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

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you That's the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. As we do customary here at Stronghold Baptist Church, we're going to read the entire chapter. I'm going to ask brother Carter if he can please do that for us. Once again, that's Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10. But what we do have are some very important elements that need to be in any church that you choose to attend. So I'm going to go over these and focus on some of the important things that you ought to be looking for in a church that yes, our church does possess these things and that's why I think it is a good idea and I think that people should come to Stronghold Baptist Church. Not because we're the only church, we have a corner on the truth or anything like that. No, there's other churches that believe the same way and I'm not even going to go into various doctrines. There's only one doctrine I'm going to cover that's extremely important and that's the one of salvation. There's going to be lots of different doctrinal differences but that's not why you should attend Stronghold Baptist Church. Now I also want to mention this is that there's going to be many things that I mention here but it's not a complete list either. I think there's many great reasons to attend our church specifically that's more than just you know some of these main areas I'm going to be focusing on this morning. Unfortunately there's just not going to be enough time to get into every single aspect of this church that makes this a great church. I mean one of them is just the unity. It's not even in my notes. There's a great unity here in Family Field among our church that that's been amazing and has been great not to mention that our church members by and large the vast majority of our congregation all really honestly believe the Bible and are not just showing up because they feel like they just well I just have to go to church somewhere so I might as well just go here. That's not our church. Now there may be plenty of other churches out there where that's the case where people aren't that excited. They don't really care. They kind of go and show up because they feel like it's their duty to go but their heart is not in it. In this church here the people we're going to meet and the people we're going to see and become friends with hopefully if you attend our church is it's sincerity. There's honesty and the people really do care and it means something to everybody here. Their spiritual life actually matters. Now we started off reading in Hebrews chapter 10 the first reason you should attend church here is because you have to go to church somewhere. The first point is that too many people these days think that church isn't really that important and it doesn't really matter and I don't know how many times I've heard we'll all just worship God at home. I mean I could pray to God on my own can't I? Yes you can. I could read the Bible on my own can't I? Yes you can and you should and you should pray at home and you should read the Bible on your own and you should teach your family the Bible and you should do all those things but you know what that doesn't replace church. That doesn't replace congregating together. That is it's own place in Scripture that God has set forth that we need to congregate together. And we started in Hebrews chapter 10 because it very very clearly tells us that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. This assembly congregating with other believers that's what church is that's what the definition of church is. The church is the congregation it's an assembly of believers. It's not just a New Testament thing either that's why the Bible called you know when Moses and the children of Israel were in the wilderness there was a church in the wilderness. Why? Because they were all congregated together at the tabernacle and were learning and worshiping and serving the Lord out in the wilderness. It wasn't about the building it wasn't about the structures about the gathering it was about the congregation. Look at verse number 24 the Bible says and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works which again just to highlight I could spend an entire sermon I've done this many times in the past on the importance of church but there's so many other reasons coming to church isn't just to worship and again that's the common theme oh we're just going to go and worship and raise our hands up and give glory to God. Let's do that let's give glory unto God we're going to worship the Lord we're going to praise his name we're going to do those things but that's not the only thing the church is about. Cause sometimes people think well if that's all it's about you could do that at home I could sing praises to God yes you can. You know what you can't do at home you can't consider one another and provoke unto love and to good works all of these other people in the congregation when you're just sitting at home. Why are you going to do that? And no one has enough time to see everybody in church during the week. I mean it's great if you can visit one or two people but you know what right now you get to congregate together and even just being here is an encouragement to everybody else around you. And especially in a world that becomes increasingly dark where things are becoming worse and worse and people who hold to the Bible truth are looked on as more and more crazy and out there and extreme and weird just the act of congregating together helps reinforce and edify you to know you're not alone in this. We're all gathering here together so yes and you know that's just the tip of why church is important. Besides the fact you could go to other passages where we see God is specifically detailing offices within a church. Who's the bishop of your church at home when you worship God? Who's the elder? Who is the pastor? Who's in charge? Who's running things? Who was ordained of God to be in charge in keeping that office? Because that is a New Testament office for sure. Well if it's not really that important then why did God dedicate so many parts of the Bible to telling you how things ought to run in the church? Church isn't really that important. Let's keep reading here in verse number 25 the Bible says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Look, there's always been people who don't want to go to church. This isn't some new thing. This isn't some new thing in the Laodicean age and everyone's just so wishy-washy and watered down that there's always been people. It's always been the manner of some who don't want to go to church. No, they have to go to church. No, but that's not what we ought to be. Not as their manners, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. It's so much more important to be in church now than ever. For if we sin willfully, and look this is continuing the same thought. If we sin willfully how are you going to sin willfully? By not going to church. Because you're not supposed to forsake the assembling of yourselves together and when you decide, no, I'm not going to go. No, I'm not going to do that. Now you're sinning willfully. Now obviously you can apply these passages to other willful sins, but in the context we just got done saying, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. And then continues the same thought saying, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth and remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking form of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite under the spirit of grace. You know the Bible says that Jesus Christ's blood paid for the church? He paid for the church with his blood? Church is important. Okay, and I'm not gonna I could go on and on on this one point but this is just my intro point of saying, hey you gotta go to church somewhere. So why should you come to our church? I mean you gotta pick somewhere. You should be in church somewhere. That's just getting out the gate. Why you shouldn't stay at home? But why here though, if you say, well you gotta go to church somewhere, why here? Because we're not just another Baptist church in Georgia. Stronghold Baptist Church is not just, you could go drive down the street and you're gonna find a Baptist church after Baptist church after Baptist church after Baptist church so why Stronghold Baptist Church? I mean, I've got another Baptist church that's like right down the street from my house. Why don't I just go there? Well, I'm not saying you can't go there. And I haven't been to every church in Georgia. And I know that there's other good churches out there because I have friends in Georgia that have good churches so I'm not saying don't go to those churches either. I'm just saying, you know, as we get into this, first of all what makes our church different? Well one is we've got the right gospel. So when you're looking for a church to go to, you need to make sure you go to the one