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And every day by his side I shall stand, I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. O, the soul-thrilling rapture when I feel his blessed face, And the luster of his kindly beaming eye! Now my soul, our good grace, and for the mercy, love, and grace, Have prepared for me a mention in the sky. I shall know him, I shall know him, And be deemed by his side I shall stand, I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. O, the dear ones in glory, how they beckon me to come, And are parting at the river I recall. To the safe bales of Eden they will sing my welcome home, But I long to be my savior first of all. I shall know him, I shall know him, And be redeemed by his side I shall stand, I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. Through the gates to the city in a robe of spotless white, He will be me where no tears will ever fall. In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight, But I long to be my savior first of all. I shall know him, I shall know him, And be redeemed by his side I shall stand, I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. I shall know him, I shall know him, By the prince of the males in his hands. Why my weeping eyes? And why my weeping eyes? I'll bid farewell to every fear, And why my weeping eyes? Should earth against my soul engage, And fiery darts be hurled, Then I can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world, Then I can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world, That cares like a wild bear whose come, And storms of sorrow fall. May I but safely reach my own, My God, my hand, my all, My God, my heaven, my all, My God, my hand, my all, May I but safely reach my own, My God, my hand, my all, There shall I bathe my weary soul in seas of heavenly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful rest, Across my peaceful rest, Across my peaceful rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful rest. Thank you for watching. Please like, share, and subscribe. Thank you for watching. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. Thank you for watching. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. Thank you for watching. Please like, share, and subscribe. Please like, share, and subscribe. a two week trip, a bit less than two weeks, it was about ten days, and I went with brother James, and he's in the Philippines a lot, so he's been there, he's used to it, he knows how to go about preaching in the Philippines, and I'm really glad I went, it was very good. So first of all, I traveled by plane, and arrived there, met up with James, and we started going, on the next day we started going, and every day we would go soloing, mostly in parks, but also in schools. Something that immediately I noticed, which is new to me, is that James, whenever he's using a cab driver, and that's how he goes around in the Philippines, he uses a cab driver, but every time that there's an opportunity, he preaches to them, and a lot of the time they get saved, and that's actually something really interesting about the Philippines, is that everyone's so receptive, even the cab drivers are receptive, and he's got at least five salvations just from cab drivers in the Philippines, and I was able to see him do that, and he's provoked me to do that, and recently when my car had to have some work done, and I was doing Ubers here, I tried that as well, I didn't get any salvations, because it's the U.S. not as receptive, but he's provoked me with that, and so anyway, in the Philippines, the soul winning is mostly in parks, but there is also schools as well, school preaching, I did a little bit of school preaching on a previous mission trip that I've been, but in the Philippines, on this trip specifically, I got a lot of opportunities to preach at school, and to preach to groups, because in the Philippines, most of the preaching is preaching to groups, and preaching to classrooms, and I got used to it more, got experience, I've learned a lot about soul winning, and talking to groups, and approaching people from going on mission trips, because you just see other people being zealous, other people just being really good soul winners, and it provokes you to learn more, and to become a better soul winner, and when you also see different environments, like in the U.S., we knock doors, in other countries, you would just go to a public place, like for example, in the Philippines, we go to parks, and we just talk to people there, we just approach people, and if you're not used to that, that's scary, but you get used to it, and it's funny, because us Americans, if we're not experienced, we would get scared at approaching someone in a public space, as opposed to just knocking doors, but in the Philippines, one of the brothers there, he was telling me, are you afraid to knock doors? What if they get angry and slam the door? But we might be apprehensive toward public spaces, they might be apprehensive toward doors, but it's just not something to worry about, it's just you're not used to it, and you can get used to it, you can learn. The Philippines is really receptive, it's super receptive, the people there are very humble, when you ask them, are you going to heaven, most people say they know, or they say they're not sure, they're really trusting, and I would use this illustration sometimes, to illustrate the difference between believing that Jesus is real, and actually putting your trust in Jesus, because for example, you believe I'm real, you believe I'm here, you believe I'm American, but do you trust me? Do you trust me enough to give me your cell phone? That's a difference, and what I noticed, I started doing that in the Philippines, and there are a lot of people, when I asked, do you trust me enough to give me your cell phone? They'll be like, here you go, but in the U.S., I carried that over to someone in the U.S., but people are like, nah, they're not as trusting, but I really enjoy the people in the Philippines, they're really humble, they're really nice, they're really receptive, they love listening about the Bible, it's really a lot of groups in the U.S., mostly individuals, but in the Philippines, you target mostly groups, because you have that advantage, and so you're therefore able to get a lot of salvation, because there's groups that you can target. Now, the way we went about it is preaching in parks. Parks aren't full of people at all times, but just at certain times during the day, there's people, other times there's no people at the parks, so you go whenever there's people at the parks, because that's the most optimal time to go, and so we go to the parks and then preach there for probably a couple hours, and it's very easy to get like 10 salvations at a park in just a couple hours. The other type of soul-winning we did was preaching in classrooms, and that's organized by some people from the churches there. They have it set up so that we can go and preach to classrooms, and it's really receptive, because then you get access to students. On my trip, it was students from about seventh or eighth grade to eleventh grade, and they're really receptive, and we were able to get a lot of salvations through the classrooms, and for example, one day me and James, we were partnered on some classrooms. Some classrooms we had separate, but we probably had about 15 total classes that we preached, maybe less, but we ended up getting 103, I think, just between me and him for that day, and that's just from the classrooms, and the way we do the classrooms is we had little papers that have a questionnaire that they can, at the end, we hand them out and ask them to write what they believe, questions that would indicate are they saved or are they not saved, and then if we have the opportunity, we also go around and talk individually to each student to see did they understand, and it's pretty accurate, we find, and so it's not just like you ask for, okay, who here believes in Jesus, and then everyone raises their hand even if they don't believe in Jesus. It's actually an accurate count, and so we did that. Schools were really receptive. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to do that. It gives you a lot of experience, and it gives you more boldness to preach to groups, even in the U.S., because when you do something over and over and over, you get a lot more experience. You're not afraid to do it anymore, and you're better at doing it, and also in the Philippines, people like white people. Apparently, I'm white enough for them to like me. The Philippines is very cheap compared to, in terms of like food, compared to other locations. It's very cheap, and the food there is good. An impression I had about people speaking about the Philippines is that there wouldn't be, it wouldn't be very, like you wouldn't have the necessary, some necessary things, or like the impression I had is that it would be like missing some things that Americans are used to, like luxuries, but not really. It has everything. Most of the restrooms don't have toilet paper. They have a bidet. That's missing, but other than that, there's running water. There's electricity. There's internet. There's a phone cellular signal. I don't really feel like you're missing out on anything in the Philippines, and so so my review of the Philippines is it was a very good trip. I'm really glad I went, and I totally recommend it. I learned a lot, and I got a lot of salvations over that time. I was there for about 10 days, and over that 10 days, I got 128 salvations, and so the Philippines is just a really great place to get a lot of salvations, and so I definitely recommend it, and I hope that you'll have this in mind, and maybe in the future you'll consider going to the Philippines, checking it out, and getting some souls saved. Thank you for your time. I've never been to the Philippines, but it sounds pretty similar to how things will work in the Bahamas. I know many