Thank you everybody for coming.
Please take your seats.
Please open up your hymnals to song 428,
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
Song 428, song 428, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
Through the golden skies they come,
With peaceful beginnings unfurled,
And still their heavy music flows
O'er all the weary world.
Above this sad and lowly plain,
They fend not the hungry queen.
With answer o'er its baffled sound,
The blessed angels sing,
Then give ye, ye, ye, life's crushing glow,
Whose horns are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way,
With painful steps and souls.
Look now, for glad and bolden eyes,
Run swiftly on the way.
Oh, rest beside the weary grove,
And hear the angels sing,
For lo, the days are nacing on,
Like prophet's bars foretold,
With where the ever circling dears
Come round the age of old.
Let peace shall o'er all the earth,
Face ancient splendor's gleam,
Let the whole world give back the song,
Which now the angels sing.
Ah, it's nothing.
Amen.
Please turn your hymnals to song 431.
Song 431, Silent Night.
Song 431.
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon virgin, mother and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherd's wing at the sight,
Glory stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah,
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God,
Love's pure light,
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night,
Wond'rous star, let Thy light,
With the angels let us sing,
Hallelujah to our King,
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.
All right.
At this time, we'll go through our announcements.
If you don't have a bulletin,
slip up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
On the inside, we have our service times.
All right.
Back at the soundboard,
turn the green dial to one o'clock
because I'm a little bit too loud.
The green dial on this microphone
to like one o'clock.
Thank you.
All right.
So on the inside, we have our service time.
Sunday morning is at 1030, preaching service.
Sunday nights at 630.
Wednesday nights at seven is our Bible study.
This week, we're in 1 Chronicles, chapter number 29.
We have the soul winning times listed below
as well as salvations and baptisms.
Thank you to everyone who joined us
for the Chandler Soul Winning Marathon on Saturday.
What a huge success.
294 soul winners out there,
121 people saved,
and then we had well over 250 people caroling
at the apartment complex
and also at the Chandler Police Station.
You know, I was thinking about this.
You know, Santa supposedly has his list
of who's been naughty and who's been nice.
I was thinking that throughout the year,
we need to make a list of apartment complexes
that have been naughty
and call the police on our soul winners
and then those are the ones
that we're gonna hit with caroling.
Overcome evil with good, amen?
So anyway, that was a fun night.
We had a great time.
A lot of people got saved,
and so it was a big success.
Thank you to everyone who participated.
If you showed up but you didn't get a shirt,
then we're gonna try to get more shirts for people
if they didn't get one.
Get with Brother Segura.
Just get him your size
and we might be able to do another order of shirts
to try to get some for the people who missed out.
I'm pretty sure everybody got a shirt
because we had 300 shirts
and they're all gone.
But I know how people are, you know.
So anyway, if you were actually there,
not just if you weren't there but you want a shirt,
but if you were actually there at the event
or even if you were there for the caroling.
If you were either the caroling or the soul winning,
get with Brother Segura.
We'll get you a shirt, all right?
And then below that are the birth announcements.
Be sure to congratulate the LeBlancs and the Wittenburgers.
On the back is the volunteer dinner
for all of our people who help clean the building
and who organize the Keepers of the Faith meetings every month.
That's gonna be this Saturday night at 6 p.m.
Please RSVP if you're coming.
And then don't forget the mailbox
outside of Brother Segura's office over there
is for if you'd like someone to come
and observe the Lord's Supper with you.
Other events are listed there below.
That's about it for announcements.
Let's go ahead and sing our Psalm of the Week
off this beige colored card here.
Psalm 24, if you need one, put up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
Psalm 24.
All right.
And then at this time we'll sing one more Christmas song
off of the...
Yup, let's do that.
And then we'll get to you with one.
And then we're gonna go through the soul winning count
going back to Monday.
All right, if you needed a song sheet,
put your hand down real quick.
All right, every hand down.
All right, who had somebody saved on Monday?
Any soul winning from Monday?
Okay, we got one plus six.
All right, anything else from Monday?
Six in Tucson, all right.
Anything else from Monday?
All right, how about Tuesday?
One for surprise.
Anything else from Tuesday?
Two more for Tuesday?
Okay, anything else from Tuesday?
One more over here.
Anybody else for Tuesday?
All right, and then today.
I didn't get the total from the church band today,
so what was it?
We had one here, one here.
And there were at least two from the church band.
Anything else from today soul winning?
We got two for 4.30.
I thought that there was,
or maybe that was the one that I'm thinking of was,
I saw Alex.
Anybody else for today?
All right, very good.
Keep up the great work on soul winning.
You know, it's interesting.
I was thinking about out soul winning.
You know, when I started the church 13 years ago,
when you would knock on somebody's door
and ask, are you a Christian?
Like 90% of people seem like they would say yes,
to being some kind of denomination or something,
or just vaguely Christian or something.
Man, it seems like now that like it's 50-50.
Almost sometimes it feels like less than half of people
are even saying that they're a Christian,
especially when you're in Chandler, seem that way.
But it's just amazing how our country
is getting so de-Christianized
where people aren't even claiming to be a Christian.
And also I've noticed that more and more people
are just hostile toward the things of God
and just really negative.
It used to just be more like, oh, no thanks.
And obviously there have always been people
that were hostile, but it seems like now
there are just a lot of people
that are so much more negative toward the things of God.
And you know, it just shows that our country
is being de-Christianized.
We need to be doing soul winning more than ever.
You know, we need to be winning people to Christ,
and we need to be sharing the gospel
more than we ever have.
And churches today are scaling back soul winning.
And I mean, I'm just hearing about it constantly
that now the new thing, this is the trend now
with independent Baptists is they do soul winning
once a month, or they'll do twice a month.
They're literally scaling it back.
And I guarantee you when they're scaling it back
to once a month, it's a door hanger at that point.
Because if they were actually serious
about preaching the gospel, they'd be at least
having a soul winning time per week.
