Thank you for watching.
Father, we thank you for this day for another opportunity that you've granted
to us to freely gather together to sing praises to your name and learn from your
word. I pray that you'd be with us for the service that everything would be done
decently in an order. We just thank you also for the Naim family that they're
able to be up here. I pray that you'd fill Brother Ben with your spirit. These
things we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right for our next hymn, 236. No, not one.
Hymn number 236 to three six
No, not one. We'll sing there right on the first
time we're to go through our announcements. If you don't have a bulletin, please raise your hand
and I should be happy to bring you one. On the front there, we do have a brand new Bible memory
chapter starting this week, Genesis chapter number one. Definitely probably the most famous chapter
because people start reading their Bible and often end there, but it's a great chapter to
memorize. And just for a show of hands, do I have account for people who have quoted Galatians one?
Okay, great. So we're gonna have those prizes for this evening. Great job to you guys for doing that
We do have a special guest this morning brother Ben Naim and his family from steadfast
Very thankful that they came up and looking forward to hearing the sermons this morning
Me and Ben have been great friends for years spent a lot of time together at steadfast
So it's definitely great to have them again
And on the inside of our bulletins, we do have there the service times listed Sunday morning at 10 30 Sunday evening at 4 30 and our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 o'clock.
We have our soul winning times listed there all of those meet here at the church building and just to note this afternoon
We're gonna be doing our SWAT team soul winning
Which for those of you who may not know our SWAT team is our soul winning action team
And that is when there's a tragedy in our community such as a homicide or fire or something like that
We like to send soul winners to that neighborhood shortly after the event and preach the gospel to the surrounding area to people who
may have been you know affected by that tragedy and it's been very receptive. It's been a good
program. People often if they're involved in that kind of stuff are thinking about death more
and so they could be more receptive to the gospel and so today we have three maps,
two homicides, neighborhoods where homicides occurred and one where an apartment burned down
Also, you'll see our Saturday time is highlighted in gold there.
That's our Saturday rally.
We meet at 10 o'clock.
We have a short soul winning sermon and we sing a hymn and then we go out soul winning
in very receptive areas.
That's been great.
Below that we have our year to date statistics and awesome news. We passed a thousand
salvation for the year in June. So praise God for that. Really excited. Our
soul winners in the Philippines have been doing really really well and also just
the soul winning here locally has been beating previous year's numbers as well.
So God is definitely blessing and it's a great time to be soul winning.
Do have our upcoming events man yesterday
We had the tinker air show and I had a great time
I grew up going to air shows every year of my life and this was probably the best air show
I've been to in over a decade. It might be one of the best ever. It was fantastic
If you didn't go this year, highly recommend
you mark your schedule and try to go with us next year
because I'd like to make this a yearly thing.
It was super fun hanging out with everyone,
just having a good time.
And you know, I don't feel super bad about doing that
when we have a thousand salvations for the year.
It's okay to have some fun too.
So you guys are working hard and really faithful soul winners.
And so I'm honored to pastor a church
of people that care about that.
We do have the upcoming events, July 27th
is the next men's preaching night followed by a potluck.
We're going to be doing a Solonning Marathon in Anadarko, Oklahoma, and that is the small
town closest to OKC, like within an hour of OKC that has the highest Native American
population.
So that's why I chose this area.
And so we're going to go preach the gospel there, have a Solonning Marathon, there'll
be more details to come.
If you follow us on Facebook, I already...
kind of gave a rough itinerary for what that day is going to look like and I'll
have a sign-up sheet coming up shortly but I'm looking forward to preaching to
that population. We do have August 27th through the 31st is the Fire Breathing
Baptist Fellowship at Steadfast. Highly recommend you go and check that out.
We do have October 6th, 311th, also the Bahamas mission trip hosted by Steadfast Baptist Church.
One other thing I wanted to let you guys know of is that July 1st is coming right up and so we're already six months through the year.
I made this Bible reading plan a few years ago. This is just the personal plan that I really like.
It works for me. It gets you through the Bible cover to cover twice in a year.
And the reason I like this plan is because it keeps you in the Old Testament and the New Testament throughout the year.
You know, some people, if you like to read Genesis to Revelation, great, you know, whatever people are reading the Bible, you know, I'm happy for that.
But for me, this program gets you basically like three days in the Old Testament, one in the New.
Three days in the Old, one in the New, and it keeps that throughout the year.
So it keeps you in both parts of the Bible.
Often and for me as a preacher, I really like that because I want to be balanced in the Bible. I'm consuming
I don't want to just be like in the Old Testament for six months and all you guys are hearing is Old Testament sermons for six months
I like to keep that balanced. So if you start this on July 1st, you'll finish it December 31st
It'll get you through the Bible again in half a year
So I do have those plans printed out you're more welcome to take those and use them
We do also have on the right our prayer list
Make sure you're keeping these requests in prayer and if you have any updates or requests please
email the church and I'd be happy to add those for you. If you're a first time visitor this
morning I'd appreciate it if you scan that QR code and that is a visitor card that just gives us
a record of your visit. We could have your email address to keep you updated with events and
sermons and stuff like that in the future. Also if you are interested in giving to our church
it for announcements we'll go ahead and go to our third song all right our third
song this morning number 212 oh happy day number 212 212 oh happy day
212, we'll sing their starting on the first.
Turn if you would to Genesis chapter 28, Genesis chapter 28.
and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, arise,
go to Bad Anoram, to the house of Bethuel, my mother's father, and take thee a wife from
Thence of the daughters of Laban, my mother's brother, and God Almighty bless thee, and make thee
fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people, and give thee the blessing
And did I see with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
And Isaac sent away Jacob, and he went to Beneniram, unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother.
And that as he blessed him, he gave him charge, saying,
thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,
that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother
and was gone to Padaniram.
And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan,
please not Isaac his father, then went Esau under Ishmael
and took under the wives, which he
which he had
Mehulah the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son the sister of Nabah Joth to be his life and
Jacob went from Beersheba and went toward Heran
And he lied it upon a certain place and tarried there all night
Because the Sun was set and he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and laid down at that place to sleep
and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached
to heaven and behold the angel of God the angels of God ascending and
descending on it and behold the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord God
of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac the land whereon thou liest to
thee will I give it and to thy seed
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south.
