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

And the strength in the heart, He implanted my soul. Amen. Amen, and we want to welcome you to the Sunday evening service here at Rarity Baptist Church. We call it the most exciting service of the week, and we're glad that you are with us. Let's take our bulletins and we'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up, we'll get one for you. The verse is sweet, Colossians 3.14, and above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m. We had a wonderful service this morning. We're glad you're back out tonight for the evening service. And we do invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study. We're going to be in Hebrews chapter number 13 on Wednesday night. I want to encourage you, of course, to read that and be ready to study it with us together on Wednesday night for the midweek service. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. And if you are a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're so glad that you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk into the church building tonight. In our foyer, 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 tonight. 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. It's 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 tonight 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, just raise your hand. One of our ushers can bring you by a pen. We'd love 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. So 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. If you notice there in our bulletin, we are a family-integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. However, we have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All the rooms have comfortable seating, have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it or windows. We've got everything you need in there. So if you have a child that's being distracted during the service or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you need to be baptized, let us know. And I think we've got a baptism scheduled for tonight. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, we've got on Sunday, we just want you to be aware, next week, next Sunday night, the 6 p.m. service, we have the Safeties of the Lord's Service and just make plans to be with us. We'll have a very short challenge from the Word of God, but we're just going to go over procedures for emergencies. And that's something we are trying to do on a regular basis, once a year or every other year. And we're also going to have pizza afterwards, after the service and fellowship. So we want to encourage you to be here for that. Again, that's not a great service to be inviting a bunch of guests to. It's just kind of for the church family. Also, all the ladies are invited to a baby shower for Ms. Ariel Chaboyan on Saturday, July 20th at 3 p.m. She is having a girl. She's registered on Amazon. And it is a Pollux, so if you can, please bring a dish to share. And we have a, you can sign up on your communication card. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. And right now would be a good time to check your phone, make sure it's on vibrate or silence or off. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of July this week. Today is Ms. Blanca Beal's birthday, July 7th. Yoretzi Diosa's birthday also. Ms. Jacqueline Diosa's birthday. And Brother Bontel and Ms. Lindsey Johnson have an anniversary today. And then this week we have Khaleesi Roldan's birthday on the 8th. Ms. Amy Cortez's birthday on the 10th. Ms. Courtney Usher's birthday on the 12th. And Brother Matt and Ms. Kim Borrello have an anniversary on the 12th as well. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. We're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin. And we're going to sing I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. I don't know about tomorrow. I just live from day to day. I don't borrow from its sunshine. All the skies may turn to gray. I don't worry for the future. For I know what Jesus said. And today I'll walk beside Him. For He knows what is life. Many things about tomorrow. I don't seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds what. Good, let's sing it out on the second. Sing it with some passion, all right? On the second. I don't know about tomorrow. May bring me poverty. But the one who feeds the sparrow is the one who stands by me. And the God that is my portion may be through the flame or flood. But His presence knows before me and I'm covered. Here we go, sing it out. Many things about tomorrow. I don't seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds my hand. Amen, good singing. Well, 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. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray you'd bless the offering, the gift and the giver. We ask that you'd meet with us as we open up your word and we study the Bible together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 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I'm bringing this verse to your attention tonight, because tonight, and I announced this this morning, I'm preaching a very specific subject, and from time to time I'll preach a sermon like this. Usually I don't preach a sermon that's this specific, but every once in a while I will. And tonight I'm preaching on a very specific subject, and I'd like you to give me your attention and to try to minimize distractions as much as possible. And I want to speak tonight on the subject of why you should not be talking or on your phone during the preaching. Why you should not be talking or messing around on your phone during the preaching of the Word of God. And today we live in a society that has changed vastly because of this thing. And we live in a society today where people are addicted to screams. They are addicted to their phones. In fact, by way of introduction, I'd like to just give you some statistics. Research shows that the average American spends about five hours and 24 minutes on their phones every day. The average American spends five hours and 24 minutes on their phones every day. I can't even believe that. And I imagine what would happen in America is that Christians spend five hours in prayer or the Word of God, but the average American spends about five hours and 24 minutes on their phones every day. 57% of Americans consider themselves phone addicts. Half of the Internet traffic, 50.55% comes from mobile phones. The average American checks their phone around 96 times a day. 92% of Americans own a smartphone. Almost two-thirds of all American children spend four or more hours on their phone. Think about that. Almost two-thirds of all American children spend four or more hours on their phones. 75% of Americans find it uneasy to leave their home without their phones. 60% of people sleep with their phones at night, which is not healthy. And around 55% of people claim that they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phones. And we live in a society today that is addicted. People are addicted to being on their phones and being on the phone. And I'm speaking about this because of the effect that it has in church and in the church life. Now, let me just make a few statements by way of introduction. And first of all, let me just say this. I don't believe that our church or the members of our church are any more carnal than any other members of any other church out there. Now, don't get me wrong. I do believe that we've got some church members that are pretty carnal, all right? So I didn't say that. I don't think we've got members that are not carnal. What I'm saying is I don't think that our church members are any more carnal than any other church. And I don't know that our church members would be more tempted or more susceptible to being on their phones or messing around during the church service or talking during the preaching than any other human being out there. However, because of the way that our church is set up, because of the structure of our church, our church does present some additional opportunities for people to be talking during the service, to be hanging out and messing around during the preaching of the word of God, which maybe is not as available in other churches. You're there in 1 Thessalonians. Go with me if you would to the book of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter number seven. You've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, then the book of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter number seven. Let me just explain why it is that our church maybe has some unique opportunities for distractions within our church. One of the reasons is because our church is a family integrated church. And being a family integrated church, we do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, because we are a family integrated church, we do have rooms that have been set aside for mothers and for fathers to care for their children if they have a child that is being distracted during the service or if they need some privacy. We've got mother baby rooms throughout the building that have comfortable seating. They've got TV monitors set up so they can watch the service or they've got windows set up. We've got a daddy baby room that has a TV monitor and seats set up for people to be able to sit there with their children. And I'm not necessarily preaching on this subject tonight, but let me just say this. The purpose of the mother baby rooms and the purpose of the daddy rooms are to care for your children, but they are to train your children. We understand that sometimes little babies, they're not able to be trained. They need to be cared for and they'll make noise and things of that nature. But as your children get older, the purpose of having those mother baby rooms and those daddy rooms is for you to be able to train them to be able to sit in the service. The purpose of coming to church is to have you and your family sit under the preaching of the Word of God. With our church having mother baby rooms and daddy rooms that are away from the auditorium, we have these rooms in which you can see and hear us in those rooms, but we cannot hear and see you. And as a result, these rooms can be a place where people will then do things that they may not necessarily do in the auditorium. Now, don't get me wrong. Some people do some pretty disrespectful things even in the auditorium, but it's much easier to be messing around on your phone. It's much easier to be carrying on in a long conversation in a mother baby room or a daddy baby room and not listening to the preaching of the Word of God because of the fact that we are a family-integrated church. That is a unique opportunity that maybe is unique to our church or our type of church. Not only that, but we've got ministries. Like, for example, we've got the ushers and we've got the safety team and we've got other people with responsibilities that would give them an opportunity as they are performing their duties, which they're doing in the service of God, in the service of church, but it would give them the opportunity to be out and about outside of the auditorium, maybe because they're serving as an usher or they're serving on the safety team. They are not in the auditorium and that would give them an opportunity to be out there talking, messing around, not listening, not preaching to the Word of God. And let me just say this. Besides all that, all churches, including our church, have people, all churches. I know this because I grew up in church. I've been in church my whole life. I've been a Baptist my whole life. I haven't been saved my whole life, but I've been a Baptist my whole life. And all churches have people who just literally walk out during the preaching. They come to church, but when it's preaching time, they'll just hang out in the parking lot, they'll hang out in the foyer, they'll hang out in the hallways, and they'll just talk, and they'll just mess around. They're not even ushers or safety team or anything. They're just out there, just messing around, just not being involved in the preaching of the Word of God. And that's true of all churches, but when you add mother-baby rooms and daddy-baby rooms, you add safety teams, you add ushers, and you add this and you add that, you create these opportunities. You create these opportunities where people, if they do not choose to be men and women of character, that are going to give respect to the preaching of the Word of God, and they have an opportunity to talk or distract or mess around or be on their phones during the preaching of the Word of God. I'd like you to notice a verse here in 1 Corinthians 7. And let me just go ahead and say this. I understand that the context of the verse that I'm going to show you in 1 Corinthians 7 is about the ability of a single person to serve God without the distraction of a spouse, and that is the primary application, and I understand that. However, I believe that even taking this verse out of context, no one would disagree with the application that I'm going to make as being a wrong application, even though I understand it is not the primary application, and I want to be honest with you in regards to that. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 35, I'd like you to notice that the Bible says this, and this I speak for your own profit, the Apostle Paul says. Not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that... I just want you to notice this little phrase, and I understand it's not... It's out of context, but I just want you to see the phrase, even out of context, that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. And the truth is this, that you and I should attend upon the Lord. The word attend means to give your attention to, to give your energy towards, to attend, to serve, to pay attention, and the Bible says that we should attend upon the Lord without distraction. So I want to speak on this subject tonight for just a few minutes on this idea of why you should not be talking or on your phone during the preaching. Now let me just give some disclaimers, and let me give these disclaimers up front and just get them out of the way. Number one, I realize that some of you need to be on your phone, or you need to talk to someone in an emergency, or you've got responsibilities with work or things of that nature. I understand that, that you may need to be on your phone at some point during the church service, and I'm not preaching about anyone who's just at any time on their phone or making a phone call while they're at church. I understand that there are emergencies and there are responsibilities, and there are from time to time things that we need to take care of, and let me just be clear. I'm on my phone sometimes during the church service. You might see me on the platform on my phone. Now please know this. If you see me on the phone during church, it's because I'm dealing with church situations. I'm asking someone to turn the AC down or to take care of something or to grab something, or I see some issue from the pulpit that needs to be dealt with. I need to sometimes even talk to people during the church service, so I understand that. So if you need to be on your phone for a minute here or there while the church is going on, I'm not necessarily speaking to you. I'm talking about people who are just chronically all the time nonstop. I mean, I'm talking about sitting in the foyer on your phone. Don't even look up one time for the preaching of the Word of God. Let me say this. I realize that some of you have your Bible on your phone and whatever. It's 2024. I don't understand why you can't just have a book. God gave you a book, and God did give Moses a tablet, but it was a stone, and that's fine. Look, I'm not against you having, you know... People ask me about these things, and here's the problem I have with having your Bible on the phone. When I've got this book open and I'm reading, no notifications are coming up. It's not telling me I got an email and a text message and there's a cat video, but I understand we live in a society that is technology savvy and whatever, and if you've got your Bible on your phone, I'm not preaching against you. I don't know why you have your Bible on your phone and you keep laughing, but if you honestly, genuinely have your Bible on your phone, I'm not preaching about you. If you take sermon notes on your phone, I'm not preaching about that. I understand that these can be tools, and look, I'm not going to sit here and say, no, you weren't on your phone. This is between you and God, but you know what you're doing on your phone. You know if you're checking out the score of the game or if you're looking at something on Facebook or whatever, and