Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Please take your seats and open
your green hymnals to page 64.
Page 64,
Shall We Gather at the River.
Page 64.
Sing it out with me on the first.
Shall we gather
at the river
Shall we gather
at the river
Shall we gather
at the river
Shall we gather
at the river
At the river
Where bright
angel feet are drawn
With its
crystal tide forever
Flowing by
the throne of God
Yes,
we'll gather at the
river
The beautiful, the beautiful
river
Gather with the
saints at the river
That flows by the
throne of God
On
the bosom of the
river
Where the savior
king we own
We shall meet
in sorrow never
Meet the glory
of the throne
Yes,
we'll gather at the
river
The beautiful, the beautiful
river
Gather with
the saints at the river
That flows
by the throne of
God
Ere we reach the
shining river
Lay we
every burden down
Grace
our spirits will deliver
And provide
a
robe and crown
Yes,
we'll gather at the river
The beautiful,
the beautiful
river
Gather with the saints
at the river
That flows by the
throne of God
On the last
Soon we'll reach the shining
river
Soon our pilgrimage
will cease
Soon our happy
hearts will quiver
with the melody
of peace
Yes,
we'll gather at the
river
The beautiful, the beautiful
river
Gather with the
saints at the river
That flows
by the throne of
God
Sorry about that
What page is whosoever meaneth me
Josh?
213
211?
Sorry about that
Page
211
Whosoever meaneth me
Sing it out on the first
I am happy today
and the sun shines
bright, the clouds have
been rolled away
For the Savior
said whosoever
will may come
with Him to
stay
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Oh, surely meaneth me
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Whosoever
meaneth me
All my hopes
have been raised
Oh, His name be praised
His glory has filled
my soul
I've been lifted
up and from sin
set free
His blood has made me whole
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Oh, surely meaneth me
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Whosoever
meaneth me
Sing it out on the last
Oh, what wonderful love
Oh, what grace divine
that Jesus should die
for me
I was lost in
sin for the world
I pine
but now I am
set free
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Oh, surely meaneth me
Whosoever
surely meaneth me
Whosoever
meaneth me
It's time
we'll have our announcements.
Good evening. Welcome to Shure Foundation Baptist Church
for our Thursday evening
service. Let's take our bulletins
if you have one.
And we'll look at the verse of the week.
It says, the Lord
shall preserve like going out.
And coming in from
this time forth and even forever
more. Psalm chapter
121 verse 8.
And our service times at
Shure Foundation Baptist Church. Sunday morning
service 10 30 a.m.
Sunday evening service is 3 30 p.m.
Thursday Bible study 6 30 p.m.
And our so many times
are listed below.
I don't think there was anybody saved yesterday.
Was there any saved Sunday?
No salvation Sunday.
We got
let's see our
praise report you can see
on the left corner there.
And
our Spanish kids class
is this Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Is that still going on for sure?
Does anybody know?
It might not be.
We're trying to take everything out of here on
Monday. So we're going to go ahead and
I'm just going to make a pastor executive
decision and cancel that class.
So we'll have it again in two weeks after
this. So then July 15th
we already had the
Red Hot Preaching Conference. We had a great time.
Broke all the attendance records.
Broke all the soul winning records.
And there was some great preaching.
And so we had a great time.
And I'm sure everybody's still
just
recovering from the trip.
But it was great. It was fun.
And
July 30th through August 1st is going to
be our third
anniversary celebration. We're going to
have Pastor Bruce Mejia preaching for us
on Friday, June 30th
at 7 p.m. at our new building. So this
is the last Thursday service
we're having at this building.
And we're going to have
a Friday service. So next week there will be no
Thursday service.
We're going to be trying to get this place all
ship shape and then we'll have our grand
opening on Friday.
Pastor Mejia will be preaching for us.
There will be a soul winning marathon on Saturday.
It says 10
30 there. But we'll have
some breakfast stuff
for at 9 30.
And then lunch will be provided
from 1 to 2
and then 2 p.m. to 4
30 is going to be
the second soul winning session.
So we'll have lunch provided, breakfast provided
that day. And we should have some visitors
coming into town.
And the guys have been
working real hard over at the building.
It's looking good. We got the carpet going
in the 26th to the 28th
which that's
pretty close. So Monday
I'm going to rent a U-Haul
and we're going to just take everything out of here
and move it over to the other place.
So but we definitely
will need still a cleaning
crew or two to come in and just
clean. We actually will
need both buildings clean once all the carpet
is put in which will be
Wednesday evening. It'll be should be
done. And then Thursday
we'll just
we're just going to be tightening and buttoning everything
up. And
so we might even actually just
take our all of our sound
equipment out of here except
for just whatever we
need. So anyway
next week. So if you are available to help
any time just come and be
a laborer on Monday
that'd be mucho appreciado.
And I don't think I
said that right. But anyway
that's my bad Spanish. So
let's
see what else we got going on.
Oh yeah that weekend. So Pastor
Jones is also going to be preaching for us on
Sunday night. I'll be preaching Sunday morning
on August 1st.
And we are also we're also planning
on a soloing marathon
trip to Longview
Washington. Did you want to do it the next weekend?
Is that the 19th?
No we'll do it on the
21st. OK so the 21st
will be in Longview Washington
for at least a mini marathon.
So might be like a four
hour session. And
so we'll have a great time with that.
And then so everything
is going to change here real soon. We're going to be in a new
building. So hopefully everybody's really
excited. Nobody looks excited right now.
But hopefully you'll look excited
then. Brother Robert will be excited because
he's spending a lot of hours at the building.
I know a lot of people have. I really appreciate the sacrifice
of your time to help out
over there. It's been
a blessing. So
and then I think that's it for announcements.
I don't see birthdays
on here.
Oh Sierra
Watson and Ariana. So I think
we already did those anyway.
Let's sing another song and then
we'll receive the offering.
Page
three hundred fifty
five.
Your
green handles. Page three fifty five.
Acapulco.
What
a friend we have in Jesus.
Page three fifty five. Let's all sing it
out on the first.
What a friend we
have in Jesus.
All
our sins and grace to
bear.
What a privilege
to carry
everything
to God
in prayer.
Oh what peace
we often forfeit.
Oh
what needless pain
we bear.
All
because we do not
carry
everything to
God in prayer.
Have
we trials and temptations.