Our church has 17 official soul winning times per week.
Okay, we're serious about soul winning.
And the reason we have so many times
is we want to make it convenient for people
so that everybody can get involved,
whatever the area, whatever the time,
whatever your day off, you know,
whenever you've got the ability to go.
But I'm telling you, a lot of the churches
are scaling it back to once a month.
We need to be ramping up.
Just, you know, obviously we want to get people saved,
but for the sake of our country,
I mean, it's going down the tube spiritually.
Let's get people saved.
At least let's keep Arizona, you know,
from the wrath of God, amen?
All right, so let's go ahead and sing that song,
O Holy Night, come lead us.
O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
There'll be a beer and the soul felt its worth.
The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks the new and glorious morn.
All honor Thee.
O hear the angel voices.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by its cradle we stand.
Over the world a star is sweetly gleaming.
Now come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lays us in lowly danger
In all our trials, born to be our friend.
He knows our need.
Our weakness is no stranger.
Behold Your King before him, lowly man.
Truly He taught us love for one another.
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, the slave is our brother.
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we.
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord.
O praise His name forever.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
All right, at this time we're going to pass our offering plates around.
As the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to 1 Chronicles 29.
1 Chronicles 29, as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1.
Follow along silently with Brother Jesse as he reads.
Oh, and one more thing.
After the service tonight, because we broke the record on Sunday night,
and we'd already had ice cream in the morning,
we're going to have ice cream after the service tonight.
So don't forget, we owe you ice cream.
So ice cream after the service, and we have extra hot cocoa.
So we're going to be serving that in both a warm and chilled format.
So we're going to have some hot cocoa and chilled cocoa,
as well as ice cream after the service.
So stick around for fellowship.
1 Chronicles 29.
All stones and stones to be set,
glycerine stones and of diverse colors,
and all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance.
Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God,
I have of mine own proper good of gold and silver,
which I have given to the house of my God over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
even 3,000 talents of gold of the gold of Ophir,
3,000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses withal,
the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver,
and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers,
and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord.
Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel
and the captains of thousands and of hundreds with the rulers of the king's work,
offered willingly and gave for the service of the house of God
of gold 5,000 talents and 10,000 drams,
and of silver 10,000 talents and of brass 18,000 talents and 100,000 talents of iron.
And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord
by the hand of Jehiel the Gershneid.
Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly,
because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord,
and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation,
and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty,
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.
Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all,
and in thine hand is power and might,
and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?
For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners,
as were all our fathers.
Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
O Lord, our God, who art exalted,
O Lord, our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee in house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand,
and is all thine own.
I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness.
As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart, I have willingly offered all these things,
and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here to offer willingly unto thee.
O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,
our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people,
and prepare their heart unto thee, and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart
to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes,
and to do all these things, and to build the palace for the which I have made provision.
David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God.
And to all the congregation, bless the Lord God of their fathers,
and bow down their heads, and worship the Lord and the king.
And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord.
On the morrow after that day even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams,
and a thousand lambs with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel,
and an eaten drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness.
They made Solomon the son of David, king the second time,
and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest.
Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father,
and prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David,
submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.
And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel,
and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel,
and the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years, seven years reigned he in Hebron,
and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honored.
And Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold,
they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet,
and in the book of Gad the seer, with all his reign and his might,
in the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.
Brother David, would you pray for us?
Man, 1 Chronicles chapter 29, we're in the last chapter of the book.
It's a great chapter, there's a lot of great things packed into this chapter.
But the theme of 1 Chronicles has been King David.
It starts out with all the genealogies, but those all kind of home in on King David,
and the tribe of Judah, and his descendants, and things like that.
And then all throughout the book we've had the story of his life,
we've had everything about his kingdom, and his greatness.
And so now we're at the end of his life, and he's getting ready to pass the torch to his son Solomon.
Another important thing about the book of 1 Chronicles,
is that David very strongly represents the Lord Jesus Christ in this book.
So more than even other books that talk about King David, David really represents Jesus.
So there's a lot of parallel with Jesus Christ reigning on this earth when he returns, and things of that nature.
So let's start out in verse number 1, it says,
Furthermore, David the king said unto all the congregation,
Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender,
and the work is great, for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.
So we see right here that Solomon is young and tender,
and so he's explaining to the people that they need to get behind him, they need to support him and help him.
He also talks directly to Solomon, telling him to be strong and to do the work that God has for him.
But it says that he's young and tender. What does it mean to be tender?
To be tender would be soft or sensitive.
And when you're young, you're softer than when you get older.
When you get older, you should, especially as a man, be getting tougher, right?
A little child, you barely bump into them or knock them over.
It's just, whee! You know, because they're very young and tender.
But as we grow up and become men, we need to toughen up a little bit.
It's pretty sad when adults, when grown men, still are so tender that every little thing offends them,
every little owie and boo-boo.
You know, they need to just man up and be strong in the Lord and in the power's might.
The Bible says, a wise man is strong, yea, a man of understanding increaseth strength.
So it's okay for a little child to be young and tender.
And as we get older, into teenage years, young adult, the goal should be to toughen up, to get stronger.
And so Solomon's at a young age, we don't know exactly what his young age is, but he's a young man.
And he's considered young and tender.
And so David is admonishing him to be strong.
And he says, the work is great.
Now, notice the emphasis that David, throughout this passage, puts on the task or the job or the work that is laid before King Solomon.
When we often think of being a king, we would think of just having all this royalty and majesty, being in a position,
sitting on a great throne, having a crown, having servants serve you and bring you all kinds of feasts and things.
But in reality, being a king is supposed to be about service, if you think about it.
I mean, the king is not one that is supposed to be served of them, but he should be doing the serving, right?
And in any capacity of leadership, we should be a servant.
You know, if you're the father in your family, yes, you're the leader, yes, you're the boss,
but if you think about it, you're actually serving the family because you bring home the bacon.