if you're messing around during the preaching of the word of God, then the Holy Spirit should be the one that speaks to you in regards to that. I'm talking about people who are either non-stop on their phones the entire time they're in church. And again, even before the service, just being non-stop on your phone, to me it's a silly thing. You know, one of the reasons we come to church is to fellowship with God's people, not to sit in a corner and have our eyes glued to our phone the whole time. And you can do that at home. I'm talking about people that are just non-stop on their phones or people that are non-stop talking and fellowshipping. And again, I'm not trying to upset people. You know, these mother-baby rooms, ladies, and maybe somebody needs to knock on their doors and say, hey, you guys should probably listen to this one. But these rooms are not meant for you to fellowship. They're meant for you to care for your children, and we've made adjustments and we've done things for you to be able to be part of the service and listen to the preaching of the Word of God. Hopefully that's enough disclaimers to cover everyone who might think I'm preaching about them. If not, I've got another sermon for you. But what I'd like to do is I'd like to give you five reasons why I believe you should not be talking during the preaching and why you should not be messing around on your phone during the preaching. I'd like to give you five thoughts. Three are general points, and then one is a specific point regarding the phones and another specific point regarding talking. And if you'd like, you can jot these down or type them down in your notes if needed. But I'd like to give you several thoughts regarding why you should not be talking or on your phone during preaching. I'd like you to go with me, if you would. I think you're in 1 Corinthians, but go to 2 Peter, chapter number 3. I meant to have you keep your place in 1 Thessalonians. I'm not sure if you kept your place there. But I'd like you to keep your place in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. We're going to be coming back and forth to that portion of Scripture. But from 1 Thessalonians, you've got 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter. I'd like you to find 2 Peter. Keep your place in 1 Thessalonians. 2 Peter, chapter number 3. Let me give you these five reasons, five reasons why you should not be talking or messing around during the service or on your phone during the preaching. And again, maybe you can write these down. Number 1, why should you not be talking or messing around on your phone during the preaching? Number 1, because it hurts you spiritually. It hurts you spiritually. You know, the main priority of the Christian life after salvation, I would say that the main priority of life is salvation. The main priority of any human being is to not go through this life and end up in hell at the end of this life. The Bible says, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. And I would say that the main priority of every human being who's ever lived is to get saved and be saved, is to receive salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by calling upon Him for salvation. But you know, the main priority for the Christian life, the main priority of a Christian after salvation is to grow spiritually. That's what God desires for your life. That's what God desires for my life. 2 Peter chapter 3, look down at verse number 18. The Bible says, 2 Peter 3.18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. The Bible says that you and I ought to grow. And notice there's several areas, a couple of areas where we should grow. We should grow in grace and we should grow in knowledge. We should grow in grace and in knowledge. Knowledge is our intellect, our doctrinal understanding of the Word of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is our attitude and how we treat people and how we care for people. And here we're told that our job is to grow in grace and in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then notice the context of that verse is ended with this. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. When you and I live lives of spiritual growth, our lives will bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. We should grow in grace, the Bible says, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. The main priority of the Christian life after salvation is to grow spiritually. Keep your place there and you're there in 2 Peter. I'd like you to keep your place in 1 Thessalonians if you would and then go back from 1 Corinthians to the book of Ephesians. So keep your place in 1 Thessalonians and keep your place in 1 Corinthians because we're going to be near those books. But I'd like you to go to Ephesians chapter 5. From 1 Corinthians you've got 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, then Ephesians. 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, then Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5, look down at verse number 26. See the main priority of the Christian life after salvation is to grow spiritually. And the main process for growing spiritually is through the Word of God. Spiritual growth comes through the Word of God. Now we could look at a lot of passages about this. We could go to a lot of different places where the Bible says that the Word of God is the milk for a newborn babe and how it becomes the meat and the Word of God feeds us and strengthens us and matures us. I'm just going to show you this one verse. Ephesians 5, 26, the Bible says that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. See, the main priority of the Christian life is to grow spiritually and the main process, the main method for growing spiritually is through the Word of God. As the Word of God is preached, as the Word of God is taught, the Bible says that he will sanctify. Do you understand that Ephesians 5 is talking about husbands and wives, but it's really talking about Christ and the church. It's talking about the local church. And the Bible is saying that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to cleanse it, the local church, the congregation, you and I, with the washing of the water by the Word, why, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church. The goal is always the glory of God. To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. And the way that we grow is through the preaching and through the teaching and through your personal reading and memorizing and studying of the Word of God. So when you go to church and the Word of God is opened and the Word of God is preached and the Word of God, and look, I can't speak for every church. I can only speak to our church. And I'll say this, I don't believe that our church is perfect. I'm not going to stand up here and say to you that our church is perfect or that we are without error in any sort of way. I'm sure there's things that we could do better and be better at. But I'll say this, if you come to Verity Baptist Church, you know that I do everything in my power to teach you the Word of God. And to give you and feed you the Word of God in heavy doses and to try to help you understand it. We take it verse by verse, oftentimes chapter by chapter. We dissect it and we give it to you. Why? For your growth, for you to grow. And when you come to church and you don't listen to the preaching of the Word of God, you sit out there in that foyer or you sit out there in one of those rooms and you talk and you mess around and you play on your phone and you don't listen to the preaching of the Word of God, it hurts you. God has something for you when the Word of God is preached. Do you understand that? When the Bible is open, there's something for you to learn. Do you think that you've arrived? We talked about it this morning. The Apostle Paul, we could argue, it could arguably be said that the Apostle Paul, after the Lord Jesus Christ, was the greatest Christian who ever lived. And the Apostle Paul said, I have not attained. He said, there's more for me to learn. There's more for me to comprehend. There's more growth for me to have in my life. And here's the truth. If Paul would say, there's something for me to learn, you better believe there's something for you and I to learn. When the Word of God is preached and you despise prophesying, it hurts you. And if