that's preaching the truth. The truth about salvation. There is nothing more important than salvation. Whether a soul is going to heaven or hell. What a church believes about what is required for someone to be saved? If they're not believing the same thing, they're not believers. There's not even a legitimate church. I mean, they're called a church, they have a congregation, but if they're a bunch of unsaved people because they're not believing the gospel, then that's not the place to go to. And I'll tell you what, that point eliminates lots of churches in the state. All across the board. Tons of churches are just going to be eliminated by not having the right gospel. Now, again, every single one of these points I could preach entire sermons on and I have preached entire sermons on because each one is really important so I'm going to try my best to get through this content, but it's important to understand especially newer believers, everybody, I think, for the most part, when you get saved, doesn't have necessarily the same or the full understanding of how many people are actually not saved in this world. And what I mean by that, I brought this up in the past, bring it up again, my own personal experience, when I got saved when I was 20 years old, I called the name of the Lord, I put my faith in Jesus Christ, which is what the Bible says you have to do to be saved, which by the way, before I even get further in my testimony, the right gospel is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's it. There is no works, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. If anybody is trying to add any other type of work to salvation, it's a false gospel. False. Not true. Not correct. That is the gospel, and you know a church ought to be clear about what they believe. And one of the biggest problems you're going to find in churches these days, especially amongst Baptist churches, because there's a whole variety of different so-called Christian churches out there, but one of the biggest things you're going to find is people trying to teach you, well you've got to do good. And they'll call it repent of your sins. You've got to repent of your sins. Now people mean different things when they say that, so be careful. And again, a newer believer, it's harder to discern all these things and understand the jargon and the talk, but ultimately if you can talk to the people, talk to the pastor, just find out, well what do you believe, what does that mean? If you say repent of your sins, what does that mean? Does that mean I have to stop sinning? Does that mean I have to feel bad every time I sin? What do you mean by that? And what happens if I don't? If I put my faith in Jesus Christ, but then I sin, am I not saved? What does it mean? Because people mean different things. Well what if I was a drunk, I get saved, and then I go back to drinking again. Does that mean I'm not saved? Some people will say yes. And that is a works-based salvation. And the people who believe that are not saved. And the reason why they're not saved is because they're not trusting with all of their heart on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because they're trusting in whatever degree, some level of degree of their own obedience to God's law. Because God's law says not to be a drunkard. So if you think you have to not be a drunkard in order to be saved, then you're believing to some extent you have to obey God's law. And the Bible says, for by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. No. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans chapter 4. Excellent passage. We go on and on about that. And again, the gospel deserves many, many, many sermons of expounding and explaining the right gospel. But figuring out what church, hey, do you preach the right gospel? When you're a newer believer, when it's something that maybe just happened with you, especially if it's newer for you, you have to realize that there's many ways that people introduce works into their salvation where it's part of what they believe, which is what makes them unsaved. When I first got saved, when I was 20 years old, I called the name of the Lord. I didn't get plugged into a really good church right away or anything like that. But I knew that I was saved because I was raised in a Christian home, but that really wasn't my faith. I didn't deny it. I didn't reject Christ. I wasn't rejecting God. But it wasn't my faith. I didn't have my own belief system other than just, well, I'm a pretty good person. So I was relying that I'm pretty good. And that's why I'm going to go to heaven right now. I'm not worried about it because I'm a pretty good person. And that's what the vast majority of people believe in their heart. Is that, yeah, I mean, I don't deserve hell. I'm pretty good. God's going to look at me and let me in because He knows my heart and He's going to say, yeah, I mean, you did some things wrong. You didn't really mean it, so you're going to be allowed into heaven. That's what most people think. I mean, that's what I thought. So when I put my faith in Christ, I thought, wow, I understand now, which I did, and I received salvation as a free gift, and then I was able to understand how I could fully call myself a Christian. Because I would just say that before, but that's just because that's how I was raised. Because it wasn't my actual belief. So in my mind, I'm thinking, okay, now I'm a Christian, and I've joined all of these other people that say that they're a Christian too. Because I just assumed that they were all believing the same thing, and I knew there's differences in different types of churches and whatever, and I always thought that those were just some different doctrinal differences, but ultimately, if you say you're a Christian, it's because you're trusting Christ to be your Savior alone. And that's not true. It's not true. In fact, the vast majority of people, they're going to say that, but in their belief, it's going to end up having works involved. So you've got to understand how important it is that it's not, you can't just go to any church that says they're Christian and expect it to be a good church. And expect it to be one that you should be going to. Because if they're wrong about salvation, that's not the right place to be at all. Turn if you go to Matthew chapter 7. This will highlight my point here, besides just giving my own personal testimony. The Bible even tells us that there's many people, there's many people that are going to call the Lord their God. They're going to think that they're saved. They're going to be worshiping and serving in their capacity with what they think is right, but they're not saved. Sincerity doesn't determine truth. Sincerity doesn't mean that they're saved or they have the right gospel. There's people who are sincere in many different religions of the whole world. But it doesn't make it right and it doesn't mean that they're going to heaven when they die. The Muslim that is very sincere in their faith, that turns to the Quran and trusts Muhammad and trusts these teachings and believes in that with their heart and they're really trusting that and they think that that's the truth, they're not going to heaven when they die. They're not. They're not saved. God doesn't give them pass and say, oh, well, you know, you're at least following that. No, because there are no other gods and God is a jealous God and that Jesus Christ is the only way, that I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. So if you're not going to the Father through the Son of God, then you're not going. It's plain and simple. But not just outside of Christianity, right? That's an easy example. Even within the big umbrella of what people call Christianity today. Matthew 7 verse 21, the Bible says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in the kingdom of heaven. But he doth do with the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many, look at this, verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? I mean, many people are going to be going to God going, Hey, what about all these works I did for you? I mean, we were prophesying and casting out devils. We were going around doing all this work, Lord, for you. And what's God going to say to these people? Verse 23, Then while I profess unto them, I never knew you. I never knew you. I never knew you. All this work you think you're doing for me? I never even knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never be cast into hell. Now think about it. The Jews of Jesus' time claimed to believe the Lord. They claimed to believe Moses. They claimed to believe the Bible. And they rejected Jesus Christ. So did they really believe Moses? No. Did they really believe the Bible? No. Because the Scriptures pointed to Jesus. And Jesus Himself said, Look, if you believed Moses, you'd believe me. For He spake of me. He said, You would believe me. They obviously didn't really believe. They thought they believed. They had a religion. But it was false. So, you