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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] And turn to hymn number 209. Sunshine in the soul, hymn number 209 in your hymnals. Hymn number 209. We're going to go ahead and start there right on the first. There's sunshine in my soul today More glorious and bright Than glows in any earthly skies For Jesus is my light Oh, there's sunshine Blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There is music in my soul today A carol to the King And Jesus listening can hear The songs I cannot sing Oh, there's sunshine Blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There is pain time in my soul today For when the Lord is near The dove of peace sings in my heart The flowers of grace appear Oh, there's sunshine Blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul There's gladness in my soul today And hope and praise and love For blessings which he gives me now For joys laid up above Oh, there's sunshine Blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in the soul Hymn number 236 in your hymnals, No Not One. Hymn number 236. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one None else could heal all our souls diseases No not one, no not one Jesus knows all about our struggles He will guide till the day is done There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one No friend like him is so high and holy No not one, no not one And yet no friend is so weak and lowly No not one, no not one Jesus knows all about our struggles He will guide till the day is done There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one There's not an hour that he is not near us No not one, no not one No night so dark but his love can cheer us No not one, no not one Jesus knows all about our struggles He will guide till the day is done There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one Did ever saint find this friend forsake him No not one, no not one Or sinner find that he would not take him No not one, no not one Jesus knows all about our struggles He will guide till the day is done There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one Was there a gift like the Savior given No not one, no not one Will he refuse us a home in heaven No not one, no not one Jesus knows all about our struggles He will guide till the day is done There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus No not one, no not one If you don't have a bulletin, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. On the front is our Bible memory passage of the week, Galatians chapter 1 verse 9. Keep working hard on that Bible memory chapter. On the inside, our service times are listed Sunday morning at 10 30, Sunday evening at 4 30, and our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 o'clock. All of our soul winning times are listed there below, and all those meet here at the church building. Nursing home ministry schedule is listed there. As you can see, Ms. Remi is going to be traveling, so no piano coming up anytime soon, so keep that in mind if you're a preacher there. Our year to date soul winning statistics, getting real close to 100. 96 for the year so far, so keep pushing hard. I'm excited to see that turn into the triple digits there. Please be in prayer for Ms. Whitney Reed, our expecting lady of the church. Upcoming events, we still do have a sign up sheet for our men's preaching night next Sunday evening. We're going to have 15 minute time limits for that. If you'd like to preach, please sign up and indicate the topic you're going to be preaching on. After that, we'll have a potluck, and feel free to bring board games. If you want to hang out and have fun, feel free to do so. On the next event, it's March 15th, Ms. Whitney Reed's baby shower, and there's some more details about that on the back of the bulletin. April 19th is our Easter soul winning marathon here in Oklahoma City. May 16th through the 18th is the King James Conference at Shur Foundation Baptist Church, and Pastor Thompson did release a new video about this, so go to the Shur Foundation Baptist YouTube channel if you have more questions or inquiries about what that is going to look like. May 31st is the Durant, Oklahoma soul winning marathon. June 28th, the Tinker Air Show at the Air Force Base here in town. August 27th through the 31st is the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship at Steadfast. And October 6th through the 11th, the Bahamas Mission Trip. Looking forward to those events. There's some information there about giving if you'd like to do that online or in person. On the back is our prayer list. A couple updates for the week. Brother Travis is praying for a job opportunity. I believe he's already interviewed, and he said it went really well. So we're just praying that that would be extended to him, that offer. And Brother Alex is looking for work, so we're going to be praying for him as well. And at this time, we'll go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer as a church family. Lord, we thank you to have the opportunity to come together as a church and to bring our requests before you. Thank you for the blessing of prayer, and I just pray that you'd answer these according to your will, Lord. We pray for Brother Travis Haberman, that if it be your will, he would get the job that he's seeking, Lord. And we just pray that you bless him and his life. And we also pray for Miss Jennifer for her uncle's cancer treatment. I just pray that he would get the best treatment possible, that you would give him wisdom and guidance and medical decisions that he has to make. And most importantly, Lord, we pray that you would just put your hand upon him and heal him. And I just pray that you bless that situation, God. Also for Brother Alex, who's looking for work, I just pray that you would prepare the right job for him. Help him to keep seeking, and I pray that you would just give him favor. In the eyes of the people that interviews him, Lord, I just pray that you bless him in his career endeavors. We pray for Miss Shawn Fur for her family, her son, Trevor, and granddaughter Hadley. We just pray that you would bless in the situation that they're in, the challenges that they're facing. We pray that they would seek you, Lord, and that you bless them spiritually. We also pray for Miss Remy as she's traveling. We pray that she would have a good trip, a safe trip, Lord. And we pray that your will would be done in her thesis process selection and also that you please heal her of her tumor, Lord. And we pray for, we thank you, Lord, for Brother Cameron's mother being healed of cancer. That's a great blessing. We thank you so much for it. And we also pray for Miss Whitney Reed and Brother Zach for their family members that need salvation. And I just pray for Anchor Baptist Church that you would just continue to give us more laborers, that you help lead us to people in this community that are receptive to the Gospel, and help us to be great soul winners for you. We love you. We pray that you would bless the remainder of this sermon. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, we're going to go to our third song. Alright, for our third song, if you would at this time take your white handouts and turn to Psalm 126. Psalm 126 in the white handouts. Psalm 126. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. When the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. He that goeth forth then we then, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheeps with him. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Good singing this evening as the offering plates are being passed around. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter number 29. 1 Samuel 29. Good evening, 1 Samuel 29, the Bible reads, Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel, and the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed on in the reward of Achish. Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews hear? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, for these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me this day? And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him, and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us, for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his matter? Should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in the dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? Then Achish called David and said unto him, Surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me, unto this day, nevertheless the lords favour thee not. Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines? And David said unto Achish, But what have I done, and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, and as an angel of God, notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines, have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants, that are come with thee, and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel. Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for this day, and we thank you for our salvation, and we just ask that you fill our past with the Holy Spirit, and that you help us to pay attention to the sermon, and help us to be good friends in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, we are in 1 Samuel chapter number 29, and we're kind of getting back to the story of David in this chapter, because if you remember, last chapter really focused on Saul, when he went to the witch at Endor. But let's remind ourselves of where we are with David. If you go back to 1 Samuel chapter 28 real quick, 1 Samuel chapter number 28, and let's read verse number 1. It says, And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head forever. So if you remember, David is kind of in a backslidden state here, where he's lost some faith in God, he's lost some trust in the Lord. You know, before he was trusting in God to deliver him from Saul, but he says, you know what, there's nothing better for me, than that I should just go into the land of the Philistines, because someday I'm going to die by the hand of King Saul. So he goes to the land of the Philistines, and in his backslidden state, he now finds himself at a point in life, where he's going to have to fight against his own people in war. Where David is known as, you know, the mighty man of war that killed Goliath, here he is teaming up with Achish, and he's about to go to war with the people of Israel. And it's kind of a picture of how when people sin, oftentimes they're deceived in their own mind, and they think that they can control sin. You know, people, when they start going into sin and start backsliding, they don't think like, hey, I'm going to end up being a alcoholic in the gutter, throwing my guts out, or I'm going to become a person that gets in a DUI accident and kill someone's family. You know, no one really thinks that at first, but the truth is, is that when you and I decide to start going down a road of sin, we are not as in control of the situation as we think. And so because of that, we shouldn't even play around with sin, because we don't know how far we will actually go. We don't know, because, you know, the famous phrase, which I'm going to paraphrase it here, that basically just teaches that sin will cost you more than you're willing to pay. It'll take you farther than you want to go. It'll keep you longer than you want to stay, and that's true. You know, I don't think David ever thought, oh, I'm going to wake up one day, and I'm going to be fighting on the side of the Philistines against Israel, yet here he is, the man after God's own heart. That's the situation that he's in. Go back to 1 Samuel 29. As you're turning there, I want to read for you Romans 6, verse 16, the Bible says, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey? His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. So the truth is, is you are going to be a servant of someone. And people think, like, oh, man, if I could just escape the shackles of Christianity, if I could just escape the shackles of all the rules and the Word of God, then I'll be free. You know, that's the idea that the world has today. But the truth is, is that they went from being the possibility of being a servant of God to now serving sin. And it kind of makes me think of a situation in high school where, you know, I played baseball, had a bunch of teammates that I was friends with, and one of my teammates was a big idiot and decided to fornicate with a girl when he was, like, 16 years old. Wicked sin, stupid decision. But this girl that he was with sent him a text saying, hey, I'm pregnant. Now, could you imagine being a 16-year-old boy? All of a sudden, you think, oh, just having fun, no big deal, right? We're just having fun, no problem. And now you find yourself a 16-year-old boy getting a text saying, oh, I'm pregnant, you're a father. Bet you he didn't expect that to happen. I bet you he didn't think, like, oh, yeah, this is the plan. This is in the cards. This is what's going to go down in my life. Yet there he found himself. And so we ought to take heed and realize that we're not above going down some serious dark paths. We're not above making some serious mistakes when we sin. No, we ought to fear that road. We ought to stay extremely far away from it so that we don't even get close. 1 Samuel 29, verse 1 says, Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. That's kind of why I was saying this chapter picks up that story that started in 1 Samuel 28, verse 1. And think about it, David went from being the person who didn't want to put forth his hand to touch the Lord's anointed, to now here he is about to go to war with Saul. You know, Saul's the leader of this army, and he's about to go to war with Saul, even though before he had spared his life. Verse 2 says, And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, Notice, but David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. You know, I think it's interesting how David goes from being the most bold warrior, where even as a child, he's the only one of the people of Israel that challenged Goliath, even though Goliath was challenging people for over 40 days. David, the child, was the one that had the boldness to come to Goliath in the name of the Lord, to destroy him, to cut off his head, to kill that Philistine. And here's David, where is he? He's at the back of the pack. He's even behind all of the Philistines. He's behind, you know, these pagans, and he's kind of lost some of his boldness. Go if you would to Proverbs chapter 28. Proverbs chapter number 28. You know, this isn't the David that we know. When I think of King David, I'm not thinking about 1 Samuel 29, really. I'm thinking about a different version of him. But Proverbs 28 verse 1 says, The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Where does boldness really come from? It comes