(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After this man are therefore pray ye. Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us for our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret. And thy father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. And if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve few masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, 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? 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? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? 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 clothe the grass of the field, which the day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall ye not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothe? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day to the evil thereof. Let's have a quick word of prayer. Dear Father God, thank you for today, thank you for everyone gathered here to hear your word of prayer. I pray that you build brother secure with the Spirit, so that He can preach a bold and edifying sermon to us, and that you may receive something to apply to our day-to-day lives. Amen. Amen, Matthew chapter 6, the verse that I want to focus on is verse number 25, you know, that says, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, for what ye shall eat, for what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, for what ye shall put on, is not life more than raiment, and the body than raiment. Go down there to verse number 33 that says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. What things? The things we just saw in verse number 25 basically is food and raiment. It says by having these things that we read later on in the Bible, it talks about being content, just having food and raiment. And the title of my sermon is simply this, do not fear the new year, or don't fear the new year. One way you cannot fear the new year is to not pay attention too much to what the news is saying. You click on the news, whether it's Fox News, whether it's CNN, and all you see is stuff that's designed to cause you to fear. Fear is wrong. Fear is good. God says to fear him. It says not to fear those that destroy the body but are not able to destroy the soul, but rather fear him that is able to destroy both soul and body and health. But what do you see in the media? All you see is that China is trying to take over. There's going to be war soon. You know, Australia is freaking out, buying nuclear weapons, buying nuclear subs, because they're getting ready for this war. This war is going to happen with China soon, because China wants to dominate the world. Or you hear about how crime is just skyrocketing, record number of deaths, record number of murders in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. And then you're hearing about how people are just freaking out over gas prices. I know I am a little bit, you know, but it is what it is, you know, like, ah! You know, it's like these gas prices again. And so, of course, all these things, if you watch the news, are designed to freak you out, because they know they can cause you to fear. They know that now they have you outside of God's will. And what is God's will towards us? That we will be bold, that we will be righteous, and that we will fear him. That's what the Bible, it's always saying, hey, to fear God, fear the Lord, hey, the fear of the Lord prolongs his days, and a lot of other verses that have to do with the fear of the Lord. You know, but if you have your Bibles, go to Job chapter number one, go to Job chapter number one. But what we saw in Matthew 633, it says, listen, focus on the kingdom of God. Another verse that talks about setting our fictions on things above, not on things of the earth. To be spiritually minded is life, but to be carnally minded is death. One way to ruin your life is to be carnal, to care about the things that truly don't matter. What things am I talking about? Making millions of dollars, being rich, laboring to be rich, because you fell for the lie that, guess what, money brings happiness. Absolutely not true. If that was the case, then guess what, billionaires will never commit suicide. Millionaires will never kill themselves, and that happens on a yearly basis. You hear about some guy who has millions of dollars, has it all, wonderful wife, wonderful house, great career, and all of a sudden they find him dead. He decided to just kill himself by hanging himself or whatever, especially the rock stars. They're famous for this. They're famous. They got millions of bucks, and you hear about some guy who has millions of dollars, lots of hands, millions of hands, and he commits suicide. I don't know if you guys know this rock band Linkin Park, but their lead singer committed suicide, and this band was huge. I mean, this band was gigantic. I mean, they made like maybe what, four or five albums, and they sold hundreds of millions of albums? They made a ton of money, ton of money. People are like, oh, we love your music. It's helped me so much because their music was about suicide, depression, overcoming it, but I guess it didn't work because it didn't work because the lead singer ended up killing himself. And then, of course, before him was that guy from that rock band, what was it called, Nirvana? Nirvana, the head singer, he blew himself with a shotgun, right? Because, you know, money brings happiness. Is that really the situation? No. It's because he got to the point where he was so fearful he didn't want to live anymore, and he took the easy way out. He's like, I'm out of here. Boom, blew his brains out. You know, but guess what? That can happen in Christians as well. Have you read the Bible? People do commit suicide in the Bible. Hello, King Saul? What happened? He got so fearful to the point where he feared the wrong things, and he ended up just killing himself. He didn't have to do that. I mean, the Lord is always stretching out his hand. Yes, his kingdom was done. It was going to be given to David. But what in the end does the Bible always say? Hey, God is always ready. He's ready. He's all day long stretching his hand to a disobedient and stiff-hearted, you know, people. You know, and that can be us as well. If we get so backslidden to the point where God is punishing us so bad, if we can always say, God, I'm sorry, forgive me and help me, King Saul could have done that. But no, he took the easy way out because he was fearful of the Philistines, took the sword, and committed suicide. And that's what the devil ultimately wants you to do, is to end your life. Why? Because one lets so when they're on this planet. You know, one lets God to go out there and knock doors. And guess what? He wants to damn everyone. We know that hell is prepared for the devil and his angels, but guess what? The devil is trying to take people to hell every single day. One of the biggest ways he does it is by getting them to fear, fearing that they're never going to be successful. They're never going to amount to anything. Their life is worthless. And in the end, what do people do that are not spiritually minded? They say, yeah, you know what? I'm done with this life. You know why? Because