, some people think 23:35 especially those that don't know the Lord, 23:38 that the things they have in their home, 23:40 whether you have a house or don't have a house, 23:42 if you have clothing on your back 23:44 and you say, "Well, I worked really hard for this." 23:47 But when you start analyzing these things, 23:49 you know, we are talking about the origin of words 23:51 before we started this program. 23:53 When you start analyzing this thing 23:54 where, you mean, you worked, yes, how was it you worked? 23:58 Because I got up. 23:59 Well, God gave you life so that you can get up. 24:01 He gave you breath 24:03 so that you could breathe, and... 24:04 Gave hands and feet. 24:06 Hands and feet, 24:07 and health and strength to be able to work. 24:09 So all this comes back to God gave us these things, 24:14 so that you could work and so it goes back to, 24:19 we should be thankful to the Lord. 24:20 Yeah. 24:21 And so, I just think that if we could keep a... 24:26 Some people say, an attitude of gratitude, 24:29 it would be much, much better for us, 24:31 much more better for us. 24:33 But I want to read one scripture, 24:36 and if I'm not mistaken it's 1 Corinthians 15:57, 24:40 and if it's not 1 Corinthians 15:57, 24:42 then I will know when I get there, 24:43 because I'm relying on the memory here, 24:48 and let's see... 24:54 Yes, no, that's really not the one, 24:57 that's not the one I was talking about, 24:59 this is a good one though, it's a good one. 25:00 I'll find the other one, it says 1 Corinthians 15:57, 25:03 "But thanks be to God, 25:04 who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 25:10 So what can we say about that, 25:12 that God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 25:15 I'll look up the other verse that I was thinking of, 25:17 but go ahead. 25:18 I was about to say what Idalia was talking about 25:20 just earlier about whenever you are sorrowful 25:25 because of all the sins that you've done 25:28 and you're stuck in that wrath of sin. 25:30 You know, God gives you the chance to cleanse yourself 25:34 of all of those sins, 25:36 and gives you freedom from those. 25:37 When you're stuck in those sins, 25:39 even though you're sorrowful, 25:40 and you feel bad for doing them, 25:42 chances are if you haven't got God in your life, 25:44 you gonna keep doing those, 25:45 and you're gonna stay in that sin until you find God, 25:48 and until you get free from that sin through God 25:52 and through Christ. 25:54 Yeah, you know, it's interesting you mentioned 25:55 'cause this last week something happened to me. 25:57 And I fell back into some old ruts I've been in before, 26:01 and the enemy is working really hard right now. 26:03 Lot of people I talk on the phones, 26:05 there's a lot of stuff people are going back into something 26:07 that happened to me. 26:08 I fell into it, but I just praised the Lord 26:11 because it says every good gift and He has forgiveness. 26:14 Forgiveness is so huge. Gift of forgiveness. 26:16 Yes, that's right. 26:18 You know, when I went, 26:19 I do prison ministries on Wednesday nights, 26:20 and when I do prison ministry that night 26:22 and they were thanking me for being in there. 26:24 And I just walked out and I was like, 26:25 "I've been redeemed. I've been redeemed. 26:27 I'm seeing it, I've been redeemed." 26:28 And I was just... 26:30 I felt like I was just blowing, and I'm like, 26:31 and all these guards are probably like, 26:33 "What's wrong with this guy, 26:34 you know, he's probably seen us." 26:36 That's funny. 26:37 Just today I told Johnny, oh, we should sing redeem 26:41 and here you are sharing. 26:43 Yes, we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. 26:46 And I know that our topic, 26:48 we haven't even started with our topic. 26:52 What I think is that 26:54 God, He's abundant and His forgiveness 26:58 is in abundance and complete. 27:01 And we as human beings, we say, we forgive. 27:07 but we don't forgive, 27:08 and we forget that we need to accept a forgiveness 27:13 that God offers us today, and accept it, 27:17 and His love is unconditional. 