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Go stand by there please.
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It's going to cut my hat off.
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Good morning everybody. We're Marker Foundation Baptist Church.
Let's take our boltons together.
You need a boltons to raise your hand brother.
Bring the boltons.
Alright, on the front cover we have our verse of the week.
It says, better is the end of the thing than the beginning thereof.
The patient, the spirit is better than the proudest.
I changed the verse last round but I figured it's the end of the road for this place.
So better is the end than the thing in the beginning thereof.
It's not the end for our church.
Today is our last day in this building meeting together.
It's been a great building for us.
We've outgrown it and now it's time to move on to enlarge our tents and lengthen our states.
Our service finds the Church Foundation Baptist Church Sunday morning service 10.30 am.
Sunday evening service 3.30 pm.
Thursday Bible study is at 6.30 pm.
Just remember that there's no church service this coming Thursday because it's going to be replaced just like Israel was.
So Friday will be our midweek service next week.
So we're going to need all the time we can get.
Make sure that building looks nice over there.
As nice as we can possibly make it.
So I do appreciate everybody's help that's been helping there.
And I know that there's more to come so it's not time to put it yet.
We still need to do a lot of things.
Our soloing time is listed below.
Please let Brandon know if you're planning on going soloing today.
Brandon not going today.
We have the maps already.
Ok great.
So we're going out today.
Make sure that you let Brandon know.
If you're meeting on location just text that in the WhatsApp group.
If you're not in the WhatsApp group you should be.
If you're not you're just technologically deficient.
So where your phone sucks or something like that.
Anyway our regional soloing time is listed below.
So you can look down and see the salvation's baptism.
Brother Wayne had a baptism yesterday.
They had great service.
Last week they had eight first time visitors for their services.
So that church up there is doing very well.
So I think they have more baptisms than we need this year.
So anyway they're doing great up there.
And just wanted to mention that.
We had to shut our church down in England last week because of the Covid.
So but it's back up running this week.
So when the only person that preaches goes down that makes it tough right.
So anyway we also.
Anyway you can see the attendance totals and all that stuff.
That's probably the lowest attendance totals I've seen this year.
But that's because we had like 60 something people down at the Red Hawk Preaching Conference last week.
So anyway so those numbers aren't real.
So anyway the events that are coming up.
Tomorrow is moving day for our church.
And that's going to begin at 9 a.m.
I'm picking up the view hall at 830 driving up straight here.
You can see right out front I have the parking removed.
If anybody's able to be here to make sure that nobody parks in those spots.
That'd be great if you're planning on meeting here in the building.
Can anybody say that they've been able to meet here at 830 or close to 830.
And then just take up those spots.
And when you see the big old U-Haul coming and just move out of the way.
And then we'll just start.
So we've got to get all of this stuff and everything out of here.
I've got the biggest U-Haul you can get.
Two reserve parking spots right there.
So anybody parked.
Does anybody have any parking cones?
Maybe two or three parking cones.
You do?
Are you going to be here though?
Oh you're coming. Okay.
Okay.
Can you bring those cones with you?
And then when we're not here then we'll just put the cones out.
That's a little secret trick that I use at work.
So anyway.
So moving day.
So 9 a.m. until finished.
So we just have to.
What I mean by finished is we have to have everything out of here.
And the U-Haul empty everything over to the other building.
Now they are installing the carpets tomorrow.
For some reason I thought that the 26th was Tuesday and we have like a full day to do that.
But it doesn't matter because we have other doors we can go in.
We're only putting stuff on the left hand side of the church anyway.
So we need to try our best to stay away from the public peoples outside of the room.
But we're just going to put all the chairs and stuff in the fellowship hall.
If you're there moving with us and you haven't seen the building yet.
You'll get a chance to see it.
The carpets are supposed to be installed by Wednesday.
So I don't know what time they're going to be finished.
After that we can begin some of the downstairs cleaning and organizing.
Stuff like that.
Laying the chairs out to code and all that stuff.
Hanging all the fire extinguishers and all that kind of stuff.
Anyway, tomorrow if you can help anytime during the day.
Just please do that.
I'm old.
I can't move like I used to.
I'm going to bump my head.
That's not what I'm trying to do.
I'm trying to come up with all these excuses.
But my head really is bad.
I can use some help.
I appreciate all the people helping thus far.
It's been great.
It's almost done.
Let's see what else we got.
The sign is being installed on the 29th.
So that's good because people won't have a chance to shoot it out before we have our first meeting.
So that would be great.
We can't promise anything after that.
But it's a big sign if you look at the building.
The sign is going to be UH.
It's going to be great.
Anyway, we should be all ready for Friday.
Brother Robert, do you need help with anything as far as the sound?
Do you have someone helping you?
How about the tent team?
The 20 is down.
He's sick.
Anyone know how to do a tent team?
Can I do a tent team?
Can you watch a YouTube video?
So we have the outside letters like we have here.
The snow will be going on the outside of the building.
So that's not a good problem.
All that stuff is coming in to sleep.
So anyway, lots of stuff to do.
So I've been on the 26th.
Cleaning day for the old church.
That will be Tuesday.
So if any of you ladies have been asking,
hey, what can I do to help?
Well, I'm getting this place cleaned up.
I'm ready to transfer back to the owner.
With the mucho appreciate-o on Tuesday.
Whatever time you can come.
I'll let you ladies figure it out.
So obviously, we need this building cleaned.
We also need the new building cleaned.
So we're going to get this cleaned up.
We're going to get this cleaned up.
And then we also need the new building cleaned.
My wife, Mishila, spent several hours over cleaning up the upstairs.
So it's so big that they didn't get it done.
So it's a big area.