they're afraid they're never going to amount to anything, and so they end it. They end it prematurely, and God forbid when Christians do it. But guess what? The devil is probably going to go after Christians more than the USA because we're actually getting things done. Amen? But if you do have your Bible, go to Job. And once again, God doesn't want us to worry about tomorrow. God doesn't want us to worry about things that don't matter, but that's what the devil wants us to do. Why? Because it's going to ruin your life. Absolutely 100 percent ruin your life. You know, but if you're right there in Job 1, I'm just going to read from Philippians 4 19 just to remind us how good God is. He says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Amen? And it says in Philippians 4 10, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me has flourished again wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak with respect at once, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to obey and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Amen? You know what that teaches me? Not to worry, not to fear the wrong things. And whatever you may hear in the media, you know, whatever you may hear, whatever your friends are telling you, hey, have you heard of the Omikron? Somebody hit me up with that this Sunday or last Sunday. Hey, what's up with the Omikron? I'm like, what? Is that like some kind of character from the Transformers? Omikron? Is that like Megatron? Is that like Voltron? I'm like, I don't even know what that is. Someone's like, yeah, man, such and such got it. You know, you can't even taste or whatever the case. It's against another deadlier version of the corona that they're now freaking about. Now we got injected with 10 more vaccinations in order to combat Omikron because he's evil and wicked and he's after us. I'm like, I've never even heard who this Omikron is. You know, but what do we see in Philippians 4? Be content. Philippians 4 19, God will supply all your needs. You can do all things through Christ. Now what did the Bible, you know, promise you? Not luxuries, not fame, not fortune, but trials, tribulations, and temptations with persecutions. But you know what the Bible says, hey, when bad things happen, hey, the number one thing you should do is praise God right away. I know it's hard. Morning if you have to. We had a memorial service this past Saturday. You know, in case you didn't know, it was my birthday as well. That's another story. But we did have a memorial this Saturday. One of our members passed away. She was 79 years old. But you know what? I only met her like once. I actually had a conversation with her just one time. And she got me right when I needed it. I ended up just having a bad day and even that day I preached. And I was trying to preach basically the sadness out of my heart, but I couldn't do it. It was a little bit difficult. And I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to do it. You know, do it and you know what? If I don't get nothing out of it, I hope somebody else does. And I finished. And at the end of it, I was like, man, I don't know why. I'm still in the dumps. You know, how things happen during that time. And I'm just like, hey, well, I did my best. You know, I did my best. And that's all I can do. God knows I absolutely try 100 percent. And I'm just kind of standing at the pulpit because I'm kind of like the daycare person after the surveys, making sure kids don't run around and kill themselves, you know. So after the surveys, I kind of go to the pulpit and I'm just looking around, you know, ready to blow the whistle. And be like, yo, slow it down. You know, hey, little kid, go back to your mom. You know, whatever it's going to be. So I'm just standing behind the pulpit and this lady just walks up to me and I never really had a conversation, maybe high and by. And she just comes up to me and says like, you know what, president, I just want to let you know, hey, I enjoyed that sermon. It really did help me. I just want to let you know you made my day. And I'm like, wow, you know, it's like, thank you. You just made my day telling me I made your day. But that's just how things are. You know, you just never know what's going to happen. But hey, at the end of the day, don't give up. Don't quit. Keep pushing forward. Just do what God commanded you to do. And when things start going downhill and things will go downhill eventually. Because God triath the hearts. Something bad will happen. People like to say you're either going into a trial or you're getting out of a trial. Bottom line, we know that there won't be trials because God says so. He promises that. He's got to test you, figure things out. And the perfect example in Job, look right there in Job 1. In fact, go to verse 14. Let's just kind of see how he dealt when bad things happened. Because you know what? Don't fear 2022, but just be ready because bad things will happen. It's called life. It's called serving the Lord. It says right there in verse number 14. And there came a message around to Job and said, The oxen were planted and the acid was feeding beside them. And the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only am escape alone to tell thee. While he was just speaking, there came also another and said, The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. And I only am escape alone to tell thee. While he was just speaking, there came also another and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away. Yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only am escape alone to tell thee. While he was just speaking, there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house. And it fell upon the young men and they are dead. And I only am escape alone to tell thee. Verse number 31. Therefore, I'm sorry. Give me a second. I kind of passed it a little bit. Probably got through that. Alright, let's just go to verse number. Somehow my notes didn't go through. There you go. I'm sorry about that. Verse number, let's go to 19. And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house. And it fell upon the young men and they are dead. And I only am escape alone to tell thee. Then Job arose. So what would you see so far? This is the story of Job. You know, where the devil in the beginning of chapter number one. It's up there with the sons of God and the sons of God are those that went before us. Saved people that died. We are the sons of God. We're the ones that are born again. Born into his family, not just born again spiritually. But God adopts us and he becomes our father when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in him and get saved. So the devil's up there and the Lord starts the conversation. He's like, hey city, have you considered my servant Job? You know, kind of like starting a little fight right there. And he's like, yeah, I know he serves you because you're blessing him like crazy. But go ahead and take away his blessings and the hedge of protection. And watch him curse into your face. He's like, alright, go ahead and do so. We'll see who's right. We'll see who's really the real deal. And so what happens? The devil goes there and of course wicked people end up hurting