of you are planning on going to the Bahamas, so what he was saying about just approaching groups, people out in public, going and preaching in the schools, that's how it's going to be there as well. There's not a ton of door-to-door, so that's something to get prepared for, but make sure you're praying for evangelist Duncan Urbanic and for Pastor Matthew Stuckey. They're definitely doing a great work over there, and they're getting untold thousands and thousands of people saved. I know that missionaries often have a reputation of being lazy, and there's a lot of missionaries that are like that, but thankfully those two guys, definitely that's not the case. They're doing a great work, so keep them in prayer. They've left a lot behind in the U.S., family members, friends, and they're sacrificing for the cause of the gospel, so make sure to lift them up in prayer. I think Duncan Urbanic, Evangelist Urbanic, might actually be in the U.S. right now. Does anyone know? I know he's preaching next week. What is it? Okay, yeah, so he's preaching at steadfast pretty soon, so he'll be back. I'm excited for him to get a little bit of a rest, and yeah, keep him in prayer, and that's going to be it for announcements this morning. We'll go ahead and go to our third song. All right, for our third song, if you would, take your hymnals and turn to song number 64. Hymn number 64 in your hymnals, Shall We Gather at the River? Hymn number 64. Go ahead and start there right on the first. Shall we gather at the river Where bright angels' feet have trod We'll gather at the river The beautiful, the beautiful river Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God On the bosom of the river Where the sacred feet we own We shall meet in sorrow never Beneath the glory of the throne Yes, we'll gather at the river The beautiful, the beautiful river Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God There we reach the shining river Laid we every burden down Grace our spirits will deliver And provide a robe and crown Yes, we'll gather at the river The beautiful, the beautiful river Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God Soon we'll reach the shining river Soon our pilgrimage will cease Soon our happy hearts will quiver With the melody of peace Yes, we'll gather at the river The beautiful, the beautiful river Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God Good singing this morning. As the offering plates are being passed around, turn in your Bibles of Psalm, chapter number 118. Psalm 118. Good singing this morning. As the offering plates are being passed around, turn in your Bibles of Psalm, chapter number 118. Psalm 118. O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, because His mercy endureth forever. Let Israel now say that His mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron now say that His mercy endureth forever. Let them now that fear the Lord say that His mercy endureth forever. I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me. Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations can pass me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They can pass me about, yea, they can pass me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They can pass me about like bees. They are quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord help me. The Lord is my strength and song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore, but hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord. The gates of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter, I will praise thee, for thou hast hurt me and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. That is, this is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, I will praise thee, and I will praise thee. Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let's pray. Gracious Lord, thankful to be in your house today, thankful for such beautiful weather. Pray, Lord, that you help us to focus on the preaching of your word, Lord, and just apply it to our lives. Help us to expound our understanding of you and the scripture that you have built for the past for all of us in your spirit. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, Psalm 118, let's look at verse number 24. The Bible says, This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. And the title of my sermon is Live in the Present. Live in the present. See, one of the things we have to realize is that every single day is a gift from God. And even just something simple, like Brother Reed was just praying, like thank you for this great weather. You know, that's something to rejoice in. That's something to enjoy and kind of soak in when those good moments happen, those good days. And just live in the present. But yet a lot of people, a lot of Christians miss out on this idea because their head is either stuck in the past, beating themselves up for things that they missed out on or regrets that they have in life. Or people are just so worried about the what ifs of life, the future of what is life going to look like in 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. But, you know, the Bible, the psalmist here saying like, hey, today is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. And it's one of the most famous psalms for a reason. You know, it's a beautiful concept. But number one, be thankful for what you have today. Be thankful for what you have today. Not sitting here wishing and thinking about things you used to have. Not sitting here wishing and longing for things that you're going to have in the future. But just rejoice and be thankful for the things that you have today. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number nine. Now, obviously, there's just so many things that we can be thankful for. But it's kind of a characteristic of people living in the last days where people are kind of just unthankful. And they don't really have perspective of how great our lives really are. And many Americans are just complete spoiled brats. You know, we need more sermons like you poor little house slave of all these terrible, terrible lives that people are living with their Amazon deliveries and their modern appliances and all the luxuries that we have of life. Yet people still find a way to complain, right? Well, here, let's just talk about things that we should be thankful for. How about salvation? Look at 2 Corinthians, chapter nine, verse 15. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. I mean, I think that a lot of people just take salvation for granted. The fact that you think about the true horror of hell, how it's eternal, how people that died and went to hell thousands of years ago are still there right this very second. They're still in just as much pain as they were thousands of years ago. And they will still be in that pain and agony and suffering in outer darkness for all of eternity. A billion years from now, a trillion years from now, they'll still be suffering. They'll still be burning. They'll still be without love, without comfort, without joy, without sunshine, without comforts, without food, without water, without anything for all of eternity. And praise God, we are spared from that. Praise God, I don't have to spend one single moment in hell. And you know what? Whatever is happening in life, I don't care if you've lost all your limbs. I don't care if you're dying of cancer when it comes to you could still be thankful for the fact that you are safe. Because the worst suffering that we endure in this life, our life is a vapor. It vanishes away and all of our sorrows, our pains, our struggles, everything in life, you're just going to forget about that and you're going to be in heaven. But the people that die, they often suffer in this life and then go to hell for all of eternity if they're unsaved. Go to Hebrews chapter number 12, Hebrews chapter number 12. But the Bible says that it's an unspeakable gift. You know, it's impossible for me to express into words what a great thing the Lord Jesus Christ did for us. And how it's impossible for me to fully wrap my mind around what he actually spared us from. I mean, I cannot conceptualize with my human brain eternity. Can you? Can you think in infinity? I can't do it. But yet that's what Christ saved us from. Hebrews 12 verse 3. One of the things you could rejoice in is the fact that Jesus loved you and me even though we did not deserve it. And that he endured such contradiction of sinners. I mean, what a contradiction that God in the flesh comes down, lives a perfect life, never sins, yet takes all of the sins of the entire world in his own body. That's a contradiction right there. And yet Christ did that for you and for me. And so hey, today rejoice in the fact that you're saved. Rejoice in the fact that Jesus died for your sins. That's something to be so thankful for. Go to Romans 4. And not only just rejoice that you're saved, but I just rejoice in how easy salvation is. And the fact that it's a free gift. And the fact that I don't have to work for it. You know, repent of all my sins, follow the commandments. Because then no one would be saved. No one would be able to attain that. Look at Romans chapter 4 verse 4. If you are working for something, then what you earn is a reward, not a gift. Right? When you go to work, you trade your time and your labor for money. That money is not a gift from your benevolent employer. Right? You were doing work. You were getting gain for that company. They give you money back. But it says, So even if you don't do any works, but you have faith, you trust in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, then your faith is counted for righteousness. God looks down at you and it's as if you're perfectly righteous. As if you never had sinned. As if you've never transgressed the law. Even as David also describes it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So we get that righteousness by faith and once we have faith in him, the Bible talks about