And it was pretty gnarly.
So the toilets look good again.
And it doesn't look all nasty.
But we do have a bathroom that's out.
So when we start next week, don't use that urinal in the upstairs, guys.
Because it's leaking.
We'll clean it up.
So anyway, so that's all I can think about for what we need to do this week.
Obviously, there's lots of, you know, I think Brother Pat said he was going to help set up the speaker stuff.
Brother Robert, do you want to coordinate with Brother Pat and Brother Sean about that?
So there's speakers all throughout the building.
And so like in the mom baby rooms and just all throughout, like, the speakers, the sermons will be pumped through.
But we'll also have our regular speakers as normal.
So anyway, we just got a lot to do this week.
And then we can all just relax and watch Pastor Nicky preach.
Including myself.
Yes, sir?
Depending on where the park people park, you might need some cones or some kind of traffic on that side.
Yeah, I know. I was thinking about that.
Because I can park it pretty tight.
But yeah, they might need that space there too.
So there might be times when we have to just drag it from this side of the building or something.
Hopefully, hopefully we'll have time, but we can just not be in their way.
So I don't want to be in their way. I don't want to bother them.
Because the longer it takes to do the longer it's going to take us to do all the chairs.
So anyhow, yeah, we'll figure all that out.
And we've got a parking bunch that we needed there too.
So we might have to, I might have to sit by someone or something.
Anyway, so Pastor Nicky is preaching for us.
That's the inaugural kickoff for our new building.
7pm Friday night.
It should be a packed house.
And Pastor Nicky will be there preaching for us.
So I'm going to pray for his travels.
I know the sickness is going around in a lot of the churches and stuff.
I don't know where that came from.
But there's been a lot of people that have been sick.
So let's pray for those people that have been sick. Don't forget about them.
July 31st is our Solany Marathon.
We'll meet at the new building for breakfast at 9.30am.
Solany at 1.
Solany in session 1 is going to be 10.30 to 12.30.
Lunch at 1pm to 2pm.
Solany in session 2, 2pm to 4pm.
Then we'll be done.
And so that'll be that day.
I'm going to provide lunch also and breakfast.
And then August 1st is our first Sunday in the building.
I'll be preaching at 10.30am.
Then Pastor Jones will be flying in that day and flying out that night.
Just to come spend time with us.
So make sure you appreciate him for that.
Then I was thinking we could all meet up at the Golden Tent after our...
You guys ready to go back?
It's been a while.
So they still have good food.
I know everybody got kind of burnt out on it.
Anyway, I'm going to stop taking the line.
But if that's what's going on, if you have any questions, keep this bulletin.
Don't call me.
Don't ask them whatsoever.
You've got this right here.
This is the schedule for this week.
If you have any questions or not addressing these bullet points right here, then you can call me.
I'm just teasing you.
You can call me if you want to.
I just won't answer.
We're a family-integrated church.
I think some children may as well.
We're in the church services.
We do have mother-baby rooms available for convenience.
These are sort of the back rows of families with young children.
No men are allowed in the baby rooms.
The mother-baby rooms, no moms in the dad-baby rooms.
Please just caution.
I'm going down the stairs, latching the baby gates.
That's the last time.
I'm going to have to tell you about that, I think.
And then please no food in the assembly area.
And silence your cell phones, please.
Escorts to vehicles, finding ushers are available for your convenience.
Please just tap on the ushers on the shoulder.
They should have a button on their shirt that says Usher.
Oh my God.
I'm proud of you guys.
So they would be happy to walk into your car.
It should be needed.
And online donations are available at shirtfoundation.com
or you can text give to the number that's there on the page.
And we have a couple of birthdays.
So Beatrice and Sophie.
Beatrice and Sophie, where are you?
Hi.
Are you 25 now?
How old are you?
Six.
And how old are you?
She doesn't want to say.
She said when are we supposed to keep silence in church?
That's what I thought.
She's not with us.
That's what I thought, she's not with us.
I'm just kidding.
Alright, so let's sing.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, God bless you.
Happy birthday to you.
Alright, we'll sing another song and then we'll receive the offering.
Are you using this?
Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 24.
So I'll sing that one first.
Who shall sing to the hymn of the Lord?
Lord, who shall sing in his holy praise?
Be that man, be that man, be that man.
For all that thou lived,
throughout this world,
and so be he,
the Son and the Holy.
Who shall receive the blessing of the Lord?
The church is full of his salvation,
as is the general mission of the sacred.
Let's sing our praise from Jerusalem.
Let our praise, your peace,
in the end of life,
the last thing first,
and the kingdom,
the location of the day,
through this time of glory,
the Lord holds on in the light,
the Lord Almighty in heaven.
Let our praise,
your peace,
in the end of life,
the last thing first,
be that man, be that man,
the Holy.
Who shall receive the blessing of the Lord?
The Lord, the Lord,
who shall receive the blessing of the Lord?
Let our praise, your peace,
in the end of life,
the last thing first,
the Lord holds on in the light,
the last thing first,
the Lord holds on in the light,
And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord
and an house for his kingdom.
And Solomon told out three score and ten thousand men to bear burdens
And four-score thousand to queue in the mountains
And three thousands and six hundred to oversee them.
And Solomon sent to Purim the king of Tyre saying
As thou didst deal with David my father
And didst send him cedars to build him an lease
to build him in house to dwell therein, even so, deal with me.
Behold, I build in house to the name of the Lord my God,
to be dedicated to him, and to burn before him sweet incense,
and for the continual showbread, and for the birth offerings, morning and evening,
on the Sabbath, and on the New Moons, and on the silent feast of the Lord our God.