Job. They hurt his business, they hurt his friends. And of course the Lord allows his children to be killed. And that's a hard thing to go through. Talk about a very bad day. That's a horrible day. I don't think any of us have ever experienced anything like that and I hope you never do. But if you get anything from this sermon, anything at all, if there's one thing I want you to take is remember the Lord. In other words, when bad things happen, even when good things happen, do what Job did. And what did Job do? Let's take a look. He just got the news. All your friends, your business, your animals, your property, your wealth, it's all gone. You're probably going to be like, oh well, at least I have my life and my children's life and even my wife. But guess what? His children, they also were taken away from him. And verse 21, hey, this is what happened. And said, came I out of my mother's womb, or I'm sorry, he fell down upon the ground in worship and said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I be torn of thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. So what is he doing? He just had a really bad day. I mean a horrible experience, a horrible day. And what did he get himself to do? Praise the Lord. Thank the Lord. Remember the Lord. Show him that he knows that he's there and show him that he does still love him. And it's very difficult to do. We just have friends of ours who lost family members towards the end of this year. One of our members had been at our church for a long time. She lost her brother. He was only 35 years old. Yesterday I turned 43. This guy got the corona. Got worse and worse and worse. Ended up in the hospital. Ended up on the ventilator. Didn't make it. Didn't make it. We did our best. We prayed. We asked God to help him. He's like, hey, I cannot bear not having my older brother with me. He doesn't have that many siblings, just I think a sister and a brother. You know, but it's hard. I mean, think about it. The year started fine. The guy was fine. Totally fine. You know, and next thing you know, he gets sick. She didn't think in a million years. Somebody would have told her, this year your brother's going to be gone. She would have laughed and been like, no way. How? You know, he's 35. There's no way. But he's gone that quick. What did she do? She just continued to serve the Lord. And that's what we've got to remember. Praise the Lord. Bad things happen. Praise the Lord. I think I spoke about this guy named Jaco Willings. Jaco Willings is a guy who's famous on YouTube. He has this famous video called Good. You know what? Here's the Bible version of it. Praise the Lord. Bad things happen. It's what Job did. What did he do? Blessed be the name of the Lord. Did he mourn? Absolutely. Is he sad? Absolutely. Is he depressed? Absolutely. Is he going through hard times? Absolutely. But what did he do? He praised the Lord. And Jaco says, bad things happen. Good. Bad things happen. Praise. Praise. Praise the Lord. And hopefully nothing bad crazy like this happens to anyone here, but when it does, just get ready. Hey, do what Job did. Praise the Lord. You get bad news? Praise the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Get on your knees. Pray. It'll make you a better person. It'll keep you in the fight. If you got your Bibles, go to Luke 18. And that's what God wants us to do. We read Matthew 633. Let me just read a little bit more. You know, from Matthew 6, verse 9, it says, After this manner, therefore pray our Father which are in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Look what he's doing. He's teaching us to start out by praising the Lord. Saying, Holy is her name. Holy. And then we see a great example of Job doing that. Bad things happen. He's going to start talking to God. He starts praising the Lord. Thy will be done. Asking him, hey, this happened because this is what you wanted. That church member is like, Lord, we prayed. You know, you're a great God. My brother is gone. Hey, I just got to accept that this is your will. This is what you wanted. This is how it went down. And of course, like here we see different things that God wants us to pray for. Our daily bread. You know, protection against temptation. And forgiveness. You know, but one thing I want you guys to remember. Yes, the Bible commands us to watch and pray that we enter not to temptation. And the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. And our perfect example really quick is in Acts chapter 12. You know, when it says that Peter was arrested. And it says that Peter, therefore, was kept in a prison. But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. So they prayed for Peter that he will be released. And he did end up getting released. And the story is there for a reason. To keep praying. But a quick reminder about prayer. You're right there in Luke 18. Because people pray, pray, pray and they get frustrated. Like, man, I've been praying but nothing seems to be happening. All I can say is read Luke 18. Take a look at Luke 18 really quick. It says that he spake a prayer. But this is Jesus speaking. He spake a prayer unto them to this end. That man ought to always pray and not to faint. Saying there was in the city a judge which feared not God. Neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city and she came unto him. Saying, avenge me and my adversaries. And he will not for a while. But afterwards he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard men. Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her. Lest by her continual coming she worry me. And the Lord said, hear what the unjust just said. And so not God avenges only leg which cried day and night unto him. Though he bear long with them, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when a son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth. Go to Matthew 28. Matthew 28. All I can tell to those people that are praying, praying and feel like giving up. All I got to say is Luke 18. Luke 18. What is it teaching us? That listen, when you pray, you're not always going to get your prayer answered right away. You're not. Here's an example of a woman who's going to a judge. She's an unjust. She's a bad guy. The judge is a bad guy. Doesn't want to avenge her. Doesn't want to give her anything. But because she kept on going and kept on going, eventually she wore him out. And she's like, fine. I don't fear God. I don't fear men. I don't even like this woman. But I'm going to give her what she wants. Why? Because she's annoying the daylights out of me. That's not how we should be. You know? And she's going to say, listen, this person is going to do what this woman wants. And how much more will your father in heaven, who's nothing like this wicked judge, is going to answer you eventually. So keep going. Keep going. Keep praying. Keep doing whatever you have to do. So guess what? In 2022, don't be fearful of man, but when bad things happen, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. When things start going downhill, when everything seems to be crashing down on you, hey, just keep praying. And if nothing's happening, just have the faith that God is better than this unjust judge, and he will come through. That's the whole purpose of Luke 18. God will come through, even though he's not giving your answers that moment, you know, it will come. It may not be that day. It may not be the next day. It may not be the next month. It may not be until six months down the road, but God will step in and help you. Unless you're in sin, he will help you. He will help you. He will come through. So when the foundations get destroyed, when everything's going downhill, what should the righteous do? Well, the best advice I can give you is keep the basics, i.e. the fundamentals. Last time I checked, we're an independent fundamental, right? Baptist church. We believe in the basics and then some. And what are the fundamentals? Just quickly put, what does the Bible command us to do? Get right there in Matthew 28, it says this, Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. O ye therefore, and teach all nations. There's the basics. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. Reaching them to observe all things whatsoever commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. And it's good to hear during the announcements that you guys have a goal of a thousand souls. Well, guess what? That's just the basic thing that God requires of us. And you guys are going in the right direction. Why? Because you guys are keeping the basics. You know, and what is one of the basics? The one of the basics, besides praying, is continuing to do what you're doing, and that's winning souls. And you guys already know this. 1 Corinthians 15, 34, if you have your Bibles, go to Romans 12. 1 Corinthians 15, 34 says this, Awake to righteousness and sin not, for I have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame. This was written way after Matthew 28, way after that event. God says, hey, go and teach the nations. In other words, go baptize them, not just that, preach them the gospel, of course, and get them saved and baptize them. And guess what? Paul reminds them of this, saying, hey, awake to righteousness and sin not, for I have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame. Hey, Corinthians, you guys are wasting your life setting it up. If you know the story, they were in sin. That church had a lot of problems. It says one way to fix yourself is to wake up, wake up to your sinfulness, and go out there and get people saved, because you guys are blowing it. You're messing it all up. You know, you guys are in sin, and you guys need to be focusing on other people to save them from their sin. But they weren't. But this church is going in the right direction. But what am I getting at? I'm getting that simple thing. Things go downhill, and they will. Don't be afraid. Obviously, if you're going to be afraid, be afraid of God. What He will do, if you don't, obviously come through. Come through with what? Keeping the fundamentals. Keeping the basics. Reading. What you see right here. Baptizing people. What you see right here. Obviously, awaking to righteousness. And not just that. Here are the few basics. Number one, pray. You already know. What else? What you're doing already here. Going to church. Where did we get that from? We get that from Hebrews 10. It says, hey, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves. What else can you do when bad things happen? Hey, keep the basics. Remember, bad things will happen. God sometimes will let you lose for a reason. We don't know that reason, but you better believe it's a good reason. You can do everything right and still lose. But guess what? In 2022, there's no guarantee the whole year you're going to win. Something bad is going to happen. But when it does, what's going to happen? Are you going to crack and give up? Are you just going to quit, snap, and move on? Because this happens. People know, hey, I should go to church. Hey, now that I'm baptized, now that I'm saved, I want to continue to church. Bad things happen and they don't come, you know, just the littlest things. You know, my grandma wants me to hang over with her. It's like, no, tell grandma to come to church with you. Well, she doesn't really like church. She's Catholic. I'm like, dude, you know, you ought to be in church. I know. But, you know, grandma comes first. No, God comes first. That is a true story, amen. And besides that, what else? Hey, I only mentioned it for our own good. Never forget that when bad things happen, keep the basics. What are the basics again? Hey, keep praising God. Keep praying. What else besides that? Hey, keep baptizing people, getting them saved. What else can we do? Obviously, you're already assembling yourselves. What else can you do? Hey, when bad things happen, just keep the basics, what's part of the basics, tidy. And bad things will happen. You know? You'll go through good times. You'll go through bad times. I remember when we had the economy go down in 09. You know, in 09, what happened? Economy took a dump. You know, starting in 07, 09 is when we really felt it. And guess what? At the time, I didn't know any better, but my wife was working. I had three kids at the time. She was working. At the time, I was babysitting when my wife worked. And guess what? That's not a good thing. It won't help your marriage. That's for sure. But guess what? Hey, God knew that he needed to step in, and I'm not saying he crashed the economy for me, but praise the Lord, he did, because guess what happened right afterwards? She got let go. She wasn't fired for doing a crappy job. She was let go for one reason, because he couldn't afford her anymore. And I'm like, no worries. No big deal. Hey, I still got my job. Guess what happened a little bit later? I lost mine. So now she's unemployed. I'm unemployed, and it was what it was. I didn't know what was going to happen. But one thing I knew what was going to happen is I was going to keep the basics. I said to myself, you know what? I'm dumb, but not that dumb. I'm going to keep going to church three times a week. I'm going to keep going so many once a week. And I say, you know what? As best I can, whatever I get, if people give us money, because they know we're going through a hard time, whatever they give us, a gift card, you name it, food stamps, I don't care, tithe off of it. You know, that's what I told my wife. One thing we're not going to do is stop tithing, you know, which is not going to do that. That's not even an option. I just want to make it clear. But she was on board. She's like, I got you. I just want to make sure, you know, whatever, everything. Now's the time to tithe, not do less tithing or whatever. There's never a time where you should stop tithing. But that was one way to make sure that, hey, this is where we're at. You're broke. I'm broke. We're broke. And it is what it is. Whatever happens, whatever comes in. Hey, we got to tithe off of that. I don't care what it is. Just keep track of everything and give God 10 percent of whatever it is. But we weren't even supposed to get unemployment at the time. And for some crazy reason, we ended up getting it. I wasn't supposed to get it. She wasn't supposed to get it. But they ended up giving it to her. And they're like, hey, just sign up for it. At the time, it was just something weird going on with the