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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, good morning and welcome to Verity Baptist Church for our I Love My Church Sunday service. We're so excited to have you guys here this morning. Go ahead and grab your hymnal and turn to song number 173. Come on in. Don't be afraid to take a seat right up front and grab that hymnal from your seat back. We're going to be singing 173, that's song number 173, Love Lifted Me. Sing it out on that first verse as loud as you can this morning. Sing it out. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply sane within, sinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now save am I. Sing it out church. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. Amen. It's a good morning to be in church this morning, isn't it? I'm excited to be here. We're singing about God's love this morning on song number 173. Let's sing it out on that second verse. Give it all you've got, like you're happy that God loves you. Sing it out on that second. All my heart, good to him I give, ever to him I'll cling. In his blessed presence live ever his praises sing. Sing it out. Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul's best songs. Faithful loving service to him belongs. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. Love lifted me, love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me. Amen. You guys are singing really wonderfully this morning. We're singing song number 173. That's song 173. Sing it out. Give it all you've got. Let's finish strong on this third verse. Give it all you've got this morning, but sing it out on that third. Souls in danger, look above. Jesus completely saves. He will lift you by his love out of the angry ways. Look at these next words. He's the master of the sea, billows his will obey. He, your savior, wants to be, be saved too. One more time, church. Sing it out. Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me, love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help. Love lifted me. Good singing. Amen. And we want to welcome you to this very special Sunday morning service here at Verity Baptist Church. Of course, today's our I Love My Church Sunday. And we're glad that you are with us. We've got all sorts of special things today, this morning, this evening as well. And we are glad that you are here. Let's begin the service with a word of prayer. And let's bow our heads together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And we love our church. And Lord, we love the people that have gathered together here today. Lord, we pray that you would bless this service. Lord, we pray that you would meet with us as we sing praises to you. And as we hear from your word, we pray that you'd bless all the special things going on today, the music, the gifts, the potluck. This evening, Lord, we pray that everything would bring honor and glory to your name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, we're going to sing another song, song number 185, My Savior's Love. Would you join me this morning as we sing another song about our Savior's love on this I Love My Church Sunday? I'm excited to be here. And let's go ahead and sing that out on the first. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. 185, let's sing it out on that second, song number 185. For he, it was in the garden. He prayed not my will, but thine. He had no tears for his own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Join me on this third, OK? Think about the words as you sing them out. Aren't you glad that our Savior has love for us? Let's sing it out on that third with all you've got. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. How marvelous, sing it out. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Sing it out, church, on that fourth. When with the ransomed in glory, his face I at last shall see. Twill be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me. Sing it out one last time. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Good singing. Amen. Good singing this morning. Let's go in and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up, and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Psalm 23 6, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And we, of course, want to welcome you to our I Love My Church Sunday. We're so glad that you are here. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service, 10.30 AM. And we're glad that you're here this morning. We do invite you to be back for the evening service. The evening service is different than the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached. There's one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God. And of course, we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 PM, and we'd love for you to join us for that. If you would like to go out soul-winning, we have a soul-winning time on Saturday mornings at 10 AM. Soul-winning, of course, when we go out in the community, we knock doors, we invite people to church, and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested. We also have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 PM. So if you'd like to go out this afternoon, there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, today is our I Love My Church Sunday, and we've got special things going on today. Of course, we have special music from the choir and the orchestra. And then we also have these bags of Valentine's Day popcorn that we're giving out to everybody in attendance today. We, every week, have a special gift for our guests, and we have that as well today. But this is not just for the guests. This is for everybody. So at the end of the service, after the service, in the main foyer, there'll be a table set up. And you'll have these little bags. Everybody can go by there and grab a bag on the way out. And these are Valentine's Day popcorn bags. So please make sure you go by there, of course, and grab one of that after the service. And then we wanna invite you tonight at 6 PM for our evening service. And after the evening service, we're gonna have a potluck and a time of fellowship. So we'd love for you to be a part of that. And if you can, please bring a dish to share. And we're glad that you are here for I Love My Church Sunday. This is a Sunday that we take to kind of, after we got out of the holidays and got out of the beginning of the year, just to kind of round up the church family and get ready, especially as we go into spring and as we go into Easter. Of course, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and this is usually a day for churches that have a low attendance, and we try to have a special day on this day. So we're glad that you are here for that. And then we just want you to see some announcements coming up. First of all, for our homeschool group, there's a Valentine's Day party this Friday, February 14th at 11 a.m. And if you'd like to attend, you can sign up on your communication card. My wife, Ms. Joanne, has the field trip flyer. If you need one of those, please see her after the service. And it's got all the information that you need as far as how the groups are divided and giving Valentine's Day cards and things like that. There's gonna be different activities. There'll be pizza for lunch as well. So make sure you make a note of that. And then also there's PE class coming up so you can take a look at that. Also, we have a teen activity coming up. All the teens and their parents are invited to an evening of games, food, and fellowship. And that is on Friday, February 21st at 6 p.m. here at the church building. And you can sign up on your communication card. If you're planning on coming, please let us know so we can have a good idea of who's coming. We can make sure we have enough food. Also, we have a Spanish service coming up on Saturday, February 22nd at 5 p.m. And we would love for you to join us for the next Spanish service. We've been doing potlucks at the end of the Spanish services but this time we're gonna do pizza. So just give everybody a break with the potlucks but you're welcome to come to the Spanish service. Also, we have the family fun night coming up on Sunday, February 23rd. We had a good time with this at the end of January. We're doing it again at the end of February. So make sure that you are looking forward to that and putting that on your calendar. Also, just a quick announcement about the Biblical Leadership Institute. It was supposed to start this Tuesday but due to some scheduling conflicts, we have to move that back. So you meant that we're interested in that. If you could make a note that it is being moved to Tuesday, March 11th. So we apologize for any inconvenience there but we want you to be aware of that. There's other things there, of course, for you to look at. Nine chapters a day. If you completed the challenge, you can let us know on your communication card if you've not done so already. But we also have a list in the foyer already. So if you completed the challenge, please go by that list in the foyer after the service and look for your name. Make sure your name is spelled correctly. And if you wouldn't mind, just put a check mark next to it letting us know that you saw it and it's spelled correctly. If it's not correct, you can cross it out and just spell it the way it should be spelled. If your name's not there and it should be there, you can add your name. But this is the way we check it before we get the plaque made. Once the plaque gets made, it's done. All right, we're not gonna redo it for any mistakes or whatever. So you need to go by there and look, make sure your name's there and make sure it's spelled correctly. If you could help us with that, we'd appreciate your help, of course, with that. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of December today is Laurel Rubin's birthday, February 10th. And tomorrow is Ms. Lisa Sweeten's birthday, February 11th. Brother Warren Lauterman has a birthday on February 13th. Delia Vincent has a birthday on February 14th. And Victor and Julissa Zuniga have an anniversary this week on February 14th as well. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And then, of course, if you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're so glad that you are with us. We have a special gift for you. Along with the popcorn bag that everybody's getting, we have a special gift for the first-time guests. If it's your first time here, please make sure if you go back there in our foyer, you'll see a little table set up with these gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There's several things in this bag we'd like you to have. There's a documentary that our church made, and we think that you will like it, so we want to make sure you grab that on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you'd please take a moment to fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. You're welcome to keep the pen, of course, as a gift from us as well. And we're not gonna do anything odd with your info. We would just like to have a record of your attendance, and we actually would like to send you something in the mail, send you a little gift in the mail, but we need your info to do that, so please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're gonna sing a song. We're done singing, we're gonna receive the offering, and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate, or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the back door greeting people on the way out, and I hope you'll come by and say hello. And I think that's it for all of the announcements, so we're gonna go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin, and we're gonna sing Be Thou My Vision. This is a pretty epic song, so you want to sing it on purpose with passion, sing it out on the first. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Not be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night. King or sleeping, thy presence my good. Sing it out. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word. I ever with thee and thou with me morn. Thou my great Father, and I thy true Son. With me dwelling, am I with thee one. Riches I eat, not normans and depraved. Thou my name irritant, thou and always. Thou and thou only, first in my heart. My King of Heaven, my treasure. My King of Heaven, my treasure. My King of Heaven, my victory won. May I reach Heaven's joys o'er the sun. May I reach heaven's joys o'er the sun. Lord of my own heart, whatever befall. Still be my vision forever above. Amen. Good singing. Before we have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time, just some reminders that we, of course, are a family-integrated church. Children and inventory is welcomed in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up or windows set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you need to be baptized, you can let us know on your communication card. Check off that you'd like information about baptism, and we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that. And then, of course, if you wouldn't mind, please make sure you turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. And that way it doesn't go off in the middle of the preaching or while the choir is singing. Right now would be a good time to check your phone and make sure that that is off. We're going to go ahead and have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And after the offering, we're going to have the choir sing for us this morning. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. We ask that you continue to meet our financial needs. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the time set aside for the preaching of your word. Bless the choir, the orchestra as they sing, as they play for us today. Lord, we pray that you would help us to learn from you, to draw close to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray. We pray. We pray. We pray. We pray. We pray. We pray. Amen. Alright, well at this time we're going to have our choirs sing for us. We pray. We pray. Fill me, fill me, make me holy thine. Lord, I give my heart to you. Reach me, teach me, with your love divine. In the breaking of the bread break my heart of stone. In the pouring of the wine pour into me your grace alone. Lord, I give my heart to you. I surrender all. Lord, I give my heart to you. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee my blessed Savior. I surrender all. Lord, I give my heart to you. Take me, make me, all I need to be. I give my heart to you. All ye show me how to live for thee. As we hold the sacred bread we're held in your embrace. As we raise the cup of wine we're raised upon your wings of praise. Lord, I give my heart to you. I surrender all. Lord, I give my heart to you. Lord, I give my heart to you. I surrender all. Lord, I give my heart to you. Thank you. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 26. Psalm 26, if you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. Psalm 26 will read the entire chapter as our custom. Psalm 26, just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. Psalm 26, the Bible reads, judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity. I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my reigns in my heart, for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord, that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity, redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place, and the congregation's will I bless the Lord. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for this church. Thank you for allowing us to gather together and thank you for pastor. Please bless him, bless the message. Please let it edify us and glorify you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, well let me begin by saying thank you to all of you for being here today. We appreciate you being here for our special day, and especially a good job to the choir and the orchestra, and they just get better and better every time they sing, and that was very encouraging to me. They did a great job. You're there in Psalm 26, and I'd like you to look down at verse number 8, Psalm 26 and verse number 8. The Bible says, Lord, this is David of course speaking, Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor dwelleth. And on Wednesday nights for the last many weeks, we've been going through a verse by verse, psalm by psalm or chapter by chapter study of the book of Psalms. Wednesday nights are Bible study night, and we are in the book of Psalms, and we've been studying the book of Psalms every week for many weeks now, and one thing that I've noticed as we've been studying the book of Psalms is that there are themes in the book of Psalms, and one of the themes that has stood out to me during our study in Psalms is how the Psalms emphasize a love for the house of God. That's what we see here in Psalm 26, verse 8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house. The word habitation there means the state or the process of living in a certain place, of dwelling, of living your life there. And here David is saying, I have loved the habitation. He said, I have loved living in thy house, the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor dwelleth. And like I said, this is not just here in this Psalm, but it's actually a theme that's found through the book of Psalms. In fact, if you would, you're there in Psalm 26. Flip over to Psalm 27 just real quickly, and look at verse number 4. Let me give you another example. Psalm 27, verse 4, the Bible says this, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. So I want you to notice that there's this theme about the house of God. I have loved the habitation of thy house. Here in Psalm 27, 4, he says that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. And