This is an ordinance forever to Israel,
and the house which I build is great, for great is our God above all gods.
But who is able to build him in house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens,
cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him in house,
save only to burn sacrifice before him?
Send me now, therefore, a man cunning to work in gold,
and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and in crimson, and in blue,
and that can skill to brave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem,
whom David my father did provide.
Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and album trees out of Lebanon,
for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon.
And behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
even to prepare me timber in abundance,
for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that cut timber,
twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley,
and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
Then Huron the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent this hour,
Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.
Huron said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son,
endued with prudence and understanding,
that might build an house for the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.
And now I have sent a coming man, endued with understanding, of Huron my father's,
the son of a woman of the daughter of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre,
skillful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone and in timber,
in purple, in blue, in fine linen and in crimson,
also to grave any manner of braving,
and to find out every device which shall be put to him,
with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my Lord David thy father.
Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine which my Lord hath spoken of,
let him send unto his servants, and we will cut wood out of Lebanon,
as much as thou shalt need,
and we will bring it to thee, and float by sea to Japheth,
and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.
And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel,
after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them,
and they were found in hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred,
and he set three score and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens,
and four score thousand to be hewers in a mountain,
and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people to work.
Brother Sean.
Brother Robert, would you pray for us?
Lord, thank you for the chance to be in your house here today, Lord.
Bless and preach in all our souls.
And I'll pass it around to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, give us all the years to hear Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen. Amen. All right, well, in the Second Chronicles,
we have the story of Solomon preparing to build the temple
and all the men that he needed and all the supplies.
And so I thought it would be fitting, since we're going into a new building,
to preach about the importance of a building.
Now, obviously, I don't believe that we have to have a building to be a church.
The building is not the church.
The church is the people gathered together at wherever place they're gathered at.
But the physical building is still important,
because it was important in the Old Testament.
Obviously, you had the tabernacle, which was like a building that they could move
whenever God told them to move.
It was made beautiful.
It was done with laborers and cunning, crafty people
that were able to do all the things that were required,
that God required them to do.
And there's nothing wrong with having a nice building.
Now, in the New Testament, I don't believe that the focus
is on how beautiful the building is.
And a lot of times, you see preachers and pastors
and different kinds of churches.
You see these big old cathedral-style buildings
that are made out of brick and very expensive.
Like, if you were to build a building like some of the ones
that you see around downtown Portland,
they would cost millions and millions of dollars.
And I don't think that it's so important that we have buildings
that are worth millions and millions of dollars tonight.
So, I mean, that's not what I'm focusing on today.
But I do think it is important to have a building,
because y'all are here today sitting in chairs.
We're not sitting in the blazing sun somewhere.
We're not hiding in a cave.
You know, it is important to have a building
and the fact that it can help us to be more effective
to reach people and to do the work that we're called to do.
It doesn't have to be pretty.
It does help, though.
When people walk in and the church looks like it's in ruins,
or they look at the outside and people are sleeping in front of it,
or there's cigarette butts laying in front of it, beer bottles.
I mean, people are going to be like,
yeah, maybe this isn't the church I want to go to.
You know, some people are just superficial like that,
but obviously I don't want to walk in the church that looks like that either.
So, but it helps to have a nice building.
It helps to have some things be beautiful,
but, you know, we're not replacing all the windows with the new building
and putting stained glass, you know, the picture, you know,
and we're not, like, going super crazy with the remodel,
because, first of all, we don't own the building,
so why am I going to do something like that?
And I probably wouldn't do that even if we did own the building.
So I think that people take it too far from extreme,
but I do still think that having a building is important,
because guess what?
Every single pastor that I'm friends with,
we all have buildings, you know, at least for now.
So if we're trying to stop our ability to be able to have buildings,
and so things can get more difficult,
it might come to the point where some of us need to buy a building,
and I would definitely love to buy a building.
I've always talked about having the most put in with the alligators
and machine gun turrets on the top and, you know, minefields,
or case people, you know, I wouldn't really do that,
but it's kind of a good one.
So, but, you know, because people are blowing up church buildings
and not getting equipment used, you know,
that whole thing happened, and, like, there was no response to it,
and the FBI supposedly couldn't find the people that built it.
Right.
They couldn't just follow all the cameras that were all around town,
and town went harder driving in and zoomed in on their license plate.
Believe me, they could find them if they really wanted to.
I think it's very unrealistic to say that they couldn't have caught those people.
They just don't want to catch them, you know?
So, anyway, I want to do some introduction here,
and it's going to be a little bit of an introduction.
I'm going to try to zoom through the points here.
But let's look at 1 Chronicles chapter, or excuse me,
1, or Colossians chapter 1, I'm thinking Chronicles, okay.
Colossians chapter 1, verse 27, I'm sorry.
Colossians 1, 27.
So, we need to keep in perspective how God views the church,
the building, the temple, and all those things in the New Testament,
because things have changed.
The Aaronic priesthood has been done with,
the Levitical priesthood has been done away with,
and there's a lot of changes that were made
because of Christ coming and dying for us on the cross
and being buried and rose from the dead.
That whole Levitical priesthood system,
or the sacrifices, and all that stuff,
and the candle burning all the time,
the menorah, or whatever people want to call it,
it's just a candle with a lamp with oil in it, right?
So seven, you know, that's what they call the menorah.
I don't call it that, all right?
I just wanted to let you know what I was talking about.
So, anyway, all this stuff that they made
for the Old Testament town hackle and for the temple,
you know, we don't need to have that stuff here today,
because we're not under that system.
There's no altar where we sacrifice animals.
This is not an altar. It has stairs on it.
So, therefore, it cannot, by definition, even be an altar.