27:19 So it doesn't matter what you've done up until now, 27:24 if you ask the Lord, please forgive me, 27:27 and I want a new beginning, you must speak the word, 27:32 and the word will be true in your life. 27:35 The Lord will forgive you and you will feel free 27:39 from those burdens that are keeping you down. 27:41 I like this verse here, it's Ephesians 2:8 and 9. 27:48 And as we were kind of 27:50 preparing for this family worship, 27:53 this is the verse that came to my head, 27:56 Verse 8 starts 27:57 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, 27:59 and that not of yourselves, 28:01 it is the gift of God, not of works, 28:05 lest anyone should boast." 28:06 It's a gift of God 28:08 and He gives us so many different gifts that, 28:11 you know, this is just one gift that He gives 28:14 and, you know, we were talking to, 28:17 I mean, preparation for this program 28:18 about 1 Corinthians 13 and how, you know, the greatest... 28:23 Well, it's not the greatest, 28:25 but, you know, about how magnificent love is 28:30 and how God has that true love, 28:33 and how we can mess up the word love, you know. 28:37 I think in our society today, 28:39 love is used so loosely 28:41 that we don't really have a good understanding of it. 28:43 But, you know, I've really liked that chapter, 28:46 because it tells you, 28:48 you know, especially for a Christian, 28:50 you know, to kind of revisit that every now and then, 28:54 because we can get in those ruts too of thinking, 28:56 you know, that we are doing this 28:58 and doing that 28:59 and, you know, I'm doing this for You, Lord, 29:01 you know, I'm doing that for You, Lord, 29:02 it's like, wait a minute, you know. 29:04 Yes. 29:05 Because we do love, we love our favorite umbrella, 29:08 we love our pot and pan 29:10 or, you know, we love so many things 29:12 and also we have tarnished, set away word, 29:18 what love is, you know. 29:21 Children that have had, 29:25 that have not had a good childhood 29:27 because of the abuse by authority in their life, 29:32 they don't have a nice picture of love. 29:34 They think that it's normal 29:36 but when they grow up they say, 29:38 that was not love at all, 29:40 and that itself drains their energies 29:43 and withdraw their self-esteem, tampers their self-esteem. 29:47 But yet we as Christians, 29:50 we tampered what the word love means 29:54 because we are not Christ like, 29:57 you know, we have our ups and downs, 30:00 but we need to struggle or to be willing by Jesus 30:06 to put self aside and represent what love is, you know. 30:11 And one of the stories that I wanted to share with you 30:15 an experience, 30:18 was when Samuel was a little boy. 30:22 We have two sons Samuel and Caleb. 30:25 Somebody came over to the house, 30:28 and Samuel went to his room 30:30 because he really appreciated the person that came. 30:32 He was so excited and a child expresses their love 30:36 by giving something that they own, you know. 30:39 So Samuel ran to his room, 30:41 he got this tiny little toy that was very special to him 30:46 and he just felt so good about offering that little gift 30:50 to the person that came over. 30:52 And the person's like, 30:54 "Oh, no, no, no, no, I don't need that. 30:56 I don't need that toy. 30:57 It's okay, you can keep it." 30:59 And as adults we can say, you know, it's just a toy, 31:05 or no you can keep it and may have you, 31:08 but what we don't register 31:09 is that they're giving their very, 31:12 the most valuable things that they have at their hand, 31:17 at their disposure. 31:19 So he was given a gift and he said, 31:22 "No, don't reject it." 31:24 I said before the person left, "Don't reject it, 31:26 even if you put it in a box in your house or what have you, 31:30 but he's giving you all that he has." 31:32 It's like emptying his little toy bag, 31:34 just to find that very special gift for that person. 31:38 So sometimes we don't value the gift 31:42 or the purpose of the gift, right? 31:46 And we need to learn to value gifts. 31:48 It doesn't matter 31:50 if it's an empty box that you get. 31:52 All their hugs in there, it's filled with hugs, 31:54 so you don't see the hugs in there, 31:56 but they're sending you hugs. 31:58 That's very nice. That's cute. 31:59 I don't know. 32:01 It just reminds me 32:02 of what happened to my young brother. 32:04 He picked a bunch of dandelions for my grandmother, 32:06 my grandmother wasn't... 32:08 She had some issues. 