Is
there trouble
anywhere.
We
should never be discouraged.
Take
it to the Lord
in prayer.
Can we
find a friend so faithful.
Who
will all our sorrow
share.
Jesus
knows our every
weakness.
Take it to
the Lord in prayer.
On the last.
Are we weak and heavy
laden
cumber
with a load of care.
Precious
savior still
our refuge.
Take
it to the Lord in prayer.
Do
thy friends
despise forsake
thee.
Take it to the Lord
in prayer.
In
his arms he'll take and
shield thee.
Thou
will find us all this
there.
May it sing brother Sean can you bless your offering
for us.
Lord thank you so much for this day.
Thank you Lord so much.
Thank you for coming to church Lord.
Thank you for this wonderful day Lord.
Thank you for our new building.
I pray that you would
bless our church Lord.
Bless this offering.
Jesus thank you.
Amen.
All right as we always do on
Thursday nights we're going to go to the Lord of prayer
for the prayer request. So let's bow our
heads together. Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much
for the privilege of prayer
and I just pray that you would
watch over Karina and Kylie
as they're sick and
just pray that they would recover quickly
and also for
Sarah Holmes. She's
asking for
comfort for her mother. I pray
Lord that you would just give her
that comfort that peace and
help Sarah and her family through this
time as pray for her
mom to have peace Lord.
We also pray for brother
Blake who has an unspoken for the
next two months Lord. I pray that you would
answer that unspoken according
to your will Lord and for the
Alferez family pray for travelers
mercies for this weekend as they
travel to Spokane
and Lord for Miss Leilani
prayer for her living situation
she needs to find a safer
place to live Lord. I pray that you would
bless her and allow her
to be able to do that and for
brother Eli who's sick
at home I pray that you'd watch over him
bless him and keep him and help him to feel better
as soon as possible and we pray for
Miss Tess and for her health
and for her upcoming appointments
and also urgent unspoken
for my wife Miss Sherry I pray that you'd help her
to feel better also and anybody else that's
sick Lord we also pray for
our church plant in Hawaii
and Lord
we're trying to get that building that you know of
and just pray that you'd help us
to get that taken care of
and pray for our move
Lord there's just so much to do
pray that you'd just help us give us
grace and
help us to get everything done
everything to be accomplished that needs to be
accomplished before we open. Pray for travelers
mercies for Pastor Mejia
and Pastor Jones and also
Lord for all of our church plants
I just pray that you'd comfort bless
them keep them watch over our
leaders Lord and their
wives and their children
and Lord our church members I pray that you'd just
help them to continue to grow in grace
and we thank you for everything
give you praise and honor for it in Jesus name we pray
Amen
Alright turning your Bibles tonight to
1 Corinthians chapter 8
And when you get there the Bible reads
in 1 Corinthians chapter 8
Now as touching things offered unto
idols, we know that we all
have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth
up, but charity edifyeth.
And if any man think that he knoweth
anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as
he ought to know. But if any
man love God, the same is known of him.
As concerning therefore the eating
of those things that are offered
in sacrifice unto idols, we
know that an idol is nothing in the world
and that there is none other God
but one. For though
there be that are called gods, whether
in heaven or in earth,
as there be gods many and lords many,
but to us there is but one God
the Father of whom are all things
and we in him
and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom
are all things and we by him.
Howbeit there
is not in every man that knowledge
for some with conscience of
the idol unto this hour eat it as
a thing offered unto an idol
and their conscience being weak is defiled
but meat commandeth us not
to God for neither if we eat
are we the better, neither if
we eat not are we the worse.
But take heed lest by any
means this liberty of yours become
a stumbling block to them that are weak
for if any man see
thee which has knowledge sit at me in
the idol's temple shall not the
conscience of him which is weak be
emboldened to eat those things which are offered
to idols and through
thy knowledge shall the weak brother
perish for whom Christ died
but when ye sin so against
the brethren and wound their
weak conscience ye sin against Christ
wherefore if meat
make my brother to offend
I will eat no flesh while the world
standeth lest I make my brother
to offend. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear heavenly
Father we love you God. Please
be with Pastor Thompson as he preaches God and
fill him up with the Holy Spirit and just
give us all hearts and ears
to listen to your Holy Word tonight.
We love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Alright 1 Corinthians chapter
number 8 and
let's look at verse number
1. The Bible says now
as touching things offered unto
idols we know that we all
have knowledge.
Knowledge puffeth up
but charity edifieth. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much
for just a
Thursday night service Lord where we can come and worship
you and pray Lord I pray that
you just bless
the congregation tonight. A lot of people are tired
a lot of people are worn out. Pray you just
lift them up and
pray that you fill me with your spirit
and fill me with boldness and power
as I preach in Jesus name I pray. Amen.