You go out and work hard and you pay the bills, so you have an important job to do in the family.
You know, the mother is the boss over the children, but she has a lot of work to do as well.
The pastor that is ruling in the house of God, he's actually there to serve the people, to minister unto the people,
not to be ministered to, but to minister.
Even Jesus himself said, the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
So when we think of positions of authority, we should look at them as a great work.
He said, the work is great.
The Bible says he that desireth the office of a bishop desireth a good work.
And so Solomon was not to be made king in order to gratify self or for his own glory,
but rather he was put in that position so that he could lead the people to do a great work for God.
The work is great.
It says in verse two, now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God,
the gold for the things to be made of gold, the silver for the things of silver.
And he lists off all these different materials and precious stones that are going to be used.
But notice he prepared for all his might for the house of his God.
You know, we ought to serve the Lord with all our might and our efforts should be put toward building the house of God.
Now, of course, we're not building a physical building.
That's why we're meeting in rented office space and people make fun of our church and say,
oh, you're meeting an office complex.
Even though we have like twice as many people or even five times as many people as some of these
freestanding church buildings, the high steeple few people churches, there are plenty of them out there.
OK. And I still mean a strip mall.
Let me tell you something.
We're meeting a strip mall till Jesus comes.
And we're just going to keep finding a bigger strip mall because it's not about a building.
It's not about building a palace as they built back then.
You know, some of these preachers need to get out of the Old Testament, get in the New Testament,
because in the New Testament, God has not called us to build a palace, to build stained glass windows and to build a temple made with hands.
In the New Testament, the church is the house of God, the assembly of God's people.
And so we are God's building, the Bible says in the New Testament.
You are God's building.
So we should focus on winning people to Christ and building up the congregation spiritually and not focus on building fancy buildings.
But when we read about them building a fancy building in the Old Testament,
we're supposed to spiritualize that and apply that to building the church, building the people, building the group, edifying the body of Christ.
So just as when we read the Old Testament and there's a physical battle, we don't, you know, say, OK, yeah, let's go out and kill the wicked.
We spiritualize that and say, OK, they're fighting a physical battle.
We don't wrestle against flesh and blood.
We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual.
So we fight a spiritual warfare.
They built a physical building.
We build a spiritual building.
They fought a physical battle.
We fight a spiritual battle.
So 1 Chronicles 29 is still a great chapter that we can apply to our lives, but we just need to take a spiritual view of it and we take a New Testament view of it, of what it is that we're building, which is not a physical temple.
So when we're preparing for all our might for the house of God, you know, these building materials, it's not gold, silver, and precious stones, but it's people, right?
It's people that we win to Christ and bring in the sheaves.
And it's also preparing ourselves, preparing our own hearts, getting the skills to serve God, skills to lead the singing, play the piano, go out soul winning, whatever God is using us to do at the local church.
So he lists off these different materials.
And then he says in verse three, moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good of gold and silver, which I've given to the house of my God over and above all that I've prepared for the holy house.
And then he lists even more, even 3000 talents of gold of the gold of Ophir and 7000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the house with all the gold for things of gold, the silver for things of silver and for all the manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers.
And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day in the Lord?
He's saying, look, we have the raw materials.
We've got the gold, we've got the silver, we've got the precious stones.
Here's what we need. Laborers.
We need workers.
We need people to volunteer their service for the house of God.
And guess what?
Today we need the same thing.
We need people that will volunteer their service and their labor to build the house of God.
And again, this has nothing to do with swinging a hammer or turning a screwdriver.
What this has to do with is building people.
Now think about this is the way our church operates similar to this chapter.
We have all the materials that we supply.
We have the money to go buy you breakfast at Panera or to buy you lunch at Panera.
We have the, the, the DVDs and the CDs and, and the YouTube cards and the invitations to our church.
We've got the tracks.
We've got everything that you need.
And we just need you to show up and work and be a part of the team and go win people to Christ.
And get people saved.
You know, we supply what you need to get the job done.
You know, who go with the warfare at his own charge?
Right?
I mean, if you join the military, they're going to give you a rifle.
They're going to give you a uniform.
They're going to give you the boots.
They're going to give you the survival kit.
They're going to give you the MREs to feed you.
Well, we at this church, we try to supply you with what you need to get out there and do soul winning and to be effective, to go on that missions trip or whatever the case may be.
And so we need people to be willing to consecrate their service unto the Lord.
Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds with the rulers of the king's work offered willingly.
And then it lists what they gave financially, the gold, silver, precious stones.
Verse 9.
Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord.
And David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
And again, David here in many ways represents Jesus Christ.
So the people willingly offered.
They offered themselves.
They offered financially.
They offered their service.
And they did it because they wanted to, right?
That's what it means that they did it willingly.
Nobody was forcing them to do it.
Nobody was making them do it.
Nobody was demanding or pressuring them to do it.
It was just preached.
You know, David preached.
Offer.
And they offered willingly.
And boy, they were happy.
It made them happy.
God loves a cheerful giver.
And then David himself, he rejoiced.
And what this pictures is that when we offer ourselves and offer our substance willingly unto the Lord, it's going to cause us to rejoice and it's going to cause the Lord himself to rejoice.
Now, so many people ask the same questions over and over again about free will and about why things are the way that they are in the world.
And the thing about that is that things are the way they are.
And sitting around and navel gazing and trying to figure out why can often be an exercise in futility and a waste of time because we're not God.
So we can't sit there and expect to understand why did God do everything the way he has.
But people are always trying to wonder, you know, why does evil exist in the world or why does God allow people to suffer?
Why did God create people and then they're going to go to hell or, you know, all these different things.
Well, guess what?
It's reality.
That's the way it is.
God created this world.
Heaven is real.
Hell is real.
There's evil in this world.
The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty, the Bible says.
And so the whole world lieth in wickedness.
