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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"] ["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"] Let's sing it out together on the first. Far away the noise has broken On my ear is falling Then I know the sins of earth be said On every hand Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain To me are calling None of these shall move me Come you love land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God I'm drinking At the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes I'm feasting On the manna A bountiful supply For I am dwelling In blue land 449 on the second Far below the storm of doubt Upon the world is beating Sons of men in battle on The enemy will stand Wait am I within the castle Of God's word retreating Nothing then can reach me Tis pure love land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God I'm drinking At the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In blue land Good on the third Let the stormy breezes blow That cry cannot alarm me I am safely sheltered here Protected by God's hand Here the sun is always shining Here there's not an army I am safe forever In blue land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God I'm drinking At the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling In blue land Good sing it out on the last Viewing here the works of God I seek in contemplation Hearing now his blessed voice I see the way he's planned Dwelling in the Spirit here I learn of full salvation Gladly will I tarry In blue land I'm living on the mountain Underneath the cloudless sky Praise God I'm drinking At the fountain That never shall run dry Oh yes I'm feasting On the manna From a bountiful supply For I am dwelling Under the land Amen and we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning We're so glad that you are with us Of course we have a wonderful service lined up for you today And we'd like to begin the service with a word of prayer So let's bow our heads together and let's pray Heavenly Father Lord we do love you We thank you for allowing us to gather together today Lord we pray that you would bless the time that we've set aside For singing and preaching and fellowship We ask that you would meet with us That you would teach us from your word And help us Lord to draw close to you In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray Amen Turn to song 215 Song number 215 Heaven came down and glory filled my soul 215 on the first Oh what a wonderful wonderful day Day I will never forget After I'd wandered in darkness away Jesus my Savior I met Oh what a tender compassionate friend He met the need of my heart Shadows dispelling which I am telling He made all the darkness depart Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When at the cross the Savior made me whole My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Born of the Spirit with life from above Into God's family divine Justified fully through Calvary's love Oh what a standing is mine And the transaction so quickly was made And as a sinner I came Took the offer of grace he did proffer He saved me young as his dear name Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When at the cross the Savior made me whole My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Sing it out on the last Now I've a hope that will surely endure After the passing of time I have a future in Heaven for sure There in those mansions sublime And it's because of that wonderful day When at the cross I believed Rich is eternal and blest is supernal From his precious hand I receive Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When at the cross the Savior made me whole My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Amen. Good singing. Amen. Alright. Well let's take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you 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'll get one for you. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. And that's a good verse there. Of course if you open up your bulletin you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 1030 AM. And we're glad that you're with us of course on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church. We do invite you to be back tonight at 6 PM for the evening service. The evening service is different than the morning service. Different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached. And then we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 PM. And we'd love for you to join us on Wednesday night for our midweek service. We call it the most encouraging service of the week and we'd love for you to join us. We're studying the book of Psalms on Wednesday night and we'll be in Psalm 16 this week. So if you want to read that and be ready to study it, that'd be great. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 AM. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 PM. So if you'd like to go soul winning this afternoon, there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, next week is our worker appreciation Sunday. And that is on Sunday, November 17th. So we just want you to be aware of that. And we'll be taking some time on this Sunday to recognize all of the workers and volunteers here at Verity Baptist Church. We want to encourage you to be here for that. And of course to appreciate them on that day. And then also we have our annual pie social coming up. And that's something we do every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is just right around the corner. So on Wednesday, November 27th, just want you to be aware of that. After the midweek service, we'll have a time of fellowship with pie and coffee and dessert and whatever. So it'll be a good time. We just want to encourage you to, of course, if you can, to please bring a pie to share. And you can buy a pie, you can bake a pie, you can steal a pie if you need to, whatever you got to do. But bring a pie. Otherwise we're just going to be looking at each other, staring at each other, all right? So it's not a pie social, not a pie. But if you can, bring a pie to share. We'll make sure we have enough desserts and pies there. But just make sure you put that on your calendar. Even if you don't normally come on Wednesday night, we encourage you to come this Wednesday night, that Wednesday night for that special day. We have our next Spanish service, our third Spanish service. And we'd love for you to make plans to attend. There will be a Spanish potluck after the preaching. And so if you can, please bring your favorite Spanish dish to share. If you're planning on coming, if you wouldn't mind, let us know on your communication card that you're planning on being there. That way we can know you're coming. And then also we want to just announce to the men that are part of the Biblical Leadership Institute that we are starting class back up this Tuesday, 7 p.m. So we went through our first course on the subject of personal success, self-leadership and personal success. And then had a week break. And then we're starting a brand new six-week course entitled How to Study the Bible. So if you're interested, men, in that, make sure you don't forget that's this Tuesday, 7 p.m., of course, in our fellowship hall. And then choir practice begins today at 5 p.m. And they're going to be practicing for Christmas. So make sure that you are here for that. And then children's choir is on Sunday, November 24th. They're going to begin at 5 p.m. practicing in the playroom. And they'll be practicing for Christmas as well. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of November. This week, on November 12th, we have Suzette Zuniga's birthday. And also on November 13th, we have Brother Shah Redari's birthday and Benjamin Vokuchik's birthday. On November 15th is Isaiah Gonzalez's birthday. And November 16th is Amelia Gonzalez's birthday. So those are all birthdays for this week. Praise report, money matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And I do want to encourage you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for our evening service. We call the Wednesday night Bible study the most encouraging service of the week. And we call the Sunday evening service the most exciting service of the week. And tonight I'm going to be preaching a special sermon on the subject of establishing a Christian home. And I want to encourage you to be here for that, especially if you have kids in your home. But it's good for all, even if you're a grandparent or if you don't yet have children. Just because you're a Christian does not necessarily mean you have a Christian home. And we want to talk about this evening how to establish a Christian home. And we want to encourage you to be here for that as we study that out tonight. In the evening service. And then of course if you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, I think we've got a couple of guests with us this morning. We're so glad that you are with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this morning. As you go out the main foyer there, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. But the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. Very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. And we want to give this to you as a gift. So please make sure you don't leave here without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, you can just raise your hand and one of our ushers will bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. You're welcome of course to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We would just like to have a record of 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 here in a moment with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. And when we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop that card in the offering plate or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main doors greeting people on the way out. I hope you'll come by and say hello. Well, I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week as we prepare to receive the offering this morning. And you should have the insert in your bulletin. The law of the Lord is perfect. This is taken directly out of Psalm 19. And let's go ahead and sing it out with passion on the first. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. More to be desired are they than gold, they than much fine gold. Honey, Emma, honey, gold. Good, sing it out on the second. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired are they than gold, they than much fine gold. And honey, Emma, honey, gold. Good, sing it out on the last. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, they than much fine gold. And also then, Honey, Emma, honey, gold. Amen, good singing. Before we have the guys come up, I just want to remind you a couple of things. First of all, we of course are a family-integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They've got monitors 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, or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and it'll show you a layout of our church building. It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is. It'll show you where the restrooms are. And then of course, if you need to be baptized, please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. You can do that in a couple of ways. On your communication card, you can check off that you'd like information about baptism, and we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that. Or if you've already spoken to somebody and you know you need to be baptized, all you need to do is at the end of the service, once we are done with the preaching, when we're singing the last song, if you step out the back doors there, one of our staff guys will meet you there and we can get you situated for baptism. And then of course, please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they don't go off in the middle of the preaching. And if you wouldn't mind, we'd appreciate it if you'd just check right now and make sure your cell phones are off or silent or whatever so that they don't cause a disturbance and we appreciate your help with that. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you and we thank you for allowing us to gather together this morning. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift and the giver. We pray that you would continue to meet the needs of our church family and of course, of our church. Lord, we pray that you would meet with us as we open up your word, as we study the Bible together this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn in your Bibles to First Samuel chapter 30. First Samuel chapter 30. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. First Samuel chapter 30. We will read the entire chapter as our custom. First Samuel chapter 30. Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. First Samuel chapter 30, the Bible reads, and it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city and behold, it was burned with fire and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captive. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep and David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezrelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the caramelite. And David was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved. Every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself and the Lord his God. And David said to Abathar the priest, Ahimelech son, I pray thee, bring me hither the Ifad and Abithar brought thither the Ifad to David. And David inquired at the Lord saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all. So David went. He and the 600 men that were with him and came to the brook Besor where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and 400 men for 200 abode behind which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. And they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David and gave him bread and he did eat and they made him drink water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him for he had eaten no bread nor drunk any water three days and three nights. And David said unto him, to whom belongest thou? And whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite and my master left me because three days a gone I felt a sick. We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherithites and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah and upon the south of Caleb and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, swear unto me by God that thou will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master and I will bring thee down to this company. And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread upon all the earth eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day and there escaped not a man of them save 400 young men which rode upon camels and flood. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away and David rescued his two wives and there was nothing lacking to them neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything they had taken to them. David recovered all. And David took all the flocks and the herds which they draped before those other cattle and said, this is David's spoil. And David came to the 200 men which were so faint that they could not follow David whom they had made also to abide at the brook Bessor. And they went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were with him and when David came near to the people he saluted them. Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial of those that went with David and said, because they went not with us we will not give them out of the spoil that we have recovered. Save to every man his wife and his children that they may lead them away and depart. Then said David, you shall not do so my brethren with that which the Lord hath given us who hath preserved us and have delivered the company that came against us into our hand for who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarryeth by the stuff. They shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. And when David came to Ziklag he sent to the spoil unto the elders of Judah even to his friends saying, behold the present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. To them which were in Bethel and to them which were in South Ramoth and to them which were in Jatir and to them which were in Aurora and to them which were in Sitmoth and to them which were in Eshtimo and to them which were in racism and to them which were in the cities of the and to all the places in which David himself and his men were wont to haunt. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together and for this day. Please give the pastor strength, please bless the sermon, please let it edify us and glorify you. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen. Amen. Alright, we are there in 1 Samuel chapter number 30. And of course this morning we are not in a sermon series like we normally are on Sundays. We were just preaching a stand-alone sermon this morning. And I'd like for us to take a look at the story here in 1 Samuel chapter 30. I want you to notice what happens here in verse number 1. 