32:09 And she smacked them out of his hand, 32:11 she was, "Oh they're weeds. 32:12 I don't want those." 32:13 And it really damaged him, it can hurt people. 32:16 When they're offerings a gift of what they think is love 32:18 and you do that, it really, it can really hurt, 32:22 so yeah, that's a good point you made, thank you. 32:23 Well, you know, I wanted to share 32:26 and maybe somebody listening to us 32:28 has gone through this experience 32:30 and that is or maybe here. 32:33 Has anyone ever caught you by surprise 32:35 and given you a gift and completely unexpected, 32:39 or maybe even a surprise party, 32:42 or some kind of surprise 32:44 that you completely did not expect 32:48 and you were just overwhelmed, like, 32:50 "Me, I don't deserve this." 32:52 You know, and you're like, "Wow, I really appreciate it, 32:56 I am loved by somebody," 32:58 or whoever it was that did this thing, 33:02 and you feel good about it. 33:03 At the same time, you're like, "Wow, somebody took notice, 33:06 somebody remembered me." 33:09 And I just, you know, 33:10 entering into the experience of somebody 33:13 that perhaps either heard something about God, 33:18 he has a wrong conception, wrong understanding of God, 33:22 but finally begins to comprehend. 33:24 God gave His Son, so that He could die for me, 33:27 so that I could have eternal life, 33:31 so that I could live forever 33:33 in happiness, and peace, and joy. 33:37 When you take all that in and you say, 33:39 "Wow, you mean God loved me that much. 33:43 And all this time, 33:44 I've kind of kept away from God." 33:46 And you realize 33:47 that you've done yourself wrong, you've done... 33:49 You've done yourself some damage, 33:51 if you want to say that way. 33:52 When you finally realize God has been, 33:55 has loved you so much and I kept away from Him 33:57 so long that you began to say wow, 34:00 and you're overwhelmed with the marvelous love of God. 34:03 I found the verse that I wanted to share earlier 34:05 and that's 2 Corinthians 9:15. 34:10 2 Corinthians 9:15, the words are few, 34:16 but the message is huge, 34:19 "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." 34:24 And in there, this is the New King James 34:26 and then in the King James says, 34:28 "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift." 34:32 No words to describe. 34:34 When you mentioned of something that happened to me, 34:36 the Holy Spirit just does things, 34:37 I speak to people and pray with them. 34:39 I began reflecting like we did this earlier about, 34:41 you know, the creation week 34:43 and God made all these days. 34:44 Jesus made those days for us, so He was in the beginning, 34:47 so He made those things. 34:48 And I go on to 2 Corinthians 5:21, it says, 34:51 "He was made to be sin for us, 34:54 who knew no sin that we might be 34:56 the righteousness of God in Him." 34:57 And I think about that, 34:59 here is the creator who made everything 35:00 but yet He was made to be sin for us. 35:03 It's just hard for your mind to fathom, 35:07 how could that be, you know, how some stuff? 35:10 That's one of the verses that I think 35:12 we're gonna be thinking about throughout eternity. 35:15 I mean the fact, the idea, 35:17 that because you're showing, 35:19 you're talking about two extremes, sin. 35:22 Yeah, something He didn't make. That's right. 35:24 Sin, which is darkness, evil, and righteousness, 35:29 so He was made to be sin 35:32 so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him 35:35 which is complete holiness, 35:37 and it's marvelous, it's marvelous. 35:38 But when you think about Jesus 35:41 and then the indescribable gift of Jesus 35:44 that God has given us, 35:46 the fact that where He was before He came to this earth, 35:51 worshiped by angels, songs written about Jesus, 35:56 had to come to this earth 35:57 and you know, you read it 35:59 and you read in Matthew Chapter 1 36:03 and you hear that, wait a minute, 36:05 here's the Savior of the world, the King of the universe, 36:09 that if you were to ask the angels 36:11 prepare a place for the Messiah to be born. 36:14 Oh, they would be wondering, 36:16 oh, let's make, you know, something marvelous, 36:17 something fantastic, something great, 36:19 something that has never been seen before. 