what I would like to do this morning is, of course, today is our I Love My Church Sunday. And I hope you do love your church, and we thank you for being here. And I want to share with you some thoughts. In fact, as quickly as I can this morning, and I won't take too long, but I'd like to give you seven key truths from the book of Psalms, in regards to how to love the house of God. This is a theme that's found in Psalms. And like I said, I've read the book of Psalms many times, and I've seen these verses, but I don't know that I've noticed, now that we're going through a study systematically, it's just jumping out to me, this theme of the love of the house of God, the worship of the house of God, and doing things in the house of God. And I'd like to give you some thoughts with regards to how to love the house of God. Now let me just say this, just for sake of clarity. You're there in Psalm 27. Flip over, if you would, to Psalm 122. Psalm 122. Of course, the book of Psalms is the biggest book in the Bible, 150 Psalms, and which is why it will take a while to go through it and study it together. Psalm 122. Just by way of introduction, let me say this. When we talk about the house of God, of course, the book of Psalms is an Old Testament book, and in the Old Testament, the house of God was a reference to the tabernacle, or to the temple. In the New Testament, the house of God, the Bible tells us, is the church. 1 Timothy 3 and verse 15 says this, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So we're going to see David talking about the temple and the tabernacle and referring to the house of God and the worship that goes on there. And for us, the application would be the local New Testament church, in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. But I'd like to give you some thoughts this morning. I've entitled the sermon this morning, A Psalmist's Guide to Loving God's House, because what we're really going to see is the book of Psalms teaching us how to love the house of God, A Psalmist's Guide to Loving God's House. Now, you're there in Psalm 122. I've got seven statements I'd like to make, and I won't take a long time with them, I promise. But if you'd like to jot these down, then maybe you can do that on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to take notes, and we always encourage you to take notes. It helps you to focus and pay attention. It helps you to remember some of the things we talk about. I'd like you to notice there in Psalm 122, in verse number 1, notice this famous verse, Psalm 122 and verse 1, the Bible says, I was glad. This is David speaking. He says, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. He said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And here in Psalm 122, we see the first thought with regards to how to love the house of God. And if you're jotting this down, maybe you can write it down this way. Show up. Show up. How to love the house of God, you have to show up. Love God's house through faithful attendance. Here we see David telling us, he says, I was glad. He said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. I hope that's how you feel. I hope when you get invited to church. I hope when you get an invitation in the mail, and it says, come to our special service. I hope that you're glad when you're invited, and when they're asking you, and when they're saying to you, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. You say, even on Super Bowl Sunday, even on Super Bowl Sunday, you ought to be glad to be in the house of God. He said, I was glad when they said, let us go into the house of the Lord. And your presence is a way that you show love for the house of God. You ought to show up and love God's house through faithful attendance. I'd like you to keep your place there in Psalm. That's going to be where we're going to get most of our references from this morning. But if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to go with me to the New Testament book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number 10. If you start at the end of the New Testament and you go backwards, you've got the book of Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, and then Hebrews. Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, and then the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter number 10, if you would. And I can notice verse number 24. Hebrews chapter number 10 and verse number 24. You say, how is showing up to the house of God, showing love for the house of God? You've got to keep in mind that when we talk about the house of God, we're talking about the household of God. We're not talking about a building. We're thankful for this beautiful building that we have the opportunity to meet in every week. When we refer to the house of God, we're not talking about the walls and the windows and the doors. We're talking about the church family, the congregation that gathers here. This is the house of God. This is the household of God. And the way that you show love for the house of God is through showing up, through your faithful attendance. Are you there in Hebrews 10? Look at verse number 24. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24. The Bible says this, and let us consider. The word consider means to think about, to ponder. And this is something that I hope you this morning will take a moment to consider. He says, let us consider one another to provoke. The word provoke means to stimulate, to stir up. He says to provoke unto love and to good works. I want you to notice here that the writer of Hebrews is telling us that we should consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. You say, well, how do we do that? Notice verse 25. He says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. The terminology there, assembling. The word assembling means to gather or to congregate. The assembling of ourselves together is a reference to the church. Because what is a church? Again, it's not a building. A church is a called out assembly of believers. It is a congregating of believers. And here he says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. So why does he say that? Because some people have a manner. The word manner means a custom or a habit, a ritual, a type of behavior. Some people have a custom of forsaking the house of God. But he says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is. He says but exhorting. The word exhort means to strongly encourage or to urge, notice these words, one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. I want you to notice that in verse 24, he says let us consider one another. And in verse 25, he says exhorting one another. And those two statements, those one another statements are at the ends of this statement not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. And the truth of the matter is this. That regular church attendance will not only strengthen your faith, will not only encourage your faith, but it encourages the faith of others. When you are here, you help and you encourage other people in the Lord. The truth is this, that when you're not here, we miss you and we miss out on you and you miss out on us. And what God is telling us is that he created us for community. He created us to be united. The Bible says in the Old Testament that two are better than one. And the truth is this, that you are stronger when you are connected with and in community with God's people and we're stronger when you're here with us. So how do you show love for the house of God? You show up. You ought to make it a priority. You ought to make it a priority to be in the house of God, to be faithful to the church services. And I want to encourage you here this morning on this I love my church Sunday. I want to encourage you to maybe make a decision to say at this I love my church Sunday, I'm going to make a decision. I'm going to make a choice. I'm going to decide to love the house of God by being faithful to the church of God. Maybe you've never even thought about that. Maybe that's never even been a thought that has crossed your mind. Faithfulness to the house of God. Maybe you've thought well yeah church is a good thing. Church is a good place to go and I'm going to try to go as often as I can or when I can. But have you ever considered making a decision and purposing in your heart? You know the Bible tells us about Daniel in the Old Testament that he purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king's meat. And the truth of the matter is this, that we need to decide and be purposeful about the things that are important to us. I mean consider your job. Is your job important to you? I hope it is. Is the attitude that you have with your job, well I'll show up when I can. I'll show up when I think about it. I'll show up as long as the game's not on. You're not going to last very long at your job. If your job is important to