economy. But it was what it was. We just stayed with the basics and that's kind of how it is. What's the other basics? Hey, keep doing what you guys are doing. I like the challenge. I never heard that challenge before. I'm going to bring it to my pastor. I like that challenge of the New Testament. That's a good one. I like it. I'll bring it up, see what he says. Maybe we will. Maybe we won't. You know? But I like that. Hopefully you guys get it. It's a good challenge. Starting the year, being like, hey, I finished the New Testament. It's like, wow. What if they finish it twice? Would they get two prizes? Amen. Give me going. But listen, this isn't a sermon about the basics. Because I feel like you guys already have it down. You know? I preach about the basics as much as I can because it's just a simple sermon. You know? Because of people fearing 2022, I'm like, man, you know what? This might as well. You know? At least the title rhymes. Let's see what happens with the sermon. But what I wanted to also talk about is like, okay, you got the basics down. Great. You got the basics down. You guys believe in Bible reading. Hey, every time I come here, it seems like you guys are always here. You guys are very faithful. I get that. But now let's do what Job did and step it up a notch. Because you know what? Here's the bottom line. You can go to church. You can go to so many. You can read your Bible. You know, you can be a tither. But one thing that Pastor Anderson prayed for was that God would help him to hate sin. God will help him to hate sin. So you got the basics down. Amen? Well, you know what? One way you can step it up since you got the basics down, so you guys are doing a great job with the basics. Why don't we step it up a notch, and what do I mean by that? Why don't we get to the point where we not just keep the basics, but why don't we go a little bit more than that? And one way we could do it is by being people that abhor evil, that abhor evil. What I mean by abhor? They just hate it. They just hate it. If you're like, man, I don't know if I can do that, hey, start out by praying. Because there's a guy who thought he couldn't do that either. His name is Pastor Stephen L. Anderson. Maybe you've heard of him. One of the things that he said is that he was worldly as a teenager. He was into everything that teenagers were into. The wrong music, the wrong movies, the wrong style. I mean, he bleached his hair. We were watching this video of the first time he preached. Who's ever seen that video of the first time he's preached? Man, it looked like Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell. Who knows what I'm talking about? Straight up, you know? It's like you're waiting for Slater to be next. But what happens is that, hey, he said, Lord, I do not hate sin. And I love that story. Lord, I do not hate sin like I should. Help me to hate sin. And he makes it very clear. Now he's known as a hate preacher. Now he's known as the most hateful preacher in America. I live in the world, amen. You know, but this isn't something that God kind of even suggests. God wants that as well. You know, because listen, I firmly believe when things go downhill, when things are going bad, when things are getting ugly, I firmly believe like if a team was getting slaughtered in a game, you know what? The only thing the coach can say is, hey, you know what, guys? Just stick to the fundamentals. You know? It's like, hey, enough with the fantasy layoffs. Enough with those trick plays. Hey, let's just get to the fundamentals. Get the fundamentals. Hopefully we'll get back in the game. If we lose, you know what? Let's lose, but let's not lose by just messing it all up. Let's just stick to the fundamentals. Same thing. Things go bad with the church. Hey, they steal your finances. Protesters, whatever. Deaf in the church. Whatever may happen. You know, those things can affect you. And if you're not ready, it can cause you to drop out. It can cause you to be gone. It just happens. But I firmly believe that the people that stick around like yourselves, I mean, I don't think anybody here is walking around like, yeah, man, you know what? I'm ranked number one in this church. You know? And such and such is ranked number two. You know? It's like, hey, you know what? We're the all-stars of this church. You know, we're the studs. And you guys are the studs. Nah, I'm just kidding. But I'm pretty sure no one's thinking that. Everybody's like, man, Lord, just keep me in the fight. Just keep me going. You know, it's like, I know I don't deserve it, but I thank you so much for everything that you've given me. And so what I want to do, Lord, is just ask you to keep me in the fight. Well, one of the things is by keeping the basics, you're going to do good. You're going to be fine. But you know what? I'm pretty confident that people in here, we don't just want to do the basics. I'm pretty sure everybody here wants to do more and be used by God to do more. Amen? And one way that he's going to do it or one thing that he looks at is your heart. God looks at your heart. One of the things that he wants to check is how bad do you hate sin? If you're not the type of guy that hates sin like you should, you know what? You know what? Hey, you'll be okay. You'll be okay if you keep the basics. God wants you to step it up and be a guy that hates sin. Like just hates it. He's disgusted by it. You know, it's offensive to you. And the Bible says in Romans 12, 9, let love be without the simulation of whore that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. So you guys have got the basics down. You guys are soul winners. You guys are reading your Bible. Great. You guys are coming to church. Awesome. You guys are tired. They're fantastic. They're memorizing God's word. Amen. And reading it. Amen. But how's your hatred when it comes to the sinful self? How is it? You know? Does it offend you when you see something on TV? Hopefully you guys aren't watching TV. You guys know what I mean. It could be YouTube. The new TV. Right? You know? Or are you the type of person that makes excuses when you see things and you're like, yeah, I understand, but, but, but abhor that which is evil. You won't regret it. If you're like, well, I'm not there, man. I'm pretty worldly. Pray. God, help me to hate evil and memorize Romans 12, 9. Abhor that which is evil. Go to Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7. Pray, Lord, help me to be the guy that abhors evil, that hates it. You know? Pray. Don't let me be the guy in Proverbs 14. Let me read Proverbs 14, 9. It says, Fools make amok at sin, but among the righteous there is favor. Did you guys get that? A fool makes amok at sin. You see simple things? To you as funny? The Bible says you're a fool. There's nothing funny about sodomy. There's nothing funny about adultery. There's nothing funny about fornication. Nothing funny about those things, but people think it's funny. Oh, there's nothing good. You know? Look at the guy in the dress. It happens. We have a guy in Tempe who runs around in a wedding dress. The guy's crazy. You know, we've seen him. Hey, you've seen that guy in Tempe run around in a wedding dress? He's like this big fat dude with