36:21 Let's make some special place for Jesus to be born in. 36:26 And they would be also 36:28 so joyous to have the privilege to make something 36:31 where the Savior would be born, 36:33 and when you read the scriptures, 36:36 it says, He was born in a manger. 36:41 It's amazing to think, you know, about those things. 36:44 That's a really powerful thought, 36:46 you know, from Jesus who is. 36:47 I like this and kind of you touched on James 1:17, 36:51 I know we've read this earlier before, 36:52 it said, it's out of Steps to Christ, 36:54 "So the heart of God yearns over His earthly children 36:56 with a love stronger than death." 36:58 Wow. 36:59 "In giving up His Son, 37:01 He has poured out to us all heaven in one gift. 37:04 The Savior's life and death and intercession, 37:06 the ministry of angels, the pleading of the Spirit, 37:09 the Father working above and through all, 37:11 the unceasing interest of heavenly beings, 37:13 all are enlisted in behalf of man's redemption." 37:18 Where is that from? 37:19 Steps to Christ, it says page 21. 37:22 That's a marvelous, marvelous thought, 37:24 you know, when you think about that. 37:26 And to think that when God, the Father, 37:30 you know, think of John 3:16, 37:33 "That God so loved the world 37:35 that He gave His only begotten Son." 37:38 And then there's that word, 37:39 that word again that tells you everybody, 37:41 "Whosoever believes in him 37:44 will not perish but have everlasting life." 37:47 And, you know, 37:48 there are so many scriptures that talk to you about. 37:54 I'm talking about, 37:55 you know, inclusive, God includes everyone. 37:58 He gives to everyone liberally. 38:00 "Whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely. 38:03 Come on to me 38:05 all ye that are weary and heavy-laden." 38:06 Everyone can have the blessing of Jesus. 38:10 Wow. 38:11 You know, something I never thought of 38:12 as a gift before is repentance. 38:15 And after reading Steps to Christ 38:18 and learning in there 38:20 that it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. 38:23 We don't, you know, we don't have that on our own, 38:26 that He leads us to repentance and then we want to, 38:29 and that was really kind of like blew my mind 38:32 when I first read it, like, wow, 38:34 you know, because I guess in my mind 38:36 I had a distorted thought of what repentance was, 38:39 like it was something we kind of like conjure up 38:41 or, you know, like we just think of on our own 38:44 which it's not true. 38:46 It's something that God puts in us 38:48 and He leads us to it. 38:50 And, you know, I think that was 38:52 really just something neat that, 38:54 you know, I learned in Steps to Christ that, 38:58 about repentance. 38:59 And it's just amazing how many gifts God gives us 39:02 that we don't see as gifts like you're talking about. 39:04 We don't value, 39:07 we don't sometimes value God's gifts, 39:11 sometimes actually we value material things 39:13 more than we value God's gifts. 39:16 Exactly, the spiritual gifts. 39:19 Yeah, I thank God for the gift of Jesus, 39:22 for His ministry. 39:25 And I thank God that through Him 39:28 I may be saved, you know. 39:31 Amen. 39:32 And through Him I can... 39:36 This is a learning process. 39:38 I don't know, when it hit you, guys, in your lifetime 39:41 in your spiritual walk with Lord. 39:45 When we talk to our kids at home, 39:48 when they're little, 39:49 we are painting this panorama 39:54 picture of Jesus, 39:57 you know, but then we talk with them and said, 40:00 "Someday you will be out of this home, 40:03 and someday you will have to make a decision 40:05 that God is your God and not your mom and dad's God. 40:10 So Jesus didn't come to save mommy and papi, 40:14 so we can take you in our arms with us. 40:17 Mom and dad cannot save you, only God can save you. 40:21 So through Jesus Christ and... 40:23 I tell them, in due time you will mature 40:27 and there's a season when things kind of like, 40:29 oh, duh, like a piece of puzzle. 40:32 And even to my age today. 40:35 And I've heard the messages so many times 40:37 throughout my lifetime, in Spanish and in English. 40:40 You think I'll get it sooner, you know. 40:42 I'm like, wow, what? 40:45 So, anyway. 