An altar is a place where you bring your sacrifices.
So, you know, when people lay down on the altar
in these churches that they go to,
it's just really weird because, I don't know,
I guess they're burning themselves on the fake altar
with stairs on it that God said not to do.
Anyway, the only other clause in 1.7 says,
to whom God would make it known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
So, the fact that Christ is in us,
the Holy Spirit dwells within us,
we're sealed up to the day of redemption,
is also a change, you know,
the Holy Spirit would come upon people,
and the Holy Spirit could leave people in the Old Testament.
So, now, the Holy Spirit dwells the believer
and will never leave them,
and they're still in the day of redemption.
So, things have changed a little bit.
Now, God's glory would come upon, you know,
came upon the temple after, you know,
Solomon did all the sacrifices,
and God was filled in there,
we couldn't even see, and so things are different.
So, but now that dwelling place is within us,
and when we all gather together,
we all have the Spirit of God in us,
Christ in us, and when we're gathered together,
we are the New Testament church.
Luke chapter 17, verse 20,
check out Luke chapter 17, verse number 20,
just want to preach this,
or teach some of these concepts to you
about the difference between the New Testament
and the Old Testament building.
So, anyway, Luke 17, 20 says,
when he was demanded of the Pharisees
when the kingdom of God should come,
he answered them and said, let's talk about Jesus,
the kingdom of God cometh not with observation,
neither shall they say lo here or lo there,
for behold, the kingdom of God is,
what's it say?
Within you.
So, now look at 1 Corinthians chapter three, verse 16.
So, ultimately the Bible teaches
that we are the temple in the New Testament.
So, look at 1 Corinthians chapter three, verse 16,
it says, know ye not that ye are the temple of God?
So, who's the temple of God?
We are.
Ye all, all right?
If you're saved,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you,
if any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy,
for the temple of God is holy,
in which temple you are.
And that's a real quick verse, right?
That's super clear.
So, we are the temple of God,
and so, you know the Bible says not to grieve the Spirit,
not supposed to grieve the Holy Ghost,
because he dwells within us.
And so, the more you sin,
or wherever you take the Holy Spirit,
he's going with you.
If you think about that,
God's going with you wherever you go.
So, if you're going to the bar on the weekends,
God's with you there.
Do you think God wants to be in the bar?
Probably not.
As a matter of fact,
I know he doesn't want to take the bar.
So, look at 1 Corinthians chapter six,
verse 19.
1 Corinthians chapter six, verse 19.
The Bible says,
what, know ye not that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you,
and ye have of God,
and ye are not your own.
You're not your own anymore.
Christ redeemed you once you got saved.
You've been redeemed,
and you're not your own.
You've been bought with a price, right?
And the Bible says that your body is that temple,
which the Holy Ghost dwells within.
So, things have changed.
The Old Testament tabernacle,
the Old Testament temple,
both things are also done away
because God is within each and every single believer.
And so, we don't need some special building
where we have to go and worship once a year or whatever.
We have what's called local New Testament churches.
So, in turn to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24.
Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 24.
Now, we are supposed to gather together now.
So, even though we don't have some special temple
we have to go to,
we are still commanded, commanded,
to go and gather together.
All right, look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 says,
and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
So, right now we're assembled together
and that's what God commands you to do.
Not forsaking, we're not supposed to forsake that.
We're not supposed to say,
hey, you know, I want to do this or that.
We need to be in church.
As much as the doors are open,
we should be at church.
And again, where does our church meet?
We meet at this building right here.
So, the building doesn't make the church,
it's the people in the building that make up the church,
the assembling of the believers.
And it says, as the manner of some is.
Some people have a manner of just sitting in church
and not coming,
they just think it's not important, you know,
but here's what it also says,
but exhorting one another and so much the more
as you see the day approaching.
So, are we supposed to go to church more or less?
We're supposed to go to church more.
What day approaching is it talking about?
The day of Christ.
The day that Christ returns.
So, are we closer today than we were yesterday
for Christ's coming?
Absolutely.
So, every day we move on,
we should be going to church more.
You're like, you guys go to church three times a week
and you have special this and special that.
I know.
We're supposed to go to church more.
Does the Bible say how many days of church
you have supposed to have a week?
It doesn't say that, but I'll tell you what.
In the first church in Acts,
the first New Testament church in Acts,
they gathered together every day.
So, maybe I should just institute everyday church.
Maybe that'll help you out.
Maybe we get closer to God.
Who knows?
There'll be some skeleton services, I'm sure,
because you'll be like, he's ridiculous.
Okay, I guess the apostles in Acts were ridiculous too.
I'm not going to really do that though.
I'm just saying if we did have,
maybe we had a week where we just had church every day.
Would you come?
You know, these old IFB guys,
they'll have like revival services for a week,
which they don't really know what revival means.
It's just some evangelists getting up
and ripping people's faces off,
but they don't really do that anymore.
They come in and build radials
and talk about movies and stories and Jews
and stupid things, Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, or whatever.
A bunch of stuff that's just fluff, no Bible.
Now, I'm sure that there are evangelists that come here today,
but they're limited by what they can do.
You know, they go to the pastor
and probably ask for permission to preach,
so they're not even free to preach
the whole counsel of God on a lot of cases.
They have to call and ask for wives
to wear pants or dresses before the service.
I actually knew missionaries that they would call,
they would get into town,
and they would call and ask the pastor
if women are allowed to wear pants at church.
His wife wanted to wear pants at church.
Anyway, that's a weird question to ask,
but look, we need to go to church more
as the day approaches.
Isn't that what it says?
Mine says you're making that up
so you don't have to come to church here, kind of thing?