how our iniquities are forgiven. That is something to be thankful for. But it takes someone with a little bit of humility to realize that they have iniquity to be forgiven of. But people who believe in works, they're generally very prideful because they think, Oh, my life isn't that bad. I haven't sinned that much. Oh, I've atoned for that. I've turned over a new leaf. I've repented of my sins. And so they look at their iniquities as not being that big of a deal. Whereas I look at me and I'm like, I'm a sinner. I'm deserving of hell. And I didn't earn any righteousness through my own works, through my own doings. It was through faith in him. And once I've done that, he's forgiven all of my iniquities. Not only is he forgiven them, it says and whose sins are covered. You know, it's like they don't even exist. He's covered them up. And blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. He's not going to hold our sins against us because he's already forgiven us of all of them. Go to Lamentations Chapter 3. So, you know, I'm thankful for salvation and whatever it is we're going through, you could wake up every day and say, this is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it because I'm saved, because I'm delivered from hell. I'm a child of God. I'm going to heaven for all of eternity. Praise God for that. But even just something else we should be thankful for is not just the fact that we're saved, but just God's mercy in general on our lives. Because when you realize how serious sin is, when you read the Bible, when you actually truly realize how sinful man is, it's just not even just merciful that God delivered us from hell, but the fact that he's merciful to us for our daily sins and the daily things that we commit. Lamentations Chapter 3, verse 21, This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. You know, I like how it talks about how God's mercies and his compassions are new every single morning. Hey, and you know what you should do is you should live in the present. Say, hey, this is the day that the Lord has made. And you know what? God has given me mercy today. God has given me compassion today. And those things are renewed every single day. And you could live in the present and not sit here and beat yourself up too much about yesterday, your shortcomings yesterday, your failures yesterday, your sins yesterday, and realize that, hey, today's a new day and God has renewed that mercy for you. God has renewed that compassion. And if you are honest with yourself, you know that God punishes you way less than you deserve and way less than I deserve. God gave you mercy and compassion today. Go to Romans chapter 16, Romans chapter 16. You know, another thing that I'm thankful for on a daily basis is for good friends, friends that I have in this room, friends I have in my life. You know, I'm thankful for those things and I'm not thinking like, well, man, I really just wish I had my high school buddies. Oh, man, I really miss my baseball team. No, I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about today and I'm thankful for the friends that I have today. You know, the Apostle Paul had this attitude. Romans 16, he gives a whole bunch of names of people he cares about. And in verse 6 it says, Greet Mary who bestowed much labor on us. Hey, you know, that's a blessing when your friends are willing to do some work to help you out. When you have a need, when you have a struggle and they're willing to bestow labor upon you, that's a great blessing and you should be thankful for that. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners who are of note among the apostles who also were in Christ before me. You know, that has to build a very strong bond to be persecuted for Jesus Christ and actually go to prison together. I mean, I've been persecuted with some brothers in Christ and we've gone through some crazy stuff, but never to the point where I was thrown in jail or my brothers were thrown in jail. But I would imagine that if that happened, you'd probably grow a really strong bond. You're suffering, they're suffering, you're thrown in jail for the cause of Christ. And Paul's like thinking, God bless these people. I'm thankful for these people, my fellow prisoners. Greet Amplius, my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ. And Stackies, my beloved. You know, Urbane was someone that was a helper to the apostle Paul. And, you know, Christianity is a team sport. It's not a one-man show. We need a lot of helpers to get the work of Christ accomplished. You know, I rejoice and I'm thankful for all the helpers at this church. You know, the people that help me make lists of, you know, things to buy, the things that help, or the people that help clean, the people that help fold the bulletins, make the live streams, you know, get here early and unlock the building, set things up. You know, this is a lot of labor that's being put into the work of God and it takes a lot of people and I'm thankful for all of you that help in that. That is a great blessing. Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household. Salute Hadronian, my kinsmen. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus which are in the Lord. Salute Tryphina and Tryphosa who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis which labored much in the Lord. Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. So, notice the apostle Paul, he just had a lot of friends. You know what's funny is he had these really good friends, people that he's labored with, suffered with, served the Lord with. They're really close friends of his. But here's the thing about the apostle Paul that's funny, is he also pissed off a lot of people too. Like, he had a lot of enemies. He had a lot of people that wanted to kill him. He had a lot of people that hated him, despised him, wanted to tear down his leadership. But in the midst of that, he also had really great friends, really close friends that were loyal to him. And, you know, that's a great blessing. And, you know, you should have some people in your life that are good friends. You should have some people in your life that you're thinking of right now saying, yeah, I'm thankful for that person. Yeah, this person helps me. This person's a blessing to me. And if you don't, you need to make some friends. Okay, I'm going to read a verse for you. Proverbs 18, 24, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You know, if you have no friends, you know, that is a problem there. There's an issue there. There's something not working right because if you show yourself friendly, you're going to have friends. If you show up to this church, if you sincerely love God, you want the work of Christ to go forth and you love God's people, you're just going to be friendly to God's people. You know, it shouldn't feel like you're not around good company when you're around saved people. It should feel like, hey, we're brothers in Christ. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. We have the same spirit. You know, when I meet a Christian, I just immediately like them. And if you have no friends, there's probably something wrong with you. Okay, I'm just here to help you. If you have no friends in your life, maybe it's just that you're not friendly to people. Maybe it's that you're not the one that goes and initiates the friendship, that asks questions about other people, that is generally curious about their lives. You know, you have to be friendly to have friends, of course. And you have to not be weird, okay? If no one wants to be your friend, you're probably just weird, okay? And you need to fix that. You need to become normal. And how do you do that? You read the Bible. You go to church. You live for God. You know, serving God will make you normal. Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 8. Deuteronomy chapter number 8. You know, just there's so many great blessings in our life every single day that you could just wake up and be thankful for. You know, how about working a job? You know, a lot of people, they just hate their job. They curse their job. They're so mad at the fact that they have to go to work. And they'll say, oh, you know, Adam and Eve sinned and were cursed. Now men have to go to work. No, no, no. God actually told Adam to keep the garden before sin entered into the world. That's why I preached the whole sermon called Work is a Blessing because the fact that men have to go to work has nothing to do with the fact that man has sinned. Now, it's harder. You know, the earth brought forth, you know, thorns and thistles at that time and Adam had to work harder. But God always had the plan for us to work and working is a blessing. Deuteronomy 8, verse 18. You know, it is God that gives us the power or the ability or the means to acquire wealth. And of course, we need money as a tool in this world. Men have been charged with the responsibility of taking care of their families, supporting them financially, and if you are able to do that, that is a gift from God. That is a blessing that God gave you and you should be thankful for that. You should not wake up every day and just hate the fact that you have to go to work. No, why don't you just thank God that you can even work? Because I guarantee you that people in this world that have no hands would love to sit in your office and type on a keyboard. I guarantee you that people that have no feet would love to go door to door and sell something to someone. I guarantee you that people that have no ears would love to go do whatever job you do. You know, people in this world, there's tons of people that are, you know, mute that would love to give a work presentation. There's all these people suffering that aren't able to go to work literally. You know, you have hands and feet and a mouth and ears and eyes and God's given you those things to do work. Be thankful for it. Rejoice in the fact that you get to do some labor because not everyone can. Go to James