It's pretty easy to look outside and see the Bible was right when it said that.
And by the way, we live in one of the nicest places in the whole world.
We live in one of the safest, most prosperous places.
Other places in this world are way worse than living in the United States.
We have it good.
And people are wondering, you know, why, why, why, why the free will?
And make no mistake, we have free will.
This is why God gave us free will and this is why evil exists in this world.
And this is why God put smack dab in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
He put it right there.
Why did he even do that?
I'll tell you why.
Because God wants us to serve him willingly.
God wants us to love him willingly.
God wants us to believe on him willingly.
And can someone tell these foolish Calvinists that just the word willingly right there, you know, that just shows right there that we have a will.
The Bible used the word, I believe, 17 times in the King James Version, free will.
Free will.
I'm sure that they have some exegesis to explain why free will isn't quite free.
And why Jesus didn't really taste death for every man, even though it says that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.
Insert exegesis here, you know.
Aren't you going to exegete that?
No.
I just believe it, that Christ tasted death for every man.
I don't need some Calvinist to come explain to me why Jesus didn't die for everybody when it says that he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
And see, we have free will and God allows evil to exist in this world so that it can interact with us.
Because we are here to go through life and make choices that glorify God.
And God is glorified and God is pleased and God rejoices when we love him, when we serve him, when we obey him willingly.
Willingly. Do it willingly.
Now here's the thing.
First of all, he doesn't force anyone to get saved.
He doesn't force anyone to get saved. He begs people to be saved. He preaches the gospel. He uses us to preach the gospel.
His word goes into all the earth.
But at the end of the day, people decide to believe in Christ.
And that's the way God wants it. He wants people to make that decision and not to be forced into that.
Not only that, once we believe on Christ, we are not forced to serve him and obey him.
Even if we don't serve him and obey him, we're still going to heaven. We're still saved.
Now there are going to be punishments and chastisements for breaking his commandments.
Just like my children, if they break my rules, I'm going to chastise them.
I'm going to punish them but I'm not going to throw them out of the family.
I'm still going to love them. They're still my children.
Okay. Now look, I want my children to obey me.
I want my children to respect me.
I want my children to love me. Right? But here's the thing.
I want them ultimately to do that because they want to.
Okay. Now obviously with a little child, you have to force them to do things that they don't want to do.
And even a teenager is going to have to be forced to do certain things that they don't want to do for their own good and for the family's good.
And for the Lord's sake, there have to be rules and there have to be punishments.
Just like God has rules and punishments for us.
But at the end of the day, I don't want my children to just only obey me because they have to.
And only be polite and only be respectful because they're forced to.
Now that might be where it starts as a little kid, but you want them to grow up and love the Lord and love their parents and do the right thing willingly, to willingly do what's right.
Because otherwise they're going to grow up, they're going to turn 18, they get married, they leave the house, and you know what they're going to do?
They're going to do what they want to do at that point.
So if they were only doing what's right because they were being forced, they're going to stop doing what's right at that point.
Once they're out on their own, they can go out and live a wicked life at that point.
That's not what we want. We want to get their heart.
And we want them to love us and to love the Lord.
And you know, I pray constantly, I pray to the Lord, I say, God, I want my children to grow up and love you.
And I pray to the Lord all the time and say it's more important to me that they love you and serve you than that they love me or that they do the things that I want them to do.
Lord, I would rather that they had no relationship with me if they'll just love and serve you.
If God called for them to go to some distant mission field where I don't get to see them, I'll be happy as long as I know that they love and serve the Lord.
If they stay here and go to Faithful Word Baptist Church as faithful laymen and as faithful wives and mothers and tradesmen and blue collar workers, white collar workers,
you know, if they just stay here or if they go abroad or whatever they do, if one of them becomes a pastor, if none of them become a pastor, I don't care about any of that.
I just want them to love the Lord and to serve the Lord.
You know, that's what matters to me the most more than anything else.
But you know what? I would love for my children to also love me and to love my wife and to respect us and to be refreshing and a joy unto us, even though the most important thing is how they view the Lord.
And of course, how we view our parents and how we view the Lord are closely connected.
The point is that people serve the Lord because they want to, and if they don't want to, they're not going to serve Him.
And a lot of people get saved, but they're just not really willing to offer a lot to the Lord, and it is what it is, folks, but God is most glorified by those who willingly offer themselves.
And so we should choose to love the Lord and serve Him and obey Him, not out of fear, ultimately, but out of love.
The Bible says that perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
So the way that things work is that it starts with fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding, but it's not the end. Fear is the beginning. We get saved because we don't want to go to hell.
Okay, that's fear. We obey the Lord because we don't want Him to discipline us. That's fear.
But as we grow in our Christian life, we think less about God punishing us, and we're less motivated by,
Oh, man, I better go to church, or God's going to punish me. I better go out and do this, or I better not sin. I better read my Bible.
It becomes less about being scared, and it becomes more about, I love the Lord. I love reading my Bible. I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love soul winning. I love the Lord. And even when we do things that we don't want to do, let's say we're feeling tired, or we just don't feel like getting out of soul winning.
We say, you know what, but I love the Lord. I don't want to let Him down. I want to please Him. I'm going to go out there and do this.
Or I love the lost, and I want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to hear the Gospel.
So you start out in an immature walk with God, be more fear-based, and then you grow into something that's more love-based.
Because think about it. Your children that are constantly getting in trouble because they're immature and foolish,
then it's more fear-based because they're constantly getting spankings and getting busted and getting in trouble.
But as your children grow up, they should get to a point where they're not getting in trouble very often because of the fact that they've learned and grown into doing the right things.
Then it's not out of fear. It's out of love. Hey, what can I do for you, Mom? What can I do for you, Dad? How can I help you? How can I be a blessing to you?
So the problem, though, is that a lot of modern Christianity, they've just completely eliminated the fear part.
They just want to go straight to just love, love, love.