So this
chapter is mostly
concerning things offered unto idols
there's some other topics that
I want to touch on though in this
particular sermon
because I'm going to go into it in greater
detail in 1 Corinthians
chapter 8 but I'm going to touch
on idolatry
a little bit tonight
actually a lot but
the Bible says here in verse number
1 it says now as touching things offered
unto idols we know that we have we all
have knowledge so the Bible
you know is very clear about
idolatry we're not supposed to
take part in it we're not supposed to
serve idols
we're not supposed to make idols or
graven images that's one of the
10 commandments and we'll cover that here
in a little bit
but I want to address this part where it says we all have
knowledge and so
we should all have knowledge of this
I mean the 10 commandments is one of the
basic things in the Bible that we should
all know that we're not supposed to
have anything to do with idolatry
whatsoever
and so I am
going to cover some of the stuff like I said
about idolatry tonight but
I'm going to combine this with
chapter number 10 when I get to that
in a couple weeks
so but knowledge
is good it says
but knowledge well knowledge
is good but knowledge does puff up so
here's the thing about new Christians
and especially people maybe within our
type of churches
you know a lot of people just binge
watch sermons
and they get a lot of knowledge really
quickly but one thing I've noticed is
a lot of those those things
that people learn really quickly they have the head
knowledge of it but they wouldn't know where to go in the Bible
to show somebody
that like the pre-trib
rapture being
a false doctrine a lot of people can't
prove the post-trib pre-wrath
rapture it's not super
I mean it's not
super complicated but it is complicated at the same time
you really do have to know your
stuff when it comes to end times Bible prophecy
but a lot of people like watch
after the tribulation or something
about you know you know
the King James Bible or just anything
like that and people just just go through
all these sermons and they they learn a lot really
fast that can be dangerous
though because then
that knowledge can puff someone up and so
you know our type of churches
get a bad rap
when they go and visit a Baptist
church because it's preached that
hey if you don't have a good you know if
you don't have a church like this in your area well go
to the best church in your area
so and a lot of people do that
but then they they think they know more than the
pastor of that church and maybe
they do about end times Bible prophecy
or soul winning
or the Jews or whatever
but
that knowledge is just a
little bit of knowledge it's not the whole Bible
so someone can
get saved watch a lot of sermons
and then never read their
Bible cover to cover and do you think
that they have more knowledge than a pastor who's read
his Bible 10 or 20 times
absolutely not now maybe they're wrong
about some things but it doesn't mean
that they know more
than that person and then that makes
people get puffed up what is that term
puff up well it's
it's kind of like we would say in modern
day vernacular is to
get a big swollen head
right people just think they're smarter
than everybody and they know more
and it's it's dangerous
it's dangerous to get knowledge
and wisdom without being able
to realize
that you're you're you're learning
too much too fast and that
you're too big for your britches basically
is another term that you could use
it says but charity edifies
knowledge puffeth up but charity
edifies so
and so charity
always edifies you know and charity
would be defined by some as unconditional
love right
or a brotherly love
or a godly love a lot of people
define it that way but charity
is another term for love and I
I believe it's talking about unconditional
love so when you do
something with no strings attached
then that's always
going to edify somebody when you preach a
sermon and you're trying to edify people
with charity that is
going to that's good for people it's always
good if you have charity
because you can do a lot of things
and not have charity and it
just basically counts as nothing
so let's look at
1 Corinthians chapter 13 I didn't have this in
my notes but the
apostle Paul has a whole chapter
that he preaches about
charity
let's see what verse do I
want
let's see
verse 4 charity
suffereth long and is kind charity
envieth not charity
vonteth not itself
is not puffed up
it's the opposite of that
doth not behave itself unseemly seeketh
not her own is not easily
provoked thinketh no
evil rejoiceth not in
iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth
beareth all things believeth
all things hopeth all things
endureth all things
charity never faileth
but whether there be prophecies they shall
fail whether there be tongues they
shall cease whether there be knowledge
it shall vanish away
so the
apostle Paul
just basically saying hey if you don't have charity
you're really nothing
all the soul winning you do if you don't do it with
real true charity you're just trying to come back and
say hey I got all these people
saved I got five people saved
and that's great if you did
but if your only reason
for going out soul winning is so you can report back
how many souls you got saved
supposedly then
you know you have the wrong motivation
you have
that's what the Pharisees like to do they like to
make a big show about how much they
do and you know
just like to oh I'm so spiritual
and to me when I see things like
that I think that's not very spiritual
it's good to rejoice when you
bring your sheaves in there's nothing wrong with that
hey tell a story about how
this person was some kind of warlock
and you got him saved or whatever
or some kind of
you know Jehovah's Witness or really hard to
get saved Mormon or something because
not a lot of people get Mormon saved
so it's very rare that they
get saved so
but charity is an important
part of the Christian life and we
ought to know the difference and when you get
a bunch of knowledge
that's dangerous
because it does puff you up it does
make you
just look down on
people you've only read your Bible five
times you know someone's like I've read it ten
you know that's
being puffed up you know
why don't you just encourage that person
if someone believes a false doctrine say
they believe the Nephilim doctrine but that
person's saved there's a lot of
people that are saved that probably believe the Nephilim
doctrine don't you think
but instead you call them
a stupid idiot and
you know all this other stuff that's
not that's being puffed up that's
that's being prideful
and it's not charitable
you know
showing someone what the Bible says by taking
the Bible and just showing them say hey well have you ever thought
about this instead of just challenging them
in a mean
way because you can win that person over
you don't have to be a jerk about it
you know and obviously when we're preaching
hard against wicked things and false
doctrine people get this
idea that we're like pastors
or just these mean people or something
like Pastor Shelley he's a nice guy
you know and he preaches some sermons
against the sodomites and everybody
wants to kill him you know
they want to burn his blow up his building
they want to they want to try to mess with his
life and threaten his kids and threaten his wife
and all this stuff and that happens to all of us
and you know it does get old
but
you know we we do need to have charity
we do need to have grace towards
people charity is never going to
fail but
knowledge gotten
too quickly will puff people up
and it's not a good look
on Christians look at verse 2 it says and if any
man think that he knoweth anything
he knoweth nothing
yet as he ought to know
well what is that what is that
saying well sometimes people
they they get to this point where they feel like
they've arrived
I know everything
you know and that's what
puffed up knowledge does
it makes you think you're you
know more than you really do
but if you have all this knowledge and you don't
have charity what does it mean
it means nothing
it says in verse 13
back where you just keep where you're at but in
verse 13 it says 1st Corinthians
13 it says and now abideth
faith hope charity these
three but the greatest of these is charity
so you know
we need to understand that charity
with knowledge is a good place to be
there's got to be a balance in the Christian life
it can't just be super
extreme over this way super extreme over this way
we do have to have a balance the balance is
usually somewhere in the middle
so that's what I've found
to be true
you know and so once you feel like you've
arrived you definitely have
not it says he
knoweth nothing yet as he
ought to know you don't you
know stuff but you don't know it how
you ought to know it you have no charity
and so the Bible
is teaching against that
look at what it says in verse 3 but if any
man love God
the same is known of
him so what does that
mean well God
knows the people that love him
you know he knows them in
a way that we would
you know it kind of scares us
to think of how well he actually does know
us because he knows you better than you know
yourself he knows you better
than your spouse knows you
he knows you better than your children know you he knows you better
than your grandparents know you he knows you better than your
best friend knows you God knows
you in a way that would probably
scare you if you realize how
well he really does know you
so let's look at some verses
about this see because God
knows us and we
need to understand that and you know I think
that's a good thing to focus on
tonight is how well he knows
us and then maybe that would
make us think differently
maybe that would make us act differently
maybe that would make us
you know be a better Christian
look at Luke chapter 12 verse number 6
Luke chapter 12
verse number 6
the Bible says in Luke chapter 12
verse number 6
are not five sparrows sold
for two farthings
and not one of them is forgotten
before God see God
knows the sparrows but you know we've heard that song
you know that he knows the sparrows
but look
his eye is on the sparrow that's what it's called
yeah I'm sorry I was like he knows the sparrows
that sounds like the CCM version of it
or something but anyway
it's already close to CCM as it is
but anyway
it's right on the border line
but it says
but even the very
hairs of your head
are numbered
fear not therefore you're of more value
than many sparrows
so he says he knows
the very hairs
he knows you so well he knows
how many hairs you have on your head
right now
and probably how many I had
back here before
you know the male
pattern baldness struck
me and
so he knows us
that well he knows how many hairs
you have on your head
does your spouse know that?