40:48 Thank the Lord for the gift of Jesus. 40:51 And one of my favorite chapters is John 14. 40:56 Yeah, very good. 40:58 He, you know, He has shown me that His goodness 41:04 and His mercy in my lifetime. 41:06 And I thank Jesus that He intercedes for me. 41:12 And through the highs and lows in life, 41:15 we have learnt to praise the Lord anyhow, 41:19 in my sadness, in my happy times, 41:22 in my challenges, in my victories. 41:25 I've learnt that my battles, the battles are, 41:28 the battle is the Lord's. 41:30 And mine is the victory through Christ Jesus. 41:33 Amen. 41:34 So it comforts my heart, 41:36 to let not my heart be troubled. 41:39 "If you believe in God, believe also in Me." 41:44 It's chapter 14:1-6, I think I'm gonna read, 41:48 "In My Father's house are many mansions, 41:51 if it were not so, I would have told you so. 41:54 I go to prepare a place for you. 41:56 And if I go and prepare a place for you, 41:59 I will come again and receive you unto Myself, 42:03 that where I am, there you may be also. 42:07 And where I go you know, and the way you know." 42:10 So I think that when we experience Jesus 42:16 answering our prayers 42:18 or, we acknowledge His presence 42:21 that is powered that is manifested in our lives 42:24 that this becomes so real in our hearts, 42:28 you know, these promises, 42:29 because to some it may be words. 42:31 "Well, Idalia, I've not had an experience like you. 42:34 How can this word that you're sharing be so real to me 42:38 because I've not had the experience 42:41 that you've had with Jesus." 42:44 And have you thought about that? 42:46 I mean, you rejoice and you dance with the Lord 42:49 in your head, in your heart, it's like, Lord, the Lord, 42:52 my Lord and I are walking together 42:54 and we're planning these mansions together. 42:57 And I know He's gonna do it 42:58 because of what He has done in my life already. 43:01 Wonderful. That's wonderful. 43:03 You can take over. 43:06 I get too excited. 43:08 You're saying such wonderful things, 43:10 you know, I heard somebody say... 43:14 And I don't know if I heard it 43:15 from the person that was saying it 43:17 or I heard somebody say something 43:18 about some other person. 43:19 Where the person was saying, "You know, 43:21 I'm not worthy for God to give me a mansion, 43:24 I'm not worthy. 43:25 I'll be happy just a little shack, 43:27 a little, little place in heaven, 43:29 just a little shack." 43:31 And when you think about God the Father 43:35 that He's more willing to give good gifts to His children. 43:39 He's not going to say, 43:41 "Well you wanted a shack 43:42 so that's what we got you, you know." 43:44 Basically God blessed us so much, 43:47 that He's gonna give us the very best, you know. 43:50 And because we become, 43:54 you know, what can you say, 43:55 I mean, it's just overwhelming you think about it that," 43:58 He says, behold," 1 John 3:1, 44:01 "Behold," that means to me that's, 44:04 stop a moment and think about this 44:07 "Behold, what manner of love 44:10 the father has bestowed upon us that we may become. 44:14 That's me should be called children of God." 44:18 Amen. 44:20 Wow, that's a lot to take in, you know, that's a gift. 44:23 Yes. 44:24 That's just a gift, there's nothing... 44:26 The salvation is a gift. Yeah. 44:29 And sometimes, there's an expression says, 44:31 "The free gift." 44:33 God is trying to let us know, you cannot purchase salvation, 44:37 you cannot work your way to heaven. 44:39 It's a gift. 44:41 I was on a phone with a lady, 44:42 I was on phone with a lady few days ago 44:44 and she was telling me how every time she prays, 44:47 she hears whispers in her head said, 44:48 that she's praying to Satan, that she's worshiping Satan. 44:52 I was like whoa, so I started instantly thinking on 44:54 that and I began praying with her 44:56 and I brought in Zechariah 3 story 44:58 with the judgment, the God throne, 45:00 and she began weeping profusely on the phone. 45:02 And I said, "Can I ask you a question? 45:04 Why are you crying?" 45:05 And she says 45:07 because I didn't feel like I was worthy, 45:08 but now I see that I am worthy. 45:10 She realized that she was worthy. 