So what you have is these complete baby Christians, carnal Christians, that are in the flesh, that have all kinds of sin in their life,
and they're like, whoa, whoa, I don't want to hear you think about fear, man. He the feareth is not made perfect in love, man.
Let's talk about the love. You know what? Why don't you get the garbage out of your life, you know, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded, the Bible says.
You've got to draw an eye to God and he'll draw an eye to you. So they don't want to hear about the wrath of God. They don't want to hear about the fear of the Lord.
Look, the Bible is filled with the fear of the Lord, the wrath of God, punishments, chastisement. So you can't just throw that out.
That is the vehicle that gets us to a mature Christian life where we can be made perfect in love.
And none of us is all the way to that destination where fear plays no role.
Now, if we were perfect Christians, then yeah, we'd get to a point where fear plays no role. It would just all be love-based.
But look, you start with fear, you grow into more and more love, and you get to a point where it's about the love of God.
But even someone who's a very mature Christian, they're still going to need a little bit of the fear of God every now and then because we're not perfect. We're still in the flesh.
But see, evangelical Christianity today wants to just ditch the fear, ditch the hard preaching, ditch the anger, the wrath, all those things, and just go straight to love.
And you know what? That's just not going to work. That's like saying, well, forget arithmetic, forget geometry, forget trigonometry.
I'm going straight to calculus, man. That's how spiritual I am. That's how mathematical I am. I'm just going all the way. No, you can't get there without first learning addition, subtraction.
Look, the fear of God is the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of the Christian life. Calculus is doing things purely out of love.
How many of you made it all the way to calculus? You got through pre-calculus and you got into calculus. We've got a smart crowd here tonight, a lot of people here. We've got a lot of mathematicians here tonight.
But let me tell you something, though. The majority didn't even get there. Well, guess what? The majority aren't going to get to this point where they don't need a constant hard preaching either.
The majority of us need what? Hard preaching all the time. We need hard preaching. We need to be reminded of the fact that our gods are consuming fire.
Okay, we need to grow into being love-based. Now, let's go back to the passage here in 1 Chronicles. And the reason I went off on that, what was I talking about? Willingly, right?
Doing things willingly. These people weren't doing it out of fear. These people were not doing it by constraint. They're doing something willingly here.
This isn't even their tithing. This isn't their normal giving. This was actually something that was just above and beyond where they're giving a free will offering unto the Lord, as the Bible describes it in the Law of Moses.
And they did it willingly. And what was the result of doing it willingly? Joy. Joy. A cheerful giver. You know, giving of your own heart, it brings joy to your heart, and it brings joy to the Lord.
Now, this is a good thing to think about at Christmas time, too, because a lot of people, they feel constrained to give gifts. They feel like, I have to give this gift, or I have to give that gift.
But you know what? Doesn't it feel good when you don't have to give a gift, but you just give somebody a gift because you want to? You just love someone and want to show them that love, so you just get them a gift.
That's why I kind of like gifts that are just-because gifts. Almost better than, you know, a birthday gift or a Christmas gift. It's great when you just get somebody a gift at an off time.
Right? Or at Christmas time, it can also be a time when people give gifts from the heart. You know, they want to give a gift.
And, you know, here's my advice to you. If you don't want to give someone a gift, then don't give them a gift.
And if they get mad at you, say, this is what Pastor Anderson said. You know, he said, to only give gifts that we want to give.
Well, but they gave me a gift. Look, Christmas is not supposed to be this quid pro quo, where you give to get.
You know, if you can't give someone a gift expecting nothing in return, then don't give that gift.
Gifts are supposed to have no strings attached. If I give you a gift, I don't want you to feel like you have to go run out to 7-Eleven and buy something because it's the only store that's open on Christmas or something.
You know, if I buy you a gift, I don't want you to ever feel like you have to, now I have to get Pastor Anderson. No, you don't.
If I give you a gift, it's because I'm giving you a gift. And you don't have to give me anything. Alright?
And if you give me a gift, I'm not giving you anything. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding.
But look, if you give me a gift and I give you something back, it's because I wanted to. Otherwise, I'd just be like, cool, thanks, score.
Because it's not a quid pro quo. And if it is, it kind of ruins the spirit of what it even means to give a gift, right?
And then here we are preaching to the Gospel to people and telling them, hey, eternal life's the gift of God. And then some people don't even understand what that means.
Because they have a warped view of giving and receiving, right?
So we want to make sure that gifts are given willingly. And you know, it brings great joy. It's more blessed to give than to receive, by the way.
Getting what you want on Christmas is not as good as giving someone the perfect gift on Christmas.
And you know what? Little kids, though, they don't see it that way. Is that how toddlers see it?
Well, mom, dad, I don't need anything. I just want to see other people's faces light up.
No, little kids are like, where's mine? Give me mine!
Well, you know what? If that's your attitude, you're a baby Christian. You grow up and you do what?
You're not so tender anymore. You grow up, you're strong in the Lord, and to you it's more about giving on Christmas.
Or giving in your daily life. Or it's all about giving in general. Because it's more blessed to give than to receive.
So the Bible says that at the end of verse 9, David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation. And David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever.
This is a really glorious chapter. The whole chapter, you just get this feeling when you're reading this whole chapter of just the joy and the happiness and the excitement.
I mean, this is Israel at its heyday. You know, passing the torch from David to Solomon.
I mean, they're just about to build their greatest edifice here, the temple.
And people are happy and they're giving willingly. Everybody's worshipping the Lord.
And they're going from one great leader to another. And it's such a positive chapter.
But notice, again, what was King Solomon's job supposed to be about? Giving or getting?
It was supposed to be about giving, right? It was about the great work that he was going to do.
Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever.
So God is our father, right? Now look at the next verse.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.
For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
So God is our father and God is our head, right?
Now, keep your finger here. Flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
So here's what we need to understand about the Old Testament. I'm just going to take the time to touch on this because it seems you can't really touch on it too much.