No, I'm doing that so you can come and exhort people
and so you can provoke unto love and good works.
How are you going to provoke someone to love and good works
if you're not even here?
You've got to be here in the house of the Lord.
Maybe you need to be provoked to do something good,
but if you're not here,
how can someone even do that for you?
It says, for if we sin willfully,
so what does that tell you right there?
It says if we sin willfully.
What does that mean?
If you don't assemble, it's sin.
So if it's sin, then maybe you should start coming to church
as much as the doors are open.
I'm not saying, look,
I know people travel from a long way away.
I'm not saying if you miss every once in a while,
you're a wicked rebel bait or something like that.
I'm just saying that if you can be here, be here.
Quit making excuses and stay out of church.
It's sin.
It says if we sin willfully,
after we receive the knowledge of the truth,
there remains no more sacrifice for sins.
So if you're sinning willfully by not coming to church,
you're not right with God, period.
It says, but a certain fearful looking for judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
Do you want what the adversaries are getting?
I don't.
I don't really have a choice
of whether I can come to church or not.
I can't just put my finger up
and see how the wind's blowing and say,
you know, I'll just have somebody else preach for me.
Now, if I'm sick, I'll do that.
But most of the time, I'm here
unless I'm preaching someplace else.
So it says, you know,
he that despised Moses' law died without mercy
under two or three witnesses.
I mean, this is a pretty harsh language, right?
But people say, oh, going to church is not big of a deal.
You know, I went once.
But what were you doing on the times
that you could have gone
when you should have been here, you know?
God uses some harsh language here
because he takes it very seriously.
And you know what?
You should too.
But he said, you know,
so much the more,
as you see the day approach,
that means he wants to go to church more.
I mean, isn't that,
you guys speak English in here?
That's what it says, right?
So I'm not reading anything into it.
It's just what the text says.
Turn to Proverbs chapter five, verse 14.
Proverbs five, verse 14.
The Bible says,
I was almost and all evil
in the midst of the congregation
and assembly.
So a lot of times the Bible
defines things for us.
Congregation and assembly
are basically the same thing.
If everybody assembles here,
you're the church of someone here.
If you're the congregation of the Lord,
that means a bunch of people
that are congregating together,
which is also like the same as assembly.
Revelation 21, verse three.
This is where the future
tabernacle of God will be.
Look what it says.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them
and be their God.
So there's gonna be a time
when God's actually gonna physically
live with us in the same place.
New Jerusalem, right?
And so we'll actually be able to see
God at some point.
We'll be able to, you know,
see the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it says the tabernacle of God
will be with men.
So we have the Holy Spirit.
That's not gonna change.
But there's gonna be a time
when we actually, you know,
right now we just pray out of faith.
Has anybody here seen Jesus before?
No?
Anybody ever seen God's Father here before?
No.
There's gonna be a time when we will.
That's gonna be a great day.
And so that's what the future holds for us.
But let me define, also,
what a church is.
Because a lot of people have this confused.
A church can be
just some heat and organization.
It doesn't have to be
the church, like, the New Testament church.
Look at Hebrews chapter 12,
or 2 verse 12.
Hebrews chapter 2 verse 12.
Otherwise I'm having to flip to a lot of verses,
but that's not unusual.
Hebrews chapter 2 verse 12
says,
It's the same,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren
in the midst of the church,
will I sing praise unto thee.
So in the midst of the church,
so now,
well, you don't have to hold your finger there,
but now turn to Psalm chapter 22.
You can hold your finger there
and look back for it if you want,
but it's the same.
This verse in Hebrews
was quoted from Psalm 22, 22.
And it says,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren
in the midst of the congregation,
will I praise thee.
You're like, Pastor Thompson,
that's a contradiction.
That was a lot of contradiction.
The fact is,
the church and congregation
mean the exact same thing, right?
So,
and when you're talking about
the congregation of the Lord,
that is the church of the Lord.
So people congregate
for all kinds of different things.
Turn to Acts chapter 19 verse 37.
People congregate
for all sorts of things.
You know,
the Masons congregate also.
And so if it's,
if they congregate,
that would be
a church, right?
So church and congregation
mean the same thing.
Look at Acts 19 verse 37.
I'll prove to you
that other people
can be called churches.
Like, people just act like
church is this,
you know, mystical thing,
but it's not.
It's just the word
that means congregation.
If you look up the word
congregation
in the Old Testament,
you're gonna see it
multiple times
talking about the
congregation of the Lord.
Now,
look what it says
in Acts 19 verse 37.
It says,
For ye have brought hither
these men,
which are neither robbers of,
what's it say?
Churches.
It's not talking about
Christian churches.
It's talking about,
what,
nor yet blasphemers
of your goddesses.
So this is when,
you know,
they were saying,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
And basically,
this person's coming
and trying to
calm everything down.
He says,
they're not robbers of churches.
Meaning,
they're not coming
and taking idols,
you know,
out of their congregations.
Because there was,
you know,
Baal had his own congregation.
You know,
so there was all kinds
of other congregations.
But when we're talking
about the church
of the living God,
that's talking about
the assembly of believers.
The congregation
of believers.
So,
like I said,
the Old Testament church
was different.
So,
the church
had a tabernacle
they specifically
had to go to.
The church had
a temple
that was
a temple
that was
a temple
that they were
supposed to meet at.
And they had
to have song feasts
and all these other things.
But now,
there's multiple congregations.
Multiple churches.
So,
when the
Roman Catholic Church says,
you know,
the church,
they mean this
invisible
fake church
that
they say that
all believers
are part of this
universal church.
It's just not true
because
if they're not
all gathered together
then they're not
a church.