know what? That complicates things a little bit. I understand, especially, again, especially for new believers. It can be complicating. Would you mind grabbing me a cough drop from my office drawer? I really appreciate it. I got a stitch in my throat. It can be complicated. But you know what? Ultimately, it's not that complicated because salvation is simple. And anyone trying to complicate salvation is not a place you should be. People try to make salvation confusing, complicated. You know what? It's simple. I put my trust in Jesus Christ. He's my Savior. I don't save myself. And once He's saved you, you're saved forever. Amen. So find a church that believes that and teaches that. That's the right church to go to. And you know what? That's exactly what we believe right here. So there's a reason to thank you. And in fact, turn to Galatians chapter 1. And the reason why I'm covering this so far in depth too is that this isn't just some minor difference. There's lots of things that people could believe that are different. That I would put in a category of a smaller difference. You know, there's some people out there that believe that their head physically needs to be covered when they come to church and when they pray. Now they're wrong about that. But that's not the biggest deal if people are wearing a bonnet when they come into church. Okay. If you've got salvation right now. Now unfortunately the people who do that oftentimes are just associated with false religions anyways that don't have the right gospel. My point is at the end of the day whether or not you're putting a hat on your head isn't really that big of a deal. Now everything in the Bible is important but I'm not going to say hey don't go to that church because they're not wearing hats or they are you know like that's not the standard right the standard for finding a good church is going to be one you have to go to church and two find one that has the right gospel and we're going to get into some other important things too but we're not getting into every single little doctrine we're going to deal with the major ones that we care about because it's so important to go to church and if you're trying to find a church that has every single doctrine exactly the way you want it to be then you're never going to be in church. You're never going to be in church. I could say with pretty good certainty I think that everybody that comes to this church has some type of disagreement with the way that I believe things to be the truth in scripture on some level and I'm okay with that okay now it may not be hopefully it's not major doctrines right but at some point if we were to sit down and talk about all the different things in the Bible that you could have beliefs on everyone probably has a different understanding or interpretation about some things in the Bible and that's fine and that's normal and that's healthy cause you know what none of us are perfect and I'm not expecting to even be perfect myself so obviously there's going to be some differences so you can't just have too high of a standard of saying well I'm not going here because whatever some silly thing or some small thing right but look at Galatians chapter 1 cause this is a big deal this highlights how important salvation is in Galatians 1 verse 6 I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel which is not another but there'd be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ they're saying there's another gospel and technically it's not really another because they're still trying to call it the same gospel right cause people are still using it as the gospel of Jesus Christ but it's really not the gospel of Christ because they've perverted it they've changed it they've taken the good news they've taken the gospel they've taken the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and they've twisted it and they've perverted it I need to explain further verse number 8 people are preaching other gospels by adding works and adding other things to the salvation they need to be accursed not just neutral you have blessings and you have cursings or you can just be neutral if someone comes to you you can give them a blessing oh man God bless you and give all kinds of praise and whatever to that person you can be neutral and not really say much of anything or you can curse them out now most people don't choose cursing out in general because it's not pleasant it's not fun but someone who's bringing another gospel in you know what they need to be cursed out let them be accursed you know what let them go to hell that's a curse don't you come in here trying to preach some false gospel and go around teaching other people that this is the way to be saved when that's not the way to be saved I mean look at how much damage that is of course they should be accursed because you're gonna try to lead people to hell you ought to be accursed it's a big deal but not only is salvation a free gift which many people will give lip service to but because it's a free gift it lasts forever so you're trying to find a good church to go to a church to attend ask the questions what do you believe about being saved is faith enough and if they start coming at you with James 2 telling you faith is not enough not the right church Jesus Christ himself said in John 5 24 verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me half everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death unto life lasts forever you get saved you're saved you're saved eternally you're saved forever there is no question there is no possibility of losing that salvation you're saved forever amen alright I'm gonna move on from that point because that is the most important point but the sermon isn't just about salvation ok it's about finding a good church and why you should come here we believe the gospel we believe that salvation is easy cause you just have to put your trust in Christ he did all the hard work for you but you need to trust him why else turn to Psalm 12 we actually have the word of God we have the word of God just as salvation as many people are gonna tell you they're saved they're not saved there's many books out there that are gonna say Holy Bible on it and they're not holy it's just a book what do you mean by that? well in the English language and in many other languages there are many versions of the Bible that exist why is that a problem? well because when you have different versions they're saying different things why would you even have another version if it said the same thing you can't even call it another version so what's the point? but they all say something different why would you even go through the efforts of producing something else if it didn't say something different than something that already existed that makes no sense just by that fact alone you gotta be looking at this going why is this different? why do we need a new revised standard version new new new new new new version new and improved why? the Bible's an old book you don't need a bunch of new things added to it or changed from it the end of the day and again another sermon in and of itself but Psalm 12 verse 6 the Bible says the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times thou shalt keep them O Lord thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever so in a nutshell the understanding what the Bible teaches us is that God is responsible for preserving his word and that he has kept it he has preserved it and not only has he preserved it but he's preserved it forever and his word has been around for that entire time it's been preserved it's been in use it's been delivered unto man not just hidden under a rock somewhere for thousands of years or hundreds of years and just no one knows the word of God until all of a sudden now they do as God has revealed his word unto man using his prophets that word remains forever and since God is the one that the Bible tells us is the one preserving it we don't have to worry about corruption from man in the sense that does man corrupt things? yes, which is why we have so many versions of the Bible right now because man has gone and corrupted the things of God but God is still preserving his word God has preserved it and it is still around today and because of that we can trust in one Bible because God has preserved it yes, man has corrupted things but you know what? man has not corrupted what God has preserved how can he? if God is preserving something then it's there do we trust God and his word that he's going to preserve it? I do now we have a lot more resources and information about this topic, it's a huge topic I'm covering it essentially in one verse because I've got a lot of other points I want to make but I'll tell you what this is another extremely important topic not just a verse, topic everything that we believe comes from the Bible I mean it should at least, it should I mean that's what we claim here there's another point I guess if you find a church who's not even claiming to put