45:12 Praise the Lord. 45:13 And God's Word, how it breaks you 45:14 and how it lets you know that you are a child of God. 45:17 And He's paid everything, spent everything for you 45:20 that you can have eternal life with Him. 45:21 Amen. 45:23 I think when we get a small glimpse 45:24 of how much God values us, 45:27 we can see that value in other people. 45:30 And, you know, 45:31 once we have that experience with Him, 45:33 we will look at people through different eyes, 45:36 you know, and like, 45:37 every person that He made is valuable. 45:40 And, you know, 45:41 even though we don't have any comprehension 45:42 in our human minds of just how vast that, 45:46 you know, He values us. 45:49 It's just a small glimpse that we can, 45:50 you know, just enough to care for others. 45:53 My heart ached too earlier today 45:56 because I shared with somebody. 46:00 They don't go to church or anything 46:01 but I shared with somebody that my brother... 46:04 I just found out 46:05 that my brother on my father's side 46:07 has vocal cord cancer or cancer in vocal cords 46:10 if it's stroke. 46:12 And that person says, 46:14 well that person knows my brother too. 46:16 He says, "Well, he's a smoker, you know, what do you expect?" 46:20 Deserves it. 46:21 Exactly, and, you know, and my heart has ached, 46:25 but an addiction is an addiction. 46:30 And the person tries to quit that addiction, and fails, 46:35 and tries again and fails. 46:37 But if we're not there to support them or help them, 46:41 what outcome are we gonna be able to claim. 46:45 So I always pray for them. 46:47 They've never stepped foot in, 46:49 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 46:51 but only the time that Johnny and I got married 46:54 that's when, 46:55 when they went but we try to encourage them, 46:57 pray for them with them. 47:00 And so, our hides need to be, 47:03 just like you were saying 47:05 that once we understand God's mercy, 47:07 and goodness, and love for us. 47:09 Who are we? We're no better than an addict. 47:12 You know what I mean, we're no better. 47:15 We just... Somebody else's... 47:17 My sin is not better than somebody else's sin, you know. 47:22 Sin is sin. 47:24 Ecclesiastes 4 has something to say on that. 47:25 What? 47:27 Ecclesiastes 4, what you're talking about. 47:28 Oh, okay. Nine through twelve, oh, man. 47:31 Yeah talking about, 47:32 you know, tearing somebody down, 47:33 instead of building them up when they're struggling. 47:35 Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, "Two are better than one." 47:39 "Because they have a good reward for the labor. 47:41 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow." 47:44 Amen. 47:45 "But woe to him that is alone when he falleth, 47:47 for he hath not another to help him up. 47:49 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat, 47:51 but how can one be warm alone?" 47:53 Verse 12, "And if one prevail against him, 47:55 two shall withstand him, 47:56 and a threefold cord is not easily broken." 48:00 So we need to encourage and help with them. 48:02 That's a gift. Fellowship is a gift. 48:03 The Jesus in us, the Jesus, the gift 48:06 that the Lord has given us through Jesus helps us 48:09 to have the compassion... 48:11 For the others. 48:13 And this is something that we grow into. 48:16 It doesn't come in overnight. 48:18 At least it didn't do in my life, 48:20 it didn't come overnight. 48:21 How much I wish that it came overnight 48:24 because Lord have mercy, 48:25 I'm not gonna get into my past but... 48:30 We're all on a journey. Thank you Lord. 48:32 You know, you were speaking about the person in, 48:37 your brother and the addiction and things like that. 48:41 And that somebody was, you know, 48:43 basically the person deserves 48:44 what he's getting because of smoking, 48:47 but, you know, it's interesting, 48:48 the Bible helps us 48:50 to understand the condition of someone 48:52 that doesn't give their hearts to the Lord. 48:54 It says the carnal mind is at enmity against God, 48:57 neither a subject to the law of God, 48:59 neither indeed can be. 49:00 And that's in Romans Chapter 8 but also, 49:04 the Bible says can a leopard change his spots 49:09 or an Ethiopian change his skin? 49:12 Neither can you. 49:13 In other words, you cannot change 49:15 unless you come to Me, 49:17 you know, basically whoever has committed sin 49:22 really cannot escape, cannot change 49:27 unless they come to the Lord. 49:29 And that's the key, come to the Lord. 49:31 Thank God, we don't get what we deserve, you know. 49:34 Thank you, Lord. 49:35 That's, you know, that's the, 49:36 the gift of Jesus and salvation 49:38 you're talking about earlier is, you know, 49:39 you know, we all deserve death 49:42 and, you know, we've all done things that are worthy of death 49:45 and, you know, He's given us a second chance. 