1 Samuel chapter number 30. In verse number 1 the Bible says this, And it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag. And just to catch you up a little bit on the context, David is running from Saul at this time. He is an outlaw and as a result there are men that have went out into the wilderness, followed him. He has this army that he has built and developed. And he is headquartered, not in the nation of Israel because of course Saul is there, but he is headquartered in this place called Ziklag. And the Bible tells us here that when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, and just to make a note of that, the third day they are coming from a battle, which is another story, another sermon for another day. They almost involve themselves in a battle they should not have and the Lord orchestrated it for them to not participate there. And now they've been traveling for three days coming back home. They get to Ziklag on the third day the Bible says, and I want you to notice there in verse 1, that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire. Notice verse 2. And had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went on their way. I want you to notice that David is coming back to his home, to his headquarters with his men. And when they get there they realize, they become aware of the fact that the Amalekites have invaded the south. They've also invaded Ziklag, their town, their home town. They've smitten it, they've burned it with fire and they've taken the women captives and they've carried them away. Notice verse 3. So David and his men came to the city and behold it was burned with fire. And their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives. And David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And what we find here in this story is that David has suffered a great setback. He's been battling, he's been building, he's been doing the things that he feels he should be doing. And when he comes home he finds that the Amalekites have invaded. They've taken the city, they've burned it, they've destroyed it and they've taken all of the people hostage. They've carried them away, the women and the children. And you'll notice there again in verse 3 the Bible says, So David and his men came to the city and behold it was burned with fire. And their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captive. This is a great setback in the life of David. Now I'd like you to keep your place there in 1 Samuel chapter 30. That's going to be our text for this morning but I'd like if you would not mind for you to go with me to the New Testament book of John. John chapter number 6. In the New Testament you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Keep your place in 1 Samuel 30. And this morning I'm preaching on the subject of what to do when you've suffered a setback. What to do when you've suffered a setback. Let me define that term for you. A setback is defined as an event that delays or reverses progress. And you know in life we are all going to suffer setbacks at times. We're going to suffer setbacks in different areas of life. It might be in your finances. You might be working towards a goal to get out of debt or to save up money to make a major purchase. A home or a car or something of that nature. And then some bill comes out of nowhere that you weren't expecting. Some emergency comes out of nowhere and it causes you a setback. And you were on track to accomplish certain things but now you've been set back. You've experienced an event that delays or reverses the progress. It might be your health. You might be working in a certain direction trying to get healthy. Maybe trying to lose weight or whatever it might be. And then you're injured or you get sick and you suffer a setback. Maybe in your marriage something happens. And maybe there's a sin or some sort of situation that brings stress upon your marriage. And you felt like things were going well. Things were happening and moving in a good direction. And now you've suffered what might be referred to as a setback. It might be with your children. You're raising your children hopefully in the nurture and admonition of the Lord for the glory of God. And then maybe there's some rebellion. Maybe there's some relationships and friendships that they've developed that they shouldn't have. Or whatever it might be. Some sort of influence. And now you feel like you've taken a step back. Now you feel like you're not where you were before. It might be in your career. Been working at a certain career and putting in the years and now they've laid you off. Or now they've discontinued that service. Or now AI took your job. Whatever it might be. And you're suffering a setback. You were scheduled. You were planning to retire at a certain age. And you were going to do this. You were going to meet this landmark and that landmark. And now it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Maybe you're a business owner and you've suffered a setback. Maybe in your spiritual life you could experience the suffering of a setback. Maybe in ministry you can experience the suffering of a setback. What I know is this. Is that all of us are going to suffer setbacks at times. There's never a time in life when things are going to move steadily in the direction of growth and of positivity. We're always going to have times when there's decline. We're going to have times when we have to take a step back and realize that we've experienced a time in our lives that is maybe delaying our progress or reversing our progress. This is what's happening to David. David was out there battling. David was out there fighting. David was out there accomplishing things and he comes home and the wives and their sons and their daughters have been taken captive. The Bible says they lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. And what we see is that David suffers a setback and what I know is this. That in your life and in my life at times we will all suffer setbacks. I want you to notice that this is not unique to any one of us. The Lord Jesus Christ himself suffered a setback. Are you there in John chapter 6? I'd like you to look down at verse number 60. John chapter 6 and verse 60. If you're familiar with the life of Christ, if you've studied the life of Christ, you know that his ministry had several phases. And there is what's sometimes referred to as the famous phase or the popular phase. Where he was preaching and people were coming out to hear him in droves. Of course he's healing people. He's teaching great things. And then there's a switch in his ministry where things begin to turn and where people turn against him. We see this here in John chapter 6 and verse 60 when the Bible says this. Many therefore of his disciples, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. Many therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is an hard saying who can hear it? Verse 61 says this. When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at him, he said unto them, does this offend you? He's teaching them. He's preaching them. And now they've been offended. Now there are those that are murmuring and complaining that are moving the momentum against him. Look at verse 66. The famous John 6, 6, 6. The Bible says from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Why don't you notice that Jesus suffers a setback here. In fact it causes him to question even his closest disciples. Verse 67 says this. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? And what I know is this, that if Jesus himself suffers setbacks in his life, and if David who is a man after God's own heart suffers setbacks in his life, I know that you and I will suffer setbacks in our lives. And I'd like you to keep your place there in John if you would not mind. We're going to come back to John. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or your bulletin or something there. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter number 1. And what I'm preaching about is the subject of setbacks. And what I'd like to do is give you some thoughts in regards to what do you do when you've suffered a setback. What do you do when things have reversed? When you've lost some advantage? Where you've lost some progress? Where you've taken not steps forward but steps backwards? And it seems like things are not going as well as maybe as you hoped they would. What do you do when you experience an event that delays or reverses progress? What do you do when you've suffered a setback? And I'd like to give you three thoughts this morning. If you'd like to jot these down, I encourage you to jot them down in the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write down some of these things and maybe they'll be an encouragement to you. Maybe you need this. Maybe you don't. But you may need it at some point in your life because things are not always going to progress the way that you and I want them to from time to time. We will suffer setbacks. And we need to know what it is we should do when we suffer setbacks. Let me give you three thoughts. Number one, when you've suffered a setback, don't listen to the naysayers. Don't listen to the naysayers. I want you to notice here in 1 Samuel chapter 30 and verse 6, the Bible says this, And David was greatly distressed. Now that's to be expected. Of course, David and his men have now came into the city. They've came back home. They're expecting a warm bed and a warm meal, maybe a warm bath. And what they find is that the town has been destroyed. The city has been burnt. Their families are missing. They've been taken captive. The Bible tells us David was greatly distressed. And you would imagine that David along with all the other men would be distressed. But then the Bible says this, He was