from when you know you're right. I mean, when we go soul winning and we're telling someone that salvation is by faith alone, we're saying that boldly. I mean, we're just like laying that fact on them because we know we're right. I'm not showing up to the door thinking like, man, I really haven't nailed down this doctrine. I'm not 100% sure if it's by faith. I'm just saying like, hey, you're not saved. You know, you're a Catholic. You believe salvation is by works. Here's the gospel. And I'm just bold with that. Why? Because I know it's right. Or even in just secular things, what gives you boldness at your job? You know, to help the customer, to perform your work. It's when you know what you're doing, right? It's when you know that what you're doing is right. You have the knowledge, you have the skills, and so you have that boldness. Same thing spiritually. When you are right with God, when you know I'm following the Bible, I'm standing on the rock here, I'm not just living by my own opinion, my own ideas. I am following Jesus Christ. Hey, that gives me boldness in life. When I get up and preach, I'm not wondering if this book is true. If anything, I want to stay away from my opinions. I'm not so bold about my opinions, but I'm bold about what the Bible says. I'm bold about what the King James Bible says, and I believe it 100%. Why? Because righteousness gives you boldness. Go to Acts chapter number four. And when we sin, when we get backslidden, you know what happens? You start to lose that boldness. Where even King David, the man who, when he was a boy, killed Goliath, here he is kind of in the back of the pack. That's a sad thing. That's a sad thing. And here's the thing, you know, no one is above getting backslidden. No one is above losing their boldness. Look what it says in Acts chapter four, verse 29. Notice what it says, And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word. You know, the apostles, they needed boldness here because there's all these Jews threatening them, threatening to put them in prison, threatening to kill them, threatening to punish them. And so the apostles here are saying, like, God, give us some boldness. Look at verse 30. By stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. See here, David's backslidden. He kind of loses his boldness. He's in the back of the pack. Here, the apostles, they're facing real danger. I mean, they're facing the possibility of death, of imprisonment, of getting beaten, yet they ask God for boldness, and they get filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Notice when you're right with God, when you're filled with the Holy Spirit of God, that's when the boldness comes. You know, that's why it's important for us to be praying for boldness, right? And praying that God fills us with the Holy Spirit. And one of the things that I always pray for when we go soul winning is that God will fill us with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because that's what gives us boldness. That's what makes us stand on righteousness. Go look what it says in verse number 32. Notice the result of boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Neither said any of them that out of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common, and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Hey, that's the type of leadership that we need in this world today is bold leadership. Bold Christians that are actually filled with the Spirit of God that are not afraid to speak the Word of God. That is what we need today. But you know how that's going to happen is by us actually drawing nigh to God, actually living a separated life, being right with the Lord, being filled with the Spirit. We can't be bold and preach sermons that move people and get just tons and tons and tons of people saved, multitudes saved, when we're just super backslidden. Yeah, you're saved. You can still get people saved if you're backslidden, but the truth is you're going to be much more effective as a soul winner, and you're going to have much more boldness when you know, hey, I'm a child of God. I'm right with the Lord. I'm doing what's right in his sight. That's what's going to give you boldness. Go back to 1 Samuel 29. 1 Samuel 29, verse 3, it says, Then said the prince of the Philistines, what do these Hebrews hear? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days or these years? And I found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day. So it's kind of funny here. They're like, wait, we're about to go to war with Israel. Isn't this guy with us like the servant of their king? Like, what is this guy doing with us? And it's kind of a picture of the devil here, how the Philistines, they're like, all right, you're going to fight with us. You know, you're going to be a keeper of my head forever. You're going to go to war. And then David's like, yeah, you know, you're going to see what thy servant can do. And as soon as David gives the Philistines what they want, they kind of turn on him immediately. And he's like, what are you doing here? And it's kind of what the devil does to us. Go to Revelation chapter number 12. The devil is constantly trying to get you to sin. He wants to provoke you to sin, to destroy your life. And what's funny is the devil does not love anyone. The devil does not love the people who worship the devil. The devil does not love false prophets. The devil hates everyone. And what he does is as soon as he gets someone to sin, as soon as he gets someone to fall, you know what he does? He starts accusing you. He starts accusing you. Look at what it says in Revelation 12, 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Isn't that interesting? The devil is accusing Christians before God day and night. I mean, the devil, this is just his full-time job. He's just obsessed with it, of trying to cause a rift between us and the Lord. And he's successful in that sometimes. How? By getting Christians to sin, by getting Christians to commit adultery, by getting Christians to fornicate, by leading them in those ways to start drinking alcohol or whatever. And you know what? Sin does affect our relationship with God. It doesn't affect our eternal destination, thank God. We can never lose our salvation, but when we do start living really wicked lives, it can harm our relationship with God. It can keep us farther away from him. Thank God we're not going to lose our salvation, but that's what the devil does. He wants to convince you to sin and then he wants to accuse you. God, look at what your child just did. Look at what they're doing over there, right? Trying to accuse you. And that's kind of what the Philistines are doing there. David, come fight with us. Then David fights and then he's like, oh, what are these Hebrews doing? What are these guys doing here? It's like you asked them to be there. You wanted them to be there. Go to verse 3 of 1 Samuel 29. I also find it interesting how in verse number 3 it says, then said the princes of the Philistines, what do these Hebrews hear? You know, if you ever find yourself in a place where people are like, wait, what are you doing here? You're a Christian. You're probably in the wrong place. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? And it's like here, this question just reveals that David is amongst the wrong crowd. You know, David is a Hebrew. David is a part of God's nation here, and he's around a bunch of Philistines, and these Philistines are just like, what are these Hebrews doing here? You know, if you as a Christian go to a bar or some sort of skeevy nightclub or something like that, and you tell people you're a Christian, I'm sure people would be like, what are you doing here? You're a Christian. Or like, what if I as a pastor went somewhere like that, and I just said, oh, hey, I'm Pastor Oz. They'd be like, wait, why is a pastor here? Why would a pastor be at this place? It kind of reveals like that's a wrong place to be. You ever find yourself in that situation? It's like, wait, you're watching this? I thought you were a Christian. Oh, you listen to Kendrick Lamar? I thought you were a Christian, right? It's kind of an indicator that you're down the wrong path when even the world is shocked by your level of worldliness. And that's how some Christians live their life, where there's really no distinction between them and the world. And look, I'm all for preaching the salvation by faith alone, amen. But it's really sad, though, that after you're saved, when someone looks exactly like the world, talks exactly like the world, hangs out all the places that the world hangs out, you know, that is a shame. And it's a shame if I was just hanging out with the Philistines. And then the Philistines find out by accident somehow that you're a Christian. They're like, whoa, what are you doing here? You know, I wonder if your coworkers found out that you were a Christian, if they would just be like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. I've always thought that. Or, you know, they might think because of how white I am, this is what I always hear. Oh, I thought you were a Mormon. That's what I always hear, you know, when I lived in the Northwest. Thank God here. We're in the Bible Belt. People don't think that. Or they should be like, wait, you're a Christian? Wow. You know, that would be a shame if that was someone's reaction. That would be very sad. No, it should just be like, oh, yeah, I always thought that. That always made sense. Yeah, you know, you always said no when I invited you to go out to the bar. Yeah, you always said no to these sinful activities that I invited you to. And Achish said, verse three, unto the princes of the Philistines is not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days or these years. And I found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day. Another thing that's pretty interesting about this story is that Achish here, he's very naive and he's very trusting because he's saying like, I found no problem in David whatsoever. He's been so loyal to me. But he doesn't know the fact that David has been deceiving him. He doesn't know the fact that when David led his armies and went out to war, he wasn't fighting against Israel. He was fighting against all the nations surrounding that who could potentially be allies of the Philistines in battle. But this guy is very naive. He's very trusting. And he's about to give David this very important task. He said in 1 Samuel 28 that you're going to be keeper of my head forever. I mean, he's ready to appoint him as like the chief secret service officer. And notice how long has he known David? It's kind of interesting what he says. These days. And he's like, oh, wait, is it days? Is it years or these years? You know, he's not exactly sure how long he's known him. But don't don't turn anywhere. But verse seven of 1 Samuel 27 says, And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. So how long did he actually know David? A year and four months. That's not really a lot of time. And, you know, we should be careful not to just give people too much trust when we don't really know them that well. Right. Go to if you would, Micah, chapter number seven, Micah, chapter number seven. Or you ought to be careful to give someone a super, super important job or access to something very important when you don't really know them. You know, there's this principle in the IT world known as the principle of least privilege, where it's like when you are hiring employees to work in IT to have a secure to have security in IT, you need to make sure you give people the least amount of access that they need to absolutely do their job. You know, if someone's doing IT in the UN building or in the FBI headquarters, they're not just going to hand them a badge that opens every single door that gets them into every single server room. Like that's idiotic, right? You want to make sure that they have the least privilege possible. And, you know, that's kind of how we should approach people in our lives, especially new relationships. Like I wouldn't I wouldn't recommend just like a first time visitor walks into our church and you just tell them every deep dark secret of your life and you just start unloading all of your terrible marriage problems on them and stuff like that. Like you might want to guard yourself a little bit. You might want to not trust them that much because unfortunately, when you do that kind of stuff, oftentimes people use that information against you and people will try to, you know, hold it over your head in the future. And look, that's wicked. That's wrong. That's terrible. But it's just what people do. And you want to make sure you don't overly trust people. Look at Micah chapter number seven, verse two. The good man is perished out of the earth and there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother with a net. The Bible is generalizing here saying, hey, people suck. People are evil. People are sinners. People are wicked. And you ought not to just trust man. Right. This is why we carry these wonderful things called guns. You know, I, I hope I never have to use one. I hope I never have to have an altercation where I need to use one. But look what the Bible says, that there are people out there that lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother with a net. Just go to the Oklahoma City police website and they post whenever they have murders in the city of Oklahoma City. There's already been nine this year. It's only March what, fifth? There's already been nine murders this year. There are wicked people out there. You can't just trust everyone. No, you have to actually really, really know someone. But look what it says, verse three, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. The prince asketh and the judge asketh for a reward. So can you trust someone just because they're a prince or because they're a judge? No, the judges are asking for rewards. They're being bribed. And the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire. So they wrap it up. The best of them, oh really good guy, is as a briar. The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of thy watchman and thy visitation cometh. Now shall be their perplexity. I mean, the Bible's really warning us about how wicked people are. And it's just crazy to me how churches, they want to have this culture where everyone trusts pastors so much and trusts staff so much that they're like willing to literally hand their kids over to a nursery worker. Or, you know, we talked about that reprobate pastor in Ohio that was pressuring people, you need to put your kids in the nursery, you need to put your kids in the nursery, then he gets convicted for being a pedophile. And look, you ought not just to think that someone's a judge, someone's a prince, someone's a police officer, someone's a pastor, someone's in a