chapter number one. James chapter number one. You know, even even ladies to your work, you have a serious job to do. You have a lot of labor to do. Keeping the house, taking care of children, cooking meals. Hey, there's a lot of people without arms that would love to cook a meal. Right. And instead of just dreading it and complaining about it and hating it. Why don't you just say, hey, this is the day that the Lord hath made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it. Hey, God's given me some work to do today. Praise the Lord. James chapter one, verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Here's the truth is that every single good thing that you have in your life is from God. It is a gift from God. The Bible talks about how, you know, God sends rain on the just and on the unjust. God is even constantly blessing the unsaved. God is even constantly blessing the wicked. But here here should be the colossal difference is that we should at least recognize that it's from God and thank him for it and say, hey, thank God that I have a job. Thank God that I'm able to have a vehicle. Thank God that I'm able to have a house, knowing that all these things are from the Lord. The unsaved and the wicked, they constantly take all the blessings from God without even realizing it. Every time they draw breath into their lungs, it's a gift from God. The fact that they could see their children, the fact that they could hear their laughs, the fact that they could embrace their spouse, the fact that they could make money and go to work, all that is from God. And so let us as Christians rejoice in it and thank the Lord for it and recognize that it comes from him. Don't complain about your work. Don't complain about anything. Go to Numbers Chapter 11. You know, don't be like these don't be like these spoiled communist little brat federal employees where the leadership of the federal government says, hey, send us an email that tells us five things you did in the last week. There's like, ah, this is crazy fascism. What world do you live in? Like what planet do you live on where you don't realize that your authority at work, your boss, your leadership can demand of you and cause you to justify your existence. Hello. Employees are not here to boss their bosses around and to boss other people around. They are there to do the will of their employers. And even it's the same thing in government. Yes, the government should be serving the people. But in government jobs, there's still an authority structure. You still have a boss. You still have a boss above him. You still have a boss above him. And it's like, you know who the boss of everything is? It's the president. He's the chief executive officer of the executive branch. Right. So if the president says, hey, all federal employees, tell me what you're doing in your job. Don't be this spoiled brat that wants to refuse to do so. No, just be thankful you have a job. Oh, yes, sir. My boss wants me to tell him everything that I've done. No problem. It was like people that actually live in the real world and that do real work would have no problem with this whatsoever. You know, I literally have at my job and I've done this since like twenty, twenty one. I have at my job now and in previous jobs, a spreadsheet of daily of every single thing I do at work daily. Every single thing. It's all tracked. It's all documented. You can go audit it at any time. My boss knows it exists. He trusts me. He doesn't look at it. But I've told him, hey, if you ever want to. Here it is. Ever wondering what I'm doing? You want to check out what's going on? Because I'm kind of a one man department where I work right now. Here it is. Read the file. Have fun. I have no problem with that. Why? Because I'm actually working. Want to know why these people have a big problem with it is because they're lazy. They're stealing from the American taxpayers. They're doing nothing. They're a bunch of lazy communists is what they are. They're not thankful for the fact that they even have a job. They're not thankful for the fact that they have employers. They want to, you know, talk crap about them. Numbers 11, verse one. Notice what it says. And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it. And his anger was kindled in the fire of the Lord, burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camps. Notice God hates it. He gets angry. He gets displeased when people complain, especially when people complain about the things that God gave to them. I mean, do you like that as a parent when you give your child something? You know, ladies, you worked really hard in the kitchen. You made this good, nutritious meal. And everyone with brain cells knows that this is a great meal. But children, they just want like chicken nuggets and drenching it and all sorts of weird concoctions. They think that's good food. But then mom's great meal. They have no idea that it's good. And then they want to complain and murmur. Doesn't it? You're just like, what's wrong with you? Like, you need to grow up. You need to get some wisdom. You're being foolish right now. And that's how it is many times for us where God gives us something. God gives us a job. We're like, oh, this job. Oh, this job is so terrible. Oh, man. My employer said I actually have to physically go to work to do work. I didn't know you had to do work at work at work. This is crazy. We need to have a revolution. Look, hey, if you work from home, praise the Lord. You know what that is? A gift from God. And if God gives you that gift, thank him for it. And if that gift doesn't exist, who cares? Go to work with a good attitude. Hey, you know, I've worked from home a lot and I really enjoyed it. But guess what? If my boss ever said, no, you're coming in the office today. It's yes, sir. No problem. Not going to sit here and and, you know, boycott the city because of that. You know, I saw these federal employees again. The president said, hey, you have to come into work. We're ending remote work. And they're like, all right. I know how we're going to hurt President Trump is we're going to boycott all of the businesses around our offices. All the coffee shops, all the grocery stores, all the fast food restaurants, all the city. It's like you idiots. Like, what did they do? Are you punishing the president by hurting small businesses in America? Like that's these people's idea. But again, they're just entitled, spoiled brats. You know, be thankful. Be thankful for the fact that you live in America, that you work in America, that you weren't born in North Korea, that you weren't born in India, that you weren't born in China, working in some sweatshop. You know, whatever job you have, I guarantee you, your working conditions are better than people in those countries. And you're like, oh, I don't like my job. OK, well, work towards something new, learn something new, have goals, have a vision, have a plan. But while you're today, while you're in today, the day that the Lord has made, be thankful for the work that you have. Be thankful for the money that you have. Be thankful for the things that he provides for you. Go to Philippians chapter number four. And it's like, what were the children of Israel here? What were they complaining about? They were complaining about the manna that God gave them. And they wanted the garlic and the melons and the leeks from the land of Egypt. Yet they had the best food made by God. And, you know, oftentimes we just we get stuck in monotony. We do the same things over and over. And it can cause us to lose perspective of how great our life is. You know, if you want to, you know, give yourself some perspective on how great your life is. Why don't you go to a missions trip? Why don't you go to Mexico? Why don't you even go to the Bahamas? Which everyone thinks like, wow, the Bahamas is paradise on Earth. Yeah. When you're staying with the rich millionaire white Americans on Paradise Island. But when you actually go into the island in the inner part of it, every door in business is locked and guarded with an armed guard. You can't just walk into a grocery store. You can't just walk into a fast food restaurant. Someone has to buzz you in. There's military out and about in the country. It's like that gives me perspective. Like, wow, Oklahoma's nice. Wow. We live in peace and prosperity. You know, just go to Houston. Why don't you just go to Houston or Seattle or San Francisco and see how terrible these places are. And how dirty and gross and rotten those places are and full of crime and debauchery and filth. And you're gonna be like, wow, Yukon, Oklahoma, baby. So nice. You know, Oklahoma City, it's a beautiful area. It's safe. It's receptive to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The economy is good here. The cost of living is good here. You know, if you've only ever lived here, you might lack that perspective. But when you change things up, sometimes you realize how good you have it. How about your house? You know, this is something people are constantly discontented with. It's the house that they have. Look at Philippians chapter 4, verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be a base and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. So the Apostle Paul, he's kind of experienced all of this. You know, he's experienced having a feast and tons of great food and all this luxury and being in nice places with nice people. He's also experienced hardship, persecution, being hungry, being in a low estate. He's experienced both of these things. But what's interesting is that he said in whatsoever state I am, I'm content, I'm satisfied, I'm happy, I'm thankful. And look, your life will be so much better if you're just content with the things that you have. If you're not always dreaming, if you're not always longing, if you're not always wanting because it just doesn't make sense. Think about it like you get a house. It's not like you could just buy a house every