you're an adult, if you're a father or a mother, it hurts your children. It hurts your children. Oftentimes, parents get to the place in their lives where their children are no longer in the home and hindsight's 20-20 and perspective sets in and all of a sudden, it becomes very clear all of the regrets and things you wish you would have done differently. And some of you are going to get to the place where your children are in their 20s and in their 30s and you're going to look back and say, I wish I would have known. And I'm going to think to myself, I'm not going to say it to you, but I'm going to think to myself, we were saying it. We've been saying it. We've been preaching it and teaching it and telling you to turn your hearts to your children to get off your phone, get off social media, get off Facebook, love your wife, love your husband. We've been saying it. You've just been sitting out there talking while we've been saying it. You've been sitting in the hallway playing Mario Brothers while we've been saying it. You've been doing everything and anything than hearing the word of God be preached. And it hurts you. Why should I not be talking or messing around on my phone during preaching? Because it hurts you spiritually. And let me just give you some perspective. There's 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week. There's 168 hours in a week. 168 hours. I don't know how much you need to sleep. The average person sleeps somewhere between seven and eight hours. Some people sleep a little less, some people sleep a little more. But you've got a lot of time to mess around on your phone. You understand that? You've got a lot of time to sit around talking to people. You understand that? We ask for three hours a week. I'm not one of these new IFB pastors that preaches for an hour and thirty minutes every service. Every once in a while I will, but generally speaking the sermons are less than an hour. We ask for three hours for you to sit quietly at the feet, not of Pastor Jimenez, of the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll open up the Word of God and dissect the Word of God and instruct you in the Word of God. Three out of 168 hours. Let me remind you, that's not even ten percent. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? The Bible says that in all things you should have the preeminence. The Bible says that we should give God ten percent of our lives. And I think you should give God ten percent of your time. And if you go to church Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and you go to a wedding and you actually read the Bible and pray, then maybe, just maybe you get to about 16.8 hours in the week that you've actually given to the Lord. I would imagine that if you're sitting messing around during church, you're probably not even doing that. But can you not give God three hours? Three of 168 hours to close your mouth and close the phone and listen to the preaching. The Word of God. You say, why should we not be talking? Why should we not be goofing off? Why should we not be messing around during the preaching of the Word of God? I'd say number one because it hurts you spiritually. And the truth is this. The main priority of the Christian life after salvation is to grow spiritually. And the main process for growing spiritually is through the Word of God. And let's just be honest because some of you are thinking, you think that the only way we're going to grow is through your preaching? Can't an eye read the Bible on my own? If you can't listen to preaching, don't tell me you're going home and reading the Bible for an hour. If you can't be off your phone for 45 minutes on a Wednesday night, I'm supposed to believe you're off your phone for 25 minutes, 35 minutes, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, all on your own, studying the Word of God? Without it. So let's just be honest with ourselves. You know why you go soul winning? If you go soul winning, you know why you go soul winning? Because you heard a sermon about soul winning. If you read the Bible, you know why you read the Bible? Because you heard a sermon about reading the Bible. If you pray, you know why you pray? Because you heard a sermon about prayer. If you happen to be a nice husband to your wife this week or a submissive wife to your husband this week, it's maybe, just maybe, because you heard a sermon about it this week. And when you don't listen to the Word of God, you hurt yourself. It hurts you spiritually. Listen to me. You're not hurting me. I already spent all week studying the Bible, preparing the sermon. I've already gotten all the nutrition from it. It hurts you. It hurts you. Why should you not be talking during preaching? Why should you not be goofing off and messing around on your phone during preaching? I said number one this evening because it hurts you spiritually. Let me give you another example. Another reason. Number one, it hurts you spiritually. Number two, it's because it sets a bad example. It sets a bad example. Can you go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter three? If you kept your place there in 1 Thessalonians, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter three. If you've been saved for any sort of length of time, do you realize that there are other Christians that are looking at you as a leader? And the Lord forbid if you actually serve here in some sort of capacity, you wear some sort of headset in your ear or burgundy coat on your back, you better believe that people, and maybe it's not right and maybe they shouldn't, but people think that there's some measure of spirituality. I mean you get to sit in that special chair and you get to stand there. So there must be something special about you. And they look at you as though you are a leader. And when you sit there and mess around and goof off and talk, some of you ladies, I don't understand why I can't get my kids to sit in church quietly. Maybe because you don't sit in church quietly. The whole time you're in the mother baby room, you're supposed to be spending it training your children to sit in church. Somebody needs to be training you to be quiet, to sit quietly, to silence yourself and to listen to the word of God. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 7. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 7, the Bible says, For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. Are you disorderly? Look at verse 9. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. Let me just be very clear. It makes you look bad. When you sit there and talk, mess around, you go in that mother baby room, that daddy baby room, and you get on your phone and you never even look up one time for the preaching of the word of God. And you're just... It makes you look like an idiot. It makes you look like a carnal fool. It makes you look bad. Because you're doing wrong. And you should care about your testimony. You know the Bible says you don't have to turn here, but in Proverbs 22, 1, the Bible says, A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. You should care about your testimony. You should care. When people bring up your name, what do they say? There's a nice person who loves the Lord and walks with God. Or yeah, that guy, he's just a joke. That lady, she's so carnal, she couldn't care less. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and it makes you look bad because you are doing wrong. And the truth is, you say, well, how do you know that it's wrong, or why do you think it's wrong? Well, if we flip the screen, literally, and instead of having a screen in there where you saw us, but I have a screen in here where we saw you, sometimes I've been tempted. Would that change things? Would you men not go into that daddy-baby room and fall asleep during the preaching? Pastor, you don't understand I work. Look, I understand you work. We all work. And I get it. I get working hard, and I'm glad you work hard, but you have enough character to get up and slap yourself and stand up, do whatever you've got to do. But it sets a bad example. It makes you look bad. You know what's even worse than that? It's not just that it makes you look bad. Some of you are like, Pastor, you need to go back on vacation. It makes you look bad, but you know, it also emboldens others to do bad. Exodus 23, 22, you don't have to turn there. It says this, thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. You know what happens is when somebody walks out these doors into that foyer, and all of a sudden on that side of those doors, there's 12 guys playing Monopoly. It's a joke. I know you guys aren't going to laugh. Some new convert, some new lady to our church walks into the mother baby room, and oh, oh, I thought, pastor said people come in here and they take care of their children and they watch the service, but it looks like we just sit here and play Monopoly and talk the whole time. It emboldens others to do wrong when they see you doing wrong. The Bible speaks much about us not being a stumbling block for other people. And it sets a bad example. So why should we not be talking? Why should we not be goofing off? Why should we not be messing around on our phones during the preaching of the word of God? Number one, because it hurts you spiritually. Number two, because it sets a bad example. It makes you look bad, and you should care about your testimony, and it emboldens others to do bad. It makes you look bad because you're doing wrong, and it emboldens others to do wrong as well. Number three, I'm just giving you some reasons maybe you never thought about it. What's the big deal? Well, the big deal is it hurts you spiritually. The big deal is it sets a bad example. It makes you look bad and emboldens others to do bad. Let me give you a third reason. Number three, why should we not be talking during preaching? Why should we not be goofing off, messing around, playing on our phones during the preaching? Number one, because it hurts you spiritually. Number two, because it sets a bad example. Here's number three, because it's highly disrespectful. It's highly disrespectful. I know we live in a society where people don't care about respect, and I understand that. But it's disrespectful. You're there in 2 Thessalonians 3. Go with me to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. Now, I'm going to say this, and some of you are going to think that I'm just being self-serving and whatever. I don't care. You think what you want. Obviously, the application is for me, but you don't have to apply it to me. You can apply it to however you want. But I'm just going to go ahead and say it because it's true. Number one, it's disrespectful to the man of God. Whether you care to respect me or not respect me or whatever, that's between you and God. It doesn't make a difference to me. But when a man of God, any man of God, stands up behind the pulpit to preach the word of God, you've got to show some respect. And I don't know if you can tell. Maybe you cannot tell. I think that it's obvious if you've got eyes and ears. But I can tell when a man stands up to preach, and there has not been a lot of study that has gone behind that. It's pretty obvious, in my opinion, when a preacher spends more time on the golf course than in the word of God. And I don't know, and I don't mean this in any sort of arrogant way, but I would sure hope that you can grasp, at the very least, when I stand up here on a Sunday morning and a Sunday night and a Wednesday night, that I have spent some time in this word, spent some time praying for God's message, spent some time preparing a sermon for you. Maybe you don't like my preaching or my style of preaching or whatever. Whatever you think is fine, but I'm just saying this. I think it should be obvious that some preparation has gone into this. What would you think if you invited me to your home and you took the time to clean the house and your wife took time to go out to the grocery store and purchase different things and got some things together and made a meal and prepared a main course and prepared some side dishes and prepared a dessert and got the house cleaned up and got the children cleaned up and got everything ready and got everything situated. How would you feel, number one, if I showed up late? Let's talk about that again. You don't think that bothers ladies? What's the big deal? I showed up 15 minutes late. You know what the big deal is? That the meal is no longer warm. And that housewife may not say anything, but that bothers her. She took time and energy and prepared. You know that we've taken time and energy and prepared? You know there's actually people who take the time to think through the services here at Rarity Baptist Church and oftentimes we think about the preaching and the themes and the songs that will be sung and all the things that are going to happen here. And then you waltz in 15 minutes late. It's disrespectful. It's disrespectful. What if I sat there in your home and the entire time that you've prepared and you gathered supplies and I'm just... Yeah, that's good. You haven't ate anything? You say that's the rudest thing. That's what you're doing? We're preparing a meal here that's more important than roast. It's the word of the living God. And a man has spent time studying and thinking and preparing and when I stand to preach here, I don't have some little ditty. I don't have some little...just some notes on a 3x5 card or a sticky note here. Somebody has taken some time to think and pray and meditate and fast and think about the things that are being said, the sermons that are being preached, the sermon series and the Bible studies and God has something for you! And it's disrespectful. You say, well, I don't think you should be preaching this about yourself. Well, then who else is going to preach it? And if you don't want to apply it to me, don't apply it to me, but any man of God that stands up to preach the word of God, it's disrespectful. There's just no other way to say it. 1 Thessalonians 5, look at verse 12. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 12, the Bible says this, and we beseech you brethren, I just checked my phone to check something about church. FYI. And we beseech you brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord, that's referring to spiritual leadership, and admonish you, that's what I'm doing right now, the preaching of the word of God. Look, I didn't put this in your Bible, the Bible put this in your... God put this in your Bible. If you don't like it, then you find another pastor that you can do this for. If you can't do it for me, and you don't have respect for me or my wife, then go find someone you can respect, but find someone. Because in verse 13, the Bible says to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. To esteem them very highly. That means to regard them, to think of them very highly. You say, I don't think you should be preaching about yourself. Then you find a pastor that you can respect enough to sit quietly for 56 minutes while he preaches the word of God to you. But find someone. Don't disrespect them by walking out. I realize that different preachers spend different amounts of time on their sermons, I understand that, not everybody spends the same amount of time, and I don't spend the same amount of time on every service, but I will tell you this, on average I spend about three hours on each sermon. I preach three times a week, that's about nine hours, obviously there's other things that I do, counseling, and all sorts of other things that need to be done around here, but I could sure find lots of things to do with those nine hours. Those nine hours of sitting here and writing a sermon, I could find other things to do if we just want to sit here and play Monopoly for an hour every Sunday night, we could do that. It would be a lot easier on my schedule. I'm just saying to you, it's disrespectful, and it's harder for me to preach this and you just hold onto it 40 years from now when I'm gone and dead and the next guy stands up, you love him and you love his wife, and you respect them, and you esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. You know the Bible talks about the fact that not every pastor is created equal, and there are some pastors that are better than others, and they deserve double honor, the Bible says, and if you don't want to apply that to me, that's fine, that's between you and God, but apply that to somebody. Why should I not be talking and goofing off and messing around and playing and being on my phone during church because it's disrespectful to the man of God? You know what the Bible says? The Bible says, remember them which have the rule over you, Hebrews 13, 7, who have spoken unto