49:50 And He chose to do it, because really 49:52 when Jesus was taken all this pressure upon Himself 49:59 of sin of our sinners. 50:03 Do we really appreciate that, I mean, really, 50:06 we hear the story, 50:07 but how many times do we have to rehear it 50:12 before we take a hold of it? 50:15 Right? You must make it. 50:16 You must personalize it, you see. 50:20 My understanding is, you have to understand, 50:23 'cause I can read John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." 50:25 And I can separate myself and say." 50:28 Oh, He loved the world." 50:30 But when I understand that God so loved me, 50:33 that He gave His only begotten Son. 50:34 It just changes everything. 50:36 So we have to understand that God loved you. 50:40 Amen. 50:42 That He gave His only begotten Son. 50:44 What made it more personal for me, 50:46 was when I was studying, like the sufferings of Jesus. 50:49 And I connected, like things that I struggled, 50:52 have struggled with, 50:53 I'm struggling with, but and how... 50:56 Like if I looked at my sin, 50:59 specific things and then how Jesus was tempted. 51:02 And how those connect, and that for me, 51:05 that's what did it. 51:06 That's what made Him so much more personal... 51:08 Amen. Amen. 51:09 Connecting with sufferings. 51:10 And the wonderful gifts that He Has given to us, 51:12 I mean, all the way back from Genesis 1, 51:14 but I mean, if you go back to Genesis 22 51:17 and you talk about the story of Abraham, 51:20 whenever he's told to go, sacrifice his son. 51:22 Oh, that's something. 51:24 You know, and then he's like, I got to give this as a gift, 51:27 as a sacrifice, you know, for God. 51:31 But, you know, even in verse 8, 51:34 whenever he gave the word to Isaac, 51:38 you know, for him to carry to prepare for the sacrifice, 51:41 you know, he even stopped, 51:44 Isaac stopped and said, "Father, where is the lamb?" 51:46 It's like, you know, and then in verse 8, 51:49 you know, Abraham actually gives the gospel. 51:53 And just in that verse, and it says, 51:55 you know, and Abraham said in verse 8, 51:57 "My son, God will provide Himself 52:00 the lamb for a burnt offering." 52:02 So the two of them went together, 52:04 and they both went. 52:06 And, of course, 52:07 right before they were getting ready 52:08 to sacrifice Isaac, 52:10 you know, the sacrifice is caught up in the tree 52:13 and, of course, that takes place. 52:16 And then in John, you know, John 1:29, 52:19 whenever John the Baptist sees Jesus coming, 52:23 "Behold, the Lamb of God..." 52:24 I'm not worthy of. It's powerful. 52:26 And that also led back 52:28 to 2 Corinthians 5:19 or 9:15. 52:33 And I even came up with both verses, 52:37 King James Version and the New King James Version. 52:40 And just that description right there of the unspeakable, 52:45 and undescribable gift 52:48 that God gave us just from Jesus alone 52:51 and the sacrifice of Him on Calvary. 52:55 Our words are not enough, 52:57 you know, we can never describe 53:01 how much love was given just in that gift from God. 53:04 No words that we can come up with can describe it 53:07 or even explain the greatness of God's love for us. 53:11 Amen. It is so above us. 53:16 We're just finite little human beings, 53:18 but the love that God had for us is just immense, 53:23 you know, beyond words exponentially, 53:25 you know, we cannot come up with it. 53:27 Yeah, but we learned to love like Him. 53:29 That's right. 53:31 I would like to invite, anyone listening at this point, 53:34 to visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 53:37 When are thee there? 53:39 Well, normally on Saturday morning 53:40 you'll find them at right around 9:15, 53:43 9:30 in the morning. 