Because I just proved
that the church
means congregation
today
and assembly.
So,
now look at
Zechariah chapter 7
or excuse me
chapter 4 verse 9.
So,
the Old Testament
church
in the wilderness
and the
tabernacle
the temple
made by Solomon
and then later on
Zerubbabel
rebuilt
the temple
that was destroyed.
Look at
Zechariah
chapter 4 verse 9
it says,
the hands of
Zerubbabel
are
the hands of
Zerubbabel
have laid
the foundation
of this house
his hands shall
also finish it
and thou shalt know
that the Lord
of hosts
hath sent
me unto you.
So,
Zerubbabel
actually
is the one
that laid
the foundation
and the Bible
says
that's a prophecy
right there
so it didn't come
true
that Zerubbabel
actually
laid the foundation
for the house
of the Lord
and he's
surprised that
he's the one
that laid the
foundation
amen
he's the sure
foundation
and then he
also finished
all the works
it's a good
picture
I mean
Bursch just
kinda jumped
out at me
yesterday
I thought it was
great
but the building
like I said
was important
in the Old Testament
but it was
different
so our building
here
we don't
have a
cave
wherever it is
we're still
supposed to
meet
so if they
took this
building away
or they took
the building
away that we're
moving into
we should go
to someplace
where we can
all meet
together and
still have
a church service
and the church
should come
together and
assemble
so I just
wanted to lay
all that out
for you
and now I'm
going to
tell you
what I
wanted people
to understand
like there is
a difference
like a lot
of people
you know
the church
that we
went to a
couple of
churches ago
the church
burnt down
and that's
like that's
all they
talked about
that's
all they
focused on
they literally
they would
say that
the church
is the building
that they
rebuilt it
to where
they
you know
it's all
beautiful
and gorgeous
and all the
stuff
but the
spirit of
that church
is gone
that
candlestick
is removed
there
they don't
even go
soloing
so
you know
you can be
what's
called the
local new
testament church
so it
doesn't matter
how beautiful
your building is
it matters what
you're teaching
out of the bulk
of what
you're doing
as the work
of the Lord
taco feast
and camp
camp drives
and all this
other stuff
and ladies
bible study
and all the
other things
that people
put as ministries
are not
what God
hoped to do
is say get
out there
and win souls
prayers
so i'm going to
just show you
some things
today where i think
it's important
for us to
have a nice
building
but it doesn't
have to be
you know
a palace or
something right
so look at
verse number one
let's go back to
first chronicles
chapter two
and look at
what the
bible says there
first chronicles
or excuse me
second chronicles
chapter two
verse number
one says
and psalm
determined
and psalm
determined
to build
an house
for the name
of the Lord
and an house
for his kingdom
so applying that
to the new
testament well
is there anything
wrong with us
building a house
to the Lord
absolutely not
is there anything
wrong with us
trying to further
his kingdom
absolutely not
that's what
we're trying to do
moving into this
new building
we've outgrown
this building
and we need
bigger space
I wish that we
didn't have to
move away
from his
you know
I wish he would
have had a building
and we could
have stuck with him
because he stuck
with us
through a lot of
hard times where
we would have
problems with
other people
so
but I
believe it's
fine to
have it happen
we don't have
to even build
that building
it's already built
for us
it's pretty nice
it's like
just taking over
first Timothy
chapter 3
verse 15
first Timothy
3
verse 15 says
but if I
tarry long
that thou mayest
know how thou
oughtest
to behave
thyself
in the house
of God
which is the
church
or the
congregation
or something
of the living
God
the pillar
and ground
of the truth
so
the church
is the
eighth
in the house
of God
so in the
New Testament
the Bible
still calls the
church
the house
of God
isn't it
just like
Solomon
called it
I'm going to
build an
house
for God
for the Lord
for his
kingdom
so there's
still
a house
of God
and that
is the
standing rock
it could be
a small rock
too
but what do
you know
about pillars
pillars aren't
necessarily
beautiful
you know
was Christ
beautiful
did Christ
need to be
some handsome
looking guy
no he was
just an
ordinary guy
you know
a pillar
could just
be a
regular rock
but what
that rock
is is
you know
Christ is
pictured as
a rock
and it was
never
like here
polish these
rocks
and make
an altar
in the Old
Testament
it was
hey
just put
some rocks
and that
can be
your altar
so ground
wouldn't that
be what
ground is
earth
a foundation
so I mean
the picture
here
is that
solid ground
on it
that is
good enough
to be called
the church
and it's
the ground
of the
truth
so the truth
has to be
thundered
forth
out of
the local
New Testament
church
the house
of God
is us
gathered together
but if we're
gathered together
in this building
it's still
the house
of God
isn't it
I'm just gonna
start reading
cause I got a
lot of stuff
never
Acts 2 46
and they
continuing
daily
with one
accord
in what
the temple
and breaking
bread
from house
to house
they eat
their meat
with gladness
and signalness
apart
so they
continue daily
I brought
that up
before
but the
point is
you know
and I'm sure
that that was
you know
they were at odds
they were being
dragged before
the judgment
seats
were doing that
but at first
they did
meet in the
temple
that's what
they
would eat
they would
preach the
gospel
people
but
you know
the place
where we
meet
doesn't matter
but
it is good
in every house
they cease
not to teach
and preach
Jesus Christ
so again
in Acts chapter 5
they're still
daily meeting
and they're in
the temple
and in every house
so now
Romans chapter 16
verse 5
Romans chapter 16
verse 5
so proposing
to have
a nice building
is a
it's a good
thing
does it have
to be nice
though
no it doesn't
it was nice
back then
it didn't
you know
they walked
Jesus looked
at all the
buildings
and how
beautiful it was
so they
weren't meeting
in a nice building
for a while
you know
and some
things
went sideways
but it says
likewise
greet the
church
that is
in their
house