their trust and their faith in the word of God as being their source for the authority and what you believe if they're going off of other things like the Catholic Church does like just off of history and tradition and all this other stuff look we need to base what's right off of the word of God not off of the word of man and doctrines of man but on what the Bible says to be true the word of God needs to be the foundation so you can't have different words because then you're going to have different beliefs and I've proved this many many times you start comparing the modern versions I've got modern perversions of the Bible they're no longer in my pulpit but I have them in my office they need to come back into my pulpit so I can pull them out easily and show you the examples and the differences but for very major things there's verses removed there's verses added, there's words changed completely changing the meaning of the passage itself and when you have that you're going to have people believing different things because their source is wrong and maybe I didn't mention this and I should I've just kind of assumed it our church is a King James Bible only church because that is where God has preserved his word in English and exists in other languages by the way but in English it's a King James version of the Bible and this is what we speak here ok I need to move on I wish I could just park it here and continue preaching on this but it's important and if you don't know if you're not settled on this do some research yourself because it's that important because if you're going to base everything you believe on what a book says get the right book get the right book it's worth the investigation we give away documentaries for free, there's a documentary called New World Order Bible Versions excellent documentary that goes through the history of the King James Bible and does comparisons on other modern versions there's a lot of good explanation of why the other versions are wrong ok it's free, look it up online you'll find that video for free to watch and we have DVDs of it here to give away for free so if you're not sure on that issue do the research and figure out and make sure you've got the right book to base your faith on extremely important and obviously you don't want to just have it you want to use it and treat it as the word of God it's another reason to come to our church because not only do we just have it on the shelf or sitting on the pulpit we're going to use it here and we're going to treat it as having the authority that it really has and not being ashamed of what the Bible says and not backing down from what the Bible says and believing all of what the Bible says because it's the word of God watch out for churches that make excuses and try to come up with reasons as to why you shouldn't believe what the Bible literally says watch out because of what why would you even do that who makes you a judge over what's right in the Bible? People that do that is because they don't like what it says I don't care if you like what the Bible says and hopefully you want to go to a church that's more interested in what God has to say than what man has to say which is why you should come here because we're going to preach the whole council of God and we're going to believe it all and we're going to go through all of it the Bible says in Acts 1 Peter chapter 2 but Acts chapter 20 verse 26 says wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. This is the apostle Paul speaking saying hey look, my hands are clean I've got no blood on my hands here's why, here's why you could say hey I'm clean, there's no blood on my hands for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the council of God because I didn't hold anything back I'm not hiding anything from you one of the reasons why you should go to our church is because I'm not going to hold back we are not going to hold back as a church people that come in and visit and ask about doctrines ask away we are very transparent and open on what we believe here you don't have to have a membership and a subscription to see the sermons that we put up we're not trying to hide it under a bushel what we believe we want the whole world to know so we're going to put it out there. I'm going to make it as public as possible I want people to know what we believe. I'm not ashamed of what the Bible says people say, pairs of brosons but I saw you on the news and they didn't really say nice things about you I don't care what they say about me the reason why I'm on the news is because there's not many churches that are willing to actually say what the Bible says and stand by it because we ought not to buckle under pressure of wicked people who want to silence the word of God because when the Bible makes claims we want to believe it we're not hypocrites you're never going to find a perfect church there's always going to be some drama there's always going to be some problems because every church is full of sinners we're all sinners here and none of us are perfect so you're going to have problems that go along with sin however there's a huge difference between the fact that none of us are perfect and a church just full of a bunch of hypocrites big difference when Jesus was talking to everybody he talked to he had some certain degree of hypocrisy even his own disciples because they're sinners because when you say you believe in something hey I believe in the law of the Lord and I believe it's perfect well then why are you still sinning? well because I'm not perfect so in whatever example you find me sinning you can call me a hypocrite because I say I believe it and I'm not actually doing it everyone has that level of hypocrisy but Jesus didn't go around calling everybody hypocrites huge difference and here's why is because when we do wrong if you do wrong and you admit hey I've done wrong yeah this is really what I believe and I've done wrong that's not hypocrisy that's just saying look I failed but I still believe it and that's still true the hypocrites are the ones that are going to continue preaching something and thinking they're not guilty of it when they are when Jesus was talking to Pharisees over and over again he's calling them hypocrites you're a hypocrite you're saying to do all this stuff and you're not doing it you're saying people need to follow you're not doing that you're saying all these things and you won't even lift your finger and you're teaching for doctrine the commandment of men and they're a bunch of hypocrites now the Bible tells us if you're in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 1 that essentially we need to keep it real and you know honestly this is one of the reasons why people don't go to church there's too many churches out there where people don't treat the word of God as having the authority that it should and they'll claim hey I believe the Bible but then you start asking them questions about the Bible well what do you believe about this? and it doesn't line up with the Bible at all well then why are you doing this and why are you going out to the bars and why are you doing drugs because they're just a big hypocrite and they're not going well and you start making excuses for why the Bible says what it says as I mentioned before that's hypocrisy don't try to justify yourself 1 Peter chapter 2 verse number 1 wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile guile is being deceptive it's being sneaky you're supposed to lay that aside and hypocrisies and envies all evil speakings as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby if so be you have tasted the Lord is gracious so the Bible's teaching us that we need to put aside the deceitfulness and the hypocrisies and desire the milk of the word desire what the Bible says desire God's word to help you to grow and one of the reasons why you should attend our church is because that's what our church does and believes and the people here actually want to keep growing and love the Lord and want to hear this stuff and get rid of their hypocrisies because when you come to church here now there may at all times there may always be some people who fall short and again it's because no church is perfect and not all people are just going to be living righteously and perfectly all the time but there's a huge difference between the church and the church that they're going to say something you know in church and then be a totally different person outside of church and there's entire churches filled with that type of person where it's just I put on a show on Sunday and the rest of my life is completely different than my show on Sunday I don't want to go to church like that people are sick of churches like that but you know what at Strong Will Baptist Church that's not the way our church is it's not the way our church is it's not just a show the people who come to our church actually believe these things and make changes in their life ask them because you know what when you actually do that it causes