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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening You Let's find our seats and find a hymnal close to you and turn to page number two hundred and twenty nine That's song number two hundred and twenty nine We're going to be singing since I have been redeemed song number two hundred and twenty nine Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first Oh Oh number two to nine on the second Oh Oh Singing well sing it out on the last Me Amen great singing welcome to the uh evening service here at verity baptist church I'm glad to see everyone here this evening with our heads for a word of prayer the heavenly father lord We thank you for the opportunity to come to your house this evening lord Thank you for a great day. We had so far lord. Pray that you bless the service bless the singing and the preaching to come We love you in jesus and I pray amen All right now time for favorites where if you're selected we will sing a stanza from the song that you pick Go ahead, daniel 446 146 song number one four six In the time of storm psalm number one four six on the first the lord Oh, jesus is There's a rock in a weary land a shelter in the time of storm Uh brother mauricia, go ahead Three four three Revive us again song number three hundred and forty three Sing it out on the first Oh, jesus Noah go ahead 169 169 on the last Come thou fount song number 169 on the last I love You say 439 439 I like how you you move from there to there Song number 439 count your blessing Let's sing it out on the first on the first See what god had done count your blessings name them one by one Count your many blessings see what god had done Brother allen, but 215 that's a different one. So so song number 215 Heaven came down and bogey filled my soul Let's sing it out on the first Jesus my savior Heaven Heaven came down My sins were washed away Me One more song mr. Laura beth god 415. Amen So number 415 this will be the last song so let's sing it out Sing it out on the first Five Shouting the name of their leader Yes Amen welcome to our sunday evening service We call it the most exciting service of the week and we're glad that you are here Of course If you uh do not have a bulletin 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 And we'll go through some announcements quickly this evening if you notice there at the front Of course our verse this week eph 2 19 now Therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of god And that's a good verse there. We like that if you open up your bulletin You'll see our service times sunday morning service 10 30 a.m Sunday evening service 6 p.m And then we normally have a wednesday evening bible study at 7 p.m This week's gonna be a little different. We'll talk about that here in a minute If you look at our soul winning times our main soul winning times on saturday morning at 10 a.m And then we have additional soul winning times on thursdays fridays and sundays at 2 p.m Soul winning of course is 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 If you're a soul winner Don't forget to add any salvations that you might have on your communication card so that we can add those to the bulletin If you did not finish your map Uh, make sure you clearly mark what was done What was not done and put it in the bin in the foyer so we can Get those recycled through and back out to finish and if you're running late If you could call us for texas at the number there nine one six eight six eight nine zero eight zero Let us know your plan on being there, but you're running late That way our our soul winning captains can make sure you have a partner and a map and everything you need If you're a first time guest if it's your first time here tonight at verity baptist church We are so glad you're with us We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight As you go through the main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little Table with these gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have But the one I like to highlight is this documentary called being baptist the documentary that our church made And it's very well made very interesting. It's entertaining and enjoyable. We think you'll like it We want to give this to you as a gift. So please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of these On your way out and if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out The communication card which is inserted in your bulletin If you need a pen just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a verity baptist church pen You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We'd like to have a record your attendance We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that So, please take a moment to fill the card out when we're done with the announcements We're going to sing a song when we're done singing We're going to 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 main door greeting people On the way out. So I hope you come by and say hello If you look at the bulletin there, we are a family integrated church What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service We do not separate children from their parents for any reason We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience All of the rooms have comfortable seating they have monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service or if you need some privacy We encourage you to use our mother baby rooms or a daddy room If you're not sure where those are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin You'll see a layout of our church building and i'll show you where the mother baby rooms are where the daddy room is And i'll show you where all the restrooms are So, please take a moment to look through that if you need it if you need to be baptized Please tell us know we'd love to baptize you you can let us know on your communication card on the back Just check off that you'd like information about being baptized and we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that Or maybe you've already spoken to somebody, you know, you need to be baptized All you need to do is at the end of the service After the preaching while we're singing the last song if you step out that door One of our staff guys will meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptism If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course We're going through a series called journey with jesus a verse by verse study through the gospel of luke And we're going to continue that tonight and then of course the big announcement for this week This week is our red hot preaching conference our annual conference we have here Every year and I hope you're excited about it We've got some special things going on Of course tonight we are giving away to our church family the red hot preaching conference t-shirt So every year we give out these t-shirts on the first night of the conference on thursday night We'll have them in the foyer and it's first come first serve. We want to take care of our church family first So everyone that's here tonight We're going to give you the opportunity after the service to grab one So that you don't have to come early on thursday or or you know, try to get one So this here, uh the the t-shirts, uh, we Uh kind of up updated the design a little bit And uh, you can see that there's a little bit of a newer design red hot preaching conference 2022 And it has the verse, uh, jeremiah 514 And then of course on the back it's got the names of all the preachers that'll be preaching for us this week And it's a it's a we also upgraded the quality of the t-shirt. So it's a nicer t-shirt Uh, we think you're gonna like it. So after the service after the service Uh, if you go into the foyer, we'll have all the t-shirts there'll be Signs that tell you what the sizes are and everybody can grab a t-shirt tonight that is here tonight. So, please make sure