Because there's so much false doctrine out there as we enter the end times. The attacks on the Trinity are out there.
Now, here's the deal. In the Old Testament, we don't learn the details of the Trinity.
Now, we know the Trinity is there because in Genesis chapter 1, it says, let us make man in our image after our likeness.
And there's a lot of scripture like that in the Old Testament. There are scriptures that bring up the Son of God.
But in the Old Testament, we see through a glass darkly. The Trinity is not explained.
When we get into the New Testament, it's explained in great detail. And we learn that God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, right?
And that's what we call the Trinity. But we realize that God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
And the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God. But they are not each other.
The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Son is not the Holy Ghost, etc.
So we have three persons, one God, and God eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Now, when we're in the Old Testament, we see a scripture here in 1 Chronicles 29 that says that God is our Father.
Pay close attention. That's not only referring to God the Father.
The Old Testament is often just referring to God in general because the distinctions in the Trinity are not laid out clearly in the Old Testament.
So God in general is our Father. You know, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the whole package, the Lord God, Jehovah, is our Father.
And the Lord God, Jehovah, is our head. Does everybody understand that?
Just God in general, the Lord in general, is our Father, is our head. Not being specific about God the Father.
Now, when the Bible says God the Father, it's referring to the fact that he's the Father of Jesus.
Okay, does everybody understand that? God the Father, he's called God the Father because there's the Son.
So there's the Father and the Son, and then there's the Holy Ghost.
So God in general is our Father. That's what the Bible is telling us in 1 Chronicles 29.
This is the same thing it's telling us when it says in Isaiah 9-6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father.
It's just saying God in general is the Everlasting Father, and Jesus Christ is God.
So Jesus Christ is the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, because God in general is the Everlasting Father.
God in general is our Father. God in general is our head.
But look down at your Bible in 1 Corinthians 11. In the New Testament, we learn about the intricacies of the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, the Trinity.
Look what it says in verse number 3.
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
Notice that. The head of Christ is God. What does the head mean? The authority. The head means the authority.
So when it says the head of the woman is the man, what does that mean?
That means that the man is an authority over his wife. Is that not what that means? Read it again.
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man. What does that mean?
It means the man's authority is Jesus Christ. The Word of God is our authority. The person Jesus Christ is our authority.
The head of the man is Christ. The head of the woman is the man. Watch this. The head of Christ is God.
Put that in your oneness pipe and smoke it. That the head of Christ is God. What does that mean?
Well, Jesus said, I do always those things which please him. He submitted himself and was subject unto the Father.
And even in eternity, the Bible says that he will be subject unto the Father in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Now look, God in general is our head. But when it comes to the relationship between the Father and the Son, hey, the head of Christ is God.
So God in general is our head, but within the Godhead you've got what? The head. Who's the head of Christ?
God the Father is the head of Jesus Christ. And who's the Father in that relationship? God the Father is the Father of the Son.
Now, when the Bible says that Jesus Christ's name shall be called the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
it's not saying that Jesus is God the Father because we know that Jesus is the Son.
What it's saying is that Jesus Christ is God and God in general is all of those things.
Counselor, wonderful, prince of peace, mighty God, everlasting Father.
Because in the Old Testament, we're not distinguishing regularly between the members of the Trinity.
So when we get to the New Testament though, we find out, okay, look, there's a chain of command here.
God the Father is the head. Then you got the Son, then you got the Holy Ghost, okay?
And there's a certain Chandler police officer who needs this message tonight.
But anyway, I don't know who saw that video where Daniel is talking to the guy in the back of the squad car.
Anyway, go back to 1 Chronicles 29. This message was brought to you in part by people who still believe in the Trinity.
So go back to 1 Chronicles 29. So we see that God, the Lord God of Israel, is our Father.
He's our head. So look, that's Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It's just the Lord in general is our Father.
I mean, look, we don't say, oh, the head of Christ is God? Well, that means that I'm only going to obey God the Father then.
No, because the head of every man is Christ. So who's our head? Our head is Christ.
But does that make, oh, well, that means Christ is the head, you know, so Christ is...
No, because Christ has a head, God the Father. Okay.
So anyway, you need to understand these things. It's important that we stop and look at these scriptures
and think about these things and compare Old Testament with New Testament
so that you don't get sucked into this stupidity of thinking that Jesus is his own Father.
Or that Jesus is his own head. That's not true. Jesus has a Father, God the Father.
Jesus has a head, God the Father. But we have God in general as our Father and our head.
You know, we're going to obey the Holy Spirit, we're going to obey Jesus, and we're going to obey God the Father.
Right? And so anyway, look if you would at chapter 29 verse 12.
Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all, and in thine hand is power and might,
and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sword?
He's just saying, man, it's such a blessing to be able to offer so willingly after this sword.
What does he mean by that? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
He's saying, look, the only reason that we're even able to offer willingly is because we have so much stuff.
We have gold, we have silver, we have the bronze, we have the precious stones.
Otherwise, we would have nothing to offer you. And everything came from you in the first place.
All we're doing is just giving back to you something that you gave to us.
You see that attitude there? A lot of people think, you know, everything I have, I earned it myself.
That isn't true, because the Bible says that God gives you the power to get wealth.
God gives you the power to get wealth. You say, well, it's because I'm so smart.
God's the one who made you smart. You could have been born stupid, and then you wouldn't have any money.
You say, well, you know, it's because I worked so hard. Yeah, God's the one who gave you the energy to work hard like that.
Have you ever had those days where you just have no energy?
You know God could just snap his fingers like that and you could feel that way every day?
God could just snap his fingers and you would just feel exhausted and tired, and you know what?
People would look at you and say, that's the laziest person I've ever seen.
I don't care how hard of a worker you are. There are times when you feel so fatigued you can barely even walk or barely get out of bed in the morning.