salute my
well-beloved
Aphenitis
and or
and all these
places
but Paul's
talking about
a place where
there was a
church in a house
and it talks about
that in multiple
verses of the
New Testament
so there's nothing
wrong with having
it start in a house
Pastor Jimenez
started his church
in a house
Pastor Anderson
started his church
in a house
where we started
our church
right here
and it was
already kind of
ready for us
to move into
and you know
it suited us
to do the things
that we do
could we still
do them
absolutely
we could
but it's nice
it's a convenience
to have a building
so anyway
I'll get into that
more in my third point
but point number two
a building project
requires laborers
a building project
requires laborers
look at verse two
in our text
it says
in Solomon
pulled out
three score
and ten thousand men
we don't have
that many people
in our church
but anyway
it says
to bear burdens
to work hard
they're carrying
heavy things
it says
and four score
thousand to
hew in the mountains
now
it's a good thing
we have like
car lumber
and things like that
we don't have to do
that kind of stuff
for our building project
but
it says
and three thousand
six hundred
to oversee them
and so it's also
important like
when you're doing
some kind of
building project
you have people
that are overseeing
the work
at the building
I just kind of
volunteered them
and he was like
I don't know
but I appreciate that
but it takes
you know
we don't need
thirty six hundred
overseers
and
you know
two workers
we need
more and more
you know
this is you know
to scale
basically
three score
and ten thousand
and seventy thousand men
to do this great
big project
so thankfully
we don't need
that many
but again
it's important
and it's important
when we're trying
to get a building
ready to go
that we have
people to actually
do the labor
so again
I just want to
thank all the
multiple people
that have helped
with this project
and you know
even with the
whole building
there's been a lot
of work that's
gone into here
and you know
it doesn't go
unnoticed
and you know
if it goes
unthanked
I apologize
but I'm thanking
you right now
for all the great
things that have
been done so far
but again
it's not finished yet
so don't just say
ok I've done
everything
I still need
your help
the church
needs your help
so turn to
Ecclesiastes
chapter five
verse twelve
that's a great
verse about
laboring men
see without
laboring men
nothing in this
world would
get done
because labor
is just
physical labor
it's just
blue collar work
you know all
these people
that are in
these offices
in downtown
Portland
are working
from home
now but
working in
these offices
and stuff
somebody had
to build
that building
and it wasn't
them
they might
break a nail
you know
these guys
but you know
there's a lot
of white
collar workers
that are
hard workers
too I'm not
trying to
you know
we have an
infrastructure here
in this city
and somebody
had to put
that infrastructure
in with
laborers
someone had
to put that
infrastructure in
Portland that's
got potholes
all over the
street now
because there's
not enough
work getting
done but
the infrastructure
has to get
done but
like at a
church we
have to put
the work in
to get the
church ready
so it's great
that we're
having a new
building but
we need to
also maintain
it and take
care of it
and not just
treat it like
a dumpster
so
but look at
the police
he asks his
512 says
the sleep
of a laboring
man is
sleep
so hopefully
you guys
I'm trying
to help you
to get some
extra sleep
or at least
some sleep
maybe it's
because the
rich will
not suffer
in the sleep
so even
if you
if you're
working really
hard whether
you eat a
big dinner or
not you're
gonna sleep
well so
that's your
that's a good
prize for
being a laborer
so I'm thankful
for the blue
collar laborers
in our church
we have a lot
of blue collar
people in
our church and
I'm thankful
for that
point number
Solomon sent
to Hurom
the king
of Tyre
saying as
thou didst
deal with
David my father
and didst
send him
cedars to
build him
a house
to dwell
therein
even so dwell
with me
so David
was friends
with this king
of Tyre
and now
Solomon
is dealing
with him
also
the old
I build
a house
for him
sweet incense
for the continual
showbread
for the
burnt offerings
morning and
evening
on the
Sabbath
on the
new moons
on the
psalm feast
of the
Lord
our God
for this
is an
ordinance
forever
to
Israel
so
but now
it's not
something that
we do in
the New
Moon
we don't
have to do
any of that
anymore
but we do
have work
to do
and we've
been doing
the work
for five
years now
almost
and three
years at
Sure Foundation
Baptist Church
but you know
my father
pastor Jimenez
you know
basically
planted this
church
I'm just
saying that
you know
as if
don't think
that
I'm just
saying
as a
picture
it fits
so
pastor Jimenez
you know
he's the one
that started
this church
and so
now we're
moving on
to build
a better
church
building
for God's
glory
and this
church has
worked out
great
this church
building's
worked out
to the Lord
and for his
work
and you know
for places
for us
to meet
and congregate
and get
everything done
so it says
verse five
in the house
which I
build is
great
for great
is our
God above
all gods
so everything
we should do
there
should be
excellent
everything that
we
endeavor to do
should be
we're gonna
get
things like
that
you know
but
you know
an ox
is a beast
that does
a lot of
hard work
so
hey
if we're
not gonna
do any
work
it can
look like
a museum
it can
look like
amazing
great
Baptist
church
where
you gotta change
his hay
you gotta muck
the stalls
and all that
stuff
and you gotta
feed
water
so
you know
we're
we're a
working church
we go in
and put in
hard work
so sometimes
it's gonna get
messed up
doesn't mean
we don't
clean it
right
you listen to
pastors
and then
it's a
sermon on
the temple
so
but that first
temple
was built for
God
to get all
that work
done
did they have
a day
a lot of
work to do
there
but a lot
of it was
carnal compared
to the things
that we do
now
you know
the main
thing
is to get
people safe
amen
so
but our purpose
in the new
chapter twenty
eight verse
nineteen
what did
Jesus say
that we're