And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again unto this land, for I will not leave thee.
Until I have done that which I have spoken to the of and
Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said
Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place?
There this is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven
and Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and
set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it and he called the name of that place
Bethel but the name of the city was called Luz at the first and Jacob vowed of vow saying if God
will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go and will give me bread to eat and
So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God in this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10th under thee.
Let's pray.
Our gracious Lord, thank you so much for our church. Thank you Lord for these that are gathered today.
I want to open by thanking Pastor Oz for the invitation to be here.
It's a great honor to be invited to preach for you guys and to be here at Anchor Baptist
Yes, this is what I look like when I have a sunburn.
So apparently just staring into the sun at the air show
for a few hours will do this to me.
So you'll have to excuse the burnt look,
but we're there in Genesis chapter 28.
I really do, again, I just want to express my gratitude
for the invite and also for Pastor Oz's hospitality
as well, him and his family.
very hospitable and, you know, I really appreciate the chance to be here.
So Genesis 28, we'll start in verse number 16, and notice what the Bible read there.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said,
Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place?
This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
So here in Genesis 28 this is after Jacob fled from Esau, Esau was deceived and it is a picture of
replacement theology with Jacob picturing the spiritual Israel, Esau picturing unbelieving
Israel. And he's on his way to Heyrand to find a wife from his mother's family. He stops for the
night though in a certain place which is later identified as Bethel.
and he dreams about a ladder going to heaven.
Jacob's dream, a famous portion of scripture.
Now this would seem on the onset,
from a surface level reading of the scripture,
a little confusing, this sort of interlude here
in Genesis 28.
the sense that we have Esau getting deceived then we have this chapter where
some mysterious things are happening in a place called Bethel and then we move
on with Jacob's narrative in his life and finding a wife and etc all these
things that happen later on but I think the reason why this chapter is in our
Bible is because there are some
very important lessons that we can derive from this portion of Scripture
about the house of God.
And the title of my sermon this morning is, This is None Other, But the House of God.
And we see that in verse 17 there, that's why I'm getting the title of the sermon.
This is None Other, But the House of God.
And the point of the message is really simple.
When you boil it down, this is all I want you to do this morning.
want you to love your church that much more. I want you to value your church
that much more. You say, I already love my church. I already value my church. Well
great, I want you to increase that emotion that you have toward this place. I
want you to love this place that much more. And we're going to look at lessons
from Genesis chapter 28 that I think will serve as motivation for you to do
The Bible says, and Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and
poured oil
upon the top of it. Now, there's so much to dissect in this chapter that you'll notice I'll probably be reading the same verses
multiple times and talking about different aspects of it as we go through.
But we see that he uses a stone for a pillow.
Doesn't seem for me like the most comfortable pillow,
but some people, they really like their pillow
to be super, super firm, that it's practically a stone.
So if that's you this morning,
you could probably relate to this.
Look at verse 19.
and he called the name of that place Bethel,
but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Now this is an important part of the chapter
because we see that this place,
kind of mysterious at first, is referred to as Bethel.
Now that name in and of itself tells us
what this is right here.
It gives us actually the significance
of the setting of this chapter.
I don't speak Hebrew, but I do speak a little bit of Arabic.
I think I have a rudimentary knowledge of that language,
and Arabic derived from Hebrew, of course.
And so for me, when I see this word, Bethel,
it makes a lot of sense because of the fact
that if we break down the word,
we have those first three letters, B-E-T,
which is not black entertainment.
This is different right here.
It's B-E-T.
And again, it makes sense to me because the Arabic word for house is bait, and B-E-T is their bait, is the first, you know, three letters here of this word, Bethel.
And then, of course, El, a reference to God, Elah, so that makes perfect sense to me that we're talking about the house of God.
So that's a long way of just explaining that.
Bethel is in reference to is talking about and means the house of God.
So this place is the house of God, that's where it once dwelled.
Now look at verse 22, and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house.
And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
He used it as a pillow, the stone is set for a pillar, the stone shall be God's house.
Now the question you might ask is why in the world would a stone be used to symbolize God's
house?
Well that leads me to my first point, which is this.
Hey, this is none other but the house of God and it's built on Jesus Christ.
The house of God is built on Jesus Christ, and we know according to scripture that Jesus Christ is likened unto a stone.
Let's look at 1 Peter chapter 2 in the New Testament, 1 Peter chapter 2.
And while you flip over there, I'll read from Colossians 1.
First Peter chapter 2 is where I had you turn, but the Bible tells us in Colossians 1,
and he is the head of the body, the church.
Jesus is the head of the body. Jesus Christ is the head of the church who is the beginning,
the first born from the dead.
talking about his resurrection, that in all things, he might have the preeminence.
Jesus comes first. He should be at the top of every one of our priority lists
and make no mistake about it. When it comes to the New Testament church,
yes, there's an undershepard, yes, there's a pastor,
but that pastor ought to submit to the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the head of the body. He is the head of the church.
And given that Jesus is the head of this place right here that we're all inside right now,
the reason why you should be here isn't to impress anybody else.
It shouldn't be for any of these vain reasons to show off, to show people how spiritual you are.
Yes, we should let our light shine. Don't make no mistake about that. I understand that. I get that.
But those should be secondary reasons, and for sure there shouldn't be any vain reasons that you're here.
You shouldn't be here because you're just a fake person and you want to look spiritual.
You shouldn't be here for any of these meaningless reasons.
The reason why, the number one reason why we should go to church is simply because of Jesus.
It's all about Jesus. That's why we're here to serve Jesus Christ.
you know actually remember that it might actually prevent them from getting
so disgruntled with their church if they realize they the main reason I'm here is
to serve Christ then maybe they would
stop taking their church for granted you know I was talking to somebody and I
asked him hey big church small church
what do you prefer and he said you know what
It doesn't really make a huge difference to me because no matter what I'm going to go about my business
and I'm just going to serve Christ.