a big beard. He's just insane in the main brain. No, but the Bible says he doesn't want you to be a person that mocks sin or makes amok at sin. You know, it says he wants you to be righteous and by doing so, A, that's the person that the Bible says has favor with the Lord. Psalm 5 says this, Thou shall destroy them that speak least, and the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. Let's just get it out there. That's Donald Trump. Amen? He's a bloody and deceitful man. You know? That guy will blow up anybody, you know, if he could just to be cool. Then he blow up some general from Iran. You know, they give him the option just like, well, Donald Trump, I mean, you know, we can do this. We can do this. We can do this. You know what? Or we can blow him up. Guess which option was easier for him? Let's blow him up. Instead of like the Bible says, hey, let age kill this guy. Let the Lord kill this guy. You know, it's like he's in Iran. He's general in Iran. Let them do their thing. Instead, they're like, hey, you know, you got all these options how to deal with this guy. You know, you can leave him alone. You can keep an eye on them or you can blow him up. Let's blow him up. Let's blow him right up. But Obama was the same way, you know? And then people support the guy. How? I'm like, I just don't get it. I'm not talking about unsafe people. I'm talking about Christian. Let's just be honest. This guy right now is, I don't know, pro vaccines all of a sudden? Like he's pushing it like crazy and people are calling him out. Like what the heck is wrong with this guy? I thought he was on our side. Like, sucker, you really thought he was on your side? Now he's like, the vaccines are great. Thank you, people. You know? Wasn't he responsible for Operation Warp Speed? But, hey, a lot of people are all over him. But you know what? The Bible tells me that those that forsake the law love the wicked or they praise the wicked. That's kind of a clue as to what's wrong with this Christian, you know? What's the deal with him? Well, I'll tell you what. He doesn't have poor evil like he should and we should. Like, Lord, help me to a poor evil. And I don't want my kids idolizing Donald Trump. And I'm pretty sure you don't want your people idolizing Donald Trump. He's not our friend. Not even close. And he's very deceitful. You think Biden is deceitful? They're all deceitful. You know? But at least, hey, when it comes to Biden, we know that guy's already crazy. He doesn't love anybody. Donald Trump's trying to get the Christians on his side and deceive us and think he's our friend. Absolutely not. But guess what? Deuteronomy 7 25. It's not even just about abhorring the bloody and deceitful men. Listen to this verse. The great men images of their gods shall ye burn with fire. This is the Lord speaking. Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee. Lest thou be snared therein. It is an abomination to the Lord thy God. Neither shall thou bring an abomination into thine house. Lest thou be a cursed thing like it, but thou shalt utterly dethaste it and thou shalt utterly abhor it. For it is a cursed thing. What are we seeing here? Go to Job 1 1. What are we seeing here? Or we're seeing a commandment where God says, listen, I don't want these images. I don't want you guys to be like these heathens in the land. Let's just remind our kids that God doesn't love this stuff. He doesn't love idols. He doesn't want idols to be in our home. And you would think that I'm preaching to the choir, but explain to me why independent fundamental Baptist churches think that it's no big deal to make statues out of people and prop them up. I don't know if it's still there, but last time I checked, there's a guy named Jack Hiles who used to preach, and they decided to make a statue out of him. Last time I checked, it's still at that property. Why? Because they don't believe in Deuteronomy 7 25. It's like, hey, why not? Well, they just don't abhor it. They don't abhor idols. They made an excuse in their heart, and this is the problem. So when it comes to us, what can we do? Like I said, main thing is, you got the fundamentals down, step it up a notch. Let's start to be people that are known as people that abhor evil. So pray for it. If you're like, hey, I'm worldly. I want to be used by the Lord. I want to do more for the Lord. Well, do you abhor evil? Because that's what it looks at. And if you're not it, hey, pray for it. I guarantee you, God will step in. So what's the other thing we can do to step it up a notch? Well, one thing we can do to step it up a notch is abstain. It's abstain. You guys right there in Job 1 1, it says there was a man in the land of Oz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, one that feared God and is sure with evil. What does sure means? It means that he just stayed away from it. I'm sure he was the person that abhorred evil, but also tried his best to stay away from it. You know, if you got your Bibles, go to Proverbs 19. When you go to Proverbs 19, I'm just going to read from 1 Peter 2, 11. It says this, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts with war against the soul. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 says this, For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication. You know, 1 Thessalonians 5, 21 says this, Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearances of evil. How can you step it up a notch? You got the basics down, great. Step it up a notch by being a person that abhors evil, and you'll be fine, regardless of what happens this year, regardless of what Biden does or does not do, regardless of what Trump does or does not do, regardless of what the devil does or does not do. You know what? Your energy should be on focusing on yourself to keep the basics, and then stepping it up a little bit more by doing things that are a little bit more difficult, like hating sin big time, not making an excuse for it. And abstaining from evil is one of the things that God wants us to do. What do I mean by abstaining from evil? Well, one of the biggest things that I see that Christians can easily get into, you know, is things that it's no big deal to go to the beach. No big deal to hang out at the beach. They're just going there for the water. It's like, yeah, if there's no one around, then great. You know, but guess what? If you're hanging around, and they call it bikinis, it's not a bikini, it's their underwear. It's just what it is. But now society is so crazy, you know, who knows what they'll do next? But we know what's going on in Europe, and that's basically right around the corner. And it's crazy, when I was in the Marines, we went overseas, and I'm like, whoa. Even then, I was like, whoa, what the heck is this? I'm going back to the ship. It's like, hey, this is what it is. Y'all do your thing, I'll do mine. I'm getting out of here. You know, but what do we see? We see Job as a guy who just decided, hey, you know what? I'm not just going to fear God. I want to stay away from evil things. I'm going to put him away from me as best I can. And I'm sure Job ran into some things that were simple, saw some things that were simple, but he was known overall as a man that just stayed