do your kids know that?
no God does though he knows us
look at Job chapter 23 verse 10
Job chapter 23
verse number 10
see
he knows what we do in our daily
life he knows when
we've said hey I think I'm gonna
I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and I'm gonna pray and you don't
he knows
when he said you know tomorrow I'm gonna
fix my Bible reading problem I'm gonna read the
Bible right when I wake up I'm gonna
acknowledge him right when I get up
and then I'm gonna pray and then
I'm gonna read the Bible and you don't
you know he knows that?
he knows when we're failing
miserably as Christians
and then we just skip whole days
of just any fellowship with him
he knows that
and it should make us feel bad I'm trying to make you feel bad right now
because I know we all fail
everybody does
but this might help you
to realize if he knows you that well
he knows how many hairs are on your head
then and he knows
everything that we do everything
we promise in our heart everything we think about
look what it says in Job 23
it says but he knoweth
the way that I take
when he hath tried me I shall
come forth as gold
so he knows
every way we take every
pathway you know we have all these
decisions that we have to make every
single day and we have a decision every
single day to wake up and take up our cross
and follow after Christ
we have that decision to make
he knows the way we take though
he knows which road we're gonna go down
he knows if we're gonna take
the wrong way and
so he knows the way that we take
well what way are you taking?
everyday are you taking the right way?
are you taking the wrong
way most of the time and then every once in a while
taking the right way? I should be
pointing to this way because the right way is the right way
left okay
anyway Psalm chapter 1 verse 6
Psalm chapter 1
verse 6
Bible says
for the Lord knoweth
the way of the righteous
and who are the righteous? the saved
people he knows the way
of the righteous he knows
every way about you and you know when the
Bible talks about the way
it's usually talking about the way
we should be going
it's talking about the way of God
the way God wants us to do things
but it says he knows the way of the righteous
but the way of the ungodly shall perish
so we don't want to be ungodly people
we want to follow the way
the truth
the life
and God knows the way of the righteous
he knows everything about saved people
and he loves them
he loves us so I shouldn't just be
all scary
it's not all scary
he loves us and he tries to set us up
for success
that's what I believe
just like our kids they take the wrong path
sometimes and then you have to correct
them so that's the way God
is with us also
he knows the way of the righteous
Psalm chapter 44 verse 21
Psalm chapter 44
verse 21
the Bible says shall not God
search this out
for he knoweth the secrets
of the heart
God knows every secret
the secrets you won't tell your spouse
the secrets you won't tell your children
there's secrets in our minds that only we know
but you know who knows them?
God knows them
he knows every secret in your heart
and so if your secret
in your heart is something wicked
then that should be something you should work on
getting out of your life
and not let that be a bad secret
let the secret be good
that's what you have with God
but it says shall not God search this out
he's going to search out the secrets
of our heart
man looks on the outward appearance
the Bible says
man looks on the outward appearance
but the Lord looks on the heart
so he looks at our heart
he knows how our heart is
that's why he rejected all the sons
before he got to David
he said none of these are the right ones
David's the one
Samuel was looking at
the elder sons he was like
surely this is the Lord's anointed
he's like no it's not him
because we look at people
and admire
their stoutness or how they look
their stature
and things like that but God doesn't look
at things the same way we do
and he knows the secrets of our heart
look at Psalm 103 verse 14
Psalm 103 verse 14
the Lord has pity on us also
he knows what we can endure
and what we can't endure
he knows when
things are just something would be too hard
for that person
I preached a sermon down in Tucson about
is anything too hard for the Lord
and in that sermon I made the point that
we think like Michael Jordan's
the greatest basketball player that ever lived
but he missed 9,000 shots
lost 300 games
took the game winning shot 26 times
and missed
but God would make every single shot
he'd make every single free throw
he'd get every single rebound
he would do everything perfect
see God never fails
in this whole book he's never failed at anything
nothing I mean just show me
where he fails because he doesn't
but we fail all the time
and then we would look at someone like Michael Jordan
and go he's the greatest basketball player of all time
compared to who?
not compared to God
obviously God doesn't care about basketball
but if he played
he'd be great
if he played
baseball he'd hit the home run
every single time
I mean the first
pitch even if he had to chase it somewhere
and fly up there
he'd still knock it out of the park
you can't throw at him either
like some pitchers will
throw and try to get someone
to back off the plate
it's called giving him chin music
you ever heard of that?