That you stay awake so that you don't miss out on that. All right, and that'll be that'll be good And then of course, we've got the red hot preaching conference schedule for this coming week Uh, so make sure you just look at that make sure you're aware of all the different things going on There's a of course soul winning throughout the whole week. There's a teen activity. There's a singles activity. There's a ping pong tournament Uh, there's all sorts of preaching services. Make sure you're aware of all of that Just a couple of things I want to highlight for you is that this week there is no wednesday evening service Normally our midweek service is on wednesday, but since we're having church thursday night friday morning friday night We have so many on saturday sunday morning sunday night We are not having a wednesday evening service. Our midweek service will be thursday so make sure you don't forget that no wednesday evening service this week and The evening service on thursday Starts at 6 p.m. Not 7 p.m. Like it normally does 6 p.m We're having two preachers on thursday night two preachers on friday morning two preachers on friday night two preachers on sunday So we're starting at 6 p.m In the evening services to give us a little more time. So just be aware of that. Don't forget about that Uh, if you want to be on our text list so you can get all the text messages we send out and all the reminders Just give us your cell phone number on a communication card. We'll add you to that list Choir and orchestra they had practice this afternoon There is practice again tonight after the evening service for the choir. There is practice after the service So you choir members if you could help us If you're going to grab a t-shirt grab a t-shirt quickly and then get back here for choir And make sure that you can get that done and do that And then there's a family and friend day choir starting up on july 24th as well There's other things there for you to look at Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off and place them on silent During the service like they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of july We have miss courtney usher's birthday on july 12th We have uh fernando larios's birthday on july 12 brother matt and miss kim burello have an anniversary on july 12 Miss connie has a birthday on july 13th has a kaya cruise has a birthday on july 14th Charlotte rosenberg has an a birthday on july 16th and brother renee morales has a birthday on july 16th praise report money matters All those things are there for you to look at I do have one just a special announcement. Uh, we are Putting on well, we're not putting on. I mean we are putting on but uh, My dad is putting on let me put it that way. Uh a special Mini missions trip to mexico And uh, it is it is kind of uh, just an impromptu pretty short notice Uh, he's going to be going to mexico on august, uh, 18th through the 20th. So in august Uh this coming month for three days august 18th, which is a thursday friday Uh and the 19th and saturday the 20th, uh, they're having a little mini Mini Mexico missions trip and uh, we just want to let you know Uh, brother edgar the dios is going to be going with my dad brother. Aldo's going uh, brother oliver's Probably going to be going as well. Uh, so we just want to let you know I realize it's short notice Uh, but but here's the deal. We're only asking for men on this trip All right, so just guys and uh, if you can get yourself there and I would encourage of course to fly with them So talk to them and figure out where they're flying But if you can pay for your flight there, we will take care of the rest. We'll take care of the hotels We'll take care of the food while you're there, but you got to get yourself there. All right, so here are the rules It has to be For this trip only men and you got to speak spanish. All right, so we're not paying for you to have a vacation We're going to put you to work And so if you speak spanish if you can preach the gospel in spanish and uh, and you can and you can get yourself there uh, please let us know and um If you have any questions see my dad felix t menes Can you just raise your hand? So they everyone knows you are but see my dad and he can he can answer all the questions for you Also, you can see brother oliver Uh, he can answer any questions for you and uh be praying for this missions trip There's a there the there's an ulterior motive, uh for this missions trip and it is to go Uh, get uh, try to get brother maricio's family saved So praise the lord for that they're going to his hometown to try to get his family saved But while they're there, they're just going to knock all the doors in that town. So Mexico missions trip a little short notice, but if you'd like to go, I think it'll be great We'll take care of the hotel. We'll take other meals. You just have to get there Uh, it's for men who speak spanish if you'd like to go see my dad felix He meant us to see brother oliver and we can get you situated with all of that But I think it's going to be a great time. So I think that's it for all of the announcements Let's go ahead and take our song books and we're going to go to page number 119 page number one one nine And we'll sing till the storm passes by as we prepare to receive the offering tonight 119 sing it out on the first Hit my face Hiding place Precious Till the thunder sounds no more From the sky All right, you gotta sing this song with some passion all right sing it out on the second There's no end of sorrow, there's no All right, sing it out So Good singing out on the last And the storms come no more let me stand in my presence Lord may I well with me? Passes over Hold me fast let me stand in the Amen good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer Emily father lord, we do. Thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight lord We pray that you bless the offering We pray that you bless the gift and the giver We ask that you meet with us as we open up your word again today the bible together in jesus name. We pray. Amen So So So So So So Let's open her up to luke chapter number eight Luke chapter number eight if you need to put your hand up and i'm not sure i might bring you a bible luke chapter 8 If you need to keep your hand up i'm sure we'll come by Luke chapter 8 we will read verses 22 through 25 luke 8 verses 22 through 25 Luke 8 became verse number 22 now came to pass on a certain day That he went into a ship with his disciples And he said unto them let us go over onto the other side of the lake And they launched forth But as they sailed he fell asleep They came down a storm of wind on the lake and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy And they came to him and awoke him saying master master we perish Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water and they ceased and there was a calm And he said unto them where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered saying one to another What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and water and they obey him Let's pray heavenly father. Thank you for this evening. God. I thank you for your word lord for our church And I ask you please just give us the 10 hearts of the message god And so you please be the pastor strengthen him fill your spirit. We love you in jesus name pray. Amen Amen All right We're there in luke chapter 8 And of course we are making our way through the gospel of luke verse by verse chapter by chapter In a series called journey with jesus. We've been in luke chapter 8, uh for a while and uh, you know If you're wondering how long we're gonna be in luke 8, there's just so many great stories in this one chapter That we've got to just cover them all But tonight we come to this very well-known passage of scripture Where the disciples find themselves in the midst of a storm and the lord jesus christ is with them The problem is he's asleep in luke chapter 8 