you, if your job is important to you, you're going to prioritize it. You're going to make a big deal about it. You're going to say hey I've got to be there on Monday at 9 a.m. So let me set an alarm clock for 7 a.m. or 6 a.m. or whatever time you need to get up. And let me make sure I'm ready. I'm going to make a lunch and I'm going to make sure I'm prepared. Why? Because it's important to me. Think about your relationships. You're married here this morning. Maybe you're married. Consider back when you were dating. And you were dating your wife and she was your girlfriend. Or you were dating your husband and he was your boyfriend. Was it this idea? Well I'll just see her when I see her. No you were purposeful about that thing. It was important to you. That relationship should have been important to you. I hope it was important to you. And you were calling and you were setting up dates. And you were saying when's the next time we can see each other? When's the next time we can spend time together? You see when you love something and you care about something you prioritize it. And when it comes to the house of God you ought to make the decision. You know I just believe that Christians ought to make this decision and purpose in their hearts and say I will be in the house of God consistently. We understand sometimes you're out of town. We understand sometimes you're sick and you've got to stay home. We understand those things. But I think every Christian ought to purpose in their heart and decide I'm going to make a priority of the house of God and I'm going to be there every time that the church doors are open. You got to make that choice. And maybe that's a decision for you to make today. Maybe you come to church but you're not that consistent with it. Why don't you decide? You know every Sunday morning I'm just going to prioritize the house of God. Every Sunday morning I'm going to make a point to be there. Maybe you come consistently on Sunday mornings. We want to encourage you to come to more services. We offer three services here at Verity Baptist Church. But you notice the last part of verse 25 he says this, And so much the more as you see the day approaching. You know the truth is this. We need more church in 2025 not less. And more church will be good for you. And maybe you come consistently. Maybe you've been coming consistently on Sunday mornings. I want to encourage you. Maybe step that up and say, You know what? I'm going to come to one of those evening services. I'm going to show up to that Wednesday night Bible study or I'm going to show up to a Sunday night service. If you've never came to an evening service I want to encourage you to come tonight. Come to the evening service. We're going to have a special service. We're going to have food after the service and fellowship and a potluck. You're going to have a great time. Here's what I'm saying. You show up and that's how you show love for the house of God. And you ought to make a decision. Not just leave it up to, Well when my schedule is open. When the stars line up. When nothing else is going on. When things are well. You ought to make a decision and purpose in your heart and say, Every Sunday morning I'm going to be in church. Every Sunday night I'm going to be in church. Every Wednesday night, hey, how about being a three to thriver? Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. This is how you show love for the house of God. David said, I was glad. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. This is how you show love for the house of God and how you show love for the household of God. Regular church attendance strengthens your faith. It encourages others. We miss you when you're not here. You're not here and you miss out when you're not here. Go back to Psalms if you would. Keep your place there in Hebrews. We're going to come back to that part of the Bible here in a minute. Keep your place in Hebrews. But go back to Psalm 52 if you would. Psalm 52. Let me give you a second thought with regards to loving the house of God. A Psalmist's guide to loving the house of God. Number one, you ought to show up. I was glad, David said, when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Let me give you a second thought this morning. Not only should you show up, but let me say this if you want to write this down. Spiritual growth. Spiritual growth. You say, how do I show love for the house of God? Number one, show up. Love God's house through faithful service. Number two, spiritual growth. Love God's house by growing in faith. Psalm 52, are you there? Look at verse number eight. Psalm 52 and verse eight, the Bible says this, But I am like a green olive tree. That statement that here he's using a description of a plant life. He says a green olive tree. The word green there is referring to the fact that it is healthy. It is alive. It is growing. It's fruitful. It's flourishing. It's not old. It's not brown. It's not dying. He says, but I am like a green olive tree. Notice the words, in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. Here David says, I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God. Go to Psalm 92. Look at verse number 13. Psalm 92 and verse number 13. Notice what the Bible says. Psalm 92 and verse 13, it says this, Those that be planted. Those that be planted. The word planted means fixed or positioned. Those that be planted, notice the words here, in the house of the Lord. Notice what the Bible says. Shall flourish in the courts of our God. The Bible says those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. David said, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. And you know, when it comes to loving the house of God, you ought to show up. Love God's house through the faithful attendance. But secondly, you ought to grow spiritually, spiritual growth. Love God's house by growing in faith. Now let me say this. Part of growing in faith and growing in the house of God and flourishing in the house of God has to do with your attendance. Sometimes people say to me and they say this in a kind way and I appreciate their encouragement and they'll say something to me like, Man, every time I come here, I learn so much. Every time I come here, the word of God is open and I learn something and it's practical and it's applicable and it's helpful. And you know, sometimes, and I don't say this of course, but sometimes I think to myself, imagine what you'd learn if you showed up tonight. Imagine what you'd learn if you showed up on Wednesday night. Imagine what you'd learn if you were actually consistent. I mean, if you're showing up once every few weeks and you're learning something practical and applicable that helps your life, imagine what you'd learn if you were showing up Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. It helps you see the thing is this, that church attendance, loving the church, means seeking spiritual maturity through God's word through God's house and through God's people. And you say, well, how does it love the church to grow spiritually? Well, it loves the church to grow spiritually because a church with growing Christians will be a growing church. A church with growing Christians will be a church with less drama, a church with less gossip, a church with less problems. I mean, don't you agree with that? Christians that are growing in grace, they're growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Go with me if you would. 2 Peter. I'm quoting the verse for you, but let me show it to you. 2 Peter 3. You're there in Hebrews. If you go from Hebrews, you have James, then 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Hebrews, and then the book of James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter. Do me a favor when you get to 2 Peter. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. 2 Peter 3. Look at verse 18. 2 Peter 3 and verse 18. The Bible says this, The Bible says this, The Bible says to grow in grace. God wants you to grow in grace. He wants you to grow like a green olive tree in the house of God. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. You know what I've learned about carnal Christians and spiritual Christians? You've heard me say this over the years, but you know what I've learned is this, that carnal Christians will take something small and they'll make a big deal out of it. You know what spiritual Christians do? They'll take something big and they'll make it small. They'll turn the other cheek. They'll love their neighbor as themselves. They'll love their enemy. They'll esteem other better than themselves. See the truth is this, the greatest gift that you can give to your church if you love your church is to grow spiritually because people who grow spiritually have more grace, have more patience, they're long suffering. They're going to help others. They're not going to hurt others. They're not going to hinder others. They're not going to influence others in the wrong way and in the wrong direction. You ought to grow spiritually. And you ought to grow spiritually. Look, there's only one way to grow spiritually and it is to do it in and in connection with the house of God. People will say, oh, I have to go to church. I can just study the Bible on my own and I can just have a connection with God. You cannot have a connection with God. You cannot have a connection with Christ. You cannot have a connection with Christ while you are defying and while you are ignoring the house of God. You say, why? Because the Bible tells us that Jesus is the head of the church. The Bible tells us that Jesus builds the church. He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved the church, that he gave himself for it, that the church was purchased with the blood of Christ. The Bible tells us that the church is the bride of Christ. So if you say, well, I love Jesus, but I don't like church. I love Jesus, but I don't need church. I love Jesus, but you don't love the bride of Christ. Hey, listen, how far do you think you're going to get with me if you're like, I really like Pastor Jimenez, but his wife. Look, if you don't like my wife, you don't like me. And if you don't like the bride of Christ, you don't like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the husband. He loves the church. He gave his life for the church. He sacrifices for the church. And the best thing you could do to love God and to love Jesus is to get connected in church. And here's what I've learned. People who are consistent to church, who come to church, who hear the word of God preached, who apply it to their life, you know what happens? They become better people. I mean, that's what the psalmist is saying. Keep your place there in 2 Peter. Go back to Psalm 92. Look at what he says. He says, those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. I've noticed that people that come to church and they come consistently and they hear the preaching and they apply it to life, they just become better husbands. They just become better wives. They just become better parents. They just become better employees. They just become better at life. Those that get planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. So how should you love the house of God? Well, number one, you ought to show up. Love God's word through faithful attendance. And number two, you ought to grow spiritually, spiritual growth. Love God's house by growing in faith. And the greatest gift that you can give to the house of God is to be a Christian that is actively and purposely growing in your spiritual life. Because you know what happens with carnal Christians is we all have to like baby around them. And it becomes this thing where everybody's like, you know, we're walking on eggshells because you're not mature. The best thing would be for you to just grow. Grow spiritually. Love God. Love the word of God. Love the house of God. Love the preaching of the word of God. Grow spiritually. So we don't have to deal with your drama. You ought to show up. You ought to have spiritual growth. Let me give you a third thought with regards to a psalmist's guide for loving the church of God. We're taking all these principles from the book of Psalms. Go to Psalm 84. Look at verse 10. Notice what the psalmist tells us here. Psalm 84, verse 10. Show up. Spiritual growth. How to love the house of God from the book of Psalms. Number three. Notice what the Bible says. Psalm 84, verse 10. Notice what he says. He says, for a day in thy courts, there's a reference to the Old Testament tabernacle, which is the house of God. He says, a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, a day in thy court is better than a thousand days somewhere else. That's the idea. You understand what he's saying? Look at it. For a day in thy court is better than a thousand somewhere else. A thousand anywhere else. If we were to bring this into New Testament terminology, we would say this. A church service in thy house is better than a thousand at the Super Bowl. I mean, that's what he's saying. It's better than a thousand anywhere else. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. He said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. You know what David says? He says, a way to love the house of God, not only is it to show up, not only is it spiritual growth, but number three, serve. Serve. Love God's house through getting involved in serving. He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. This is a verse that we often look at whenever we're meeting with the ushers or having usher training because I think this verse applies to the ushers probably more than anyone else. He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God. We got some ushers back there right now keeping the door. They're opening the door for people as they come in and things like that. And here's what he's saying. Hey, a way to serve God, a way to love God, is to serve God through his house. He says, for a day in my courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. If you kept your place there in 2 Peter, I'd like you to flip over to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. While you turn there, let me read to you from Romans chapter 16. You go to 1 Peter chapter 4 and I'll read to you from Romans 16. In Romans 16 and verse 1, the apostle Paul said this. He said, I commend unto you, Phoebe. Here he's talking about a woman in the church at Rome. He says, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Synchria. I mean, I don't know about you, but I think that's a wonderful way to be mentioned in Scripture. Here this woman, Phoebe, is mentioned in Scripture. We don't know a lot about Phoebe. There's another verse where he talks about the fact that she served, she suckered many, but here he tells us the magnifying, the major quality of this woman, Phoebe, is that she is a servant of the church. She served the church. And I believe that every believer should be serving in a local New Testament church. Are you there in 1 Peter chapter 4? Look at verse 10. 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 10. The Bible says, as every man hath received the gift. You know that every talent that you have has been given to you by God? Every ability that you have has been given to you by God. And I believe that every Christian ought to consider their lives and look at their lives and ask themselves, what talents has God given me? What ability has God given me? What has God given me as a gift? And then how do you use that? Notice, as every man hath received the gift, he says, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God has given you talents. He's given you abilities. You ought to use those in the service of God's house. God calls all of us to use our gifts to serve in the church, to build up his people. And here's what I'm telling you. Maybe you ought to decide this I Love My Church Sunday. Maybe you're here this morning and we're not mad at you. I'm just trying to encourage you and help you to take the next step in your growth. Maybe you're here this morning and you say, I love this church. This is why I'm here this morning. I've been coming now for a few weeks, for a few months, and I enjoy it and I'm learning and praise the Lord. Maybe you're not serving anywhere yet. And maybe today is the day that you ought to decide on this I Love My Church Sunday, you ought to find somewhere to serve in the house of God. You say, why? Because I would rather be a doorkeeper, David said. He said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. You ought to find somewhere to serve. You ought to find somewhere to get connected, somewhere to get involved. Here's what I'm saying. If you can sing, you ought to sing in the choir. If you can play an instrument, you ought to play in the orchestra. I mean, you just need to find somewhere to serve. And a growing church is always in need of help. And look, I'll tell you right now, if you're a man and you're faithful to church services and you can show up on time or early, you know, you can serve as an usher. If you're a man that can show up on time and you happen to have a CCW, you can serve on our safety team. If you're, you know, we're training right now different people for the sound room and that'd be a good job for men and for even teen boys to be in the sound room. If you can play as a musician, you can play an instrument, you can, look, find somewhere to serve, find something to do, find somewhere to get involved. You say, well, I don't have any talent, I don't have any ability, I don't have anything I can do. We can always use help with cleaning. I'm sure we can teach you how to sweep. I'm just saying you ought to find somewhere to serve. Love God's house through getting involved in the service of God's word. And don't sit there and say, oh, well, I'm too