like when it goes right past your chin
and people jump up
God would just like step back and
gone
he doesn't fail at anything
but he knows our frame
he knows what we can handle
when Moses was standing
before the children of Israel
and judging
the children of Israel from the morning
until the evening his father-in-law
I had to come and tell him hey what you're doing
is not good it's not a good
thing that you're doing it's a bad thing
that you're doing you're not helping yourself
you're going to wear yourself away
we need to know our own
limitations
and I always bring up MMA but
MMA there's a thing where the people
over train you know
now it's such a big sport
there's people that are constantly in the gym
and when it first started people didn't
train like they do now
but like I remember when Randy Couture was fighting
which you probably don't know who that is but
maybe some people know
but he was old
he was old as me right now
and still fighting
but he knew
when he had over trained
for a fight and he would just back off
at the end you know
you got to know yourself and your limitations
of what you can do
but God knoweth our frame
he remembereth that we are dust
you know God knows
the day that we're going to die
God knows the second we're going to die
God knows the day, the hour
the year, the week
all that stuff
he knows everything about us
he knows the beginning from the end
and so if we think
we're hiding anything from God
you can't put a lead helmet on
and not have him read your thoughts
you can't like put yourself in some
kind of tinfoil suit
God can't read your thoughts in your mind
he can still penetrate through anything
so all these people that get the tinfoil hats
you know if you've ever seen the tinfoil
they think that like some kind of waves are coming through
and scanning their brain or something
God can get through that too
he knows we're dust though
and so he's not going to give us more than we can handle
but sometimes we give up
before we've handled
all that we can take
so look at Nahum chapter 1 verse 7
Nahum chapter 1 verse 7
Pastor Thompson what does this have to do
with meat being sacrificed to idols
well I'm glad you asked because like I said
in chapter 10 I'm going to
refer back to some of this stuff
because I want to paint the whole picture
for you when it comes up because
I think people are confused about this subject
and so I just definitely want to make sure
that there's no confusion when it comes
down to it so Nahum chapter 1 verse 7
it says the Lord is good
a stronghold in the day of trouble
and he knoweth them
that trust in him
see we go and get people saved
and we come back with our
reports and we're like that person got
saved and that's what we believe
because we listen to what
they said they believe
but he knows the fakers too
you know there's fakers out there
there's people that say they're saved and really aren't
and he, but he
knows those that trust in him
wouldn't it be cool if
when someone got saved like there was like
a little like a dot
that turned a different color and you're like
they're saved I know for sure
it'd be a lot easier huh
but that's just not the way
the world works so
we can only trust what people
say and believe them
but you know God actually does
know them that trust in him
and so when you trust in him
then you can actually get to know him
because there's a lot of people that
hate God and never even
took the time to get to know him
look at 2 Timothy chapter 2
verse 19, 2 Timothy chapter 2
verse number 19
the Bible says, nevertheless the foundation
of God standest sure
having this seal
the Lord what, what's it say?
knoweth them that are his
he knows the people
that are saved, he knows
each and every single person
in this room whether they're saved or not
and it says, and let everyone that
nameeth the name of Christ depart
from iniquity
that seems like it doesn't fit in that sentence
but it does
if he knows you
then you should depart from iniquity
because you know
we want to try to serve the Lord the best we can
we're supposed to keep God's commandments
that's the whole duty of man
and so if he knows us
and we know him
then we should depart from iniquity
look at 1 John chapter 3 verse 20
the Bible says in 1 John 3 20
it says
for if our heart condemn us
God is greater than our heart
and knoweth
all things
see God is all knowing
he knows us on a
intimate level where
he just knows everything about us
every thought we have
every hair on our head
but he knows everything
I mean think about that for a second
God knows everything
there's not anything that's hidden to his eyes
at all
he's all powerful
but he's also all knowing
and so with that knowledge he uses that
to judge
righteous judgment
God never makes a mistake in judgment
God never makes a mistake
about anything that he knows
or any counsel he gives
think about this God is so powerful
that he can answer everybody's prayers
that are praying to him at the same time
all around the planet
around the world
yes the world's round
around the world
he knows all that
he also can
deal with everything that's going on with heaven
at the same time as he's answering everybody's prayers
I mean he's way
greater than people give him credit for
he's way smarter than people give him credit for
and there's not an ounce of wickedness
in God at all
but yet atheists will sit there and go
God's homicidal, genocidal
infant
infant-cidal
or whatever you call it
he kills babies
he's jealous
that was that guy's name
Richard Dawkins
went on this tirade of how
wicked God is
God's going to shut his mouth someday
break his teeth out of his mouth
little pervert
but anyway
so God knows everything
and these atheists want to just go on these rants
and say how his judgment's wrong
he's so
misogynistic and all this other stuff
no God's right
and everything in his word is right
he's all knowing
and he's just given us a piece of his knowledge
not everything
worth knowing
is in the Bible
but everything that he wants us to know
is in the Bible
and it's enough for us
everything in here is enough for us
we don't need the book of Enoch
we don't need the
what are the other ones that are put in the middle
the Apocrypha
we don't need that garbage
it's not the Bible
all we need is what God gave us
obviously God didn't think you needed to know that
is there really such thing as Bigfoot?
no
there's really not such thing as Bigfoot
but you know if you are just
you just kind of feel like there is
you'll just get a chance to ask God
and he's going to say avoid foolish questions
anyway
you know there's this big thing going on with the military right now
when they're talking about all these
UFOs and how they're doing this
that's just the game people
it's not real
it's probably them doing it
they have
have you seen the one where it goes down
drops down into the water
anybody watch any of those?
they have technology that we don't know about
but it's not aliens
maybe that's part of the
end times delusion
but there's no such thing
as life on other planets
that's fantasy land
that's Return of the Jedi stuff
it's just not true
you know so
but God knows everything
he knows when you're going to die
he knows when you're sleeping
he knows when you're awake
he knows your heart
he knows everything
so we need to act accordingly
look at verse number 4 in our text
verse number 4 back in 1 Corinthians chapter 8
it says
as concerning therefore the eating of those things
that are offered in sacrifice unto idols
we know
that an idol is nothing
in the world
and that there is none other God
but one
so what's Paul saying?