problems see no one has a problem with the people putting on a show on Sundays no one cares about that because then you don't have to deal with that the rest of the week they say oh well you were just in church oh okay I understand but then they live the rest of their life like oh yeah okay fine great we can do whatever it doesn't matter nothing's wrong nothing is immoral because I'm not in church today no that's hypocrisy when you start making stands and saying look no I actually believe this then it ought to impact your life outside of church I'm doing something different I'm not doing that anymore why because the Bible says so because I actually believe the Bible Turn to 1 John chapter 2 you're trying to find a good church to go to one of the reasons why you should come to our church and consider and look at other churches is it's not all about the money here it's all about money I was listening to a false preacher yesterday real quick and she popped up on my YouTube list and I was just like he kept bringing up money he'd bring it up as jokes he'd bring it up just directly and by the way that false preacher is Sam Gipp the false prophet devil yes he is but he defends the king of Israel I don't care I was listening to just a portion of him he's getting up to preach to another church and he starts talking about oh yeah the book table at the back yes we do take credit cards by the way and he starts talking about his money and then he's talking about yeah well and he's starting to make like a joke of well we could just bring up a couple verses and we'll be out of here real quick and then pass the offering plate around again I bet you'd give money for that wouldn't you and three times I counted I didn't get very far into it I think it was maybe a few minutes three times he's bringing up passing the plate and money and it's just like because that's what's in his heart and false prophets these people were after filthy lucre and they preach for that that's what they care about we're going to send that plate around again oh we need to keep talking about it we need to raise all this money and money and money and money and money get out of there get out of there that's not what church is about that's why it's so all about this church everything's free first of all you want a song book take a song book you need a bible take a bible you want the dvds we have that's what they're there for we're giving them away for free we're not selling we're not selling the truth we're not trying to sell anything here you want to come to a church activity guess what it's free you want to go on a camping trip with us guess what we paid for the sites because it's not about the money now of course we collect offerings we have to run somehow and there is a command of God for giving but it's not all about the money it's not the focus the main point isn't just money money money money it's not the purpose and it ought not to be with the money we have we're going to use it hopefully to the glory of God and whatever we don't have we're not going to use guess what it's pretty easy right should work the same way in your home if you don't have it, don't use it but Jesus, I mean this was a big deal this is one of the only times you're going to see Jesus one of the things that he does is when he walks into the temple and he sees people buying and selling and conducting business where there's money going on and people selling stuff and it makes him angry and he makes a whip and he drives everyone out of the temple and I'll read the context for you, John chapter 2 verse 14 the Bible says, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting and people are going to give you all kinds of reasons why it's okay to have the bookstore it's okay to be setting up a table and selling books in the house of God because these people were charging interest and that was the problem or these people were the Bible never says anything about interest and it never says anything about the price and it never says anything about those reasons that people try to explain away as to why Jesus got so angry and in fact what they're doing is they're selling things that are for worshipping the Lord they're selling the oxen and the sheep and the doves that are used for sacrifices I mean, it's all business that would be, hey, this is what it's all about right? I mean, we're just trying we're trying to make it easier for the people to get their sacrifices so we're selling them in the temple now is it wrong to sell doves and oxen and sheep? no! but is it wrong to sell them in the temple? yes is it wrong for a traveling evangelist to sell books? no, I don't believe so if you author books and you want to sell books and you want to go ahead and do that great! go ahead and do it but you know what? you're not going to bring them into the house of God and try to peddle them here you're not going to sell your whatever, anything in here and that's why we don't sell anything at all because Jesus got so mad it says in verse 15 when he had made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and pulled out the changers money and overthrew the tables and look at what he says and who he says it to this shows you it's not about the price it's not about the usury, it's not about anything like that it says, and said unto them that sold doves he's not even talking to the money changers he's just talking about the person who set up a booth and he's got doves there here you go, we've got your doves take these things hence, get these things out of here get these things out of here he doesn't rebuke them and say, oh you're charging too much money right, because then they'd be able to stay hey, lower your prices you're gouging the people of God not what he says get these things out of here get these things out of here take these things hence make not my father's house a house of merchandise that's the problem it's a house of merchandise, because you're selling things that's what merchandise is don't go to churches where they're selling they're peddling their stuff to you that's wicked, Jesus got really angry about that now, that might be a smaller issue and if that's the only church you could find that has the right gospel and they've got the word of God and they've got some of the other more important things you might just need to grit your teeth and go but if you want a reason why you should come to our church we don't sell anything here now if you go to a church where they're just focused on money all the time I doubt they have the right gospel because if they're preaching on money all the time there's a reason for that there's a reason for that because that's an attribute of a false prophet did I have you turn to 1 John chapter 2? yes, 1 John chapter 2? I might have confused you because then I read from John chapter 2 and you're like, maybe Pastor Man turned to John chapter 2 that's ah, I caught up now because I was going like maybe you said that I was just I'll let you get there, 1 John chapter 2 that is what I meant 1 John chapter 2 because another reason to come to our church is that we're not trying to make religion or make the church hip or trendy and try to just fit in with the world and try to change everything and change the way that we serve the Lord to fit the world standards I was reading actually what prompted this whole sermon is I was looking in the news and trying to get some ideas of what's going on in the world because I like hitting some topics that are current and applying the Bible to current issues and there is some article just about how you know, there's so many people not going to church and all this other stuff and saying, especially young people you know what if you look around our church, there's a lot of young people here we actually reach young people you know why we reach young people, you know why young people should come to our church is because we're not holding back the truth and because we're not trying to be something we're not and we're not trying to say oh look how cool we are and we're going to be all gangster, if that's the cool thing and we're going to, you know, look no we're going to try to be godly because when people are interested in the truth, guess what that's what they want we don't need to dress it up we don't need to try to sugar coat it and I don't know about you but it's probably the same as me, I know when I was looking for a church, I just wanted someone to tell me the truth just be straight with me don't beat around the bush just come forward with it, I want to know what the Bible says you don't have to treat me with little kid hands right I'm an adult and we're going to preach truth from the Bible and it is what it is now are people going to be offended? sure they are but you know what, it doesn't matter how much you try to dress it up, the people who are going to be offended are going to be offended because they don't like the fact that they're wrong about something that's why people get offended because their sin gets pointed out so it's better