supposed to
do
chapter twenty
eight
verse
nineteen
says
go you
there for
and teach
all nations
baptizing
in the name
of the
father
and of the
son and
the holy
ghost
so we're
supposed to
teach all
nations
and get them
saved
baptizing
them
in the name
of the
father
son and
the holy
ghost
teaching
them to
observe all
things
not just
some things
not just
the things
that people
like
not just
only
teach
love
it has to
be a
balance
of what
God's
giving us
as long as
we're
doing the
mission that
God has
given us
as long as
we're
going out
and fulfilling
the great
mission and
that you
know when
I preach
I'm just
not holding
things back
and saying
I don't know
I might lose
a tiger if
I say this
that's what
other pastors
do that's
what other
preachers do
asking questions
to the people
in the congregation
you keep that
you know
tiptoeing
around it
because that
church you
know has
been known
to fire
pastors you
know and
that's what
happens when
you have a
wrong balance
you have to
have a right
balance and
the balance
where the
deacons run
the church
building and
run everything
that goes on
in the church
pastor friend
that I went
to his church
a long time
ago and he
was supposed
to take over
for an old
pastor and
he was there
for a long
time and
then the
pastor just
never retired
he's like in
his 90s or
something he
refused to
retire but
like you know
this my
pastor friend
was just like
you know
whatever whatever
the time is
and then they
did a business
a vote of a
business meeting
is gone is
that how
church is
supposed to be
run absolutely
not so things
have to be
done in the
proper order
and you know
we can't we
can't do
things out of
balance so
what have what's
the kind of
work that's
going on in
this church and
church building
and the building
that we're
going to move
on to well
bible preaching
it's not
censored so
but a lot of
people won't
even go into
go to a church
if it's at a
house a lot of
people won't
even go to
church if it's
in a building
storefront like
we have here
a lot of people
won't go into
a building that
looks rough on
the outside
and okay on
the inside or
whatever i mean
it doesn't
matter like if
you look at
pastor men's
building does
it look like
this outside
gold pristine
building now
right next door
and a pot shop
used to be right
next to it you
know the church
the building
we're moving into
now there's a pot
shop right next
door don't let
me catch you
going in there
i will eat you
but yeah
pull me by the
hair but you
know there's
obviously i found
out there's
some homeless
issues there so
that's kind of
annoying but
you know it
doesn't matter
what our building
looks like on
the outside
necessarily
it doesn't have
to be the temple
that harry built
it doesn't have
to be the temple
that is ruleable
finish it doesn't
have to be the
temple that moses
uh had put
together or the
tabernacle doesn't
have to be the
temple that solomon
built it could
just be a place
for us to go
to meet and do
the work of the
lord it doesn't
have to be
something super
special but it
should be a place
that we can get
work done and so
it's hard to
especially here if
we just met in
a field there our
church our church
has to drop
drastically with
that there's a
rains all the
time here and
the summertime
is they can get
hot you know
or it gets cold
and windy or
snows it's a
convenience to be
able to meet
and ability to do
this so we
still got to get
the preaching done
and the teaching
and the baptisms
and the soul
learning and the
music you know
it's kind of hard
to play musical
instruments and
with you know or
with no nothing
blocking stuff
from getting wet and
destroyed and
ruined you know
so i think it's
a thing of
convenience for us
and it's a i think
it's a thing that
that's necessary
for us to do the
most we possibly
can so i want to
just keep it in
perspective the fact
that we have a
building but it is
a luxury to be out
of the weather and
the heat and the
cold and the rain
the snow and the
wind having heat
is nice in the
wintertime isn't it
having ac is nice
in the summertime
it was 115 degrees
here it was all
cranked up right
and it was nice
to have it and
when it goes out
people get annoyed
people get angry
because we're used
to being comfortable
you know there might
be a time though
come when we
won't have a
comfort like this
so we should enjoy
it while we have
it okay
and our types of
churches are
going the way of
the dojo and
you know there's
not a lot of
people that are
preaching the truth
without saying
the truth
right
people are
out censoring
the message
or they're too
afraid to put
their messages
up in the public
so other people
can hear it
so isn't having
chairs as nice
having a place
to store our
stuff is nice
what if we had
to set up chairs
for every single
service would that
be annoying
like all these
chairs every single
every single week
hauling them
you know people
have to do that
but we don't
have to do that
it's a convenience
for us to have
to store everything
that we have
have our camera
equipment
baptismal
towels
invites
videos
pulpit
water
coffee
food
all that kind
of stuff
we couldn't
do that if
we didn't
have a building
it'd be really
bare bones
you know maybe
there's gonna
be a time
when that's
gonna happen
I think it
probably will
yeah so
but we need
to get back
to church
here's the
address
here's the
service
times
you know if
we don't
have a certain
place to be
that or
we're having
a constantly
plan on going
someplace else
it's hard to
invite people
to come
and hear
the Bible
preaching
and get
baptized
all that stuff
obviously we
can talk
something in
the river
or
here
or anyplace
else right
so it is a
convenience
it's a
necessary
thing for us
to have
a building
there's
nothing wrong
with it
but there's
people out
there believe
it or not
that are
against us
having a
building
they think
that it
should be
small churches
of eight
or ten
everybody there
nobody's
really qualified
to be a pastor
nobody's
qualified
you know it's
like there's
five pastors
five deacons
and all their
wives or
whatever
and it's just
like who's
going to preach
this week
you know
it's just
confusion
it's not
biblical
you know
it's