position of authority. Oh, this must be a good person. Oh, this must be someone I could trust. The Bible's painting the picture that human beings are wicked, all of them. And guess what? We all have the flesh. We all could walk in the flesh and be capable of bad sins. That's why you just shouldn't trust people with things as precious as your kids. You shouldn't trust someone with something unless you're literally ready to kiss it goodbye. And I mean like anything. Oh, you know, a friend wants to borrow your truck, only let them borrow your truck if you're willing for that thing to walk away. Because you wouldn't be the first person that lets someone borrow something and that person just steals it and runs away and, you know, you never hear from them again. You know, you may think that this stuff would never happen. Oh, this would never happen at anchor Baptist Church amongst all these godly Christians. Don't just trust people. And here's the thing, especially with things you're not willing to lose. You know, hey, if it's no big deal to you, you're like, all right, you know, this truck has 500,000 miles. If they get in a crash, if they steal it, I'm going to be happy that I get to buy a new truck. Then OK, do that. I'm not saying don't be generous, don't be nice. But there's just some things that are too precious to trust anyone with. You know what I mean? And it's like unless it's like an emergency or something like that, you don't want to just be handing your kids off just to every family. Just like, oh, you know, we got to have our date night. So we're just going to have random people watch our kids all the time. I'm just saying that's a bad idea. Look what it says. OK, what about my friends, though? Verse five. Trust you not in a friend. Well, that sucks. I kind of want to trust in my friends. Right. But, you know, there's a certain things that I would trust my friends with. There's certain things I wouldn't. You know, I don't care about my truck. I don't care about my house. I don't care about worth worldly things like that. But, you know, my kids, I care about a lot and I wouldn't just drop off my kids with anyone. Put you not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. Wow. Sounds like you shouldn't even be telling your wife everything. And, you know, I heard this advice about the ministry is that in the ministry, people come to you and they should be able to come to you. People should be able to come to their pastor with the craziest stuff imaginable. You know, nothing's going to shock me. I've heard tons of crazy things, but like people should be able to come to me and know that I'm going to help them and that I'm going to keep confidentiality and that I'm not going to blow my mouth off. And there's times if I know something that I literally won't even tell my wife just because I don't even want her carrying that burden around. And some of you are like, whoa, that's crazy. OK, do we believe the Bible here? Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in her bosom. That's what the Bible says. I'm not saying don't confide in your wife. I'm just saying like sometimes there might even be a situation where keeping things from your wife is the loving thing to do for her and for other people. For six for the son dishonor at the father. So parent relationships to the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law. A man's enemies are the men of his own house. Therefore, here's the culmination here. I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. I've said this before. I'll say it again. The only person you could trust 100 percent is God. Hey, I love that song. Tell it to Jesus alone. Jesus, for sure, will always keep your secret. Jesus is not going to gossip about you. Jesus is not going to use things and hang it over your head. Jesus is the absolute best friend, best guide, best helper, best everything. He's the only one you could trust 100 percent. And again, here's not here's what I'm not telling you. Never confide in anyone, never be friends with anyone, never have close relationships. But what I'm saying is, if you're if you're going to reveal something, if you're going to let someone borrow something, you have to realize, OK, what if this was let out? What if this item was destroyed? You have to be OK with that before doing that, is what I'm telling you. Go to First Samuel 29. I love that verse. Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Achish should not be trusting David after he knew him for a full year and four months. That's not enough time to truly get to know someone. And, you know, you ought to get to know someone before making big decisions in life, like getting married. You know, don't just hang out with someone for six weeks and get married. Don't just hang out with someone for three, four months and get married. You are making a life long commitment, a lifelong commitment. And four months is such a tiny sliver of your life. It's not even funny. And, you know, Pastor Menes gives the advice of dating for a year. I think that's pretty good advice. He talks about, like, if it's God's will for you today, it'll be God's will for you in a year from now. That's often true because, you know, a lot of people, they rush into marriage super, super fast and they regret it. But, you know, no one's really going to regret waiting a year just to make sure. You know, marrying a person that is loving the Lord, that is sharing your vision for life is so, so important. Verse four says, And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him. And the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place, which thou hast appointed him. And let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us. For wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? Should it not be with the heads of these men? So these guys are actually thinking kind of logically here, looking at David saying, like, look, David is the servant of Saul. David comes from these people. If David were to reconcile to these people, how would he do that? Oh, yeah, by killing all of us. Right. So they're just saying, like, this is a bad person to trust. We shouldn't put our trust in this person. And I think it's funny how David, he had been so pleasing to Akish. Akish loved him. Akish said, this guy hasn't done anything wrong since he's been in my house. I'm making him the keeper of my head. But even though Akish liked him, David still wasn't fully accepted. And it kind of goes to show that us as Christians, like, once you're saved, once you're born again, once you're a child of God, you can never really fully fit in with the world. And so it's kind of a fool's errand to even try. You know, you might be able to for a little while. You might be able to deceive them, you know, acting like you're someone you're not, like David was. Oh, you know, I was I was fighting, you know, around Israel. Wasn't true. You can kind of deceive for a while. But the truth is, you're never going to really be compatible with the world. So you might as well just get plugged into church. You might as well just have friends that are saved. You might as well have iron sharpening iron rather than you trying to put on camouflage and acting like you're in the world when you're really not. Go to Luke chapter number nine. Amos three three. It's a verse I love. Can two walk together except they be agreed? You know, at the end of the day, you're never going to really be able to