the idol
it says we know
we know
that the idol is nothing
so any Christian
should understand
that an idol doesn't have any sacred power
or anything like that
it can't move
it can't turn its head and look at you
it's just a piece of wood
that's carved out of someone's hands
it's just a piece of stone
that was carved by a person
and then they take that thing
they take the tree
they cut it down
they shape it how they want to make it look like Buddha
skinny Buddha or fat Buddha
either one
most of the time they do that with a graven tool
graven images
skinny Buddha was there
but then they had a little fat Buddha guy there too
I don't know maybe there was a competition
between the two of them
but anyway those idols make me sick
they make me sick
I want to destroy them
I thought it was really funny how
at least the Muslims have the guts to go blow up some idols
I think they blew up the biggest Buddha
in the world or whatever
it was like several years ago
but I would
good job
but I wouldn't say
as soul owners we should just go and
kick people's idols or whatever
do I think God would
come down on you for it? Probably not
but I mean
in the millennial reign those won't exist
if they do
they're going to get thrust through the dark
they're going to get stoned to death
or whatever
but an idol is nothing
see people make idols something
people believe that they really are
connected to their gods
connected to their lords
and they believe in them
they trust them they serve them
which is so ridiculous that people would even believe that
have you seen the one of Moloch
where he's like holding his hands
out like this
and they always have these animals mixed together
with humans or something it's just really weird
but anyways holding his hands out
those hands are trying to hold this baby
or something
he's into child sacrifice
now behind the idol
is some devil or
demon that impressed
upon them
or whatever to make the idol
but it's something that God
that's something that God made
God made the devils God made the angels
God made human beings
and all the kinds of animals that are around the world
and I think that's why
God hates idolatry so much
because he's the only God
isn't that what it says? There is none
other God but one
so God
hates idolatry
and he hates when people
bow down and worship statues
it's the beginning of the end
for a lot of civilizations
look at India
I wouldn't even walk through the jungle of India
if you paid me a million bucks
because there's all kinds of things ready to kill you there
and I believe that God sends animals
to kill people that are idolaters
I believe that
there's another country that I can think of that's more idolatrous
than India
and like
tigers will just come and grab people out of their houses
they have all these Mandian tigers
and then
saltwater crocodiles
ready to eat you
I mean there's just everything
there's like so many things that could kill you there
all kinds of different poisonous snakes
and
I would hate to be an idolater in India
so
anyway let's look at Exodus chapter 20
let's look at what the Bible says about
graven images
and idolatry
the Bible says
in Exodus chapter 20 verse 3
it says thou shalt have no other gods
see that small g
before me
because what other people would call gods
are basically like demons or devils
thou shalt have no other gods before me
thou shalt not make unto thee
any
graven image
or any likeness
of anything that is in heaven above
so you know the people that have their little angels
hanging from their rear view mirrors
that's a graven image
you shouldn't have anything
that is made from heaven
that is in heaven above
or that's in the earth beneath
or in the water under the earth
wouldn't that be like
just any animal that you could think of
in the water of the earth
you know the symbol for Christianity
is supposedly a fish
and they have that like little graven fish
that people put on the back of their thing
and it has like the fish eating Darwin
or whatever
or sometimes Darwin is eating the fish
or whatever the bigger fish
but you know we shouldn't have that stuff on our cars
we shouldn't have graven
you know it's a molten image
that's what it is
so why would Christianity
have the symbol of a fish
when the Bible says specifically
not to make idols like that
it says in verse 5
thou shalt not bow down thyself to them
nor serve them
people bow down to statues
that they made themselves
how weird is that
now obviously in America we don't really deal
with that kind of stuff as much
I mean I don't think anybody in here
used to bow down to idols
did anybody in here used to bow down to idols
it's okay you don't have to raise your hand
if you don't want to
now I know that people like kiss
the relics
and the things in the Orthodox Church
and in the Catholic churches people
you know do this and bow down
to the statue of Jesus or Mary or whatever
but
that's kind of as far as it goes
you know unless you're like a Buddhist
or a Hindu or something like that
but
that's not really something that we struggle with
as Americans
I mean there's a lot of idolatry here though
there's a lot of statues
and that's why when people are going around ripping these statues down
amen
I mean they're doing God's work
they just don't realize it
just like Nebuchadnezzar was doing God's work
when he went and destroyed the nation of Israel
you know God
works in mysterious ways
and he uses
these Antifa dope heads
to go and rip statues down
and then you got Christians like
that's wrong
for them to rip down these
why? The Bible says that we shouldn't make any graven images
Jack Hyles
when he died
they made a statue of him outside
Hyles Anderson College
and I don't know how he would have felt about that
but I would tend to think that he wouldn't like it
but yet people walk past that
they go to that Bible college and that church
the great church that it was
and have to walk past the molten image
of Jack Hyles
literally worshiping man
because it doesn't matter if you bow down to it or not
they made it
and they hold him in high regard
and look he was a great man of God
there's nothing wrong with holding him in a high regard
as far as someone
that you would look up to that's a godly man
but to make an idol of him
that's wicked
it says thou should not bow down
thyself to them
nor serve them
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God
yeah he's jealous so what
he's God
he has the right to be jealous
he's jealous when some of his children
or anybody in the world bows down
or makes an idol
or serves them
not supposed to bow down
or serve them
so have you ever been to a Chinese restaurant
and they have this little Buddha
and stuff next to them
that's serving them isn't it
what do you call it when someone
brings you a coke at a restaurant
what do you call the person that does that
a server right
someone that serves your table
well when someone is serving an idol
they're doing the bidding of an idol
and that idol
is nothing
it's just a little statue
but in that person
that did the serving
that person that made that idol
it is something but as Christians
we need to understand it's nothing
now behind it is a
devil but we don't
believe in worshipping devils right
so look what it says
I the Lord thy God am a jealous
God visiting the iniquities of the
fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that
hate me when someone hates God
he visits their children to
the third and fourth generation
that's how much he hates it
it says in showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me and keep my
commandments turn to Leviticus chapter 26 verse
1 Leviticus chapter 26
verse 1 God's very clear
on this subject about
idolatry and serving graven
images
Leviticus chapter 26 verse 1 it says you
shall make you no idols
nor graven
nor graven image
neither rear you up a standing
image
neither shall you set up any image
of stone in your land
any
stone in your land
any set up any image of stone
excuse me in your land
would that be a statue of George Washington
would that be the elk statue in downtown
Portland would that be
Portlandia
I don't know why that must be the demon
god of Portland because they haven't
torn that stupid idol down but I wish
it would hey blow up the right stuff
you know Motov cocktail
Portlandia I encourage
you I implore you
but it says we're not
supposed to rear up a standing
image nor set up any
image of stone in your land
like Easter Island
you seen those stone things
on Easter Island what happened
to the people that live there you know there's
no trees on that island not
one tree
that'd be a great place to live anyway
it says
in your land to
bow down unto it
for I am the Lord your
God so there's no excuse
for a Christian to ever do this
turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 15
Deuteronomy chapter 4