like a band-aid, just rip it off right, just expose it so there it is I'm not going to try to be you know, how can you be nice about sin, it's kind of like when we go soloing you try to be delicate but at the same point you got to tell someone like hey, at the end of the day people are going to hell and going to be tortured and tormented forever there's only so nice of a way to say that to people right you still have to say it you got to say look, if you don't believe this you're going to burn in hell forever the world doesn't like that that's not very inclusive no one should go to heaven it doesn't matter what you think that's not what the Bible says, we're going to teach the Bible but the Bible teaches us in verse 15, 1 John chapter 2 says love not the world we're not supposed to love the world so because we're not supposed to love the world we're not going to try to bring everything about the world into church oh hey look, the world there's all these, I love going to rock concerts I love the smoke machines and the lights it's so much fun and it's so cool man, I wish we could do that at church the world does that we're not going to do that the world has a lot of filthy standards and does a lot of filthy things, we're not going to bring that in here love not the world neither the things that are in the world if anyone loved the world, either the Bible says the love of the Father is not in him and I think one of the reasons why so many young people are being just jaded with churches is because inherently you can see this you're being fake you're being phony you're trying to use some gimmick to attract people into church when they know that church should be different it needs to be different it needs to be different from the world otherwise, why even come? why even go to church then? why do I need to go to a rock concert in church when I can just go to a real rock concert? seriously and all these Christian knockoffs of things I mean, if you're just going to do it do the real thing it's going to be more satisfying and more gratifying to your flesh anyways because the reason why you want to go to a rock concert is to gratify your flesh because it feels good, it's great then go gratify your flesh you try to tone it down a little bit and add Christ you're still just trying to gratify your flesh but it's not going to be quite as gratified because you're merging it in with the things of God it's just not quite as good look, if you're going to love the world, just go love the world but that's not what church is for and that's not what we should be doing as Christians anyways the Bible says, look if you love this world, you love everything the world's putting out the love of God is not in you the Bible says in verse 16 for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever so we're not going to have the movie night where what's the newest popular movie that's out? oh, let's play it in church what's the newest popular song that's on the radio? well, we're going to play it in church we're going to bring everything that the world is pumping out culturally and bring it into church no! no because we don't love the world we have nothing to do with the world and we're going to rebuke the world because it's not of the Father the things in church are supposed to be things of the Father I know, it's such a difficult concept to grasp but people wonder why aren't the kids coming? because they don't want the world light they just want the world they just want the truth this wishy-washy stuff in the middle nobody likes that look, be hot or cold and just like God's going to spew out the lukewarm church even the world thinks that way like, look, I don't unless they just want to gratify their flesh by checking off a box and getting a pat on the back saying they're good with everything because they have itching ears other than that, there's no other reason to even go to these churches but that's not what you're going to get here the Bible tells us we need to be a peculiar people alright, I'm going to skip over some scriptures for the sake of time alright I have to cover this turn to Leviticus 20 I have to cover this there's a reason to come to our church more than ever I know you know where I'm going with this at least our church members do why are we going to Leviticus 20, Pastor Burzins? because the world's going to say this is a reason not to go to our church the news, they're going to tell you this is why you should not go to Stronghold Baptist Church don't go there this church the weak, watered down, phony Christians are going to tell you this is why you should not go to Stronghold Baptist Church this is a reason why you should come to Stronghold Baptist Church and this is a great example of why you should come to church here the other points are more important especially when it comes to salvation when it comes to the word of God that trumps all of this but I'll tell you what in the climate that we're in right now and the culture that we're in right now and the bobsled to hell morally that our society is on right now this is a stop point Christians either get on or off the bus here and just go look I am on board with the word of God or I am not you decide for yourself you know what, as for me in my house and as for us in our church, we're going to serve the Lord and we're not going to compromise and we're not going to be fake we're going to be phony and when someone brings up passages of the Bible because we're afraid and we're worried you want to come to a bold church we're going to preach the whole word of God because we love God and we love His word and we're going to follow His word and we know that His word is true and no matter how loud and obnoxious and scary the children of the devil are that want to silence the word of God we're not going to stop we're not going to stop now it may be uncomfortable for you, I get that I get it you know what, sometimes being right is uncomfortable do you want to be right? do you want to be right with God? do you care more about what God thinks about you than man? I hope so that goes to the core of your belief system do you care more about God or do you care more about what man's going to think? are you going to be an ultimate hypocrite and care more about what God's creation thinks about you than what God Himself thinks about you? decide that for yourself oh, I'd just rather just be a big hypocrite it's funny because we're the ones that are always called hypocrites it's amazing but there's no substance to it hey, bear witness of the hypocrisy because what they'll do is they'll say oh, you believe in the death penalty for idolization but yes I do believe in it for all the other reasons that the Bible says yes I do don't call me a hypocrite, because I do believe that why don't you ask for us, why don't you find out for us what we actually believe because we believe all the Bible and if you want to try to cherry pick some part that doesn't fly with the world standards today, go ahead because we're going to stand on it and not just stand on it and not just not back down we're going to proclaim it because it's good because it's right because this doctrine about the homos is so important these days because they are some of the most wicked vile people on the face of this earth that somebody needs to stand up and say no no, this is what God thinks we're not going to back down Leviticus 20, look at verse number 13 if a man also lied with mankind as he lies with a woman both of them have committed an abomination they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them no apologies that's what God's word says that's what God thinks about this subject that's what he thinks about it it's abomination, it's vile, they deserve the death penalty that's not the only thing that deserves the death penalty there's plenty of other things you know what though, I'm not going to say because here's what Christians today will do yeah, murderers should be put to death maybe they'll say rapists should be put to death because that's what the Bible says but then all of a sudden you get to the sodomite well, no, no, I mean, hey, they should just they should be able to do whatever they want and they'll come from their home, and we shouldn't be like that we should be more loving what? where does that come from? where's your foundation for that? you hypocrite, it's okay to put the murderer to death it's okay to put the child killer to death but it's not okay to put the sodomite to death why? are you more just than God? show me the New Testament where God changed his mind on the sodomite because I'll show you in the book of Jude verse 7 where the Bible says even as Sodom and Gomorrah and it says about them and like men are giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh strange, that's not normal that ain't right, that's queer that's different, okay normal flesh is a man and a woman that's normal, that's natural, we'll get to that in a minute strange flesh is that queer going after the same flesh going after strange