and verse 22 You'll notice there the bible says now it came to pass on a certain day He went into a ship with his disciples and he said unto them Let us go over onto the other side of the lake and they launched forth, but as they sailed he fell asleep I want you to notice these words and there came down a storm of wind on the lake and they were filled with water And were in jeopardy here the bible tells us that they get on this boat They get on to the sea of galley and as they're making their way This storm of wind comes upon the lake and all of a sudden the Ship is now filled with water. The bible tells us that they're in jeopardy The word jeopardy means danger or loss of danger of loss or danger of harm And you've got to keep in mind that the men that jesus was with on this ship are fishermen Uh for the most part they're fishermen by trade and being out in the sea is something they did For a profession something they did for a living specifically being out in the sea of galley This is where these men worked. These were professional Seamen, they were professional Fishermen and these guys got worried So, you know, you're in trouble when the guys who do this for a living are are worried and this uh storm comes and The bible says that they're afraid And to add a little bit of insult to injury notice there in verse 23 But as they sailed he fell asleep I want to speak to you tonight on this subject of how to handle the storms of life See in the christian life. We often have trials and tribulations Difficulties and in the bible you'll notice especially in the gospels we can learn a lot Uh, there's this theme throughout the gospels of these men and also in the book of acts being out at sea And having storms come in and we can learn from these storms these lessons when we use them as an allegory Because of the fact that in our lives we are going to go through what we refer to as the storms of life In the christian life there are times when things are going well, and you've got some you know Just a peaceful sailing and then there are other times when things are not going well When these storms come into our lives and we end up having to deal with these trials see in marriage You may experience storms or in times of difficulty Times that you go through these storms in your marriage or it may be in parenting sometimes In parenting as you're raising children, there are storms that come into those relationships and difficulties It may be a difficulty in your career Maybe a difficulty with finances maybe a difficulty with uh health The truth is this that as you live the christian life You'll find that we experience these storms of life In fact, i've often said that in the christian life you are either in a storm You are coming out of a storm or you're getting ready to go into a storm because the christian life is that it is a It is often these storms that we deal with it is often these times that we find ourselves Where it seems like everything around us is going crazy. Everything is uh falling apart and the Problem that we often find with these storms as we go through them Is that we often feel as though god doesn't care As though god is absent As though god is not paying attention and this is exactly what these men felt like because as they're going through this storm They've got the lord jesus christ with them But again, if you look at verse 23 there the bible says as they failed he fell asleep Now you're there in luke chapter 8 That's our text for tonight But go with me if you would to the book of mark if you just go back one book into the book of mark of course, you know as we've been studying this, uh, this the this uh, Gospel of luke we've been often comparing with other gospels what are called parallel passages where you find the same story And we get different details and different things are told to us in mark chapter 4 in verse 38 We have a parallel passage to this story Mark chapter 4 in verse 38 You The bible says and he was there we go and he was in the hinderer part of the ship Notice these words asleep on a pillow And they awake him and say unto him master notice these words carest thou not that we perish Here you've got these disciples on this ship in this storm and they feel the same way that many of us often feel when we are going through trials and tribulations and it is this prayer of Grief that they have when they wake the lord jesus christ and ask carest thou not that we perish Do you not care you are asleep? I love how it says here in mark 4 38 that he was asleep on a pillow and they awake him and say unto him Master carest thou not that we perish go with me if you would to the book of psalm psalm 44 If you open up your bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of psalm psalm 44 See the problem with the storms of life is that we tend to feel like maybe god doesn't know What we're going through? Or maybe god doesn't care What we're going through or maybe even worse of all that god isn't even in control Of what we're going through and oftentimes a people you you say it's a peculiar story because you have jesus asleep on the ship His head laying on a pillow While the ship is being tossed and turned water is getting into the ship These professional fishermen are afraid their lives are in jeopardy They finally wake him up and they ask the question master carest thou not that we perish and they're offended at the fact that he's asleep and oftentimes We may not verbalize that and say it but when we're going through the storms of life And things are not going well and they're not getting better and things don't look like they're going to end up Well, we often feel like god Is asleep That god is asleep at the wheel notice here in psalm 44 and verse 23 notice this cry of grief Uh from the psalmist in psalm 44 and verse 23 notice what he says up to god. He says awake Why sleepest thou o lord? Arise cast not off forever notice verse 24 Wherefore hideest thou thy face and forgettest our affliction and our oppression We know of course that god does not sleep We know that god is aware of all but oftentimes when we're going through the storms of life. We feel like these disciples felt with jesus the lord of glory on the ship asleep So there's some things we can learn in regards to this passage There are some things we can learn about how to handle the storms of life because here's what I know about you And here's what I know about myself is that we're either going through a storm We're coming out of a storm or we're getting ready to go into a storm The christian life is going to be a life where you are going to deal with trials and tribulations Until the rapture until we are in our glorified bodies in the presence of the lord. Jesus christ in heaven You are going to deal with storms. So the question is how do we deal with it? Let me give you quickly tonight four thoughts in regards to how to handle the storms of life Number one if you're taking notes tonight And I would encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week There's a place we write some things down number one in regards to Dealing with the storms of life. We must first trust his purpose Once you notice there in luke chapter 8 and verse 22 The bible says now it came to pass on a certain day that he referring to jesus Went into a ship with his disciples And he said unto them. I want you to notice whose idea it was to get on the ship to begin with whose idea it was to sail out into the Sea of galilee to begin with whose idea it was for them to go on this trip Here the bible tells us that he jesus said unto them the disciples Let us go over onto the other side of the lake and they launched forth Go to matthew chapter 8 if you would we'll notice another parallel passage matthew chapter 8 You're there in luke 8 just flip over to matthew chapter 8 I want you to notice it was jesus's idea to begin with for them to get on a ship In fact if you study the gospels and you