year. Right. You're usually you buy a house, you're staying in that sucker for like at least five years, usually 10 years. Because if you just buy a house every year, you're flushing money down the drain with closing costs and all this crazy stuff. Right. So people usually live in a house for quite a while. What sense does it make if you buy a house and you're going to be there for 10 years? But those whole 10 years, you're just miserable. You're just can't wait for the next one, can't wait for the next one. You spend all those 10 years being discontented, unhappy, unthankful. You think that's going to change when you get to the next house? When you get more money and you get to the next house and you buy the next house and then immediately you're just thinking, oh, man, I can't wait till the equity goes up and we can just trade in for a better one, trade in for a bigger one. And your whole life, you're just not happy. Your whole life, you're just not content. Let me tell you, that's misery. But whereas what's so much better is even if you just have a starter home, even if you just have an apartment, even if you have a trailer, whatever you have, if you are just content with that, hey, the next time you actually get something, you're just going to be extra happy. And then you're going to enjoy that for 10 years and you're going to soak it up and you're going to love it and you're going to wake up in your house. Today is the day that the Lord has made. Look, God gave me a house to live in. Thank you, Jesus. I appreciate the blessing. And you just enjoy it today and the next day and the next day. And then someday, if he blesses you with another one, how much the more you enjoy it. But you know what? The eyes of man are never satisfied. You know, he that loves silver is not satisfied with silver. If you just have to have bigger, better, greater, you're not going to be happy. Let me just tell you something. You will never be happy. And this goes for your house, your car, the lifestyle you live, the level of luxury you want. Look, you'll never be happy. Go to Psalm 122. Psalm 122. You know, Lord Jesus Christ, he didn't even have a place to lay his head. I mean, we are blessed beyond measure and beyond what we deserve. If the Savior himself didn't have a permanent place to live, look, if we do, praise God. Thank you, Lord. You know, how about this? Be happy with the church you have today. Psalm 122, verse one. Notice what it says. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. You know, today, when you woke up, yes, I know the Daylight Savings Time sucks. It's terrible, right? We feel a little tired. But even in the midst of being a little groggy and fatigued, you know, were you happy to be coming to the house of the Lord today? Or were you dragging your feet, saying, I don't really want to go, but I'm going to do it anyways? I mean, today's the day that the Lord has made. Let's be glad when they say to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Let's go to church. Let's be happy. You know, or do you just want to sit here and just criticize everything you don't like about the church? You want to just criticize everything that we don't have yet? And look, thank God, I don't feel like this happens at all at our church. I don't think that anyone's complaining about things or discontented. But it's just we need to keep it that way. We need to keep that attitude. Because it's like, oh, well, you know, how come we don't do all the great events and conferences that other churches do? Because we're a small church. That's why. And why don't you just be happy with our church? Why don't you just enjoy these moments? And someday, Lord willing, if we grow, we can do big church stuff. And then, but here's the thing, the people that complain about, oh, we're a small church, we don't get to do all the great things. Then there's going to be problems with big church that you're going to not like as well. And instead of just being happy in the state that you're in and just saying like, hey, today, in March 2025, here's what our church can do. Here's what we look like. Here's the plan. Here's the services. Hey, I'm happy with how it is. You want to complain, complain, complain? Well, someday, if the church is big, you're going to not be happy then too. There's some people where it's like, you know, Goldilocks Baptist, where it can't be too small. It can't be too big. It has to be just right. No, today is just right. Next week, it's just right. Twenty years from now, Lord willing, hey, it's just right. Just be thankful for how it is now. Because, you know, there's some blessings with having a smaller church. And I've been in both a large church and a small church. And there's some blessings when it comes to having a smaller church that it's more intimate, you get to talk to everyone. You know, when you're going to a big church, trust me, there's times where you can go weeks attending the same church as someone and not talking to them at all. And it's not like you were avoiding them or they were avoiding you. It's just like, hey, there's 250 people here. If you spend a minute talking to each one, you're not going to really be able to do that, right? And so here, though, we get to know each other more. We get to be on a more intimate level. That's great. You know, we get to have potlucks. You know, every five weeks, we've got the men's preaching night and the potlucks. Look, that becomes a nightmare in a bigger church. That becomes an absolute nightmare. And it's like you don't want, you know, cleaning ladies, you don't want us to have potlucks every five weeks if it's a big church. Let me just tell you that right now. OK. But look, there's just some things that we can do now as a smaller church that we won't be able to do in the future. Let me tell you this right now. Happy birthday is not going to stick around forever. I'm just telling you this right now. OK. Happy birthday is not sticking around for forever. And it's not to hurt your feelings. And it's not that I don't care about your birthday or want to wish you happy birthday. It's that I don't want to come to church and sing happy birthday every single service. I don't. And it will probably go away pretty soon, to be honest with you. Because it's just because then the church grows and it's just every single service is happy birthday. And it's just like, no, it's not very professional. It's just kind of weird. No, we want to be a church, want to run things decently and in order. And I've been a part of kind of medium sized churches where that policy was still in effect. And it was like, yeah, every single week, every single week is happy birthday. Or, you know, some people, they add happy anniversary, too. So it's like we're singing happy anniversary. We're singing happy birthday. We might as well put it in the song book. It's like turning your song books to song number one. And we're just going to sing it every single time. Look, hey, just enjoy happy birthday today. Anyone got a birthday today? Does anyone have a birthday? OK, no one has a birthday. So don't enjoy it today. It's not going to happen. But, you know, next time, enjoy that day because it's not going to stick around for forever. And someday you're going to be in the big church. I wish my pastor cared about me. I wish that he would sing happy birthday to me. I miss it so much when brother Eric would announce my name and sing happy birthday. Look, just be happy then. Be happy now. Today's the day that the Lord has made. I'm sure I've offended all of you already with the happy birthday thing. But hey, just be happy with church. Hey, is the King James Bible being preached or what? Then be happy. Are we going soul winning? Be happy. You know, do we have good people here? Do we have activities? We're doing the best we can. Hey, rejoice. Be happy with the church that God's given us. Go to Philippians chapter 3. You know, I just, we need to wake up every day and just rejoice in that day. And the things that we have and the life circumstances that we have and the places we find ourselves, thank God for that day. Look, thank God I live in the United States of America. Yeah, it's got problems. Yeah, it's got sins. But I'll tell you what, I would not want to live anywhere else. And you know, some people act like, oh, you know, if you love America, it's because you've never traveled. Every time I travel the world, I enjoy my time. I have fun. There's things that I enjoy. But I am always ready to come back crawling on my hands and knees to the United States of America. The first time I went to Mexico, I was in Houston the next time and I was like, this is the cleanest city I've ever seen in my life. Like, if you go from Oklahoma City to Houston, you're going to be like, ah, this is crazy. But if you go from Mexico to Houston, you're going to be like, this is heaven. This is wonderful, okay? And it's just like, I thank God that I live in the United States. I thank God I can carry a gun every day of my life, legally, no issues whatsoever, right? I thank God that we have the First Amendment. I thank God we have freedom of religion. I thank God that we live in a wealthy and prosperous society. I thank God that we live in a place with tons of fire-breathing, independent, fundamental Baptist pastors. You know, I thank God for the life that we have here. And, you know, I don't think it's cool to hate the country we live in. I don't think it's cool to sit here and be so ungrateful to God for the things that He's given us. I'm not sitting here clapping, and I don't think anyone is clapping for, like, the person who hates the place that they live the most. That's just weird to me. Yeah, let's preach against the sins, absolutely. Oh, you better believe I'll preach against, you know, sodomy and drunkenness and fornication and adultery and people forsaking church and all the issues that we have here. You better believe that. But today is the day that the Lord's made. I find myself here