busy. No, you're not. I mean, let's just be honest. If you allowed me to follow you around, and I'm not going to do this because I'm busy too, but if you allowed me to follow you around with a clipboard, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I'm pretty sure I would find some time when it's like, huh, there's about four and a half hours you spent there on Facebook last week serving the lowercase g god of social media, maybe you could have been doing something for the house of God. So you're not that busy, you're not, no one's too busy for the house of God. Let me tell you something, God does not give us conflicting priorities. God does not ask us to do. You say, I'm too busy to show up to church. Then you're too busy. Then you need to cut some things out. Excuse me, but I don't think you're the president of the United States, and I even think the president of the United States should make a priority of being in the house of God. I'm just saying to you, you ought to find somewhere to serve. And don't tell me you're too busy. Everyone's busy. If it's a priority, you'll make it happen. Where there's a will, there's a way. So you ought to show up. You ought to have spiritual growth. You ought to serve. Number four, go to Psalm 84. We're taking all these from the book of Psalms. This is the Psalmist's guide to loving God's house. Psalm 84, look at verse one. Psalm 84, verse one, this is not David. This is written by the sons of Korah. But notice what they said. They said, how amiable. That word amiable is a word that means having or displaying friendly or a pleasant manner, friendliness. He said, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. You know what he's saying? He's saying, when I go to your tabernacle, it's a friendly place. It's an amicable place. It's an amiable place. He said, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. Verse two, my soul longeth, yea, even fainted for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. You see how, what does Psalms teach us about loving the house of God? What's the Psalmist's guide to loving God's house? Number one, show up. Number two, spiritual growth. Number three, serve. Number four, stay connected. Stay connected. Stay connected to God's house through fellowship. He says, how amiable. He says, how friendly. He said, what a friendly place to visit. What a place to fellowship in. Go with me if you would to the book of Colossians just real quickly. In the New Testament, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. If you can find those books of Paul, Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, You can lose your place in Hebrews. We're not going to go back there, but maybe keep your finger there in Colossians. We're going to come back in that area. Colossians chapter number one. I can look down at verse number four. Colossians chapter one and verse four. The Bible says this, since we heard of your faith. This is the apostle Paul speaking to the church at Colossae. He says, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. And, he says, I've heard of your faith and I've heard of the love which you have to all the saints. You know, you should not just have a love for the house of God, but you ought to have a love for the people of God. You ought to love the people of God. You know that God, the Bible tells us that the two great commandments that God has given us is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and to love thy neighbor as thyself. I've noticed that sometimes in church, people develop this attitude that says, well I love church, but I don't like those people. I love church, but all those people are annoying. All those people get on my nerves. All those people this, all those people that. Let me tell you something, you cannot love God and not love his children. Again, you say, well I like Pastor Jimenez, but I don't like those six kids of his. Hey, you got a problem with my kids, you got a problem with me. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? And if you have a problem with God's children, God doesn't like that. God doesn't take too well to that. You got to love God's house. You got to love God and you got to love God's people. We are to love God and we are to love others, especially brothers and sisters in Christ. Here, Paul tells the church in Colossae, he says, I've heard of your faith, praise the Lord. But he said, I've also heard of the love that you have to all the saints. You ought to love God's people. You ought to just decide, I love God's people. I love the people of God. If you're saved and we ought to love everyone, we ought to love our neighbors. Obviously, there's reprobates out there, that's a sermon for another day. But we ought to love our neighbors, we ought to love our enemies. You know, we should be people full of love for everyone. But we ought to especially love, the Bible tells us, the household of faith, the people of God. We ought to just make this decision. If you are saved, if you love the Lord, no one's perfect, we're all growing, we're all learning. But you know what? If I'm going to give patience to anyone, if I'm going to give preference to anyone, if I'm going to give grace to anyone, if I'm going to turn the other cheek for anyone, it's going to be for the people of God. You ought to be connected and stay connected. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. Let me give you number five. I told you we'd go through these as quickly as we can. Keep your place there in Colossians, we're going to come back to it. Go back to Psalm 66. Psalm 66, a Psalmist's guide to loving God's house. Number one, you ought to show up. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Number two, you ought to have spiritual growth. Why? Because spiritual growth and spiritually growing Christians will have a spiritually growing church. Growing Christians will have a growing church. But not only that, spiritual growth in church will keep us from having to deal with all your carnality. You ought to serve. You ought to find somewhere to serve and somewhere to get involved. You ought to stay connected. You ought to develop friendships. Tonight in the Sunday evening service, I want to encourage you. I want to invite you. Be back tonight, 6 p.m. After the service, we're going to have a potluck. We'll have a time of fellowship. You say, I don't have a lot of friends in church. Well, you might develop more friends. You'll develop more friends the more you show up. And you'll develop more friends the more you come to things like a potluck afterwards and stick around and eat and fellowship and get to know some people. Tonight, I'm actually preaching a whole sermon on the subject of developing friendships in church and how to develop friendships and how to have strong friendships in church. And I want to encourage you to be here tonight. You say, I don't have a lot of friends in church. Okay, well, let's fix that. You come tonight, hear a sermon on how to develop friendships and then stay for a potluck and develop some friendships. You ought to get connected. You say, how can I love God? Look, the best way, you say, I want to love Pastor. I want to love Ms. Joanne. They've been such a blessing. You know, I mean, it's always appreciated. It's kind. When you do something nice for me, you do something nice for my wife. It's always appreciated. But you know, people feel the most love when you love their children. Isn't that true? I mean, there's just something about when somebody likes your children, loves your children, is kind to your children. It just makes you love them because they love your children. And with God, it's the same way. If someone shows my love for God, then love his children. And our Heavenly Father looks down and says, when you treat my children well, it shows me how much you love me. Show up, spiritual growth, serve, stay connected. Let me give you number five. Are you there in Psalm 66? Look at verse 13. Psalm 66 verse 13. The psalmist says, I will go into thy house with burnt offerings. Of course, this is the Old Testament, so they're bringing a burnt offering. Some of you are going to bring a burnt offering tonight, but that's a different story. He says, I will go into thy house with burnt offerings. Notice what he says. He says, I will pay thee my vows. Psalm 116, if you would, look at verse 18. He says, I'm going to pay my vows. Where? To the house of God. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings. I will pay thee my vows. Psalm 116 verse 18. He says this, I will pay my vows unto the Lord, now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord. You know, in the Old Testament, David said, one of the ways that we can love, the psalmist said, one of the ways that we can love the house of God is by bringing our sacrifices, paying our vows. And one way that we can show love for the house of God is not only to show up, not only to grow spiritually, not only to serve and stay connected, but to support financially. To support. You ought to love God's house through generous giving. You know the Bible says, Jesus said this, for where your treasure is, there where your heart be also. Where your treasure is, there where your heart be also. Look, I'm just telling you, I'm telling you, I think every believer should have a house of God that they've decided, this is my church. You need, you need a physical family and you need a spiritual family. And you ought to just decide, I'm going to be faithful, I'm going to show up, I'm going to make it a consistent thing, I'm not going to just be looking for reasons, excuses not to show up. I think every Christian ought to decide, I'm going to be faithful to the house of God with my attendance. But you know, a step after that is to say, not only am I going to be faithful to the house of God, I'm going to find somewhere to serve, I'm going to find somewhere to help and to be a part of the team. But you know, on top of that, you ought to find a way to support. I believe that every Christian should have a plan to support, to financially support their local church. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7, you have to turn there, I'll just read this for you. Paul said this, he says, Now notice what he says, he says this, See you show love for God when you support the house of God and the Bible says that God loveth a cheerful giver. Now notice, the emphasis there is not grudgingly or of necessity. And I hope you never feel like we're manipulating you or guilting you into giving here at Verity Baptist Church. I've literally, I've seen churches where it seems like every time you turn around, someone's asking you for money. I mean they're asking you for money on the way in. They're emphasizing the offering and then they want you to give money to this and give money to that. And then at the end of the service, they're selling food in the back for some fundraiser. Look, we're not like that here at Verity Baptist Church, but I'm not going to minimize the fact I'm not going to apologize for the fact that every believer should have a plan. And it should be purposeful, and it should be proportional, and it should be perpetual. You have to have a plan to support the house of God. That's how you show love for the house of God. Why? Because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So you have to support the house of God financially. He says, I will pay thee my vows. Let me give you number six, if you can make your way to Psalm 42. Psalm 42 and verse 4. Psalm 42 and verse 4, I won't spend too much time on this one, but we're talking about the Psalmist's guide for loving the house of God. Seven principles, seven key teachings for loving the house of God from the book of Psalms. Number one, show up. Number two, spiritual growth. Number three, serve. Number four, stay connected. Number five, support. Number six, sing. You better believe we can't be in the book of Psalms and not talk about singing. Psalm 42, look at verse 4. He says, when I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. He said, with the voice of joy and praise. Look at Psalm 84 and verse 4. Psalm 84 verse 4, the Bible says, blessed are they that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising thee, Selah. Look, when it comes to the house of God, you ought to just decide. Don't just come here. Look, if you're, I'm trying to get you to come, right? But once you're here, you ought to just, I'm already here. I'm already here. Might as well open up the hymn book. I'm already here. Might as well sing. Might as well open my mouth. Might as well make a joyful noise unto the Lord. You might as well. That's how you show love for God and how you show love for the house of God. You ought to sing. If you kept your place in Colossians, I'd like you to look at Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. Colossians 3, 16, the Bible says this, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. See, when you come to church and we open up a hymn book and we begin to sing, we're singing to the Lord. We're praising the Lord. We're lifting up our voice of joy and praise unto the Lord. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. They will be still praising thee. I hope when you leave here, you've got some of these songs in your heart and in your mind. I hope that as you go along in the week and during your day that you're singing these songs. A few weeks ago, we had our family fun night and we had some songs for the kids and the kids were singing these songs and it was a blessing to me during the week to hear my children at home, some of our daughters, our youngest daughters, singing some of those songs just as they were going about their day. That's what the Bible is talking about. Blessed are they that dwell in my house. They will be still praising thee. You ought to be praising the Lord every day. Let me tell you something. If you can't praise the Lord here, you're not going to praise the Lord anywhere else. So you ought to sing. Sing. Singing is a way that shows your love for the house of God. I understand if you're new, maybe some of this is a little new to you and you've got to kind of get warmed up to some of these things. Don't have a bad attitude towards the singing of the hymns and also of the psalms and of the word of God. Go back to Psalm 23 if you would. Psalm 23. Keep your place there in Colossians. Psalm 23. We're looking at a psalmist's guide for loving the house of God. We're talking about ways that you can love the house of God. Number one, you ought to show up. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And I can honestly tell you I've grown up in church my whole life. I've not been saved my whole life, but I've been a Baptist my whole life. I was born into a Baptist home and I've been in church that was Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, my whole life. And I can honestly tell you I'm glad to come to church. It's not a drudgery to me. It's not this thing like, ah, you know, it's a good place to be. There's no better place to be than in the house of God with God's people under the preaching of the word of God. So you ought to show up. You ought to determine to have spiritual growth. Seek spiritual growth. You ought to serve. You ought to stay connected. You ought to support. You ought to sing. Let me give you the last one and we'll finish up this morning. I'd like you to notice Psalm 23. This is probably the most, not probably, this is without a doubt the most famous psalm in the book of Psalms. And it's one of the most famous chapters in the entire Bible. Psalm 23 and verse 6, of course when we were studying the book of Psalms we looked at Psalm 23 together. But I'd like you to look at the last verse, verse 6, Psalm 23 verse 6. David says this, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And then notice what he says. He says, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. You know I believe that Psalm 23 and verse 6 can be applied to the house of the Lord here on earth all the days of my life. But I think there's an application there as well for this idea that we're going to dwell, if you're saved, we're going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. You know sometimes people will say things like, Well I'm saved and I'm a Christian but I don't really like church. I don't know about those hymns and I don't know about the preaching and I don't like those people. Let me tell you something, you better learn to love the house of God because you know what you're going to be doing for all of eternity in heaven? You're going to be in the house of God. We're going to be dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. You say, These people are kind of annoying to me. Well you're going to spend all eternity with them so you might as well start liking them. You might as well start loving them. You might as well start getting over yourself because we're going to spend all, you say, What are we going to do in heaven? We're going to be having church. We're going to be spending time with the great shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ in the household of God. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And I will say to you this morning that the way to love the house of God is to show up. The way you ought to love the house of God is to seek spiritual growth. The way to love the house of God is to serve and to stay connected, to support and to sing. But let me just say this lastly this morning. The way to love the house of God is this word, salvation. You ought to love God's house by receiving Christ's gift of salvation. I would hate for you to come to a church like this on a day like this and then walk out those doors, live the rest of your life, die one day and go to hell. The truth is this, that the greatest way to love God's house is by becoming part of the household of God. Is by becoming part of the family of God. In Ephesians chapter 5, if you kept your place there in Colossians, if you go backwards, you've got Philippians and then Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25, the Bible says this, Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. The truth of the matter is this, that the Bible tells us that Jesus gave himself for the church. He died for the church. He died for our sins. Galatians chapter 6, if you would, look at verse 10. Ephesians, then you've got, if you're going backwards, you've got Galatians before Ephesians. Look, here's what I'm saying to you. Is the best way, the best way to love the house of God is to become part of the household of God, is to make sure that you're safe. And if you're here this morning, maybe somebody invited you to church and we're glad you're here. But if you're here this morning and you're not sure that if you die today you're on your way to heaven, please do not leave here this morning without letting us show you how you can know for sure you're on your way to heaven. The truth of the matter is this, that while you're here, someone is probably going to walk up to you and say, can I show you how you can know for sure you're on your way to heaven? Can I show you how you know for sure that you've got a home in heaven, that you've got a household in heaven, that you've got a house in heaven? And I plead with you, let them show you. Because the greatest way, the greatest way you can show love for the house of God is to become part of the household of God. It's to become part of the family of God. The Bible, of course, teaches us that we're all sinners and our sin is condemned us to hell. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and if you place your faith in Christ, if you believe on Him, it's not of works, it's not of religion. You say, well, I'm in church. Doesn't that make me a Christian? Listen to me, you showing up to church makes you as much of a Christian as if you sat in a garage that would make you a car. You understand what I'm saying to you? Sitting in a garage doesn't make you a car and sitting in a church doesn't make you a Christian. Church doesn't save, religion doesn't save, your faith in Jesus Christ, that's what saves. You must call upon Christ for salvation in faith. Not trusting yourself, not trusting your works, not trusting your religion. The greatest way to show love for God is to become part of His family. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10, the Bible says this, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, that's the fellowship, especially unto those who are of, notice these words, I just love this little phrase, the household of faith. I love that. I love the fact that I get the privilege to be part of the household of faith and that if you're saved here this morning that you're part of the household of faith and I would ask you, are you part of the household of faith? I'd hate for you to come to the house of God and miss out on the household of God. So we see from Psalms here, a Psalmist's guide to loving the house of God. You ought to show up, love God's house through faithful attendance. You ought to seek spiritual growth, love God's house through growing in your faith and growing spiritually. Why? Because growing Christians will have a growing church and growing Christians make church better. It makes it easier to not have to deal with your carnality and your drama and your gossip and your bad attitude. You ought to serve. I think every Christian ought to find a place to serve in the house of God. You ought to stay connected. You ought to love God's people. You ought to have patience for God's people and develop relationship with God's people and don't have this adage that says, ah, those people. What people? Saved people? You ought to love those people. You ought to support. I think every Christian should have a plan to support the house of God. It ought to be purposeful. It ought to be proportional. It ought to be perpetual. You ought to sing. Sing praises to God. And you ought to be saved because if you're not saved, you're not even part of the household of faith. David again tells us in Psalm 23 verse 6, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Why should I love the house of God? Here's why. Because I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If I'm going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, then I might as well learn to love the house of the Lord. And I hope you do. Hallelujah Father. Lord we do love you. And we thank you for these challenges we hear from Psalms. The Psalmist gives us these thoughts with regards to the house of God. Lord I pray you help us to learn from these. Help us to be purposeful about our love for the house of God. And Lord we pray that you would help us to be growing Christians, loving Christians, serving Christians, supporting Christians. Lord we love you. We thank you for the house of God. We thank you for the church of the living God. We thank you for Jesus dying and paying and giving himself for the church. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Well God bless you. I want to thank you for being here this morning. We appreciate you being here for our I Love My Church Sunday. Let me just give you a couple of ending notes before we have Brother Andrew come up and lead us in a final song. First of all don't forget that we've got these popcorn bags in the back. They're the pink vanilla popcorn, pink vanilla caramel popcorn. And of course they say Verity Baptist Church I Love My Church Sunday. And we have one of these for everyone. So in the past we've done bigger bags that families shared. But we found out that families don't share very well. So we just have a bag for everyone alright. So everybody can go ahead and grab a bag on your way out. You don't have to share with your wife. You don't have to share with your kids. Just grab your own and one per person. So go by there. We've got them in the back table. And grab one on your way out. We appreciate you being here. And then of course I want to encourage you to be back tonight 6 p.m. for the evening service. We're going to be learning about developing friendships in the house of God. And we're going to have a potluck after the service. We'd love for you to be a part of it. It'll be a good time to fellowship and spend time together. And of course we want to encourage you to bring if you're able to please bring a dish to share. The only way a potluck works is if you bring food. Bring enough to share. And we'll all be able to commune together and to have a good time and fellowship together. If there's anything we can do for you please let us know. We appreciate you being here today. We'll have Brother Andrew come up and lead us in a final song. Amen. All right. We'll go ahead and take your song books and turn to page number 308. We're going to be singing I surrender all. The choir actually sung a little snippet of this song this morning. So choir if you're out there join me as maybe you sing your part too if you can. Join me this morning or as we finish up this service with this wonderful song. Let's sing it out on the first. All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him in His presence daily with. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior I surrender all. Song number 308 I surrender all. Just surrender to singing this morning. Okay let's sing it out as we finish the service on that second. All to Jesus I surrender humbly at His feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken take me Jesus take me sing it out. I surrender all. Good. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior I surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender make me Savior holy thine. Let me feel the Holy Spirit truly know that Thou art mine. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior I surrender. Join me this morning on that last verse think about those words as you sing them out. Join me let's finish on a strong note this morning. Okay sing it out. 308 I surrender all on that fourth. All to Jesus I. Good sing it out church. Lord I give myself to Thee. Fill me with Thy love and power. Let Thy blessing fall on. Give it all you've got sing it out. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior I surrender all. Amen. Great singing this morning we want to thank you all for being here and joining us for this special I love my church Sunday. As always if you have any questions about salvation church membership or baptism pastor is going to be standing at that back door in the in the player there and he'll be able to answer those questions or be able to direct you to somebody who is trained to do so. I'm going to go ahead and ask brother Adam if he doesn't mind dismissing us with a word of prayer this morning. Amen. We'll see you tonight.