53:45 Join your local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 53:47 worship and enter into worshiping the Lord, freely. 53:53 Wednesday night prayer meetings. 53:54 Wednesday night prayer meetings 53:56 from 7:30 most Seventh-day Adventist Churches. 53:58 But there is a song that we sing 53:59 at the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church 54:01 and if you're in Thompsonville, near Thompsonville, Illinois 54:05 and those cities there, West Frankfort, Benton, 54:07 Marion, Carbondale, Johnston City, 54:10 you're welcome to come to the Thompsonville 54:11 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 54:12 And there's a song we sing there 54:14 that I really like and it's a happy song. 54:18 And it says, "Give thanks with a grateful heart 54:22 Give thanks unto the Holy One Give thanks 54:25 because He's given Jesus Christ, His son. 54:28 Amen. 54:29 And now let the weak say, "I am strong" Let the poor say, 54:34 "I am rich Because of what the Lord has done for us 54:39 Give thanks, give thanks" 54:41 And Pastor Lomacang sings it with such joy, 54:44 that you just feel happy singing about it, so. 54:47 It's a happy song. 54:49 And I think we should all pause and give thanks to the Lord 54:53 anytime of the year, you know, some people... 54:55 I remember talking to a person here 54:58 in Southern Illinois actually. 55:00 And, oh, I see you're a Christian. 55:02 I'm a Christian. 55:04 Oh, you are I said. 55:06 Yes, I go to church twice a year. 55:08 And I just stopped to think about that. 55:10 He said, "wait a minute", 55:12 can you really say you're a Christian 55:14 if you go to church twice a year? 55:15 You know, the Lord invites us to have a daily walk with Him. 55:20 Amen. 55:21 "If any man shall come after me, 55:23 let him take up his cross daily, 55:24 and follow Me." 55:26 We should be a Christian every single day. 55:27 And whenever the opportunity is given 55:31 and you're able, go to the church. 55:34 Go to church 55:35 because it's beautiful to worship the Lord together. 55:38 Well, we have less than two minutes, 55:39 I don't know, 55:41 if anybody wants to take 15 seconds 55:42 to say something of thanks to the Lord 55:45 for the great gift of Jesus. 55:46 Actually I would like to, Isaiah 9:6, 55:48 we kind of talked about this earlier. 55:49 It says, "For unto us a child is born, 55:52 unto us a son is given." 55:54 So Jesus in the manger, all the way to cross, 55:56 "And the government shall be upon his shoulder." 55:58 Boy, you see all those confusion in the world 56:00 but the government is on His shoulder, 56:01 "And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, 56:04 The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father 56:06 and The Prince of Peace." 56:07 And just so thankful for how God has reached down 56:09 with His omnipotent hand and pulls out of the darkness. 56:12 Amen. Amen. 56:13 He's given us strength to stand on rock Jesus. 56:15 Amen. Same thing he said. 56:17 Same thing he said. Amen. 56:20 Hallelujah for that. 56:21 Well, we want to thank Donald, Don for being with us. 56:26 Janelle and Brian for being with us. 56:29 And, Idalia, we have about one minute. 56:31 Is there anything final 56:33 that you'd like to say for our friends? 56:35 I just want you to know that Jesus loves you, 56:38 this I know, for the Bible tells me so. 56:42 And give Jesus a chance 56:44 and give Him a place in your life, 56:45 because He surely gave a place for you on the cross, 56:49 so that you can enjoy eternal life with Jesus Christ. 56:53 Accept His forgiveness of sins 56:55 and accept His gift of eternal life. 56:58 He is coming soon, 57:00 and I would love to be your neighbor, in heaven. 57:02 Amen. It's a gift. 57:04 Well, we want to thank you for joining us 57:06 and we hope that you've been blessed 57:08 as you've listened to our conversation, 57:11 because we all truly have the opportunity to be thankful, 57:16 for, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. 57:20 Consider the invitation that God is giving you, 57:22 to give your heart to Him. 57:24 And if you give your heart to Him, 57:26 you will have joy, and happiness, 57:28 and salvation begins in this world 57:31 and continues forever. 57:32 Thank you for joining us. 57:33 God bless, and happy Sabbath to you. |
Revised 2019-01-28