walk in life with someone when you disagree on who Jesus Christ is, when you disagree on how to get to heaven, when you disagree about church and the things of God. You're not going to really be able to walk together in life with that person. And I noticed something that happened. This is one of the first things that I noticed when I got saved as a teenager is that my friendships all of a sudden just dwindled like we were not connecting anymore. And these were guys that I thought, as every teenager does, these will be my friends for forever. Right. We all think that about our high school buddies. These are going to be my best friends for forever. But as soon as I got saved and I started listening to Bible preaching and I started going to church and I started soul winning and I started reading the Bible and I started praying. I realized how little I had in common with these people. I realized, like, wow, you like to throw a baseball into a leather glove. So do I. Man, how cool is that? Oh, you like to hit a baseball with a bat. Isn't that awesome? At the end of the day, once you're saved, you're like, wow, that was shallow. That was a meaningless relationship. But before you're saved, you think this is awesome. These are my best friends. But now your eyes are open and you're like, wow, heaven and hell are real. Wow. Souls are actually dying and going to hell. Wow. Jesus Christ actually cares about me and wants me to be his servant. And I'm an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your perspective changes and you realize, wow, these friendships were meaningless. And of course, we want to try to get our friends saved and get them on board with us. But if they don't, it becomes, hey, can two walk together unless they be agreed? No, they cannot. Stay there. Luke nine, verse five of First Samuel. Twenty nine. I had you turn a little too quick, but I'll just read it for you. It says, Is not this David of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying Saul slew his thousands and David his ten thousands? It kind of goes to show like once you cross a certain line of serving God, it's so silly to turn back because David already has a reputation amongst God's people and amongst the enemies of God. I mean, the enemies of God are looking at David saying, aren't you the one that all these thousands of women were singing about about how you killed all these ten thousands? You know, he kind of has that reputation. And us as Christians, same thing on a micro level. When you start soul winning, when you start being three to thrive. Look, your family already thinks you're weird anyways. Why go back like, oh, you know, they already hate me. They already hate Anchor Baptist Church. They already think you're crazy for reading the King James Bible like that. You already have that reputation. How silly would it be just to throw it in the trash and just go back? OK, David is known for killing ten thousands. Now here he is with the Philistines. And, you know, I could relate to this on a much, much smaller level, but it's like I've already crossed the line, folks. Like I've already burned the bridge. You know, I don't Google my name, you know, don't don't go on TikTok and see the billions of views. I've already had the protest. I've already had the death threats. I've already had the homosexuals coming to my home and threatening my family. Like how stupid would it be for me to just quit or go back? Like they wouldn't accept me anyways. I couldn't go back anyways. Oh, yeah. You know, I said that sodomites should get the death penalty from the government. And then people are just be like, oh, that's OK. That's in your past. No, the world's always going to hate me for that. Always. But you have pastors who who do the right thing. They preach the hard sermons. They slay the thousands. They slay the ten thousands. And then they get old and they issue an apology. And guess what? The Philistines don't care. The world doesn't forgive you. And you'll never, ever fit in with them. So it's like, look, just get all in. Just serve God. Just be free to thrive. Just take that reputation of being a disciple because you've already kind of gotten that. You might as well stick with it because you'll never be accepted out anyways. Luke, chapter nine, verse fifty seven says, But go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee. But let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto them, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. I mean, it seems on the surface that these men are asking pretty reasonable requests. Hey, let me go bury my dead. Hey, let me go say goodbye to my family. And Jesus is saying, like, look, it's me or it's the world. And when you choose Jesus Christ, nothing should be holding you back. There should be nothing that you're looking back to saying, man, I could go back there. I have this backup plan. If I decide to quit serving God. No, it's just we put our hand to the plow and we don't look back. And people that look back are not fit for the kingdom of God. It's not seemly. It's not becoming for someone that the kingdom of God for someone that looks back who isn't steadfast. Go to Luke chapter number nine, verse thirty three says. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my disciple. You know, we're talking about being a disciple on Sunday night. Here's another verse about that. Someone that is willing to forsake all. That's a lot to ask, right? But that is what our Lord and Savior demands of us. To forsake all, to be willing to forsake all, to follow him. You know, David should have been doing this. Go back to First Samuel twenty nine. You know, it's just it's a shame that these preachers, they go back on what they preach. They tone things down. You know, I would like to see in the next 40, 50, 60 years, a generation of preachers that goes to the grave preaching hard. Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice where it's not just always videos of the young guys ripping face and then they get old and they get the nice building and they get the money and then the culture changes and then the church gets softer and then the preaching gets softer. And then the next thing you know, they're apologizing for what they said. Wouldn't it be nice to see some like 80 and 90 year old dudes just ripping face? Wouldn't that be great if we didn't have to look at the baby boomer generation of America and be so ashamed of them and say, why did you sell out our country? Why did you let go of Christianity? Why did you stop preaching the Bible? Why is it a 27 year old that has to do it in Oklahoma City? Where's the old man? Oh, man, these young pastors. Well, first of all, don't despise my youth, because that's what the Bible says. But second, why don't you do it then? Where were you? You know, it just pisses me off. Look at verse six, it says, an Akash called David and said unto him, Surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight. For I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day. Nevertheless, the Lord's favor thee not. It's just so funny. He's like, oh, man, you've been great, David. I'm pleased with you. Everything's great. I want you here. But David's not going to fit in with these people. David is the Goliath Slayer. He's the Philistine Slayer. You're not going to fit in with the Philistines. It just doesn't work. You need to just get on board with God's people. Let's look at some Psalms on this. Psalm 