Hey, God, if you're so prideful about how hard of a worker you are to where you wouldn't submit yourself to God or respect God or humble yourself to God
or give God the glory for everything that you've ever achieved in your life or earned in your life,
you know, God could just take away your energy and just drain you of energy.
You'll be like a bee that runs out of sugar. Have you seen a bee where it's just walking on the concrete and it can't fly?
If you give it a little sugar water, it can fly again.
You know, God can just make you like a roly-poly laying on your back.
God can just drain you of all your energy.
God could just make you be so tired every day.
And you're just like, I'm so tired, I don't even know what's wrong with me.
You know, God could just take you down a notch.
And you're, oh, you're so smart.
You know, God could just snap his fingers and all of a sudden your mind will begin to go.
Look, I have seen people many times in my life that lost their minds and I believe it was the judgment of God.
Because frequently in the Bible, God afflicts people with mental insanity as a punishment.
I mean, that's what the reprobate mind is all about. It's a type of insanity.
It's the worst kind of insanity.
He afflicts people with the reprobate mind.
He afflicted Nebuchadnezzar when he got prideful.
Oh, look, I've built great Babylon. Look what I've done.
God smote him and made him like an animal and he went outside and ate grass.
He lived outside, slept outside, ate grass.
His fingernails grew like bird claws.
His hair began to be like eagle's feathers.
And that's what will happen, by the way, if you live outside.
You know, I can take you on a tour of some people that look like that.
Or you can go to India where they take these vows where they're never going to cut their fingernails.
You know, who's seen that with the people with fingernails that are six inches long.
Look, Nebuchadnezzar went from being the most powerful man in the world to eating grass and living outside like an animal until seven times passed over him.
And if you get the context, times in the book of Daniel is referring to years.
And obviously that, you know, if he if his fingernails were super long and everything, I don't believe it would be seven weeks or seven months.
It was obviously seven years.
Seven years.
And then God gives him his sanity back.
Can you imagine being all arrogant, puffed up, blown off your mouth?
And then next thing you know, you live like an animal for seven years and then all of a sudden God gives you your sanity back and you realize where you are and what you've been doing.
You think you're still going to have such a big mouth?
No way.
He he was humble.
He gave all the glory to God after that.
But you know what?
Don't make God have to humble you.
Just praise God.
Magnify the Lord.
And look, don't get all pompous about your giving either.
You know, some people when they give, they sound a trumpet like the the publican or like the who does not the publicans.
They're the ones taking everybody's money.
The Pharisees, right?
The Pharisees, when they would give money, they'd sound a bit.
Hey, look at me, everybody.
You know, they want to get a plaque on the wall.
I donated this.
And, you know, they get a leaf on the tree and and they're going to be making a big deal about, you know, yes, I'll donate.
It'll be called the Stephen Anderson Memorial Auditorium or, you know, a lot of people, they want to make a big deal about their giving.
The Bible says if you if you give to be seen of men, you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven.
And so it's not about, oh, look at me, everybody.
You know, our attitude ought to be, man, what a blessing that I'm so blessed that I was able to give, that I had a surplus.
My cup runneth over.
I had something extra to give.
Because, you know, there are some people who want to give.
They don't have anything to give.
And maybe they just give that two mites like that widow.
And God said, well, that person gave more than anybody.
She gave the last two coins that she had.
That's all she had.
So we need to realize that whatever we earn, whatever we give, whatever we accomplish, whatever we do, God is the one who allowed us to do that.
We should just be thankful that we're able to offer so willingly after this sort, verse 14.
Because everything comes from God anyway.
It says in verse 15, for we're strangers before thee and sojourners, as were all our fathers.
Our days on the earth are as a shadow and there's none abiding.
Now I'm not going to have time to get to the end of the chapter because there's so many good things in this chapter.
There's just a lot of good stuff here.
But I really want to make this point.
Somebody showed me this this week.
I thought this was a good one.
I hadn't thought about this verse in a long time.
Keep your finger there.
Go to Leviticus chapter 25.
Leviticus chapter 25.
This kind of ties in with this verse in 1 Chronicles.
Leviticus chapter 25.
Because today, Israel, according to the flesh or the Jews, they often are prideful and arrogant about who they are as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or God's chosen people.
Of course, they're not God's chosen people because they've rejected Christ and been rejected as a result.
But they can often be pompous or high-minded and glory in that or boast in that that they are Jews.
And Christians really worship them.
The evangelical Zionist movement worships them and they say, oh, that's their land.
That land belongs to them and it's theirs.
But look what David said.
He said, we are strangers before thee.
You know what a stranger is in the Bible?
It means it's a foreigner.
It means somebody who's just kind of passing through or an immigrant.
He said, we're strangers before thee and sojourners.
What's a sojourner?
It's somebody who's not a permanent inhabitant.
A sojourner is someone who is temporarily living somewhere.
So it'd be like in the United States, we have people that are citizens, right?
And then we have strangers.
These are visitors from other countries.
We have sojourners.
A sojourner would be somebody who's on like a temporary student visa or a temporary work visa, right?
What did David, King David, remember that's who they named their occultic star after.
It's actually the star of Remfan, but they say it's the star of David.
Well, here's what David said.
David said, we are strangers before thee and sojourners as were all our fathers.
Does that include Abraham?
Does that include Isaac?
Does that include Jacob?
You know, the attitude of God's people was not like, this is my land, this is mine.
I'm going to make sure and kill the Messiah so I can keep my land.
They said, you know what, we have to put Jesus to death.
Read John chapter 11.
We don't want everybody to believe in him and then the Romans will come and take our land if everyone believes in Jesus.
All they cared about was their stupid land.
They didn't care about the God of the land, the Messiah of the land.
Was that David's attitude?
No, David didn't say, it's my land, I own this.
No, this way he said, he said, we're strangers.
We are sojourners before thee as were all our fathers.
Our days on the earth are as a shadow and there's none abiding.
Just like in the New Testament, what did it say?