away from simple things. You know, you guys decide whatever that is. You know, but 1 Thessalonians is one that makes it very clear. Don't just stay away from it. Stay away from anything that even looks evil. Whatever the case may be, hey, if it comes down to it and you have to really get something to eat, don't go to the liquor store to get a bag of chips. It just ain't worth the curse of God. Ain't going to be happy with you. You know, so do your best and not just abstain, but also abhor. And another thing, and I'll end the sermon really quickly, and the last thing I guess I can recommend, if you guys want to have the best 2022 possible and be ready when bad things happen, and you know what? Bad things will happen. It's just a fact. You know, things will happen. Bad things will happen. And usually when people preach about bad things happening, usually it happens to them right away. You know, so I'm basically getting ready myself. But besides obviously the basics and abhorring evil and abstaining from appearances of evil, also we have to learn to abide. We have to learn to abide. What do I mean by that? Well, I told you to go to Proverbs 19, 23. Listen to this. The fear of the Lord tends to life, and he that has it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil. Did you guys catch that? It says very clearly that the fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that has it shall abide satisfied. I want you guys to be satisfied with your lives. How can we do that? By fearing the Lord. What exactly does that mean? Thank you for asking. Go ahead and go to Proverbs 8. You're right there in Proverbs 19. Go to Proverbs 8. While you're going to Proverbs 8, I'm going to read from Proverbs 23, 17. It says this, Let not thine heart envy sinners. And isn't that where sin starts? Envy. What is envy? It's lust. It's desiring. It's wanting things that don't belong to you. Proverbs 23, 17 says this, Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. And this is what I pray that God helps me to do. Be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. And this is a commandment. This isn't a suggestion. God wants us to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. And what is the gift for doing that? It's that you're going to be satisfied. You're going to have peace, patience, meekness. All the things that the world wants, God's going to give it to you. But there is a catch and that catch is He wants you to be in the fear. The fear of the Lord. So Proverbs 8, 13 tells us exactly what it is. Proverbs 19, 23 tells us, Hey, if you have the fear of the Lord, it's going to tend to life. You're going to have a good life. You're going to have the abundant life. And not just that, you're going to be satisfied. You're not going to wish that you had this or had that. And when bad things happen, you're going to be like, hey, the Lord gave and the Lord took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But how can we get it? Or how can we start? What is this fear of the Lord? Well, it's crystal clear. Proverbs 8, 13 says this, The fear of the Lord is to what? Hate evil. Goes back to abhorring evil. Pride and arrogance in the evil way. In the froward mouth do I hate. I think we should just take a look at that list and that should be something we add to our prayer. God, keep me from pride. God, keep me from being arrogant. God, keep me from the evil way. God, guard my mouth. Keep me from a froward mouth. And the Bible says very clearly that God will answer this as well. And I think it's his will that we all live a clean life. I think it's his will for everybody here, from the kids to the oldest person. I think it's God's will for you to be known as a person that abhors evil. Somebody tries to tell you a dirty joke. You know what? I don't want to hear that. What's wrong with you? I just don't. I don't like it. I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you, but I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see it. I don't want to do it. Right? The Bible talks about there's going to come a time when you're saved, you're serving the Lord. People are going to wonder, why don't you run with them anymore? And when you try to explain it, they're like, what in the world? It goes over their head. But you know the truth. The truth is that that's what God wants for you. And you're trying to live a clean life and obey the Lord. And the Bible makes it very clear. If you've got your Bible, go to Psalms 15. We'll end with Psalms 15. Will you go to Psalms 15? I'm going to read from Psalms 128. It says, Blessed is everyone that favors the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands. And here's what I wanted to get to. Happy shall thou be. But what if bad things happen? Well, it's one of two things. I'll keep it simple. When bad things happen, remember, praise the Lord. Hey, if you're in pain, praise the Lord. Job was in pain. Hey, it said that he basically just got on his face and just said, Lord took away. The Lord gave. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When bad things happen, it's one of two things. And they're both good for the Christian. It's either A, the easy one to figure out. Punishment. Bad things happen. Either being punished by God. How is that a good thing? Hey, it just reminds you that God still loves you. Because when the Lord loveth you, what? He's chasing him. He punishes. Hey, when I punish my kids, it's not because I hate him. It's because I don't want them to continue in sin. I'll give them a chance to repent. But if they don't, hey, I have to correct them. Why? Because I love them. And then there's the other reason why bad things happen. It's persecution. It's persecution. Either you're being punished or you're being persecuted. Either you're being punished because you're being bad. And the Bible says, when the Lord loveth, he chastises. Or it's persecution. And what does the Bible say when persecution happens? The vaccination. COVID. If I don't get the COVID. Hey, you know what? I'm going to lose my job. Hey, God will provide. Figure it out. You know? It's something that you're going to have to decide. Hey, what does the Bible say? And there's nowhere in the Bible that says I should not take a vaccine. I'm not saying I'm pro-vaccines. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that we can't tell people. We don't believe you can tell people that, hey, taking that vaccine is sin because transgression of the law is sin. Can you say, oh, it's not smart to take it, therefore it can be sin because if the thought of foolishness is sin, the action is, well, I would say probably so. But at the end of the day, whatever happens, you just have to be, you know, fully persuaded. You're fully persuaded to make the decision. If you're not sure, then don't make a decision. You know, fully persuaded, then decide what you want to do. But hey, if it gets to the point where one day it's mandatory, everyone must take it to survive. You know? To keep humanity alive. And you know what? If they come to my door, kick it open, grab me by my neck, slam it to the ground, pop the needle, stick it in my butt, shoot me with it, hey, I'm going to get up and I'm going to rejoice and leave for joy because great is my reward in heaven. Because if they're trying to shorten my life with this vaccine, whoever they are, which is the devil primarily, or with God's permission, they pin me down and they give it to me and I get up from the floor and I dust myself off. They're like, you know what? I'll see y'all later, but you know, I'm going to rejoice and leave for joy because guess what? Great will be my reward in heaven. And hey, can that happen? It can. It definitely can. But what does the Bible tell us? Hey, don't worry about it. Just focus on the basics. Be a person that abhors evil. Pray for it. Be somebody that abstains from evil and the appearance of evil and be somebody that abides. How? Abide satisfied. How? Meaning that you're in the will of the Lord. You're in the fear of the Lord. And more importantly, if you got Psalms 15 right in front of you, it says, who, Lord, who shall abide? God wants you to abide. Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who's going to be in your will? You know, that's the spiritual tabernacle. It says, who shall abide or who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly. Sounds familiar? He that fearest the Lord walketh uprightly. And the fear of the Lord is to say, hey, what? Evil, pride, arrogance, the evil way, the bloody and deceitful man. But it says clearly, he that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor to his evil, to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person, that's Trump, Biden, whoever. Vile person is contempt, not praise, not praise, but he honors them. Here's the thing that fear the Lord. You want to honor a politician? Honor somebody that fears the Lord. And nobody can argue that Trump fears the Lord because he does not. He doesn't even know where Genesis is at. You know, he's talking about the Bible is his favorite book. Somebody asked him, where's Genesis? I don't talk about personal things. He's like, oh, what's your favorite Bible verse? I said, I don't talk about personal things. Because it's a liar. They don't lie to you with a Bible in his hand. That guy don't fear the Lord. The person that fears the Lord does not lie like that. Does not hold a Bible and look at it like he's never seen one before and then holds it for a picture. You know? He has no fear of the Lord. And guess what? How many Christians are honoring this guy? He doesn't even fear the Lord. He's like, we are supposed to honor them that fear the Lord. He that swear to his own hurt and change his knot. He that put not out his money to use rate, nor take every reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. They're like, brother, I want to be bold like a lion. I want to be somebody that's not moved. Well, you know what? Read Psalms 15. That's a nice little list. Start practicing what you're reading it. You know what? Go to Proverbs 8. Fear the Lord. Take that list and start practicing what you see. Start looking at it so you become a person that's known as somebody that fears the Lord. And guess what? Nothing's going to move you in 2022. And you know what? Whether it's Biden or whoever, the Lord himself can test you this year. And when bad things happen, you know what? When they're bad things, they hurt, mourn. It's okay. Do what Job did. He cried. You know, he lost his family. He didn't even care. I'm sure being a righteous person, I don't think he even cared about his animal. He's like, whatever. You know? But when his kid is like, whoa, you know, it would have been easy to say, well, Job, yeah, he kept serving you, Lord, because you just killed a bunch of animals. But when he takes his children's lives and he sticks with the Lord, hey, that's to show us that, listen, there isn't a happy ending. And sometimes the Lord just does these things. He just does them. It doesn't seem right. Why would he have done that? Wouldn't it just be enough for God to just say he's God? I mean, it's not like he's in heaven and people are doubting him. People in heaven already know that he's real. Everything he says is truth. If he says Job is the greatest among men, then he's the greatest among men. Nobody's doubting him in heaven. Why did he decide to just have Job go through all of it? Why? For us today. For us. And I'm sure Job going through it is like, man, I just wish I was dead. But when we see Job, it's like, listen, you have no idea how I turned to your example. Your suffering has benefited me so much. So much. And I will. And let's never forget that. So at the end of the day, hey, you know what? I firmly believe, just like it says right here in Psalms 15, Who shall be in thy holy hill? Either walketh uprightly, worketh righteousness, speaketh truth in his heart, act by his not, with his tongue. Listen, these things are what God wants us to do. You know, I'm pretty sure there's something on the list that we can all work on. I'm pretty confident about it. But at the end of the day, hey, you know what? I firmly believe that if you keep the basics, you'll be fine. You'll be fine. 2022, 2023, 2024, 2070 if we live to be that old. You know, whatever the year may be. Every year we should be thinking when it comes to what happens, I'm going to stick with the Lord. I'm going to praise Him no matter what. I'm going to do my best to follow Him and pray as much as I can. Lord, make me a person that just hates evil. Help me to abstain, abstain from wicked things. And help me to abide, abide in your will. Abide satisfied. And the list is there to show you how to do it. It's right there for us to pick up, amen? Let's pray. Thank God we thank you so much for all that you've done. And Father, we don't know what's going to happen in 2022, but we could care less. You know, because honestly, Father, you know what? With you we can do all things. And we have reasons to rejoice, Lord. You know, you are the Prince of Peace. That's what we have. And so I'm very, very grateful for all that you've done there, Father. And I thank you so much for everybody here there, Lord. And Father, just help us to be people that just hate, that are hoarse in. Whatever, Father. Just help us to hate it. Help us to abstain from it, Lord. And help us to abide satisfied in your will. Always there, Father. And we ask you to do this in your honor and glory in Jesus' name, amen. Right. Do you want to pull out your hymnals for the final song of the morning? The song number 472. 472. This is my Father's world. We'll start there on the first. This is my Father's world. And to my listening ears, All nature sings and round me rings, The music of my Father's name. All nature sings and round me rings, The music of the spheres. This is my Father's world. I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, And the wonders wrought. This is my Father's world. The birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, Declare their Maker's praise. This is my Father's world. He shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere. This is my Father's world. Oh, let me ne'er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father's world. The battle is not done, Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and heaven be won. Amen. And with that, you are dismissed. You have a blessed rest of your day. Thank you.