18 or sorry, Psalm 118. Psalm one hundred and eighteen. You've got to realize that if you're saved, God's people are your people. This is our people right here. And it's not about being white or black or rich or poor or being American or Filipino or Russian or any of those things. It's about being saved. It's about having the Holy Spirit of God. It's about believing in Jesus Christ. Notice the psalmist's attitude in verse 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them and I will praise the Lord. The gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. Hey, the psalmist wants to go to the place where the righteous are entering. You know, that should be our attitude that we want to spend our lives around the righteous, around the saved. Not with, well, we both like baseball. Well, we both like bowling. Well, here's our book club. That's so shallow. It's so vain. And, you know, while while there could be some level of connection there, the world has no clue what they're missing out on. I mean, there is nothing like Christian and brotherly love. There's nothing like the fellowship of a brother and sister in Christ. And the world does not know that. Man, it makes me want to get them saved so they can know it. Go to Psalm 133. Psalm 133. Flip a couple pages there. Look at verse number one. How the Bible says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Man, it's just so good. It's so pleasant to be around people where we are in agreement, where we can walk together, where we all love the King James Bible here. And no one has to feel like they're walking on eggshells or anything like that. We just unashamedly, openly love the Lord Jesus Christ. And we love the Bible and we love soul winning and we love hard preaching. And that's who we are. And that's how you guys are. And that's why we're friends. That's why we have great fellowship. Go to Psalm 84. Psalm 84. And, you know, Christians all the time, you know what they do? They get saved and then they never go to church. They get saved and they don't hang out with God's people. They stay hanging out with the Philistines. And look what they're missing out on. Verse 10 of Psalm 84. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. This is the attitude that David should have had. Like, you know, David was eventually going to become the king. But the attitude he should have had is like, hey, I would rather be a doorkeeper with the Hebrews. I'd rather be a doorkeeper with Israel than be some sort of captain of the Philistines host. Right. That's the attitude we should have is, hey, coming to church, that's the greatest thing. And if I'm a pastor, if I'm a preacher, if I'm a janitor, if I am a usher, if I'm an audio video guy, if I'm a security guy, if I'm no one, if I just sit and listen to the word of God, that is better than 10,000 days outside of church. One day in God's house. Better than 10,000 days in the world. Go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3. And so David here, he just couldn't, he just couldn't figure out where he stood. Is he going to be with the Hebrews? Is he going to finally trust in the Lord and believe that God's going to keep delivering him from Saul? Or is he just going to stand with the world, stand with the heathen, stand with the enemies of God? Revelation 3, 15, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. That's where David is. He doesn't fully give fidelity to the Philistines because he's dishonest with them about who he is and what he's doing. He doesn't actually want to fight for them. He just wants them to believe that he's going to fight for them. And then he doesn't want to go to Israel, right, because he's in the land of the Philistines. He's neither cold nor hot. Notice what Jesus said, I would thou art cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. It just makes God sick when Christians try to straddle between living in the world and living for God. Just make a decision. Choose you this day whom ye will serve. You know, have the attitude of Joshua. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. God doesn't want these people that are just lukewarm. He just wants to throw up. He just wants to throw you up out of his mouth. It makes him sick. Look, decide where you're going to stand and then put your anchor down and stay there and remain steadfast. Go back to First Samuel, chapter twenty nine. First Samuel, twenty nine, verse seven, wherefore now return and go in peace that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. Now, this statement is hilarious to me because it's like, Agnes, do you have any idea who you're talking to? You're talking to David, the guy that literally killed Goliath and who killed tons of Philistines. It's like, well, David, OK, go so that you don't displease the Philistines. It's like David hasn't had a history about caring if he displeases the Philistines. In fact, he's wanted to displease the Philistines. He was killing the Philistines. But man, this is what happens again to backslidden leaders is it's like they were preaching against the Sodomites. They were preaching against the abominations of our land. Now they're worried if they're displeasing them. May I never get to a point where I'm worried about displeasing Sodomites? May I please never get to the point where I care what Catholics think about my sermon or what Hindus think about my sermon or what Buddhists think about my sermon? You know, when a pastor feels that way, he's done. You need to repent and get right with God, or you just need to step down and let a real leader lead who's not going to care what the Philistines think. You know, I think about back in like 2021 to 2023, we had a lot of challenges of steadfast Baptist Church, the protests, the death threats, the lawsuits, the stalking, you know, the doxing, all that stuff. I'm sure in the large church that we had, there was a point in many people's minds where they thought to themselves, you know, are we really doing what's right? Are we for sure that we're on the Lord's side? Are we for sure what we believe is right? You know, those thoughts may come, but you need to settle that, figure out what the Bible says. And once you've done that, you just need to stick with it. You need to be sure you need to be planted. You need to be anchored and not be thinking, you know, not be judging. Am I doing what's right based on? Well, there are a lot of sodomites angry at us. Nuts to them. Hey, who cares if they're angry at us? The question is, are we right? Is it what the Bible says? Let's consider it. OK. Yes, we are nuts to those people. Well, you know, the media doesn't like us. Well, the ADL doesn't say very nice things about me. OK, who cares what they think? Let's worry about what God thinks. Let's worry about what the Bible says. Who cares if David displeases the Philistines? Verse eight. And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? This is weird how he's just digging in like, what are you doing, man? And what has thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord, the king. It's like, why are you digging in? It's like Achish is kind of giving you an out here. You already don't want to fight for the Philistines. You really don't. You don't want to fight against Saul because you would have killed him a long time ago. You didn't put forth your hand against the Lord's anointed. You know, you know what you're doing is wrong. Yet he's still digging in. And it