flesh that's what Sodom did, that's why they're called sodomites because that's what they were known for utter perversion are set forth for an example example look, Jude's in the New Testament folks and he's pointing to the Old Testament going, yup, there's an example right there what's the example? suffering the vengeance of eternal fire that's how God feels about it don't kid yourself don't pretend, thinking, well somehow this is okay, well I guess we shouldn't really talk about it well why should you be so disparaging are you okay with me being disparaging against murderers? is that okay? am I going to hurt your feelings, you little snowflake if I say that people who are worthy of committing abominations, if I actually am derogatory against them because they ought to be just reviled they ought to be looked down upon, they ought to be cast down in our sight as being evil and wicked yes, we should do those things yes, we should make people into monsters so that other people don't want to do the same thing because they are monsters because when you do filthy, vile abominable things, don't expect people to praise you call it out for what it really is there's a stink that goes forth from that level of iniquity and there's no fixing it, that's why it's a death penalty just as much as you can't bring a person back from the dead okay, when someone's murdered, they're murdered okay, all that's left now is you've got to take their life when someone is a sodomite there's no fixing that either there's no one doing that damage there's no one doing the damage of a rape either, by the way death yes, death that's what God says, that's what's right now, as always we need to take the Bible not just literally, but understanding these are all commandments that are commanded for the ruling authorities to carry out that's the judgment, that's the way that everything is defined is there should be a hearing and a case, an investigation and a determination of guilt or innocence these aren't things that, because I've heard that before oh, you're a hypocrite, so then why aren't you going out and killing these people because that's against the Bible too because you've got to have a judge that's going to hear the evidence and is going to do a diligent inquiry to determine the truthfulness of the evidence and then carry out the judgment, the punishment it needs to be part of the law God gave man what the law should be and if it's not the law of the land, then it's not the responsibility of you to just make it the law of the land on your own and just be a vigilante and go off and do your own thing, that's not right either but turn the field to Romans chapter 1 we need more clarity on this because kids these days are getting really confused this is an agenda that is just getting worse and worse and worse and being brought into schools and brought into targeting little kids more and more through cartoons and movies and music and public education everywhere you turn now they are pushing this normalization of something that is abominable and wicked and wrong and everyone seems to be okay with it and people have bought into this lie that Christians just need to be tolerant of everything and it's a lie it's a lie we don't need to be tolerant over everything now we need to be long suffering like God is, but that doesn't mean you're tolerant either Romans 1 explains the sodomite, verse number 26 the Bible says, for this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections vile means disgusting their affections are disgusting to God this is how we know, how do we know about sodomites? for even the women to change the natural use into that which is against nature sodomite does things against nature, it's not natural we all have a sin nature that's not natural being a sodomite, not natural women laying with women, not natural men laying with men, not natural not natural and I don't care what animal that beast you want to turn to that says well they do this it proves my point they're an animal that whoever is doing this man with man, woman with woman they're a beast, they're an animal do we look to animals for immorality? I hope not well an animal eats its own dung so I guess it's okay for us to do that a dog returns to his own environment, I guess that's good for us to do, right? so an animal lies with the same kind, so that's good for us too, right? no no, because you're a human being you're created in the image of God you're different than the animal world and God made you different than the animal world and God said that's not natural for human beings to do that not natural, it's against nature and likewise also the men, verse 27, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in her lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat, and even as they did not like to attain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient they're reprobates, they're rejected God rejected them plain and simple alright, I can't skip these points but I had to have this in here you know why? because we're transparent you know why? because we live in a really wicked and vile culture and society and people are not making this stand you know what? we are making this stand why should you come to our church? because we make that stand because we're going to make that stand, because we're not going to allow the degradation any further as much as possible we're going to be somebody standing up and saying no, this is what God says that's why you should come to our church don't know of very many doing the same thing there's some, but I don't know of very many I hope there's more out there than I realize I really do but it's something to look at when you're considering a church speaking of predators one of the reasons to come to our church is our church is a safe place for your family to come because we're family integrated because we like keeping the parents and the children together unfortunately there's too much abuse because there's so much trust that goes on in churches and there's closed doors and there's all these classrooms and nurseries where adults are left alone with children and then bad things happen there's another reason why people don't go to church and I understand that I mean if I had a child that was molested at a church it'd be hard to overcome that to even go to any church after that it's a big deal now I'm not saying it's right, you should still go to church but if something like that were to happen that's huge that's devastating, that is life altering that's something you can never get back, which is why those people deserve to be put to death but see Christians have no problem with that the pedophile being put to death of course well guess what those that are doing things against nature that God's given over to that reprobate mind those are the ones doing that there's the same people doing that the ones that say oh no no there's the same people doing that cause anyone that's perverted enough to harm a child that way has the same level of perversion by even being able to lie with someone of the same gender yeah, it's gross so when you're already given over to being able to do that it makes sense what stops you from abusing a child at that point? nothing cause you're given over to a reprobate mind and the reason why it's a safe church, it's not because there's never gonna be bad people who come here it's gonna be because we don't separate you from your children so it's gonna be as safe as you are with your children and I'll say this now because it's important don't trust people just because they're from church what I mean by that is there's a certain level of trust that you would give everybody don't trust your children with anybody they're too valuable it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that we don't like the people we're not friendly, we don't have certain level I'll trust people with my car from church here we go I'll trust people with other things I'll trust people with property I'll trust people to do things there's a lot of trust that I'm gonna give and more trust probably to people in church than to some other people but when it comes to your kids don't put them in a position where there's no coming back from just don't do it and I'm gonna preach on that over and over again don't let them just go off to some person's house that you think you know and just completely outside of your supervision you have no idea what's gonna happen on these overnight trips and stuff look, it's not worth it now do what you wanna do but I'm gonna warn about that and I'm gonna teach about that and we're not gonna allow those things within the church so at least within the church setting, don't allow for that don't allow for those things we have camping trips family has to be there you're not going off with anyone else we're not signing waivers either we're not doing it you come with your parents or you don't come anything like camping trips overnight we haven't had to deal with it but that's just what we do here why? cause I