in the United States of America. Hey, thank you, Lord. I could be in China. I could be in India. I could be, you know, in all these terrible places of the world. No, thank you. Thank God that I'm here. Number two this morning, when it comes to living in the present, don't worry about things outside of your control. Don't sit here just spinning your wheels, giving so much your mental energy and anxiety and just mental power into thinking and worrying about things outside of your control. You know, one of those things is the past. The past is now outside of your control. There's nothing you could do to change the past. Look at Philippians 3, verse 12. The apostle Paul said, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. So what is he saying? I'm not perfect. I haven't arrived. I'm not the epitome of spiritual growth. I can learn. I can grow. But I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus saved the apostle Paul and gave him a mission to preach the gospel. And he says, I want to apprehend that. I want to reach that for which Christ has reached me and called me to do. Verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. See, in order for the apostle Paul to press towards the mark, to focus on his ministry and the goal that he has for his life, he has to do something. He has to forget those things which are behind because living in the past stunts your growth. Sitting here worrying about the past and all the regrets you have and all the missed opportunities that you didn't take. You know what that's causing you to do is it's causing you to keep your eye off of the opportunity that's ahead of you. It's causing you to get your mind off of all the opportunities that you have today. Today is the day that the Lord has made. Don't sit here beating yourself up for wasted years of the past, wasted time of your youth. No, just realize I'm here today. Why don't I focus on today? You know, the best athletes in the world, it's said that they have a short memory. And this is something that my coaches always taught me growing up as a pitcher. Hey, you make a bad pitch, you walk someone, you forget it. Because if you're pitching and you're constantly just beating yourself up, oh man, that was such a bad pitch. What did I do? Why did I give up that home run? Man, they really smoked that ball. You're now not thinking about the hitter that you're facing. And it's like the best players in sports are people that they make a mistake and they forget about it. They don't care about it. They don't beat themselves up about it. They're just now focused on what's in front of them. And look, that's the same thing with anything in life. It's the same thing with serving God. Look, if you messed up, even if you did something very, very simple in your past. Look, if you've asked for forgiveness, God has forgiven you. God has moved on. God has it covered. God's taken away all your iniquities. So why are you going to beat yourself up about it? Like if God forgives you, who do you think you are to not forgive yourself? Honestly, it's pride is what it is. It's thinking too highly of yourself and too much of yourself. Like if God's forgiven you, forgive yourself. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 1. And really the Apostle Paul is the ultimate example of this. And he even says as much in 1 Timothy 1. Notice verse 12, he said, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. You know, he lists, hey, God's put me into the ministry. He's counted me faithful. And here's who I was before. I was a blasphemer. I was injurious, meaning causing injury to the kingdom of God, causing harm to the kingdom of God and a persecutor, going after, harassing God's people, sending them to jail, consenting unto their death. I mean, Stephen was stoned. And the Bible says that the Apostle Paul, who was at that time, Saul, watched it and was consenting unto his death. You know, if there's anything that's going to cause you to kind of beat yourself up a little bit, maybe it was the fact that you were consenting of the death of a great man of God. And here's the thing. I think God gives us this example of the Apostle Paul because what's in our past? Like, did we really go around hailing Christians into jail? Were we consenting unto the death of Christians? Probably not. OK, and don't raise your hand if you were. But, you know, the truth is, though, is that we all do have a list of something, right? We all have a list of, yeah, I was fill in the blank of whatever sins you've committed in your life. But is that the end for the Apostle Paul? Keep reading in verse number 14. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, notice this, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. What's he saying? He's saying, look, I'm chief of sinners. Look at all the terrible things I did in my past. Yet here I am today. God's counted me faithful. He's put me into the ministry. He's forgiven me of these things. Why? For an example to those who hereafter can look at the story of the Apostle Paul and say, wow, if God used him, if God forgave him, if God even made him do some of the greatest works ever done, he could forgive me too. He could use me too. And it makes no sense to sit here today in the day that the Lord has made and make excuses for why you're not serving God, make excuses for why you're not doing something with your life. Oh, because yesterday I was a bad person or 10 years ago I did something bad or 30, 40 years ago I did something terrible. It's like, hey, you don't compete with the Apostle Paul. So why don't you just accept the grace that God's given you, accept his mercy and press towards the mark, not live in the past, not beat yourself up over the past. And let me tell you something. People that love to beat you up over your past are wicked people. They're carnal. They don't have the mind of God or the heart of God because the Lord Jesus Christ, he was merciful to the Apostle Paul. Even though he did all these wicked things in the future, he did great works for God. Let's skip some of this for sake of time. Go to, if you would, Ecclesiastes chapter number seven, Ecclesiastes chapter number seven. You know, also when it comes to people just, you know, worrying about things they can't control, worrying about the things that they did in the past, sometimes people are just stuck in romanticizing the past. You know, just stuck in, well, I wish I lived in the 1800s or I wish I lived in the 1950s or something like that. This is a common mentality. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse 10. Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? For thou does not inquire wisely concerning this. You know, just kind of how like Jesus talks about, can you really add a cubit to your stature by thinking about it? Can you really cause any of your hair to grow back on your head by giving it thought? It's like sitting here and wishing and longing that you were in the 80s or the 50s or the 1800s or whatever. Like, what is that going to accomplish? It's not wise. It makes no sense. Why don't you just be thankful? Here you are in 2025. Oh, man, the history was so great back then. Well, why don't we just make some history right now? Why don't we do some great works for God right now? Oh, man, the churches, they used to preach so hard. They used to be so fired up about soul winning. They used to be conservative. They used to dress nice and have all these great things. Okay, just do what's right now. Just be thankful we live in 2025. And here's the truth. You know, I never was there, but I'm guessing that the past wasn't as great as people make it out to be. You know, things usually aren't as great or as bad as people make it seem. You know, if you lived back then, there would be things you didn't like about it. There would be things that you would miss about the time that we're living in right now. Why don't you just embrace the time we're living in? Be thankful. You know, don't be like these old IFB Boomer Baptists that they just refuse to post their sermons on the internet because back in my day, you know, we didn't have the internet, so we're going to pretend we don't have the internet now. It's like, just live in the present, man, and just adapt. And whatever technology looks like in 60 years, let's just use it for the cause of Christ. Okay? You know, Chat GBT, believe it or not, is not the devil. It's not a demon. It's a language learning model that was programmed by a software developer. And let's just use whatever technology we can to share the gospel and to spread the word of God, and we're not going to sit here and live in the past. Go to 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. But not only do some people, you know, they're stuck thinking, man, the past was so awesome. The past was so great. It was so much better than right now. I think oftentimes people think the people themselves were just so much different. People themselves are so much different. But the truth is that there's no new thing under the sun, and man's heart has been the same since the garden. Human nature has been the same since the garden. But even men of God sometimes had this mentality. Verse 1 says, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. So Jezebel is threatening to kill Elijah. You can see how that would cause some stress, cause some anxiety. Verse 3 says, And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he gets all sorry for himself, he says, and he requested for himself that he might die. Now, this I don't really get, because it's like, you are doing all these great works for God, and then Jezebel threatens to kill you, so you run away. To ask that you die? It's like, wait, I thought you were running away from death. I thought you were running away from getting killed. You run away to this juniper tree, and then you just ask that you die. But notice what he says, and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take my life, take away my life, notice