verse number 15
it says
take ye therefore
good heed unto yourself
yourselves excuse me
you saw no manner of
similitude in the day that the Lord spake unto you
in Horeb out of the midst of the fire
what's God saying hey when I appeared to you
you didn't see anything you didn't see a body part
Moses saw the hinder parts
of God and his face glowed for like
40 days after that right
Moses saw just the hinder parts
he didn't see God's face because he would have died
but his face
shone for
I think it was either 30 or 40 days I can't
remember which one but anyway
he's saying hey you didn't see
anything and the reason why
is look at verse 16 it says lest
ye corrupt yourselves and make you a
graven image the similitude of any
figure the likeness of male
or female
the likeness of any beast that is on
the earth the likeness of any
winged fowl that fly through
the air you know like the little
Holy Spirit dove that people like
to put on their cars that one too
that's a graven image
it's wicked
you know people just they don't think
about things
they don't think this is the likeness
of any beast on the earth
the likeness of any winged fowl that fly through the air
the likeness of anything that creepeth
on the ground like bugs and stuff
like that and the likeness of any fish
that is in the water beneath the earth
any fish
even the Christian fish that you have
on your car and lest
thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven
and when thou seest the sun
and the moon and the stars even
all the host of heaven
shouldst be driven to worship them
and serve them which the Lord thy
God hath divided unto all
nations under the whole heaven
so God doesn't he didn't
want them to see anything of
him because people would have just made
images and so
you're not
supposed to even worship an image that would be
of God so if God
if people knew what God
looked like they would
make an idol and that would be idolatry
even though it's a picture
of God see like when people have pictures
of Jesus on their wall
you know the Mormon Jesus
he's kind of bronze now
he used to be white now he's kind
of bronzed he's got the bronzer
the long hair
that's
an image of
God
and it's wicked because he doesn't look like that he doesn't have long
hair
and as far as
them being bronze I mean
he was brown I'm sure
you know he lived in the desert so anybody that lives in the
desert even if they're white looks brown
somewhat unless they just like
have the lead umbrella or
whatever you're going to get dark if
you're in the desert regardless so
but it's wicked to have pictures of Jesus
it's wicked to have a crucifix
with Jesus hanging
on it around your neck
it's wicked to walk into
any church building and see any image
of Jesus because we don't
know what he looked like
but I'll guarantee you that he did not
have long hair
he wasn't a Nazarite
he was from Nazareth there is
a difference the Bible doesn't
say that he was a Nazarite ever
he drank
wine you know so
he touched dead bodies
so if you're a Nazarite you're not
allowed to touch dead bodies you're not
allowed to drink wine you're not allowed
to do a lot of different things
and so I don't know if
that's why you know some
queer you know
painted himself
and made himself look like Jesus and that's what everybody
has hanging on their walls Caesar
Borga or whatever some
queer painter who's a fag lover
of Michelangelo or something one of the
Ninja Turtles but
we're not to have images
that's why I mean do you want to have
an image that
some queer drew as your Jesus
I guarantee you he looked nothing
like any of these pictures that
they show him so
God is you know
he's very clear about it we're not supposed to
make them we're not supposed to bow
down to them okay so
and
what is an idol basically it's just a piece
of stone or wood carved
into an image meant to be worshipped
it could be overlaid with gold or
silver or precious jewels
representing a God
so you got
just ones I could think of
well I was writing this Buddha, Shiva
Marduk, Baal, Tammuz
Diana you know
you have that famous story
greatest Diana of the Ephesians
and like the whole
the whole town was given over to idolatry
Apollos
Zeus
and all these different false gods
there's images to them
in Athens
when they came Paul said the whole city
was given over to idolatry
and they even had one
statue of a false God
for the unknown God
and he was like that's the one
that's the one that's the
true God but you know obviously not the
statue part of it but there is a God
that they didn't know about
that was unknown to them
that's what he was trying to preach to them
so they're not real
they have no power
you know I know in movies and stuff like that
they have like I remember the Brady Bunch
when I was a kid I used to watch the Brady Bunch
okay and they had like
an episode where they go to Hawaii
and then they like have this little tiki
that they find who knows what the Brady Bunch
even is anymore okay I just want to make sure
because I say some old stuff
so people don't remember so anyway
this tiki this little
statue was like
you know causing all these things
to happen because it was supposed to have this
magic power in it or something
but that's just superstition
it's just a piece of wood that someone
carved it means nothing
they're not real
except in the minds of the people that
believe in them look at verse 5 back in
our text says for
the other be that are called gods
whether in heaven or in earth
as there be
gods many and lords many
but to us there is but one
god the father
of whom all are all
things and we and him
and one lord Jesus Christ
by whom are all things
and we by
him so it's not
saying that gods oneness okay
there's just one god who manifests himself
in three persons the father the son
and the holy ghost
and these three are one
that's what the bible teaches
the bible doesn't teach that they all
came together to form the
father or whatever
it's a bunch of garbage so
the son and the father
and the holy spirit are all
co-equal and
you know they do have a hierarchy
within the godhead the
father son the holy
ghost but that is
something that they lay down that
power to each other so
anyway I'm not preaching about the trinity but I just wanted to
mention that really quickly but it says
one lord Jesus
Christ of whom are all
things and we
by him he
spoke the world into existence he's the word of god
it says in verse 7 how be it
there is not in every man that knowledge
not everybody knows
about the father of the son and the holy ghost not everybody
knows that there's only one god there's a lot of people in
this world that believe in different gods
now in America that's
not super prevalent but it's
getting more prevalent
I think people just say they're Buddhist
so we'll leave them alone because
they believe such weird stuff
have you ever had it like oh I'm Buddhist
and they just kind of
that's like the I'm
out of here type of thing
like have you ever heard about Jesus yes
I have I have a cousin
who talked to me about it you know
which of course they probably didn't even give
him the real gospel but
it says
how be it
there is not in every man that knowledge
for some with conscience
of an idol unto this hour
eat it as a thing offered
unto an idol and their
conscience being weak is defiled
there's some people that even though they know
it was sacrificed unto an idol
they'll still eat it
and their conscience
being weak is defiled
so you know
and it's not right to do that I don't believe
that it's okay to eat
meat sacrificed unto idols
except if you
don't know that's why you're not supposed to
ask okay
because it really means nothing
there's not some magic juju that
goes into the meat once it's sacrificed
to the idol and you're like oh the spirits
are getting me no that's
that's garbage it's not real
so we're not supposed
to I believe we're not supposed to
eat meat sacrificed unto idols if we know
about it if we know
then we're not supposed to eat it
okay look what it says but
meat committed us not to God
for neither if we eat are we the
better neither if we eat not
are we the worse see what
I'm saying so like if you ate something sacrificed
unto an idol and then later someone told
you that it was it's not going to make
your stomach bloat
and a demon's going to crawl out of here
or something it's it's it means
nothing so it
shouldn't mess with your you know
now if you're eating stuff that you're not supposed
to be like blood
or something strangled
you know obviously there's
this roadkill program
that people just people eat
roadkill I mean it's disgusting
I mean anything
that dies of itself it just drops
over dead you're like hey let's carve him up
there's a reason why it died okay
it's probably old or it's diseased
so we're not supposed to eat stuff like that
we're not supposed to eat things that are strangled why?