want it to be a safe place cause under my watch in this church no child is gonna be defiled one of the reasons to come here turn to Matthew chapter 28 I mentioned this at the beginning we have a great church family Bible says in Romans 12, 9 let love be without dissimulation that's not fake, right? I know the people of our church for people who are just visiting if you haven't been here before people actually care about people here we're not some huge mega church Bible says Abhor that which is evil, cleave that which is good be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor of preferring one another and that's the prevailing spirit that we have at Strong Old Baptist Church it's a great reason to come here there's a lot of great reasons to come here I can't get into all of them but the last one, I'm gonna leave you with this is another extremely important reason another reason to come here is because God commanded us to preach the gospel to the lost to the lost and that that is a primary focus of our church it's not good enough for you just to be saved and to hide that light under a bushel it's not good enough in the Christian life and at our church we're gonna push you because we want you to grow because I want you to get closer to the Lord I want you spiritually to get closer to God think of our church like a gym now I'm not a big gym person I haven't really been to many gyms so I'm gonna make up a scenario hopefully it rings true imagine you got one gym they're only open one day a week for an hour and there may be a lot of people that show up to that gym but no one's really using any of the equipment no one's really doing anything but you can go there and you might be able to find something like an exercise bike or something like that but they're not gonna have a lot of equipment either there's gonna be a few things that you might hear that can help you spiritually there's a lot of churches out there that will give you some good advice and give you some things that might strengthen you in a few areas but when you come here it's like walking into a gym where you've got personal trainers and you come in and there's all this equipment and you're gonna have not just trainers but you're gonna have a bunch of people everyone there is gonna be helping you to work out you're gonna get in much better shape where you've got the people there to help you and support you and you've got all this equipment and it's open a lot more often and there's a lot going on but here's the thing just like with a gym you need to work it needs to be a little bit painful in order for you to really grow in order to build muscles, in order for you to get more fit and more in shape, there's gonna be some hurt, there's gonna be some pain there's gonna be that growth factor which there isn't you can show up to a gym and if you're not really doing anything and at that point it's kinda like what's the point of going to the gym? you're not really using the equipment, you're not doing anything you're not being pushed, who cares? and that's the way people are at church these days they're not going, they're not being fed they're not really changing, they're not being challenged they're not doing anything any different than what they're doing for the rest of their lives so what's the point of even going? but when you come here we're gonna try to push you and not just for the sake of pushing but to get better hey look, here's what the Bible says, hey look here's what the Bible says, hey we're gonna try to feed you I'm gonna try to give you some more truth from the word of God and say this is what the Bible says so, you know, make the change in your life so you can grow it's gonna be a little uncomfortable but here's what it is, maybe you've never given the Gospel to anyone before and just the thought of that makes you uncomfortable but look what Jesus said in Matthew 28 verse 18 the Bible says, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth go ye therefore Jesus came here, look I've got all power in heaven and in earth right now so now here's what I'm telling you to do you go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have a command to you and lo I am with you all way even unto the end of the world I'm there with you right here with you but you need to go you need to go, you need to teach all nations you need to baptize and in Mark 16, 15 it's the same event there's another thing that's recorded that Jesus said it says, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature it's known as the Great Commission this is something that Christ is told to do and when you go into after the book of John and the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles the Acts of the Disciples, what the people who are following Jesus were actually doing, guess what they're doing they're preaching the Gospel, and they're preaching the Gospel and they're preaching the Gospel, they're going on mission trips they're going around, they're talking to people, they're making converts they're getting people baptized this is what they're doing, because that's what Christians should do and if you go to a church that's not doing that then you're not going to the right church not a biblical church a biblical church is going out and doing the work that Jesus had to do a biblical church is one that actually regards the Word of God and is going to hold it as holy and true I think there's a lot of reasons, because I love our church and I'm not just saying that because I'm the pastor here, I love our church and I'm willing to say right now it's the best church that I've ever been a part of and I'm thankful for the churches I've been in, especially Faithful Word Baptist Church and for all the help and all the training and everything else and I love Pastor Anderson so it's nothing against him or anything like that but our church as a whole, I love our church here I love our church, I think it's a great church and I'm not saying our church is better than theirs or anything like that I'm just saying I love our church and this is the best church that I've been a part of, I love this church I love everybody here and hopefully we can find more people that believe the same way that want to be a part of this type of church there's so many reasons to go to this church and if you feel the same way well, as we go out and talk to people let's tell other people about why you love this church so it doesn't just have to come from the pastor because of course, you're going to expect that but I love hearing other people say yeah, this is a great church, I love this church because it's not coerced, it's genuine and the church isn't me the church was me, it wouldn't be the size it is right now the church is a group of people that love God and want to serve God, and we're all working together we're striving together, the work that God has for us so let's try to do what Jesus told us to do and get disciples, and get people in and get them trained, and get them taught and teaching all things whatsoever that he's commanded us to do Father, let's have a word of prayer Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your word and for all the instruction that we can get from the Bible Lord, I pray that you please just bless everyone here today Lord, and help us to serve you better and I pray that you would just build our church and bring more believers here, Lord that we can help train and help lead us to those people Lord, we're not just expecting you just to do everything and that we're not doing the work, Lord as we do the work, as we go forth and do as you've commanded us, Lord build our church and bring in the people as you see fit to add to our church here, Lord we love you, it's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen Alright, we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed Father Peter, please lead us Alright, if you guys can open up your hymnals Song number 259 Hymn number 259 Song 259, Jesus Saves Hymn number 259 Alright, let's sing this out with all our hearts We can hear the joyful sound Jesus saves, Jesus saves When the tide is all around Jesus saves, Jesus saves Bear the news to every land Find the stings and cross the waves Father Jesus, the Lord's command Jesus saves, Jesus saves Wrap it on the rolling tide Jesus saves, Jesus saves Tell to sins far and wide Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing the islands of the sea Echo back the oceans' pain Harsh enough keep her true belief Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing above the valleys dry Jesus saves, Jesus saves By his death and in his life Jesus saves, Jesus saves Sing it softly through the blue With a heart for mercy praise Sing in triumph for the tomb Jesus saves, Jesus saves Give the winds a mighty voice Jesus saves, Jesus saves Let the nations now rejoice Jesus saves, Jesus saves Shout salvation full and free Hide his hills and keep his pace This our song of victory Jesus saves, Jesus saves Amen, great singing, thank you so much for coming I turn to space