And you know what? That's how it should be.
Whether you're in a big church, whether there's 300 people here, or whether there's 100 people here,
or whether there's 30 people here, no matter what the numbers are, serve Christ.
No matter what the numbers are, put Christ first.
No matter what the numbers are, remember the reason you're here, Jesus.
It's all about Jesus.
He is the foundation on which this church is built.
And first Peter chapter two, I believe,
teaches us that when it says in verse number six,
wherefore also what is contained in the scripture,
verse number six, behold,
I lay in Zion a chief corner stone.
Jesus, like and under with stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him, shall not be confounded.
Jesus Christ is that chief cornerstone that the Bible is talking about in 1 Peter 2, on which our faith is built.
Bible tells us for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Jesus is not just a stone though
We know he's the foundation. We know he's the stone, but he's also the word
Jesus John chapter 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and it goes on to
Tell us that the word was made flesh
And you'll have to, excuse me, I don't know why my voice is giving out, so I'm going to
try to be as loud as possible here.
You'll have to bear with me.
Turn, if you would, to Matthew 7, Matthew chapter 7.
So Jesus is the stone.
He is the foundation on which this church is built.
He's also the Word of God.
So how do we apply that?
Well, I have the Word of God with me this morning.
I want to make a statement here, it's going to sound jarring at first, but I believe it and I'm positive pastor Oz does as well.
Folks, let me introduce you to Jesus.
The word was God. Now I'm not talking about the binding, I'm not talking about the physical components of this book.
I'm talking about the words. This is Jesus Christ right here. If you want to draw closer to Jesus, you do it with this book.
And given that we know Jesus is the head of the church, what that means practically is that this is the head of the church.
This is what the church is built on.
Why?
Because it is strong, because it is unmovable, because it is settled.
And folks, I'm talking about the King James Bible.
I'm talking about the perfectly preserved word of God,
which is unchanging, which is unmovable, which is settled,
which we can have confidence in
because there will not be updates.
It's done, it's finished, it's perfect.
Look at verse 24, Matthew chapter seven, verse 24.
This is a King James only church.
Verse 24.
it says Matthew 7 24 therefore whosoever here at these sayings of mine and do
with them I will liken him unto a wise man notice which built his house upon a
rock Jesus is a stone the stone is the word of God
And if you build your house on a rock, which is the word of God, Jesus Christ,
expect to be persistent through the trials of life.
Look at verse 25.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house, and it fell not.
Why?
For it was founded upon a rock.
Now, this can apply to individuals, but this can apply also to a church, and it applies
to this church right here.
The reason why, even if there are rains and floods and winds that beat upon Anchor Baptist
Church, the reason why it'll sustain itself is because it's built on the rock of the Word
of God.
This is a house that has been built on a rock.
And again, it is an unchanging rock known as the King James Bible.
We don't have to worry about them, you know, these, the textual critics of our day coming up with any updates for our Bible.
But that's not the case for a lot of churches.
Look at verse 26.
And everyone that hear at these sayings of mine and do with them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
So someone who's disobeying Christ metaphorically has built their house upon the sand.
and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it.
A disobedient person to Christ's commands basically built their house on sand.
But what I wanted to do is really focus on the rock versus the sand in this analog right here, in this passage and say this,
That the reason why so many Christians are disobedient the reason why
So many you know there's a question what came first the chicken or the egg
But in my mind the reason why so many churches have departed from the doctrines of Christ is because of the Bible
They are using they are not built on rock. They're built on sand and the problem with sand is that it shifts
It's movable. It's not firm
like a rock would be.
So why is it that churches fail then?
Why is it that churches
end up not doing anything for the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, they've either departed from this
or they're not even using this,
they're using a counterfeit.
And what happens when they use a counterfeit?
What happens when they use these modern versions of the Bible?
What happens is, well,
It's no coincidence. They end up having an antipathy for hard preaching.
You don't really hear hard preaching from these NIV churches, do you?
No. You see purple lights. You see a smoke show. You see a flimsy glass pulpit.
You see a pastor, a fake pastor in skinny jeans. That's what you see.
And you know what? I think when you boil it down, it comes down to the Bible that they're reading.
You know, these churches are not doers of the word, they're hearers only, but how can
they do the word when they don't have the word?
How can they do the word when their Bible is constantly being updated?
You say, what are you talking about?
Obviously, the underlying text of the King James Bible is known as the received text
of Scripture and it is settled.
There will not be any updates to the Greek and the Hebrew that underlines this book right here.
The Masoretic text of the Old Testament, the Old Testament Hebrew, the received text in Greek will not change.
But when it comes to these modern Bible versions, do you realize the Greek underlying the modern versions is called the Nestle-Allent Greek New Testament?
is on its 28th edition.
It's 28th edition.
That means there were 27 other ones.
And guess what?
In 2029, I believe,
they're coming out with the 29th edition
of their Greek New Testament,
and there will be more changes they make to the text.
And you'll see modern Bible versions come out with updates
reflecting the changes made to the underlying Greek
of their Bibles. That's what's going to happen. The textual critics of our day
now they're coming up with new ways to cast doubt
on the Word of God. They talk about their method, their new method of text
criticism, the
coherence-based genealogical method.
where they use a computer to filter through
parchment and manuscripts and cast even more doubt on the Bible.
So far they've done it on James through Jude, they're going to apply it to the
Gospels and
I think in the future there's going to be more passages of Scripture
that they tell us shouldn't be in our Bible.
And they already do that today.
They tell us the woman taken in adultery
shouldn't be in our Bible.
They tell us the first John 5-7,
fancy theological term for it, the come all you honey,
you could just say first John 5-7.
First John 5-7, not supposed to be in our Bible
according to these people.
There's so many different elements of scripture they want to take out they say is a spurious addition and folks that list will continue to grow and grow and grow as these Bible changers come up with updates to their text.
But one thing we never have to worry about.