distressed for the people spake of stoning him. Because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. I want you to notice here that David now has this problem. This situation has caught him by surprise like it's caught everyone else. But there's these individuals that have now turned on him. And they spake of stoning him. They're placing the blame on David. And they're not encouraging David. And one thing that you and I need to realize, If we're going to try to accomplish anything for God or anything in our lives, That it ought not surprise you that there will always be. And look, this is always surprising to me. I don't know why it's surprising to me. It should not surprise me. And I think that you and I need to learn this lesson. It ought not surprise us that there will always be someone ready to kick you when you're down. There's always going to be someone who's just willing and ready. Just waiting. It almost seems like waiting to cheer as you stumble. To jump for joy as you take steps back. And here we find David who's experiencing along with his men a setback. But yet there are people who are speaking of stoning him. They've turned on him. And there will always be someone who's ready to kick you when you're down. You're there in 1 Samuel 30. Flip back with me if you would to 2 Samuel. Excuse me. Flip forward with me to 2 Samuel chapter 16. You're there in 1 Samuel. Just go to 2 Samuel 16 and verse 5. This is a different story but I think it highlights the same idea. 2 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 5. Don't let it surprise you. You're moving forward. You're trying to accomplish something. You're trying to do something. You're trying to do something. I hope you're trying to do something great for God with your life. Your family and your ministry. Wherever it is that you find yourself. And at times you will suffer setbacks. At times that you will go in reverse. You will take some steps back. It ought not surprise you that there will always be people who are ready to kick you when you're down. Here in 2 Samuel 16 we find the story again of David. Here again experiencing a setback. His son Absalom has rebelled against him and has turned against him. And has brought a conspiracy against him. And in 2 Samuel 16 5 the Bible says this. And when King David came to be here. This is David retreating. He's leaving Jerusalem. He's fleeing with his men for his life. The Bible says, Behold thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul. Whose name was Shimei the son of Gerah. He came forth and cursed still as he came. Who is Shimei? He's a nobody. He's no one. He has nothing to do with David. Nothing to do with Absalom. He's a distant relative of Saul. Who's holding a grudge against David. Because the Lord chose David over Saul years and years ago. But I want you to notice we don't hear of Shimei. We don't know of Shimei. We don't. Nothing tells about Shimei. But when David is down Shimei pops up. When David is in retreat Shimei shows up. And one thing that you and I need to realize when we suffer setbacks. Is that we need to not listen to the naysayers. Because there will always be someone ready to kick you when you're down. There will always be someone ready to discourage you when things aren't going well. Not to encourage you. But to discourage you. I think of Joe. He suffered a setback. His friends show up supposedly to encourage him. What do they do? Discourage him. Even his wife looks at him and says. Why don't you just curse God and die? And I think you and I need to realize. That when we suffer setbacks. When things are not going well. You need to just decide up front to not listen to the naysayers. Because there will always be somebody willing and ready to kick you when you're down. But I'd like you to notice the second thing. Go to 1 Samuel 22. You're back into the book of 1 Samuel. But not chapter 30 where our story is. Look at 1 Samuel 22. What's interesting about this story. What's interesting about this story is the fact that. The men who are speaking of stoning David. Are not shimmy eyes. They're not just random people who have been waiting for an opportunity. Waiting for David to stumble. Waiting for David to setback. Waiting for him to not succeed. So that they can cheer that on. They're not just random people. The men that are speaking of stoning David. Are the men that we know in scripture. Refer to as David's mighty men. And what's interesting about David's mighty men. And I brought this up many times in sermons before. And I think it's an interesting lesson in leadership is this. That David in the Bible has this army. That is referred to in scripture as David's mighty men. In fact the Bible in two different books of the Bible. Tells us about the great exploits of these men. These are powerful men. Warriors. And sometimes people ask the question. Where did David find? Because David's mighty men are the elite warriors of the ancient world. They are the delta force. I mean they are the elite fighting force of the ancient world. David had these mighty men. Which is why he was able to accomplish so much of what he did. And then you ask yourself this question. Where did David find these men? And the answer to the question is actually a leadership question. A leadership answer I should say. And it is this. David did not find these men. David trained these men. In 1 Samuel 22 and verse 2. When David first runs from Saul. When he leaves the nation of Israel. And he goes into the wilderness as he's running from Saul. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 22 and verse 2. It says, And everyone that was in distress. And everyone that was in debt. And everyone that was discontented. This does not sound like a winning group. It sounds like a ragtag group of men. I mean these are not the successful men. These are, excuse me for saying it, losers. Everyone that was in distress. And everyone that was in debt. And everyone that was discontented. Gathered themselves unto him. And the him there is David. And he became a captain over them. And I would say to David. That's not something to brag about. You're the captain over a group of men. That have decided you're an outlaw. The king is trying to kill you. And they decided to throw their lot with you. Because things are not going well in their own lives. They're distressed. They're in debt. They're discontented. But here's a testimony to the leadership of David. Is that he became a captain over them. And he took this ragtag group of men. And made them a disciplined elite fighting force. How did he do that? He had to have trained them. He had to have spent time with them. He had to have taught them. He had to have invested in them. What's interesting to me. Is that when we get to. If you don't mind going back to first Samuel chapter 30. And we get the phrase. The people speak of stoning him. What we're talking about is David's mighty men. I think there's a second lesson for us to learn under this heading. Don't listen to the naysayers. Why? Because it ought not surprise you. That there will always be people ready to kick you when you're down. But let me say this. It ought not surprise you. That the people you invest in the most. Will turn on you the fastest. Often times in our lives. The people you spend the most time with. The people you do the most for. The people you invest in the most. Train the most. Pray for the most. You're there for them the most. It often times seems like the people you do the most for. Will be the ones who turn on you the fastest. This is not unique to David. The apostle Paul said it this way in 2nd Corinthians 12 15. He said. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Those are words of investment. He said. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. But then the apostle Paul says this. He says. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. He says. Though the more abundantly I love you. The less I be loved. And it ought not surprise you. Don't let it catch you. Off guard. When you suffer a setback. That there will always be people. Ready and willing to kick you. When you're down. And there will always be those. Who you would think. Would have a little more patience with you. Who you would think. Would give you the benefit of the doubt. Who you would think they would at least take the time to ask you. About something. The people it seems like you invest in the most. Often seems like they turn on you the fastest. And this ought not be something that. Discourages you because. Going into it you need to decide. I'm not going to listen to the naysayers. I'm not going to listen to these people. Often times when things are happening in church. And we're fighting battles. And either outward or inward or whatever it might be. I've found that people generally fall into one of three categories. The first category is maybe the biggest of all the categories. It's and I don't know. This is just what I call it. It's probably not the best way name for it. But I call it the don't knows and don't cares. The don't knows and don't cares. These people are just busy about their own lives. They don't know. They don't care. They're not paying attention. And I think these people are great. They just don't know and they don't care. I had one man tell me. We were talking recently. I had a man in our church say to me. We were talking about a certain situation and he said. You know pastor you teach. Because I teach people when it comes to gossip. You know you have to ask yourself the question. Is it my place? Is it my problem? He said my position is this. Not my pastor. Not my problem. And these are the don't knows don't cares. They're just busy about life and they're doing what they do. And that's great. Praise the Lord for them. I love the don't knows don't cares. And then there's the encouragers. These people are great as well. They may know and they may care. But they'll communicate with you. They'll take the time to shoot a text and say. Hey pastor just heard about this. Just want you to know we're praying for you. Want you to know we stand with you. Want you to know we love you. We love your family. We've got your back. We've got your back. The encouragers. These people are great as well. Not everybody's an encourager. That's okay. We don't need them. We don't need a lot of encouragers. But I'm not saying we don't need them. We need encouragers. But we don't need a lot of them. The don't knows don't cares. Those are great. The encouragers. Those are great. You know the people that tend to irritate me. The third group is the bleeding hearts. And these are the people that it doesn't really seem to matter what is going on. It doesn't really seem to matter what's happening. It seems like no matter what's going on. They always take the side of the people against the church. They always take the side of the people against the pastor. They always take the side of the people against the pastor's wife. They always take the side of the people against the staff. And I think that the reason probably that people are bleeding hearts is because of their own guilt. And their own shame. And their own guilty conscience of the gossip and criticism they've involved themselves in. But what I'm telling you is this. That in your life you will suffer setbacks. And whether it's fellow church members. Whether it's your friends like Job. Or family members or whatever it might be. You need to decide that you will not listen to the naysayers. And don't let it catch you by surprise when they kick you when you're down. You got to tell yourself. I already knew there would be people ready to give me what I'm done. I already know there are people to always cheer when I stumble. To always take the side of the people against us. We already know those things so we should not listen to the naysayers. We're talking about what to do. What do you do when you suffer the setback? Number one, don't listen to the naysayers. But number two, I would say this. Not only should you not listen to the naysayers. Number two, you should touch base with God. In 1 Samuel 30 and verse 6 we find this very famous phrase right at the end of verse 6. I want you to notice what it says. It says, but David encouraged himself and the Lord is God. David encouraged himself and the Lord the Bible says. Not only when David suffers the setback. Not only does he decide to not listen to the naysayers. I mean he's got people that he's close to. People that he considered friends. People that he considered allies. People that he had worked with and he trained and he invested and they turned on him. And they're talking of stoning him. But David not only does he decide to not listen to them. He decides to do something else. He decides to touch base with God. David encouraged himself and the Lord. You say what does this mean to encourage yourself and the Lord? And I think it could mean a lot of different things. But I think it means this or I would apply it this way. Is that we ought to remind ourselves why it is that we do what we do. Why is it that you've decided to live the life that you're living? Why is it that you've decided to homeschool those children? Why is it that you've decided to adopt those dress standards? Why is it that you've chosen to become a soul winner? Why is it that you've chosen to become a tither? Why is it that you've chosen to live your life in a certain way or to lead your home in a certain way? Why is it that you've made those decisions? Because you probably made those decisions for the Lord and for God. And there are times when things don't look like they're going well. They look like they're going in reverse. They look like we're losing land and losing progress and going backwards. But you've got to remind yourself in those moments. Why am I doing what I'm doing? I think David had to remind himself. That it was not David's idea for Samuel to show up and anoint him as the future king. That was not David's idea. It was not David's idea to fight Goliath and battle Goliath. It was his idea but it was a thing that God put in his heart. He did it for the Lord. And David here has to take some time to encourage himself in the Lord and to remind himself that why it is that he does what he does. In ministry from time to time. When the attendance is down, when the offerings are down, when the momentum is down, when the morale is down. I think we should all encourage ourselves in the Lord. I know for my wife and I, what that means is to remind ourselves why it is that we do what we do. You say the attendance, when the attendance is down pastor, does that discourage you? Well, when I got into this thing there was no attendance. When the offerings are down pastor, does that discourage you from time to time when offerings are down? Well, when we started Verity Baptist Church the offerings were zero. Momentum is down. Does that discourage you? Well, when we started there literally was no momentum. We had to get this thing rolling. And what I'm saying to you is that when things aren't going well in marriage, you need to remind yourself whose idea was marriage to begin with? It was God's. When things aren't going well with your children, who gave you those children? It was God. When things aren't going well at work, why do you work? Hopefully it's not to become rich or to be covetous. You work to fulfill the responsibilities that God has given you so that you can do what God has called you to do. And what we need to remind ourselves when things aren't going well is to encourage ourselves in the Lord. And to remind ourselves why it is that we do what we do. And if the answer is, I do what I do, I'm the type of husband that I am, or I'm the type of wife that I am, or I'm the type of father that I am, or the mother that I am, the church member that I am, the Christian that I am, I do it for the Lord. And it doesn't matter who's discouraging you. It doesn't matter what they're gossiping about you. It doesn't matter who's stabbing you in the back, because you're doing it for God. I want you to notice that David, of course, famously encouraged himself. The Bible says, but David encouraged himself in the Lord. But not only did David encourage himself in the Lord, I want you to notice a second thing that David did when he touched space with God. He encouraged himself in the Lord, but then notice verse 7. And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. This is something that the priest would use. It has religious connotations to it. And Abiathar brought hither the ephod to David, and David, I want you to notice this word, verse 8. And David inquired at the Lord. Oftentimes in this passage, we focus on the famous praise that David encouraged himself in the Lord, and that's good. We ought to encourage ourselves in the Lord, but I want you to notice that's not the only thing that David did. David encouraged himself in the Lord, but David also inquired for himself at the Lord. David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this is true? And look, when you suffer setbacks, this is a time to touch base with God. We ought not have this blinding pride that says, I've done nothing wrong, I do nothing wrong. At times when things are not going well, we shouldn't just assume like Job's friends, well things aren't going well because you must be in sin or you must not be right with God. But look, at times when we have setbacks, we have to take a step back and ask ourselves, God, are you trying to tell me something? Is there something that you'd like me to change? Maybe I've let some things slip. Maybe the focus has been off here. Maybe there's something else, and I want you to notice what David does when he suffers a setback is he not only chooses not to listen to the naysing, because they'll always be there. You think, oh no, it's just this one. You know, you have certain church members, you're like, well, they're upset about this one situation, it's just this one situation, but then the next time it's the same church members that are upset. And then the next time it's the same church members that are upset. And then you start thinking to yourself, I think every time something's going on, this person's going to pick the other side. So you choose to not listen to the naysayers, because the naysayers will always be there. They'll always be there to kick you when you're down. They'll always be there to cheer when you're stumbling. But you should also choose to touch base with God. Encourage yourself in the Lord, but don't forget to inquire of the Lord, and ask yourself, Lord, is there something you'd like me to learn here? I've taught this through the years, and I believe it. Oftentimes when you think the Lord's trying to get your attention, the question I like to ask God is, Lord, help me learn this lesson as quickly as possible so we can move on from this lesson. I don't want to be like some of you and keep flunking the same lesson over and over, replaying it over and over again. We need to encourage ourselves in the Lord, and we need to inquire of the Lord. And when we suffer setbacks, we should take some time to touch base with God and ask ourselves, how are we doing with God? How am I doing with God? But also, what is God doing with me? Is he trying to teach me something? Is he trying to redirect me? Is he trying to just bring something to my attention? David encouraged himself in the Lord, and David inquired for himself of the Lord. I'd like you to notice a third thing this morning. What do you do when you've suffered a setback? Number one, don't listen to naysayers. There'll always be people ready to kick you when you're down. And don't let it surprise you when the people you invest in the most turn on you the fastest. Number two, when you suffer setback, take an opportunity to touch base with God. Encourage yourself in the Lord and recalibrate yourself and ask yourself, why is it that I'm actually doing? Why is it that we're doing this? Why is it that we've made this decision? Why is it that we've taken this stand? Why is it that we've taken this position? And if the answer is because of God or the will of God or what God wants, then you just stand with God. Because of God before us, who can be against us? We should also take the time to inquire of the Lord. To ask, Lord, there's something you'd like me to do. There's something you'd like me to fix. There's a different direction, different approach you'd like me to take. David encouraged himself of the Lord, and David inquired at the Lord. Now I want you to notice the third thing. What do you do when you've suffered a setback? Don't listen to the naysayers. Touch base with God. Here's number three. Set out to take back what you've lost. I want you to notice verse eight. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this is true? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him. I want you to notice the answer. This comes from God. He answered him. Pursue. Pursue. For thou shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. I'm here to tell you that the answer from God is always this. Pursue. Do you know that our God is an advancing God? God is always advancing. You and I aren't always advancing. You and I suffer setbacks. We're human beings. We're fallible. We make mistakes. We're dust. So things, if you look at our chart, it's not always going this way. It goes this way and then it goes this way. It goes this way and then it goes this way. That's you and I. But God's always advancing. Things are always moving well in the direction of God. And if you ever ask God the question, Do you want me to pursue? Do you want me to go back at it? Do you want me to overtake them? Do you want me to try to fix this? The answer coming back from God will always be this. Pursue. You get to God, you come to God and you say, God, God, do you want me to step out of this marriage or should I try to work on this marriage? He's always going to say, pursue. God, do you want me to give up on these children or should I maybe just continue to try to work at it a little bit? See if I can turn their heart and see if we can turn them out. The answer from God will always be pursue. God, things are getting difficult. The soul when anything is getting hard, should I stay at it? Maybe I should quit. The answer from God will always be pursue. Our God is always advancing. He always wants us moving forward. And because God wants us to move forward, we should move forward. We should set out to take back what we've lost. David asked the question, he says, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue for thou shall surely overtake them and without fail, recover all. Now there's some interesting things that I think about this pursuing that we see in the story of David. A couple of subcategories under this third point, set out to take what you've lost. Notice in verse 9 the Bible says this, So David went. By the way, that's always a good, that's always the right thing to do. When God says pursue, you just go. God says go, you just go. Verse 9, so David went. He, look at it, and the 600 men that were with him. 600 mighty men, 600 soldiers, 600 elite soldiers. He and the 600 men that were with him and came to the Brook Besar where those that were left behind stayed. This is the first time we hear of those that are left behind and this is not a book series on the rapture. These are 600, this is in reference to the 600 men of David. Look at verse 10, but David pursued. Now last part of verse 9, where those that were left behind stayed but David pursued, he and, notice it now, 400 men. He started out with 600 men. But then the Bible tells us in verse 10 that he now has 400 men. Why is it, look at verse 10, for 200 abode behind. Which were so faint that they could not go over the Brook Besar. You know what's interesting to me is that David starts off with 600 men. He suffers a setback. He gets the ziklag and it's been burned with fire. The wives have been taken, the children have been taken, everything's been taken. They suffer the setback. He goes out to pursue because he encouraged himself in the Lord and he inquired of the Lord and he asked the Lord, do you want me to go? And anytime you ask God, do you want me to go? The answer will be this, go. Pursue. So he sets out to pursue. He's doing what God told him to do. And then in the process he loses 200 men. Starts off with 600 and now he has 400. 200 were left behind. They stayed and they were left behind. They were so faint. They were so weak. They could not go over the Brook Besar. They could not pursue with him. And here we find a lesson and it is this. When you set out to recover what you've lost, you may need to do it with less people. When you set out to recover what you've lost, you may need to do it with less people. David starts off with 600. He says, should I go? God says go. He turns around, 200 are gone. But God said go. And you know, you and I need to stop being so worried about the size of the crowd and how many people. Look, if God is for us, it doesn't matter how many people are for us. If we're doing the will of God, it doesn't matter who else is coming along. You say, but my wife is not on board, but my family is not on board, but my in-laws are not on board. Hey, listen, when you go to pursue, you may need to do it with less people. You may need to do it with less people who are with you, who are for you, who are encouraging you along the way. If you wouldn't mind, go to 1 Samuel chapter 14. Real quickly, 1 Samuel chapter 14. Look down at verse number 6, 1 Samuel 14. Here we have a different story. This is Jonathan, who is the son of Saul, and he's actually a godly man. Jonathan and David were friends. And they're fighting the Philistines and all the men of the Philistines, they're afraid. Men of Israel are afraid of the Philistines. But Jonathan encourages himself in the Lord. The Bible doesn't say those words, but he's encouraged in God. His confidence is in God. And Jonathan decides, you know what, if no one else will come with us, we will go. Jonathan speaking to his armor bearer. Look at what it says, 1 Samuel 14. And Jonathan said to the young man that bear his armor, come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised. Notice what he says, he says, it may be that the Lord will work for us. You say, why should I try at this marriage? Why should I try with these children? Why should I try with this Christian life? Why should I try with this ministry? It's been nothing but heartache and nothing but setback, nothing but reversals. We take one step forward and two steps backward. Why even try? Here's why you should try, because it may be that the Lord will work for us. Because it may be that God will show up. And then Jonathan says this, he says, for there is no restraint to the Lord. Notice what he says, to save by many or by few. Jonathan said, God can give us the victory, whether there's lots of us or whether there's a few of us, whether there's a great host and army, or if there's just one man in his armor bearer. He said, it may be that the Lord will work for us. And look, maybe you had a setback with that business and you've got to rebuild and you may need to do it with less people. That's alright. Maybe you've had a setback and you've got less people on your side, less people on your team, less people rooting for you, less people helping you. But you know what, when you set out to take back what you've lost, you need to realize that you may need to do it with less people. Remember the encouragers I was telling you about? God bless them. I recently got a text from a man in our church. He said this, he said, if we have a great number to go to war with great, if we have a small number to go to war with great, there is no difference because the battle is the Lord's. And I'm here to tell you that when you suffer the setback, you need to set out to take back what you've lost. But you need to realize that you may need to do it with less people. Not only may you need to do it with less people, but let me say this, you may need to do it with new people. In 1 Samuel 30, I want you to notice this. Look at verse 11. 1 Samuel 30 and verse 11. David sets out to take back what he's lost. God has told him. He encouraged him to tell the Lord. He inquired of the Lord. He said, should I go? And God said, go! And he goes. And the first step is he loses 200 people and we learn the lesson that when you go out to recover what you've lost, you may need to do it with less people. But there's another lesson and the other lesson is this, that when you go out to recover what you've lost, not only may you need to do it with less people, but you may need to do it with new people. He loses 200 people and then notice what happens in verse 11. And they found an Egyptian. Some new guy. You know in the Bible, Egypt is always a picture of the world? They go and they find this worldly guy. This Egyptian in the field. And brought him to David and gave him bread and he did eat and they made him drink water and they gave him a piece of cake of figs and two clusters of raisins and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him. For he had eaten no bread nor drunk any water. Please don't miss this. Three days and three nights. David said unto him, to whom long is thou? And whence art thou? The word whence means from where? And he said, I'm a young man of Egypt serving to an Amalekite. And my master left me because, look at it, don't miss it, three days ago I fell sick. He says three days ago I fell sick. He said three days and three nights I've been out here by myself. They left me for dead. I'm weak. He hadn't eaten bread or drunk any water. Three days ago. Do you remember where the story began? In verse 1? They were coming to Ziklag on the third day. On the third day when they had taken the captives, they'd also left this young Egyptian. Let me tell you something, God already has people ready and prepared for you to meet. I've suffered setback. Welcome to the club. We all suffer setback. But you know that there are some Egyptians out there that are just waiting for us? There are some Egyptians out there that are just out there like sheep without a shepherd, left to die spiritually, anemic. You say, what do we need to do? We need to find them. We need to feed them the bread of life. We need to give them the living water. We need to, verse 12, his spirit came again to him. When we find that random, worldly, unsafe person, we need to revive them. We need to quicken their spirit. We need to get them saved. We need to strengthen them. Why? Because when you go out to recover what you've lost, not only may you need to do with less people, but you may need to do with new people. Remember how David found his mighty men? He found them in the wilderness. Lost, in debt, distressed, discouraged, disappointed. And he encouraged them. And some of you walked in here the same way when you came. In debt and distressed and discouraged. And we did our best to feed you with the bread of life. We did our best to give you of the living water. And your spirit came again. And I'm here to tell you it's not just you. There's all sorts of Egyptians out there. And when we set out to recover what we've lost, not only may we have to do it with less people, but we'll probably have to do it with new people. Notice verse 14. The Egyptian says, We made an invasion upon the south of the Carathites, and upon the coast which belonged to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb. And we burned Zikalak with fire. And David said unto him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? This is what we would call a divine appointment. It was not by mistake. David was meant to meet this man. David was meant to pursue and to find this man, to help this man. And now this man is about to help him. And David said unto him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God that thou wilt neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. He takes them. He takes them. Verse 16. And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day, and their escape not of man of them, save four hundred young men which rode upon camels and fled. Look at verse 18. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. And David rescued his two wives. Why don't you notice that we can set out to take back what we've lost. You can set out to take back what you've lost. Yeah, you may need to deal with less people. And you may need to deal with new people. You may need to invest into other people. You may need to get other people saved, disciple other people, have new baptisms. But you can set out to recover all. Go back to John if you would. I think I asked you to keep your place there, John. We were in John chapter 6. I'd like you to go to John chapter 15. John chapter 15. I've talked with several individuals over the last few weeks who said, it's interesting to me how many people have said the same thing to me. They said, you know pastor, you've talked about when we move into a new building. Every time we move into a new building, we're going to lose people. They're like, you called in. I'm like, yeah, I'm a prophet. No, I'm not a prophet. I just have some experience. I remember the first time, we've had lots of setbacks over the years. I mean, goodnight. I won't tell you about my dieting setbacks. We'll just talk about the ministry. I remember the first time we moved into our first building. We met for a year and a half in our living room. And we packed it out. And our last service in the house was the 4th of July. 4th of July landed on a Wednesday night. We had a 4th of July service. The last service in the house, we had 42 in church. It doesn't sound like a lot, but 42 people in your living room is a lot of people. And the next week, that first week in July, we moved into our new building. 800 square foot building. Really wasn't much bigger than the living room we were already in. The only benefit to it was that it wasn't our living room. We moved in first week of July. By family friend day of that year, the first week of September that year, from the first week of July, all of July, August, just two months, we had grown from 42 to 20. 42 to 20. It felt like we had a church split. I don't think we had a church split. I mean, I guess I don't really know, but we just had some people got vaccinated and left. One family got transferred to a different job, and they had to move out of state. We had this and that, and we went from 42 to 20. And you better believe that there was some inquiring of the Lord. Were we not supposed to move into this building? I don't understand. We had at 1.65 people in our living room. We move into this building now, and we grow from 42 to 20? You say, what'd you do? You pack up and left? We just set out to find some Egyptians. We just set out to recover what we'd lost. And yeah, maybe we had to do it with less people. And yeah, we had to do it with new people. Some of you are those new people. I remember when we moved from our 800 square foot building to a 1600 square foot building in the same parking lot. We had an 800 square foot building. It was like a rectangle, and we had outgrown it. And we, in the same complex, there was just two 800 square foot buildings, exactly like ours, that were side by side, that we just took over and made a 1600 square foot building. And we moved from the same, in the same, 800 square foot building, in the same, you'd walk out, you'd go down the sidewalk, there's a parking lot, and then you were here. It was in the same parking lot. I remember making this joke to our church family saying, now the last time we moved from the house to the building, we lost a lot of people, okay? This move is only like 15 yards that way, so let's make sure we don't lose anyone. I promise you, I promise you, from the last week of the 800 square foot building to the first week of the 600 square foot building, we lost a family. And I thought to myself, it's right there! I remember during the 2016 protests, 2016, from January to Easter 2016, had been our highest growth. We'd grown most rapidly in that time. We had grown from, and we'd been working hard at it, from January to Easter, we had some soul winning pushes, and we had certain things that we were doing and accomplishing and meeting these goals. Our goal was to grow by 50 in 2016. We had grown by 50 from January to April of that year. And then, I preached a sermon that went viral, and we lost 50 people overnight. You say, what do you do? Set out to find more people. Realize that there's all sorts of Egyptians out there. There's all sorts of worldly people out there that are famished and dying, spiritually anemic. They need somebody to find them and revive them and help them and guide them. Over the years, we eventually gave up on YouTube, but over the years, we've built so many YouTube channels to 10,000 subscribers, 15,000 subscribers, 20,000 subscribers, more than once 20,000 subscribers, just to have YouTube delete them overnight. I'm just telling you, sometimes we suffer setbacks, but you don't quit, you don't complain, you don't go to bed, you just decide you're not going to listen to the naysayers. You just decide you're going to touch base with God and inquire of the Lord and ask the Lord, we did this for you, God, and do you want us to do something different? Do you want us to go? Do you want us to pursue? And you set out to take what you've lost, and you realize that you may need to do it with less people, you realize you may need to do it with new people, but you set out to do it. Because here's a little secret about setbacks. I think the thing that we often don't realize is this, that sometimes God sets us back to set us up for greater success. Sometimes God needs to purge us in order to flourish us. This is a concept found in the scripture. Look at it real quickly, John 15, we're almost done. John 15, look at verse 1. Here's what Jesus said, I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. Jesus is the vine, the Father is the husbandman, every branch, that's you and I, every branch in me that beareth not fruit. See sometimes there are branches on the tree, but here's another biblical term, they're just cumbering, they're using up resources, but they're not helping the organization. And Jesus said, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it. The word purge means to get rid of, it means to remove. When it comes to plant life, which is what is being spoken of here, it means you look at the branches that are dying, you look at the leaves that are dry, you look at the leaves and the branches that are there. They're there, yes, they're there, but they're not doing anything, they're not producing anything, and you cut them off, you purge it back, you purge it, why? Notice it. He purges it, verse 2, that it may bring forth more fruit. Sometimes God sets us back to set us up for greater success. Because sometimes he needs to purge us. Sometimes God purges so that we can flourish. He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 30. While you turn there, I'll just read to you this one verse. Joel 2.25 says this, I will restore. Joel 2.25, this is God speaking. And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten. And here in this agricultural society, the idea is of bringing fruit from the land, and they're saying, yeah, but the locust, it ate the fruit, and now years have been wasted. And you might say, years have been wasted with my business, years have been wasted with my marriage, years have been wasted with my children, years have been wasted with my health, years have been wasted with the ministry, years have been, we've put time and energy and effort into this, you can't go back and redo that. Look, I'm not going to lie to you, you can't go back and redo that. You can't go back and recreate childhood friendships for your children. You can't go back and take back years and years and years. I don't know how God does it, but I know He does it. He says, I have the power to restore to you the years that the locust have eaten. God is the God that can help you restore what you've lost. So what do you do when you've suffered a setback? Don't listen to the naysayers. Don't let it surprise you either, because there's always going to be people ready to kick you when you're down. Always going to be people ready to cheer when you stumble. Always be careful about the people that are cheering when you're stumbling, by the way. Don't let it surprise you that sometimes the people you invest in the most turn on you the fastest. Make sure you touch base with God, encourage yourself in the Lord and inquire of the Lord and ask yourself, Lord, is there a lesson here you'd like me to learn? Let's learn this lesson quickly so we can move on. And then set out to take back what you've lost. Because if you ever ask God, should I pursue, the answer will always be yes. Just realize when you set out to recover what you've lost, you may need to do it with less people. And you may need to do it with new people. But with God, you can restore what you've lost. First Samuel 30 verse 19, look at how our story ends. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled nor anything that they had taken to them. Look at this little phrase, David recovered all. Let's bow our heads and have a little prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we do love you. And Lord we realize that from time to time, we suffer setbacks. From time to time, we don't take steps forward, we take steps backwards. It seems like we're losing momentum. Help us Lord to remember, that if we're doing it for you, then we don't need anything else. Help us remember these lessons, not to listen to the naysayers, to touch base with God, to set out to recover what we've lost. Lord help us to make sure that we're, at the very least, the don't knows and don't cares. And if it's on our hearts to be encouragers, but help us not to be the discouragers. And Lord I pray you'd help us to learn, that sometimes when we set out to recover what we've learned, what we've lost, we need to do it with less people and with new people. But there's all sorts of people out there that need the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to go out, to find them, to reach them, to disciple them, to invest in them and to help them grow. And help us Lord to be able to end our lives like David ended his story. David recovered all. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to give you a few reminders before we're done. First of all, don't forget next week, find an Egyptian and bring him with you, alright? But next week we're going to have our worker appreciation Sunday, so make sure that you are here for that. We want to recognize all our workers and volunteers, so don't forget about that. And then also men, don't forget for those of you that are in the Leadership Institute, we had a one week break. We finished our class on self-leadership and personal success. One week break and now we're starting another six week course, How to Study the Bible. So for those of you that have signed up for that, that starts this Tuesday 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall, don't forget about that. And then tonight I want to encourage you to be with us. The most exciting service of the week, the Sunday night service. And I'm going to be preaching on the subject, Establishing a Christian Home. Establishing a Christian Home. And I need you to realize that just because you're a Christian and just because you have a house doesn't make it a Christian home. You want to learn from the Word of God how it is that we can establish a Christian home. We'd love for you to be here for that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song 343. 343. 343 on the first. We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love. For Jesus, who died and is now gone above. Alleluia, thine the glory, Alleluia, amen. Alleluia, thine the glory, revive us again. We praise Thee, O God, for the Spirit of Light. Who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night. Alleluia, thine the glory, Alleluia, amen. Alleluia, thine the glory, revive us again. All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain. Who has borne all our sins and has cleansed every stain. Alleluia, thine the glory, Alleluia, amen. Alleluia, thine the glory, revive us. Good on the last. Revive us again. Fill each heart with Thy love. May each soul be reek and not found by wrong above. Alleluia, thine the glory, Amen. Alleluia, thine the glory, revive us again. Amen. Good singing. Before we leave, if anybody has questions about salvation, church members that were baptismed, pastor will be at the door. He'd love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that. Brother Darrell, would you close in prayer for us? Father, please feel us in the midst of those roles in our long-term needs today. I'm just so about ready, and you're going to control me today. May the blessing be with you, and I'll talk to you. Amen. Amen. Thank you.