because the blood is still in the animal
okay and blood
if it just sits in a body
turns poisonous
and it'll make you sick
anybody hungry? okay so
who's going to Wendy's after church?
who's going to Taco Bell?
can I get a Taco Bell around here?
just kidding
but
look at verse 9 it says
but take heed lest by any means
this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block
to them that are weak
so say you know somebody
walks up and sees you
well it explains it in verse 10
for if any man see
thee which has knowledge sit at meat
in the idol's temple
shall not the conscience of him
which is weak be emboldened to eat
those things which are offered to idols
see emboldened that means
you're just sitting at
a table and some person
walks up to you and they see that you're
you know you're probably just
trying to win some people to cry and obviously
this does not happen in America today
it's not we don't have like
all these Greek gods that people are you know
sacrificing all these things to idols or whatever
this is something that's
you know was way more prevalent back then
but anyway but if they see
you eat something
sacrifice unto an idol
that's going to embolden them that person
which is weak to eat those things
which are
offered to idols and it's wrong
it's wrong to do that it just
says that they're sitting at sit at
meat it didn't say that they're eating
but maybe
they did maybe they know
and that person doesn't know
and they're eating you know
so I don't know
there's different scenarios that could happen
but it says and through
thy knowledge shall the weak brother
perish for whom Christ
died but
when ye sin so against
the brethren and wound their weak
conscience ye sin against
Christ see it is a sin to
encourage someone else to eat
meat sacrifice unto idols to
embolden them to do such
a thing and in a couple weeks
I'm going to prove this way more
I'm going to go to some different scriptures
but I'm not
I just like I said we have a whole another chapter
where that's going to be addressed
so look what it says in verse
number 12
but when he's so sinning
oh never mind verse 13
wherefore if meat
you know meat sacrifice to idols is what it's talking
about that's the context make
my brother to offend
I will eat no flesh while
the world standest
lest I make my brother to
offend so the context
is talking about meat that sacrifice unto
idols right make my brother to
offend I will eat no flesh while the
world standest so because
you know if you're just eating like a hamburger
and someone's a vegetarian and they're like offended by that
I mean
they're the one that's weak alright
and I'm not saying
that like it's wrong to be a vegetarian
but it's the Bible does say it's weak
you know so
that you're not getting all the
nutrients that you would get out of eating
meat you're supposed to eat you know it's okay
to eat meat Jesus ate steak
you know
Abraham served them up a cow
right so
beef that was what was for dinner
there's nothing wrong with that
now but if someone wants to be a vegetarian
that's their prerogative
but I don't
you know I don't think that's the intent
of what the apostle Paul is saying like
if everybody in the church was a vegetarian
and apostle Paul was like
this is a tasty burger
you know it wouldn't be wrong for him to do that
I think that you know
I think that we're allowed to eat whatever we want
basically so
Lewis says wherefore if
meat make my brother to offend
I will eat no flesh while the world standest lest
I make my brother to offend
so again this is not something that we deal
with so much in our day
but
in the time it was written it was a big deal
most of the stuff probably in Greece
and the areas that they were in
the areas that they were traveling in
probably had their meat
sacrificed in the idols
what would you think of it would be like a
modern day equivalent to that
anybody got a good one
halal yeah
and that's the
I think that I'm not like super keen
on what they do with the halal thing
I think I've watched a video about it before
but it's been a long time
anyway so what they
what I've heard that they do is that they
have some imam or something blessed
that meat or something
and so obviously Allah
is a false god
the god of the muslims is not
the god of the bible he's not the same god
that we serve
so if it's blessed by some kind of
imam or leader
of Islam
and you know about that
you know that it was
then you're sinning
by eating that
that's what I believe
and people disagree with that but that's fine
but you know if you don't know
don't ask any questions
you know if it just has some like
some writing on there that you don't
understand
just shut up and eat it I mean you don't know
don't
don't go to some
somebody that speaks Arabic what does this say
it's been blessed
it's halal meat you know
it was so
much cheaper
but
anyway
what else what's another one that
people would do that's modern day
that we would have to be maybe concerned
about the Jews kosher laws
they do this they have rabbis
blessed their whatever
they can't even have cheese and meat on the same
plate that's how weird they are
it's like cheeseburger hello
I mean that's pretty good
so
why would you not want to have a cheeseburger
what's wrong with you the Jews and their lives
so
but
I think that if you know
that it is then you
shouldn't eat it if you know it's
wrong don't do it you know because
it can cause someone to stumble
like hey they're eating kosher
salt sacrificed unto idols
you know and that wounds
that saved person's
weak conscience we shouldn't do that
because it's causing our brother
to offend that's what I think the spirit
of what this is teaching
and again I'll cover more of this
in chapter number 10
I'll tie it all together
but that's the end of the chapter so
let's bow our heads and have a word
of prayer heavenly father we thank you Lord so much
for all the time we've had at this
church building Lord
happy Thursday nights
and just pray that you would bless us
as we go our separate ways tonight
Lord help us with all the things that we're trying to do
have your hand upon us
Lord and
just help us
strengthen us and I pray that you
just bless all the prayer requests that were brought
forth tonight Lord and that you would answer them
according to your will in Jesus' name we pray
Amen
last song page 472
the green hymnals
472
this is my father's world
page 472
this is my father's world sing it out on the first
me in the
thought
of rocks and
trees of skies
and seas
his hand the wonders
wrought
this is
my father's
world
the birds their
carols raise
the
morning light
the lily white
declare
their maker's
praise
this is my
father's world
he shines
in all that's
fair
in the rustling
grass I hear
him pass
he speaks to me
everywhere
this is
my father's
world
oh let me
never forget
that
though the rock
seems off so
strong God is
the ruler
yet
this is my
father's world
the
battle is
not done
Jesus
who died shall be
satisfied
and earth and
heaven be one
Thanks for coming out
this evening to our Thursday service
like to see you back here on
Sunday. Brother Alex, can you
hand us the word of prayer?
Thank you.