Our church is one thing we have never have to worry about if you go to a church that's built on the rock of the King James Bible
You'll never have to worry about this ever-changing
You'll never have to worry about an update being made to this text because this is a rock
It's not sand and so as a result you could be confident in building your life on this because we are certain of what the word of God is
And it is the foundation on which
This church is built. Let's go back to Genesis 28
Genesis chapter 28
You know it was Jesus who said
Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it
That's a promise. Do you believe it or not?
So what does that tell me?
It just assures in Matthew 7, it talked about those who do the word, even when the storms of life hit,
they will be able to sustain that here.
Jesus makes a promise, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the New Testament church that's been built on the rock,
that has the rock as a foundation.
So here's what that tells me, we are on the winning side!
Because Jesus is the head of the church, we are on the winning side.
It doesn't matter how many articles they write to try to smear and besmirch
Anchor Baptist Church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
It's that easy. It's that simple. It's not hard to understand.
It doesn't matter how many filthy, disgusting, pedophile faggots get offended at the preaching of God's word.
The gates of hell shall not prevail against this place.
why? Because it's built on the rock. No matter what happens, whether protests are
in your future and I know there were some tiny ones here in the past, an animal
showed up a while ago. I understand that maybe there's more of that coming in
the future potentially, but it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter because the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
This place right here.
It doesn't matter what the opposition does.
Our attitude should always be bring it on.
We're just going to keep preaching.
We're not afraid of you.
We have Christ on our side.
We're not afraid of you.
Bring it on.
Look at Genesis chapter 28 and verse 10.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba
And he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set and he
took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep.
So as Jacob journeys to Heran, he takes of the stones and I talked about the stone being used as a pillow.
I talked about how it is the word of God, Jesus Christ, on which this church is built.
But what you'll notice in the text is stones plural,
multiple stones in the vicinity. Why is that? Because the house of God is built
with stones. We are those stones.
My second point is this, this is none other
but the house of God and it's made up of
believers. It's made up of believers. Let's head back to where we were in
2nd Peter chapter 2
and talk a little about this. The house of God
is made up of believers. We know Jesus is at the head. I've already
In verse 5, in 2 Peter chapter 2, we see that believers are also likened unto stones.
And it says in verse 5, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
So in the Old Testament, there was a physical house of God, a temple.
in which the high priest would go and offer sacrifices.
Well, in the same way, in the New Testament, we have the local church
in which believers show up, we make up the church,
and we offer spiritual sacrifices to God.
So what are these? These are praying to God, praising God.
We offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice, the Bible says.
But my point is this, church is not a building.
I don't know if you've heard it so many times,
but it's a truth that I think needs to be reiterated.
Church is not a building, it's the people.
And it's for the saved.
And this is my problem with old IFB churches.
Let me preface by saying old IFB churches that have the gospel right and are preaching hard and going soul-winning. I love them
I'm not trying to cast shade
This is all I'm saying the mentality that says we need to preach the gospel in
the sermon
And that's all we're going to preach to get people saved is wrong because the church is supposed to be for people who are already saved.
Now, if an unsaved person walks in, of course, we give them the gospel on a one-on-one basis. No question about that.
But when it comes to the preaching of God's Word, if you attend this church with regularity, you'll notice that the messages are geared toward people who are already Christian.
who are already saved, and the messages are geared to provoke you to serve Christ better,
to add works to the faith you already have, because the church is supposed to be made up of
believers, those who are already saved. And because of that, because all this is spiritual,
because the church is a group of people, it's not about carnal things.
It's a it's a group of people because of that
You have to understand this the enemy will try to attack this place carnally
Thinking they can destroy it that way not understanding since they're not saved that this is a spiritual place
And it is not built
Physically it's built with people
Now look, we have to you have to have a place to meet and I understand that
But this is all I'm trying to say is that even if hypothetically God forbid this would ever happen
But even if you lose a building even if you lose finances even if you lose these material things
They can't take you now, of course, they could potentially take our lives
I get that then we would just go to heaven. So it's kind of a win-win anyway
But this is what I'm trying to say. It doesn't matter where you meet.
Hey, hypothetically, you can meet in a parking lot, but if there's a man of God
getting up with the word of God at his hand, that's church.
Because it's made up of believers.
Let's go back to Genesis 28, Genesis chapter 28.
You know at Steadfast Baptist Church, there was a time period where we were going through super intense persecution and the devil through his minions tried to do everything possible to stop us.
They tried to take our building, they tried to take our finances, they tried to discourage us, they tried to threaten us, they did everything that they can.
to try to stop us. But you know what? We just went from hotel room to hotel room.
We just met, it didn't matter where it was. I'll give you another example.
First works Baptist church bombed by faggots. You know what happened afterward?
They went and they met in a literal tent somewhere.
Because it's not about the building or materialistic items, it's about the people
you make up the church.
Genesis 28, look at verse 18.
I'm leaving afterwards, so don't worry about it.
You can complain if you don't like it,
but he uses the same words,
so I'm not sure he's gonna be sympathetic.
Genesis 28, look at verse 18.
And Jacob rose up early in the morning
and took the stone that he had put for his pillows
and set it up for a pillar.
And yet, I know I'm reading the same verses,
but we're looking at different aspects of it.
Look, notice the end portion here.
And poured oil upon the top of it.
He poured oil upon the top of it.
What does this tell us?
Well, there's so many layers here,
but this picture is the Holy Spirit.
My third point is this is none other,
but the house of God,
and it has the spirit of God.
The spirit of God is in here.
Turn, if you would, to Exodus 25, Exodus 25.
Jacob pours oil on the stone, picturing the fact that the house of God contains the Spirit of God.
And make no mistake, the Spirit of God is here this morning.
He's in you. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.
You can be filled with the Spirit if you do works, if you actually walk in the new man.
You're revived Spirit.
But I want to make a point. First of all, though, I want to show you something in Exodus 25 that is relevant and
will undergird the application I'm about to make.
Let's look at verse 31,
Exodus 25 and verse 31,
and now shall it make a candlestick of pure gold,
of beaten work shall the candlestick be made,
his shaft that is branches,
his bowls, his knobs,
that is flowers shall be of the same.
So the tabernacle, the mobile tabernacle,
it required a candlestick to be made.
And
Jesus himself in the book of Revelation draws a parallel between the candlestick and the church.
There is a parallel there.
The candlestick contained six total branches, six total branches stemming from that middle stick.
Now let's skip down to verse 33.
Verse 33, the Bible says,
three bowls made like unto allmonds,
with a nop and a flower in one branch,
and three bowls made like, there's that word again,
allmonds in the other branch with a nop and a flower.
So in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
So each branch contains bowls made like unto allmonds.
Now this is significant, and I'll tell you why.
Let's look at Exodus 27 now.
Exodus chapter 27, we have a candle stick.
It has that middle portion there,
the sticks, six branches coming out of it.
We see.
almonds also involved in the building of this candlestick or in its components what it's supposed
to be made of the bowls made like unto almonds and I don't believe that anything in the scripture
is incidental or coincidental or accidental I think there's a lesson that we can learn from even
passages like this that sometimes Christians will
gloss over and not really think about.
But when you look a little deeper,
there's something very interesting here.
Look at verse 20, Exodus 27 and verse 20.
And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring the pure oil.
Now remember in Genesis 28, what is it that Jacob poured on the stone?
It was oil.
Oil is brought up again in Exodus 27.
Pure oil, olive beaten for the light.
So the oil is for the light, but pay attention to this, to cause.
to cause the lamp to burn always.
The oil is what causes it is the catalyst for the light.
That's what the scripture is saying.
So what is it that empowers the lamp to burn always? The oil.
Well, here's the thing. What is it that empowers the New Testament church to emit light?
oil a.k.a. the Holy Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God oil representing the
Spirit. So just as that candlestick produced light, it's the Holy Spirit of
God that enables the church to produce light, to produce truth, to produce true
doctrine. Why can you come here and hear true doctrine?
Why is it that you come here and it's a doctrinally sound church?
I would say the Holy Spirit of God.
It is that oil causing the lamp to burn to bright, excuse me, to burn brightly
in a dark world that's getting darker and darker seemingly.
The Holy Spirit is what empowers a church to be guided into all truth.
Well, it's those almonds that remind us that the spirit of truth produces fruit.
You know in number 17 when there was a dispute about who was in charge and God wanted to
make it clear, he had Aaron's rod, bud with almonds, he added bud in other words with
fruit which is a lesson for us to understand that we can identify that which is legitimate
We can identify that which is legitimate and validate it with fruit,
because the fruit tells us the Spirit of God is there.
And that's why I think almonds are included in that candlestick
to show us that and give us that lesson.
But here's the thing, you know, there's a reason why
random people will walk up to us and ask us,
Has this already been mentioned?
Hey, that happened yesterday.
I thought it was a hater at first.
I was preparing my debate responses here.
Like, how am I going to debunk this person?
But they actually turned out to be a fan.
We're getting ready to leave the air show.
And she comes up to us and asks us,
are you with Steadfast Baptist Church?
Hey, brings up Pastor Mejia, Pastor Anderson, and Pastor Shelley, how's that possible?
We're just, you know, comparatively speaking to some of these mega churches,
steadfast, as small compared to those other churches, probably on the bigger side
compared to other IFB churches, I would say. You know, this church in Cedar Hill,
in Oklahoma. How's that possible? Well, I would argue because Steadfast Baptist
Church is filled with the Spirit of God. How is it that people know about Pastor
Mahia and Pastor Anderson and these other great men of God? It's because they
themselves are filled with the Spirit of God and it's because their churches are
filled with the Spirit of God. And it's so funny to me because people will try so
to discredit the work being done here and in places like this one.
They'll try so hard to do it. And they'll go as far as to say this.
Oh yeah, I know they get like, you know, thousands of people saved a year, but
they're still wicked.
You know that church, they're doing mission trips all over the world and they're getting
thousands saved locally and they're preaching a gospel every day and they're doing soul
winning and they're getting many people saved and they're getting people baptized and all
that.
Yeah, I get that but you know what, the pastor is still this wicked evil person who shouldn't
be pastoring.
Excuse me.
This isn't computing in my head.
You want to know why it's not computing here?
Because it's not biblical. Have you ever read John 15?
Hey, the Bible makes it clear.
Fruit is what actually helps you to validate whether a church is authentic.
So you sit there, oh, it doesn't matter how many people they get saved. They're still wicked.
Excuse me, do you just like reject the Bible?
I think the answer is yes. They don't care what the scripture says.
Fruit is proof that, yes, this place is filled with the Spirit of God and that's why there are enemies in a constant mode of attack.
Because this place is filled with the Spirit of God. Unfortunately, bad people will be attracted to truth. Why?
Not because they believe in it. Not because they want anything even to do with it.
No matter how small or big a church is, if it's preaching truth, it's a threat to them.
People have to understand this. Let's go back to Genesis 28, Genesis chapter 28.
The church that's producing fruit is a church that's filled with the spirit of God, period.
And it's a church I love.
Look at verse 10.
Genesis 28 in verse 10.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Hayran and he lighted upon, verse 11,
and he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set and
he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep.
I already made reference earlier to Jacob using stones for a pillow.
Why? Well, my fourth point is this.
Hey, this is none other but the house of God,
and it's where we are comforted by the Scriptures.
It's where we are comforted by the Scriptures.
Yes, we've already rested in Christ for salvation,
but I do believe that the Scripture can act
as a means for us to be comforted in a world
that will often give us tribulation and hardship.
This is a place where you can be comforted by the scriptures
Notice what the Bible says in Romans 15. Let's go there Romans chapter 15
We rest on Jesus positionally, but we can rest on him practically in our lives as well
Romans chapter 15 is where I had you turn. Let's look at verse four
Romans 15 and verse four for whatsoever things were written a four time
We're written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures. There's that pillow
Whenever we're comforted for by the scriptures, it's like we're Jacob and we're we're resting on this right here
figuratively all right
Hey, the scriptures produce for us what patience endurance steadfastness, but also comfort
encouragement, consolation during hard times, and you know, reading the Bible will give you that,
and we should have a personal Bible reading time. Of course, we need to be reading the Bible every single day as Christians,
but you know what, when we come to this church, when you go to other like-minded churches that are preaching the Word of God,
it's where you can also be comforted by that preaching.
You can be comforted by that preaching because it's based on this.
You can be comforted by the scriptures.
And I'm talking about stories like Abraham's faith.
You know, I'm talking about, hey, Daniel's deliverance
that you can hear about if you go to a church
that's actually preaching the word of God.
His deliverance from the lion's den.
David's deliverance from the many battles that he waged against the heathen.
It all gives us hope.
It all gives us comfort.
It all reminds us that,
hey, we're on that winning side,
like I've already talked about it.
It gives us hope and it reminds us of the fact
that there's nothing too hard for the Lord.
You know, as the news rages on.
The news cycle continues to churn and it's one thing after another a few years ago as you know
COVID and then and that and then recently it's oh, you know
World War three we're on the precipice of World War three and it's just constant paranoia and constant anxiety
And they want you to be scared and they want you to be just you know
Losing your mind about what may happen and you know this
Politician said something and you know this other one he's talking about going to war and all that and look I get being concerned and things like that
but you know we need to be careful not to be so you know paranoid and we need to be careful not to
let the news turn us into a bunch of terrified Christians acting like we have no hope because
at the end of the day it doesn't matter what's what's going on out there when we come here we
could be comforted by the fact that the Bible tells us hey I have been young and now I'm old
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread so live like it
And if you struggle with that, increase your church attendance so you can hear sermons reminding you of scriptures like that one.
Reminding you of what the Bible says on these issues. Let's go back to Genesis 28.
Now look, church is also a place where you're not going to hear just positive, you're going to hear negative too.
And I'll get into that later.
But it's both look at verse 11 when you get back to Genesis 28 and feel free to put something there if you don't
Maybe a finger or whatever some object to save your place because we're going back and forth Genesis 28 verse 11
And he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and laid down in that place to sleep.
And he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
So he sets up pillows he sleeps and dreams about a ladder going up to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it.
This is the antithesis of the Tower of Babel, which pictures work salvation.
Man's failed attempt at working their way up to heaven, which doesn't work, they get scattered.
But here we have salvation by faith picture, Jesus, that ladder, and...
angels of God, messengers ascending and descending on it.
We've placed our faith in Jesus Christ, but we're also a messenger to a lost and dying world
to get them saved as well, to get them onto the ladder of Christ, rather than the Tower of Babel, figuratively.
My fifth point is this. This is none other but the house of God and it provides access to heaven it provides access to heaven
It's a gate through which people can gain access to heaven. What am I talking about?
I'm talking about the fact that it's the local church that provides access to heaven through soul winning making known the mystery of the gospel
Going out into a lost and dying world and helping them understand that salvation is by grace through faith alone on the Lord Jesus Christ
And look at verse 16 in Genesis 28.
It says, And Jacob awaked out of his sleep,
and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place.
And I knew it not.
And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place?
This is none other but the house of God.
And this is the gate of heaven.
It is the gate of heaven.
It provides access to heaven.
Meaning that it preaches the gospel of Christ,
helping people understand how to get to heaven.
That's what I mean by that.
Now this makes sense.
You know, John 1 says, you don't have to turn there.
Hereafter, he shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man. Jesus is that ladder by which souls go to heaven.
It's by Christ, not their own effort, not their own works, not some other false God.
It's only through Jesus Christ, and in Romans 10 it tells us, and how shall they preach, except they be sent.
Where are they gonna get sent from? Here. Where are they gonna get sent from? A church like this one. A soul-winning Baptist church.
Those are the churches that are sending people out.
So the next time you feel a little disgruntled or you start to take this place for granted or maybe
familiarity begins to breed content, why don't you remind yourself?
Hey, this this city needs the gospel. If it's not gonna be anchor Baptist church,
the question is who's gonna do it at the scale that this place is.
Who's going to emphasize soul winning if it's not being emphasized here?
Who's going to preach the gospel with clarity if it's not going to happen here and look I get it
There's other good churches. I'm not talking about them, but the reality is most
Churches are not preaching the gospel most churches don't care that souls are going to hell. It's embarrassing
Say, why is church so important? Why should you value it? Well, how about this?
It's not just a place for you to be exhorted to clean up your life
It's a place for you to be exhorted to pull other people out of the fire
And Oklahoma City needs a group of people who are willing and who are ready and who are able to go
to places that are in total darkness and give them the light of the gospel.
Sometimes places where there was a recent tragedy, that's why there's a swat soul-winning brand that has been established here,
where you go to a place where maybe there was a natural disaster that happened or a murder or something like that.
And you go and you give them the light of the gospel of Christ to give them some hope. Look at verse 16.
It says in Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not
Hey, he felt that hey, this is where the presence of God is and you know what the presence of God is here as well and
This is why preaching is powerful. It's because of the presence of God already talked about the Holy Spirit
But we also know that preaching, compelling us to go out and reach the lost, compelling us to go soul-winning,
is extremely powerful and it changes lives and it turns them into a soul-winner
and it helps Christians understand the reason why they're even on this earth to begin with.
And this is the Gate of Heaven.
Not just sending people out, but exhorting people also to go out themselves.
Look at verse 17.
How dreadful?
You notice that word right there?
How dreadful is this place?
This is none other but the house of God in the Garden of Heaven.
This place is described as dreadful.
Now I told you that it was a place where, yeah, we're comforted by the Scriptures. No question.
There's positive things as well.
But my sixth point is this is none other but the house of God. It'll make you fear God.
It'll make you fear God. Look at Ecclesiastes 12, Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
You come here, you're comforted, maybe you're going through a hard time.
You hear a sermon reminding you of scriptures that make you feel a little bit better.
You come here, you're exhorted to go soul-winning.
But you know what else?
When you come here, you're also provoked to fear God.
You're provoked to fear God, to have a healthy fear of God.
And this is what we should do.
Look at verse 13, Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 13.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.
Fear God, fear God.
What is it that some people don't understand about this?
Fear God and keep his commandments
for this is the whole duty of man.
Your responsibility as a Christian is to fear God.
You say, why? The chastisement of God.
Whom the Lord loveth he chaseneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth.
Yeah, we're saved. I get that. Hell's off the table. I get that.
But that doesn't mean that God couldn't ruin our lives if he wanted to,
if we decided to turn back into the world and embrace sin.
Yeah, he can wreck us, alright?
And here's what I like, is that for a lot of pastors, one of their goals,
yes, it's to get you to serve Christ better, but here's the means by which they do that,
one of their goals is to get their, let me put it to you this way,
it's to put the fear of God in every single one of their church members
through the preaching of his word, warning you,
so that you think twice before you commit fornication,
you go out and drink and do that which has been preached against behind this pulpit so that you
think twice before you go around railing and backbiting and acting like an ungrateful brat so
you think twice about that before you descend into that nonsense you think twice about it because
the preaching of God's word that you heard from the pulpit telling you hey you need to fear God
if that's the decision you choose to make for your life God can and will wreck you
So you think twice before you go down the the downward spiral of sin make no mistake about it the pastor
Who loves you wants you to fear God?
So you think twice before you backslide so you think twice before you make horrible
Decisions in your life that will destroy you
They will destroy you and I've seen it happen so many times with people
Or they just go in the complete opposite direction from what they've been taught.
And they become a person that they used to dislike, that they used to actually warn against.
They become that person. They become the railer. They become the backbiter.
They become the nasty, horrible person that they once stood against. Why?
They discarded the preaching of the Word of God and they went down a downward spiral of sin.
Well, it's important for us to fear the Lord, and this is the place where that will happen,
where you're warned against choosing that path so you make better decisions for your
life.
And that's why people who come with regularity, you'll notice change.
If they apply the if they actually apply the preaching obviously if they're showing up to take a nap
You might not notice very much change
But if they're here taking it seriously getting plugged in applying the preaching to their life, you'll notice change
You'll notice change and it's because of hard preaching, which by the way is corrective
So don't get offended by it
Yeah, maybe maybe your toes are stepped on every once in a while. My toes have been stepped on
courtesy of preaching. My toes have been stomped. I love it. Give me more. I need it.
Let's look at Genesis 28 again. Why is church important? It's where we're provoked to fear God.
And you know what, you know what pisses me off?
I'm just going to say it.
People who claim the name of Christ and have no fear of God.
People who claim the name of Jesus Christ and have zero fear of God.
You are a hypocrite.
How could you claim to believe this text and act in a way where you demonstrate zero fear
of God?
Somebody who claims to believe the Bible and then they're donating to Ryan's skin, you know, one in a trillion skin fundraiser
disease fundraiser
Don't you believe the Bible? You're gonna donate to some apostate
reprobate who stole money
from steadfast
You're gonna do you have no fear of God
zero fear of God
How could a, you know, how could a supposed preacher of God's word get up and lie intentionally
conflating practical and
positional
sanctification on purpose
to tell other Christians you don't have to follow the commandments at all to be right with the Lord
How how do you just lie intentionally like that Joe Jones?
How do you just lie to your people like that because you have no fear of God?
That's how you could just lie indiscriminately about what the Bible says
How could you claim Christianity?
You know, I'm just gonna say it. It's okay, you know, I'm sure he's all right with this
How could you claim Christianity?
You put on a shirt that says John 316, you put on, you know, these scriptural t-shirts,
and then you pick up your phone and you prank all adult areas, adult establishments, and
make some of the most filthy, disgusting, reprobate jokes imaginable.
Cassidy Campbell?
Stay away from that YouTube channel.
Let me tell you why no fear of God
No fear of God what he could do to you for representing him in the worst way imaginable
The worst way imaginable that is disgusting that is filthy that is abominable
And if you're an actual
Bible-believing Christian with the spirit of God in you and you're filled with the spirit of God
How in the world could you act like that and not be embarrassed for the way that you are representing Christ?
Use your head bud. I guess you don't have a brain and given the content that you
produce that is obvious. Let's go back to Genesis 28. I think I already told you
to do that. Look at verse 22. And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall
be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the
Which, by the way, it sustains, it holds weight, it is a foundation.
This is the New Testament church.
It is a pillar.
Look at 1 Timothy chapter 3.
1 Timothy chapter number 3.
My seventh point is this.
This is none other but the house of God, and it is the pillar and ground of the truth.
It is the pillar and ground of the truth.
I had you turn to 1 Timothy 3 where we can prove that from the Bible.
Well, you could just listen to this, the quote that I have for you from Isaiah 59.
It says, for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter.
It is amazing to me how we live in a world that blatantly denies reality.
Why?
Truth has fallen in the street.
And so it denies reality.
This world does.
You have riots going up and down the streets burning cities down
By degenerates and what does the media say?
Peaceful protest why truth has fallen in the streets
You have Christ hating Christ rejecting Jews labeled as God's people
Why truth has fallen in the streets? I mean it is so bad
I saw this video of Greg Locke like clothing himself in like an Israeli garb
and celebrating the destruction of Al-Aqsa, the mosque and he's just so excited
for that mosque getting blown up and the Antichrist temple getting built.
He's just like so excited for it.
He's so happy. He can't wait.
And this guy is just like worshiping Israel.
He's got a shofar blow in and they're like they're practically and they're not literally doing this
But they're basically bowing down to Israel. They're bowing down to Jews
How how are there churches like this that even exist because truth has fallen in the street?
That's why and it's just so frustrating
And especially recently like I've noticed that there's so many people and it's become mainstream, which is good news to
You know critique Israel and be against Israel and I understand that but there's still a lot of churches where they're just completely obsessed with Israel
They're just completely obsessed with Jews
It's just ju ju ju all day. That's all they care about
It's like
Israel first and ju first and just ju ju ju ju ju ju ju ju ju ju ju that's all it's just Jews everywhere
Jews to the left, Jews to the right, Jews in the sky, Jews on the ground, Jews all over the place.
Worshiping Jews, bowing down to Jews.
Israel first, Jew first, love the Jew, have to love the Jew.
God's chosen people, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew. Can you focus on anything else?
And then there's like the other side that are like the Jew haters.
Where it's just look and of course I hate the religion of Judaism no question about that and the reprobate Jews
I hate as well, but my point is it's like then there's people where it's just all they want to talk about is hating Jews all day long
No, can we be more balanced here?
Let's look at 1st Timothy 3
That didn't have a lot to do with what I was preaching on so let's get back on track
It says in verse 15
But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou ought us to behave thyself in the house of God
Which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth
Here's another reason why you should love your church. It's a beacon of light a beacon of truth
This is a beacon of truth
ladies and gentlemen, it is a beacon of truth in a dark world and
the pillar and ground of the truth.
This is where you can go to actually hear the truth
on different subjects that are going on in this world
through the lenses of Scripture,
current events through the lenses of Scripture,
how we should as Christians react to things that are happening
through the lenses of Scripture.
Let's look at Genesis 28 again.
You know, I like those sermons that are about something that occurred in the news in light
of the Bible.
So you can get a Christian perspective because there's so many other perspectives out there
that you can get from Fox News and from conservative talk radio that don't reflect what the Bible
says.
Now, in Genesis 28, we're in verse 16, and Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said,
this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that
thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee so this is hey this is
the house of God where tithing takes place where you give a tenth of what
you have we know that it's dreadful it's where God's presence dwelt it's the
gate of heaven it's it provides access to heaven church is vital for your walk
fear God. But my last point is this, this is none other but the house of God and it should not be forsaken.
Hey Jacob, I think he demonstrates for us the value that he places in the house of God.
It's consecrated with a pillar, we have oil represented as well, he refers to it as dreadful.
We see just how much value he places there in Bethel and we should mirror that exact behavior
there and value this place.
We should value this place with everything we've got.
Hey, the house of God is built on Jesus Christ, it's made up of believers, it's where we're
comforted by the scriptures, it provides access to heaven by way of soul winning,
it'll make you fear God, it has the spirit of God, it's the pillar and ground of the truth,
given that all these things describe the church and describe this one specifically,
why in the world would you forsake it? Just help me understand that, why would you do that?
It just doesn't make sense.
Why would you ever take it for granted?
Do you realize how special it is to be here?
Do you realize how special it is
to not have to worry about hearing lies from behind the pulpit and
false doctrine?
You realize how special that is to have a place that emboldens you to go out and preach the gospel?
You don't have to turn there. I'll quote it not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but
exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching
We need to be going to church more not less as we inch closer and closer
To the end times, but the Bible is clear
Don't forsake the assembly. Don't quit. Don't get weary and stop coming
And here's what you have to
Keep in mind God picked Bethel
That's a place
It was later the mobile tabernacle
It was Shiloh
It was the physical temple
It's the physical nation of Israel
If you want to serve the Lord to the fullest, where do you go? You physically in the Old Testament?
Immigrate to Israel and that's where you serve God
And people became Jews, the Bible says. That was possible.
Well, in the New Testament, where do you physically go to serve God?
It's right here. It's church.
You go to church. You don't watch it online. You don't watch it on YouTube.
You don't watch it on Rumble with their horrible ads.
Which are all scams you don't know. It's not online. It's here physically in the presence of the man of God
And let me tell you something. He's encouraged by your presence. You know what? He wants you here
He wants you dialed in he wants you to hear the preaching that he's prepared for you. So show up
Don't forsake this place. Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but so much the more
Oh, I could just watch on YouTube. Nope
There weren't no YouTube in the Old Testament.
They had to physically be there.
And you know what? You have to physically be here.
You say, I'm sick.
Okay, you can stay home. Come back when you're better.
I get that.
But you're able-bodied, you're able to come.
You need to show up physically
in the house of God.
The Bible says, feed the church of God
which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Jesus Christ
purchased the church
with his blood.
And then people, they let familiarity breed contempt anyway.
You know what you're telling me? You don't value what Christ did for this church.
You don't value what Christ did for the New Testament church in general when you do that.
When you become that person.
Do not forsake this place.
Love it more.
Love your pastor more now than you did yesterday.
You say, oh, well, that will make me in a fan club good
Yeah, it does make you I'm in a fan club. I'm in the new IFB fan club, and I love it
And I will love it more every day
Because I love God and I love his people and I love his his prophets. I love the man of God
Love your church more today than you did yesterday.
Value your church more today than you did yesterday.
Cherish it, respect it, contribute to it,
get plugged into it.
And you know what, be grateful for it.
That's the whole point of this sermon.
Just be grateful for this place.
Be grateful for your pastor.
Be grateful for his family.
And the sacrifices that he's making for you.
You know?
When he's preparing when he's working hard to prepare sermons and deliver them for you and and teach you and exhort you
And and try to go to you to do that which is right
That is a selfless service for you be grateful for him for that and you know what don't ever forsake this place
Don't ever forsake it
Don't allow familiarity to breed contempt don't get bitter don't listen to the haters
who want to poison your mind, you tell that person to get lost.
Remember, folks, this is none other but the house of God.
And I talked about all of its attributes.
This is none other but the house of God was the title of my sermon.
So here's what I would want you to do and what I want to exhort you to do
and what I hope that you would do after you leave here.
Thank God for it.
Realize what you have and you thank God for anchor back this church
Let's buy our heads for word of prayer father in heaven. We thank you for this church and
Help us to understand. Hey, this is none other but the house of God
Help us to value this place help us to cherish it and to love it and to to truly get plugged into it
And, and Lord, I just pray that if there's anyone here who may be struggling in this area that they would decide, you know what, I'm going to show up three times a week.
I'm going to never forsake this place. I'm going to love it.
And, and Lord, I pray that those who maybe are a little lukewarm that they would choose to get red hot for you.
And we love you in Jesus' name. I pray. Amen.
This morning will be number 42.
Him number 42.
My latest son is sinking fast.
Him number 42, 42.
My latest son is sinking fast.
We'll sing there right on the first.
My strongest try