says in verse nine, And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight as an angel of God. Notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have said he shall not go up with us to the battle. So he's saying, look, this decision is out of my hands. The princes have made this decision. You've got to leave. Wherefore, now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee. And as soon as he be up early in the morning and have light depart. And so David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. Here in this story, I believe it's kind of in the text doesn't directly say this, but I think it's kind of an example about how sometimes God gives us an out where we have made stupid decisions. And because God is so merciful, sometimes he helps us by giving us an out of the mess that we've made. And here's the thing. Not always. Sometimes you're going to sin and the hammer is going to come down on you. Other times, God can choose to be merciful and kind of help you out. And that's what I think that is happening in the stories. I think God is kind of moving and orchestrating this situation a little bit to help David leave the situation so that David doesn't sit there and kill the people of God and sit there and kill King Saul. You know, David's been avoiding that this whole time. But because he got scared, because he got backslidden, because he stopped trusting the Lord. He found himself in this mess and it kept getting worse and worse till here he finds himself about to kill God's people. And then God kind of gives him an out. And I'll show you another example of where this happened. Go to Genesis chapter 20. Genesis 20. Because I understand that the text doesn't directly say this was happening. But there are other times where the text does say that God does this. And so we know that this is a real principle that happens. Genesis chapter 20 verse 1. It says, and Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. So he's lying here. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. So Abraham, he didn't want Abimelech to know that Sarah was his wife for some stupid reason. So he says, say, you're my sister. So Abimelech takes her. But notice verse 3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, behold, thou art but a dead man. For the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, would thou also slay a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, she is my sister? And see, even she herself said he is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. So Abimelech, he didn't think he was doing anything wrong. He thought he was just taking a wife, you know, because Abraham is telling him this and Sarah is telling him this. So he didn't know. And verse 6 says, and God said unto him in a dream, yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart. For, notice, I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now, it's not like the God of Calvinism here where he's like forcing Abimelech from touching her and he's not going to allow him to. It's that he kind of orchestrated the situation and gave him more information so that Abimelech can make the choice not to go down that road. Abimelech still had free will. He could have lined with her, but guess what would have happened? God would have killed him for it. Just like David, he had the choice here. Am I going to keep fighting with the Philistines or am I going to take this out? To me, I kind of think that in the situation, God orchestrated an out for David. And man, isn't it nice when we screw up in life and God is merciful to us? I don't know about you. I've been there before. I'm just like, thank you, Lord. I deserve the punishment. I deserve worse than this. You gave me an out. Praise God for that. And we do have a loving and merciful God. Man, that is so true. You know, just the tragedy is that a lot of churches only talk about that and don't talk about the wrath of God and things like that. But it is true that God is very merciful, that God is very long suffering. And thank the Lord for that. You know, David here, he could have just ruined his entire life, living this double life, getting back into the world. He could have gone and fought with the Philistines and killed King Saul. And the wrath of God would have been upon David. He would have suffered for his consequences. But God gave him an out. And the lesson for us is that, hey, when God gives you an out, take the out. Don't dig in your heels even more. Don't be even more stubborn. If you have sinned and you know you're guilty, confess it to God. Ask him for forgiveness. Stop doing that thing that you did and take the out if God gives you the out. Because I'm sure it's going to happen to all of us in the future. I'm sure it's happened to us in the past. But, hey, even better yet than taking the out, why don't you just not even have a season of your life where you're hanging out with the Philistines to begin with? Wouldn't that be better? Like, instead of always just hoping for the out, instead of just always hoping for God to bail you out and hoping for God to be merciful to you, which, praise the Lord, he does sometimes. Here's a better strategy for your life is just don't go to the land of the Philistines to begin with. You know, instead of drinking and driving, hoping that the police don't arrest you, hoping that you don't kill someone on the road, here's a better plan. Don't ever drink alcohol ever. Don't ever drink alcohol ever. That's a better plan. But a lot of people, they're living this insurance claim life where they're just hoping and praying that God's just going to bail them out of every situation. Look, if you're in that situation, God bails you out, thank him for it, and then change. Make adjustments in your life. You know, David would have kept doing the same thing over and over. Eventually, the hammer would have come down on him as it did later when he committed adultery and murdered the wife of Uriah. I'm sorry, murdered Uriah, the Hittite. Last verse we'll look at is Proverbs Chapter three. If you'll turn to Proverbs Chapter three. Look, even if you're going through a time that's stressful, like David was being hunted down and wanting to be murdered, sounds pretty stressful. I could give on a human level. I could say, yep, I understand why you're stressful. Even if you're going through hard times and Saul is attacking you, people are lying about you. You've got marriage problems. You've got financial problems. Look, don't even go down the road that David went down of stopping trusting in God, getting backslidden, because it's going to take you farther than you want to go. Let's finish on this passage. Proverbs three five. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways. Acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for this chapter. Thank you for the admonitions in your word. I just pray that we would take heed to them and learn from the mistakes of David that we wouldn't make these ourselves. We do thank you for your mercy and your long suffering in times when we have screwed up and you've given us an out. But I pray that all the people in here would focus and endeavor to live a life pleasing to you and that we would boldly go out and preach the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. First verse. Two forty four nice and loud there right on the first. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Good singing. Thank you all for coming.