Our life is a vapor that appear for a little time and then vanishes away.
Look what the Bible says in chapter 25.
I have to find the verse because it's not in my notes.
23, it says, the land shall not be sold.
This is Leviticus 25, 23.
The land shall not be sold forever for the land is mine for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
You know what the Lord said there?
You're my guests on this land.
I own the land.
Well, who owns the land?
The Jews own it.
The Arabs own it.
No, God owns it.
And whoever is on that land is his guest.
That's what the Bible actually says.
He says, you can't sell the land because I own the land and you are strangers and sojourners with me.
I'm letting you be here.
It belongs to me and I'm letting you live here.
That's why he had the right to kick him out whenever he wants.
And he exercised that right repeatedly.
That's why he said, well, I'm going to allow the Philistines to be here to be a thorn in your side.
Because of your wickedness, I'm going to allow the Philistines to be here to harass you.
I'm going to let the Moabites and the Edomites and the Amorites be here and stay here and they're going to harass you.
Why?
Because it's my land and I can do whatever I want with it is basically what he's showing there.
The land belonged to God.
It belongs to God today.
And anyone who's on it is a stranger and a sojourner.
You know, we ought to have that attitude.
And, you know, it goes the same thing for Arizona.
Because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.
God owns everything.
And, you know, we ought to realize that we are guests on His planet.
Well, who does God think He is to tell us?
Well, He owns the place.
He's the Creator.
He's God. He's the Lord.
And we are strangers and sojourners with Him.
So don't get too prideful about your United States citizenship.
Don't get too prideful that you're an Israeli citizen or you're a citizen of this country or that country.
You know what?
None of that stuff really matters in comparison to whether you're in Christ.
Because He's the owner.
You know, think about this.
What do you think would make more sense?
Saying, well, I'm a citizen of this country.
Or how about this?
The owner is my father.
I'm the son of the owner, right?
I'm God's child.
Well, you know, that makes me feel a little more secure about my claim to exist and walk and breathe on this land that I'm walking on.
My father owns this land.
This is my father's world, as the song goes.
But, you know, the Jews, their father is the devil.
That's what Jesus told them in John, chapter 8, verse 44.
He said, they said, Abraham's our father.
He said, you are of your father, the devil.
And the works of your father you will do.
He was a liar.
He was a murderer from the beginning.
He's a liar and he's the father of it.
Who is a liar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ.
He's anti-Christ that denyeth the father and the son.
So I really love this chapter, 1 Chronicles 29, because it's a beautiful chapter.
What makes it so beautiful?
Why is everybody so happy?
Why is it that there's just an abundance of materials for God's house?
I mean, look, they weren't having to get up and say, all right, people, we need to dig deep and give
because the church is under budget.
We don't have the money.
We got to have a fundraiser.
Is that what you see in this chapter?
They have a surplus.
Look, when you read these quantities, I'm thinking to myself, how big is this temple going to be
because you have too much material?
I mean, look at, you know, these lists of materials are just, they're too much.
And you know what this reminds me of also in the days of Moses?
You know they have the same problem?
They had to tell the people in the days of Moses, stop giving.
Can you imagine Kenneth Copeland or Joel Osteen or T.D. Jakes getting up and saying,
folks, we have way too many donations coming in.
You just need to stop giving because we just have too much.
But look, why did they have too much?
Why is it that they had plenty, everybody's giving willingly, everybody's happy, David's rejoicing,
the people are rejoicing, everybody's rejoicing, everybody's praising God, everybody's happy, things are going great.
You know why? It's because the attitude was right.
The attitude's right. But look, verse 1, they have the attitude right.
Hey, it's a great work.
And then all throughout the chapter, what are they doing?
Praising God, glorifying God, saying, hey, God, we're giving to you, but we're just giving back what you gave to us.
You get all the glory. It all came from you.
Who are we? We're nobody.
We're strangers. Oh, we're the chosen people. No, no, they say we're strangers.
We're sojourners.
We don't deserve anything you've given us.
Thank you for giving us the privilege of giving some of it back to you.
And you know what? This is when Israel was at its heyday.
You know, you want our church to be at its heyday, then you know what?
We need to have the right attitude that gives God all the glory, that doesn't look at serving God as a drudgery,
but looks at it as a privilege to offer to the Lord, a privilege to serve God, a privilege to build his house,
a privilege to be a part of the church, and just realizing that every day we go to work is a gift from God.
Every church service we get to attend is a gift from God.
Having the right attitude that's just thankful for everything and that just loves God and is just privileged to be a part of it.
You know, and that's what makes this such a great chapter is the attitude of the people.
And it's the same attitude that we should have today. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for this great chapter.
I've always loved reading about King Solomon and his heyday and even the early chapters of Second Chronicles, Lord,
just how you established his kingdom and gave him that throne, Lord.
And we know that one day it's going to be Jesus Christ that sits on that throne.
Lord, please just help us to have the right attitude, not to be looking for a handout or looking for people to serve us and give everything to us, Lord.
Help us to be ready to work.
Offer ourselves willingly, offer of our efforts, our substance, our lives, Lord,
and help us to do it with joy and gladness so that you can do a great work in our day, just like you did thousands of years ago, Lord, approximately 3,000 years ago, Lord.
Please do a great work in our day, 2018 and 2019, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, we're going to sing one more song before we go, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.
And then remember we do have ice cream after the service as a result of breaking our attendance records on both Sunday morning and Sunday night.
And then we are going to also have leftover chilled cocoa and hot cocoa.
So stick around for fellowship. Enjoy that. Let's sing it out, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Born to set thy people free
Come, our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in thee
Israel's strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart
Born thy people to deliver
Born a child and yet a king
Born to reign in us forever
Now thy gracious kingdom reign
By thine own eternal spirit
Ruled in all our hearts alone
By thine all sufficient bearing
Praise us to thy glorious throne
Ruled in all our hearts alone