you the word of God, that's what I'm doing right now, whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation. You should remember them. You should be mindful of them. You should consider them. Remember them which have the rule over you. So why should we not be talking and messing around and goofing off during preaching? Number one, because it hurts you spiritually. Number two, because it's such a bad example. Number three, because it's highly disrespectful. It's highly disrespectful. Go to Revelation chapter 3 if you would. Let me just say this. You say, well pastor, I don't like that point. I think that point was a little self-serving. I think you think a little too highly of yourself. That's what they said about Paul. You know, my response is the same as Paul. I magnify mine office. I'm just a dirty rotten sinner like you. Maybe not as bad as you, but you know. Sinner on my way to hell. But I hold an office that deserves respect. I'm not saying I deserve respect. The office of a bishop is an office that deserves esteem and respect. And it's disrespectful. You say, well, I don't like that. Okay, well, how about this one? It's disrespectful to the word of God. You say, well, I don't think you deserve any respect. Okay, you think this book deserves some respect? You think when the infallible, inerrant, inspired, everlasting word of God is opened and preached and taught, you don't think that deserves some respect? Okay, you don't think I deserve respect. I get that. Whatever. How about the word of God? Is the word of God more important than what you're playing with on your phone? Is the word of God more important than what you're looking at on your phone? Is the word of God more important than the conversation you're having and goofing off and playing? The conversation you're having about work or whatever it might be? It's disrespectful to the man of God. But if you don't care about that, let me just say this. It's disrespectful to the word of God. And it's disrespectful to the Lord Jesus Christ because the Lord Jesus Christ is the word of God. You understand that? It's the living word. The King James Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God in the English language. It's the written word. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20. I know you know this verse, but I'd like you to see it. Jesus is speaking to a lukewarm church. And here's what he says, Revelation 3.20, he says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. He's not talking to unsaved people. Some people like to apply this to salvation. He is knocking on the door of a church. And really he's knocking on the door of the hearts of believers. And here's what Jesus said about these Christians. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come to him and will sup with him and he with me. Do you realize that the Lord Jesus Christ through the word of God wants to fellowship with you and spend time with you and be with you? And when you and I come to a place like this and the word of God is open and you sit there and ignore it and you go out there and you get on your phone or you talk or you mess around or you do anything else, running errands during the preaching of the word of God. Do you understand this? You can go to Starbucks before church. Do you understand that? You can go to Starbucks after church. You're still open. You go, I don't have time. Get some discipline and get some character and wake up a little early and take care of your business and be ready to receive the word of God. It's disrespectful to the man of God. You say, I don't care about that. Well, you should care about the fact that it's disrespectful to the word of God. Despite not prophesying, the Bible says. Every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, the Lord Jesus Christ stands at the door of your heart and says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, but you're not listening. If any man hear my voice, but you're distracted, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. And then you wonder, you wonder why it seems that other Christians have a more intimate walk with the Lord Jesus Christ than you. You wonder why it just feels like you're just kind of going through the motions. And I don't know, it just kind of seems like pastor or it kind of seems like deacon or it kind of just seems like other people, they get up and they pray and it seems like they really feel it and they really have this connection and I just don't have. Maybe it's because Jesus is standing at the door and you won't hear. The word of God wants to come in and enter in fellowship with you and change you and help you. It's disrespectful to the word of God. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter number 6 if you wouldn't. 1 Corinthians chapter number 6. I said I would give you five points. Three are general and then two are specific. One specific to a phone and one specific to talking. The first three points in regards to why we should not be talking, why we should not be goofing off, why we should not be messing around, why we should not be on our phones during the preaching. And look, I understand sometimes you got to answer that text or you got to talk to someone and there's a responsibility or whatever. I get that. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about people who are chronically messing around during church. Why should you not do it? Because it hurts you spiritually. It sets a bad example. It's highly disrespectful to the man of God and if you don't care about that, to the word of God. You should at least care about that. Let me give you a fourth point and this is specifically about the phone. Why should you not be messing around on your phone during preaching? Number four, because it shows you have a problem. It shows you have an addiction. Listen to me, if you can't go one hour without looking at your phone, you have a problem. You're not the President of the United States. Whatever you have going on is not that important. I don't even think the—I mean, if Joe Biden can be the President, then obviously there might not be a lot of important stuff going on. If the President of the United States can go to bed at 8 p.m. and wake up at 8 a.m. and not check his phone for 12 hours, you could probably go 45 minutes without checking your phone. I'm sure of it. Nuclear war is not going to happen with China because you weren't on your phone. That cat video will be there after church. 1 Corinthians 6.12 says this, All things are lawful unto me. You know, that's true. You're saved. You can do whatever you want. You're free in Christ. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. They don't all help you. All things are lawful for me, look at it, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I will not be brought under the power of any. Does it cause you anxiety to not be near your phone? Let me just read to you from an article here. I've been preaching for 52 minutes. I'm probably going to preach for a little longer than an hour. Some of you owe me. It's okay. Got your attention for the first time in months. Here's an article from CNBC. It says, Nomophobia, Nomophobia, short for no mobile phone phobia, is a term used to describe the anxiety a person experiences when they don't have access to their mobile phone. Nomophobes are those who exhibit an addiction to their mobile phone, research published in BMC Psychiatry States. A huge reason why many people are experiencing nomophobia stems from our reliance on our mobile phones, says Michelle Leno, a clinical psychologist. Once a person develops an unhealthy attachment to their mobile phone, it can negatively affect several areas of their lifestyle, says Leno. Nomophobia can impair your ability to focus and distract you from completing tasks, she adds, including at work or school. Additionally, being distracted all of the time is very unhealthy for relationships, Leno notes. We're sacrificing the happiness and potential health of those relationships because we care more about the phone. Look, here's what I'm saying to you. If you have to be on your phone all the time, you say, well, pastor, there's this one time there's an emergency at work and I have to, okay, but Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, for weeks and weeks and weeks and months and months and months, you just constantly always have to