study those stories because this is not the only story In which the disciples find themselves on the sea of galilee in the midst of a ship if you study those stories You'll find that often when these paid professional fishermen find themselves on a ship scared and afraid in the midst of a storm afraid of what's uh May happen or that they might not survive. It is often jesus who puts them there It is jesus who had this idea. Hey, let's get on this ship and let's go across the lake to the other side There's another story where jesus is not with them You're familiar with the story where jesus comes out to them walking on water in the midst of a storm And in that story it was jesus's idea For them to get on the ship It was his idea for them to go across. I don't know about these disciples But if I was one of these disciples anytime jesus said hey, why don't you guys get on a ship? I'd start being a little worried, you know Like sounds like every time he has every time he wants to go sailing, you know There's going to be some sort of a storm and he's setting them up for something In matthew 8 and verse 18 notice what the bible says now when jesus saw great multitudes about him notice How it's worded here in matthew 818 He gave commandment It's not just a suggestion. It wasn't just an idea like hey guys i've got an idea You what do you guys think about this? No, no, the bible says he gave commandment to depart onto the other side See it was jesus who commanded them get on the ship get out to sea we're going to go on this trip It was jesus who said unto them let us go Unto the other side of the lake and a lesson that we can learn to get through the storms of life Is that we've got to trust the purpose that jesus has hey if jesus tells you get on a ship Let us go over onto the other side of the lake and you get halfway through that lake And a big storm comes through and you feel like your life's in jeopardy You've got to trust the fact that jesus said we're going over You've got to trust his purpose. You've got to trust his promise You've got to trust the fact that he's the one that told you to do it Go to exodus chapter five if you would the second book in the bible should be fairly easy to find exodus You're on genesis then the book of exodus exodus chapter five See what often happens in the christian life Is that god tells you to do something God tells you to step out in faith God tells you he commands you even Through his word to do something and you set out in faith obeying the lord jesus christ And you get about halfway there and all of a sudden things start falling apart All of a sudden the storm comes in the storm sweeps in and now it doesn't seem like a good idea now It seems like the guy who told you to get on the ship is asleep Say what do you do? How do you get through the storms of life? You've got to trust his purpose You've got to trust the fact that he's the one that told you to do it He told you to get on that ship. He told you to have those children. He told you to Have that marriage. He told you to start that ministry He told you to to do the things that you're doing and you just got to trust that he's got a plan He's got a purpose and if he tells you to get on the other side, you're going to make it See the truth is that in the christian life when we begin to work for god You've got to understand this and i've had to learn this the hard way in ministry that sometimes and in fact oftentimes things get worse Before they get better Exodus 5 are you there? Exodus chapter 5 luke verse 21? Exodus 5 verse 21 the bible says and they Said unto them I want to just give you a little bit of the context here the they there is referring to the elders of israel The them there is referring to moses and aaron now in exodus 5 we just had God Appeared to moses and god told moses to go down into egypt And to bring his people out of egypt to talk to pharaoh to bring his people out God has brought moses and aaron together aaron's uh moses's brother they go down there But before they go to egypt they meet and i'm not going to take the time to show this all to you You can look at it if you'd like in chapter four they meet with the elders of israel And when they meet with the elders of israel they announce to the elders of israel that god has sent them To free and bring out the people aaron shows them some signs and some miracles and these men these elders of israel Get excited the bible says in chapter 4 that they believe moses they get excited The bible says they bow their heads and they worship god and they're excited about the fact that god has sent moses And aaron to deliver his people out of egypt But moses and aaron go to pharaoh They say those famous words thus saith the lord let my people go And pharaoh's response Is not favorable Pharaoh's response is who is the lord that I should obey him? Pharaoh's response is these slaves must be idle. They're asking for time off They must not be busy enough and and pharaoh in his cruelty decides that the children of israel have to continue To work in the same way that they've been working but where before they were providing bricks for them now They have to go find their own bricks They've got to go make their own bricks And when the elders of israel are unable to produce what they were producing before When bricks were being supplied to them and now they have to make their own bricks and they're still being required to put out The same amount of results when they when that doesn't happen the elders of israel begin to be beaten by the egyptians Now you have the elders of israel who in chapter four the bible says they bowed their heads and worship They believed moses and they were happy about the fact that god brought moses to the children of israel to bring them out of egypt Now these same men Find themselves in a storm They were excited about the fact that god was going to deliver his people But they did not account for the fact that sometimes things get worse before they get better Notice their response exodus 5 verse 21 And they the elders of israel said unto them the lord look upon you and judge Because he have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of pharaoh In the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us. They look at moses They say you've turned pharaoh against us You've made things harder for us moses Look at verse 22 notice how moses responds and moses returned unto the lord and said lord Wherefore has thou so evil and treated this people? Why is it that thou has sent me? For since I came to pharaoh to speak in thy name He had done evil to this people neither has thou delivered thy people at all All Moses is here discouraged. He says god. Why did you even send me here? Things have gotten worse They were already in slavery and I was supposed to deliver them. But since I got here things have gotten worse for them I understand moses frustration I've had to learn this the hard way in ministry Oftentimes people come to a church They've got Situations they need some biblical guidance. They need some biblical counsel and they ask questions What do you think I should do about this? What do you think I should do about that? What should I do about my marriage and what should I do about? My children and what should I do about this and we do our best to say well Here's what the bible says and god says you should do x y and z and what I had to learn the hard way I've been in ministry now for over 11 years and now i'm a little more used to it But what I really caught me off guard at the beginning was that oftentimes people would come here and they would say I need help And they would say I don't know what to do. What should I do in this situation? And what should I do in that situation? What should I do with my finances here? What should I do with this relationship and we just tell them well Here's what the bible says the bible says do x y and z and then they go off to do it and then things get worse And then the relationship gets worse with their spouse And then the relation gets worse with their children And the relationship gets worse in the situation they're dealing with because things often get worse before they get better And my wife and I have looked up to heaven at times and said what why are we here god Ever since we started ministering to these people nothing has gotten better Things have just gotten worse Is that what do you do? When you're doing what god has called you to do When you're doing what god has told you to do You're following the word of god and doing what god told you to do in the word of god and then things get worse What do you do? Say you quit Say ah, it doesn't work You give up no see in the midst of those storms. You've got to trust the purposes of god You've got to have the faith to say I know things don't look good right now But we're doing what god has called us to do. We're going to keep doing what god has called us to do And we're just going to trust god Go to job if you would I'm, not sure if you kept your place in psalms. I meant to ask you to keep your place in psalms But right before psalms you have the book of job Do me a favor put a ribbon or a bookmark or something in job So we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it And I was remembering this sermon I was thinking about The first major trial that my wife and I went through in ministry We've gone through many trials as many of you know in ministry and to be honest with you Our first major trial seems very small in comparison to the things we've dealt with since then But I remember the first trial the first real storm that our church went through. We started our church in september of 2010 And we started in our living room just a handful of people meeting in the living room And my wife and I were were young we're 25 years old when we started this church we had two little boys and We started verdi baptist church started meeting our living room started knocking doors inviting people to church and preaching the gospel and Doing what god had called us to do And about 18 months into our ministry They're meeting in our living room. Our church was averaging around 35 to 40 in attendance in our living room and we decided that it was time to By faith move out of our living room and to rent our first building. We'll rent our first building just right Not too far from here on north gate boulevard It was an 800 square foot building not much bigger than our living room was and really had less to do with Uh the the space and more to do with the fact that we were just moving the church out of our house And we could get our house back For those 18 months of the church man in our house. We had no furniture We had a little dining room table that we would carry out during church time and carry back in when there was no church We had just a bunch of folding chairs that we would fold up and that was our living room for for a while And it was nice to be able to move into a building just a little 800 square foot building And we moved into our first building and we were excited our very last service in our house was our 4th of july service That the the year that we that we moved out and I I want to say we had like 45 in church that night In our house on wednesday night on 4th of july we moved into our first building And that september that first september we were there we moved into our building in july We spent july there august and september was our church's anniversary our family and friend day And we had our our anniversary sunday where we celebrated the church's anniversary and at that anniversary service. We had 75 people in attendance 75 people in uh that little 800 square foot building and we Were just you know thinking that The lord was just blessing us and I mean it's going to be a matter of time before running 100 it's going to be a matter of time before running Uh 150 and I mean we were we were just a small church growing And then things got bad And then we dealt with what I would consider the first real Trial of our church within weeks of that first Of that big anniversary Day where we had 75 in attendance within weeks. We dropped down to averaging 25 in church I mean we were averaging less in church in a building Then we were averaging in our living room And you better believe as I was writing those rent checks. I was thinking to myself. Why did we even leave the living room? Why did we why did I sign a lease for this building? Why did I put ourselves in this I mean we we've got less people coming to a building than we had in our living room I remember in those months from september to december Those very dark months for us in in ministry We had one lady that told us she was quitting the church because she didn't like the fact that we left the house She liked church in the house and when we left the house with the purposes of growing She said i'm quitting the church because I don't like the fact you left the house We had another family that told us that the church atmosphere changed once we got into the building. So they were Gonna be leaving our church and it really is an excuse. They were just backslidden, but they quit on us we had a couple of faithful families that the lord had blessed us with and They were a great help, but they had to Move away one was in the military and they got transferred It wasn't their choice, but they got transferred and and they had to leave and we had a family that was sunday morning saturday night wednesday night faithful soul winning they Led the music and they got transferred and and they had to go we had another lady faithful lady Jovita remember her to to we remember her to this day. She was our very first service when we started and she Her she's a filipino lady and her husband said we're moving to the philippines. She had no choice She didn't really want to go but of course She had to go with her husband and and and she left and we just started having all these people just leave and honestly I felt like we had a church split. I mean we didn't have a church split, but that's what it felt like It felt like we had this church split back in those days I was working a job where Uh, I was working hvac And uh through that summer time it was extremely Uh busy time and I was I was working 12 14 16 hour days. I mean pretty much every day even on on sundays Uh, I struck a deal with my boss. I'm like, hey i'm a pastor. I can't miss church You know, I gotta I gotta be at church to preach but we had this deal where I would you know Start work at five in the morning on sunday morning and i'd get off at around 9 15 or 9 20 just in time to leave Come home or come to the building. My wife would have my Soup for me i'd change out of my work clothes into my into my preaching clothes and we'd have the sunday morning service She'd have a sandwich or something for me I'd go back to work work from about 12 30 till about five And got back home in time for the sunday night service on wednesday night Same thing i'd come in maybe 15 minutes before the service started and my wife would have my soup for me And I and I would grab it and and and those were those were difficult times. Those were difficult times for me Those were difficult times for my wife. We had a brand new baby brand just little Newborn baby and my wife was pretty much honestly and i'm even ashamed to say this She was pretty much doing other than writing the sermons and preaching at that time when I was working 16 hour days She was doing everything for the church. She was cleaning it. She was setting it up She was making the bulletins. We didn't have the staff. We didn't have anything she I mean I wrote the sermons as I drove doing my work and And and she got everything else set up and she had a little newborn baby and two little boys And we had I remember we had a family who came and they seemed like a nice family and they got had some kids and and they were faithful They didn't like the fact that we were family integrated They tried to pressure us into starting a nursery. We said no, we're not going to start nursery We're not we're just not family integrated It's not what we believe and they quit and went to a church down the street because they had a nursery And it was a hard time I remember working out In the bay area on a saturday, I remember one of the lowest the lowest kind of points I remember Working out in the bay area doing hvac and I spent about 14 hours on a saturday doing hvac I remember just driving back on a saturday night I hadn't gone soul winning my wife obviously hadn't gone so she had a little newborn baby and kids and nobody had gone soul winning I remember just driving home as the sun was kind of going down and just thinking to myself This is not going to work like this is just We're gonna fail And to be honest with you, I kind of remember just kind of thinking to myself like carousel not that we perish Are you even paying attention to this? I mean do you understand like this isn't gonna work. This is not working. Why did I do this? Say what do you do When you set out by faith to do What you believe god has called you to do and all of a sudden Everything begins to fall apart. What do you do? Well what you do It's the only thing a faithful christian can do is trust god's purpose I don't I don't know what god was doing. I knew this god told us to start verity baptist church God's the one that put that on my heart that god's the one that that gave us that That thought in that idea and i'm just here to tell you some sometimes things are not going well and you just gotta trust god Job 13 remember joe He's serving the lord doing everything he's supposed to be doing Loses his children loses his wealth loses his health his wife turns on him his friends turn on him Nothing seems to be going well in job's life In job 13 in verse 15. He makes this statement of faith. He says though he slay me I mean think about that Job is saying I don't know what god is doing. I don't know why god is doing this I don't know why god is allowing this but even if god kills me even if god takes my life He's as though he slain me yet. Will I trust in him? I'm, just here to tell you you're gonna have times in your life when you things believe that things are not going well When you're wondering if god is even paying attention Say what do you do? How do you get through? the storms of life You've got to trust his purpose If he told if he's the one that told you to get on the ship If he's the one that told you to make the journey If he's the one that put you there and put you in that position put you in that ship in that lake on that storm And you just got to trust his purpose I want you to notice. Secondly tonight. Keep your place right there in joe. We're going to come back to it Go back to luke chapter 8 So, how do you handle the storms of life Well, you've got to trust this purpose By the way, we had one lady during those days I think she started to see that people were just leaving She was a three to thrive sunday morning sunday night wednesday night All of a sudden she was like, yeah, i'm gonna be sunday morning. She announced to us I'm, just gonna be sunday morning only from now on I think myself like wow, that's that's encouraging That's really the time to get backslidden lady. Thanks Number one, you've got to trust his purpose Number two You've got to trust his presence Notice luke chapter 8 and verse 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep And there came down a storm of wind on the lake and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy And they came to him They came to him See jesus was right there with them They came to him and awoke him saying master master we perish Now at this point they understand that jesus is more than just a man and I don't know how much exactly they understood Of the theology, but they understood that there was something special about jesus They understood the fact that this was the man that performed miracles This was the man that preached for the word of god They understood that he was not just a man and and and they have him asleep on the ship and they're afraid But i'm here to tell you something if they weren't going to trust his purpose If they weren't going to trust his promise if they weren't going to trust the fact that he said hey We're going to the other side then they could have at least trusted his presence I mean they were afraid that they were going to die But they should have stopped to think wait a minute. The son of god is with us Yeah, he's asleep But the anointed one the christ the messiah is on this ship If we die he dies If they weren't going to trust his promise They should have trusted his presence And they came to him and awoke him saying master master we perish Go to job 23 if you would job 23 See sometimes when we're in the midst of a storm it's hard for us to feel like god is with us The bible tells us god is with us the bible says for he has said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee But sometimes we feel like god is far sometimes we feel like we can't feel his presence We can't see him with us. We don't know if he's there Notice job during his storm of life Notice what job says in job 23 in verse 3. He says oh that I knew where I might Where I might find him Job is feeling very lonely Job feels like is god awake. Is god asleep? Is god missing in action? He says oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come Even to his seat look at verse eight same chapter. He says behold I go forward But he is not there and backward but I cannot perceive him on the left hand where he doth work But I cannot behold him notice what job says He says he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him job says Hey, I feel like god's not with me. I I I go forward and I don't see him I go backwards and I don't see him. I look to my left I look to my right and I just don't feel like god is with me It's interesting to me that joe's biggest complaint though He had lost all his children lost all his health lost all his wealth His biggest complaint was that he felt like god was far away I Felt like god was just not interested and look i'm here to tell you sometimes we feel like that Sometimes we think does god know what's going on does god watching this does god understand what i'm going through? You may feel like you don't know where god is But you can always know that god knows where you are Job says I I go forward but he is not there and backward but I cannot perceive him He on the left hand where he does work, but I cannot behold him He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him But notice what he says in verse 10 job 23 in verse 10 He says but job says but here's what I know. I don't know where god is. I can't perceive that god is with me I don't know if god's paying attention, but here's what I know. He knoweth the way that I take When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold See these guys felt like jesus is asleep, but here's what they should have known jesus knows exactly where we're at God knows exactly where I am I don't understand why this storm is happening I don't understand if we're going to make it through this thing I don't understand what god is doing, but I can trust his purpose and I can trust his presence Hey if jesus goes with me i'll go I can trust the fact that he's with us I Want you to notice thirdly tonight Go back to luke chapter 8 How do you handle the storms of life? You got to trust his purpose You got to trust that he's the one that sets you in the course that you find yourself in You say my marriage is not going well, well, you know what here's what I can tell you The marriage you're in is god's will for your life Well, it's the storms of life You just trust his purpose you trust the fact that he puts you on that path And you just believe that god has a plan for you So I can't trust his purpose. Okay, then. How about you trust his presence? How about you trust the fact that he's with you on the ship? You might feel like he's asleep, but he's with you And if he's with you, it's going to be okay Why don't you notice thirdly tonight Sometimes when we're going through the storms of life We can trust his purpose we can trust his presence thirdly I want you to notice that If you can't trust his purpose You can't trust his presence You can always trust his peace See in luke 8 23, I think this is the I don't know maybe the most interesting part of this story Is that jesus literally fall asleep? Luke 8 23, but as he sailed he fell asleep We saw it in mark 4 38, you don't have to turn there and he was in the hundred parts of the ship asleep on a pillow I mean, I love the lord jesus christ and all respect the lord jesus christ, but when I read I think to myself well, that's cute Here you have these grown men afraid that they're gonna die and they get back there he's on a pillow I mean it's comical asleep on a pillow And they awake him and say and the master carries out not that we perish I said what is what what's up with jesus being asleep? I think there's a lesson that jesus is trying to teach us and it is this You and I need to understand something about god And we have to understand something about the lord. Jesus christ That he is not worried about what you are worried about Jesus is not concerned with what you are concerned about The things you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off you're like what's going on What are we going to do? How is this the economy this and the war that all the things that we worry about? He's not worried about See the reason that we often feel like god is asleep at the wheel is because he's not concerned with what you're concerned He's not afraid of what you're afraid He's not a worried about what you're worried about He doesn't suffer anxiety with the things that you and I suffer anxiety about See his sleep Should actually give us confidence They should have walked into that ship and thought to themselves. Well, jesus isn't worried In fact, he's so not worried. He's asleep If they could not trust his purpose if they could not trust his presence It could have trusted his peace Go to philippines if you would philippians chapter 4 In the new testament, you've got matthew mark luke john ax romans first second corinthians galatians eph Are you not concerned what we should be saying is thank god that he's not worried Thank god that he's not concerned Thank god that he's not afraid the things that make me afraid he's not afraid See when we can rely upon his purpose and his presence and his peace And we can experience his peace Philippians 4 and verse 7 notice what the bible says and the peace of god Which passeth all understanding Shall keep your hearts and minds through christ. Jesus See the the peace of god passeth all understanding It's an incomprehensible piece It's kind of like being on a sinking ship and taking a nap on a pillow Just not worried And i'm just here to tell you something That you may be worried You may be afraid You may be frustrated. You may be scared. You may be upset. You may be anxious, but jesus is none of those things The things have got you all wound up. He's just not concerned about it The bible says casting all your care upon him for he careth for you See if they could not trust his purpose they should have trusted his presence If they could not trust his presence, they should have trusted his peace And if they can't trust his peace Here's number four Go back to luke chapter 8 You can always trust his power Notice the story luke 8 24 And they came to him and woke him saying master master we perish Then he arose All right, you know the bible doesn't tell us this I don't know if this is but I would imagine that jesus may be a little irritated He's a busy guy He's been preaching A lot of sermons ministering to a lot of people and now he finally gets some alone time on a ship They're going to go over. He told him get on the ship. We're going to go to the other side He needs to get some rest and they wake him up Now And the bible says that he arose you say why do you think he was irritated just notice the words here and rebuke the wind And the raging of the water notice the power of our savior and they ceased And there was a calm Notice notice just something in this in this miracle See the winds Would come into the sea of galley If you understand kind of the Area of that the the geographical area of palestine you'll know that there are mountains and caverns that kind of circle this Sea of galley and the winds would would come in through those Mountains kind of funneled in that's why the bible says that the that the wind went into went onto The sea of galley and the winds it was causing the commotion It's what's causing the storm and if jesus the bible tells us that he rebuked the wind if he just simply would have made The winds to cease that would have been powerful enough But to make the winds to cease would not have necessarily caused the waters to be calm Because to simply make the winds to cease you would still have the waters raging You still have the waters in commotion From the story would take some time, but that's not what the bible says The bible says that he rebuked the wind and the raging of the water And the wind ceased and the water was calm the power of jesus Look at verse 25 And he said unto them. That's why I think he's irritated Why did you wake me up? That's what he said He said unto them. Where's your faith? And they being afraid notice They being afraid Just just understand something people that tend to be afraid Are always afraid It doesn't matter what you're going through. See see people who are just faithful. They're just going to stick with it They've got tenacity. It doesn't matter what they're going through. It doesn't matter what this storm happens to bring upon their life It doesn't matter what the next storm happens to bring upon their life It doesn't matter what the next storm is going to bring because their faith is in god But people who get shaken by a storm get shaken by every storm These guys you you look at it and you know, i'm frustrated that they woke jesus up because they're afraid we're afraid We're afraid we're afraid that the wind carousel not that we perish we're in jeopardy And then he calms the storm verse 25 and he said unto them. Where's your faith and they being afraid they're still afraid Afraid Now finally here they're afraid of who they should be afraid the lord jesus christ And they being afraid wondered saying one to another What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and the waters and they obey him See here's the truth if jesus can Calm the storm and he chooses not to then we have to believe that he knows best Go to second corinthians chapter 12 if you would I'm, not sure if you kept your place in philippians But if you kept your place in philippians if you go backwards you have ephigians galatians second corinthians first corinthians I've often taught you this before Faith is not believing that god will Faith is believing that god can Can Faith is not believing that god will That's you trying to control god Faith is not believing that god will god. I have faith. I believe god will do x y and z I believe god will be very careful about making these statements If god will if god, you know what god wills whatever god wills God decides whatever god decides i'm not god and you're not god Oftentimes people they get this idea People say and look i've used this example before and if you've said this i'm not against you It's just it's something I hear a lot and we've got you know You you get these ladies praise the lord for them and they get pregnant and they got and people ask, you know Is it is it a boy? Is it a girl and and people often say and i'm not if you've said this i'm not attacking you I I can't even think of any other church that said this i've just heard this and people have to say What does it matter if it's a boy or girl as long as it's healthy? And I always think to myself and if it's not healthy Then what? Then god isn't god Then god owes you something I mean what if god chooses to give you a baby that's not healthy See our attitude needs to be like the attitude of joe the lord giveth the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the lord We're not gonna we're gonna put god in some corners that will god better. No No, faith is not believing that god will faith is believing that god can And faith is trusting god if he chooses not to Second corinthians 12 and verse 8 remember our friend paul Paul found himself with a thorn in the flesh Second corinthians 12 8 for this thing. I besought the lord thrice that he might depart from me and he god Said unto me paul my grace is sufficient for thee For my strength is made perfect in weakness Most most gladly therefore will I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me Here we have paul who had been used of god to heal other people and when he asked god to heal him god said no I've got a plan and i've got a purpose for this thorn My grace is sufficient for thee And paul's response is I will rather glory in mine infirmities. Look look Faith is not believing that god will it faith is believing that god can And true faith is still trusting god when he chooses not to See if god can calm the storm he may calm the storm But god may choose for you to go through that storm God chose for paul to have this thorn in the flesh go to luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 See this is what we often pray when the storms of life come we pray god take the storm away When sometimes god doesn't want to take the storm away away from you he wants to go through the storm with you I often think of the children of israel the three children of israel in the fiery furnace So See you and I we'd be praying would never can never throw us in the fiery furnace We'd be praying don't let me go in the furnace god. Don't let me go in the furnace Please don't let me go in the furnace. That's what we would pray Please don't let me throw them in. Don't let them throw me in that furnace. Don't let them throw me in that furnace And then and then they get thrown in the furnace and their faith is shaken and all of a sudden well god failed us But no, that's not that god failed you is that god allowed you to go on the furnace and then the fourth man met them there And then the son of god met them in the furnace see sometimes it is in the furnace when you get closest to god Sometimes it is the furnace when you get your faith grows and your faith is deepened sometimes in the furnace and the storms of life Is where you learn the lessons that god wants you to have? So we pray lord, don't give me the storm. Don't let me go through a storm and god says no Maybe I want you to go through the storm. Maybe I just want to go through the storm Maybe I want you in the furnace So that the fourth man can show up So that the son of god can meet you there So you can come out of the furnace with renewed faith with a testimony You say how do you go through the storms of life see? We must trust his purpose We must trust his promise We must trust his presence We must trust his peace We must trust his power And though i've given you an illiterated sermon I want you to understand That the key word is not Purpose presence promise peace or power the key word is trust Luke 8 25 And he said unto them Here's the problem with the storms of life He said unto them, where is your faith? The problem was not the storm the problem was not the fact that they were that he was asleep The problem was that they struggled with their faith the reason we struggle through the storms of life is because we lack faith We must renew our faith We must understand. Hey god put himself God put me there God put 25 a 25 year old pastor and his young wife Pastoring virtually. I mean just a failure almost no one a handful of people Our success was we grew a church to 75 and back down to 25 And we could have quit right then and there and we could decided This was not what I signed up for and this is not what I want to do And I want to be done and we're going to go do something else But many of you would not have been saved Most of you would not have been saved There would be no church in vancouver washington. There would be no church in boise idaho There would be no church in fresno california. There'd be no church in manila philippines. There'd be no church in pampanga There'd be no church in bikol I'm just here to tell you sometimes god wants to put you through a storm and to strengthen your faith and to help you understand We've got to trust him Where is your faith with faith? We would stop asking god to remove the storms With faith we would just learn to go through the storms So, you know what jesus wanted He wanted to sleep They were going to make it He wanted them to trust that he was with them But they they didn't trust they didn't have faith so he had They had to wake him up. He had to show them. Hey i'm in control And he was frustrated. Where is your faith? Because they didn't need to wake him up They didn't need him to perform this miracle They needed to just trust in him And that's what you need And that's what I need As we go through the storms of life. Sometimes god will take us Around the storm. Sometimes he'll perform a miracle and remove the storms and sometimes he just wants to meet you in that fiery furnace And grow you through the storms This power has enabled a prayer. Heavenly father Lord I thank you for the story Because of the fact that In the christian life we just struggle with the storms of life There are difficulties There are hardships lord. I know it There are hard times That come upon us And sometimes we want to quit and sometimes we feel like god is just not with us But lord I pray you'd help us I pray you'd help us to recognize the storms of life And to see them as an opportunity to strengthen our faith in you Because faith is not believing that god will It's simply believing that god can And being okay with it if god chooses not to Lord I pray you'd help us In jesus name we pray Amen We're now brother rj come up and lead us in a final song. Just let me give you a few Just closing reminders. Of course we have in the Foyer the uh, red hot preaching conference t-shirts So make sure you go by there and pick them up if you're in the choir Go quickly grab your shirt and then come back because you guys are having choir practice After the evening service and don't forget about that and then be in prayer this week for the red hot preaching conference Just want to remind you again. No wednesday evening service this week thursday evening starts at 6 p.m Not 7 6 p.m Go by and get your red hot preaching conference t-shirt if you're interested in going to the mexico Mini missions trip go by and see my dad and he can give you information Or see brother oliver and let us know if you're if you'd like to go we're looking for Men that speak spanish you want to go it's a little short trip and it's short notice august 18th through the 20th But if you'd like to go, please let us know if there's anything we can do for you, please Uh, let us know we'll have brother rj come up and lead us in a final song So Man let's grab our sound books and turn to page number 136 You're familiar with this song this song came straight out of that passenger passenger speech so we had to sing this right Let's sing it out song number 136 on the first High Is So The master Is Master Is Whether the wrath of the songs are The water Singing well, I sing it out on the last Terror Finger The winds and The master Is Hey man, great team brother matt, would you dismiss us with the word of prayer, please? Part So So So