this, for I am not better than my fathers. You know what I think that he's saying? I think what he's saying is like, man, if I was just built different like the previous generations, maybe I'd be able to withstand this persecution. You know, it's like, man, if I was just built different, like the World War II generation, then my life would look different. I would have a better career. I would have a well-behaved family. I would go to church. I would dress professionally. I would have all these attributes about me if I was built different like the previous generations. Oh, you know, if I was, he's thinking like, man, if I was like Moses, oh, yeah, no problem, I'd be able to withstand this situation. But let me tell you the truth is that no one is built different. Human nature is the same. And if someone is strong in their faith and courageous and bold and is willing to stand up for what they believe and endure persecution, it's not because they're built different. It's because they have faith in the Word of God. They follow what the Bible says. They're disciplined to do what the Bible says even when they don't feel like doing it. They're consistent in prayer. They're consistent in the things of God. That's why they're built different. There's nothing different about them. So instead of just sitting here like, man, I just wish I was like the old generations. I wish I was built different like the World War II. Why don't you just build yourself different? Why don't you just open the Bible and start building piece by piece and just make yourself built different? Because there's no special 1940s dust that was spread on America that made 17-year-old men brave to go fight the Nazis and bombers at freezing temperatures in World War II. You know, there was nothing that made them built different. They were just strong, right? And you can be too. There's no difference between you and them. There's no difference between people of the 1800s, 1700s. Oh, man, you know, you read literature that was written in the 1800s. I love reading literature from the 1800s. But let me tell you, there's nothing different about their hand that, you know, drew with the pen. There's nothing different about their mind. They just read more than you probably. They just actually learned what words mean more than you do probably. They actually probably studied a lot more in school than you. It's not that they had a great literary dust, you know, spread upon them. They just worked harder than us apparently. And it's like we could bring back great literature. We could bring back strong men. We could bring back godly Christianity at any time we want here in 2025. There's nothing different about the past. Just don't live in the past. Focus on today. Churches can do great works today. Here's another thing people love to worry about that they can't control. That's obviously the future, right? Go to Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter number 6. I kind of alluded to this passage earlier. Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. Jesus said, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat. So that's future, right? Or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on, is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment. He's like saying, don't worry about what you're eating, what you're drinking, what you're going to put on. And for us in our modern culture, this would be like, don't worry about your income. Don't worry about what your quality of life is going to look like tomorrow or something like that. Because the life is more than meat and more than raiment. Verse 26, Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? So he gives us this carnal example where he's like, look at the birds. They're not going in and punching in at 7 a.m. and clocking out at 5. They're not storing all this stuff. They're not sowing and reaping. God takes care of them. And, obviously, God cares about you more than birds. That's what he's saying. Then in verse number 27 says, Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto a stature? Taking thought, stressing, thinking about it, wishing, longing. Like, can you make yourself taller by just like, oh, I'm just going to think. No, it's not going to happen, right? Can you make yourself richer? Can you make yourself have a better status in life by just thinking about it? No, you can't. You can't change any of those things. So don't sit here and just worry about the future so much. Stay there. I want to read for you Psalm 37, verse 25 says, I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. And, you know, if you just think about your own life, your own finances, your own just estate in life that you've dealt with, I'm sure that everyone in here has experienced times that were kind of frightening financially. Where it's just like the medical bills come in at the worst time imaginable. The car breaks down at the worst time imaginable. You know, the house needs all these repairs, whatever emergency pops up. And at the time, you're looking at it saying like, I don't know how this is going to get fixed. I don't have the money. I don't see how this is going to get fixed. But hold on a second. Here you are right now and you didn't starve. Isn't that interesting? Here you are today in church and you never, you know, went without the meals. You had the roof over your head. You had the clothes on your back. Here you are today. So what good did all of that worrying and stress do you? Nothing whatsoever. So you just expended all this mental energy, all this frustration, all this stress that you added to your life about what the future is going to look like. But yet here you are today and it all worked out. Why? Because he's never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. And if you are a godly Christian seeking first the kingdom of God, you are not going to die of starvation, saving like maybe the tribulation or something like that. And if that happens, well, what are you going to do? You're going to die is what you're going to do. Sorry. You know, that's what would happen. All right. Look at verse number 28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Like, does God care about us more than birds and flowers and grass? Of course he does. So why are we going to sit here and worry like God's not going to take care of us? Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Verse 33 is the key point to remember. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Hey, live in today. Be thankful for today. Be thankful for what God has provided for you today, the job you have today. And don't sit here freaking out and worrying, Oh man, what is my life going to look like in 20 years from now financially? 30 years from now financially. Look, just seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Go to church. Read the Bible. Pray. Go soul winning. Go to work. Like God said to work hard. Get some skills. Get some smarts. Do those things. And you know what's going to happen? You're never going to starve. God's never going to forsake you. God is going to take care of you. Go to, if you would, Philippians chapter number four, Philippians chapter number four. You know, I think that we are just a people in the United States that just add so much unnecessary stress to our lives, because it seems like we are just obsessed with the future. We're obsessed about what is our life going to look like in 30 years from now? What is my retirement home on the beach of Florida going to look like? How am I going to reach that? It's like, bro, you could die tonight. You could die tonight. And here you are, freaking out about what life is going to look like 30 years from now. Why don't you just rejoice in today and think about today and not stress yourself out? Philippians four, verse four, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice, let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing. That's not saying like having caution or trepidation. It's saying like, don't be stressed out. Don't be full of care and anxiety. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Here's what you do. You identify, hey, there's this problem. Hey, it's stressing me out. You pray, you let God know that it's stressing you out. You ask Him to help you. You do all the things that you're supposed to do that you know is right, what God wants you to do. And then you just say, okay, Lord, it's in your hands. This is on you now. This is your responsibility now. I'm going to let you take care of that. And that causes the peace that passes all understanding to come over you and to help you through those hard times. Because you're not helping yourself and your problems by sitting here just stressing and worrying and freaking out. You're just like shaving years off your life is all you're doing. You know what I mean? You need to sit there and trust the Lord. Pray, do what you need to do. Verse 8 says finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. See, God wants our mindset to primarily be focused on the positive. Today is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Not freaking out about tomorrow. Not worrying about all the what ifs of life. Not worrying about your stature or your money or the things that you don't have or the things that you used to have that you wish you still have. No, just think about things that are pure, good, lovely, good report. Think about today. Be thankful for today. Pray and leave it in the Lord's hands. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Another thing people kind of freak out about when it comes to stressing about things that are outside of their control is just random life events. Just random life events. You know, people freak out about the what if. What if this happens? What if that happens? Look at Ecclesiastes 9.11. I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong neither yet bred to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favor to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all. Sometimes in life, stuff just happens. And what just annoys me so much and what adds stress to my life is when I'm with someone that's just, well, what if this happens? Well, what if that happens? Well, what if this other thing happens? It's like, bro, it hasn't happened yet. So chill. And if it does, time and chance happens to them all. Stuff just happens in life. You know, one of the funniest things I saw was when President Trump was meeting with President Zelensky in the White House. And some reporter asked this dumb question and the way that President Trump responded was so funny. The question was, what if President Putin breaks the ceasefire agreement? And Trump goes, what if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? And he's like, exactly, dude. What if a bomb drops on your head? It's like, hey, what if China attacks us and blows up an EMP over the United States and all the supply lines are down and we have no food in the grocery stores and there's chaos on the street and looters on the street? We'll die. That's what will happen. I mean, what if a bomb drops on your head right now? Then a bomb's just going to drop on your head and you're going to die. But you know what makes no sense is just spending your life freaking out about the what if. What if, okay, what if then? What if you walk across the street today and get shot in the chest by a random violent thug? That happens. What if that happens? Okay, I'm just going to wear a bulletproof vest and I'm going to roll myself in bubble tape in a safe room in my basement and like plumb some fresh water lines in there and just like have someone shove me some food under a door just so that nothing could ever happen. What if? What if you're driving down the road and your tire blows up? Then your tire's going to blow up. What if my car breaks down? What if I lose my job? What if I get cancer? What if I lose a child? What if? What if? What if? Okay, then what if? Then it's just going to happen. What if a bomb drops on your head right now? I mean, I'm just going to start saying that all the time now. Hey, what's going to happen this week? What if a bomb drops on our head right now? I mean, it's a good point. It really is a good point. It's like, what if Putin breaks it? Well, then what if a bomb drops on our head? What if he breaks it? So what? We're not going to sit here and think about the what ifs of life because you can't change it. Live in the present. What can you control today? What can you put your energy into that's productive today? And that leads me to my third point. Focus on the work that you could do today. Focus on what you can do today. Go to James, chapter number four. We live in a fast-paced country. We live in a very future-oriented country. In a lot of ways, that's a good thing. It leads to people working hard. But man, boy, did I notice the difference when I went to Germany of just the speed, the energy level, the quickness of life. It's just so different there. Everything's quiet. Everything's slow. And like I said, there is some good to the energy and fast-paced way of life that we have in the United States. But where it gets kind of toxic is, again, the things I'm saying. How am I going to get that beach house in 40 years? How am I going to get that private jet? How am I going to make sure that I have $3 million in savings by the time I retire? How do I make sure that each of my kids have a million dollars by the time they go to college and that I have a nest egg and that I have all these things? It's like, that is ridiculous. Because guess what? Again, you could die tonight. You could die tomorrow. You could die next week. And it doesn't make sense to put all this effort and energy stressing into what life is going to look like in 40 years when you could just put that energy into today. And you could enjoy today. And what you're sowing into today, you know what's going to happen? If God gives you tomorrow, you're going to reap in that day. And if God gives you 20 years from now, so, so, so, so, so, reap at that time. But don't take it for granted. Hey, you only know that you have today. James 4, verse 13. Go to now ye that say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. So notice these guys, they have a business plan. They're like, today or tomorrow, we're going into this city. We're going to buy and sell. We're going to get gain. We're going to make all this money. In the beginning, that verse says, go to now. Go to now. Why? Well, look what it says, verse 14. Whereas ye know not, what shall be on tomorrow? You know, you don't know if a bomb is going to drop on your head tomorrow. It could happen. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Don't sit here and think about in 30 years how your life is going to look so perfect. Don't think about how in 20 years how great your business is going to look and just stress. How am I going to make sure it gets that way? You know what you should do? You should go to now. Oh, what's my marriage going to look like in 50 years? Why don't you just be married and be a good husband today? Why don't you just be a good wife today? Why don't you invest love into your spouse today? Because guess what? You don't even know if tomorrow is coming. You don't know if a year from now is coming. Why don't you enjoy church today? Because you don't know if you're coming here next week. Why don't you enjoy your country today? You don't know if it's going to exist in five years from now. Why don't you just enjoy and work and affect things that you could actually do right now today? Last place I'll have you go to is, excuse me, Psalm 118. We'll finish there. Psalm 118. You know, today is the day that the Lord has made. We should not sit here and worry about the past, things we can't change, and desire that we were in a different time period, and desire we were built different, or desire to be 30 years from now. What's life going to look like there? Or freak out about all the random life events that could possibly happen along the way. It's like, hey, what are you doing for God today? You know, sometimes I hear young guys, and it's a godly desire, but they're like, yeah, I want to be a pastor, and praise the Lord. That's a good desire to have. I can honestly say that when I got saved from that very first year, I had that desire. But here's the thing. You shouldn't just be like, man, in five years, I got to be a pastor. I got to be a pastor in five years. Or I got to get there in 10 years. It's like, why don't you just read your Bible today? Why don't you start memorizing scripture today? Why don't you go soul winning today? Why don't you be a good church member today? And then do that tomorrow, and then do that next week, and then do that next month, and then do that next year. And hey, Lord willing, someday, if the Lord will, we'll do this or that. Hey, if the Lord will, you could be a pastor someday. But you know what? You can't affect that right now. You can't decide right now, oh, I'm going to be a pastor in 10 years. But you know what you can do? You can go soul winning at two o'clock. That you could do. Lord willing, of course. We're not there yet. What if a bomb drops on our head? I don't know. But Lord willing, at two o'clock, we're going to meet here and go soul winning. You know what you could do? You could go soul winning. You know what you could do? You can go home tonight and read your Bible. You could follow God's commandments. You could go to church. You know, I'm not sitting here thinking about like, man, how is Anchor Baptist Church going to look in 30 years? I want to make sure that I got this all planned out. I've already got the property, you know, eyed out and I know where it's going to be. I'm not thinking that way. You know what I'm thinking? What can Anchor Baptist Church do today? Who can we go preach the gospel to today? What sermon can I preach today? Who can I love today? That's what I'm thinking about. I'm not thinking about tomorrow. I'm not thinking about next year. I'm thinking about today. Why? Let's read this verse again. Verse 24 of Psalm 119. This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this wonderful day that we have. Thank you for the blessings that we have today, for the friends that we have today. Thank you for salvation, for the word of God, for Anchor Baptist Church, for the opportunities we have in America to preach the gospel freely. I pray that every day that you give us, we would recognize it as a gift from you, that we would thank you for it, and that we would use it to its fullest potential and always be thinking, what can I do for the Lord today? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. With that, we'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the service. If you would, take your hymnals at this time and turn to hymn number 75 on Jordan's Stormy Banks. Hymn number 75 in your hymnals. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. On Jordan's Stormy Banks I stand and cast a wishful line To Canaan's fair and happy land Where my possessions lie I am bound for the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh who will come and go with me I am bound for the promised land All o'er those wide extended plains Shines one eternal day There God the Son forever reigns And scatters night away I am bound for the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh who will come and go with me I am bound for the promised land No chilling winds nor poisonous breath Can reach that healthful shore Sickness and sorrow, pain and death Are felt and feared no more I am bound for the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh who will come and go with me I am bound for the promised land When shall I reach that happy place And be forever blessed When shall I see my father's face And in his bosom rest I am bound for the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh who will come and go with me I am bound for the promised land