be, look, if you can't go to church and put the stinking thing down for 45 minutes, for an hour, for an hour and five minutes, I'm just here to tell you, and I say it as lovingly as I can, you have a problem. You've got a problem. So I want to challenge you. I want to challenge our entire church family. Look, I'm not going to challenge you to do some crazy thing. I probably should. I'm just going to challenge you, can you just take the no phone in church challenge? Here's the no phone in church challenge. Take the challenge to not be on your phone while at church. And look, I'm so easy, except for official church business, having your Bible on your phone or taking sermon notes. If you run some ministry here where you're on staff or whatever and you've got to text somebody to do something to get the baptistry ready or whatever, that's fine. If you're doing something for official church business, no problem. You've got your Bible on your phone, okay, whatever. You take sermon notes on your phone, okay, I'd like to see those, but okay. But how about you take the challenge to not be on your phone? No social media. No cute cat videos, and you might have that cat worm, Pastor Thompson was talking about. No, none of this other stuff. Just for 50 minutes, 56 minutes, one hour, an hour and 50 minutes, however long church service is. If just the thought of setting your phone down and not looking at it for an hour causes you a little bit of anxiety, you have a problem, my friend, you have a problem. And the Bible says that I will not be brought under the power of any. The Bible says that as a Christian I should live my life in such a way where nothing overpowers me. Just the Holy Spirit of God. This is why the Bible says be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit of God. It uses that about wine, but you could use that about any addictive substance. Be not high, but be filled with the Spirit of God. Don't be addicted to your phone, but be filled with the Spirit of God. I'm not asking you to go on a month-long fast from your phone, I'm just saying, how about the no phone in church challenge? Or if you got your Bible on your phone, you're taking notes on your phone, or you're dealing with some official church business. Okay. But other than that, can you just not be on your phone? Even in the mother-baby room. Even in the daddy-baby room. Even in the foyer. Just not be on your phone? So why should I not be on my phone during preaching? Because it shows you have a problem. It shows you have a problem. Let me give you a fifth one. Go to Matthew chapter 23 if you would. We're going to go to Matthew, we're going to go to Revelation, and we're going to go to Proverbs, and then we're going to be done. Matthew should be easy to find, first book in the New Testament. Revelation should be easy to find, last book in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 23. We're talking about why you should not be talking on your phone, or messing around, or goofing off, or talking during preaching, messing around on your phone, doing those things. Why? Number one, it hurts you spiritually. Number two, it's such a bad example. Number three, it's highly disrespectful. And then a specific one about the phone, it shows you have a problem. It shows you have a problem. If you can't set the thing down for a church service, you have a problem. And this one's specifically about talking. You go out there in that foyer and you start talking. The safety guy's not out there to have a conversation with you. And safety guys, you're not out there to be fellowshipping. You say, why is he out there? To take a bullet. That's what he's out there for, and just be honest with you. It's the only reason he's out there. Otherwise, he'd just be in here. And all these things, they're not out there. You go out there and you're talking or you go in this daddy-baby room or these mother-baby rooms and you're just sitting there talking and carrying on these long conversations. You say, what's wrong with that? Here's a specific application for talking. And it's this. Let's assume you don't care about anything that I said this evening. You don't care about any of it. Okay, whatever. If you don't want to listen to the preaching, okay, that's one thing. But why keep others? It reminds me of the Pharisees, Matthew 23. Are you there? Look at verse 13. I realize this is different, but I just want you to see that the Spirit is the same. Matthew 23, 13. This is Jesus speaking about the Pharisees. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. The word suffer means allow ye them that are entering to go in. Jesus said about the Pharisees, you yourself don't want to go to heaven and then you keep other people from going into heaven. For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to go in. And it just kind of reminds me of the person who won't shut up. Okay, you don't want to listen to the preaching. You want to goof off and talk the entire time in the society room, in the foyer, whatever, outside in the parking lot. Okay, but how about the other people in the mother-baby room? You don't want to listen to the preaching, but then you keep other people from listening to the preaching. You're not interested in the things of God, but then you keep other people from being interested and hearing. Because, you know, a lot of people, they're just not going to be confrontational and they want to listen to preaching and they'd like for you to shut up, and you're like, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm. They keep like looking at the screen. Revelation chapter two if you wouldn't. You know, at the very least, you should let other people hear. There's this phrase that Jesus uses all over, over and over and over again. It's actually used all throughout the Bible. I'm just going to show it to you in Revelation, but it's used all throughout the Bible. It's really interesting to me and now that I've been doing this for a while, I realize, oh, that's why he says it over and over again. You know, nothing in the Bible is there by accident. If something is being said over and over and over again, it's for a reason. I want you to see it. We can look at this in other portions of scripture. I'm just going to show it to you in Revelation, chapter two, verse seven. Jesus speaking to churches, chapter two, chapter three, speaking to the seven churches of Asia. You know what he says to churches over and over again? Revelation 2, seven, he says, let him hear! Let him hear! You know what I like to do? I like to walk into those daddy-baby rooms one day and just walk in. I think I could do it because they're sitting there talking the whole time so they wouldn't even notice. If I walked out and went out the door and went up the hallway and opened the mother-baby room, they wouldn't even notice because they've been blah, blah, blah, blah the whole time. I walk in and just this one is saying, you know, you know, pass, go collect 200. I'd like to just walk in and just say, let her hear! Let him hear! You don't want to listen, okay, but let other people listen. Revelation 2, 11, look at it. He that hath an ear, look at the words, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Look at Revelation 2, 17. He that hath an ear, look at it. Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelation 2, 29, he that hath an ear, look at it. Let him hear! Revelation 3, 6, he that hath an ear, let him hear! Revelation 3, 13, he that hath an ear, let him hear! Revelation 3, 22, he that hath an ear, let him hear! Why do you keep saying that over and over to these churches, Jesus, over and over? I think because there's a lot of people in church that are not listening. And if you're not going to listen, okay, but how about you let them hear? Let him hear. Let her hear. Let them listen to the preaching. Revelation 13, look at verse 9. Revelation 13, verse 9, if he hasn't said it enough, Revelation chapter 13 and verse 9 very succinctly says, look at it, if any man have an ear, look at the words, if any man have an ear, if any man have an ear, if any man have an ear, look at the words, let him hear. You don't care about spirituality, you don't care about the word of God, you don't care about any of these things, okay, don't keep other people from listening to the preaching. Don't go in these mother baby rooms and start talking and talking and talking and talking and not allowing other people to hear. Don't go in these daddy baby rooms and start talking and talking and talking and talking. Because when we open up the word of God, the Spirit is speaking unto the churches. Go to Proverbs chapter number 13, we'll finish up, we'll be done. Proverbs chapter 13. Remember where we began this evening? 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 20. Despise, not prophesy. Despise means to show a level of disrespect and to believe it is beneath your respect. Despise not prophesying, referring to the preaching of the word of God. You should not despise it. In Proverbs 13 and verse 13, the Bible says this, look at it. Whoso despiseth, does that sound familiar? Whoso despiseth, look at it, the word, the word of God, the word that's being preached, shall be destroyed. But he that feareth the commandments, that's the word, the preaching, shall be rewarded. You know that the success of your Christian life is dependent on how you receive, listen to, and apply the word of God to your life. And three times a week, for whatever it's worth, you have a man of God who loves you by the way, and I wouldn't preach a sermon like this if I didn't love you. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? You have a man of God, you have a pastor and a pastor's wife who love you, who care about you, who pray for you, and I stand up here three times a week and open up the word of God and teach you how to be a better husband, how to be a better wife, how to be a better father, how to be a better mother, how to be a better employee, how to be a better business owner, how to live a better Christian life. But if you despise it, you're going to be destroyed. I'm not saying your life is going to be ruined, I'm not saying that you're not going to go to heaven, I'm not saying those things. Who shall despise it, the word shall be destroyed. But he that feareth the commandments shall be rewarded, is that God has commandments, God has potential. You know what's interesting about preaching is this, that generally speaking, there's not one sermon that's just like this life altering, like that sermon changed my life. It doesn't work that way. I realize we all have favorite sermons and whatever and you know, you've been here for 10 years on your birthday, I'll preach your favorite sermon. But the truth is this that, isn't it true that it's sermon after sermon after sermon, service after service after service, here a little, there a little, that helps you to grow. And here's what's even more interesting, is that it's not sermon after sermon after sermon, service after service after service, here a little, there a little, and this is a little humbling for me, I understand it, but it's usually and generally just one thing, one statement, one thing said to me, one thing, one statement, one thing said in a sermon that helps you, isn't that true? When I sit here and I outline an entire sermon and I outline a whole passage of scripture and I alliterate it and make it rhyme and read it and sing, I mean I'll sing and dance and tap dance for you if that's what's needed. Read a poem and do, I'll do whatever. Dissect the whole portion of scripture and alliterate it, outline it, present it to you, but you know with all of that usually it's just a statement, one thought, something in every sermon, one statement in a sermon and then one statement, one thought, one principle in a sermon, one portion of a sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon, that's what will change your life and you're missing it, you're missing it. When you're talking through the preaching of the word of God, you're messing around, goofing off, being on your phone, I just say to you tonight, despise not prophesying. Spatterheads and I wrote a prayer, Heavenly Father, Lord we love you and Lord I can honestly say that I love these dear people. I thank you for our church. I don't think that our church is any more carnal than any other church anywhere else. I don't think that there are worse Christians than any other Christians anywhere else. My job is not to preach to every Christian everywhere else. My job is to watch for the souls of these people. And as long as I have that job, I want to help them. And Lord I know your word can help them. I don't think the messenger can help them, but I know the message can help them and help us to develop a culture in our church where people despise not prophesying. Where they take the preaching of the word of God seriously, they honor it, and we like to have fun and we like to joke around and we like to fellowship. All those things are good things in their proper place. Help us Lord to be people who despise not prophesying. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Just let me give you a couple of reminders. We're doing a Sunday night Bible study, and we call it the most encouraging service of the week. You say what are you going to do on Wednesday night? Well we're going to fellowship and we're going to sing praises and we're going to do something we don't do every service. We're going to spend time in prayer, but then we're going to open up the word of God and we're going to learn it and we're going to apply the words of the Lord's service. I'll preach a short challenge for the word of God. We're going to give some thoughts regarding emergency situations and then we're going to have a time of fellowship. You can talk as much as you like outside on the front lawn as we have pizza and fellowships. I want to encourage you to be here for that. If you would not mind looking around your area and if your kids made a mess I encourage each of you very much. We pray for you and we care about you and we're interested in your spiritual growth and we love you and we're praying for you. If there's anything we can do for you please let us know. We'll have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Amen. Let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number 115. Song number 115 as we are preparing our song. Song number 115. Sing it out on the first. I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus Since I found in him a friend so strong and true I would tell you how he changed my life completely He did something that no other friend could do No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as me No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh how much he cared for me All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me All my heart was full of misery and bone Jesus placed his strong and loving arms around me and he led me in the way I ought to go No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as me No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh how much he cared for me Sing it out on the last Every day he comes to me with full assurance More and more I understand his wars of love But I'll never know who saved me Till some day I seek his blessed peace above No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as me No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh how much he cared for me Song number 116 Just the next page over Alright never mind Alright well we have a baptism tonight We have Khaleesi Roldan coming for baptism and Khaleesi have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Alright by your profession of faith I baptize you my sister in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost buried in the likeness of his death raised to walk in newness of life God bless you And all God's people said Amen. Well God bless you. Thank you for being here tonight We do encourage you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study If there's anything to do for you please let us know And Brother RJ I'm going to ask Brother RJ if he would not mind dismissing us with a word of prayer Amen let's pray Dear Lord we love you and we thank you for a great sermon that we heard Lord we pray that you'd help us remember these things Lord and not be on our phone and not mess around Lord during the preaching especially during the preaching Lord we thank you for our pastor that you bless him and his family We pray for the evening that you bless it and that you would dismiss us with your grace Bring us back to church on Wednesday We love you in Jesus and I pray Amen We love you in Jesus and I pray Amen We love you in Jesus and I pray Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen